LOST ROCKS. 15 



of material in a finer state. What an incalculable amount of 

 work has been accomplished in transporting all these materials 

 so far that the places from which they came have been lost, 

 and can not be found. Suppose it were necessary to cart all 

 the loose stuff on a township to a distance only one mile fur- 

 ther, on what terms do you think the contract would be 

 taken? But all that stuff has been moved not one mile 

 alone, but many miles, to a certainty. And not alone the 

 stuff on a township, but the stuff on ten thousand townships. 

 The work was not done, you say, by the slow process of haul- 

 ing in carts. No, indeed ; but it was done somehow, and it 

 is the same job whether performed by Nature's method or by 

 human muscle. Think of that. 



Now, what do you imagine was Nature's method? Would 

 it not be a grand discovery if we could find out? It was 

 Agassiz that ascertained this, and the discovery gained him 

 great fame. But there were others who came very near to 

 the same discovery. Suppose we could stand by and see 

 Nature in the midst of the job carting and dumping on the 

 bare surface of the rocks, the gravel and sand and clay so in- 

 dispensable to render the surface of the earth habitable for 

 man or beast or plant. I think we should consider it a grand 

 revelation of the method and mind of the Author of nature. 

 I am happy to assure you that we have found out pretty pre- 

 cisely how this immense and beneficent work was done ; and 

 this knowledge is a part of geology, and we are intending to 

 talk these matters over until you grasp the knowledge. That 

 is, we shall put you where you will be as a bystander gazing 

 on the progress of the great work as Nature herself car- 

 ries it on. 



Many bowlders attain to dimensions which are truly enor- 

 mous. The largest are found in northern New England and 

 Canada. As we proceed southward, the average size dimin- 

 ishes, and south of the parallel of Cincinnati, bowlders are' 

 entirely wanting, except along the Appalachians. In New 

 Hampshire are many immense bowlders, which have excited 

 the wonder of all who have seen them. Several of these have 



