titlepage

reproduced from original documents
in the library  of David C. Bossard
Copyright © 2002 by Dr. David C. Bossard
Hugh Miller

 

Hugh Miller, Scottish Geologist
From Alexander Winchell, Sketches of Creation (1870)


Editor's Note: This Book was published posthumously.
The Dedication and Preface are written by his wife, Lydia Miller.

Dedication:   v.  vi.

Contents: vii.  viii.  ix.

Contents of Appendix:  x.  xi.

Preface:  xiii. xiv. xv. xvi. xvii. xviii. xix. xx. xxi. xxii. xxiii. xxiv. xxv. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii. xxix.
xxx. xxxi. xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv.

CONTENTS.

___________

LECTURE FIRST.


Junction of Geologic and Human History — Scottish History of Modem Date — The Two Periods previous to the Roman Invasion: the Stone Age and the Bronze Age — Geological Deposits of these Prehistoric Periods — The Aboriginal Woods of Scotland — Scotch Mosses consequences of the Roman Invasion — How formed — Deposits, Natural and Artificial, found under them — The Sand Dunes of Scotland — Human Remains and Works of Art found in them — An Old Church disinterred in 1835 on the Coast of Cornwall — Controversy regarding it — Ancient Scotch Barony underlying the Sand — The Old and New Coast Lines in Scotland — Where chiefly to be observed — Geology the Science of Landscape — Scenery of the Old and New Coast Lines — Date of the Change of Level from the Old to the New Coast Line uncertain — Beyond the Historic but within the Human Period — Evidences of the fact in remains of Primitive Weapons and Ancient Boats — Changes of Level not rare events to the Geologist — Some of these enumerated — The Boulder-Clay — Its Prevalence in the Lowlands of Scotland — Indicated in the Scenery of the Country — The Scratchings on the Boulders accounted for — Produced by the grating of Icebergs when Scotland was submerged — Direction in which Icebergs floated, from West to East — 'Crag and Tail:' the effect of it — Probable Cause of the Westerly Direction of the Current.  . . . 1-43


 001  002  003  004  005  006  007  008  009  010  011  012  013  014  015  016  017  018  019  020  021  022  023  024  025  026  027  028  029  030  031  032  033 034  035  036  037  038  039  040  041  042  043
LECTURE SECOND.


Problem first propounded to the Author in a Quarry — The Quarry's Two Deposits, Old Red Sandstone and Boulder-Clay — The Boulder-Clay formed wbile the Land was subsiding — The Groovings and Polishings of the Rocks in the Lower Parts of the Country evidences of the fact — Sir Charles Lyell's Observations on the Canadian Lake District — Close of the Boulder-Clay Record in Scotland — Its Continuance in England into the Pliocene Ages — The Trees and Animals of the Pre-Glacial Periods — Elephants' Tusks found in Scotland and England regarded as the Remains of Giants — Legends concerning them — Marine Deposits beneath the Pre-Glacial Forests of England — Objections of Theologians to the Geological Theory of the Antiquity of the Earth and of the Human Race considered — Extent of the Glacial Period in Scotland — Evidences of Glacial Action in Glencoe, Gareloch, and the Highlands of Sutherland — Scenery of Scotland owes its Characteristics to Glacial Action — The Period of Elevation which succeeded the Period of Subsidence — Its Indications in Raised Beaches and Subsoils — How the Sub-soils and Brick Clays were formed — Their Economic Importance — Boulder- Stones interesting Features in the Landscape — Their prevalence in Scotland — The more remarkable Ice-travelled Boulders described — Anecdotes of the 'Travelled Stone of Petty' and the Standing-Stone of Torboll — Elevation of the Land during the Post-Tertiary Period which succeeded the Period of the Boulder-Clay — The Alpine Plants of Scotland the Vegetable Aborigines of the Country — Panoramic View of the Pleistocene and Post-Tertiary Periods — Modem Science not adverse to the Development of the Imaginative Faculty.  . . . 44-80  044  045  046  047  048  049  050  051  052  053  054  055  056  057  058  059  060  061  062  063  064  065  066  067  068  069  070  071  072  073  074  075  076  077  078  079  080  081  082  083  084  085  086  087  088  089
 
LECTURE THIRD.


The Poet Delta (Dr. Moir) — His Definition of Poetry — His Death — His Burial-place at Inveresk — Vision, Geological and Historical, of the Surrounding Country — What it is that imparts to Nature its Poetry — The Tertiary Formation in Scotland — In Geologic History all Ages contemporary — Amber the Resin of the Pinus succinifer — A Vegetable Production of the Middle Tertiary Ages — Its Properties and Uses — The Masses of Insects enclosed in it — The Structural Geology of Scotland — Its Trap Rock — The Scenery usually associated with the Trap Rock — How formed — The Cretaceous Period in Scotland — Its Productions — The Chalk Deposits — Death of Species dependent on Laws different from those which determine the Death of Individuals — The Two great Infinites. . . . 81-120
 
   089  090  091  092  093  094  095  096  096  097  098  099  100  101  102  103  104  105  106  107  108 109  110  111  112  113  114  115  116  117  118  119  120  121 


LECTURE FOURTH.

The Continuity of Existences twice broken in Geological History — The three great Geological Divisions representative of three independent Orders of Existences — Origin of the Wealden in England — Its great Depth and high Antiquity — The question whether the Weald Formation belongs to the Cretaceous or the Oolitic System determined in favour of the latter by its Position in Scotland — Its Organisms, consisting of both Salt and Fresh Water Animals, indicative of its Fluviatile Origin, but in proximity to the Ocean — The Outliers of the Weald in Morayshire — Their Organisms — The Sabbath-Stone of the Northumberland Coal Pits — Origin of its Name — The Framework of Scotland — The Conditions under which it may have been formed — The Lias and the Oolite produced by the last great Upheaval of its Northern Mountains — The Line of Elevation of the Lowland Counties — Localities of the Oolitic Deposits of Scotland — Its Flora and Fauna — History of one of its Pine Trees — Its Animal Organisms — A Walk into the Wilds of the Oolite Hills of Sutherland. . . . 121-152

 122  123  124  125  126  127  128  129  130  131  132  133  134  135
 136  137  138  139  140  141  142  143  144  145  146  147  148  149  150  151  152

LECTURE FIFTH.

The Lias of the Hill of Eathie — The Beauty of its Shores — Its Deposits, how formed — Their Animal Organisms indicative of successive Platforms of Existences — The Laws of Generation and of Death — The Triassic System — Its Economic and Geographic Importance — Animal Footprints, but no Fossil Organisms, found in it — The Science of Ichnology originated in this fact — Illustrated by the appearance of the Compensation Pond, near Edinburgh, in 1842 — The Phenomena indicated by the Footprints in the Triassic System — The Triassic and Permian Systems once regarded as one, under the name of the New Red Sandstone — The Coal Measures in Scotland next in order of Succession to the Triassic System — Differences in the Organisms of the two Systems — Extent of the Coal Measures of Scotland — Their Scenic Peculiarities — Ancient Flora of the Carboniferous Period — Its Fauna — Its Reptiles and Reptile Fishes — The other Organisms of the Period — Great Depth of the System — The Processes by which during countless Ages it had been formed.  . . . 153-194
 
  153  154  155  156  157  158  159  160  161  162  163  164  165  166  167  168  169  170  171  172  173  174  175  176  177  178  179  180  181  182  183  184  185  186  187  188  189  190  191  192  193  194 

LECTURE SIXTH.

Remote Antiquity of the Old Red Sandstone — Suggestive of the vast Tracts of Time with which the Geologist has to deal — Its great Depth and Extent in Scotland and England — Peculiarity of its Scenery — Reflection on first discovering the Outline of a Fragment of the Asterolepis traced on one of its Rocks — Consists of Three Distinct Formations — Their Vegetable Organisms — The Caithness Flagstones: how formed — The Fauna of the Old Red Sandstone — The Pterichthys of the Upper or Newest Formation — The Cephalaspis of the Lower Formation — The Middle Formation the most abundant in Organic Remains — Destruction of Animal Life in the Formation sudden and violent — The Asterolepis and Coccosteus — The Silurian the Oldest of the Geologic Systems — That in which Animal and Vegetable Life had their earliest beginnings — The Theologians and Geologists on the Antiquity of the Globe — Extent of the Silurian System in Scotland — The Classic Scenery of the Country situated on it — Comparatively Poor in Animal and Vegetable Organisms — The Unfossiliferous Primary Rocks of Scotland — Its Highland Scenery formed of them — Description of Glencoe — Other Highland Scenery glanced at — Probable Depth of the Primary Stratified Rocks of Scotland — How deposited — Speculations of Philosophers regarding the Processes to which the Earth owes its present Form — The Author's Views on the subject. . . . 195-240
 
 195  196  197  198  199  200  201  202  203  204  205  206  207  208  209  210  211  212  213  214  215  216  217  218  219  220  221  222  223  224  225  226  227  228  229  230  231  232  233   234  235  236  237  238  239  240



CONTENTS OF APPENDIX