T TA $ — $ * " uo 
* 
E & ; 
3 Hall on the Strata and Organic Remains ài 
A : 
v. "The present Gulf Stream carries ard, we know not how 
many miles, the mud and other detritus furnished by, the Am- 
azon; the Mississippi and other streams, and the lighter mate- 
rials are often stranded®on the north-west coast of Scotland. 
At the same time the solid substances have doubtless formed a 
deposit upon the bed of the ocean over a large part of Ecu 
it has traversed. Thousands of living shells are‘annually cov- 
. ered by the sudden deluges of mud near the shores; while - 
=" those at a greater distance live more quietly, or are perhaps | 
able to escape from this overwhelming destruction. š 
E + The,scenes how enacted in our present oceans, have bii 
the same through successive periods in remote ages, though 
perhaps under different circumstances. We know, however, 
Pa our deposits of sand and M pak to some extent also 
the caleareous oot ve been derived from certain sources, 
nd that they have beer pread in like manner over the bot- 
om, enveloping the living forms thereon. It is evident that 
the comparative thick or tenuity of a deposit, and the 
T or finer Aes its particles, indicate its proximity 
= to the source, përhaps the ‘shore of a continent, or perhaps a . 
Te OO doin A Ld 
A linanite peaks, near-to, or above the surface of the water. - 
The presence of pebbles often points conclusively to the prox- 
$i imity of J ands. while a finely comminuted p is idence : 
of greater distance from shore. c 
Under these circumstances we may expect that. the living 4 
beings, tating the bed of this ocean, v would vary in dait 
ter, not only upon different kinds of Pat different p 
. distances from land, and at differen depths o of wale im e. 
: I have met with no essay upon the ge phical dinbi : 
tion of fossils in the older rocks ; and the few facts here and - 
E gleaned, serve rather to stimulate ttai to satisfy curio- . - 
y It has been a favorite opinion of many, and frequently 
PU that the condition of this. ancient ocean was uniform, © 
and vi i moderate; and that the uniformity of organic — 
Products affords proof of the same. Without pretending: tore- - 
fute any r theories or to establish general Eu for me 
