AMERICAN GEOLOGY MAOLUREAN ERA, 1785—1819. 237 



of glacial drift was of course at that time wholly unrealized, and he 

 accounted for the masses of granite and syenite, weighing from 1 to 

 50 tons, which are scattered throughout the Connecticut River region, 

 as residuary fragments from atmospheric decomposition. 



What force can have brought these masses from the western hills across a deep 

 valley 700 feet lower than their present situation? Are we not compelled to say that 

 this valley was once filled up so as to make a gradual descent from the Chesterfield 

 range of granite, sienite, etc., to the top of Mount Tom? Then it would be easy to 

 conceive of their being rolled down to the top of the greenstone, where we now find 

 them. 



In this year Eaton published also his Conjectures Respecting the 

 Formation of the Earth. In this, largely following Werner, he 

 taught that the water now covering three-fourths of the earth's exterior 

 was at one time thoroughly commingled with the solid materials con- 

 stituting the globe in such a manner as to form a very thick paste. 

 Such being the primary condition, the heaviest materials contained in 

 this globular mass of mortar would soon begin slowly to settle together, 

 the heaviest naturally at the center. Further, that such settling took 

 place in inverse order of the specific gravities of particles, forming 

 thus several concentric la} T ers of metals, arranged like the coats of an 

 onion. This settling went on until finally granite was deposited, several 

 thousand years being regarded as necessary for the completion of all 

 the strata. Previous to the deposition of granite, gneiss, mica-slate, 

 and other primitive rocks, neither animals nor vegetables were con- 

 ceived to exist, for no traces of them have been discovered in the rocks 

 of these types. 



As condensation went on, the water being disengaged from the inner 

 deposits and forced gradually toward the exterior of the mass, the 

 earth paste became more diluted, and a few zoophytes, shell animals, 

 and cryptogamous plants were created, as was shown by the finding 

 of their remains in the transition rocks overlying the primitive. 



The continued dilution of the water by the deposition of the mate- 

 rials of the transition series was followed by the creation of several 

 species of fish, and as the solution was thinner the deposits of the 

 secondary rocks went on with considerable rapidity. During this 

 time the red sandstone, compact limestone, and indurated marl were 

 deposited, entombing incidentally individuals of the various plants 

 and animals enumerated. 



While this secondary formation was going on the internal heat of the earth imme- 

 diately beneath the granite, by converting the water which remained in the subter- 

 ranean interstices into steam, began to raise up the rocks of granite. The expansion 

 of this steam found relief by forcing its way wherever the least resistance was pre- 

 sented, and as strata can be separated from each other easier than they can be broken 

 through, the steam probably traveled laterally round the earth, separating the gran- 

 ite from the next stratum below. At length the force of the more highly rarefied 

 steam became too great to he any Longer confined within the coat of granite. Jt 

 burst through at the weakest part and shot forth its craggy broken edges above the 

 muddy waters which surrounded it. 



