56 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



various parts of the coast. One or two general 

 remarks may, however, be requisite before pro- 

 ceeding to our particular description. 



In the Hypogene and Volcanic rocks, and the 

 various groups they comprehend, there are no 

 appearances of organic remains. These rocks 

 include granite, porphyry, basalt, trap, and others 

 which are of a crystalline structure, and evidently 

 appear to have assumed their peculiar forms under 

 the action of intense heat. This circumstance is 

 of itself sufficient to account for the fact that 

 those rocks are entirely destitute of the fossil 

 remains either of plants or animals. 



All the other geological formations, comprised 

 under the rocks which are more or less stratified, 

 have the hypogene or primary rocks for their 

 foundation, and in the destruction of which they 

 seem in great measure to have originated, by being 

 deposited in the basins of lakes, bays, and estua- 

 ries, and in the profound depths of the ocean. 

 The alluvial deposits, like the stratified rocks, 

 owe their existence to the agency of water, and 

 consist of accumulations of water-worn and drifted 

 materials. All these formations abound in fossil 

 remains peculiar to their respective geological 

 epochs, and in this respect essentially differ from 

 the rocks which form their foundation, and which, 

 as already stated, owe their peculiar structure to 

 the agency of heat. 



In taking into view the fossils of our sea-shores, 

 we shall first notice those of the most anci mt of 

 the fossiliferous strata, all of which belong to 



