New-York tribune., 1877-06-27

of uDheayul and subsdcuce OF cOrrugaton and
crtfnniiug OF the great mountain chains alike. One
measures the rate o. past geological arton by the phe-
noneua of To day; the other asserts tbat tue present Iu
nshes absolutely key This rrcconcilahle difference
tho past history OF life on the planet, catasr0phei
ol It's earliest introduction, thcn creation must nects-
saiy have been often repeated II this the case IL
plain that the Creator took pans each time To improve
on the lately ob'lterated forms. II, on the 0ther
hand, the UBforniiauan biologists are correct III
their belief OF the descent o all animal liie rom one
or few primcva types, then ca1astrOphts of UNI,
S & ici, are nrov,n to have taken place IN the
earhs sur.ace may have been moderate and hifui,
less as they maintain. The bniiOrmtiaus fecc' fapi
| dfr,cve rsfe Of reooplcl revolution in the past,
first because the present course OF offers no p-
cnpiS mar uafurc never moves hy leaps They derive,
gceat comfort from quoting the weknown saying OF
Aristotle that Nature never does Win her greater
Oecng 20 cat1strOphes account OF the vast IOrcc
necessitateC. confess that this seems to me sns
failacious view. Absolutely identical eXpehsulurcH
energy required elevate continent OF eciho'
an ocean basin gwen distances whether the oleiVh -
instantaneous iuhuitely slow NO gcoiOgis VIII ns %
tafe moment to admit that the question net Weeh lh
schools Is of geological result S1f puth It %
the results alike. sure no student OF energy VII
object 10 my statement that the result requires dthl'l
energy whether employed after the miiOrmiLrLin OF
the catastrophe method. IT, as assert geolOSie.h
suit and the energy produce 10, are IDENTICAL WHICH
ever school Is correct. tncu tie only issue between tue
contestants reduces itself simply aud so4ey 10 the one
question OF rate OF geological change IN that NicNt
= y vi vi ia hsci SVard ,nfo the deep past This r.
the belief limited al boy Aristotle and Pythag9ras fought
for by Guethc, Lamarch, ana GeOnrSy - ilit ho'N
to oy Hutton, Lyel and most British geoloests' ac
cepted With "A lovers credulity by nearly all eN0uoh-
Isle and finally trumpeted about by The army OF sceh-
tide fashion followers who would ady die rather tan
be caught wearing obsolete mode or believing ia any
q" he t5er hand Catastrophsm Of the orthodox sort
belief recurrent abrupt acceeraons 81 geologic
crustcange, violent IN Their rpuy a 10
sfiov an lie on tlc globe Ths idea the mere survival
OF prehistoric terror. backed up by breaks IN the aa-
onfoiogca record aud protected within those sale ctcs
of rcfige. the cosmosoues, was fully credited by so
rnas "A
Is soldiers few OF the cast-irOn ueiects oI to-day
RADICAL UNIFORMIrABIANisM.
Sweeping Catasrophlsm error Of the past Radl-
cal Unfornitauansm, however persists, ana prOOaDiy
controls the faith OF majority Of ccoogists and boo-
nists single extract from late and so important
book as Crolrs Climate and Time will to show
how s.rong men still believe in what may ne called
homeopathic dyuamics Speaking OF UniformitarianSn'
Crou SAYS: This piiosophic school teaches, and tat
truly that the great changes undergone by the earIhs
crust must have been produced not ny convusons and
catacysms Of nature, but BY those ordinary agencies
that We see at work every day around us, such as ran
SNOW. FROST ice, and chemical action, etc"
Having reduced the antasonism Of the two schools 70
q question OF of transference Of energy single u.
ustraOn VIII 70 render clear now tue amount oi
energy remaining the same, TINS difference OF rae No,
make the difference between uniformity dhd catstroph'
SuunOse two railway trains of cqua weight clch trayel
ng at 80 miles hour On oae steam is suddenly smut
from the cylinder The train gradually l.s'eIs
and lessons speed, finally coming to rest. IL
has required given definite amount of resistance,
numerically expressihlc amount of work To overcome
the motion 0f the train Tue other ira It fu speed - e
against a bridgc-pcr and is utterly wrecked iue
weight, speed and moment Gln uI luc Trans were mh
teal and precisely equal Resistance hrs hcch eHpeude.
I'M bringing them 20 stOp. In one case tie rale OF re-
sl,tance vac slow, aud acted merely as !ncuou iuc
halmessy life ana after the uu!lormif-uan mode
In tho other the rate OF resistance fatally rapid ana
It's result catastrophe.
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF \ CONTINENT.
Remembering distinctly that Unifomitariansm claims
one dynamic rate past and present. let us turn % tie
broader geological features OF North America and try 90
uurave the past enough 10 test tae tenes of the two
schools by actual fact Beneath our America lies buried
another distinct contineut-an Archpan America. is
original coast lines may never be able fully % survey
bu ifs eeat features the lofty chains Of the mountains
winch made rs bones were very nearly coextensYe
with our existing So STEMS the Appaohians and Cor
deras The canoucutting rivers of the present Western
mountains have dag the peaks and TANKS Of those
uu riyine pfimeval Upfts aud developed am astonis-
fer fr ci bases: urecn.ces ftIng bold solid fronts
10000 feet into th- air. and profound mountain valleys
rents OF rIe OuatcrIrv age-that is 90 say. w.thin
the human pcTiOd-briugs 20 light buried primevdl
chains iU loftrr thau any OF the present hlsht- o
the Globe. Mans enthusiastic hand mas clear away
the shallow dust or rubbish nom an oriental Gy
Iauuitlcs: il is only mountain torrent wich can dig
tlr0Ugh thousands OF 1cei OF sn4 IorN ah it- 4h me
Archgdn America was made mp Of VIVA, was originally
vast mountain chains, winch we're eroded bv torrents
into true subaerI. mountain peaks This conversion of
strata into the early continent Is the 1tt record OF
series OF 0,cauos I'D "ncA aA ana 'td 'u'e'a7! rev
occupied the area Of America. tn prcttubilau uinc
of ts l'1iID-4n ions as islands aud the nc.shosins
oceans flowed it. their bottoms emerging and be-
coming continents This D. second oI The recorded os-
cillatious Cf the fgst magnitude
After ArchaAmerica lad begun 90 sink and ts bound
slee Sf Mn. acean h.er 10 snow c,lc,.risf. i p
cuce Of bc1ayiUf-ilel me- in the rate %. suhsideacc
tlat very difference OF rate which Cnio'mtar-ahsn de-
Pala-Pacids and P4la-Atantis We're land areas which
I conceive 10 be OF continental min udc from the vast
volumes OF sediment brought down by their rivers and
poured into tire PaleAleIcan Ocean American ec0lo-
gsts have found the record along the eastern margin of
That ocean. namely, the present Appalachian region 20
legibe that they are agreed as 10 It's uau features.
winch frmged the shore Oi PhH-Atautis about
4J 900 feet IN maX mum, bu nr original ocean, wien
strata began 10 garLer, was not $1,000 iee deep Tat
by successive suDsdrnccs VI the sea bottom. TIE
shows evidence of shallow water V1cE deepeaed by the
occasional sinking OF tie sea nuor. This periodic sub
Gleucug tAy Appalachian region, ald during the whole
coal-ucfrin- - io1 af ct4g the sea bottom as Ear as
Car.ouifDruls after which successive lOW-ievel Land
areas repeatedly occupied the east han Of The present
Gissies-i iiDl ..-,n
OCEAN BEDS UPLIFTED.
This immensely long history Of periodic but general
subs,dcace vas broken in the north east by several
sudden uplf in which the strata DISTURBED
and incl ned that the succeeding beds rested them
csntormlny, and in one instance the Green Mountain
range V.s uphcaved. tn" general law the east side
of the PacAmcrican ocean las been The continual III
pout'ug Of sediment from Pae-tteuts, subsistence OF
se bottom repeated great number OF times. and only
locally yar,l Jy Iisocston aud u,lfis. very umi.ed
but NOT uup poraut chapter bass us been added 20 the
American rock record d. .Ie geological cyp..iati0n OF
4otu parac it is Tho mode of deposition OF the PaGo
Z Die rock ID Western United STATES.