Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-08-16
The Cabinets of the University.
(CONTINTrED.

CONTINUED
Fossils have been denominateC
the "medals of creation"- they are
historical mementos, upon which
are stamped, in legible characters
much valuable Information, such a:
the relative ages of the containing
strata, and the circumstances and
conditions, organic and inorganic
attending their origin. And what
ever of interest may attach to the
consideration of minerals and rocks
(outside of their application to the
arts and industries), much more
must apEertain to these relics of an
tecedent "tiD1e-aOOrLos ;" and the
more remote they may be from us,
the more desire will we have to
know and understand them.
The basis of our archaeological
Cabinet, is the original collection OF
Van Uxem, who, with the distin-
guished Prof. James Hall, of New
York, and four others, was appoint
ed many years ago to make thor
Ough survey of the State of New
York whose work laid the foun-
dation of that magnificent publica-
ton known as ''The Natural His
tory of the State of New York, !"
and also of the Museum now loca-
ted at Albany. The major portion
of the specimens are from New
York, as was naturally to be expec-
ted and, in consequence, the Pa
leozOic system is relatively more
fully represented than either the
Mesozoic or the Cenozoic yet the
characteristic fossils of these are by
no means absent.
The collection is arranged in ac-
cordance with the geological age of
the specimens, by periods, the old
est first and as far as practicable,
according to the Geological rela-
tions +; classes and orders distinct.
We begin with the Silurian age,
the earliest and oldest of Paleozoic
Time, and with the Primordial or
Cambrian Period, the earliest and
Oldest of this age-which is designa-
ted the Age of Invertebrates.
In the first tray we find few
specimens of Fossils from the Pots
dam Sandstone, all Lingulella pri-
ma, a Brachiopod Mollusk, and
one of the earliest forms of life of
which Geology gives us any indi-
cation. A few more from the Cal
ciferous and Chazy epochs of the
Canadian Period include represent
atives of Orthis and Atrypa (Brach-
iopods), two fine large casts of Ma
clurea Magma (Gasteropod), and a
the latter a Crustacean
Articulate, OF which form of life we
shall see very many beyond, as it
was so characteristic of the Paleo-
zoic time of the earth's history.
The next ten shelves are crowded
with Trenton Fossils. The Tren-
ton periods is spoken of as the great
Limestone period of the ancient
wocld, in which the animal life of
the seas was immense. Here are
the Orthoceratites, Cephalopods
which were so numerous and so
highly developed. A specimen be-
fore us now, (an Endoceras, from
N. " is nearly two
feet in length an Ormoceras and
a GOnioceras /; all belonging to
the same class. These Fossils
are very interesting objects of
study they are allied to the
modern Nautilus, and are by no
lowly members of the ami
nal kingdom. Then there are sew
eral beautifully perfect Conularia,
generally classed as a PterOpOd
Following on, we come
to some fine specimens of Grapto-
Iites, delicately serrated, pen-like
Crinoid stems in great
and variety, Corais of
different kinds, such as Chetetes,
both hemispherical and branched,
Columnaria Alveolata, Cyathophyl-
loids, etc. Here, too, are Recepta-
culites and other kinds of Sponges
and here is an army of Trilobites of
very many genera, Asaphus, Caly-
meme, Trinucleus-sOme entire, of
ten tightly rolled up into a ball T;
the head shield alone,
the tail. This is a most
perfect illustration of
class of Articulate animals which,
during the Trenton Period was per-
haps the. highest in the Geological
scale. Then there is a large assortment
Of the Brachiopod genera, Orthis,
Spirifer, Leptena, Terebra-
tula and others-splendid specimens
~ OEluOiu GOiuLlIlS1 dAlh d UCdulA-
fully marked head of q GlyptOcri-
mas Decadactylus. There are also
some fine Trocholites-and repre-
of the abundant genera
among Gasteropods, known as
and Murchisonia.
The Medina Sandstone, of the Nj
agara Period, contains few Fossils.
We have here some fine Fucoids
(sea-weeds), as ArthrOphycus
A few Lingulelle, and
specimens of ModiOlopsis and Pleu-
complete the list. In
the Clinton and Niagara groups the
life seems TO have been more abun-
dant and varied. A common Fu-
cold was the Rusophycus BilObatus,
several large specimens of which
are here seen. And, in addition to
the classes already named, we must
among the BrachiOpOds,
the Pentamerus, several species of
which are met with ; and among
worms, a specimen of Cornulites
worm tubes),
But here are some beauties In the
shape of Crinoids, which we must
stop to enumerate f: seven splendid