THE 



MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL 



OF 



GEOL.OGY 



AND NATURAL SCIENCE. 



Vol. 1. Philadelphia, February, 1832. No. 8. 



GEOLOl^Y, No. 2.— ON THE ORDER OF SUCCESSION OF THE 

 ROCKS COMPOSING THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 



The e: istence of an expansive subterranean power, generated 

 by heal, is so well established by volcanic phenomena, as to ren- 

 der it unnecessary at present to support that opinion, by enter- 

 ing upon any discussions respecting what has been called central 

 heat, founded upon the temperature of the earth, the ocean, or 

 that of tb'3 thermal springs found in different parts of the world. 

 With a view to apply that kind of knowledge appropriately, we 

 shall here fter recur to these branches of our subject. 



We ha v e given on the next page a tabular view of the known 

 rocks of the crust of the earth, comprehending the general geo- 

 logical series of beds, of which that crust is composed ; and lying 

 in that relative order to each other in the series, according to 

 which the) are here enumerated. That is to say, that No. 18 

 is never found underlying No. 17, or No. 9 overlying No. 34, 

 We take i f icse examples at random, and mean merely to assert, 

 that the onier has not yet, in any part of the world, been found 

 inverted; av^d therefore we reasonably conclude, that each of the 

 beds of the eries has successively come into the place it is con- 

 stantly founi i to occupy. If we could assert with equal certainty, 

 that all thf i beds were to be found thus overlying each other 

 in every p > i of the World, then we might generalize still fur- 

 ther, and ou V , that this observed order of the beds, was an effect 

 of causes gelieral to all the parts of the world ; but the present 

 state of geological knowledge does not authorize us to assert 

 universal for/nations. 



Although e know that all these beds of the general geologi- 

 Vol. L — 43 337 



