The subterranean world

Front matter

' Ilf .

. • ••

•

Preface

’'VTATURE displays her wonders not only in the ' starry heavens or in the boundless variety of animal and vegetable life on the surface of our earth.

In the dark regions underground she likewise shows us much that is remarkable or beautiful, or carries on gigantic operations, which are sometimes beneficent and sometimes disastrous to mankind.

There lie concealed the mysterious laboratories of fire, which reveal to us their existence in earthquakes and volcanic explosions. There, in successive strata, repose the remains of extinct animals and plants. There many a wonderful cavern may be seen, with its fantastic stalactites, its rushing waters, and its noble halls. There have been deposited the rich stores of mineral wealth— the metals, the coals, the salt, the sulphur, &c.— without whose aid man would never have been more than a savage.

The aim of the present work has been to describe the wonders of this hidden world in their various relations

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VI

PREFACE.

to man, now raising him to wealth, and now dooming him to destruction.

The author trusts that he may have succeeded in giving a sketch of the phenomena resulting from the action of subterranean forces, which, with his account of the wonders of the sea, of the tropics, and of the frozen regions, may impart to the reader a fair idea of the history and present condition of the wonderful world in which we live.

Chapter I. Geological Revolutions

The Eternal Strife between "Water and Eire — Strata of Aqueous Origin — Tabular View of their Chronological Succession — Enormous Time required for their Formation — Igneous Action — Metamorphic Rocks — Upheaval and Depression — Fossils — Uninterrupted Succession of Organic Life .... Page 1

Chapter II. Fossils

General Remarks — Eozoon Canadense Trilobites — Brachiopods — Pterichthys Milleri — Oldest Reptiles — Wonderful Preservation of Colour in Petrified Shells — Primaeval Corals and Sponges — Sea-lilies — Orthoceratites and Ammonites — Belemnites — Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus — Pterodactyl! — Iguanodon — Tertiary Quadrupeds — Dinotherium - — Colossochelys Atlas — Megatherium — Mylodon — Glyptodon — Mammoth — Mastodon — Sivatherium Giganteum — Fossil Ripple-marks, Rain-drops, and Footprints — Harmony has reigned from the beginning . . 8

Chapter III. Subterranean Heat

Zone of invariable Temperature — Increasing Temperature of the Earth at a greater Depth — Proofs found in Mines and Artesian Wells, in Hot Springs and Volcanic Eruptions — The whole Earth probably at one time a fluid mass * * • • • * • • • • • « .31

CHAPTER IV. SUBTERRANEAN UPHEAVALS AND GEBrESSIGNS

Oscillations of the Earth’s Surface taking place in the present day — First ascertained in Sweden — Examples of Contemporaneous Upheaval and Depression in France and England— Probable Cutises of the Phenomenon . . .34

Vlll

CONTEXTS.

Chapter V. Subterranean Waters And Artesian Wells

Subterranean Distribution of the Waters — Admirable Provisions of Nature — Hydrostatic Laws regulating the Flow of Springs — Thermal Springs — Inter¬ mittent Springs — The Geysir — Bunsen's Theory — Artesian Wells — Le Puits de Grenelle — Deep Borings — Various Uses of Artesian Wells — Artesian Wells in Venice and in the Desert of Sahara ...... Page 39

Chapter VI. Volcanoes

Volcanic Mountains — Extinct and active Craters — Their Size — Dangerous Craterexplorations — Dr. Judd in the Kilauea Pit — Extinct Craters — Their Beauty — The Crater of Mount Vultur in Apulia — Volcanoes still constantly forming — Jorullo and Isalco — Submarine Volcanoes — Sabrina and Graham’s Island — Santorin — Number of Volcanoes — Their Distribution — Volcanoes in a constant state of eruption — Stromboli — Fumaroles — The Lava-lakes of Kilauea — Volcanic Paroxysms — Column of Smoke and Ashes — Detonations — Explosion of Cones — Disastrous Effects of Showers of Ashes and Lapilli — Mud Streams — Fish disgorged from Volcanic Caverns — Eruptions of Lava — Parasitic Cones — Phenomena attending the Flow of a Lava Stream — Baron Papalardo — Meeting of Lava and Water — Scoriae — Lava and Ice — Vast Dimensions of several Lava Streams — Scenes of Desolation — Volcanoes considered as Safety-valves — Probable Causes of Volcanoes ........... 53

Chapter VII. Destruction Of Herculaneum And Pompeii

State of Vesuvius before the eruption in the year 79 a.c.— Spartacus — Premonitory Earthquakes — Letter of Pliny the Younger to Tacitus, relating the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder — Benevolence of the Emperor Titus — Herculaneum and Pompeii buried under a muddy alluvium — Herculaneum first discovered in 1713 . 81

Chapter VIII. Gas Springs And Mud Volcanoes

Carbonic-acid Springs — Grotto del Cane — The Valley of Death in Java— -Exagge¬ rated Descriptions — Carburetted Hydrogen Springs — The Holy Fires of Baku — Description of the Temple — Mud Volcanoes — The Macaluba in Sicily — Crimean Mud Volcanoes— Volcanic Origin of Mud Volcanoes . . . .88

CONTEXTS.

IX

Chapter IX. Earthquakes

Extent of Misery inflicted by great Earthquakes — Earthquake Regions — Earth¬ quakes in England — Great Number of Earthquakes — Vertical and Undulatory Shocks — Warnings of Earthquakes — Sounds attending Earthquakes — Remark¬ able Displacements of Objects — Extent and Force of Seismic Wave Motion — Effects of Earthquakes on the Sea — Enormous Waves on Coasts — Oscillations of the Ocean — Fissures, Landslips, and shattering Falls of Rock caused by Earth¬ quakes —Causes of Earthquakes — Probable Depth of Focus — Opinions of Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Poulett Scrope — Impressions produced on Man and Animals by Earthquakes ........ Page 97

Chapter X. The Great Earthquake Of Lisbon

A dreadful All Saints’ Day — The Victims of a Minute — Report of an Eye-witness — Conflagration — Banditti — Pombal brings Chaos into Order — Intrigues of the Jesuits — Damages caused by the Earthquake in other places ; at Cadiz ; in Barbary — Widespread Alarm — Remarks of Goethe on the Earthquake . Ill

Chapter XI. Landslips

Igneous and Aqueous Causes of Landslips — Fall of the Diablerets in 1711 and 1749 — Escape of a Peasant from his living Tomb — Vitaliano Donati on the Fall of a Mountain near Sallenches — The Destruction of Goldau in 1S06 — Wonderful Preservation of a Child — Burial of Velleja and Tauretunum, of Pliirs and Scilano — Landslip near Axmouth in Dorsetshire — Falling in of Cavern-roofs — Dollinas and Jamas in Carniola and Dalmatia — Bursting of Bogs — Crateriform Hollows in the Eifel . . . . . . . . . .121

Chapter XII. On Caves In General

Their various Forms — Natural Tunnels — The Ventanillas of Gualgayoc — Eimeo — ■ Torgatten — Hole in the Miirtschenstock — The Trebieh Cave — Grotto of Antiparos — Vast Dimensions of the Cave of Adelsberg and of the Mammoth Cave — Discovery of Baumann’s Cave — Limestone Caves — Causes of their Excavation— Stalactites and Stalagmites — Their Origin — Variety of Forms — Marine Caves — Shetland- — Fingal’s Cave — The Azure Cave — Cave under Bonifacio — Grotta di Nettuno, near Syracuse — The Bufador of Papa Luna — - Volcanic Caves — The Fossa della Palomba — Caves of San Miguel — The Surtshellir . . . . . . . . . . . .133

X

CONTEXTS.

Chapter XIII. Cave Rivers

The Fountain of Vaucluse — The Fontaine-sans-fond — The Katabothra in Morea — Subterranean Rivers in Carniola — Subterranean Navigation of the Poik in tho Cave of Planina — ‘ The Stalactital Paradise ’ — The Pi uka Jama . Page 149

Chapter XIV. Subterranean Life

Subterranean Vegetation — Fungi — Enormous Fungus in a Tunnel near Doncaster — Artificial Mushroom-beds near Paris — Subterranean Animals — The Guacharo — Wholesale Slaughter — Insects in the Cave of Adelsberg — The Leptodirus and the Blothrus — The Stalita tsenaria — The Olm or Proteus— The Lake of Cirknitz — The Archduke Ferdinand and Charon— The Blind Rat and the Blind Fish of the Mammoth Cave . . . . . .156

Chapter XV. Cayes As Places Of Refuge

The Cave of Adullam — Mahomet in the Cave of Thaur — The Cave of Longara — The Cave of Egg — The Caves of Rathlin — The Cave of Yeermalik — The Caves of Grenada — Aben Aboo, the Morisco King— The Caves of Gortyna and Melidoni — Atrocities of French Warfare in Algeria — The Caves of the Dahra — The Cave of Shelas — St. Arnaud . . , . . . . . . .169

Chapter XVI. Hermit Cayes — Rock Temples — Rock Churches

St. Paul of Thebes — St. Anthony — His visit to Alexandria, and death — Numerous Cave Hermits in the East — St. Benedict in the Cave of Subiaco — St. Cuthbert — St. Beatus — Rock Temples of Kanara — The Wonders of Ellora — Ipsamboul — Rock Churches of Lalibala in Abyssinia — The Cave of Trophonios — The Grotto of St. Rosolia near Palermo — The Chapel of Agios Niketas in Greece — The Chapel of Oberstein on the Nahe — The repentant fratricide . . .178

Chapter XVII. Ice Caves And Wind-holes

Ice-caves of St. Georges and St. Livres — Beautiful Ice-stalagmites in the Cave of La Baume — The Schafloch — Ice Cataract in the Upper Glaciere of St. Livres — Ice Cavern of Eisenerz — The Cave of Yeermalik — Volcanic Ice-caves — iEolian Caverns of Terni — Causes of the low temperature of Ice-caves . .192

CONTENTS.

XI

Chapter XVIII. Rock Tombs And Catacombs

Biban-el-Moluk, the Royal Tombs of Thebes — The Roman Catacombs — Their Extent — Their Mode of Excavation — Touching Sepulchral Inscriptions — Antony Bosio, the Columbus of the Catacombs — The Cavaliere di Rossi— The Catacombs of Naples and Syracuse — The Catacombs of Paris .... Page 202

Chapter XIX. Caves Containing Remains Of Extinct Animals

The Cave Hyena and the Cave Bear — The Cavern of Kirkdale — The Moa Caves in New Zealand — Various Species of Moas — Their enormous size . .213

Chapter XX. Subterranean Relics Of Prehistoric Man

The Peat Mosses of Denmark — Shell-Mounds — Swiss Lacustrine Dwellings — An¬ cient Mounds in the Valley of the Mississippi — The Caves in the Valley of the Mense — Dr. Schmerling — Human Skulls in the Cave of Engis — Explorations of Sir Charles Lyell in the Cave of Engihoul — Caverns of Brixham — Caves of Glower — The Sepulchral Grotto of Aurignac — Plint Implements discovered in the Valley of the Somme — Gray’s Inn Lane an ancient Hunting-Ground for Mammoths . 221

Chapter XXI

TROGLODYTES OR CAVE-DWELLERS. CANNIBAL CAVES.

Cave Dwellings in the Val d’lspica — The Sicanians — Cannibal Caves in South Africa — The Rock City of the Themud — Legendary Tale of its Destruction . 232

Chapter XXII. Tunnels

Subterranean London — The Mont Cenis Tunnel — Its Length— Ingenious Boring Apparatus — The Grotto of the Pausilippo — The Tomb of Virgil . . 237

Chapter XXIII. On Mines In General

Perils of the Miner’s Life — Number of Casualties in British and Foreign Coal Mines— Life in a Mine— Occurrence of Ores — Extent and Depth of Metallic Veins — Mines frequently discovered by Chance— The Divining Rod — Expcri-

Xll

CONTENTS.

mental Borings — Stirring Emotions during their Progress — Sinking of Shafts — Precautions against Influx of Water — Expense — Shaft Accidents — Various Methods of working Mineral Substances — Working in Direct and Reverse Steps — • Working by Transverse Attacks — Open Quarry Workings — Pillar and Stall Sys¬ tem — Long Wall System — Dangerous Extraction of Pillars— Mining Implements — Blasting— Heroes in Humble Life — Firing in the Mine of Rammelsberg — Transport of Minerals Underground— Modern Improvements — Various Modes of Descent — Corfs — Wonderful Preservation of a G-irl at Fahlun — The Loop — Safety Cage — Man Machines — Timbering and Walling of Galleries — Drainage by Adit Levels — Remarkable Adits — The Great Cornish Adit — The Georg Stollen in the Hartz — The Ernst August Stollen — Steam Pumps — Drowning of Mines — Irruption of the Sea into Workington Colliery — Hubert Goffin — Irruption of the River Garnock into a Mine — Ventilation of Mines — Upcast Shafts — Eire Damp — Dreadful Explosions — The Safety Lamp — The Choke Damp — Conflagrations of Mines — The Burning Hill in Staffordshire . . Page 244

Chapter XXIV. Gold

The Golden Fleece — Golden Statues in ancient Temples — A Eree-thinking Soldier — Treasures of ancient Monarchs — First Gold Coins — Ophir — Spanish Gold Mines — Bohemian Gold Mines — Discovery of America — Siberian Gold Mines — California — Marshall — Rush to the Placers — Discovery of Gold in Australia — The Chinaman’s Hole — New El Dorados — Alluvial Gold Deposits in California and Australia — Washing — Quartz-crushing .... 285

Chapter XXV. Silver

Its ancient Discovery — Its Uses among the luxurious Romans — The Mines of Laurium — Silver Mines of Bohemia, Saxony, and Hungary — Colossal Nuggets — - Silver Ores — Silver Production of Europe— Mexican Silver Mines — The Veta Madre of Guanaxuato — The Conde cle la Valenciana — Zacatecas and Catorce — Adventures of a Steam Engine — La Bolsa de Dios Padre — The Conde de la Regia— Ill-fated English Companies — Indian Carriers — The Dressing of Silver Ores — Amalgamating Process — Enormous Production of Mexican Mines — Potosi — Cerro de Pasco — Gualgayoc— The Mine of Salcedo — Hostility of the Indians — The Monk’s Rosary — Chilian Mines — The Comstock Lode . . . 297

Chapter XXVI. Copper

Its valuable Qualities — English Copper Mines — Their comparatively recent Importance— Dreary Aspect of the Cornwall Copper Country — Botallack — Sub¬ marine Copper Mines — A Blind Miner — Swansea— Smelting Process — The Mines of Fahlun — their Ancient Records — Alten Fjord — Drontheim — The Mines of Roraas — The Mines of Mansfeldt — Lake Superior — Mysterious Discoveries — Burra Burra— Remarkable Instances of Good Fortune in Copper Mining . 315

CONTENTS.

Xlll

Chapter XXVII. Tin

Tin known from the most remote antiquity — Phoenician Traders — The Cassiteridos - Diodorus Siculus — His account of the Cornish Tin Trade — The Age of Bronze — Valuable Qualities of Tin — Tin Countries — Cornish Tin Lodes — Tin Streams — Wheal Vor — A Subterranean Blacksmith — Huel Wherry, a Tin Mine under the Sea— Carclaze Tin Mine — Dressing of Tin Ores — Smelting — The Cornish Miner . . Page 332

Chapter XXVIII. Iron

Iron the most valuable of Metals — Its wide Diffusion over the Earth — Meteoric Iron — Iron very anciently known — Extension of its Uses in Modern Times — British Iron Production — Causes of its Rise — Hot Blast — Puddling — Coal Smelt¬ ing — The Cleveland District — Rapid Rise of Middlesborough — British Iron Ores — Production of Foreign Countries — The Magnetic Mountain in Russia — The Eisenerz Mountain in Styria — Dannemora — Elba — The United States — The Pilot Knob — The Cerro del Mercado . 345

Chapter XXIX. Lead

Its Properties and extensive Uses — Alston Moor— Belgian Lead Mines — Galena in America — Extraction of Silver from Lead Ores — Pattinson’s Process — A great part of our wealth is due to the laboratory ..... 364

Chapter XXX. Mercury

Not considered as a true Metal by the Ancients — Its Properties and Uses — Almaden — Formerly worked by Convicts — Diseases of the Miners — Idria — Its Discovery — Conflagration of the Mine — Its Produce — Huancavelica — New Almaden ............ 370

Chapter XXXI. The New Metals

Zinc — The Ores, but not the Metal, known to the Ancients — Rapid increase of its Production — Chief Zinc-producing Countries — Platinum — Antimony — Bismuth — Cobalt and Nickel — Wolfram — Arsenic — Chrome — Manganese — Cadmium — Titanium — Molybdenum — Aluminium — Aluminium Bronze — Magnesium — Sodium — Palladium — Rhodium — Thallium ...... 380

XIV

CONTENTS.

Chapter XXXII. Coal

The Age of Coal — Plants of the Carboniferous Age — Hugh Miller’s Description of a Coal Forest — Vast Time required for the Formation of the Coal-fields — Derange¬ ments and Dislocations — Faults — Their Disadvantages and Advantages — Bitu¬ minous Coals — Anthracites — Our Black Diamonds — Advantageous Position of our Coal-Mines — The South Welsh Coal-field- — Great Central and Manchester Coal-fields — The Whitehaven Basin and the Dudley Area — Newcastle and Dur¬ ham Coal-fields — Costly Winnings — A Ball in a Coal-pit — Submarine Coal Mines — Newcastle — View from Tynemouth Priory — Hewers — Cutting Machines — Putters — Onsetters — Shifters — Trapper-boys — George Stephenson — Rise of Coal Production — Probable Duration of our Supply — Prussian Coal Mines — Belgian Coal Mines — Coal Mines in various other countries — Maunch Chunck . Page 390

Chapter XXXIII. Bituminous Substances

Formation of Petroleum — Enormous Production of the Pennsylvanian Wells — Asphalte used by the Ancients — Asphalte Pavements — The Pitch Lake of Trinidad — Jet — Its Manufacture in Whitby . . . . . .426

Chapter XXXIV. Salt

Geological Position of Rock Salt — Mines of North wich — Their immense Excava¬ tions— Droitwich and Stoke — Wieliczka — Berchtesgaden and Reichenhall — Admirable Machinery — Stassfurt — Processes employed in the Manufacture of Salt — Origin of Rock-salt Deposits . . . . . . . .431

Chapter XXXV. Sulphur

Sulphur Mines of Sicily — Conflagration of a Sulphur Mine — The Solfiitaras of Krisuvick — Iwogasima in Japan — Solfatara of Puzzuoli — Crater of Teneriffe — Alaghez — Blidoshegy in Transylvania — Sulphur from the Throat of Popocatepetl — Sulphurous Springs — Pyrites — Mines of San Domingo in Portugal — The Baron of Pommorao. . . . . . . .441

Chapter XXXVI. Amber

Various Modes of its Collection on the Prussian Coast — What is Amber? — The extinct Amber Tree — Insects of the Miocene Period inclosed in Amber — Formidable Spiders — Ancient and Modern Trade in Amber . . . 449

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

MAPS.

Of the World, showing the distribution of Volcanoes and the

Districts visited by Earthquakes . . . .to face ‘page 60

Of G-reat Britain, showing the Coal-fields and chief Mining

Of America, showing the Coal-fields and Mineral Districts . „ 410

WOODCUTS.

PAGE

Carboniferous Eorest . . . engraved by G. Pearson, to face title

Tabular Geological Profile of Strata with correspond¬ ing Possils ..... engraved by G. Pearson Aqueous Strata disturbed by Igneous Formations . „ „

Ammonites Henleyi (Middle Lias) from Haugh ton’s ‘Manual of Geology’

Trilobite .... from Kemp’s ‘ Phasis of Matter ’ Magnified Eye of Trilobite . . „ ,, ,,

Pterygotus acuminatus (Eurypterid) from Haughton’s ‘ Manual of Geology ’ Spirifer princeps (Brachiopod) . „ „ „

Pterichthys Milleri, restored (Old Bed Sandstone of Scotland) ....

Ventriculites , Fossil Sponge (Chalk) .

Siphonia costata, Fossil Sponge, Green Sand, War minster) .....

Encrinus liliiformis (Muschelkalk, Germany)

Pentacrinus briareus ....

Marsupites ornatus (Chalk) .

Turrilites tuberculatus

Bestored Belemnite ....

Ichthyosaurus commicnis

4 9

18 19 a xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus (British Museum — found in the

Lias of Street, near Glastonbury) from Haughton’s ‘ Manual of Geology ’ Glyptodon clavipes . . „ „ ,,

Diagram illustrating action of Syphon . engraved by G. Pearson

Section of an Intermittent Spring . . . „

Geysirs of Iceland ...... „

Porous Strata, Artesian Well sunk in the London

Basin yy

Middle and Valley Lake Craters, Mount

Gambler, South Australia from Wood’s ‘Australia’ to face page

Extinct Crater of Haleakala . . from Webb’s ‘ Celestial Objects ’

engraved by G. Pearson, to face page . engraved by G. Pearson

engraved by G. Pearson, to face page . engraved by G. Pearson

engraved by G. Pearson, to face page engraved by G. Pearson . from Wood’s ‘ Australia ’ . from Forester’s ‘ Corsica ’ . engraved by G. Pearson

Eruption of Vesuvius, Bay of Naples Mud Volcanoes of Trinidad .

Great Earthquake at Lisbon .

Axmouth Landslip

Stalactital Cavern at Aggtelek: the Cave of Borodla

Entrance to the Cave of Adelsberg Stalactital Cavern in Australia Cave under Bonifacio .

Leptodirus Hochenwartii The Proteus anguinus Blind Fish ( Amblyopsis spelceus )

Indian Rock-cut Temple . . engraved by G. Pearson, to face page

Rock Temples of Ajunta (general view) . engraved by G. Pearson

Lower Glaciere of St. Livres . . from Browne’s ‘ Ice Caves ’

Ice Streams in the Upper Glaciere of St. Livres ,, „

Entrance to the Glaciere of St. Georges . „ „

Gallery with Tombs from Northcote and Brownlow’s ‘ Roma Sotterranea ’ Cave in Dream Lead Mine, near Wirksworth, Derby¬ shire ..... engraved by G. Pearson

Boring Machine in the Tunnel, Mont Cenis \takm * rom the ‘ grated >

( London News ’ by permission )

Boring Machine in the Second Working

Gallery, Mont Cenis Tunnel . ,, ,,

Process of Boring .... engraved by G. Pearson

Section of a lead Mine in Cardiganshire | Ure’s ‘ Dictionary of Arts, >

( Manufactures, and Mines ’ . )

Part of a Colliery laid out in four panels . „ ,,

General View of Mining Operations . . engraved by G. Pearson

Tools used by Miners in Cornwall . 5 nr6’s ‘ Dictionary of Arts )

(. Manufactures, and Mines ’ . )

Conveyance of Minerals underground . engraved by G. Pearson

Miners descending Shaft in Owen’s Safety Cage . „ „

Timbering of a Mine . . . \ from Ure’s ‘ Dictionary of Arts, )

( Manufactures, and Mines ’ . ) Transverse Sections of Walled Drain Galleries „ ,,

Drainage of a Mine by Adit Levels • • „ „

Safety Lamp ..... ,, „

Gold-washing in Australia . . . engraved by G. Pearson

Stamping Mill from Ure’s ‘ Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines ’ Grinding Mill „ „ „

PAGE

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xix

The Botallack Mine, Cornwall . . engraved by G-. Pearson

St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall . . . „ ,,

Blast Furnace from Ure’s ‘ Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines ’ Pecopteris adiantoides . . from Haughton’s ‘ Manual of Geology ’

Sphenopteris affinis . . . „ „

Lepidodendron elegans „ „

Asterophyllites comosa . . ,, „

Sigillaria oculata . . . „ „

Catamites nodosus . . . ,, „

Coalbeds rendered available by elevation, from ‘ Our Coal and Our Coal Pits’

Section of Coal-field south of Malmesbury ffrom ^re s Dictionary of Arts, 1

l Manufactures, and Mines . J

Coal-basin of Clackmannanshire . ,, ,,

Dudley Coal-field . . from Howitt’s ‘ Visits to Remarkable Places ’

Shipping Coal „ ,, „

Coal Hewers at Work . . . engraved by G. Pearson

Pitch Lake of Trinidad . . engraved by G. Pearson, to face page

Insects and Vegetable Substances inclosed in Amber, engraved by G. Pearson Penrhyn Slate Quarry, North Wales . engraved by G. Pearson, to face page

PAGE

392 392

The following is a list of the full-page illustrations, included in the foregoing list, all of which, except No. 2, are engraved by G. Pearson : —

1. Carboniferous Forest . ... to face title

2. Middle and Valley Lake Craters, Mount Gambier,

South Australia . . . to face page 53

3. Eruption of Vesuvius, Bay of Naples . . ,,81

4. Great Earthquake at Lisbon . . . ,,114

5. Stalactital Cavern at Aggtelek ; the Cave of Borodla ,, 133

6. Indian Rock-cut Temple : Porch of the Chaitya Cave

Temple, Ajunta . . . . ,, 178

7. Pitch Lake of Trinidad . . . „ 429

8. Penrhyn Slate Quarry, North Wales . . „ 469

Chapter I. Geological Revolutions

The Eternal Strife between Water and Eire— Strata of Aqueous Origin — Tabular View of their Chronological Succession — Enormous Time required for their Formation — Igneous Action — Metamorphic Rocks — Upheaval and Depression — • Eossils — Uninterrupted Succession of Organic Life.

GEOLOGY teaches us that, from times of the remoteness of which the human mind can form no conception, the surface of the earth has been the scene of perpetual change, resulting from the action and counter-action of two mighty agents — water and subterranean heat.

Ever since the first separation between the dry land and the sea took place, the breakers of a turbulent ocean, the tides and currents, the torrents and rivers, the expansive power of ice, which is able to split the hardest rock, and the grinding force of the glacier, have been constantly wearing away the coasts and the mountains, and transporting the spoils of continents and islands from a higher to a lower level.

During our short historical period of three or four thou¬ sand years, the waters, in spite of their restless activity and the considerable local changes effected by their means, have indeed produced no marked alteration in the great outlines of the sea and land ; but when we consider that their in¬ fluence has extended over countless ages, we can no longer wonder at the enormous thickness of the stratified rocks of aqueous origin which, superposed one above the other in successive layers, constitute by far the greater part of the earth-rind.

Our knowledge of these sedimentary formations is indeed as yet but incomplete, for large portions of the surface of the globe have never yet been scientifically explored ; but a

THE SUBTERRANEAN WORLD.

careful examination and comparison of the various strata composing the rocky foundations of numerous countries, have already enabled the geologist to classify them into the following chronological systems or groups, arranged in an ascending series, or beginning with the oldest.

1. Laurentian, named from its discovery northward of the River St. Lawrence in Canada.

These three groups owe their name to their occurrence in Wales and Devonshire, where they were first scientifically ex¬ plored.

Carboniferous. In this group the most important coal¬ fields are found.

6. Permian, from the Russian province of Permia.

7. Triassic.

8. Lias.

9. Oolite.

10. Cretaceous.

11. Tertiary : subdivided into Eocene, Miocene, and Plio¬ cene.

Cambrian

Silurian

Devonian

12. Recent marine and lacustrine strata.

Each of these systems consists again of numerous sections and alternate layers, sometimes of marine, sometimes of freshwater formation, the mere naming of which would fill several pages.

When we reflect that the Laurentian system alone has a thickness of 30,000 feet ; that many of the numerous sub¬ divisions of the Triassic or Oolitic group are 600, 800, or even several thousand feet thick, and that each of these enormous sedimentary formations owes its existence to the disintegration of pre-existing mountain masses — we can form at least a faint notion of the enormous time which the whole system required for its completion.

Had the levelling power of water never met with an antago¬ nistic force, there can be no doubt that the last remains of the dry land, supposing it could ever have risen above the ocean, must long since have been swept into the sea. But while water has been constantly tending to reduce the irregularities of the earth’s surface to one dull level, the expansive force of subterranean heat has been no less unceasingly active in

TABULAR GEOLOGICAL PROFILE.

STEATA

1. Recent Deposits

2. Pliocene

3. Miocene

4. Eocene

5. Cretaceous.

6. Oolitic nrr^i i — ir11 ~r

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7. Lias

• •

8. Triassic

9. Permian

10. Carboniferous .

11. Devonian

12. Silurian

13. Cambrian

14. Laurentian

CHARACTERISTIC FOSSIL REMAINS

2. Pliocene.

1. Recent Deposits.

Irish Elk.

3. Miocene.

(1) Cerithium.

(2) Segnoia.

4. Eocene.

(1) Nummulites.

(2) Natica.

5. Cretaceous.

(1) Inoceramus.

(2) Turrilites.

(3) Pecten.

(4) Hamites.

6. Oolite.

(1) Pholcidomya.

(2) Trigonia.

(3) Mantellia.

(4) Nerincea.

7. Lias.

(1) Idhyosaurus.

(2) Ammonites.

8. Triassic.

(1) Labyrinthodon.

(2) Encrinus.

9. Permian.

(1) Bakewellia.

(2) Productus.

(3) Palceoniscus.

10. Carboniferous.

(1) Goniatites.

(2) Lepidodendron.

(3) Catamites.

11. Devonian.

Pterichthys.

12. Silurian.

(1) Strophomena.

(2) Lingula.

(3) Pentamerus.

(4) Calymene.

13. Cambrian.

Oldhamia.

14. Laurentian.

Eozoon.

THE SUBTERRANEAN WORLD.

restoring tlie unevenness of the external crust by the ejection or protrusion of new masses of stone (porphyry, trachyte, basalt, lava, &c.), and by the consequent disturbance, in a variety of ways, of the stratified rocks.

Plutonic and volcanic eruptions and upheavings, in their reaction against the levelling tendencies of water, have in many places deranged, broken, fractured, contorted, or raised strata deposited in horizontal layers at the bottom of

AQUEOUS STRATA DISTURBED BY IGNEOUS FORMATIONS.

BCD, aqueous strata, originally horizontal, raised by protrusion of A, granitic rock.

the sea, or of large inland lakes. Sometimes a huge mass of crystalline rock, glowing from the furnaces of the deep, has, by its irresistible expansion, slowly forced its way through the superincumbent sedimentary formations, which, yielding to the pressure from below, now form vast mountain slopes, or vertical rock walls, or have even been so totally inverted that strata of a more ancient formation now overlie those of more modern date, and excite the wonder of the puzzled geologist.

Sometimes, also, volcanic eruptions, repeated through a long lapse of ages and constantly accumulating lavas and cinders, have at length piled up large islands, such as Ice¬ land or Madeira, which now raise their summits thousands of feet above the ocean.

But subterranean fire, and its assistant, steam, have not only produced vast mechanical changes ; they have also been the frequent causes of great chymical metamorphoses in the rocks subjected to their action. To the calcining, decomposing, and vapour-generating effects of heat, we trace the origin of the marble of Carrara, of alabaster, of gypsum, and all those

PERIODS OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS.

various species of' stone which geologists include under the name of metamorphic rocks.

Besides the more paroxysmal and violent revolutions resulting from the action of subterranean fire, we find that the earth-rind has at all times been subject to slow oscillatory movements of upheaval and subsidence, frequently alternating on the same spot with long periods of rest. The greater part of the actual dry land has been deep sea, and then again land and ocean many times in succession ; and doubtless the actual sea bottom would exhibit similar alternations were we able to explore it. The same materials have repeatedly been ex¬ posed to all these changes — now raised or poured out by subterrannean fires, and then again swept away by the waters ; now changed from solid rock into sand and mud, and then again converted, by pressure or heat, into solid rock. Thus the history of the earth-rind opens to us a vista into time no less grand and magnificent than the vista into space afforded by the contemplation of the starry heavens.