New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-19
NEW PUBLIC ATOMS.
sr1-nrNTs AND INTERPRETERS OF THE
MEANING OF THE ROCKS.

r11r FOUNDERS OF GEOLOGY. BY Sir Arch, Msc,
nc e,kie F r. q Octave, PIP X. 2os' Inc 1'
milan Company
cao,ocv has told US all that we Kho" "0'.
.,o c,onderrul changes that have gone oi -
.ha earths crust and on Its SURFACE siico W
,o,,aations OF our planet were laid Anu j. ~
roveaIed far more in regard to the oeVeiop'l1
-, animal and vegetable life through
,ass millions of years Of terrestrial history ~"
Roc the study OF existing forms But s1o'o ~
nos bea ,ts own evolution too anu 'n"' =
80, which Sir Archibald Geikie' ior i'.''
,.oors 81 the head OF the British Geolos'o"'
- has told here IN a dehShuuNy
fashion. - century there
pr,or N the middle Of the last ceh'u'' ~
,..s GOOD deal OF fanciful CONJECTURE Us ~
,oroos tina. had shaped the race Oh NV =. taot.
-. .,era vas no careful exafn"a,'o III, cor
~ - d-av,ng of conclusions IN '''' W."
-. nav Leibntz. to be sure i''i'e -, ,h.
49,. .,au ~ our globe had been io' =. .ha
$3.50 cooling. but he supposeu '. 80, .,a
-,,Io-,,,es now visible had eAs oo,,e+
- oret Button who 'houe"' ho,,eved
.o,,5 mass and not ciouo % .,e .un
49,. .,o ,nopact OF such oou' 49,, Roth
...oohad and gave rise TO 'he ''', ,,,oao,,ar,
Sna o,bnitz. as did some later ,oa.,,. ON
oo,,n,ea FOR the presence Oh mo- nv ,o,e, NV
.-,a,,s 10 600 or 1900 feet ABOVE 'e 80,
-.,ros.,,g that there was once o.,orad
80, go, than now. But they ''' .o..a
satisfactory explanation oi 'Ao .hr.s
-,-.ooronce Of a layer OF water Nv" -.o,.
- ,oen from the whole terie''' 80
49,. ,hev never dreamed that mere AnN on,
.he continents had SUNK anu 1851
hans many, times In SUCCESSION" noo,oo,.,
IT, arst practical. truly scieho'0 ,.,
,,.ho,, Sir Archibald recognizes Is jean - a
Cre,tord d715IS6). physician eo''
,s, consequently rambler CIV :. 49,.
-,,.oro1ogist AS the result OK h'S e'uN.
,,,s IN France and Southern Ensianu' -, -.
~ elaborate set of maps sho"i"s 'A sa.s
IDS or streaks of soil and stone ~ 10 ,..
A., these countries and he also ~.
certain symbols in what ioo".iN'' 80. "a
N..ou Evidences OF extinct marine lie "eIe ~
Ia found. and where terrestrial io'' -.
1Ie r,inutely described IN soiile VI n'' -
,he various organisms which ne
tho hi. prowls and also those "h'0h "eN
90 him by other people iolH QuAi'0
mines When it was suggested 'ha' 'he'O -,
d,d not represent creatures that ha0
w., h,t had been manufactured (artihciaily'
SO 70 speak) by God or satan lor eoiiie 0e's
or m,schievous purpose Gue''aru
corobated those views and showed the r"en''''
Of many Of the plants and sheiis "i'h 'i'oue'"
snac,es. Guettards most important discover
nerhaps. was that certain peaks IN CeH'' 81
Franco were dead volcanoes IL was very e"'i'
IN 1852 while he was on pedestrian ''
that he noted the peculiar character oi the oio0"
cove. that abounded near Mouns. on the Allier.
They bore a strange resemblance 70 lava uuiueu
-, s,,cb information as he could obtain from
the residents Of the neighborhood' ne hunteu
FOR a region Of greater abundance. The trail
led him several miles and then brought him 70
the summit Of conical hill now believed to
be either the Puy de la Nugere or the Puy de la
Banniere) where there was an actual crater. its
floor carpeted with grass! All along the outer
slope he found the crumbling debris of black
and red punce, spongy Stag and scoria and
he traced the lava flow from this source for at
least five English miles Further investigation
during the next few years enabled him to es-
tablish the volcanic character Of numerous other
cones. including the Puy de Dome.
Another Frenchman. Nicholas Demarest.
whose lifetime overlapped Guettard's at both
ends, made a second memorable discovery IN
connection with volcanoes, eleven years after
the historic incident just cited. At this time It
was known that basatic rocks were widely dis
tributed over Europe, but no one suspected that
they bore any relationship to lava. No satisfac-
tory theory as to their origin had been found.
Their strange columnar structure, strlkingly
revealed at the Giants Causeway and Fingal's
Cave, afforded no clew TO the process Of their
formation. Demarest while exploring the vicn-
fly of the Puy de Dome. detected something Of
the characteristic capitalization Of basalt IN the
dark rock about him. Like Guettard he fol-
lowed up the clew, and traced the formation up
TO the very edge of the crater. He erred In his
subsequent surrnise that basalt was made out of
molten granite, for he knew little or nothing Of
chemistry. But he correct in believing and
teaching that II had been elected from volcano
Some years later Demarest was impressed with
the fact that numerous adjacent ridges carried
a layer Of basaltic rock on their crests He
pected that these discovered masses were
once parts Of continuous sheet. and that It
had been furrowed, and the underlying strata
as well, by the slow but destructive action OF
water. II not the original discoverer Of the
denudng action OF streams and the origin Of
valleys, he certainly did much more than any
other scientist up to that time to emphasize this
great truth, one Of the fundamental truths Of
geology.
1t does not appear that Guettard had any
definite notion Of the sequence Of the various
kinds Of rock which he observed. Perhaps he
did not study any great mountain chains The
first men 10 call attention to an apparent order
and succession in the strata were Pierre Simon
Pallas G741-1S1D and Horace Benedict de Saus-
sure 0740-gD. The former German was
sent by Catherine III of Russia to conduct an
elaborate survey Of her empire. After six
years absence. he returned in IVA with won
derfully large and varied collection Of facts
Part OF his story related to the skeletons and
tusks Of dead elephants that strewed the soil OF
Siberia from one end to the other. There were
reports on agriculture, popular forms OF worship
and many other subjects. But one Of his most