PART I.

Well might our immortal Shakspeare talk of "_Sermons in stones_;" and Lavater exclaim, that "_Every grain of sand is an immensity_" and the author of 'Contemplations of Nature' remark, that "_there is no picking up a pebble by the brook-side without finding all nature in connexion with it._"

I shall confine my remarks to a _flint_ pebble, as being the kind of stone familiar to every one. The pebble I hold in my hand was picked up in the bed of the torrent which is dashing down the side of yonder hill, and winding its way through that beautiful valley, and over those

Huge rocks and mounds confus'dly hurl'd. The fragments of an earlier world,

which partially filling up the chasm, and obstructing the course of the rushing waters, give rise to those gentle murmurings that are so inexpressibly soothing and delightful to the soul.

[Sidenote: ORIGIN OF THE PEBBLE.]

Upon examining this stone I discover that it is but the fragment of a much larger mass, and has evidently been transported from a distance, for its surface is smooth and rounded, the angles having been worn away by friction against other pebbles, produced by the agency of running water. I trace the stream to its source, half way up the hill, and find that it gushes out from a bed of gravel lying on a stratum of clay, which forms the eminence where I am standing, and is nearly 300 feet above the level of the British Channel. From this accumulation of water-worn materials the pebble must have been removed by the torrent, and carried down to the spot where it first attracted our notice; but we are still very far from having ascertained its origin. The bed of stones on the summit of this hill is clearly but a heap of transported gravel--an ancient sea-beach or shingle--formed of chalk-flints, that at some remote period were detached from their parent rock, and broken, rolled, and thrown together, by the action of the waves. We are certain of this because we know that flints cannot grow;[A] that they were originally formed in the hollows or fissures of other stones; and upon inspecting the pebble more attentively, we perceive, not only that such was the case, but also that it has been moulded in _Chalk_, for it contains the remains of certain species of extinct shells and corals, which are found exclusively in that rock. Here then a remarkable phenomenon presents itself for our consideration; this flint, now so hard and unyielding, must once have been in a soft or fluid state, for the delicate markings of the case and spine of an _Echinus_, or Sea-Urchin, are deeply impressed on its surface;[B] and a fragile shell with its spines, is partially imbedded in its substance.[C] Nay more, upon breaking off one end of the pebble,[D] we find that a sponge, or some analogous marine zoophyte, is entirely enveloped by the flint; and also that there are here and there portions of minute corals, and scales of fishes. What a "_Medal of Creation_" is here--what a page of nature's volume to interpret--what interesting reflections crowd upon the mind!

[A] "_Flints cannot grow._"--Here I would digress for a moment to notice an opinion so generally prevalent, that perhaps some of my young readers will not be prepared at once to answer the question--_Do stones grow?_ The farmer who annually ploughs the same land, and observes a fresh crop of stones every season, will probably reply in the affirmative; and the general observer who has for successive years noticed his gardens and plantations strewn with stones, notwithstanding their frequent removal, may possibly entertain the same opinion; but a little reflection will show that stones cannot be said to grow or increase, in the proper acceptation of the term. Animals and plants grow, because they are provided with vessels and organs by winch they are capable of taking up particles of matter and converting them into their own substance; but an inorganic body can only increase in bulk by the addition of some extraneous material; hence stones may become incrusted, or they may be cemented together and form a solid conglomerate, but they possess no inherent power by which they can increase either in size or number--_they cannot grow_.

[B] Plate I, _a_.

[C] Plate I, _b_.

[D] Plate I, _c_.

[Sidenote: FOSSIL ECHINUS WITH SPINES.]

[Sidenote: FOSSIL SHELLS IN CHALK.]

To avoid confusion, we will reverse the order of our inquiry, and first contemplate the formation of the flint in its native rock. The Chalk, that beautiful white stone, which (as an American friend, who saw it for the first time, observed), is so like an artificial production, abounds in marine shells and corals, and in the remains of fishes, crabs, lobsters, and reptiles, all of which differ essentially from living species; although a few of the corals and shells resemble, in some particulars, certain kinds that inhabit the seas of hot climates. These remains are found in so perfect a state--the shells with all their spines and delicate processes (_Lign. 3_), and the fishes with their teeth (_Lign, 4_), scales, and fins, entire--that no doubt can be entertained of the animals having been surrounded by the chalk while living in their native sea, and that many of them were entombed in their stony sepulchres suddenly, when the rock was in the state of mud, or like liquid plaster of Paris.[E]

[E] See Note I. _Shells in the Chalk._

[Sidenote: SHELLS AND FISHES IN CHALK.]

But besides the fossils which are obvious to the unassisted eye, the Chalk teems with myriads of minute forms that may readily be detected with a lens of moderate power; and even when these have been extracted, the residue, which appears to be merely white calcareous earth, is found, when examined under the microscope, to consist almost wholly of bodies yet more infinitesimal--of perfect shells and corals, so minute, that a cubic inch of chalk may contain upwards of a million of these organic remains (see _Lign. 5_)!

The Chalk is stratified--that is, divided into _strata_ or layers--as if a certain quantity of mud had sunk to the bottom of the sea, and enveloped the shells, corals, &c., which fell in its way, and had become somewhat solid before another layer was deposited upon it.

[Sidenote: FLINT NODULES AND VEINS.]

The mineral substance termed _silex_ or _flint_, is variously distributed in the chalk. It most commonly occurs in the state of nodules of an irregular or spheroidal, globular figure, which are arranged in rows parallel and alternating with, the cretaceous strata; it is likewise disposed in continuous thin layers, which are spread over considerable areas; and it often forms horizontal, vertical, and oblique veins, that fill up the fissures and interstices of the chalk. The siliceous nodules frequently enclose corals, shells, sponges, and other organic remains, as in the pebble before us; and in many instances these fossils are found partly imbedded in the chalk and partly invested with flint. But though flints contain in abundance relics of the same species of marine animals as the chalk, they are not like that rock composed of an aggregation of fossil remains; on the contrary, the siliceous earth, which is their constituent substance, was evidently once in a state of complete solution in water, and precipitated into the chalk before the latter was consolidated, the organic bodies serving as nuclei or centres around which the silex concreted; for the deposition of the flint, like that of the chalk, appears to have taken place periodically.[F]

[F] Note II. _Wood in flint._

[Sidenote: ANIMALCULES IN CHALK.]

The composition of the Chalk, and the prevalence throughout that rock of the relics of animals that can only live in salt-water, prove incontestably that the chalk and flint were deposited in the sea; and that our beautiful South Downs, now so smooth and verdant, and supporting thousands of flocks and herds, and the rich plains and fertile valleys spread around their flanks, were once the bed of an ocean. It is also evident not only that such must have been the case, but also that the Chalk was deposited in the basin of a very _deep_ sea--in the profound abyss of an ocean as vast as the Atlantic.

[Sidenote: AMMONITES AND NAUTILI.]

From the absence of gravel, shingle, and sea-beach, it is certain that the white chalk-strata were formed at a great distance from sea-shores and cliffs; and this inference is confirmed by the swarms of shells termed _Ammonites_ and _Nautili_, which we know from their peculiar structure were, like the recent pearly Nautilus, inhabitants of deep waters only. For these are chambered shells; that is, are divided internally by thin transverse shelly septa or plates, into numerous cells; the body of the animal occupied only the outer compartment, but was connected with the entire series of chambers by a tube or siphuncle, which passed through each partition. This mechanism constituted an apparatus which contributed to the buoyancy of these animals when afloat on the waves; for the Ammonites and Nautili were able to swim on the surface, or sink to the depths of the ocean at pleasure.

The fragile Nautilus that steers his prow, The sea-born sailor of his shell canoe, The Ocean Mab, the fairy of the sea, O'er the blue waves at will to roam is free. He, when the lightning-winged tornadoes sweep The surf, is safe, his home is in the deep; And triumphs o'er the Armadas of mankind, Which shake the world, yet crumble in the wind.

Byron, _The Island_.

[Sidenote: WHITBY SNAKE-STONES.]

The Ammonites, so called from the supposed resemblance of their shells to the fabled horn of Jupiter Ammon, are only known in a fossil state; but they must have swarmed in the ancient seas, for several hundred species have been discovered in the Chalk and antecedent strata, though none have been found in any deposits of more recent formation; at the termination of the chalk epoch the whole race, therefore, appears to have perished. The Ammonites are commonly termed _snake-stones_, from the origin ascribed to them by local legends; those of Whitby are well known (see _Lign. 7_).[G]

[G] Note III. _Whitby Ammonites._

Thus Whitby's nuns exulting told-- How that of thousand snakes, each one Was changed into a coil of stone, When holy Hilda prayed: Themselves, within their sacred bound, Their stony folds had often found.

Scott's _Marmion_.

The Nautili were the contemporaries of the Ammonites, and many kinds are found associated with those shells, in strata far more ancient than the Chalk; and several species of both genera, as we have previously shown, were inhabitants of the cretaceous ocean. When the Ammonites became extinct, the Nautili continued to flourish, and numerous examples occur in the strata that were deposited during the vast period which intervened between the close of the Chalk formation, and the dawn of the existing condition of the earth's surface. At the present time two or three kinds only are known in a living state, and these are restricted to the seas of tropical climes, and so seldom approach the shores, that but few specimens of the animals that inhabit the shells have been obtained.

The Nautilus, therefore, is one of those types of animal organization that have survived all the physical revolutions to which the surface of the earth was subjected during the innumerable ages that preceded the creation of the human race.[H] This remarkable fact is portrayed with much force and beauty by Mrs. Howitt, in the following stanzas:

[H] Note IV. _Fossil Nautili._

TO THE NAUTILUS.

Thou didst laugh at sun and breeze In the new created seas; Thou wast with the reptile broods In the old sea solitudes, Sailing in the new-made light, With the curled-up Ammonite. Thou surviv'dst the awful shock, Which turn'd the ocean-bed to rock; And chang'd its myriad living swarms To the marble's veined forms. Thou wert there, thy little boat, Airy voyager! kept afloat, O'er the waters wild and dismal, O'er the yawning gulfs abysmal; Amid wreck and overturning, Rock-imbedding, heaving, burning, Mid the tumult and the stir, Thou, most ancient mariner! In that pearly boat of thine, Sail'dst upon the troubled brine.

[Sidenote: THE SEA-SHORE.]

We have thus acquired satisfactory proof that the flint of which our pebble is composed, was once fluid in an ocean teeming with beings, of genera and species unknown in a living state, and that it consolidated and became imbedded in the chalk, which was then being deposited at the bottom of the sea; hence the shells, corals, and other organic remains, which we now find attached to its surface, and enclosed in its substance. Thus much for the origin of the pebble; let us next inquire by what means it was dislodged from its rocky sepulchre, cast up from the depths of the ocean, and transported to the summit of the hill whence it was dislodged by yonder torrent. If we stroll along the sea-shore, and observe the changes which are there going on, we shall obtain an answer to these questions; for

There is a _language_ by the lonely shore-- There is society where none intrudes, By the deep Sea, and music in its roar!

Byron.

The incessant dashing of the waves against the base of the chalk-cliffs, undermines the strata, and huge masses of rock are constantly giving way and falling into the waters. The chalk then becomes softened and disintegrated, and is quickly reduced to the state of mud, and transported to the tranquil depths of the ocean, where it subsides and forms new deposits; but the flints thus detached, are broken and rolled by attrition into the state of boulders, pebbles, and gravel, and ultimately of sand.

_a. Cliff's composed of chalk rubble._

_b. Ancient elevated sea-beach._

_c. Chalk forming the base of the Cliffs._

]

[I] Note V. _Brighton Cliffs._

[Sidenote: BRIGHTON CLIFFS.]

Now we must bear in mind, that had the chalk remained at the bottom of the deep sea in which it was originally deposited, it would not have been exposed to these destructive operations. It is therefore manifest, that at some very distant period of the earth's physical history, the bed of the Chalk-ocean was broken up, extensive areas were protruded above the waters, lines of sea-cliffs were formed, and boulders, sand, and shingle accumulated at their base. Subsequent elevations of the land took place, and finally, the sea-beach was raised to its present situation, which is several hundred feet above the level of the sea!

Every part of the earth's surface presents unequivocal proofs that the elevation of the bed of the ocean in some places, and the subsidence of the dry land in others, have been, and are still, going on; and that, in truth, the continual changes in the relative position of the land and water, are the effects of laws which the Divine Author of the Universe has impressed on matter, and thus rendered it capable of perpetual renovation:--

Art, Empire, Earth itself, to change are doomed; Earthquakes have raised to heaven the humble vale, And gulfs the mountain's mighty mass entombed, And where the Atlantic rolls wide continents have bloomed.

Beattie.

[Sidenote: IMMUTABILITY OF THE SEA.]

Our noble poet, Lord Byron, in his sublime apostrophe to the Sea, has most eloquently enunciated the startling fact revealed by modern geological researches,--namely, that if the character of immutability be attributable to anything on the surface of our planet, it is to the ocean and not to the land!--

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean--roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth with ruin--his controul Stops with the shore:--upon the watery plain The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain A shadow of man's ravage, save his own. When, for a moment, like a drop of rain. He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown!

Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee,-- Assyria, Greece, Rome, Carthage, what are they? Thy waters wasted them while they were free, And many a tyrant since; their shores obey The stranger, slave, or savage,--their decay Has dried up realms to deserts:--not so thou, Unchangeable, save to thy wild waves' play-- _Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow:_ _Such as Creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now!_

Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form Glasses itself in tempests; in all time, Calm or convulsed--in breeze, or gale, or storm, Icing the Pole, or in the torrid clime Dark-heaving, boundless, endless, and sublime-- The image of Eternity--the throne Of the Invisible; even from out thy slime The monsters of the deep are made; each zone Obeys thee: thou goest forth, dread, fathomless, alone!

Childe Harold. _Canto IV._

[Sidenote: APOSTROPHE TO THE OCEAN.]

I will conclude this "first lesson" with the following beautiful remark of an eminent living philosopher:[J]--"To discover order and intelligence, in scenes of apparent wildness and confusion, is the pleasing task of the geological inquirer; who recognises, in the changes which are continually taking place on the surface of the globe, a series of necessary operations, by which the harmony, beauty, and integrity of the Universe are maintained and perpetuated; and which must be regarded, not as symptoms of frailty or decay, but as wise provisions of the Supreme Cause, to ensure that circle of changes, so essential to animal and vegetable existence."

[J] Dr. Paris.

MORE THOUGHTS

ON A

PEBBLE.

"Not a mote in the beam, not an herb on the mountain, not a pebble on the shore, not a seed far-blown into the wilderness, but contributes to the lore that seeks in all the true principle of life--the beautiful--the joyous--the immortal."

Sir E. Bulwer Lytton's _Zanoni_.