Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-09-28
HUXLEY ON NIAGARA.
Geological Revelations Made by the
: Falls--Estimated Time of their Cut
eqs ting Back Through Six Miles of 10
-a ..,to Rock, 10000 Years. -f

p .oido lRol,tdy9,9 Rock, dlyo,99oso, s,oY' Years. ar~s
from Prof. Huxley's Address at Nashville.
~ J. Hiri" el Sept. II Z en' ~ ri efI
know it is thought very often that
men of science are in the habit of
drawing very edlargely from their
imagination, but it. is not really so.
The most sober, careful consideration
OF facts forces upon you more and
more determinedly the conviction
that the oryqrespecting which we
havetthfs archaeological evidence of a
period sof the past history of the
world Is of duration which, in COM
parison with our human standard,
may be regardedas almost absolutely
infinite Take, for example, the case
Of the cataract of Niagara. where 1
have been recently spending some
time, so that 1 might fill myself with
the grandeur and beauty of that ex-
traordinary natural phenomenon; it
is quite easy to see that the Niagara
river has formed its own valley, has
cut its way back through the plateau
Of rock from which it falls for some
six miles, There is not the slightest
difficulty in seeing that. The great
cliff from which 1t tumbles is formed
OF two kinds of rock-hard rock at
the top and soft rock underneath.
The water undermines the soft rock
below, when the solid stratum
above falls over. You can trace the
gradual excavation of that valley for
six miles from that marvellous bluff
which, from Proctor's monument,
overiooks the plain of Ontario. Now,
the rate at which thac work Is going
on has not yet been positively ascersi
tained, but welmay be perfectly GER
tain Il am now speaking largelywith
IN limits that that workwof cutting
back does not go on at the rate OF a,
pard in a. year We have osixs miles
Of such cutting, which will bring you
to a period of 10000 years for the
cutting back of Niagara alone. 1t is
an immaterial matter to me how
many years it takes, but 1t would be
nearer probability, much nearer the
truth, il had said three or four times
that amount. What relation does a
period OF, that kind bear to the vast
duration expressed by these vast
lodges OF strata which form the globe?
We are a, people curious enough to
form very distinct calculation OF
this, The sides of the ravine through
which Niagara is cutting its way are
formed by masses of alluvial matter,
which must be older than the river
which has cut through it. While in
that alluvial matter you find the re-
mains of she'll fish, undistinguish able
from those which now inhabit the
lake, and along with them you find
AS has been found-the teeth OF the
mastodon, which we know from
abundant evidence was an inhabitant
OF the continent OF North America at
comparatively recent period, the
very last step OF that long series OF
changes, OF which the limestone, upon
which you are now standing, indicates
one Of the older ones.
Thus it follows that the whole work
of Niagara occupies one period OF
this vast duration. In relation to our
duration Of time, that 10000 years, or
whatever else it may have been, is
but an infinitesimal fragment of time,
so far as the great phenomena of the
globe are concerned. During that
vast time the population of the globe
has undergone a slow, constant, and
gradual change, one species giving
way to another. We have passed
from slow, and gradual methods,
without vast and sudden changes,
into that state Of things which obtain
at present. I need not say that. this
view of the past history of the globe
is a very different one from that
which is commonly taken. 1t is SO
widely different that it is absolutely
impossible to affect any kind of COM
munity, and kind of parallel, far less
any sort of reconciliation, between
these two. One of these must be
true. The other is not. ,-,, hafia-