Part 43

In the formation of transported soil, water usually exerts a great degree of power. By means of it, not only are vast masses transported to the greatest distances, but their parts are at the same time crumbled down and mingled together. To these operations are to be attributed the various terminations of different soils at horizontal distances, as well as the different alternations of their strata at vertical ones. The power of water in the formation of transported soil varies, not only according to the different inclinations of its channel, but also in regard to the form, size, and weight of the parts carried off by it; for which reason, in the formation of such soils, the same phenomena take place on a large scale, that we see on a smaller, in performing the operations of breaking and washing the ores of metals. For the same reason that, in these processes, the larger particles subside, while the smaller are propelled, from which again the heavier particles of ore are sooner deposited than the lighter; in plains in the vicinity of a mountain, covered with transported soil, stones and debris are usually seen first, then earth, clay, and sand mixed together, and farther on, finer sand, with strata of clay.

Transported or secondary soil, produced by water, according to the mode of its formation, is divided into four classes, viz.--1. Soil of Valleys; 2. River Soil; 3. Lake Soil; 4. Marine Soil.

1. Soil of Valleys.--It is washed down by rain and snow water, and partly also produced by rivulets, which carry off the loose parts from the declivities of mountains to the plains. The nature of this soil in general clearly shews the nearness of its origin. Its depth is always greatest in the bottom of the valley, and gradually diminishes toward the declivities of the mountains. The curvature of the different strata is usually accommodated to the irregularity of its external form, so that when a section is made of them, they exhibit a series of parallel curved lines.

2. River Soil, or the soil found in the beds and banks of rivers, and which is produced by the continual propelling power of large rivers. To this class belong two different kinds; 1st, Soil containing pebbles of various sizes, produced by the power of torrents in the vicinity of mountains; and, 2d, Earth or mud, deposited in the beds of rivers, in places at a distance from mountains. A peculiarity of river soil in general is, that it is much extended in length, while its breadth is comparatively but small. The different layers have neither so much irregularity as in the preceding kind, nor are they so precise in arrangement as in the following.

3. Lake Soil, deposited at the bottom of still water. To this class is to be referred the soil in the bottoms of valleys, which had formerly been lakes, either separate or connected with rivers. The horizontal dimensions of this kind of soil are often more or less equal. Sometimes, indeed, the length is greater than the breadth; not, however, in the same degree as in soil deposited in the bed of rivers. The surface is usually plane, and the different strata alternate in a parallel manner.

4. Marine Soil, that is to say, the mud of the ancient ocean. It is the greatest of all in its extent, both in a horizontal and a vertical direction. Its surface is more or less undulated, very seldom even. Its masses are both very thick and very uniform in composition. Different and alternating strata, however, do occur, whose forms and dimensions are usually more or less regular, and which are not unfrequently undulated.

Soil, after being formed, is acted upon by natural powers in various ways. The atmosphere is perpetually modifying it; rivers, waves, and winds, act here and there upon its surface, and alter its external form; water introduces into it the substances which it holds in solution. The different constituent parts of soil act upon each other chemically, and in this manner new decompositions and mixtures are produced; and this chemical change is increased by the action of vegetables, as well as of bodies deriving their origin from both organic kingdoms.

From what has been said of the relations existing between the masses of which the solid crust of the globe is composed, and the loose earth or soil by which it is covered, it appears evident enough (Hausmann concludes) that they have great influence over its formation and nature, and therefore upon the more perfect vegetables, and especially those which are the objects of cultivation; and that although the fertility of the soil is much increased by these vegetables themselves, yet the first foundation of their vigour is derived from the disintegration and decomposition of rocks. If this be correct, the constitution of the solid crust of the earth has a much more extended influence. For, by preparing a habitation for the greater and most important parts of plants, it also exerts a high degree of influence upon the animals which derive their sustenance from them, and, at the same time, affords the means of subsistence to man.

NOTE.

ACCOUNT OF THE IRISH ELK, FOSSIL ELEPHANT OR MAMMOTH, AND THE MASTODON.

As the Irish Elk, the Fossil Elephant or Mammoth, and the Mastodon, are among the most remarkable of the fossil and extinct species of quadrupeds mentioned in the preceding pages of this work, we, with the view of farther gratifying the curiosity of our readers, now lay before them the following additional details from the writings of Cuvier, Goldfuss, and others.

1. Fossil Elk of Ireland, Cervus megaceros.

(Noticed at p. 286.)

One of the most magnificent of the bisulcated animals met with in a fossil state in the British Islands is the Elk of Ireland, the Cervus megaceros. Bones and horns of vast size of this species are almost daily dug out of the bogs and marl pits of Ireland. Similar remains have been met with in alluvial strata in Britain, and also in the Isle of Man.

“So frequently do these remains,” Mr Hart remarks, “occur in most parts of Ireland, that there are very few of the peasantry who are not, either from personal observation or report, acquainted with them by the familiar name of the horns of the ‘old deer.’ Indeed in some parts of the country they have been found so often, that far from being regarded as objects of any extraordinary interest, they have been either thrown aside as lumber, or applied to the commonest economical uses.

“I have made diligent but fruitless search for an account of the particular time when any of these remains were first discovered. As they generally occur in marl, it is most likely that they did not begin to attract attention until the advanced state of agriculture had created an increased demand for that mineral as a manure. We can very easily imagine the astonishment which the appearance of horns so large, and of such strange form, must have excited in the minds of those who discovered them for the first time, and how readily they obtained a place in the hall of some adjoining mansion, where they were deposited as an ornament of great curiosity, from the contrast which they formed with the horns of the species of deer known at present. In this way we may account for the preservation of so many specimens as are found in the possession of the gentry in different parts of this country.

“Very lately an entire skeleton of the Irish Elk was dug up in that country. The following statement of the circumstances under which the bones were found, with their geological position, was laid before the Dublin Society, in a letter from Archdean Maunsell to the Right Hon. George Knox.

“Middleton Lodge, March 8. 1825.

“MY DEAR SIR,

“I deferred replying to your letter of the 1st, as it was my intention to proceed to Limerick in a few days, and I was anxious to look over some notes I had taken, and which I left there, of the circumstances connected with the discovery of the fossil remains which the Royal Dublin Society have received. As I have, however, been obliged to postpone my departure for several days, I can no longer defer offering my best thanks for the kind manner in which you have received the conjectures which I formed upon a subject to which my attention was directed, by having fortunately been present before the bones were disturbed from the situation in which they had lain during a period which I apprehend it would not be easy to define. I am sensible that any consideration which may have been attached to my observations should be attributed to the interest which the subject itself is calculated to excite, rather than to any ability of mine to do it justice. The opinion which I took the liberty of communicating to you was formed after some consideration, and although I had not the most remote idea of its being worthy of any attention, I can have no objection to your making any use of it which you may conceive expedient. There is, I conceive, much interesting material for speculation, resulting from the discovery of these fossil remains, and the first that naturally occurs is the manner in which the animals were destroyed, and the bones so singularly preserved. I stated, in the hasty sketch which I gave you of my theory upon this point, that I apprehended they must have been destroyed by some overwhelming deluge, that they were probably drowned upon the hills where they had taken refuge, as the waters rose, and that, as they subsided, they were drawn from thence into the valley in which they were found; that the agitation of the waters had occasioned such a dispersion of the bones, when the ligaments dissolved, as would account for their having been scattered in the way in which they were found, and that the deposite of shell marl, with which I supposed the water to have been turbid, had so completely protected them from atmospheric influence as to prevent their subsequent decomposition. To enable you to form some estimate of the reasonableness of this supposition, it is necessary that I should endeavour to explain the situation, &c. of the valley and the adjoining hills. The valley in which the remains were found contains about twenty plantation acres, and the soil consists of a stratum of peat about a foot thick, immediately under this a stratum of shell-marl, varying from 1½ to 2½ feet in thickness; in this many of the shells retain their original colour and figure, and are not marine; under the marl there is a bed of light blue clay; through this one of my workmen drove an iron rod, in several places, twelve feet deep, without meeting opposition. Most of the bones and heads, eight in number, were found in the marl; many of them, however, appeared to rest on the clay, and to be merely covered by the marl. The remains were disposed in such a manner as to prevent the possibility of ascertaining the exact component parts of each skeleton; in some places portions were found removed many yards from others, and in no instance were two bones found lying close to each other. Their position also was singular; in one place two heads were found, with the antlers entwined in each other, and immediately under them a large blade-bone; in another, a very large head was discovered, and although a most diligent search was made, no part of the skeleton found; within some hundred yards, in another, the jaw-bones were found, and not the head. The conclusion which, I conceive, may fairly be deduced from such a position of the various parts of the animals is, that there must have been some powerful agent employed in dispersing them after their death; and as I consider it impossible that their own gravity could have been sufficient to sink them through the various strata, I conceive these must have originated subsequently to the dispersion of the bones. I also think, that, if they had been exposed for any time to atmospheric influence, they never could have been preserved in their present extraordinary perfection.

“The hills immediately adjoining this valley are composed of limestone, with a covering of rich mould of various degrees of thickness. One of them, whose base is about thirty acres, rises directly from the edge of the valley, with sides very precipitous, and in one place perfectly perpendicular, of naked limestone. In every part of this hill the superficies comprises as much stone as mould; on the side nearly opposite, the hill is equally high, but the sides not so steep, and the covering of mould thicker; on the other sides the ground only rises in some degree (twenty or thirty feet perhaps), and consists of a thin mould, and immediately under a very hard limestone gravel. Indeed, except where limestone forms the substratum, this is the character of all the soil in the vicinity except the Corkasses, which are evidently alluvial. I am fully aware, that, assuming the destruction of the animals to have been occasioned by a flood, they would naturally have retreated from the water to the hills, and that, as they probably met their fate there, their remains should have been discovered on the summit of the hills, and not in the valley, particularly as one of them is perfectly flat on the top, which contains six or seven acres. I apprehend that the remains of many of them were deposited on the tops of the hills; but as they have now only a slight covering of mould, not sufficient to cover a small dog, they were formerly perfectly bare; and as they were thus devoid of the means of protecting the remains from the atmosphere, whatever was left there soon became decomposed, and resolved into portions of the mould, which is now to be found on the hills. This remark I conceive also to be applicable to the soil with the substratum of limestone gravel, which affords quite as little material for preserving the bones as the hills do.

“It is material that I should observe, that of eight heads which we found, none were without antlers; the variety in character also was such as to induce me to imagine, that possibly the females were not devoid of these appendages. Unfortunately, however, from the difficulty of raising them, being saturated with water, and as soft as wet brown paper, only three were at all perfect.

“Having now disposed of these antediluvians, a question naturally arises, how it happens that the fossil remains of no other animals were found, when the same fate probably overwhelmed every existing creature? Could deer have been the only living beings at that period? Was Ireland part of a great continent when this catastrophe occurred, and were these unfortunates the first emigrants to our Isle from that great centre from whence the globe was supplied with occupants, and did they perish before other animals less influenced by enterprise, and less endowed with physical strength, could have followed their example? These problems I confess myself unable to solve, and shall not presume to obtrude my many reveries upon this and other points, which have originated in the discovery of a few bones, upon those who I know are so much better competent to form a sound opinion. I shall, I hope, be able to send the antlers, which are very fine, on the 15th of this month.

“If you have a desire to make any use of this letter, I can only say I have no objection. I remain, dear Sir, with feelings of great respect,

“Yours most truly,

“WILLIAM W. MAUNSELL.”

Of this skeleton, the most perfect hitherto found, the following interesting description is given by Mr Hart, in his memoir.

“This magnificent skeleton is perfect in every single bone of the framework which contributes to form a part of its general outline: the spine, the chest, the pelvis, and the extremities, are all complete in this respect; and, when surmounted by the head, and beautifully expanded antlers, which extend out to a distance of nearly six feet on either side, forms a splendid display of the reliques of the former grandeur of the animal kingdom, and carries back the imagination to a period when whole herds of this noble animal wandered at large over the face of the country.