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 and argillaceous earths, as granite, slate, &c.—­Transition rocks, supposed to have been formed during the transition of the earth into a habitable state; they differ from the primitive, in containing the remains of marine animals:—­the Secondary rocks, containing the remains of animals and vegetables, and consequently formed after their creation;—­the Tertiary formation, composed of layers of clay, sand, gravel, and marl, and containing peculiar organic remains;—­and the Alluvial formation, constituted of parts of previous rocks separated by water, &c., and deposited in beds.

     Petrifaction, an animal or vegetable substance turned to
     stone.

     Silicious, consisting of flint.

     Transition, change from one state to another.

     Argillaceous, clayey, consisting of clay.

     Chaotic, resembling chaos, confused.

     Chaos, confusion, a mingled heap; a term used in speaking
     of the world while yet without form; a Greek word,
     signifying a confused mass.