GEOIvOGY OF IvA SAIvI^E COUNTY. 



39 



tion is in prooress now, and is going- on as rapidl\^ 

 as it ever was, as man}^ facts conclusively prove. 

 Indeed, high authorities now concede this point, 

 and this g'ranted the contest is decided. 



We believe that there is nothing- so subversive 

 of true progress in an^^ department of science as a 

 plausible working theory, and the more plausible 

 the more dang^erous. Once give it the support of 

 an eminent scholar and it goes forth to warp facts, 

 distort relations, blind observers and mislead stu- 

 dents for years, and from such hypotheses geology 

 has suffered long and deeply, and will, we pre- 

 sume, continue to for years to come. 



Covering the coal measures we have beds of 

 sand, c\3.Y, gravel and loam, very irregularly dis- 

 tributed and seemingly mingled in great confusion. 

 Scattered among these are blocks of stone of vari- 

 ous sizes, colors and composition, and the gravels 

 are of different characters, a part of them granite, 

 a part calcareous, the latter exceeding in quantity 

 the former. This heterogenous material differs 

 much in thickness at different points ; at some, 

 almost wanting', at others, more than 120 feet. 



If we examine the cla3"s we shall find them 

 very dissimilar in color and character, sometimes 

 exhibiting some traces of stratification, often form- 

 ing great lenticular masses, and often interstratified 

 with thin beds of sand and gravel. The material 

 of which they are composed has been ground to a very 

 fine powder, but here and there they contain pieces 

 of hard rock usually smoothed and rounded, and 

 sometimes by some agency that must have acted on 

 them for a long time, or have acted very energetic- 

 ally, for we find it difficult to grind them smooth 

 when broken. Moreover, there are no ledges or 



