The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1869-10-01
MISCELLANEOUS.
Geological Discoveries.

In excavating the Kansas City bridge
pier holes, Mr.. George Morrison, the as
sistant engineer to whom was entrusted
the entire working plans, dredgcd up spe-
cimens OF every kind of rock in the West
ern country, such As fell from the river
cliffs close by, and such as had descepded
from the interior lyales Of the Rocky
Mountain! Among these stones he found
teeth, the molarI teeth Of the Bison and
the Virginia Deer. No doubt the beds of
the Missouri and its branches are paved
with millions. of these teeth, the only
relics of infinite herds which have trav-
ersed the plains for scores of ages passed
away-herds that have perished of old
age, hunger and wild beasts, chiefly in the
ncighborhood of the river banks, their
muscles and tendons stripped by the
/, wolves their horns 'oatch up By mice and
their fndeSrdctiblca and indigestible teeth
swept off with every foundation further
and further down towards the sea. The
presence of these teeth of the recent ami
mails in the present river beds leads to the
easy cxplananoi Of thbee vast deposits of
fossil of extinct species Of land and water
animals whioh oecnr upon the slope east
of the Rocky Mountains, where the shells
and plants show that there were fresh
,Yater, lax esr and seas equal to those be.
,fHoen1 the United States and y Canada
Similar fresh water lakes once existed be-
tween the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky
Mountains and DR.. Newbcrry has found
in their dried up deposits of mud and lava,
1000 feet thick, leaves of the oak, magno-
lia and other trees of great size. fThe
Columbia river was once merely the out
let of these Western lakes, as the Niagara
river is to day. The opening Of the deep
canon, though it now pours down upon
the Pacific coasts may have been made by
the river through the slow course of ages
or may have been cleft by earthquakes
but in either case we owe to it reciama.
tion of large part of Washington Terri
tory. And change In climate also, which
is bard To measure. fFl -.fsrtV
pcned through geological ages are not
moro difficult to explain than plainly stated
by the fossil shells and plants remaining
in the rocks The hate Alaska expedition
Brought back fossil plants from the shore.
of the icy sea Of kind to set beyond al
doubt the once semi-tropical character o.
the Arctic skies. Between sheets OF fiIit
hardened mudrock, are seen beautifully
prcsseG and idehneated, rire leaves a foot
in diameter, oak leaves quite as large, mag
nolia, plantain and other trees.which grow
between Pennsylvan and the Gulf Of
Mexico. These same vegetable relics have
been collected at various points from the
Middle Tertiary deposits of the Mississip
pi valley all the way north to the Arctic
ocean and the mouth OF the Mackenzie
river. From the collections brought home
by the numerous Arctic expeditions to
Baffins Bay and Greenland, Prsfe ssoI
Hecr, of Zurich, has made out more than
q hundred species of plants which grew
luxuriantly in those regions once, but now
are driven southwark by the cold; and
while thsse were moving south ward into
our Gulf States and Middle Europe, the
tropical vegetation Of Middle Europe was
seeking refuge for itself in HindOostan
Leaves that now wave in every direction
before the Indian Traveller, can be split oui
of the Miocene states of France and Ger
many. ~
No wonder, then, we hear of coal bed:
.--whsse- -Sie-JehM faRs1lsliia- w. }cet, and OF
the peninsula. of Alaska. We had great
pleasure in examining hand specimens o
the Alaska coal, brought home by Mr.
Dali, and exhibited by DR. Newbrry tC
the geological seetion OF tho Amerlcar
Association at Salem, last week The ac
companying plants showed 1t TO be terri
ary coal, like all that on the west coast
But such tertiary coal we have never be
fore seen. 1t tfesembles Westmoreland ga
coal more than anything else. II is evl
dently. very rich in gas, we should cues
40 per cent. or more, and very clean, o
pure from ash. There was a slight show
Of sulphur, bat 80 slight that We consld
cred it of very little account The qualit.
of the specimen (Which was, say nchc
long by 3 inches square) and its genera
appearance seemed to shew that<he re
ported thickness of the bed, "S feet," wa
not an ,dxaggcrauom All We can say, is
that to find such coal anywhere along tn
Pacific coast isra great Providence.
looks far ahead.-Aining Register. =