182 : NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 
valley, are identical, and have a character intermediate between a 
those of the Permian and the Jurassic. The same formation ex- _ 
tends from South Carolina to Nova Scotia. The character of the 
fossiliferous portion of the Connecticut valley shows it clearly to 
be Triassic. The Permian was a cold period. The Triassic, a 
warm period, followed. He thought it was neither Permian nor — 
Jurassic, as many supposed, but Triassic. 
Mr. W. H. Niles said the question which Professor Shaler had 
brought forward was one of great interest. He objected to the 
view taken by Mr. Perry of the formation of Florida and Hatteras. 
Professor Shaler’s view, he said, was consistent with all the phys- 
ical features of our Eastern coast. The deepest portion of the sea 
bed lies opposite the highest mountains, showing a parallelism be- 
tween the Atlantic valley and the Appalachian system. The Cin- — 
cinnati axis, he said, was instructive because showing that all 
parallel chains were not raised at the same time. The long terrace 
of the Atlantic plain forms another parallel. The streams also 
conform. The depositions are parallel with the mountain chains. 
He accepted Professor Shaler’s explanation of the elevation and 
depression of land in connection with water deposition. 
Mr. Perry remarked that when one line of upheaval crosses a 
another, it will be modified ; and a very old one will be largely dis _ 
guised, yet may have had its effects and been a cook ne ke 
Florida, affording ground for the corals to work. : 
Mr. Hyatt remarked, that besides the general westerly and caste 
erly motion described by Professor Shaler, there were evidences of 
a motion transverse to this along the coasts. Thus the north of 
Greenland, as shown by various arctic explorations, has beaches _ 
` recently elevated ; and historical records, as well as direct observa 
. tions, have proved that the south of Greenland is sinking. Dr 
Packard’s observations i in peng give the evidence of a compar- 
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estuary, or mouth of a brook, where the water had formerly been 
fresh. There were two cliffs stretching around the southern shore 
of this island, each about fifty feet high. The present sea level, 
however, at high tide, now reached the foot of the inner re a 
