Petralogy: A Treatise on Rocks |
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Common terms and phrases
abundant acid alabaster Alps alum amianthus ancient appearance argil argillaceous argillite Aspect basalt basaltin beautiful beds belong bricia brown calcareous calcareous spar called cement chiefly chlorite clay slate coal colour compact composed contains cornéenne crystallised crystals Dolomieu earth feet felsite felspar ferruginous fracture fragments glutenite gneiss grains granite granular green greenish grey gypsum hard hornblende Intrites iron jasper kind Kirwan Klaproth laminar lava layers lignite lime limestone Lustre magnesia marble masses mentioned metallic mica mica slate micaceous mineral mineralogy mingled mixture MODE Mont mountains observed occurs ollite Opake ophite Patrin pebbles porphyry present primitive pudding-stone pyrites quarries quartz reddish resembling rock sand sand-stone Sauss Saussure Saxony schistose schistus Scotland serpentine shells siderite siderous silex siliceous singular slaty soft sometimes species spots steatite stone strata STRUCTURE substance summit tains talc texture thick Tolfa translucent trap unctuous veins volcanic Werner yellow yellowish
Popular passages
Page xxxiv - Rocks. 1. Old red sandstone, or first sandstone formation. 2. First or oldest floetz limestone. 3. First or oldest floetz gypsum. 4. Second or variegated sandstone formation.
Page 137 - ... agates. Pebbles, therefore, instead of being united to form such rocks, may, in many circumstances proceed from their decomposition; the circumjacent sand also arising from the decomposition of the cement. " Mountains or regions of real glutenite often, however, accompany the skirts of extensive chains of mountains, as on the northwest and southeast sides of the Grampian Mountains in Scotland, in which instance the cement is affirmed by many travellers to be ferruginous, or sometimes argillaceous....
Page 136 - The division of glutenites into bricias and pudding-stones, the former consisting of angular fragments, the latter of round or oval pebbles, would not be unadvisable, were it in strict conformity with nature. But there are many rocks of this kind ; as, for example, the celebrated Egyptian bricia, in which the fragments are partly round and partly angular •(•; while the term glutenite is liable to no such objections, and the several structures identify the various substances.
Page 420 - The ground grey, with a cast of green. Tis very thick set in all parts of it with shells, chiefly turbinated. Some of them seem to be of that sort of river shell that Dr.
Page iv - PEIRALOGV, or the knowledge of rocks, or stones which occur in large masses. 2. LITHOLOGY, the knowledge of gems and small stones. 3. METALLOGY, or the knowledge of metals. Each of these branches is even at present so important, and offers such numerous topics of disquisition and research, that in the course of no long period a Professor of each will appear in Universities ; and each might occupy the sole pursuit of an author who is zealous to make discoveries, or to compose complete and classical...
Page 224 - ... in the pudding stone of England, and well represented in the specimen which Patrin has engraved. But the same idea had arisen to me before I had seen Patrin's ingenious system of mineralogy. In like manner rocks now universally admitted to consist of granular quartz, or that substance crystallized in the form of sand, were formerly supposed to consist of sand agglutinated. Several primitive rocks contain glands of the same substance, and that great observer, Saussure, has called them...
Page 280 - The king of Katay buys it at a great price ; and what he leaves, the merchants -sell to others at exceeding great rates. Of it they make vessels, ornaments for garments, and girdles, with other toys, whereon they engrave leaves, flowers, and other figures. The Chinese call it Tushe^.
Page liv - Lauwertz, which caused such an agitation in the waters of the lake, that they overthrew a number of houses, chapels, mills, &c. along the southern shore. Upwards of 1000 persons were the victims of this calamity.
Page 30 - Rubble slate assumes the columnar form at Barmouth. The limestone near Cyfartha, in Glamorganshire, is divided into very regular acute rhomboidal prisms : even the sandstone of the same district is not unfrequently columnar ; and one of the beds of gypsum at Montmartre is distinctly divided into pretty regular columns. Sandstone, clay, argillaceous iron ore, and many other substances, become prismatic by torrefaction ; and the prisms of starch formed in drying have often .been considered as illustrative...
Page lv - ... and a half in length, and as much in breadth. The villages of Goldau and Rothen, consisting of 115 houses; that of Busingen, of 126 ; and that of Kuslock, have totally disappeared. Of Lauwertz, which lost 25 houses, there remain 10 buildings, all much damaged. — Twenty years since, general Plyffer predicted this- catastrophe, from the knowledge that he had of the nature of the mountain. A professor of Schwitz said, that above Spietsfleu was a sea of water, which had undermined the rock for...