Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1866-01-26
The Geological Lectures.

/ d GIN cstufuoN
18th and l3th--the third last Saturday
evening and the remaining three, Monday
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings of thi>
week. We.were also favored with an elo-
q,ient and able lecture on Sunday evening
outside of the regular course, on "Gcnise:
and Geology"
These lectures have been listened to with
absorbing interest by our citizens. and hav,
drawn crowded houses,-the interest hav.
ing continued to increase from the first
We think if the course should be repeated
now. we should find no Hall in this place
sufficiently large to accommodate those,
who would desire to hear them.
Prof. Cunning is thoroughly acquainted
with his snbjeet-versed in the latest teach
ings of Geological science. and he possesses
the rare faculty of communicating his ideas
on scientific subjects. in. language which
can easily be understood by all. His elo-
cution is excellent and he is an accomplished
and eloquent speaker.
| This course of lectures has been more
successful than we anticipated. We ex-
pccted a good deal of entertainment and
instruction. but our anticipations have been
much more than realized, and we congratu-
late our citizens on their good fortune in
having had the opportunity of hearing
then.
Our citizens who listened to this course
of lectures will thank lis for a brief >ynop-
sis of the themes. \ mere outline will
help them to remember the course OF
thought and illustration.
The earth is composed of two classes OF
rocks-those which are spread out in lay
ers or beds and those which are massive
and not stratified. The stratitied rocks
generally overlie the unstratiiied, and
mainly derived from them. The unstrati-
| fled then like the granite, are the oldest. the
foundation rocks. and if we can decipher
their origin. they will tell us the condition
the earth in the beginning. The Prof.
| showed by argument and by chemical eN-
periments that granite is a mere cinder.-
The foundations of the earth were laid in
granite. laid in flames. In the beginning
the earth was globe of fire. In time it
was crtlsted over with rocks and covered
with water. The first ocean was almost
universal. Stratitied rocks. sand stones.
| limeStoneS and states began to form. They
hold the ruins of the earlier forms of life.
| The lecturer showed how petrifacton takes
place and how when we study the vast
beds of rock in the order in which they
were formed. we extract from their petri-
factions history of creation. The plan
of creation was laid in four patterns. The
earliest forms of life were merely provis-
ional. They We're prototypes or promises
of the present. The great truth. written
on the Oldest limestoneS, is that of Pre-
meditation. prior to Creation. The world
was a fair ideal in the mind of Deity before
it was created in rock and sea and life
| RubieS and flowers We're thoughts in the
mind of Deity before they We're gems on
! the robe of nature. In the second lecture
the speaker showed that the prineval ocean
was universal. He pointed out the primi-
| tive ridge of dry land in North America
long ridge extending from the site OF
Labrador to the Northern rim of the lakes.
and thence to the Arctic ocean. This was
the germ of the continent. Its mountains.
| valleys and penitIsulas are all determined
by that nucleus. The speaker traced the
ages till coal was formed. The origin OF
| petroleum was explained and illustrated,
The primcval forests were described and
shown TO be the source of the coal.
We can give mere syllabus Of the
third lecture. After the coal period
wrinklinm of the cartlS crust into noun
tains-a geological epoch closed. Another
epoch began. Reign of Reptiles. Enorm-
ors birds tracking the face of the earth in
New England. Reptiles winging the air,
ruling the sea and the land, How they
were promises of living creations. Origin
of chalk
Fourth lecture. Birth of the Alps. the
Jura and the Rocky Mountains. DeStruc-
ton of the Great Reptiles. Epoch OF
Mammal>-a grave yard of PreadamiteS in
Nebraska. \ little ruined world. What
is burisd there. Lions. tigers, elephants
once in America. Thirty-five dead races
buried in the rocks of Nebraska.
Beginning of man on the earth-his an
tiquity-his origin-his dignity and high
destiny.
Fifth lecture. The bouldcrs and gravel.
whence did they come: can be traced TO
parent lodges and mountains. in the North.
Mountains clipped and scored. The noun
tains on the island of Mount Desert have
been struck and the tops peeled off. Froz-
en- elephants in Siberia bedlcd in frozen
gravel. What do these things mean -
Some tremendous force has passed over
the earth frt an the North 1t moved
southwark to the latitude of Washington.
1t scored katahdin and Mount Washing
ton, FIVE thousand feet high. What was
it! Celd in some form. Iceburgs They
conld not have accomplished the work.
Glaciers! The facts lead to glacial &C.
ton and nothing else. America from the
pole to her capital has been under shee,
of ice a mile thick. "Iorsebaeks" in
Maine, the boulders, waits from Northern
mountains and ledges-gravel-all the facts
written out over the surface of the earth
are explained by the glacier.