60 Geology^ S/c. of the Connecticut. 



or the trap, quitting the interval between two given beds 

 of hmestone or sandstone, makes its way across the one 

 immediately above or below, and then proceeds with a reg- 

 ularity as great between some other pair of proximate 

 strata"* (Transar Geol. Soc. Vols. 3 and 4.) 



By treating the subject in this manner I mean no disre- 

 spect to any of the distinguished men who have adopt- 

 ed either side of this question. To President Cooper es- 

 pecially, who regards the greenstone of the Connecticut as 

 volcanic, I feel much indebted for the great mass of facts he 

 has collected on the subject. And were 1 to adopt any hypoth- 

 esis in regard to the origin of o';r greenstone, it would be one 

 riot much different from his. But I confess myself somewhat 

 given to scepticism in regard to any general geological sys- 

 tem extant; and Greenough on the First Principles of Ge- 

 ology has not aided much to remove my doubts. These 

 systems have been productive of great good by spurring for- 

 ward geologists to the collection of facts with a rapidity al- 

 most unequalled in any other science. When these shall 

 be still farther accumulated, it is hoped and may be expect- 

 ed, that a second Werner will arise, who, having not merely 

 the rocks of Germany but of the whole world before him, 

 and following the inductive method of Bacon, will be able 

 to construct a system of geognosy that will stand, like the 

 Newtonian system of gravitation, on a foundation too firm to 

 be moved. Perhaps such a system, after all, will prove 

 to be an amalgamation of the theories of Werner and Hutton, 

 and those names, which now form the watch words of op- 

 posing ranks, may descend to posterity, engraven side by 

 side, in harmonious union, on the column that supports the 

 system. If geological enquiries are not tending to this point 

 we are much mistaken. 



President Cooper was led from the profile inserted in the 

 first Vol. of the Journal of Science, page 105, to conclude, 

 the Deerfield greenstone to be a dike disrupting the old red 

 sandstone. No distinction is there made between the sand- 

 stone of the east and west ranee ; but since I have ascertain- 

 ed that on the one side is old red sandstone and on the oth- 



* It is by no means improbable that similar connecting dikes may be 

 found between the greenstone beds along the Connecticut. In all the places 

 where I have examined these beds, circumstances were unfavourable for 

 disco\''ering the dikes had they existed. 



