Chapter I: Front Matter

Transcriber Note

Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_ and =Bold=. Whole and fractional parts of numbers as 123-4/5.

THOUGHTS ON A PEBBLE.

REEVE, BENHAM, AND REEVE, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.

_Vice-President of the Geological Society &c. &c._]

THOUGHTS

ON A

PEBBLE,

OR,

A FIRST LESSON IN GEOLOGY.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY."

"There is no picking up a pebble by the brook-side, without finding all nature in connexion with it."

_Contemplations of Nature._

EIGHTH EDITION; WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON:

REEVE, BENHAM, AND REEVE, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND.

1849.

TO

MY SON,

=Reginald Nebille Mantell, C.E.,=

THESE

"THOUGHTS ON A PEBBLE"

ARE MOST AFFECTIONATELY

INSCRIBED.

LONDON,

19, CHESTER SQUARE, PIMLICO.

1849.

"Every grain of sand is an immensity--every leaf a world--every insect an assemblage of incomprehensible effects in which reflection is lost."

Lavater.

"To the natural philosopher there is no natural object that is unimportant or trifling. From the least of Nature's works he may learn the greatest lessons. The fall of an apple to the ground may raise his thoughts to the laws which govern the revolutions of the planets in their orbits; or the situation of a _pebble_ may afford him evidence of the state of the globe he inhabits, myriads of ages before his species became its denizens."

Sir J. F. W. Herschel.

TO THE READER.

Deeply impressed with the conviction that it is of the highest importance the young and inquiring mind should have a correct idea of natural phenomena--that it should not be left to its own unaided efforts to unravel the mysteries of the beautiful world in which this first state of being is destined to be passed--or have its curiosity stifled or misled by unsatisfactory or erroneous conjectures--I have endeavoured in this little work to explain in a simple and attractive guise, some of the grand truths relating to the ancient physical history of our planet, which modern geology has established.

The favourable reception of these desultory "_Thoughts_" which were originally penned for the amusement and instruction of an intelligent boy, is a gratifying proof that the attempt has not been unsuccessful; and I would fain indulge the hope, that this "_First Lesson in Geology_" may still be productive of good, by exciting in some youthful minds a desire for the acquisition of natural knowledge; and inculcating the important truth, that He who formed the Universe has created nothing in vain; that His works all harmonize to blessings unbounded by the mightiest or most minute of His creatures; and that the more our knowledge is increased, and our powers of observation are enlarged, the more exalted will be our conception of His wondrous works.

Chester Square,
Pimlico.

CONTENTS.

Page.

Thoughts on a Pebble: Part I. 5

More Thoughts on a Pebble: Part II. 33

"The Nautilus and the Ammonite" 57

Supplementary Notes 61

Note I. _Shells in Chalk_ 61

---- II. _Wood in Flint_ 66

---- III. _Whitby Ammonites_ 69

---- IV. _Fossil Nautili_ 72

---- V. _Brighton Cliffs_ 75

---- VI. _Rotaliæ in Chalk and Flint_ 79

---- VII. _Isle of Wight Pebbles_ 82

---- VIII. _Zoophytes of the Chalk_ 87

---- IX. _Minute Corals from the Chalk_ 92

---- X. _Infusorial Earths_ 97

LIGNOGRAPHS.

Page.

1. Vignette of Title-page.

2. Fossil Turban-echinus (_Cidaris_), with spines. 9

3. Bivalve with spines (_Plagiostoma spinosum_) in
chalk; from Lewes. 11

4. Teeth of several species of the Shark tribe, in
chalk; from Lewes. 12

5. Chalk-dust highly magnified, consisting of minute
shells. 13

6. Shells (_Rotaliæ_) from the chalk, highly magnified. 14

7. Ammonite (_A. communis_) from the Lias, at Whitby. 20

8. Nautilus (_N. elegans_) from the chalk-marl, Lewes. 22

9. View of the Cliffs east of Brighton. 27

10. Fossil animalcules (_Xanthidia_) in flint. 35

11. _Xanthidium palmatum_, in flint. 37

12. Rotalia in flint. 39

13. Minute scales of fishes in flint. 40

14. Choanites from the chalk; near Lewes. 44

15. A branch of fossil coral attached to the pebble 46

16. Coral-polype in flint. 47

17. Minute Corals from chalk. 50

18. Fossil cases or shields of animalcules from
Richmond, Virginia; highly magnified. 53

19. Several species of Lamp-shells (_Terebratulæ_) from
the chalk, near Brighton. 63

20. Silicified Oyster from the chalk. 65

21. Coniferous wood in flint, from Lewes Priory. 68

22. Several species of Ammonite. 69

23. The body of a recent microscopic animalcule
(_Nonionina_), the shell having been removed by
immersion in acid. 81

24. A branch of Sponge in flint; a minute Coral from
chalk; and a section of a pebble enclosing a
zoophyte (_Siphonia Morrisiana_). 85

25. Flints deriving their shapes from Zoophytes
(_Ventriculites_). 89

26. Ventriculites in chalk; from Lewes. 90

27. Portions of three kinds of recent corals. 94

LITHOGRAPHS.

Page.

Plate I. A rolled flint pebble, having a Choanite as a
nucleus, and the remains of an echinus and spine,
shell, and coral, apparent on the surface. 5

Plate II. A longitudinal section of the pebble, showing
the structure of the enclosed _Choanite_. 42

Plate III. A polished section of an Ammonite, having
the septa or chambers filled with variously coloured
spar, &c. 70

Plate IV. Polished sections of two pebbles from the
Isle of Wight; in the upper specimen, the transition
from opaque flint to cloudy chalcedony and
transparent quartz crystals, is beautifully shown;
the lower specimen is richly tinted; the dark
appearance is derived from manganese. 86

"THE PEBBLE"

_Page 5_]

THOUGHTS

ON A

PEBBLE.

"Honoured, therefore, be thou, thou small pebble, lying in the lane;
and whenever any one looks at thee, may he think of the beautiful and
noble world he lives in, and all of which it is capable."

Leigh Hunt's _London Journal_, p. 10.