NEW-YORK SYSTEM. 
25 
In the valley, at the foot of the cliff of the two counties before mentioned, a series of 
uplifts appear, commencing, or rather terminating, a short distance to the south of the Mo¬ 
hawk, widely deranging the surface of Montgomery to the north of the river, and in less 
degree that of Herkimer county. These uplifts show the lowest rocks of the west, and the 
lowest rocks of the third district; exhibiting, from the Mohawk valley to the coal of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, the whole series of “ Transition rocks.” 
With the exception of the Coal group, the series in New-York exhibits all the rocks of the 
west, with others not yet observed; presenting the most perfect succession for number, ex¬ 
tent of range, abundance of fossils, undisturbed position, and facility of examination, of any 
yet discovered. This State, therefore, should be the place to refer for a knowledge of the 
rocks of this ancient class ; and the change of name to the New- York System , is truly an 
appropriate one. 
To form some idea of the scale upon which the rocks of the United States have been pro¬ 
jected, a comparison, in few words, with Great Britain, may not be uninstructive to many, 
and not out of place. That little territory, of which England is the head, is emphatically a 
geological epitome of the world. It embraces all the classes, the groups and rocks generally, 
and the lesser products ; all which are admirably developed. It is solely to this fact, and 
the patient industry of its cultivators, that England stands at this time at the head of geology. 
But how small the scale in Britain when measured by that of the United States ! Here the 
whole Union, north and south, extending from the Atlantic to near the Pacific, is required to 
show what is contained within the small compass of its three kingdoms. 
England, from the resources which she draws from the earth, and to which, in no small 
degree, her greatness is owing, has fully proved that soil and subsoil are to a nation what body 
is to mind ; nor can such be accidental in a world of cause and effect, where chance can have 
no existence ; for “ measure, number and weight,” are connected with all things. Consider¬ 
ing the relationship as certain, how great the destiny of our States, when measured by the 
geological scale of the two nations, the people of the greater territory being the descendants 
chiefly of the lesser one. 
In proportion to the resources, the industry and the intelligence of a people, where no 
restraints exist, so will be their power, security and happiness. Agriculture is the basis of 
civilization ; but those who pursue it, if alone or insulated, could not attain to any great degree 
of either bodily comfort or mental culture ; hence, when connected with commerce, a wider 
door is opened by the exchange of each other’s productions, and comfort and knowledge 
thereby proportionally increased. As these progress, mechanics and manufactures gradually 
advance, the advancement of the whole being in proportion to the number and amount of 
resources from whence to draw ; the soil, the waters, and the interior of the earth being the 
three great reservoirs, the whole embraced within the circle of geology. 
With the Transition class a new era commences. As the Primary class is distinguished 
for its crystalline products, being preeminently the domain of crystallization , showing that 
solution reigned universally ; a new element is here introduced, that of life, giving rise to an 
Geol. 3d Dist. 4 
