The various agencies which have fashioned the face of the earth may. be divided into two general classes. In Part I we shall consider those which work upon the earth from without, such as the weather, running water, glaciers, the wind, and the sea. In Part II we shall treat of those agencies whose sources are within the earth, and among whose manifestations are volcanoes and earthquakes and the various movements of the earth's crust. As we study each agency we shall notice not only how it does its work, but also the records which it leaves in the rock structures and the land forms which it produces. With this preparation we shall be able in Part III to read in the records of the rocks the history of our planet and the successive forms of life which have dwelt upon it. PART I EXTERNAL GEOLOGICAL AGENCIES CHAPTER I THE WORK OF THE WEATHER In our excursion to the valley with sandstone ledges we witnessed a process which is going forward in all lands. Everywhere the rocks are crumbling away; their fragments are creeping down hillsides to the stream ways and are carried by the streams to the sea, where they are rebuilt into rocky layers. When again the rocks are lifted to form land the process will begin anew; again they will crumble and creep down slopes and be washed by streams to the sea. Let us begin our study of this long cycle of change at the point where rocks disintegrate and decay under the action of the weather. In studying now a few outcrops and quarries we shall learn a little of some common rocks and how they weather away. STRATIFICATION AND JOINTING. At the sandstone ledges we saw that the rock was divided into parallel layers. The thicker layers are known as STRATA, and the thin leaves into which each stratum may sometimes be split are termed LAMINAE. To a greater or less degree these layers differ from each other in fineness of grain, showing that the material has been sorted. The planes which divide them are called BEDDING PLANES. Besides the bedding planes there are other division planes, which cut across the strata from top to bottom. These are found in all rocks and are known as joints. Two sets of joints, running at about right angles to each other, together with the bedding planes, divide the sandstone into quadrangular blocks. SANDSTONE. Examining a piece of sandstone we find it composed of grains quite like those of river sand or of sea beaches. Most of the grains are of a clear glassy mineral called quartz. These quartz grains are very hard and will scratch the steel of a knife blade. They are not affected by acid, and their broken surfaces are irregular like those of broken glass.