THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



187 



found. The destructive agency of the elements 

 of their composition will readily account for tlio 

 rare intermixture of organic remains both ani- 

 nial and vegetable whicli are wanting in tlietie 

 beds. And philosophers who estimate the quan- 

 tity of sea-water as it is now found, necessary to 

 form these mineral deposites ; take not into the 

 account the modified changes wrought by thous- 

 ands of years of fresh water intermixture, after 

 the subtraction of the vast amount of saline 

 matter produced by the intense evaporation of 

 the earlier period. 



A ninth residt of the same phenomena of 

 changes was the elevation of extensive mountain 

 ranges during the different periods of the strati- 

 fie<l formations. As the primary rocks are refer- 

 red to an igneous origin, so on the contrary the 

 stratified deposites are supposed to be sedimen- 

 tary, arising from the mixed and soluble ingredi- 

 ents of the debris of the first surface lava ; mixed 

 in mo.st instances with the fragments of primi- 

 tive rocks, the effects of later convulsions. And 

 as sedimentary deposites would, when undisturb- 

 ed, be horizontal from the tendency of water to 

 always asstnne a level ; therefore when we be- 

 hold the inferior massesof primary rocks at high 

 elevations above the common level and stratifi(id 

 rocks in an inclined position upon their sides or 

 flanks, we must suppose that some internal 

 force has elevated the primary formation up 

 tlirough the secondary strata in the same manner 

 that a prism with its sharp edge .pressed up 

 through a quire of paper would leave inclinations 

 at high angles around and immediately in con- 

 tact with the instrument of protrusion. 



Geologists can thus judge of the relative ages 

 of mountain ranges by comparing the inclined 

 strata on its sides with that whicli lies horizontal 

 in the vicinity. For instance the White Moun- 

 tain range of New Hampshire have nothing la- 

 ter than the Cambrian strata on their flanks and 

 therefore the search for coal and salt, which 

 would require a deposite of nineteen or twenty 

 thousand feet of su))erior strata in its relative or- 

 der before we come to the coal, and a thousand 

 more before we may look lor salt, is equally pre- 

 posterous and hopeless. The Alleganies have 

 the Silurian strata inclined upon their flunks, and 

 the coal measures horizontal in the neighborhood 

 showing them to have been upraised between the 

 deposition of the silnvian and carboniferous stra- 

 ta. The moimtain range of the western Alps 

 of which Mount Blanc forms a part have the ])ri- 

 mary rocks flanked by the oolites, the green sand 

 and the tertiaries, showing this system of moun- 

 tains was upraised since the deposition of the 

 tertiaries and probably w itliin the historic period. 

 In the system of elevations including tlie nprtli- 

 ern Appenines, the Pyrrenees and some other 

 mountains of Europe the cretaceous beds are ly- 

 ing in disorder upon their summits and flunks. 

 while the tertiary beds are undisturbed and hori- 

 zontal in their vicinity, showing that the volcan- 

 ic phenomena in which they arc included took 

 place between the deposition of llie chalk and 

 the tertiaries. 



The question may jjossibly arise whether the 

 force of subterranean dynamics could be sufli- 

 cient not only to upraise extensive ranges of 

 mountains to a great height above the surround- 

 ing country — but also to change the level of whole 

 continents, by elevations and siibsidencies. In 

 answer I would observe that if in the present 

 period of the world's history, when tlie cooled 

 portion of the earth may he supposed to extend 

 to th.; depth of one hundred miles below its 

 Burface, and the oxidized crust to at least ten 

 miles, when the disruptured elements have be- 

 come consolidated by tinie, and strata heaped on 

 strata oppose a jiowerfnl bari'ier to internal 

 eruptive force, earthtiuakes, tlie effect of volcan- 

 ic action still renil the earth, dislocate its solid 

 parts and ingulf portions of it in subterranean 

 chasms, or elevate sections of it many thousand 

 feet above the common level, of what were they 

 not capable at an earlier period of the deposi- 

 tion of strata when their force would be infinite- 

 ly more energetic with nuich less resistance op- 

 posed to it ? 



Elevations and depressions are not uncommon 

 even in our own times. In 1757, eighteen small 

 islands were thrown up liom the sea in the vi- 

 cinity of the Azores. In 178:3, the same phe- 

 nomena ocpuvred on the coast of Iceland. In 

 the same tnanuev two iijhuids were added to the 



Aleutian group, one in 1806 foin- miles in circum- 

 ference and of .solid rocks, the other in 1814, 

 much larger and elevated to the astonishing 

 height of three tohusand feet. In IS-IO a new is- 

 land was added to the Ionian group, and in 1822 

 during the shock of an earthquake the whole 

 coast of Chili along Valparaiso to the distance of 

 one hundred miles was elevated from three to 

 live feet. Subsidencies occur al.so in difi'erent 

 parts of the earth most picdiably from the same 

 causes. Cajit. Graali in visiting Greenland in 

 1833 found on making a survey of the coast from 

 the frith of Igalliko, to Disco bay, a distance of 

 about seven luindred miles, there had been a 

 gradual sulisidence for the last four centuries, so 

 that ancient buildings in low rocky islands as 

 well as some that were near the shore on the 

 main land, had become submerged. 



A tenth and last result in this phenomena of 

 changes and revolutions was the frequency as 

 well as fiitality of the diluvial inundations during 

 the depositipn of the secondary and tertiary stra- 

 ta. The invariable displacement of waters con- 

 sequent upon the iqiheavings befpre mentioned 

 wpuld leave the marks of marine and lacustrine 

 overflowings upon all parts of the earth's sur- 

 face, and the extinction of life consequent upon 

 these inundations will account for the fossil re- 

 mains found in these strata. We may judge 

 what these revolutions were, fropi what the ef- 

 lects probably would be if a change of disposi- 

 tion were to take place in certain localities now 

 in existence. 



The Caspian sea, for instance and the country 

 adjacent comprising an area of eighteen hundred 

 square leagues is known to be depressed three 

 hundred feet below the level of the ocean. It 

 probably is an ancient basin partjally filled. 

 Should an earthquake rend the Caucasian moun- 

 tain barriers which .separate this vast basin from 

 the Black .sea, that sea would discharge its wa- 

 ters into the Caspian, the sea of Azof into the 

 Black sea, and the Mediterranean into all, altering 

 essentially the relations of land and water 

 throughout the borders of the three last, while a 

 fourth sea would arise incumbent on the Caspian 

 equalling the Black sea in its extent. The same 

 volcanic phenomena opening the mountain ridge 

 which separates the lakes Ontario and Erie 

 would drain the great lakes of the west and 

 sweep the country below Erie to the ocean. Or 

 what perhaps would be more analagous tothedi- 

 hivite of ancient times, should a vast mountain 

 range elevate its summit from below the waters 

 of lake Superior, and rising far above the adja- 

 cent country leave its sedimentary deposites aiid 

 the cordon of its rocky shores inclined at a high 

 angle upon its sides, while its waters filled with 

 volcanic miasma were poured out upon the level 

 below; such would he a liiiut outline of the 

 scenes which have been multiplied over the earth, 

 and swept to ruin not only the vegetable tribes 

 and animal races by change of elements and 

 overwhelming pressure, but even the inhabitants 

 of the deep to whom the sulphurous effluvia was 

 equally fatal. 



Not only a vast number of species but whole 

 families ol'aninials have become extinct. In tliir- 

 ty-eieht strata from the ujiper cainbrian to the 

 upper tertiary all the species have ceased to ex- 

 ist with the exception of a tew in the tertitiry 

 formalions. The researches of M. Agassiz have 

 already extended the nuniber of fossil fishes to 

 two hundred genera and nearly a thousand sjie- 

 cies. The munber of known fossil sliells in the 

 tertiaries alone amount to more tlian three thou- 

 sand; while in the first tertiary deposite fifty 

 extinct species of manininlia were discovered, 

 and nearly an equal number in the two other. 

 And we know nothing of the causes which could 

 have produced this almost universal extinction 

 of animal life if they were not of the diluvial and 

 volcanic character. 



In referring again to Prof. Buchland, he says 

 — " one of the last groat ])li\ sical events that 

 have so often and so powerfully affected the sur- 

 face of our globe, was a violent inundation which 

 overwlielmed a great jiart of the northern hem- 

 isphere." He says •' this event was followed by 

 the sudden disappearance of a large number of 

 the species of terrestrial (uiadrupeds which had 

 iidiabited those regjons in the jieriofl immediate- 

 ly preceding that event. Also that he had ven- 

 tured to ap|)ly the term diluvium to the superfi- 

 cial iK'ds of crai'el. clay and sand appareully 



produced by this great irruption of water with- 

 out identifying it with any deluge recorded in 

 history. That the large preponderance of ex- 

 tinct species among the animals found in caves 

 and in superficial dopositesof diluvium, and the 

 non-discoveiT of human bones along with them, 

 offered strong reasons for referring tiiese species 

 to a period anterior to the creation of man. 

 That as many of these animals appear to have 

 had existence during more than one geological 

 period preceding the catastrophe by which they 

 were extirpated : it seems very probable (he con- 

 tinues) that the event in question was the last of 

 the many revolutions that have been produced 

 by violent irruption of water, rather than the 

 comparatively tranquil inundation described by 

 Moses in the inspired narrative." 



We now close the history of the earlier chan- 

 ges and revolutions of the earth prior to the ex- 

 istence of man : a history written in durable 

 characters, in the monumental records of strati- 

 fied formations, and fossil remains. The full evi 

 dence seems to be before and around us of a prov- 

 idential pre|)aration for the reception of our own 

 race, and of our being placed here at an appoin- 

 ted time, after a long series of changes had ma- 

 tured the work of renovation, and after numer- 

 ous families of animals necessary in the pro- 

 gressive grades of creation, but incompatible 

 with human existence, had ceased to exist. 

 These monuments prove conclusively also that 

 man was not the only created being of the historic 

 age, bu tthat several fiimilies ofquadrupeds, some 

 of which have multiplied extensively under his 

 dominion, as the sheep, the goat, and the camel, as 

 well as the untamed antelope and cameleojjard, 

 have left no traces of their prior existence to our 

 own. 



And now shall we inquire what has been the 

 result of iilacing man, the only being amidst this 

 vast aggregate of organic life endowed with 

 those high intellectual qualities which might 

 guide to social and moral duties here and well 

 grounded hopes of another and a happier exis- 

 tence hereafter, in this beautiliil world with all 

 its mineral, vegetable, animal and terifbrm adap- 

 tations to his comfort and ha])()iness ? Unhap- 

 pily the records of the historic age, the oral tra- 

 ditions and written testimonies of its favored 

 inhabitants give dark and gloomy shades 

 to the pictures of the past — they prove 

 tliat a lawless ambition to subject the will of the 

 many to the few, and appropriate the labours of 

 the productive f lass to the vices of indolent 

 pride or wanton speculation, has made man the 

 greatest enemy of his own race, snd changed this 

 fair world into an arena of wars, of persecutions, 

 and of wide spread ruin, far diflereiit from wliat 

 it would seem ought to be the result of thosB 

 higher endowments we possess and the harmoni- 

 ous ada|)tation to their moral display with which 

 we are everywhere surrounded. 



Milking. — "Is there any remedy to keep a 

 cow^ from holding up her milk ? or in other w ords 

 to make them give it down when weaning the 

 calf.' I have two cows that hold up their milk at 

 such times, so that they would dry themselves up 

 ill a short tifiie, one of them I have milked for 

 two hours at a time, and could get but very little 

 milk, and on letting in the calf she would give it 

 down in a moment. I have been compelled to 

 let iny calf suck through the summer and fall, to 

 get any milk. Any intbrmation on the subject 

 will be gladly received. A Freeman." 



" MiddUburi/ la, July, 1840. 



Gentle tieiilmeiitat all times; accustoming the 

 heifer to having her udder handled before calv- 

 ing; and milking her at first while her c.ili' is 

 about lier, if she shows any di.'^position to retain 

 her milk, will usually prevent a cow from hold- 

 ing uj) her milk. We have never had a cow ad- 

 dicted tp this jiractice and we know of no rem- 

 edy for this habit, disagreeable as it is. when once 

 contracted. A writer in a fiirnier volume of the 

 i^few England Farmer asserts, that |ilacing-a rope 

 around the horns of a cow when in the stall, and 

 drawing her head high while being milked, will 

 not only prevent her kickin<r, hut is a remedy for 

 her holding up her milk. This may he re.nsona- 

 ble, as elevating the head must prevent that con- 

 traction of the muscles and cm valiireof the back 

 always observed when a cow holds up her milk 

 or kicks. If any of our friends know of a remedy 

 and will connnuuicate it, we will give it a place 

 with pleasure, — CiiUivcitnr. 



