COAL MINES OF

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stratified “ concrete, ” and those that are stra=»tified, of the primary formation, “ concreteearth, stone, ” or whatever other matter ofwhich they are formed.

The eminent French naturalist Cuvier entersvery ^minutely into the examination of the or-ganic system of nature, and ascribes the dif-ferent formations of the earth to the unitedoperations of fire and water. He is clearly ofopinion that the whole of what Werner de-scribes as secondary formations* has beenformed since the creation of fishes or animals,and that the primitive rocks were formed be-fore the animal creation. In support of this,he advances the fact of the primitive rocks nothaving any organic remains or impressions ofshell-fish in their strata, and ' the obliquitywith which they pass under rocks of the se-condary formation. He explains the mannerin which thaws and rains operate in forming

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* “ Primitive ” and “ secondary ” are names given bymodern naturalists, according to the Wernerian system.The primitive formations are those devoid of organic re-mains or marine impressions, and are considered as beingformed antecedent to the secondary, which are charac-terized by organic remains, marine impressions, and vege-table matter.

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