“cpt oe in le cas 5 re ee eS ANNUAL REPORT OF THE POARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, SHOWING _ THE OPERATIONS, EXPENDITURES, AND CONDITION OF THE INSTITUTION FOR THE YEAR 1876. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1877. FORTY-FOURTH CONGRESS—SECOND SESSION. CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, In the House of Representatives, March 1, 1877. The following resolution, originating in the House of Representatives February 28, 1877, has this day been concurred in by the Senate : Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate concurring,) That ten thousand five hundred copies of the Report of tha Smithsonian Institution for the year 1876 be printed, one thousand copies of which shall be for the use of the Senate, three thousand copies of which shall be for the use of the House of Representatives, and six thousand five hundred copies for the use of the Smithsonian Institution: Provided, That the aggregate number of pages shall not exceed five hundred, and that there be no illus-: trations, except those furnished by the Smithsonian Institution. Attest : GEO. M. ADAMS, Clerk. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, TRANSMITTING The annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1876. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, February 16, 1877. Sir: In behalf of the Board of Regents, I have the honor to submit to the Congress of the United States the annual report of the opera- tions, expenditures, and condition of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1876. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HENRY, Secretary Smithsonian Institution. Hon. SAm. J. RANDALL, Speaker of the House of Representatives. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FOR 1876. This document contains : 1. The annual report of the Secretary, giving an account of the opera- tions and condition of the establishment for the year 1876, with the sta- tistics of collections, exchanges, &c. 2. The report of the Executive Committee, exhibiting the financial affairs of the Institution, including a statement of the Smithson fund, the receipts and expenditures tor the year 1876, and the estimates for 1877. 3. The proceedings of the Board of Regents for the sessions of Jan- uary and February, 1877. 4, A general appendix, consisting principally of translations from for- eign journals or works not generally accessible, but of interest to the collaborators and correspondents of the Institution, teachers, and others interested in the promotion of knowledge. THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. ULYSSES S. GRANT, President of the United States, ex officio Presiding Otticer. MORRISON R. WAITE, Chiet-Justice of the United States, Chancellor of the Insti- tution, (President of the Board of Regents.) JOSEPH HENRY, Secretary, (or Director of the Institution.) REGENTS OF THE INSTITUTION. MORRISON R. WAITE, Chief-Justice of the United States, President ¢7 the Paard. T. W. FERRY, acting Vice-President of the United States. H. HAMLIN, member of the Senate of the United States. J. W. STEVENSON, member of the Senate of the United States. A. A. SARGENT, member of the Senate of the United States. ‘HIESTER CLYMER, member of the House of Representatives. BENJAMIN H. HILL, member of the House of Representatives. GEO. W. McCRARY, member of the House of Representatives. JOHN MACLEAN, citizen of New Jersey. PETER PARKER, citizen of Washington. ASA GRAY, citizen of Massachusetts. J. D. DANA, citizen of Connecticut. HENRY COPPEE, citizen of Pennsylvania, GEORGE BANCROFT, citizen of Washington. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. PETER PARKER. JOHN MACLEAN. GEORGE BANCROFT. MEMBERS EX OFFICIO OF THE INSTITUTION. U.S. GRANT, President of the United States. T. W. FERRY, Vice-President of the United States. M. R. WAITE, Chief-Justice of the United States. H. FISH, Secretary of State. LOT M. MORRILL, Secretary of the Treasury. J.D. CAMERON, Secretary of War. G. M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy. J. N. TYNER, Postmaster-General. Z. CHANDLER, Secretary of the Interior. A. TAFT, Attorney-General. ELLIS SPEAR, Commissioner of Patents. OFFICERS AND ASSISTANTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTI- TUTION AND NATIONAL MUSEUM. JOSEPH HENRY, Secretary, Director of the Institution. SPENCER F. BAIRD, Assistant Secretary and Curator of the National Museum. WILLIAM J. RHEES, Chief Clerk. DANIEL LEECH, Clerk in charge of Correspondence. CLARENCE B. YOUNG, Clerk in charge of Accounts. HERMANN DIEBITSCH, Clerk in charge of Exchanges. Miss J. A. TURNER, Clerk in charge of Library. Miss M. E. GRIFFIN, Clerk in charge of Distribution of Publications. 8. G. BROWN, Clerk in charge of Freight. Prof. G. B. GOODE, Assistont Curator of the National Museum. Prof. F. M. ENDLICH, In charge of Mineralogical Division. Prof. ROBERT RIDGWAY, In charge of Ornithological Division. Prof. W. H. DALL, In charge of Conchological Division. Prof. EDW. FOREMAN, In charge of Ethnological Division. T. W. SMILLIE, Photographer. JOSEPH PALMER, Taxidermist. JOSEPH HERRON, Janitor. REPORT OF PROFESSOR HENRY, SECRETARY OF THE SMITH- SONIAN INSTITUTION, TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS, FOR THE YEAR 1876. GENTLEMEN: | have the honor herewith to present to your board the report of the condition and operations of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1876, it being the thirtieth report which I have been per- mitted to submit to your honorable body. INTRODUCTION. The long term of service of the principal executive officer of the In- stitution, and the few changes in the presiding officer of the Board of of Regents, have been attended with the important result of an unin- terrupted continuity in the policy of the management of the establish- ment. A definite conception of the will of Smithson, and of the means best adapted to realize its intention, was clearly apprehended at the be- ginning, and a plan proposed and partially adopted which would carry out, in the most effectual manner, the ideas expressed in the terms of the bequest. Unfortunately Congress did not delegate to the Board of Regents the power of entirely organizing the Institution, but specified certain objects which should be included in the plan adopted. It will, however, be seen by an examination of the whole series of annual re- ports, that while due regard has been had to the requirements of Con- gress, the prominent object kept constantly in view has been the full introduction of the plan of increasing and diffusing knowledge by means of researches, publications, and exchanges. This plan, which is known as that of active operations, and which has received the approba- tion of the scientific world, was not generally understood at the time of the organization of the establishment. The value of scientific research was not as highly appreciated then as at the present day, and therefore it is not surprising that Congress should devote the income of the fund principally to the formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art. These objects, though important in themselves, are all of a local char- acter, being principally confined in their influence to the city of Wash- ington, and therefore could not realize the liberal intention of Smithson, which includes in its comprehensive scope the intellectual advancement of mankind. Although a majority of the Board of Regents were in favor of the plan of active operations, they did not think it prudent to ask Congress at that time to reconsider the plan which it had adopted, but concluded to proceed without delay in executing the measures prescribed, while at the same time they availed themselves of the privilege granted in one 7 8 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. of the sections of the act of organization to partially introduce and gradually develop the plan of active operations. In conformity with the act of Congress, a building has been erected at a cost of upwards of $500,000. A library of 70,000 volumes has been collected—principally of a class of books of the highest value, consisting of the transactions and proceedings of learned societies— with provision for its annual increase. The museum of the Government has been enlarged to more than ten times its original size, a new depart- ment having been added to it, viz, that of American Indian Ethnogra- phy, which is more extended and varied in specimens than any other ever established. A gallery of art has also been formed, which is es- pecially rich in illustrations of industrial arts. In addition, a consider- able proportion of the income of the Smithson fund has been expended on the improvement of the grounds surrounding the building. In short, every item of the original requirement of Congress has received due attention. To effect these objects, and at the same time to develop the plan of active operations, it became necessary to increase the income of the fund, and this has been accomplished by the adoption of a system of rigid economy and by a judicious investment of the savings of the income. The original amount of the fund of $541,379 has been increased to $714,000. Instead of forming the library by the purchase of books, it has been created principally through exchanges, while the expense of maintaining it has been obviated by depositing the books in the Library of Congress. The care of the grounds, which was avery expensive item, has been assumed by the Government, and the cost of maintaining the museum is now defrayed by an annual congressional appropriaiion. The Institution having thus happily been relieved from the support of these burdens, is now, at the end of the third decade of its history, in a con- dition to fully realize the conception of its character as originally set forth in the first annual report of the Secretary, while the success of the plan of active operations has fully vindicated the propriety of its adop- tion. Through its operation the Institution has advanced almost every branch of science, and has made the name of Smithson known wherever civilization exists. It has published twenty-one quarto volumes of transactions, entitled ‘Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge,” twelve octavo volumes of ‘¢ Miscellaneous Collections,” and thirty octavo annual reports. These publications have been presented to the principal libraries of the Old and New World. It has especially advanced natural history and eth- nology by the large number of specimens it has collected and distrib- uted to foreign and domestic museums, and has been instrumental in widely diffusing a knowledge of the progress of science by its system of international exchanges between the United States and all other parts of the world. The system of “ active operations,” while advancing the interests of civilization generally, has been of importance to Washington REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 9 City in assisting to constitute it a centre of scientific and literary activ- ity, and in co-operating with other institutions here established. Be- sides contributing to render ‘the Library of Congress the first in the United States in the number and value of the books which it contains, it has deposited in the Department of Agriculture 30,000 specimens of plants, and many other objects connected with agriculture. It has also deposited with the Army Medical Museum a large collection of osteo- logical specimens, and a series of skulls for the especial illustration of the craniology of the North American Continent. It has affiliated itself with the Corcoran Art Gallery, and deposited with that admirable insti- tution the specimens of engravings received from its foreign correspond- ents, as well as a number of valuable pictures belonging to its collection. From this sketch of the past and present condition of the Institution, it will, [ think, be generally admitted that the trust has been faithfully administered, and that, although changes have been found necessary in the plan adopted by Congress, yet these have been only such as orig- inated from the peculiar nature of the bequest and the difficulty, from a priori conceptions, of adopting the most efficient means of realizing the intentions of the donor. The principal event of the year 1876 connected with the Institution is its display of specimens at the International Exposition in Philadel- pbia. It was stated in the last annual report that Congress had made an appropriation to enable the Institution to participate with the several Departments of the Government in the Centennial Exhibition. After careful consideration of the subject it was concluded that the part of the Government exhibition under the special charge of the Institu- tion should consist of such articles as would illustrate (1) the character and operations of the Institution itself, (2) the mineral and animal re- sources, (3) the ethnology, and (4) the fishery industries of the United States. The responsibility of collecting and arranging these objects, as - wellas of representing the Institution. at the Centennial Exhibition, was intrusted to Prof. S. F. Baird, assistant secretary of the Institution, ° who, with a corps of assistants principally engaged for the occasion, discharged the arduous duties assigned him in a highly satisfactory manner. The part of the Government display under the auspices of the In- stitution has been pronounced by competent judges one of the most interesting and complete of the kind ever exhibited. The portion which illustrated the character and operations of the Institution embraced full sets of the three classes of its publications, a series of tables showing the extent and importance of the system of international exchange, and a number of large charts exhibiting the results of the system of meteorology founded by the Institution; that illustrating the mineral wealth of the country contained an extensive series of the oresof the precious and ordi- nary metals, with their products, the principal varieties of coal, the clays, 10 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. marbles, slates, and other building materials, the several varieties of pe- troleum and coal-tar, &c., &c.—in short, a most extended collection of specimens of large size showing at one view the vast mineral resources of the United States, to which was added a variety of specimens to rep- resent the different stages of the manufactured articles derived from the mineral kingdom. The display of the animal resources of the country was also extensive and various. It embraced all the species capable of economical application and such animals as were of special interest to the naturalist. These were represented by stuffed specimens, by life- size plaster models and by photographs. The industrial application of these animals was also exhibited as well as the apparatus by which they are pursued, captured and utilized. Among the larger mammals were well mounted specimens of those most valued for food, as the different kinds of deer, including the moose, elk and caribou, the musk-ox, and the buffalo; and the fur-bearing species were represented by bears, the grizzly, brown, black, and white; by the foxes, yellow, black, cross, gray, and kit; by wolves, fur-seals, sea-lions, sables, and minks ; the oil- producing animals by whales, porpoises, and other cetaceans. Another part of the animal display embraced a series of specimens of animal food preserved by being dried, smoked, salted, pickled, and canned, to- gether with representations of the various applications of the teeth, bones, horns, and scales; and, again, of articles used for clothing, as furs, leather, &c. The ethnological branch of the Exposition was at the joint expense of the congressional appropriation for the Indian Bureau and that for the Smithsonian Institution. Special importance was attached to this sec- tion of the Exposition, and great exertion made to render it as complete as possible. To this end, agents were temporarily employed to obtain articles to illustrate the ethnology of portions of the country hitherto imperfectly known. The success of the enterprise was commensurate with the energy expended, and a more extensive and varied collection of articles was obtained to illustrate the past and present condition of the various native tribes of the American continent than was ever before exhibited. It consisted of a large number of the different varie- ties of specimens of the stone age from all parts of the continent and the West Indies, and a series of articles in use at the present time among the Indians, especially among tribes which have had but little connection with the white race. There were also exhibited numerous life-size figures to show every variety of Indian costume and personal decoration. Independent of the temporary interest which was subserved by this exhibition, the large collection of new articles has rendered an important service to the ethnology of the country, since these articles will be preserved for scientific study in the National Museum. In addition to the foregoing, representatives, in plaster, papier-maché, and photography, of all the edible fishes of our coast were exhibited, in connection with the Smithsonian display, by the United States Fish REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 11 Commission, of which Professor Baird is the head. But for a full account of the part of the Centennial Exhibition known as the Govern- ment, or United States, exhibition, I must refer to the reports of Profes- sor Baird in the appendix to my last and that of my present report. The anticipations expressed in the last report in regard to the addi- tions which would be made to the National Museum through the agency of the Centennial Exhibition have been fully realized. These additions consist of new specimens procured by the direct agency of the Institu- tion, particularly for the exhibition ; of donations from various States of the Union, from individuals, and especially from foreign exhibitors. These will require more than three times as much space for their dis- play as was required by the previous collections of the Museum. To preserve and exhibit this increase, or to render it available for educa- tional and scientific purposes, an additional building is imperatively de- manded. The appropriation for erecting this building must be fur- nished by Congress, since the idea cannot for a moment be entertained of making it from the Smithson fund. Furthermore, the building should be an extension, as it were, of the present Smithsonian edi- fice, since if the National Museum is entirely transferred to another building the Institution would have left upon it, for support, a building erected from the income of the Smithson fund almost entirely for the accommodation of the Government collections and far too large and ex- pensive for its own use. I beg leave, therefore, to repeat the suggestion made in my last report, that the Government be asked to take entire possession of the present edifice for the use of the Museum, to enlarge it so as to meet the present emergency, and to repay to the Institution at least a part of its cost; a portion of the sum thus repaid to be applied to providing other accommodations for the Institution in a building better adapted to its operations, and far less expensive in its maintenance; and the remainder to be added to the permanent fund for the increase of the power and efficiency of the establishment. I may further be allowed to remark that the experience of the last year has strengthened my opinion as to the propriety of a separation of the Institution from the National Museum. The events of this period have proved that the Museum is destined to become an extensive estab lishment involving a large annual expenditure for its support and a variety of complex operations having no necessary connection with the plan adopted by the Institution for the ‘“‘increase and diffusion of knowl- edge among men.” Smithson gave his own name to the establishment which he founded, thereby indicating that he intended it as a monu- ment to his memory, and in strict regard to this item of his will the endowment of his bequest should be administered separate from all other JSunds, and the results achieved by it should be accredited to his name alone. The Institution should not, therefore, be merged in an establishment of 12 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. the Government, but should stand alone, free to the unobstructed observation of the whole world, and keep in perpetual remembrance the name of its generous founder. The functions of the Museum and of the Institution are entirely different. The object of the former is the estab- lishment of a collection of specimens of nature and of art which shall exhibit the natural resources and industry of the country, or present at one view the materials essential to a condition of high civilization which exists in the different States of the American Union; to show the various processes of manufacture which have been adopted by us, as well as those used in other countries; in short, to form a great educational estab- lishment, by means of which the inhabitants of our own country as well as those of foreign lands who visit our shores may be informed as to the means which exist in the United States for the enjoyment of human life in the present and their improvement in the future. The Smithsonian Institution, on the other hand, does not offer the results of its opera- tions to the physical eye, but presents them to the mind in the form of new discoveries, derived from new investigations and an extended ex- change of new ideas with all parts of the world. It is the design of the Museum to continually increase its collection of material objects; of the Institution, to extend the bounds of human knowledge. The latter collects nothing for preservation of a material character. Itis true it sends out explorers and makes large collections, but these are for distribution to museums, colleges and academies, or to all establishments in which they can be useful in the way of the extension of science or the advancement of education. Every civilized govern- ment of the world has its museum which it supports with a liberality commensurate with its intelligence and financial ability, while there is but one Smithsonian Institution—that is, an establishment having expressly for its object “the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The conception of such an institution—not a local estab- lishment intended to improve tle intellectual condition of any single city or any single nation, but that of mankind in general—was worthy of the mind of Smithson, and the intelligence and integrity of the United States are both involved in the proper administration of the trust, since the terms in which it was conveyed must be truly inter- preted and the intention expressed rigidly carried out. | It has been supposed that the Institution has derived much benefit from its connection with the Museum in the way of adding to its popu- larity, but it should be recollected that the Institution is not a popular establishment and that it does not depend for its support upon public patronage, but that it is an establishment founded on the bequest of an individual, and that the very nature of its operations, involving study aud investigation, is in a considerable degree incompatible with con- tinued interruption from large numbers of visitors. So far from the Institution having derived advantage from the connection which has existed between it and the Museum, the latter has proved a serious ob- REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 13 stacle in the way of the full development of the plan of the former in having absorbed, in the erection of the building and in the appropria- tions for the care of the specimens, at least one-half of the whole income of the Smithson fund. Furthermore, the Museum and also the Institu- tion have now arrived at such a state of development that the two can scarcely be continued under one organization. But the most objectionable result of the present connection of the two establishments is the necessity of the Institution appealing to Con- gress annually for appropriations for the support of the Museum, whereby, in the language of my last report, the Institution is presented to the world as a suppliant for perpetual aid, whereas, for carrying out the legitimate objects of the bequest, no annual appropriation is neces- sary from the public Treasury; for, although more than one-half of the whole income of the Smithson bequest has been devoted to a Museum and other local objects, it has succeeded, through its researches, publi- cations, and exchanges, in establishing a reputation as extensive as Civ- ilization itself. In this connection it may be stated that an important step has been made at the present session of Congress toward recognizing the National Museum as a separate establishment. In the language of the Act making appropriation for deficiencies, it is for the first time announced as an ‘appropriation for the National Museum in charge of the Smithsonian Institution.” Since the meeting of the board on the 24th instant, I have trans- mitted to the Senate and House of Representatives the resolutions adopted by the Regents relative to the necessity for the erection of an additional building in connection with the Institution, and have con- ferred with several members of Congress as to the probability of obtain- ing an appropriation for this purpose. These have given encourage- ment as to the probable appropriation of $250,000 for the erection of the proposed building,* but do not think that the proposition to pur- chase the Smithsonian building would at this time, on account of the condition of the Government finances, meet with favorable considera- tion. The proposition should, however, be kept before the public, and in due time, I doubt not, it will be adopted. General M. C. Meigs, Quartermaster-General, United States Army, who had charge of the extension of the United States Capitol, and has had much experience in the construction of public buildings, has gratui- tously furnished a plan for a new building for the Museum, and in addition generously offers his assistance in superintending its construc- - tion. This building will be of durable though inexpensive material, and expressly adapted to the uses for which it is designed. In its con- *The bill making an appropriation of $250,000 for the erection of the building passed the Senate without opposition, but failed to receive consideration in the House because a favorable vote of two-thirds of the members present was required to bring it before that body. 14 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. struction care will be exercised not to sacrifice utility to architectural effect, but the fact will be kept in view that architecture is essentially a useful art, and that the mind receives pleasure and improvement from the contemplation of perfect adaptability no less than from imposing exterior effect. The operations of the Institution during the past year, independent of those connected with the Centennial, have been carried on with un- abated energy. FINANCES. I am happy to inform the Regents that the finances of the Institution are still in a favorable condition and that from the First National Bank has been received the last instalment of the money which was on deposit at the time of its suspension. The Institution bas therefore lost nothing on this account, except the interest of the money which might have ac- crued from its investment. The following is a statement of the condition of the fund at the begin- ning of the year 1877: The amount originally received as the bequest of James Smithson, of England, deposited in the Treasury of the United States in accordance with the act of Congress of Aornet Welter} a. octets. ota tie ener ae eet ee $515,169 00 The residuary legacy of Smithson, received in 1865, depos- ited in the Treasury of the United States, in accordance with the act of Congress of February 8, 1867........-- 26, 210 63 Total bequest of Smithson 2.2. $255 -2-- 2. 22s ee oe 541, 379 63 Amount deposited in the Treasury of the United States, as authorized by act of Congress of February 8, 1867, derived from savings of income and increase in value of PH MORTMON TS: | 5 sis ct ciere ain Gorin ess pie terh va eeial a ageing ee 108, 620 37 Amount received as the bequest of James Hamilton, of Carlisle, Pa., February 24, 1874.........-.-.--.------ 1,000 00 Total permanent Smithson fund in the Treasury of the United States, bearing interest at 6 per cent., payable semi-annually in gold...-........ .----- 651, 000 00 In addition to the above, there remains of the extra fund from savings, &c., in Virginia bonds and certificates, viz: consolidated bonds, $58,700; deferred certificates, $29,- 375.07 ; fractional certificate, $50.13; total, $88,125.20, \ BOW WAIROD AL 3.2 sas sea eses eae 62\ Maly. cos fost stieee sees tereeee eee 181 Argentine Republic........-.....-. 13 | Ja pall. 22.5 tmecemcwicn bos see ene 4 PAN TeD | Beem aceite se ena ae ene oe 30! | SAVa cece OSte ce Sy se eee ee 5 DEICUMTM St F, cce eno tee ean ene an) OLE bere cncsaccer seek eee ee 1 Bolivi ass S. Skte. See client athe eect LSP AManritivis ys \.+cstae ccmeiiana teenies WL etter een arn eee eR seetee On| MMexiGov sc: fas cecbiecsaas wales cece 15 ST IGISH “AMOL OAs o- oasece-ce es Sone aq. | New -Zealand'\pfos.fscce veces sete 15 DBritishyGuian a s-ce50 02 50% «2.04 3: |WNOBWRY wreck ocigace woce eucesee mene 25 CADE COLONY )... oe secs ene an, 5 | Royal University of Norway, Christiania .......-...----.---------- 3 Leowatcngics Co. st. Petersbure, Russia .--2-.-..-5.-'s 22sec. cece e 13 Fr. Miiller, Amsterdam, fOMBOL@INM .cccs ccs sense Sosceslocsm~ eal eans 6 Prof. von Baumhauer, Bureau Scientifique Néerlandais, Harlem..--- 6 Dr. Felix Fliigel, Leipsic, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Greece. 56 UNEP AOsSal CCE alisl= oan omer leniea selene ics ace ce aeiscn sana ne 23 U. Hoepli, Reale Istituto Lombardo di Scienze e Lettere, Milano-.-. IT] William Wesley, London, Great Britain, British possessions in RU AMNGI eee Sa Soto lee te nae cilee a cteraiaain.s < aera cic eyaiclsin seine eyes ce 52 Academia Realvdasiscirenciass WisSbON-. scoscacecc cee ces se ocesiseeees oul hedleacademiade Ciencias, Madrid = 22 ..<25 Ss. cic ssenecccee esse cece 1 Cuba, Reali Universidad de la) Habana.=2--. .2.. 0222. .225) se secs eset 1 Shalretnnversidad tee 0 oye sonido ae ote snieibiasaineseeeieaucieieicue ss succes 2 Mexico, Sociedad Mexicana de Geografia y Estadistica.......--.---- 2 | enon PAyEes, ErOt. i). DULRMEIStOD cs oc 5 -2+ 6+ ssscsseaincn~ casas = i Instituto Historico, Geographico e Ethnografico, Brazil..---...----- 2 nitversidadsor Costa ihica, San José). ----<-..- 5. s-- 56. ae nee See 1 MINA HIIE MONO Vises 2 aie mapa nc. s ces eames SWEtiGsod see Soe saeco 1 Public Library, Victoria ....-....------- Eee eg eee 6 Royal Economical] Society of the Philippine Islands, Manila... 2 ME GBNOMERMENY SOB epee sa ele An clap sne eaten hae we Seciace selec 203 ipnoreienreOvernmMents 2.0 oo. sits cae - Secs dase se cclop ee ss goonies 120 NGG TOWEL Nite 10 POUNOSsn.2 2c cicmieh cme ecyamiceos ee Jee 323 Cubic feet. 42 14 1, 421 840 2, 261 NotTe.—12,219 miscellaneous packages, of which 30 contained specimens of natural history, exclusive of 290 Smithsonian Reports of 1875; 160 copies of vol. xx and.160 of vol. xxi of Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge ; in all, 12,829 addressed packages. International exchange of United States Government's publications in 1876. No. of boxes. Queensland, government of, (per A. Mackey, commissioner, Centennial) ---. Victory, covernmoent of Melbourne. -222-..- 25. 222l4- cse~ cece ccs oe ene Naciaide -overnment of South Australia .225--t 2.22. S2css6 soecee cee. =. ee Wellington, government of New Zealand, parliamentary library. .----.---- Sydney, government of New South Wales..-....-....-..----..----= s------- Hobarton, government of Tasmania, parliamentary library ...-....--..-.. Switzerland, (per Swiss consul).......----. Wje Sisisicitte spaae ais Sereve Seis. wales eels Sweden, per consulate of Sweden and Norway..---- Eisiae ates om eee ae POM ES OCren Veh Gunn hs sen arian aetie ec ccc, -is\c,se ine onetime ecitcnconoene Government of Buenos Ayres, (per E. Oldendorff, Centennial Commissioner) Eavonnmont or tHayhi, per leCahlON cote. aces esack= 22 -cnc ses onseneccpecs Government of Venezuela, (Messrs. Dallett, Bliss & Co., New York)....--. Norway, Kongelige Norske Frederiks University, (per Messrs. Wesenberg Smee AC el phin) |. ttoce ease osc no- on aclscntcces scrceseueeoeceone ses Prussia, Royal Library, (per Dr. F. Fliigel, Leipsic)....... ....-...---..--- Germany, Reichstag Bibliothek, Berlin, (per Dr. F. Fliigel, Leipsic) ....--.. Saxony, government of, Dresden, (per Dr. F. Fliigel, Leipsic) -........ ---- PUMA M OM MS CUE MNION COM, 2= sheer oe su. ofa cok 5 Jae ayee eee eerie eats A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. A—G. 6 A—F. 6 A—F. aT. VN" ~~~ ~ ~) 5 C—G. 5 C—G. 3 E—G. 5 C—G. 5 C—G, 108 APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. No. of boxes. Spain, government of, (per Centennial Commissioner) .-....---.-.--..---- 5 C—G. Turkey, government of, (per légation impériale ottoman) ...--..-------.-. Ge Holland, government of, (per consul-general, New York).----.---.---.---- 1G Belgium, M. le Ministre des Affaires Etrangéres..........---.-.----------- LG. Portugal, government of, (per consul-general, New York) -.-...----.-.----- oe Nata, Ottawa, parliamentary library. .---.. ---- 2260 se cccn hccmn ew ene nee wenee 1 G. Toronto, government of Ontario ..-- 2. 2. owe wenn wore none mone eens = 1 G. Mexico, government, (per Juan N. Navarro, New York).......--.----.---- IG Brazil econsulate at Baltimore <2-20,2--<02 <-> onnce oe +4

. c-sekionee eee ene Williamsburgh : Eastern Lunatic Asylum ...--...-.-- 1 WISCONSIN. Janesville : Wisconsin Institute for the Blind.... 1 Madison: College of Arts...-..-- Te 1 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences. Arts, and Letters... oie £ 7 Wisconsin State Agricultural Society - 25 State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 7 Madison University ........-......-- 1 Milwaukee : Natural History Society-.-.-......-.. 1 Neenah: Scandinavian Library Association.... 1 BRITISH AMERICA. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island : Colonialsibranyecces a eee -1-se ee 2 Fredericton, New Brunswick : heoislabive Library. --en-joo-- ace 2 University of New Brunswick...-...- 2 Halifax, Nova Scotia: Board of Agriculture. .-.-. .220.-2..: iL Dalhousie College...--- ...5.25255%.- 1 Kingston, Ontario : Botanical Society of Canada..-.....- 1 Montreal, Quebec: Board of Acriculture,<..-)--2-----.-~ I Geological Survey of Canada....---. 16 MeGill Coleco =e peesesasee ese 1 Montreal Historical Society.....--.. 2 Natural History Society ..--....--..- 29 Royal Canadian United Service Insti- tUBON oc. cchac slate eee eee 1 Société d’Agriculture du Bas-Canada. 1 Ottawa, Ontario: Library of Parliament.............- 2 Quebec, Quebec : Laval University, 23-227. 22 eee 2 Le Naturaliste Canadien :.......-..... 1 Literary and Historical Society...... 8 QObservatory7.csc% 2-22 a soeeee oe 5 British AMERICA—Continued. St. John’s, New Brunswick : Mechanics’ Institute ...--..---...... Toronto, Ontario: Canadian Institute <--.5.- 22-2 seco Magnetic and Meteorological Observa- WOU ic ose elaweio ania sie = ee eee eee Meteorological OC seas = = eee Provincial. Meteorological Observa- bOLY -= =~ Seles oat ene Trinity ‘College ‘Library caamie a eee University of Toronto.......-.-....- INDIVIDUALS. Abbe, ProtG 2 2252) soem eee ae Ar aSsZ; OLA. seas clase ionines eee IA ASSIZ sy MTS Biss ae eisai eeiaeeene Allon, Prot. tA cocies sence ee aemoee Alvord, Brevet Brigadier-General.... Anderson, Erol hb esse eee eee ATIF ELECT Avi Wisse e seisise saa elettaee AB Cy, Assets ae ole entero eters Bagley, Governor J. J..s--.-.---...- Baird; Prot: 0H a2 een seen ee eee Ballard: Jee ses 22 oes taco eemeee Bancrofk, Hons Gs sss sesce~ eee mS Banerott, Hee ass ese ssc cee aerate Bandeliny Misa s. cites. sae eee Barbank, Protess0r-..- nes osteo eet Barcena, Prot Mi -s2seccss tote eae eee . Barker, Prof.iG. Eo. so ---- Sera e: Calterfield, W. F-- A Chandler, Prof. C. F.. 5S eae Chickering, it GLO FeeW cs Ae se Glarke.Prot. H. C---..---: BS Se ee MED an oo 2 == =<) 2- poo SS Cleveland, D Clinton, G. Dea he a Meroe s ae Coffin, ery ee od cee BRR Nef oi oiaje 2 (oie Rn Bioene wom EE SS Se Boece PENRO A es 2 ot gee oS cia tec Prt 1G ONS 2 = b= oboe Cope. BRP hes oasis acs a ee SS MNGH IDE oc igceissctescsscecceos Cox, E.-T Crozio Meborta iM 52-25. S555 since Curtis, Dr. J.----.------------------ LDDoKo ern «Ca eee ete TDAP Tig ZAC ee ee DIS PART O) no me ot ye oct nis sco aeis o/s =< MawAOie ETO. Di WV.- = sa}e seers «ote os BRBHMMING AS icmp ss sles 2 sistent sone,cs 3 Dike, C MEBHNON HAMNER a= A nae) sence sle< ee ee 13 Hagen, Dr., Eens-sccee se ee ee 8 Hale WM. A. : 2242 eee 1 Hall rote. oe SEED onc aos 15 Harding, Co titers ae ee eee 1 Harding, Bio ct < 2208 Poo. eee ee 2 Harling Go Wien sch ass cape ence 2 Harkness; Professor «== 2 i222 2560525 1 Harrigs Wis so seance oo cocoa Meee 1 Hawking: Col: BiG 22.5) 2o eee 1 Hayden, Dri Ws Wiese See 93 Haynes, Professor’..........-. eso oie it HedrickssBiS2 Season eee 1 Henry, Prot-Jossccas-> eee 36 Herishaiw:, Hs Wine a soso ese 1 Herbert: Gis ssp oe he5 sees 2 Higgins, Be ORS See eee ee Fale the Hilg. ard, Prof. J. Bc, kee ee 3 Hill, GV de a eee 1 HU SD ee so. Shae ee ie 1 Hilton, Ws i oan ae, Se eens 1 HinrichssProt.G ssscss.s see 15 Gee ne See ae Cele eee 1 Hitchcock, Prof. C. H....-.--.- a ee Hoar, Judge 22. o25 ast oe 1 Holden, Prot HiSescsase ee eee ee 2 MOUPHON, bees sens oe ee eee 2 Howe: Dr: S:.Gea ese eaten eee il Hanis Advis o22ee22 eee eee 3 Hant;- Dr: 0s Sz aes a eee eee 3 Hyatt, ProfsAes es 55s2sc 08 cee 2 Byatt Dr Essa sera. Soa oe 2 Jackson pinient.He sea oes ce tama e 3 Jarvis Dros Jeet see nk Sees 21 Jenkins, Rear-Admiral T. I......--.-. 2 Johnsons Captaingers. ssscu ooh ace 1 Stal anion Onree coe ose o> woe eee 1 Kerrabrofs WiiG). se sos aos sae 1 Mingstony Prof.G. T= 22. 5525s ee ] Kn Ox sis Jue shit See ha, nee ee esas 1 Bapham Dred, Aq Js: 5. eee 1 gt Ne at i aes Remaenoee 1 Lawrence: Gs N) 2525 )-foeee eee 5 Lawson, Captain:c2s=<,-cee) se eeee ee 1 ear: Tce ooo: eee een ng ere a lie Conte; Dir Je lines ae oe 9 Lee;tAdmiraliSiiPe ere eee | 2 Hees Ji Lissette ee 2 Leidy,: Dra Jee Peseta s toes 13 Memmony le Gpereee peeean a sa. aces 2 Iheonard sProteyaiviees tees cee 4 Wsesley. dime eee tees ae csc dese oe 5 Lesquereus eros. tec 5-55-54. 25 4 Theyiy Bishop eee Ge cess cece de ate 1 114 APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. Packages received at the Smithsonian Institution, &c.—Coutinued. INDIVIDUALS—Continued. Levitte, Dr. G. M PIONT Is shed eer ect ores ctor wisi oo wayne WOOMIs ss PEOti bees eae ee ss doe stele TOVOTIN Re ERORAM ee eet iepic's ee nea Lyman, B.S Divide rel se arate ¢.-'<\s nfo fals'sale 2 Sse Maclntire, J MecMurtrie, Dr. W Manigault, G. E Marcou, Prof. J Marsh, Prof. O. C Marvwedol, Miss Bl 22 s22-2ceeet Soa Mason. rots Onl tee. oe eee see Massey, A.A -+.--- =. - pte Es Bee ~. Matthews, G. F IMG6kK HB resists s woken peat eae MOOG Ont Aten seme cinerea eee Meigs, General M. C MITT OT ieee ilattrcra sere ac atet oat poets Mitchell, Miss M MOH Ti Oaremceies cme ees coae oa ee Mohr, jr., P. F Moody, J. D MOTAISSREVS Siscccus ceins a2 cere ee Morris, Prof. G. S INTOTBO BEA ee witas hew sae Sols a Se wislrees Moulayroribicesise csc oats oie eee oe Moyer, Dr. T.S MUNVOE shliWhy thas mee See ie bce Se : Myer, General A. J NIpPher EKOLphs ply soo. seer 2 - ea- ae ee NenrbenrmniaserOtawdi: Siseccece a toes ee NOwWCOMDT EO SEee- ee Boe aias a coe Newton, "Prot lH. ,A\- scp ascie> 2 eo VE PDS Es sono cee em cies ene peer INGOTIURE Ee TOt- whey Bieson tab ao eats) oe Olmstead, Rev. L. G Osborne, J. W ie HO Wace Mie suet suaw ie ees cee PPACCALC |e P OES AIS 2c chee eee cece NOM ELUM eiben ticces, Sse ce aera. PACOUSID Vw beee arene SEM Sc yar oes eee vit eran ee tAte esis oki ire ste ne oe AU MOM meee cme cd at we cteeeee ae Paterson; Captain’. -2.-\-2 s-.ts sess < PESrSOnitd Reeeiteee on ts 6's cakes succes eC iy Gil ae reecwicie acc ss a eine ak PONCE VE TOLMER eee mse eae er as Peters, Prof, CHHab esc) shoe. sets imental: Hisar eee ee ieee cee neta Poesche,. Tc aes eee ee es ee ed OOTG, Bi IP oo eee eee yeas ae ae Pourtales, L. F. de Powell, Maj. J. W POO he es! ak | ee eee BAUM AGED Y WY Goa. onc Coes cere Pais, Professor UA UPBE OL Cr os e's ots aids Gud coe ones PUT IUONO sEDe OW isis aie onc ook Saw e seco Rego Genoral i... '2),..- 2aee eee Re Ee ote pa cih os weed op sees TUNCES PERO eee oe sc ios via «ae <:ndcenee Siena acre c\soni-'S. oo once Riley, C. V Reece s tee eee cee eee oees ~ / < INDIVIDUALS—Continued. Rillieny, N..-2. 52.0% o's wea eleialer tani RIGGeNs iit. cn ~ 5 eee Roberts, Geese. ce cee PS Ua se sae eee ee Robinson; Ri Wee... 22. se aidemisit rents Rodrigues, Dr. J. © Ropers, Protessor :... 35.222 cee eee Rosas, Dr. Alexander’M .:.... -22: eo2e Ruthertord; Ui. Mo. 2.2.2. oe eee ; Safford, Prof. J. M Sattord; Protec. Hl. 2 220. a. eeeeeee Salisbury, Prof. E. E eee tee we eee we eee ew eet wwe eee *| Sands, Rear-Admiral B! S.......-...- Schenek, Hon. R. C Scheiffelin, H. M Schott, GAs Peat oar ee ce eee Schroeder;; Mrs: i/B).25--. 2. alone eee Schumachenh 22s aes eee Eshisy: Schuster, W222 2 sn 0 oo. dv Cee ames wae 94.44 EXCHANGES. Literary and scientific international exchanges ......... ce $3, 266 33 16, 287 43 14, 711 51 10,199 10 * u REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 119 MUSEUM. Advanced for construction of laboratory of natural history.. $1,313 84 Advanced for clerk at Centennial.................... es 1,200 00 Total expenditure from the Smithson incomein 1876. 46,978 21 Expended from Hamilton-bequest income.......-....... 150 00 47, 128 21 REPAYMENTS. The Institution, as in former years, has made temporary advances for the payment of freight on Government collections, &c., the repayments of which, together with the amount received from sales of the publica- tions of the Institution, have been deducted from the several items of the foregoing expenditure, as follows: 00 From exchanges, repayments for freight .............0.....- $127 88 Pian PORtALE, TEPAYMENtS .2. 255 o. sone oe sas cones dee ety rhe 21 tT Prant researches, repayments... 2 22. ee ee ee ie cies 5 From Smithsonian Contributions, sales of publications........ 42 05 From miscellaneous collections, sales of publications.......-. 277 40 Mronureports, sales of publications... ..-.....-- .s2- debs. oes 16 60 SamanbalOnery,.TOPayMent. <4. 2 eee vets wel eee cea clewe 3 00 mromecost Of DOOkS, repayment --.. 2... .. 2 .es sem ev nee esewe ck 29 04 PAM MOrOiGUre, TEPAVMENG 5.0.2.5 66 Seek es Ls ed oh ecetne se 16 00 See inilding repayment... . 22. .s.c-.02-- 042 oe46 ee 3 75 mPronr incidentals, répayment......... 022... .0+.s. yocee ed tie 50 00 PANEER ee NS eS isan s nhac keg +o, ae FSW had See ei $592 49 ESTIMATES. The following are the estimates of receipts and appropriations for the year 1877 of the Smithson fund: Estimated receipts. Interest on the permanent fund, receivable June 30 and Merempets!, 157i, an gold... 025 oso. 2s a. seh ke an ae $39, 000 00 Probable premium on gold, (6 per cent.)........-.--.--.-. 2,340 00 Interest on the Hamilton fund to December 31, 1877, in Re eared eye sei Alore oi hid an ns 2 al> oPeleral = init , 60 00 Probable premium in gold, (6 per cent.).....-..-:-.--.. as 3 60 Interest on Virginia bonds from sale of coupons due Jan- Se NCI OW. ar. 6 e322 ss se ee eee 2,500 00 $43, 903 60 Provisional appropriations. — PINUS. ae in sccm oink 5 odes eS Bn ey hs ses $1, 000 SETI DONSCN ss 2-2-5 NS Se nd Ae oy TE le Pe eat Se hp nee) Re ee rh ae " et JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 12% “to it by a resolution of this Board, at the last meeting, viz, for the erection of a large but comparatively inexpensive building, annexed to _ the present edifice, to contain these great accessions to the museum, would do away with the present embarrassment in that regard. The suggested acquisition by Government of the present Smithsonian edi- _ fice, already mainly filled with its collections, would give a desirable unity and prominence to the National Museum, and might sufficiently mark that ‘ definite distinction between the two establishments” which our Secretary suggests as needful. We agree that a more marked dis- tinction than now appears to exist is desirable, for the avoidance of _ present misapprehension and fature complication. But we apprehend that both these desirable ano may not suffi- _ ciently provide against the danger that the Smithsonian Institution may become wholly subsidiary to the museum, and be perhaps crippled by it. The Institution has only one executive officer, with undivided responsibility, who may, with our consent, ‘‘employ assistants,” but we look to him alone, and all must pass through his hands. His scientific labors in conducting the Institution, not to speak of those somewhat _ extraneous, of which he might possibly be relieved, are various, impor- tant, and exacting. Much will be lost if the executive head of this Institution shall be other than a man of broad scientific culture and experience, commanding the regard of the scientific world, and the con. fidence of the many who depend upon his judgment. His time and powers must be divided between such duties as are here referred to, and those of administration. Now the proportion which the museum bears _ to the Institution proper is already large, and it threatens to be* pre- dominant. We have no desire to check its immense development, and we contemplate with satisfaction its sure popularity ;. but, as respects the burden which the museum throws upon our Secretary, we may say that it is already heavy, and that it threatens to be injuriously large. If not provided against, the time seems sure to come when the museum will mainly absorb the working energies of the Institution. In the next place we must all agree that the looking after Caneress ional appropriations in the present mode is not desirable. The Secre- tary has called attention to this. An objectionable feature would be removed if the appropriations were made directly in the name of the National Museum, and if it became possessed of the present edifice. But still the duty of preparing or supervising and of anxiously furthering the annual appropriations for the museum, would devolve upon our Secretary. We would also remark that this great museum must have a large number of employés, many times more than the Institution itself needs for its uses. This great extension of patronage cannot be contemplated without anxiety. Under the present organization this patronage is vested in the Secretary. So far as the Institution is concerned, it were - much better not to have it. On the other hand it may well be that the 128 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS © ‘ Government would prefer some such administration of the museum as this board secures. No present action is proposed by this committee, beyond the recom- mendation that the distinction between the Institution itself and the museum under its charge should be mads as prominent as possible. The very great development which the museum is now undergoing May soon bring the whole subject before the Board in a practical. form. If the next Congress should adopt a plan to which the Secretary adverts, (but which seems unlikely,) namely, that of transferring the museum to a new building to be erected for the National Library, the separation which — the Secretary recommends would be at once complete. In that event, since the Smithsonian building was erected in great part for containing these collections, we will not doubt that Congress would indemnify the Institution by re-imbursing an equitable portion of the original outlay. On the other hand, if the museum is to develop to its full size and im- portance upon the present site, according to the plans laid before the Board, and by it recommended to Congress, this will, as 1t seems to us, | almost necessarily involve the acquisition by the Government of our present edifice ; and that will pave the way for an entire separation of administration, or to such other adjustment as the Board of Regents may then think best, or be able to accomplish. Respectfully submitted by ASA GRAY, A. A. SARGENT, HIESTER CLYMER, Committee. On motion of Mr. Stevenson, it was Resolved, That the report of the committee, be received and printed in the proceedings of the Board of Regents, to be submitted to Con- gress with the report of the Secretary. The Secretary presented his annual report of the operations of the institution during 1876, which was read, and, on motion, ordered to be transmitted to Sarre. The Secretary also presented a list of the articles given to the United States National Museum by foreign governments represented at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Ov motion of Mr. Hamlin, it was Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare a memorial to be submitted to Congress, showing the recent immense contributions to the national collection, and the necessity for provision being speedily made for their reception and exhibition. The Chancellor appointed Messrs. Bancroft, Parker, Gray, and the Secretary. On motion, the Board adjourned to meet at the call of the Secretary. JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 129 WASHINGTON, February 5, 1877. A meeting of the Board of Regents was held this day at 7 o’clock p. m., in the oflice of the Secretary. Present, Chief.Justice Waite, Chancellor; Hon. T. W. Ferry, Hon. J. W. Stevenson, Hon. A. A. Sargent, Hon. H. Clymer, Hon. G. W. Mce- Crary, Hon. P. Parker, Hon. Geo. Bancroft, and the Secretary. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. Mr. Bancroft, from the special committee appointed at the last meet- ing, presented the following report of a memorial to be sent to Congress: MEMORIAL To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America an Congress assembled. The undersigned, Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, beg leave respectfully to lay before you a question which has suddenly arisen, and which can be solved only by your authority. In the year 1846, on the organization of the Smithsonian Institution ‘for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men,” Congress, to the great relief of the Patent-Office and other public buildings, devolved upon the Regents of that Institution the custody of “all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging or here- after to belong to the United States, which may be in the city of Wash- ington.” In accordance with this enactment, the Institution has received and carefully preserved all the specimens which have been brought together from more than fifty public exploring expeditions, and has added speci- mens collected by itself, or obtained from foreign museums by exchange, till its present edifice, in the beginning of 1876, had become full to over- flowing. . By an act bearing date July 31, 1876, additional duties were laid upon the Smithsonian Institution as custodian, and $4,500 were appropriated “for repairing and fitting up the so-called Armory building, on the mall between Sixth and Seventh streets, and to enable the Smithsonian In- stitution to store therein and to take care of specimens of the extensive — series of the ores of the precious metals, marbles, building stones, coals, and numerous objects of natural history now on exhibition in Philadel- phia, including-other objects of practical and economical value presented by various foreign governments to the National Museum.” As a fruit of this act of the General Government, the Smithsonian In- stitution finds itself the custodian of enormous collections that had been displayed at the Centennial Exhibition, and on the closing of that ex- hibition, had been presented tothe United States. These donations are made by individuals among our own citizens, by foreign exhibitors, and by several of the States of the Union, and there is scarcely a power in s9 130 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. the civilized world in any region of the globe which has not taken part in these contributions, and some of them with the largest generosity. Men of science, most competent to pass judgment, pronounce them to be ot immense value, and are of opinion that, including the gifts from States of the Union and the exhibits of the United States, they could not have been brought together by purchase for less than a million of dollars. That the magnitude and value of the donations from foreign govern- ments may be manifest, we annex to this memorial the list of the more important of them, as aad by Prof. S. F. Baird, who represented the Smithsonian Institution at Philadelphia. Their nae aii exhibition requires an additional building, which shall afford at least four times the space furnished by the present edifice of the Institution. The Government of the United States is now in possession of the materials of a museum, exhibiting the natural products of our own country, associated with those of foreign nations, which would rival in magnitude, value, and interest the most celebrated museums of the old world. The immediate practical question is, shall these precious materials be for the most part packed away in boxes, liable to injury and decay, or shall they be exhibited? It was the act of Congress which ordered the acceptance in trust of these noble gifts to the United States. The receiving of them implies that they will be taken care of in a manner corresponding to the just expectations of those who gave them; and one of the prevailing motives of the donors was that the productions of their several lands might con-. tinue to be exhibited. The intrinsic value of the donations is moreover enhanced by the circumstances under which they were made. They came to us in the one-hundredth year of our life as a nation, in token of the desire of the governments of the world to manifest their interest in our destiny. This consideration becomes the more pleasing when we bring to mind that these gifts have been received not exclusively from the great nations of Europe from which we are sprung, or from the empire and republics on our own continent beyond the line, but that they come to us from the oldest abodes of civilization on the Nile, from the time-honored empires and kingdoms of the remotest Eastern Asia, and from the principal states which are rising into intellectnal and industrial and political greatness in the farthest isles and continent; from states which are younger than ourselves, and bring their contribu- tions as a congratulatory offering to their elder brother. We have deemed it our duty to lay these facts and reflections before both houses of Congress, and to represent to them that if they in their wisdom think that this unequaled accumulation of natural specimens and works interesting to science, the evidence of the good-will to us that exists among men, should be placed where they can be seen and studied by the people of our land and by travelers from abroad, it will be neces- sary to make an appropriation for the immediate erection of a spacious JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. oe: building. Careful inquiries have been instituted to ascertain the smallest sum which would be adequate to that purpose; and the plan of a con- venient structure has been made by General Meigs, the Quartermaster- General United States Army. We beg leave further to represent that to accomplish the purpose there would be need of an appropriation of $250,000. This amount is required, not as a first installment to be fol- lowed by others, but as sufficient entirely to complete the edifice. Should this appropriation be made at an early day, the building could be ready for the reception of articles before the next session of Congress. On motion of Mr. Stevenson the report of the committee was adopted, and all the Regents present signed their names to the memorial,* which was placed in the hands of Mr. Stevenson to be presented to the Senate, and Mr. McCrary to the House of Representatives. . Mr. Clymer offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted : Resolved, That the executive committee be authorized and requested to have a life-size portrait of the Secretary of the Institution painted by some competent artist, which, when finished and approved by the Regents, shall be preserved and kept in testimony and memory of the devoted, unselfish, and renowned services of Joseph Henry in behalf of the “ increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The Board then adjourned sine die. The following is the list appended to the foregoing memorial : List of the more important collections presented by foreign commissioners to the United States Government and taken charge of in behalf of the National Museum by the Smithsonian Institution. ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. Dr. ERNESTO OLDENDORFF, Commissioner. Ores of metals, minerals, pottery, tiles, stuffed animals, leathers and hides, nets, fishery products, samples of woods, fibers, seeds, grains, specimens of silk and wool in great variety. This donation embraces almost the whole of the exhibit in Agricultural Hall and a large portion of that in the main building. AUSTRIA. Dr. FRANCIS MIGERKA, Commissioner. Specimens of mineral wax (ozockerite) and a variety of mineral and industrial products. BELGIUM. Count D’OULTREMONT, Commissioner. Some specimens of industrial products. *M. R. Waite, T. W. Ferry, H. Hamlin, J. W. Stevenson, A.A. Sargent, Heister Cly- mer, B. H. Hill, G.W. McCrary, Peter Parker, Asa Gray, George Bancro¢ft. Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 132 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. . BRAZIL. Dr. J. M. Da Sttva Coutrnno, Commissioner. Specimens of iron, coal, hides, leather, tiles, and pottery in great variety ; specimens in large number of woods, vegetable fibers, sub- stances used as foods, gums, resins, &c. This collection embraces nearly the whole of the immense display in the agricultural building and a part of that in the main building. CHILI. EDWARD SHIPPEN, Esq., Commissioner. A collection of minerals and ores, artificial stone} tiles, terra cottas, and an extensive variety of grains, ‘seeds, and other vegetable products, embracing by far the largest part of the display of the Chilian govern- ment in the main building. CHINA. J. L. HAMMonpD, Commissioner. The entire exhibit made by the commissioners of customs of China and displayed in the mineral annex. It inelndes a complete representa- tion of the manners and customs of the Chinese, such as samples of their foods, medicines, clothing, their domestic and household utensils, their ornaments, objects used in their plays and festivities, &c. In the collection are numerous full-sized figures, beautifully executed and suit- ably dressed, representing the different ranks and classes in the com- munity. Many bundreds of clay figures, about one foot in height, illus- trating the different races of the empire; specimens of cotton and silk in great variety, samples of paper, leather, and the like; samples of pot- tery, such as vases, tea-pots, pipes ; matting, baskets, &c. This collec- tion is of unparalleled interest, and cost the Chinese government a large sum of money. It will require a space fully equal to half of one of the halls of the National Museum for its exhibition. There are also three ornamental gateways, three cases, and two pagodas as used in the main building for purposes of exhibition ; musical instruments, specimens of wrought iron and other metals, bamboo-ware, glass, specimens of tea, oils, and woods, tobacco, and sugar. The entire collection (exclusive of the ornamental gateways and cases) filled twenty-one large wagon-loads. EGYPT. E. Bruascu, Commissioner. Collection of minerals, tiles, and pottery; garden products in great variety ; samples of wood, and a large collection of objects illastrating the habits and customs of the natives of Soudan, Nubia, and Abyssinia, such as musical intruments, weapons, clothing, &e. FRANCE. Captain ANrryE, Commissioner. No collective exhibit was made by the government, but Messrs. Hav- JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. ldo iland, of Limoges, France, presented a pair of Centennial memorial- vases, valued at $17,000, and requiring the erection of a special kiln tor their production, together with a large panel of tiles. GERMANY. Mr. BarTELs, Comnvissioner. Specimens of tiles, cements, asphalt-work, fire-bricks, manufactures in metals and woods from the commissioner; and from Mr. F. Krupp, of Essen, a very extensive display illustrating the mineralogy and metal- lurgy of the iron-trade of Germany, with samples of the different man- ufactures made at the great gun-works at Essen. This collection is one of the largest and most complete at the Exhibition, and attracted great attention. A special catalogue of this collection was printed by the exhibitor. HAWAII. H. R. Hrrcncccx, Commissioner. Collections of the volcanic and other rocks and minerals, ropes and fibers, tobacco, sugar, oils, models of boats, nets, and vegetable products in large variety. / ITALY. JOSEPH! Dassi, Cominissioner. Samples of alabaster, terra cotta, marbles, &c. JAPAN. Lieut.-General Saigo TsuKMICHI, Commissioner. A valuable series of tiles and other pottery, the large exhibit of the fisheries of Japan in the agricultural building, including both products and apparatus, skins and hides of animals, various food preparations, and a series illustrating the materials and manipulations employed in the manufacture of tea and silks; also manufactures of bamboo. MEXICO. Dr. MARIANO BarceNA, Commissioner. The greater part of the exhibit of the natural produets of the country as shown in the main building, including the ores of gold and silver, obsidian, woods, fibers, and other vegetable products, pottery and terra cotta. Among the most notable mineral specimens may be mentioned an iron meteorite, weighing 4,000 pounds. NETHERLANDS. Dr. E H. Von BAuMHAUER, Commissioner. Agricultural products in considerable variety ; specimens illustrating the fisheries of Holland, includingycod-liver oil, &c.; tiles, cement, &c. NORWAY. Wma. C. CHRISTOPHERSEN, Commissioner. GERHARD GADE, Assistant Commissioner. A very large collection of ores and other specimens illustrating the 134 JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. metallurgy of iron, copper, nickel, &c. The residence of the royal family in the country was prolonged to _ 1821, that is to say, until a large party in Portugal, discontented with what appeared to be a desertion of their country by their sovereign, | and also on account of the commercial relations Brazil entertained with the rest of the world, contrary to the ancient monopoly accorded to Portu- — gal, excited a revolution which soon extended over the entire country, — and at last obliged the king to return to Portugal. On leaving for — Europe, Dom Juan placed at the head of the government of Brazil his. — son Pedro, heir presumptive to the throne. It was not without grave apprehensions that the king quitted Brazil, for there had been several attempts to attain the independence of the _ country, and the most enlightened of its patriots still entertained hopes. _ of eventually securing its freedom. Foreseeing the impossibility of | subduing these revolutionary efforts sufficiently to prevent a recurrence of them, and at the same time knowing the monarchical tendencies of the majority of the Brazilian people, he on his departure very wisely counseled his son to place himself upon the throne in case a separation of Brazil from the mother country appeared inevitable. After the return of the royal family to Portugal, the Cortés resolved to reduce Brazil to its former state of a colony, and compelled the king to adopt certain reactionary measures which outraged the dignity and aroused the patriotism of the Brazilians. The Cortés in fact forgot that in the moral as well as the physical world it is not possible to attempt to repress what is irrepressible without danger of explosion or rupture. The prince regent of Brazil, Dom Pedro, hardly twenty-three years of age, Saw these indications of discontent with uneasiness. His situation became more and more embarrassing. It was difficult for him to decide BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 175 what, under the circumstances, was his duty: for if, on the one hand, he: desired to enforce obedience to the sovereign authority of Portugal, on the other, he found the nation quite ready to proclaim him as king, but also determined not to hesitate even in the use of force, if necessary to secure independence. There was in his mind a terrible conflict between the apparent duty—which he had not the strength to discharge—and the noble ambition of preventing the return of a people who had tasted of the sweet cup of liberty to a colonial condition. Added to the latter consideration was the fact that his father and sovereign had in advance released him from the loyal adherence which was his due, and had him- self suggested the solution of the question of Brazilian independence, if it were irresistibly presented. . Under these circumstances, the Portuguese Cortés themselves relieved Dom Pedro of his embarrassment; first by the issue of orders tending to deprive him of all administrative authority over the Brazilian provinces,. and finally by his recall to Europe. The departure of the prince would have compelled the Brazilians to assert their rights by the demand for another occupant for their throne. The moment was decisive, and the Brazilians understood this so well that they entreated Dom Pedro to remain in the country, in order that the contest might be avoided which must inevitably ensue, and also that he might assist them in securing finally their independence. Dom Pedro yielded to the desire of the nation, expressed to him through its legitimate representatives, in words which have become celebrated in the history of Brazil: ‘ Since it is for the good of the country, I remain.” Brazilian independence, under the form of a monarchy, was decided from that moment. Whether Dom Pedro was actuated entirely by ambition, or solely by the desire to found a free state—which is much more in accordance with his chiv- alrous disposition—there was now for him no honorable retreat. Like Cesar, after passing the Rubicon, contrary to the orders of the Roman senate, he could say, ‘‘Alea jacta est !” Events followed in rapid suecession. The resolution to remain in Brazil contrary to the expressed orders of the mother country was taken on the 9th of January, 1822. Only four months after, the young prince accepted the title of Perpetual Protector of Brazil, offered to him by the municipality of Rio de Janeiro in the name of the nation, and on the 12th of October of the same year he was proclaimed Emperor, under the name of Dom Pedro I. The independence of Brazil was thus peaceably obtained, for the Portuguese garrisons in the country made but slight resistance and were soon overcome.* The empire established, it was necessary to give it a constitution, but the discussion of this important document led to very serious disagree- ments between the members of the chamber of deputies and the sover- -* The independence of Brazil was recognized by Portugal in the treaty of the 29th ef August, which imposed upon the country the payment of two millions of pounds sterling. 176 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. eign, who at last summarily dissolved the legislative body. We can easily understand the irritation this act produced in the nation. The Emperor, in order to calm the disturbance and restore public confidence, prepared, in 1825, a most liberal constitution. But unbiased judgment was no longer possible; misunderstandings again occurred in regard to the execution of this fundamental code; for, on the one hand, the Emperor, who had been reared in absolutism, had a natural tendency in that direction in spite of himself, and, on the other hand, the liberals wished to efface this element completely from the government in order that they might rule. Fault existed on both sides. The fact was, the political parties, as well as the sovereign, were novices in parliamentary government. A curious incident shows the state of public feeling at this time. On the 25th of March, 1831, anniversary day of the adoption of the constitution, the Emperor went, according to custom, to church to assist in the Ze Dewm announced for the occasion. On his entrance there was a ery of ‘ Long life to the Emperor!” followed by “As long as he is constitutional!” The Emperor turned toward the portion of the — audience from which the latter came, and said in a firm, clear voice, ‘Tam and have always been a constitutional sovereign!” This, how- ever, did not prevent discontent from increasing every day. On the 6th of April the Emperor, considering his ministers inefficient, dismissed them and appointed others. The malcontents seized upon this occasion to promote a revolt, in which the garrison of the capital participated. The insurgents sent messengers to the sovereign to de- mand the restoration of the dismissed ministers, under the pretext that the new officers had not inspired the people with sufficient confidence. The Emperor replied, ‘‘Z will do everything for the sake of the people, but noth- ing by force of the people ;” and, although he could count upon the support of the Portuguese part of the community, and of the troops of that nation- ality, in the maintenance of his authority, he preferred to abdicate in favor of his son rather than shed the blood of hiscountrymen. Hesigned the act of abdication the next day, the 7th of April, and set sail a few hours afterward for Portugal, where he re-established his daughter, Maria da Gloria, upon the throne which her uncle and husband Don Miguel had usurped. His son, in whose favor he abdicated the throne of Brazil, is the present Emperor Dom Pedro II. DOM PEDRO II. I Dom Pedro II was the offspring of the marriage of the Emperor Dom Pedro I, of Brazil, founder of the empire, and descendant of the house of Bragance, of Portugal, with the Archduchess Leopoldine, of Austria, _ and of the house of Hapsbourg.* He was born at Rio de Janeiro on *The Princess Leopoldine was the sister of the Archduchess Marie Louise, who became Empress of the French by her marriage with Napoleon I. ‘ Pete o> Ree age ARR he ag ELTA: BITE ol oF ™ Ba oS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. Le the 2d of December, 1825; and had hardly completed his fifteenth year: when his august father abdicated in his favor, in accordance with the constitution, which prescribed that with. the same degree of relation- ship, preference should be given to the masculine sex.* His name is Pedro d@’Alcantara Joao Carlos Leopoldo Leocadeo Miguel Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga; his title, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Pro- tector of Brazil. The childhood of this prince was far from happy, for his mother died the year following his birth, and his father was engaged in the harass- ing and almost daily political struggle which terminated with his abdi- cation. It is doubtful whether, under the circumstances, Dom Pedro [ had the time to attend, as he would have desired, to the education of his children. They did not even witness his departure, the Emperor having determined suddenly in the night to abdicate and leave the country. He did not wish to disturb the peaceful slumber of his chil- dren, and contented himself with embracing them several times very tenderly and with tears. It was a sad spectacle, this valiant soldier, who had many times braved the danger of revolutionary crises, weep- ing in the presence of his court, his ministers, the embassadors of France and England, his friends, and his faithful generals. Imagine the sorrow of his children the next morning when they received, instead of the paternal kiss, the sad news of the departure of the father they would perhaps never see again. Although Dom Pedro, on account of his extreme youth, could not feel all the importance of such an event, his tears, and the manner in which he pressed in his arms his young sisters, testified to the extent of his grief. How many children of the people were at that moment happier in their cottages than he in a palace, notwithstanding he had just come into the posses- sion of an immense empire. lag According to the Brazilian constitution the Emperor is a minor until the age of eighteen years, and during his minority the empire must be governed by a regent, the member of the imperial family the most nearly related to the Emperor, provided always such relative is more than twenty-five years of age. In case there should be no relative ful- filling this condition, it is the duty of the chamber of deputies and the senate to nominate a permanent regency composed of three members, the oldest of which is the president. This was done, and the regency, consisting at first of the required number of persons, was, a few years later, after the reform of the constitution, reduced to one, elected by the nation for a term of four years. : The men who were successively called to the noble task of preparing *Of the surviving sisters of Dom Pedro who remained in Brazil, one, the Princess Dofia Francisca, was married in 1843 to the Prince of Joinville; the other espoused _ Prince Louis de Bourbon, Count d’Aquila, in 1844, Ss 12 178 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. Dom Pedro to govern his empire, acquitted themselves in a manner worthy the honor and gratitude of their countrymen. While endeavor- 7 ing to establish the empire of law in this nation distracted by anarchy, — the regents never for a moment forgot the physical and intellectual 4 education of the young monarch. The principal direction was intrusted to the bishop of Chrysopolis, to the great satisfaction of all acquainted — with this venerable gentleman, eminent not only for his virtues, but — also for his great attainments. Under this wise and paternal instruction, Dom Pedro, with his two young sisters for companions, passed his days in the midst of books and toys, with all a child’s unconscious freedom from care, when he received ~ the terrible news of the death of his illustrious father (1834). He had not then completed his tenth year. The intelligence, which was as un- expected as sad, produced in his youthful mind, after an interval of the . most violent arioh a complete change; he pecdme grave almost to sad- ness, while all his actions and words seemed to be carefully considered. This transformation can be very naturally explained. The young prince, deprived of his mother, had settled all his filial affection and hopes upon his father. His confidence in the power of the parent, who had be- queathed to him his rights as a monarch, to draw the sword if necessary. to maintain them intact,as he had done for his daughter in Portugal, was in accordance with the ideas of his age. This prop suddenly withdrawn, this powerful moral support lost to him, he felt the necessity of self- reliance and of preparation for the gulf which might any moment open under his feet in a country where the ambition and the vanity of the political men were unbounded, while moral as well as material law were — absolutely wanting. He then very naturally determined to make a man ~ of himself, to seriously prepare not only to guard against danger, but also to meet it if necessary. A happy inspiration taught him that the surest way to this end was the acquirement of superior knowledge, of —| science in all its branches. The most learned professors, national and foreign, to be found in the country or that could be obtained from abroad had heen provided for his classical studies, and later, others were in- trusted with his instruction in philosophy and mathematics as well as — the natural, moral, and political sciences. Although pursuing all these — branches with equal facility and like ardor, he had for the natural sci- ences a marked preference amounting to enthusiasm. His application — to study soon produced results which excited the admiration of those who surrounded him, but also caused uneasiness to the bishop of Chrys- | opolis and the regent in the fear that he might injure his health by too | great application. It is related that one evening the venerable instructor | was obliged to remonstrate seriously with his young pupil because the | latter had fallen into the habit of relighting his lamp for study after it | had been extinguished by the bishop for the night. | The fruits of his industry soon became evident in his conversation, — which was remarkably intelligent for one of his age, nor was it without | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 179 _ « certain satisfaction that he exhibited his attainments, unusually varied and solid for a youth of fourteen. We shall see later how this love of study was turned to the great advantage of his country. iae In 1840 Dom Pedro was in his fifteenth year. Civil war had for five years desolated the province of the Southern Rio Grande, the most im- portant and the strongest portion of the empire, as far as regarded means of defense from the neighboring countries of the Plata. This condition of political disturbance in one portion of the empire, with the ebullition of - a rebellious spirit under forms more or less violent in various parts of the country, ended by producing a general feeling of discontent, which’ in the capital assumed more and more of a threatening character. This state of things exactly suited idle mischief-makers and ambitious, unscrupulous politicians. The public good, the welfare of the country, | state reasons, and other high-sounding phrases of the same character, not without their effect when skillfully used, especially in a country whose organization is still imperfect, were the order of the day both ¥ with the press and in places of public business. At this period two political parties appeared to predominate over the various factions which divided the country. Their tendencies were in general the same as the two opposing parties in a constitutional government—the liberal and the conservative. The former, which was in the minority in the cham- | _ bers, whether eager to obtain power, or wishing to recommend itself to ' the supreme head of the nation, perhaps because really convinced that _ the good of the country required a radical change in the personnel of _ the administration, proposed, through its representatives in the session _ of parliament, that the young prince should be declared of age. This project was lost in the senate, and when presented a month later to the house of deputies, excited the most stormy discussions ever known in Brazil. Finally, the regent (Senator Pedro de Aranjo Lima, after- ward Marquis of Olinda) determined to order an adjournment of the chambers. In the state of publie feeling this act was certainly im- politic; and the communication of the decree to the chamber of depu- ties (July 22, 1840) was like setting fire to a powder-mine ready for an _ explosion. It produced immediately violent excitement. The authors of the project for declaring the Emperor of age and its principal sup- porters quitted the hall immediately, and collecting adherents in the i _ streets proceeded to the senate, where they joined the few members of that body in favor of the proposition. They then sent to Dom Pedro a deputation, with a communication. signed by five senators and three _ members of the house of deputies, in which it was declared that ‘“ the adjournment of the legislative chambers at the moment when the ma- jority of the Emperor was proposed was an insult to his august person, as well as treason to the nation; and in view of the great evils which must accrue to the tranquillity of the capital from such an adjournment, 180 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. since the enemies of public peace would take advantage of this event to disturb society to its foundation, the Emperor was entreated to save the country and the throne by taking into his own hands, from that moment, the exercise of the high attributes the constitution conferred — upon him. Instead of resisting with firmness this demand, the regent — left Dom Pedro to his own unadvised inspirations, and demanded of lim, ~ in the presence of the delegates, whether he would accede to their desires. — The young prince, much agitated, answered, “Yes.” What other re- sponse could he make, face to face with anarchy and threatened revolu- tion, especially after the weakness manifested by the government. This was on Wednesday. The regent immediately announced his in-— tention to convoke parliament for the following Sunday, in order that the majority of the Emperor might be publicly declared according to the constitution. A member of the deputation objected to any delay, — and proposed that this convocation should take place the next day. On the following day, therefore, the 23d of July, Dom Pedro I was. declared of age by the president of the general assembly of the repre- sentatives of the nation, and on the same day took the oath imposed by the fundamental law of the empire. This political event excited great. enthusiasm throughout the entire nation; weary of the often bloody struggles of the factions, there seemed hopes of a better future in the — political emancipation of the prince. In consequence of this emancipa- tion the liberal party were brought into power. The minister pro- nounced the chamber of deputies dissolved, and decided that the Em- — peror should be crowned the following year. iV Behold Dom Pedro then governing by himself his vast empire. The — burden he had assumed, or rather which had been placed upon his. shoulders, afforded grounds for reflection for more than one sincere friend of the monarchical form of government and of the reigning dy- nasty; for from 1831, the period of the abdication of the first Emperor, to 1840, the majority of his son and successor, none of the statesmen who had held the reins of government had been able entirely to con- trol anarchy and the ambitious spirits who aspired either to the central government or to that of the provinces, which they saw in their auda- cious dreams converted into independent republics. In fact the first. years of the government of Dom Pedro did not pass without danger to — the monarchy. First, the serious revolution of the province of the Rio | Grande had not been entirely quelled, and there seemed no near pros- | pect of its termination ; then the struggle between the liberal and the conservative party, both through the press and in the tribune, assumed a more and more violent character and ended by an actual contest at arms. The conservative party, in return for the prompt action by which the | liberal minority had obtained the power and forced consent to the major- _ wih BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 181 ity of the Emperor, induced the young and inexperienced monarch - to dissolve the new liberal chamber even before it had assembled, on account of alleged violence and fraud committed during the election, and placed itself at the head of the administration of the government of the country. The liberals followed this defection by the revolution of 1842, in two of the largest provinces of the empire—Minas-Geraes and S. Paulo—but were soon subdued. However, their exclusion from the government was not of long continuance, for two years afterwards we see them again in power, to be reversed anew in 1848. Again they took up arms, this time at Pernambuco. The contest was bloody, but hap- pily did not last long, and the rebels were conquered as before. If the young Emperor had not at this time sufficient experience in the govern- ment of men to avoid these fratricidal struggles, he had an opportunity of manifesting his conciliatory disposition by using one of the most beautiful prerogatives granted him by the constitution—that of remis- sion of punishment, and pardon of the guilty. The conservative party, in 1845, brought to an end the important revolution of the Rio Grande, and gained by this new success a prestige and reputation for order which maintained it in power until 1863. The Emperor was married, by power of attorney, in 1843, to the daugh- ter of Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies, the Princess Thérése Christine de Bourbon;* and in 1845 he made with her a journey through the southern provinces of the Rio Grande and S. Paulo, to study for him- Self the means of avoiding the return of discontent. Vv. Order was hardly restored (after the revolution of 1848) when the attention of the government was called to the neighboring countries of La Plata, under the despotic rule of General Rosas, President of the _ Argentine Confederation. This audacious gavcho had conceived the project of re-establishing for his own benefit the ancient Spanish vice-royalty of La Plata, which in- cluded the territories known to-day under the names of the Argentine Confederation and the republics of Paraguay and Uruguay. Foreseeing the danger that must necessarily arise from an increase . of the power of Rosas to Brazilian commerce, a part of which was car- ried on by river communication with the Brazilian province of Matto- Grosso, ‘he imperial government was making preparations to oppose this measure, when Rosas, by his hostile attitude toward Brazil, which he *Of this marriage was born two princes and two princesses. The princes are dead ; also the younger of the two princesses. The latter, the Princess Léopoldine, was mar- ried to the Prince Louis Auguste Marie de Cobourg-Gotha, Duke of Saxe. The surviving princess, who bears the title of princess imperial, because she is the heir presumptive to the crown, is called Isabel. She is married to Prince Louis-Philippe- _ Marie-Ferdinand-Gaston d’Orleans, Count d’Eu, and son of the Duke de Nemours. The Princess Léopoldine left four children. The princess imperial has only one son, who is by the constitution her suécessor to the throne. ' 182 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. ee accused of taking part with his enemies, himself furnished a pretext for declaring war. Brazil then formed an alliance with General Urquiza, governor of a” province of the Argentine Confederation in revolt against Rosas. Their united forces marched against the despot and vanquished him on the 2d of February, 1852, at Monte-Casero, not far from Buenos Ayres. Rosas embarked the same day for England. VI. From this period really began that progress which excites the admi- ration of all who compare the Brazil of the present with the Brazil of — twenty-five years ago. This beautiful era in the history of the vast em- — pire commenced with the abolition of the slave trade an immense step toward civilization, followed by a veritable enthusiasm for commer- cial and industrial enterprises; then were laid the first railroads, the especial lines of which, such as those of state, received the guarantee of an interest of 7 per cent.; the companies for river and maritime navi- gations were largely increased; Europe was brought into communica- tion with Brazil by means of steam; gas was introduced into all the great cities, and good roads were opened. Most of these enterprises gave to agricultural industry, especially to the culture of coffee, sugar, tobacco, and cotton, a marked impulse, and were thus of material bene- fit to all classes of society. The satisfactory condition of the country allowed Dom Pedro to make an excursion of several months to the northern part of Brazil, (1859.) He visited in succession the provinces of Bahia, Pernambuco, d’ Alagoas, and Parahyba. He was everywhere welcomed with great enthusiasm, and received such warm ovations that it may be said his journey was one continued féte, by which the people endeavored to express their love and gratitude for the great benefit they had received through his wise government. This visitation of the empire was of the greatest utility in a particular as well as general point of view. For everywhere the Emperor endeavored to learn for himself the degree of intellectual and material development of the provinces, what was needed to secure their progress, and especially the manner in which the governors adminis- tered their office. On his return to the capital he took the necessary measures, in con- formity with the information he had obtained, for the benefit of the provinces he had visited. VEE. This peaceful prosperity, which lasted ten years, was suddenly dis- turbed by a double incident known under the name of the Lnglish Con- Jlict, and worthy of notice because evincing the energy of Dom Pedro, when called to maintain the dignity of the nation of which he is the a head, and also the ardent patriotism of the Brazilian people. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II 1383 - Towards the end of 1862, some officers of the English navy had, in the garb of peasants, deserted from a military post in the vicinity of Rio; they were seized in a brawl by the civil authorities and impris- oned until they could be identified, which was done the next day.. The English government claimed satisfaction fur their detention, but the Brazilian government, believing no satisfaction was necessary, submitted to the decision of Leopold J, King of Belgium, the question whether the English navy had cause for offense. The Belgian monarch replied in the negative. But, before this decision was received, the minister from England at Rio, (Mr. Christie,) either because he was angry with the ° Brazilian government for refusing the satisfaction demanded, or fore- seeing the sentence of the king of Belgium, and not wishing to remain under the unfavorable impression of a condemnation he had himself provoked, demanded and obtained authority from England to require of the Brazilian government an immediate settlement of a claim which had been under consideration for two years, and which necessitated the © payment of a sum of money (6,000 pounds sterling) as indemnity for the losses resulting from the shipwreck of a small English vessel upon the coast of Brazil. This was the second incident. The imperial govern- ment refused to comply with the demand before the claim had been fully discussed. The English minister then ordered the commander of the English squadron stationed in the Brazilian waters to exercise the act of reprisal until the sum named was paid. As soon as this order was known the entire populace of the capital arose in indignation, and a large body, carrying the national colors, proceeded to the palace of S. Christovam,* the ordinary residence of the Emperor, and encountering the sovereign on the way, conducted him in triumph to his city palace, where the monarch had already called a council of the ministers. It was on this occasion Dom Pedro uttered these memorable words, which secured to him forever the love of the Brazilian people: “‘Z desire above all to show that in the presence of, danger I am the equal of every other Brazilian citizen.” Although the ministers shared the indignation of the sovereign and the people at this uncalled-for violence on the part of a foreign power, still, as responsible for any measures taken, it was necessary to reflect caretully before acting. The opinion was earnestly maintained that force should be met with ec, but by the minority. After along deliberation, it was concluded that a contest upon the sea, although offering some ad- vantages in the commencement, would at last become too unequal to be continued with any chance of final success; it was therefore decided that the government should agree to pay the required sum, but directly _ to the English Government, provided the latter persisted in the demand made by its representative at Rio. The English Government insisted, and the sum was paid, but under protest. ' - The Emperor, considering the conduct of the English government as *The palace of 8. Christovam is in the suburbs of the capital. 184 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. un act of mere caprice, withdrew his representative at London; which — determined the recall of Mr. Christie. Diplomatic relations were not 4 restored between Brazil and Englaid until three years later, and then through the intervention of the King of Portugal. It is a common saying ‘that evil always has its good side.” The conflict with England was not without advantage to Brazil, in that it manifested the weakness of the country as compared with the great maritime pow- ers, and showed the Brazilians that they should not confine their atten- tion exclusively to interior prosperity, but should also acquire the means of responding suitably to any exterior insult. A number of respectable citizens then conceived the happy idea of. raising a permanent national subscription for the purchase of modern cannon and iron-clad vessels. This was met with enthusiasm by the nation; donations were received from all sides; the Emperor subscribed the fifth part of his civil list; the empress and the princess followed his example, the public functionaries and the officers of the army gave 5 per cent. of their salaries; the rich land-holders promised large amounts ; the poor also, to the extent of their ability, manifested their patriotism, The subscription amounted in a few months only, to a sum of several millions. Large orders were then sent to Europe for all kinds of war- engines, while the armories of the country worked with an activity be- fore unknown. The Emperor himself manifested indefatigable energy; he visited every day arsenals, workshops, dock-yards, fortresses, war- vessels, military schools, and everywhere exhibited knowledge which astonished even specialists. All these efforts were crowned with Dril- liant success, as we shall see. But first we would mention that about the middle of 1863 the conservative party was obliged to give way be- fore the liberal party, which came into power by the elections following the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, in which the conservative majority had become doubtful. Vink In April, 1863, occurred in the republic of Uruguay, adjoining Brazil, a revolution, at the head of which was General Flores. The govern- ment of Uruguay could not subdue the insurgents for want of men and money, and had, like its predecessors, recourse to violent incursions upon the property of the Brazilians living on the frontiers of the re- public, taking from them especially their herds of sheep and cattle. Under these circumstances many subjects of the empire were maltreated and even forced to enroll under the flag of the republic. The government of the Emperor remonstrated with the government of Uruguay, but the President of the republic, (Aguirre,) while feigning a desire to do justice to the complaints of the empire, for which he held his subaltern agents responsible, in reality endeavored to support the republic of Paraguay. This republic was at that time governed by Lopez II, who was a re- * BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 185 publican only in name. He was, in fact, the most immoral, the most tyrannical ruler in all America. He was, besides, very ambitious of military glory, and as soon as he became President (in appearance by election of the self-called National Congress, but in reality by heritage and his own will, as the only generalof the republic) he imagined he could perform in La Plata the role which Napoleon III had for some time taken in Europe, viz, the maintenance of European equilibrium. For this end he made of the nation a regular military depot, and only waited for an opportunity to send forth his troops. He had, besidés, accumulated an immense quantity of material for war, so that he was quite prepared not only to enter into a military contest, but to maintain it for a long time. The hostile attitude of Brazil toward Uruguay furnished the Presi- dent of Paraguay with the pretext he desired to forward his pretensions. After demanding, for the sake of form, of the representative of Brazil at Assumption (the capital) information in regard to the views of the imperial government, be sent to the latter, in the month of September, 1864, a declaration that he would not consent to the occupation by Brazilian troops, neither permanently nor temporarily, of any part whatever of the territory of Uruguay. : The imperial government made a mistake in taking no notice of this declaration of the despot ; and, not receiving the satisfaction demanded of the government of Uruguay, invaded the territory of that republic. The Brazilian troops and those of General Flores, who held the open country, naturally united against the common enemy, and obtained their first victory in the taking by assault of the city of Paysandee. This alliance, made upon the field of battle, having been ratified by the imperial government, the united forces marched together upon the cap- ital of the enemy,(Montevideo,) and obliged it to capitulate on the 20th of February, 1865: The news of the invasion of Uruguay provoked on the part of Lopez an open act of hostility against Brazil. A steamer was expected belong- ing toa Brazilian company, and which did service between Rio Janeiro and the Brazilian province of Matto-Grosso, passing by the capital of Paraguay. When the boat arrived at Assumption—it was the Marquez de Olinda—it was seized by order of Lopez and most of the passengers mmade prisoners, among others a colonel who was on his way to take charge of the government of the province of Matto-Grosso, (November, 1864.) This act excited great indignation in the empire, and an outery from all parts of the country for punishment of the tyrant. The feeling was so general, that at the end of several weeks the number of the volunteers who responded to an appeal made by the Emperor to their patriotism was more than sufficient, and the government was obliged to decline ‘further offers of service. Lopez then took possession of the province of Matto-Grosso. He was obliged to pass through the territory of the Ar- 186 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. gentine Republic in order to invade a second Brazilian province, Rio — Grand de Sud, and, not having obtained permission, did- so by force, — commencing hostilities by the surprise and seizure of two ships of war. — Thus a triple alliance was formed against Lopez, consisting of Brazil and the two republics, Argentine and Uruguayan. General Mitré, President of the Argentine Republic, was made chief in command of the aliied armies.* Although the tyrant had to struggle against all ee powers, the war lasted five years, and was the most sanguinary that had ever been known in South America. In the first place, Lopez possessed, as we have said, formidable resources in the materials for wart he had collected. Then Paraguay, the principal theatre of operations, was admirably protected by numerous lagunes, water-courses, forests, and mountain-chains, while to these natural barriers were added extensive military constructions. Brazil, which was the soul of the alliance, and which alone possessed a squadron, blockaded Paraguay from the commencement of the year 1865, while the allied armies assembled upon the territory of the Ar- gentine Republic, in order to pass over the 200 leagues which separated them from the enemy’s country. In the month of June, 1865, the Brazilian squadron destroyed, in the naval contest of Riachuelo, the squadron of Paraguay, consisting of eight war-steamers, protected by floating batteries of earth.{ Three months later the Paraguayan commander of a column of 10,000 men (the same which had invaded the province of the Rio Grande) capitu- lated in the city of Uruguayana, in the presence of the Emperor, who had undertaken in person to drive the enemy from this part of the em- pire. In April, 1866, the allies passed the Parana, the frontier of the enemy. Several battles, among which should be mentioned that of the 24th of | May at Tuyuty, (about 70,000 men were present,) distinguished the first period of the campaign in the enemy’s country. The assault under- taken on the 23d of September, from the direction of Curupaity, against the terrible Humayta, (fhe Sebastopol of America, constructed upon a very sharp elbow of the river Paraguay,) failed completely, with great loss to the allied forces. The latter then undertook a siege of the fort- ress, which lasted two years. The fall of Humayta (August, 1868) was secured only when the iron- *The Brazilian army was commanded by General Osorio, and that of Uruguay by the President, General Flores. + He commenced with an army of 80,000 men, in all respects perfectly cauipped, and well distributed over the entire region of the war. ¢ The battle took place upon the waters of the Parana, near the mouth of the small river Riachuelo; hence the name of the contest. The Brazilian squadron was also composed of eight war-steamers of wood, the iron-clad vessels being still-in course of construction. The victory was for a long time undecided, and there were several very exciting occurrences, among others the capture and recapture of a Brazilian sloop, the Parnahyba. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 187 clad squadron of Brazil forced the passage of the river defended by this fortress; a passage which, in the beginning of the war, had been consid- ered impracticable on account of the formidable batteries, the torpedoes, the chains, and the vessels sunken in the stream, all of which formed a powerful system of defense. The remains of the garrison of Humayta, (4,000 men,) in accordance with the orders of Lopez, refused to surren- der, and fought ten days without intermission in the almost-island opposite the fortress, where they had taken refuge after being compelled to evacuate. This valiant and obedient garrison, deaf to the most hon- orable proposals of the allied commanders, ended by falling from ex- haustion. Never was there a more bloody contest. This obstacle surmounted, the Marquis of Caxias, placed at the head of the Brazilian troops after the reverse of Curupaity, and commander at this time of the allied forces, with the Brazilian squadron, also under his orders, proceeded toward the capital of the enemy, which could, however, be reached only by passing through the main body of the army of the tyrant, which had protected the city with new and impor- tant lines of defense. These had all been erected since the bloody battles of Itororo and of.Avahy, (on the 8th and 11th of December, 1868,) and the assaults upon the camp of Lopez, at Lomas Valentinas, (on the 21st and 25th of December,) in which the Brazilian army alone lost a third of its most effective men. After repeated victories the allied armies made their triumphal entrance into the capital, (on the Ist of January, 1869,) which had been abandoned after the fall of Humayta. The Marquis of Caxias then left the army on account of illness, and was replaced by the nephew of the Emperor, the young Count d’Eu, who was also marshal of the empire. The count took by assault the new capital of the enemy, (the city of Pirebeburg,) then chased Lopez from the first chain of mountains in which he had taken refuge, destroyed the remainder of his army in the battle of Campo Grande, and finally pursued him to the extreme limits of the republic. Lopez, whose men had been reduced to a few hundred, was surprised in his encampment on the 1st of March, 1870, by the Brazilian troops.* As soon as he perceived the enemy he mounted a horse and fled, while his companions fought desperately. As he was about to reach the edge of a dense forest, in which he hoped to save himself, the soldiers of the Brazilian cavalry fired upon him, preferring to kill him rather than allow him to escape. ‘To say nothing of his never having conducted his troops personally into battle, Lopez had not even the courage to defend himself when attacked, and, like most tyrants, died the miserable death of a coward. With his decease ended the long struggle in which were sacrificed 200,000 Paraguayans, about 80,000 Brazilians, and 10,000 Argentines and Uruguayans. Brazil, besides, expended nearly two thousand millions of franes. *The last operations of the war with Paraguay was exclusively the work of the Brazilian army. 188 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO It. The gratitude of the Brazilian people to their sovereign, and of the | imperial government to the troops and victorious generals, was mani- — fested in an admirable manner. A sum of three millions of francs was collected by a national subscription to raise a statue to Dom Pedro, but the modest Emperor devoted this amount to the good of public instrue- tion; the Marshal Caxias, already a marquis, was made a duke, (the only one in Brazil;) Count d@’Eu, being already marshal of the army, was, upon his return to the capital of the empire, the object of brilliant ovations: the fetes celebrated by the city in his honor and in that of the army lasted three days, and cost about two millions of franes. On this occasion the Emperor expressed to the army his happiness and gratitude by embracing the commander and one of the soldiers of each battalion. Several of the generals received, with promotion in rank, titles of nobility; among others, General Osorio was successively made baron, viscount, count, and marquis (do Herval): he was also accorded an annual pension of about 20,000 frances, in addition to his pay as general of the army. General Camara, the conqueror of Lopez, was made viscount (de Pelotas), and also received a pension of 20,000 franes. To the officers of the volunteer corps the government accorded honorary promotion, and preference in the nomination to public employ; finally, every volunteer soldier (there were about 30,000) received the sum of 800 franes, besides a certain portion of land in the interior of Brazil. IX. The enormous sacrifices Brazil was forced to make to sustain the war, which lasted much longer than was at the beginning anticipated, deter- mined the political party which came into power during the hostilities to propose to the Emperor to conclude peace before the fall of Lopez; but Dom Pedro under these circumstances manifested the most ardent patriotism and at the same time great political discernment. He never lost faith in the ultimate success of his arms, although the enemy em- ployed every means of resistance the most unscrupulous despotism could invent under the vail of patriotism; he, moreover, understood better than any one else the importance of giving a severe lesson to Paraguay, this natural ally of the constant enemies of Brazil—the re- publics of South America. So strong was his conviction in this respect, that he would not hear of peace, and even went so far as to declare form- ally he would abdicate rather than parley with such a foe; affording thus an example of self-abnegation and patriotic energy worthy to be placed by the side of that given by Appius Claudius, (the blind,) who was not a king, it is true, but a member of the famous Roman senate, which, by its dignified bearing in the presence of misfortune, appeared to the messenger of Pyrrhus an assembly of kings. “I have for along time,” indignantly exclaimed the illustrious blind old man, ‘ complained of the gods because they deprived me of sight, but now I thank them, and even regret that they did not make me deaf also, that I might not BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 189 hear such disgraceful proposals. Our fathers thought not of peace un- der such circumstances; on the contrary, the greater the danger, the greater their heroism and perseverance. It is thus they became great!” The Emperor would no more make peace with Lopez than the Roman senate with the king of Epirus. Another circumstance also proved both how much Dom Pedro had at heart the reparation of the affront to his country, and the entire confi- dence he had in final victory: After the reverse of Curupaity, he had confided the chief command of the Brazilian troops to the head of the conservative party, Marshal Caxias, a measure which was approved by the liberal ministry under Senator Zacarias. Some time after, the re- ciprocal confidence between the general and this body was disturbed to such a degree that both offered to resign; but the Emperor was able to produce a reconciliation, and thus to secure the judgment and skill of the general, which he deemed absolutely necessary for the success of the imperial arms. Still a certain opposition began to be manifest, both in the press and the chamber, by the minority of the liberal party, to the marshal, who was accused of being too slow in his military operations. This increased more and more, and even extended to the ministry; the _ latter shortly after, disagreeing with the Emperor in regard to the choice of a senator, (a choice exclusively reserved for the sovereign by the con- Stitution,) again offered their resignation, which was this time accepted, Dom Pedro was now obliged to choose between a new liberal ministry, which could inspire the confidence neither of the general-in-chief nor yet of those who were opposed to him, and a conservative ministry which would be willing to afford the marshal every possible means to secure the victory. These considerations decided the Emperor in favor of the latter, which was presided over by the Viscount de Itaborahy, who was obliged to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies for refusing to support him (July, 1868). The conduct of the Emperor towards vanquished Paraguay proved that he had been animated by no feeling of hatred for that unhappy country; on the contrary, it afforded another evidence of his proverbial magnanimity, for he voluntarily pledged himself after the war to keep the country independent for ten ) ears, on account of the feeble state to which it had been reduced. De The war did not prevent the imperial government from taking all the administrative measures the circumstances would allow to increase the prosperity of the country. The navigation of the Amazon was opened to foreign nations; new lines of railroad were projected, and the con- struction of those which. had been commenced was not allowed to be _interrupted ; in a word, progress continued with a firm and assured pace, and, except a slight increase in the rights of dower and of land and per- sonal taxes, absolutely nothing indicated that the nation was engaged 190 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. in a formidable contest. Commercial transactions received such an — impulse that large fortunes were made as if by enchantment. One fact is worthy of being recited: In the last year of the war, when — the army and the squadron were reduced because the strength of the enemy was not as great, the custom-house revenue of Rio Janeiro (about 300,000 franes a day) was sufficient to cover the expense of the war; so that the campaign against Paraguay not only exhibited the patriotism, the strength, and the perseverance of the Brazilians, but also the im- mense resources of their country. Peace concluded, the government, far from resting upon its laurels, employed every means to draw from the experience gained during the war knowledge that would be useful in the future, and render the country better able to meet with promptitude attacks from its turbu- lent neighbors or other nations. The leaders who had most distin- guished themselves upon land and sea during the war were consulted as to the best measures for this end; and, in accordance with the in- formation received from them, new iron-clad vessels were ordered, among which should be mentioned the frigate Independencia, still in course of construction at London, and one of the largest in the world;* the army was re-organized ; the mode of recruiting by force, hitherto employed, was replaced by the system of conscription ; corporal punish- ment, so derogatory to human dignity, was abolished, and the pay of the officers was increased a third. Perhaps the most urgent need felt by the country after the war was the resupply of the farming population of this vast empire, relatively depopulated by the loss of a hundred thousand men, for the most part cultivators of the soil. The solution of this great problem depended for the most part, if not absolutely, upon the settlement of another im- portant question, the abolition of slavery, which had for several years been a subject of especial solicitude with Dom Pedro, not only on ac- count of his well-known ideas of philanthropy, but also because he was assured of what he constantly endeavored to convince his ministers, that all efforts to establish a current of emigration toward Brazil, such as that toward the United States, would be useless as long as slavery existed. Both the liberal and conservative party at last understood the — : necessity of immediate attention to this difficult and delicate question. Abolitional ideas had for a long time in fact been entertained by phi- lanthropic minds in Brazil. Several societies called “ liberators ” had been formed for the purpose of freeing a certain number of slaves each year. Many provincial and municipal associations of the empire fol- lowed this good example, and every day negroes were liberated by in- dividual owners; in a word, the current of public opinion had become too strong to be arrested, and the Emperor, who rejoiced in the course events had taken, determined to seize the first opportunity of satisfy- OT “This frigate costs 12,000,000 frances. Brazil now possesses twenty-five iron-clad vessels. 7 . | BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. HOE ing not only his own philosophical and benevolent views in this matter, but also the desires of a large portion of his people. As soon as the war with Paraguay was ended he called the attention of the conservative minister (Itaborahy,) then at the head of government- al affairs, to the subject. The minister, although he did not believe in the sudden and radical enfranchisement such as had taken place in _the United States, thought the children of slave parents should be freed, - but he had not the courage to take the responsibility of maintaining this opinion in opposition to the numerous and wealthy planters, many of whom held seats in Parliament or were electors. He preferred to send his resignation to the Emperor, which was eagerly accepted. The minis- ter who succeeded him was also obliged to retire at the end of four ' months on account of the opposition, more and more threatening, of the slaveholders. What was to bedone? Wait until the liberal party, which had inscribed this reform upon their programme, came into power? But how was it possible to wait ? Under these circumstances the Emperor offered the ministry to the Viscount Rio Branco, a man well known on account of his political ability and an especial talent for conciliating unruly spirits. The viscount carried out, although not without great trouble, the views of the Km- peror and the Brazilian nation, and on the 28th of September, 1871, was passed by the Parliament the law known under the name of the “free womb.” This legislative act, which declared the children born of slave-women after that day to be free, and required the owner of the parents for a slight indemnity to maintain the childrea until the age of ‘twenty, was received with indescribable enthusiasm by all Brazil, with the exception only of the slaveholders, who held their pecuniary interests above those of their country and of humanity. The government received from all the various corporations, political or civil, and the religious so- cieties, benevolent or otherwise, the most ardent promises of support and warm congratulation. In this universal feeling of contentment the generous promoter of this wise law, Dom Pedro II, was not forgotten, _ although at the time absent from the country, as we shall see. XI. Dom Pedro had for a long time wished to visit Europe, but the ac- - complishment of his desire had been postponed, at one time by troubles at home, at another by differences with foreign nations, and when at jast the country was in a condition to allow this excursion, much to be desired on account of relations with foreign powers, the Emperor com- menced his journey by passing through the provinces of his own em- pire he had not yet visited, thus showing himself true to his especial maxim, Brazil first of all. Not only did the victory over Paraguay, which insured external peace by affording sufficient proof to the turbulent neighbors of Brazil that war against her could only end to their disadvantage, and the interior | 192 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. order of the country not disturbed since 1848, seem especially opportune — for the execution of this project of a voyage to Hurope, but Ee health of the Empress required the journey. According to the Brazilian constitution the sovereign cannot leave the country without permission of parliament, under pain of forfeiting the empire. Dom Pedro asked and obtained leave of absence for a year, and started for Europe in the month of May, 1871, under the name of Dom Pedro @Aleantara, confiding the regency of the empire to his daughter, the Countess d’Eu. He sailed with the Empress and a suite of ten persons on board the English steamer which passes regularly between Rio de Janeiro and Southampton, for he would not spend a — centime more than the allowance of a civil officer, which, by the way, is not great—2,000,000 franes a year. The entire population of Rio turned out to wish him a happy journey, and a speedy return. They collected upon the quay, in the windows facing the port, upon the roofs of the houses, on the islands of the bay, waving their handkerchiefs as he appeared, and filled the numerous small steamboats which were to escort for some distance the vessel containing the august travelers. These sincere and touching adieus showed how much the people loved — their sovereign. The first stopping place of the imperial tourists was Lisbon. Upon the arrival of the Emperor, Louis I, his nephew, came to meet him, and offered to suspend the rules of quarantine and conduct him immediately to his palace. Dom Pedro firmly determined to travel as a private gen- tleman, not only refused to accept this offer, but also to pass the four days of quarantine in a man-of-war the King placed at his disposal. He lodged therefore in the common lazaretto with all the passengers who had landed at Lisbon. He passed several days in the beautiful capital, and then went by rail to Spain, promising his royal nephew to pass few days in Portugal on his return to Brazil. After Spain he visited France, England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Egypt. He took advantage of his journey to lay the foundations of sev- eral treaties of commerce and friendship, but particularly of extradition, which were afterwards consummated. In these different countries, of which he knew as much as could be learned from written descriptions, Dom Pedro made a careful examina- tion of the works of art, of science, and of industry, the schools, univer- _ sities, and scientific societies, whose: meetings he delighted to attend. He invited to his table distinguished men of all classes, and surprised more than one Diogenes in his tub. Everywhere and to everybody, he exhibited much more knowledge than is generally possessed by the heads of nations, and on his return to Brazil, honored with the most | distinguished decorations the men of letters, arts, and science with whom he had been in relation. In certain charitable institutions and — in the poor quarter of several large cities, he left substantial souvenirs — of his visit. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 193 Dom Pedro was decorated on this journey with the order of the gar- ter, and also received diplomas from several learned societies, among which we may mention that of member of the natural history section of the French Institute, a deserved reward for his profound study of this branch of knowledge. In short, the journey was a success, and of great importance to Brazil, as the Emperor was enabjed to refute the errors that superficial or malevolent writers had spread all over Europe in regard to the country.* Dom Pedro quitted Europe with the firm determination to return at some future time, and visit the countries of the north as well as Turkey. XII. The return of Dom Pedro to Brazil gave the people another oppor- tunity of showing their attachment, by an enthusiastic welcome, and a brilliant reception at the capital. One of his first acts was to abolith the system of vassalage which had descended from the ancient kings of Portugal. Then he hastened to introduce every useful art and cus- tom he had seen abroad compatible with the climate, institutions, and national habits of the country. The capitalin this way was embellished with numerous erections, which at the same time responded to the requirements of public comfort. t Brazil was then united by the telegraph with Europe, the United States, and the republics of La Plata. Several other works of public interest, such as the construction of new railways and the opening of new roads, &c., were undertaken or received new impulse from the gov- ernment. For the better success of his plans for material improvement, Dom Pedro nominated as minister of public works, of commerce, and of agriculture the Senator Viscount de Itatina, who had accompanied him on his voyage to Europe, and was, in consequence, the best inter- preter of the desires of the Emperor. In political and intellectual affairs there was radical reform, especially in the reorganization of primary schools, of higher, schools, and the re- vision of the electoral law. The solicitude Dom Pedro had always felt in regard to public instruc- tion, proves conclusively how entirely he was convinced that it is the *It may be well to give here the opinion of Professor Agassiz in regard to these errors: “Like every country,” he says, “struggling for recognition among the self- reliant nations ef the world, Brazil has to contend with the prejudiced reports of a floating foreign population, indifferent to the welfare of the land they temporarily in- habit, and whose appreciations are mainly influenced by private interest. It is much to be regretted that the government has not thought it worth while to take decided "Measures to correct the erroneous impressions current abroad concerning its admin- istration, and that its diplomatic agents do so little to circulate truthful and author- itative statements of their domestic concerns.”—(A Journey in Brazil, by Professor and Mrs. Agassiz.) tAmong the public constructions at Rio especially remarkable, are the foundling asylum, the hospital of Mercy, the military school, the primary schools, the exchange, the public treasury. 8 15 194 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. condition sine qua non of all real and lasting progress. It is, therefore, not surprising that during his journey his attention should have been especially directed to this branch of public administration. After adopt- ing the methods and programmes of study which seemed to him the best, he caused a number of really palatial buildings to be erected, with spacious gardens attached, to be used as public schools for children of both sexes; and in order to render study agreeable, the luxury and provisions for comfort in these establishments were so great as to be condemned as extravagance by those opposed to the projects of the Emperor. In the high schools, reform was introduced in the regulation of exam- inations. These were rendered so much more difficult as to excite the manifest hostility of the students; but the increased rigor was really necessary, as the diplomas conferred by the scientific corporations had ceased to be regarded with much confidence. The central school was reorganized and converted into a polytechnic institution, similar to the Belgian schools for engineers. Lastly, a school of mines was formed in the province of Minas, the richest in precious minerals, and now it is proposed to found at Rio a university, with due consideration, however, for the faculties of law and medicine existing in the provinces. The reform of the electoral law is one of the greatest benefits Brazil has received from the very hand, so to say, of the present Emperor. The old law was full of flaws, which might allow a party in power to remain so. continually, were it not for the prerogatives accorded the Emperor by the constituiion. No party at the head of the administration had desired to reform this law, precisely because of the advantage to be drawn from its defects, but once in the opposition, there was no want of condemna- tion of the frauds and violence committed by the agents and friends of the government during the elections. ; The greatest inconveniences resulting from this defective law were, ou the one hand, the impossibility of knowing whether the parliamentary majority represented really the opinion of the people, and on the other the want of any security that the minority would be represented. Also, every dissolution of the houses of parliament was followed by a unan- imous chamber, evidently the creation of the minister; and even if this had not the general support, it could always exercise great influence upon legislative decisions, because of its power over a large number of public functionaries; that is to say, on account of the number of public offices _ at its disposal. Tor the purpose not only of putting an end to the complaints of par- ties not in power, but also and principally to govern in accordance with the real desires of the nation—the first duty of every honest govern- ment—Dom Pedro determined to reform the electoral law, and on the occasion of the opening of parliament in 1874, entered into a formal engagement to prevent, in the future, electoral abuses. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. roe The liberal party desired election by one degree, that is, direct elec- tion; but the constitution positively required election by two degrees, that is, indirect. This was an insurmountable obstacle to the Emperor, for he knew that too frequent alteration of the organic laws of a country ends in political disorganization. He therefore confined his attention to such changes in the old system as would render parliament more - jndependent of the government. Among the improvements of the new law was the decree that the holding of the office of representative was incompatible with the tenure of any other charge remunerated by the state, and that the government could not nominate any deputy or sena- tor to an office six months before or after the elections. Should this loyal attempt at reform by the Emperor be unsuccessful, we are con- vinced he would propose to the people to change the constitution, rather than have the national vote continually misconstrued. XIII. Almost immediately after the return of Dom Pedro to Brazil, toward the end of the year 1872, occurred an event known under the name of the religious question, of which we must give a brief account, for, although much to be regretted, it gave proof of the moderation of the Brazilian monarch, and his respect for the national institutions. The bishop of Pernambuco, (Mgr. Vital de Oliveira,) who had received his religious education at Rome, where he had been nominated to office at the age of 28, forgetting the maxim of Talleyrand, “ above all, no zeal,” came to Brazil with the predetermination, it would seem, to suppress Free Masonry in his diocese, which had not been attempted by the ten preceding bishops nor by the primate of Brazil; for they knew that, under the form in which it existed in the empire, it was not hostile to the Catholic religion. The conduct of the young bishop, whom the Pope at the time called too hot-headed, is so extraordinary that we transcribe liter- ally that document, the cause of the disturbance which followed, in order that the reader may judge of it for himself. On the 28th of December, 1872, Mgr. Vital de Oliveira sent to the vicar of the parish of Saint Antoine (at Pernambuco) an order conceived as follows: ‘It has come to our knowledge that Doctor Costa Ribeiro, well known as a Free Mason, is a member of the fraternity of the Trés Saint Sacrement of this parish; and as the initiated of the order of Masonry are under the ban of high excommunication imposed upon them by several of the Popes, we order you, without delay, to see the judge of the fraternity, and command him in our name to exhort, kindly but instantly, the Brother Costa Ribeiro to abjure this sect condemned by the church. If, unhappily, he refuse to retract, let him be immedi- ately expelled from the fraternity, inasmuch as excommunicants are excluded from it by ecclesiastical institutions. Let the same course be pursued with regard to any other Free Mason who niay be a member not only of this, but of any other fraternity in the parish.” (Signed, etc.) 196 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. The fraternity, in united council, decided to beseech the bishop to with- draw this order as being doubly illegal. It required what was in fact contrary to the organic rules of the fraternity, which authorized no expulsion of its members on account of being Masons, and contrary also tq the constitution of Brazil, which required (article 102, § 14) that apostolic letters and other ecclesiastical mandates must receive the con- firmation of the government before they could be carried into execution. Now, the order condemning Masonry had not been authorised with the imperial seal; besides, the fraternities were not only religious but civil orders, and in the latter capacity did not come under the authority of the chureh. An order such as that of the bishop of Pernambuco had never before been given by any of the bishops of the empire, Masonry in Brazil haying the same legal title to existence as any other society whatever. . Notwithstanding these considerations, which the fraternity endeav- ored to impress upon the bishop, the latter persisted in his design, and ended by pronouncing the sentence of interdiction, by which the mem- bers of the fraternity were forbidden to appear in any religious cere- mony whatever with the insignia of the society. The fraternity en- treated the bishop in vain to withdraw this severe and illegal restric- tion; they then carried it, as an abuse, to the crown, founding their appeal upon the requirement of the constitution which had been dis. regarded. The government, wishing to act with prudence and justice, consulted the council of state, which was of the opinion that the bishop had abused his authority in requiring the expulsion of the masonic members of the fraternity, and in pronouncing against the society the sentence of inter- diction, inasmuch as the organic laws of the fraternity were under the su- pervision of the civil authority, the bishop having only the right toapprove and control those appertaining to religious matters. Jn consequence of this decision the government ordered the bishop to withdraw, within a month, the sentence of interdiction. The bishop not only refused obe- dience himself to this requirement, but enjoined the same on his vicars, under threat of suspension ex informata conscientia, a threat he im- mediately executed upon one of them who merely seemed irresolute. He besides declared in a public address that he had not taken the de- mands of the constitution into account, as he recognized no higher au- thority than that of the church. This act of real rebellion obliged the government to prosecute the bishop for disobedience to the laws, but this was not done without again consulting the council of state, this time in full conclave. An embassador was at the same time sent to tome to demand the support of the Pope against the refractory bishop, which proves conclusively that the imperial government desired to re- main on good terms with the religious power. The Emperor was, besides, quite ready to remit any penalty the tribunal might impose upon the bishop, if the Pope induced the prelate to withdraw the interdiction. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 197 The Pope, having probably been made to understand this, wrote a letter to the bishop expressing disapproval of his conduct and ordering him to withdraw the interdiction, but the prelate did not obey, under the pretext that the Pope had been misinformed in regard to the matter. The prosecution continued and the bishop was condemned to four years of hard labor, but the Emperor hastened to commute this punishment to four years of imprisonment. During the prosecution the bishop of Para, following the conduct of his colleague of Pernambuco, was subjected to the like process. The affair then assumed a violent character both in the press and in parlia- ment, where, however, the majority supported the government. The bishop from his prison—a palace situated on a beautiful fortified penin- sula opposite Rio, in which he moved freely and was allowed to see any one who wished to visit him, and was treated like a prince—succeeded, by the intervention of ecclesiastical agents, in exciting the peasants of his diocese to a rebellion, happily soon repressed. Notwithstanding the evident connivance of the bishop with these dis- turbances, the government forbore any further prosecution of him, in order to spare the Emperor the pain of seeing this high functionary con- demned to more severe punishment. We can readily understand this feeling in a monarch, raised in the Catholic religion, with Catholic sub- jects, and who had taken the oath on ascending the throne to maintain the Catholic religion, which is the religion of State. J‘urthermore, Dom Pedro did not allow the term of imprisonment imposed by the high court of justice for the bishops to expire, but pardoned them at the end of two years. To this act of clemency the Pope responded by removing the in- terdiction pronounced by the bishops against the fraternities, and re- ligious peace was restored to the empire. XIV. During the legislative session of 1875, Dom Pedro, taking advantage of the tranquillity of the country at home and fearing no trouble from abroad, demanded and obtained from parliament a leave of eighteen months. His purpose was to complete the tour commenced in 1871, and to visit’ the universal exposition held that year in Philadelphia, (United States of America.) Foreseeing this long absence, Dom Pedro had, after the retirement of the minister Rio Branco, (June, 1875,) nomi- nated as his successor the old Marshal Duke de Caxias, who had twice been president of the cabinet, and who enjoyed a high reputation, well merited by his victories in Paraguay and over the enemies of the internal peace of the country. The duke had as colleague in the min- ister of foreign affairs the Baron Cotegipe, well known to possess an amount of energy, quite uncommon among Brazilian statesmen, espe- cially displayed during the hostilities with the neighboring republics. - Having thus confided the government of his empire to a ministry of tried men and to the regency of the princess, the successor to the throne, 198 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. Dom Pedro left for the United States the latter part of last March, and at the moment of writing we know that he has received a most flattering welcome from the country of Washington and Franklin, not only on the part of public authorities, (although he desired to preserve a rigorous incognito,) but also by the press and the people of that pow- erful republic. We are sure that Dom Pedro is convinced by this re- ception of the sincerity—he has, however, never doubted—of the desire of the great republics of North America to maintain cordial relations with the great empire of South America, a policy perfectly in unison with the spirit of the people and the proud reserve of one of their most able representatives, Monroe, who repudiated all European intervention in America, wishing the continent to belong to Americans alone. From the United States Dom Pedro took passage for Europe, where there is no doubt as cordial a reception awaits him as he received in that country five years ago. XY. A few words before closing this sketch in regard to the personal char- acteristics of Dom Pedro, both as a man and as a Sovereign. In respect to physique, he is tall, well formed, with light hair and complexion; he has blue eyes, a benevolent expression, and wears a full-grown beard, which is very gray, much more so than his hair; his whole appearance is attractive and his manner sympathetic; he will be fifty-one years of age next December. Dom Pedro’s activity is extraordinary. He rises at 6 o’clock, reads certain news journals, while his secretary looks over others, and marks passages worthy of consideration, attends to business until half past 9, breakfasts rapidly,* then gives audience to the public; after which he generally visits the schools, arsenals, fortresses, or attends a session of @ scientific society, &c.t He dines at 5, again gives audience to the people, and then resumes business,t if he does not go to the theater, (of which he is very fond,) to a concert, a ball, or some private entertain- ment. He never retires before midnight. When visiting the establishments for instruction, whether private or _ belonging to the state, in the capital or in the provinces, he assists in the examination of the pupils and in the distribution of prizes, and makes note on these occasions of the name, family, and place of birth * He never remains more than half an hour at breakfast, nor at dinner, and has at his table all his personal attendants, who are on duty for a week. t Dom Pedro never fails to be present at the reunions of the Brazilian Institution of History and Geography, of which he is the honorary president. He has a library, and a very complete laboratory for natural and physical science. Besides the study of these branches, as well as of political and moral science, he is much interested in ancient literature. In asynagogue in London, during his visit in 1871, he delighted the rabbins by translating a page of their Hebrew Bible. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 199 of those who distinguish themselves in their studies. More than one thus noticed has afterward found in the Emperor a powerful protector.* Dom Pedro not only encourages letters and the arts, he also renders important aid to industrial societies of general utility, either trom his own purse, by the purchase of shares, or by demanding subsidy for them from the legislative bodies.t He presides twice a week at the council of state. The session com- mences at 9 o’clock in the evening, and lasts sometimes until 1 in the morning. Each minister gives an account in his presence of all the matters in his department requiring the imperial signature; the Em- peror listens with attention, and occasionally asks for some explanation. If the matter is of importance, especially if it touches the rights or the purses of the citizens, he will not allow a decision on the same day, but takes time to study the subject carefully, giving his opinion at the next session. If it is a radical innovation he employs a longer time in exam- ining all its details, consults the council of state, and adopts it at last only if convinced that it is really and intelligently desired, and will be of profit to the people; for his long experience in the government of men has taught him that reform must be carefully considered, must be opportune and very evidently beneficial before it is adopted, in order that progress may be made. In this respect he is a liberal conservative, as every head of a nation should be who desires to respect the laws and at the same time advance civilization. One would suppose from this active interference of the Emperor in the affairs of state, that the ministry exercises but little power. But this is not the case, for the Emperor has for the constitution, and for the public offices it creates, an almost religious respect. It is sufficient to say that he has not once during his long reign made use of the veto power given him by the constitution. He has never forced his own wishes upon any of his ministers; he leaves them entire freedom of action. But this very respect for the laws of the nation, as well as his own experience, has taught him the necessity of exercising his sover- eign attributes, which he does, taking counsel only of his own conscience. This loyal conduct, this benevolent interference on the part of the sovereign in the affairs of the country, has nevertheless been attacked * We are glad to give the following example: When M. Carlos Gomes, a Brazilian composer, after completing his studies in the school of fine arts at Rio and at Rome played for the first time, in the Brazilian capital, his beautiful opera Le Guarany, which had been very successful in Italy and London, he was summoned to the imperial box and warmly congratulated by the Emperor, who gave him at the same time the diploma and the badge of an officer of the order of the Rose set in diamonds. t There exist in Brazil not less than eighteen lines of steamboats, supplied by the state, representing a value of 9,000,750 francs a year, without counting 568,000 francs contributed annually to the United States and Brazil Mail Steamship Company, whose vessels run every month between Rio and the United States, stopping at several Bra- zilian ports. As to the railroad lines, we know they have nearly all a security of 7 per cent. 200 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. as unconstitutional, as too personal a government. Those who pretend | that the control of a nation should be left exclusively to the ministers — and parliamentary majorities, rest upon the celebrated maxim: “ The — constitutional king reigns, but does not govern.” This is not the place to dis- cuss this important question, but as to the maxim we cannot refrain from declaring, with Guizot, that it has no solid foundation. IfM. Thiers ut- tered it, when in the opposition, it is very certain he would not defend it to-day, since his experience at the head of the French nation. It was the constitution of England, which in some sort deprives the sovereign of political action by the existence of a constituent and all powerful parlia- ment, which led him to make this statement. But even with such a constitution, the distinction, as made by the Emperor between the attri- __ butes of the head of the nation, of its ministers, and of the national parlia- ment, is absolute, as M. Thiershimself proved by his conduct in the con- stituent assembly of Versailles, during his government of the country from 1871 to 1873. It is, moreover, very easy to show the nonsense of — the remark by substituting for the word reign its true significance, as given by the good Lettré, in his remarkable dictionary: “To reign,” he says, “is to govern a state under the title of king, queen, emperor, elect- or, prince, or duke.” Now, is it not nonsense to say the king governs, but does not govern ? The maxim, moreover, is not in accordance with the Brazilian constitution, which confers upon the sovereign not only control over the political powers governing the nation, but also especial attributes to be exercised by him exclusively. The accusation therefore that the Emperor is illegal in his personal government is without foundation. We have seen that Dom Pedro gives audience to the public twice a day. On these occasions he exhibits the qualities of a truly liberal soy- ereign, and shows that he cares as much for the interests of his Brazil- ian family as for his own. In fact, he receives every one, foreigners or his own people, with affability and kindness, pressing the hand of | those he regards especially. If an artist or a savant presents himself, Dom Pedro does not allow him to depart without some conversation upon his especial pursuit; if one of his acquaintances, he inquires with interest for the health of the different members of his family and inter- | changes with him some familiar and pleasant remarks. To claimants — he has become somewhat reserved in manner on account of the great number who have imposed upon his kindness, and also because he does _ not wish to encroach upon the attributes of his ministers. Still, he — listens with patience and attention ; making from time to time an objec- — tion, or giving counsel; but he does not trouble the ministers with their pretensions, unless justice, equity, or benevolence require. If a complaint is made to him either from subaltern officials, who are very — apt to suppose injustice has been done when they have not been pro- moted fast enough to suit their supposed deserts, from a disappointed oflice-seeker, or from any one whatever, Dom Pedro takes the trouble BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 201 to inquire into and discuss the cause of his discontent. He endeavors to reconcile as much as possible the duties his political position impose upon him with his own inclinations, which always lead him to clemency and benevolence. Thus every year, on the occasion of certain religious, national, and dynamic festivals, he pardons the condemned and the criminals. Altheugh the penal law of Brazil authorizes the punishment of death, it was very seldom used in the commencement of his reign, and has not once been imposed during the last twenty years. What Dom Pedro has most at heart, is the manner in which justice is administered in his empire.* Thus one day, when a complainant had the audacity to tell him that one of his ministers had done him an injustice, he answered with some asperity, ‘‘ My ministers never do an injustice.” But ina moment resuming his natural benevolence, he added, “I will examine into your affair,” and the next day reparation was made, the case being one of the few not without foundation. The following incident in the life of Dom Pedro shows how ready he is to pardon offenses even against himself personally. A young lawyer of talent, desiring probably to attract the attention of the controlling minds of the country, wrote a pamphlet against the Emperor and all the house of Bragance, in language much too violent to be sincere; nevertheless, he became later successively a deputy, a minister, a councilor of state, a senator for life, and received a title of nobility. There was a cry of corruption on account of his advancement from the opponents of the Emperor, although he had retracted the substance of his pamphlet, and did not enter into the various offices until long after its publication. The truth is, he owes the position he to-day occupies to his real talent and to the magnanimity of his sovereign, who would not place the least obstacle in the way of his elevation, especially after his retraction, and since he devoted his talents to the service of his country, instead of employing them to defame her institutions and her rulers. As to the liberality of the Brazilian monarch, it is manifested in various ways: sometimes by general almsgiving, (he causes several hundreds of centimes to be distributed to the poor every Saturday,) sometimes by especial donations, either voluntaryt or by request, some- * The government of the United States rendered homage to this spirit of justice in Dom Pedro, as well as to his wisdom, in electing him one of the arbitrators in the cele- brated Alabama question. The monarch was represented at the tribunal of arbitra- tion which met at Geneva, by the Viscount Itajuba, former professor of law in Brazil, and at present embassador of the empire at Paris. tThe following incident, recounted by the person benefited, shows the delicacy which clothes the acts of generosity of Dom Pedro. During an excursion into the interior of the country, where the hospitality of patriarchal times still prevails,* the Emperor was received by the principal resident-citizen of the place, a very respectable man, with whom he remained several days on account of his health. During his visit *In some of the rural districts of Brazil, travelers are entertained gratuitously by the landholders, many of whom always have a large bell rung a quarter of an hour before every meal, in order to invite passers-by to take a place at their table. 7 202 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. times in annual pensions to certain meritorious persons, and frequently in sums of money given for the education of promising youth, often large enough to allow them to prosecute their studies in Europe. It is an edifying proof of his religious feelings and of his Christian humility, that every year on holy Friday he washes publicly the feet of the poor in the imperial chapel, and that during the procession of the Corpus Christi be assists in carrying the dais throughout the ceremony. The qualities we have noticed are sufficiently indicative of what Dom Pedro is in private; it is hardly necessary to say that he is an excellent husband and model father. The Empress, his faithful companion since 1843, is an admirable woman, a providence to the poor and the orphan; to know her many virtues and not love her is impossible. The heiress presumptive to the throne, the only child left him, has received a care- ful education, befitting her rank and the office she will assume in the empire. Her political instruction, promoted by several European tours, especially in England, where she seemed to seek in Queen Victoria an example for future imitation, is the exclusive charge of her august father. Her first essay in the art of government, four years ago, gave great satisfaction and promised well for the future. As she is now again in charge of the empire, Dom Pedro can travel without care, as he knows the love of the Brazilian people for their future Hopes is as great and as sincere as that for their present Emperor. CONCLUSION. When we look back over the reign of Dom Pedro, and compare the Brazil of 1831, the time of the ascension to the throne by the present Emperor, when the national wealth was, so to say, insignificant, when the existence even of society was menaced by anarchy, when there were almost no means of communication with the interior, with the Bra- zil of to-day, taking into consideration its commerce and agricultural prosperity,* its numerous coast and river steamboats, its railroads and telegraph lines, passing through regions of country then occupied by virginal forests; its educational institutions cf every degree, and its powerful means of defense—when we remember that these two periods are separated only by an interval of forty years, and reflect upon the immense progress which has been made in this comparatively short space of time, represented by the words riches, tranquility, respect, — happiness—we have cause to be astonished, and to ask if all this is the work of a single man. knew not how to obtain the means to meet a large debt soon requiring payment. Dom Pedro, having assured himself secretly that he had been correctly informed, said to his host when the moment came to take leave of him, ‘You have forgotten to put away an important paper I have seen in the drawer of the bureau of the room I have occupied.” It was the receipt of the creditor of his host. “In 1831 the revenue of Brazil was hardly forty millions of francs; now it isover ten hundred millions, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 203 It is tres these great things have not been accomplished exclusively by the present Emperor of Brazil; but, as permanent head of the gov- ernment, the credit of them for the most part, of right, belongs to him. It is at his instigation that important measures of the administration have been undertaken; it ishe who has the right to approve or reject the projects of reform; he, in short, who has selected the men who have aided him in the realization of his philosophical ideal of prosperity for his people. The Brazilians render him full justice, and thank him for the position their country occupies among civilized nations. Almost as large as Europe, and by nature the richest country in the world, Brazilis, in fact, the most prosperous and the most powerful state of South America, and stands next to the United States in the whole of the western hemisphere. ‘Should her moral and intellectual endow- ments,” said the eminent naturalist Agassiz, “‘ grow into harmony with her wonderfui natural beauty and wealth, the world will not have seen a fairer land.” * We do not for an instant doubt the condition of this prophecy will be fulfilled, particularly if the future governors of the empire take as model the wise administration of Dom Pedro. It is a custom of biographers to compare the persons they describe with others of the same rank who have points in common, but we find no monarch now upon the throne, although several have reigned at various historical epochs, with whom we can compare the Emperor ot Brazil. If we go back to antiquity he may be placed side by side with the best of the Roman Emperors. Like Vespasian, he established order in an empire disorganized by factions and the machinations of ambitious men, and gave an impulse to the arts and sciences. In this respect he also resembles Augustus, but unlike him had no supporters such as Meceenas and Agrippa. His noble qualities of heart give him the right to say with Titus, ‘‘ The day passed without an opportunity for a good deed is a day lost.” He is not a warrior like Trajan, but when his country was invaded he went in person to meet the enemy, and forced him to capitulate, and if the Roman emperor refused to allow a column to be erected to record his victories, the Brazilian Emperor declined the statue his people wished to raise in his honor after the war of Paraguay. As tc the rest, they were equal in love of justice and respect for the laws. Dom Pedro appreciated as did Hadrien the inestimable benefit of peace to human prosperity. The virtues and the modesty of Antony the Pious were not greater than those of the Brazilian monarch; and by his clemency toward others and his severe judgment of himself, he deserves to be placed by the side of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher. In the middle ages we can think of no sovereign who can justly be “compared with Dom Pedro in regard to the organization and adminis- * Work already cited. — 204 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. tration of government, in interest for the education of youth, in sim- plicity of manner and personal activity, except Charlemagne, who, while governing with his own eye the empire extending from the Ebre to the Baltic, superintended the planting of the fruit-trees on bis farms and the number of eggs to be sold, while he devoted his evenings to study. Finally, in modern times we can mention as his equal only Peter the Great, who had also to recreate his kingdom under every species of opposition. But these comparisons with sovereigns who reigned before the rights of men were acknowledged, and who knew no other law than their own will, with the head of a modern nation accustomed to govern itself and recognizing no power greater than its own, are necessarily defective and . incomplete, although they serve to place in stronger light the personal and social virtues of the monarch. We should rather seek among con- stitutional rulers the equal of Dom Pedro in humanity and patriotism, as well as in his comprehension and application of parliamentary regime. On this ground there can be no hesitation in selecting the sovereign who was the preceptor of the present Emperor of Brazil in the difficult art of governing a free people. .We speak of Leopold I, of Belgium, whom history has already surnamed the model constitutional king. in our opinion the pupil has quite equalled the master; posterity will be the dndiee KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. By WIiLuiAM B. Tay or, of Washington. “Non fingendum, aut excogitandum, sed inveniendum quid Natura faciat aut ferat.”—BaAcon. “Causas rerum naturalinm non plures admitti debere, quam que et vere sint, et earam phenome- nis explicandis suficiant.”"—NEWTON. Ever since the grand demonstration by Newton in 1682, that the moon is a falling body, observing precisely the same law of decline from a rectilinear path as the cannon-ball, and that it is therefore under the dominion of the same force, an eager and unceasing desire has been manifested to discover an antecedent or origin of this universal tendency of matter. Even before this date, or in 1671, the ingenious Dr. Robert Hooke had endeavored to trace the cause of gravitative fall to the external ac- tion of waves in a surrounding medium. He appears to have been led to this reflection by observing that small bodies floating on the surface of agitated water collected toward the center of disturbance or the ori- gin of the waves.* Newton himself, as is well known, speculated on this subject, and some years before arriving at his great generalization, he threw out a suggestion as to the cause of terrestrial gravity in a letter to Mr. Boyle. As connected with this speculation, it may be well to recur to Newton’s still earlier statement of his conceptions in regard to the nature and action of the «ther. In a letter to Mr. Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the Royal Society of London, in January, 1675-6, he thus unfolds the hypothesis: “Tirst, it is to be sapposed therein that there is an etherial medium, much of the same constitution with air, but far rarer, subtiler, and more Strongly elastic. But it is not to be supposed that this medium is of one uniform matter, but composed partly of the main phlegmatic body of the ether, partly of other various etherial spirits, much after the manner that air is compounded of the phlegmatic body of air intermixed with various vapors and exhalations; for the electric and magnetic effluvia and the gravitating principle seem to argue such variety. Per- haps the whole frame of nature may be nothing but various contextures of some certain «therial spirits or vapors, condensed as it were by pre- * Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke, edited by Richard Waller. London, 1705, pp. xiv, and 184. 205 206 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. cipitation, much after the manner that vapors are condensed into water. Thus perhaps may all things be originated from wether. . . ” ‘(In the second place, it is to be supposed that the «ther is a vibrat- ing medium like air, only the vibrations far more swift and minute; those of air made by a man’s ordinary voice succeeding one another at more than half a foot or a foot distance, but those of «ether at a less distance than the hundred-thousandth of an inch. And as in air the vibrations are some larger than others, but yet all equally swift, (for in a ring of bells the sound of every tone is heard at two or three miles distance in the same order that the bells are struck,) so I suppose the wtherial vibrations differ in bigness but not in swiftness.” * Newton had in 1672 controverted the supposed opposition of his views to the action of the «ther by answering: ‘The objector’s hypothesis as to the fundamental part of it is not against me. That fundamental supposition is, ‘That the parts of bodies when briskly agitated do excite vibrations in the ether, which are propagated every way from those bodies in straight lines, and cause a sensation of light by beating and dashing against the bottom of the eye; something after the manner that vibrations of the air cause a sensation of sound by beating against the organ of hearing. Now the most free and natural application of this hypothesis to the solution of phenomena I take to be this: That the agitated parts of bodies, according to their several sizes, figures, and motions, do excite vibrations in the ether of various depths or bignesses, which being promiscuously propagated through that medium to our eyes, effect in us a sensation of light of a white color; but if by any means those of unequal bigness be separated from one another, the largest beget a sensation of a red color, the least or shortest of a deep violet, and the intermediate ones of intermediate colors, much after the manner that bodies, according to their several sizes, Shapes, and motions, excite vibrations in the air of various bignesses, which according to those bignesses make several tones in sound; that the largest vibra- tions are best able to overcome the resistance of a refracting superficies, and so break through it with the least refraction ; whence the vibrations of several bignesses, that is the rays of several colors which are blended together in light, must be parted from one another by refraction, and so cause the phenomena of prisms and other refracting substances; and that it depends on the thickness of a thin transparent plate or bubble whether a vibration shall be reflected at its further superficies or trans- mitted; so that, according to the number of vibrations interceding the two superficies, they may be reflected or transmitted for many succes- sive thicknesses. And since the vibrations which make blue and violet are Supposed shorter than those which make red and yellow, they must be reflected at a less thickness of the plate, which is sufficient to explicate all the ordinary phenomena of those plates or bubbles, and “History of the Royal Society of London, by Thomas Birch, 1757, 4 vols. quarto, vol. iii, pp. 249-251. | KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 207 also of all natural bodies, whose parts are like so many fragments of such plates. These seem to be most plain, genuine, and necessary con- ditions of this hypothesis. And they agree so justly with my theory, that if the animadversor think fit to apply them, he need not on that account apprehend a divorce from it.”* This passage is interesting as being the earliest presentation of a theory of color, now universally adopted. The same views were re- peated as a suggestion, some forty-five years later, in the second edition of his treatise on ‘* Optices.”t In his “‘ Letter to the Hon. Mr. Boyle,” dated February 28, 1678-9, (about six years later,) Newton, after proposing as an explanation of the phenomena of cohesion, chemical affinity, &c., the ‘ supposition” that an exceedingly elastic subtile «therial substance is diffused through all places and bodies, but much rarer within and near gross bodies than beyond them, adds toward the conclusion of his letter: “I shall set down one conjecture more, which came into my mind now as I was writing this letter: it is about the cause of gravity. For this end I will suppose «ther to consist of parts differing from one another in sub- tilty by indefinite degrees, . . . in such a manner that from the top of the air to the surface of the earth, and again from the surface of the earth to the center thereof, the «ther is insensibly finer and finer. Imagine now any body suspended in the air or lying on the earth, and the «ther being by the hypothesis grosser in the pores which are in the upper parts of the body than in those which are in the lower parts, and that grosser ther being less apt to be lodged in those pores than the finer ether below, it will endeavor to get out, and give way to the finer ether below, which cannot be without the bodies descending to make room above for it to go into. From this supposed gradual sub- tilty of the parts of the zther, some things above might be further illus- trated and made more intelligible. . . . For my own part, I have so little fancy to things of this nature, that had not your encourage- ment moved me to it, I should never I think have thus far set pen to paper about them.”¢ It will be seen from the above that Newton had not at this time (only three years before the crowning epoch of his life) extended his conception of “ gravity” to the outlying universe. Fourteen years later—a decade after his culminating work—this topic was again incidentally touched upon by Newton in four letters ad- dressed to Doctor Bentley, ‘containing some arguments in proof of a Deity.” In his second letter, dated January 17, 1692-3, he says in re- ply to one from Bentley: ‘“‘ You sometimes speak of gravity as essential and inherent to matter. Pray do not ascribe that notion to me, for the * Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ; November 18, 1672. No. 88, vol. vii, p. 5088. +t Newton’s Optics. Second edition, 1777. Book iii, appendix. Query 13. -{The Works of Isaac Newton, edited by Samuel Horsley: In 5 vols., quarto. Vol. iv, pp. 385-394. 208 KINETIC THEORIES: OF GRAVITATION. cause of gravity is what I do not pretend to know, and therefore would take more time to consider of it.”* In his third letter, dated February 25, 1692-3, he expresses himself somewhat less guardedly thus: ‘It is inconceivable that inanimate brute matter should, without the mediation of something else which is not material, operate upon and affect other matter, without mutual con- tact, as it must do if gravitation in the sense of Epicurus be essential and inherent in it. And this is one reason why I desired you would not ascribe ‘innate gravity’ tome. That gravity should be innate, inher- ent, and essential to matter, so that one body may act upon another at a distance, through a vacuum, without the mediation of anything else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an absurdity, that I believe no man who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking can ever fall into it. Gravity must be caused by an agent acting constantly ac- cording to certain laws; but whether this agent be material or imma- terial, I have left to the consideration of my readers.” + At the conclusion of the third book of his Principia, Newton remarks: ‘“‘ Hitherto I have not been able to discover the cause of those properties of gravity from phenomena, and I frame no hypothesis ; for whatever is not deduced from the phenomona is to be called an hypothesis. To us it is enough that gravity does really exist, and act.according to — the laws which we have explained.” f ‘ J ¥ 4 3 Still twenty-five years later than the date of these oft-quoted Bentley — letters, Newton again recurred to the subject in an appendix to the second edition of his “ Optics,” published in 1717. After suggesting that the chromatic dispersion of luminous rays by refraction might be due to varying wave-lengths of an all-pervading ‘ ztherial medium,” (as previously referred to,) he asks: ‘“ Is not this medium much rarer within the dense bodies of the sun, stars, planets, and comets, than in the empty celestial spaces between them? And in passing from them to greater distances, dcth it not grow denser and denser perpetually, — . and thereby cause the gravity of those great bodies toward one another, and of their parts toward bodies; every body endeavoring to go from the denser parts of the medium toward the rarer? . . . And though this increase of censity may at great distances be exceeding slow, yet if the elastic force of this medium be exceeding great, it may suffice to impel bodies from the denser parts of the medium toward the rarer, with all that power which we call gravity.” t The intellectual spirit of the age in which “ gravitation” was estab- lished was one of strong reaction from the previous metaphysical sway of “occult qualities;” and that the above crude suggestion (perhaps offered too much in deference to that spirit) by no means satisfied the judgment of Newton, is shown by his subsequent inclination to dispense “ Works, edited by Horsley, vol. iv, p. 437. t Works, ut supr., vol. iv, p. 438. | Optics, book iii, appendix. Query 21. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 209 altogether with a medium which apparently must tend to retard the planetary movements, and which he thought insufficient to account for the ordinary behavior of the Juminous ray. He concludes that as “there is no evidence for its existence, therefore it ought to be rejected. And if it be rejected, the hypotheses that light consists in pression, or motion, propagated through such a medium, are rejected with it."* This appears to have been the turning-point in the suspended balance of his judgment, determining his choice between the alternative conceptions of emission and of undulation. Afterward, as if driven back from every assault to the only retreat, which in earlier years he had stigmatized as “so great an absurdity” that no competent thinker could ‘ever fall into it,” he despairingly asks: ‘* Have not the small particles of bodies certain powers, virtues, or forces, by which they act at a distance? . . . . What I eall ‘attraction’ may be performed by impulse, or by some otber means un- known to me. I use that word here to signify only in general any force by which bodies tend toward one another, whatsoever be the cause.” t And beyond this point, no human research has since been able to pene- trate. This last and presumably deliberate judgment of Newton is a quarter of a century later than the inconsiderate utterances of his third ‘ Bent- ley letter,” which have been so eagerly seized upon by every speculative writer intent on propounding new theories of the universe. The thoughtful philosopher Doctor Young, about a century later, commenting on Newton’s suggestion of an stherial medium—rarer toward and within dense bodies,—with great ingenuity remarks: ‘‘The effects of gravitation might be produced by a medium thus constituted, - if its particles were repelled by all material substances with a force decreasing like other repulsive forces, simply as the distances increase. Its density would then be everywhere such as to produce the appear- ance of an attraction varying like that of gravitation. Such an etheriai medium would therefore have the advantage of simplicity in the origi- nal law of its action, since the repulsive force which is known to belong to all matter would be sufficient, when thus modified, to account for the principal phenomena of attraction. ‘“‘ It may be questioned whether a medium capable of producing the effects of gravitation in this manner would also be equally susceptible of those modifications which we have supposed to be necessary for the transmission of light. In either case it must be supposed to pass through the apparent substance of all material bodies with the most perfect freedom, and there would therefore be no occasion to apprehend any difficulty from a retardation of the celestial motions, the ultimate impenetrable particles of matter being perhaps scattered as thinly through its external form as the stars are scattered in a nebula, which has still the distant appearance of a uniform light and of a continuous _ *Loco citat. Query 28. t s.0co citat. Query 31. s 14 210 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. surface; and there seems no reason to doubt the possibility of the propa- gation of an undulation through the Newtonian medium with the actual velocity of light. It must be remembered that the difference of its pressure is not to be estimated from the actual bulk of the earth or any planet alone, but from the effect of the sphere of repulsion of which that planet is the center; and we may then deduce the force of gravi- tation from a medium of no very enormous elasticity. ‘¢ We shall hereafter find that a similar combination of a simple press- ure with a variable repulsion is also observable in the force of cohesion ; and supposing two particles of matter (floating in such an elastic me- dium capable of producing gravitation) to approach each other, their mutual attraction would at once be changed from gravitation to cohe- sion upon the exclusion of the portion of the medium intervening be- tween them. This supposition is however, directly opposite to that which assigns to the elastic medium the power of passing freely through all the interstices of the ultimate atoms of matter, since it could never pass between two atoms cohering in this manner. We cannot therefore at present attempt to assert the identity of the forces of gravitation and cohesion so strongly as this theory would allow us to do if it could be established.” * In his succeeding lecture “ On Cohesion,” Dr. Young adds at its con- clusion: ‘* With respect to the ultimate agent by which the effects of cohesion are produced, if it is allowable to seek for any other agent than a fundamental property of matter, it has already been observed that appearances extremely similar might be derived from the pressure of a universal medium of great elasticity ; and we see some effects so nearly resembling them, which are unquestionably produced by the pressure of the atmosphere, that one can scarcely avoid suspecting that there must be some analogy in the causes. Two plates of metal which cohere enough to support each other in the open air will often separate in a vacuum. . . . . But all suppositions founded on these analogies must be considered as merely conjectural ; and our knowledge of every ; { i a a al ae NO Nn mol a tal Niel ety 7 thing which relates to the intimate constitution of matter, partly from™ the intricacy of the subject, and partly for want of sufficient experi- ments, is at present in a state of great uncertainty and imperfection.” + — Very curiously, this ingenious scheme of universal repulsion leaves no | room for that self-repulsion of matter exhibited in the phenomena of — elasticity. That Young did not regard these speculations as reposing on a very firm basis is shown by his memoir “On the Theory of Light and Colors,” in which the fourth ‘hypothesis ” assumes the «ther to be denser within transparent bodies, and for a small distance around them, than in the spaces beyond such bodies. ¢ “Lectures on Natural Philosophy. 1607, 2 vols. quarto. Lect. xlix, vol. i, pp. 616, 617. t Loco citat. Lecture 50, p. 630. + Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1802, vol. xcii, p. 21, and Young’s Lectures on Natural Philosophy, vol. ii, p. 618. _ sion for these propositions considered collectively is KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. ae CONDITIONS OF THE PROBLEM. It is well to bearin mind that every hypothesis directed to the expli- eation of gravity, is required in limine to give a satisfactory account of the following six characteristics of this mysterious influence : ist. Its direction is radial toward the acting mass, or rectilinear—in- definitely. This rectilinear traction is incapable of deflection by any intermediate force. It suffers neither disturbance nor interference from any multiplication of similar lines of action, and admits neither of re- flection, refraction, nor of composition. 2d. Its quantity is exactly proportional to the acting mass—indefi- nitely. Cvrollary: hence, 2d b. Its integrity of action is complete with every accumulation of additional demand—indefinitely ; that is to say, no multiplication of duty in the slightest degree impairs its previous tensions. 3d. Its intensity is diminished by recession, in proportion to the square of the distance through which it acts—indefinitely ; in a manner some- what analogous to—but (as modified by the seeond condition) radically different from—the action of light. 4th. Its time of action is instantaneous throughout all ascertained dis- tances, and therefore presumably—indefinitely. Corollary: hence, 4th b. Its rate of action (if the expression may be tolerated) is precisely the same on bodies at all velocities—indefinitely. It no more lags on a comet approaching the sun at the inconceivable speed of two hundred miles in one second than on a body at the lowest rate of motion, or than on the same comet receding from the sun at the same velocity. 5th. Its quality is invariable under all circumstances—indefinitely. It is entirely unaffected by the interposition of any material screen, whatever its character or extent; or in other words, it can neither be checked by any insulator nor retarded by any obstruction. 6th. Its energy is unchangeable in time, certainly for the past two thousand years; presumably—indefinitely. Corollary: hence, ; 6th b. Its activity is incessant and inexhaustible—indefinitely ; the ceaseless fall of planets from their tangential impulses involving no dynamic expenditure in the sun or in other known matter. It is scarcely necessary to add, as the necessary outcome of the latter propositions, that gravitation is a property immutable and inconvertible. As in the 1st proposition, teeo terminal elements (im’ and m’’) are neces- sarily assumed for determining the direction and measure of the radial straight line of action; and as in the 2d proposition, ‘ the acting mass” (m) is the product of these two elements, (m/’/.m’’,)—the action being reciprocal; so in the 3d proposition, the measure of the diminution of intensity (d’) has reference to the same two elements, between whose dynamic centers the value of the distance d is taken. And the expres- am’ mn! a of the combined quantity and intensity of the traction between the two given elements. If we regard m” as incomparably smaller than m’, (as as the measure 212 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. for example, a one-pound spherical iron shot thrown to a distance from our terrestrial globe,) its mass may be pnitely, neglected as a yanishing quantity, and we have the simpler expression =e as indicating the amount — of action exercised by our earth upon such a ball, No hypothesis failing to embrace each of these six requirements de- serves consideration ; and any hypothesis fully covering them all, might be expected to account equally for the quite incomparable actions of elasticity, magnetism, affinity, and cohesion, before being entitled to acceptance as a just or comprehensive theory of molecular force. As the projectors of kinetic systems of gravitation have almost invaria- bly quite ignored the fourth of the above conditions, it is worth while here to dwell somewhat upon this point. Swift as the earth’s orbital motion is, (upward of 18 miles in one second,) the velocity of light is — about ten thousand times greater, being 185,000 miles per second. And yet the composition of these two velocities gives a displacement or “aberration” of the heavenly bodies, as seen from our earth, of about — 20” of angle for the observed direction of the visual ray. A luminous — impulse emanating from the sun requires about 84 minutes to reach the ~ earth. Were the gravitative influence supposed to be so much swifter than light as to require but a single minute to pass through this dis- tance, there would still be a corresponding gravity “aberration” of 2.4/7 of angle. The effect of this slight obliquity of traction would be an acceleration of the earth’s orbital velocity which would become measur- able in a single year. This is a subject which has been very fully and carefully investigated by astronomers; and the illustrious Laplace, when he found an unex- plained minute acceleration in the moon’s orbit, threw out the sugges-~ tion that if the velocity of transmission of gravitation did not exceed — eight million times that of light, it would satisfactorily explain the- junar anomaly. It is scarcely necessary to say that when he subse- quently discovered the secular diminution of eccentricity in the earth’s orbit, at present continuing, (though slowly reaching its minimum,*) he recognized the true cause of the moon’s irregularity, which no longer permitted even the unimaginable limit of possible velocity he had pro- visionally assigned for gravitative action. = Arago has remarked : ‘‘ Now if we apply to the perturbation the maxi- mum value which the observations allow, when they have been corrected for the known acceleration due to the variation of the eccentricity of — the terrestrial orbit, we find the velocity of the attractive force to — amount to Sify millions of times the velocity of light.”t . * The minimum eccentricity will be reached in about one “ precession” pericd, or ,000 years hence. if i Popular Astronomy, book xxiii, chap. 27, vol. ii, p, 469 of the English edition. To represent the real meaning of this velocity, it may be put into the equivalent form, that if gravity occupied the one hundred-thousandth of a second in passing from the "4 sun to the earth, it would be detected. Or, the time required to reach us from the — nearest star (distant i in light-travel about three years) would not exceed two seconds. gi é 25 ghey E bys cet KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 213 If it is possible to represent in such terms the lowest assignable limit of transition, it is because we are furnished with a test of planetary move- ment of most marvelous delicacy in the record of eclipses occurring at a particular locality 2,000 years ago ;—fixing the relation of annua revo- lution to diurnal rotation with an almost absolute precision. Sir John Herschel remarks: ‘From such comparisons Laplace bas concluded that the sidereal day has not changed by so much as one-hundredth of a second since the time of Hipparchus!”* This implies the absence of even an infinitesimal ‘“‘aberration” of the gravity radiant, or the negation of any assignable interval for its full and complete action. Hence the fourth category above stated. : The same consideration serves to show that the energy of gravity has undergone no abatement or change during the lapse of two thousand years. Hence the sixth category. It is but just however, to notice here that a minute outstanding anomaly of the moon, detected in recent years, and still unexplained, detracts somewhat from the accuracy of the above infinitesimal measure ; though it does not impair the value of the general argument. IJivery ‘investigation, every calculation, of the astronomer, assumes the action of gravity to be for all distances,—absolutely instantaneous. VILLEMOT. 1707. Philippe Villemot, a French doctor of theology, and a distinguished mathematician, published at Lyons in 1707 an astronomical treatise, entitled Nouveau Systeme, ou Nouvelle Explication du Mouvement des Planétes, in which, referring the movements of the planets to Cartesian vortices, he announced the theory that their gravitation is occasioued by a difference of pressure, on their outer and inner faces, of tbe fiaid constituting the solar vortex, owing to an increase of its density ont- ward from the sun. The general conception is obviously somewhat similar to the speculation cursorily hazarded by Newton in 1679, and _ again recurred to by him (though only transiently) in 1717, or ten years later than the above publication by Villemot. The details of this system cannot here be given, from want of access tohis work. The Nouveau Systéme, however, appears to have been very favorably received by the author’s contemporaries. BERNOUILLI. 1734. It is now nearly a century and a half since the elder John Bernouilli, of Switzerland, the illustrious mathematician, (professor at the univer- Sities of Gréningen and afterward of Basel,) imagined a method of ac- counting for the action of gravitation by centripetal impacts from with- out. Still retaining his early prepossessions in favor of the philosophy of Descartes, he devised a very curious combination of «therial vortices and Newtonian emissions. This eclectic hypotbesis was promulgated * Outlines of Astronomy, chap. xviii, sec. 908. 214 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. in a competitive memoir on the cause of ‘The Mutual Inclination of the Planetary Orbits,” which obtained the prize of the French Academy | of Sciences in 1734. This treatise is divided into four parts, the first three of which are occupied with his exposition of the cause of gravita- | tion, and the fourth with the main question proposed.* . Referring to the respective systems of Descartes and Newton, Bernou- — illi finds in each ‘insurmountable difficulties,” hence “ a just mean be- 7 tween the two appears the safer course. . . . The gravitation of the planets toward the center of the sun, and the weight of bodies — toward the center of the earth, are not caused either by the attraction | of Newton, or by the rotary force of the vortex medium of Descartes, | but by the immediate impulsion of a substance which under the form — of what I call a ‘ central torrent,’ is continually thrown from the whole — cireumference of the vortex to its center, and consequently impresses on all bodies encountered by it iu its path the same tendency toward the — center of the vortex. . . . And all that Newton has derived from his ‘ attractions’ are by my theory, derived from the impulsions of the — central torrent.” + | ‘“* According to my system, two kinds of matter are conceived as occupy- ing planetary space, and also two principal movements in the celestial vor- tex. One of these materials I conceive as perfectly fluid, or I would say, actually divisible without limit; that is, it is not composed of elementary corpuscles, as ordinary fluids are conceived, which according the num- ber and size of their constituent particles, present more or less sensible resistance to bodies moving in them, but being perfectly uniform and without structure, is also without resistance.” This matter is called the primal element; which was employed by the Creator in forming the cor- puscles of sensible matter, definite small portions being compacted together into the coherent molecules of matter of the second element. ‘* Matter of the primal element, being perfectly fluid without coher- ence, presents no resistance to bodies moving within it; forthe resistance — of fluids comes only from the inertia of the molecules of which they are — composed.”{ This primal element, being without constituent parts and without inertia, is as the author states, the same in effect as a perfect vacuum. ‘The celestial vortex is composed in great part of the primal element, ; in which is mingled however, a considerable portion of the second ele- | ment.” According to Bernouilli’s view, “ the rotation of this vortex isnot so rapid as to carry the planets around the sun, as Descartes assumed.” | In fact, its rotary velocity is in a subsequent portion of the memoir — stated to be so low as to amount to only about one two hundred and thirtieth of the orbital velocity of the planets, an approximation to the Bole * Published in the Piéces de Prix de V Académie de Paris, tom. v, and included in his collected works under the title Essai d’une Nouvelle Physique Céleste. | t Johannis Bernoullii, Opera Omnia, 4 vols. 4to. Lausanne and Geneva, 1742; vol. iii, Sec. viii, pp. 270, 271. + Loco citat., sections x and xvi, pp. 273, 276. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 215 Keplerian third law being however maintained. Thus the vortex sur- vived its primary purpose and function. The small centrifugal motion of the matter of the second element contained in the celestial vortex is sufficient to make it denser at the outer than at the inner portion, though leaving it still too rare to sensibly affect the motions of the outer planets.* The primal element collected and condensed at the center of each vor- tex forms astar or sun, though neither the cause nor the manner of such condensation is very clearly unfolded. This central mass agitated with intestine motions of extreme violence in all directions, as in a boiling caldron, produces an intense light and heat, while detached particles at the surface, continually more and more broken up by the frequency and impetuosity of their collisions, acquire a subtilty transcending all con- ception of the imagination, and are finally thrown off in all directions with explosive force to immense distances, and with the velocity known as that of radiant light. These infinitely small particles, forming the luminous “ effluvias” incessantly springing from the sun in radial lines, pass without obstruction through the pores or interstices of the grosser matter forming the planets, though losing at their surface their luminif- erous property. Beyond the orbit of Saturn they encounter more and more of a similar material collected at the outer confines of the vortex; and, while a large number pass into adjacent vortices and continue their course unimpeded, a large number suffer collision by direct impacts from the similar radia- tions from these vortices. Being inelastic they are mutually arrested, and form molecules of various size, according to the number of such col- lisions suffered, until impelled by the resultant of these impacts, they either pass into adjoining vortices or back into their own in the form of material molecules of the second element, with correspondingly reduced velocities. } . “In this manner we conceive there must continually descend from the heavens a copious and impetuous rain of pellets, driven inward by the shocks of molecules from surrounding vortices.” This converging or cen- tripetal shower of pellets, called the “central torrent,” perpetually de- luging the sun, forms the compensation and nourishment for its cease- less waste, as the evaporated water condensing into rain-drops replen- ishes the constant waste of thesea. These minute balls, having only the amount and direction of motion imparted to them at.the boundaries of the vortex, are yet supposed to fall with mathematical precision toward the center of the sun without ever touching each other as they approach. Notwithstanding the efforts expended by the author in attempting to establish this necessity, this centripetal directness undoubtedly remains physically the weak point of his hypothesis. As the inter-vortical molecules acquire different magnitudes before * Loco citat., sections xviii, xix, pp. 278, 279. + Loco citat., sec. XXviil-xxxVl. 216 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. being finaliy driven toward the center of any system, they will also have differing rates of descent, ‘‘their velocities being inversely as their masses, so that if one should become a thousand times larger and slower — than the impelling particle of light, it would still have a velocity equal to the diameter of the earth in one minute;” and the average speed would be much greater than this, though always much less than the velocity of light. ‘The central torrent with such a velocity would ex- pend its force on any body which it encountered ; and this is precisely — the gravitation of the planets toward the sun.” And as the various sizes of the minute balls would permit them to penetrate the pores of eross matter to varying depths before being arrested, their impulses would be distributed through the mass instead of being entirely expended on the surface.* The particles of light radiated by very distant stars, having to run the cauntlet of all the intermediate stellar vortices, might be supposed to be very much obstructed and reduced in number, if not in some cases entirely suppressed. Each planet and satellite has its subordinate vortex, in which the same play of impalpable effluvia and returning torrent is carried on ; and although this is treated as a very obvious corollary of the system, it is one somewhat difficult to fully formulate or realize. Whether two independent masses of lead or iron also attract each other impulsively by virtue of their own special vortices, with atomized radiations and resulting central torrents, is not so definitely made out. Such then is the primum mobile of the planetary gravitations; and with an admirable complacency, Bernouilli contrasts the system of Newton with his own, in which the elementary particles of matter, having no pores, receive the gravitative impulse necessarily on their surfaces. ** Now if it were the essential nature of bodies to ‘attract’ each other, it is evident that elementary particles would gravitate in proportion to. their solidity, and not in the ratio of their surface,andthat . .. . consequently their attraction should diminish in the ratio of the eubes of the distance, instead of as the squares. . . . What then becomes of the system of M. Newton, when its very foundation is tumbled into ruins? Iam surprised that not one of the partisans of this hypothesis has perceived this ivcongruity, in attributing attraction as an essential quality, not only to large masses, but even to the elementary particles destitute of pores!” + It is scarcely necessary to criticise this wonderful system of “Celestial Physics.” The condensation of the impalpable atoms of caloric, without adhesions and without attractions, (and seemingly without inertia,) into the dynamic gravific molecules of the “central torrent,” is a phenomenon certainly as recondite as the gravitation these molecules are summoned to impel. It is sufficient to say that the Nouvelle Physique satisfies no single condition of the six formerly indicated as essential pre-requisites. * Loco citat., sec. Xxxvii-xl. t Loco citat., sec. xlii, p. 299. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. DLT It may be added, that in the fourth book of this labored treatise, the inclination of the ecliptic plane to that of the solar equator and vortex, ‘is supposed to be due to a deviation or drift resulting from the oblong or prolate form of the revolving spheroidal earth.” * That such an essay should have been crowned by the Academy (the prize however being shared between John Bernouilli and his son Daniel as an independent competitor) appears in our day, notwithstanding the mathematical pre-eminence of its author, a somewhat unfavorable illus- tration of the scientific character of the age. Bernouilli has however left us the statement of an elementary truth, which may appropriately close this notice: ‘‘ In physics we should banish the practice of explain- ing phenomena by chimerical principles more obscure than those pre- sented for investigation.” t LESAGE. 1750. Some fifteen years later, another bold scheme of universal impact or pressure, designed to explain and supersede “ attraction,” was conceived by Georges-Louis Lesage, a French-Swiss physicist and mathematician. By means of an infinite number of “ ultramundane corpuscles” of trans- cendent minuteness and velocity, traversing space in straight lines in all directions, atoms and masses of matter are impelled together differ- entially in the lines of their reciprocal mechanical shadows, or in the direction in which the rectilinear impulses of the “ corpuscles” are un- counteracted by opposing ones, from the intervention of other atoms or masses. To quote Arago’s exposition of the theory, “A single body placed in the midst of such an ocean of moving corpuscles would remain at rest, since it would be equally impelled in every direction. On the other hand, two bodies ought to advance toward each other, since they would form a mutual screen, as their opposed surfaces would no longer be hit in the direction of the line joining them by the ultramundane corpus- cles, and there would then exist currents, the effect of which would no longer be neutralized by opposite currents. Moreover, it will be readily seen that two bodies plunged into such ‘ gravitation fluid’ would tend to approach each other with a force varying inversely as the square of the distance.” ¢ Although this scheme presents merely the exchange of one incompre- hensible agent for another, it is perhaps one of the most ingenious attempts ever made to substitute the conception of primeval motion for that of static tension. Lesage was only twenty-three years old, when in 1747 he first devised *The measurements of a meridional are of the earth by James Casini, not long pre- » viously, had brought out the curious result that the polar axis of the earth is its long- . est diameter.—Traité de la Grandeur et dela Figure de la Terre, Paris, 1720. t Opera : loco citat., sec. Xxxii, p. 288. $ Popular Astronomy, book xxiii, chap. 27, vol. ii, p. 468. 218 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. his system of nature; and it is related in his biography that in the enthusiasm of his supposed discovery of so august a secret, he cried out, in the words of the Syracusian Sage, ‘‘ewreka! eureka!” and though late at night, he immediately wrote to his father, under date of January 15, 1747, ‘* Evpyxa! evpyza! Never have I felt such satisfaction as at this moment, in which I have just succeeded in explaining completely, by the simple laws of rectilinear movement, the principle of universal gravitation!” His first production (written in unsuccessful competition for a prize of the Academy) was an Lssai sur Vorigine des forces mortes, in 1749. This memoir was principally occupied with his mechanical basis of grav- itation. Lesage wrote much, and published little. A memoir by him entitled Hssai de Chimie Mécanique, which explained the phenomena of elective affinities by currents of ultramundane corpuscles of unequal size, was crowned by the Academy of Rouen in 1758. Another essay by him entitled Loi qui comprend toutes les Attractions et Répulsions, was published in the Journal des Savants, for April, 1764. Highteen years later, he wrote a dissertation entitled Lucréce Neutonien, more fully developing his system, and comprising a response to the objections which had been urged against it. This treatise was published in the Mémoires de l’ Académie de Berlin, for 1782. He also left a Traité des Corpuscles ultramondaines, alluded to with high praise by Prevost in his account of Lesage’s life and works, but which appears never to have been published. For more than fifty years did Lesage, with unwavering faith, proclaim his doctrine of what he called the “ gravific fluid,” and urge upon his contemporaries its adoption; but without success. Thescheme has been rejected by intelligent physicists and astronomers as valueless in deal- ing with the complex facts of nature. Of the six requirements heretofore specified, it will be found to satisfy but two,—the first and the third. So far from fulfilling for example the second condition, (the ratio of mass,) on which Lesage himself most confidently expatiated, it can apparently give no true account of the behavior of a series of atoms placed in a line between two outer ones. The author supposed that he had covered the ground by the assump- tion that material atoms are so exceeding small in comparison with their jnterspaces that but few of the flying ‘‘ corpuscles” will encounter the atoms. Professor Tait, of the University of Edinburgh, has remarked : “It is necessary also to suppose that particles and masses of matter have a cage-like form, so that enormously more corpuscles pass through them than impinge upon them; else the gravitation action between two bodies would not be as the product of their masses.”* While this sup- position fails notably to give a satisfactory mathematical representation of the observed facts, (on any assignable ratio of impact to percolation,) it is of course quite inadmissible with respect to atoms themselves. In- * Lectures on Recent Advances in Physical Science, London, 1876, Lect. xii, p. 300. ! | ! | | KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 219 deed, if the atoms of matter are porous or penetrable to the “ ultramun- dane corpuscles,” the third condition will remain unsatisfied. This corpuscular system of course entirely ignores the fourth condi- tion of the problem, and its fundamental postulate stands in direct op- position to the fifth condition. It is certainly impossible, on any quan- titative assumption or numerical estimate whatever, to represent by this scheme the earth’s residual gravitation toward the sun during an eclipse of the moon. Professor J. Clerk Maxwell, discussing the theory of Lesage, observes that if the number of ultramundane corpuscles arrested by our earth is by supposition much less than the number arrested by the sun, ‘ the proportion of those which are stopped by a small body, say a one-pound shot, must be smaller still in an enormous degree, because its thickness is exceedingly small compared with that of the earth. Now the weight of the ball, or its tendency toward the earth, is produced according to this theory, by the excess of the impacts of the corpuscles which come from above, over the impacts of those which come from below and have passed through the earth. Hither of these quantities is an exceedingly small fraction of the momentum of the whole number of corpuscles which pass through the ball in a second, and their difference is a small fraction of either, and yet it is equivalent to the weight of a pound. . . . Nowthe energy of a moving system is half the product of its momentum into its velocity. Hence the energy of the corpuscles which by their impacts on the ball during one second, urge it toward the earth, must be a number of foot-pounds equal to the number of feet over which a corpuscle travels in a second, that is to say, not less than thousands of millions. But this is only a small fraction of the energy of all the impacts which the atoms of the ball receive from the innumerable streams of corpuscles which fall upon it in all directions. Hence the rate at which the energy of the corpuscles is spent in order to maintain the gravitating property of a single pound is at least millions of millions of foot-pounds per second. What becomes of this enormous quantity of energy? .... The explanation of gravitation falls to the ground if the corpuscles are like perfectly elastic spheres, and rebound with a velocity of separation equal to that of approach. If on the other hand they rebound with a smaller velocity, the effect of attraction between the bodies will no doubt be produced; but then we have to find what becomes of the energy which the molecules have brought with them but have not car- ried away. If any appreciable fraction of this energy is communicated to the body in the form of heat, the amount of heat so generated would in a few seconds raise it, and in like manner the whole material universe, to a white heat.” * Hence the energy expended by the ultramundane corpuscles in giv- ing motion to material masses must be so much abstracted from their . aggregate store of velocity; and from the constanily-increasing num- *Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth edition, 1875, article “ Atom,” vol. iii, pp. 46, 47. 220 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. ber of such corpuscles which must thus be more or less ‘‘ spent” in ful- filling their appointed function, it follows that the total activity of bom- bardment on matter cannot be as vigorous now as it wasa million years ago, and must be still less vigorous a million years hence ; all which is contrary to the unchangeable continuity of gravity affirmed by our sixth condition. As has been well remarked by an able anonymous writer in the North British Review, “The attraction of gravitation is not as the surface of the bodies, but as their mass. Lesage had therefore to suppose his solid bodies not solid, but excessively porous, built up of molecules like cages, so that an infinite number of atoms went through and through them, allowing the last layer of the sun or earth to be struck by just as many atoms as the first, otherwise clearly the back part of the sun and earth would gravitate more strongly than the front or nearer sides, which would be struck only by the siftings of the previous layers of matter. This notion involves a prodigious quantity of material in the shape of flying atoms, where we perceive no gross matter, but very little mate- rial in solid bodies, where we do find gross matter; and it further re- qnires that the accumulation of atoms which strike the solid bodies perpetually should be insensible.” * Not only does the “ gravific fluid” utterly fail to give an approximate representation of the actual conditions of the planetary movements, but as must be evident, it will not permit the continued existence of any such movements. A mass moving in free space in any direction except- ing directly toward a similar mass, must receive a more active shower of corpuscles in its front than in its rear, and must thus be retarded by a differential of energy directly proportioned to its velocity. Every planet must accordingly encounter a tangential resistance to its orbital motion, proportional to its own gravitation and to its velocity. As illustrative of the different estimates of this hypothesis formed by distinguished men, the following citations may be permitted. M. Pierre Prevost, professor of philosophy and general physics in the University of Geneva, published two years after the death of Lesage, an account of his writings, in which, after a sketch of his corpuscular hypothesis, he remarks, ‘‘I pause at the foot of this majestic edifice with a senti- ment of hope; persuaded that the labors of the founder will not be suffered to perish, and that men of genius will share with me the ad- miration it has inspired.”{ And Professor Tait regards it as “the only plausible answer to this [great problem] which has yet been pro- pounded.”{ Sir Jobn Herschel, on the other hand, has remarked, ‘* The hypothesis of Lesage which assumes that every point of space is peue- trated at every instant of time by material particles sui generis, moving in right lines in every possible direction, and impinging upon the ma- 7 * North British Review, March, 1868, vol. xlviii, p. 126 of American edition. t Notice de la Vie et des Ecrits de G.-L. Le Sage, published at Geneva in 1805. i } Lectures on Physical Science, loco citat., p. 299. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 221 terial atoms of bodies, as a mode of accounting for gravitation, is too grotesque to need serious consideration ; and besides will render no ac- count of the phenomenon of elasticity.” * As an interesting illustration of Lesage’s range of intellectual activity, it may be mentioned that to him belongs the credit of having devised, constructed, and operated, in his native city, Geneva, in 1774, the first working electric telegraph.t His system consisted in the employment of an insulated wire for each letter, terminating in an electroscope at the receiving-station. He also wrote a Dissertation sur Vélectricité applique a la Transmission des Nouvelles :—the first treatise on the electric tele- graph. EULER. 1760. Leonard Euler, the eminent Swiss mathematician and philosopher, (a pupil of Bernouilli previously referred to,) entertained an indefinite impression that the etherial medium is in some way a connecting link between the celestial bodies, inducing that mutual tendency to approach commonly called “ attraction.” Only some dozen years later than the date of Lesage’s first conception, he briefly discussed the subject iv his celebrated ‘“‘ Letters” commencing in 1760. He thus comments on the action of gravity: ‘Supposing a hole made in the earth through its center; it is clear that a body at the very center must entirely lose its gravity, as it could no longer move in any direc- tion whatever, all those of gravity tending continually toward the cen- ter of the earth. Since then a body has no longer gravity at the center of the earth, it will follow that in descending to this center, its gravity will be gradually diminished; and we accordingly conclude that a body penetrating into the bowels of the earth loses its gravity in proportion as it approaches the center. Itis evident then that neither the intensity nor the direction of gravity is a consequence from the nature of any body, as not only its intensity is variable, but likewise its direction, which, on passing to the antipodes, becomes quite contrary.”t¢ After some further exposition of the effects of gravitation, as observed in the courses of the planets, Euler indulges in some speculation on the probable nature of thisinfluence. ‘But in attempting to dive into the mysteries of nature, it is of importance to know if the heavenly bodies act upon each other by impulsion or by attraction ; if a certain subtile invisible matter impels them toward each other; or if they are * Fortnightly Review, July 1, 1865, vol. i, p. 438. t“*The earliest attempt to apply frictional electricity to telegraphy seems to have been made by Lesage, of Geneva, who, in 1774, constructed a telegraph consisting of twenty-four insulated wires.” (George B. Prescott, Electricity and the Electric Tele- graph, 8vo, N. Y., 1877, chap. xxix, p. 414.) { Letters a une Princesse: d@ Allemagne, Let. 50, 30th August, 1760. This work, since so popular, was republished in England, “ Letters on different subjects in Physics and Philosophy, addressed to a German Princess.” Translated from the French by Henry Hunter, 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1802. 222 KINETIC TITEORIES OF GRAVITATION. endowed with a secret or occult quality, by which they are mutually attracted. On this question philosophers are divided. Some are of opinion that this phenomenon is analogous to an impulsion; others — maintain with Newton, and the English in general, that it consists in attraction,.”* “To avoid all confusion which might result from this mode of ex- pression, it ought rather to be said that bodies move as if they mutually attracted each other. This would not decide whether the powers which act on bodies reside in the bodies themselves or out of them; and this manner of speaking might thus suit both parties. Let us confine our- selves to the bodies which we meet with on the surface of the earth. Every one readily admits that all these would fall downward, unless they were supported. Now the question turns on the real cause of this fall. Some say that it is the earth which attracts these bodies, by an inherent power natural to it; others that it is the ether, or some other subtile or invisible matter, which impels the body downward, so that the effect is nevertheless the same in both cases. ‘This last opinion is most satisfactory to those who are fond of clear principles in philosophy, as they do not see how two bodies at a distance can act upon each other if there be nothing between them. ... . Let us suppose that before the creation of the world, God had created: ouly two bodies, at a distance from each other; that absolutely nothing existed outside of them, and that they were in a state of rest; would it be possible for the one to approach the other, or for them to have a pro- pensity to approach? How could the one feel the other at a distance? Whence could arise the desire of approaching? These are perplexing questions. Butif you suppose that the intermediate space is filled with a subtile matter, we can comprehend at once that this matter may act upon the bodies by impelling them. The effect would be the same as if they possessed a power of mutual attraction. Now as we know that the whole space which separates the heavenly bodies ¢s filled with a sub- tile matter called zther, it seems more reasonable to ascribe the mutual attraction of bodies to an action which the wether exercises upon them, though its manner of acting may be unknown to. us, than to have re- course to an unintelligible property. . . . . . As the idea of all oceult qualities is now banished from philosophy, attraction 6ught not to be considered in this sense.” t It does not appear how so vague and inexplicable a supposition is calculated to commend itself ‘to those who are fond of clear principles in philosophy.” In his anxiety to avoid an “occult quality ” in matter, this learned writer seems quite unconscious of the fact that by investing his ether with an ‘unknown manner of acting,” he is just as fatally “‘hav- ing recourse to an unintelligible property.” Certain] y, Just as ‘ perplex- *Letters, &e. Let. 54, 7th September, 1760. t Letters, &c., Let. 68, 18th October, 1760. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 223 _ ing questions” are suggested by the hypothesis of ether pressure, as by the hypothesis of an original ‘‘ propensity to approach.” The speculation however, is too indeterminate to admit of precise criticism ; and is noteworthy only from the eminence of its proposer. It is a little remarkable that Euler, although in correspondence with Lesage, makes no allusion to his hypothesis. HERAPATH. 1816. Passing over a few names of less note in this connection, (Berthier, Churcol, and others,) we find a somewhat more developed attempt at unveiling the standing enigma, presented in the writings of John Her- apath, of Bristol, England. Ina preliminary essay, published in Thom- sows Annals of Philosophy, ‘*On the Physical Properties of Gases,” he announced the hypothesis of ‘‘one cause for heat, light, gravitation, electricity, cohesion, wrial repulsion, &c., from which all these flow, and are easily deducible;. and their effects may be computed by mathe- matical induction. [deduction ?] It shows us that gravitation, cohesion, and afiinity, are but the same thing under different modifications; that the differences of the two latter arise from a difference in the figures and sizes only of the particles; that attraction and repulsion are not . properties of matter.”* This hypothesis thus briefly stated by its au- thor, at the age of twenty-three years, does not appear to have been fur- ther publicly elaborated for five years. In 1821, Herapath contributed to the same journal a memoir entitled BEA. Miithematical Inquiry into the Causes, Laws, and principal Phenom- ena of Heat, Gases, Gravitation, &c.,” memorable as presenting by far the fullest and clearest exposition of the mechanical theory of heat and of gases that had at that time been propounded. Hestates that about ten years earlier, while engaged in investigating an anomaly found in his calculations of lunar equation, his attention had been accidentally directed to Newton’s suggestions as to the cause of gravitation; and he proceeds: . “If gravitation depends upon the action of an elastic medium such as Newton supposed, which grows rarer ard rarer as you approach the dense bodies of the sun and planets, there ought to be some’reason for this varistion of density; and as Newton has not, as far as I could per- ceive, given any, I began to consider what it might be. And after some little thinking, it occurred to me that if this medium be of the same nature as our atmosphere and other gaseous bodies, that is, if it be capable of being expanded by heat and contracted by cold, then the sun being a very hot body, and the heat being so much the greater the nearer we are to him, the density of the medium ought therefore to de- crease with a decreasing and increase with an increasing distance, the same as Newton would have it. And because we find by experience that dense solid bodies receive heat more strongly than much rarer * Annals of Philosophy, July, 1816, vol. viii, pp. 58, 59. 224 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. ones, particularly than gases, the dense bodies of the planets beirg © heated by the sular rays as well as by the medium about them, ought it appeared to me, to be hotter than this medium, and consequently ought to produce the same effects on the medium as the sun, though not in so great a degree. Therefore if as Newton imagines, the parti- cles of the planets be impelled toward the sun by the inequality of the pressure on their further and nearer sides, the denser parts of the me- dium pressing more forcibly than the rarer, the same reason will like- wise hold good why bodies should be impelled toward the planets and other material parts of the system.” * After speaking of the discouragement resulting from his unsuccessful — attempts at arriving at the mathematical laws of heat, he proceeds: ‘¢ Yet sometimes when my thoughts were involuntarily turned this way, the idea that two inanimate bodies could act on each other at a distance without some other means than that of a mere tendency or inclination in them to approach, would appear so strongly unphilosophical, and the apparent coincidence of several phenomena with conclusions I had drawn from my notions of gravitation so very seductive, that I could not avoid thinking the views I had taken were tolerably correct ; and that there was only wanting the direction of some happy idea, which patient perseverence might possibly attain, to set the whole in a clear. and irrefragable light. Thus between hope and despair, between un- ceasing attempts and mortifying failures, I continued until May, 1814, at which time my ideas of heat underwent a complete revolution. Pre- vious to this time I had conceived heat to be the effect of an elastic fluid, and on this supposition, had repeatedly attempted to reduce its aws to mathematical calculation ; but uniform disappointment at length induced me to give this hypothesis a careful investigation, by compar- ing it with general and particular phenomena. The result of this in- vestigation convinced me that heat could not be the consequence of an elastic fluid. . . . After I had revolved the subject a few times in my mind, it struck me that if gases instead of having their particles endued with repulsive forces, subject to so curious a limitation as New- ton proposed, were made up of particles or atoms mutually impinging on one another and the sides of the vessel containing them, such a con- stitution of eriform bodies would not only be more simple thanrepulsive powers, but as far as I could perceive, would be consistent with phe- nomena in other respects, and would admit of an easy application of the theory of heat by intestine motion. Such bodies I easily saw pos- sessed several of the properties of gases; for instance, they would ex- pand, and if the particles be vastly small, contract almost indefinitely; their elastic force would increase by an increase of motion or tempera- ture, and diminish by a diminution; they would conceive heat rapidly, and conduct it slowly; would generate heat by sudden compression, * Annals of Philosophy, 1821, vol. xvii, or of new series, vol. i, p. 276. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 225 and destroy it by sudden rarefaction; and any two, having ever so small a communication, would quickly and equally intermix.’”* Fanciful as are the considerations which led Herapath to this conclu- sion, it may be doubted whether a better statement of the dynamic theory of heat, and the modern view of gaseous temperature, has been published in the last half century. Certainly none can be found pre- ceding it. The scientific world was not then bowever prepared by a sufficient induction to fully appreciate this theory. These views of thermogenetic gravitation were amplified by their author at a later period, and included in an elaborate and excellent treatise on the general principles of physics, published in 1847, in which work they form the conclading portion, or book iv, comprising four sections.t Herapath saw very clearly that a theory of molecular collision cannot _ dispense with resilient impacts; but he announced the startling paradox that atoms “perfectly hard” would on striking each other, rebound just as though they were elastic. This very difficult thesis is discussed at some length (though certainly not convincingly) in his general work, in a chapter on “the collision of hard bodies.” The conception of a re- pellant propensity in the atoms is of course, excluded by the very spirit of the hypothesis. ‘* Only two properties to matter are assumed, namely, inertia and absolute hardness. . . . Our theory deprives the par- ticles of repulsion, or of any active properties, and merely assumes that airs are composed of small particles moving about in all possible diree- tions, and keeping up their state as airs by their mutual collisions and reflections from one another and the sides of the containing vessels. From this simple property, and that of heat consisting in corpuscular motion, the whole known laws of gases are deduced with mathematical rigor.”§ Unfortunately ‘two properties” are wholly insufficient either to set or to keep a system of molecules in motion. Matter thus consti- tuted, (with only ‘‘ two properties,”) with any. amount ef motion super- imposed, could never make acosmos. The “stubborn fact” of elasticity has indeed been the insuperable obstacle and embarrassment of all kinetic schemes of molecular physics. ‘“« By extending the principles to find the temperatures of the planets, we arrive at an interesting conclusion, namely: supposing them to be all of the density of our earth, we bring out very nearly the amount of gravitation toward each of them which is actually found to exist. Mereury is not included, as our knowledge about him is uncertain.” (Introduction, p. xxv.) Mercury however is excluded, because on the assumption that the absolute temperatures of the planets are inversely as their distances from the sun, the temperature of this inner planet is t Mathematical Physics. By John Herapath. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1847. _ + Math. Phys., vol. i, pp. 106-137. Huyghens and Wren had both (a century and a half earlier) maintained the same doctrine. § Math. Phys., Introduction, pp. xvii, xviii. Ss 15 226 KINETIC: THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. found to be too high to satisfy the conditions of the calculation.* If ‘the amount of gravitation toward each” planet is at all indicated by the relative distance-periods of their satellites, it is very clear that they cannot have the same density. It might be expected that with the range of temperatures at our com- mand, the influence of heat on attraction could be subjected to the test of direct experiment. It is admitted that “ We have no distinct evi- dence of attraction being either augmented or lessened by heat.” + The radical defect of this ingenious application of the differential of heat-motion as the impelling force of gravity lies in the fallacy that any pressure-differences would, under the circumstances, result from temperature-differences. Our author says: ‘In Newton’s day the notion of a fluid which had no visible tendency to one part of space more than to another, keeping up an equilibrium with itself, and yet able to press heavier on one side of a body within it than on the other, was quite enough to gain incredulity.”{ Nor is it easy to perceive how the notion is made more credible in our day. The rarefaction of a free gas by heat is the direct effect of its increased elastic tension or pressure, and the two are proportional. In other words, if upon the planetary hemisphere exposed to the sun there were fewer impacts of gaseous molecules in a unit of time than on the outer or night hemisphere, these impacts would have a correspondingly higher velocity, so that the whole moment of impulse (or pressure) on the two sides would be precisely equal. It is doubtful whether this hypothesis (even supposing it operative) could really satisfy any of the six conditions heretofore propounded. With regard to the second postulate, it is evident that the mass of the attracting body cannot determine the quantity of attractive action, if heat be the efficient cause. This is very frankly conceded by Herapath, who says of the mass ratio: ‘* This law has been proved experimentally by Sir Isaac Newton; but though this be trne, the converse case does not according to our principles hold good, namely that the attractive forces of bodies are directly proportional to their quantities of matter. Our principles do not therefore corroborate Newton’s third law of motion, respecting the equality of action and reaction in attracting 4 forces; for by our theory, a body might by the agencyof the fluid medium, be impelled toward another, without any reciprocal action; which is by no means surprising if we consider attraction not to be an inherent or essential property of matter, but merely the action of a third body.”§ The sufficient answer to all which is, that not only is it unconfirmed by any experimental research, but all experience contra- dicts the assumption. * Math. Phys., vol. ii, p. 318. t Math. Phys., Introduction, p. xv. t Loco citat., Introduction, p, xxxvi. § Annals of Philosophy, new series, vol. i, p. 411; and Math. Phys., vol. i, p. 9. <4 Qs ca KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 227 The force of the objection contained in our fourth condition-precedent is thus courageously confronted and defied: “ It might be conceived that the attraction would be less on a body moving toward the central body, and greater on one moving from it, which is contrary to what we find by experience. Though regarded mathematically, such an infer- _ ence would be strictly true, yet since the difference between the forces will depend on the activity of the medium, and since this activity will be increased in proportion to the tenuity of the parts of the medium, it is evident that the etherial atoms may be so small, and the activity of the medium consequently so great, that the swiftest motions we know of could produce no sensible difference in the vigor of its action.” And with a marvelous boldness of assumption he adds: ‘‘ We may hence fairly conclude that there might be a fluid medium pervading the heavens, and all bodies, of such activity that no sensible difference could be observed in the intensity of its action on bodies in a state of quiescence, or moving with a velocity not only six million, but several million million times greater than that of light !”* Guyot. 1832. Another ingenious attack upon the “* Problem,” in a somewhat similar though really distinct direction, was made by Dr. Julies Guyot—a French physician,—in a very original and suggestive treatise entitled Eléments de Physique Générale, 8vo, published in Paris in 1832, at about the age of twenty-seven years. This writer seems to have had, even at this early date, a general idea of correlating the physical forces. Assuming with other physicists, two kinds of matter,—one sensible in the gaseous liquid and solid forms, the other insensible, in the ‘“ simple elementary and atomic” condition of the etherial medium, filling all space under a state of constant and enormous pressure, and infinitely more subtile than any particle of combinable matter,—and assuming also two kinds of movement, one of translation and the other of vibration, Guyot maintained that these two forms of motion are reciprocally comple- mentary and convertible, their sum being constant. So that motion is essential to matter, is equally indestructible, and is directly propor- tional to its mass. He held that light, heat, sound, and the excitations of smell and taste, are all the results of molecular motion or vibration, as are also the agencies of electricity, magnetism, and gravitation. In a work on the pressures resulting from rial motions, published in 1835, Guyot records some curious experiments on the influence of vibratory sounding bodies in causing light objects to approach them ;— experiments which immediately recall the suggestions made by Dr. Rob- ert Hooke more than a century and a half earlier, and which would cer- tainly have delighted that philosopher. Disks of pith and of paper, delicately suspended near a vibrating tuning-fork, were observed to be — ‘ * Annals of Philosophy, new series, vol. i, p. 410. 228 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. attracted as it were, to the origin of vibration, with a range of influ- ence approximately proportional to the area of the disk. The same phenomenon was observed with the employment of a bell, when caused to sound by drawing a bow across its edge, excepting that at the nodes of oscillation no “ attraction” was exhibited.* In an essay entitled ““A synthetic Glance at the Forms and Forces of Matter,” published in 1861, the same author, recapitulating his views and observations of 1832 and 1835, and still maintaining that all the properties of bodies are derivatives of their translatory or vibratory movements, and that the equilibrium and the phenomena of the world exist only under the condition of constant pressure of the incoercible ether upon coercible matter, and the reaction of the latter upon the former, argues that, “if it be shown that the Vibration of the atoms of bodies may and actually does cause a rarefaction in the sphere of activity of each of the atoms,” this constitutes a proof that “the approximation of the atoms of bodies of ponderable matter is due to the rarefaction of the imponderable fluid, and consequently to the diminution cf its press- ure in the space between the atoms of the same body;” and hence that “we are compelled to admit that attraction is a mechanical force, con- sisting, first, of the rarefaction of the ether between molecules, masses, or the heavenly bodies, resulting from the ceaseless vibration of the atoms of ponderable matter, and secondly, of the reaction from the exterior pressure of the zether upon the same, resulting from the general pressure of the imponderable universal medium which constitutes the mother-liquor of the world.”t In this article the writer brings out very distinctly an idea first sug- gested by Newton, and which has recently been fermenting, so to speak, in the minds of various speculative writers, to wit, that matter as ex- perimentally cognizable by our senses—having for its lowest constituent unit the compounded molecule of uniform structure for each element- ary substance, the indivisible “atom” of the chemist—has been by some mysterious process evolved in the indefinite past from the strue- tureless impalpable ether filling immensity. That the ultimate mole- cule of matter as known to us is a highly complex or oxganized cosmos, appears to be sufticiently demonstrated by the definite multiple peri- odicities exhibited by gaseous spectra. If the sympathetic responses *Des mouvements de Vair et des pressions de Vair en mouvement. (8v0, Paris, 1835.) Sir Henry C. Englefield, in 1773, observed at Brussels, that during the ringing of a large church bell, (weighing 16,000 pounds,) the zrial vibrations affected a mercurial barometer, which was placed experimentally about seven feet below it, by raising the column about one-hundredth of an inch. (Journal of R.I., vol. i, p. 157.) On which Dr. Young offers the following suggestion : “It is easy to suppose that the law . of the bell’s vibration was in this experiment such that the air advanced toward the barometer with a greater velocity than it receded, although for a shorter time; and that hence the whole effect was the same as if the mean pressure of the air had been increased.” (Lectures on Natural Philosophy, 1807, 2 vols. quarto, vol. ii, p. 270.) t Presse Scientifique, 1861, vol. iii, p. 130. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 229 of the ether indicate a community of nature with the absolute atoms of the molecule, whose tremblings they transmit, we are confronted with the paradox, that while in the molecule these atoms are so firmly bound together that no known forces have ever been able to divorce them, in their isolated or discrete state constituting ‘“‘the mother-liquor of the world,” their repulsions are so intense that no known forces have ever been able to unite them. It is impossible not to be struck with the originality of speculation and the ingenuity of experimentation by which, as Dr. Guyot believes, he has solved the great problem of energy or dynamic. But it is appa- rent at a glance that his system is at variance with every feature of the actual phenomenon of gravitation, and fails to represent any of the six conditions-precedent, perhaps excepting the first. If the resultant mo- tion of translation from an acoustic vibration of air (or from a thermal vibration of «ther) may be supposed to occur in a right line, it is not established that it can so continue for any considerable distance ; and the last five conditions are each and all directly incompatible with the assumption. Perhaps the most palpable fault of the scheme however, is the vio- lence done by it to the established law of the conservation of energy, while being proclaimed apparently in the interest of that law. A vibrating molecule is supposed to impress its motion upon an investing medium, without parting with any of its original vis viva ; or in other words, it is miraculously endowed with an inexhaustible fund of dynamic action, and its motion though constantly expended in “ work” per- formed, yet requires no regeneration. Or on the other hand, if gravitation depend upon the vibrations transmitted from the active molecule as a center to ihe surrounding zther, this “attractive” action must decline with the expenditure of the vibratory energy, contrary to the observed fact as summed up in the sixth proposition. FARADAY. 1844, Although the views announced by Professor Michael Faraday on the subject of gravitation were undoubtedly very vague, he must be classed with the kinetic theorists; and the very influence necessarily attaching to his well-earned reputation as an investigator and experimental physi- cist, renders a full discussion and a free criticism of his published reflec- tions all the more imperative in the interests of scientific truth. In “A Speculation on the Nature of Matter,” dated January 25, 1844, Faraday remarks: “The safest course appears to be to assume as little as possible ; and in that respect, the atoms of Boscovich appear to me to have a great advantage over the usual notion. . . . . A mind just entering on the subject may consider it difficult to think of the powers of matter independent of a separate something to be called the ‘matter, but it is certainly far more difficult, and indeed impossible, to think of or imagine that matter, independent of the powers. Now the 230 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. powers we know and recognize in every phenomenon'of the creation ; the abstract matter in none; why then assume the existence of that of which we are ignorant, which we cannot conceive, and for which there is no philosophical necessity? . . . . Doubtless the centers of force vary in their distance one from another, but that which is truly the matter of one atom touches the matter of its neighbors. Hence matter will be continuous throughout, and in considering a mass of it, we have not to suppose a distinction between its atoms and any intervening space. The powers around the centers give these centers the properties of atoms of matter; and these powers again, when many centers by their conjoint forces are grouped into a mass, give to every part of that mass the properties of matter. . . . . The view now stated of the constitution of matter would seem to involve necessarily the conclu- sion that matter fills all space, or at least all space to which gravitation extends ; for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on a certain force, and it is this force which constitutes matter. In that view, mat- ter is not merely mutually penetrable, but each atom extends, so to say, throughout the whole of the solar system, yet always retaining its own ‘ centre of force.” * ss This result of ‘“‘ assuming as little as possible” thus appears to com- mence with the Berkeleyan negation of matter, only to conclude thar it is omnipresent. When it is inferred however, that every atom sepa- rately includes every other atom, it is obviously only influence that is conceived of, and not matter at all in any intelligible sense. If we call this multitudinous infinitely-extended and mutually-inclusive influence “matter,” there still remains the inexorable necessity of designating by some distinctive title that other form of influence inclosed within the visible tangible surfaces bounding those appearances which are charac- terized by inertia, which are accurately measurable in mass, and which are the objects of all our direct observation and experiment. Neither in formula, nor in idea, therefore,—neither in nominalism, nor in realism,— are we advanced a particle by such speculations. In a memoir “On the Possible Relation of Gravity to Electricity,” read before the Royal Society, November 28, 1850, Faraday remarks: “The long and constant persuasion that all the forces of nature are mutually dependent, having one common origin, or rather being differ- ent manifestations of one fundamental power, has made me often think upon the possibility of establishing by experiment, a connection between gravity and electricity, and so introducing the former into the group, the chain of which (including magnetism, chemical force, and heat,) binds so many and such varied exhibitions of force together by common relations.” He then records experiments with a tubular helix of cov- ered copper wire of considerable length, and having its extremities connected with long covered wires which were brought to a very sensi- tive galvanometer, the said coil or helix being allowed to fall about “7, ©. D. Philosophie: al Magazine, 1844, vol. xxiv, pp. se 143. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. Zan ' thirty-six feet. No indications however, were perceived in the needle.* Experiments with solid cylinders of copper, iron, glass, &c., secured within the helix were successively made without result. Similar cyl- inders were then dropped through a fixed helix, and also reciprocating motion by mechanical devices was tried, but equally without any effect on the galvanometer needle. Faraday concludes, “‘ Here end my trials for the present. The results are negative. They do not shake my strong feeling of the existence of a relation between gravity and elec- tricity, though they give no proof that such a relation exists.”+ These experiments were skillfully devised.to detect a correlation between the two, if any such existed. Were gravity either a form or a resultant of molecular motion we should certainly expect to find evidence of an expenditure of such motion, proportioned to the energy of the “ fall.” Several years later, in a memoir ‘On the Conservation of Force,” Professor Faraday thus states the result of his further meditations on the “attractive” theme of gravitation: ‘‘I believe I represent the received idea of the gravitating force aright in saying that it is a simple attractive force exerted between any two or all the particles or masses of matter at every sensible distance, but with a strength varying inversely as the square of the distance. The usual idea of the force implies direct action at a distance; and such a view appears to present little difficulty except to Newton, and a few, including myself, who in that respect may be of like mind with him. This idea of gravity appears to me to ignore entirely the principle of the conservation of force; and by the terms of its definition, if taken in an absolute sense, ‘varying inversely as the square of the distance,’ to be in direct opposition to it.”§. This singular misconception of his theme, which underlies all his subsequent reasoning, way be briefly rebutted by the simple averment that the conservation of force has no relation whatever to the law of force, and can have no relation to it. All that the established doctrine affirms, is that be the law what it may, “conservation” demands that none of the resultant effects shall vanish, and that the action of the law shall be absolutely the same in the same conditions. In the case of a dynamic radiation—indeed, through a perfectly elastic medium,—con- * It is evident that whether the earth be contemplated as an electrically-charged globe or as a permanent magnet, the delicate experiments of Faraday, above described, would necessarily give indications thereof in the galvanometer : and it is an interesting illustration of the scientific conscientiousness of the experimenter, to observe with what caution these collateral results were eliminated. t Philosophical Transactions Roy. Soc., 1851, vol. 141, pp. 1-6. A Mr. Zalewski pre- sented to the French Academy of Sciences, (April 22, and August 19, 1850, and again July 5 and 19, 1852,) memoirs “ On Electricity as the Cause of the Effects attributed to Universal Gravitation.” (Comptes Rendus, 1850, vol. xxx, p. 485; vol. xxxi, p. 255; and for 1852, vol. xxxv, pp. 49 and 95.) ‘‘ Faraday’s insight was so profound, that we cannot assert that something may not yet be discovered by such experiments, but it will assuredly not be conservation of force.” Professor Tait’s Lecture on ‘“ Force,” Nature, 2ist September, 1876, vol. xiv, p. 462. { Referring, of course, to the “third Bentley letter.” §L. E. D. Phil. Mag., 1857, vol. xiii, p. 228. 232 KINETIC THEORIES OF *GRAVITATION. servation requires that all the successive spheres described by increas- ing radii of action shall represent precisely the same amount of energy, which is the expression of ‘“‘inyerse squares.” But in the case of a, primitive force which is not radiation, (as in gravity, elasticity, cohesion, or affinity,) the law of increment or decrement with distance may have any mathematical value, and may be entirely different and incommen- surable with every variety of force. Unfortunately the human mind has been gifted with no insights or intuitions which can determine the a priori certainty of a single fact of natural law. After twenty-five centuries of vainly-struggling specula- tion, the true Jaw of one kind of force was laboriously ascertained only two little centuries ago. And this result is justly regarded as the most brilliant achievement of the highest human intellect. Did experience teach us that the law of gravity was one of simple decrease of intensity directly with the distance, (in which case the periodic times of the plan- ets would be directly as their distances and their orbital velocities the same at all distances,) or did it teach us that its energy was precisely the same at all distances, as Faraday thinks to be the true desideratum, (in which case the periodic times as well as the orbital velocities would be as the square roots of the distances,) or did it teach us that its inten- sity increased directly as the distance, as by an elastic bond,* (in which case the periods of revolution would be the same for all distances, and the orbital velocities therefore, proportional to the distance,) in each and every case it would still be unalterably true that the energy ex- pended in separating two bodies would be exactly equal to the energy given out in their return to the antecedent position. And this is what is meant by the ‘*‘ conservation of force.” Probably no generalization of science has been the occasion of more misapprehension and confusion than this of ‘‘ conservation.” Properly speaking, ‘ Force” is not conserved at all! Itis the offspring of Force, or ‘““work” that is really conserved. As words necessarily follow thought practically no less than genetically, (and sometimes longo intervallo,) it results that with the increasing specializations of scientific conception, many words continue to retain their more primitive or ‘“‘ comprehensive type” cf meaning, without originating the required varieties or differ- entiations of expression; and such has been the case with the very useful word “ force ;” which is employed sometimes in its more general- ized sense, as including any stress or action whatever; sometimes as limited to quantity of motion ; sometimes as Synonymous with energy, (in which sense alone is “conservation” applicable to it;) sometimes as expressing ‘‘the mere rate of conversion or transference of energy per unit length of that motion,” (with a strong suspicion that “ there is probably no such thing as force at all;”)t and sometimes as signifying * There is reason to believe that this is actually the law of the atomic orbits. t Lecture on “Force,” by Professor Tait, of Edinburgh. Nature, 21st September, 1876, vol. xiv, pp. 459, 463. It is certain that Newton did not employ the word Vis in any such restricted sense, as the learned professor would imply. "em lichins oes x Poor Sea KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 233 _ primitive innate tension, exclusive of all motion, although the parent of all motion. So that while one would limit the word to designate a purely kinetic condition of matter, another would limit it on the opposite side to designate a purely static quality in matter. Elasticity is a natural force, having always an entirely different space- potential from gravity, and yet is equally removed in every case from that ratio of uniformity supposed to be the true representation of con- servation. In the case of tensile elasticity, (as of a rubber band or of a long spiral spring,) the tension increases directly with the distance cf elongation. Professor Faraday thus proceeds to illustrate the difficulty he finds in the ordinary definition of gravity: ‘‘ Assume two particles of matter, A and B,in freespace. . . . Then at the distance of 10 the force may be estimated at 1, whilst at the distance of 1, i. e., one-tenth of the former, the force will be 100; and if we suppose an elastic spring to be introduced between the two as a measure of the attractive force, the power compressing it will be a hundred times as much in the latter case as in the former. But from whence can this enormous increase of the power come?” The answer is, that this increase of ‘‘ power” comes from either particle being so much nearer the source of the influence. Why this increase should be just one hundred-fold in the case supposed, the present state of science does not furnish any explanation. The re- sult is accepted simply as a very rigorously verified “ fact.” ‘Suppose the two particles A and B removed back to the greater distance of 10, then the force of attraction would be only a hundredth part of that they previously possessed ; this, according to the statement that the force varies inversely as the square of the distance, would double the strangeness of the above results; it would be an annihilation of force.” Here again, the law of intensity, as a function of distance, is confounded with absolute quantity in the agent. Such a confusion could hardly have occurred in discussing the action of a permanent magnet. The actually existing gravity decrement no more involves any “annihilation of force,” than would an equality of ratio irrespective of distance involve a creation of force, were it found in any case to be true. So far from there being any destruction or loss of force in the crucial case supposed, the doctrine of “conservation” teaches us that the separation of the two particles could be effected only by the expendi- ture of an adequate amount of energy; and that at their greater dis- tance of 10, these particles would possess a potential of position precisely equivalent thereto. Faraday continues: ‘According to the definition, the force depends upon both particles; and if the particle A or B were by itself, it could not gravitate, 7. e. it could have no attraction, no force of gravity... . As the particles can be separated, we can easily conceive of the particle B being removed to an infinite distance from A, and then the power in ’ A will be infinitely diminished. Such removal of B will be as if it were 234 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. annihilated in regard to A,.and the force in A will be annihilated at — the same time.”* Although it is certainly true that when B is removed to an infinite distance from A, the power of A upon B will be infinitely diminished, it is not a sound inference that “the power in A will be infinitely diminished.” The same inaccuracy occurs in the assumption that if an isolated particle “could not gravitate” it could have “no force of gravity.” This is but another expression of the not unusual sophism that force has no existence unless in active exercise. Varying his illustration to attack the problem of mass, Professor Faraday thus further unfolds his difficulties: “The particle A will attract the particle B at the distance of a mile with a certain degree of force; it will attract the particle C at the same distance of a mile, with a power equal to that by which it attracts B. If myriads of like par- ticles be placed at the given distance of a mile, A will attract each with equal force. . . . How are we to conceive of this force growing up in A to a million-fold or more? And if the surrounding particles be then removed, of its diminution in an equal degree? Or how are we to look upon the power raised up in all these outer particles by the action of A on them, or by their action one on another, without admit- ting (according to the limited definition of gravitation) the facile genera. tion and annihilation of foree?” The substance of this enigma is com- prised in the corollary to our second proposition. Striking out the — fallacious expression “of this force growing up in A,” which has already been sufficiently criticised, surely the case as stated, is a very good illustration of “conservation.” The hypothetical generation and.anni- hilation of the distant particles surrounding A are just as “ facile” as the hypothetical “‘ generation and annihilation of force” exercised by them; but no whit more so. As if one should say, imagine the clock wound up, and it will run a week. The equation is correct only on con- dition that both the terms are equally real or equally imaginary. Inasmuch as the accepted definition of gravitative force (deemed by Faraday so objectionable) is merely the summation of an overwhelming — induction derived from a ceaseless observation, the question naturally arises, to what point are the difficnlties imagined by him supposed to tend? “The principle of the conservation of force would lead us to assume that when A and B attract each other less because of increas- ing distance, then some other exertion of power, either within or with- out them, is proportionately growing up. And again that when their distance is diminished, as from 10 to 1, the power of attraction, now in- amg ie I pS i aa rte 5 Ss a ee creased a hundred-fold, has been produced out of some other form of — power which has been equivalently reduced.”+ Were gravity merely a dynamic energy, generated in time and space by an anterior and exte- rior force, the inference would undoubtedly be correct. Conversely, the utter falsity of the inference, as established by all experience, in which — *L. E. D. Phil. Mag. 1857, vol. xiii, pp. 228, 229. t Loco citat., pp. 230, 231. “ KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 235 experience, aS 2 question of fact, the keenest of experimental investi- ators, Faraday himself, has been able to detect no flaw, the utter falsity of the inference may be taken as conclusive against the premiss. Gravity is thereby proved to be a static tension,—incessant, inconverti- ble, inexhaustible; as affirmed by our fifth and sixth propositions. Whatever @ priori conceptions may be indulged therefore, as to the natural fitness of a central force having the same tension at all dis- tances, it has been definitely established by two centuries of continn- ous and irreversible demonstration, that gravity is not such a force. ' And this announcement is the subject of our third proposition. ‘‘Tt will not be imagined for a moment,” says Faraday, “that I am opposed to what may be called the law of gravitative action; that is, the law by which all the known effects of gravity are governed. What ! am considering is the definition of the force of gravitation. : That the totality of a force can be employed according to that law I do not believe, either in relation to gravitation, or electricity, or magnetism, | or any other supposed form of power.”* But the most refined and varied observations (even when conducted by a Faraday) have failed to detect any such supposed residuum of effect, and have substantiated as one of the largest results of our present knowledge the received formula as expressing the “totality” of the force recognized as gravity. Our *‘ beliefs” should always be based upon, and conform to, the observed order of nature. “The safest course appears to be to assume as little as possible.” Faraday thus sums up his own impressions: “ For my own part, many _considerations urge my mind toward the idea of a cause of gravity which is not resident in the particles of matter merely, but constantly in them and all space.” (p.231.) “I would much rather incline to believe that bodies affecting each other by gravitation act by lines of force of definite amount, or by an ether pervading all parts of space, than admit that the conservation of force could be dispensed with.” (238.) Fortunately, the alternative presented possesses no relation of its terms. The un- qualified assertion of ‘‘ conservation” has no bearing whatever on either “lines of force” or the supposed action of ‘an ether ;” and a choice is therefore quite unnecessary. On no subject, perhaps, have the distinguished author’s ideas been more vague and intangible than on the favorite one of “lines of force.” After exhibiting the familiar magnetic curves or chains of iron-filings as atypical phenomenon, he says: “The term line of force, as defined above, is restricted to mean no more than the condition of the force in a given place as to strength and direction; and not to include any idea of the nature of the physical cause of the phenomena. At the same time, if * Loco citat., p. 233. + An excellent review and criticism of Professor Faraday’s Memoir on Gravitation, by Professor Briicke, of Vienna, was published in the L. E. D., Phil. Mag., 1858, vol. xv, mp. ol. 236 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. reason should arise to think that the physical condition of the force par- takes generally of the nature of a current or of a ray, a view which the author inclines to, he sees no objection in the term.” * ‘‘In the action of gravity, for instance, the line of force is a straight line, as far as we can test it by the resultant phenomena. It cannot be deflected or even affected in its course. Neither is the action in one line at all influenced, either in direction or amount, by a like action in another line.”+ This is the affirmation made by our first proposition. Faraday continues: ‘There is one question in relation to gravity, which, if we could ascertain or touch it, would greatly enlighten us. It is, whether gravitation requires time. If it did, it would show unde- niably, that a physical agency existed in the course of the line of force. Tt seems equally impossible to prove or disprove this point, since there is no capability of suspending, changing, or annihilating the power, or annihilating the matter in which the power resides.”¢ Some six years before the date of this latter paper, Professor Faraday, in “Thoughts on Ray-vibrations,” had suggested more doubtingly, the same inquiry: “I am not aware whether there are any data by which it has been or could be ascertained whether such a power as gravitation acts without occu- pying time.”§ This query finds its answer in our fourth proposition. The writer was ’ evidently not aware that it had been definitely settled by the astrono- mers, and with a delicacy of precision infinitely beyond the reach of any direct or instrumental research; and not being a mathematician, he very naturally supposed the problem insoluble. Those not trained in the higher operations of the science of “‘ necessary conclusions,” have no conception of the resources of mathematical investigation applied to judicious comparisons of accurate observations. And just here the reminder may be permitted, that did the influence of gravitation occupy the millionth part of a second in traversing the distance of a million miles, the astronomer’s analysis would easily detect it. This would represent only one-ninth of the velocity estimated by Laplace and Arago, as previously stated. *L. E. D., Phil. Mag., 1852, vol. iii, p. 67. Dr. P. M. Roget showed in 1831, by a very neat geometrical demonstration, that these so-called “lines of force” in the magnetic field, are simply the tangential resultants of the directive action by the two magnetic poles exerted in straight or radial lines with a ratio of diminished intensity as the square of the distance from either pole, on the minute iron particles regarded as needles. (Journal of the Royal Institution, February, 1831, vol. i, pp. 311-318; and also a treatise on ‘‘ Magnetism” by the same author, in vol. ii of the “ Library of Useful Knowledge,” chap. ii, sect. 3, pp. 19-21.) M. Ch. Cellerier has also, by an analytical discussion of the “‘magnetic curves,” established the same conclusion mathematically. (A Treatise on Electricity, by Aug. De La Rive, London, 2 vols., 8vo, 1853. part iii, chap. i. Note D, vol. i, pp. 542-544.) t Phil. Mag., 1852, vol. iii, p. 403. t Ibidem, p. 403. § Phil. Mag., May, 1846, vol. xxviii, p. 349. 1 ! | ee ee KINETIC THEORIES _OF..GRAVITATION. 25% SEGUIN. 1848. Mare Seguin, a French engineer, distinguished as having affirmed in 1839, from a study of the locomotive-engine, the correlation between heat and * work,” and as having estimated the “ mechanical equivalent” of heat, labored for many years to establish the unity of the natural forces. It is interesting to observe that like Herapath, he commenced his studies in molecular physics with an inquiry into the nature of heat; and like him, was led to discard entirely the generally-received theory of a material caloric in favor of the kinetic hypothesis now universally adopted. Nearly a quarter of a century before publishing his views on molecular forces generally, Seguin presented to Sir John Herschel a very original and suggestive communication on the probable nature of heat, which was published by the latter in the Philosophical Journal of Edinburgh for 1824. The writer infers from the compressibility of all known sub- stances that their constituent molecules must be at a great relative dis- tance from each other; and from the characteristic odor of most solids, that the densest and hardest substances are subject to the escape of their surface molecules, or in other words, ‘*‘ are capable of being evap- orated.” From the infinitesimal size of these escaping molecules, they of course elude all known methods of comparison or mechanical appre- ciation. ‘In order to assign to them the condition either of a solid, a liquid, or a gas, it is necessary to suppose the existence and the combination of two forces which are sometimes ix equilibrio, and sometimes predominate the one over the other. We shall admit then the supposition that these two forces may be the same as those which regulate the planetary sys- tem, and that the molecules of bodies are subject to circulate round one another, so that each body, though it appears at rest, has really a cer- tain quantity of motion, whose measure will be a function cf the mass and the velocity of the molecules in motion. Upon these suppositions it is obvious that during the impact of two bodies, all the quantity of motion which is not employed in giving the body which is struck a motion of translation, will go to angment the quantity of interior motion which it possesses ; and if this motion takes place in circles or ellipses, the parts will recede from the center of attraction, and the body will increase in volume. In this state it will have a tendency to transmit the excess of motion which it possesses to bodies which are near it, or to parts which it will emit in greater number in following the same law. If the quantity of motion is so great that the attraction of the molecules can no longer be in equilibrio with their angular velocities, the body will remain in the gaseous state till it has transmitted to other bodies. the excess of velocity which it possesses.” * This is a very neat and perspicuous presentation of the dynamical *The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, October, 1824, vol. x, pp. 280-282. 238 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. theory of temperature, expansion, conduction, evaporation, and the transformation and conservation of energy ; and although three years later than Herapath’s remarkable announcement of the theory of gaseous temperature, is doubtless an independent and original discovery; for such it is entitled to be called. There is now little question that while the molecular excursions in gases take place in straight lines or in hy- perbolic trajectories, the atomic motions within the molecule (whose marvelous regularity of periodicity is attested by the fixed refrangibili- ties of the spectrum) are really described in elliptic orbits, as Seguin had so early preconceived. The writer proceeds to apply this hypothesis to a variety of appar- ently unconnected phenomena, as to the sudden development of motion in the fracture of a ‘‘ Prince Rupert’s Drop” or unannealed glass tear; to the action of the steam-engine, in which a large amount of molecular orbital motion in the vaporized water is transformed into,the rectilinear or translatory motion of the piston; for “if, as we suppose, an angular motion has been changed into a rectilineal motion or into a motion of trans lation, we should find after the effect only the quantity of motion which has not been employed in producing the useful effect.” He shows that the same theory explains satisfactorily the great degree of refrigeration- observed in the higher regions of our atmosphere, while by the material theory of caloric the upper regions should be the hottest; and he main- tains that even ‘“‘the motion produced by organized bodies may be ex- plained in the same manner as the steam-engine.” This is certainly a very remarkable prevision of the correlation between the physical and ‘ the organic forces. . It was not till 1848 that Seguin commenced a series of memoirs, read before the French Academy of Sciences, on the nature of the molecu- lar forces, but dealing mainly with cohesion regarded as a phase of gravitative action. A theory of mutual impacts and reactions between the molecules of matter and the atoms of the xther was proposed but not very clearly presented.* With a communication, made October 22, 1849, the author submitted the results of experiments showing actions ““very analogous, if not identical in their eftects, with that of gravita- tion.” The apparatus exhibited consisted essentially of a magnet at- tached to a pendulum which produced motion in small iron bullets sus- pended a short distance therefrom. In an editorial résumé of Seguin’s work on ‘“ Molecular Physics,” in Abbé Moigno’s Cosmos, in 1852, the Abbé, after alluding to Newton’s speculations, affirms with characteristic confidence and earnestness: “Tf there is anything certain in the world, it is that the molecules of — bodies and bodies themselves are not really self-attractive; it is that attraction is not an intrinsic but only a developed force ; it is that not- en ee ee * Comptes Rendus, September 25, 1848, vol. xxvii, pp. 314-318; January 22, 1849, vol. xXvili, pp. 97-101; October 22, 1849, vol. xxix, pp. 425-430; January 19, 1852, vol. XXXiv, pp. 85-89; November 7, 1853, vol. xxxvii, pp. 703-708. ae i BBR See A ee >, 4 a * a ive > ” h . c : ’ 4 ’ £ KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION, 239 _ withstanding everything occurs as though bodies mutually attracted each other, it is incontestably true that bodies do not so attract. New- ton, as Euler,—as every philosopher worthy of the name,—has seen in nature but two things, inertia, and motion originally impressed by a free Will, the first and infinite Mover. And it is with these two great facts of inertia and movement that advancing science shall ultimately explain all the phenomena of the physical world. Already courageous thinkers have endeavored to explain by inertia and motion the great, the capital fact of universal attraction, but these explanations are neither so distinctly formulated nor so plausible as to enable us to give a correct idea of them.” Abbé Moigno, as Seguin’s interpreter, proceeds: “ The secret of cohesion has been pursued by one of our most illustrious com- patriots, M. Seguin, senior, for the last twenty years, and he has cer- tainly discovered it. It consists most essentially, as we shall proceed to show, in the incontestable fact that the molecules of bodies exceed in number and minuteness anything that could have been imagined.”* This theory of cohesion is then set forth at’ some length, the funda- mental assumption being that there are two classes of dynamic monads occupying the universe, the one in a state of relative repose, exhibiting the various phenomena of attraction, and commonly called the ponder- able elements, and the other class entirely free or independent, (improp- erly called imponderable elements,) actuated with extreme velocities of translation, of rotation, and of vibration, continually traversing the systems of ponderable monads in all directions.t Although the admiring editor avows himself a pupil of Seguin, it is doubtful whether he has cautiously followed him, in so enthusias{i- cally proclaiming his development of ‘‘a vast theory from the admission of but a single principle in the universe,—the attraction of two monads in the inverse ratio of the distance squared, without recourse to any hypothetical force of mysterious attractions or of impossible repulsions.” In 1858, Seguin published in the Cosmos a somewhat elaborate essay On the Origin and Propagation of Force,” in which he seems to have abandoned a kinetic theory of gravitation. It is true that he there holds: ‘‘ Matter is inert; that is to say, it does not harbor in itself the power to put itself into movement, and still less a fortiori to communi- cate it, since a thing to be transmitted must first exist.”{ And it is also true that he repeatedly speaks of “the great principle of the inde- finite conservation of motion” as being ‘the foundation of all me- chanics ;”§ and regards “the. possibility of the destruction of motion as equivalent to “ the annihilation of force,”|| which is the very shibboleth of kinetic theorists; and further that. he disputes Poisson’s proposition that two spheres of equal mass and velocity, devoid of elasticity, if * Cosmos, November 14, 1852, vol. i, pp. 693, 694. t Cosmos, vol. ii, pp. 371-382, and pp. 625-632. t Cosmos, October 15, 1558, vol. xiii, p. 485. § Ibidem, pp. 503, 505, 515, 518, 527. || Lbidem, p. 509. 240 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. directly meeting, would have their motion destroyed, and be reduced 4 to rest; ne aiaeaie that ‘the idea of the possibility of the destruction — of force and of the complete disappearance of motion has always been insuperably repugnant to sound and careful thinkers, who have made © this question a subject of study.”* Notwithstanding all which, he says, in regard to the uniform tendency of a material system to its center of gravity, ‘“‘we are thus led to con- sider attraction as a first cause, emanating directly from the Divine Will in the creation of matter. Doubtless it is not impossible that it may hereafter be discovered that attraction in its turn is only a consequence — of a more general law, comprehending in itself more implicitly the — means of explaining the effects attributed to attraction. . . . But © as these considerations are purely metaphysical, since observation cannot reach beyond the established fact that two confronting bodies gravitate toward each other by virtue of a force to which is given the name of attraction, it appears to me wiser not to advance further to penetrate a mystery which nothing within our knowledge as yet appears able to explain. Let us then consider matter as existing from the beginning uniformly in space, and attraction as an essential property with which it is endowed, by virtue of which the different parts or molecules com- posing it possess in themselves the power of mutual attraction.”} So explicit a statement would seem quite sufficient to prove that Abbé Moigno has in his zeal transcended the doctrines of the one whom he had ~ effusively recognized as his teacher; and that whatever may have been the earlier views of Seguin as to the origin of gravitation, he can. no lenger be numbered with those who conceive it to be “*a mode of mo- tion.” BOUCHEPORN. 1849. M. F. de Boucheporn read a memoir to the French Academy of Sci- — ences, July 30, 1849, entitled ‘‘ Researches on physical laws considered as consequences of the only essential properties of matter, impenetra- bility and inertia;” the object proposed being to show the considera- tions leading to the conclusion that all physical law rests simply on these necessary attributes of matter, ‘‘ without the supposition of any force.’ He commences with the general recognition, “It is an idea quite old _ in science that the movements of the heavenly bodies may be explained by an external impulsion or by the action of a universal fluid. This — was the earliest idea of French philosophy, being that of Descartes, and even Newton himself had thought of connecting with it the great law of gravitation.” <4 SS Boucheporn proceeds to cite some of the principles and results devel- | oped. “1st. The intensity of an impulse propagated in the etherial * Cosmos, October 15, 1858, vol. xiii, p. 508. t Ibidem, pp. 486, 487, Seek si - 7 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 241 medium foilows the law of the inverse square of the distance from the center of disturbance. 2d. The resistance of the wether does not sensi bly affect the velocity of a body when this is sufficiently less than that of ztherial propagation; but this resistance becomes a uniform pressure on the entire surface of a body, (supposed spherical,) and even deter- mines its sphericity.. 3d. Taking as unity the density of the fluid, the quantity of motion impressed by a body on the ether is equal to its volume multiplied by the square of its velocity ; which is also the meas- ure of the total pressure on the surface of a body. 4th. Propagated to the interior of the heavenly bodies, the pressure would produce the effect that all layers of equal thickness will inclose the same quantity of matter, and that the mean density is three times that of the surface. This kind of homogeneity would not be affected by the action of heat. In sbort, from such great internal condensation, it may be conjectured that the heavenly bodies are almost entirely impermeable by the ether, as will shortly appear trom an astronomical law. Sth. As to attraction; the displacement of the ether by the movement cf a body A, will pro- duce in all parts of the fluid a sort of aspiration toward the point being left by its center; any other body B receiving these aspiring waves on its nearer hemisphere wi.l bave lost all or a part of its own pressure ; and the half pressure (volume multiplied by the squared velocity) which acts an the opposite hemisphere, no longer being counterbalanced, will give an impulse to the body B in the direetion of A. Such would be the principle of attraction. . . . ” The writer finds a verification of his principlesin the relation existing between the respective masses of the planets and the product of their volumes by the square of their velocities, omitting the cases of Uranus and Neptune. Also by determining the velocity of an attracting body from that of its satellite, knowing only the ratio of the radius to the dis- tance; and lastly, by determining the amount of fall of heavy bodies from the angular velocity of the earth, irrespective of its mass !* LAME. 1852. Gabriel Lamé, a distinguished French gecmeter, and author cf a very learned and valuable woik on the laws of elasticity, enibracing a pro- found inathematical discussion of the theory of vibrations in almost all its scientific aspects, has incidentally alluded to gravitation in such a manuer as to deserve a notice here. Of his more immediate theme hetorcibly remarks: ‘ Elasticity is thereal origin or indispensable intermediary of all the more important physical phenomenaof the universe. . . . Ina word,the function of elasticity in nature is at least as important as that of universal gravitat*on. Indeed gravitation and elasticity should be considered as effects of the same cause, which correlate or connect all the material parts of the uni. ~ * Comptes Rendus, July 30, 1849, vol. xxix, pp. 108-112. The author embodied his views in a work entitled Principe Générale de la Philosophie Naturelle, 8vo, Paris, 1853. S 16 242 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. verse; the first asserting this relation through immense distances, the second exhibiting it only in very small spaces.”* In what way these two great master-forces of nature, seemingly so unlike, and even antag- onistic to each other, may possibly be connected in action or in principle, is nowhere suggested ; but the character of the author forbids the sup- position that the remark was hastily ventured, or conceived without sober reflection. No further reference however, to the subject of gravitation occurs in the work, till toward its close. In the last ‘* Lesson,” Lamé shows the neces- sity for admitting a pervading «ther. And considering the question whether ponderable matter is really the medium which vibrates and transmits light in transparent crystals, he decides: ‘‘ There can no longer exist a doubt on this question ; for it clearly results from our analysis that ponderable matter alone is incapable of producing pro- gressive waves which will explain the optical phenomena of birefractive bodies, or which could have led to the discovery of most of these phe- nomena. Luminous waves then are produced and propagated in trans- parent bodies by the vibrations of an imponderable fluid, which is no other than the zther.”” He determines analytically two systems of undu- lation in the «ether, of differing velocities ; one system radial, or normal to the ellipsoidal surface of the wave, affecting the dilatation or conden- sation of the medium, and not concerned in optical phenomena; and the other system transverse to this in two sets, or in the direction of two tangents to the ellipsoidal wave, representing the phases of polarized light.t Lamé econeludes his Lessons with some reflections on the internal con. | stitution of solid bodies. ‘‘ It seems highly probable that the progress of general physics will conduct one day to a principle analogous to that of universal attraction, of which this itself shall prove only a corollary, and which may serve as the basis of a rational theory comprehending both mechanics—the celestial and the terrestrial. But to presuppose this unknown principle, or to infer the whole from one of its parts, is to retard—it may be for a long time—the epoch of its discovery.” And speaking of the great desideratum, a rational science of molecular mechanics, he asks: “Is this an enigma forever insoluble? To this © question must. be answered yes, if the existence of ponderable matter only is to be admitted ;—no, if we admit also the existence of the ether.” ¢ ** Since then the existence of the zetherial fluid is incontestably demon- strated by the propagation of light through celestial spaces,—by the explanation (as simple as complete) of the condition of diffraction in the | theory of waves,—and as has been seen,—by the laws of double refrac- tion, which prove with no less certitude the existence of an zther within * Legons sur la Théorie Mathématique de VElasticité des Corps Solides. 8vo, Paris, 1852 Lesson i, p. 2. t Loco citat., Less. xxiv, sec. 131, pp. 327, 328. t Loco citat., sec. 134, pp. 332, 333. aah a aa ae a a a Sty eet Duckie a ig ee KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 243 transparent bodies, we know that ponderable matter is not alone in the universe; its particles swim as it were in a kind of fluid medium. If this fluid be not the unique cause of all the observed facts, it must at least modify them, diffuse their action, and complicate their laws. It is then no longer. possible to attain a rational-.and complete explanation of the phenomena of physical nature, without recognizing the intervention of this agent, whose presence is so inevitable. It is scarcely to be doubted that in this intervention, sagaciously investigated, will be found the secret or the true cause of the effects which are attributed to heat, to electricity, to magnetism, to universal attraction, to cohesion, to chemical affinities ; for all these mysterious and incomprehensible agen- cies are at bottom but co-ordinating hypotheses,—useful without doubt to our existing ignorance, but which the progress of true science will complete by dethroning.” * These passages are less notable for any precise hypothesis as to the cause of gravitation than for their earnest unformulated faith in the mechanical agencies of the ether as the fountain-head of all force. A very striking illustration of the author’s realizing sense of the etherial presence occurs in a memoir communicated by him to the Academy of Sciences about ten years before this time, or in 1542; in which, discussing the difference between the determination by Gay- Lussac of the co-efficient of gaseous dilatation, and that made by Rud- berg and verified by Regnault twenty-five years later, Lamé made the somewhat startling announcement that the observed difference indicated an increasing «ther-pressure on terrestrial matter! ‘The difference between these results is explained by admitting that the pressure of the ether has undergone ou the earth in a quarter of a century an aug- mentation equal to a pressure of eight or nine tenths of a millimetre of the mercurial column.” f WATERSTON. 1858. Tn an essay ‘On the integral of gravitation, and its consequents with reference to the measure and transfer, or communication of force, by J. J. Waterston,” of Edinburgh, published in the Philosophical Magazine, ‘the writer commences with the general consideration: ** Modern ideas with relation to heat and the active condition of the molecular element naturally incline us to estimate every force with regard to its work-pro- ducing capacity. In the following paper I have considered gravitation under this aspect, and in doing so, have been Jed to discuss some points relating to dynamical sequence in the abstract.” After referring to the fact that neither Newton nor Laplace recog- nized the principle of the conservation of force in their grand researches, Waterston continues: ‘‘ Even at the present day, mathematicians have been so long accustomed to and brought up in the statical method of * Loco citat., sec. 134, pp. 334, 335. t Comptes Rendus, January 3, 1842, vol. xiv, p. 37. ‘ 244 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. treating molecular physics initiated by those great leaders, that the iuefiiciency and inconsistency of this mode of inquiry with the mechani- eal theory of heat seems as yet not to be fully appreciated by some even of the most zealous upholders of that theory. With this impression, it seews desirable that every effort should be made to arrive at a clear understanding of fundamental points, and the principle of physical causation, which the mechanical theory supplies.”* As thisis the usual point of departure with kinematists, (not * brought up in the statical method,”) it may be well here to affirm with some pesitiveness that-without the ceaseless co-operation of two antagoniz- ing or reciprocating statical teusions, a “* mechanical theory of heat” is rationally impossible. Matter possessing only inertia and motion (whose: product is momentum) would very speedily arrive at a state of stable and inert equilibrium, without having ever exhibited a single phenome- bon of force, and without the possibility of any dynamic potential. An abstract system of kinematics, under any geometrical arrangement or conception, is indeed quite irreconcilable with the actual system of dynamics found in nature and subject to our observation. All gases would under the operation of the first law of motion, tend to infinite and equable diffusion; and liquids and solids would quickly follow in their wake. Heat, whether cousidered as a vibration or a revolution, (or preferably as both a rectilinear and an orbital movement,) could of course have no existence, since there could be neither recoil nor con- straining bond; and the very first step'toward an oscillation would also be the last one. Even the principle itself of ‘conservation of foree” is absolutely dependent on the existence of primordial static po- tentiality. So much for a “clear understanding of fundamental points.” ** SECTION 1. The integral of gravitation is a function of space. Sup- pose a central homogeneous globe to augment in bulk by the descent of similar matter from an infinite distance in radial directions all around ; each descending element, on arriving at the surface of the globe, pre- sents itself charged with a certain amount of mechanical force equiva- lent to the square velocity with which it impinges. If we confine our attention to the centripetal influence of the original central giobe only, the square velocity of the descending element diminishes in the inverse ratio of the radius of the augmenting globular mass; for it is upon the surface of this that impact takes place, and the matter that has been added to the original globe is assumed not to augment the centripetal force acting upon the descending matter.”+ This established ratio ef final velocity does not appear in any way to substantiate the general proposition ; nor is it seen to receive support from any of the succeed- ing illustrations. Gravitation,as a fact of observation, is always found to be rigorously relative to two posited elements; and its integral is by such observation a function of the distance between these elements. If *L. E. D. Phil. Mag., May, 1858, vol. xv, p. 329. t Loco citat., p. 330. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 245 the distance is infinite, the integral is negatively infinite. But how it is a function of ** space” in any more general sense, is certainly not ob- vious. As Professor Briicke, of Vienna, has forcibly said in his response to Faraday: “So far as my consciousness reaches, so far as | am eapa- ble of distinguishing true from false, and like from unlike, all known facts are bronght into complete harmony with our laws of thought, when we suppose forces as the causes of phenomena to reside in the masses, the spaces between these masses being traversed by the forces, If the forces could be imagined as existing in space, it must also be conceivable that matter may be annihilated without changing the sum of the forces, and this, at least by me, is not conceivable.’* *“ SECTION 2. The force-generating faculty exists in space, and is di- rected centripetally. [?] This is proved by the following considerations. The integral force-producing power of any body, however small, subject to the law of universal gravitation, is illimitable as space. It is impos- sible to imagine an infinite attribute belonging to a fiuite entity.f It is therefore in space that the energy that contributes the power of gravi- tution exists, and the element of inatter merely gives to it a centripetal direction. This, as a consequent of the law of gravitation, seems note- worthy from it probably being applicable to molecular forces generally. Tt favors the idea that the function of the material element is to give direction to a living force that pervades space.”t The first part of this proposition, {as an iteration of the previous one,) that gravitative force “exists in space,” is Gerived as an inference from a metaphysical postu- late,— It is impossible to imagine” it as belonging to a finite body. But our powers of “ imagining” can hardly be accepted as the measure of scientific verity. ‘‘It is impossible to imagine” the nature of elec- trical action, chemical affinity, lamini‘erous vibration, ether, atom, foree, or space! Who is able to formulate in thought the co-existence of an equal repulsive and attractive energy in either pole of a bar magnet, simultaneously discriminating by opposite action between the reversed ends of two magnetic needles? But when it is said that the sole function of the mateiial element is to give centripetal direction to the circumambient ocean of force, wonderful indeed is the conception of virtue in the * finite entity” thus drawing to itself the centripetal ten- dency in all directions throughout illimitab'e space, and instantaneously re-adjusting these infiaite lines of foree with every momentary change of position! If difficulty of “imagining” were a criterion of error, surely it might be well applied to this hypothesis. “Section 3. The law of gravitation with respect to the element of radial space, is usually defined with reference to a constant element of time; the increment of velocity generated being proportional to the increment of time, whatever the direction or velocity of the motion, and *L. E. D. Phil. Mag., February, 1858, vol. xv, pp. 87, 88. t Is it impossible to imagine an atom having an eternal duration ? ‘ ¢ Phil Mag., 1858, vol. xv, pp. 331, 332, 246 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. inversely as the square of the central distance. If we view it with ref. erence to a constant element of radial space, we find that the increment of square velocity generated by the force of gravitation is proportional to decrement of radial distance, and inversely as square of central dis- tance. This holds whatever the velocity or direction of the motion, whatever the orbit of the projectile... .” «“SEcrion 4. The mutual gravitation of two bodies develops mechan- ical foree in each of them inversely proportional to its mass. Suppose two bodies to descend toward each other by their mutual gravitation, their common center of gravity being at rest. At any time before they — meet, their acquired velocities being examined will be found inversely as their masses; which assume as one to ten. Suppose them removed — to the earth’s surface, and each projected up a vertical with their ac-_ quired velocities respectively: the smaller body rises 100 times the — height ascended by the larger, and thus in again descending would be — able to perform ten times the work... .”* After some other propositions and discussions, not specially bearing ou the present inquiry, Mr. Waterston gives a general statement of results as follows: ‘ Hven if we had not those proofs of the existence — of a universal medium that the undulatory theory of light supplies, it would be well to admit the existence of media to which ordinary matter may be assumed to be entirely subordinate in all their potential rela- tious, so as to give order to our ideas in tracing out the dynamical sequence of nature. It would be taking too narrow a view if we limited — the function of the Inminiferous wether to the conveying of physical pulses only. The atmosphere also conveys physical pulses, but that is the least important of its functions in the economy of nature. There is — nothing that should hinder us attributing to the media concerned in ~ the radiation of heat and light the higher functions of electric polarity — and gravitation. The special dynamic arrangements by which this is — effected may ever elude research, but as there is no limit to the vis viva — which such media may conserve in their minutest parts, so there is no— physical impossibility in that vis viva being suddenly transferred to the — molecules of ordinary matter in the proportions and sequence required to carry out the order and system of nature. The fundamental princi- ple of action in such media must be in accordance with elastic impact, for upon that the dynamic theory of heat and conservation of force rests as a foundation. The statical and dynamical characteristics of gravita- tion and transfusion of force have also been shown to conform to it, so that all the forces that hold the molecules of bodies together must also be in subjection to it.” + From the above it would appear that the writer in previously affirming the integral of gravitation to be a function of space, intended rather the content of space, or the dynamic medium supposed to occupy it. The * Loco citat., p. 332. t Loco citat., p. 344. t 5 a = 5 Ss a“ ? si KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 247 whole suggestion is however, so indefinite that it must be accounted less a coherent hypothesis than a mere speculation,—a cast among the possi- bilities. To refer the great fact of gravitation to some unimagined and unimaginable ether-motion, the special arrangements of which for effect- jung the desired purpose “ elude research,” is not to proffer an explana- tion, but to indulge in an illusion; and although Mr. Waterston has in terms recognized all of the six propositions (excepting the last one) an- nounced as the necessary conditions of the problem,* he has failed to show that one of these conditions can be satisfied by his speculations. CHALLIS. 1859. Professor James Challis, of the University of Cambridge, England, in the prosecution of a ** Mathematical Theory of Heat,” published in the Philosophical Magazine for March, 1859, advanced in November of the same year, to a “ Mathematical Theory of Attractive Forces,” based on the assumption “ that all substances consist of minute spherical atoms of differeut but constant magnitudes, and of the same intrinsic inertia ; and that the dynamical relations and movements of different substances, and of their constituent atoms, are determined by the pressures of the wether against the surfaces of the atoms, together with the reaction of the atoms against such pressure by reason of the constancy of their form aud magnitudes. The wether is assumed to be a uniform elastic fluid medium pervading all space not occupied by atoms, and varying in pressure proportionally to variations of its density. The theory recog- nizes no other kinds of force than these two, the one an active force resi- dent in the ether, aud the other a passive reaction of the atoms.” After a formidable array of partial differential equations, the author concludes: ‘ Having now shown that waves of large breadth attract asmall spherical body toward their origin, and havivg previously shown that waves of small breadth may repel such a body in the contrary direction, the main difficulty in forming a theory of attractive and repulsive forces seems to be overcome.”{ It is supposed by Professor Challis that by the disturbance of a material element, a series of undulations differing greatly in their order of magnitude and velocity may be simultaneously propagated in the etherial medium, giving rise to as many different manifestations of force; and that according to their relative wave- length, some of these will produce a permanent motion of translation on molecules of determinate mass subjected to their influence. This is partly in aceord with the striking experiments of Guyot previously referred to. In a following paper the author undertook ‘A Theory of the Force of Gravity ;” remarking that, “As we have no conception from personal experience and sensation of any other species of force than pressure, the actio in distans does not admit of being explained by any previous or tL. E. D. Phil. Mag., November, 1859, vol. xviii, p. 334. 248 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. concomitant knowledge, but if it be a reality, must forever remain to us incomprehensible.” Tow the school-boy’s personal experience of the strain exerted in drawing by a cord his wintews sled can be resolved into a sensation of ‘* pressure” does not seem easy of discovery. Assuming then an order of «etherial waves having a much larger range than those of light, Professor Challis endeavors to deduce the several laws, of action proportional to the number of atoms acted upon, of the inverse square of the distance of action, and of simultaneous action in different directions. He infers that if such waves enconntered a slight retardation of propagation in passing through the earth, they would be refracted, so to speak, by the form of the large inequalities of the terrestrial surface, producing the observed deflection of the plumb- line. He also supposes that a small function involving +r? must be added to the usual formula “ increasing sensibly the action of the sun near its surface and diminishing its action notably through interstellar dis- tances. He thinks that this alone will explain why the sidereal system does not collapse toward its common center of gravity. ‘According to the theory of gravity I have proposed, although the ordinary law may be exact through the solar system and far beyond, there must be distances at which the condition that the excursions of the vibrating particles of the ether are large compared to the dimensions of the atoms ceases to be fulfilled. In that case the attraction changes to repulsion.” * teuewing the discussion of “A Theory of Molecular Forces,” the fol- lowing year, Professor Challis contends: * It is a matter of demonstra- tion that a theory of molecular forces cannot be constructed on the hypothesis that the forces vary according to some law of the distance from individual material particles, unless the law be such that the foree changes sigu with the distance so as to become attractive alter being repulsive. But if foree be a virtue resident in the particle, it must at its origin be either attractive or repulsive, and it seems impossible to con-. ceive how by emanation to a distance it can change its quality. This difficulty, as will be shown, is not encountered in a theory of molecular forces which deduces their laws from the dynamical action of an elastic medium.” While itis probably no more difficult to conceive an innate force or virtue which “ at its origin” shall have a law of radial intensity whose value passes through zero, than to conceive auy other mathemat- ical law of increment or decrement, there is certainly no necessity for assuming such a law. If we should suppose the attraction by inverse squares to be absolute, with the superposition of a repulsion of much higher inverse power, and of far greater intensity, it is evident that the aS ~~ at ae two curves of force would cross each other, and that at the intersection «— the resultant would involve a “ change of sign.” However difficult it may be to realize such a conception, the actual superposition of oppos- * Phil. Mag., 1859, vol. xviii, p. 451. ——. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION, 249 ing forces is daily exhibited to us in the behavior of the magnet, Another possible conception is that repulsion is a positive material or aetherial atmosphere of definite radius. : Indeed, the author’s theory is really one of the superposition of two systems of waves, rather than one of a single system changing its sign. For he supposes that the attraction of gravity results from :etherial waves of great length and correspondingly large excursions or ampli- tudes, in whieh the diameter of the material atom is a vanishing quan- tity (‘¢=0”), and there is no sensible difference between the velocities ou its two hemispheres; while atomic repulsion results from such small waves (smaller even than those of light) that the atom is large in comparison, and the difference of the wave on its two hemispheres is very notable. ‘ Thus the conditions assumed in the mathematical the- ory of heat are satisfied by supposing » to be very large and q [the ex- cursion of the wave] to be very small; and the fulfillment of these con- ditions accounts for the great energy of calorific repulsion. . . Hence atoms of very small size, acting upon each other by the intervention of waves of which the excursions are very small, mutually repel with a very great force; and at the same time, as was shown in the Theory of Ueat, the force varies very rapidly with the distance.” Attributing to the spherical hard atom of matter only inertia, * it -would be contrary to these principles to ascribe to an atom the property of elasticity, because from what we know of this property by experience it is quautitative, and being most probably dependent on an ugerega- tion of atoms, may admit of explanation by a complete theory of mole- cular forces.” * Of this fundamental property however,—uecessarily precedent to all theory of wave-action,—no explanation is given. That the author did not feel entirely satisfied with his vibratory theory of molecular forces, would appear from his returning to the subject two years later with the remark : ‘* Such vibrations, when we calculate their effect ouly to the first power of the velocity, are found to produce simply oscillations of small spherical bodies submitted to their action, and not motion of translation. To account for the latter, it is necessary to pro- ceed to the consideration of effects due to the second power of the ve- locity. . . . . . Lastly, there is yet another physical force, the relations of which to an etherial medium and to other modes of force are not readily made out: I mean the force of gravity. If however, all the other forces are modifications of ztherial pressure, it is reasonable to suppose that this oue is of the same kind. I have ventured to reason on this supposition, and haveattempted to deduce (I think with success) the known laws of gravity from the dynamical action of stherial waves of much larger magnitude than those which correspond to molecular forces.” + ; While it is comparatively easy to explain the origin af heat-waves * L. E. D. Phil. Mag., February, 1¢60, vol. xix, pp. 89-91. tL. E. D. Phil. Mag., April, 1862, vol. xxiii, pp. 319, 320. 250 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. by the theory of the reactions of antecedent forces, the converse prob- lem, to explain forces by the hypothesis of antecedent waves, is by no means so simple. Accordingly, a very weak point in all undulatory theories of gravitation has been an account of the origin (to say nothing of the continuance) of the primum mobile. ‘*On the source and main- tenance of the sun’s heat,” Professor Challis remarks as follows: ‘‘ We are led to the conclusion that the undulations which emanate equally in all directions from each atom, and constitute by their dynamic action the repulsion of heat, are mainly produced by the reaction of the atoms due to their inertia and impenetrability. It is plain however, from this reasoning, that there must be an original and independent source of undulations. Now obviously such a supply may be conceived to be furnished to the sun by undulations emanating from the stars. We have ocular evidence that stars transmit light-undulations, and it is quite possible that they originate others not sensible to the sight.”* As our sun is one of the stellar fraternity, surely this device of mutual borrow- ing is an extraordinary method of production. “That action at a distance is not a universal condition of force is proved by the modern discovery that light and heat, which are modes of force, are transmitted through space by the intervention of a me- dium. If one. kind of force requires a medium of transmission, why not another? Again, it is found by experience that the same portion of matter may attract or repel, according to circumstances. But inherent force cannot possibly be so changed by circumstances. In the same matter it must continue to be always the same.” t ** All physical force being pressure, there must be a medium by which the pressure is executed.” And the origin of this pressure is therefore, the origiu of “all physical foree.” The fundamental postulate of this medium is that it is a uniformly continuous elastic fluid, exerting a pressure always proportional to its density. As it is contrary to prin- ciple to ascribe elasticity to atomic matter, the question might arise, why is it more proper to ascribe this occult property to the ether? In the case of air (of uniform temperature) the constant ratio of .pressure to density results we are told, from a vis a tergo, the vibratory action of the interstitial ether. The author perceives the incongruity of deny- ing to the air a quality attributed to the «ether, when the law is implic- jtly the same in both; and he suggests in exteiuation, ‘¢ we can con- ceive of the existence of another order of ether haviug the same relation to the first as that has to air, and so on ad libitum.’ t The very key-note of the hypothesis is dynamic etherial “ pressure.” “All the different kinds of physical foree detected by observation and experiment are modifications of pressures of the wther.”§ But when we * Phil. Mag., June, 1863, vol. xxv, p. 4€5. t Phil. Mag., October, 1863, vol. xxvi, p. 284. { Phil. Mag., June, 1866, vol. xxxi, pp. 468, 469. § Ibidem, p. 470. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 25h seek the cause of this pressure, it forever eludes us. Here then the system stands self-convicted of impotence to exercise its prime preroga- tive. At whatever point in the infinite series of descendiag orders of wether we stop, the secret of its power is ever one step backward. We must still “conceive of the existence of another order of ether having the same relation to it” that it had to the preceding. And that no pos- sible element of embarrassment may be wanting to our conception, the first zether is absolutely continuous,” without atoms and without in- terstices ! F In 1869, Professor Challis published an elaborate extension of his mathematical discussion of kinetic theories of the physical forces, in a large octavo volume of some 750 pages; the first half of the work being devoted to a general mathematival treatise, of high merit and value, under the title of ‘* Notes on the Principles of Pure and Applied Calcu- lation.” In the latter portion of the work, (on theoretical physics,) the subjects treated of “are those of light, heat, and molecular attraction, force of gravity, electricity, galvanism, and magnetism, respecting which I make the general hypothesis that their phenomena all result from modes of action of an elastic fluid, the pressure of which is proportional to its density.”* And in the “introduction ” to the work, he has more explicitly stated: “‘ The hypothesis respecting the wether is simply that it is a continuous elastic medium, perfectly fluid, and (hat it presses pro- portionally to its density.”t The forces of elasticity, and of chemical affinity, are excluded as beyond the present reach of analysis. A distinction is made between the ztherial radiations of light and of heat, not justified by any observed phenomenon. ‘Since in the theory I have proposed, the transverse vibrations of rays always accompany direet vibrations, and it was concluded that the sensation of light is en- tirely due to the former, we are at liberty to refer the action of heat, or other modes of force, to the direct vibrations.”~ This would leave the polarization of heat quite inexplicable; as obviously vibrations of the acoustic type are incapable of polarization. It is now familiar to opticians that fine rulings on glass, whose dis- tance apart is less than a half of the wave-length of light, are readily resolvable with optical distinctness by our modern microscopes, while the intimate texture of the glass is apparently as far removed from res- olution as with the unarmed eye. What part can etherial vibrations play in giving cohesion to the ultimate molecules of the glass? Here then is apparently a new difficulty for the undulatory theory of force; for not only are the ultimate molecules of the silicate bound together with a powerful force, (giving seeming continuity of substance to our highest artificial vision,) but they are also held apart with a still more potent stress. Professor Challis does not shrink from the solution. * Principles of Mathematies and Physics, 5vo., Cambridge, L869, p. 313. t+ Introduction, p. xlv t Opere citat., p. 437. 252 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. “Making the only hypothesis which is consistent with the theoretical principles advoeated in this work, namely, that the ultimate atoms of the glass are kept asunder by the repulsive action of etherial undula- tions which have their origin at individual atoms, it may be presumed that this atoniic repulsion is attributable to undulations incomparably smaller than those which cause the sensation of light... .. The only additional hypothesis that will now be made is that there are undu'a- tions of the «ther for which the values of 4 are very much inferior in Inagnitude to those of the undulations which produce the phenomena of | light. The origin of this class of undulations may, as well as that of all others, be ascribed to disturbances of the ether by the vibrations and motions of atoms. Although the periods of the etherial vibrations may, under particular circumstances, be determined by tke periods of the vibrations of the atoms, this is not necessarily the case... .”* “ TTowever small may be the condensation propagated from a single atom, the resulting condensation from an aggregation of atoms con- tained in a spherical space will be of sensible magnitude at distances from the center of the space very large compared to its radius, provided the space be not less than a certain finite magnitude, and the atoms contained in it be not fewer than a certain finite number. .... We have hitherto had under consideration the waves of atomic repulsion and the waves of molecular attraction, and it was argued that the lat- ter might result from compositions cf the former, and that in that case the values of 2 would be much larger for the composite waves than for the components.” t ' In 1872, the author again writing “On the Hydrodynamical Theory of Attractive and Repulsive Forces,” says, in regard to the discussion of the first and second orders of small quantities, “ Having in fact sue- ceeded in overcoming the mathematical difficulty of effecting a second approximation by this means, [starting from the first approximation, ] I have ascertained that the solution contains terms of indefinite increase, Whence it must be concluded that the logic of the process is somewhere at fault... . . Both in this Magazine and, in my work on the Mathe- matical Principles of Physics, I have in various ways attempted to solve to the second approximation the problem of the motion of a small sphere acted upon by the vibrations of an elastic fluid. But I must confess that owing to the difficulty of including the effeet of the spon- taneous vibrations, my efforts have been only partially suecessful.” He remarks that as his equations involved two unknown constants H, and H,, (representing the amounts of wave condensation on the nearer and on the further hemispheres of the atom,) “on this account the theo- ries which attribute the forces of heat, molecular attraction, and gravity, to action on the atoms by pressure of the ether in vibration, are incom- plete.” And he admits that for any purpose of quantitative determina- * Opere citat., py. 456, 459. t Opere citat., pp. 463, 489. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 20a tion or verification, “* The whole theory however of attractive and re- pulsive forces, 1egarded as due to vibrations of the wether, is incomplete for want of ana priori determination of the composition and value of the quantity J7.”* In 1876, the author returns to the discussion with a view ‘‘to correct in certain respects that investigation, [the one last cited,| and to carry it a step further.” And in dealing with a residual effect of vibration, * which in fact is the attraction of gravity,’ and determining that the accelerative force is independent of the size of the atom or molecule, he says: “This result expresses the force of gravityas due to the at- tractive action of a molecule of a higher order as to magnitude than the molecule of molecular attraction. lor distinction, a molecule of this superior order might be called a gravity-molecule. Its magnitude may still be considered to be so small that in comparison with the magni- tudes of verrestrial and cosmical masses, it may be treated as an infini- tesimal quantity. .... Lastly, it is to be noticed that on account of the large value of 4 for gravity-waves, they do not suffer sensible retarda- tion or refraction in passing through gross bodies. I have on several previous occasions, treated of the problem of gravitating force theoreti- cally, and by slow steps have approximated to its solution; but before the present attempt, I had not succeeded in exhibiting satisfactorily the rationale of this kind of atcraction by vibrations.” t Such is an imperfect abstract of the most carefully-studied and the most diligently-elaborated exposition of the wave-theory of attraction. which has yet been proffered to the scientific world. Discussed with the earnestuess aud candor of a fervent conviction, and with all the rescurces of a high order of mathematical culture and ability, the re- sult yet fails, sadly and fatally, to satisfy the conditions of the problem. Stroug as is the author’s assurance that he has successfully grasped by his formulas and equations the several functions embraced in the first three of our propositions,i\tbis is by no means mathematically estab- lished; and the last three propositions are hopelessly iguored and vio- lated. We have seen that. Llasticity, that puzzling “ occult quality,” driven out from the sober presence of the purely rational atom, bas in an inexplicable manuer, slipped in by the back-door of etherial pressure. Naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret, Et mala perrumpet furlim fastidia victriz. With the multitudGinous duties imposed upon the much-suffering gether, in all the varying ranges and orders of undulations derived from atoms and from molecules with ever-changing motions, amid all the perturbations and transformations of the mechanical energy of matter, *L. E. D. Phil. Mag., September, 1872; vol. xliv, pp. 203, 204, 209. + Phil. Mag., September, 1876, vol. ii, p. 191. ¢ Principles of Mathematics and Physics, p. 499. In the concluding chapter of the work, the author draws strength and encouragement from a quotation of the celebrated “Third Letter to Bentley.” 254 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. there is one resultant alone which never by any accident incurs a com- position or experiences a commutation, the constant and unchangeable undulation of gravitation. GLENNIE. 1861. Mr. J.S. Stuart Glennie, in 1861, published in the Philosophical Mag- azine several papers on the autiaee of gravitation, in which he proposed to show that universal repulsion is the true explanation of this force ; thus referring it rather to a static than a kinetic condition of pressure. In an essay “On the Principles of the Science of Motion,” he sets out with the design “‘in this attempt to found a general theory, cleared of ethers and fluids, of properties and virtues.” Commencing with the generalization that ‘‘a mechanical force, or the cause of a mechanical motion, we know to be in general the condition of a difference of press- ure,” he infers, ‘hence it appears that if a general mechanical theory is possible, the ultimate property of matter must be conceived to be a mutual repulsion of its parts, and the indubitable Newtonian law of universal attraction be deduced herefrom, under the actual conditions of the world. The general experimental condition of the fitness of the mechanical conception of pressure as the basis of a general physical - and chemical theory evidently is that there bea plenum. . . : To give distinctness to this idea of the parts of matter as inten re- pulsive, a molecule, or a body (an aggregate of molecules), is conceived as a center of fines of pressure; the lengths and curves of these lines are determined by the relative pressure of the lines they meet; and lines from greater are made up of lesser molecules and their lines, and so on ad infinitum. In speaking of a molecule or body as such a center of pressure, it will be convenient to have a technical name. Rather than coin a new term, it is proposed to use ‘atom’ inthissense. ... . Atoms, or mutually determining centers of lines of pressure, may also be defined and their relations analytically investigated, as mutually de- termining elastic systems with centers of resistance. This is the fun- damental conception (not hypothesis) of the theory. . . . . Now in a system of atoms as above defined, let the centers be of equal mass and at equal distances; there will be no cifference of pressure on any one center, no moving force will be developed, and the conditions of equilibrium will be satisfied. But it is clear that forces will be devel- oped, or the general conditions of motion be fulfilled, either (1) by a difference in the masses of the centers, or (2) by a difference in the dis- tances of the centers, in consequence of a displacement of any one of them, or (3) supposing a state of dynamic equilibrium established in the system by its being brought in contact with another system in a cifferent state of such equilibrium. uy “If all the masses of the system were aa and all at the same dis- tance from each other, their mutual repulsions would be equal in all directions, and they would remain at rest. But if, though two masses | | i | | d | _ [ee KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 255 may be equal, either has on the other side of it a mass of greater size, or at a greater distance than the other, it is evident that the mutual pressures of these two equal masses will under such conditions, be un- equal, and hence as in the first case, they will approach. It is also evident that a body may thus cause the approach to itself of another body, whatever the number of interposed bodies. Thus if the concep- tion of atoms is applied to the unequal and unequally-placed bodies of such a world as that presented to us, the law of universal attraction follows, and gravity is mechanically explained, that is, is referred to a me- chanical conception. But it must be understood that the above propo- sition is given rather to show that as an actual law, universal attraction may be deduced from the theoretical conception of universal repulsion, than with any pretension to its being the best attainable form of an ex- planation of the law. It may however be remarked that such an expla- nation is in accordance with the chief characteristics of the force of gravity; it is not polar, and it seems to be so far different in kind from other physical forces that it is not interchangeable with them, as they are among each other; for the attraction of gravity is thus referred to difference of mass, either between the two attracted bodies or in the systems of which they are parts.” * ' In a second article, “On the Principles of Energetics,” Mr. Glennie proceeds: “As force is thus conceived, not as an absolute entity acting upon matter, but as a condition of the parts of matter itself, and as a condition determined by the relative masses and distances of these parts, any valid hypothesis of a force or of a motion to account tor any set of phenomena is thus seen to imply an assertion as to relative masses and _ distances which can be more or less readily submitted to experiment or observation and analysis. . . . “ The condition of the beginning of motionis a difference of pressure on the body that begins to move; the condition of a uniform continuous motion is a neutralization of the resisting pressure; the condition of an accelerated continuous motion is a uniform or varying resisting [effect- ive?| pressure.” f In a subsequent paper, in continuation of the last, the writer thus re- sumes his statement: ‘‘ Here more clearly to express the idea in con- trast with the fundamental hypothesis of Professor Challis, an atom may be defined as a center of an emanating elastic ether, the pressure of which is directly as the mass of its center, and the form of which depends on the relative pressures of surrounding atoms. Thus if you will, matter may be said to be made up of particles in an elastic ether. But that etheris not auniform circumambient fluid, but made up of the mutually determining «thers (if you wish to give the outer part of the atoma special name) emanating from the central particles. And these central particles are nothing but what (endeavoring to make my theory clear by *L. E. D. Phil. Mag., January, 1861, vol. xxi, pp. 41-45. t Loco citat., April number, p. 276. 256 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. expressing it in the language of the theories it opposes) I may call ethe- vial nuclei. . . . In defining atoms as centers of pressure, they are thus no less distinguished on the one hand from centers of force than . from the little hard bodies of the ordinary theories;-for such centers of force are just as absolute and self-existent in the ordinary conception of them as those little bodies ; and in a scientific theory there can (execpt as temporary conveniences) be no absolute existences, entities. Hence (mechanical) foree, or the cause of motion, is conceived not as an entity but as a condition,—the conditiun namely of a difference of pressure ; and the figure, size, and hardness of all bodies are conceived as relative, dependent, and therefore changeable. There are thus no absolutely ulti- mate bodies.”* In a later part of the same article (p. 356) the writer objects to the ordinary atomic conception that “an hypothesis of infin- itely hard atoms not merely requires in the consideration of the motion of such an atom abstraction to be made of the interior relative motions, also conseqtent on that difference of pressure which causes its external relative motion, but explicitly dénies any internal motion.” The force of the objection is not very obvious. There seems to be no more need of conceiving internal motions in the ultimate upit of matter, for the pur- poses of molecular physics, than there is for conceiving internal motions in the planets for the purpose cf astrenomical physics. In a brief summary of his views, in the succeeding volume, Mr. Glen- nie thus recapitulates: ‘* Matter is conceived as made up, not of an elastic ether and inelastic atoms, but of elastic molecules of different orders as to size and density. If a rough physical conception of these molecules be required, they may be conceived as etherial nuclei, the ether of the nuclei of a lower being made up of nuclei of a higher or- der, and so on ad infinitum.” f Itis somewhat difficult to criticise a scheme of gravitative pressure so indeterminate in detail. The very function of a theory or hypothesis is to formulate the unknown in terms of the known; aud in proportion as a writer fails to do this, he fails to present us with an intelligible theory or hypothesis. From the objection expressed, that “atoms” are ordinarily conecived as self-existent bodies, while ‘‘in a scientific theory there can be no absolute existences or entities,” it might be supposed that the author held the constituents of matter to be merely mathemat- ical points (without dimension) forming the centers of repulsive spheres, ‘ etherial nuclei ;” but when we learn that these elastic mole- cules are ‘ of different orders as to size and density,” built up of success- ive aggregates from the infinitely small, and that each exerts a repel- lant “pressure which is directly as the mass of its center,” we are led to conclude that these “ ztherial nuclei” do possess a determinate mag- | nitude. If they are not to be considered as “‘ absolute existences or enti- ties,” they are supposed to have at least sufficient substance to be moved | | | ee ee ee * Phil. Mag, May, 1861, vol. xxi, pp. 351, 352. t Phil. Mag., July, 1861, vol. xxii., p. 62. é ¥ KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 257 about according to the differences of pressure to which they are ex- - posed. A system composed of any number of these repellant centers having equal mass, and placed at an equal distance apart, will it is said remain in a ee of stable equilibrium, apparently whatever be the unit of distance. What fact of observation this deportment illus- trates is not stated. But if either masses or distances be unequal, mo- tion will result, and ‘forces will be developed.” This certainly does not represent any ascertained fact of gravity or molecular physics. With a universe filled with such centers of repulsion energetic inversely as the square of their radii, it is not easy to see how strictly centripetal motions can result, or how such motions of approach (if possible) could exhibit an energy in directly the reverse ratio. In enthroning a universal repulsion to discharge the office of a uni- versal attraction, Mr. Glennie has not been successful in satisfying any of the conditions of the problem, and in investing his “ atoms” with the pressure of elasticity he has hardly carried out his programme of a theory ‘cleared of properties and virtues.” > -KELLER. 1863. Messrs. F. A. E. and Em. Keller, in a joint ‘Memoir on the Cause of Weight, and of the Effects Attributed to Universal Attraction,” (pre- sented to the French Academy of Sciences March 23, 1863,) announced as the motive force the agency of xtherial undulations. Referring the _ effect to the longitudinal vibrations of the ther, the writers think “the time has come to seek and to find a plausible explanation of weight— simple and natural—in the ceaseless action of these waves on resisting _ bodies, an action analogous to that of ocean-waves, which drive ships upon the coast by the vis viva of their flow over that of their ebb; for the longitudinal vibrations of the zetherial waves condensing and dilat- ing being simply impulsions followed by reaction, and the reactions _ being always more feeble than the impulsions, there follows definitively - au excess of force in the direction of the propagation which should com- municate itself to dense bodies opposed to their propagation, and which should press them one toward the others. It is thus that inert bodies of slight density would transmit their impulsion to denser bodies, when thrown promiscuously into a long box, were we to strike repeatedly one _ of the ends of the box. Ultimately the denser particles will collect at the opposite end; and if both ends are struck simultaneously these par- ticles will collect in the middle of the box, while the others will be ar- ranged in the order of decreasing density from the center.” After considering the effect on a line of particles subjected to contin- ‘uous shocks at each extremity, the writers proceed: “If instead of a single line of particles a certain volume be taken, and if instead of shocks in two opposite directions the shocks are supposed to be given in all directions, it is easy to see that the denser particles, mutually absorbing “- a part of the impulses directed from one to the other, would approach as if S17 258 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. really attracted. As a resultant of all the impressions, the particles would act upon each other in the inverse ratio of the square of the dis- tance, and in the direct ratio of their number,—an action which at once presents a striking analogy with the law of universal attraction.” * It is not believed that either of these ratios would be even approxi- mately attained. It will be observed that in this scheme the etherial vibrations are supposed to exert a precisely opposite action to the undu- lations exhibited in the system of Professor Challis, having their origin on the circumferences of enormous spheres of zether, and being accurately directed to a central point or points, whatever may be the variety of distribution or the changes of position in the material elements. TAIT. 1864. The professor of natural philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, P. G. Tait, has expresséd himself with a cautious moderation on the probable origin of gravity, but with a sufficient distinctness to indicate his inclination to a kinetic hypothesis. In an able though somewhat prejudiced and partisan review of “The Dynamical Theory of Heat,” published in the North British Review for February, 1864, after the very distinct affirmation of the great truth that ‘natural philosophy is an experimental and not an intuitive science: no @ priori reasoning can conduct us definitely to a single physical truth ;” the reviewer thus proceeds to suggest his inductive conclusions: *‘In the physical world we are congnizant of but four elementary or primordial ideas, beside the inevitable Time and Space. They are Mat. ter, Force, Position, and Motion. Of these, motion is simply change of position; and force is recognized as the agent in every change of motion. Till we know what the ultimate nature of matter is, it will be premature to speculate as to the ultimate nature of force; though we have reason to believe that it depends upon the diffusion of highly at- tenuated matter throughout space.” t Indefinite as the statement is, the indication that ‘‘force” probably depends rather on “highly attenuated matter” than on ordinary gross or sensible matter would appear to be derived from a somewhat meta- physical reason to believe. If the conception of a material connecting- link throughout space may be supposed to rest on a perception of phys- ical fitness or necessity in such a transmitter of energy, this gives no physical reason to believe the origin of force resident in the one form of matter rather than in the other. For whether this “highly attenuated matter throughout space” is supposed to act statically or kinetically, and whether its function be to give or to receive impulses, we are cor- * Comptes Rendue, vol. 1vi, pp. 331,532, «=. + North British Review, February, 1864, vol. xl, art. ii, p. 22 of Am. edition. This essay, with another one on “Energy ” in the same periodical, has been republished as a separate treatise, under the title of ‘“ Sketch of Thermodynamics.” 8vo., Edinburgh, 1868. | ; 4 Sage KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 259 rectly informed that “force is recognized as the agent in every change of motion;” and therefore we are no nearer the source of this agency after the acceptance the hypothesis than we were before it. Still more recently, Professor Tait, in an evening lecture on “ Force,” delivered September 8, 1876, before the British Association at its Glas- gow meeting, has recurred to his kinetic hypothesis. ‘‘ Why two masses of matter possess potential energy when separated, in virtue of which they are conveniently said to attract one another, is still one of the most obscure problems in physics. I have not now time to enter on a discussion of the very ingenious idea of the ultramundane corpus- cles, the outcome of the life-work of Le Sage, and the only even appar- ently hopeful attempt which has yet been made to explain the mechanism of gravitation. The most singular thing about it is that if it be true, it will probably lead us to regard all kinds of energy as ultimately kinetic.* And a singular quasi-metaphysical argument may be raised on this point, of which I can give only the barest outline. The mutual convertibility of kinetic and potential energy shows that relations of equality (though not necessarily of identity) can exist between the two; and thus that their proper expressions involve the same fundamental units, and in the same way. Thus as we have already seen that kinetic energy involves the unit of mass and the square of the linear unit directly, together with the square of the time unit inversely, the same must be the case with potential energy; and it seems very singular that poten- tial energy should thus essentially involve the unit of time, if it do not ultimately depend in some way on energy of motion.” t This is the unavoidable inference of the kinetic system of force, if consistently maintained. But if there be any induction impregnable, as the generalization of a life-long, a continuous, and an unvarying expet- ience, it is that potential energy does not ‘involve the unit of time.” The carbon that has lain protected in the bowels of the earth for untold ages (certainly for many millions of years) has precisely the same rela- tion to oxygen as the carbon prepared from last year’s wood, and holds stored in the same mass the same exactly measurable potential energy. The stone ball that may have lain a thousand years undis- turbed on the brink of a precipice has during that time lost no fraction of its static tension, but will fall with absolutely the same dynamic effect as if thrown up to its seat by a cannon but a moment before. The familiar case of a wound-up clock or watch, with the pendulum or the balance-wheel at rest, is equally irreconcilable with any scheme of kinetic action or of a force involving as a function any “ unit of time.” As Professor Maxwell points out: ‘‘ In both cases, until the clock or watch is set agoing, the existence of potential energy, whether in the clock- weight or in the watch-spring, is not accompanied with any visible * This was, of course, its very purpose. ‘ + Nature, September 21, 1876, vol. xiv, p. 463. 260 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. motion. We must therefore admit that potential energy can exist in a 4 body or system all whose parts are at rest.”* The degree of accordance between the logical conclusion and the un- reasoned fact, is a measure of the value of the “singular quasi-meta- — physical argument” by which it is deduced. ‘In dealing with physical science, it is absolutely necessary to keep well in view the all-important principle that nothing can be learned as to the physical world save by observation and experiment, or by mathematical deductions from data so obtained.” t SAIGEY. 1866. The following presentation of the theme, though from a litterateur rather than a physicist, is interesting as showing what may be called the percolation of ideas. In a series of essays contributed by Emile Saigey (under the nom de plume of ‘‘ Edgar Saveney”) to the Revue de Deux Mondes for November 1, November 15, and December 15, 1866, the writer proposed to give a popular exposition of ‘*Modern Physics and Recent Views on the Unity of Natural Phenomena.” After a brief | | sketch of the received correlation of forces, he proceeds: ‘‘ What then is gravity? What is that mysterious force which causes two bodies to attract each other in the direct ratio of their masses and an inverse ratio of their distance? Two bodies attract each other! Then matter is not inert! Is there not then an apparent contradiction between the | two terms, matter and inertia? . . . Now what light is this new © theory going to throw upon the principle of gravity? Here is the answer. A substance to which the name of ether has been given is diffused throughout the entire universe. It envelops bodies and pen- etrates into their interstices. The existence of this substance is deduced from a series of proofs, among which luminous phenomena hold the first rank. ther is composed of atoms which impinge upon each other and upon neighboring bodies. It forms in this way a universal medium which exerts a constant pressure upon the molecules of ordinary matter. . . . It becomes evident that bodies do not owe their gravity to an intrinsic force, but to the pressure of the medium in which they are immersed. The motion of heavy bodies no longer ap- pears to us other than as a transformation of the etherial motions; and gravity henceforth enters into that majestic unity to which we have conducted all physical forces. . . . Are there then strictly — speaking, two kinds of matter? We can hardly conceive it, now that ~ we have resolved everything into motion. In what respect would these — two kinds of matter differ? Would not the one be subject to the same laws of motion as the other? Can there be two systems of mechanics? Certainly not; since there is but one law for motion, there can be but * Theory of Heat: by J. Clerk Maxwell, London, 1872, chap. xxii, p. 282. t Nature, 1876, vol. xiv, p. 460. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 261 a single essence tor matter, and the molecules of ordinary matter must appear to us as aggregates of etherial atoms.” * In his concluding essay, M. Saigey thus expounds the etherial action: “ Let us imagine the ether uniformly diffused throughout space. - Its atoms endowed with motions of progression and rotation, strike each other in the manner mentioned. Let us now suppose that at some point within the medium there is a special and disturbing cause, as for ex- ample, a molecule having weight [inertia ?] and itself endowed with a vibratory motion. The disturbance goes on extending throughout the etherial mass, and by reason of the nature of this medium is propa- gated in all directions. The atoms nearest to the heavy molecule will receive violent shocks; they will be powerfully urged and their ranks will grow thin in the neighborhood of the center of disturbance, and the layer contiguous to the molecule will become less dense than the rest of the medium. The motor action continuing, this same effect becomes propagated from layer to layer throughout space. As a final result, the ether becomes arranged around the center of disturbance in concen- tric layers, the first of which and nearest to the molecule will be least dense, and they will go on indefinitely increasing in density. This con- dition of things might be easily represented and the figure traced: the molecule at the center, around it spheres of atoms, wide apart at first, then nearer and nearer to each other. Let us remark, in passing, that the difference in density of contiguous layers, like all effects which are propagated by concentric spheres, is inversely proportional to the sur- face of these spheres, that is to the square of their radii. [?] This es- tablished, suppose a second molecule to be situated at any point of this system. It will encounter on the side toward the first molecule, layers of «ther less dense than upon the opposite side: pressed upon by the ether in all directions, it will however receive fewer shocks on the side toward the first molecule, and it will consequently tend to approach it. Such would seem to be the cause of gravity.”t The law of inverse Squares does not appear to be well made out, although this is a point to which all kinetic theorists make ostentatious reference. The density of the «ther, instead of following this ratio, should ex hypothesi, follow directly the opposite ratio; or rather the ratio of increase directly as the distance ;—which is perhaps what was intended. Of the other five conditions it is quite unnecessary to speak. CROLL. 1867. In a communication to the Philosophical Magazine, in 1867, by James Croll, of Edinburgh, ‘On certain Hypothetical Elements in the Theory of Gravitation,” the author revived the difficulties which had been felt and proclaimed by Faraday. He says: ‘ It was demonstrated by New- ton, and has been proved by general observation and experience, that * Revue de Deux Mondes, 1st November, 1866, vol. lxvi, pp. 148, 149. : t Revue de Deuce Mondes, 15th December, 1866, vol. lxvi, pp. 922, 923. 262 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. bodies tend toward each other with a force varying inversely as the 4 square of the distance, and directly as the mass of the bodies. But it never was demonstrated or proved by any one that the bodies attract each other. The thing which has been demonstrated is that B tends toward A; but the theory does not rest here; it goes on to account for this tendency by referring it to a hypothetical cause, viz, to the ‘attrac. — tion’ of A. This however is a mere hypothesis, and no way essential to the theory. All that the theory requires is that it be demonstrated that A tends to move toward B. It is not necessary that we should go beyond this, and attempt to explain the cause of this tendency. ‘Trifling as this assumption included in the theory may at first sight appear, it will be found that almost all the difficulties and objections which have q been urged against the theory of gravitation are due in some form or other to that asstmption. At the very outset we have the objection arged against the theory that it implies the absurdity of action at a distance. Now the mere facts of gravitation imply no such thing. That A and B placed at a distance should tend toward each other does not imply action at a distance. A moves by virtue of a force, but it does not follow that this force is at a distance from A. But if we assert that A and B ‘attract’ each other, then we imply action at a distance; for A is then affirmed to move in consequence of the force of B, and B in consequence of the force of A. ‘The very idea of attractive force,’ as Professor Briicke remarks, ‘includes that of an action at a distance,’ No principle will ever be generally received that stands in opposition to the old adage, ‘A thing cannot act where it is not,’ any more than it would were it to stand in opposition to that other adage, ‘A thing can- not act before it is, or when it is not.’”* These venerable “‘adages” are about as valuable in directing us to the actual facts of nature, as that other celebrated adage of Zeno, “a body cannot move where it is not;” and conversely, ‘‘it cannot move where it is.” An equally profound dictum is, that a *‘ cause” cannot properly be said to precede its “ effect,” since succession implies discon- tinuity. It may be a fact of natural law that everything “acts where it is not,” including even an etherial vibration ; and certainly there is no difficulty in believing it; and the other metaphysical axiom may be easily dis- credited by the simple reflection, that were our sun suddenly blotted - . from existence by supreme power, though all “ attraction” of the planets would instantly cease, its full dynamic action on the earth would con- tinue unimpaired for eight minutes. Were Sirius annihilated this year, it would still continue to pour upon us its full measure of dynantic ac- tion for twenty years ‘‘ when it was not.” The difficulty is not in the possibility of posthumous action, but in the possibility of annihilation. As Mill has very properly stated in answer to Sir William Hamilton, ** Action at a distance is intrinsically quite as credible as action in con- “L. E. D. Phil. Mag., December, 1867, vol. xxxiv, p. 450. ee a KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 263 tact, and there is no reason, apart from specific experience, to regard the one as in any respect less probable than the other.” * In our profound ignorance of all beyond the ascertained facts of grav- itation, there could be no objection whatever to the substitution of the word “tend” for the word “attract,” did it adequately express the observed fact that A induces in B a ‘‘ tendency” to approach; the quan- tity of tendency in B being found to be proportional not merely to its own mass, but notably to the mass of the distant body A. Mr. Croll proceeds: “The attraction theory is also in opposition to the principle of the conservation of force, as has been shown, I think clearly, by Faraday. When, a stone for example is thrown upward from the earth, it not only loses all its motion, but it loses its attraction in proportion to the square of its distance from the center of the earth. What becomes of the motion imparted to the stone? It is not trans- formed into attraction, for the attraction diminishes as well as the motion. When the stone again falls to the earth it gains both motion and attrac- tion. In the former case, the attraction is said to consume the motion, and instead of becoming stronger becomes weaker in consequence; and in the latter case it imparts this same motion, and yet after imparting the motion, it is actually found not only not to have lost but to have gained force thereby. Faraday justly asks what becomes of the force or motion imparted to the stone? It is not converted into attraction, for the attraction becomes less instead of greater in consequence. And in the case of the falling stone, where does the motion come from? If the motion arises from the attraction of the earth, then there must be a certain amount of this attractive force converted into motion; and if so, the attractive force should be so far reduced; but instead of this it is actually increased. There is therefore no account given of what be- comes of the motion externally imparted to the stone when thrown upward, or whence the increase both of attraction and motion is derived as it descends. If the attraction theory be correct, then there is a des- truction of force in the one case and a creation of force in the other; and _ if so, then the conservation of force is violated.” tf Although this is merely a more prolix statement of the objection urged by Faraday, it may be again specifically answered. It will be found on careful examination, that the whole difficulty really proceeds from an hypothesis tacitly adopted by the writer, while ostensibly opposing “ certain hypothetical elements in the theory.” From the nec- essary limitations of language, we have constantly to make words do double or multiple duty in carrying different ideas; and to many this is a source of constant confusion and misconception. The tacit assump- tion underlying this supposed violation of the conservation of ‘“ force” is that the force of gravity is the same in kind as the force of the fall- *Examination of Sir William Hamilton’s Philosophy, by John Stuart Mill, chap. KXiv, vol. ii, p. 245, of Am. edition. t L. E. D. Phil. Mag., 1867, vol. xxxiv, p. 451. 264 KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. ing stone; and that as the latter is an example of kinetic energy, capa- ble of transmuting itself into heat, so gravity must be in essence also — a kinetic energy capable of similar transformation. On this ‘ hypo- thesis ” all the consequences so incongruous with experience, as above indicated, would result. The ascending stone would have its energy ' “transformed into attraction,” and the latter would be correspondingly increased. It would then be truly “‘ said to consume the motion” of the stone. And when the stone was falling there would be “a certain amount of the attractive force converted into motion, and so the attractive force should be so far reduced.” The reasoning is undoubt- edly correct. ‘ But instead of this, it is actually increased. There is therefore, {by the kinetic hypothesis,| no account given of what becomes of the motion externally imparted to the stone when thrown upward.” And the undisputed facts of observation therefore, show us that if the kinetic hypothesis ‘‘be correct, then there is a destruction of force in the one case and a creation of force in the other.’ The conclusion is incontrovertible. Seeing then the incongruity and inadmissibility of the assumed hypothesis, let us try a new departure. Let us, recurring to that only safe guide experience, recall as the necessary outcome of the fourth, fifth, and sixth propositions, that ‘“ gravitation is a property im- mutable and inconvertible.” Let us, to avoid confusion of idea by the unconscious double entendre of the word “force,” limit the term for the present to that innate and primitive tendency or tension which appears as the last result of dynamic analysis, and which obviously differs as much from the action of the falling stone, as the flying arrow differs in function from the elasticity of the bow which has impelled it. We shall thus have a term comparable in derivation and use to the “element” or the “atom” of the chemist, designating simply that which as a matter of fact, has not yet been further resolved. Ifnow we deny (for the present purpose) the application of this term ‘ foree,” to the dynamic action of the falling stone, and call the latter “energy,” a term which conversely we deny to the primitive vis motria, all confu- , sion and inconsistency will disappear. Obviously, ‘‘ conservation” can be intelligentiy applicable only to that which is capable of expenditure, transformation, or dissipation; as to matter, or to energy. To speak of the conservation of immutable gravitation is as unmeaning as to speak of the conservation of the equally immutable molecular cohesion or atomic elasticity. Asa fact of daily observation, motion is a variable function, and like heat, color, form, or density, is net conserved. When a stone is thrown upward therefore, it loses tension, because this has been found empirically to be the inflexible law of distance-ratio for the gravitative force, and for no other human reason. It gains in potential energy by the ascent, because there has been a corresponding: expenditure of kinetic energy in effecting the ascent; and all experi- mental research proves the absolute constancy of the sum of these two bes son hh i an a a al alae ei Sea il oa aa a lel i Naa es lea i. KINETIC THEORIES OF GRAVITATION. 265 forms of energy. And this constancy is all that is signified by the oft- quoted but not always justly apprehended “ conservation of force.” So far from there being any fixed relation between gravitative force and the conversion of motion, the ratio varies in every planet; and while the height to which a pound of gunpowder would project a ball upward would differ widely in different planets, the velocity of projection and ~ the returning energy of the fall would be precisely the same in all. Were we to rigorously deny that gravitation is energy, or that energy is force, we could not correctly affirm the conservation of ‘‘force.” The thing truly conserved would be energy, and this is undoubtedly the more accurate and less misleading form of expression. Mr. Croll says in concluding his essay: “In the case of the loaded piston rising under the pressure of the steam, we have the pressure of the steam and length of space both diminishing as the vis viva or mechan- ical work increases. This is in harmony with the principle of conserva- tion, for pressure or force diminishes as energy or work increases. But in the case of gravitation matters are reversed, for the force increases. along with the work. As the weight descends and performs work, the pressure of the weight, the thing which performs the work, increases also; and when the weight is rising and energy diminishing, the force or pressure of the weight is not increasing but actually diminishing also.” . +tCarus, Briefe iibcr das Erdenleben, p. 153. 312 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. Mr. Nowak* has proposed a theory of the circulation of water, which, on account of its singularity deserves to bementioned. It is based upon some observations made in the Andes by M. Boussingault. It admits the existence of an envelope of slight thickness which does not rest at all points upon the solid nucleus of the earth, but which is lifted up by the vapors proceeding from the waters which infiltrate it. The mount- ains then are only blisters raised by the force of the vapors which are — there condensed. The pressure which these waters of condensation exercise upon the elevated parts of the mountain, produce in these blis- ters—to continue the simile—a species of running wound, origin of the springs, or by sudden action volcanic eruptions, disengagement of va- pors, and the discharge of waters, as this phenomenon is manifested in the Andes. It is entirely useless to look for the explanation of these springs in theories based upon problematical data; while observation demon- strates that the evaporation, the condensation of the vapors, and the cir- . culation of the waters in the subterranean canals are sufficient to account for the formation of the springs. This is the opinion of Lyell, and he admits the influence of the central heat upon the production of these phenomena only in the case of thermal springs, the geysers, the mud vol- canoes and other similar phenomena. In this constant circulation the waters dissolve apart of the rocks through which they pass, and,impregnated with salts, return to the sur- face. Pliny observed that the waters are characterized by different properties, according to the nature of the soil through which they pass, and experience shows that, on account of the effect upon fruits and veg- etables, mineral-spring water is unsuitable for culinary purposes, which is not the case with river-water. Instead of explaining this fact by antipathies and sympathies, as the heroic Romans did, chemistry teaches us that selenitic waters hold in solution carbonates of lime, which, in combining with the legumin, render these fruit unfit for alimentation. An excess of carbonic azid facilitates the solution of a notable quantity of calcareous substance, which is deposited in proportion as the carbonic acid is withdrawn. In this way are formed, by the filtration of the waters charged with calcareous substance, the stalactites and the stalagmites of subterranean caves. M. Liebig explains in the following manner the formation of the stalactites. The vegetable materials in decomposi- tion—or humus—under the influence of humidity and of the atmosphere disengage carbonic acid, which is dissolved in the rain-water. This water in traversing the pores of calcareous matter dissolves a part, and, in proportion as the excess of acid evaporates in the caverns, the calcareous material is deposited and forms the stalactites.t The circulation of the fluids at the surface of the globe is, as we per- ceive, an essential condition of the organization of the terrestrial crust. *Die Lehre vom tellurischen Dampfe und von der Circulation des Wassers unserer Iirde, Prag, 1843. t Lyell, Antiquity of Man, 1864, p. 74. ———————S a i i i a a inthe i tela THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 313 It has also prepared the way for organized beings; resembling life in its movement, it has rendered life possible, and without it life would cease. It was at first violent and irregular in action, but it prepared inorganic material for organization and animalization, and when the wild elements of nature were exhausted, at the mysterious mandate of creation, we see arise from the bosom of the ocean the first of those liv- ing beings which have taken possession of the earth and of the air. The appearance and the development of life is a very important epoch in the history of the earth, and as such, as well as on account of the ‘modifications of the crust occasioned by the existence of organisms, we _will proceed to consider some important aspects of this phenomenon. CHAPTER IV. ORGANISMS. It is an unusual circumstance, in penetrating the soil even to a slight depth, not to find organic remains. In examining these carefully and comparing them with living organisms differences are found so great that often they cannot be classed with any recent species or even genus. Sometimes there are entire families of which no analogues are _ found in the living creation, but which nevertheless, judging from the profusion of their fossil remains, must for a considerable time have _ dominated on account of their numbers and their form in the fauna or the flora of the period in which they existed. What is the reason of _ these successive appearances and disappearances? What laws control these perpetual changes? What are the causes which destroy a portion of these organisms and preserve others? These are the most difficult questions biology has to answer; let us see whether she can satisfy our legitimate curiosity. . Most of the sedimentary rocks are characterized by the presence of _ fossil remains, which are peculiar to them. We may say in the present state of science that the chain of organisms is continuous, commencing with the Laurentian formation. We find in the latter remains of mi- _ croscopic animals, whose presence may be detected by chemical reagents. The Silurian formation hitherto has relatively been the richest in organisms. We find in it mollusks and fish. If some of the genera of this formation have for a long time been extinct, others, especially among the mollusks, still exist; such are the genera Nautilus, Turbo, Buccinum, Turritella, Terebratula,&c. It isin this formation that for the first time we find the remains of plants; these are the fucoids which, as far as we know, are the first representatives of the vegetable king- -dom.* These plants are perpetuated through all the periods, but always _ under richer and more varied forms. It is important to observe that * Unger, Chloris protogea, p. 8. 314 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. the primitive facoids resemble more those of the tropical zone, while those of the late periods for the most part approach in characteristics the fucoids of the temperate zones, a fact which may serve as an indi- cation in the determination of geological temperatures and climates. From the appearance of these first organisms until that of man, life has been manifested under every imaginable form in the varied conditions of the different geological periods, for the biological evolutions have been affected by certain causes which act with increasing progression in immediate dependence upon the development of the earth’s crust. It is to paleontology we should apply for knowledge concerning the development and succession of the animals and plants of past ages. She cmploys the means placed at her disposal by geology and eompara- tive anatomy to reveal in each period and in each formation a world whose strange forms have disappeared never to return. Each forma- tion, however, does not represent an entire act of creation, but only a disconnected page from the scene of this great drama,* consequently the organic remains do not indicate to us the continuous succession of organisms, but rather certain periods of their development, certain epi- sodes in the history of creation. And what difficulties we encounter at every word in deciphering these pages. We require a Césalpin, a Leonardo de Vinci, a Palissy, and a Buffon to teach us their characters, and a Cuvier and an Owen to show us how to read them. How many prejudices had to be overcome before the learned men of the last century could be persuaded that these singular forms found in the earth were other than simple freaks of nature or the shells left by pilgrims upon the mountain-tops. The truth at last was brought to light and prevailed over the misconceptions of the world, but only very slowly were the facts obtained which allowed any certain knowledge of organic remains, and a deduction of the sim- ple laws which control their development. From analysis of these organisms and comparison of them with those that are recent, we find that their differences of structure are greater, in proportion as the strata which contain them are older ; also that in the very ancient formations, the forms of high organiztion are more or less wanting in ratio to the age of the rocks. Thus the mammals in the Keuper (the upper division of the Triassic formation), the birds in the Mixed Sandstone, the reptiles in the Old Red Sandstone, the fish in the Upper Graywacke. We may therefore conclude that at a certain period there were no organisms whatever in existence. We might easily deter- mine upop a certain period for the appearance of organisms, perhaps that of the complete precipitation of the waters, but at present it con- cerns us to know how they appeared, whether through the pre-existence of germs or by spontaneous generation. This is a question of very great importance, but concerning it we have still very little positive *Darwin, Ceologische Aufeinanderfolge organischer Wesen, Zeitschrift fiir die gesamm- ten Naturwissenschaften, t. xvi, 1860, p. 428. ‘THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 315 information. It is more discussed than any other in science, but as yet with no definite result. Not only the origin of organized beings, but also their generic devel- opment is difficult to explain. Some savans believe in the transforma- tion of species; others attribute to a direct creative force the continuous succession of new organic forms. We may say with G. Bronn* that we know of no natural force which can produce new species, and we do not know the conditions which are necessary for their production. We do not know any substance in which this foree may be inherent; we know only that the individuals of a species already in existence are propagated by processes in accord with the simplicity or complication of their organization. According to Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilairet the two hypotheses mentioned are equally inadmissible in the sense and to the extent they are ordinarily taken. They should not be entirely rejected, freed from serious errors which are mingled with great and fundamental truths. For instance, the fact given us by Professor Agassiz is very remarkable, that ancient animals resemble the embryos of the present existing animals of the same class, so that the geologi- eal succession of extinct forms is parallel to the embryonic develop- ment of recent animals.t The fact is undeniable, comparative anatomy has expressed itself positively upon this subject, but what conclusion can we draw from it? This, perhaps: thatthe superior animals are de- rived in a direct line from the animals whose forms are indicated by the various stages of development of the embryo, or, going further back to the egg, that the origin of all beings is in the infusoria. We do not place much value upon such conclusions, for although, according to M. Chevreul, the mutability of species is not an absurdity, to admit it as a fact, and to draw consequences from it, is to abandon the experi- mental system which does not permit us to use as a principle mere con- jecture.§ The character of species has been equally a subject of controversy Certain physiologists base their determinations upon an indefinite fecundity, others upon a common origin and upon resemblance. The solution of these questions is not, however, absolutely indispensabJe for the study of the organisms which have successively occupied the sur- face of the globe, and for a sketch of the primitive world it is not necessary first to settle whether each species is the product of a direct creative force or the offspring of an extinct species. But it is essential to know that no new organism manifests itself until all the conditions of its existence are realized, which proves the influence of exterior cir- cumstances upon the succession of organized beings. The development of plants is more directly dependent upon the nature fume 00 EEE —— Eee *Handbuch einer Geschichte der Natur, t. ii, p. 653. t Histoire Nat. Génér. des Réegnes Organ., t. i, p. 11. t D’Archiac, Cours de Paléont. Strat., t. ii, p. 97 § Journ. des Savants, 1840, p. 715. 316 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. of the medium in which they live; and the great uniformity of their organization, with the limited number of their species, indicate an almost constant uniformity of exterior conditions. The ambient medium of the first organisms was incontestably water; and it is admitted that marine plants preceded those of the lagoons, and the latter the vegeta- tion of fresh water. Terrestrial plants followed the aquatic, and are dis- tinguished by a greater variety of forms. The Hquisetacea represented to-day by the horse-tail or shave-grass and other analogous plants were the most generally distributed over the islands and continents of the first periods. They appear inall the sedimentary strata, from the most ancient to the most recent. The number of their fossil species known exceeds a hundred. The conformation of their stem permits their division into three categories, which mark the periods of development. The ELquisetacea of the first period up to the Graywacke are arborescent calamites, whose longitudinal grooves continue in an unbroken line to the articulation of the branches. The second period, from the Coal epoch to the Mixed Sandstone, also contains arborescent calamites, but their grooves alternate with the articulations and the line of sepa- ration is broken in the form of a zigzag. Certain paleontologists explain why the sheath is wanting in the two forms preceding, while it is found with the Equisetacea, by supposing that in these two forms only the mold of the interior of the arborescent calamites has been preserved. The Lycopodacea, also very ancient, hold a very important place, par- ticularly in the Coal period. The arborescent kinds, such as Lepido- drendon, Lycopodites, Knorria, Segenaria, were giants compared with their humble representatives of the present day, of which the small number of species indicates a rapid decline. No other family of plants is found in the fossil state under so many forms or in such great num- ber. Their exceptional preservation cannot be attributed to the lig- neous and fibrous structure of their stem, but to their actual predomi- nance in the flora of the Coal period. The ferns commence with the Graywacke, and are already very abundant in the Old Red Sandstone. Their fossil remains are often so well preserved that the entire plant can be reconstructed with the greatest certainty, and its character studied as closely as with a living plant; for the most delicate parts, among others the organs of fructifica- tion, have well resisted the action of time, and they furnish very valua- ble data for phytotomy and the comparative organography of fossil and recent ferns. Certain remains of fossil plants-for a long time puzzled the paleontol- ogists; now it is admitted that the Asterophyllites, the Stigmaric, and the Sigillarie are only roots and stems of the same species of vegetation, or at least of the same genus. In the succession of the classes of the vegetable kingdom the Jonoco- tyledons come after the Acotyledons. The number of their species increase up to the Chalk, and, in all, a hundred fossil species are known, thirty- 4 iS a THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 317 seven of which belong to the family of the palms. The Cycads formerly so important, accompany the conifers, starting with the Coal forma- tion, and attaining their maximum of development in the Keuper and in the Freestone, and diminishing in importance in the Chalk. The princi- pal genera of this family are Cycadites, Zamites, Pterophyllum, Nilsonia. The conifers, formerly always accompanied with palms, are now found from the warm regions of the equator to the inhospitable glacial zone. Their genera, Pinites, Abietites, Araucaria, Voltzia, Juniperites, Cupressites, Thuites, Taxites, and others, are still extensively distributed, and do not appear to have lost vitality. The Dycotyledons, of which only a few traces are found in the last strata of the Secondary period, appear suddenly in the Tertiary period, and predominate in almost all the continents. These plants, with their large leaves, beautiful flowers, and succulent fruits, change entirely the aspect of the flora, while under the shadow of their great branches and in their thick foliage animal and vegetable life find shelter and protec- tion. In the animal as in the vegetable kingdom there is progressive im- provement in the organization of the living creatures which have suc- cessively inhabited the terrestrial globe; but in general the importance of their fossil remains is inversely proportional to the development of this organization. Thus the Infusoria* have left great beds, siliceous or ‘cretaceous, almost entirely composed of their shells; and, in our day, in many parts of North Germany there are vast extents of country where, at a few yards from the surface, the damp soil is principally composed of living Infusoria. The city of Berlin is built upon such a soil. The Polythalamia and the Foraminifera, generally very small, are particularly abundant in the Chalk, which is almost entirely composed of them. The Nummulites, cemented by a clayish substance, form enor- mous deposits in the Upper Chalk. The Polyps appear with the first sedimentary deposits of the transi- tion period, but their principal genera quickly disappeared. Thus the gen- era Catenipora, Syringipora, hardly reached into the Carboniferous lime- stone. From that time until the Jurassic formation the genera Gorgonia and Cythophyllum prevailed. During this formation appeared the genera Scyphia, Tragos, Achillum, Manon, and Astrea, which are recent, while the Cuemidies rapidly disappeared. Until the Chalk period we find prin- cipally the Syphonia; the Ventriculites and the Hippurites, which are classed to-day, in spite of the authority of von Buch, with the bivalve mollusks belonging exclusively to the Chalk. The Crinoids, under very elegant forms, are very numerous before the Chalk, but during the formation of the Cretaceous strata they disappear * Many strata of microscopic fossils must be attributed, according to certain micro- graphs, not to the Infusoria, but rather to the Diatomaca and to the Desmidia, the sili- ceous carapaces of which were regarded by Ehrenberg as the remains of microscopic animals, 318 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. almost entirely. For a long time they were believed to be extinct, To-day, on the contrary, it has been proved that the sea of the Antilles contains representatives of this family. These are the Pentacrinus caput meduse and the Holopus rangii of Martinique. (D’Archiac, op. cit., t. ii, p. 222.) Australia presents us with a similar phenomenon. This continent not only possesses animals and plants which recall by their organi- zation the fauna and flora of the Jurassie strata; but its shores still harbor mollusks which are found elsewhere only in the Lower Tertiary formations, and even in the more ancient strata. Subsequent to the Crinoids appear other echinoderms, particularly the free star-fishes, and the echinoids. The first are found in the Triassic formation, the last in the Jurassic. Several genera are still recent, such as Cidaris, Echinus, Clypeaster, Ophiura, and Spatangus; others have had relatively only a very short existence, as Nucléolithes, Galerites,and Ananchytes. The number of their fossil species is over a thousand. The Brachiopods form the largest part of the fossil remains; they therefore render important assistance in the classification of the sedi- mentary depesits, and the determination of the relative age of these rocks. On account, however, of the especial knowledge required of malacology and of fossil remains, such means are of less general use. In the most ancient formations predominate the genera Spirifer, Ortis, and Productus, which hardly attain the Triassic system, while the genus Terebratula, which appears simultaneously with the preceding in the micaschist of the Silurian period, passed through all the following epochs, and is also found in our seas. The other bivalve shells, especially, com- mence to increase in number with the Triassic formation; in more ancient strata they are relatively quite rare. In the shell limestone abound the genera Avicula, Myophoria, Plagiostoma, Pecten ; the genera Gryphoa, Lyriodon, Ostrea, Pholadomya, in the Jurassic formation. The Chalk contains the genera Exogyra, Inoceramus, Lima, Pinna, and Spondy- lus, while the molasse (a soft Tertiary sandstone), and the deposits which follow, contain the genera Arca, Dreissena, Panopea, Crassatella, Solen, and Pectunculus.* The fossil Gasteropods, of which the number of species is very great, are especially frequent in the molasse, but they are found equally in the more ancient deposits; the shell itself is very seldom found; only its imprint, or the mold of the interior, which renders the determination of genera and species very difficult. The Cephalopods are of great importance in the history of the appear- ance of organized beings, and the part they played in past ages far exceeded that of the present. They form series which distinguish * Von Buch observed that the thickest portion of the shell does not occur in the same part with the Brachiopods of all ages. According as the shell belongs to the most "ancient sedimentary rocks, to the mean or to the recent formations, the maximum of thickness is found near the ligature, in the middle, or toward the edge of the shell. THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 319 epochs and formations quite as well as the Brachiopods, or, among the plants, Equisetacea. The first series is composed. of Orthoceratites, of Belemnites, and of Sepias ; until the Zechstein, the Orthoceratites predom- inate, and after along period appear in great numbers the Belemnites, which disappear in the Chalk, leaving no representatives, unless in the cuttle-fish and the sepia of our sea, of which fossil species are also found. The Ammonites form the second series, which commence with the’ Graywacke, and continue to the upper strata of the Chalk. The cham- bered Cephalopods are remarkable for the rapidity with which they developed into genera and species, and still more so for their quick dis- appearance after a renewal of the same forms in the Baculites, Scaphites, Turrilites, Hamites. Itis a question whether with the sudden disappear- ance of the Crinoids, of the Belemnites, and a larger part of the Sauri- ans, the conditions of animal life were not completely changed after the Jurassic period. The abrupt extinction of certain organisms is repeated quite often in the history of the sedimentary crust, and at intervals so regular that to attribute it to a fixed law, independent of all biological processes, is in accordance with all the facts furnished by contemporary geology, concerning the changes which have modified the surface of the globe. These fossil remains are a powerful auxiliary for the demonstra- tion of this law. The Crustaceans appear with the Trilobites, animals of a peculiar struct- ure, which have no analogues among the Crustaceans now living. Their eyes, of complicated structure, are, according to Buckland,* the most ancient testimony of the existence of light. Other Crustaceans after- ward appear, but have more analogy with those of the present time. Insects are found in great numbers, distributed among the fossil plants of the Coal formation; later they are found in the Lignite or in yellow amber, which is the fossil gum of the Pinnites succinifer. The large class of Fishes commence with the mica-schist. Professor Agassizt divides the largest number of the fossil species into four orders, two of which, the Ganoids and the Placoids, continue from the mica- schist until our day, while the Ctenoids and the Cycloids are observed _. only since the Chalk. The fish of the primitive world were organized in accordance with the nature of the medium they inhabited. The most ancient were enveloped in a veritable armor of scales, which protected them from the violence of the elements. In course of time this envelope grew thinner, and at last disappeared. The first traces of reptiles are found in the Zechstein, in the Protosaurus, which is not found in the following deposits. Some foot-prints found in the Old Red Sandstone have been attributed to saurians. In the Triassic formation we find the Dracosaurus, the Notosaurus, the Phytosau- rus; in the Jurassic formation, the Ichthyosaurus, the Plesiosaurus, the Teleosaurus, and other species not less strange in form and proportion ; * Pouchet, L’ Univers, note 94, p. 420. + Researches upon Fossil Fish, t. i., pp. 165, 172. 320 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. in the Chalk, the gigantic Mosasaurus, the Iguanodon, and the Hyleo- — saurus ; all these animals after a period of great importance gradually diminish and disappear in the Chalk. Up to that time the saurians ~ ruled as sovereigns over land and,'sea to the sixty-fifth degree of lati- tude. Even the air was invaded by fantastic pterodactyles, with wings, claws, and crocodile’s head, and lacking only the proportions of the dragons with which the imagination of poets peopled the grot- toes and caverns in times past. Everywhere hideous creatures crawled or slept in the sunlight, and preyed upon each other when, after a long season of repose, hunger or other needs forced them to activity. Their voracity was such that they did not spare even the individ- ’ uals of their own species. This fact is proved by the analysis of the coprolites, whose discovery is due to Miss Mary Anning. The rivers, lakes, marshes, and shores all were filled with monsters, whose scale- covered bodies glistened in the sun’s rays, while in the damp forests, hidden among the branches of the virginal crowns of the. palms, other reptiles lay in wait for their prey. The appearance of the crocodile is the last act of this exuberant creation, whose forms cannot fail to astonish us when in thought we compare them with the creatures of the present world; and this is our only link with this class of animals, which, within a time relatively limited, had very extended ramifications. The Chelonians, the Batrachians, and even the Ophidians, were, accord- — ing to Owen, very numerous and well developed in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, although Cuvier concluded from the few fossil re- mains of serpents found that they were rare at the times mentioned.* The fossil remains of Birds are found particularly in the red sandstone of Massachusetts, which corresponds very nearly with the mixed sand- — stone of Central Europe. Foot-prints especially are frequently discov- ered. In later deposits new species appear, and fossil remains become more frequent. The Mammals commence with the marsupials. In the schists of Stone- field, belonging to the Jurassic formation of England, we find incon- testable remains of these animals, which, by their organization, form the intermediate link between the oviparous and viviparous animals. The Cetaceans were developed at the same time, and attained colossal propor- tions. Among the animals of dry land were the Pachyderms, begin- ning with the herbivorous, which first attained great development. These animals were the initial efforts of nature, which by these inert forms prepared the way for other animals, whose light and graceful structure was better suited for pursuit or flight, for attack, and for de- fense. The Paleotheria, the Anoplotheria, the Charopotami, the Adapides, the Xyphodonts, were the principal animals living at this time. The im- mense forests and vast plains furnished them with an abundant supply of food. *Cuvier, Lecherches sur les Ossements Fossiles, t. v, 2d part, p. 526, We a ee ee ee eee THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 321 Among all the fossil mammals none more excite the interest of scien- tific men and the curiosity of the public than the mammoth. Its great height of from twelve to fifteen feet, the size of its tusks, its trunk, give it a sort of family likeness to the elephant; however, its thick reddish hair, the remains of pine branches found in its stomach, the discovery of a mammoth, preserved entire in the ice of Siberia, denote that it was not an inhabitant of the tropics like its congener, the elephant. but of the temperate and cold zones of Central Asia and of America. A species nearly allied to the preceding, the mastodon, formed in its cosmopolitism an exception to the continental localization not only of the living animals, but also of the fossil mammals of the Pliocene and Post-Pliocene formations. The mastodon is represented by species differ- ing very little in Asia, in the two Americas, and even in Australia ; and what is worthy of remark, it is the only quadruped that lived upon the latter continent which was at the same time represented by analo- gous species in some other part of the world.* The ruminants occupy the second place in the succession of the herbi- vores. Magnificent stags with enormous horns, fallow-deer, elks, gazelles, reindeer, and other known species, browsed together upon the same vast plains, while to-day these species are distributed over every zone and throughout all parts of the world. These inoffensive crea- tures, which with other Herbivores occupied almost exclusively the sur- face of the globe, were soon obliged to defend themselves from the attacks of the carnivorous animals, which lay in wait for them in the forests, and pursued them in the open plains. In proportion as we approach the upper strata of the sedimentary crust, the number of the Carnivores increases rapidly; for beside the large dogs, nearly five feet high, which were probably the first to appear, we find representatives of the cat family, of the plantigrades, and of the wolves. The bone- caves, excavated for the most part by the action of the sea, are filled with the remains of the bones of a great number of animals, and, as has been stated, in some cases, with the imprint of the teeth of Carnivores upon them, it is thonght of the animals which carried these bones into the caves. If we attentively examine the development of organized beings, and compare it with the stratigraphic development of the earth’s crust, we find that there is a certain parallelism which can be traced throughout all the geological periods. When the crust of the globe was only a thick sediment without apparent stratification, resting upon the cooled lava, what living creatures inhabited the earth? Some Infusoria hardly more complicated in structure than snow crystals or other mineral con- cretions, whose individuality was constituted as much of silica as of carbon. In our time we would say almost that the richness of strata is in proportion to the richness of animal life. Asia, extremely well de- veloped in a stratigraphic and orographic point of view, is also the only * Owen, Report on the Extinct Mammals of Australia, London, 1845, p. 20. S$ 21 322 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. continent which appears to unite all the conditions required to be the seat of the creation of man; while Australia, poor in strata, is equally poor in its organisms, which all appear to be the remnants of past ages. Everything in nature is intimately connected ; the mineral kingdom is a condition of the vegetable, and the vegetable of the animal. And even within the animal kingdom there are creatures whose existence involves as a condition the destruction of other animals, Plants cannot exist for a long time alone upon the surface of the globe; for finding no limit to their growth and extension, and not giving back to the atmos- phere the carbon they are obliged to draw from it, the latter element would in time be exhausted and they would perish. But nature has created the herbivores who, in consuming and digesting the alimentary plants, hasten in the first place their decomposition, which takes place slowly only under the action of the air, and besides restore to the latter by respiration the carbonic acid indispensable to the vegetable kingdom. The herbivores, in their turn, would compromise their existence by de- stroying the plants which serve them as food, if nature had not imposed limits upon their multiplication by creating for them implacable and sanguinary enemies. We have already examined in what manner the vegetable kingdom, seat of the cosmic forces, is in relation to the activity of these forces, which have modified the surface of the globe; it remains to be seen in what way the appearance of animals and vegetation influences the organ- ization of the terrestrial crust. Plants are, Oken* observes, organisms suspended between the earth and the sun, or, if you will, between darkness and light, whose appear- ance has as a condition the influence of the central luminary of our planetary system upon the earth. In fact, without light, plants fade and die, while in the ardent rays of a tropical sun and under the influence of the humidity of these warm regions, favorable to them but fatal to the human race, they develop those beautiful forms and brilliant colors which constitute the ornament of equatorial regions. Some savans have supposed that the aurora-borealis may at some period have supplied the place of solar light, and in consequence the growth of plants have extended over all parts of the globe. It is prob- able that the chemical activity of the earth, indubitably greater at the — periods when organisms were produced, gave more importance to this electro-magnetic phenomenon ; but notwithstanding this probability, we dare not affirm its influence upon organisms, not knowing the time of the appearance of organized beings, nor the period when the rupture of the cloudy envelope dissipated the darkness which covered the earth. Whatever may have been the source of light, we see that the conditions of existence must have been very uniform, since the same fossil-remains are found at the equator as in the polar regions. The submarine forests of the shores of Greenland, and the coal-beds of the islands of Disco *Tr. Bromme, Atlas zu Al. v. Humboldt’s Kosmos, p. 106. - aa 3 3 ¢ a 3 3 at SRNR aR fT SAE Yor a8 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 323 and Spitzbergen, regions now permanently covered with ice, are evidence of a uniform climate very favorable to the increase of vegetation. For a long time it was matter of discussion how trees could flourish and form forests so near the pole, since the solar light failed them during a large part of the year, and the heat was insufficient. It is, however, not difficult to conceive that plants do not require light when, through extreme cold, which deprives them of their leaves, they go to sleep, so to say, in order to await the return of light and heat. It would be only necessary for their preservation that the cold to which they were ex- posed was, not too extreme.* Now the heat which mitigates the rigor of the climate is furnished by the oceanic currents, proceeding from the equatorial regions. According to Humboldt, currents depend upon the tides in their move- ment around the globe, upon the duration and force of dominant winds, upon the difference of the specific gravity of the waters or their degree of saltness, and finally upon the horary variations of the barometric press- ure. Now, all these causes which influence the production of ocean eur- rents are variable. The movement of the tides is modified by the config- uration of the continents; the winds by the unequal distribution of the land and water, the very different calorific capacity of which produces ascending currents, the real generators of aerial currents. The difference in saltness is produced by the great quantity of fresh water which is emptied into the ocean, or by the abundance of the rain, very variable upon the sea. The result is that the currents themselves are variable; and if to-day the western coasts of Europe are visited by the Gulf Stream, in former times this current may have been directed more to the north, and promoted upon the American islands and upon Spitzbergen the de- velopment of vegetation. The cold currents, on the contrary, may have proceeded along the European coasts and produced there a climate simi- lar to that of Canada and Labrador. The climatic conditions may also be changed by the predominant distributions of the sea upon a hemisphere, and in this case a damp and foggy climate would be the consequence: Now, such a climate, even were it quite cold, would not prevent the development of a rich crypto- gamic vegetation, as is shown by the flora of the islands of Falkland - and of New Zealand. There is nothing, then, averse to the supposition that, at certain geological epochs, the climatic conditions were very favorable to the development of plants, and that their growth was possible even in the polar regions. Moreover, the coal-beds of the isl- ands of Disco and Spitzbergen cannot be the result of the accumulation of floating wood, for, in the first place, the débris thus deposited would be mingled with sand and pebbles, and, in the second, trunks of trees still standing have been found in these beds. i Plants act a very important part in the economy of nature. They are the immediate agents of organization, and serve as intermediates * J. Croll, On Geological Time, etc., Philos. Magaz., vol. xxxv, 1868, p. 445. 324 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. between the mineral and animal kingdoms, the latter not assimilating directly inorganic substances. Plants decompose the carbonic acid of the air, under the influence of solar light, and set free the pure oxygen, which is necessary for the respiration of animals; also, they absorb the inorganic salts and form albuminous azotic substances, which are en- gaged in the production of the horny cartilaginous or bony frames and the formation of the tissues of the animals. The humus is the pro- duction of the slow alteration of plants mingled with mineral substances. It is found in a fossil state in all the deposits, and serves to promote the development of plants to a more perfect organization. Upon an arid rock first appear the lichens, which by their decay form enough earth to allow the mosses to succeed them; the grasses, finding the neces- sary conditions for their development, follow the mosses, after which any of the plants may dispute the new ground acquired for their nutri- tion. The same succession takes place on a large scale in the organiza- tion of the terrestrial crust. The preservation of the fossil remains of primitive plants is due to cer- tain agents which prevent their decomposition. Water, for example, destroys certain parts of a plant, while others are preserved in it for quite a long time. The preservation of the soft and tender portions in- dicate that these plants were soon covered with lime, and that they were not deposited far from the place of their growth.* Some streams preserve their plants by depositing rapidly upon their entire surface a stratum of calcareous matter which, gradually increas- ing in thickness, shields them from all exterior action. To this process we are indebted for the elements of a quite new science, paieophytology, which in many cases has opened the road to the discovery of the general laws which bave controlled the modification of climates. Plants are not only found scattered here and there through the seit mentary strata; their remains frequently form large deposits, such as the beds of coal, inenvee and peat. In former times the products of the de- composition of these deposits, such as bitumen and petroleum, were found in such abundance, that their exploitation equaled in importance that of coal, which, with iron, forms the basis of great industrial wealth. Coal is quite abundant in Hurope; England, Belgium, France, | Prussia, Silesia, Bohemia, Hungary, possess mines of more or less im- portance. Scandinavia, Russia, Greece, Italy, have, we may say, no coal- deposits. Of other parts of the world, America is the most richly gifted, while Australia possesses the least. The value of all the coal-deposits has been calculated by the Prussian engineer, Mr. Carmel. He compares the whole amount to a solid mass of 44,800,000,000 cubic meters (58,000,000,000 cubic yards). He at the same time allays the apprehensions often expressed that this precious combustible will be exhausted by its enormous consumption, which an- rually draws from the earth ahundred and twenty-five million tons. This *F. Unger, Chloris protogea, 1847, p. iv. THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH 325 would give a stratum two meters in thickness (64 feet) and 56 square _ kilometers (21 square miles) of extent. As the volume of the coal-de- posits is known, as well as the annual quantity consumed, it is caleulated that this store of combustible material will not be exhausted for thirty- _ six thousand years. The formation of coal is not easy to explain. Are these deposits col- lected in the hollow of valleys, at the bottom of lakes, at the mouths of rivers or in turf-bogs? Modern research inclines toward the latter sup- position. The nature of the plants the débris of which forms coal im- plies the presence of marshes, on the borders of which these plants grew; if such was the case, coal is a formation analogous to peat. The climate must have been damp and temperate as in our day. The trees which bordered the swamp fell into it as they were uprooted by the vio- lence of the winds, and thus increased the quantity of vegetable matter which formed the coal. Fora long time the carbonization of the remains _. of plants was attributed to the influence of terrestrial heat; but Goep- pert has shown that it is rather due to the enormous pressure and the action of chemical agents, which produced a peculiar decomposition, the consequence of which was the metamorphosis of wood into coal. A piece of Pinnites succinifer transformed into black coal, while some amber adhering to it underwent no alteration, is a proof in favor of this view, _ for otherwise the co-existence of the coal and the amber would be alto. gether inexplicable. Some geologists consider that anthracite is a deposit of vegetable matter, which preceded the formation of [bituminous] coal. But in 1831 Featherstonehaugh showed that the anthracites and [bituminous] coals were deposits formed at the same time, and were often contained in the same stratum. The identity of fossil plants in the two substances proves the same thing.* The chemical difference of the two combusti- bles must, then, be attributed to stronger pressure, to the presence of more energetic chemical agents, and in every case to a greater degree of terrestrial heat. The lignite deposits are collections of vegetable matter, encountered in morerecent formations. The thickness of these strata rarely exceeds 5 meters (164 feet). It is a combustible not much sought after, for when it comes out of the mine it contains as much as 45 per cent. of water, which is disengaged with difficulty, by exposure to the air. It contains only about 50 per cent. of coal, and its calorific power varies between six and eight thousand calories. It is found in the secondary aud lower strata of the Tertiary deposit. Its quality diminishes in pro- portion as it exists in more remote periods. The formation of deposits similar to the lignite is taking place to-day in the neighborhood of the mouths of large rivers. We may give as example the large quantity of wood floating in the Mississippi, forming often regular moving islands of matter. A portion of these vegetable . eee * Lyell, Travels in North America, vol. 1, p. 88. 326 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. débris is cast upon the banks at the mouth of the river, is covered with mud and penetrated with saline matter, while a large part is carried far away by the current, and furnishes valuable building material to the inhabitants of the glacial zone. The bitumens, the petroleums, and the naphthas are hydrocarburets, more or less condensed, which proceed from the decomposition of large deposits of vegetable matter, imprisoned between the sedimentary strata, and submitted to variable pressure. Such is the conclusion we have attained, thanks to the researches of synthetic chemistry, which teaches us that the products of the distillation of wood can, under certain con- ditions of temperature and of pressure, be transformed into more com- plicated carburets. Petroleum is largely diffused in the terrestrial crust. In Europe, and especially in Gallicia, several pits have recently been discovered. Asia is quite rich in this product, but in North America it has become the object of a very important and extended industry. The tubes bored for the purpose of obtaining this oil pass ordinarily through the ferruginous clay, the sandstone, the conglomerate, and the bituminous schists before reaching the bed of oil confined between two strata of refractory slate, containing the fossil remains of Stigmaria and other plants of the Coal period. When the drill reaches the bed of oil, a regular explosion of gas takes place, the latter consisting in most cases of a mixture of carbonic acid and hydrocarburets. This explosion is followed by a con- tinuous jet of oil, which shoots up sometimes to a height of more than . 80 yards. Both gas and oil being eminently inflammable, many disas- ters occur in boring the petroleum-wells. The yield from these pits is sometimes as much as 4,000 gallons of oil in twenty-four hours. The - daily product of all the wells of the United States may be estimated at 50,000 gallons. The oil is geuerally of a deep-brown color, and only in a few cases is clear and transparent. A simple distillation suffices to render it fit for ordinary use.* We may consider as an organic product the gas disengaged in several parts of Italy and in Transylvania, and now burning at Bakou, on the Caspian Sea. The Ho-tsing or wells of fire in Central Asia, of which Humboldt has left a very detailed description, are equally gaseous ema- nations, proceeding from the subterranean decomposition of vegetable substances. Peat is a recent deposit of vegetable matter, the formation of which appears to have some analogy with that of oil. The remains of all kinds of plants may contribute to the increase of peat-bogs, but in order that marshes become peat-bogs certain conditions are necessary favoring the development of the plants of which the largest part of them are formed. Thus the water must not be completely stagnant, must not be impregnated with slime nor be liable to any great rise or fall, must not be very deep and not rapid in motion, while the bed of the marsh *A, Gesner, Quart. Journ. Geolog. Soc. London, t. XViii, p. 3. ws Pays Pray: Siete THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 327 should be argillaceous and impermeable, but never sandy nor gravelly.* Peat is principally composed of the ligneous and fibrous parts of the Carex eriophorum, and certain mosses, whose decomposition has been retarded by the circumstance that the temperature of the water in which they ‘were, never passed beyond a certain mean, and also by the presence of some organic acids. The depth of peat-bogs is often very great, some- times as much as 18 yards. Their lateral extent is seldom over 3 yards, ordinarily not more than 1. M. Lesquereux has made upon the subject of the geographical distri- bution of peat-bogs, some very important remarks. He observed that the peat-bogs of Europe extended between the torty-fifth or the forty- sixth degree of north latitude and the regions where the growth of ligneous plants ceases. »*. er: tt \ ' THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. dou amount. If, on the contrary, under the same circumstances, the winter - coincided with the perihelion, the earth would then be 4,529,784 leagues (over 15,000,000 miles) nearer the sun during the winter than in sum _ mer, and consequently the difference between the two seasons would be almost annihilated in our latitudes. But as the winter of one hemis- phere corresponds with the summer of another, it results that while one hemisphere is subjected to the alternate influence of extremes of heat and cold, the other, on the contrary, enjoys a perpetual spring-time, or, we may better say, a uniform climate. It is true that, according to J. Herschel,* the quantity of heat the earth receives from the sun is proportional to the angle the earth describes in passing over any part whatever of its orbit, or, which amounts to the same thing, the sum of heat received between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes is constant for two parts of the year, whatever may be the eccentricity of the orbit. It results, then, that the greater heat of the summers of one hemisphere are exactly compensated for by their short duration, while the summers of the opposite hemisphere, notwithstand- ing the great distance from the sun, receive, on account of their length, the same amount of heat as the warm summers of short duration. The saine comparison may be applied to the winters of the two hemispheres. These considerations induced Herschel to deny all influence of the ec- centricity and of the precession of the equinoxes upon the distribution of solar heat upon the surface of the globe. And this is the cause of the refusal of many geologists to recognize the connection which exists between these cosmical phenomena and the variations of temperature which have taken place in geological periods. But Humboldt observed that the temperature of the globe depended as much upon thé quantity of heat radiated into celestial space as upon the heat proceeding directly from the sun, and the principle of compen- sation might be applied to the latter but not to the former. It isin fact well known that the temperature of a place rises whenever the days are longer than the nights, and falls, on the contrary, when the nights are the longer.t Now the austral hemisphere has not only a more rigorous climate, on account of the greater distance of the earth from the sun, but the winter is also longer, and the number of its nights greater. The length of the winter, the small quantity of heat received from the sun, and the heat lost by radiation and not compensated for, contribute to cool the hemisphere to such a point that the humidity produced by the evaporation of the waters in the tropical regions is principally pre- cipitated upon this hemisphere, which, by its coldness, acts as a con- denser. The result is an accumulation of snow and ice in the temperate and cold regions, which prevents the action of the solar heat by absorb- ing a large portion for their fusion. The direct action of the sun is also prevented by the precipitation of *Transactions Geolog. Soc. Lond., 2d ser., vol. iii, p. 298. +J. Adhémar, Révolution de la Mer, 2d edit., 1860, p. 16. 340 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. the vapors coming in contact with the ice and snow; fogs and clouds are besides formed which absorb heat from the sun, it is true, but they easily lose it again by radiation because of their elevation and their — position in a less dense atmosphere. One would suppose that the sum- | mer rains were in themselves sufficient to melt the snow accumulated during the winter; but such is not the case, for eight parts of water, at j 1 . | 10° centigrade, are necessary to melt one part of snow, even when this has commenced to dissolve. Professor Forbes has found that only the fifteenth part of the snow of Norway is melted by the rains of summer, which are theré very abundant. Tf, then, at the time of the maximum of eccentricity the mean temper- ature of winter fell to a fifth below the present mean, and if thelength — of the day in winter was increased in proportion, it is probable that the climate of Central Europe would unite all the conditions for producing — the extraordinary development of the glaciers, indicated by the traces — of their action. The heat of the summer increased a fifth would not — prevent the insensible deterioration of the climate, and we have a beau- | tiful example in the island of Georgia of the south, of permanent ice in a latitude where in Ireland palms grow in the open air.* Navigators have seen in Terre del Fuego and in the straits of Magellan, snow fall | in the middle of summer, and it has been proved that the temperature of this season rarely rises above 6° and almost never above 10°. ; Such would be the condition of our climates, if, after the reaction from great eccentricity, the winters coincided with the aphelion. This state of things would not even be modified by the Gulf Stream; this would prevent the congelation of the European seas, but not the detach- | ment of icebergs from the glaciers which would have attained the level of the sea, and the masses of ice floating around the islands and conti- — nents would cool them considerably by their fusion. There are numer- — ous examples of a remarkable coincidence between the presence of floating ice in the vicinity of an island or a continent, and the return of ~ cold weather after the mildness of spring. Not long ago the inhabit- . ants of Iceland were reduced to the utmost misery by the accumulation — of floating ice, which, by the cold it occasioned, destroyed the harvests. — Some exceptionally warm years following 1814 were the cause of the | breaking up of theice of Greenland.t The floating ice descended upon | the occidental coasts of Europe, which produced great cold, and in con- — sequence the glaciers of the Alps increased in a most unusual manner. But it is a question whether the Gulf-Stream and other currents will always exist in their present intensity. In seeking the causes of oceanic — currents, we find in the unequal temperature of the poles and of the © * Captain Cook landed on his second voyage upon this melancholy island, and he says of it: “‘ We thought it very extraordinary that an island between the latitude of — 54° and 55° should, in the very height of summer, be almost entirely covered with snow, in some places many fathoms deep.” (Captain Cook’s Second Voyage, vol. ii, p.232.) tArago, Guvres, Rapports, &c., p. 118. Sage ah 2 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 341 equator the principal motor of the liquid envelope of the globe. Now, if the difference between these two temperatures was moderated, the intensity and direction of the currents would be modified in propor- tion. In fact, the austral hemisphere is the colder, and from the Ant- arctic pole proceed the principal oceanic currents. The grand current of cold water which passes into the Pacific ocean is divided into two. One arm passes by the Asiatic archipelago and joins a second current - of cold water, which expands itself in the Indian Ocean. These two _ currents united, then pass to the west, around the Cape of Good Hope, and join a third austral current which passes along the western coast of Africa, and finally turns toward America, forming what is called the equatorial current of the Atlantic. Near Cape Saint Roque this current is divided into two; the principal branch enters the Gulf of Mexico and forms, when it emerges, the current of warm water known as the Gulf- Stream. The second branch passes along the coast of Brazil and is lost in the south. A modification of the superficial heat does not act directly upon the intensity and direction of the oceanic currents, but rather upon the aerial currents which favor them. As there is a close relation between these two phenomena, an examination of their production will allow us per- haps to understand the influence of the cosmic causes upon the climates of the globe. The cause of the aerial currents lies in the unequal density of the upper strata and the lower strata heated by contact with the seas, and _ still more by contact with the continents warmed by solar heat. The lower strata, rarified by the heat, rise in the atmosphere, while the ambient and cooler strata replace them, to be elevated in their turn when they arerarified by the heat. This tendency of atmospheric strata toward the line of the greatest heat continues to the poles, the cold of which tempers the tropical climates, while the ascending air produces currents inverse to the lower currents, and which go to heat the poles, transporting to them at the same time the humidity proceeding from the enormous evaporation of the torrid zone. But as the two hemis- pheres are unequally cold, the airis denser at a less distance in the hem- isphere which is in a glacial state; consequently the currents must be more intense during the greater part of the year. This is in fact the case. Now the trade-winds of the southeast blow with greater force than those of the northeast, and the consequence is that the former extend even to the fifteenth degree of north latitude, while those of the northeast are very rarely felt south of the equator, and almost never beyond the sixth degree of south latitude. The equator of terrestrial heat depends entirely upon these aerial currents, for if we glance at an isothermal chart, we will see that the equator of heat passes for three- quarters of the terrestrial equator to the north of this line, and for one- quarter to the south. This shows in a sufficient manner that the solar _ heat, accumulated at the south of the equator, is carried by the winds 342 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. and raises the temperature of the regions situated to the north of this line, and that, consequently, notwithstanding the astronomical compen- — sation of J. Herschel, one of the hemispheres is heated at the expense of the other, by the intervention of the fluid envelope of the globe. During the glacial period, the existence of which is no longer dis- puted, the climatic state was reversed; the aerial and oceanic currents (we will see in what condition) must have been stronger on the northern coast. The principal motor of the Gulf-Stream must not only have been less powerful, but the winds from the north being also more violent, the current had to contend against the effect of contrary winds. Instead, then, of dividing at Cape Saint Roque, the equatorial current could pass entire into the South Sea, and along the eastern coast of South America, to heat the Antarctic pole. . But, excepting the periodical influence of the refrigerating causes upon the climatic conditions of the earth and upon the distribution of currents, it is impossible to know to how remote a period the action of the Gulf-Stream extends; for a modification of the continents might have here opened a new passage for the marine waters or closed another which had for along time existed, creating thus the great variety in climatic conditions, manifested to us by paleontology and geology Thus the Madagascan flora seems to indicate, by its Indian character, notwithstanding its proximity to Africa, that at a period quite recent, aD oceanic current starting from India diverged toward Madagascar,* the reverse of what takes place to-day. If the Gulf-Stream were reduced only one-half, this alone would pro- duce a lowering of the mean temperature of all the northern part of Europe, and the glaciers would descend to the level of the sea. The temperature, which would be lowered enough for such an extension of the glaciers, need not fall more than 6° centigrade. Not only cold but also humidity is necessary to the formation of large glaciers, and also to the lowering of the mean temperature of the year; for it is principally the snow accumulated during the winter which, by forming, so to say, large stores of cold, prevents the solar heat from raising the mean temperature.of the summer. It is, as we have said, the upper currents, contrary to the trade-winds, which carry the humid- ity with which they are charged, to the polar regions, where it is precip- — itated in the form of snow. The enormous evaporation from the tropical seas, estimated at more — than five meters a year, produces oceanic currents analogous to the aerial currents. The ambient and subjacent strata replace without ceas- ing the evaporated water. This produces a general movement of the cold water toward the equator of heat, which varies with the seasons. — The waters may be either favored or impeded in this movement by the — trade- winds, and the latter are generally impelled toward the hemis- phere in which the mean temperature is highest. PS ee ee ee ling! * Richard, Eléments de Botanique, 184, p. 347. THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. 343 When, according to the calculation of Mr. Croll,* 850,000 years before . 1800, the eccentricity was nearly at its lowest limits, the difference be- tween the temperature of the summer at the perihelion, and of the winter at the aphelion, was certainly very great; but by virtue of the compensation of intensity by duration, the glacial periods could not have occurred. If, on the contrary, we consider what might be the in- finence of these extremes of temperature upon the movement of the fluid envelope, and upon the circulation of the liquid matter at the sur- face of the globe, we must come to the conclusion that, on account of the aerial and oceanic currents, and on account of the preponderant precipitation of humidity upon one hemisphere, the terrestrial globe is unequally heated on the two sides of the equator. Before entering further into these considerations and showene that the eccentricity of the orbit and the precession of the line of the apsides are the principal causes of the geological cold periods, especially evi- dent if we examine their influence upon meteorological phenomena, we will endeavor to show how causes the most insensible may often, by _ long accumulation of their influence, produce sensible effects, the origin of which very often escapes us. Theory tells us that all surfaces inter- cepting light and heat must reflect a certain quantity. The moon reflects light, but the best electro-thermometer does not indicate with any certainty the presence of reflected heat. This does not prevent scientists from believing that the earth’s satellite reflects an amount of heat in proportion to the light reflected, and that this heat influences the mean temperature of the earth. Analysis of about 238,000 observa- tions made during twenty-six years at Prague, by M. Ch. Zenger, shows, first, that when the obliquity of the lunar orbit attains its maximum, the mean of the annual temperature reaches its minimum (the baromet- ric pressure in this case attains its greatest value); second, that the variations of temperature (as well as of pressure) are periodical; the duration of their period being half a lunar year (9.5 solar years); third, the variations of temperature are more sensible during the winter than during the summer months, for in the first case they are six times greater than in the second.t From the time when the perfect equilibrium of the temperature of the two hemispheres was first broken until our day, we must attribute to slow and almost insensible causes the periodicity and alternation of conditions favorable and untavorable for the organisms of the earth. In order to appreciate the action of the cosmic causes we are consider- ing, let us suppose that the eccentricity of the terrestrial orbit is at its maximum, and that the winter of the northern hemisphere coincides with the aphelion. If this case the length of the winter will be 199.5 days, and that of the summer 165.5 days. The reverse will be the case *Phil. Magaz., February, 1867, p. 120. + C. v. Zenger, On the periodic change of climate caused by the moon, Phil. Magaz., June, 1868, p. 483-439 344 THE REVOLUTIONS OF THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. for the opposite hemisphere; the length of the winter will there be 165.5 days, and that of the summer 199.5 days. But as the long summer will receive the same amount of heat as the short summer, on account of the distance from the sun, and as the same unequal distribution of the heat of the winters is balanced by an inverse unequal proximity to the cen- tral luminary, the sum of annual heat received from the sun is the same for the two hemispheres. In like manner, the intensity of the aerial currents should be equal in the two hemispheres, if we except all accessory influence. Thus the northern hemisphere has a very warm summer, while the winter of the opposite hemisphere is of mean intensity. The difference which exists between these two correlative seasons of the two hemispheres should, by virtue of the compensation mentioned, be exactly equal to the dif- ference which exists between the rigorous winter of the northern, and the temperate summer of the southern, hemispheres. The aerial cur- rents depend, then, entirely upon the course of the sun, for generally the warmest place is that where the sun is at the zenith, and toward this place or this line the currents will be directed. It is evident that wlen the earth is at the equinoxes the two hemispheres are very nearly equally heated, consequently the aerial currents will be of the same in- tensity in the two parts of the globe. Let us suppose summer to com- mence in the southern hemisphere, the northeast trade-winds will blow from the beginning to the end of the season to the south of the equa- tor, and displace, consequently, the line of greatest heat toward the austral pole. The upper currents, which sweep over an extent greater than the corresponding winds of the opposite hemisphere, will equally transport a greater quantity of humidity toward the north pole, where it will be precipitated, under the form of snow, on account of the great cold which reigns there. This phenomenon will occupy 199.5 days. Now comes the summer of the boreal hemisphere. Its burning heat will contrast with the winter of the opposite hemisphere as tbe two pre- ceding seasons, contrasted with each other; consequently from the spring equinox to the autumn equinox, the southeast trade-winds will blow to the north of the equator, as in the preceding case the northeast trade- winds blew to the south of the equator, and for 165.5 days an equiva- lent of humidity will be carried to the austral hemisphere. But these vapors are, in the first place, warmer than those of the austral summer ; then the temperature of the austral winter, which, moreover, is the shorter, is elevated on account of the proximity of the sun. The vapors, therefore, carried to the south by the upper currents are resolved into rain instead of falling in the form of snow, as in the boreal hemis- phere, and in consequence the solar heat of the next summer will be able without interruption to heat the surface of the earth, and raise the mean temperature of the climate. In the boreal hemisphere, on the contrary, a part of the heat is absorbed by fusion of the accumulated snow and ice, and the action of the sun weakened by the constant precipitations A SSG SONI ADSI iT Paice —— ~~ “TON gt Beh EPO LER Sy Kare 66 sown nif os mela! ate a ldawnsll nia eo fee oe ie ee ee eee a ETHNOLOGY. 387 1. Right-shouldered slender collars. - 8029. (Fig. 53.) The shoulder is distinctly bell-shaped, having a pecked chamfer on its outward portion. The transverse shoulder-ridge is quite prominent. The right or plain panel is inclosed in a quadrilat- eral ridge which bears on the middle of its anterior and posterior sides a very marked swelling. This is a constant feature on the anterior and posterior margins of the panel on the shouldered side, whenever this panel is present. The face of the panel is iudented with an oval depres- sion or cup-cutting. The left panel is bounded by a border-ridge, and ornamented by a large ring in the center, on either side of which a hu- man leg drawn up is represented. (Fig. 54.) The anterior margin of this panel, which I have called the panel border, is a double scroll. 80303. The shoulder is well expressed and the sboulder-ridge wide. The right panel is enclosed in a broad ridge with the swellings on the margins, and has a plain center. The left panel is inclosed in a double ridge and furrow looped and perforated at its upper anterior corner. This is also quite plain, although the double scroll is found on the mar- gin. This and the foregoing specimen were given to the National Mu- - seum some years ago. 17080. (Fig. 55.) The shoulder is bell-shaped, and the encircling shoulder-ridge abuts upon the shoulder so that no line separates them. Theright panelisinclosed within aridge with the swellings, and hasan oval cavity pecked deeply into its central space. The left panel is inclosed by a ridge with the loop in its upper anterior corner, and is ornamented by an elaborate winged sun-pattern. (Fig. 56.) The panel border is a wide scroll. 17085. The shoulder is quite prominent, its upper circular face rolled outward. The transverse shoulder-ridge is carried all the way around the stone. Theright panelis inclosed by a ridge with the prominences, and is rough-pecked over its interior space. The left panel is inclosed by a ridge, and was formerly well ornamented, but it is now nearly worn off, whether by use or time I cannot say. The panel border is a delicate double scroll, having two of the volutes perforated. The boss, which in most of the slender collars is an immense swelling, oblique to the plane of the stone, is in this specimen rolled out like a pouting lip. 17087. The shoulder is bell-shaped. The transverse shoulder-ridge borders three sides of the shoulder—that is, it turns up along the mar- gins of the collar. The right panel bas the ridge and prominences but no ornament. The left panel is inclosed in a ridge looped on the upper anterior margin. The panel border is slightly scrolled, but much worn. The boss is ridged up on the inside of the specimen. 17088. The shoulder is a mere swelling with a slight transverse ridge, The prominences are present on the ridge of the right panel, which is orna- mented with a shallow oval depression. There is no ornament on the left panel. This is a very plain specimen and rudely polished. 388 THE LATIMER COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES. 17089. The shoulder is bell-shaped, and the shoulder-ridge passes quite around the stone. The right panel is inclosed within a ridge with the prominences; its ornament is an oval depression whose edges are slightly in relief. The left panel is inclosed in a looped ridge, and is without ornament. The upper transverse portions of the panel-ridges encircle the stone as in Fig. 55. 17091. The shoulder is bell-shaped and grooved. The right panel has the prominences and oval depression. The leit panel is wanting. 17092. Shoulder bell-shaped, and the transverse ridge beneath it encir- cles the stone. Theright panel having the marginal prominencesisrough- ened on its face and ornamented with a ring and dot. The left panel is much worn. The panel border is a double scroll. The boss and upper transverse panel-ridges encircle the stone. 17099. (2). A fragment containing boss and panels. The right panel with the marginal prominenuces and oblong oval depression. The left. panel has a perforation in the marginal loop of the inclosing ridge. 2. Left-shouldered slender collars. 8028. The shoulder a slight rough swelling, without the subjacent transverse ridge. The left panel has the marginal prominences and a double chamfer on its face. The right panel is wanting, a simple transverse ridge marking the upper extremity, from which the stone gradually expands toward the boss. 8030. The shoulder is bell-shaped and well rolled out. The transverse shoulder-ridge is wanting, but the furrows on either side of the shoulder converge gradually, and give the appearance of the overlapping of the two ends of a hoop. The left panel is inclosed in a double ridge with the marginal prominences and is ornamented with a deep oval depres- sion. The right panel is inclosed in a ridge with a perforated loop on its upper anterior margin, and is ornamented with chevrons, whose tri- angular spaces are filled with incised lines parallel to the sides of the chevron consecutively. The panel border is a double scroll with a small human face represented between the scrolls. It has been said that the human face is not seen on the collars. This is the only excep- tion in this collection if the fragment to be mentioned next is not a por- tion of a collar. (Fig. 57.) 17026. A fragment containing the boss and a part of a right panel. The panel ornament is a large-featured human face. The end of this fragment is notched and perforated, as if for secondary use. (Fig. 58.) J am not positive about thisfragment. If it is not a portion of a collar, it is a class by itself; and if it is, it is not like any other in the class as represented by the Latimer collection. Two objects somewhat simi- lar are engraved in Scribner’s Magazine for August, 1875, but as I have not seen the originals I cannot speak with certainty as to the resem- blance between it and them. 17081. The shoulder is bell-shaped, and hollow on the top. The ice os Fic. 57.—Right panel of a left-shouldered slender collar. 4. Fig. 58.—Supposed boss and panel of & Fic. 59.—A left-shouldered slender col- slender collar. 4. lar, showing the shoulder-swelling, the boss, and the panel-border. {. Fic. 60.—Right panel and scrolled border of a left-shouldered slender collar. 4. E ETHNOLOGY. 389 shoulder-ridge encircles the stone. The left panel has the marginal _ prominences and the oval depression. The right panel is ornamented _ with lozenges and triangles surrounding a circular depression in the center. The boss and the transverse panel-ridges encircle the collar. 17082. (Fig. 59.) The shoulder is well set off from the stone, and is sub- _ tended bya very shallow ridge. The left panel has the marginal promi- nences and oval depression. The right panel is inclosed in a ridge looped at the upper anterior corner, which is continued to form a part of the panel marginal scroll. The panel is ornamented with a dotted cir- cle at each end, inclosed in a sigmoid ridge, the ends of which expand gracefully to fill the triangular spaces between the sigmoid, the circles, _ and the border-ridge of the panel. (Fig. 60.) The boss is ridged up on _ the inside. : 17083. The shoulder is bell-shaped, having its transverse ridge nearly encircling. The left panel has the prominences and oval depression. There isno right panel. The lower end of the specimen is roughly pecked. 17084. The shoulder is not very prominent and is continuous with _ the transverse ridge. The left panel with its prominences very plainly executed. The right panel is a smooth space inelosed in a ridge which runs into the boss at the lower corners. 17086. The shoulder well rounded out and winged on the margins, the shoulder-ridge abutting on the shoulder and encircling the stone. The left panel has the prominences and a small oval depression. The right panel is inclosed in a double ridge and furrow, and ornamented with chevrons and parallel included lines. The panel-border is an elaborate double scroll, with triglyphs in the center of each. 17094. The shoulder slight and flattened, and abutting on the shoul- der-ridge. Theleft panel has the prominences and a slight oval depres- sion. The right panel is a looped ridge ornamented with lozenges and triangles. The panel-border is a double scroll with small triglyphs. The boss is ridged on the inside. 17095. The shoulder is bell-shaped, and subtended by a wide and encircling shoulder-ridge. The left panel has the prominences, and an - oval chamfer in theeenter. The right panel included in a looped and per- forated ridge is plain in the center. The panel-border is an elaborate _ double scroll. The transverse panel-ridges and boss encircle the stone, and the furrows of the panels are repeated on the inside of the collar. A truly unique and beautiful specimen. 17096. The shoulder is very slight, and has its transverse ridge encir- cling. The left panel has the prominences and oval depression. The right panel is an unornamented surface inclosed in a double ridge and furrow. The transverse panel-ridges and boss encircle the stone. 17098. The shoulder is slight and much flattened, and is subtended by a narrow shoulder-ridge. The left panel has the marginal promi- nences and a chamfered interior spave. The right panel is wanting and the boss small. This is a very rude specimen. 390 THE LATIMER COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES. 17099. (1.) A fragment of a collar. The left panel is present and has the marginal prominences and a smooth interior surface. A short por- tion of the right panel remaining indicates a plain surface inclosed i ma ridge looped on the upper anterior corner. 17099. (2.) A fragment of a collar, consisting of a boss and a left panel, the latter with the prominences and a deep oval depression. 17106. The shoulder is bell-shaped, with cup-cuttings on its sides. The shoulder-ridge is extended upward along the margins of the shoulder on either side, and thence quite around to the upper transverse ridge of the right panel. The left panel has the prominences, and its interior space smooth. The right panel is smooth and inclosed in a ridge looped at the upper anterior corner. The panel-border is a double scroll fretted on the sides with cup-cuttings in the volutes. This is somewhat transitional in form between the massive and the slender. Dimensions of the collars in inches. o 2 © 2 ' a ce Fe 2 = 3 = Sealy i oo og Pe 2 2 + a © SAE AE enn ee ee eee Aember. ies) moofess: bs Seulirams (Ee) eels gq q qa aa A oe ie S| Bey jes pcs et olites Eee Kh 4 ol a a ao Oo od A a H H H a A A UOA Re semen Selects peice eee etelerra 17.5 14 2.15 Pe} oni 2:3 4 4 LO Rote mnt s cmteta oe 6 aleein cians ie eieivia- LS 14 ONS: 3.15 ao BoD 4 4 1) ae a le ee ee a a 17 18) 2. 45 2.45 2.45 ors 3.8 39 DIO io Saja nte diate anisole’ cit eSeaies cece 18 14.5 2.8 3.1 Q7, aiid 5 5 WHODS te occcce tence e cee secre Tee eee Wii 15 erg eva. 2.2 2.9 4 4 9020s oo acct ins eeiece ae case ceenkice sess 18.1 11.4 1.4 14 1.35 3.3 1275 3.6 S0s0beeereeeenasesee aera areemcoss ie 12 1235 Ate) 1.4 2. 95, 1d See BOBO Ma acco ccocent semeeeen eae 13 ll 1, 25 1a oo She ii rn MG OBObe acon cies sok ace eens bee ac ericen 18 12.5 lS Oa 1.35 etch 1.9 3.5 ROR ya ctrtetos fad ecroateee sete es toie at PS 13 1. 45 1.9 1.45 3. 45 2 3: 1 LOBBY some ios ste wee Getinete sic sc 16.8 1 1.25 1, oD 1.45 3.8 1.8 3. 75 MOS 9 Fe eco c ccs kh wm owacwere i ectee een: 16 11.2 1.4 1. 45 1.4 2. 45 1.6 2.9 PROG tes ois cawelicsoaseatmecccesce: 17 NS Lois, ao) ee 2.9 dire 3.5 LUO 2 ars fa See we Sa sees 18.7 12.2 1, 45 1555 15 3.1 2 4.05 Bp OU els ie Sisiwieio dinjole wats ao lee la mis elelaclacen! 15.9 11.6 1,35 1.45 1.45 2, 05 a 2. 65. A ZOUO (BY ee vtehs cca SUS eS SLR Rae ce ULE iced eA ei 213 | eee | ee a S55 | ees 3.8 BO RB roma fanlanaineeccemmavsiscc.cic oppo 18. 4 12.3 1.4 1.4 15 3.6 1. 65 3.15 ROB eens teciencudcce es tsecee ne 17.6 1.5 12 ao 1.5 oaay 1. 65 Soo ELLER ei ea tte eiete tes alata ao oa nics oh imjn io mse ciate tot ae ara cele stmterenen cecal eae oe ane ere terevetenes| ore 4. OF Boa Se 3.8 PIORIF Eee See cccech one ccce ce ease 17 12 1.4 1... oe. 2.9 1.8 2.9 MUG ees tentials cine wtioainccemorcises ep) 11 a 125) 1, 35 2. 85 1.95 3. 25 WIOESE Moor eee ees aclecrcee skew cocsd a 11 teres: Wo 130 2.9 ee 3.2 W084. 2 atch tec eriecccakish die ciate cine 16.4 11.4 ed dee 1. 65 2. 85 1.6 3.2 TZ08GE iS Sects ccteesetacst en cccegess 17.5 ih eer, 1.25 aie clear] 3. 2 ee ae LINAS ss esa dhe ta cek dd aana sess 15.9 LOE 1.2 1. 25 1. 35 2. 85 Led ae TIO9D eee eo tank eae elma ontcie sie 17. 95 12 1.4 1. 45 1.6 3.8 1.8 4 MYO9G! sate. feedat cee tceeen ene 16.1 10.9 eo LZ 135 ise 1.8 3.3 POSS Se a fa eee eee eee ate nee aeemne Pio 11. 45 Lo oo ao 2.15 ee 2. 95 LY099 (4) nos cdth Secas scemamene bee de sciicesgerullsctiwotollieeeenen|beee cock sean ee S45 ieee 2e2 3. 15 S099 (2) rae ee ene | ie ee, | | Oe | D575 eee eeee 3.45 MOLOG: So occcssscesecaudos seers ote 18 13 Lt ibard 2. 05 2.95 3 4.5 CONCLUSION. The objects which I have described are all from Porto Rico, and, to- gether with a collection of interesting antiquities from other parts of the world, which do not come under my province, were bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. George Latimer. This generous benefactor of the Institution was of an English family who migrated to ETHNOLOGY. 391 America in 1736. His father was a merchant in Philadelphia, where his son George was born in 1803. Having often visited the West Indies as a supercargo, he became attached to the country, and, in 1828, en- tered the mercantile commission businessin St. Thomas. He afterward removed to Saint John’s, Porto Rico, where he remained until near the time of his death, which occurred in Paris August 2, 1874, from the ef- fects of a surgical operation. He was an honored citizen, and for many years was consul-general of the United States for the island. He was, at the time of his death, consul for Holland and Austria, and had been created by the King of Spain a “Knight of the Order of Isabella.” Mr. Latimer has left no written descriptions of the objects and the localities of their discovery. His nephew, Mr. W. H. Latimer, writes: ‘I believe he was prompted in the beginning by curiosity, but with increase of materials and knowledge of the subject came also a greatly increased interest, that spared neither pains nor expense in the augmentation of his treasures. Visiting personally any neighborhood where his labors were likely to be rewarded, and calling to his assistance many others in different parts of the island, he added constantly to a collection which he highly prized as the only one of importance existing of the aborigi- nes of the island. Some of the specimens were found in caves, but the greater part were turned up by the plow and hoe, when new lands were put under cultivation, but I cannot specially localize them or say whether any were found in graves or in shell-heaps.” According to Sir John Lubbock’s classification, the makers of these objects were a purely neolithic people, and, according to Mr. Morgan, they were not savages, but were in the “middle status of barbarism.” In addition to the fruits of nature, they prepared maize and cassava and fermented drinks. They lived in round and square houses, with thatched roofs, grouped in small and large villages. They made pottery, the boldness and truthfulness of whose ornamentation attest their division of labor. In a warm climate very little clothing was needed, yet they spun and wove cotton cloth. Their implements of industry, so far as we have recovered them, are, I repeat, the most beautiful in the world. Their canoes, especially in Porto Rico, were exquisitely wrought, with the sides raised with canes, daubed over with bitumen, and not flat, but with a keel. (Stephens’s Herrera, i, 340.) Their pastimes were the di- versions practiced by our own Indians, consisting principally of mock fights, in which oftimes many were wounded or killed. Their artists were prodigies in design and workmanship, as the finer forms which I have described attest. Their social life is little understood, but proba- bly resembled in all respects that of the Florida Indians at the time of the discovery. The absence of all flaked or chipped stone implements may be accounted forin several ways. The siliceous rocks which take the finest chipping are not found here, and in many of the islands shell (Strombus gigas) is the only available material for any implement. Neither are the large animals here which require such hard and fine 392 THE LATIMER COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES. points for their destruction, nor sharp knives and scrapers to cut them up and to tan their hides, which would be useless for clothing in this climate if they had them. In the second place, many of the woods are extremely hard, and with charring take a very fine point or edge, sufficient to pierce or cut fish, birds, or men. We are not to lay too much stress, therefore, upon the absence of rude stone implements, especially as the collections from these parts are as yet very meager. Still it is quite possible that the civilization of the Caribs and of their hereditary enemies was introduced from the mainland, and the absence of chipped and flaked tools, if further demonstrated, will be sufficient evidence of this. As to the place of most of these objects in an anthropological museum we are sufficiently informed, but concerning the use of the masks, the mammiform stones, and the collars, we are entirely in the dark. Some of these rare objects are figured and described in Flint-Chips, with references to Latham, Wilson, to Cherminier and Guesde’s collection from Guadeloupe at the Paris Exposition, to Schomburgk, Poey, and Cato, (Flint-Chins, pp. 223-240.) I have seen but cannot recall the title of an account of the Copenhagen Museum by Valdemar Schmidt, in which one or two figures are given. In Scribner’s Monthly for August, 1875, Dr. J. B. Holder figures and describes a collection in the American Museum in Central Park, New York. As to whether they were the work of the Caribs and of their more peaceful neighbors there may be a difference of opinion. The fact that the peculiar forms here enumerated are found throughout the ancient Carib area; that the stone seats resemble in form and ornamentation those made of wood and used by persons of distinction mentioned by the early historians of Columbus’s voyages, and recently discovered by Messrs. Gabband Frith; that the celts are like those used in Polynesia and on the northwest coast of America, where large dug-out canoes are still in use; all these lend great force to the opinion that these are Carib or Arawak implements, and not the relies of an older civilization driven out by them. However, my own mind is very far from a positive opinion on this point. Some suggestions of possible function arise in the mind concerning these doubtful forms, when we come to handle a great number of them. The rough under-surface of the mammiform stones suggests the grind- ing of paint, incense, spice, or some other precious material, and the natives are said by the historians to have been fond of aromatic sub- stances. Against this it may be urged that they are too costly for mortars; that some are hollowed underneath, some are flat, and some are convex; and that though very rough on the under side, the rough- ness seems to be that of an original pecking, excepting at the chin and knees of the Typhoean figure, where the stone is worn smooth. The furrows at the base of the mammeé seem to indicate the custom of lash- ing them to a staff as ensigns, or to dash out the brains of a victim or ea eS Sr ETHNOLOGY. 393 anenemy. There is no mention, however, so far as I am acquainted, of the natives performing human sacrifices. This lashing theory is strength- ened by the fact that on some of the masks which closely resemble the mammiform stones there are cleat-like projections, evidently to be lashed toa handle. There are no grooves worn in the furrows by a lashing that I could discover. The bulging to one side of the mamma, some to the right, others to the left, hints at their use in pairs. Their elegance of design and variety of execution in conformity with an ideal, characterize these as the highest type of sculpture with stone imple- ments in the world. The collars are quite as puzzling. Their right and left shouldering, and the more exquisite finish of the panel opposite the shoulder, when the panel is present, seem to prove that they were to be used in pairs. Their gradation in ornament, the presence or absence and the form of certain conventional parts, seem to speak of distinctions of some kind. Some very interesting indications of the manner in which humanity has elaborated its culture, guided by the leading-strings of nature, are given in the course and construction of the ridges and furrows which consti- tute the ornaments of the panels and the marginal ornaments. There are no sharp and deep corners, but the furrows wind about in curves returning into themselves, or run out into some deeper furrow, simply because a man working with astone tool cannot make a sharp and deep corner. Some of the designs on these panels and marginal ornaments are very ingenious, as may be seen by the patterns given in Figs. 52, 54, 56, 57, and 60. The same characteristic is noticeable in the scroll- work of the wooden tools, and in Fig. 45, Such is the form of these relics of an extinct race; but whether they were the regalia of sacrifi- cial victims, of military heroes, of ecclesiastical worthies, or of members of some privileged caste, who marched i» double file through the streets of Porto Rican villages long since decayed, will perhaps forever remain amystery. (Stephens’s Herrera, i, 62.) One of the objects of this perhaps too detailed description will be accomplished, if thé light thrown upon this neolithic people by the Latimer collection shall guide some future explorer among their anti- quities, if haply he may be able to decipher their meaning. 394 THE PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF HUNGARY, THE PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF HUNGARY. AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PROF. F. F. ROMER AT THE OPEN- ING OF THE INTERNATIONAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONGRESS, HELD AT BUDAPEST, SEPTEMBER, 1876. . From the Matériaux pour L’ Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de V Homme.—Translated for the Smithsonian Institution by Charles Rau. In addressing you for the purpose of considering the two allied sciences—anthropology and archeology—upon which the labors of this congress will be based, I can hardly overcome a feeling of embarrass- ment. You doubtless expect that, in my position as secretary-general, I should unroll before you a picture of what Hungary bas done for those sciences, since most of you never have visited our country, nor have read the Hungarian works treating of them. Here, as in Europe generally, it was almost considered a disgrace to pay attention to the barbarous nations, so far as their history before and after the great migrations is concerned. Only the study of the classical archeology of the Greeks and Romans was in vogue. Prior to the day when prehistoric archwology became a universal science, no one cared for the forms and decorations of the weapons, utensils, and trinkets of the so-called barbarous populations, but, in most cases, only for the precious materials of which they were made. The cemeteries and the tumuli, with their contents as simple and primitive as the men who used them, were, without any criticism, attributed to the great Roman peo- ple, even in parts of the country where the Romans never had been. The defensive works of prehistoric times, such as trenches, ramparts, and castles, were ascribed to them, and even on our geographical maps of that period one can see these works marked as Roman trenches, Roman fortifications, &c. In the catalogues of the National Museum, likewise, the arms, utensils, and ornaments of the barbarians have been assigned to the Romans. Hungary has not had, like other countries, official archeologists ap- pointed to attend to the preservation of the discovered objects. Only foreign savants, who in past centuries paid attention to such matters, have written on the antiquities of this country; and it must be stated that they spoke of them in a manner betokening the utmost simplicity of conception. Thus, they have affirmed in serious discourses held be- ' fore academies, that gold grows naturally in the vineyards of Tokay, because there have been found in that locality objects made of gold wire, which presented no longer their original shape, having been altered and distorted by roots growing on the same spots. The bones of mammoths were at that time taken for those of giants, nummulites passed for grain, porous basalt for petrified bread, &c. It is no matter of sarprise, therefore, that during that period the a eee { ETHNOLOGY. 395 country people pa.d no attention whatever to the relics they constantly met almost everywhere, and sometimes in enormous quantities, while cultivating the ground. In plowing up our ancient cemeteries, re- peatedly and at various depths, they have destroyed the funeral urns; but neither their fragments and contents nor the skeletons discovered in the more regular burying-places excited their curiosity or tempted them to closer examinations. When they found articles of bronze they sold tiem like old iron or applied them to their own use, after they had been transformed by the blacksmith according to their notions. How many objects have thus been lost which would have served to elucidate the condition of an unknown people that has passed away long ago! Our predecessors only collected flint articles, which they broke into pieces of proper size to be used for striking fire. The stone axes or ‘“thunderbolts,” to which they attributed in their superstitious minds the virtue of curing various diseases of men and beasts, were likewise preserved by them, and the myths attached to these implements are here the same as in other parts of Europe. Wherever people speak of thunderbolts the superstitions to which they have given rise are so in- veterate and general, and the belief in their supposed powers appears so firmly rooted, that no stronger proofs of their high antiquity could be adduced. This is all I can say concerning the opinions which the objects per- taining to remote prehistoric ages have elicited among our compatriots, even in the present century! What has been done within the last forty years, since the brothers Augustus and Francis de Kubinyi and my distinguished predecessor, Mr. John Erdy, commenced the study of our antiquities, was commu- nicated by me to the congress at Paris in my sketch of the prehistoric times of Hungary, in which I have summed up from memory, and in a very succinct manner, all that relates to this epoch.* To this I have only very little to add at present. Prior to the Universal Exposition at Paris, in 1867, several of our foreign colleagues had visited our archeological museum. They fully appreciated our articles of bronze and precious metals, which then al- most exclusively constituted our prehistoric collections. The museums of the neighboring countries were not ahead of us in that respect, con- sidering that the study of classical archeology prevailed everywhere at that period. Nothing was bought or exhibited but choice specimens of classical antiquity, or such as were made of precious metals, and their number sufficed to satisfy the interest of the curious. The resources of the National Museum being very limited, most of the specimens were the gifts of good patriots, and they were depos- ited without order or system, occupying the places assigned to them by the generous donors. A new era for these studies and for our collections dates from the in- * See Compte-rendu de la II® Session & Paris, p. 321, ete. 396 THE PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF HUNGARY. auguration of constitutional government in Hungary. The members of the diet, convinced that much was still needed to raise us to the level of the nations who had preceded us in the cultivation of prehistoric archeology, were judicious and patriotic enough to vote the sums re- quisite not only for the purchase of classical objects, for putting our col- lections in better order and cataloguing them, but also for the acquisi- tion of specimens illustrative of ‘prehistoric archeology and for a rations in the interest of that science. It is very remarkable that the new development of the kingdom co- incided with the Paris Exposition, where a retrospective section for the study of industries reaching back to the remotest times was, for the first time, added to the objects representing the achievements in mod- ern art and ingenuity. It cannot be denied that the large number of specimens of stone, clay, bone, bronze, &c., exhibited on that occasion, excited the desire to collect analogous objects in our own country, and the labors of the International Anthropological Congress, then in ses- sion at Paris, served to strengthen this resolution. Thence arose new ideas and new plans for enlarging the scope of our National Museum. After the Universal Exhibition at Paris, the spacious hall, hitherto ex- clusively used for exhibiting the numismatic collection, was provided with glass cases, which already contain a remarkable collection ; a large portion, however, embracing new acquisitions and interesting fragments had to be deposited in drawers. When this congress is over, the new additions, which are quite numerous, will be placed in an adjoining hall. They chiefly comprise objects of stone, the number of which in- creases very rapidly. I had the pleasure of showing at the Paris congress the first obsidian nucleus obtained from Transylvania. Until then objects of obsidian were generally thought to be of Mexican origin, because none from other countries were known, excepting a few found in Italy. This dis- covery was followed by another. I found in the mineralogical cabinet of our museum a much larger nucleus, and later I was really surprised to discover in the museum of the college of Debreezin our largest obsid-. ian nuclei, which had all been collected in the neighborhood of the celebrated mountain of Tokay, where obsidian occurs in considerable quantities. Farther east the objects and fragments of obsidian become more and more scarce. We are now able to preparea map showing our obsidian finds, which are already numerous and increase from day to day. This map will be made more perfect after the congress, and will assist in engendering in our country a higher appreciation of all that our honored guests deem worthy of their attention. But our obsidian flakes are by no means equivalent to those of flint, so frequently met in the north and west of Europe; and without attempting to ascribe to them a too remote antiquity, we will simply state that they often occur associated with objects of bronze, as proved by the discoveries made by the counselor of mines, Mr. Henry Wolf, on the island of Bodrog ee ee ee eee . ot) ee ETHNOLOGY. 397 (Bodrogk6z.) The conchoidal fracture of our obsidian is more curved than in the Mexican mineral; our knives are usually not so long and straight, our arrow-heads less elegant and regular than those made of transatlantic obsidian or of Danish flint. The occurrence of large nuclei, from which the last flakes suitable for knives’ have not been de- tached, may be owing to the fragility of obsidian implements, which in- duced the head of the tribe or the family to preserve these nuclei, in order to have the material for the fabrication of knives and arrow-heads always on hand. The implements of which we have spoken were for a long time the only ones found in Hungary. It was a general belief that no chipped flints existed in our country, because none of them had any where been noticed. Yet this supposition arose solely from the ignorance of the value of the objects, and from the want of a word to specify them. Our peasants found them frequently and called them “ fire-stones,” (pierres @ feu.) When this indicative word had been discovered, and, moreover, when specimens of chipped flint had been sent from Denmark to some of our friends of archeology, attention was aroused, and chipped fliuts, and even nuclei, were found in several counties. In a few years, I am confident, we shall be cognizant of their existence in all parts of the country where siliceous materials occur, and hence our museums may be gradually enriched with such specimens, just as our improvised exposition was increased by the knives from the extensive collection of Miss Torma. So great has been our progress in securing and inter- preting objécts of chipped flint, which were still very rare, and much sought for, some months ago. At present a new field of studies opens before us, and we shall soon have to relinquish the erroneous, but widely diffused, idea that during the epochs when stone played everywhere such an important part, Hun- gary was not yet inhabited on account of being covered by the waters of the sea. Up to this day we know only a few well-authenticated celts of pol- shed flint. One of them was found in the county of Szaboles, the others in that of Lipt6; yet how many more will be discovered when we have learned to look for them, and when our peasants have been made acquainted with their value. As for other polished stone implements, we possess chiefly objects of serpentine, not only in considerable num- ber, but also of very elegant appearance. This is sufficiently demon- strated by the old specimens of the National Museum, as well as by the late acquisitions of Baron Eugene Ny4ri, the Key. Canon Francis Ebenhéch, the Rev. Vicar Stephen Mibdldy, and by the material which our compatriots, who take pride in showing you their best and most inter- esting pieces, have put here on exhibition. Yet all these interesting objects were neither looked at nor preserved prior to the successful researches made throughout the kingdom. You behold, however, only isolated specimens ; for it was not feasible 8398 THE PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF HUNGARY. to deprive the museums of their entire collections; and the private persons who were desirous of contributing their share in rendering the — exposition more perfect had to abstain from sending all their objects, — considering that the corridors of the National Museum, which alone were at our disposal, are already too narrow for a really complete exhi- bition representing the entire kingdom. Objects of stag-horn and bone occur in prodigious number in some counties, more especially among the remains of repasts, and they are fashioned with a degree of skill which could only be acquired by long practice in the leisure hours of savage life. One may see, for instance, at Magyarad, at Szihalom, at Téoszeg, at Szelevény, and at Csépa, objects of deer-horn and bone by the hundred and thousand, while articles of bronze and ‘iron are but singly and sporadically met in these localities. Our characteristic bronze articles are known throughout Europe: it has been sufficiently demonstrated that they are distinguished by pecu- liar forms. The numerous utensils, weapons, and ornaments of bronze bear witness that the Danubian countries had a civilization of their own, a fact becoming still more apparent by the quantity of the raw material and the number and size of the objects of copper. Is it neces- sary, gentlemen, to recall to your memory that these very articles of bronze and copper induced you at Stockholm to choose the capital of Hungary as the place of meeting for this year? It is known that among semi-savage and warlike nations the napa indulges in an excessive love of show. Their horsemen carry nearly all their treasure on their persons and horses, and hence they exhibit an extravagant taste in their offensive and defensive weapons, as well as in their armlets, fibula, necklaces, diadems, and horse-trappings, all of which are profusely embellished with spirals, with bells of different forms, with pendants presenting the shape of funnels, &c. Certain tubes, often overloaded with the ornaments peculiar to our districts, also should be mentioned. In addition to the weapons and ornaments, there are utensils of cop- per and bronze, designed for digging the ground, for felling trees, and for cutting crops and brushwood. You will further see the metallic raw material, numerous fragments collected for being melted, ingots, molds, and unfinished objects, all of which are indicative of work per- formed in loco. Indeed, hearths for melting metals are not rare in our country.* * During the fourth session of the congress, September 7, Mr. De Pulsky spoke of a copper age, which, he thinks, can be traced in Hungary. He believes that many imple- ments in the National Museum, which are supposed to pertain to the age of bronze, consist in reality of copper. Nine of those instruments having been analyzed, it was found that they contain no trace of tin. Some consisted of pure copper, corresponding to the native copper of Hungary; others contained a little silver, like certain copper ores found in the same country. The implements in question most frequently resemble either the hatchets of woodcutters or the pickaxes still used by miners. These forms differ, according to Mr. De Pulsky, from the types characteristic of the bronze age, and ee a ae oe > ETHNOLOGY. 399 And as for fabrics of clay, are there anywhere found vases of this epoch which show more finish, more elaborate ornamentation and stranger shapes than those of ancient Pannonia? Or are there in other parts such quantities of those cones and pyramids of clay, hitherto considered as weights used in weaving? They probably also served as supports for cooking-vessels, considering that they are often blackened by smoke, and, moreover, have been met amid ashes and charcoal. Some of our vessels exhibit forms so singular and extraordinary that their application thus far has not been explained. The small vases and other diminutive objects in the rich collection of my friend, Baron Bugene Ny4ari, deserve our special attention, the more so since nearly all of them have been obtained from the same place, namely, his fam- ily estate at Pilin. Whocan decide whether these miniatures consti- tuted toys for children or were symbolic in character? Perhaps they represent on a small scale objects too costly to be abandoned forever. The almost unique clay stamps, showing a variety of tasteful pat- terns,* and the small terra-cottas, representing animals, mostly sheep, oxen, and hogs, leave much room for speculation concerning their uses, especially when found with the remains of repasts. Among the articles indubitably made in the country, we often meet products of the industry and art of remote regions, as, for instance, pearls from the Indian Ocean, beads of unwrought or polished amber from the Baltic Sea, and others of cut glass, which must have been de- rived from more civilized nations. These last-named relics betoken a commerce with the coasts of far-distant countries, and the character of their occurrence proves that they were family hoards brought together during a long lapse of time. Those pagan monuments, the gigantic embankments and ditches dis-- posed in two or even three parallel lines, which are met throughout the kingdom, inform us that it was once inhabited by warlike and quite numerous tribes, or by valiant proprietors who kept their large herds within immense and inaccessible inclosures. The power of these ancient hence he concludes that an age of copper, forming the transition from polished stone to bronze, must be claimed for Hungary. This view, however, was not shared by Mr. John Evans. He observed that among the two hundred objects thought to consist of copper, only nine or ten had been ana- lyzed. Yet if they were all composed of copper, there would be no sufficient ground for establishing a copper age. If such an age had existed, its types would resemble more the forms of the stone age than those of the bronze period. The pierced copper imple- ments of Hungary certainly bear an analogy to a certain class of drilled stone articles ; but the latter, Mr. Evans thinks, are referable to the bronze age rather than to the times during which stone was exclusively used. He concludes that the Hungarian copper tools belong to the bronze age, but were made in moments when tin—a metal not found in Hungary—could not be obtained.—[ Translator. ] *To judge from wood-engravings, kindly sent by Professor Romer, these relics resem- ble the stamps which the Mexicans used for impressing ornamental marks on their cotton cloth. They also employed stamps in decorating their vases before they were baked.—[ Translator. ] 400 THE PREHISTORIC ANTIQUITIES OF HUNGARY. people, and their association in secure places of habitation of great ex- tent, can furthermore be inferred from the enormous tumuli which one sees scattered widely apart over the country, and which, for this reason, have been considered as lookouts for sentinels, or as hills upon which the Turkish viziers pitched their tents; for our people ascribe everything of a strange character to the Turks. Yet these mounds, so different in construction and character, stood originally by the side of villages or camps, amid large forests which no longer exist. Even in our time mounds are met in the primeval forests, from Bakony to Sz4zhalom, near Bakonybél, at Tatika, and in other extensive timbered regions of our country. Arriving at the period of iron, that which lies nearest to our own time, it must be confessed that our relics composed of that metal are less numerous than those of bronze and even of stone, although these latter belong to more remote times. This fact will not surprise you when you learn that until now objects of iron have been totally neglected, Being in most cases corroded by rust and broken, and resembling, more- over, very often the implements of the present time, they were generally undervalued, not only by the common people, but also by the more instructed, who chiefly prize objects composed of precious metals, especially when they are well preserved and present elegant and extra- ordinary forms. Thus it has been until now; but in future these underrated relics, which are of such importance in their bearing on archeological questions, will be carefully collected and preserved. This is all we can say in reference to our progress in archeological studies. As for anthropology, it must be confessed that this science has not been cultivated among us to the extent it deserves. We have not yet a — noticeable collection, and those of our savants who pursue that study must exert themselves, in order to keep pace with the anthropologists of other countries. We expect much, however, from the intimate inter- course that will spring up during this congress. In general we may state, without self-praise, that for several years the interest of our countrymen has been increasing. Archeological publi- cations are dispersed throughout our literature; museums multiply in the counties in a manner highly satisfactory to the triends of our science. I find everywhere collectors of antiquities, and the taste for original research is growing, as can be inferred from our improvised exposition. Thus we are entitled to the hope that henceforward our compatriots will preserve what they find, and that we shall soon possess all the material required for our studies. It is true, we have no megalithic monuments; we cannot show you kitchen-middens or lacustrine habitations. They are either wanting in our country, or, if they exist, have not yet been discovered. On the other hand, we can place before you all that has come to light in our country within these last years. The liberality of our museums and the Pree t ETHNOLOGY. 401 - noble patriotism of our colleagues enable me, I am happy to state, to fulfill the promise given you at Stockholm, namely, to gather in our National Museum all or nearly all objects scattered over Hungary that might serve to facilitate the study of our bronze age, the most interesting task before us. What I promised two years ago is now an accomplished fact. It is left to you, honored colleagues, to discuss the important question to what people or peoples we are indebted for the objects which characterize so strikingly the development of our country. I have prepared a table indicating the number of relics and the ma- terials composing them. Our exposition embraces nearly 31,500 objects, of which 22,000 belong to the museums and private persons of this country, and 9,000 to the National Museum. This total comprises— Objects of ordinary stone, flint, and cbsidian.................. 9, 400 PeMpEeEMEOMSNGG ALONG. - 607-0... oe oe ees eee ne 2, 800 RIPEN UNA eg ons aes eee aees ees ews 560 tices of bone... . =... ..... mee ey hs ceo = eS Ct ae er 1, 600 ITI INEM PO ee Sasce a cad os oo oc enone won ene Gene seas 3, 300 RA INV Tee alo ss le oo wins ri olcin'e Sua on doce ee 190 SN UEISNTN a sey eins 3 io 6 ao oie wo nisin oo et ee dee sass 7, 630 EI cial wins wos wiwieleis ais nels ocinae see ae ste oe ea Trinkets and objects of gold and silver.........-............ 1, 800 From the composition of this table, and its incompleteness, it may be inferred that there are yet great gaps, and that the necessary minuteness is still wanting. Finally we shall obtain definite results, and the science will be cultivated among: us as in other countries of Europe. In fact, we have had no time for preparing ourselves as thoroughly as we might have wished. Most of the works of our compatriots, written+in the Hungarian language, arrived so late that it was not possible to translate them in time to be submitted to the congress; but as you doubtless desire to acquaint yourselves with the character of the studies pursued in our country relative to its antiquities, and as our own interest imposes upon us the duty of giving you full information, we shall present a com- plete résumé in our forthcoming report, which will reflect our labors like a true mirror. S 26 402 JADE. JADE. A HISTORICAL, ARCH OLOGICAL, AND LITERARY STUDY OF THE MIN- FERAL CALLED YU BY THE CHINESE: By S. BLONDEL, of Paris. [ Translated by Dr. E. Foreman. ] If among mineral substances there is any one which particularly deserves attention, it is jade. Fora long time cabinets of mineralogy possessed this precious material in only humble specimens, acquired, however, at very high prices; but now, owing tocloser relations between western nations and those of the extreme east, Chinese antiquities have become less rare, new and important collections of them have been formed, and the museums of Europe have been enriched with the most splendid works of art and pieces of the choicest quality. We therefore believe that if would be useful to oriental archeology to publish this memoir on jade, a mineral so highly valued by amateurs, and one whose curious history is so little known. The jade, so common in the Indies and in China, as we all know, varies between a greasy white, or the color of old ivory, and a deep olive-green color, depending on the oxides of iron and of chrome which enter into its composition. Of all the various pebbles it is the hardest and heaviest, being fine-grained and compact in texture. Its polish, at the same time that it is attractive, always exhibits to the eye and sense of touch a greasy sensation, giving the appearance of inspissated oil or of wax. Although its more ordinary color is some shade of green, the classical variety is of a milky whiteness and nearly opalescent. In this.case its limpidity, its fine texture, and tenacity are so great, that to the hand of the workman it feels as if glazed, qualities which make it sought after for the execution of valuable works. Pale green jade is likewise often used for cutting vases of every form and those orna- mented with elegant reliefs. Its shade of color is uniform and agreeable, and it has a close, fine grain, susceptible of a high polish. Some pieces, having molecular peculiarities and a cloudiness which gives the stone a dull tarnished aspect, are employed in making vases of large dimen- sions, or even bracelets. Jade is sometimes even black, but not on that account much undervalued; it is sometimes clouded, and speci- meus are seen which recall the crystalline watering sometimes seen on tin or zine which have been acted on by dilute acids. ‘ But,” says M. Albert Jacquemart, ‘of all kinds the two most rare are the orange jade, of which examples are known in Europe, and the imperial jade, a gem beyond price, worthy of being ranked with the finest emerald when of a fine green, and which, of variegated green and white, produces an effect superior to the richest agates. Ancient authors likewise speak of — specimens of a citron yellow, deep blue, turquoise blue, and red. If it elias i i i Para ee eo 2 > ETHNOLOGY. 403 _ be, as the eminent English mineralogist, Kidd, supposes, that such varie. ties have really existed, their localities are exhausted or lost. As regards the orange jade, M. Jacquemart hesitates about recogniz- ‘ing it, and refers to a sale-catalogue, where a vase, supposed to be made of it, is stated to be an oriental sardonyx of an amber-yellow color. The old oriental travelers believed jade to be a variety either of ‘marble or of agate. Abel Remusat, in a curious dissertation, supposes the jade to be the celebrated stone Hasch, or the ancient jasper, which has been, in all ages, brought from the Himmalaya Mountains into Asiatic countries. Theophrastus, who was learned in minerals, unites "jasper and emerald under one species. Dionysius Periegetes describes it as a green transparent substance, comparing it with air and water for translucency, all of which is rather applicable to aqua-marine, although his commentator, Eustathius, calls attention to the word used by Dionysius. The pseudo Orpheus, of whom we have an apocryphal poem on precious stones, probably alluded to this kind of jasper when he speaks of it as the color of spring; which can bear no other interpre- tation than of a green tint. Finally, Dioscorides says positively that certain jaspers bear a resemblance to emeralds, others to a erystal, the Callais, which is a stone of a pale green or sea-green hue. Pliny, the naturalist, affirms that jasper is of the color of the emerald, and that it is worn as an amulet in all eastern countries. The separation of jade and jasper into different species is somewhat modern, as M. Clement Mullet judiciously remarks ; that it was effected only about 1647, when the third edition of Boetius was published, for it is seen in the treatise of Jean de Laet d’Anvers, concerning gems and stones, at the end of the volume, that jade is treated of as jasper. Now, however, the two minerals are regarded as entirely distinct. Jade is a silicate of alumina and lime, and jasper is a variety of quartz. The white variety, called oriental jade, is the hardest of all. It melts when in fragments without any flux, and is readily fused. Chemi- cal analysis presents the following composition : neem Se Fe ee ee ete ccc ews 58. 50 PEHOWERIAS ess. ke: Boe ee oo ete ee enae ons Cede eae 31. 00 nO ees eee ween wee 10. 00 EE PNP prr st Se eS ose tee cen een cen een eee 5. 50 nets eS OU SO On err ae 2.75 SUNT TMM EEEITIVG COtE 4) ae ee ee aka wee oe een he eee sem cine 5. 00 ah eye ee 2 AS RE a eA a 2. 00 The specific gravity of the principal varieties, according to M. Damour: MEM MPROTIE AL [AOC ache of unnin sie: - a: == win.9/nivie.< § Beis IE ee on NINN ea Sie aw insclate m 2 ye Yim'u nj 4/n, nition nn a eyeing athe = 3. 003 RR NN anno | = an 9 bigs sn ape 3. O17 i) Jadeite, grayish-white, and of pearly aspect..................- 3}. O44 mevadeite, bluish-gray variety....---.- -. see eevee cececesseuee 3. 336 Jadeite, emerald-green, or imperial jade........-..........---- 3.338 404 . JADE. One of the principal beds of this mineral, known in China by the — name of Yu, is found at Tai-Thong, in the province of Chenn-si. The larger part, however, comes from the city of Khotan, in the canton of Yarkande, of ancient Chinese Turkistan, and is brought from Tartary through Bokhara. In that country there are entire mountains composed of. it, and the purest pieces, precious for their beauty as for the fine- ness of grain, are found in the seams of the highest pinnacles. It is said that the mountain Mirdjai, in the principality of Khotan, is entirely formed of jade. The mineral presents itself in various localities, but. the finest specimens are obtained from the very summit; a workman, provided with the requisite tools, climbs the rocks, detaches small masses, which roll down to the base. It is impossible to explain the etymology of the word Yu. The only statement to be made with any confidence is that the word is of the highest antiquity. According to Abel Remusat, it is found in the LiKi, chapter phrengi, in that part of chi-king or book of verses entitled Ta-ya, and also in Yih-King, or book of transformations, at the definition of the hexagramme Ting. We close these remarks of the learned orientalist by saying that Chou-King, or Book of the Annals, indicated by the words" Ta-yu and Y-yu the rarer as well as the more common jades. The high prices brought by jades even in China has caused a kind of chalcedony to be much sought after, called by Bridgman, in his Chinese Chrestomathy, chalcedony-chrysoprase, and which the shrewd Canton merchants sell to foreigners for the true jade. There are two kinds ot — it. One, of a feeble green color, is called fi-tsoui-yo or fi-pi-yu, and is brought from Yunan. The price appreciates as the color is more lively and of a more chatoyant apple-green tint. The other variety is a deep clouded green, and is known by the name hi-lai-kao-yo or hi-le-tchao-yu. It is brought from Kansouh. From the earliest times the Chinese have attached a high value to jade. The Li-Ki, or Memorial of Rites, a canonical book in the Celestial Empire, in which the yu is compared to the subtile matter composing a rainbow concreted and fixed in the form of a stone, gives a proof of its venerable antiquity. The philosopher Koung-fou-tseu, (Confucius,) who lived five hundred years before our era, explained to one of his disciples why this stone, endowed with extraordinary qualities, possessed iu — ancient times the merit of being the subject of the meditations of sages and to be the symbol of virtue. One day the disciple Tze-kun inquired of his divine master, ‘‘ May I dare ask you why the sages esteem the jade, and hold in light reverence the stone huen? Is it because the jade is very rare and the other stone quite common?” Koung-fou-tseu replied, ** It is not because the mineral huen is abundant nor because the jade is scarce that the latter is valued, but because from all time the sages have compared virtue to jade. In their eyes the polish and brilliant hues of jade represent virtue and humanity. Its perfect compactness and extreme hardness indicate exactness of statement; its angles or i corners, which are not incisive, however sharp they seem, are emblem- atic of justice; the pearl-like jades, suspended from the hat or the gir- dle as if falling, sepresent ceremony and politeness; the pure sound which it emits when struck, and which suddenly stops, figures music ; as it is impossible for the ugly shades of color to obscure the handsome ones, or for the fine colors to cover up the poor ones, so loyalty is pre- figured; the cracks which exist in the interior of the stone, and can be seen from the outside, are figurative of sincerity; its iridescent luster, Similar to that of the rainbow, is symbolic of the permanent; its won- derful substance, extracted from mountains or from rivers, represents the earth ; when cut as knei or as chon, without other embellishment, it in- dicates virtue; and the high value attached to it by the whole world, without exception, is figurative of truth.” The Chi-King, or book of verses, Says in confirmation of these analogies, ‘‘ When I meditate on that wise man, his thoughts appear to me like the jade;” whence the value affixed by him to this gem. As we shail have occasion to notice, the Chinese are firmly convinced that jade possesses many physical properties, which, according to the Chou-wen of Hin-chin, may be reduced to these: The yu is a very hard Stone, unchangeable, sonorous, difficult to work, and possessing a soft luster. The author of Pe-hou-thong adds further that when dried at the fire it loses nothing of its weight, and is not any heavier by being moistened. For this unchanging quality it is that the sege was right in his estimate. Modern Chinese partake with their ancestors a passion for this gem, and their authors employ its name figuratively and for comparison when they wish to indicate anything white, fine, or perfect. ‘‘ When you ex- pire 1 am tempted to think that your soul is jade,” (i. e., white,) says the poet Kao-tchi-ti in a piece in which he celebrates apple-trees in blossom, a poetical composition which is reproduced in the Encyclopedia Youen- . Kien-loui-han, and quoted by the author of Yu-kiao-li, or the romance of the two cousins. We may likewise read in the Fen-loui-tseu-kin, ‘The cold penetrates your clothes of jade; you haveaskin of jade and bones of jade.” And again, Li-thai-pé, one of the greatest poets of the age of Thung, the seventh century before our era, to give an idea of the skill of some musicians whom he was celebrating, said they had flutes of gold and of jade, as was said by the Greeks, when speaking of an eloquent speaker, ‘he bas a mouth of gold,” Chrysostom being so called. ‘ How long does the possession of gold or jade abide with us?” likewise demands the same poet, in his song of regrets. ‘‘A hundred years at the farthest,” be an- swers sadly, “the limit of the longest hopes. To live and then to die, behold that is all that is vouchsafed to men. Regret has’come, regret has come.” The Memoirs of Chi-i, or Things Neglected or Omitted, comprise some moral sentiments relating to the stone of which we are speaking, ETHNOLOGY. 405 E ] A0G “ JADE. as sung by Tsi-koung : “ Pattern after shining virtue, be like jade, be like gold.” The author of the Chinese comedy entitled the Pledge of Love describes nectar as the liquor of jade. ‘ My brother,” speaking to his — hero Han-fei-king, “ speak to me no more of wine, for behold, when you — possess the liquor of jade, or any of those fruits which confer immortality on such as taste them, I shall not take it.” In another comedy, the Accomplished Waiting-woman, the pretty Fan-sou likewise makes a charming comparison, while walking in a park with her lady friend: “The willows wave their silky verdure, whose pearly streams loosen and fall down like a shower of stars in this limpid pool. They are beads of jade thrown into a crystal basin.” The Yu-kaio-li already quoted, a Chinese romance of the middle of the fifteenth century, uses the same comparison to prove that the conceited Sou-you resembles a rich man rather than a poet, ‘covered all over with gold and loaded with jade ;” literally encased with gold and en- veloped in jade, he seems tosay, look at my brilliant raiment. Although preceded and followed by many servants, there was nothing striking about him but his vestments. Finally, in chapter xix of another romance, the Choui-hout-chouen or History of the Banks of the River, a young musician is named Yo-lan, or “the jade chrysanthemum ;” and in the Pe-kouei-tchi, or History of the Sceptre of Jade, referring to an infant child named Hong ‘as that child has such beautiful eyes, the name should be given him of Mei-yu,” meaning as handsome as jade, which recalls a passage in the Mirror of the World, “The nature of yu is © like the comeliness of a young girl.” By the foregoing it is seen that nearly all the jade worked up in China comes from Khotan. This city is pointed out by the historians of the Central Kingdom by the name of Yu-thian, meaning the jade country, being a part of the ancient Turkistan, now called Alt Hissar or. Hexapolis, from the six principal cities observed there. We give here what is found relating to it in one of the numerous Notices of Khotan, appended to the history of the Chinese Dynasties. ‘ The source of the Yellow River is in the country of Yu-thian, and it is in the mountains of that country where there is the greatest quantity of yu. There is a river flowing out of it, which, on reaching Yu-thian, — separates into two branches, the most eastwardly of which is called the river of White Yu, that flowing to the west is called the river of the Green Yu, and the most westerly of all is named the river of Black Yu. © in all three of them this mineral is found, but the colors differ. The river to which the Chinese notice refers is Khotan, or Youroung- — khachi. Instead of parting into three branches, it is made up of three — separate rivers which have their origin in the Mouslagh Mountains, or — mountains of ice, on the north, a region rich in jade ;” hence the names ~ of white, green, and black jade, which the rivers bear to the present — time. Another notice asserts that the jade of Yu-thian is of five colors, — ETHNOLOGY. A07 ““ white, like lard, yellow, like chestnuts cooked in the steam of boiling water, black, like varnish, red, like a cock’s comb or painted lips;” but the green and transparent variety, more or less deep colored, is by far the most common. That of a whitish hue partakes of nine shades or grada- tions of color, from the finest to the commonest. During the years siou-an-no, the notice adds, there was at the palace a standard of compari- son for all the various tints and shades of jade to which all specimens were subjected when acquired for the emperor, just as now there is a standard for estimating the different degrees of purity in gold, and es- tablishing its value. This collection of notices is not the only work in which are found ac- counts of different colored jades. The Chi-kung, a book of verses, a collection of odes and songs dating previous to the sixth century before ourera, and arranged by Confucius, speaks of a celestial blue jade ; and according to Chi-tchin, who quotes from the Tai-phing-yu-Kian, there is found at Lant-hian a lamb-like jade, which is the color of pastel-blue, whence it appears that the country has received the name of Lan-thian, signifying the pastel country. The author also undertakes to describe the sources as follows: The white yu is found at Kiao-tcheon; the red yu in Fou-yu, a part of Corea; the green yu in the land of I-leon, or Eastern Tartary; the pale-green yu in Tai-tseou; the black yu in the western part of the land of Chou, toward Thibet. The Tcheox-li, when speaking of the coronet of the emperor, says, further, that a band around the upper part is composed of six colors, and twelve pendants complete. All of these pendants are composed of twelve pieces of jade of five colors. Finally the Li-Ki, or book of ceremonies, distinguishes jade as flesh-colored, yellow, white, red, cinnabar, and deep maroon; but, as the yu was a chief ornament of the imperial dress, and as it is to this occasion that the Li-Ki refers, we are led to infer that the word yu comprised other and different kinds of precious stones, since, at the present day, there are not found any specimens which correspond in color to those mentioned in this ancient canonical book. Now let us return to the jade mine.of Kho-tan. The Chinese have resorted to this city for their supplies of the mineral from very ancient times. The notices, quoted above, furnish sure proof of the antiquity of these beds. One of them, on the history of the dynasty of Soung, relates, in fact, that the embassadors of the King of Yu-thian sent, in the third year of Kian-te (965,) a tribute consisting of five hundred pieces of jade and five hundred pounds of yellow amber. The city of Yu-thian was moreover annually subjected to this impost levied by the Son of Heaven, as the author of the same notice declares that a year was never suffered to pass without the exaction and payment of this tribute. Finally, in the course of the years Tai-kouan, about 116770, the Chi- nese desiring to execute some embellishments, a large mass of jade was demanded of the King of Khotan. He sent an embassador with a letter, = 408 JADE. a copy of which is inserted in the anecdotes relating to Yu-thian, con- taining the following curious extract: ‘‘ May the high sovereign of all places over which the sun rises deign to cast his eyes on his five hundred western kingdoms. The He-Han (Lion) lord of five hundred kingdoms, several and combined, addresses himself to the venerable lord of ail places within sunrise—deign to look at the four quarters of the uni- verse. I, A-Kieou, prince of four parts of the world, from whom you have demanded a consignment of yu, I have applied myself to the very utmost to comply with your request, but it is very difficult to find pieces which have, as you desire, a tchi and a thsun in length, (=0.335 milli- meters.) I have ordered my officers to go upon the banks of the river to search for such a mass, and as soon as it is found I will hasten to offer it to you.” It was believed at first, remarks the author of whom we borrow these details, that this reply was merely evasive; but some time afterwards a mass of yu was in fact brought in which measured more than two tchi (0.610 millimeters). Its color was similar to lard, and in all antiquity nothing comparable to it had ever been seen. The life of Thai-tsou, which forms part of the same collection, more- over, mentions a globular mass of yu weighing 120 kilograms, and Father Cabot declares that he had seen at the Emperor’s palace an uncut piece of jade still more curious by reason of its extraordinary weight. ‘Tt looked,” says he, ‘as if one man might carry it, but on trial being made it resisted the attempts of four persons to remove it.” The treatise on yu informs me that there are two particular kinds of jade—one from the mountain and the other from the river. That from the mountain is ordinarily veined brown, and has somewhat the appear- ance of wood ; that of the river being veined blue, having more agree- able shades of color and being more wavy. The first is found mostly in China; at Khotan, however, it is from the rivers that the greater part of it is collected. The stream contributing most abundantly has been called the river of jade. We read in the narrative of Ping-kiu- hoci, who went on a mission to the kingdom of Yu-thian (Khotan,) that “the river of jade has its origin in the mountain Kouen-lun. After a course of one hundred and thirty leagues it reaches the frontiers of Yu-thian.” One of the notices of the city of Khotan, written under the dynasty of Thang, in 632 of our era, states that ‘‘ as soon as they see the locality at night, fully lighted up by the moon, the people plunge into the river to search for the fine pieces.” Another notice, anno 938, states that ‘‘ in the autumn of every year, when the river is at its lowest stage, the King goes out to seek for the mineral. After he is served the common people are permitted to collect it.” It is at Yarkand, near Khotan, that this jade-fishery now goes on, the proceeds being held at such a high value that a monopoly of it remains with the government. The fishery is carried on in the presence of offi- cers, accompanied by a detachment of soldiers. Twenty or thirty et iii ETHNOLOGY. 409 divers, forming a line, plunge together into the water, and when one of them discovers a piece of jade he throws it on shore. A drum is then beaten and a red mark is made on a piece of paper. The fishing over, ' the inspector examines all the pieces and assesses their value. Some masses reach as high as forty centimeters. The city of Yarkand sends every year to Khotan, whence it is dispatched to the court of Pekin, from four to six thousand kilograms of jade. In this amount is not in- cluded the cut and sculptured pieces, nowhere more skillfully executed than by the lapidaries of Akson, which is the actual capital of Chinese Tartary, by those of Kashgar, and also by those of Yarkand itself, the former capital, where working in jade engages the most hands. The variety of jade of which we have been speaking is what is called yu by the Chinese, and is designated by Leman as white oriental jade, being white, with a faint greenish or olive shade of color, and of which mineral deposits are known to exist in Japan and India. A very rare sort also is found in China, but not of first-rate value. We now speak of the emerald-green or imperial jade. Of the latter, exquisite speci- mens were to be seen at the Louirette sale, 1864, but it was almost en- tirely unknown prior to the French expedition to China. This hand- some stone was included in the collection of the Duke de Morny, form- ing the base of a fire-screen framed or mounted in bronze gilt. It was also seen worked up in spheres, rings, and many forms of jewelry. M. Edouard Fould possesses a large and handsonie vase of emerald-green jade, a piece not less remarkable for its size than the quality of the stone, (1869.) The pretended jades of Europe, America, and Oceania, which are sometimes called the jade of Saussure, and now receive the name of jadeite or nephrite, are only some inferior sorts of compact feldspar under which name Haiiy placed them. Among the latter which usurp the reputation of true jade, we may mention the dull-green jade. It is received from Sumatra, South America, and New Zealand. The natives pretend that they fish it up from their lakes, already fashioned into vases; that it is plastic like clay, be- coming on exposure to the air as hard as flint. They make of it vases, hatchets, casse-tétes, as well as statuettes. The name of jade ascien or axinien is derived from them. When it is of a leek-green color, which is really the shade which characterizes orthose-fteldspar or Amazon stone, it takes the name of nephritic jade or rather nephrite, because it was for a long time held as a specific in cases of nephritic colic. The latter variety of feldspar is widely diffused in Russia and Greenland. By reason of its imaginary benefits, and the marvelous cures performed by it, this kind of jade obtained celebrity in Europe. Plates of it were cut into fantastic shapes, representing animals, a heart, lozenge, &c. It was then suspended on the person and especially from the neck. Voiture, in one of his letters, addressed to Mademoiselle Paulet, states n that, in his time, persons afilicted with gravel had also recourse to these 410 JADE. bracelets. ‘Ifthe stones which you have presented to me cannot break those which trouble me, they will at least enable me to bear the pain with patience; and since it has procured me this happiness, I should never complain of it.” He proceeds to say that these stones will searcely fail to become a scandal to her, for when he opened the letter containing them before one of his friends, he blushed as scarlet as the ribbon on which they were strung, thus compromising the donor. “ But having read your letter over, I soon saw that what appeared to be a love token was aremedy, and that the bracelet was not sent to a suitor, but to a sick man.” It isnot our purpose here to hold up to ridicule the virtue ascribed formerly to gems worn as amulets. The white jades originating in Europe come from Turkey, Poland, and sometimes Switzerland, It isemployed in making the handles for dag- gers and sabers. If we are to believe Arlak-hel, of Tauriz, author of a small treatise on precious stones, written in common Armenian, of all kinds of jade that which is veined is but little sought after except by the Turks, who prefer it to others. Millin mentions some hatchets of compact feldspar found in the graves of ancient Gauls; these are of the same nature as the ornaments of jadeite of the stone age exhibited at the Museé de Saint Germain, and of which examples have been discovered by M. l’Abbe Cochet, in the Merovingian tombs of Normandy. Referring again to the true or oriental jade, we have said that it pos- sesses extreme hardness; in fact, the mineral scratches glass and even quartz. The Chinese and other orientals work it from choice, and with a delight at overcoming difficulties, which would make us doubt its hardness, if against this incredulity we did not set over the traditional patience of the Asiatic workmen. It is unnecessary to employ diamond- powder in these works, since emery-powder is quite equal to cutting it into any required shape. The ancients valued this stone highly, but in the middle ages it does not seem to be referred to, all knowledge of it being probably lost. It would seem never to have been worked more extensively than in our time, since finished articles come to us frequently from India and China. Haiiy, the mineralogist, relates that the In- dians are skillful in the art of cutting jade, and expresses his wonder at the lightness and delicacy of sculpture which they elaborate from so hard a material, and what may be compared with works executed in alabaster or other less resisting material. It is declared in the Notices of Khotan “that the yu is very hard to cut, and that neither steel nor fire make any impression upon it.” The Abbé Grosier, in his remarkable work on China, also afiirms that the tenacity of fine sorts of jade is so great that the same processes are used in cutting and polishing it as for agate and precious stones. The harder the stone is to cut the more lustrous will be the polish it receives. As thousands of days do not suffice to finish certain pieces of work, the artists of the emperor follow each other in succession in the palace | | ETHNOLOGY. 41] workshops, and, although operating day and night, still nine and ten years are sometimes consumed on one piece. The expense of executing such works, joined to the original cost of the material, enhances the cost of fine works’in jade to an enormous sum. And besides, this stone, so costly, if it be a little thin, will break like glass if let fall to the ground. Some mineralogists are of the opinion that the Chinese and Indians work the’ jade into shape before it becomes permanently hard; that is to say, when it is brought fresh from the quarry; and further declare that it is their custom to subject it to a suitable degree of heat after the work is finished, by which it is made still harder. This assertion ap- pears to be very questionable, especially as it is in direct opposition to the authors whom we have quoted, who wrote from what they saw with their own eyes, and constitute now the best authority on the subject. This error appears to have been propagated by a passage in Hoai-nau- tseu, a Chinese historian of the eleventh century before our era, which has been misunderstood or badly interpreted, in which that writer re- lates that the yu of the mountain of Tchong was heated in a lime-kiln for three days and three nights without any alteration in its color or luster being observed. This does not assert, however, that the Chinese lapi- daries submit to the operation of fire all the works which leave their hands. This author only seeks to show, by the trial named, that the yu is unalterable by heat or moisture. Besides, the methods employed in India to cut this refractory mineral is strong evidence in favor of our opinion. “At the Exposition of 1854,” (London,) says Baron Charles Dupin, when reporting on this exhibition, “‘ the perfection of the work as well as the designs, which the stones cut at Lahore presented, were highly admired.” They were executed by a method of which we give a descrip- tion, obtained from Mr. Summer, resident at Cambay. The rough gem is fixed upon the steel axis of a lathe and cut away until its form ap- proaches that of a sphere; itis then polished by means of a composition of gum lac and corundum. (Granular corundum is the next hardest mineral after the diamond; emery, which the ancients called smyrris, from the Hebrew word smir, being a variety of it. It is found in Ben- gal, Ceylon, and especially in China, where its use as an abrading ma- terial dates back to the earliest times. It is the mineral used in polish- ing the diamond.) Cups or vases or other art objects are worked out according to fixed designs by means of the lathe. The first polish is obtained by friction with common polishing-stones. The concave part is fashioned by the help of a pointed tool armed with a diamond, which _ perforates to the depth of 6 millimeters over the whole surface, so as to present the appearance of a honeycombed structure. These innumer- able circular holes are afterward broken into one and the surface leveled. This process is repeated for the purpose of deepening the cavity, 6 milli- meters at a time, until the desired shape of the interior of the cup is 412 JADE. gained. The final poiish is given by a revolving mold, which fits the interior cavity, these molds having the same composition as the polish- ing plates commonly used with a lathe. At the Exposition of 1851, we beheld fine antique cups of crystal, of jade, and of agate sent from La- hore. The surfaces of some were plain, without any ornament. We can imagine that these cups, of making which the exact process is un- known, have been cut and polished after the method we have described as practiced at Cambay. Other cups and vases from Lahore were en- graved with skill, and some of them were encrusted with precious stones. Let us devote a few sentences to the numerous objects of art and vertu executed in jade by the Chinese from the earliest times. If we open the Chi-King, it will be seen that the princes and high mandarins, before the sixth century of our era, wore rich girdles, to the ends of which were attached precious stones. In ancient times, when a man of distinction wished to receive his friends in an honorable manner, his first care was to provide them with pendants of precious stones to dec- orate their girdles. Thus a wife says to her husband, ‘“ Offer precious stones to thy friends when they come. They will wear them hanging from their girdle. Salute thy friends by offering presents to them.” The prince Tcheou Koung, author of the Tchou-li, or the Fixed Eti- — quette of Tcheou, says, likewise, in his sixth book, that the officer who presided over the jade-magazine was charged with preserving the jades belonging to the imperial vestments ; and the jades of the imperial gir- dle refers, according to a commentator, to twelve bits of jade which dec- crate the imperial cap, and also, according to Licou-yng, the plume of the bonnet, and other precious stones. The jade of the girdle, after another commentator, indicates a piece of white jade attached to a silk girdle worn by the emperor. These jewels, it seems to be certain, were no other than jades or yu. Ouang-po, a poet of the seventh century of our era, speaks of them in these terms: ‘‘At the girdle of the king were dancing beautiful gems of jade.” At this time also the color, form, and dimensions of these “gems varied according to the rank of the person who wore them. La-thai-pe, a poet of the eighth century, informs us how the workmen of his time were skilled in making every description of jewels in jade. We can judge by the following verses, which he puts in the mouth of a wife: “‘ These swallows of jade, the ornaments of my hair, were worn on ° my head on the day of our marriage. I offer them to you now as a souvenir. Do not fail to wipe them softly with your silken sleeve.” The most ancient objects of art executed in jade are perhaps the in- struments of music called king’s or sonorous stones, guitars, and dif- ferent forms of flute. They have even cut the jade into bells. ‘We have seen,” says P. Amyot, ‘‘in the palace of the reigning emperor a guitar of nearly three feet and of a fine green tint.” According to Tcheou-li, these musical stones were much in use during the dynasty of Tcheou, which was twelve centuries before our era. We may consult - She ETHNOLOGY. 413 - in this respect the above-named treatise of P. Amyot, the pilates of which represent many very ancient musical stones, sculptured in per- fection, and bearing rings cut out of the same chief mass. The Chinese comedy, entitled ‘‘The Accomplished Soubrette,” informs us that the sonorous stones serve likewise as abydraulic clock. ‘Observe that the drop of water falls on the clepsydra of sonorous jade,” as Fan- son says to Pe-min-tchong. In the first chapter of Choui-hou-tchouen, or History of the Banks of the River, a comic romance exceedingly relished in China, a Cescription is given of a feast given by Siao-wang, governor of the imperial palace, to the Prince Touan. That description is, in many respects, very curi- - ous, and shows to what extent objects of art sculptured in jade were sought for in the twelfth century of our era. At the second course it is related “that the Prince Touan, rising from the table by chance, passed into the library, where he saw, on the bureau of the governor, a paper-weight, representing two small jade lions, most admirably sculp- ‘tured. As works of art, in fact, these works were perfect both in the polish and design. The Prince Touan, who had taken up these two small lions to examine them with care, and could not relinquish them, hold- ing them in his hands, he fell into an ecstasy whilst contemplating them, and exclaimed without ceasing, ‘‘ It is a master-piece ; most wonderful.” “I have, besides, a crayon-holder,” says the governor, having noticed that the prince took such pleasure in looking at his paper-weights, “it is in jade, and represents a dragon, and the same artist sculptured it.” If we are to credit Father Mailla, all these details are of high historic fidelity. Tchao-ki, Prince of Touan, who became emperor under the title of Hoei-tsong, is represented as a prince naturally curious and a lover of rare works well executed. A trifle of this kind held his atten- tion for whole days. The courtiers, who had observed this weakness in their monarch, searched through the country for the most interesting paintings, the most curious cut stones, and the rarest mechanical works, to offer them to the emperor. It is principally in the execution of vases of jade that the skill of Chinese artists shines forth. The quantity of them to be met with is immense, from flasks, in which they keep snuff, to drinking-cups and incense-burners, all showing to what perfection the art of cutting, sculp- turing, and polishing hard stones in China has attained. Among the drinking-cups we-would mention principally the kia, vases made of precious stone for containing wine. A cup of this kind of the period of Tcheou, 1122 B. C., was made known to the world, dur- ing the last century, by the Emperor Khien-loung, and is described in his “Ancient China,” by M. G. Pauthier. The poet Tsiu-tsan seems to allade to this class of cups when he says, in his “Improvisation before the Flowers,” “the perfume of these poor flowers penetrates into the cups of jade and is embalmed in the wine of autumn.” With those may also be ranked the vessels or dishes for service at 414 JADE. festivals, and which are shaped so as to receive the meats. There is mention made of these vessels in ‘The Two Educated Girls,” where the author of this pretty romance gives a description of an imperial ban- quet: ““At the end of some instants the music of the dragon and the phoenix is heard, and at once is served in vases of jade the most refined ineats.” Some of these vessels are of very large dimensions. A poem of Pei-y-tchi, entitled ‘‘ The Measures of Jade,” makes mention of two vases, broken by Fan-tseng, each of which would contain a teou, that is to say, large enough to contain one million two hundred thousand grains of millet, which is a capacity certainly very uncommon. Pei-y-tchi thus expresses his indignation: ‘In his time no good counsel was listened to; what apology did Fan-tseng make for these great vessels of jade ? His brilliant polished blade leaped from its seabbard pure as water, brilliant as an icicle, and the transparent pieces of the pre- cious stone flew round like flashes of light.” To conclude our statements as to the rare skill of the orientals in the difficult art of working in jade, we quote a passage from the Notices of Khotan: “In the first year Kian-tchong of the reign of Te-tsoung, (780,) one of the officers of the palace, named Tehou-jou-yu, was sent into the country of Yu-thian to seek for the stone yu. He succeeded in obtaining a tablet, five clasps, a magnetic ear-ornament, three hundred small pieces for girdles, forty hair-pins or skewers, thirty boxes, ten bracelets, three rods, and a hundred pounds of uncut masses.” He loaded this precious freight on camels and returned; but, being de- ceived by false information, he took the wrong road, and was plun- dered by Hoei-he. comparatively recent times by a- different race for burial purposes. Unfortunately no crania (except some small fragments) were found, — which might have been of assistance in determining this question ; and my limited time did not permit me to make any excavations. ' 12. 8. EH. 4 sec. 17, T. 5, R. 6 W.—Following the course of the Mis- Sissippi about a quarter of a mile southeast of the preceding locality, numerous long mounds were seen arranged in several rows parallel to each other and to the river. They are situated in the cultivated fields pone iy, . pe ey amy ny) “” “ron ss pw NANNY iy, WOHK0K0 | OO pia My uinyy h = " Mam " writ Mmmm rnp oat = z Wi\ ek “ mm e 4 \ mommy “iy, 4) ynooenut Meggitt, Y % Uy “iy iy, My, 100 Feet. 900 t BUD 700 cio 500 DraGramM II. aH, nes nas ak =. anes fit a a Ae aay ao oa a ite GG a ie Stat eo Poe ne ee + Chal oe 6 Wnts 345 3s DIAGRAM III. 4 , i, Roe ETHNOLOGY. 431 and are nearly obliterated. At the time these localities were visited the valley was covered by a crop of standing corn, which rendered it difficult to find them, and it is probable that many exist which were not noticed. No circular or effigy mounds were found in connection with them. 13. S: E. 4 sec. 21, T. 5, R. 6 W.—Continuing down the valley we come to a group in which the three kinds of mounds are well repre- sented. They lie upon the alluvial bottom, quite near a bayou of the Mississippi, and none of them are more than 8 feet above high-water mark, while those in the southern part of the group are not more than 3 feet. In this group, where all kinds are represented, there seems to be a separation of the long and round mounds from each other. There is nothing of peculiar interest in the occurrence of the long and circular mounds, but we have here two quite singular effigies. The central one of the group is evidently intended to represent a bird with the wings spread, in the act of flying; the head is directed to the south. The wings measure 94 feet each way, from the center of the body to their extremities, and the length of the tail is 65 feet. It is quite a large and well-formed effigy, and is different from the other bird mounds in having an angle in the wings. Situated at the northern end of the group is the most interesting effigy-mound anywhere observed. A description of it by Mr. Warner, of Patch Grove, was published in the Smithsonian report of 1572, page 416. It is known as the ‘“ Elephant Mound, ” and as it lies upon the ground it resembles an elephant or mastodon much more closely than any other animal, and the resemblance is much more perfect in this in- stance than in other effigies. This mound, in common with all the rest in the group, has been under cultivation; and on account of its size special efforts have been made with plows and scrapers to bring it to the level of the adjacent field. Its size alone has protected it. These efforts have resulted in diminishing its height, increasing its width and general circumference, and rendering its outline somewhat indistinct, ’ go that it was difficult to make exact measurements. 14. N. E. 4 sec. 17, T. 3, R. 5 W.—A short distance below Cassville, near the bank of the Mississippi, are three animal mounds. Several long mounds were seen in the vicinity but no circular ones. One of them is probably intended to represent some kind of a lizard or saurian, another is a bird with extended wings, and the third is uncertain, but, in common with the first, is remarkable for having a round head, a pecu- liarity not observed in any other effigies. The first-mentioned is a large and symmetrical mound, and is the only one of the kind observed. The mounds are very well defined, and are some of the best-preserved ef- figies seen. 15. S. 4 sec. 30, N. E. 4, sec. 31, N. W. 4, sec. 32, T. 3, R. 4 W.—This is a long, high ridge, having its general direction a little south of east. Upon it is the most extensive representation and fullest development 432 PRE-HISTORIC MOUNDS OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN. " of the mound system anywhere observed. Circular, straight, and effigy mounds extend along the crest of this ridge for a distance of nearly | two miles in uninterrupted succession. The mounds are so extensive — and numerous that my time did not admit of making even the most general survey of any but the effigies. One of them is a perfectly sym- metrical cross, the opposite parts corresponding exactly in length. It is difficult to conceive what its object could have been, or of what it is symbolical. Another, from its long tail, slender body, and small head, may have been designed to represent some one of the feline species. A third and fourth exhibit quite a remarkable formation in the extremities of the limbs. Civilization has not as yet encroached on this locality, except to a slight extent at the eastern end, which is beginning to be cultivated. Most of the earthworks are doubtless in the condition in which they were left at the time of their desertion by their builders. It is probable that in a few years all the land will be under cultivation, and the mounds oblit- erated. Perhaps a few dollars would be judiciously appropriated in making these grounds—burial grounds, perhaps—the property of some scientific society, and thus preserve them from further destruction. From observations of the mounds at all the foregoing localities, we arrive at the following conclusions in regard to their distribution : 1. The circular mounds are frequently found in one locality and the long mounds in another; or if both kinds are found in the same group they are usually separated. 2. When the number of mounds does not exceed five or six, they are usually of the same kind. 3. The effigy mounds are never found unaccompanied by either long or circular mounds, and are usually attended by both. 4. All the mounds appear to have been made by scraping up the sur- face soil; either from the ground immediately adjacent or from a neigh- boring hill. In no place was any appearance of excavation seen. 5. During the Champlain period the valley of the Mississippi under- went a depression of at least 50 feet, during which period it was filled with a stratified drift, of which occasional patches still remain along the sides of the bluffs. To this there succeeded a period of elevation, in which most of the valley drift was removed. The situation of some of the mounds so near the present high-water mark shows that they were not built until after the completion of the last elevatory movement, which probably took place within the recent period. The mounds themselves reveal that order and government must have prevailed to some extent among the race which built them, but afford no clew to the time in which they lived. ETHNOLOGY. 433 DEPOSITS OF FLINT IMPLEMENTS. By J. F. Snyper, M. D., of Virginia, Cass County, [linois. The custom of concealing in the ground surplas articles of food, ap- parel, weapons, &c., for temporary safe-keeping, is common to all no- madic tribes. On this continent it was Seed by the pre-historic races, was in vogue among the Indians first observed by Europeans, and is still the method by which the hunter-tribes of our western ter- ritories preserve such property or stores as cannot be readily transported in their hunting expeditions or are not wanted for immediate use. The anonymous Portuguese chronicler of De Soto’s expedition to the Missis- Sippi makes mention of this custom prevailing among the Indians of that day ; and we read. in Strachey,* “ Their corne, and (indeed) thire copper, hatchetts, howses, beades, perle, and most things with them of value, according to their owne estymacion, they hide, one from the knowledge of another, in the grownd within the woods, and so keepe them all the yeare, or untill they have fitt use for them, as the Romains did their monais and treasure in certain cellars, called, therefore, as Plinye remembers, favissoe ; and when they take them forth they scarce make their women privie to the storehouse.” The early French ‘‘voyageurs” and traders among the Indians soon learned from them the advantages and security of this sort of store- house, and frequently had recourse to it, and cached provisions, am- munition, or other stores too cumbersome to carry along with them, or which they intended to secure from beasts and Indians, as reserves for future use. Many of their deposits were never recovered. In some in- stances they were forgotten; in others, the persons making the cache returned by some other and remote route; and in some cases they so ef- fectually obliterated all external signs of Gupte subterranean storehouse that they were unable to find it again. The same ideas and the same mishaps occurred to the ancient occu- pants of our country. The same necessities in life are apt to suggest to the human mind in all localities, in similar circumstances, identical or analogous modes of relief. The motive of the aborigines for hiding in the ground stores of weapons, implements, and utensils is plainly discernible in a large majority of their ancient deposits. It was sim- ply the safe-keeping of the property for future use. ‘The ground was their only liable repository. The builders of the mounds frequently stored in the earth many perishable articles of which we now find but slight traces or none at all, there remaining, in these primitive store- houses, such objects alone as were wrought from more durable mate- rials. Of this class of deposits—the ordinary ancient cache—I will give * The Historie of Travaile into Virginia, Britannia ; by William Strachey, printed for the Hakluyt Society. s 28 434 DEPOSITS OF FLINT IMPLEMENTS. a few instances before referring to certain extraordinary deposits of rare and peculiar flints. A few vears ago, at Bluff City, in Schuyler County, Illinois, some hogs confined ina pen, at the foot of the bluffs, rooted out of the ground a deposit of sixteen stone axes or celts, all of which bore marks of con- siderable use. They were made of hard, compact diorite, and varied in size from 6 to 16 inches in length and from 2 to 7 inches in width. Considering the probable uses to which these tools had been applied, and the location of the deposit, in a spur of the bluff near the (Illinois) river, it was plain that here, in ages past, a canoe had been constructed. The work completed, the tools were cached at the foot of the bluff, until they should again be needed for similar work. The finest Indian mound in the State of Illinois is situated three ' miles northeast of the town of Lebanon, in Saint Clair County, not far from the western border of Looking- oie, prairie. In shapeit is a trun- cated pyramid, or rather a parallelogram, measuring at its base 400 feet in length and 250 feet in width, and rises in perfect proportions to the height of 50 feet. The angles are still sharp and well defined, and the top level, comprising (approximately) an area of 80 by 150 feet, which doubtless served as the base of some elaborate wooden structure. In the summer of 1843 the proprietor of the land, Mr. Baldwin, in sinking a well near one corner of the mound, found, a few feet below the surface, packed closely together, eighteen large flint spades. These implements were broad flat pieces of white or grayish-white flint, measuring, the smallest 9 inches in length by 5 inches in width; the largest, 15 inches by 7. They are nearly an inch in thickness in the middle, neatly chipped to an edge all around, flat on one side and slightly convex on the other. One end of each flint is broader than the other, and the broad end is symmetrically ronnded, and polished as smooth as glass by long-continued use in sandy soil. The narrow end is rough and not so neatly finished, showing no marks of wear, and was in all probability, when the implement was in use, fastened in some sort of handle. It cannot be doubted that these flints were in part the tools used in making the mound ; and when the great work was finished, they were stored away in the ground until again needed. Prof. Charles Rau, in the Smithsonian Annual Report for the year 1868, (pp. 401-403,) gives an interesting account of a deposit of agricultural flint implements and other objects found in the grading of a street in East Saint Louis, Saint Clair County, Illinois. The speci- mens from that deposit, as stated by Professor Rau, show no marks of wear, and were probably never used, but constituted the stock in trade of some enterprising artisan or trader who utilized the sand-bank for a warehouse and place of safety for his merchandise. The same author, jn the Smithsonian Annual Report for 1872, (pp. 402-403,) describes a deposit of hornstone disks, almost circular in shape, which were found in the southeastern portion of the same county, in the summer of 1869. q ‘ “ ¥ é 3 , gh it a a ih i ETHNOLOGY. 435 They were buried near the bank of a small ravine, within a few miles of the Kaskaskia River; and, from the wear and hard service of which they bear signs, it is inferred that they constituted a “kit of tools” cached until further needed. The author of ‘Antiquities of the Southern Indians” informed me that he has frequently found these disks also about old Indian eamping- grounds, along the water-courses of Georgia. Consequently they must have been tools in common use by tribes inhabiting a wide range of ter- ritory. The deposit briefly noticed, on the authority of Dr. P. R. Hoy, in Lapham’s “Antiquities of Wisconsin,”* consisted of about forty disks, searcely differing in any respect from those last mentioned, and exhibit- ing the same unmistakable indications of hard usage. One of these flints from a peat-bog near Racine, Wis., was given to me by Dr. Hoy, who told me that the specimen, though equal in size to any of the forty others found with it, was different in shape from the rest, having one end broader, while all the other specimens were nearly round or oval. Mr. John P. Jones, of Keytesville, Chariton County, Missouri, com- municated to me some particulars of three deposits of flint implements which at various periods of time were brought to light in the neighbor- hood of his home. The first was a store of spear-heads and arrow- points, several hundreds in number, which he was too late to secure or satisfactorily examine. The weapons were all new, a fact conclusive that here had been the arsenal of a tribe, or the secreted stock in trade of another primitive American merchant. Better fortune attended Mr. Jones in the discovery of a second deposit, consisting of seventeen new flint knives, as the greater number of them fell into his possession. A third deposit, described by Mr. Jones, was discovered in the valley or “second bottom” of the Chariton River, and contained about fifty small, flat, ovoid, pointed flints. They had been stuck into the ground, point down, in concentric circles, and were then covered with earth, forming over them a low, flat mound 12 or 18 inches in height by 5 or 6 feet in diameter. These implements had been in use for a long time before receiving their final interment. Some were gapped on the edges, and all were to a certain extent polished. The deposits of stone implements in the ground, to which I have re- ferred, are but a few representative instances of the kind from a great number discovered in all parts of the United States. In the cases I have cited, the intention of the person making the deposit is at once apparent. The property was placed in the ground to hide and thereby to secure it. Those implements found which bear the marks of use are such as were not at the time needed, and were hidden away until again wanted, or for safe-keeping during the temporary absence of the owner. The new or unused articles, it is presumable, were the stores of traders ee pee * Published by the Smithsonian Institution. 1855. Pp. 8 and 10. 436 DEPOSITS OF FLINT IMPLEMENTS. or manufacturers who deposited their wares in the ground to conceal them until they could dispose of them to advantage. In the “Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley” is mentioned a strange class of deposits of stone implements and other objects, differ- ing in the motive of interment from the simple caches which I have de- scribed. The interest of that valuable work culminates in the chapter devoted to “sacrificial mounds,” the arrangement and contents of which exhibit the plane of religious thought attained by the mound- builders. The “altars” of burnt clay; the votive offerings, through fire, of their choicest works in stone, copper, mica, and shell, doubtless to- gether with many articles of less durable materials which were con- sumed by the intense heat; the cremation of human bodies; the heaping: of earth upon the glowing mass; and the introduction of strata of sand in the enveloping tumulus, with the outward covering of coarse gravel, together constitute a record wonderful and unparalleled. Certainly the most plausible solution of this interesting problem rests in the view ascribing the origin of this class of monuments to ideas of propitiation or devotional fanaticism. In either case we feel tolerably certain of the fact that the inclosures of the so-called sacrificial mounds were intended by their constructors to be final. We have here no stores of hidden goods to be withdrawn at pleasure, for use or traffic, but a deposit of objects made in accordance with some superstitious rite or religious no- tion, and designed to remain there undisturbed to the end of time. Associated with the sacred mounds which covered the burnt offerings, and in the same inclosure, Squier and Davis, (page 158, lL. ¢.) describe one which contained no burnt altar, but in the place of it a great num- ber of curiously-wrought disks of black flint, which appeared to have been buried without the accompaniment of fire, but with the same pre- cision, and covered by the same strata of sand and outward layer of gravel as were the clay altars of the other mounds with their treasures of polished implements, utensils, and ornaments. The account given by Mr. Squier of this deposit, on page 158, ““ Ancient Monuments,” &c., is as follows: ‘ Another singular mound, of somewhat anomalous charac- ter, of which a section is herewith given, occurred in the same inclosure with the above. It is remarkable as being very broad and flat, meas- uring at least 80 feet in diameter by 6 or 7 in height. It has two sand strata, but instead of an altar there are two layers of disks chipped out of hornstone, some nearly round, others in the form of spear-heads. They are of various sizes, but are for the most part about 6 inches long by 4 wide, and three-quarters of an inch or an inch in thickness. They are placed side by side, a little inclining, and one layer resting imme- diately on the other. Out of an excavation 6 feet long by 4 wide not far from six hundred were thrown. The deposit extends beyond the limits of the excavation on every side. Supposing it to be 12 feet square, (and it may be 20 or 30,) we have not far from four thousand of these disks deposited here. If they were thus placed as an offering, we ee ws _ ETHNOLOGY. 437 can form some estimate, in view of the fact that they must have been brought from a great distance and fashioned with great toil, of the devotional fervor which induced the sacrifice, or the magnitude of the calamity which that sacrifice was perhaps intended to avert. The fact that this description of stone chips most easily when newly quarried, has induced the suggestion that the disks were deposited here for the purpose of protecting them from the hardening influences of the atmos- | phere, and were intended to be withdrawn and manufactured as occa- sion warranted or necessity required. It is incredible, however, that so much care should be taken to fashion the mound and introduce the mysterious sand strata, if it was designed to be disturbed at any subse- quent period. There is little doubt that the deposit was final, and was made in compliance with some religious requirement. An excavation below these layers discovered traces of fire, but too slight to be worthy of more than a passing notice.” It may be here noted that the disks in this deposit had never been used. In the year 1860 a similar deposit of hornstone disks was discovered in this vicinity, in the town of Frederickville, in Schuyler County, on the west side of the Illinois River. This locality was a favorite abiding- place of the Indians, and the center of a dense population. Relies of their works are still found in abundance throughout this region. A small ravine near the foot of a bluff, one day, after a heavy rain, caved in on one side, and the displacement of a large quantity of earth in con- sequence exposed to view a few strange-looking flints. They had been buried about 5 feet below the surface of the hillside, laid together on edge, side by side in long rows, forming a single layer of unknown ex- tent. The discovery of such novel objects attracted some of the villa- gers to the place, who dug out about thirty-five hundred of the unique implements, and, their curiosity satisfied, abandoned the work without reaching the limits of the deposit. from diligent inquiries of persons who were present at the time, I learned that the flints had apparently been placed in an excavation made for the purpose at a point of the bluff above the highest water-level, and about two hundred yards from the river-bank. No traces of fire above or below were seen, and no pe- culiar arrangement of the superincumbent earth was noticed, nor was any mound or other mark of any kind discernible over or about the place to designate their hiding-place. It was several years after this occurrence when, in 1871, I first heard of it. Several visits to the place were rewarded with but a few badly mutilated specimens of the disks which I obtained from the citizens; the rest of the large number had disappeared. At length I found in the possession of Mrs. Charles Far- well (whose husband owns the premises where the deposit was found) ten of the flints, two of which she kindly gave me. The stone of which these disks are made is a dark, glossy hornstone, undistinguishable from the disks of the sacrificial mound in Ohio, and, like that deposit, these Frederickville flints had been buried without having been used. 438 DEPOSITS OF FLINT IMPLEMENTS. On the eastern bank of the Illinois, below the confluence of the Sangamon River, and four miles below Frederickville, is the city of Beardstown, in Cass County. Immediately on the bank of the river at this place can yet be seen the remnant of a large mound of artificial construction, which formerly rose 30 feet or more above the level of the surrounding country, and afforded from its summit an uninterrupted view for miles up and down the river. This fine monument has succumbed to the progress of modern civilization, and almost entirely disappeared: In the summer of 1872, I received intelligence that a deposit of the same sort of flints had been found at Beardstown. In excavating a cellar fora new building on Main street, the laborers had reached the depth of 4 feet, when they struck the flints, and soon threw them all out, about a thou- sand in number, alarge portion of which I secured. The disposition of the flints in this deposit was different from that in the Ohio mound, and that of the Frederickville deposit also. These were imbedded in the bank of the river, above the reach of highest water, and about 300 yards up the bank of the stream from the large mound. An excava- tion about 5 feet deep had been made through the sand to the drift-clay, and, instead of being placed on edge, as in the two other deposits, a layer of the disks had been placed flat on the clay, with points up stream, and overlapping each other as shingles are arranged on a roof. Over the first layer of flints was a stratum of clay 2 inches in thickness ; then another layer of flints was arranged as the first, over which was spread another 2-inch stratum of clay, and so on, until the deposit comprised five series or layers of flints, when the whole was covered with sand. The area occupied by these buried flints was an ovoid, corresponding in outline with one of the implements, and measured in length about 6 feet, and in width 4 feet. But the apex, estimated to be one-third of the area, was cut off by the cellar-wall of the store-house which been erected there twenty years previously to this date. On inquiry I learned from an old citizen who was present when the cellar was dug, that the deposit of flints was then discovered, and about five hundred of them were thrown out; and that the discovery at that time attracted but little attention, “for,” he remarked, “Indian flints and stone axes were as common here then as brick-bats are now.” No traces of fire were visible, nor had there been within the recollection of the old- est settler of the place any mound or other external object to mark the place of deposit. The flints from this lot are identical in material, color, style of execution, and general outline and dimensions with those I have seen from the deposits at Frederickville and Clark’s Work in Ohio. None of these bore any marks of wear or use. «ta -0s< Sosa nlan ie selecninaia soos cae ces aces on eee wanimacl-shaped stone stool . 22. 2sciica2% Sec st Sled soce a elcbite ee : PmUIppetaviowsOl Biv -elaeie 8 55 57 kt ee teluc eee see tee Seweranee . Wooden stool, from a cave in Turk’s and Caicos Islands....-.....-. . Wooden stool, from a cave in Turk’s and Caicos Islands.........--. pGLaviawLol Hic 24 nestored = 4-'-2 --)-an= = see ssoaelan nacnian oseelae j. Ornament in relief on the upper part of Fig. 23-.....---.---.------ SBE AC -OFnamMenul Oly igi O4 bo so socio eien oe ela email a en) aie aren alate . Scrolled ornament in relief of Fig. 24 -.-...........---.----------- Peiisk-ahaned carved Stone -..°...-.:- one scc~e caer ve~s caus chee onem sane =s ae GLhGd my Oatl epee! oa") Hala Lot whos tanl an aia ahe ice a eel elmer o eee Pein 7 AT -SD Apes AMUMLOb a..~ eee om ables a elec eam owe oad eee alee Pe Anivalet Of iar Dla ne. 2 sq soso ee ena a eiac ce mam mobil ae aioe RP ANE TEN peer es She lata ote tela aaneele aim ea a meee a etre err see . Amulet of greenish stone .....-.------.---------------++-+-+------- . Mammiform stone, with human face ......-.-.-.------------.----- . Mammiform stone, with the head of a sea-bird .....----.---.------ . Mammiform stone, upper view, warped ..----------.-------------- . Mammiform stone, front view --------------+-----------------++-- . Mammiform stone, upper view -...------------------ --------+----- . Mammiform stone, quarter view ..---..----.------------------+---- . Mammiform stone, with owl-shaped head -.-.---..----------------- 2. Highly polished mammiform stone -..------------ ----------+------ . Mammiform stone, with frog-like ornament --.--..------------------ . Mammiform stone, with alligator head -.....----. .---- ee ees 475 WJ We oo 02 02 09 OF US S329059 529 8 Ww WwW WwW W w ww TWwWwwn ne co ~ e w 373 373 ote 374 o74 o74 374 374 i) ~ N Co “97 YQ a NW IA anand mS © Ce CoO 2 to ~ , 2 eo ~~ = Os 378 378 378 378 378 378 380 380 380 380 380 383 383 383 383 383 476 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. THE LATIMER COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES—Continued. Fig. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49, 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. . Right-shouldered slender collar . Left panel of a right-shouldered slender collar, with its ornaments - - . Right panel of a left-shou)dered slender collar .-.......-.-.----- . Supposed boss of a slender collar . A left-shouldered slender collar, showing the oskinesnaine the Head of a mammiform stone, upper view Foot of a mammiform stone, upper view Profleyot asmammiform mask 7-5-essee + eee eee eee eeeee eo eee Mask, with projections for attachment -------.-.--- Platiukite-shaped maskcoss-)-wec ae cee So asan cetera Pees oe ee Unfinished.colllar. ..25. sc cs Soe eee Ree: seen eeerrcen eee Right-shouldered massive polis Se SS cA see nse eee Se ee cto eee Gourd-shaped panel of a massive collar, with its ornament - -. - Right-shouldered slender collar-2.2. .3----) ee ste sesh ee neces eee Left panel, panel or ornament, panel-border, and boss of a right- shouldered slender collar -. -- i eee ee eee we ee et nw ee we ee ee we ee eee boss, and the panel-border . Right panel and scrolled border of a left-shouldered slender collar - - PREHISTORIC MOUNDS IN WISCONSIN: Fig. 1. 2) Diagram 1. Map of chain of mounds in Wisconsin. --:- Fig. 3. PD) OT AM Ee eee eamiee eee eee s epee eto aye tees tee a nes Moundlon Wasconsinghivens eco-eecneeeree eee eee ee ene ae Mound near Millville, Wis.-...... Mound of animal form in Wisconsin ANCIENT IMPLEMENT OF WOOD: Fig. 1. 9% 25 Implement): 55s) -dusos ie copeumse eee eee Sketch of locality where found INDIAN FORTS AND DWELLINGS: Fig. 1. 2. 3. Circulariworkissse sare eet sees he nercte oe ae ea Horhileds campiof&ihowwiichitas ts acc ces see oe tae ee ee ee eee Corn=caches’ses csc ee sere cisoo se Snes con eae ne aren ee een cee eee Ee Page. Adams, Mr., assisted in arrangement of specimens........--....-------e-ce- 66 AIC DLOPOSGG OX PlOTALIONS Of... 2... cc-. a scesicescestedweececncdec eae 26 Pea ERIN Melee sia 2 cose. os Sas sc oo-a' since es as adele aapsictia sae eee ab 27 Agricultural Department, Centennial exhibit of........-......--...----..--. 74 Prarie vit cSu plied TOmrgeeravor -- <-:.5' 26 toon} con sed eas esi nin ee oe 67 Alexander, Prof. Stephen, labors of...-.. Sense Ces elton eae eee 17 American Net and Twine Company, contributions by...--.......-..-.-..-.-- 65 > a thanks, 60:23 oa eee Sg CS ee 41 MAMBTICAnEStOne ale: DT has WOrk ON: . 2222: scence ssriqe det ensiees soG-o8 45 Anchor steamship line, thanks Oe Oe ee ee Naa, Ce ae eee 27 Anfrye, Captain, collections presented by---.-.----..----...---.- Suen eet 132 Animal heat, researches respecting......-....--.-.------ MIE BOSE <7 24 Animal resources displayed at Centennial Exhibition...-...-.-....---..----- 10 Animal resources of the United States, classification of, publication of. ...-.-. 19, 21 EMSC DG ALOT OMe = aon oe as Seip aes oe oe we SISEI-pe pee Oe teeters 19 Antiquities in Guatemala, by Hon. George Williamson..--........----.----- 418 Antiquities of Tennessee, publication of.......--..----. oN ee netaoieaet 17 Re PeNCC AOULOM seo oes oe Soo doce es pecan wa se sens emo aes ge Sane semen 19 Appropriations by Congress for National Museum..... ..---.---. ----..---- be dy LD form @entenntall: displaye- 225s ate. = sata 9, 42 armen omysOUN GAY -IUNSSAG...~ 22 o- o--< sa ae oreo esaons 4 sae ae eee s-aeeme 138 Archzological exploration from Hamilton fund ....--...---.--------+-.------ 15 Architect of Treasury, Centennial exhibit of....--. ve Jat Raltestihe Sepals seat 73 Argentine Republic, collections presented by .-..-.-...-.---.--+---+.------- 131 Armory building, a depository of its collections.....-.....--..---.--------- 68, 69 MIBGMMAC OLE. = os oe wae ee cam oleae = cate ecto rae aera aera 46 Penne UNE RV EO US eer sae eae Se aio on nln! tone waa 'e 8- aml seetaeelemeler = === aia =e 8 Asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, by Daniel Kirkwood-...-.-.--.---..----- 308 Astronomical discoveries, telegraphic announcement of....-.-----.---------- 25 Austria, collections presented by..-.-.----. .----- ------ ---+ --06 -2-- <-20 <0 131 era ero So: b., Assistant secretary . 2. -52'-- =! -2)--22-<)oa5 sare ens o-neleane-e 6 CuratorL on Natlonal Museumien. sons] eae 2s eel eae aon 6 labors ol at © enbenmial ees ce mey een stl oatate State a eat at ate 9, 67 report of, on National Museum ....-.-..---.---.----------- re ASS report on the Centennial Exhibition......---...---.------ 64 United States Commissioner Fish and Fisheries-.-----..---. 37 Baker, Capt. J. G., donation from..-...--.---. +--+ s------- s+ e222 cane ee ee = 40 Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, thanks to...-....---..------------------- 43 Bancroft, Hon. George, member of executive committee ..---.---.------------ 5 Regent of the Institution......--...-..---.--------- 3 5 report of executive committee ....-...---------------- 122 AGUS OLAS MHOC CMU s+ noes oe ae seca te item 123, 124, 129, 131 report of special committee on Centennial donations to National Museum and memorial to Congress. .-... 129 Banta, Mr., supplied refrigerator ....--.------------+--+----+++++e22eeee eee 67 478 INDEX. Page. Barcena, Dr. Mariano, collections presented by.----- en vet GPA OR Oe Sen 133 Barry, Sir Redmond, collections presented by-*2. == 222222) 2222--. 2-22 eee 136 ipartels, Mr. collections presented by 22-- 4 oe eee ca oe ee eee eee 133 Batrachia and Reptilia, North American, check-list of........-.....-.------- 19 Baumbauer, Prot. von, acent of exchanaess i -2- see ee eee eee eee eee eee 27 Baumhater, Dr. E. H. von, collections presented by ..---22220-...-22.-. -.--- 133 Beadle, Dr. E7R., supervised loan collection 2222 28) ass 2 - = ak eee ee 65 Bean, T. H., assisted in animal and fisheries department at the Centennial ... ~ 42 Bechler, Gustavussexplorations Dy <2 2-— ses soe ee ee ee eee eee 55 Beleium, colluctions, presented? by... S2ceises son soe eee eee = eee ee 131 Berendt, Dr. C. H., collection of historical documents in Guatemala-...------ 421 Beroland icntenant report Ole se) a een ee ee eae eee 48, 50 Bermuda, collections presented) by cies ce coe oe aoe ee ee tee eee eee ees see 136 fishes of, catalocue af, publication of => ss2see- esse eeaeee eee LOT BINS, INVEsMMAMONSg Miss -- wea eye alee caer meses ny Soest eaten tee ee 44 ibirnie, Lieutenant, explorations by-ee--s2-s-taee 2 sane PPE Vee eM et 49 Blacktord) iG supplied specimens -- t- sa ates eee oe eine ae a etree 66 thanks to, for services during the Centennial CEES Sea at 40 Blake, Prof. William P., services at Centennial ..........-.-..-22-..2--21--- 42, 64 arrangement of specimens 2/02. S4Io) Dee ste as 66 collections made by: -2-5 5:52 Sessa ee eee eee 41 Bland; ‘Thomas, thanks 'tossi2 522 3232 See 2 ee ee a eee 28 Blondel, S., relative to the mineral called yu by the Chinese. -...-.-..--....- 402 iBlyden, -ProtsHdwabs letter from oss 225 aoe sates eee eee eas 26 Board of Recents, journal of. 2222 2522.--- pease sae e = cee eee eee se eee 123 Bossange, |G.) agent of exchanves'<2222 -- <2 ie fee pores aaa eee e eee 27 BONY, PUM CaAblOM OM .2/5 0 56.5 ss aq amamiecicineinty seas ane citat s ents dele Bette 19 Bowers, Rev. stephen; collections bytes. eee et oe aoe wee eee nee See eee 39, 65 Brackett, Col. A. G., account of the Sioux or Dakota Indians --....---....--. 466 Bradford & Anthony, contributions by.--cnc seine -elaeeeteee ee ee eee eee 65 thanks tos222e SOUS 5e Sees So Sf ee eee gee ene 4l BransloKds OLA. yH).5 COLECHONS Disc. = 2 ote Stes se Saas eae ees eee 40 Brazil, collections presented hy. 2-22-02. 22 ee eacaens ea eee ee ee see eee 132 Brodhead «| collectionsimade byl.c. saree. sete ee ee ee Brodhead Professor, seryicesvoOtr-s-4-=-- 22 s-se= ee eee SRE ASRS Sen Re 64 Brown, S.G,, clerk imrcharcevoftrelsh be teen ee eee eee 6 Brugseh, E., collections presented by< 7222-22 see 2s eee hoe eee ee eee 132 Building for National Museum, resolution of Regents .-..---..-..------ 3 teees 124 Bulletins of: National Museum)... 2.52 son se sersin= = 2 2 deen eine eee eet 19 Bureau of Construction and Repair, Centennial exhibit of......-....----.---- 72 Bureau of Steam Engineering, Centennial exhibit of .................------- 72 Bureau of Yards and Docks, Centennial exhibit of... ......-..----...-..-.-.. a2 Canadas collections presented by<---eeasteeeersaciieee o = 1 eee eee a eee 156 geological survey, agent of exchanges .---..--.----..-2------------- 28 Census Bureau, Centennial exhibit of-.........---2. 2-2. 5-2: eee re eee ere ees 73 Centennialawardse-2- .sass0 nase. sa seieae see eee th {ep SARE see re eee 81, 82, 83 Eun Airy eaters rea oe ee eee a 66, 80 donations to National Museum, resolutions of Regents relative to.. 124 Centennial TE xhibition® << 222525 -cs22 cas =o eee er eee ene ee eee = eee 9 additions to Museum resulting from.-.--...---....--- 11 animal resources illustrated at -...0.22-. 2.52.2 .2.-2. 10 appropriation of Congressifor.: cL -vecee es 32 esse 7 9,42 Baird, Professor, relationtto- 2. Su eacaee ceece ses 9 - TOPOrbiones bs Jesse satise Fe 5sh te 22s 64 BLO SUI Oia atest etcetera le eater ube Pees Joao 67 INDEX 479 Centennial Exhibition, collection of articles for........--. 2.222. .222e2eeeeee ae completeness on opening day...... 2.2... .2---. .--c0s 71 RAE BG rc 5 sel eke eee Se) So a A 9 ethnological -braneh Ofi- = 25:52 .~ cece 54 Christophersen, William C., collections presented by.-.......-...---.----.--. 133 BGyeelnninces COs tURARKSHDO = 5. ~ so sie setae cower cn ndeismesce samese cee 28 SABE Kea sre et WON AOL et kp arse acenaw foi-ais DEE meee es 55, wee oe ee 19 AO eRO Lah bes kK WOLK OF) on is'ernin nen tannins Sciam sila SrA kai Seags rey wo Sale ei ise ve 13 Clymer, Hon. Hiester, Regent of the Institution ...-....-.-..-----.--------- 5 DESO, AS REC ONb = 2255s sss S52 Scicaae aaas dss 123; 124, 129; I31 report of committee on Museum............-..--.---- 128 Measinsurvey. centennial-exhibit, of. <...24- 023 os ses o.benisienneaeaesec es scce 73 Crip ltots dames F.7 LabOrs Of7. : i.e tise seach seis snl- bese meciec/ae~ s-05--6 1 Ppa Solon en MIMen 1abors OF .. <0. sss obs cee ces sbejsmmene pe ccecicebd -nple 17 Congress, appropriation of, for Centennial display ........-..----.-.-------- 9, 42 appropriation of, for fish'Gommission: | 5-232 2-2-5265 l 25s geaeysseec= 37 appropriation of, for National Museum -.-.-...--.....------------- 13, 120 memorial to, relative to new building for National Museum.-.-.-. ---- 129 Bnialinl owAcw aU DOTY Ole co cyo nm a(S oeion Senenicim sos Sestese ee sess ssoeieeee ees 49, 50 SPMsiininom Nature, publication. Of. _ .-\-. 225 Soeete seccane ons Soetsesce= Contributions to Knowledge, Smithsonian ....-......;---.------.----+ ------ 8, 15, 17 eee as) oe ODS OL) sears yee sain, s Soe se ae sae eee eee ae eens Kaen 19,4 Coppee, Prof. Henry, Regent of the Institution.......--.-----.--...--------- 5 ACIS Ob ARNO PON bein ene ale bse peieeitee sae a=)= oem a 123 Corcoran ave Ws, acknowledoment, t0,5-)= abies peietei—ere) see 65, 82 TRerro nd OS6 ph), J AULLOU aera salad elsialaes edeiretersioiatin isis = sets sia fae ial taeda 6 Hill, Hon. Benjamin H., Regent of the Institution ..-:....-......--.-------- 5 acts of, as; Rement. .--..ctemes «oes seb e een eee 124, 181 Hitchcock, Professor, Services OL - .--.<. .a-tase=-eietea &-- 6 See eee ee eee 64 Hitchcock, HR... collections presented, by -2-.-2esess-/ s+ --s)-= == eae ewe elt 135 Hoepli; U., agentiof exchanges -6 5. one so waeeinee oleae ate = ieee tee 7 Holmes, |W... H:., triangulations by, 2.2. -ca-<5 o-. 94 ey f Mc ae gE : - is A is 7 ine iz ‘yc oe a a a 7 Me) Ae — / 4 pa yon } : ONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES Purdy eee iii PRONE 3 9088 01421 ih ‘ P H y, rn " i \ X " , ; j ) ‘ ¥ iq ‘ , ; , % 4 ‘ 5 , > Y i i N Nera rN _ * , Rak i , ; j \ wy 7 ) rhe) An , yas? ‘ y > Wy ul 4 y . ‘ ei + o | io 35 . , J ; ; ‘ ‘ Py Wh , a Wd oP . ' ree A oy i.) 7 ai ‘ 4 By a en