474 



FARMERS' REGISTER— AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL. 



Cartes, Whislon, Demallet, Burnet and many 

 others, have given us nothing very interesting %i 

 the subject of geology. I must acknowledge, how- 

 ever, that I have read with much satisfaction, a 

 treatise on geology, by professor Cuvier, of Paris. 

 He has, in my opinion, made several important 

 discoveries ; his " Tlieory of the Earih," is a work 

 that will always be read with satisiiiction by all 

 lovers of science. 



Cuvier seems to be of opinion, that the original 

 strata of the earth were formerly in an horizontal 

 situation, and have lieen raised since by w hat he 

 calls subsidences, which have taken place over the 

 whole surface of the earth. From this and other 

 circumstances, he is forcibly led to believe that 

 water once covered the cartli's surface to an im- 

 mense depth, and that it must liave continued for a 

 length of time. That this was formerly the case, he 

 infers from the great variety of organic remains 

 and marine productions found in the bowels of the 

 earth. It requires very little labor or ingenuity 

 to prove this ; that our earth has been covered with 

 water cannot possibly be doubted by persons of 

 observation. The mere circumstance of shells 

 being found in the earth appears conclusive. I 

 cannot, however, be induced to believe that the ine- 

 qualities of the earth owe their origin to the flood. 

 The primordial hills and mountains that traverse 

 the continents nmst have been coeval with the 

 earth, although astonishing changes and revolutions 

 have taken place in consecjuence of the general de- 

 luge. Cuvier remarks, that if there is any cir- 

 cumstance thoroughly established in geology it is, 

 that the crust of our globe has been subjected to a 

 great and sudden revolution, the epoch of which 

 cannot be dated much farther back than five 

 thousand years ago ; that this revolution had buried 

 all the countries which were before inhabited by 

 men and by other animals that are now best known ; 

 that the same revolution had lain dry the bed of the 

 last ocean, which now forms all the countries at 

 present inhabited ; that the small number of indi- 

 viduals of men and other animals that escaped from 

 the effects of that great revolution, have since pro- 

 pagated and spread over the lands since laid dry ; 

 and consequently, that the human race has resumed 

 a progressive state of improvement since that 

 epoch by forming established societies, raising- 

 monuments and constructing systems of science 

 and learning. The earth, since its formation, never 

 was covered but once witli Avater, and that for a 

 short period. 



There are many circumstances w hich go to prove 

 that the continent of Asia remained nearly in the 

 same situation after the flood, that it did before. 

 Mount Ai'arat, on which the ark rested, was known 

 long before the flood, and many other circumstan- 

 ces prove there could not have been such great re- 

 volutions produced as Cuvier mentions. He speaks 

 of a remnant of individuals remaining, who escaped 

 from the effects of that great revolution : If he had 

 reference to the flood, and we must suppose he had 

 no other reference but its causes, he must be mis- 

 taken ; for all animated beings were destroyed ex- 

 cept the inhabitants of the ark. " And all flesh 

 d'm\ that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and 

 of cattle, and of beasts, and of every creeping 

 Jhing that crcepcth upon the earth, and every man." 

 I do not suppose that the flood could have produced 

 very great changes on tlic earth's surface; there 

 must have been strong currents in many directions, 



but a swell continued until there was a general 

 meeting of the waters: Then the surface of tiie 

 great deep must have been tranquil, unless tlie 

 earth was visited by a storm or under lunar 

 influence. Many changes, I am willing to admit, 

 must have been produced by the flood on the earth's 

 surface, many hollows, many hills and mountains 

 formed, but I am far from supposing the revolution 

 was so great as to change the beds of the oceans, 

 and throw up tlie towering mountains observed on 

 the various continents. It is well known .that 

 water seeks its level and will flow with rapidity 

 down hills and mountains, finding its way to the 

 ocean, but in the general deluge it could not have 

 continued any length of time, the valleys and hol- 

 lows were soon filled, covering gradually the most 

 elevated parts of the earth. The waters must have 

 been more tranquil in proportion to the quantity 

 collected, and as soon as the earth became covered, 

 no important revolution could have been produced 

 from its agitation. Many chemical changes have 

 taken place, such as evaporation, filtration, chrys- 

 lalizalion, and various depositions. But these 

 changes could not have been so great as to produce 

 a new set of animals; for, says this geologist, 

 " amidst these changes of the general fluid, it must 

 have been almost impossible for the same kind of 

 animals to continue to live. Nor did Ihey do so h\ 

 fact, their species and even their general change 

 with the strata." This may be the case, but we 

 have no proof of the fact. I think it highly im- 

 probable that a succession of changes in animal 

 nature could have been produced by any chemical 

 change in the ocean. The same animals are in 

 the ocean now that existed many thousand years 

 ago. The first animal given to the ocean was the 

 whalp, and they are tp be found now in abundance. 



GALEN, 



[ To be continued ] 



AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL. 



From the Genesee Fanner. 



3fessrs. Editors— I read with interest and plear 

 sure, the communication of A. M. in your 43d No., 

 relative to the manual labor school which has re- 

 cently been established near Bristol, Penn. Every 

 boy that is taught to use his hands in useful labor, 

 promises to add something to the virtue, as well as 

 the wealth of the community. I consider the 

 practice, which is daily extending, of invigorating 

 literary students by manual labor, and of infusing 

 into them th^t true spirit of independence which 

 results from one's consciousness that he can help 

 himself, as one of the greatest modern improve- 

 ments in education. But I protest against this 

 being called an jJgricuUural School. It is pro- 

 fessedly a school of theology. The hands may be 

 taught to labor; but where is the intimation that 

 the head is instructed in any one branch of science 

 which is calculated to aid or improve that labor? 

 We have many manual labor schools, but none 

 that I consider agricultural ; — many that profess 

 to make agriculture a practice, hut none that pre- 

 tend to make it a study, a paraviount study ; — 

 many that employ it as an exercise, or recreation, 

 but none that teach it as a business which the 

 [>upil is to follow for life, and in which he ought to 

 feci an ambition to excel. One business is all that 

 a boy can be expected to learn w ell at a time ; and 

 if he is destined for the desk, or the bar, or expects, 

 as many do, to live on the bread of idleness, I 



