It has been already said that unstratified rocks are those which have been at some period, whether lately or very long ago, in a liquid state from intense heat, and which have since cooled, either quickly or slowly, crystallizing as they cooled.
Unstratified Rocks may be divided into two distinct classes.
First.—Volcanic Rocks, such as lava. These have been quickly cooled at the surface of the earth, or not far below it.
Secondly.—Plutonic Rocks, such as granite. These have been slowly cooled deep down in the earth under heavy pressure.
There is also a class of rocks, called metamorphic rocks, including some kinds of marble. These are, strictly speaking, crystalline rocks, and yet they are arranged in something like layers. The word "metamorphic" simply means "transformed." They are believed to have been once stratified rocks, perhaps containing often the remains of animals; but intense heat has later transformed them into crystalline rocks, and the animal remains have almost or quite vanished.
Just as the different kinds of Stratified Rocks are often called Aqueous Rocks, or rocks formed by the action of water—so these different kinds of Unstratified Rocks are often called Igneous Rocks, or rocks formed by the action of fire—the name being taken from the Latin word for fire. The Metamorphic Rocks are sometimes described as "Aqueo-igneous," since both water and fire helped in the forming of them.
It was at one time believed, as a matter of certainty, that granite and such rocks belonged to a period much farther back than the periods of the stratified rocks. That is to say, it was supposed that fire-action had come first and water-action second; that the fire-made rocks were all formed in very early ages, and that only water-made rocks still continued to be formed. So the name of Primary Rocks, or First Rocks, was given to the granites and other such rocks, and the name of Secondary Rocks to all water-built rocks; while those of the third class were called Transition Rocks, because they seemed to be a kind of link or stepping-stone in the change from the First to the Second Rocks.