Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-07-17
Professor Denton's Second Lecture.

Professor Denton gave his second
lecture at Grange Hall last night to
large and intelligent audience. He
reviewed the main points of his pre-
v;ous lecture, dwelling upon the great
heat of the earth and the millions of
years the earth has been assuming its
present form. Lava was thrown out
three hundred years ago in such guam
titles in Mexico that it is not cold yet.
When scientists now begin to compute
the time which has passed, they are
baff1ed as soon as they begin. Just as
the earth is forming now, so has it
been forming for myriads of ages.
There has been a stormy time in the
history Of our planet, in its upheav-
ings, eruptiOns and explosions. In
studying geology, the first formation
Of rock we find is granite-the mother
Of rocks; the second, quartz; third,
feldspar, and fourth, mica. We find
granite in the lowest, at the bottom,
and in the highest formations, at the
top of the highest mountains. AL
though found at the bottom, it has
been thrown to the top. Next to the
granite we find the metamorphic.
This, too, represents the no-life period.
While our earth was swinging round
and subjected to these upheav-
ings and convulsions, the rocks
were worn down and the hills
were thrown up, and the soil
formed. The great body of metals are
found in the metamorphic formations.
The miner recognizes this fact in find
ing the metallic deposits in the crew
ices where they were lodged as they
were thrown out from the interior of
the earth. The heaviest minerals are
deepest in the earth. There is more
gold in the center or interior of the
earth than we can imagine. He spoke
of the immense deposits of copper in
the mines of Lake Superior. He
explained how the various met
ais had been thrown out and
deposited on or near the surface.
But, he said, my subject tonight is
the development of life. The fossilif-
erous rocks were the last formed, and
in this formation we find the first life.
We must understand zoology to COM
prehend the wonders of geology-only
by studying the present animal king
dom in connection with the geological
formation of the earth, can we 90 back
to the base Of the animal kingdom. 1t
is such satisfaction to the geologist
to find that zoology and geology agree
in all points. Delve as deep as you
will into either, light is thrown upon
the other. We trace the depth of the
rock formation only where there have
been great upheavings and the rock
tilted up edgewise, and by eXamina-
ton the nearer we approach the sur
face we find the rocks crowded with
shells, once the habitation of animal
life. Life and death have always gone
hand in hand through all stages of
animal life. More blood has been
shed than there is water on the earth,
and life is only now sustained by re-
production. The learned lecturer
traced the different stages of animal
life, from the lowest through every
phase up to the highest-man. We
are the highest form of life, and we
could not exist, had not the lowest form
existed. Fishes were the first active
animals, but they were few in mum
ber and small in size. The first forms
Of fishes had no back bones. The
Professor dwelt at length on the ex-
istence of oil. Where did it come
from its origin, etc, reviewed his
Investigations in the vicinity of. San
ta Barbara and Carpenteria. He is
convinced that it comes from the coral
formation. He spoke of an extinct
continent, once lying to the west of US.
But time will not permit us to follow
the lecturer any more at length. He
displayed perfect mastery of his sub
ject and a wonderful depth of investi-
cation into these hidden sciences.
The Professor has the faculty of carry
Ing his audience with him to Won
derful extent. The subject evening is
coal.