The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-01-26

plat ly filled; then the aisle, were taken
anu the stage room, separated from the
main hall by folding door,, was opened. and
soon crowded to overlooking.
The lecture was illustrated bv numerous
paintings and photographs, all shown by
the al of magnificent pair of dissolving.
view stereoptlcons, Illuminated by the
powerful ony-calcium or lime light. The
plctur es as shown were about
EIGHT FEET IN DIAMETER,
this limit being set by the dimensions of
the room, though the instrument was can
able OF producing fully as fine view even
twenty-five feet across
Inc whole apparatus for projection was
placed behind the screen, entirely hidden
from the audience, and the !ecturer commu-
nlcated with the operator by means of a
nolseless electric signal
Inc speaker was listened to throughout
Win marked attention. Strict silence pre-
vailed from beginning to end, in spite of
the mixed nature of the assembly, and the
crowded condition in which all found
themselves.
DR.. Talmage commenced his address bv
directing attention to the youthful state of
the science of the earth. 1t is. he said
one OF the most recent of all branches OF
natural hlsory. Man learned to scan the
heavens and to wonder at the miracle of
creation which there he saw, long before
ne thought to look downward upon earth,
ana learn the lessons that lay recorded be-
meath mis- feet
IL Is an interesting record, this greatest of
an histories; history. loo, that takes no
lice OF all circumstances of the tines upon
which it treats, and deals not only with
monarchieS and wars.
Inc first view thrown upon the screen
represented the nebulous condition of mat
ter as represented by many occurrences in
the heavens to-day, and as scientists be-
neVe, the earth once was. This belief is in
accordance with the famous theory of La
place. BY gravitation, these cosmic parti
Giles would attract each other. thus forming
nuclei, and by their contact, generating
light and heat. Condensation and cooling
would continue till the liquid state, and
finally the solid condition resulted.
by the wearing away of the rocks
through aqueous and atmospheric agencies.
and the deposition of the debris in Akes
and seas,
VAST STRATA WOULD FORM,
holding upon their strong pages the fossil
ferrous imprints and remains of the ami
mails and plants that once lived in the re-
gion. By volcanic action these fragile
water formed layers would be covered and
bound IN substantial backing of fused
stone. A section of a volcano was shown.
lmpresslng wildly on the Observers mind
al that was said respecting these terri 6c
forces OF vulcanism.
Inc trlloblte, an early fossil, was shown
and Illustrated. 1t was a crustacean, and
derived its name from the thrice lobed form
OF It's body. Much superstition has existed
as to the origin of such fossils as these.
People used to consider them freaks of
nature, and others attributed their exist
ence to the subtle power OF Satan, though
what object his majesty could have in thus
distributing such caricatures of life through
the rocky formations of the globe is hard TO
imagine
Inc ammoDlte was another interesting
FOSSIL. This creature was a mollusc or
''shell fish," and it's remains are plentiful
In southern Utah, as are also those of the
trlloblte, already named, and many of the
interesting forms yet to follow. The
beautiful corals that adorned the
suurlan beaches, the elegant crinoids. or
stone lilies, animals in shape and other an
pearances like plants in blossom, were also
exhibited and explained. The stems of this
when threaded are called
ST. CUTHBERT's BEADS.
In the Devonian age of the worlds his
tory, wonderful fishes appeared; all belong
I'D w eAN PNhSAetl OIdCl VI SduOltlS, Sucl |
as surgeons and mud-fshes of today. and |
placoids such as sharks and rays. There |
was the pterichthys, or winged fish, with |
its hard armor and its huge paddles: this is
the creature that Hugh Miller compared to
a subaqueous boat, provided with two oars
and scull. There is the dinichthvs. or
terrible fish as the word implies, which
once abounded in Ohio; its body was fif
teen to eighteen feet long and yard thick.
Its jaws were nearly two feet long, and
were supplied with several rows of stout
teeth and pair of formidable tusks An
other monster inhabitant of the Deyonian
seas was the cephalaspis, a fish " it'll a head
shield as big as an elephants skull: hard
enough to strike fire with steel, and stont
enough to resist a musket ball
In this same age, gigantic plants an
peared. all belonging to the orders of
;ryptogams, or tlowerless plants But il is
n the succeeding, the carboniferous age
that vegetation became most rank. An
elegant view was used to illustrate this |,
condition theae were seen the lepidoden-
1rla-a huge PALM sometimes eighty feet
high, many sigillarids almost as high. and
rom two to four feet in diameter at the
BASE; also the calamites-enormous Joint
'ushes twenty or more feet high. This
'ank verdure was buried in the earth. and
oon became metamorphosed into coal.
Among the leading features Of
THE MEsOZoIC AGE
vas the pleSioSaurus and the ichthvosap