46 RELICS FROM THE WRECK 



chapters, have been examined by those who make nature 

 their study. 



At present we leave out of view the granite and other ig- 

 neous rocks ; also the metamorphic rocks ; namely, gneiss, 

 mica-schist, and clay-slate. The number of distinct beds 

 above these is no less than fifty-seven, many of which are sev- 

 eral hundred feet thick. Of course these beds do not occur in 

 a regular series one above the other ; were this the case, the 

 crust of the earth would resemble the concentric layers of an 

 onion, and would be much beyond ten miles thick. They 

 lie in patch-like masses ; generally speaking, the more an- 

 cient are the most extensive, and the more recent the most 

 circumscribed. All these beds bear distinct evidence of 

 their formation under water. This cannot be disputed, if 

 we are to take present nature for our guide. The rocks of 

 these ancient seas, lakes, and rivers, present the same ap- 

 pearances at this distant date, that are observed in estuaries, 

 the margins of lakes, and the shores of the ocean at the 

 present day. The fine mud is seen in thin layers as it ori- 

 ginally subsided to the bottom of the waters. The sand- 

 stones bear the Impress of the receding wave on the ancient 

 sea-beach. Nay, the surface of the beds are sometimes 

 pitted with the lieavy rain-drops that have fallen upon 

 tliem, when yet expanses of loose sand, and exposed to the 

 weather. 



It is not more certain that these stratified rocks are of 

 aqueous origin, than that the various formations have been 

 deposited in succession. The evidence of this remark will 

 be more fully brought out in illustrating points that are 

 not yet referred to. Meanwhile, it may suffice to state, that 

 this is proved both from the mineralogical character of the 

 formations, and their fossil contents. Not only is this true 

 of the various formations, or groups of strata ; as a general 

 principle it is also true of the members of these formations. 

 These fifty-seven beds are not simply proved to be of aque- 



