Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/18

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10 MOUNTAIN but in overturned and dislocated strata this is of course no longer the case. In regions where, as the result of great folds and over- turns the fan-like structure already described has been produced, the older rocks from be- neath are made to surmount and rest upon the newer strata, which have folded and doubled up beneath them. The erosion of such a re- gion gives rise to a mountain like Mont Blanc ; in this the ancient crystalline strata, which elsewhere form the floor upon which repose the newer stratified rocks, rise above these, forming the summit of the mountain, while at lower levels on its flanks the newer strata seem to dip toward the centre of the moun- tain, but are really bent upon themselves and doubled up, as is seen in the valley of Cha- mouni. Mont Blanc, which served as a type to the early students of geology, is thus an exception. The crystalline strata which form its summit were looked upon as an upthrust of granite which had lifted upon its sides the new- er stratified rocks, thus giving the mountain, as was imagined, an anticlinal structure. In the process of sculpturing the earth's surface by ocean currents, frost, rain, and rivers, the un- equal erosion exposes the harder masses, and thus eruptive rocks lying in the midst of softer strata appear in the form of hills, as is seen in the trappean ranges of New Jersey and the Connecticut valley. Isolated peaks of a similar origin are found in the vicinity of Montreal, and are denuded masses of eruptive rock which were once included in the soft palaeozoic strata of the region long since removed by erosion. They were perhaps the stocks or underground portions of volcanoes in paleozoic times. The question of the geological age of moun- tains is twofold, including, first, that of the deposition of the rocks of which they are composed, and second, that of their uplifting and erosion. Elie de Beaumont, considering only the latter question, supposed all mountain chains having the same direction on the earth's surface to be of the same age ; but this notion is no longer tenable, since a great mountain chain, such as the Appalachians, exhibits con- siderable variations in different parts of its course, from a N. and S. direction in parts of New England to one nearly E. and W. in other parts of its extension. As regards the age of the rocks of this great chain, while the Green and White mountains, the Adirondacks, and the Blue Ridge are eozoic, the Oatskills, the Alle- ghanies, the Unaka, and the Cumberland ranges are composed of paleozoic sediments, and the whole Appalachian system was not uplifted until after the deposition of the coal. The study of the Alps shows that the elevation of this great mountain system was still later, since even tertiary rocks are involved in the folds and inversions of the strata. MOUNTAIN. I. Jacob, a Canadian bishop, born in Norfolk, England, in 1750, died in Quebec, June 16, 1825. His grandfather, Jacob de Montaigne, a great-grandson of Montaigne the MOUNT DESERT essayist was banished from France by the re- vocation of the edict of Nantes. He graduated at Caius college, Cambridge, in 1774, became a fellow in 1777, and in 1781 was nominated to the living of St. Andrew's, Norwich, holding besides several other livings. In 1793 he was appointed first Protestant bishop of Quebec. He found but nine clergymen in his diocese, and labored for 30 years to build churches and schools and to promote the spiritual wel- fare of his flock. II. George Jehoshaphat, second son of the preceding, born in Norwich, July 27, 1789, died in Quebec, Jan. 8, 1863. He graduated at Trinity college, Cambridge, in 1810, was ordained priest in 1813, and ap- pointed evening lecturer in his father's cathe- dral. In 1814 he was nominated rector of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and in 1817 rector of Quebec and bishop's official. In 1821 he became archdeacon, and in 1825, du- ring a mission to England, he received the degree of D. D. On his return Bishop Stuvard appointed him his examining chaplain, and in 1835 he was sent to England on business con- nected with the question of the clergy reserves. While there he was appointed bishop of Mont- real, and given the entire charge of the Epis- copal church in Lower Canada. He continued to administer the dioceses of Quebec and Mont- real till 1850, when he assumed the title of bishop of Quebec. In 1844 he visited the mis- sions on Red river, composing during his jour- neys " Songs of the Wilderness " (London, 1846). He was the founder of Bishop's college, Lennoxville, and of the church society, spend- ing most of his income for these institutions and for charitable purposes. Some time be- fore his death he declined the dignity of met- ropolitan of Canada. He published sermons and addresses, and a "Journal of a Northwest American Mission " (London, 1843). MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON, a mountain range said to exist in central Africa, in which Ptole- my and other ancient geographers placed the sources of the Nile. On modern maps, until recently, the name was given to a great range which was supposed to cross the continent from the Indian ocean to the Atlantic. It is now known that no such range exists. Capt. Speke applied the name in 1858 to a range N. of the newly discovered lake Tanganyika, though incorrectly, according to Capt. Burton. MOUNT AUBURN. See CAMBEIDGE (Mass.). MOUNT DESERT, an island of the state of Maine, at the southern extremity of Hancock co., in Frenchman's bay, about 30 m. S. E. of Bangor; pop. in 1870, 3,935. The island is 14 m. long and 8 m. broad, and has an area of about 1 00 sq. m. It is divided into three towns, Eden, Mount Desert, and Tremont, and contains 11 post offices, 15 or 20 hotels, 35 school houses, and 6 churches. Ship building and the manufac- ture of lumber are carried on, and the cod and mackerel fisheries are pursued. A narrow bay or sound runs from the ocean at the S. side of the island into the interior in a northerly direc-