fusion, y e t when fully understood, demonstrate
the existence of Order, and Method, and Design,
even in the operations o f the most turbulent,
among the many mighty physical forces which
have affected the terraqueous globe.*
Some of the most important results o f the a ction
o f these forces have been already noticed in
* “ Notwithstanding the appearances of irregularity and confusion
in the formation of the crust of our globe, which are
presented to the eye in the contemplation of its external features,
Geologists have been able in numerous instances to detect, in
the arrangement and position of its stratified masses, distinct
approximations to geometrical laws. In the phenomena of anticlinal
lines, faults, fissures, mineral veins, &c. such laws are
easily recognized.” Hopkin’s Researches in Physical Geology.
Trans. Cambridge Phil. Soc. v. 6. part 1. 1835.
“ It scarcely admits of a doubt,” says the author of an able
article in the Quarterly Review, (Sept. 1826, p. 537,) r that the
agents employed in effecting this most perfect and systematic
arrangement have been earthquakes, operating with different
degrees of violence, and at various intervals of time, during a
lapse of ages. The order that now reigns has resulted therefore,
from causes which have generally been considered as capable
only of defacing and devastating the earth’s surface, but which
we thus find strong grounds for suspecting were, in the primeval
state of the globe, and perhaps still are, instrumental in its perpetual
renovation. The effects of these subterranean forces
prove that they are governed by general laws, and that these
laws have been conceived by consummate wisdom and forethought.”
“ Sources of apparent derangement in the system appear, when
their operation throughout a series of ages is brought into one
view, to have produced a great preponderance of good, and to be
governed by fixed general laws, conducive, perhaps essential, to
the habitable state of the globe.” Ibid. p. 539.
our fourth and fifth chapters ; and our first S e c tion,
PL 1, illustrates their beneficial effect, in
elevating and converting into habitable Lands,
strata o f various kinds that were formed at the
bottom o f the ancient Waters; and in diversifying
the surface o f these lands with Mountains,
Plains, and Valleys, of various productive qualities,
and variously adapted to the habitation of
Man, and the inferior tribes o f terrestrial animals.
In our last Chapter we considered the advantages
o f the disposition o f the Carboniferous
strata in the form of Basins. It remains to e x amine
the further advantages that arise from
other disturbances o f these strata by Faults or
Fractures, which are o f great importance in facilitating
the operations .of Coal mines ; and to
extend our inquiry into the more general effect
of similar Dislocations o f other strata, in producing
convenient receptacles for m any valuable
Metallic ores, and in regulating the supplies o f
Water from the interior o f the earth, through
the medium o f Springs.
I have elsewhere observed* that the occurrence
o f Faults, and the Inclined position in
which the strata composing the Coal measures
are usually laid out, are facts o f the highest
importance, as connected with the accessibility
o f their mineral contents. From their inclined
* Inaugural Lecture, Oxford, 1819.