s
obtained from the quarry must be cut into smaller and more manageable
pieces by sawing: the saw used is a long blade of steel, without
teeth, fixed in a heavy wooden frame. These huge saws are worked by
one or two men who sit in boxes to shelter them from the weather;
water is caused to drip constantly into the cut, to facilitate the
motion of the saw, and keep it cool, so as to prevent it from losing
its temper.

_Huge_, very large.

_Temper_, hardness; in speaking of metals it signifies the
state to which they are reduced, especially with regard to
their hardness.

What is Steel?

Iron combined with a small portion of carbon; its chemical name is
_Carburet of Iron_. It is not so malleable as iron in its ordinary
state; but is much harder, more elastic, and susceptible of a higher
polish. Of this material are manufactured knives, swords, and all
kinds of cutting instruments and edge tools, used for domestic
purposes and in the arts, from the ponderous pit-saw to the finest
lancet. Good steel is much more ductile than iron; and a finer wire
may be drawn from it than from any other metal. The excellence of
edge-tools depends upon their temper.

_Ponderous_, heavy.

You say that a Geologist is one who studies Geology: what is meant by
this term?

A science which enables us to read, in the simple language of nature,
the changes which have taken place on the surface of the earth, in its
structure and mineral constitution. It describes the different
materials and the strata of which the crust of the earth is composed,
and investigates the causes of its physical features.

_Simple_, easily read.

What are Strata?

Layers of rocks and other substances of which the whole earth seems to
be composed. These rocks are found lying one above another in regular
order; beneath them are the _unstratified_ rocks, which seem to form
the basis or foundations upon which the others have been deposited.
The various layers seem to have been formed during progressive stages
of vegetable and animal organization. These rocks and strata are
divided into five classes or formations.

_Progressive_, moving forwards.

_Organization_, formation or structure of bodies.

Name them.

The Primitive, or lower formations, supposed to have been formed in
the chaotic state of the earth, because they have no trace of
organized beings or petrifactions; they are chiefly composed of
silicious