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[Assembly 
lifted at the close of the transition period, this so called new world, 
at least our portion of it, is, geologically, for its extent, the oldest 
known. 
This early uplifting of our transition, admirably explains why it 
is that a great salt deposition, which, in Europe, finds a place in 
the secondary, should here be in the transition class. Salt is equal- 
ly a product of the transition of both continents, but there it is par- 
tial, from the partial exposition of the transition; its presence there 
shows that the condition for its deposition equally existed on that 
continent; whereas the. extent of the transition here being analo- 
gous to the extent of the secondary there, the development of our 
deposition of salt has been in accordance with the extent, or scale, 
of our transition. 
This early extensive uplifting of our transition, also explains the 
total absence of all those so called, undoubted, volcanic products, 
which, in Europe, are more modern than the cretaceous group. 
None but those hitherto called dubious, such for instance as ac- 
company the red sandstone, being found within the limits of the 
States. This early uplifting, and comparative little elevation, be- 
ing the result of the great depth and great extent to which the 
cooling of our portion of the globe, at that early period, had at- 
tained, and fully explains our exemption from earthquakes and 
stability of our land. A few comparisons with some parts of Eu- 
rope best known, will fully elucidate this point. 
The Alps, according to Mr. Elie de Beaumont, from ample geo- 
logical evidence, attained their present elevation after the deposi- 
tion of the cretaceous group. The Pyrenees, whose height reaches 
to 10,000 feet, are covered with a secondary limestone, and like 
the Alps, were uplifted during the tertiary period, each acquiring 
at that period a height of several thousand feet. 
In the United States, to the east of the Mississippi, the tertiary, 
with its accompanying secondary, in no place attains a greater 
elevation than probably 200 feet above the ocean, and so gradual 
has been its rise along the whole of the coast of the United States, 
extending up the Mississippi valley to ttie southern part of Tenne- 
see, as to appear as though the ocean had gradually receded from 
it. 
