Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-20

~
rs found by Humboldt 1T the soutll Of ca
III raess; they have been found al the 70
Sc Of the Peruvian mountains; they ha'
le been found by an English geo ogist
q the banks of the Purus, one Of the trib
x taries Of the Amazon. / have iientii'
IA the fossils as belonging to the cietaceol
sr period. Now these beds are ullmistal
as ably eretaceous; that is, they are unmi
I'd takably Of the age during Which q
e. chalk has been aecumulaung; for her
sr and here, aud here pointing on the ma
n TO the places before spoken OF the r.
,, mains OF animals have been found
a these beds, which are of the same an
It mails as those which have been found J
e the chalk Of Europe, and Identical wit
J. those which have been found in the ere
= t2ceous beds Of New Jersey, OF Mort
u and South Carolina, Of Alahamal and
l. Iowa. On the banks Of the Missoul
= similar fossils have been f0and, ind the
j. are known to have been found upon ia
i banks Of the Mississippi, and upo
= the inner coast OF the souther
e states To very great extent
' What I call the inler c0sst of oilr cont
t. nent is that coast which is from twent.
= TO thirty and more miles from the SCI
, coast, which is the beginning OF lhe higl
= lands To the east Of the Alleighanies
! from Maine TO Florida, we have streal
s Of low land, which is net mucn abOY
Z the level Of the sea, and then suddei
: rise towards the hight of The mountains
Now, that low land is of recent gccumu
I lation. AT its foot, before rising into th,
= nights of the Alleghanies, we iind every
: where cretaceoUs deposits, and thes'
cretaeeous deposits are particularly
characterized by the occurrence lu then
Of,the iremains Of certain large lizard
Now that lizard skeleton has been found
on the banks OF Missouri, ia New jersey
on the banks OF the Purus, aad in Hoi'
land. in Europe. You see ti,at we have
these, and so demonstrate in a manner
lsimilar to the example ] gave from the
clam found on the eastern and western
coast of the Atlantic, that these beds,
called cretaeeous, belong TO one and the
same period, and surely Of eCmpara-
tire recent date They are much
more recent than the coal. Starting
here, we have the whole range of recks
/ forming Southern Europe, and the whole
range that forms Switzerland aud il is
! upon these that we find the first deposits
/ of the eretaceous period. Yet these ere
/ taceOus beds are now raised, ahd follow
| the slopes of the mountains to which
/ have alluded. Cretaceous beds ai'e found
| inclined, abutting against the Rocky
I mountains; they are found inclined at
! the foot of the Andes, and in the Andes
| Of Caracas, which shows unmislakably
| that mountain range has been raised
above the level OF the sea long al .er the
table land OF Brazil and the table land Of
Guiana had been formed. JUS as the
occurrence of similar beds in an Inclined
position, disturbed from their primitive
horizontal, upon tie slope Of our great
western range shows in the continent of
America the order Of succession to be,
first the Canadian hills. then thH Ale
ghenies and then the Rocky mountains
as in South America the order has been,
first the table land of GuiauH, then
the table land of Brazil, and then
The Andes. You see, then, the facts
Bear out my assertion, that the
continents are built in succession, and
by changes which took place at long in
tervals, and that the confguTation OF
these continents and their present APP
pearance is the final result of ali these
causes. 1 have ailuued 10 only a few,
and what ] have said of the geological
constitution of the Amazon gives us
only a general outline. Now les Is give
"A little in particular, if il does not tire
your patience. We will t2ke iQr granted
that we nave basin between the south
ern slope of Guiana and the northern
slope OF the table land of Brazil TO the
east of the Andes, which has been
formed by these three successive up
heavals. That basin consists, in its
northern border of granite, against
which about ancient micsas, states and
gneiss. That other northern slope CON
sisJs Of similar rock against which rocks
Of more recent age hut not Of n very
recent age are found also abuttiug And
we find that the eastern slope Of the
Andes consists of large number pf beds
of all geological periods; for We ind in
the Andes carbeniisToU5 gretaueo.Is beds
ana other beds, all Of which have been (
raised.
But the valley Of the Amazon has not /
its present appearance similar % this. /
but has been greatly modified through all /,
time and Is being modified now Just as I
is the valley of the Mississippi. The first .
trait in the formation of the valley of the /
Mississippi was its separation trom the .
Arctic ocean 10y the gpheaval ci tle Can /.
adign hills, iron ulHt time ihe Arctic I
ocean ceased TO communicate with the /
ocean 10 the south of 1t, being separated /
by the great Canadian highlands. The .
next step was the-separation of the At /
Of the Allerheuir7 From that time the .
atlantic -sat aasiust tho Allegheny
Lpt the fucihc best also against il. u (
was noB6ntil the Rocky mountains arose
That the Pacific wa, thrown further west,
ana that this continent increased i'm
width. When the ANDES were thrown
Up, there Was irse communication he-
iwcen the table lands Of Guiana and Bra
~! lit5 valley OF the Amazon
was strait between two is
lands. When once it became cir
bv the 9pheaval IF the
AuGez, luen began in the internal and
middle portion of the valley changes Of
another kind, which We're still going on.
They are produced 10 denudation-ihat
lsi uy the abrasion, ~ the wearing and
tearing Of the surface-and the iuilu-
Hnce Of these agents is constantly al
work. The temperature during q fiereHt
seasons produces frost and .h.iwing
that alone u enough 10 disinte crate
large amount of rock, and once they are
these fragments Of rock
become easily affected lay the "a us and
.resheis. Thai, again, mas another
ELECT. we have atheF agents w lich 90
On working more powerfully still. The
glaciers have been more extensive in
former times than now, end tnty nave
produced very extensive action upon
ne earth. ] shall have occasion 10
show you in coming lectures that the
present conigUration of our state
and the forM It's surface is
m consequence If the effect pro-
iuced whom it by seas Of ice which once
covered the whole of the continent. II
seems hardly probable, when we look at
he tiOurishing condition of the nOUntry
ana the mild climate which runs over its
whole range, and yet facts 20 to show
hat this has taken place, and nov these
,brading influences produced the minor
rats in the cOniiguratiOn. Witlin the
'alley Of the AmuaOH We nave fopBd the
.nepts OF abrasion aud We recognize
hem every where in the disintegratien
,f the rock. One Of the most curious OF
he phenomena connected with the
geological constitution of the valley of
he Amazon is The fact that the
whole of this immense area is Oc-
,Gpied ny one uniform sentiment, I
Which fills the whole bottom Of
he valley irhm the foot of the
andes 10 Tie Atlantic ocean. That sed-
ment is Of a very regent date. lt con-
lists OF clays and sand which hSye iHed
he valley to an eyteR, faI beyond what
: LETT 0I them. These deposits once
ose through tke valley to the hight of
about eight hundred OF more feet,
nearly thousand feet above the level of
he sea. ana now hY cause pOsterior
O that which produced these aceTmula- :
ions, they in their turn have washed
,way to spch an extent that at this mo-
nent they are found only over part of
he area, bat in such connection that un-
ioubtedly they We're once connected
through the whole basin.
The professor in closing stated that in
iis Gaming lecture on the Amazon and
Is tributaries, " he should take occasion
o say more Of the formation Of this
ALLEY, and then retired amid great ap-
cause
NapOIeOn ira Greek.
a chapter Of Paris gossip in the Lon [
Ion Herald contains the following
At the faubourg they are Just low
ond of Greek and anagrams. Here is q
air sample
n ap0leon.
a pOleOn.
j oleon.
@ leon.
l. con.
y on.
On.