﻿C. 
  Schuchert 
  — 
  Meberfs 
  Views 
  of 
  1857. 
  35 
  

  

  Art. 
  III. 
  — 
  Heberfs 
  Views 
  of 
  1857 
  regarding 
  the 
  Periodic 
  

   Submergence 
  of 
  Europe 
  / 
  by 
  Charles 
  Schuchert. 
  

  

  The 
  geology 
  of 
  France 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  notable 
  for 
  the 
  detailed 
  

   subdivisions 
  of 
  its 
  periods 
  of 
  time, 
  and 
  much 
  of 
  its 
  terminology 
  

   has 
  been 
  adopted 
  elsewhere 
  in 
  Europe. 
  Alcide 
  d'Orbigny* 
  

   led 
  the 
  way 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  terminology, 
  but 
  Edm. 
  Hebert 
  

   appears 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  one 
  to 
  whom 
  belongs 
  the 
  honor 
  of 
  first 
  clearly 
  

   pointing 
  out 
  that 
  the 
  oceans 
  periodically 
  but 
  slowly 
  and 
  in 
  an 
  

   oscillatory 
  manner 
  invade 
  the 
  land 
  — 
  the 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  rhythmic 
  

   and 
  partial 
  submergence 
  of 
  the 
  continents 
  by 
  the 
  oceans 
  that 
  

   is 
  destined 
  to 
  give 
  geology 
  a 
  determined 
  and 
  natural 
  chrono- 
  

   genesis. 
  Until 
  recently 
  the 
  writer 
  held 
  that 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  this 
  

   resultant 
  of 
  diastrophism 
  had 
  its 
  rise 
  in 
  Suess 
  and 
  Neumayr 
  

   of 
  Vienna, 
  but 
  the 
  honor 
  apparently 
  goes 
  to 
  Hebert, 
  f 
  dat- 
  

   ing 
  back 
  to 
  1857 
  and 
  thus 
  to 
  pre-Darwinian 
  days. 
  The 
  mod- 
  

   ernism 
  of 
  his 
  conclusions 
  is 
  striking 
  and 
  hence 
  it 
  is 
  all 
  the 
  more 
  

   remarkable 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  more 
  clearly 
  recognized 
  

   in 
  the 
  standard 
  text-books 
  of 
  geology. 
  The 
  writer 
  now 
  wishes 
  

   to 
  call 
  attention 
  to 
  this 
  brilliant 
  paper 
  by 
  a 
  great 
  stratigrapher, 
  

   and 
  because 
  there 
  are 
  but 
  few 
  copies 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  America, 
  to 
  pre- 
  

   sent 
  here 
  in 
  translation 
  its 
  main 
  conclusions. 
  The 
  translations 
  

   are 
  by 
  Miss 
  Clara 
  Mae 
  LeVene. 
  The 
  first 
  abstracts 
  below 
  are 
  

   Hebert's 
  conclusions 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  formational 
  con- 
  

   tacts 
  of 
  the 
  Jurassic, 
  and 
  these 
  are 
  followed 
  by 
  others 
  dealing 
  

   with 
  the 
  delimitations 
  of 
  his 
  " 
  terrains," 
  by 
  which, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  

   he 
  means 
  what 
  we 
  know 
  as 
  periods 
  of 
  time 
  or 
  systems 
  of 
  

   strata. 
  

  

  Previous 
  to 
  1857, 
  Hebert 
  stated, 
  + 
  the 
  geologists 
  of 
  France 
  

   held 
  that 
  the 
  periods 
  of 
  time 
  " 
  were 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  epochs 
  of 
  

   calm 
  separated 
  by 
  cataclysms," 
  believing 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  animals 
  of 
  

   each 
  period 
  had 
  been 
  destroyed 
  by 
  immense 
  cataclysms 
  which, 
  

   elevating 
  the 
  mountains, 
  violently 
  agitated 
  the 
  seas 
  and 
  drove 
  

   them 
  over 
  the 
  continents." 
  These 
  theoretic 
  ideas, 
  Hebert 
  says, 
  

   are 
  far 
  from 
  true, 
  and 
  adds, 
  " 
  We 
  can 
  boldly 
  state 
  as 
  a 
  princi- 
  

   ple 
  that 
  the 
  most 
  absolute 
  calm 
  . 
  ... 
  is 
  the 
  distinctive 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  of 
  the 
  separation 
  of 
  the 
  [Mesozoic] 
  terranes 
  " 
  in 
  France. 
  

  

  In 
  regard 
  to 
  formational 
  contacts, 
  Hebert 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  Lias-Lower 
  Oolite 
  boundary. 
  — 
  We 
  conclude 
  that 
  the 
  phys- 
  

   ical 
  conditions 
  in 
  the 
  midst 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  sediments 
  were 
  

  

  *D'Orbigny, 
  Cours 
  elementaire 
  de 
  paleontologie 
  et 
  de 
  geologie 
  strati- 
  

   graphiques, 
  1849-1852. 
  

  

  f 
  Hebert, 
  Les 
  m^rs 
  anciennes 
  et 
  leurs 
  rivages 
  dans 
  le 
  bassin 
  de 
  Paris, 
  on 
  

   classification 
  des 
  terrains 
  par 
  les 
  oscillations 
  du 
  sol. 
  l 
  e 
  Partie, 
  88 
  pages, 
  Ter- 
  

   rain 
  Jnrassiqne. 
  Paris, 
  1857. 
  

  

  \ 
  Hebert, 
  Sur 
  les 
  phenomenes 
  qui 
  se 
  sont 
  passes 
  a 
  la 
  separation 
  des 
  peri- 
  

   odes 
  geologiques. 
  Bull. 
  Soc. 
  Geol. 
  de 
  France, 
  (2), 
  xvi, 
  1859 
  : 
  596-605. 
  

  

  