672 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
CwOvoGg ye 
GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF BIBLE LANDS. 
PRINCIPAL J. W. DAWSON. 
[We find in an Auburn paper an abstract of two of Principal Dawson’s lec- 
tures at the Theological Seminary in that city upon ‘‘ The Geological Features of 
Bible Lands.” That upon the special topic, ‘‘ The Geology of Egypt in Relation 
to the Hebrew Sojourn,” is as follows :—ED. | 
On the blackboard was a section illustrating the geological structure of 
Egypt, drawn in white chalk. Underneath this was written the following scheme: 
ranite and Diorite )} , ° 
eee Stales } Co) 
Nubian Sandstone, (Carboniferous), 
Nummulitic Limestone. 
Later Tertiary. 
Alluvial. 
The lecturer began by alluding to the sojourn of Israel in Egvpt. He took 
the view that this lasted through the entire period of 430 years, mentioned in the 
Bible, as opposed to the view that the 430 years began with the departure of 
Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees. Then, after noticing the importance of the 
sojourn in Egypt, as a means of training to the chosen people, he entered upon 
the geographical character of Egypt, the country of the sojourn. He cited the 
ancient saying that ‘‘ Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” The narrow strip of fertile 
country broadening out, to the north, into the Delta, is made by the materials 
brought down and deposited by the great river. Apart from this, Egypt is simi- 
lar, geographically, to the rest of Northern Africa. 
Pointing to the large map of Egypt the lecturer called attention to the 
Lybian hills on the east, the Nubian hills on the west, and the valley of the 
Nile between them, and then took up, in order, the scheme on the blackboard. 
The oldest Egyptian rocks are the granite and diorite, the latter often called basalt 
by travelers. These are igneous and eruptive in their origin, that is, formed by 
the action of fire, and pushed up above their former level by eruptions. The lec- 
turer pointed out on the map the distribution of these rocks, and filled up the 
places assigned to them in the section on the blackboard with little crosses marked 
in red chalk. He also exhibited specimens and explained the uses made of them 
by the Egyptians. The great obelisks, the facings of the pyramids, and other 
like works were made of granite, quarried at Syene, and floated down the Nile. 
In the geography of the country, also, the granite foundation was important. It 
caused the cataracts of the Nile, thus forming the limit of Egypt. The succeed- 
ing parts of the scheme on the board were treated in the same way. 
This analysis was followed by a rapid sketch of the formation of the land of 
Egypt, first by the upheaval of the igneous rocks, then by the depositing, upon 
