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ee ee nl 


THE 


AMERICAN JOURNAL 


OF 


SCIENCE AND ARTS. 


CONDUCTED BY 


BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, M.D. LL.D. 


Prof. Chem., Min., &c. in Yale Coll.; Cor. Mem. Soc. Arts, Man. and Com., and For. Mem. Geol. 
Soc., Hon. Mem. Br. and For. Abor. Protec. Soc., and of Scien. Soc., Mem. Geol. Soc., and of the 
Roy. Inst. of Gr. Brit., London; Hon. Mem. Lin. and Statis. Socs., Paris; Mem. Roy. Min. Soc., 
Dresden ; Nat. Hist. Soc., Halle; Hon. Mem. Agric. Soc., Bavaria; Imp. Agric. Soc., Moscow; 
Nat. Hist. Soc., Belfast, Ire.; Phil. and Lit. Soc., Bristol; and Hon. Mem. Rey. Sussex Inst., 
Brighton, Eng.; Cor. Mem. of the Nat. Hist. Soc., and of the Archeological Soc., Athens, 


Greece; Lit. and Hist. Soc., Quebec; Member of various Literary and Scientific Societies in 
the United States. 


AIDED BY 


BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, Jr., A.M. 


Assistant in the department of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology in Yale College; Sec. 
of the Yale Nat. Hist. Soc.; Mem. of the Conn. Acad. of Arts and Sci.; Cor. 
Mem. of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York; of the 
Boston Society of Natural History, &c. 


VOL. XXXIX.—OCTOBER, 1840. 


NEW HAVEN: 


Sold by A. H. MALTBY and B. & W. NOYES.—Philadelphia, CAREY & 
HART and J. 8. LITTELL.—Baltimore, Md., N. HICKMAN.—New York, 
CARVILL & Co., No. 108 Broadway, and G. S. SILLIMAN, No. 44 Wil- 
liam St.—Boston, C. C. LITTLE & Co.—London, WILEY & PUTNAM, 
No. 35 Paternoster Row, and JAMES S. HODSON, 112 Fleet St.—Paris, 
HECTOR BOSSANGE & Co., No. 11, Quay Voltaire—Hamburgh, Messrs. 
NESTLER & MELLE. 


PRINTED BY 5B. L. HAMLEN. cE 
ae a INSTT 
a a\\ AN iN od f U j Sn eed 


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ESE UO ies ; 
c¥ah ete AL he i oe 
: nit ew Ae Meo 


sit 
Cree or 


Art. I. 


II. 


III. 


IV. 


Vill. 


XIII. 


XIV. 


CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIXx. 


NUMBER If. 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology ; by Gipron ALGER- 
NON Manre tt, LL. D. F. R. S., 5 
Observations upon the Effects produced on isthe iy 
the Frost which occurred in England in the winter of 
1837-8 ; by Prof. Joun Linp ey, : : 
Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic sere in letters 
addressed to Prof. Silliman, October 4, 1838, and Au- 


: gust 6, 1839, from the vicinity of London; by Wi1- 


LIAM STuRGEON, Esq., 

Facts relative to the Temperature of ae ae as fone 
ced from a series of observations made at Amherst Col- 
lege in 1839; by Prof. E. S. SNELL, 

On the Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle i in the 
United States ; by Prof. Extras Loomts, : 


. Caricography; by Prof. C. Dewey, 
. Notice of the Tooth of a Mastodon; by seer re Wy- 


MAN, M. D., e 
Infinite Divisibility of Mates 


. Formation and Dispersion of a Thunder Sieber ee 


helia, and Meteorological Register ; a WILLis Gay- 
LORD, : 4 . 6 ee 5 5 


Phrenology, 


. Table showing the First Nnenice of ice the Closing 


and the time of Opening of the Connecticut River at 
Middletown; by Josrry Barratt, M. D., 


. Applications of the Igneous Theory of the Earth; at 


Prof. J. H. Larurop, 

Notice of Third Annual Henares on ie Geological Sur- 
vey of the State of New York, to the Assembly, Docu- 
ment 275, Feb. 27, 1839; by Prof. Otiver P. Hus- 
BARD, M. D., 

An Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter on certain Theoretical 


_ opinions; by M. Farapay, 


Page. 


1 


18 


28 


36 


AI 
50 


53 
55 


59 
65 


88 


90 


95 


108 


1 PLL OO: 


lv CONTENTS. 


XV. Brief Synopsis of the Principles of Jamzs P. Espy’s 
Philosophy of Storms, 

XVI. A Description of a New Form of Mapes Hecinie Ma- 
chine, and an account of a Carbon Battery of conside- 
rable energy; by Oxiver W. Gizss, 

XVIL Electricity in Machinery ; by Azartau SmitTu, ue . 
XVIII. Notice of a Report of a Geological, Mineralogical and 
Topographical examination of the Coal Field of Car- 
bon Creek, with an analysis of the Minerals, accompa- 
nied by Maps, Profiles and Sections ; a Prof. WaL- 
TER R. JouNsoN, . = ; 
XIX. References to North American fodalitiés, to be Abplied 
in illustration of the equivalency of Geological Depos- 
its on the eastern and western sides of the Atlantic ; by 
Amos Eaton, i 
XX. Notice of Minerals ulin New Holland: He F. a: 
XXI. Fragments of Natural anes ; Pl Prof. J. P. Kirt- 
LAND, M.D., .- . : . : 


MISCELLANIES.—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 


1. DeCandolle, Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegeta- 
bilis, &c., : 

2. Endlicher, Genera Plantarum dota Orde Net eats 
disposita, 

3, 4. Hooker, Flora Boreali- Hererenba or thé Galle of the 
Northern parts of British America, &c.—Hooker and Arnott, 
the Botany of Capt. Beechey’s Voyage, &c., : 

5. The Genera of South African Plants, arranged heetudihe ' to 
the Natural System, by Wm. Henry Harvey, Esq., . 

6. Pres], Tentamen Pteridographiz seu Genera Filicacearum pre- 
sertim juxta venarum decursum et distributionem exposita, 

7. Dr. Siebold, Flora Japonica ; sectio prima, Plante ornatui vel 
usui inservientes ; digessit Dr. J. G. Zuccarin1, 

8. Grisebach, Genera et Species Gentianearum, adjectis oe 
vationibus quibusdam phyto-geographicis, 

9. The Journal of Botany, by Sir Wm. Hooker, K. H., &e. es 

10, 11. Hooker; Icones Plantarum, or Figures, with brief de- 
scriptive characters and remarks, of new or rare plants, se- 
lected from the author’s Herbarium—Linnea: Ein Journal 
fiir die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange. Herausgegeben 
von D. F. L. Von Schlechtendal, 


 <. 


Page. 


120 


132 
134 


137 


149 
157 


164 


168 


170 


172 


173 


174 


175 


176 
177 


178 


CONTENTS. 


12. Lindley ; An Introduction to Botany, 

13, 14, 15. Meyen: Neues System der Blanden BbyMolegio 
Treviranus (Lud. Christ.): Physiologie der Gewachse— 
Link : Grundlehren der Krauterkunde, or Elementa Philoso- 
phiz Botanice, 

16. Proceedings of the Ben Saar of Natural History, 

17. Association of American Geologists, : f 

18. Fossil Infusoria of West Point, New York, 

19, 20, 21. Another work on Chemistry—Proeress of U. 8. Ex- 
ploring Expedition—Magnetic Observations, ; 

22. Auroral Belt of May 29, 1840, 

23, 24. Petroleum Oil Well—Fresh-water and kanal Shells from 
the neighborhood of Chilicothe, Ohio, 

25. Notices of Proposals for oe the Orthography of the 
English Language, . ; 

26. Flora of North America, a 

27. Specimens of Minerals and Rocks, 

28. Carburetted Hydrogen, 

29. French Exploring Expedition to ‘the Antireile Resione 

30. Proceedings of the Microscopical Society of London, 

31. On the remarkable diffusion of Coralline Animalcules from 

- the use of Chalk in the arts of life, 

32, 33. Analysis of the Upas, (Juice of the Mntaite iéideatin| 
Advantages of iron compared with wood Steamers, 

34, Medical and Physiological Commentaries, : 

35, 36, 37. Application of the science of Mechanics to sucetiela 
purposes—Entomological Cabinet—Hog Wallow Prairies, 

38. Obituary—William Maclure, Esq., 


NUMBER I. 


Art. I. Account of the Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale 

College, City of New Haven, : : 

II. On the Identity of Edwardsite with Monasite. (Men- 
gite,) and on the Composition of the Missouri Meteo- 
rite; by Prof. CoarLes UpHam SHEPARD, 

III. Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra; tp 
Prof. J. W. Gipzs, 

IV. Remarks on the Central ue of ‘Bodies revolving 
about Fixed Axes; by Joseru Martin, M. D., 


¥ 


Page. 
179 


18] 
182 
189 
191 


193 
194 


195 
197 
198 
199 
200 
201 
203 
205 


206 
209° 


211 
212 


213 


249 


255 


262 


Vi CONTENTS. 


Page. 
V. An Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye, with remarks 


on similar phenomena, and the mode of their origin ; 
by Cuartes A. Lez, M.D., . E 278 
VI. An Attempt to determine by Experimental madsen el the 
true Theory of the Pneumatic Paradox; by Jos. HaLe 
ABBOT, . : ‘ . 296 
VIL. On Terrestrial Magudubine by diets ee M. D., 319 
VIII. Observations on the Shooting Stars of August 9th and 
10th,-1840 ; communicated by Epwarp C. Pub ntons 328 
IX. Earthquake in Connecticut, &c., ‘i 5 ae) 
X. A Synopsis of the Birds of North Aiiichicak by JOHN. 
James Aupuson, F. R. SS. Lond. and Ed., : 84s - 
XI. Ona supposed new Mineral Species; by Prof. Cuaries 
UpuHam SHEPARD, . f F ¢ " A . ont 


MISCELLANIES.—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 


1. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Philad., 361 


2. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, . 373 
3, 4. Most Brilliant Meteor—Explosion of a Meteor near Anti- 
gua, West Indies, . s . : E . osl 
5. Splendid Meteoric Fire-Ball, : : - 382 
6, 7. Alleged fall of a Meteor in Pancdee Anrorl Belt of May 
29, 1840, ° : : . 3883 


8. Tornado at Nodhieut, Conn, és lene 19, 1794, 3 , . 384 
9. Method of permanently Fixing, Engraving, and Printing from 


Daguerreotype Pictures, : : . : : - 9389 
10. Cloth of Glass, : 386 
11, 12. Death of Ginee_Nee Focal Shells roe N. rattan 387 
13, 14. Intelligence—Sorex parvus and Sorex brevicaudis, . 388 
15. The Natural History and Classification of Fishes, Amphib- 

ians, and Reptiles, or Monocardian animals, . . 389 


16. Natural History of the fresh water Fish of Central Binbpe. 390 
17, 18. Elements of Chemistry, and A Manual of oer 
Hitchcock’s Geology, : 391 
19, 20. Monograph of the Tininindesy sie otter fresh water Uni- 
valve Shells of North America—Leonhard’s Geology, . 393 
21. The American Repertory of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, 
embracing records of American and other patent inventions 
—Accounts of Manufactures, Arts, &¢c.—Observations on 
Natural History and Mechanical Science, &c. &c., . . 394 


CONTENTS. 


22, 23. Principles of Statistical Inquiry, as illustrated in propo- 
sals for uniting an examination into the resources of the 
United States, with the census to be taken in 1840—Jour- 
nal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 

24. Transactions of the Society instituted at London for the en- 
couragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, 

25. A System of Practical Medicine, 

26, 27, 28. Lycopodium—The burning of Monkton “Pond aa 
Bone Cavern, . ; : 

29. Case of Transpiration of half the belay 


ERRATUM. 


Page 135, 1. 13 from bottom, for back read band. 


Vil 
Page. 


395 


397 
398 


399 
400 


THE 
AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 


Arr. I.—Notice of the Wonders of Geology, by Gipkon ALGER- 
non Mantext, LL. D. F. R.S., author of the Geology of the 
South East of England, &c. &c.; in two vols. large 12mo., 
pp- 858. First American from the third London edition. 


Tue rapid progress of geology is evinced, in no way so strik- 
ingly, as in the great increase, within the present century, of val- 
uable works upon this noble science. ‘Travellers of high qualifi- 
cations now give us the results of their geological observations in 
many countries, and their researches being amply illustrated in 
many instances by maps and drawings, their works are thus ren- 
dered intelligible, both to the learned and those who have not 
been trained in science. 

Even in popular travels, it is not uncommon to find important 
geological descriptions more or less extended—in paragraphs, in 
sections or chapters. In consequence of the habit of observation 
now so generally established, a rich reward is thus presented to 
the traveller, especially in regions, where man has done little, and 
nature much. 

The same remark is applicable to other branches of Natural 
History, and it is obvious, that he who is acquainted with all of 
them need never be without sources of rational enjoyment, while 
he is amassing treasures for the advancement of science. In geol- 
ogy, many excellent local descriptions have, within a few years 
appeared. Vast magazines of knowledge are garnered in the 
‘Transactions of the Geological Societies of London, of Paris and 
of other countries. 

Many of the scientific Journals abound with geological facts; 


and numerous elementary treatises, of great value, now place di- 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 1 


2 Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


gested information and scientific deductions within the reach of 
the student. 

The excellent works of Smith, De la Beche, Buckland, Dau- 
beny, Sedgwick, Murchison, Bakewell, Thomson, Jameson, Ly- 
ell, Greenough, Conybeare, Phillips and others in England and 
Scotland are well known, and most of them have been mentioned 
in the pages of this Journal. Continental writers also are numer- 
ous we may cite 
Cuvier, the Brongniarts, Humboldt, Boué, De Beaumont, De- 
shayes, Omalius de Halloi, D’Aubuisson, Von Buch, Leonhard, 
Bronn and many more, while our own country is fruitful in geo- 
logical surveys and elaborate reports and memoirs of great value, 
although it is as yet without any extended eae elementary 
treatise on geology. 

At present we shall confine our attention to the work named at 
the head of this article. 

The first London edition appeared in March, 1838, and the third 
only fourteen months after, so rapid had been the sales, indicating a 
great and deserved popularity. The first and only American edi- 
tion was in fact, identical with the London third, being printed 
on the same paper of the same quality and with the same types 
and illustrations. ‘The title page was so far altered as to shew its 
adoption here, and an original prefatory discourse, served as a pass- 
port to this country, in which the work found an editor in Prof. 
Sinton, of Yale College, and a pecuniary sponsor, in Mr. A. H. 
Matrtsy, of New Haven. 

The object of this American adoption was, to secure some ad- 
vantage to the respected author, (a precedent unhappily as novel 
as it is just,) and at the same time to bring the work before 
the American public at such a price, as would enable persons in 
moderate circumstances to purchase it. 

In this view, as we are assured, the expectations of the American 
sponsors have not been disappointed, notwithstanding the trying 
times, in the business worid, that are now passing over our heads. 

In Vol. xxxrv, at p. 387 of this Journal, we gave a favorable 
account of the first edition of the Wonders of Geology, and it is 
our object now to say something of the merits of the last edition. 
We regret that it has lain so long unnoticed by us, but from the 
pressure of many duties, our power has not been commensurate 
with our inclinations. 


* Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 3 


We have, in no degree, fallen off in our admiration of this 
beautiful work.* In our remarks upon the first edition, we 
stated our views of the different modes of treating geology, as 
regards the order. That which Dr. Mantell has followed in 
all the editions of the Wonders, is from the gravel down through 
the alluvial and diluvial, the tertiary, the secondary and transi- 
tion to the metamorphic and the primary rocks, the internal 
fires and the volcanoes. ‘This order has its advantages, but it 
requires inconvenient anticipations. An individual who has tri- 
ed, in courses of lectures, every order that can well be proposed, 
has come to the conclusion, that the better mode is to begin 
with the actual volcanic vents—the living fires of our world, con- 
necting with them the dormant and extinct voleanoes—then to 
descend with the evidences of regularly increasing heat in all the 
rocks, until we reach the permanent internal fires—permanent 
in as much as they are never entirely extinguished, although they 
may fluctuate in position and intensity. 

In this manner we arrive, by an intelligible process, at the 
region of the primary or unstratified rocks, now universally ad- 
mitted to be of igneous origin, and thus we establish the domin- 
ion of fire, all the doctrines connected with which are intelligible 
and credible, and of commanding and pervading energy, among 
the dynamics of the planet. We are also thus furnished with the 
key to the intrusions of the igneous rocks among all the other 
classes, and among each other, while the particular alterations 
among the various classes of rocks, by the action of ignited and 
melted masses, may be reserved for the time when those rocks 
shall be in turn examined. 

From the granite, at which we thus arrive in our descent, we nat- 
urally ascend in the chronological order of the strata, beginning with 
the primary slates, as to whose alledged metamorphic character we 
may thus be placed in a condition to form a judgment, since the 


* Prof. Silliman has had occasion during the late winter to make trial of its ca- 
pabilities for the instruction of large popular audiences in a public institution. 
The Lowell Institute at Boston, Mass., founded by the munificence of the late Mr. 
John Lowell, a native and citizen of that place, who died at Bombay, while on his 
oriental travels, and left an ample endowment for the support of popular lectures, 
as well as instruction in exact details on morals and religion, science, philosophy 
and arts, &c. A geological course was given during the late season, to two audien- 
ces, collectively amounting to three thousand people. While Bakewell and other 
works were recommended to their perusal, the order of Dr. Mantell’s Wonders was 
followed in the lectures for the convenience of the audience. 


4. Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


igneous rocks must supply their materials; at least their materials 
“must come from below, and may be furnished also in part by chem- 
ical effluxes from the interior of the globe, a hint that may serve to 
explain whence the materials of the early calcareous and magnesian 
rocks are derived. In our continued ascent, we soon encounter the 
strata containing the oldest fossils, the marine animals that occu- 
pied the earliest seas, relics entombed in the transition rocks of 
- Werner, the Cambrian and Silurian of Sedgwick and Murchison. 
From those profound depths, where animal and perhaps vegetable 
life approximates to the granite epoch, we follow its continued de- 
velopments through the immense piles of natural masonry that 
form the stratified rocks, replete also with the remains of the living 
beings of succeeding ages, but changing their character continu- 
ally, as we ascend, until, in ages very remote from those which 
cherished the earliest forms of life, we discover the beginning of 
terrestrial existence, of the animals that lived on dry land; and thus 
at length we arrive at the era of the human race, the last in the order 
of the creation. Tn this mode of treating the subject, there are few 
anticipations, and the chronology is perfectly preserved. The 
action of water will, of course, be studied through the whole se- 
ries; it is necessary to have regard to water in solving even the 
phenomena of fire, and it is of course admitted by all, as the 
great agent in stratification. We may finish by considering water 
in its widely ranging effects, as seen at the present time. 'The 
phenomena of vallies, rivers, and fountains, and of all that ap- 
pears on the surface, may be studied in the conclusion of the se- 
ries, with all the lights that have been afforded by the preceding 
investigations ; nor can we forget the proofs of wise and benevo- 
lent design which are apparent through all the formations, and 
that shine forth so remarkably in the various affections of the sur- 
face, the prepared and arranged theatre of human action. 

No particular order is however absolutely essential to geology ; 
for begin where we may, we can always revert; we can thread 
our way, back and forward, as occasion may require, until the laby- 
rinth, at first dark, devious and appalling, becomes illuminated, 
and we walk securely in the light of science, guided by the clue 
of strict induction, which leads us, with unerring steps, through 
all the phenomena. 

Dr. Mantell has preserved a strict unity of plan in the treat- 
ment of his subject ; each division is made perfectly clear and in- 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. , 5 


telligible by itself, and all are united in a consistent harmony and 
beauty. . 

The numerous illustrations of the Wonders of Geology are well 
selected and beautifully executed. Finer wood cuts cannot be 
found, in any work of science; they are, of course, inserted in the 
text, and thus the figures and descriptions accompany each other. 
In studying the organic remains in this work, the student, al- 
though without a cabinet, gains great assistance from such excel- 
lent figures. Bones and skeletons, and fragments of birds, quad- 
rupeds, and fishes; shells in all their endless variety ; corals and 
coralline rocks; the crinoidea or lily-shaped animals, and all 
the rich variety of zoophytes, or animal structures, in form, re- 
sembling plants; the vegetable remains, especially the leaves 
and stems, exuberant in the coral formation, beyond the con- 
ception and belief of one who is not a geologist; all these are 
fully illustrated in Dr. Mantell’s work, and all necessary sections 
are appended, shewing the relations of strata, their dislocations, 
elevations, depressions, inflexions, and lacerations, by intrusive 
masses. It was evidently an important point, in Dr. Mantell’s 
view, to preserve a manageable form in his volumes by avoiding 
folded plates, an object certainly very important, and in this work 
happily attained; but aside from this reason of convenience, we 
should have wished for sections on a larger scale, especially in 
the general view of the relations of the groups and families of 
rocks, giving the strata in more detail, and in more contrasted 
distinctness. 

The order of the subordinate parts of the Wonders of Geology 
is very good. ‘The physical relation of the earth to the solar and 
stellary systems is set forth, both in the beginning and conclusion 
of the work, in connection with some of the grand deductions of 
modern astronomy; the general classification of the rocks, and 
the great causes that are operating to produce geological changes, 
are indicated, and the consistency of the whole with divine rev- 
elation is successfully maintained. 

It was natural for the author to write with fullness upon the 
tertiary and secondary formations, since England is so opulent in 
interesting facts relating to these departments, and Dr. Mantell 
himself has happily illustrated the tertiary and upper secondary 
by his own beautiful discoveries, some of them unique and very 
remarkable. 


6 Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


The fossiliferous formations have assumed a high degree of 
interest in our times, an interest which is constantly increasing 
with the progress of geology. In the earlier periods of the science, 
the primary rocks were the chief objects of investigation, and 
fossil geology, being little cultivated, was little understood. The 
primary rocks were viewed as the types of permanency, the pri- 
mordial foundations laid down in the beginning, and which, as 
was supposed, had rarely been disturbed in the progress of ge- 
ological events. But now we cannot assign a period beyond 
which there has not been change, event, and revolution. Granite 
itself, in the early systems of geology the very personification of 
physical antiquity and stability, is now proved to be of all geo- 
logical ages, anterior to the tertiary ; and it would in no manner 
surprise us, were the progress of discovery to place granite in 
some of its irruptions, above the tertiary, like the ancient lavas 
of Auvergne, many of which repose upon the tertiary of that re- 
markable country. 

The light which has burst in upon us from the microscopic dis- 
coveries of Ehrenberg, has opened a new world in the mineral 
kingdom; for none would have expected to find minerals and 
rocks composed of the silicified, ferruginous, and calcareous pet- 
rifactions of infinitesimal animalcules, requiring thousands of mil- 
lions of individuals, to fill the capacity of a cubic inch. 

In all probability, we are to proceed in these discoveries from 
flint, opal, chalcedony, agate, tripoli, and beds of sand, and clay, 
and marl, to earlier formations, which also may contain their myri- 
ads of invisible animalcules. Dr. Mantell has presented this sub- 
ject with his usual felicity, and with good figures of many mag- 
nified fossil animalcules; while his remarks evince an expectation 
that even the most ancient rocks may not be exempt from simi- 


lar evanescent fossils. It is, however, not easy to understand 


how any organic body can retain its form in the midst of fusion, 
and although silicified shields of animalcules may be proof, to a 
certain extent, against fire, we cannot suppose that they can re- 
main, with their characteristic forms, in the midst of granite and 
porphyry, while the very quartz and feldspar, of which they are 
so largely composed, have flowed in igneous fusion, or acquired a 
condition by fire so soft and yielding as to admit of crystalliza- 
tion. ‘The absence, therefore, of traces of animalcules from ig- 
nigenous rocks, would not necessarily prove that their materials 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 7 


had not involved a portion of this concealed world, unrecogniza- 
ble by our unassisted vision, but palpable and unquestionable with 
the aid of high magnifying powers.* 

All these things then, so far from proving that the globe is 
eternal, do, on the contrary, demonstrate that the present order of 
things in the mineral world, has had every where a beginning, 
and therefore we may reasonably infer that matter itself must 
also have had a beginning, neither its mode nor its substance be- 
ing eternal. But it is beyond the reach of the human mind, to 
ascertain when, or in what form of existence, matter was first 
brought into being by the power of an infinite Creator, to whom 
space and time are alike without limit, and means of filling them 
without end. 

The selection of subjects by Dr. Mantell is very judicious, and 
they are combined and arranged in a state of luminous condensa- 
tion. 

Amidst the immense opulence of geological facts, this is ne 
small praise; a happy selection implies, of course, a familiar ac- 
quaintance with the whole science, and requires the exercise of 
a sound judgment, directed by a discriminating taste. If we 
were to express any regret as to materials, it would be, both in 
the case of Dr. Mantell and of Mr. Lyell, that the primary rocks 
are left comparatively in eclipse under the flood of light that is 
poured in upon the world of fossils. Perhaps we may be under 
an undue bias on this point, from the predominating influence 
exerted by the primary rocks upon the earlier condition of geology, 
both under Werner and Hutton, for fossils were then but little 
known in comparison with the vast range which they now oc- 
cupy. It is also true, that upon the plan of arrangement for 
which a preference has been expressed above, the primary rocks 
would of course acquire all due consideration, because they 
would cap the climax of fire, and descending to them through 
the volcanoes and proving them, as we believe, to be ignigenous, 
we then cite them as proofs, on a magnificent scale, of the effects 
of heat, causing even the mountains of granite, or the materials 
of which they are composed, to flow in fiery liquidity, on a scale 
commensurate with the height of Alpine peaks, and mountain 


*We write, to a certain extent, from personal observation, and may add, that we 
have lately enjoyed an opportunity of inspecting, in the hands of a friend recently 
returned from Europe, some of the very specimens of fossil animalcules with which 
Ehrenberg himself had furnished him. 


» or Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


groups and ranges, and with the foundations of countries and con- 
tinents. ‘Trained in our earlier years among the granite hills and 
trap walls of New England, we have associated with them our 
youthful preference and almost filial veneration. 

There is a splendid and magnificent association between the 
active volcano, with its earthquakes, its thunder, its flames, its 
ignited ejections, and its rivers of molten rock,—and the deep 
granite foundations which now exhibit the dignity of repose be- 
neath the superstructure of subsequent formations, although the 
granite itself was once the victim of fire, and was either raised 
and injected like the veins and dikes, and lava walls of modern 
volcanoes, or like the deep lava masses, subsided into quiescence 
after an ineffectual struggle to throw off or break through an im- 
pending ocean, or to rend the incumbent strata of the crust of 
the earth. 

If, however, we are disposed to claim all due respect for our 
ancient friends, the traps and porphyries, the sienites and the 
granites, we are delighted with the immense developments of 
fossils in their successive eras, described and figured as they are 
with scientific precision and graphic beauty ; while they are re- 
ferred, by the aid of natural history, to those families of organi- 
zed. beings which, in most instances, have still their analogues on 
earth, although there is perhaps not asingle. species below the ter- 
tiary that is identical with any now existing. 

Our elementary works and occasional memoirs, are in this age, 
rich in figures and descriptions of organic remains. Italy, Ger- 
many, Switzerland, France, Britain, and even North America, 
vie with each other in a zealous and successful cultivation of 
these branches of natural history. Like the mummies of Egypt, 
secluded for decades of centuries in their mysterious catacombs, 
the beings of early geological ages are now disentombed and 
brought to light, and we do not read with more certainty the an- 
cient condition of the human race in Egypt, when the Nile flow- 
ed by the then youthful temples of Thebes, and the solemn av- 
enues of silent and unmutilated Sphinxes, or that of the Romans, 
when Vesuvius, with its lava or ashes, and eruptive waters, buried 
Herculaneum, Stabia, and Pompeii, than we now study the in- 
habitants of the primitive seas; the venerable vegetables of the 
coal formation; the almost unlimited secular range of the verte- 
brated fishes ; the amphibious or terrestrial dominion of the fossil 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 9 


Saurians; or the walks of the quadrupeds and the quadrumana, 
which in the later geological eras, preluded the appearance of 
man, the last being whom the Creator called into existence. 
Among all the elementary writers who have described fossils, no 
one has done it with more perspicuity and felicity than Dr. Man- 
tell. The figures, where they are not his own, are borrowed 
from the best authorities, and place the forms full before the 
reader, while his vivid and exact descriptions enable us to realize 
the existence of the often strange and uncouth beings of the 
gone-by ages, as if they had been our familiar companions. 

The style of the work, although it was very good in the first 
edition, (as we had occasion to remark, in the observations insert- 
ed in this Journal, Vol. 34, p. 387, and already alluded to, )is great- 
ly improved in the present edition. Indeed, it realizes our beau 
ideal of a familiar and yet dignified philosophical style. It is con- 
densed and luminous, garnished by a graceful flowing elegance, 
and rising as the subject may require, into the sublime as well as 
the beautiful. 

We are not aware of the existence of any work on any sub- 
ject of science, which has better claims at once to a place upon 
the shelf of the philosopher, and upon the centre table of a re- 
fined family. While it is full and exact in its details, it is de- 
lichtful as a readable work of taste, equally entertaining and in- 
structive to the youth of both sexes, who will derive from it not 
only the most important information in the science of which it 
treats, but the happiest moral impressions, and the most healthful 
and useful views of the wise and benevolent designs of the Cre- 
ator of our world and of all the worlds, that spangle, with their 
silvery orbs, the azure dome of the heavens. ~ 

Dr. Mantell’s introductions and summaries, prefixed and appen- 
ded to his principal divisions, afford great assistance, the former in 
entering a new apartment in the vast temple which he surveys, 
and the latter, in remembering the various furniture which it 
contains, and the permanent instruction that flows from the sur- 
vey. These general views and deductions are presented in elo- 
quent and impressive language. Detached from the facts on which 
they are founded, they may be regarded as containing, in con- 
nexion, each with the rest, a summary of geological conclusions 
and doctrines, or geological Institutes. 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 2 


10 Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


As a work peculiarly adapted to accompany a course of geolog- 
ical instruction, Dr. Mantell’s Wonders of Geology holds a high 
rank. Its lucid method, with its unity, condensation and perspi- 
cuity, renders it a fit text-book equally for class-recitation, or for 
private reading, or to illustrate a course of lectures on geology. 
For its extent, no work, we believe, contains a better summary 
of geological facts and of geological philosophy. It is not to be 
regarded, however, as (what some might infer from its title) a 
mere book of wonders. 'The most sober account of geology must 
indeed be replete with wonders ; Dr. Mantell has himself been em- 
inently successful in setting forth the most remarkable, (and there 
are none more so than those which he has brought to light, ) but his 
book is to be regarded in a higher view; it is indeed, a very ex- 
act and comprehensive map of his subject—like other maps, omit- 
ting details inconsistent with his scale of dimensions, but remark- 
ably complete for the purpose of the general student, who wishes 
to give to this science the attention which, in proportion to the en- 
cyclopedia of universal knowledge, it richly merits. It is easy, from 
such a book of Institutes, to follow the different members of the 
subject in full detail, and for this purpose there are ample aids in 
periodical works, reports of geological societies, and in treatises 
on particular subjects, as well as the general philosophy of the 
science. 

Mr. Lyell’s great work, his Principles of Geology, replete as it 
is with the most interesting and instructive discussions, would 
form a good sequel to such a work as Dr. Mantell’s, or to Mr. 
Lyell’s own Elements of Geology, an admirable summary for 
an adept in the science. On both of these works we have ex- 
pressed our opinions in former volumes of this journal, as well as 
regarding Mr. Bakewell’s now venerable treatise, which, in a fifth 
edition, still maintains its sway at a period more than a quarter. of 
acentury from its first appearance, when geology itself was young. 
May the respected author, also venerable in years, survive to give 
a sixth edition of this manly and vigorous work, and as many more 
as life and power may suffice for preparing. ‘The Manual of Ge- 
ology of Mr. De La Beche atfords excellent details of the com- 
parative geology of different countries, connected by sound phi- 
losophical views, which are still further illustrated in his Research- 
es on Theoretical Geology, not to mention his more recent geo- 
logical survey of the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The Si- 
lurian System of Mr. Murchison is a vast store-house of the most 
valuable and interesting facts, and of the most just deductions. 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 11 


Dr. Mantell’s Wonders of Geology will continue to be a favor- 
ite work equally in the geological schools, in the private study, 
and in the family parlor. It may be read and understood by any 
intelligent and educated individual ; its exact science, sound logic, 
and dignity of style, msure its acceptance with the learned; its 
elegance, beauty, and perspicuity, with the polite and refined— 
and its comprehensive brevity, with the student of the elements 
of geology. 

There is no hazard in predicting that successive editions will be 
called for, as fast as the author can revise and prepare them. Al- 
though arduously engaged in the duties of practical surgery, his 
position at Clapham Common, six miles from London, is very fa- 
vorable to constant communication with the learned geologists of 
the metropolis, and with the geological society; although we 
have to regret that the rich fields of research, so assiduously and 
successfully cultivated by the acute and indefatigable author, in 
the south-east of England, can be explored by him no more; and 
that his profession and position exclude him from acting in the 
corps of geological pioneers and explorers who, every summer, take 
up their lines of march through Britain and the continent of Eu- 
rope, and who occasionally visit Africa, and Asia, and even Ameri- 
ca. While however, he has done enough to establish a splendid 
reputation, as an original and successful explorer, we conceive that 
a post of usefulness is now assigned him of not less importance, 
although it may be in a more humble sphere. His highly gifted 
mind, endowed with all the auxiliary sciences, disciplined at once 
to accuracy and taste, and prompt to observe and secure every dis- 
covery and improvement, will vigilantly watch the progress of 
geology, and post zt up, as we trust, by such constant revision, 
that the successive editions of the Wonders, improved, and even 
enlarged as occasion may require, will continue to reflect, as from 
a perfect and beautiful mirror, the full face and form of this love- 
ly and splendid science. 

That the admired author may long have both the ability and 
the disposition to continue to perform this signal service to man- 
kind, is our ardent wish and confident hope—sero in celum as- 
cendat. 

_ As many persons who in this country may read the preceding 
article may not have seen the Wonders of Geology, by Dr. Man- 
tell, we will now furnish an example of his style and manner, 


12 Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


exempt from scientific details, by giving a quotation at some 
length from the conclusion of his work, believing that all which 
is necessary to render these general views intelligible, will be 
found either in the remarks themselves or in our preceding obser- 
vations. 

“General Inferences.—Restricting ourselves within the bounds 
of legitimate induction, and forbearing to speculate on those points 
which rest on insufficient or questionable data, we may neverthe- 
less venture to draw some general inferences as to the varying 
physical conditions of our planet, and of animal and vegetable 
life, through the immense periods contemplated by geology. 

‘“‘F'rom the remotest epoch in the earth’s physical history recog- 
nizable by man, to the present time, the mechanical and chemical 
laws, which govern inorganic matter, appear to have undergone 
no change. ‘The wasting away of the solid rocks by water, and 
the subsequent deposition and consolidation of the detritus by 
heat ; the subsidence of the dry land beneath the sea, and ihe 
elevation of the ocean-bed into new islands and continents; the 
decomposition of animal and vegetable substances on the surface, 
and their conversion into stone or coal, under circumstances in 
which the gaseous principles were confined; the transmutation 
of mud and sand into rock, and of earthy minerals into crystals,— 
these physical changes have constantly been going on under the 
influence of those fixed and immutable laws, established by Di- 
vine Providence for the maintenance and renovation of the ma- 
terial universe. 

“ And although among the sentient beings which have from 
time to time inhabited the earth, we discover at successive periods 
the appearance of new forms, which flourished awhile and then 
passed away, while other modifications of life sprung up, and 
after the lapse of ages, in their turn were annihilated; yet the 
laws which governed their appearance and extinction, were in 
perfect harmony with those which regulate inorganic matter. 
Every creature was especially adapted to some peculiar state of 
the earth at the period of its development ; and when the physical 
conditions were changed, and no longer favorable for the exist- 
ence of such a type of organization, it necessarily became extinct. 
Thus we have seen different modifications of animal and vegeta- 
ble life prevailing at different epochs of the earth’s physical his- 
tory, yet all presenting the same principles of structure, the same 


\ 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 13 


unity of purpose; all bearing the impress of the same Almighty 
hand. ‘The creation of man, and the establishment of the exist- 
ing order of things—which we are taught both by revelation and 
by natural records took place but a few thousand years ago—are 
events beyond the speculations of philosophy. | 

“Tt follows, from what has been advanced, that both animate 
and inanimate nature, linked together by indissoluble ties of mu- 
tual adaptation, have been governed by the same mechanical, 
chemical, and vital laws, from the earliest geological periods to 
the present time ; and that the absence of the fossil remains of 
whole orders of animals in the remotest periods, although, per- 
haps, in some measure attributable to the feeble development of 
those types of being, may have been also dependent on the ob- 
literation of their remains in the igneous rocks by high tempera- 
ture: at the same time we must not forget, that we are examin- 
ing ancient ocean beds, and may not yet have explored those parts 
of their vast abysses in which the spoils of the land are concealed. 
T need not add, that the assumption of successive creations of 
new forms of being, adapted to the varying physical conditions 
of the earth is only modified, not weakened, by this argument. 

““ What, then, is the result of our inquiry into the ancient state 
of our globe ?—That, so far as our present knowledge extends, 
all the changes produced by mechanical, chemical, or vital agen- 
cy, whether on the surface or in the interior of the earth, have 
been taking place from the earliest periods revealed by geological 
research ; and, as like causes must produce like effects, will con- 
tinue to take place so long as the present material system shall 
endure. ‘Thus deposits now in progress may subside to the inner 
regions of the earth, and by exposure to long continued igneous 
action, all traces of sedimentary origin may be destroyed ; and at 
some distant period, the metamorphosed masses may appear on 
the surface in the form of peaks of granite, bearing with them 
the accumulated spoils of numberless ages. I cannot, therefore, 
concur in the opinion of those, who imagine that in the granite 
we see the primeval solid framework of the globe—a consolida- 
ted crust formed on the surface of a cooling planet, and subse- 
quently broken up by changes in the temperature of the earth. 
To me it appears that the only legitimate inference in the present 
state of our knowledge, is that the solid materials of our globe, 
at a certain depth, become so entirely changed, as to aflord no 


/ 


14 Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


satisfactory data as to any antecedent period. In no department 
of natural science is the admirable caution of the philosopher 
more necessary than in geology—‘that we should remember, 
knowledge is a temple, of which the vestibule only has been en- 
tered, and we know not what is contained within those hidden 
chambers, of which the experience of the past can afford us nei- 
ther analogy nor clue.’ 

“ Final Causes.—Geology, then, does not affect to disclose the 
first creation of animated nature ; it does not venture to assume 
that we have physical evidence of a beginning ; 7 does not war- 
rant the attempt to explain the miraculous interpositions of Provi- 
dence, by the operation of natural laws ; but it unfolds to usa 
succession of events, each so vast as to be beyond our finite com- 
prehension, yet the last as evidently foreseen as the first. It in- 
structs us, ‘that we are placed in the middle of a scheme—not 
a fixed but a progressive one—every way incomprehensible ; in- 
comprehensible in a measure equally with respect to what has 
been, what now is, and what shall be hereafter.’* 

“The new page in the volume of natural religion which ge- 
ology has supplied, has been so fully illustrated by Dr. Buckland, 
in his celebrated Essay, that I need not dwell at length on the 
evident and beautiful adaptation of the organization of number- 
less living forms, through the lapse of indefinite periods of time, 
to every varying physical condition of the earth, and by which 
its surface was ultimately fitted for the abode of the human race. 
We have seen that the infusoria lived and died in countless my- 
riads, and furnished the tripoliand the opal—that river-snails and 
_ sea-shells elaborated the marble for our temples and palaces, and 
polyparia the limestone of which our edifices are constructed ; and 
that grass, herb, and tree, have been converted either into mate- 
rials to enrich the soil, ora mineral which should serve as fuel in 
after ages, when such a substance became indispensable to the 
necessities and luxuries of civilized man. Thus it is that geol- 
ogy has thrown a new interest around every grain of sand, and 
every blade of grass; and that the pebble, rejected by the moral- 
ist and the divine,t becomes in the hands of the philosopher a 
striking proof of Infinite Wisdom. 


* Bishop Butler. 
t Paley. The remark alludes to the celebrated argument of this distinguished 
author. 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 15 


* But ought we to rest content in the assumption that all these 
wonderful manifestations of Creative Intelligence were solely de- 
signed to contribute to our physical necessities and gratifications ? 
Say, rather, that this display of beauty, power, and goodness, was 
designed to fill the soul with high and holy thoughts—to call 
forth the exercise of our reasoning powers—to excite in us those 
ardent and lofty aspirations after truth and knowledge, which ele- 
vate the mind above the sordid and petty concerns of life, and 
give us a foretaste of that high destiny, which we are instructed 
to hope may be our portion hereafter ! 

“ Geological theory of Leibnitz.—lIf we extend our views be- 
yond the limits of strict induction, and venture to speculate on 
the condition of our globe in the dawn of its existence, and in 
those remote periods of which the physical characters are in- 
scribed on the rocks and mountains, it appears to me that the 
theory of Leibnitz, which embraces the original nebular condi- 
tion of the solar system, and assumes a former incandescent state 
of this planet, and its gradual refrigeration, is the only hypothe- 
sis in harmony with the present state of astronomical and geolo- 
gical knowledge. The prevalence of a higher temperature in 
northern latitudes during the deposition of the secondary forma- 
tions, was indicated by the fossil remains of animals and plants 
of a tropical character. If we admit of a progressive cooling of 
the earth, we necessarily infer that in the most ancient epochs, 
the influence of the internal heat upon the earth’s surface was 
very considerable, and that it gradually decreased, till it arrived 
at the present condition of things, in which the surface tempera- 
ture is scarcely, if at all, affected by radiation from within. As- 
suming then as an established theory, what at present, perhaps, 
must only be regarded as a highly philosophical and probable 
speculation, we can readily understand that during the secondary 
geological eras, the temperature of the surface may have been 
so augmented by a supply of heat from an internal source, as 
to have maintained a climate possessing the conditions required 
for the existence of corals in the seas, and of forests of palms 
and tree ferns, and swarms of reptiles, on the islands and conti- 
nents of northern latitudes.* The climate of particular latitudes 


* See an excellent summary of the present state of geological theory in Phillips’s 
Treatise on Geology. 


16 Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 


would also be materially influenced by the great changes in the 
relative proportion of land and water, which took place in differ- 
ent geological periods. ‘Thus, as Mr. Lyell has satisfactorily de- 
monstrated, the dry land in the northern hemisphere has been on 
the increase since the commencement of the tertiary epoch; not 
only because it is now greatly in excess beyond the average pro- 
portion which land generally bears to water on our planet, but 
also that a comparison of the secondary and tertiary strata, affords 
indications throughout the space occupied by Europe, of a transi- 
tion from the condition of an ocean interspersed with islands, to 
that of a large continent ; and this increase of the land may in 
some measure have contributed to that gradual diminution of 
temperature which the organic remains denote.* 

“ Astronomical relations of the Solar System.—Having thus 
endeavored to interpret the natural monuments of the earth’s 
physical history, let us contemplate the relation of our solar sys- 
tem to the countless orbs around us. For while astronomy ex- 
plains that our system once existed as a diffused nebulosity, which 
passing through various states of condensation, formed a central 
luminary, and its attendant planets; it also instructs us, that it is 
but one inconsiderable cluster of orbs, in regard to the group of 
stars to which it belongs, and of which the milky-way appears 
to be, as it were, a girdle; the solar system being placed in the 
outer and less stellular part of the zone.t But the astounding 
fact, that all our visible universe is but an aggregation, a mere 
cluster of suns and worlds, which to the inhabitants of the remote 
regions, that can be reached only by our telescopes, would seem 
but a mere luminous spot, like one which lies near the outermost 
range of observation, and appears to be a fac-simile of our own— 
impresses on the mind a feeling of awe, of humility, and of ado- 
ration of that Supreme Being, to whom worlds, and suns, and 
systems, are but as the sand on the sea-shore ! 

“‘ Again, when conducted by our investigations to the invisible 
universe beneath us, the milky-way, and the fixed stars, of ani- 
mal life, which the microscope reveals to us, we are overpowered 
with the contemplation of the minutest as well as of the mighti- 
est of His works! And if, as an eminent philosopher observes, 


* Lyell’s Principles of Geology, Vol. I, chap. vii. 
t See Mr. Whewell’s Bridgewater Essay. 


Notice of the Wonders of Geology. 17 


our planetary system was gradually evolved from a primeval con- 
dition of matter, and contained within itself the elements of each 
subsequent change, still we must believe, that every physical 
phenomenon which has taken place, from Se to last, has ema- 
nated from the will of the Deity.* 

“ Concluding Remarks.—With these remarks, I conclude this 
attempt to combine a general view of geological phenomena, with 
a familiar exposition of the inductions by which the leading prin- 
ciples of the science have been established. And if I have suc- 
ceeded in explaining in a satisfactory manner, how by laborious 
and patient investigation, and the successful application of other 
branches of natural philosophy, the wonders of geology have 
been revealed—if I have removed but from one intelligent mind, 
any prejudice against scientific inquiries, which may have been 
excited by those who have neither the relish nor the capacity for 
philosophical pursuits—if I have been so fortunate as to kindle 
in the hearts of others, that intense and enduring love and admi- 
ration of natural knowledge, which I feel in my own,—or have 
illuminated the mental vision with that intellectual light, which 
once kindled can never be extinguished, and which reveals to the 
soul the beauty, and wisdom, and harmony of the works of the 
Kternal, I shall indeed rejoice, for then my exertions will not 
have been in vain. And although my humble name may be soon 
forgotten, and all record of my labors be effaced, yet the influence 
of that knowledge, however feeble it may be, which has emanated 
from my researches, will remain for ever ; and, by conducting to 
new and inexhaustible fields of inquiry, prove a never failing 
source of the most pure and elevated gratification. 

“It is indeed the peculiar charm and privilege of natural phi- 
losophy, that it 

‘Can so inform 
The mind. that is within us—so impress 
With quietness and beauty—and so feed 
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, 
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, 
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all 
The dreary intercourse of common life, 
Can e’er prevail against us, or disturb 


Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold 
Is full of blessings !’t 


* Professor Sedgwick. + Wordsworth. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 3 


18 Effects of Frost on Plants. 


‘‘ For to one imbued with a taste for natural science, Nature 
unfolds ‘her hoarded poetry and her hidden spells ;’ for him 
there is a voice in the winds, and a language in the waves—and. 
he is 

‘Even as one 
Who, by some secret gift of soul or eye, 
In every spot beneath the smiling sun, 


é i cm. Saisie 
Sees where the springs of living waters lic! 


Art. Il.— Observations upon the Effects produced on Plants by 
the Frost which occurred in England in theewinter of 1837-8 ; 
by Prof. Joun Liypiey: abstracted and condensed from the 
Horticultural Transactions of London.+ 


In noticing the disastrous effects of the extraordinary winter 
of 1837-8 upon the exotic plants suppposed to be hardy, as well 
as upon many of those indigenous to England, Dr. Lindley first 
makes some remarks on the state of the weather during the pre- 
ceding summer and autumn. These are founded chiefly upon 
observations made in the garden of the Horticultural Society at 
Chiswick near London. 

“The month of April, 1837, was perhaps the coldest and at 
the same time the most sunless ever remembered. It was 7° 
Fahr. below the mean of the same month for ten preceding years ; 
and the temperature of May following was 6° below the average. 
In the latter month, the appearance of vegetation was like what 
it generally presents a month earlier. * * * * The general tem- 
perature of April and May being thus low, and the nights fre- 
quently frosty throughout both months, vegetation advanced but 
little, and only commenced under favorable circumstances in June; 
plants consequently made the greater portion of their growth after 
midsummer and during the autumn, at which season the short- 
ness of the days, and an unusual deficiency of sun heat, were 
insufficient to enable them to complete the process of lignification. 


* Mrs. Hemans. 

+ Messrs. Editors—The memoir with this title, published in the last volume of 
the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, possesses so great gene- 
ral interest, that, on the supposition that few of your American readers will meet 
with it in its original form, I have made the enclosed copious abstract of the more 
generally important portions for publication in your Journal, adding a few notes in 
one or two instances. A. G. 


Effects of Frost on Plants. 19 


October was nearly 2° below the average of its temperature, and 
consequently did not contribute its usual share towards maturing 
the wood of the season. November was fully 3° below the mean. 
December was seasonable during the first fortnight ; but a most 
remarkable change took place after the 15th. ‘The mean tem- 
perature of the last sixteen days of the month was 46° ; instead 
of the temperature which usually occurs at the winter solstice, 
this corresponds with that generally experienced even after the 
vernal equinox. ‘The rise of temperature above that of Novem- 
ber, was also greater than what takes place between March and 
April. The thermometer was seldom below 40° at night, and 
never at freezing. ‘These circumstances all contributed to bring 
on excitement in the fluids of plants, as was evidently manifested 
in the production of young shoots by many species. On Christ- 
mas day the thermometer in the shade stood at 544°. In the 
beginning of January the weather was slightly rainy, and so unu- 
sually warm that the lowest temperature observed on the 2d of 
the month was 41°, and for each of the four first days the ther- 
mometer marked 48° in the day, the wind blowing from the S. 
and S. W. On the 5th the wind shifted to the N. W. and the 
temperature began to fall, but up to the 7th the thermometer did 
not sink below 27°. After this the winter may be said to have set 
in; the weather continued to increase in severity until the night 
between the 19th and 20th, when it arrived at its greatest inten- 
sity, and the thermometer sank in the morning of the 20th to 
— 44°, the ground being scarcely covered with snow.” 

The temperature quoted is from a thermometer placed under 
ordinary circumstances, but when the thermometer was cut off 
from the influence of heat from surrounding bodies, the tempe- 
rature was shown to be much lower ; as appears from a subjoined. 
table of observations upon a radiating thermometer during the 
month of January, in which the minimum temperature on the 
19th is —12°. Extended observations on the temperature as ob- 
served in many parts of Great Britain, and its effects upon a great 
number of plants follow, in connection with which Dr. Lindley 
makes the following important remarks. 

“It is only by repeated observations of this kind that we can 
hope for certain success in the important object of introducing 
exotic species hardy enough to bear our climate ; consequently, 
to multiply and systematize such observations is one of the most 


20 Effects of Frost on Plants. 


useful employments in which the horticulturist can engage. It 
is far more likely to lead to results of importance than attempts 
to acclimatize plants; an object which has already occupied so 
much time to so little purpose, that I doubt whether any one case 
of actual acclimatization can be adduced; that is to say, any one’ 
case of a species naturally tender having been made hardy, or 
even hardier than it was originally. Not to mention other eases 
in point, Cerasus Lauro-cerasus is as tender as it was in Parkin- 
son’s time, and vet it has been raised from seeds through many 
generations ; the potatoe retains its original impatience of frost, 
and so does the kidney-bean ; which last might at least have been 
expected to become hardier, if reiterated raising from seed in cold 
climates could bring about that result. The many beautiful and 
valuable half-hardy hybrids, lately provided for our gardens, are 
no exception to this statement, for they are not instances of a 
tender species being hardened, but of new and hardy creations 
obtained by the art of man from parents of which the one is 
hardy and the other delicate. Acclimatization, in the strict sense 
of the word, seems to be a chimera.” 

The tabular view of the effects of the frost upon a great num- 
ber of species in different places, with the annexed minimum 
temperature observed at those places, and the detailed observa- 
tions that follow, afford a very full statistical account of the injury 
committed. ‘That this injury is due, in many cases at least, not 
so much to the actual reduction of temperature, as to the condi- 
tion of the plants produced by the warm weather immediately 
preceding, and perhaps by the subsequent thaw, is not only highly 
probable a priort, but is confirmed by the recorded effects of that 
winter upon the plants introduced from colder climates. In other 
and perhaps the greater part of the instances recorded, the exces- 
sive cold to which the plants were exposed, was doubtless suffi- 
cient of itself, as Dr. Lindley supposes, to ensure their destruc-: 
tion. 'The effects produced_on the plants indigenous to the Uni- 
ted States may be adduced in proof of the former statement. 
Thus Fracinus Americana was greatly injured in the garden of 
the Horticultural Society, where the greatest cold was — 43. 'This 
tree is indigenous throughout the State of New York, where it 
rows to a large size, and endures our severe winters with perfect 
impunity. From the abstract of the meteorological observations 
nade to the Regents of the University, and published in their 


Effects of Frost on Plants. 21 


annual report, we find that the thermometer during the same win- 
ter, sunk from — 8° to — 30° in those portions of the state where 
this tree is most abundant. It even extends north to the region of 
‘the Saskatchawan, according to Hooker. Andromeda polifolia, 
which extends from New York quite to the shores of the Arctic sea, 
was killed in the Society’s garden. Clethra alnifolia, which was 
injured at Sketty by a reduction of temperature to only 15°, bears 
a much greater cold in New Jersey and New York. On the other 
hand, Ceratiola ericoides, passed the winter uninjured in the So- 
ciety’s garden. Siderorylon ( Bumelia) lycioides was only slightly 
injured. Quercus virens, (live oak,) though killed at Claremont 
at — 12°, was uninjured in the Society’s garden, and at other pla- 
ces; and, above all, I/kctum Floridanum was unhurt. Of these, 
the latter is a native of Florida, Alabama and Louisiana exclu- 
sively, the very warmest portions of the United States, and none 
of the others occur north of the low region of North Carolina. 
The northern limit of Magnolia grandiflora, is North Carolina 
near the sea coast, where the winters are very mild; yet in Eng- 
land it seems to have escaped damage except in one or two in- 
stances ; while M. glauca, which in its native situations endures 
the winter even of Massachusetts, was much injured in York- 
shire, where the cold was not so severe as in London. 

“Not the least interesting of the facts observed during this 
winter was this, that in those places where the cold was very se- 
vere, the more plants were exposed the less they suffered, and 
that on the contrary the more they were sheltered without being 
actually protected artificially, the more extensively they were in- 
jured.” Of this a great number of instances are given. 

“Tt is well known that plants in a state of growth suffer more 
from frost than those which are dormant. * * * This is un- 
doubtedly owing in a great measure, if not exclusively, to their 
tissue containing much more fluid when in a growing state than 
when they are dormant. 'The more succulent a plant or a part 
of a plant, the more tender it is under equal circumstances. An 
oak or an ash, is nearly exhausted of its fluid contents by the 
leaves before the frost sets in, and, in fact, the fall of those organs 
in deciduous trees is probably caused in part by the inability of 
the stem to supply them in autumn with an adequate quantity of 
fluid food: during the winter, but little water is added to the 
contents of the stem, until after the severe frosts are past and the 


22 Effects of Frost on Plants. 


return of spring, when the sap is attracted upwards by the bud- 
ding leaves. The winter, therefore, is the dry season of such 
plants, and, for that reason, the period in which they are least lia- 
ble to the effects of frost. But if any unusual circumstance alters 
this habit, the capability of resisting frost is altered with it ; and 
thus the plants mentioned in the instances lately quoted, stationed 
in warm sheltered situations, were stimulated prematurely into 
growth, their stems were filled with fluid, and they were, in con- 
sequence, affected by frost in a much greater degree than when, 
from the coldness of a station, they were kept in their ordinary 
winter condition.” 

But the concluding portion of this memoir is that which pos- 
sesses, perhaps, the most general interest: this is the enquiry into 
the exact manner in which the death of plants is caused by cold. 
To give our readers a just idea of Dr. Lindley’s observations on 
this subject, we are under the necessity of making copious and 
lengthened extracts from this part of the memoir, as it will not 
bear much condensation. 

“‘' he common opinion is, that frost acts mechanically upon the 
tissue of plants, by expanding the fluid they contain, and bursting 
the cells or vessels in which it is enclosed. M. Gceppert, of Bres- 
lau, in a paper originally read at the meeting of German natural- 
ists at Leipsig in 1829, briefly abstracted in Oken’s Isis, for 1830, 
and translated in the E'dinburgh Journal of Natural and Geolo- 
gical Science, for 1831, p. 180, denies that this supposed laceration 
of vegetable tissue takes place. He is represented to have stated, 
that the changes which plants undergo, when they are killed by 
cold, do not consist in a bursting of their cells or vessels, but solely 
in an extinction of their vitality, which is followed by changes 
in the chemical composition of their juices. 

“Professor Morren of Liége, in a paper printed in the fifth Vol. 
of the Bulletin de Acad. Royale de Brurelles, has published 
some exceedingly interesting observations upon this subject. 
Like M. Geeppert, he denies the truth of the statement generally 
made, that frost produces death in plants by bursting their vessels ; 
and he assigns the effect to other causes. His more important 
conclusions are—1. That no organ whatever is torn by the action 
of frost, except in very rare cases when the vesicles of cellular 
tissue give way, but that the vesicles of plants are separated 
from each other without laceration. 2. That neither the chlo- 


Effects of Frost on Plants. _ 23 


rophyll, the nucleus of cells, elementary fibre, amylaceous mat- 
ter, raphides, nor the various crystals contained in vegetable tis- 
sue, undergo any alteration, unless perhaps in the case of amy- 
laceous matter, which in some cases is converted into sugar, no 
doubt in consequence of the action of some acid formed by the 
decomposition of the organic parts. 3. That the action of frost 
operates separately upon each individual elementary organ, so 
that a frozen plant contains as many icicles as there are cavities 
containing fluid ; the dilatation thus produced, not being sufficient 
to burst the sides of the cavities. 4. That such dilatation is prin- 
cipally owing to the separation of the air contained in the water. 
5. That this disengagement of air by [from?] water, during the act 
of congelation, is the most injurious of all the phenomena attendant 
upon freezing ; introducing gaseous matter into organs not inten- 
ded to elaborate it, and bringing about the first stage in a decom- 
position of the sap and the matters it precipitates; so that with a 
thaw, commences a new chemical action destructive of vegeta- 
ble life. 6. That the expansion of the cells and aquiferous or- 
gans, drives a great quantity of water into the air-cells and air- 
vessels, so that the apparatus intended to convey liquid only, con- 
tains water and air, while that which is naturally a vehicle for air 
conveys water. Such an inversion of functions must necessarily 
be destructive to vegetable life; even if death were not produced 
in frozen plants by the decomposition of their juices, the loss of 
their excitability, and the chemical disturbance of all their con- 
tents. 

‘ Professor Morren’s observations were made upon various plants 
frozen in the spring of the present year, having been exposed toa 
temperature of —4° to +9° Fahrenheit. One of his statements 
T give in hisown words. ‘In the parenchyma of many plants, 
and especially in that of succulent fruits, it is easy to ascertain 
what modifications are caused by frost in the internal organs of 
plants. Ifa frozen apple is opened, it is obvious that the ice is 
not a continuous mass, but that it is a collection of a multitude of 
little microscopical icicles. Under the microscope the fact be- 
comes evident. We know how excessively hard some fruits be- 
come when frozen by this mosaic of icicles, especially pears. If 
we thaw them, it is seen that on the instant a multitude of air- 
bubbles are extricated from the juice of the fruit, and that this 
juice has then acquired new chemical qualities. I wished to as- 


Qh Effects of Frost on Plants. 


certain the cause of these phenomena, and the following is what 
observation has shown me. [I studied for this purpose more par- 
ticularly the tissue of the apple. ach cell is filled with a small 
icicle which has in its middle a bubble of air. We know, that 
when water freezes, the crystals so arrange themselves, that the 
air separated from their mass by the solidification of the liquid is 
intercalated between their planes. This air also places itself in a 
mass of congealed water in a regular manner, the nature of which 
depends entirely upon that assumed by the crystals, as may be 
seen by freezing water in a cylindrical vessel, when the air-bub- 
bles always assume the form of a very long cone, terminated by a 
spherical cap. ‘The augmentation of the volume of water is in 
great measure owing to this interposition of masses of air. All 
these effects take place in each cell of a frozen apple, which thus 
increases in size because each cell of its tissue becomes individu- 
ally larger. When thawed the cell recovers itself by the elasticity 
of its vegetable membrane, and frozen fruit becomes, as we know, 
very much shrivelled. Each cell, therefore, acts like a bottle of 
frozen water, only there is no bursting, because the membrane is 
extensible.’ But when plants, easily killed by cold, are exposed 
to so low a temperature as that just described, it is to be feared 
that phenomena actually connected with the destruction of veget- 
able life may be intermixed with others, which merely indicate the 
principal effects of cold upon vegetable matter already dead. For 
the purpose of judging how far this conjecture is well founded, I 
have carefully examined the post mortem appearances of several 
plants killed by exposure to a temperature artificially reduced only 
to from 28° to 30° Fahrenheit. These observations, while they 
have confirmed the general accuracy of Professor Morren’s state- 
ments, have led to other conclusions, which also appear impor- 
tant.” In these cases Dr. Lindley remarks that he did not find 
the vesicles of cellular tissue, separable from each other, even in 
the most succulent species, whence he concludes that this result 
is not essentially connected with the destruction of vegetable life, 
but is the effect of a great intensity of cold upon the tissue. In 
several instances, however, he found the tissue lacerated, as if by 
the distension of the fluid it had contained; and sometimes he 
found the cells so completely broken up, that it was difficult to 
obtain a thin slice for examination. 'The young shoots of several 
species of Erica, and of some other plants, were shivered into a 


Effects of Frost on Plants, 25 


thousand pieces in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, and a few 
cases are cited in which the bark and trunk of trees was rent. 

_ “The expulsion of air from aeriferous organs, and the introduc- 
tion of it into parts not intended to contain it, isa striking phenom- 
enon. Every one must have remarked that when a leaf has been 
frozen to death, it changes color as soon as thawed, acquiring a 
deeper green, and being nearly of the same depth of color on both 
sides; the same appearance is produced by placing a leaf under the 
exhausted receiver of an air-pump, and in both cases is owing to the 
abstraction of air from the myriads of little air-chambers contained 
in the substance of this organ. If the leaf of Hibiscus Rosa-Si- 
nensis, in its natural state is examined, by tearing off the paren- 
chyma from the epidermis with violence, it will be found that the 
sphincter of its stomates, the cells of the epidermis, and the cham- 
bers immediately below the latter, are all distended with air; but 
in the frozen leaf of this plant the air has entirely disappeared, the 
sphincter of the stomates is empty ; the upper and under sides of 
the cells of the epidermis have collapsed and touch each other, 
and all the cavernous parenchyma below the epidermis is transpa- 
rent, as if filled with fluid. Whither the air is conveyed is not 
apparent; but as the stomates have evidently lost their excitabil- 
ity, and are in many cases open, it may be supposed that a part of - 
the air at least has been expelled from the leaf; and as the pith 
of this plant in its natural state, contains very little air, and in the 
frozen state is found to be distended with air, it is also probable 
that a part of the gaseous matter expelled from the leaf when 
frozen is driven through the petiole into the pith. In the petiole 
of this plant are numerous annular and reticulated vessels, which 
under ordinary circumstances, are filled with air, but after freezing 
are found filled with fluid; is it not possible that their functions 
may have been disturbed by the violent forcing of air through 
them into the pith, and that when that action ceased, they were 
incapable of recovering from the overstrain, and filled with fluid 
filtering through their sides? That annular ducts are in some 
way affected by frost, was shown by their state in a thawed 
branch of Euphorbia 'Tirucalli, when they were found in a collaps- 
ed state, empty of both air and fluid, with their sides shrivelled, 
-and with the fibre itself, which forms the rings, also wrinkled trans- 
versely. "The minute long-haired leaves of Erica sulphurea are 


in their natural state firm, bright green, with a rigid petiole, and 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 4 


26 Hiffects of Frost on Plants. 


upon being exposed to pressure in a compressorium, offer at first 
perceptible resistance to its action, and afterwards, as the pressure 
increases, discharge, chiefly through their petiole, a great quan- 
tity of air. But the leaves of this plant which have been frozen 
by exposure to the temperature of 27° are very different ; they 
are softer, dull olive-green, with a flaccid petiole, and offer but 
little resistance to pressure ; yet, although they give way freely, 
the quantity of air which the compressorium expels is compara- 


tively small, and readily driven out. Moreover, the long hairs of 


this plant, which in the natural state are occupied by fluid, were 
always found filled with air after freezing, and this without pres- 
sure having been exercised upon them. Iam inclined to refer 
to this cause the well known fact, of which many cases have oc- 
curred this winter, that the sudden exposure of frozen plants to 
warmth will kill them; though they may not suffer if warmed 
gradually. In such cases, it may be supposed that the air, forced 
into parts not intended to contain it, is expanded violently, and 
thus increases the disturbance already produced by its expulsion 
from the proper air-cavities; while on the other hand, when the 
thaw is gradual, the air may retreat by degrees from its new situa- 
tion without producing additional derangement of the tissue.” 

‘The action of frost upon the chlorophyll, or green coloring mat- 
ter of leaves, is next noticed; and also upon the amylaceous mat- 
ter, or starch, which isso abundant in many plants. ‘This last is 
always found ‘to be diminished after freezing, and more or less 
altered; and in the well known case of the potatoe, the starch 
which has disappeared is supposed to have furnished the sugar 
formed in the process of freezing this tuber. 

“Finally, it appears that frost exercises a specific action upon the 
latex, destroying its power of motion. If, as Prof. Schultz sup- 
poses, this is the vital fluid of plants, such a fact would alone ac- 
count for the fatal effects of a low temperature. In all the cases 
I have observed frost coagulates this fluid, collecting it into amor- 
phous masses. 


“(In Stapelia, where the laticiferous vessels are easily found, the 


latex itself.is so transparent, that it is difficult to perceive it ina 
living state, even with the best glasses; but after freezing it is 
distinctly visible, resembling half coagulated water. In the Hi- 
biscus above mentioned, the stem is covered with long and rigid 
simple hairs, filled with a plexus of laticiferous vessels of extreme 


Effects of Frost on Plants. | 27 


tenuity, but in-which the motion of the latex may be seen beau- 
tifully with the one-eighth of an inch object-glass of an achro- 
-matic microscope. Upon being thawed after freezing, all this 
apparatus is found reduced to some misshapen separate sacs of 
fine grumous matter in which no motion can be detected. That 
these vessels lose their vitality after freezing, may indeed be seen 
without the aid of a microscope ; for if a stem of a Ficus elastica, 
or an Euphorbia, or any such plant, which discharges an abun- 
dance of milk when wounded, be first frozen and then thawed, 
no milk will follow the incision. 

“ F'rom these facts, I think we must draw the conclusion, that 
the fatal effect of frost upon plants is a more complicated action 
than has been supposed ; of which the following are the more 
important phenomena : 

‘1. A distension of the cellular succulent. parts, often attended 
by laceration, and always by a destruction of their irritability. 

“2. An expulsion of air from the aeriferous passages and cells. 

¢3. An introduction of air, either expelled from the air-passa- 
ges or disengaged by the decomposition* of water, into parts in- 
tended exclusively to contain fluid. 

‘‘A, A chemical decomposition of the tissue and its contents, 
especially the chlorophyll. 

“‘5, A destruction of the vitality of the latex, and a stoppage 
of the action of its vessels. 

‘6, An obstruction of the interior of the tubes of pleurenchy- 
ma (woody fibre) by the distension of their sides. 

‘“‘'These phenomena may be considered in part mechanical, in 
part chemical, and in part vital. 'The two latter are beyond our 
control. * * * The mechanical action of frost may, how- 
ever, undoubtedly be guarded against to a great extent. It is 
well known that the same plant growing in a dry climate, or ina 
dry soil, or in a situation thoroughly drained from water during 
winter, will resist much more cold than if cultivated in a damp 
climate, or in wet soil, or ina place affected by water during 
winter. Whatever tends to render tissue moist will increase its 
power of conducting heat, and consequently augment the sus- 
ceptibility of plants to the influence of frost ; and whatever tends 


* Or rather disengaged from the water, which held it in solution, during the act 
of freezing. A. G. 


28 Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 


to diminish their humidity will also diminish their conducting 
power, and with it their susceptibility. * *. * "The destruc- 
tive effects of frost upon the succulent parts of plants, or upon 
their tissue when in a succulent condition, may thus be accounted 
for independently of the mechanical expansion of their parts; 
indeed, it is chiefly to that cireumstance that Dr. Neuffer ascribes - 
the evil influence of cold in the spring; for he found, that at 
Tubingen nearly all trees contain eight per cent. more of aqueous 
paris in March.than at the end of January ; and the experience 
of the past winter shows that the cultivation of plants in situa- 
tions too much sheltered, where they are liable to be stimulated 
into growth, and consequently to be filled with fluid, by the 
‘warmth and brightness of a mild, protracted autumn, exposes 
them to the same bad consequences as growing them in damp 
places, or where their wood is not ripened, that is to say, ex- 
hausted of superfluous moisture, and strengthened by the deposi- 
tion of solid matter, resulting from such exhaustion.” 


Art. Ill.—Miscellaneous Notices* on Galvanic results, in letters. 
addressed to Prof. Silliman, October 4, 1838, and Augusz, 
6, 1839, from the vicinity.of London; by Wiut1am Sturcron, 
Esq. : 


REMARKS BY THE EDITORS. 


THE invention of the constant battery by Prof. Daniel of the 
Royal Institution, and its modifications-and improvement by suc- 
cessive investigators, are more or less known to the scientific pub- 
lic. 

A very economical and efficient arrangement of this nature was 
adopted by several members of the London Electrical Society, 
and a report of the construction and performance of the battery, 
in a series of experiments performed at Clapham Common in the 
autumn of 1838, is contained in the report of Mr. Charles V. 
Walker, published in the Transactions of the London Hlectri- 
cal Society, in two papers dated October 16, and November 6, 
1838. In allusion to this battery, Mr. Sturgeon observes, in his 
letter of October 9, 1838 :— 


*'Their earlier appearance has been accidentally prevented. 


Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 29 


“‘ A voltaic battery has been got up (at the expense of two of 
our leading men, whose names I am not at liberty to mention,) 
for the sole purpose of investigation. 'The battery consists of 
one hundred and sixty porcelain pint jars, each containing a cop- 
per and zine cylinder ; the latter being covered with stout brown 
paper, is introduced to the interior of the copper. The exciting 
fluids are solutions of sulphate of copper and muriate of soda; 
the former applied to the copper cylinders, and the latter to the 
zinc ones. When the jars were in series the flame was upwards 
of an inch long, from a charcoal point, rotated on the poles of a 
magnet, according to the principles of electro-magnetism. Davy 
deflected the electrical flame by magnetic influence, but I am not 
aware that he rotated it.” 

“ Sulphuret of lead (galena,) was decomposed, and metallic lead 
obtained. Sulphuret of antimony was decomposed, and the li- 
berated metal kept in fusion for several minutes. The boiling 
antimony was three inches long and half an inch wide between 
the polar wires, and exhibited a beautiful spectacle, in a channel 
of those dimensions which the action had formed in the native sul- 
phuret. When the electric flame was directed through the air be- 
tween stout copper polar wires, the positive wire became red hot, 
but the negative wire could not be made red. 'The wires were 
made to change poles, still the same thing occurred: nay, even 
two inches of the positive wire, which was completely out of 
the circuit, was rendered hot, but no redness appeared on the 
negative wire. How exceedingly curious and interesting is this 
last result ! ; 

“When the whole battery was formed into eight groups of 
twenty jars each, and properly connected with an electro-gasom- 

‘eter, the mixed gases were liberated from water at the rate of one 
cubic inch per seven seconds: and this for many successive min- 
utes, although the battery had been in action for seven previous 
hours without interruption.” 

In his letter of August 6, 1839, Mr. Sturgeon proceeds to ob- 
serve, that a good description of the apparatus and experiments 
will be found in the memoir above named, and of which he 
kindly transmitted a copy. But he remarks: ‘there are some 
particulars connected with the discovery of the difference of tem- 
perature, produced in the positive and negative wires, which 
want a clearer description than any given by Mr. Walker, or, 


30 Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 


perhaps, any which that gentleman had then a means of giving; 
and, as I find, from the defective information which has been 
given of this particular discovery on the continent of Europe, that 
-M. De la Rive and others, have failed in reproducing the curious 
phenomenon, it is possible that the American philosophers may 
also fail from a like cause, were the particulars of manipulation 
not made known to them. I will, therefore, for the information 
of all the readers of your excellent Journal, give a brief historical 
sketch of the whole business.” 

“The battery consisted of a hundred and sixty white porce- 
lain jars, each of the capacity of about two thirds of a pint, and 
furnished with a hollow cylinder of sheet copper, and an interior 
hollow cylinder of sheet zinc, the latter amalgamated, and in me- 
tallic connexion with the copper of the next pot, &c. The cop- 
per and zinc of each pot were separated from each other by a dia- 
phragm of brown paper, (a disc, on the centre of which is placed 
the centre of the base of the zine cylinder, and the periphery 
brought up to the upper end of the latter so as to form a bag 
round the zinc,) which separates the solution of sulphate of cop- 
per, which is placed outside, from the solution of common salt, 
which is placed inside of it. Hence the copper is washed with 
its sulphate solution, and the zinc with the muriate of soda solu- 

tion. 
‘One hundred of these metals and pots were furnished by Mr. 
Gassiot, and the other sixty by Mr. Mason. The preparation of 
a battery of this kind and extent is a great labor, as you will un- 
derstand from the following particulars. Mr. Walker commenced 
working at it between eight and nine in the morning; Mr. Mason 
arrived about eleven in the forenoon, and immediately set to work 
at it; Mr. Gassiot commenced shortly afterwards, and it was not 
ready for experiment till three in the afternoon, about an hour 
and a half after I arrived at Mr. Gassiot’s house. The plan of 
dividing the battery into groups for the experiments on decompo- 
sitions, was formed by Mr. Mason, who is a very skillful and neat 
experimenter. Ata previous meeting I was requested to provide 
a catalogue of experiments, which I did; but in consequence of 
the great length of time occupied in the experiments on the de- 
composition of water by the various forms of the battery, only a 
few of them were attempted. As the decompositions are very 
well described by Mr. Walker, it would be unnecessary to say 


Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 31 


any thing more about them in this place. They were carried 
on with great exactness in the following manner. 'The gradua- 
ted glass tube of the electro-gasometer being filled with acidula- 
ted water and inverted over the platinum terminals of the instru- 
ment, one of the polar wires of the battery was connected with 
it, and the other kept in the hand of the experimenter ready to 
plunge into the other mercurial cup of the instrument the moment 
the word “time” was given, and taken out again when a cubic 
inch of the gases was collected. Mr. Gassiot marked the time 
by a stop-watch, Mr. Mason and myself were in turns the experi- 
menters, and Mr. Walker recorded the facts as they were reported 
to him. : 
“With regard to the experiment in which I discovered the 
great difference produced in the two polar wires, it was undertaken 
from the views which I had long entertained concerning the non- 
identity of the electric and calorific matter, as you will see I have 
hinted at, at the close of section 1, of my first memoir to the 
London Electrical Society. It was late in the evening before I 
had any opportunity of making the experiment. ‘The rest of the 
party were engaged in something else at the time, and the battery 
was in series of one hundred and sixty pairs. I brought the tip 
ends of the polar wires (copper Fig. 1. 
Wire one tenth of an inch diam- ep 
eter) into contact, end to end, Gane? aia Svan eno 
thus, (Fig. 1,) then withdrew them gently and very gradually 
from each other, keeping the flame in full play between them till 
they were separated about one Fig. 2. 
fourth of an inch, thus, (Fig. 2.) 4 2 
In a few minutes the positive © === 
wire at P got red hot for about half an inch, but the negative 
wire never became red. I repeated this several times, in order 
to be convinced of the fact. I next laid the wires across one an- 
other, and brought them into contact about an inch from the ex- | 
tremities, thus, (Fig. 3,) and separated ae Pig. 3. 
them as before. In a short time the 
whole of that part from the point of 
crossing to the extremity P, became 
very red hot, but the N end never got even to a dull redness. It 
was certainly very hot, but never higher than a black heat. I 
next increased the length of the ends of the wires exterior to the 


P 


32 Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 


circuit ; and eventually heated two inches of the positive wire 
to bright redness ; but no such heat took place on the other wire. 
Thus satisfying myself that I was not mistaken, I called Mr. 
Mason to come and look at it; and after satisfying that gentle- 
man by an experiment or two, we called Mr. Gassiot and Mr. 
Walker to come and witness the novel phenomenon. We now 
changed the places of the polar wires, making that positive which 
before had been negative, &c. Still the positive wire showed 
the same fact. You will easily understand that I experienced a 
great degree of pleasure at the appearance of this beautiful fact, 
which seemed to demonstrate the justness of the hypothesis I had 
so long formed. No two bodies can be in the same place at the 
same time, is an old axiom in philosophy. Hence the blacksmith 
is enabled to heat his iron rod or nail, by compressing the calo- 
rific matter; the blows of his hammer forcing it from the cavi- 
ties into the particles of the metal. Thus, also, the electric fluid 
forces the calorific matter from its natural lodgings in the con- 
ductor, and drives it on even to beyond the electrical stream, to 
take refuge, in a compressed form,. in the extremity of the posi- 
tive wire. Nothing can be more simple to explain; nor do I 
know of an experiment that tends more to support the doctrine 
_ of one species of electric matter only; and that it moves through 
the voltaic conducting wires, from the positive to the negative 
pole. Ihave more experiments on this point, but they are not 
yet in a passable form. 

““'To produce the phenomenon I have been describing, requires 
an extensive series of pairs; certainly not less than one hundred 
and twenty, but two hundred would answer much better, as 
much depends upon the play of the fluid between the wires; and 
I think that the battery is quite as well when not highly charged. 
I have mentioned one hundred and twenty/as the shortest to in- 
sure success, although it is possible that one hundred might shew 
the fact.’’ 


Extracts from the Memoir of Mr. Walker. 


‘ An interesting phenomenon presented itself, in the deflagration 
of mercury. The wires used to connect cell 1 and cell 160 with 
the decomposing or other apparatus were of copper, ;;th inch in 
diameter, well insulated with Indian-rubber cloth, and covered 
with Indian-rubber cut from thin sheets. When the negative 


Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 33 


wire was placed within a cup of mercury, and the positive brought 
to within the striking distance, a most brilliant combustion of the 
metal took place. When the positive was placed in the mercury, 
and the negative brought to the striking distance, the brilliancy of 
the combustion was so increased that it was painful to behold it.” 

“The length of flame obtained from the charcoal points was 
three fourths of an inch. he end of a steel file was melted 
by the flame; so also was glass. Zinc turnings were speedily , 
deflagrated, and their oxide was seen floating about the room. 
The physiological effects were exceedingly powerful: it required 
the strongest nerves to volunteer the experiment. 'The deflagra- 
tion of metals, and those other phenomena which are attractive 
to the eye, were of the most brilliant description. 

“Tt was half past 10, P. M. before we had arrived at this por- 
tion of the experiments, the battery having been in active ope- 
ration upwards of 7 hours, and after 5 hours of excitation its 
power was scarcely impaired. It had been, towards the close, 
fed, by dropping a few crystals of sulphate of copper into the 
solutions; but these latter were by no means exhausted ; for, on 
disarranging the battery, the solution remaining in the cells was 
found fit to use on an ensuing evening, when many members of 
this Society had an opportunity of witnessing some of those ef- 
fects, which attach so much value to this simple form of the bat- 
tery. 

“On applying a powerful magnet, the flame from the charcoal 
points obeyed the known laws of electro-magnetism, being at- 
tracted or repelled as the case might be; or following the motion 
of the magnet, if the latter were revolved.” 

‘When the ends of the main wires were placed across each 
other, (at about one or two inches from their extremities, ) not 
touching, but with an intervening stratum of air,—the striking 


distance, through which the electricity Fig. 4. 
passed, producing a brilliant light, that 
wire connected with the positive end of oe 


the battery became red hot, from the point 

of crossing to its extremity. The corre- 

sponding portion of the other wire remain- N 

ed comparatively cold. This experiment was carefully repeated 
and varied. ‘The wires were removed from the battery ; that 


which had been the positive was made the negative, and the 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 5 


34 Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 


negative the positive. The results were still the same. The 
positive became in all cases heated, from its end to the point of 
crossing, nor could any coaxing, if I may use the term, produce 
the same effects in the other, even though the portion beyond the 
spot where the wires crossed was reduced to the smallest amount. 
The heat in the end of the positive wire P was so great, that it 
bent beneath its own weight.” (See fig. 4, p. 33.) 

‘With the battery of one hundred and sixty cells, the arrange- 
ment not in series is five-fold more efficacious than that 2m series, 
when the electrolyte is acidulated water, and the arrangement in 
series is ten-fold more powerful than that not in series if the elec- 
trolyte be distilled water.” 

‘¢ We were now induced to repeat that interesting experiment 
wherein the end of the positive wire became heated to redness, 
with the following variations :—The wires were crossed as be- 
fore, and their ends placed into two separate small jars, a, 6, (Fig. 
5,) containing distilled water, at the temperature of 58°. In five 
minutes the temperature of the cell 6, containing the negative 
wire, rose to 61°, being 3°,—that of the positive cell a to 64°, 
being 6°. 

“They were then similarly placed into two small glass vessels 
of distilled water ; in about two minutes the water in the cell 
containing the positive wire boiled, that in the other presenting 
no such appearance. 

‘‘When two drops of water were placed on a piece of glass, 
and the wires touching the water, that at the positive, as might 
be anticipated, evaporated instantly. 

Fig. 6. 


“In concluding this account, I have to describe a peculiar phe- 
nomenon of a most interesting character, observed by causing a 
portion of a magnet to form part of the circuit. ‘The other mag- 
netic effects, which shewed the electric flame, obedient to the 
same laws governing a wire through which the electricity passes, 


Miscellaneous Notices on Galvanic Results. 35 


having been repeated, a powerful horse-shoe magnet was held 
horizontally with its north or marked end uppermost ; the wire 
from the negative end of the battery was firmly pressed upon 
the magnet, and the positive wire brought to within the striking 
distance, when we had the pleasing satisfaction to observe a brill- 
iant circular flame of electrical light, revolving from left to right, 
as the hands of a watch. When the position of the magnet was 
reversed, and the effect obtained from the south or unmarked end 
of the magnet, the flame revolved from right to left. The ap- 
pearance of the flame was not unlike that of the brush from an 
electrical machine received on a large surface, only much more 
brilliant.” 


Conclusion.—The following remarks, in answer to enquiries 
made of Mr. Sturgeon as to his views regarding the best forms of 
salvanic batteries, are worth preserving, as the conclusions of so 
experienced an experimenter, and the more so as they coincide 
generally with the views of Dr. Hare, and of other distinguish- 
ed men in this country.— Eds. 


Form and size of Galvanic Batteries. 


““ With respect to galvanic batteries, we can never expect to find 
one which will exhibit every class of phenomena to the best ad- 
vantage. ‘The pile, with moistened card board in pure water, or 
a well constructed Cruickshank, charged with water, answers 
best for charging Leyden jars, deflections of pith balls, &c. And 
the more extensive the series the better. The size of the plates 
has also much to do in this business. A single pair of plates, 
charged with dilute nitrous acid, answers best for most electro- 
magnetic experiments. Fora display of brilliant calorific phe- 
nomena, the burning of charcoal, deflagration of laminated metals, 
é&c., a series of not less than a hundred pairs answers better than 
any smaller series. Here again, the size of the plates should 
never be less than four inches square. Six inch plates answer 
much better, and two hundred better than one hundred, &c. And 
these may be either of the Cruickshank form, or of any other, 
observing that the action with the former is of much shorter du- 
ration than with the Wollaston form, and shorter with the Wol- 
laston than with the battery of jars before described. 

“Then again, for heating of thick wires, a series of ten or less, 
of large plates, are better than more extensive series. 


36 Temperature of the Year. 


‘For chemical decompositions, there is, perhaps, no battery 
known so well adapted for them as the jars which I have describ- 
ed. Their sustaining power is a great recommendation. The 
extent of series will necessarily vary with the nature of the com- 
pound operated on. We have found that a series of twelve jars 
gives a sufficient intensity for the decomposition of acidulated wa- 
ter, (water 10, sulphuric acid 1, or even much less.) 'T'wenty- 
four jars in a double series of twelve, give about twice as much 
gas as a single series of twelve. But twenty-four jars in a single 
series, do not give so much gas.as when they form a double se- 
ries of twelve. Again, thirty-six jars in one series, do not give 
so much gas as when they are formed into a treble series of 
twelve. Hence, a series of twelve of these jars seems to be about 
the best unit of intensity for acidulated water. Other compounds 
will require other units of intensity to produce maximum eflects— 
and other batteries will require different extent of series to pro- 
duce the same wnit of intensity as that produced by the Jars. 

“As far as my knowledge extends, I cannot point out any elec- 
tro-magnetic apparatus so likely to suit you as those described in 
Vol. xnin of the Transactions of the Society of Arts. They are 
those I still operate with, and I am not aware of any improved 
method of showing the principal experiment. Those described by 
Dr. Page are very neat, and might answer for the lecture table 
very well. Almost every experimenter has some piece of appa- 
ratus of his own contrivance, but I think there are none of much 
use to you beyond those made public.” —Letter to Prof. Silliman. 


aan 


Art. [V.—Facts relative to the temperature of the year, as dedu- 
ced from a series of observations made at Amherst Cee in 
1839; by Prof. E. 8. Swett. 


Wisuine to ascertain as nearly as possible the mean tempera~ 
ture of this place, and likewise to determine what two or three 
daily observations would furnish that mean for the several sea- 
sons of the year, I proposed to the students, at the beginning of 
1839, to commence a-series of hourly observations of the ther- 
mometer. Nearly all the members of the college very cheerfully 
and generously engaged in the plan, each individual in his turn 
recording the temperature twenty-four times in as many success- 


yp? 
“ai 
° 


° ‘0 o ° Q 
: SaaUDGEE 
9 IN 


Am.Jour, Sei. Vol, 39. No. 1. 


A.Ms 7 oe 


conga 
Bic: Sees 


we Ae ae i 
POC aera Ne a, 
ee 


lela aa /d a le eT | | 
picked ol ob cbil ood lob A 


SENN 
K Sy et. 
= a 
(0 
—— 
LOEB PARSER 
Pe Beas 
GS==GRN0RERS 
- fe. el 
aH iaisS |: 
saris SHH 
Eee NN] Jan. 


6 7 £ 
A.M. ane 


Ae 


AM jab Leys: SB 
‘ ; & ' i) 
waNe Wel és ae iss sy IN i 
rhe : he sive 


Temperature of the Year. 37 


ive hours. ‘The record was, however, discontinued every week 
from Saturday, 7, P. M. to Sunday, 7, P. M. During a part of 
the long autumnal vacation, when few students remained in town, 
the record was made but once in two or three hours by night, 
and the intermediate numbers were supplied by interpolation. 
Throughout the year, I almost every day attended personally to 
the location of the thermometer, that it might have such an ex- 
posure as to indicate correctly the temperature of the air. The 
entire number of observations was seven thousand five hundred 
and twelve, distributed equally through the year, or about six 
hundred and twenty-six each month. The following table ex- 
hibits the mean temperature of the several months, and of the 
year, according to F'ahrenheit’s thermometer. 


Feb. 


98°57 


Mar. 


34°81 


Oct. 


50.46 


Nov. 
34.80 


June. 


61.60 


Dec. 


99.28 


Jan. 


99°94 


April. 
48°54 


May. 
56.92 


July. 
71.61 


Aug. 


67°44 


Sept. 


59.80 


Year. 


47.23 


Besides the daily, monthly, and annual averages, I also obtained 
the averages of the corresponding hours for every month, and 
for the year. ‘Thus, in January, the mean temperature at 1, A. 
M., was 19°.04; at 2, A. M., 18°.70, &c. All these results are 
presented at once to the eye in the plate, in which the mean diur- 
nal changes of each month are represented by a curve, whose 
coordinates show respectively the hour of the day and the degree 
of temperature. ‘The horizontal ordinates indicate the hours ac- 
cording to the marking at the top and bottom; the vertical, the 
temperature, as expressed on the left; on the right are marked 
the months, to which the several curves belong. 

By tracing the curve for January, it will be seen, that the mean 
temperature at 1, A. M. was above 19°, and slowly descended 
till 7, A. M., whence it rose rapidly till 2, P. M., and from 2 till 
midnight descended again, rapidly between 4 and 6, the rest of 
the time slowly. It appears, therefore, that the maximum heat 
of this mean January day occurred about 2, P. M., and the min- 
imum about 7, A. M., the range being near 123°. The curves 
for the other months have the same general form. 'The maxi- 
mum is always near 2, P. M.; but the minimum, which com- 
monly takes place near sun-rise, varies from 4 to 8, A. M., accord- 
ing to the season. ‘The heavy curve, commencing near 43° on 
the left, and marked “ year” on the right, exhibits the mean of 
all the other curves; and hence represents the thermometrical 


38 Temperature of the Year. 


changes during what may be termed a mean annual day. Its 
maximum is near 2, P. M., its minimum about 5, A. M., and its 
range 14°.61. 

In this annual curve, the small irregularities of the monthly 
curves balance each other, and disappear. Its upper half is sym- 
metrical, and has very nearly the form of a parabola. But in tra- 
cing the two branches from the vertex to the minimum point, it 
will be perceived that the inclinations of the lower parts are very 
unequal, the night portion sloping much more gradually than the 
morning portion. The same thing is indicated by the fact, that 
between the points of minimum and maximum temperature, there 
intervene only nine hours in the morning, but fifteen hours in 
the afternoon and night. . 

The straight horizontal line, near 47°, expresses the mean tem- 
perature of the year, and crosses the last named curve, so as to 
make the sum of the vertical ordinates above it equal to those be- 
low. 

Another curve is introduced, which has no connection with 
the hours marked at top and bottom. On the second vertical line 
is placed a small mark at 22°.94, the mean temperature of Janu- 
ary; on the fourth, another mark at 28°.57, the mean tempera- 
ture of February, and soon. ‘These marks are then connected 
by acontinued curve, which therefore expresses the annual range 
of the monthly means. Each small mark through which the 
curve passes, is the place where might be drawn a horizontal line, 
that would be obtained from the corresponding monthly curve, 
by reducing its vertical ordinates to an average. 'The horizontal 
line near 47°, already noticed, bears the same relation to this as 
to the other annual curve ; in each, the sum of the ordinates above 
the straight line is equal to the sum below. 

An inspection of the curves, as well as of the table, shows that 
January was the coldest, and July the warmest month of the 
year, as is usually the case; that the temperature of March and 
November was nearly equal; also that of February and Decem- 
ber; that the mean of the whole year differed less from that of 
April than any other month ; and that seven months were warmer, 
while only five were colder than the annual mean. It is notice- 
able, also, that in summer the mean daily range is three or four 
degrees greater than in winter. 


A 


Temperature of the Year. 39 


As the principal object in view was to derive a rule for obtain- 
ing the mean temperature from two or three daily observations, 
my attention was particularly directed to this subject. After ma- 
king various combinations of the hourly means, and comparing 
them with the true mean, the following very simple rule was dis- 
covered. Divide the meteorological year into quarters, thus :— 

Ist quarter.—November, December, January. 
2d quarter.—February, March, April. 

3d quarter.—May, June, July. 

Ath quarter.—August, September, October. 

The equinoxes and solstices fall about in the middle of the 
quarters respectively. During the first quarter, record the ther- 
mometer at 9, A. M. and 6, P. M. 

2d qr. at 8, A. M. and 6, P. M. 
3d qr. at 7, A. M. and 6, P. M. 
Ath qr. at 8, A. M. and 6, P. M. 

The following table exhibits a comparison of the true avera- 

ges, and those obtained from the hours just named. 


True mean. 9&6 

Ist qr. 29°.01 28°.90 
8&6 

2d qr. 37°.31 37°.35 
7&6 

3d qr. 630.38 63°.41 
8 &6 

Ath qr. 59°.23 59°. 41 

Whole year, A7°.23 ; AT°.27 


The numbers in these two columns almost perfectly coincide, 
and it is probable, that were the experiment to be tried in almost 
any other year, the agreement would be less exact. But since 
the annual mean temperature at a given place, as is well known, 
is nearly the same from year to year, and since the hours of ob- 
servation in the above system have a symmetrical arrangement 
with regard to the sun’s declination, it is believed the rule will 
be nearly accurate every year at this place, and at other places 
whose latitude does not differ widely from this. ‘There must of 
course be two points of time in the mean annual day, (one in the 
ascent of the thermometer, the other in its descent,) at which 
the mean temperature occurred. They are indicated in the 
plate by the intersections of the annual curve, and the corres- 


AO Temperature of the Year. 


ponding straight line. These intersections, which are seen to be 
a little after 9, A. M., and before 8, P. M., calculation fixes at 9h. 
5m. A. M., and 7h. 49m. P. M. Hither of these points would be 
the proper time for a single daily observation, for the purpose of 
obtaining the mean temperature of the year. Ina paper in the 
Edinburgh Transactions, Vol. x., Dr. Brewster states the mean 
temperature of the years 1824 and 1825, to have occurred at 9h. 
13m. A. M. and 8h. 27m. P. M., in the latitude of Edinburgh. 

By the use of a maximum and minimum thermometer, I have 
registered the daily extremes of temperature, and the mean of 
those extremes. 'The annual average of all the daily means is 
47°.38, which differs but slightly from the foregoing results. 
This method may undoubtedly be employed for obtaining the 
annual mean with little error; but it is not accurate for all parts 
of the year; for in winter the true mean is lower, and in sum- 
mer higher, than the mean of daily extremes. 

The following rule for obtaining the mean temperature is 
adopted in the state of New York, by direction of the Regents 
of the University. Observe the thermometer first, between day- 
light and sunrise; second, between 2 and 4, P.M.; third, an 
hour after sunset. Add together the first, twice the second and 
third, and the first of the next day, and divide the sum by six. 
I have applied this rule to a few months of the year, and find 
the results to agree pretty nearly with those which are given 
above; the greatest discrepancy noticed does not exceed three 
tenths of a degree. 

That I might judge of the probable error arising from the omis- 
sion of the Sabbaths, I have compared together the mean tempera- 
ture at 9, A. M. and 3, P. M., taken from the meteorological jour- 
nal of the college, in which the record is made every day, and 
the mean temperature of the same hours, exclusive of the Sab- 
baths. - The former is 49°.81; the latter 50°.01; making a dif- 
ference of one fifth of a degree. But the error arising from this 
source would affect to almost an equal amount both the annual 
mean, and the mean as deduced from the proposed system of two 
daily observations; so that the rule applies with nearly the same 
precision as if the series had been uninterrupted. 


An Jom Ser Volk NOL. 


Montreal 


Portia 


Bovismouth, 


ot U 
umbk 


XR IN 


es wre CH 


sharlesyon, S (ees 
f iz #2 » 


| ae éf the Ne 
( (Aluited States:) ) 


CORY BLLAS LOOMIS.) 
> 


18410 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. Al 


Art. V.—On the Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needie in 
the United States; by Exzas Loomis, Professor of Mathemat- 
ics and Natural Philosophy in Western Reserve College. 


Communicated to the Conn. Acad. of Arts and Sciences, and read April 28, 1840. 
I. Variation of the Magnetic Needle. 


In the number of this Journal for July, 1838, (Vol. xxxiv,) I 
have given a collection of all the observations on the variation of 
the magnetic needle in the United States, which I had at that 
time been able to collect, and from them was enabled to draw up- 
on a chart the lines of equal variation with tolerable accuracy. 
The observations, however, exhibited various anomalies, and 
for the southern part of the country were very few in number. 
Further information on the subject was therefore desirable. I 
have accordingly sought observations from every source in my 
power; with what success the present article will show. The 
earliest information on the subject I have been able to obtain, is 
contained in the Journal of Hudson’s third voyage, in 1609, when 
he discovered Hudson River. 'The Journal is contained in the 
third volume of Purchas’s Pilgrims, from which the following ex- 
tract was furnished me by Prof. Jared Sparks, of Cambridge. 
Hudson came to the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, and proceeded 
along the coast to the thirty-fifth degree of latitude. He does 
not mention his ‘longitude, but was commonly in sight of land. 

July 3, 1609. Banle of Newfoundland. Lat. 44° varia. 17°w. 


4, at Uncertain. “ 15 
6 5, %3 66 3 AAC1Q° 6! O83 
“ 10, ‘ Near Cape Sables. he fll 
© 25, ‘ Mouth of Penobscot River. AAs A Bese TO 
oT 2 At Sunset. AS 5667. bO 
« 28, “ Farther S. towards Cape Cod. BS 
«“ 629, ‘“ Sunset—near Cape Cod. i ie 
Aug. 11, “ Near the coast. BO LI) oes 
cote) At noon. 38. 13) ee 
la A WOOL: 36 AS a Sele 
ee unpbenaey 6 Dh ZO.) 4 een 
Ci Or oe about 36 - 4 
Sept.13, ‘ A few miles up Hudson’s River, Seles 
Oct. 4, ‘“ At noon—on the coast. 3930 “ 6 


Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 6 


42 Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 


On the 2d of September, when he was near the Jersey shore, 
a little below the mouth of Hudson’s River, he says: ‘This 
night I found the land to haul the compass eight degrees. For 
to the northward of us we saw high hills. For the day before we 
found not above two degrees variation.’ _ j aS 

Most of the preceding observations were of course made,on ship- 
board, and perhaps all, with the exception of that of Sept. 13th. 
The iron of the vessel would necessarily influence the needle to 
an amount which we have, perhaps, no means of estimating. 
The observation of Sept. 13th, it is presumed, was made on shore, 
and may be compared with subsequent observations at New York 
city. The variation here in 1686, according to Mr. Welles, was 
8° 45’, showing a decrease of 4° 15’ in seventy-seven years, or 
about three and a third minutes per year. This accords very 
well with subsequent observations at the same place. 

Most of the other observations which I have obtained are of - 
recent date. The Geological Reports of Maine, New York, Geor- 
gia, Ohio, and Michigan, have furnished the principal part. In 
September, 1839, I obtained a few observations from the Gene- 
ral Land Office at Washington; a few are from the New York 
Regents’ Reports, and the remainder are from miscellaneous 
sources. The catalogue is here subjoined; the stations being 

arranged by States, commencing with the most easterly. 


Observations on the Variation of the Magnetic Needle in differ- 
ent parts of the United States. 


Place. Lat. N. (Lon. W.| Variation. | Date. Authority. 
MAINE. RE aS Hatt We es 
N. E. angle of State, [48 0/67 37/19 12 w/1838/State Comm’rs. 
Greenville, 45 24169 35|11 0 “ |/Third Geo. Report. 
Farmington, 44 42)70 A411 20 # st 
Umbagog Lake, 44 42/70 53\13 0 ab a 
Dixfield, 44 32/70 14/12 0 << ef 
Rumford, 44 30/70 26/11 O 2 iS 
Waterville, 44 an? 32/12 8 {1835 a 
Belfast, 44 2668 54/13 O {1838 i 
Raymond, 43 57/70 241 9 45 2 Gs 
West Thomaston, 43 5669 512 0 a is 
NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
Hanover, 43 42/72 10} 9 15 |1839|/Prof. Young. 
VERMONT. 
Burlington, 44 27/73 10| 7 36 |1826\Prof. G. W. Benedict. 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
Williamstown, 42 43/73 13} 6 15 |1833|Prof. A. Hopkins. 
66 66 66 7 45 1837] Ǥ 66 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 


Place. Lat. N. jLon. W,) Variation. Date. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Dorchester, 

House Point Island, 9 20 

Southwick, 8 15 
RHODE ISLAND. 

Newport, 7 0 
CONNECTIECUT. 

New Haven, 6 10 
NEW YORK. 

Champlain, 9 30 

West Chazy, 9 21 

Ogdensburg, 10 


Keeseville, 

66 
Rossie, 
Dial Mountain, 
Base of Mountain, 
Cedar Point, 
East Moriah, 
Small Pond, 
West Moriah, 
Near the Mountain, 


i=) LAL ROHBOAHHLATIDDIICOGFOCRHODNS 
amt 
ou 


Crown Point, 47 
Warrensburgh, 
Rochester, 4 
Cazenovia, 0 
Hamilton, 30 
Troy, 4 
Albany, 14 
66 18 
cé 32 
Oxford, 30 
Guilford, 30: 
Flatbush, 45 
66 45 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
Fairview, 0 
MARYLAND. 
Baltimore, 12w 
GEORGIA. 


Toccoa Falls, 
Habersham Co. ‘ 
Summit of Toccoa Mt. 


Tellulah River, 
Habersham Co. 4 44 
Carnesville, Boy 


Thornville, Elbert Co. 
Elberton, 
Lawrenceville, 
Goshen, 


9 6 w\1839|/Mr. Bond. 


43 


Date. Authority. 


1835|Gov’t Survey. 
1838|/Amasa Holcomb. 


1831\James Stevens. 
1840/E. C. Herrick. 
1838 Geolozieal Report. 


1828 Regents Rpt. 1829. 
1831. 


1s3i} 1832. 
1837) «= 1839. 
iss) 
Corie ae aN: 


4A 


Place. 
GEORGIA. 
Monroe, 


Berlin, Richmond Co. 


Lincolnton, 
Madison, 
Applington, 
Augusta, 
Eatonton, 
Milledgeville, 
Waynesboro’, 
Saundersville, 
Mill Haven, 
Black Creek, 
Scriven Co. 


Wendover, Scriven co. 


Edward J. Black’s 
house, Scriven Co. 

Jacksonboro’, 

Birdsville, 

Swainsboro’, 

Columbus, 

Springfield, 

Oak Level, Effing- 
ham Co. 

Ashville, Effingham 
C 


0. 
Cottage Green, Ef- 
fingham Co. 
Baird’s Creek, Tat- 
{ nall Co. 
Lumpkin, 
Savannah, 


Bryan C. H. 
Cuthbert, 
Liberty C. H. 
Fort Gaines, 
Darien, 
Bainbridge, 
ALABAMA. 
Tuscaloosa, 
LOUISIANA. 


Lat. N. Lon. W. W. 
©) ne) 
33 51/83 53 


33 46)82 38 
33 34/83 40 
33 32182 27 
33 26182 1 
33 21183 34 
33-7183. 20 
Is gis2 9 
32 57/82 59 
32 56/81 47 


32 49/81 43 
32 48/82 13 
32 39/82 30 
32 28/85 10 
32 21/81 30 


32 9/84 55 
32 581 7 
32 2/81 32 
31 49/85 2 
31 48/81 37 
31 38/85 19 
31 26/81 37 
30 55/84 46 


30 12/87 42 


32 50/92 22 
32 25/92 32 
31 50/92 32 
31 45/92 22 
31 40/92 32 


Mouth of Sabine river,|29 41/94 0 


Variation. Date. 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 


Authority. 


% 10 £|1838 Glories Survey. 


5 4 
29 


Ou 


HO COONS Cl LP Ct CLOLOIGOU PS Os Ol 
Ze) 
S) S| a Nore a & Ca 


1837 
1838 66 66 
1837 66 66 
6c ce 66 
1838 66 66 
1837 66 66 
1838 66 66 
HES of" 
66 cé 66 
66 66 cé 
sss)“ i 
1839 66 66 
1837 66 66 
66 66 6é 
66 66 66 
1838 66 66 
1839 66 66 
1838 66 66 


1839|Dr. Posey. 
1838 eoloee ae 
1839 


1838 66 66 
1939, : 
1838 66 66 
is39)«* “ 


«¢ |Prof. Barnard. 


1835|Public ees 
1813 xb 

1836 oD cs 
1834 66 66 
1835 66 66 


1840|Boundary Comm’rs 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. A5 


Place. Lat. N. |Lon. W.| Variation.) Date. Authority. 

OHIO. Oe Nee 
Chardon, 41 35/81 15) 15 £/1838)R. Cowles. 
Euclid, 41 34/81 32)1 30 |1825)/Ahaz Merchant. 
Cleveland, 41 30/81 46\f 20 |1830) “« “ 

66 66 66 50 1834 66 66 

cc 66 66 35 1838 66 66 
Lower Sandusky, 41 21/83 9)2 48 *« |David Reeves. 
Flat Rock, 41 18/84 12/3 14 « |Wm. C. Brownell. 
Hudson, 41 1581 26) 54 |1839)/Prof. Loomis. 

66 66 | 6c 52 1840 66 66 
Brookfield, 41 1480 37) 40 /|1837,George Boyce. 
Braceville, 41 14/81 3) 50 {1838 Franklin E. Stowe. 
Tallmadge, 41 581 261 O |1806S. E. Ensign. 
Portage, 41 O81 31\1 O |1797|Moses Warren. 

ae uC « |1 15 {1838 Mr. Mallison. 
Kalida, 40 5984 143 O “* |E. B. Fitch. 
Wooster, 40 4981 58/2 33 |1831/C. W. Christmas. 

66 6é 6c 1 AT 1837 66 ce 

ce 66 66 1 57 1839 (73 66 

(73 66 66 1 47 1840 66 i 66 
Kenton, 40 39/83 37/5 17 ‘|1838'John H. Ross. 

_{Sandy, 40 37/81 282 10 |1S10/E. Buckingham. 
Carrolton, 40 3681 9| 30 {1838 Van Brown. 
Marion, 40 35/83 913 17 ‘¢ ‘Samuel Holmes. 
Dover, 40 31/81 29)1 50 «* /Herman V. Beeson. 
Coshocton, 40 2881 571 30 | “ |John W. Sweeny. 
St. Clairsville, 40 10:80 52/3 10 |1820 James C. Moore. 

(13 66 66 oD 32 1837 66 66 

oe cs <« (2 31 {1838} “ se 
Zanesville, 39 5882 4/2 30 ‘«¢ |James Boyle. 
Batesville, 39 5881 11)1 22 «¢ IM. Atkinson. 
New Madison, 39 5684 375 23 |1826) Judson Jaqua. 

66 66 14 4 51 1838 ce 6e 
Springfield, 39 54/83 47/4 30 |1835 Public Survey. 
Spring Bank, 39 45 4 54 |1818 Moses Collier. 

Ce ee « 314 #|1838) * Oh 
Washington, 39 34183 21/33 6 «« |Joseph Bell. 
Springboro’, 39 31/84 16/5 30 |1820)E. Baily. 

66 66 6c 4 4. 1838 66 66 
Near Marietta, 39 31/81 26/1 36 ‘“ |B. E. Stone. 
Wilmington, 39 28/83 42/4 25 |1834|/David Wickersham. 

66 66 (1 4 5 1838 66 ce 
Chillicothe, 39 21/82 54/3 15 |1835/A. Bourne. 
Athens, 39 1681 54 3 {|1796)/Public Surveys. 

O ae « 13 12 |1838S. B. Pruden. 
Jackson, 39 1582 423 10 ‘* \Oliver N. Tyson. 
Cincinnati, 39 684 27/4 58 |1806)Public Surveys. 
Gallipolis, 38 53\82 73 40 “* |Joseph Fletcher. 

66 cé 13 2 35 1838 66 66 


46 Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 


Place. Lat. N. |Lon. W.|Variation. | Date. | Authority. 
INDIANA. ECS ib Gal ln 
Logansport, 40 45/86 24/5 35 x. |1836)/Town plan. 
ILLINOIS. 


41 10) * |8 O 
‘ e720 )}1S838 et 


41 15388 32/8 15 = |1821|Public Surveys. 


41 0 66 6 50 (13 66 
40 50) “ 17 43 ~~ 11833) 
40 30) “ (7 30 = {1828 cs 
40 20) 66 7 40 66 66 
40 O|.“ |7 55 | 1822 
39 30) “ |8 O | {1821 “ 
Alton, 38 52/90 127 45 ~=—-|1840/H. Loomis. 
38 30/88 32/7 50 ~={1818/Public Surveys. 
MISSOURI. 
37 3090 2/7 30 {1827 ce 
37 O| “ 8 O- {1823 < 
66 90 12/8 0) 66 66 
36 50/90 27 30 66 “ 
36 40} “ 8 O- {1825 &s 
MICHIGAN. 
Machinac, 45 51/84 31/2 59 = |1827/Lucius Lyon. 
Michigan shore, 44 31/85 32/4 30 |1838/Geolog. Report. 
66 84 56/2 50 66 be 
“184 2812 45 ‘ st 
66 83 502 O 66 66 
Pointe aux Barques,  /43 51/82 42/1 38 {1835 cs 
Twenty miles west, “ (83 62 6 i mS 


43 45/84 2212 55 |1832)Public Surveys. 
Pere Marquette river, |43 44/85 43/4 34  |1837/Geolog. Report. 
Saginaw river, 43 36/83 5022 19 = =|1835 < 
Little Pointe aux Sables,|43 31/85 54/6 O 1837 ke 

43 20184 2233 0  |1832)/Public Surveys. 

43 19'85 596 15 = |1837|Geolog. Report. 


Shore of Lake Huron, |43 5/82 26 6 1835} Ke 
43 0/84 22/33 27 = |1831)Public Surveys. 
Grand River, 42 55/86 10/32° to 6°|1825) Lucius Lyon. 


at “¢ 14°30’ =-|1837|Geolog. Report. 
42 50/84 22/4 55 ~=|1826/Public Surveys. 
42 30/84 22/4 25 hy 


Detroit, 42 24/82 58/3 13 1822|Lucius Lyon. 
gs Jae) 912) Um Kok-tel geen 
af “ * 1210 |1835|Geolog. Report. 
66 66 66 2 0 1840 66 


As some of the stations for Georgia are not to be found on 
Mitchell’s map, their latitudes and longitudes could not be given. 
The name of the county however indicates nearly their posi- 
tion. 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. AT 


The general conclusions at which I arrived in my former paper, 
are abundantly confirmed by the preceding observations. ‘They 
all indicate a retrograde motion of the needle, which commenced 
every where as early as 1819, and in some places perhaps as early 
as 1793. The present annual change of variation is about two 
minutes for the southern states ; four minutes for the middle and 
western states; and six minutes for the New England states. 

The observations of variation contained in my present and for- 
mer catalogues were now all reduced to the year 1840, by apply- 
ing a correction for the annual motion, and the lines of equal 
variation laid down upon the accompanying chart so as best to 
represent the observations. It is believed that the errors of the 
chart as thus corrected must be quite small. In my former paper, 
I noticed three observations which exhibited a remarkable dis- 
cordance with the rest. ‘They were for Hanover, N. H., Mont- 
pelier, Vt., and Princeton, N. J. It is gratifying to find that the 
present variation at the former place, as observed by Prof. Young, 
agrees almost exactly with my chart. It is believed that the ob- 
servations at the other two places will be found to be erroneous, 
or that they were affected by very strong local attraction. 

It seems almost superfluous to remark, that most of the obser- 
vations in the preceding table were evidently made with inferior 
instruments, and can lay but a moderate claim to accuracy. A 
large part of the observations are clearly erroneous to the amount 
of half a degree; and the errors of many exceed one degree. 
As most of the errors however are such as may be expected to 
disappear in taking a mean, considerable confidence is placed in 
the position of the lines of equal variation as projected on the 
accompanying chart. 'T'o attain materially greater accuracy, ob- 
servations must be made with better instruments and by more 
skillful observers. 


Il. Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 


The chief additional observations of the magnetic dip which 
I have been able to obtain, were made by Prof. Locke and my- 
self. The former were communicated to me by letter; the latter 
are given at large in volume seventh (N. 8S.) of the Transactions 
of the American Philosophical Society. 


48 


Places. 


Montreal, L. C. 
Halifax, N. S. 


Oswego, N. Y. 
Utica, N. Y. 


Prairie du Chien, W. T. 


Madison, W. T. 
Syracuse, N. Y. 
Buffalo, N. Y. 


Mineral Point, W. T. 


Schenectada, N. Y. 
Albany, N. Y. 
Dubuque, Iowa, 
Cambridge, Mass. 
Detroit, Mich. 
Dorchester, Mass. 
Ann Arbor, Mich. 
Worcester, Mass. 
Ypsilanti, Mich. 
Springfield, Mass. 
| » Lowa, 


Longmeadow, Mass. 


Monroe, Mich. 
Providence, R. I. 
Hartford, Conn. 
Toledo, Ohio, 
Maumee, Ohio, 
Cleveland, Ohio, 
Sandusky, Ohio, 


Davenport, Rock [s]’nd, 


West Point, N. Y. 
New Haven, Conn. 
Hudson, Ohio, 

66 66 

66 66 


Beaver, Penn. 

New York City, 
Pittsburgh, Penn. 
Princeton, N. J. 
Philadelphia, Penn. 


Baltimore, Md. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 

Washington City, 
66 66 


St. Louis, Mo. 
Louisville, Ky. 
66 66 


Bermuda, 
66 


45 31/73 25 
3/37 
44 39/63 37 
43 26/76 36 
43 7175 13 
43 3/91 6 
43 -1|89 38 
43 0176 14 
42 53/78 55 
4250/89 54 
55 
42 39/73 45 


74 5.3] 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 


Date. Authority. 

(e) iL 

77 6 {1833/Capt. Back. 
75 53 |1834/Capt. Horne. 
74 58 |1837 uP 

75 11.3)1839|Prof. Loomis. 
74 57.2) « “ 

73 16.8] * |Prof. Locke. 
74 4.4) « 6s 

74 50.9} « |Prof. Loomis. 
74 40.8] « 6 

73 20.61 « |Prof. Locke. 
74 36.1) “ |Prof. Loomis. 
74 51.3] «© ie 

io AO, «© |Prof. Locke. 
74 20.1) “ |Prof. Loomis. 
73 42.6). « ee 

74 19 ‘¢ |Mr. Bond.° 
73 13.9] « |Prof. Loomis. 
74 20.6) «§ “6 

73 18.0) * Ke 

74 6.9] « 4 

72 24.4| « |Prof. Locke. 
Prof. Loomis. 
MO Wee Be 

73 59.6| * ce 

73 58.1) *€ i 

73 6.1 66 66 

72 49.1) &€ a6 

73 26.0 
72 57.8) Ԥ se 

71 55 «© |Prof. Locke. 
73 27.4| « |Prof. Loomis. 
73 26.7} * “6 
48,2)1838 a 


72 47.3/1839 is 


72 53.9/1840 ee 


32 34/63 28 


(70 27 


172 40.3}1839 ‘i 


72 92.2| * * 
72 38.9) << A 
eden” ie st 


71 43.9|1838/Pres. Bache. 
7.1/1839|Prof. Loomis. 
71 50.3 66 66 
1840|Prof. Locke. 
71 13. |1838\Lieut. Wilkes. 
71 21.4|1839|Prof. Loomis. 
69 31.4, “ |Prof. Locke. 
70 8 66 66 

69 56 |1840 “s 
67 45 |1834\Capt. Horne. 


32 34'63 28 


167 18 {1836 te 


Variation and Dip of the Magnetic Needle. 49 


In order to determine what changes the dip is-undergoing, I 
first drew upon a chart lines representing the recent observations, 
and from these determined the dip at each of the stations where 
observations were made in Long’s Expedition, and which are 
given in my former paper. The mean difference is 30’. In the 
absence then of more accurate data, we may call this the dimi- 
nution of the dip from 1819 to 1839, being at the rate of 1./5 
per year. . 

The observations at New York also indicate a diminution since 
1822, but being made with different instruments, and by differ- 
ent individuals, they are scarcely comparable. In order however 
to arrive at the most satisfactory result, let us take the mean of 
the observations by Capt. Sabine and Sir John Franklin, con- 
tained in my former paper, which gives us 73° 16’, corresponding 
to 1823.5. ‘Taking also the mean of the observations by Capt. 
Back, Prof. Bache and myself, we have 72° 51’ corresponding to 
1835.3. The difference is 25’ for 11.8 years, indicating a dimi- 
nution of 2.’1 per year. ‘The mean between this and the former 
determination is 1.’8, which I assume to be the annual diminu- 
tion of dip for the United States. The observations contained 
in this and my former paper were now all. reduced to the year 
1840, by applying the annual variation, and the lines of equal 
dip drawn upon the accompanying chart. Among the thirty ob- 
servations by myself, nine appear to be in error to the amount 
of at least 10’. They are as follows: 


Ann Arbor, error — 19! Ypsilanti, error —15 
Pittsburgh, ~ +17 Monroe, +13 
Cleveland, +16 Schenectada, —11 
Baltimore, ~ +16 Princeton, +11 
Albany, +15 


The lines of equal dip were first drawn upon a large and accu- 
rate map of the United States, and from this were copied upon 
the accompanying chart. ‘The errors here mentioned were meas- 
ured upon the original map, and not upon the accompanying chart, 
on which the position of several places is marked erroneously. 

The above differences are to be ascribed to local attraction, and 
errors of observation. Errors of this kind are unavoidable. The 
magnetic survey of Scotland, by Major Sabine, exhibits a greater 
number of errors of this magnitude, and the sum of the errors is 


also greater. 
Vol. xxxrx, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 7 


50 Caricography. 


Four of the observations of Prof. Locke exhibit errors greater 

than 10’. They are 
Madison +27’ Prairie du Chien — 20/ 
Columbus — 23 Louisville +12. 

The observation at Charlottesville exhibits an error of +-26/; 
and that at Baltimore by Prof. Courtenay —44’. This is by far 
the greatest error of all the observations, if we except that made 
at Pittsburgh in 1819. The observation was made in the mid- 
dle of the city, and it may be presumed that the needle was sub- 
jected to strong local attraction. In my former paper, I noticed 
the Pittsburgh observation as being specially anomalous. My 
own observations show that there was here an error from some 
source of about five degrees. 

It is believed that the accompanying chart will be found to rep- 
resent the lines of equal dip for the northern part of the United 
States with a good degree of accuracy. For the southern states 
they could only be drawn conjecturally, as I know of no obser- 
vations of dip made in this country south of the parallel of thirty 
eight degrees. 


Art. VI.—Caricography ; by Prof. C. Dewey. 
(Appendix, continued from Vol. xxx, p, 64.) 


Since the last number of the Caricography, only a few addi- 
tions have been made to the Carices of North America. An elab- 
orate monograph of the Cyperaceze of our country by Professor 
Torrey, was published in the Annals of the Lyceum of New 
York in 1836, which contained a list of our known Carices, with 
the additions which -his extensive correspondence and facilities 
had made to them, and such corrections as were judged necessary 
from a more full acquaintance with this extensive genus. Ina 
future paper, a new arrangement of the species may be given, 
which shall embrace all the later discovered species and some 
corrections. In this paper it is proposed_to continue the history 
of the species which have been found in the United States, that 
the few later discoveries may be generally known. After all the 
ardor with which Carices have been sought, and the multitude 
found, it is wonderful that any have remained to be detected. 
Those species described by the early examiners of our country, 
have nearly all been ascertained, offering strong presumption that 
all of them will yet be found and identified. 


Caricography. 51 


No. 169. Carex capitata, L. 
Schk. Tab. Y. fig. 80. 
Wahl. No. 2, and Willd. 
Monograph. Cyp. Torrey, p. 387. 

Unispicata simplici androgyna ; spica superne staminifera sub- 
globosa distizmatica ; fructibus densis ovato-rotundis compressis 
convexo-concavis ee subacutis, squama ovato-obtusa lon- 
gioribus ; foliis filiformibus. 

“Culm three to seven inches high, grows in tufts,” Robbins ; 
triangular, rather scabrous, terminated with a single globose spike 
of pistillate flowers, and with the stamens on a slight prolongation 
of the upper part, as depicted by Schkuhr ; leaves slender, rising 
from sheaths towards the base ; pistillate scale roundish ovate, 
obtusish, more than half the length of the fruit. 

Wahlenberg credited this species only to the mountains of Lap- 
land. It has since been found across Northern America to the 
Rocky Mountains. Torrey. In 1829 it was found by Dr. Rob- 
bins on the Alpine region of the White Mountains of New Hamp- 

-shire, and Mr. Oakes of Ipswich, Mass., has been so seed as to 
forward it for publication. 
No. 170. C. tenuiflora, Wahl. No. 48. 
Schk. Tab. Eeee. fig. 187. 
Mon. Cyp. Torrey, p. 392. 

Spica composita ; spiculis alternis binis vel ternis approximatis 
ovatis, inferne staminiferis ; fructibus distigmaticis ovatis oblongis 
subacutis convexo-planis, squamam oblongo-ovatam acutiusculam 
equantibus. ; : 

Culm about a foot long, “in small tufts, and prostrate,” (Rob- 
bins,) triangular, slightly scabrous, slender, leafy towards the 
base ; leaves narrow, flattish, linear, shorter than the culm ; be- 
longs in the subdivision with C. cwrta, Gooden. 

Wahlenberg credited this species to the moist grassy fields of 
Lapland. ‘The late indefatigable explorers of Arctic America 
found it. In 1829 it was found by Dr. Robbins, both in a sphag- 
nous swamp in Burlington, Vt., and in wet places with C. disperma, 
D. in Salem, Vt. Communicated with the following by Mr. Oakes. 

No. 171. C. capillaris, L. 
Schk. Tab. O. fig. 56. Wahl. No. 91. 
Mon. Cyp. Tor. p. 416. 

Spicis distinctis ; spica staminifera solitaria parva; spicis fruc- 

tiferis tristigmaticis subternis oblongis paucifloris laxifloris longi- 


52 Caricography. 


pedunculatis recurvatis ; fructibus ovalibus brevirostratis oblongis 
ore obliquis, squama ovata oblonga obtusa longioribus. 

‘¢ Grows in tufts from two seven inches high,” Robbins; culm 
roundish, smooth, quite leafy towards the base, and having a 
leafy bract under the spikes; leaves narrow, long as the culm ; 
fertile spikes on exsert recurved peduncles, with a few rather 
loose flowers, and having the fruit oblong, oval, acutish, some- 
what beaked, and eee than the oblong or ovate and obtuse 
scale. 

Schkuhr credits this species to most of Europe. It has been 
found in arctic America to the Rocky Mountains. Torrey. It 
was found in 1829 by Dr. Robbins, in the alpine region of the 
White Mountains of New Hampshire. 

Nore. Dr. Robbins designed these three species to appear in 
the contemplated FYora of New England, by Wm. Oakes, Esq., 
of Ipswich, Mass., a work which it is much to be regretted may 
not soon appear. 

; No. 172. C. rostrata, Mx. 

C. zanthophysa, Wahl. var. nana et minor, D. 
C. folliculata. Mon. Cyp. Tor. p. 419. 

Spicis distinctis ; staminifera brevi solitaria sessili ; pistilliferis 
duabus vel ternis axillaribus subglobosis flavescentibus superiore 
sessili, inferiore subsessili; fructibus in capite aggregatis erectis 
et subdivergentibus oblongo-conicis longissime rostratis, squama 
ovato-oblonga subacuta duplo longioribus. 

Culm about a foot high, few leafed, a long bract under the low- 
est spike, erect, stiff, with two or sometimes three sessile or nearly 
sessile pistillate spikes of a globular or capitate form, fruit small, 
conic, very long beaked, little inflated at the base ; pistillate scale 
ovate, oblong, obtusish, not half the length of the fruit. Grows 
at the base of the White Mountains.— Oakes. Also in Canada 
or the northern regions. 

Dr. Torrey has ascertained by an examination of the plants 
collected by Michaux, that his plant is the dwarf variety, as it 
has been called, of C. canthophysa, Wahl. This I had supposed 
the truth ; but a comparison of fhe specimens found by Mr. Oakes 
on the White Mountains, with others from Canada, and with the 
description of Michaux, has led me to conclude that the plant 
of Mich. is wholly distinct. It is so constant in its character that 
I had already described it as a fixed variety, in Vol. x1v, p. 353, 
of this Journal, and given a figure of it in Tab. D, fig. 15, 


Notice of the Tooth of a Mastodon. 53 


of the same volume. It is not the variety of C. tentaculata, which 
Mich. called C. rostrata in letters to Schk., as these are obviously 
the same, for both are in my herbarium. 

C. rostrata, Mich., is a more stiff and less leafy plant than C. 
zanthophysa, Wahl., and has sessile spikes, while the other has 
them on long exsert peduncles and recurved, and with stamens at 
the apex as Mich. remarked ; and it has a short, hardly acute pis- 
tillate scale, while the other has an ovate, acuminate, and long cus- 
pidate scale but little shorter than the fruit. There can be no doubt 
that the C. rostrata, Mich. is identified, and is a distinct species. 


Art. VII.—Notice of the Tooth of a Mastodon; by Jerrries 
Wrman, M. D. 


Tue specimen from which the following description is drawn, 
was deposited in the cabinet of the Boston Society of Natural 
History, by the Rev. Howard Malcom, by whom it was obtained 
at a place called Yea-nan-goung, situated on the banks of the Ira- 
wady river, below Avain Burmah. It consists of a fragment of the 
left lower jaw of a mastodon, containing one molar tooth entire, 
excepting so much as has been worn away by the process of mas- 
tication. As it differs materially from any of which a description 
has been met with, it was thought worthy of a brief notice. 

The jaw is broken at the two ends of the tooth, the interven- 
ing portion being entire. 'The whole specimen is sixteen inches 
in length, and its circumference around the largest part two feet 
two inches. The tooth measures twelve and a half inches in 
length and four anda half in breadth. At the anterior extremity 
is a portion of a denticule, of which the greater part has been 
sround off ; allowing that this had the same dimensions with 
that which succeeded it, we shall have an additional length to 
the tooth of an inch and a half, making the entire length one 
foot two inches. 'The enamel is a quarter of an inch in thick- 
ness, and its surface is rough from an incrustation of calcareous 
matter. ‘The denticules are eght in number, or nine counting 
the one of which only a small portion remains, and project two 
and a half inches above the alveoli. Each denticule uniformly 
consists of fowr distinct mammillary points, symmetrically ar- 
ranged. ‘These are all separated from each other by a distinct 
sulcus, the external ones being broad and stout at their base, and 


54 Notice of the Tooth of a Mastodon. 


the central narrow, and laterally compressed. They diminish 
somewhat in size from before backwards, but the points remain 
uniformly four in number. ‘'The first four denticules have suffer- 
ed more or less from attrition, the remaining ones being unim- 
paired. 

The only description which I have been able to find, corre- 
sponding in any degree with the above, is that of the Mastodon 
elephantoides, described and figured* by Mr. Clift. This was 
also brought from the valley of the Irawady river several years 
since. ‘The tooth was eleven inches long and three and a half 
broad, has no less than ¢en denticules, each of which is mammil- 
lated with small points, five being the smallest and eight the larg- 
est number in any one denticule.’”’ It is obvious from the figure 
which accompanies his description that the tooth was entire, as 
the points of the denticules were but very slightly worn. He 
further adds, “the denticules of the tooth are more compressed 
than in the M. latidens. 'They form a series of plates mucrona- 
ted with small points. ‘There is no apparent commissure nor 
any central depression.” 

Comparing the two descriptions, it will be seen at once that 
they differ materially in regard to the number of points compos- 
ing each of the denticules, those of the M. elephantoides, having 
from five to eight, while those of the other are uniformly four. 
The points of the former are very closely approximated, leaving 
but a very slight depression between them, while those of the 
latter are quite distinct. The question, how far are these differ- 
ences to be attributed to difference in age, presents itself. Now 
it is well known that each successive tooth is larger than that 
which preceded it, and the number of denticules in the same 
Species is In proportion to the size of the tooth. If however the 
two specimens which we have noticed were the same, that which 
is largest would be provided with the greatest number of denti- 
cules, which is not the case, they being actually less in number. 

Mr. Clift considers the Mastodon elephantoides as an interme- 
diate link between the genus Mastodon and Elephas. Should 
the specimen here noticed prove to be a new species, it would 
serve to fill up another gap in the transition from one of these 


genera to the other. 
Boston, May 2d, 1840. 


* Vide Trans. Geolog. Soc. London, Vol. v1, p. 372. 


Infinite Divisibility of Matter. 55 


Arr. VIIL—Infinite Divisibility of Matter.* 
(Communicated for this Journal.) 


Tue arguments which favor the doctrine of the infinite divisi- 
bility of matter are derived from the wonderful extent to which 
subdivision has been carried in actual experiment, and from the 
supposition that if a magnitude however small may be assigned 
or imagined, a fractional part of it may also be assigned or imag- 
ined. As there appears at present little probability that the nega- 
tive of this question will soon be established by experiment, the 
result of which heretofore seems rather to favor the reverse, if it 
were possible to arrive at a satisfactory theoretical conclusion, 
though the result might not be of any practical importance, some- 
thing would be gained on the side of truth. 

The writer must however deprecate the charge of presumption 
which might attach to any attempt to decide on a point which 
has been the cause of so much agitation in the world of trans- 
cendental philosophy—a question which all the metaphysical 
talent of Germany has not been able to determine, and on which 
the physical researches of English inquirers have only enabled 
them to form a surmise. 

The primary error appears to have arisen from the gratuitous 
assumption that divisibility is a universal property of extension, 
in whatever magnitude it may occur. This, as may hereafter 
be shown, amounts to nothing less than begging the question. 
But for his adherence to this opinion the German Euler would 
have set the matter at rest long ago; and Dugald Stewart con- 
sidered a perception of the truth of infinite divisibility as almost 
intuitive. 


* Philadelphia, Feb. 19, 1840. 

To the Editors.—Seeing in the abstract of the proceedings of the British Associ- 
ation for the Advancement of Science given in the last number of your Journal, 
some remarks by Prof. Whewell on the infinite divisibility of matter, in which he 
adheres to the old geometrical opinion, if I may so call it in opposition to that of 
modern chemists, I have ventured to offer a few words on the subject, notwith- 
standing the notice on the back of your Journal, that every paper shall be aceom- 
panied by the name of the author. This, peculiar circumstances prevent me from 
giving; and I am persuaded that should you deem these remarks worthy of an 
insertion, they will not be rendered the more forcible by the name of a subscriber 
and constant reader of your Journal, 


56 Infinite Divisibility of Matter. 


Let us now suppose a body A to be projected from a point A 
in any direction with a given velocity, and another body B pro- 
‘ B ar SCA 
jected at the same instant from the point B in the same direction 
but some distance in advance of A and having just half its velo- 
city. It is evident to common sense that the body A will over- 
take the body B at the point C equally distant from B that B is 
from A. But apply the law of infinite divisibility and we have 
a different result ; for while the body A moves to the point B, the 
body B moves to the point D; and while A moves from B to D, 
B moves from D to E; and while A moves from D to E, B moves 
from E to G; and so on, halving to infinity, in which case it is 
clear the body A could never overtake the body B though moving 
with double its velocity. The fallacy then, consists in attempt- 
ing to number the terms of an imaginary infinite series which 
are of course innumerable; and yet, because it is a decreasing 
series, these terms have a sum and a termination; viz. in the 

point C. : 

As the basis for an argument it will readily be granted, 

Ist. That the sum of an infinite number of magnitudes, how- 
ever small, is a magnitude infinitely great ; 

2d. If a body of matter or any other magnitude be divided 
and subdivided to any extent whatever, each of the parts thus pro- 
duced is itself'a quantity ; that is, itis greater than nothing ; and 

3d. That all these parts together, however numerous, exactly 
make up the original magnitude ; or in other words ‘“ the whole 
is equal to the sum of all its parts.” 

In the case of an infinite division, as in every other, each part 
a of any finite quantity A, possesses magnitude or it could clearly 
be no part. As the whole is equal to the sum of all its parts, A 
must be equal to an infinite number of its parts a But it has 
been granted that the sum of an infinite number of magnitudes, 
however small, is a magnitude infinitely great. ‘The finite quan- 
tity A is therefore equal to an infinite quantity, which is impos- 
sible. 

From the foregoing remarks it appears a legitimate conclusion, — 
that an infinite division of a finite quantity can result in nothing 
short of its entire annihilation ; as in the case of the bodies A and 
B where the distance between them becomes nothing. And fur- 


Infinite Divisibility of Matter: BY 


ther, that no finite quantity can contain an infinite number of 
parts however small, and of course that matter is composed of 
parts or atoms beyond which there can be no subdivision. 

- Euler made use of a similar argument to establish the reverse 
of these results, but his premises were unsound. He says, “ who- 
ever is disposed to deny this property of extension, (infinite divis- 
ibility, ) 1 is under the necessity of maintaining that it is possible to 
arrive at last to parts so minute as to be unsusceptible of any fur- 
ther division, because they cease to have extension. Nevertheless, 
all these particles taken together must reproduce the whole by the 
division of which you acquired them, and as the quantity of each 
would be nothing or cipher 0, a combination of ciphers would 
produce quantity, which is manifestly absurd.” Here the petitio 
principit is easily perceptible, for he assumes that because there 
are “parts so minute as to be unsusceptible of any further divi- 
sion,” therefore the “quantity of each would be nothing or ci- 
pier.” 

These observations may contain nothing new ; the arguments 
may have been advanced by the followers of Wolff, who lost 
themselves in a labyrinth of monads ; if it be so the writer having 
never met with them may have been only repeating that which 
has appealed to his own understanding with the force of mathe- 
matical demonstration. 


Remarks by a Coadjutor. 


In the accompanying article, the writer makes two attempts to 
disprove the infinite divisibility of matter. He first undertakes 
to point out a case in which the supposition of infinite divisibil- 
ity, as a property of extension, involves an absurdity. ‘The case 
may be stated thus. 

A B D - E C 
| | 

Let two bodies, A and B, begin at the same time to move along 
the right line ABC, from A and B towards C; let the distances 
from A to B, and from B to C, be each one mile ; and let the ve- 
locity of A be two miles a minute, and that of B, half as great. 
It is evident that at the end of a minute, A will overtake B, at the 
point C. But it is said that while A moves from A to B, B moves 
to D, a point midway between B and C; and while A moves from 
B to D, B moves from D to E; and so on, ad infinitum ; and it 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1,—April-June, 1840. 8 


58 Infinite Divisibility of Matter. 


is hence inferred, that A can never overtake B, though moving 
with twice its velocity. But this is to lose sight of the fact, that 
the period from the commencement of motion, to the time when 
either of the bodies occupies the position of any point of division 
whatever, in the line BC, is less than a minute ; since at the end 
of a minute, both bodies must have arrived at C. All that can 
be determined by the above mode of viewing the case in ques- 
tion, is this; that A cannot overtake B in any time less than a 
minute. But the object was to prove that A can never overtake 
B; a proposition widely different from the former. 

An attempt is made in the latter part of the article, to give a 
general demonstration against the infinite divisibility of matter. 
The proof rests on three assumptions, to which it is supposed 
that no objection can be made. The first is the proposition, that 
the sum of an infinite number of magnitudes, however small; is 
a magnitude infinitely great. This is far from being an admitted 
truth. Nothing is more common in mathematics than series hav- 
ing an infinite number of terms, and only a finite sum, though 
some of the terms are themselves of finite value. As the assump- 
tion in question is therefore groundless, it vitiates the subsequent 
reasoning in the article, and the result obtained by means of it 
must be inconclusive. . 

‘Those who maintain that bodies or portions of space are capa- 
ble of infinite division, regard the parts obtained by this division, 
as infinitely small; and they have no difficulty in supposing that 
the sum of an infinite number of such parts may be only a finite 
quantity, the very quantity by the repeated divisions of which 
those parts were obtained. Hardly any thing can be more certain 
than that matter is infinitely divisible in the sense in which the 
writer of the article attempts to prove that itisnotso. But there 
is a sense in which the infinite divisibility of matter is question- 
able. The inquiry concerned in it, however, is one which seems 
not to lie within the range of finite, or at least of the human fac- 
ulties. 


Formation and Dispersion of a Thunder Shower. 59 


Art. IX.—Formation and dispersion of a Thunder Shower— 
Parhelia, and Meteorological Register ; by Wi11s Gaytorp. 


To tHE Eprtrors.—G'entlemen,—In looking over my meteor- 
ological notes for 1839, under date of August 21st I observed the 
following :—“ Witnessed the formation and dispersion of a thun- 
der shower, attended with some remarkable phenomena;” and as 
the formation and action of clouds and storms is always an ob- 
ject of interest, I have thought a description of the one alluded 
to might not be altogether without its claims to notice. 

The wind on the 21st and for two days previous had been 
southwardly, most of the time S. E. 'The 20th was one of the 
warmest days of the season, the thermometer at 2 o’clock being 
at 90°, and on the 21st the mercury at 9 o’clock was 73°, and at 
2 o’clock at 80°. Although the lower current of air was south, 
the upper did not seem to follow the same course, but was more 
from 8. of W. 'This was shown by the course of some electric 
clouds on the 20th, and of one on the forenoon of the 2Ist. A 
little after 2 o’clock on the 21st Lobserved a large mass of cu- 
mulus in the 8. E., not at a great distance, and with little appa- 
rent elevation. An electric cloud which was passing lay low in 
the horizon at the S., but between the two there was no connec- 
tion; the mass of cumulus was completely isolated, a line of blue 
sky being distinctly visible between the two; nor was there any 
appearance of stratus, or the cirri, which invariably accompanies 
an electric cloud. ‘There was no perceptible wind from any 
quarter. 

I was in my garden some ten or twenty minutes after making 
the above observations, and not far from 3 o’clock, when my at- 
tention was arrested by a heavy roaring in the direction of the 
cloud, like that which accompanies a fall of hail or violent wind, 
and looking at the cloud, I perceived that a mass of cirri was 
streaming from the summit of the mass, and stretching upwards 
and N. E. from its highest point. There was little appearance of 
stratus at this time, and not the ‘slightest indication could be dis- 
covered that rain or hail was falling from the cloud. I carefully 
examined the cloud to detect any motion which might exist in 
it, but not the least movement was perceptible, except that ina 
few minutes the stratus began to form rapidly at the base of the 


60 Formation and Dispersion. of a Thunder Shower. 


cloud, and a visible prolongation and elevation of the cirri was 
taking place. Ina short time rain could be discovered precipita-, 
ted from the cloud, and the roaring noise continued without in- 
terruption, exhibiting a singular contrast. to the quiet and immo- 
vable state of the cloud. At this time the cloud was about three 
miles distant, and the angle of elevation shows its height to have 
been about six hundred feet. 

The general movement of the cloud, it was soon apparent, was 
to the N. W., and in about twenty minutes after the first indica- 
tions of a shower; I was driven within doors by a fall of the larg- 
est drops of rain I think I have ever seen. ‘They were not nu- 
merous, but in falling seemed as large as cherries, and dashed 
upon the earth with the seeming force of a hailstone. No hail 
was observed by me, but the size of the drops excited general no- 
tice. A heavy shower of perhaps ten minutes followed these 
drops, but during the whole, though the roaring noise continued. 
unabated, not the slightest wind in any direction could be felt, 
but the water poured down perpendicularly like a cataract, This 
was particularly observable when the shower had passed so that 
the line of fall was about one hundred rods to the west of us. 
While it was a blue sky over head, at that distance from us for 
ten minutes the water was pouring down in a vast sheet, and one 
mile west of us more water fell than during any other shower of 
the season. Before the shower had become perpendicular to us, 
or perhaps twenty minutes after the first rain fell from the cloud, 
thunder was heard in it; and after it passed, several electric ex- 
plosions occurred. About: five miles to the N. W. it ceased to 
rain, and the cloud rapidly melted away; and in two hours from 
its commencement nothing was to be seen of it except the train 
of cirri, resembling a streak of white smoke high up the sky. 

But the most singular part of this electric shower remains to be 
noticed. During the time of its passage, on the eastern margin 
of the cloud, about two miles northeast of us, little rain fell, but 
hail and snow were both precipitated from the atmosphere. On 
the west side of the cloud the thermometer was but little af- 
fected, not more than is usually the case in summer showers; on 
the eastern or northeastern side, the cold was perceptible, and the 
thermometer fell rapidly ; but in neither case was there any appa- 
rent atmospheric movement to account for such achange. I may 
remark here, that while the cloud remained stationary just west 


cp emamed 61 


of us, it was rapidly extended to the south more than a mile, giv- 
ing a heavy fall of rain toe its extreme limit. 

T have no particular theory to support or promulgate in giving 
you the foregoing. One of two things is perfectly clear from 
the facts as observed by me. ‘The first is, that there was no 
visible rotary movement in the cloud at any time; and the sec- 
ond is, that there was no. rush of surface air to the cloud, which 
would seem necessary had the noise been occasioned by an in- 
ternal or central whirl. I have never known a thunder shower 
in which such a perfect stillness of the whole atmosphere was ob- 
servable as during the continuance of this. Still some such move- 
ment as this seems necessary to account, not only for the noise 
that attended the cloud, but also for the rapid elongation of the 
cirri, and the formation of the hail and snow. It would seem 
that by some ascending movement, the vapor of the cloud and 
the drops of rain were brought in contact with air below the freez- 
ing point; and the large drops of water that fell on the western 
line of the shower must have been the result of a rapid conden- 
sation of vapor by contact with air slightly above that point. Is 
it not possible that owing to the different directions of the upper 
and lower strata of air, a rotary or upward movement may have 
been produced, drawing into it and elevating the vapor of the 
upper masses of cloud, the space thus created being filled by 
more elevated and colder masses, the motion of which to this 
point would account for the roar, as well as show how the con- 
densation or congelation that took place might have been produ- 
ced? In this case the lower air might have remained, as it cer- 
tainly did, perfectly quiescent, while the upper air was in the 
greatest agitation, 


Parhelia. 


January 1st was the coldest day we have thus far had this year 
~ at this place. The thermometer at 7 o’clock was at — 12°, at 
9 o’clock —10°, and at 2 o’clock —4°. It had snowed constant- 
ly for about three days, and the average depth was not less than 
three feet, the wind from the north. On the 2d, the wind was 
N. W., the thermometer at 9 o’clock at zero, and at 2 o’clock 9° 
above. Atsundown it sunk to0. A dense haze seemed to hang 
like a curtain in the west, and a little before sundown, brilliant 
parhelia were seen, resembling two mock suns. ‘Their appear- 


62 ; Parhelia. 


ance when about five degrees above the horizon was somewhat 
like the following :— 


Fig. 1. 


On Thursday the 16th of January, a day which was generally 
noted as one of the coldest ever known in this country, (the ther- 
mometer being at Albany -- 26°, at Schoharie — 36°, at Utica 
— 21°, at Syracuse —14°, at this place —10°, and at Franconia 
in New Hampshire —41°,) occurred another beautiful spectacle 
of this kind. When the sun was about a quarter of an hour high 
the appearance was as below. 


Fig. 2. 


The colors of the parhelia in this case rivalled the most splen- 
did appearance of the rainbow, and retained them until the sun 
sunk below the horizon. At that time, what may be called the 
upper limbs of the parhelia seemed to stand like beautiful columns 
of colored light on the base of the horizon. 


Fig. 3.. 


The next morning, the thermometer being at — 6°, the moon 
which set at about 6 o’clock, for more than an hour before going 
down, exhibited the most perfect and splendid paraselene ever 
witnessed in this place. The appearance was as seen in Fig. 3; 


Meteorological Register. 63 


and was destroyed only by the moon’s passing behind a cloud a 
few moments before setting. 

To what cause these meteorological phenomena are usually at- 
tributed I know not, unless to atmospheric vapor; but in all 
these cases they seem fairly to owe their origin to the state of 
the air consequent on the intense cold. The air in such a state 
of cold is filled with minute crystals of frost, and the reflection 
from these is perhaps sufficient to account for the general appear- 
ance. But the difference in the figure of these parhelia would 
seem to prove that this general cause must be subject to many 
modifications from other agents. Is this change of figure owing 
to'the different forms which it is well known the crystals of snow 
assume at different times? ‘The explanation I leave with you. 

Meteorological Register. 

Below I have prepared a table of the average temperature, the 
weather, winds, &c., for the years 1838 and 1839, as observed by 
me at this place. Otisco is about fifteen miles west of south from 
Syracuse, and at an elevation of eight or nine hundred feet above 
that place, on the Seneca branch of the Erie Canal. 


Average : 
iene Temperature. Weather, Days. Winds and Course. 
Cloudy. Rain. 


9, A. M.| 2, P. u.|Clear. 


1838 | 41 | 48 | 162) 200 | 77 66 [291 6| 2/16 
1839 | 42 184 


51 | 184 89 | 55 |19] 66 1135) 62 |42/ 26 23/10 

The extreme range of the thermometer in 1838 was between 
—8° on the last day of January, and 93° on the 9th day of July, 
giving 101°. The range for the year 1839 was —9°, January 
23d, and 90° on the 30th of July, giving 99°. An instance of 
those sudden changes which occur in our climate, took place on 
the 19th of October, 1839, when the wind, which during the fore 
part of the day had been S. W., at half past 2 o’clock suddenly 
veered to N. W., and the thermometer fell from 65° to 24° in 
three and a half hours, a difference of 41 degrees. 

I have for several years noticed the fact, that whatever may be 
the direction or course of the lower strata of clouds, that of the 
cirri, or highest of all clouds, is almost invariably from west to 
east. It is nothing uncommon to see the lower clouds drifting in 

-heavy masses, and with a strong wind to the N. or N. E., while far 
above them, the streamers of the cirri are floating undisturbed 
towards the S. E. or EK. Indeed it is very rarely observed that cir- 
ri take any other course, and it may fairly be inferred they never 
do, until by greater condensation they approach the nature of 


Snow.| N. [N: w.| w. 


s. W.| S. |S. E.| E. |N. E. 


64 Meteorological Register. 


cumulus, and sink into the action and influence of the lower cur- 
rents. From their observations on these clouds on the Cordille- 
ras of South America and Mexico, Humboldt and Boussingault 
have inferred, and I think with good reason, that in the upper 
regions of the atmosphere there is a current constantly flowing 
from west to east, an inference which, if admitted, assists mate- 
rially in developing the theory of storms, sudden changes of tem- 
perature, é&c. 

A glance at that part of the table showing the course of the 
wind will explain the fact noticed by Darby and others, that the 
mass of trees growing on the eastern shore of the great lakes have 
a sensible inclination to the east, and that in all cases where the 
hemlock occurs, the long, flexible, terminal twig of that tree has the 
same uniform declination from the perpendicular, and in the same 
direction, a little north of east. ‘The same thing may be observ- 
ed of orchards, in which probably nine tenths of the trees in ex- 
posed situations have a similar inclination. In the first year, two 
hundred and twenty days of the three hundred and sixty-five 
the winds were from the W. and 8. W., and in the last one hun- 
dred and ninety-seven. ‘The remaining days the winds were so 
equally divided as not to counteract this influence in the least, 
-and consequently the winds from that quarter overpower all others. 

The average temperature of the years 1838, 1839, and 1840, 
for the months of January and February, is given below. 


4 January. February. 
HGS a oy eee RON AN et ae 
1839 92 ode ONO, We en eh Mane 
TSAO. ee Sah Be OCU 8 pe. Ooo 


Time of observation, 9 o’clock, A. M. 

Thus, it seems January of this year averages 12° colder than 
1838, and February of this year 17° warmer than that year. 

The month of April with us has been remarkable for its extreme 
and rapid fluctuations. The warmest day recorded of any April 
here, was on the 25th. On that day the thermometer in the shade 
at 2 ep. m. was at 85° and at 3 p. m. 86°;—on the 27th at 6 a. m. 
it stood at 28°; being a change of 58° in 37 hours. On the 18th 
at noon the thermometer was at 80°; on the 19th at sunrise, it 
was at 29°, being achange of 51° in 18 hours. . The range of 
the thermometer from Jan. Ist, when it was — 14°, to April 25th, 
when it was +86°, is 100°, a difference rarely equalled in our 
changeable climate. 


Phrenology. 65 


Art. X.—Phrenology. 


Tis curious and interesting branch of physical, intellectual 
and moral philosophy, has attracted much attention since the early 
years of the present century. The death of its great founder 
Dr. Gall in 1828, left the cause in the hands of his pupil, friend and 
coadjutor, the late Dr. Spurzheim, whose ability was equal to his 
zeal, and whose splendid and beneficent career was terminated in 
Boston in this country in 1832.* During the few months that he 
survived after his arrival in the United States, he made a strong 
impression both in favor of phrenology, and of his own elevated 
and noble character, while a deep sentiment of grief and disap- 
pointment pervaded the country when, by a mysterious providence, 
he was suddenly cut down, in the full maturity of his powers. 
Notwithstanding the labors of several ingenious and eloquent men, 
especially Dr. Charles Caldwell, Dr. Jonathan Barber and Mr. 
Christopher Dunkin, many persons were desirous of hearing this 
subject explained and enforced by the distinguished writer and 
teacher, George Combe, Esq., of Edinburgh, who was therefore 
invited to crass the Atlantic for this purpose. 

Since his arrival, about eighteen months ago, he has given nine 
full courses of lectures on phrenology, in different cities and towns 
in the United States ; in our last number, (p. 390,) we mention- 
ed the course with which he has now closed his labors in this 
country, and that it was attended with high interest by a large 
and intelligent audience. At the conclusion of the last lecture, 
and after Mr. Combe had taken leave and withdrawn, the audience 
was called to order by the Hon. Henry W. Epwarps, late Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut. 

The Hon. Davin Daceert, late Chief Justice of the State, 
was called to the chair, when the following resolutions were laid 
in by Gov. Epwarps, seconded by Prof. Siruman, and carried 
by an unanimous vote. We trust that our readers will agree with 
us that it is not inappropriate to the object of a Journal of Sci- 


* See an interesting memoir of him by the late lamented Dr. Follen, an abstract 
of which is given in Vol. xx, at p. 356 of this Journal. 

Our foreign readers may not Be aware that Dr. Follen was a countryman of Dr. 
Spurzheim, and met his tragical death, in the nocturnal conflagration of the Steam 
Boat Lexington in Long Island sigunal January 13, 1840, with one hundred and 
twenty-three other eaeron: “multis ille bonis flebilis Sree? 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April—June, 1840, 9 


66 Phrenology. 


ence, to record them with the remarks by which they were sup- 
ported. 


Lhe observations of Gov. Epwarvs on introducing the resolu- 
tions, were as follows. 


We have been listening with great interest and instruction du- 
ring a series of evenings* to the lectures of Mr. Combe on phre- 
nology, and his course is now finished. He has displayed much 
ability and great research on this subject, and whatever our opin- 
ions may finally be as to the correctness of the views he has pre- 
sented, I think we shall readily admit, that he has acquitted 
himself fairly and fully in what he undertook. For one Iam 
ready to declare, that he has accomplished all that I had antici- 
pated. He has performed to my entire satisfaction his part of 
the engagement. If there be truth in phrenology, the sooner 
we know it the better. The subject is of immense importance, 
and if we are still in doubt, we have been furnished with the 
means of ascertaining the truth. 

Mr. Combe is now about to leave us, and an expression of our 
approbation, in accordance with what has been done at other pla- 
ces, where he has lectured, is I think due from us, and will proba- 
bly be very gratifying to him. TI hold in my hand some resolu- 
tions which will be submitted to the meeting, and will it is ag 
sumed, be cheerfully concurred in by all present. 


RESOLUTIONS. 


Resolved, That we have listened with great interest to the lec- 
tures of Mr. Combe, on the physical, intellectual and moral powers 
of man, and that without claiming to express an opinion on phre- 
nology, asa science, we have derived from his skilful analysis, 
both instruction and gratification. 

Resolved, 'That our best wishes attend Mr. Combe and his lady, 
for a safe return to their native land, and a happy reunion with 
their friends. 

Resolved, That Judge Daggett, Gov. Edwards, Prof. Silliman, 
Gen. Kimberly, and Prof. Olmsted, be a committee to present to 


Mr. Combe, a copy of the above resolutions. 
New Haven, Conn., March 15, 1840. 


* 'The course occupied thirteen evenings, each lecture being two hours long, 
with a brief intermission. 


Phrenology. 67 


The resolutions were communicated to Mr. Combe with the 
letter, of which the following is a copy. 


TO MR. GEORGE COMBE. 


Dear Sir—In compliance with the request of the gentlemen 
and ladies who have attended your course of lectures on phrenol- 
ogy, we have the pleasure of presenting you with a copy of the 
resolutions adopted by them, and avail ourselves of the occasion 
to communicate the assurance of our high respect and esteem. 

Davin Dacerrt, 
Henry W. Epwarps, 
Bensamin SILLm™an, 
Dennis Kimperty, 


Denison OLMSTED. 
New Haven, March 15, 1840. 


Remarks* of Prof. Sti:uman in support of the above resolutions. 


Mr. Chairman—I beg leave to second the resolutions just 
moved by the honorable gentleman. I have no doubt sir, that I 
express the sentiments of this audience when I say, in the spirit 
of the first resolution, that I have listened to the lectures of Mr. 
Combe with great satisfaction, and that I have found them replete 
not only with entertainment but with instruction. 

I perfectly agree in opinion with the mover of the resolutions 
that phrenology, if true, is a very important science. In relation 
to its early history, permit me, therefore, to state a few facts that 
came within my personal knowledge, and which have a bearing 
upon some of the statements of our respected lecturer. 

It was my fortune Sir, while in Edinburgh in 1805-6, to sit, 
both in and out of the University, at the feet of several of the able 
teachers, whom Mr. Combe has named. Some of his instructors 


* It is proper to observe, that these remarks were uttered, on the excitement of 
the moment, without reference to any other object, than the carrying of the resolu- 
tions. But a wish having been expressed in various quarters, that an account of 
the whole of the proceedings might appear before the public, this report was first 
prepared with reference to the newspapers; it was thought however to be too much 
extended for that channel of communication, and that justice to Mr. Combe de- 
manded a more permanent form of publication, especially as his European friends 
might be gratified by adding this to the proofs already given in cther places of his 
very favorable reception in this country. It may be perceived by those who heard 
the substance of the following remarks, that they are now carried out more fully 
than in the delivery, as the time was then limited, _ 


68 Phrenology. 


were also mine: and of this number were the late Dr. James 
Gregory, the late Dr. John Murray, and the late Dr. John Barclay.* 
Among these gentlemen—all of whom were very able in their 
respective departments, Dr. Barclay was particularly distinguished. 
for his extraordinary talents and science; and although he was 
only a private lecturer on anatomy, so highly was his course ap- 
preciated, that many students of the University, after paying for the 
ticket of the Professor, took also that of Dr. Barclay, and in great 
numbers crowded his anatomical theatre. Among many others, 
I was one of his attentive hearers. 

Dr. Barclay did not confine himself merely to the ‘technical 
anatomy of the human frame: he was in the habit of illustrating 
the natural history of man, by comparing man with himself, and 
man also with the inferior animals, thus opening to us the rich 
field of comparative anatomy. Mr. Combe has mentioned that 
Dr. Barclay made it an important object to trace the progress of 
intelligence through the lower animals up to man, and through 
the principal families of the human race. Although, at that time, 
phrenology was hardly known in Britain, even by name, Dr. 
Barclay was, perhaps unconsciously, ae the fundamen- 
tal principles of the science. 

I have much pleasure in confirming the statement of Mr. 
Combe, having often seen Dr. Barclay’s tables covered with skulls, 
arranged in a series, beginning with some of the less intelligent 
of the lower orders of animals and then ascending in regular gra- 
dation through the more intelligent, up to man. 

It was his great object to prove that the facial angle originally 
indicated by Camper, was the type of intelligence, it being larger 
as the head to which it belongs is more highly endowed with 
‘intellect. 

It will be remembered, that in man, the facial angle is included 
between two lines, one of which is drawn through the external 
opening of the ear, under the zygomatic arch and just beneath 
the cheek bone to the base of the nose, while the intersecting 
line passes along from the middle of the forehead over the inner 


* The painful word late I am happy to withhold from two of the eminent men to 
whom I then listened, Dr. Thomas Thomson, now the Regius Professor of Chemis- 
try in the University of Glasgow, and Dr. Thomas Hope, still the veteran Professor of 
Chemistry in the University of Edinburgh, both of whom happily survive in vigor 
and usefulness. Prof. Jameson and Sir David-Brewster, whose orbs were then in 
the ascendant, are now evening stars of the first magnitude. 


Phrenology. 69 


angle of the eye, down by the nose and across the mouth. In 
man, provided he is not an idiot, this angle is always considerable 
compared with that in most of the inferior animals.* Dr. Barclay 
used to lay upon the table the head, for example, of a crocodile 
or alligator in which the intelligence is low, and the facial angle 
so small as to be very acute, and he would follow out the analogy, 
through the other reptiles, through the fishes, the cetacea, the 
birds, the quadrupeds, the quadrumana, (monkeys, and ourang 
outangs, those caricatures of our race,) and so on, up to man. 

He was fond of describing the skulls of individuals of many na- 
tions and countries; for instance, of barbarous and animal man, 
as seen in the natives of Van Dieman’s land, of Australasia, of 
New Zealand, in the Carib of South America or the West 
India Islands, and in the North American Indian; of man ina 
more heroic but ferocious bearing, in the Bedouin Arab, the in- 
domitable Moor, and the nomadic Tartar ; in a milder form, in the 
Hottentot and Negro; with still gentler modifications, in the half 
civilized Mexican and Peruvian, and in the amiable Hindoo; in 
an improved’ condition in the ingenious Chinese, the effeminate 
Georgian, the indolent Turk, the incredulous Jew, and lastly, in 
the civilized European, appearing at one time as a peasant, at 
another as an artisan—and to crown the whole, in the highest 
elevation of the human character, as a philosopher and an enlight- 
ened moralist. | 


* The above will answer for a popular description ; the following is more precise. 

The facial line is drawn from the anterior edge of the upper jaw to the most 
prominent part of the forehead, which is usually the space between the superciliary 
ridges. A second or horizontal line is drawn through the meatus auditorius till it 
touches the base of the nostrils and from this point it_is still prolonged until it 
meets with the facial line already described; hence the two lines may meet at or 
very near the nasal spine or base of the nose, but in other instances, at a point 
considerably anterior to the bone; this is the facial angle, whose maximum ac- 
cording to Camper, is 100°, unless in heads preternaturally large, as in hydroce- 
phalus. The most ancient Greek artists chose the very maximum of the facial 
angle, while the Roman graveurs were satisfied with 95°. According to Camper 
the facial angle varies between 70° and 100°, from the head of the negro to the 
sublime beauty of the ancient Greek models. “If” he remarks, “ we descend 
below 70°, we have an ourang outang or a monkey ; if still lower, a dog or a bird, 
a snipe for example, of which the facial angle is almost parallel with a horizontal 
plane.” The facial angle as first indicated by Camper was not an accurate index 
of intelligence, but in the improved mode of measurement by the facial goniome- 
ter described by Dr. Morton, the objections to it are in a great measure removed.— 
Dissertation &c. quoted by Dr. S. G. Morton, Crania Americana, p. 200. 


70 Phrenology. 


Although I could not always follow the facial angle through 
the various orders of animals,—still, I entertained, at the time, 
no doubt, that my admired instructor was right in his main argu- 
ment, and I was delighted to see it sustained through such beau- 
tiful gradations and coincidences of structure and intelligence. 

I do not recollect that I then entertained the smallest concep- 
tion of the application of the doctrine to man, as an individual, 
and far less of distinguishing in the same individual, structural 
proofs of different mental manifestations. The enlargement and 
rise of the frontal and superior regions, in some general ratio to 
the advancing intelligence of animals and men, appeared to be 
established, and this structure seemed decidedly to predominate 
in the Caucasian or European race, as compared with the barba- 
rous nations. 

We have been informed by Mr. Combe that Dr. Barclay was 
not friendly to phrenology—a fact, which I suppose appeared in 
subsequent years. Still, it was remarkable that no man in Britain, 
and few men, any where, had then done more to lay the founda-_ 
tions of this science, and therefore it is not surprising that his re- 
sults should appear so valuable to the phrenologists of the present 
day. 

Mr. Chairman, I have no claim to be called a phrenologist, for 
Ihave not studied the subject sufficiently to form an opinion 
upon the science as a whole, and it is not probable that my en- 
gagements will ever permit me to give it a thorough investigation. - 
All I know of it is derived from the courses of lectures which I 


~ have heard, and of which this is the fourth ; from observation of 


such facts as have come in my way; from credible attestations 
of its practical applications published in various works, and from 
personal communications with some of its cultivators. Among 
these, our late respected lecturer is, after Dr. Spurzheim, the most 
distinguished, whom it has been my good fortune to know; for, 
that eminent man, soon after his arrival in this country, in 1832, 
spent many hours in my family, on which occasions, however, 
(such was his modesty) he never, of his own accord, introduced 
phrenology into conversation, and spoke of it only when invited ; 
then indeed, he was frank respecting it, as he was always instruc- 
tive on every subject ; for, his great Eeoeie lee rendered attrac- 


tive by his perspicuity, simplicity and benevolence, was sure to 
delight his hearers. 


Phrenology. 71 


It certainly does not become one who has not made phrenology 
a particular study, to say much of his own impressions, nor to 
claim for them great consideration. Without presuming to dic-. 
tate, I beg leave, however, to enquire fora few moments, whether 
there is any thing in its claims and pursuits which is absurd, un- 
philosophical, or of irreligious tendency. 

We have, each for ourselves, no better means of judging, than 
by the effects which the evidence and the discussions produce on 
our own minds; nor can we, understand, why some persons of 
great intelligence and worth, treat phrenology as if it were, on 
its very front, ridiculous and absurd, and therefore to be dismissed 
with contempt and ridicule, as the dream of an enthusiast—or to 
be spurned as the invention of an impostor—while some disci- 
plined minds regard the investigation as unphilosophical, and still 
greater numbers shrink from it with dread, as tending to impair 
moral responsibility, or to bind us in the fatal folds of material- 
ism. 

It appears to me, sir, that phrenology involves no absurdity, nor 
any antecedent improbability. ‘The very word means the science 
or knowledge of the mind, which all admit to be a pursuit of the 
highest dignity and importance, both for this life and the life to 
come, and the appropriate enquiry of the phrenologist is, whether 
the mind, with its peculiar powers, affections and propensities, is 
manifested by particular organs corresponding with the conforma- 
tion of the cranium, that-defensive armor by which the brain is 
protected from external injury. 

In what part of our frames is the mind manifested by any vis- 
ible appearance ? 

All will answer, in the features, in the human face divine, 
through whose beautiful and impressive lineaments, the mind 
shines forth as through windows, placed there on purpose, by the 
Creator. In this all are agreed ; we read there, in language which 
is often quite intelligible, the decisions of the will and the judg- 
ment, and the fluctuations of the affections. Even the inferior 
animals both manifest to us, and understand from us, this visible 
language, figured and shadowed forth by the form and move- 
ments of the muscles of the face, and especially by the efful- 
gence of the eye. 

But whence comes the intellectual and moral light that beams 
forth from the eye and from the features? 


72 Phrenology. 


Surely, not from the eye itself, although it is the most perfect 
and beautiful of optical instruments ; not from the fibres of the fa- 
cial muscles; not from the bony skeleton of the face ; not from the 
air cells and blood vessels of the lungs; still less, from the viscera 
and limbs; and with equal certainty, not from the cavities, the 
valves, and the strong muscular fabric of the heart itself, which is 
only the grand hydraulic organ for receiving and propelling the 
blood, in its double circulation both through the entire body to 
recruit its waste, and through the lungs, to receive the beneficent 
influence of the oxygen of the air, without which, in its next 
circulation through the body, the altered blood would prove a 
poison. ; f 

Most persons are startled when told, that the physical heart 
has nothing to do with our mental or moral manifestations. 
What! does not its quick pulsation, its tumultuous and irregular 
throb, when fear, or love, or joy, or anger animates our faculties— 
does not this bounding movement, shooting a thrill through the 
bosom, nor the attendant blush, or death-like paleness of the fea- 
tures, prove that the heart is a mental or moral organ? Certainly 
not ; these phenomena only evince that by means of our nerves, 
the divine principle within electrifies us, as it were, our muscles 
and thus accelerates or retards the eurrent of the blood-through 
the arteries, as well as the movement of the muscles themselves, 
and especially of the heart, which, in relation to the circulation 
of the blood, is the most.important of them all. The physical 
heart is no more to the mind and the affections, than the hose of 
a fire engine is to the intelligence that works the machine, whose 
successive strokes impel the hurrying fluid along, ina manner not 
unlike that which attends the circulation of the blood in the ar- 
teries. 

Where then shall we look for the seat of the mind? We are 
seriously assured that some persons have believed the stomach to 
be the favored region. 'The stomach, with its various coats, its 
innumerable nerves and blood vessels, its muscular tissues, and its 
gastric secretions, is a mere cavity for the reception of aliment; it 
is alternately distended with food and fluids, or partially collapsed 
by inanition, and although exquisitely sensible, by its nervous ap- 
paratus, both to external and internal injury, all that belongs to it 
is obviously required for the discharge of its appropriate func- 
tions in the reception and digestion of aliment; no office by-it 


Phrenology. 73 


performed, no sensation there experienced, indicates it to be any 
thing else than an organ, indispensable indeed to the physical sup- 
port and nourishment of the body, but in no degree the residence 
of the mind. 

On this position we cannot consent to argue further, and if 
there be any persons who seriously believe that the mind and 
affections reside in the stomach, we can only say, that in this case, 
we have no perceptions in common, and that the proof which con- 
vinces us would probably be lost upon them. 

Weare then at last, compelled, to return to the head, from which 
intellectual citadel we should never, for a moment, have departed, 
did not some individuals affirm that they are not sure where their 
minds reside. 

Such a doubt fills me with amazement, for I am as distinctly 
conscious that my mental operations are in my head, as I am of 
my existence, or that my eyes present to me the images of ex- 
ternal things ; nay more, ] am equally certain, that no merely intel- 
lectual or moral operation has its seat below the bottom of the or- 
bital cavities; that all the wonderful and beautiful structure be- 
neath the base of the brain quite to the soles of the feet, is com- 
posed merely of corporeal members, of ministering servants, that 
obey the will and execute the mandates of the heavenly principle, 
the representative of the Creator residing within the beautiful dome 
that crowns our frames, and which, like the lofty rotunda of a holy 
and magnificent temple, covers the inhabitant beneath, while it 
looks upward to heaven, with ae toward its Sues author 
and architect. 

Are we then expected seriously to assert, that which appears 
self-evident, that the seat of our mental operations, and of our 
affections and propensities, is in the brain? My consciousness 
informs me so, and this is the highest possible evidence to me, 
although my consciousness cannot be evidence to another person. 
Were it possible for life to exist with the body detached from the 
head, the latter might perhaps be even capable of thinking for 
a short time, without the appendage of trunk and limbs. Indeed, 
we are sure, that dislocation of the neck, while it has paralyzed 
and rendered insensible all the parts below, so that the individual 
ceases to be conscious that he possesses a body, has often left 
the mind in full operation. Provided the luxation or other severe 
injury has taken place below the vertebrae from which proceed the 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 10- 


74 Phrenology. 


nerves that supply the lungs, the sufferer continues to breathe and 
to converse, manifesting a rational mind as before the accident. 
Death must of course soon follow, and as to perception, the body 
is already dead; but the continued activity and soundness of the 
mind prove that its residence is in the brain. ‘This fact appears 
to me decisive, as no one would imagine that the lungs, a mere 
light tissue of air cells and blood vessels, separated by thin mem- 
branes, and destined only for circulation and respiration, can con- 
tain the mind—especially as this noble power is not subverted in 
chronic diseases of the lungs, not even when their substance is 
almost removed by a wasting consumption.* 

‘The residence of the mind being in the brain, it is not absurd or 
irrational to inquire whether it can be read in the form of the 
cranium as well as in the expression of the features. | 

It would appear from the observations of Dr. Barclay, that 
there is at least a general conformation that indicates intellectual 
and moral powers, and we are thus led to ask whether the 
research for more particular manifestations is unphilosophical. On 
this point, we ought not to depart from the received rules of sound 
philosophy. We are accustomed, in all other cases of scientific 
inquiry, to examine and weigh the evidence of phenomena, and 
to apply to them the severe canons of induction, nor can we dis- 
cern, in the present case, any reason for a different course. 

If, as has been ascertained by physiologists and anatomists, the 
bony matter of the cranium is deposited upon and around the 
membranous envelops of the brain, which is formed before the 
skull, then, the latter adapting itself in its soft and yielding state, 
must, of necessity, take the shape of the former; if the differ- 
ent faculties, affections and propensities of the mind are distribu- 
ted in different organs contained in the convolutions of the brain, 


* Dropsy in the brain does not form an objection, because its appropriate seat is 
in the ventricles or cavities, and by the very postulates of phrenology, a particu- 
lar organ, or particular organs of the brain may be diseased, or even destroyed, 
sito sabuertihe the action of the mind, except in the ie affected. 

The case of Sir Robert Liston, mentioned by Mr. Combe, is very remarkable on 
this point, as his intellectual powers remained unimpaired, while the organs of won- 
der, combativeness, and language were affected on one side. I had the pleasure 
of knowing him at his beautiful cottage near Edinburgh, when all his faculties 
were perfect, and nothing was at that time more removed from his conduct and 
character than the frantic anger which he afterwards manifested in a state of the 


brain, ascertained by post mortem examination, to be diseased in the three animal 
organs. 


Phrenology. 75 


and if the energy of the faculties is in proportion to the size-and 
development of the organs, then the external form and size of the 

cranium will indicate the powers and affections within, due allow- 
ance being made for the varying depth of the frontal sinus, and 
for some other peculiarities of idiosyncrasy or of disease, affecting 
the thickness and development of the bone in different individ- 
uals. 

This then is the vexed question—is there such a correspon- 
dence—are the views of phrenologists sustained by facts, and do 
the prevailing powers, affections and propensities of individuals, 
correspond with the cranial developments, modified by the tem- 
peraments, by health and other circumstances? It is obvious that 
these questions can be answered only by persons of large observa- 
tion, of great mental acumen and extensive and accurate knowl- 
edge of the structure, physiology, and history of man. ‘The in- 
vestigation includes, in the widest sense, all that belongs to him, 
and therefore few persons are qualified to make such responsible 
decisions. ‘They have been made, however, in so many instan- 
ces with success, as to command pobidents and. to. conciliate 
favor. 

It was seriously proposed to the British government in 1836, 
and the application was sustained by many professional men of 
high authority, that the numerous. convicts who are annually 
transported to Australasia and Van Dieman’s land, should be ex- 
amined; phrenologically, that the dangerous criminals may be sep- 
arated from the rest, allotted to a more rigorous supervision, and 
controlled by military force, both on the passage and in the colo- 
nies ;—that on landing, they should be stationed at labor under 
guard, on the roads.and other public works, while the milder in- 
dividuals, being placed out as servants, might become safe and 
useful inmates in farnilies, or laborers on the farms, and thus 
there might be a better prospect of their acquiring the confidence 
of their employers and of recovering their own:self-respect. 

In New Holland, this course is very important, as appears par- 
ticularly from the able report on the exploration of a large portion 
-of that immense country by Major 'T’. L. Mitchell,* who under the 
authority of government, and as surveyor general, made three ar- 


* His report was published in London in 1838, in two paaueifel 8vos, with nu- 
merous illustrations by plates and maps, a very valuable work, which we have 
read with great interest. 


76 Rhrenology. 


duous and perilous tours into the interior of Eastern Australasia, 
Australia Felix and New South Wales. 'The remote situation of 
the farms and establishments for raising cattle and sheep, renders 
it particularly important that they should not be exposed to the 
depredations and plots of abandoned and desperate villains. — 

It is also obvious, that in prison discipline, those who have only 
begun in the career of villainy, should not be exposed to contami- 
nation from individuals who are not only great criminals in fact, 
but constitutionally propense to crime.. We certainly know, inde- 
pendently of phrenology, that such propensities and predispositions 
exist, and it is obviously important to avail ourselves of all possi- 
ble sources of light on this subject, so important to the communi- 
ty. It becomes, therefore, an inquiry of deep interest, whether, 
in the power to make these discriminations, we may not repose 
full confidence in such men as Dr. Gall, Dr. Spurzheim, Mr. 
George Combe, and other individuals of pane experience and 
ability. ; 

Perhaps we may not be able to follow them in all their detailed 
divisions of the position of the faculties, affections, and propensi- 
ties; but, after making all reasonable allowance for some possible 
errors in discrimination, and for some suggestions of the imagina- 
tion, may we not still ly upon their ability to indicate, decided- 
ly, the prevailing faculties and the ruling affections a propen- 
sities of far the greater number of individuals, in any assembly, 
either of pupils or convicts, or of people brought nee by ac- 
cident ? 

In yielding to our convictions on this subject, we oud how- 
ever, exclude smatterers and pretenders, who, having only a super- 
ficial acquaintance with the subject, and perhaps no uncommon 
acumen in any case, examine heads to flatter self-esteem, and grat- 
ify cupidity. 

The subject is liable to abuse, and not all who claim to be 
phrenologists, can be deserving of entire confidence; but is 
not the same true of many other subjects, and especially of sur- 
gery? How large a proportion of surgeons should we be willing 
to employ, in passing a knife among the nerves and arteries of our 
own bodies, or of those of our dear friends? 

We are persuaded then that phrenology has its foundations laid 
in truth, and that its first principles, as regards the great regions 
of the head, are established upon the same ground as that which 


Phrenology. 17 


sustains all the physical sciences, namely, induction, indicating the 
correspondence of the phenomena with the theory. 

Those who have not profoundly studied the science, cannot 
judge of the details; it certainly appears very extraordinary that 
numerous organs should be included within a mass no larger than 
the brain, and that so many faculties should be found in particu- 
lar regions, especially in that of observation along the front and 
lower portion of the brain, contiguous to the eyes and the arches 
of their orbits. It appears the more strange, inasmuch as dissec- 
tion does not enable us perfectly to separate the different organs, 
although the convolutions of the brain are distinct, and may in- 
deed be dissected apart; but there are no visible boundaries be- 
tween the organs, so that they can be removed, one by one. 
There is however an apparatus by which communication is made 
to them and through them by the medium of nervous fibres ; 
many groups of these fibres are visible in the brain, pervading 
different organs, and therefore we may presume that, where we 
cannot see them they may still exist, and perform their office of 
communicating their appropriate impressions. 

Strong analogies favor this view. For example, in addition to 
the nerves and blood vessels that may be traced in every part of 
_ the body, there are certainly others that exist in inconceivable 
numbers and with an infinitesimal minuteness, baflling equally 
our powers of vision and dissection, and even of conception ; for, 
whatever part of the system we puncture with a needle or other 
sharp instrument, we both draw blood and excite pain, thus prov- 
ing that not only blood vessels but nerves of vanishing minute- 
ness pervade the entire structure, and every one of these blood 
vessels receives its stores of blood from the circulation that is sus- 
tained by the contractions of the heart, faithfully returning the 
vital fluid again to that organ; in the same manner, the infinitely 
divided nervous fibres all communicate ultimately with the brain, 
and thus when they are wounded, impart the information from 
the remotest extremities to the grand head quarters of the mind, 
and that quicker than an electric movement in our machines, or 
in the atmosphere, or in the wide external world. 

But this is not the ultimate term of infinitesimal minuteness. 
While every part of the system is thus furnished with nerves of 
common sensation, so that we suffer by a wound inflicted in any 
place, and the mind is instantly informed of the injury ; there 


78 Phrenology. 


are, in addition to these, nerves of voluntary motion, by means of 
which those parts of our bodies that are obedient to our will, (the 
voluntary muscles, ) receive the orders we give them—as in the 
limbs, to walk, to run, to leap, to skate or dance ; or in the arms 
to fence or fight, and the members promptly move in accordance ; 
the features, by the action of the voluntary muscles of the face, 
report our mental or moral movements, or our animal feelings; 
the eyes roll in their orbits ‘‘ with a fine phrenzy,” or shine with 
intellectual lustre; the tongue, the glottis, the muscles of respi- 
ration, and all the parts that are concerned in speech or in pro- 
ducing the tones of vocal music, give the voice its utterance, its 
compass, its various cadence and intonations ; the fingers move 
the pen or sweep the lyre, or strike the keys of the piano forte or 
of the organ, or stop and open the apertures of the flute and cla- 
rionet. All this and much more that need not be named, is done 
in obedience to our will, but with a celerity and precision too 
ereat even for thought to frame distinctly the conception, before 
it is executed. 

Nor is this all: the organs of sense are furnished with nerves 
appropriate to their destination of conveying to the mind their 
peculiar impressions, while at the same time, like the whole 
body, they are endowed with nerves of common sensation; thus, 
the tongue or the nostrils receive pain from the puncture of a 
needle, while the needle does not produce taste in the tongue 
nor smell in the nostrils; but sugar placed on the tongue, or a 
rose at the nostrils, produces the appropriate pleasurable sensation, 
while pain would be excited at the same instant, in each of these 
organs by the point of a pin or a needle. Here then are appropri- 
ate nerves of infinite minuteness spread over the organs of sense— 
other nerves also of common sensation, and in most cases, still 
others of voluntary motion, while these complicated tissues of 
nervous network, not only do exist together, but they perform 
their functions simultaneously, although in perfect independence, 
and without the smallest degree of: confusion. It is admitted by 
anatomists that a similar delicacy of nervous structure exists in 
the brain, whose very object is to receive and convey nervous 
influence, and since we can observe nervous fibres in all parts of 
the body and also in the brain, until our eyes and our glasses fail 
to detect such minute ramifications, we have therefore the same 
evidence for all the minuteness of division among the nerves of 


Phrenology. 79 


the brain which the phrenologist may desire to prove, equally 
with that which the mere anatomist finds or presumes to exist in 
all the other organs. 

The cases being perfectly parallel, no objection can be urged 
against the one that does not apply also to the other, and the argu- 
ments in support of both are quite in common. 

It thus appears that the existence of many organs in the brain, 
with their appropriate nervous apparatus, is in no way inconsistent 
with the general analogies of structure in the body. 

Other analogies might be found in the lacteals and absorbents, 
systems of vessels having again, inconceivable minuteness as well 
as great extent, and still operating without interference with any 
of the other systems in the body, while they perform their own 
appropriate and’ most important functions. It is then not only 
possible that there may be different organs in the brain adapted 
to different manifestations, but there appears a strong antecedent 
probability in favor of such a structure. 

We may now assume that the mind is local to the brain, and 
that there are no indications of intellectual operations or oe 
affections in any other parts of the system ; and notwithstanding 
the vague remarks which sometimes fall even from people of un- 
derstanding, implying that they are uncertain where their minds 
reside, we must conclude that this indistinctness of conception 
arises simply from their neglect to think accurately at all on the 
question, or from a fear that if this first step is admitted, phrenol- 
ogy will claim much more, and demand the admission of all the 
organs, each with its appropriate location. 

Plainly then, if there be so much locality in the mind that it 
resides in the brain, there may be a distribution of faculties still 
more definite and different manifestations may belong to different 
parts of this organ. Let us observe also that locality is predica- 
ble of every portion of the body. The bones are appropriate to 
the different members and to the various parts of the trunk and 
head. 'The proper muscles are spread over the frame for volun- 
tary or involuntary motion: the mouth receives. the food, the 
teeth masticate it, the saliva, discharged from appropriate local 
glands, dilutes it, so that it can pass down the esophagus to the 
stomach, where it is digested ; it is mingled with the bile secreted 
by the liver and stored in the gall bladder; the intestines receive ~ 
it in the state of chyme to be subjected to the action of the lacte- 
als, which are ready with their myriads of mouths to take up the 


80 Phrenology. 


chyle or nutritious portion, which is conveyed, as a milky fluid, 
through appropriate vessels to the left subclavian vein, by means 
of which it is poured into the mass of the blood to recruit its 
waste. 

All our senses except feeling are local, and most of our organs 
are double ; the eye and the ear, each in pairs, corresponding to 
the double brain, are placed close to that intellectual organ, and 
communicate directly with it; they are the most elevated and 
dignified of the senses, and are worthy of their honorable neigh- 
borhood.- ‘The nostrils are also double, while the tongue is sin- 
gle, although composed of two perfectly similar halves. These 
organs of sense are in the descending scale of honor, and their 
communications with the brain are less direct than those of the 
eye and ear; the pleasures we enjoy from them have their seat 
also in the organs themselves, while those of sight and hearing 
are in the mind, and the organ itself is not sensible of the pleas- 
ure. Thus the pleasures of sight and hearing are almost intel- 
lectual. Lastly, the sense of feeling is perceived over all the 
surfaces; it has no particular locality, but varies in intensity with 
the number and delicacy of the nerves belonging to this sense in 
particular parts. 

The numerous glands existing in many parts i the body for 
the secretion of saliva, of mucus, of milk, of bile, and other things 
are instances of local organs. The lungs are a very remarka- 
ble example of an organ for a specific purpose ; and they, like the 
heart, are required to be in constant action while life continues. 
We have already cited the arteries and veins which are local in 
their respective courses, while the blood which passes through 
them is thus compelled to move in its appointed channels. The 
nerves also have been named with the same intention, and in 
many instances they are sent forth in pairs to supply correspond- 
ent double portions of the body. . It is not necessary to cite other 
instances of local organs destined for particular and some of them 
most important purposes, as they will occur on the slightest re- 
flection, and it is thus proved that locality is almost universally 
characteristic of the structure of the body. 

It would then be strange indeed if there were no organ devoted 
to the mind. What organ can be the residence of the mental 
faculties if the brain is not? Every other has its uses, in general 
well ascertained, but, without mental manifestations, there is no 
use for the brain ; for even the nerves that proceed from it, would 


Phrenology. 81 


be nugatory without the mind to issue its orders through them to 
the members, and to receive in turn communications from them, 
and the circulation of the blood through an useless organ, would - 
be quite superfluous. 

Many persons are alarmed, lest phrenology should produce an 
influence hostile to religion, by favoring materialism. It is sup- 
posed that our organization may be pleaded in bar, against our mor- 
al responsibility, since, if we have strong dispositions to do wrong 
and no power to do right, we are like machines and are not re- 
sponsible. When there is no intellectual power, as in the case of 
an idiot, or a subversion of reason, as in the instance of a maniac, 
it is agreed by all, that the individual is not amenable to human 
laws. ‘This opinion has no reference to phrenology, and is em- 
braced by all mankind. 

If we have rightly understood Mr. Combe, he holds that the 
individuals in whose heads the intellectual and moral sentiments 
predominate, are highly responsible; those in whom the three 
classes of organs are in equilibrio, are considered as still respon- 
sible, but entitled to much mercy combined with justice, on ac- 
count of their strong temptations ; while those who are sadly de- 
ficient in the moral and intellectual organs, are regarded as moral 
patients. 

From the latter class we slide down insensibly to intellectual 
idiots, whom all regard as not responsible. Where shall we draw 
the line? ‘The common sense of mankind is agreed upon the 
principle, but some difficulty is found in the application to partic- 
ular cases on account of the infinitely varying degree of intellec- 
tual and moral power. 

There are also peculiar cases, as those of monomania, which are 
treated with indulgence and exempted, to a certain extent, from 
responsibility, while there are also other cases still, of a doubtful 
character, which must be judged_under their peculiar circumstan- 
ces, and cannot easily be brought under any general rules. As re- 

-gards organization, it is obvious that our condition in this world is 
dependent upon it, and that it influences all our actions and ar- 
rangements. Organization is the foundation of human society ; 
upon it depend our dearest relations in life, many of our highest en- 
joyments, all our intellectual efforts,* and our most exalted virtues; 


* Since-we have no knowledge of a human mind unconnected with a brain. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840, il ; 


82 Phrenology. 


from its abuse, on the contrary, spring some of the most flagitious 
crimes and most poignant sufferings. Still, no court permits a 
criminal to plead against his condemnation, the strength of his 
evil propensities which have led him to the commission of crime. 
The temptations of cupidity will not excuse the felon from trans- 
portation ; nor the fierceness of anger or the delusions of inebriety 
avert the sentence of death from a murderer. Phrenology does not, 
in the least, alter the case ; for, independently of this science or of 
any other relating to our frames—as, for instance, anatomy and 
physiology—we are quite sure of the existence of our faculties, 
our affections, and our propensities, and we know that we are re- 
sponsible for their proper use and for their abuse. Their manifes- 
tation through the brain does not affect our moral responsibility, 
any more than if they were associated with any other parts of 
our frame, or diffused through the whole of it, without any par- 
ticular locality. 

It is our duty to regulate and control all our powers, affections 
and propensities, and nothing but the impotency or subversion of 
our reason can excuse us from moral responsibility. We will 
suppose, for instance, that according to the language of phrenol- 
ogy, aman may have small intellectual powers, little conscien- 
tiousness and benevolence, and large acquisitiveness, destructive- 
ness and combativeness. Will he therefore stand excused for theft 
ore murder? Certainly not. It was his duty to obey his con- 
science, and to resist his animal propensities when they would 
lead him to evil. Feeble faculties and dispositions may become 
strong by cultivation and encouragement, and strong propensities 
may be controlled and subjected by vigilant discipline. We see in 
life, many examples of self-government producing, by the force of 
a voluntary discipline, fine characters, formed as it may be out of 
very imperfect or bad materials, while brilliant intellectual powers 
and elevated moral feelings are, unhappily, too often subdued by 
the lower propensities, the animal powers ; in these cases, the latter 
were not governed, and thus the intellect which should have been 
the master, became a miserable and ruined slave to the propensi- 
ties. If the case of the feebler powers and stronger propensities 
admits of no justification, the opposite case presents no palliation ; 
for with a strong intellect and a conscience quick to distinguish 
right from wrong, the propensities ought to be subjected to the most 
perfect control. Phrenology, therefore, stands not in the way of 


Phrenology. 83 


moral and religious influence; but, on the contrary, if the science 
be true, it indicates in a manner most important, where and how 
to exert the discipline of self-control as well as the right and power 
of controlling others. This discovery will, indeed, without phre- 
nology, be made in the progress of the experience of the individual, 
but it may be at too late a day. Health, conscience, fortune and 
honor may have been sacrificed, when, had the point of danger 
been early made known, and the course of safety seasonably in- 
dicated, the peril might have been shunned or averted, and peace 
and security insured. 

But, the Christian will anxiously enquire, is our safety then 
to depend on our own imperfect knowledge and resolution in 
performing our duty? We answer, that however ignorant and 
weak we may be, there can be no doubt that our Creator has 
placed us here in a state of discipline, and that we are under 
bonds to him to perform our duty, despite of evil influences from 
within, and of temptations from without. If, however, phre- 
nology will enable the anxious parent to understand the powers 
and capacities, with the prevailing affections and propensities—it 
cannot but influence the destination and pursuits of the child, 
while it will also indicate the course of discipline and treatment. 

But all this will not avail, without superior influence flowing 
from the Creator himself, through his divine revelation, which is 
the charter of our hopes, and our supreme moral guide in life. 
If there be in any instance, an unhappy cranial formation, surely 
it does not diminish, but, on the contrary, it enhances the neces- 
sity of a prevailing heavenly influence to illuminate that which 
is dark, to strengthen the weak faculties, subdue the wild animal 
propensities, and purify, by a holy efficiency, the moral senti- 
ments and affections. 

Religion can therefore do, what phrenology cannot alone effect. 
Phrenology undertakes to accomplish for man, what philosophy 
performs for the external world ; it claims to disclose the real state 
of things, and to present nature, unveiled, and in her true features. 

As science and art. build upon the laws of nature, and borrow- 
ing materials from her, proceed to construct all the machines and 
edifices and various physical furniture of refined civilization, so 
phrenology, if successful in developing the real powers, affections 
and propensities of man, furnishes to revealed religion, in the best 
possible state, the subject upon which through the spirit of God, 


e 


84 Phrenology. 


the holiest and happiest influences of piety may be exerted and 
made effectual. 

Phrenology then, is not a substitute for revealed religion—it 
does not present itself as a rival or an enemy, but as an ally or 
ministering servant. It is obvious that if all which is claimed 
for it be true, it is capable of exerting a most important influ- 
ence on the faculties and moral powers of our race, and with 
experience for its interpreter, it must ferm the basis of intellec- 
tual philosophy. 

The development which it makes of the faculties as connect- 
ed with the organization of the brain, illustrates the wisdom of 
the Creator in common with the wonderful structure of the rest 
of the frame, and indeed it has still higher claims to our admira- 
tion, in as much as the faculties of the mind are more-elevated 
in dignity than those of the inferior members. If it should be 
objecied, that we ought not to attribute to God a structure in 
which evil propensities are included, we answer that they cease 
to be evil if they are controlled by the superior powers, and after 
all, the introduction of moral and physical evil into this world 
must be referred to the will of God, nor does it at all change the 
conditions of the problem, whether our moral errors arise from 
our organization or from external influences, or from both. In 
either case, we are responsible, because power, either inherent in 
our constitution, or imparted through the influence of religion, is 
given to us, sufficient to resist moral evil and to perform our duty. 
It appears then, that phrenology is neither an unreasonable, an 
unphilosophical, nor an immoral or irreligious pursuit. 

The connection which it proves between the brain and the 
mind, is founded upon our personal experience and daily obser- 
vation. ‘There is nothing in the nature of the brain which can 
enable us to understand how it is made the residence or instru- 
ment of the mind, nor can we in the least comprehend, in what 
way the mind will subsist after the death of the body, or in what 
the intellectual essence consists. We are indeed instructed, from 
the highest authority, (and the thought, with its illustration, is 
equally beautiful and sublime, in a philosophical as in a moral 
view, ) that “the seed-which we sow* is not quickened unless it 
die; that we do not sow the body that shall be, but that God giv- 


* « Bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain.” 


Phrenology. 85 


eth it a body, as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own 
body ; so also in the resurrection of the dead ; it is sown in cor- 
ruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is 
raised in glory ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; it 
is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there isa 
natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (St. Paul:) 

Of the future association of our minds with that new and spirit- 
ual body, we can no more form a distinct conception, than we 
now do of the existing connection with our living acting frames. 
They obey the mandates of God’s vicegerent, the immortal 
mind, which is truly and locally enthroned in the superior region 
of the head, to rule the inferior body, employing its members 
as servants to fulfil its commands, and in that manner to accom- 
plish the will of the infinite Creator. Great dignity is thus im- 
parted to our reason and to its temporary residence in the head, 
its truly regal palace. But the human mind soon finds the lim- 
its of its power in every department of nature. It comprehends 
indeed, the celestial mechanism, and demonstrates the existence 
and the ratio of gravitation and projection, but understands not 
their nature and origin; it penetrates the chemical constitution of 
bodies, and ascertains the laws by which the heterogeneous atoms 
rush into union, while it cannot fathom the essence of the par- 
ticles, nor even prove the reality of matter. The mind com- 
mands the hand-to move, and it instantly obeys, to perform its 
behests of anger or of love—while the mind itself perceives not 
the nature of the influence, nor the manner of its movement, 
and thus phrenology forms a perfect parallel with all we know of 
nature and of nature’s God. With us, rests the knowledge of 
the effects; with him, the cause and the manner of the connec- 
tion. Philosophy then, equally with religion, bows before the 
throne of the Supreme, and while it renders grateful homage for 
the glorious illumination which he has poured into our minds, it 
acknowledges with profound humility, that our light at last ends 
in darkness—that none by searching can fully find out God— 
nor comprehend the Almighty unto perfection, for it is higher 
than heaven what canst thou do, and deeper than hell what 
canst thou know! 

Phrenology then stands, exactly like the other sciences of ob- 
servation, upon the basis of phenomena, and their cbserved cor- 
respondence with a theory which is deduced from them. ‘The 


86 | Phrenology. . 


mental energy of Gall, of Spurzheim, of Combe, and of many 
other philosophers of high intellectual powers and wide observa- 
tion, has been, through many years, directed to the investigation, 
and they have declared, that they find a prevailing correspond- 
ence between the size and conformation of the brain and of the 
cranium, and the energy of the intellectual faculties, moral senti- 
ments, and animal propensities of man. 

As it is a fair pursuit—a legitimate branch of physical, mental 
and moral philosophy—let it then have free scope, until additional 
observations through a wider range of time, and made by many 
other men, equally or even better qualified for the investigation, 
shall either establish or overthrow its claims. 

This apologetic plea for phrenology has been thrown in, not 
because we have made up our minds ¢o go for the whole, but be- 
cause we would strenuously maintain the liberty of free investiga- 
tion. Philosophical is as sacred as civil and religious liberty, and 
all three are indispensable to the perfection of man’s faculties, to 
the improvement of his condition, and to the just comprehension 
of his duties. In suggesting the considerations that have been 
presented, we do not assume or deny that the minute divisions of 
the mental, moral, and animal faculties indicated by phrenology, 
as the science is now taught, are all fully made out. On this 
question we would not hazard an opinion, for here phrenology 
would demand a trial by its peers—by a jury of superior minds, 
qualified to decide by their acumen, their general knowledge, 
their large observation on this subject, and their strict logical dis- 
cipline ; but all intelligent and candid persons can judge of the 
general correspondence of the theory with the phenomena; they 
can observe that there is an intellectual, a moral, and an animal 
conformation of the head, which, as the one region or the other 
prevails, greatly influences the character and conduct. 

This general development, this characteristic conformation, 
we think is clearly discernible when we examine many individ- 
uals; it is therefore, this leading revelation of mental power, of 
moral affections, and of animal propensities, which we believe 
that Gall, Spurzheim, and Combe, and other able and enlighten- 
ed phrenologists, have it in their power to indicate, with a pre- 
vailing certainty, sufficient to justify particular courses of treat- 
ment with the insane, with felons, and (with great care and 
prudence) even with pupils and children. 


Phrenology. 87 


If then we are right in this conclusion, phrenology does not 
deserve the sneers, the ridicule and contempt of which it is still 
made the theme; nothing is easier than to cherish our own self- 
esteem by indulging in such cheap effusions of self-complacency ; 
and to guard against any possible verdict of credulity, by an early 
vindication of our superior sagacity in foreseeing the reductio ad 
absurdum, which those who predict such a result will be very 
prone not only to expect but to desire. Many excellent people, 
with the best moral and religious feelings, are often alarmed by 
the discoveries of science ; we do not speak of science, ‘‘ falsely so 
called,” but of real science, which is only another name for truth. 
Truth is the noblest attribute of the Creator himself; we are too 
apt to forget that it is as distinctly recorded in his works as in his 
word, and if we would know what he has revealed for our 
instruction, we must faithfully read and understand the volume 
of creation, as well as that of revelation ; both are his work ; both 
are true, and both are worthy of our most assiduous study. We 
fail, therefore, in-moral courage, if we fear to advance in the ways 
of truth, and to follow where she leads, whether in nature or in 
revelation. 

Every important science has at first been received with scepti- 
cism, if not with obloquy, contempt, or hostility. 

Astronomy, assailed by ignorance and bigotry, long maintained 
a defensive attitude against the civil and ecclesiastical powers of 
that age, which boasts a Galileo, a Kepler, and a Newton; but 
for almost two centuries, this, the HOES of the physical sciences, 
has been fully victorious. 

Geology has sustained a warfare of many years, but having 
vindicated her cause, begins to feel assured of permanent peace. 

Phrenology is still marching in an enemy’s country, and the 
issue may appear more doubtful ; but we are assured by her learn- 
ed professors, that she is gaining efficient allies, and every year 
increasing in power. 

We have appeared in the field as mediators, not as belliger- 
ents on either side, but. hoping to recommend a suspension of 
hostilities preliminary to an amicable and fair discussion of the 
points at issue, in the confident hope that a permanent and hon- 
orable pacification may be the result, and that all the parties in 
the controversy, having defined the boundaries of their respective 
dominions by more exact limits and more durable landmarks, may 


88 Table showing the First Appearance of Ice, Sc. 


find in the end, that the independence of each is more fully estab- 
lished, while all the members of the alliance are bound more 
firmly together than ever, by a consistent and harmonious effi- 
ciency, as beneficent in its influence as it will be delightful to 


every truly enlightened and philanthropic mind. 
New Haven, March 31, 1840. 


Arr. XI.— Table showing the First Appearance of Ice, the Clos- 
ing and the time of Opening of the Connecticut River at Mid- 
dletown ; by JoserH Barratt, M. D., corresponding member 
of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and of 
the New York Lyceum of Natural History, &c. 'The latitude 
of the Wesleyan University in Middletown is 41° 33/ 8” N. 
Longitude 4h. 51m. 2s. =72° 45’ 30” W. 


To the Editors of the American Journal of Science and Arts. 


GentLEMEN—The annexed table is submitted to your examina- 
tion, and if considered of sufficient value to be entitled to a place 
in the Journal of Science and Arts, I shall be happy to see it in 
print. I have thought this table might not be without its inter- 
est to those engaged in the navigation of the Connecticut river, 
as it will furnish them with data for sixty years, of the closing - 
with ice, and the periods of opening at Middletown, situated 
thirty miles from its mouth. Iam not aware that any similar 
table relating to the Connecticut river, has ever been given to the 
public. The Regents of the University of the State of New 
York, have considered the ‘‘ periods when the Hudson river is 
opened and closed at Albany,” of sufficient importance to be 
printed in their annual reports, made to the legislature of that 
State, see Document No. 56, p. 206, for 1839. The dates there 
referred to, commence in 1786, but the table is incomplete till 
the year 1818, when the opening as well as the period of the 
closing of the Hudson river, is given. ‘This table may also be 
serviceable to the geographer desirous of ascertaining the periods 
the great rivers of North America continue ice-bound, and for 


comparison with the rivers and climate of the north of Europe. 
Middletown, Conn., February 24, 1840. 


Win- 
ters. 


Table showing the First Appearance of Ice, Sc. 


First appear- 


ance of ice in ~ 


tle river. 


Open. - 


Dec. 9 
Nov. 24 


Dec. 2 
Noy. 24 
Dec. 11 
Dec. 5 
Dec. 13 
No record. 


Nov. 22 
Dec. 9 


Dec. 6 
Noy. 20 


Dec. 15 


Dec. 15 


No record. 


Obstructed or 
closed. 


Jan. 5 
Nov. 28 


Jan. 15 
Nov. 26 
Dec. 6 
Dec. 13 


Dec. 16 


Dec. 13 


Dec. 23 
Dec. 10 
Open. 
Jan. 9 
Dec. 8 
Open. 


Jan. 2 


Dec. 16 
Jan. 2 
Nov, 24 


Dec. 13 


Dec. 12 
Dec. 6 and 17 ; 


Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 


Dec. 


Open again. 


Nov. 


Dec. 
Dec. 


Dec. 
Dec. 


28 


. 30-31 


19 


24 
13 


and 28 


Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 


89 


Ice gives way. | Open for navi- 


gation. 
March 25 April 6 
1763, March 26 
1779, Feb. 15 
1780, March 8 March 18 
1781, March 7 March 13 
1782 March 12 
1783, Feb. 17 March 16 
1784, March 15} March 24 
1785, April 2 April 7 
1786, Mareh 7 March 15 
1787, March 13| March 20 
1788, March 14| March 22 
1789, March 14} March 27 
s March 4 
1790, Feb. 25 } eee 
1791, March 11] March 22 
1792, March 13] . March 18 
1793, Feb. 27 March 18 
1794, March 15 
1795, March 7 
Feb. 22-— 
1797, Feb. 10 ; March fr 
1798, March 17) 
1799, March 22 
¢ Jan. 2 
wel } Feb. 27 
Jan. 11 
1802, Jan. 8 Feb. 16 
1803, Feb. 7 Feb. 19 
1804 March 26 
1805, March 7 
11806, Feb. 19 Feb. 24 
1807, March 10} March 38 
Feb. 3 : 
1808 ; March} | March 2 
1809, March 21|- April 1 
Jan. 1 
1810 ; yan 59 | March 5 
1811 March 22 
1812, Feb. 9 
1815, March 9 
1816, March 2 March 14 


12 


1818, March 3 

1820, March 19 i 
1821, March 10 

1822, March 4 

1823, March 12 


90 Applications of the Igneous Theory of the Earth. 


“Win- )Firstappearance ; Obstructed; = sd] Sséscegives’ = | Open for ~ 
ters. jof ice in the river.| or closed. Open again. way. navigation. 
1825 Dec. 13 1826, Jan, 1 ~ March 7 
1827 4h Dec. 23 
1828 Dec. 31 1828 5 Tob. Be 
1830 Dec. 22 1830 March 9 
1831 Dec. 2 ; 

*1832 | Dec. 21 Dec. 22 . 11832, March 5 March 10 

*1833 Dec. 13 Dec. 14 4 1833, March 19 ; 

'|*1834 | Dec. 14 Dec. 15 1834, Feb 16 Feb. 26 

*1835 Nov. 29 |. - | (1885 ; jan. | March 16 

*1836 | Nov. 28 Dec. 2 Dec. 11 1836, March 28} April 2 

*1837 | - Jan. 1 1837, March 15| March 23 

Jan. 4 Jan. 5 
Dec. 9 Dee. 15 1838 ; oe ae ; va ae 
*1838 | Nov. 25 Nov. 27 4 ‘i 


Nov. 23, clear | 7 Dee. 1, no ice 
*1839 on tavpesie| Des: 17 ; till Dec. 16 Hie Feb. 27 | March 1 
1840, Feb. 19 Feb. 22 


NorEs AND OCCURRENCES.—1635, see Gov. Winthrop’s Journal, 2d ed., Vol. I, 
p- 173. 1780, asevere winter. 1785, good sledding on the river March 24. 1786, 
thirty to forty vessels froze in the river preparing for seain November. 1790, 
mild winter. 1801, great flood twenty one feet three inches above low water 
mark March 21. 1802, mild winter. 1810, mild winter. 1816, river opens and 
shuts again twice. 1818, the ice carried away Hartford bridge, and Rand’s store 
at Middletown. 1824, mild winter. 1828, mild winter. 1832, steam boat Vic- 
tory detained at the wharf one hundred days in the ice. 1837-8, mild winter. 
1839, great flood eighteen feet above low water mark; Jan. 28, part of Hartford 
bridge carried away. 1840, a severe winter—navigation in the sound closed. 

The dates from 1832 marked * are from the observations recorded by J. B.; the 
rest have been drawn from authentic sources. There are some years of which 
no record could be obtained. 


Arr. XII.—Applications of the Igneous Theory of the Earth; by 
Prof. J. H. Laturor, of Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. 


In accounting for the secular changes of magnetic polarity on 
the principles of the prevailing geological theory, I attempted to 
show in Art. XI, Vol. xxxvin, p. 68, that the igneous theory in- 
volves, as a necessary physical consequence, a more rapid revolu- 
tion of the earth’s crust than of the central fluid. ‘The same 
reasoning applies to all the concentric spheres into which we 
may suppose this fluid to be divided. Whatever the law of con- 
traction may be, the acceleration of the diurnal velocity increases 
from the centre outward. We have here, very obviously, the 
foundation laid for unremitted and not irregular changes of con- 
tact of thé particles of the fluid mass with each other, and with 


Applications of the Igneous Theory of the Earth. 91 


the internal surface of the crust. Must not these extensive and 
systematic changes of contact result in the regular development 
of the galvanic agent? I propound this question for the conside- 
ration of those who ascribe the polarity of the needle to the regu- 
lar action of electro-magnetic currents. 

I proceed now to the statement of some other aie conse- 
quences of the geological theory, which appear to me to be inter- 
. esting in themselves, and which may, by possibility, have some 
bearing on the diurnal and annual irregularities in the declination 
of the needle. _ 

Modern science has aemonstated that the form of the earth is 
that which would be assumed by a fluid mass of the same mag- 
nitude, and revolving with the same velocity. The surface of 
the ocean at.rest and uninfluenced by the heavenly bodies, is a 
continuous portion of the spheroid. Continents and islands are 
portions of the crust which rise above the oceanic surface at every 


... variety of elevation within the perpendicular of about five miles. 


There is no good reason to doubt that the submarine valleys de- 
scend below the surface-to every degree of depression within a 
still greater perpendicular—egreater in the ratio which the oceanic 
surface bears to the continental surface at the same level. 

These irregularities which obtain on the earth’s surface are 
such as the geological theory would lead us to anticipate in con- 
sequence of the gradual contraction of the internal fluid, the oc- 
casional disruption of the primitive crust of the spheroid, and the 
arrangement of the fragments on statical principles. Indeed, the 
geologist must look upon the deep bed of ocean and the emerg- 
ing continent, the mountain range and the river basin, the alter- 
nations of hill and dale resting on strata variously inclined, as the 
ruge@ of an envelope now too large for the ball it encloses. He 
can hardly fail to perceive, that if the crust were distended to its 
original position by enlarging the volume of the mass within, 
these inequalities would in the main disappear. 

We are not, then, in the light of the geological theory, to con- 
sider the crust of the earth as a continuous, entire and self-sus- 
tained shell ; but as composed of the fragments of the primitive 
envelope of the spheroid, floating on the central fluid, and resting 
against each other at their elevated angles. Continents are the 
result of such a statical disposition of a congeries of larger frag- 
ments ; while minor combinations of masses mutually inclined 


92 Applications of the Igneous Theory of the Earth. 


present us with islands or submarine mountains, according to 
their elevation relatively to the oceanic surface. These inclined 
portions of the earth’s crust, resting on the central fluid of greater 
specific gravity than themselves, and pressed firmly together at 
their lower angles by their own weight, constitute the bed of 
ocean and the principal marine divisions. 

-If these are legitimate deductions from the geological theory, 
it is manifest that by virtue of the gradual contraction of the 
central fluid, the inequalities of the earth’s surface are from age 
to age increasing ; that in the gross, the elevation of continents 
and islands above the surface of the ocean is gradually becoming 
greater ; that the land is encroaching upon the water, or in other 
words, that the level of the sea is from time to time assuming a 
lower position with reference to fixed points on the shore. I say 
in the gross, for partial causes may operate to vary the result in 
particular cases ; and even extensive lines of coast may be so 
situated as to exhibit the contrary phenomenon. On the princi- 
ples of the theory, however, the general rule must be as stated. 
Indeed, in view of the local evidences of this recession of the 
waters, nothing is now more common with the geologist than to 
assign, as a cause of the phenomenon, the “ upheaving” of the 
contiguous portion of the earth’s surface. These are but par- 
ticular cases under the general law. By way of illustration we 
may refer to those islands whose soil rests on a continuous sub- 
stratum of coral. Now it is well known, that the coral formation 
is of submarine origin, and its appearance above the surface can 
be accounted for only by the “‘upheaving” of the apex of the 
submarine mountain on which its growth took place. 

The fragmentary character of the earth’s crust would seem to 
be strongly attested by the phenomena of earthquakes. 'These 
phenomena, in all their extent and variety, are wholly irrecon- 
cilable with the supposition that the structure of the earth is solid 
throughout. And adopting on the other hand the hypothesis 
of an unbroken and sulf-sustained shell, enclosing a central fluid, 
it would be difficult to avoid the conclusion that all earthquakes 
must be universal in their extent. Physical action commencing 
in any part of the shell, could hardly fail to send its vibrations 
through the whole. It is matter of experience, however, that 
these phenomena are not thus universal. Some are of compara- 
tively small extent, while others affect considerable portions of 


Applications of the [gneous Theory of the Earth. 93 


the earth’s surface. The geological theory suggests the follow- 
ing solution of the difficulty. ‘The internal expansive agent, 
finding too tardy a discharge through its ordinary channel, the 
volcano, expends its force in elevating the fragments of the crust 
directly over it. The agitation may be confined to the single 
fragment, or it may be extended to the contiguous group. By 
way of illustration, we may apply this mode of accounting for 
these convulsions of nature to the case of the sudden and simul- 
taneous recession of the waters from the shores of the Sandwich 
Islands, followed by the return current a few minutes after, oc- 
curring in 1819, and again in 1837. The supposition of a slight 
rising and falling of that fragment of the earth’s crust on which 
this group is situated seems to account. fully for the phenomena, 
apparently incapable of explanation on any other hypothesis. 

If the earth’s crust is thus fragmentary, it is obvious, that in 
the gross, it accommodates itself to the form of the internal fused 
mass on which it rests, namely, the spheroid of revolution. And 
not only so, but this envelope presents no immovable obstacle to 
any periodical changes of form which the central fluid may be 
disposed to undergo. The upper and lower angles of the frag- 
ments are the joints of the ¢estudo ; and a very slight play of 
these would be sufficient for all the purposes of accommodation. 

The Newtonian theory of the tides has a very imperfect appli- 
cation to a superficial fluid like the ocean, of limited depth, and 
broken by continents and islands. It requires for its perfect ex- 
emplification a spheroid of revolution fluid to the centre. Pre- 
cisely such a spheroid is that which the geological theory supposes 
to be enclosed within the crust of the earth; and as has been 
shown, this crust presents no barrier to the action of the sun and 
moon in accordance with the Newtonian theory. It would seem 
to be a legitimate conclusion from these premises, that the cen- 
tral fluid is subject to tides, recurring at any given point twice 
during each lunar day, a period of about 24h. 50m. ; and it must 
be further admitted, that there isa constant play of the fragments 
of the earth’s crust, in accommodation to these diurnal changes 
of form in the oe fluid. 

Can we have proceeded thus far in our speculations, mathout 
being -prepared to admit that the oceanic tides, instead of being 
the direct result of the action of the sun and moon, in accordance 
with the Newtonian theory, are but a secondary effect—in part 


94 Applications of the Igneous Theory of the Earth. 


at least, a consequence of the tides which must prevail in the 
central fluid, if the geological theory be true. - It is quite mani- 
fest that the undulations of the earth’s crust would produce a 
regular ebbing and flowing of the sea, without reference to the 
direct action of the sun and moon on the waters of the ocean. 
While a line of coast is rising to its maximum height, the oceanic 
tide is ebbing towards low water mark; and when the coast falls 
to its lowest position, the oceanic tide is at flood. 

If this modification of the Newtonian theory of the tides be 
founded in truth, it is but fair of course to expect, that in its ap- 
plications it will be found to explain facts which have admitted 
of no satisfactory solution hitherto. By way of illustration, I 
will state one of these applications. On the line of our coast 
generally the high tides are from four to six feet above the level 
of low water. Proceeding however along the coast east of the 
Piscataqua, we find a tide of eight or nine feet at the mouth of 
the Kennebec; of twelve or fifteen at the Penobscot; of twenty 
or twenty five at Passamaquoddy ; while at the eastern extremity 
of the Bay of Fundy, the rise is from forty to sixty feet. Now 
I would ask whether this phenomenon is at all reconcilable with | 
the hypothesis that the bed of the ocean is immovable. Why 
should the tides in the Delaware and Chesapeake bays become 
less and less as we leave the open sea, while the rise in the Bay 
of Fundy increases to this extraordinary degree as we proceed 
inland ? 

Let us apply the geological theory to the solution of this ques- 
tion. It is very generally true that the slope, which by dipping 
below the surface of the ocean forms a line of coast, has its upper 
termination in a range of mountains parallel to the coast. ‘Thus 
it is with the eastern slope of the Alleghanies forming our Atlan- 
tic coast. It is obvious from the bare statement, that in this and 
like cases, the play of the fragment of the earth’s crust constitu- 
ting said slope must be such, that the tides in bays and estuaries 
will diminish as we proceed inland. A different geological ar- 
rangement prevails in New England, the line of coast being 
nearly perpendicular to the mountain ranges. It is obvious, then, 
on inspection of the map, that the undulations of that fragment 
which embosoms the Bay of Fundy would be likely to be such 
as alternately to elevate and depress the eastern extremity of the 
bay more than any part of the line of coast west of it. A strong 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. 95 


eurrent, therefore, setting down from the ocean into the bay, 
must prevail during the six hours of depression ; and an equally 
strong current setting down from the bay into the ocean, must 
prevail during the same period of elevation. Granting these con- 
ditions, we should be authorized, on the principles of hydrody- 
namics, to expect tides of extraordinary height at the eastern an- 
gle of the bay, and that a reflex influence would be experienced 
along the line of coast westward. Were the position of the Bay 
of Fundy reversed, so that it should open easterly into the At- 
lantic, all that is eee odineaces in the phenomenon we have been 
considering would probably disappear. 

The possible bearing of our argument on the subject of mag- 
netic polarity, is sufficiently obvious. If the magnetic line at 
any given place is the resultant of all the magnetic influences in 
the body of the earth, then whatever cause affects the figure of 
the earth will affect the position of the magnetic line. Whatever 
the causes of the subordinate oscillations of the needle may be, 
it is not doubted that they are connected with the diurnal and 
annual motions of the earth. Admitting then the existence of 
internal tides, there is no absurdity in the supposition, that the 
distribution of the magnetic influences may be so far affected by 
them as to impart to the needle a sensible irregularity, whose pe- 
riod shall be a lunar day, and whose amount shall vary monthly 
and annually, according to the different relative positions of the 
moon, the sun, and the earth. It may not therefore be a matter 
devoid of interest, to settle by accurate observation, whether the 
minor oscillations of the magnetic line be or be not connected, 


in any degree, with the lunar motions. 
Hamilton College, May 10, 1840. 


Arr. XIII.—Notice of “ Third Annual Reports on the Geological 
Survey of the State of New York, to the Assembly, Document 
275, Feb. 27, 1839;” by Oxtiver P. Husparp, M. D., Professor 
of Chemistry, Mineralncsy and Geology in Dartmouth celica: 
New Hampshire. 


Tue Report of 1838 received an extended notice in this Jour- 
nal, Vol. xxxvz, p. 1, in which the results of the labors of the geol- 
ogists were fully exhibited. The Report of 1839 need not there- 


96 Geological Survey of the State of New York. 


fore be so minutely examined—and as that for 1840 is soon to be 
published, we hope that the whole survey will now be- digested 
by the several geologists into one comprehensive work, with 
drawings, sections, and figures, fully illustrating the geological 
structure and fossil geology of this extensive territory. 

Prof. Beck has given a Tabular View of the Minerals of the 
State, comprising 132 species, many of which are among the 
most beautiful crystallized specimens with which our cabinets are 
furnished. Many are among the highly useful minerals; but of 
anthracite, the existence of which in large deposits has seemed a 
desideratum, only very small quantities are found, and the exam- 
inations have shown there is no longer reason to hope for its oc~ 
currence, as in the adjacent state of Pennsylvania, the rocks of New 
York all lying beneath the regular coal series of Pennsylvania. 
On the other hand, gypsum, in all its varieties, is found in such 
extensive deposits, and so accessible by the Erie canal, that as an 
article of home consumption, and of export, it bids fair to give a 
permanent prosperity to the agricultural interest. So important 
has a union between the interests of the two states, based upon 
the coal and gypsum, been viewed, that a committee of the legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania was sent to the legislature of New York, 
proposing, by the construction of a canal connecting the interior 
of both states, an interchange of these commodities for their mu- 
tual benefit. 

Sulphur has been found in a pure form, in granite and quartz, 
near West Point, and occasionally in the gypsum beds of Onon- 
daga County, and as a deposit from the sulphur waters. These 
springs, impregnated with the sulphuretted hydrogen, are de- 
scribed as very numerous, not less than a hundred. 

The white and gray primitive marbles, and the black and gray 
of the transition, beautified by the various organic remains, afford 
varieties sufficient to meet. the public taste in ornamental archi- 
tecture. 

‘The hydraulic limestones of this state are of great value and 
abundant. 'Those who recollect under how great a pressure of 
public opinion, favorable and adverse, the construction of the Erie 
Canal was decided upon, to commence with the middle section, 
from a little east of Utica to Syracuse as the cheapest part, will 
regard the early discovery of water lime on this section as hav- 
ing been of very great moment to the completion of the whole 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. 97 


work, in supplying the material for laying the numerous locks 
and aqueducts throughout its whole length. 

Analysis and experiments with natural and artificial water ce- 
ments, have thrown such light on the subject that the arts need 
not suffer from ignorance in their application, and analysis should 
be held necessary, and perhaps actual trial, to determine the val- 
ue of a supposed water limestone. Dumas (Chimie Appliqué 
aux Arts) gives the following general results concerning limes, as 
ascertained by Berthier, Vicat, and John. 

1. That limestones almost pure always produce a lime that like 
clay, forms a paste with water; and 2. Limestones of complex 
composition, but containing no argile, produce a lime that does not 
form a paste .with water, and is not hydraulic. When a lime- 
stone of the first class contains 90 per cent. of pure lime, 10 per 
cent. of magnesia, silica, alumina or oxide of iron together, hard- 
ly alter its properties. When the magnesia rises to 20 or 25 per 
cent., the lime acts with water like class No. 2, and is not partic- 
ularly hydraulic. Vicat asserts, that when it rises to 30 or 40 per 
cent. if communicates the hydraulic property. The hydraulic 
property has at one time been attributed to the ox. iron, at an- 
other to the ox. of manganese, and to each of the foreign earthy 
ingredients. Berthier finds by analysis of hyd. limes that one 
with 9 to 10 per cent. of argile is moderately hydraulic, and emi- 
nently with 20 to 30 per cent., but he thinks equal parts of alu- 
mina. and silica are best. Finally: 1. Alumina alone is no better 
than magnesia alone. 2. Silica is the principal element, as no 
compound without this is hydraulic. 3. Ox. iron and manganese 
are usually without influence. 4. The union of silica, lime, and 
magnesia, or alumina, forms the best hydraulic limes. 

The analysis of several. hydraulic limestones by Dr. Beck, 
gives from 12 to 18 per cent. of magnesia. ‘The profitable man- 
ufacture of magnesian salts is suggested from the serpentine and 
magnesian minerals of Staten Island, of some of the river coun- 
ties above New York, and from the deposits in St. Lawrence 
County. | 

Native tron is recorded from two localities, viz. Burlington, 
Otsego County, a specimen of which is in the museum of the 
Albany Institute, and Penn Yan, Yates County, a specimen of 
which contained a minute portion of carbon, but no nickel, or 


cobalt. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 13 


98 Geological Survey of the State of New York. 


The opinions concerning the age and place in the general series 
occupied by the rocks of central and western New York, have 
been at variance. They have been alternately described as transi- 
tion and secondary ; again the saliferous group is counted as above 
the coal series, and this, with the sandstone of Rochester regarded 
as the ‘‘new red ;” and “ the rocks of the 4th district are consid- 
ered (Report for 1838) as belonging to the old red sandstone and 
the carboniferous groups, and to be above the Silurian system of 
Mr. Murchison,” a conclusion “based in part upon the organic 
remains.’”? The gradual and imperfect development of Murchi- 
son’s labors before the publication of his work on the Silurian 
system, afforded few exact means of identifying distant strata, 
but since his magnificent work is now in our hands, an extend- 
ed comparison by Mr. Conrad* of the organic remains of the New 
York rocks, has enabled him to class them as equivalents of the 
Silurian, and the rocks from the Trenton limestone to the Moscow 
shales and the sandstone and shales of Cazenovia inclusive, he 
identifies as members of this system, and he finds, as at Bloss- 
burg, Tioga County, Penn., the old red sandstone in its proper po- 
sition between the coal and Silurian rocks, of the same color and 
character, mineral and fossil, as that of England, while some of 
the earlier rocks on the Hudson and Mohawk are regarded as 
equivalent to the Cambrian. Should this classification be sustain- 
ed, it is very desirable that in the summary of the work some sys- 
tematic or uniform nomenclature of the rocks should be adopted. 
_ The paleontologist, Mr. Conrad, describes several new species 
of fossils, and as the names of some of the genera are new to 
many American readers, the reasons given for their use by Mur- 
chison, Part il, p. 643, are here extracted. 

“The generic names of Leptena, Atrypa, and Orthis, being new 
to English geologists, their use on this occasion, demands an ex- 
planation. They are in fact, subdivisions of the great family of 
Terebratula, which, having been established by Dalman, have 
been since adopted by many foreign authors; and Mr. J. de C. 
Sowerby gives the following reasons for sanctioning their in- 
troduction among us. . 

“The generic names Leptena, Atrypa, and Orthis, have been 
adopted from Dalman’s memoirs in the Stockholm Transactions, 


* See this Journal, Vol. xxxvuu, p. 86. 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. a 


in deference to the opinion of that author. The first of these 
synonyms (derived from 4ezoc) stands in the place of Producta or 
Productus, a name to which grammarians have objected. 

“The second genus, Atrypa, (from « privative, and teuze,) is 
divided from Spirifer, and includes those species which have a 
short hinge line without a large area, and are either destitute of a 
foramen, or possess only a small triangular one. They are round- 
ed shells, and are not furrowed like the typical species of Spirifer ; 
the internal spiral arms are preserved in some species. Afrypa 
affinis, and similar striated shells, would form another natural 
group, in which the internal structure, as well as the general 
form, is different; for the spiral appendages, if ever they possess- 
ed any, do not appear to remain; and there are two short cre- 
nated teeth in the hinge. ‘The species of this division have gene- 
rally been described as T'erebratule by British authors, but they 
_have acute, not perforated beaks. 

“The genus Orthis (0g0oc) is another division of Spirifer, no 
species of which has heretofore been described in England; it is 
distinguished from Spirifer by the long narrow hinge and circular 
flat form of the striated shells. 

“Our genus Pentamerus is called Delthyris by the Swedes, 
but we see no reason for altering the name. If we were well 
assured of the stability of the genus Delthyris, we should remove 
to it Atrypa galeata, and perhaps one or two other species of 
Atrypa.” ) 

In the survey of the first district, the trap region of Rockland Co. 
is described as forming a narrow belt, the Palisades, along the 
Hudson River, from the N. Jersey line to near Haverstraw, thence 
it ranges off to the northwest, then west, and finally southwest, 
near the base of the Highlands, and disappears. A branch of it 
strikes off westerly, about two miles north of Nyack, towards 
the Highlands. ‘These ranges are from a quarter to two miles 
broad, and on the east and north present mural columnar escarp- 
ments from three to eight hundred feet high, with the usual de- 
bris at the base ; and the south and west sides usually slope off 
more gradually. ‘The sandstone beneath is cut through by large 
and small dikes, and its layers are separated by lateral intrusions 
of trap. The trap varies from coarse crystalline to very compact 
greenstone, and from slaty clinkstone to a coarse amygdaloid. 
The sandstone presents a great variety of color, and of aggrega- 


100 Geological Survey of the State of New York. 


tion, and is frequently much altered in the vicinity of trap rocks. 
It affords superior hearth-stones for furnaces, and is employed as 
a flagging stone, and somewhat for cutting. A red calcareous marl 
is associated with it, and a gray limestone in beds from one to 
eight feet thick, affording good building materials and for lime. 

The “red conglomerate limestone” occurs at or near the junc- 
tion of the red sandstone formation with the primitive rocks, and 
is composed chiefly of pebbles and angular fragments of gray 
and biack limestone, (like the adjacent primary limestone, ) mixed 
with pebbles of quartz, granite, gneiss, hornblende, sienite, &c., 
cemented together bya reddish argillo-calcareous paste, mixed 
with gravel and sand of the same materials. 

‘The general aspect is like the Potomac marble, and like this would 
be very desirable for ornamental purposes, except that the hete- 
rogeneous nature of its ingredients prevents their receiving a uni- 
form polish. ‘This rock seems to skirt the sandstone on its north 
edge, and presents us the indiciz of the violent agencies that have 
formerly conflicted, and appears as not an unapt emblem of a 
fierce border war, in which the weaker party has lett on the field 
the greatest nee of slain. 

Dr. Wm. Horton, as assistant, surveyed Orange Co. His obser- 
vations upon the mineralogy of this region are well known. The 
white limestone, remarkable for its interesting minerals, is traced 
in short and broken ledges in granite, from the Hudson near Fort 
Montgomery, in deposits a few rods in width; again it occurs 
interstratified with the granite and hornblende rocks, and a mile 
wide; and again at intervals, ‘crosses the Ramapo by. the 
east side of the Dutch Cedar Pond to the New Jersey line,” 
about twenty miles, bearing southwest and northeast. It is 
coarsely crystalline, forming a handsome calc spar, white and red, 
and every where contains brucite, black spinelles, pargasite, sah- 
lite, coccolite, crystallized augite, scapolite, zircon and sphene, 
serpentine and plumbago. It is often intersected by trap dikes, 
as at Dutch Cedar Pond, where there are three, one of which is 
a perfect greenstone, running east and west, and is seen cutting 
the limestone perpendicularly for 50 feet. At the inlet of Popelos 
Pond, the limestone forms a natural bridge, with its arch sustained 
on one side by hornblende rock, and on the other by granite. (?) 
More extensive deposits of a similar limestone occur in Warwick, 
passing near Goshen line into New Jersey, by the drowned lands 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. 101 


on the west, and between mounts Adam and Eve. It contains 
beds of granite, quartz, hornblende, and augite rock, and is unstra- 
tified. ‘The minerals found in. this are similar to those enumera- 
ted above, and they are among the riches of American cabinets. 

The Island of New York, as described by Dr. Gale, contains 
elevated ranges of granite and gneiss with imbedded rocks, a lim- 
ited range of limestone on the north, while the southern portion 
is covered with “from ten to eighty feet of diluvium, resting on 
the same or greater thickness of alluvial or tertiary sands, which 
last are highly stratified and even exhibit the appearance of rip- 
ples as from the retiring waves of the ocean.” 

‘The most interesting portion of the report is that describing the 
bowlders and diluvial scratches. 'The bowlders are found in the 
greatest profusion and variety, and consist of greenstone in abun- 
dance—a rock that is not found in place on the island, nor nearer 
than the Palisades of New Jersey on the west, or on the east than 
Southbury, Conn., and the ranges of Connecticut River valley 
that terminate at New Haven. ‘There can be little doubt that 
they came from New Jersey, in accordance with the general evi- 
dence of a current from the N. W. to the S. E., and yet although 
they have passed but this short distance, they are always rounded 
and covered all over with grooves and scratches. ‘They are from 
ten to fifteen feet in diameter. In many parts of the city they 
have been removed by the process of grading the streets ; but in 
the front of Brooklyn heights, they may be seen in great num- 
bers, when excavations are made for erecting buildings. Others 
are of ; 

Red sandstone, a rock not found in the island, but limited to 
the same localities above named, underlying the trap. 

Serpentine, of Hoboken, particularly in the south part, and at 
Corlaer’s Hook and Brooklyn. 

White limestone, as from Kingsbridge. 

Granite and gneiss, as abundant as greenstone, in every por- 
tion except the north extremity of the island. 'Those from ten to 
twelve feet in diameter are common, and one of granite, eleven 
feet diameter, ‘‘near Manhattanville, on the Bloomingdale road, 
rests on the gneiss,” which is covered with diluvial grooves, and 
avery large one, three inches deep and eighteen inches wide, be- 
tween the road and the bowlder, and terminating at the bowlder, 
seems to have been caused by the movement of this huge mass.” 


102 Geological Survey of the State of New York. 


Hydrous anthophyllite rock,* that exists in place on the west 
side of the island, lying between the granite and gneiss, is found 
in bowlders of large size, extensively diffused. Some of them are 
fifteen feet, x12x6; 13x8x7, and are even distributed over 
the adjacent parts of Long Island. 

“The direction of the current’ that carried these, “is ascertain- 
ed by the grooves and scratches left on the solid rocks, and its 
force, by the size and quantity of the fragments, and the distance 
and elevations over which they had been transported.” The fur- 
rows are visible, wherever the rocks are uncovered, ‘on the high- 
est rocks and at the lowest tide-water mark, a difference of more 
than one hundred feet in perpendicular height, always more 
strongly marked on the northwest slopes of the hills, than on the 
southeastern—often very distinct on the west and northwest slopes, 
extending to the highest point of the rock, and no trace of them 
on the south and southeast slopes, although both surfaces are 
equally exposed. From observations made in sixty to seventy 
places, the general course of the current rises from N. 45° W., 
with extreme variations of 23°, coincident with the direction of 
the furrows found on the greenstone across the river in New 
Jersey. 

The present position of the bowlders of anthophyllite and lime- 
stone, indicates a deflection of the current 8. and 8. 8. W. 

The size of the furrows is very various and of some remarkable, 
ranging from a line in width, and eighteen inches wide by four 
deep, to troughs of two feet in width by six to eight deep, as may 
be seen-on the 8th avenue, between 79th and 81st street, and at 
one locality on the Hudson, six miles from the city, “ furrows 
ascend from beneath the lowest tide-water, up an elevation of 
seventy feet in three hundred or four hundred feet distance.” 

The portion of the 2nd district surveyed by Prof. Emmons, 
seems rich in resources, as marbles, porcelain and other clays, 
peat, graphite, and iron ores. This section, including the unset- 
tled portion of Herkimer, comprises nearly one fourth part of the 
area of the state, is chiefly a primitive country, and is like New 
England, in its geology, unequal surface, soil, climate and pro- 
ductions. Its highlands, the loftiest mountains of the state, are 
covered with most valuable timber, and the streams and rivers 


* Commonly known as the radiated asbestus. 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. 103 


that rise in them, furnish an abundance of water power, and a 
very tolerable means of internal communication, and form on the 
levels, numerous transparent lakes, like those of New England, 
and particularly of its mountainous parts. 

As yet civilization has not penetrated this extensive wilderness, 
although it has drawn its cordon of settlements around it, and the 
interior is still the resort of wild beasts, and its deep recesses are 
now trodden by the adventurous huntsman in his chase after the 
moose, deer and elk, and with his traps taking the bear, the wolf, 
and until within a few years, the beaver. It is a region of unsuc- 
cessful land speculation, a land where proverbially ‘there is no 
law,” where more than once the silent and unsuspecting Indian 
trapper has fallen by the rifle of the crafty settler. It possesses 
great variety of beautiful scenery, its soil under judicious hus- 
bandry, is capable of sustaining an immense population, and were 
it reclaimed by a hardy race of virtuous settlers, the time would 
not be distant, when it would be densely peopled by inhabitants 
possessing a character resembling that of New England as nearly 
as does its geology, and a kingdom would be added to the already 
powerful state of New York. Where so little strictly geological 
labor can be performed, the efforts of the geologist of this district 
to exhibit its capabilities of improvement are highly praiseworthy, 
and from his description of Hamilton Co., and from the accounts 
we have received of other parts from other sources, he is doing the 
community a great service, by calling public attention to it. If 
we may judge from the probable results, his labors here will rank | 
in importance below those of no one of his associates. 

The only remaining topic of the Report to which time will 
permit a reference, is that of the brine springs, &c. of Ononda- 
ga. Difficulties of such a nature attended their examination, that 
great obscurity surrounded the subject until recently.. "The numer- 
ous observations and theoretical discussions of Dr. Beck and of 
Mr. Vanuxem, the geologist of the third district, have now placed 
the subject in a clearer and more intelligible view. The rela- 
tions of the rocks are thus described. Between the green shale 
of Herkimer and “the millstone grit” of Oneida, are found, be- 
tween Utica and Rome, aseries of rocks, called “the shales and 
green sandstone of Salmon river,’’ and the red sandstone of Os- 
wego, that cover a considerable portion of the north part of Onei- 
da, the greater portion of Oswego, and the red sandstone covers 


104 Geological Survey of the State of New York. 


a small triangle in the north part of Stirling, Cayuga County, fif+ 
teen feet above Lake Ontario, and rising with the other rocks 
going west, forms the lower falls of Rochester, nearly one hun- 
dred feet above that level. 

This is followed by the gray sandstone, the same, in position 
at least, as “the millstone grit” of Oneida, and “the gray band” 
of Rochester. ‘Then succeed the green shales, the iron ore. beds, 
the calcareous “‘ firestones,” &c. &c., and lastly, the concretiona- 
ry rock of Oneida, with shales and sandstone, the upper member: 
of the “Protean group,” passing from the low level near Oneida 
Lake west, forms ‘‘the upper falls of Rochester, the rock of the 
great excavation of Lockport, and the falls of Niagara.” 

The ‘red sandstone” of Oswego, is the lowest rock of Madi- 
son, Onondaga, and Cayuga, and “is the lowest rock, geologically, 
of New York, which contains brine springs of sufficient purity to 
be manufactured into salt.” ‘From the east part of Oswego to 
Niagara River, numerous brine springs are found in this red sand- 
stone, and all which occur in this rock in the third district, (and 
there are several in Oswego,) yield the same kind of sharp tasted 
salt, described as the saltpetre taste, and all highly colored with - 
iron, characters different from the salt of the brine springs which 
belong to a subsequent deposit, and show a difference of source 
or contamination from being deposited with a different rock.” 
The “red oxide of iron,” the “lenticular clay iron ore,” occurs in 
‘two distinct beds in the Protean group, arranged in lines, paral- 
lel to each other, extending from Herkimer to the Genesee River, 
about twenty-five feet from each other, and from one to two and 
a half feet in thickness, not always present in every locality, one 
or the other, and even both being sometimes wanting. 

The ‘‘red shale and the water limes of Herkimer and Onet- 
da,” or the “saliferous group of Onondaga” succeed, and con- 
sist of four deposits. First, or lowest, is the red shale; second, 
the lower gypseous shales, the lower part intermixed with red 
shale, which ceases with this mass; thirdly, the gypseous de- 
posit, which embraces the great masses quarried for plaster, the 
hopper-shaped cavities, the ‘‘vermicular lime-rock” of Eaton, and 
other porous rocks; and fourthly, rocks abounding in groups of 
needleform cavities, placed side by side, caused by the crystalliza- 
tion of sulphate of magnesia, and which may be called the mag- 
nesian deposit. The gypseous and magnesian constituents ex- 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. 105 


cepted, the group consists generally of argillaceous materials in 
the lower part, and carbonate of lime in the upper part. ‘“’[he — 
red shale forms the base or lowest mass of the salt springs found 
along the course of the Erie Canal in the third district, and has of- 
ten been confounded with the red sandstone of Oswego and its pro- 
longation, the sandstone of Rochester and Niagara. ‘The two 
rocks, being separated by the Protean group, have no connection 
with each other, nor resemblance, excepting that the same fer- 
ruginous material colors them both, and both are connected with 
saliferous sources.” This rock “increases greatly in thickness” 
from east to west, and from a boring in Lenox of two hundred. 
feet, just north of hills of shale two hundred feet high, attains 
here a thickness of four hundred feet, ‘‘ yet no where has a fossil or 
a pebble been discovered in it, or any thing extraneous, excepting 
a few thin layers of sandstone and its different colored shales.” 

The second deposit is an alternation of variously colored shales, 
contains fibrous gypsum of a reddish or salmon color, and the ex- 
cavations of wells exhibit the same products as are found in dig- 
ging for salt water at Abingdon, Virginia, in a salt valley. No 
wells of water are obtained in this or the next. deposit, on the 
hills, unless sunk below the level of the water courses, and there- 
fore no brine springs could be found above this ienek owing to 
the permeable nature of the strata. ‘The only fossil is a small 
Cytherina. 

The third or gypseous deposit, contains the extensive and val- 
uable deposits of gypsum in insulated masses, never in layers and 
beds, in two distinct ranges, and separated generally by the “ ver- 
micular lime-rock of Eaton, the hopper-shaped cavities, and oth- 
er porous rocks.” 

This group affords the only proof that salt has existed here in 
a solid state, though never has a particle been discovered in the 
rock, and it is the ebly: known source of the brine springs of the 
dicinoe 

The vermicular rock is ‘a dark gray or blue rock, perforated 
every where with curvilinear holes, but very compact between 
the holes, some of them lined with a calcareous crust,” and one 
of the porous rocks affording water lime, consists chiefly ‘of 
quartzose and carbonate of lime grains,” and “passes into a po- 
rous cellular sponge-like rock, without carbonate of lime, but 


abounding in organic remains.” ‘The cavities of these porous 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April—June, 1840. 14 


106 Geological Survey of the State of New York. 


rocks have no analogy whatever with those derived from organic 
remains.”’ 

The rocks of the saliferous group resemble those in other coun- 
tries near the deposits of fossil salt; the strength of the brine in- 
creases generally with the depth of the wells; “the soil in their 
vicinity is subject to those peculiar slips or sinkings which have 
also been observed in the vicinity of beds of rock salt,” so com- 
mon about the English salt deposits of Cheshire and Worcester- 
shire, and the evidence is strongly corroborative of the theory that 
these brine springs (vide Vol. camel have their source in deposits 
of rock salt. 

As has been stated, no rock salt has been seen; even those hop- 
per-shaped cavities in no case contain the aise or model of 
salt, as it is believed to have been; and if the considerations 
above stated are sufficient to warrant the strong belief that the 
source of the brine springs in the alluvial beneath the bottom of 
Onondaga Lake et aliis, was the rocks above, there is still anoth- 
er that tends much to strengthen it. There is evidence of the 
removal of a soluble mineral from the rocks mentioned, on a very 
srand scale, (considering the extent of the formation, ) and though 
the nature of the mineral does not appear with certainty, the on- 
ly one that is found in solution, in relative quantity, is the salt. 
The brine is obtained in small quantities in the rock borings, but 
the valuable wells are found by borings made in the alluvial, in 
places of great depth, and scooped out by violent agencies, that - 
removed the rocks and brought in the alluvial, and are now, in 
some cases, reservoirs of salt water below, and of fresh water in 
lakes above, with an intervening impervious ery preventing 
their commingling. 

Were the vertical holes or pores of the vermicular rock, and 
the hopper-shaped cavities, and those in the other porous rocks, 
filled with rock salt, no hesitation would be felt in admitting the 
possibility of a supply of salt for brine springs in the lower rocks ; 
and if in the absence of such evidence, any thing analogous were 
shown to exist in other saliferous formations, it would seem to ex- 
plain and sustain the former —— association of salt in the 
rocks. 

In Murchison’s Silurian system, p. 31, is a description of the 
“saliferous marls” of England, from which we learn that at 
Droitwich, though the brine springs have been in use since the 


Geological Survey of the State of New York. 107 


time of the Romans, the rock salt was only discovered in 1828, 
and the section given of the saliferous marls at Stoke Prior, 
(from the pamphlet of Dr. Hastings,) shows not only an associa- 
tion of salt and gypsum as usual, but, what is of peculiar inter- 
est to our subject, the “red and green marl traversed by veins of 
gypsum, usually vertical, one hundred and ninety-five feet,” and 
succeeded (series descending) by “red marl, containing ‘rock 
salt,’ nearly pure, distributed like the gypsum in the overlying 
mass,” twenty-four feet, and by five layers of rock salt, and four 
others of “red marl with veins of salt,’’ and all in the space of 
four hundred and sixty feet. If these marls have firmness enough 
to cohere, were the salt dissolved out by the surface waters perco- 
lating through the strata, they would present very similar phenom- 
ena to those exhibited by our porous rocks, which, however, have 
probably a firmer structure, and though some of the gypsum, by 
the same causes, would be removed, yet the quantities of each 
dissolved would be in a ratio probably not far from that of their 
solubility, or as one to two hundred, while the proportions found 
in solution in the brine springs, that have escaped decomposition, 
according to the analysis of several Onondaga springs, are about 
as one to thirty or thirty-five. In the saliferous group of Monroe 
and Ontario, “small particles and seams of gypsum still remain, 
scattered through the marl, in which there are the usual depos- 
its of masses of this mineral. Owing to the usually soft nature 
of these rocks, they have been removed, as described in Ononda- 
ga, from extensive tracts, and the space has been filled with allu- 
vium from more northern rocks, throughout Seneca, Ontario, 
Wayne, and Monroe counties, and the red shale therefore does 
not appear between Cayuga Lake and Genesee River, though in 
some places, the red color of the soil indicates its proximity. ‘The 
theory of the formation of the salt and gypsum, and the indications 
of igneous agency suggested by the geologists, may more appropri- 
ately be referred to when we have their mature views., It would 
seem, however, that, with the coal formation of Pennsylvania at 
one extreme of the series, and the primary rocks of New York at 
the other, and the intervention of four thousand feet of strata be- 
tween the saliferous group and the coal, and the discovery of the 
true old red sandstone in the series above the rocks of New York, 
and the coincidence of the organic remains of the New York 
rocks with those of the Silurian system, the proper geological re- 


108 Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 


lations and age of this group might be satisfactorily fixed and de- 
termined, and showing that it does not belong to the usual salif- 
erous series, the new red sandstone. How far this is an anomaly 
may be judged from the facts, that-in England, “neither rock 
salt nor salt springs occur in the middle or lower members of the 
new red sandstone ; and hence the term ‘saliferous,’ as applied to 
the whole system, appears objectionable, since the marls in which 
the salt lies, constitute only the upper portion of the mass,” con- 
sidered ‘as the new red system.” ‘In certain parts of Germa- 
ny; salt appears. to pervade the underlying bunter sandstein ;” 
“in other tracts of central Europe, it abounds in tertiary strata, 
(Wielitzke,in Poland.) At Cardona, in Spain, it is found in rocks 
of the age of our green sand; in the Austrian Alps, it has been 
shown by Prof. Sedgwick and Murchison, to occur in limestone 
of the oolitic system; whilst in many countries, including Eng- 
land, saline springs occasionally burst out from the carboniferous 
and older systems of rock.” —Murchison, Silurian Syst. p. 32. 

The Report on the Geological Survey of N. York for 1839-40, 
being public document 50, came too late for notice in the present 
number. 


, 


Arr. XIV.—An answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter on cer tain Theoret- 
ical opinions ; by M. Farapay.* 


My Dear Sir—i. Your kind remarks have caused me very 
carefully to revise the general principles of the view of static 
induction, which I have ventured to put forth, with the very nat- 
ural fear that as it did not obtain your acceptance it might be 
founded in error ; for it is not a mere complimentary expression, 
when I say, I have very great respect for your judgment. As 
the reconsideration of them has not made me aware that they 
differ amongst themselves or with facts, the resulting impression 
on my mind is that I must have expressed my meaning imper- 


»* Royal Institution, April 27, 1840. 
Gentlemen—Can you aide to the favors I am already under i inserting in your 
Journal my reply to Dr. Hare’s letter addressed to me and published in your ex- 
cellent work. Iam, gentlemen, your obliged servant, M. Farapay. 
‘To the Editors of the American Journal of Science and Arts. 


Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 109 


fectly ; and I have a hope, that when more clearly stated, my 
views may gain your approbation. I feel that many of the words 
in the language of electrical science possess much meaning, and 
yet their interpretation by different philosophers often varies more 
or less, so that they do not convey exactly the same idea to the 
minds of different men ; this often renders it difficult, when such 
words force themselves into use, to express with brevity as much 
as, and no more than, one really wishes to say. 

ii. My theory of induction (as set forth in series xi, xii, and 
xill,) makes no assertion as to the nature of electricity, or at all 
questions any of the theories respecting that subject (1667.) It 
does not even include the origination of the developed or excited 
state of the power or powers; but taking that as it is given by 
experiment and observation, it concerns itself only with the ar- 
rangement of the force in its communication to a distance in that 
particular yet very general phenomenon called static induction 
(1668.) It is neither the nature nor the amount of the force 
which it decides upon, but solely its mode of distribution. 

iil. Bodies, whether conductors or non-conductors, can be char- 
ged. 'The word charge is equivocal; sometimes it means that 
state which a glass tube acquires when rubbed by silk, or which 
the prime conductor of a machine acquires when the latter is in 
action ; at other times it means the state of a Leyden jar or sim- 
ilar inductive arrangement when it is said to be charged. In the 
first case the word means only the peculiar condition of an elec- 
trified mass of matter considered by itself; in the second it means 
the whole of the relations of two such masses charged in opposite 
states and most intimately connected by inductive action. | 

iv. Let three insulated metallic spheres A, B, and C, be placed 
in a line and not in contact; let A be electrified positively, and 
then C uninsulated ; besides the general action of the whole sys- 
tem on all surrounding matter there will occur a case of inductive 
action amongst the three balls, which may be considered apart as 
the type and illustration of the whole of my theory: A will be 
charged positively, B will acquire the negative state at the surface 
towards A and the positive state at the surface farthest from it, 
and C will be charged negatively. 

v. The ball B will be in what is often called a polarized con- 
dition ; i.e. opposite parts will exhibit the opposite electrical states 
and the two sums of these opposite states will be exactly equal to 


110 Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 


each other. A and C will not be in this polarized state, for they 
will each be as it is said charged (iii); the one positively, the other 
negatively ; and they will present no polarity as far as this partic- 
ra act of induction (iv) is concerned. 

. That one part of A is more positive than another part does 
be ones it polar in the sense in which that word has just been 
used. We are considering a particular case of induction and have 
to throw out of view the states of those parts not under the in- 
ductive action. Or if any embarrassment still arise from the fact 
that A is not uniformly charged all over, then we have merely to 
surround it with balls such as B and C on every side so that its. 
state shall be alike on every part of its surface, (because of the 
uniformity of its inductive influence in all directions,) and then 
that difficulty will be removed. A, therefore is charged but not 
polarly, B assumes a polar condition, and C is charged inducteously 
(1483); being, by the prime influence of A brought into the op- 
posite or negatively electrical state through the intervention of the 
Noe and polarized ball B. 

i. Simple charge therefore does not imply polarity in the body 
lak Inductive charge (applying that term to the sphere B 
and all bodies in a similar condition (v)) does (1672.) The 
word charge, as applied to a Leyden jar or to the whole of any 
inductive arrangement, by including all the effects, comprehends 
of course both these states. 

viii. As another expression of my theory, I will put the follow- 
ing case. Suppose a metallic sphere C formed of a thin shell a 
foot in diameter ; suppose also in the centre of it another metallic 
sphere A, only an inch in diameter; suppose the central sphere 
A charged positively with electricity to the amount we will say 
of 100: it would act by induction through the air, lac, or other 
insulator between it and the large sphere C ; the interior of the 
latter would be negative, and the exterior positive, and the sum 
of the positive force upon the whole of the external sphere would 
be 100. The sphere C would in fact be polarized (v) as fica 
its inner and outer surfaces. 

ix. Let us now conceive that instead of mere air or other insu- 
lating dielectric within C, between it and A, there is a thin metal- 
lic concentric sphere, six inches in diameter. ‘This will make no 
difference in the ultimate result ; for the charged ball A will ren- 
der the inner and outer surfaces of the sphere B negative and 


Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 111 


positive, and it again will render the inner and outer surfaces of 
the large sphere C negative and positive: the sum of the positive 
forces on the outside of C being still 100. 

x. Instead of one intervening sphere let us imagine 100 or 
1000 concentric with each ether and separated by insulating mat- 
ter, still the same final result will occur; the central ball will act 
inductrically, the influence originating with it will be carried on 
from sphere to sphere, and positive force equal to 100 will appear 
on the outside of the external sphere. 

xi. Again, imagine that all these spheres are subdivided into 
myriads of particles, each being effectually insulated from its 
neighbors (1679), still the same final result will occur; the in- 
ductric body A will polarize all these, and, having its influence 
carried on by them in their newly acquired state, will exert pre- 
cisely the same amount of action on the external sphere C as be- 
fore, and positive force equal to 100 will appear on its outer sur- 
face. _ . 

xil. Such a state of the space between the inductric and in- 
ducteous surfaces represents what I believe to be the state of an 
insulating dielectric under inductive influence; the particles of 
which by the theory are assumed to be conductors individually 
but not to one another (1669). 

xiii. In asserting that 100 of positive force will appear on the 
outside of the external sphere under all these variations, I pre- 
sume ] am saying no more than what any electrician will admit. 
Were it not so, then positive and negative electricities could exist 
by themselves and without relation to each other (1169, 1177); 
or they could exist in proportions not equivalent to each other. 
There are plenty of experiments, both old and new, which prove 
the truth of the principle, and I need not go further into it here. 

xiv. Suppose a plane to pass through the centre of this spherical 
system, and conceive that instead of the space between the cen- 
tral ball A and the external sphere C being occupied by a uniform 
distribution of the equal metallic particles, three times as many 
were grouped in the one half to what occurred in the other half, 
the insulation of the particles being always preserved: then more 
of the inductric influence of A would be conveyed outwards to 
the inner surface of the sphere C through that half of the space 
where the greater number of metallic particles existed than through 
the other half: still the exterior of the outer sphere C would be 


112 | Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 


uniformly charged with positive electricity, the amount of whieh 
would be 100 as before. : 

xv. The action of the two portions of space, as they have just 
been supposed to be constituted (xiv), is as if they possessed two 
different specific inductive capacities (1296); but I by no means 
intend to say that specific inductive capacity depends in all cases 
upon the number of conducting particles of which the dielectric 
is formed, or upon their vicinity. The full cause of the evident 
difference of the inductive capacity of different bodies is a prob- 
lem as yet to be solved. , 

xvi. In my papers I speak of all mduction as being dependant 
on the action of contiguous particles ; i.e. I assume that insula- 
ting bodies consist of particles which are conductors individually 
(1669), but do not conduct to each other provided the intensity 
of action to which they are subject is beneath a given amount 
(1326, 1674, 1675); and, that when the inductric body acts upon 
conductors at a distance, it does so by polarizing (1298, 1670) alk 
those particles which occur in the portion of dielectric between 
it and them. I have used the term contiguous (1167, 1673), but 
have, I hope sufficiently expressed the meaning I attach to it :— 
first by saying at par. 1615 ‘“‘ the next existing particle being con- 
sidered as the contiguous one ;” then in a note to par. 1665, by 
the words “‘I mean by contiguous particles those which are next 
to each other, not that there is no space between them,” and, fur- 
ther, by the note to par. 1164 in the 8vo. edition of my researches 
which is as follows. ‘'The word contiguous is perhaps not the 
best that might have been used here and elsewhere, for as parti- 
cles do not touch each other it is not strictly correct ; I was in- 
duced to employ it because in its common acceptation it enabled 
me to state the theory plainly and with facility. By contiguous 
particles I mean those which are next. 

xvii. Finally, my reasons for adopting the molecular theory of 
induction were, the phenomena of electrolytic discharge (1164, 
1343) ; of induction in .curved lines (1166, 1215) ; of specific 
inductive capacity (1167, 1252); of penetration and return ac- 
tion (1245); of difference of conduction and insulation (1320) ; of 
polar forces (1665), &c. &c.; but, for these reasons, and any 
strength and value they may possess, I refer to the papers-them- 
selves. 


Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 113 


xviii. I will now turn to such parts of your critical remarks as 
may require attention. .A man who advances what he. thinks to 
be new truths, and to develope principles which profess to be 
more consistent with the laws of nature, than those already in 
the field, is liable to be charged, first with self-contradiction ; then 
with the contradiction of facts ; or he may be obscure in his ex- 
pressions and so justly subject to certain queries; or he may be 
found in non-agreement with the opinions of others. The first 
and second points are very important, and every one subject to 
such charges, must be anxious to be made aware of, and also to 
set himself free from, or to acknowledge them. The third is also 
a fault to be removed if possible. The fourth is a matter of but 
small consequence in comparison with the other three; for as 
every man, who has the courage, not to say rashness, to form 
an opinion of his own, thinks it better than any from which he 
differs, so it is only deeper investigation and, most generally, fu- 
ture investigators who can decide which is in the right. 

xix. Tam afraid I shall find it rather difficult to refer to your 
letter. I will however reckon the paragraphs in order from the 
top of each page, considering that the first which has its begin- 
ving first in the page. In referring to my own matter, I will 
employ the usual figures for the paragraphs of the experimental 
researches, and small Roman numerals for those of this commu- 
nication. 

xx. At par. 3, p. 1, you say you cannot reconcile my language 
at 1615 with that at 1165. In the latter place I have said, I be- 
lieve ordinary induction in all cases to be an action of contiguous 
particles ; and in the former, assuming.a very hypothetical case, 
that of a vacuum, I have said nothing in my theory which for- 
bids that a charged particle in the center of a vacuum should act 
on the particle next to it, though that should be half an inch off. 
With the meaning which I have carefully attached to the word 
contiguous, (xvi,) I see no contradiction here in the terms used, 
nor any natural impossibility, or improbability in such an action. 
Nevertheless, all ordinary induction is to me an action of con- 
tiguous particles, being particles at insensible distances ; induc- 
tion across a vacuum is not an ordinary instance, and yet I do 
not perceive that it cannot come under the same principle of 
action. 

Vol: xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 15 


114 Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 


xxi. As an illustration of my meaning, I may refer to the case 
parallel with mine, as to the extreme difference of interval be- 
tween the acting particles or bodies, of the modern views of the 
radiation and conduction of heat. In radiation the rays leave 
the hot particles and pass occasionally through great distances to 
the next particle fitted to receive them; in conduction, where 
the heat passes from the hotter particles to those which are con- 
tiguous and form part of the same mass, still the passage is con- 
sidered to be by a process precisely like that of radiation ; and 
though the effects are as is well known extremely different in 
their appearance, it cannot as yet be shewn that the principle of 
communication is not the same in both. 

xxii. So on this point respecting contiguous particles and in- ~ 
duction across half an inch of vacuum, I do not see that I am in 
contradiction with myself, or with any natural law or fact. 

xxiii. Par. 1, page 2, is answered by the above remarks, and by 
WAN 1X ox tes 

xxiv. Par. 2, page 2, is answered according to my theory by 
Vili, ix, X, Xi, xii, and xiii. 

xxv. Par. 3, page 2, is answered, except in the matter of opin- 
ion (xviii), according to my theory by xvi. The conduction of 
heat referred to in the paragragh itself, will, as it appears to me, 
bear no comparison with the phenomenon of electrical induc- 
tion :—the first refers to the distant influence of an agent which 
travels by a very slow process, the second to one whose distant 
influence is simultaneous, so to speak, with the origin of the force 
atthe place of action:—the first refers to an agent which is rep- 
resented by the idea of one imponderable fluid, the second to an 
agency better represented probably by the idea of two fluids, or 
at least by two forces ;—the first involves no polar action, nor 
any of its consequences; the second depends essentially on such 
action ;—with the first, if a certain portion be originally employ- 
ed in the centre of a spherical arrangement, but.a small part ap-. 
pears ultimately at the surface ; with the second, an amount of 
force appears instantly at the surface, (viii, ix, x, Xi, Xil, Xill, Xiv,) 
exactly equal to the exciting or moving force which is still at the 
centre. 

xxvi. Par. 2, page 4, involves another charge of self-contradic- 
tion, from which therefore I will next endeavor to set myself 
free. You say I “ correctly alledge that it is impossible to charge 


Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 115 


a portion of matter with one electric force without the other, (see 
par. 1177.) But if all this be true how can there be a positively 
excited particle? (See par. 1616.) Must not every particle be 
excited negatively if it be excited positively ? Must it not have 
a negative as well as a positive pole?” Now I have not said ex- 
actly what you attribute to me: my words are, ““it is impossible 
experimentally to charge-a portion of matter with one electric 
force independently of the other. Charge always implies induc- 
tion, for it can in no instance be effected without,” (1177.) I 
can however easily perceive how my words have conveyed a 
very different meaning to your mind, and probably to others, 
than that I meant to express. 

_ xxvil. Using the word charge in its simplest meaning, (iii, iv,) 
I think that a body can be charged with one electric force with- 
out the other, that body being considered in relation to itself 
only. But I think that such charge cannot exist without induc- 
tion, (1178,) or independently of what is called the development 
of an equal amount of the other electric force, not in itself, but 
in the neighboring consecutive particles of the surrounding die- 
lectric, and through them of the facing particles of the uninsu- 
lated surrounding conducting bodies ; which, under the circum- 
stances terminate, as it were, the particular case of induction. I 
have no idea, therefore, that a particle when charged must itself, 
of necessity, be polar ; the spheres A, B, C, of iv, v, vi, vii, fully 
illustrate my views, (1672.) 

xxviii. The third paragraph of page 6, includes the question, 
“is this consistent ?”’ implying self-contradiction, which therefore 
I proceed to notice. ‘The question arises out of the possibility of 
glass being a (slow) conductor or not of electricity ; a point ques- 
tioned also in the two preceding paragraphs. I believe that it is. 
I have charged small Leyden jars, made of thin flint glass tube, 
with electricity, taken out the charging wires, sealed them up 
hermetically, and after two or three years have opened and found 
no charge in them. I will refer you also to Belli’s curious ex- 
periments upon the successive charges of a jar, and the successive 
return of portions of these charges.* I will also refer to the 
experiments with the shell lac hemisphere, especially that de- 
scribed in 1237 of my researches: also the experiment in 1246. 


* Bibliotheca Italiana, 1837, Lxxxv, p. 417. 


116 Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 


I cannot conceive how in these cases the air in the vicinity of 
the coating could gradually relinquish to it a portion of free elec- 
tricity conveyed into it by what I call convection, since in the 
first experiment quoted (1237), when the return was gradual, 
there was no coating ; and in the second (1246) when there was 
a coating, the return action was most sudden and instantaneous. 

xxix. Par. 4 of page 6, and par. 1 of page 7, perhaps only re- 
quire a few words of explanation. In a charged Leyden jar, I 
have considered the two opposite forces in the inductric and in- 
ducteous surfaces, as being directed towards each other through 
the glass. of the jar, provided the jar have no projection of its 
inner coating and is uninsulated on the outside, (1682.) When 
discharged by a wire, or discharger, or any other of the many 
arrangements used for’ that purpose, is made, these supply the 
“some other directions” spoken of, (1682, 1683.) 

xxx. he inquiry in par. 2 of page 7, I should answer, by say- 
ing, that the process is the same as that by which the polarity of 
the sphere B, (iv, v,) would be neutralized, if the spheres A and 
C were made to communicate by a metallic wire; or that by 
which the 100 or 1000 intermediate spheres (x), or the myriads 
of polarized conducting particles (xi), would be discharged, if the 
inner sphere A and the outer one C were brought into communi- 
cation by an insulated wire ; a circumstance which would not 
in the least affect the condition of the power on the exterior of 
the globe C. 

xxxi. The obscurity in my papers which has led to your re- 
marks in par. 1, page 8, arises, as it appears to me, (after my own 
imperfect expression,) from the uncertain or double meaning of 
the word discharge. You say, ‘if discharge involves a return 
to the same state in vitreous particles, the same must be true in 
those of the metallic wire ; wherefore then are these dissipated 
when the discharge is sufficiently powerful?” A jar is said to 
be discharged when its charged state is reduced by any means, 
and it is found in its first indifferent condition ; the word is then 
used simply to express the state of the apparatus, and so I have 
used it in the expressions criticised in par. 4 of page 6 already 
referred to. The process of discharge, or the mode by which 
the jar is brought into the discharged state, may be subdivided 
as of various kinds; and I have spoken of conductive (1320), 
electrolytic (1343), disruptive (1359), and convective (1562) dis- 


Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 117 


charge; any one of which may cause the discharge of the jar, or 
the discharge of the inductive arrangements described in this 
letter (xxx); the action of the particles in any one of these cases 
being entirely different from the mere return action of the polari- 
zed particles of the glass of the jar, or the polarized globe B (v) 
to their first state. My view of the relation of insulators and con- 
ductors, as bodies of one class, is given at 1320, 1675, &c. of the 
researches ; but I do not think the particles of the good conduc- 
tors acquire an intensity of polarization any thing like that of the 
particles of bad conductors, on the contrary I conceive that the 
contiguous polarized particles (1670) of good conductors discharge 
to each other when their polarity is at a very low degree of in- 
tensity, (1326, 1338, 1675.) . The question of, why are the me- 
tallic particles dissipated when the charge is sufficiently powerful— 
is one that my theory is not called upon at present to answer ; 
since it will be acknowledged by all that the dissipation is not 
necessary to discharge ; that different effects ensue upon the sub- 
jection of bodies to different degrees of the same power is com- 
mon enough in experimental philosophy: thus one degree of heat 
will merely make water hot whilst a higher will diss¢pate it as 
steam and a lower will convert it into ice. 

xxxii. The next most important point, as it appears to me, is 
that contained in the third and fourth paragraphs of page 5. I 
have said, (1330,) “what, then, is to separate the principle of 
these two extremes, perfect conduction and perfect insulation, 
from each other ; since the moment we leave in the smallest de- 
gree perfection at. either extremity we involve the element of per- 
fection at the opposite end ?” and upon this you say, might not 
this query be made with as much reason in the case of motion 
and rest ?—and, in any case of the intermixture of opposite quali- 
ties may it not be said, the moment we leave the element of per- 
fection at one end, we involve the element of perfection at the 
opposite ? may it not be said of light and darkness, or of opaque- 
ness and translucency? and so forth. 

xxxiii. I admit that these questions are very properly put, not 
that I go to the full extent of them all, as for instance that of 
motion and rest, but I do not perceive their bearing upon the 
question of whether conduction and insulation are different prop- 
erties dependent upon two different modes of action of the par- 
ticles of the substances, respectively possessing these actions ; or 


118 Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 


whether they are only differences in degree of one and the same 
mode of action? In this question, however, lies the whole gist 
of the matter. To explain my views, I will put a case or 
two. In former times a principle or force of levity was admitted 
as Well as of gravity, and certain variations in the weights of 
bodies were supposed to be caused by different combinations of 
substances possessing these two principles. In later times the, 
levity principle has been discarded; and though we still have 
imponderable substances, yet the phenomena concerning weight 
have been accounted for by one force or principle only, that of 
gravity ; the difference in the gravitation of different bodies be- 
ing considered due to differences in degree of this one force resi- 
dent in them all. Now no one can for: a moment suppose that it 
is the same thing, philosophically, to assume either the two for- 
ces or the one force, for the explanation of the phenomena in 
question. 

xxxiv. Again ;—at one time there was a distinction taken | be- 
tween the principle of heat and that of cold: at present that the- 
ory is done away with and the phenomena of heat and cold are 
referred to the same class (as I refer those of insulation and con- 
duction to one class) and to the influence of different degrees of 
the same power. But no one can say that the two theories, 
namely, that including but one positive principle and that inclu- 
ding two, are alike. 

xxxv. Again, there is the theory of one electric fluid and also 
that of two. One explains by the difference in degree or quantity 
of one fluid what the other attributes to the variation in the quan- 
tity and relation of two fluids. Both cannot be true; that they. 
have nearly equal hold of our assent is only a proof of our igno- 
rance ; and it is certain, whichever is the false theory is at present 
holding the minds of its supporters in bondage and is greatly re- 
tarding the progress of science. 

xxxvi. I think it therefore important, if we can, to ascertain 
whether insulation and conduction are cases of the same class ; 
just as it is important to know that hot and cold are phenomena 
of the same kind: as it is of consequence to shew that smoke 
ascends and a stone descends in obedience to one property of 
matter, so I think it is of consequence to shew that one body 
insulates and another conducts only in consequence of a differ- 
ence in degree of one common property which they both possess, 


Answer to Dr. Hare’s Letter. 119 


and that in both cases the effects are consistent with my theory 
of induction. , 

xxxvil. I now come to what may be considered as queries in 
your letter, which I ought to answer. The second paragraph 
page 3isone. As I concede that particles on opposite sides of a 
vacuum may perhaps act on each other, you ask ‘‘ wherefore is 
the received theory of the mode in which the excited surface of 
a Leyden jar induces in the opposite surface a contrary state, ob- 
jectionable?” My reasons for thinking the excited surface does 
not directly induce upon the opposite surface, &c. is first, my be- 
lief that the glass consists of particles, conductors in themselves 
but insulated as respects each other (xvii) ; and next that in the 
arrangement given iv, ix or x, A does not induce directly on C 
but through the intermediate masses or particles of conducting 
matter. 

XxxXviii. In the next paragraph the question is rather implied 

than asked, what do I mean by polarity? I had hoped that the 
paragraphs 1669, 1670, 1671, 1672, 1679, 1686, 1687, 1688, 
1699, 1700, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, in the researches would 
have been sufficient to convey my meaning, and I am inclined 
to think you had not perhaps seen them when your letter was 
written. They, and the observations already made (v, xxvi), 
with the case given (iv, v), will I think be sufficient as my an- 
swer. ‘The sense of the word polarity is so diverse when applied. 
to light, to a crystal, to a magnet, to the voltaic battery, and so 
different in all these cases to that of the word when applied to 
the state of a conductor under induction (v), that I thought it 
safer to use the phrase “species of polarity” than any other which, 
being more expressive, would pledge me farther than I wished 
to go. 
- xxxix. The next or fourth par. of page 3, involves a mistake 
of my views. Ido not consider bodies which are charged by 
friction or otherwise as polarized, or as having their particles po- 
larized (iii, iv, xxvii). -This paragraph and the next do not re- . 
quire therefore any further remark, especially after what I have 
said of polarity above, (xxxviil, ) 

xl. And now, my deat sir, I think I ought to death my fae 
toanend. The paragraphs which remain: unanswered, refer, 1 
think, only to differences of opinion, or else not even to differen- 
ces, but opinions regarding which I have not ventured to judge. 


120 Philosophy of Storms. 


These opinions I esteem as of the utmost importance ; but that 
is a reason which makes me the rather desirous to decline enter- 
ing upon their consideration ; inasmuch as upon many of their 
connected points I have formed no-decided notion, but am con- 
strained by ignorance and the contrast of facts, to hold my judg- 
ment as yet in suspense. It is indeed to me an annoying matter 
to find how many subjects there are in electrical science, on which 
if I were asked for “an opinion, I should have to say I cannot 
tell—I do not know ; but, on the other hand, it is encouraging 
to think that these are they which if pursued industriously, ex- 
perimentally, and thoughtfully, will lead to new discoveries. 
Such a subject, for instance, occurs in the currents produced by 
dynamic induction, which you say it will be admitted do not 
require for their production intervening ponderable atoms. For 
my own part, I more than half incline to think they do require 
these intervening particles, i.e. when any particles intervene, 
(1729, 1733, 1735.) But on this question, as on many others, I 
have not yet made up my mind. Allow me therefore here to 
conclude my letter, and believe me to be, with the highest esteem 
and respect, my dear sir, your obliged and faithful servant, 


M. Farapavy. 
Royal Institution, April 18, 1840. 


Arr. XV.—Brief Synopsis of the Principles of James P. Espy’s 
Philosophy of Storms.* 


(Communicated for this Journal.) 


Wuen the air near the surface of the earth becomes more heat- 
ed or more highly charged with aqueous vapor, which is only 
‘five eighths of the specific gravity of atmospheric air, its equilib- 
rium is unstable, and up-moving columns or streams will be 
formed. 

As these columns rise, their upper parts will come under less 
pressure, and the air will therefore expand ; as it expands, it will 
srow colder about one degree and a quarter for every hundred 
yards of its ascent, as is demonstrated by experiments on the 
Nephelescope. 


Copious facts going to establish the principles contained in this Synopsis, are 
given in Mr. Espy’s Lectures. 


Philosophy of Storms. 121 


The ascending columns will carry up with them the aqueous 
vapor which they contain, and if they rise high enough, the cold 
produced by expansion from diminished pressure, will condense 
some of this vapor into cloud ; for it is known that cloud is form- 
ed in the receiver of an air-pump when the air is suddenly with- 
drawn. 

The distance or height to which the air will have to ascend 
before it will become cold enough to begin to form cloud, isa 
variable quantity depending on the number of degrees which the 
dew point is below the temperature of the air; and this height 
may be known at any time by observing how many degrees a 
thin metallic tumbler of water must be cooled down below the 
temperature of the air, before the vapor begins to condense on the 
outside. The highest temperature at which it will condense, 
which is variable according as there is more or less vapor in the 
air, is called the ‘dew point,” and the difference between the 
dew point and the temperature of the air in degrees is called the 
complement of the dew point. 

It is manifest that if the air at the surface of the earth should 
at any time be-cooled down a little below the dew point, it would 
form a fog by condensing a small portion of its transparent vapor 
into little fine particles of water, and if it should be cooled 20° 
below the dew point, it would condense about one half its vapor 
into water, and at 40° below, it would condense about three 
fourths of its vapor into water, &c. 

This, however, will not be exactly the case from the cold pro- 
duced by expansion in the up-moving columns; for the vapor 
itself grows thinner, and the dew point falls about one quarter 
of a degree for every hundred yards of ascent. 

It follows, then, as the temperature of the air sinks about one 
degree and a quarter for every hundred yards of ascent, and the 
dew point sinks about a quarter of a degree, that as soon as the 
column rises as many hundred yards as the complement of the 
dew point contains degrees of Fahr. cloud will begin to form. 
Or in other words, the bases of all clouds forming by the cold of 
diminished pressure from up-moving columns of air, will be about 
as many hundred yards high as the dew point is below the tem- 
perature of the air at the time. 

If the temperature of the ascending column should be 10° 


above that of the air through which it passes, and should rise to 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April—June, 1840. 16 


122 Philosophy of Storms. 


the height of 4800 feet before it begins to form cloud, the whole 

column would then be 100 feet of air lighter than dndepmdned 
columns; and if the column should be very narrow, its velocity 
of nears motion would follow the laws of spouting aides which 
would be 8 times the square root of 100 feet a second, that is 80 
feet a second, and the barometer in the centre of the column at 
its base, would fall about the ninth of an inch. 

As soon as cloud begins to form, the caloric of elasticity of the 
vapor or steam is given out into the air in contact with the little 
particles of water formed by the condensation of the vapor. _ This 
will prevent the air in its further progress upwards from cooling 
so fast as it did up to that point, and from experiments on the 
Nephelescope, it is found to cool only about one half as much 
above the base of the cloud as below—that is, about five eighths 
of a degree for one hundred yards of ascent, when the dew point 
is about 70°. If the dew point is higher it cools a little less, and 
if the dew point is lower, it cools a little more than five eighths 
of a degree in ascending one hundred yards. 

Now it has been ascertained by aéronauts and travellers on 

mountains, that the atmosphere itself is about one degree colder 
for every hundred yards in height above the surface of the sea ; 
therefore, as the air in the cloud, above its base, is only five 
eighths of a degree colder for every hundred yards in height, it 
follows, that when the cloud is of great perpendicular’ height 
above its base, its top must be much warmer than the atmosphere 
at that height, and consequently much lighter. 
_ Indeed the specific gravity of a cloud of any height compared 
to that of the surrounding air at the same elevation, may be cal- 
culated when the dew point is given. For its temperature is 
known by experiments with the Nephelescope, and the quantity 
of vapor condensed by the cold of diminished pressure at every 
point in its upward motion, and of course the quantity of caloric 
of elasticity given out by this condensation is known, and also 
the effect this caloric has in expanding the air receiving it, be- 
yond the volume it would have, if no caloric of elasticity was 
evolved in the condensation of the vapor. 

For example, according to the experiments of Prof. Walter R. 
Johnson, of Philadelphia, a pound of steam at the temperature of 
212° contains 1030° of caloric of elasticity, and as the sum of 
the latent and sensible caloric of steam is the same at all tempe- 


Philosophy of Storms. 123 


ratures, it follows that a pound of steam being condensed into 
1198 pounds of water at 32° would heat it up 1°. And as the 
‘specific caloric of air is only 0.267, if a pound of vapor should 
be condensed into 1198 pounds of air, it would heat that air 
nearly 4°, or which is the same thing, it would heat 119 pounds 
of air 4°, or 100 pounds 48°, and in all these cases it would ex- 
pand the air about 8000 times the bulk of water generated ; that 
is, 8000 cubic feet for every cubic foot of water formed out of 
the condensed vapor. And as it requires between 1300 and 1400 
cubic feet of vapor, at the ordinary temperature of the atmos- 
phere, to make one cubic foot of water—if this quantity be sub- 
iracted from 8000, it will leave upwards of 6600 cubic feet of 
actual expansion of the air in the cloud for every cubic foot of 
water generated there by condensed vapor. 

This great expansion of the air in the forming cloud will cause 
the air to spread outwards in all directions above, causing the ba- 
rometer to rise on the outside of the cloud above the mean, and 
to fall below the mean under the middle of the cloud as much 
as it is known to do in the midst of great storms. 

For example, if the dew point should be very high, say 78°, 
then the quantity of vapor in the air would be about one fiftieth 
_ of its whole weight, and if the up-moving column should rise 
high enough to condense one half its vapor into cloud, it would — 
heat the air containing it 45°, and the air so heated would be 
7esths larger than it would be if it was not so heated. -And if 
We assume a case within the bounds of nature, and suppose the 
cloud and the column under the cloud to occupy three fourths of 
the whole weight of the atmosphere, or in other words, if we 
suppose the top of the cloud to reach a height where the barom- 
eter would stand at 74 inches, and the mean temperature of the 
whole column 40° warmer than the surrounding air, then would 
the barometer fall under the cloud at the surface of the earth 
7;ths of 22.5, or a little more than two inches. 

Though the air may be driven up by the ascending column 
much higher than the point assumed in the last article, the cloud 
will cease to form at greater heights, because the dew point at 
these great elevations, falls by a further ascent as rapidly as the 
temperature—and at greater elevations, it will even fall more 
rapidly. If for instance the air should rise from where the ba- 
rometer stands at six inches to where it stands at three inches, 


124 Philosophy of Storms. 


the dew point would fall about 20°, but the temperature would 
fall less than 20°, and therefore no vapor would be condensed by 
such ascent. 

When a cloud begins to form from an ascending column of air, 
it will be seen to swell out at the top while its base continues on 
the same level, for the air has to rise to the same height before it 
becomes cold enough by diminished pressure to begin to condense 
its vapor into water ; this will cause the base to be flat, even after 
the cloud has acquired great perpendicular height, and assumed 
the form of a sugar loaf. Other clouds also for many miles 
around, formed by other ascending columns, will assume similar 
appearances, and will moreover have their bases all on the same 
or nearly the same horizontal level; and the height of these bases 
from the surface of the earth will be the greatest about three 
o’clock, when the dew point and dig eaten of the air is the 
greatest distance apart. 

The outspreading of the air in the upper parts of an ascending 
column will form an annulus all round the cloud, under which 
the barometer will stand above the mean; of course the air will 
descend in the annulus, and increase the velocity of the wind at 
the surface of the earth towards the centre of the ascending col- 
umn, while all round on the outside of the annulus there will be 
a gentle wind outwards. Any general currents of air which may 
exist at the time, will of course modify these motions from the 
oblique forces they would occasion. 

The up-moving current of air must of course be entirely sup- 
plied by the air within the annulus, and that which descends in 
the annulus itself. 

The rapid disturbance of equilibrium, which is produced by 
one ascending column, will tend to form ofhers in its neighbor- 
hood ; for the air being pressed outwards from the annulus, or at 
least retarded on the windward side, will form other ascending 
columns, and these will form other annuli, and so the process will 
be continued. 

These ascending columns will have a tendency to approach, 
and finally unite; for the air between them must descend, and 
in descending the temperature of the whole column will increase, 
for it is known that the air, at great elevation, contains more ca- 
loric to the pound than the air near the surface of the earth, be- 
cause it is the upper regions that receive the caloric of elasticity 


Philosophy of Storms. 125 


given out in the condensation of vapor into clouds. ‘Therefore, 
when the air has descended some time in the middle, between 
two ascending columns, the barometer will fall a little, or at least 
not stand so high above the mean as it does on the outside of 
the two clouds, and so the columns will be pressed towards each 
other. 

{f one of two neighboring columns should be greatly higher 
than the other, its annulus may overlap the smaller one, and of 
eourse the current under the smaller cloud will be inverted, and 
the cloud which may have been formed over the column thus 
forced to descend, will soon disappear ; for as it is forced down- 
wards by the overlapping annulus of the more lofty column, it 
will come under greater pressure, and its temperature will be thus 
increased, and it is manifest that as soon as its top descends as 
low as its base, it will have entirely disappeared, and in the mean 
time the larger cloud will have greatly increased. 

As the air above the cloud formed by an ascending column is 
forced upwards, if it contains much aqueous vapor, a thin film of 
eloud will be formed in it by the cold of diminished pressure, 
entirely distinct from the great dense cumulus below ; but as the 
cumulus rises faster than the air above it (for some of the air will 
roll off) the thin film and the top of the cumulus will come in 
contact; and sometimes a second film or cap may be formed in 
the same way, and perhaps a third and fourth. When these caps 
form, there will probably be rain, as their formation indicates a 
high degree of saturation in the upper air. 

When the complement of the dew point is very great, (20° and 
more,) clouds can scarcely form; for up-moving columns will 
generally either come to an equilibrium with surrounding air, or 
be dispersed before they rise twenty hundred yards, which they 
must do in this case, before they form clouds. Sometimes, how- 
ever, masses of air will rise high enough to form clouds, but they 
are generally detached from any up-moving column underneath, 
and of course cannot then form cumuli with flat bases ;+such 
elouds will be seen to dissolve as soon as they form, and even 
while forming they will generally appear ragged, thin and ir- 
regular. 

Moreover, if the ground should be colder during the day, than 
the air in contact with it, as it sometimes happens after a very 
cold spell of weather, then ascending columns cannot exist, and 


126 Philosophy of Storms. 


of course no cumuli can be formed on that day, even though the 
air may be saturated with vapor to such a degree as to condense 
a portion of it on cold bodies at the surface of the earth. 

Neither can clouds form of any very great size, when there are 
cross currents of air sufficiently strong to break in two an ascend- 
ing current, for the ascensional power of the up-moving current 
will thus be weakened and destroyed. This is one means con- 
trived by nature to prevent up-moving columns from increasing 
until rain would follow. Without some such contrivance it is 
probable that every up-moving column which should begin to 
form cloud when the dew point is favorable, would produce rain, 
for as soon as cloud forms, the up-moving power is rapidly in- 
creased by the evolution of the caloric of elasticity. 

If it should be found by observation that an upper current of 
air is passing from the mountains of Abyssinia over Egypt to the 
north, while the wind below is blowing from the north towards 
the mountains of Abyssinia, this would manifestly be one rea- 
son why it seldom rains in Egypt during the prevalence of this 
wind, though it comes highly charged with vapor from the Medi- 
terranean. Besides, it is known that during the prevalence of 
this wind there are great rains in Abyssinia, and of course if the 
upper current does flow over Egypt from the south, it would 
bring in it a large portion of the caloric of elasticity, which it 
received there, in the great condensation of the vapor as it rose. 
up the sides of the mountains at the head of the Nile; of course 
the columns of air rising over Egypt, when they entered that cur- 
rent would cease to rise, for the temperature of that current would 
be many degrees hotter than themselves, and therefore they could 
not swim in it. 

Also, on the leeward side of very lofty mountains, there can- 
not be rain: for as the air on the windward side rises up the sides 
of the mountain, it will condense all the vapor which can_be 
condensed by the cold of diminished pressure, before it reaches 
to the top, and even if a cloud passes over the top to the other 
side, it would soon disappear, because in passing down the slope 
it- will come under greater pressure, and thus be dissolved by the 
heat produced. 'These are some of the causes which prevent 
rains at particular times and in particular localities. 

If, however, the air is very hot below with a high dew point, 
and no cross currents of air above to a great height, then, when 


Philosophy of Storms. ; 127 


an up-moving current is once formed, it will go on and increase in 
violence, as it acquires perpendicular elevation, especially after 
the cloud begins to form. At first the base of the cloud will be 
flat; but after the cloud becomes of great perpendicular diameter, 
and the barometer begins to fall considerably, as it will do from 
the specific levity of the air in the cloud, then the air will not 
have to rise so far as it did at the moment when the cloud began 
to form, before it reaches high enough to form cloud from the 
cold of diminished pressure. 

The cloud will now be convex below, and its upper parts will 
be seen spreading outward in all directions, especially on that side 
towards which the upper current is moving, assuming something 
of the shape of amushroom. In the mean time the action of 
the inmoving current below and upmoving current in the middle 
will become very violent, and if the barometer falls two inches 
under the centre of the cloud, the air will cool about 10°, and the 
base of the cloud will reach the earth if the dew point was only 
S° below the temperature of the air at the time the cloud began 
to form. 'The shape of the lower part of the cloud will now be 
that of an inverted cone with its apex on the ground, and it will 
be what is called a tornado if it is on land, and a water-spout if 
at sea. 

On visiting the path of a tornado, the trees-on the extreme 
borders will all be found prostrated with their tops inwards, either 
inwards and backwards, or inwards and. forwards, or exactly 
transverse to the path. 'The trees in the centre of the path will 
be thrown either backwards or forwards parallel to the path; and 
invariably if one tree lies across another, the one which is thrown 
backwards is underneath. 'Those materials on the sides which 
are moved from their places and rolled along the ground, leaving 
a trace of their motion, will move in a curve convex behind ; those 
which were on the right hand of the path, will make a curve 
from left hand to right, and those on the left hand of the path 
will make a curve from right hand to left, and many of these 
materials will be found on the opposite side of the path from that 
on which they stood on the approach of the tornado. Also, those 
bodies which are carried up will appear to whirl, unless they arise 
from the very centre—those that are taken up on the right of the 
centre will whirl in a spiral from left to right, and those on the 
left of the centre, will whirl im a spiral upwards from right to left. 


128 Philosophy of Storms. 


On examining the trees which stand near the borders of the path, 
it will be found that many of the limbs are twisted round the 
trees and broken in such a manner as to remain twisted, those 
on the right hand side of the path from left to right, and those 
on the left hand side of the path from right to left. However, it 
will be found that only those limbs which grew on the side of 
the tree most distant from the path of the tornado are broken ; 
for these alone were subject to a transverse strain. 

The houses which stood near the middle of the path will be - 
very liable to have the roof blown up, and many of the walls 
will be prostrated all outwards, by the explosive influence of the 
air within, and those houses covered with zinc or tin, from being 
air tight will be liable to suffer most. The floors from the cellars 
will also frequently be thrown up, and the corks of empty bottles 
exploded. | 

All round the tornado at a short distance, probably not more 
than three or four hundred yards, there will be a dead calm, on 
account of the annulus formed by the rapid efflux of air above, 
from the centre of the upmoving and expanding column. In this 
annulus the air will be depressed, and all round on the outside of 
it, at the surface of the earth, there will be a gentle wind out- 
wards ; and of course all the air which feeds the tornado, is sup- 
plied from within the annulus. Nor is this difficult to understand, 
when the depression of the air in the annulus is considered, for 
any amount may be thus supplied by a great depression. 

Light bodies, such as shingles, branches of trees, and drops of 
rain or water formed in the cloud, which are carried up to a great 
height before they are permitted to fall to the earth ; for though 
they may frequently be thrown outwards above, and then de- 
scend a considerable distance at the side, they will meet with an 
inblowing current below, which will force them back to the cen- 
tre of the upmoving current, and so they will be carried alofé 
again. 

The drops of rain, however, will frequently be carried high 
enough to freeze them, especially if they are thrown out above 
so far as to fall into clear air, for this air will in some cases be 
thirty or forty degrees colder than the air in the cloud. In this 
case if the upmoving column is perpendicular, the hail will be 
thrown out on both sides, and on examination it will be found 
that two veins of hail fell simultaneously, at no great distance 
apart. | 


Philosophy of Storms. 129 


It is indeed probable that in all violent thunder storms in which 
hail falls, the upmoving current is so violent as to carry drops of 
rain to a great height, when they freeze and become hail. It is 
difficult if not impossible to conceive any other way in which 
hail can be formed in the summer, or in the torrid zone. 

In those countries in which an upper current of air prevails in 
a particular direction, the tornadoes and water spouts will gene- 
rally move in the same direction ; because the upmoving column 
of air in this meteor rises far into this upper current, and of course 
its upper part will be passed in this direction, as the great tornado 
cloud moves on in the direction of the upper current, the air at 
the surface of the earth will be pressed up into it by the superior 
weight of the surrounding air. It is for this reason the tornado 
in Pennsylvania generally moves towards the eastward. 

If a tornado should stop its motion for a few seconds, as it 
might do,on meeting with a mountain, it would be likely to pour” 
down an immense flood of water or ice, in a very small space ; 
for the drops which would be carried up by the ascending current 
would soon accumulate to such a degree, as to force their way 
back, and this they could not do, without collecting into one 
united stream of immense length and weight, and of course on 
reaching the side of the mountain, this stream, whether it con- 
sisted of water or hail, would cut down into the side of the moun- 
tain a deep hole, and make a gully all the way to the bottom of 
the mountain from the place where it first struck. 

As the air spreads out more rapidly above than it runs in be- 
low, there will be a tendency in storms to increase in diameter, 
and also to become oblong from the influence of the upper current | 
in carrying the top of the cloud in its own direction. 

At the equator, or at least those parts of it where the trade 
winds are constant from east to west, it is probable tornadoes 
travel from east to west. For as the air in the torrid zone is 
about 80° in temperature at a mean, and the air in the frigid zone 
is about zero, the air in the torrid zone is constantly expanded by 
heat about 58°, of its whole bulk in the frigid zone. This will 
cause the air at the equator to stand more than seven miles higher 
from the surface of the earth to the top of the atmosphere than 
at the north pole. The air therefore will roll off from the torrid 
zone both ways towards the poles, causing the barometer to fall 


in low latitudes and rise above the mean in high latitudes. This 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840, 17 


130 Philosophy of Storms. 


will cause the air to run in below towards the equator, and of 
course rise there. Now from the principle of the conservation of 
areas, it will fall more and more to the west as it rises, and of 
course the upper current of the air, at the equator probably moves 
towards the west. 

However, as the air rolls off above, towards the north, it swill 
be constantly passing over portions of the earth’s surface, which 
have a less diurnal velocity than the part from which it set out, 
and as from the nature of inertia it still inclines to retain the di- 
urnal velocity towards the east which it originally possessed, 
when it reaches the latitude of about 20° or 25°, it will then pro- 
bably be moving nearly towards the north—and beyond that lat- 
itude its motion will be to the northeasterly. 

If violent storm clouds, which necessarily rise to a great height 
into the upper current, are driven forward in the direction of the 
upper current, it is probable that the barometer will rise higher in 
that part of the annulus which is in front of the storm, than in 
the rear, and if so, a sudden rise of the barometer in particular 
localities, may become, when properly understood, one of the first 
symptoms of an approaching storm. 

In consequence of the high barometer in front of the storm in 
a semi-annulus, the air will be forced downwards there, and 
cause in some cases a more violent action of the air or wind 
backwards, meeting the approaching storm, than will be a 
enced, in the rear of the storm. 

As the air comes downwards in the semi-annulus in front of 
the storm, it will come under greater pressure, and therefore any 
clouds which it may contain, will probably be dissolved, by the 
heat of greater pressure, and therefore on the passage of the annu- 
lus, it will probably be fair weather. 

Also, as the air above always contains more caloric to the 
pound, than the air below, there will be an increase of tempera- 
ture on the passage of the annulus, partly from the increased 
pressure, but chiefly by the descent of the air; in very hot cli- 
mates this increase of temperature, in front of the storm, will be 
very sensibly felt. 

The increased pressure in the annulus round a volcano, when 
it suddenly bursts out, will sometimes under favorable circum- 
stances, be very great, and of course the air will be depressed 
from a great height, so that some portion of the very air which 
has gone up in the central parts of the ascending column, and 


Philosophy of Storms. 138 


formed cloud by the cold of diminished pressure, will be forced 
down to the surface of the earth, bringing with it the caloric of 
elasticity which it received from the condensing vapor ; if so, the 
heat experienced at the time of this descent, will be very great. 

These hot blasts of air will alternate with cold blasts, for the 
air which is forced down from great heights in the annulus will 
not only be very hot, but very dry, having condensed its vapor, 
in its previous ascent. Now when this hot dry air flows inwards 
again towards the volcano and ascends, it will not form cloud, 
becanse of its want of vapor; and therefore the process of cloud 
forming will cease, and consequently rain and hail will cease too, 
until more air from a greater distance that has not been deprived 
of its vapor flows in and ascends. ‘Then cloud will again begin 
to form and the violence and rapidity of the outflowing of the 
air above will be increased by the evolution of the caloric of elas- 
ticity, the barometer will rise rapidly in the annulus and fall in the 
central part of the ascending column, and these alternations may 
continue while the volcano is in activity, more particularly if the 
violence of the volcano itself should be increased periodically. 

As air cannot move upwards without coming under diminished 
pressure, and as it must thus expand and grow colder and conse- 
quently form cloud—any cause which produces an upmoving 
column of air, whether that cause be natural or artificial, will pro- 
duce rain, when the complement of the dew point is small, and the 
air calm below and above, and the upper part of the atmosphere 
of its ordinary temperature. 

Volcanoes therefore under favorable circumstances will produce 
rain; sea breezes which blow inwards every day towards the 
‘centre of islands, especially if these islands have in them high 
mountains, which will prevent any upper current of air from 
bending the upmoving current of air out of the perpendicular 
before it rises high enough to form cloud, such as Jamaica—will 
produce rain every day ; great cities where very much fuel is 
burnt, in countries where the complement of the dew point is 
small, such as Manchester and Liverpool, will frequently produce 
rain; even battles, and accidental fires, if they occur under favor- 
able circumstances, may sometimes be followed by rain. Let all 
these favorable circumstances be watched for in time of drought, 
(and they can only occur then,) and let the experiment be tried. 
if it should be successful, the result would be highly beneficial 
to mankind. 


132 Description of a Magneto-Electric Machine, &§c. 


Independent of its utility to the farmer, it would be highly 
useful to the mariner in the following way. 

As the very time and place of the commencement of the rain 
would be known, it would be easy to find out in what direction 
from the place of beginning it moved along the surface of the 
earth, and also its velocity of motion, and the shape that it as- 
sumed from time to time in its progress. Now this knowledge is 
the principal thing wanting to enable the mariner, who has the 
power of locomotion, to direct his vessel so, when one of these 
great storms comes hear him, as to use as much wind in the bor- 
ders of the storm as will suit the purposes of navigation—for 
heaven undoubted makes the wind blow for his use and not for 
his destruction, provided he becomes acquainted with the laws to 
which it is subject. From the preceding principles he will be 
able to know in what direction a great storm is raging when it is 
yet several hundred miles from him. 


Art. XVI.—A Description of a New Form of Magneto-Electric 
Machine, and an Account of a Carbon Battery of conside- 
rable energy ; communicated for this Journal by Ottver W. 
Gisss, member of the Junior Class of Columbia College, N. Y. 


It is well known, that if a soft iron bar be wound with insu- 
lated wire and caused suddenly to approach and recede from the 
poles of a magnet, temporary magnetism will be induced in the 
bar, and an electric current in the wire surrounding it. This fact 
led to the construction of the magneto-electric machine, the prin- 
ciple of which consists in alternately inducing and destroying 
magnetism in a bar similarly wound with large wire for sparks 
and deflagrations, and with small for shocks and chemical decom- 
positions. .About eight months since it occurred to me that a 
more simple machine than those commonly used (and which all 
I believe resemble that of Saxton) might be constructed. My 
plan was, to take a bar of soft iron of say an inch in diameter by 
ten inches long, and to slide upon the middle a disk of brass of 
two inches radius. This would divide the bar into two parts, 
upon one of which is to be wound three or four hundred feet of 
copper bell wire well insulated, and upon the other and separated 
from the first by the brass disk, about four times that length of - 
fine wire, say No. 25. If now one extremity of the coarse wire 


Description of a Magneto-Electric Machine, §c. 133 


be attached to one pole of the battery, and the communication 
between the other extremity and the other battery pole be alter- 
nately made and interrupted by means of a rasp or toothed wheel, 
magnetism will be induced and destroyed in the iron bar and con- 
sequently an electric current will circulate through the fine wire. 
The use of the brass disk is to prevent by means of a closed cir- 
_ cuit, any immediate induction in the fine from the coarse wire, 
which would inevitably take place were none interposed, and 
which would convert the instrament from a magneto-electric to 
an electro-magnetic machine. 

Since the above was devised, an obvious improvement has sug- 
gested itself. This is founded upon the fact that magnetism is 
strongest at the extremities of bodies; and consists simply in di- 
viding the bar into three equal spaces by means of two disks of 
brass similar in size to the one already described. The central 
division is then to be wound with the coarse and the two outer 
or polar divisions with the fine wire, connecting the two outer 
helices in such a manner that they may form one long wire. 
The battery current is then to be passed through the coarse wire, 
and the connection made and interrupted as before by a rasp or 
other interrupting apparatus. As thus constructed, the instru- 
ment would produce effects similar to the common magneto-elec- 
tric machine when used for shocks or decomposition. If it be 
desired to produce sparks and deflagrations, it would only be ne- 
cessary to slide off the coils of fine wire from the poles, and to 
substitute in their stead others made of coarse wire of shorter 
length and then transmit and interrupt the current through the 
central coil as before. We should then have within a much 
smaller compass, an instrument capable of producing all the ef- 
fects of the common machine of Mr. Saxton, and by combining 
a number of such bars we might form in a comparatively small 
compass a magneto-electric battery of great energy. Some of 
Dr. Page’s beautiful interrupting apparatus might doubtless be 
used successfully with this instrument. As I have no opportu- 
nity to construct the instrument myself, I would suggest the trial, 
especially of the latter form of apparatus, to any who may be in- 
terested in the subject. Should it succeed, its advantage would 
be its superior cheapness and power, (?) and the little space it 
would occupy. 

About the same time that the above instrument was devised, 
in looking over the list of substances which are capable of form- 


134 Electricity in Machinery. 


ing a galvanic circle together, I was struck with the much higher 
electro-negativeness of charcoal than of copper in relation to zinc; 
there being but six substances between zine and copper, while 
there are eleven between zine and carbon, which, moreover, 
stands even higher than gold, and next below platina. Besides 
this, its excellent conducting power seemed particularly to qualify 
it to act as an electrometer. Accordingly, I was led to consider 
that it might form an excellent battery with zinc or its amalgam, 
and mentioned the opinion to Prof. Renwick. I was however 
prevented from experimentally demonstrating its powers, until in 
the month of March I perceived in one of the foreign journals a 
short account of a carbon battery which had been successfully 
tried in England. I immediately constructed a small battery, 
consisting of only six pairs of zinc and bituminous coal, and ar- 
ranged as a couronne des tasses. 'The zinc plates were an inch 
square, consequently there were only six inches of acting zinc 
surface ; the exciting liquid was diluted sulphuric acid. With 
this battery pure water was easily and rapidly decomposed, though 
from not having platina electrodes, and from the want of a vol- 
tameter, the gas collected was not measured. 'This experiment 
was witnessed by Mr. Schaeffer, assistant Professor of Chemistry: 
in the College. 'To those who possess batteries of considerable 
power, I would suggest the employment of some form of carbon 
for electrodes in the place of platina. I hope soon to be able to 
present a series of experiments on the relative advantages of cop- 


per and carbon, especially in the case of the constant battery. 
New York, May 9, 1840. 


Art. XVIL— Electricity in Machinery ; by Azarian Smutiru, Jr. 


Messrs. E'ditors—Having frequently heard persons employed 
in my father’s manufactory at Manlius, N. Y., speak of the devel-_ 
opment of electricity by particular parts of the machinery, I was 
led by an article in the American Journal for (July ?) 1839, to the 
examination of the phenomena which furnished me with the fol- 
lowing facts; which you will please to publish if they add any 
thing to the light already existing upon this subject. 

Upon approaching the machinery referred to, which was con- 
nected with the spinning apparatus, and near the centre of the 


Electricity in Machinery. 135 


manufactory, I observed fibres of cotton of all lengths up to six 
inches, extending out in different directions from one end of the 
spinning frames, and waving as if about to leave their resting 
place for a band two and a half inches broad, which moved the 
machinery and connected it with a drum seven feet above; the 
latter being moved by another drum fifteen feet distant, with 
which it was connected by a horizontal strap seven inches in 
breadth. 'The two drums were of equal diameter, two feet and 
eight inches, but the wheel by which the spinning machinery 
was moved and a free pulley by its side, were only eight inches ; 
and consequently made two hundred and eighty eight revolu- 
tions in a minute, while the former made seventy two. 

Beneath the horizontal strap and four feet distant from it, the 
hair of the persons spinning was observed to be affected in a sim- 
ilar manner with the cotton, all the finer and more flexible fibres 
standing directly upright. Upon placing small fibres of cotton 
from one to two feet distant from this strap, they would ascend to 
it and adhering to its surface advance with it, until within a short 
distance of the drum around which it passed, when they would 
fall off and descend to the floor. Occasionally fibres would pass 
to and fro between the band and the hand placed near it, and 
once or twice this latter phenomenon took place through a space of 
two or three feet. 

Upon slipping the narrow band from the wheel moving the 
machinery to the free pulley by its side, the electrical attraction 
of both the bands was observed to disappear, and this notwith- 
standing their motions were the same as before—in a moment, 
however, it was again manifested upon the spinning machine be- 
ing set in motion by slipping the back upon the motor wheel. 
These latter phenomena led to an inquiry into the different cir- 
cumstances of the band in the two cases, when the idea was 
suggested, that the wheel and the free pulley might be made of 
materials possessing different conducting power, but this a machi- 
nist of the manufactory informed me was not the case, both being 
made of iron and covered with leather. 'The friction of the 
spinning machinery, and of the motor wheel upon its axis, which 
were present in one, but absent in the other case, was the next 
difference suggested to account for the change, but as the axes of 
all parts of the machinery were made of iron and connected with 
iron frame-work, it was concluded that friction here would have 
no tendency to accumulate electricity. Upon watching the broad 


136 Electricity in Machinery. 


horizontal band at the moment the narrow one was slipped from 
the motor wheel upon the free pulley, the part of it connecting 
the upper part of the drums was observed to relax, while that 
connecting their lower surfaces, from being curved downwards 
by its weights became proportionally tense. In the first case, the 
upper part of the band was made tense by the great amount of 
friction in the machinery which it had to overcome, and of course, 
the friction of the band upon the drums was increased: in the 
same ratio. But when the free pulley only was turned, the fric- 
tion to be overcome, and consequently that of the bands, was 
much diminished ; and this increased amount of friction of the 
bands upon the drums in the first case, is to be referred to as the 
exciting cause of the electricity. 

From this statement you will observe that there was no friction 
of the bands upon each other as is mentioned in the article referred 
to above, since the horizontal bands were parallel and the vertical 
ones eight inches apart at their nearest approximation. In another 
part of the manufactory, however, two portions of a band were 
observed which were crossing and rubbing upon each other, but 
their friction was attended with no observable electrical effects. 
At this time however the band was passing around a free pulley ; 
I was therefore led to inquire as to its electrical state during the 
motion of its machinery, and ascertained that its attractive power 
for cotton, &c. at such times was as great as in that of the bands 
already spoken of. 

Although these facts do not authorize us to dispute those in 
Mr. article, yet they naturally suggest the question whether 
the electricity in that case was not excited by the friction of the 
band upon the wheels rather than upon each other, and if so, 
whether the apparent difference between the bands below their 

-junction and above was not in reality caused by the application 
of the jar in the one case to a tense, and in the other to a relaxed 
portion of the band. 

Not being intimately acquainted with the action of electrical 
apparatus in different circumstances, I am unable to say whether 
increased pressure of the whole flap of the common machine upon 
the cylinder would materially increase the amount of electricity 
developed, but from the above facts, as well as the nature of the 
case, I should suppose it would, and if so, the circumstance prop- 
erly attended to in the construction of electrical machines, — 
render them, ceteris paribus, much more powerful. 


Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 137 


Arr. XVITI.—WNotice of a Report of a Geological, Mineralogica 
and Topographical examination of the Coal Field of Carbon 
creek, with an analysis of the Minerals, accompanied by Maps, 
Profiles and Sections ; by Watter R. Jounson, Civ. and Min. 
Eng. and Prof. of Chem. and Nat. Phil. in Penn. Coll., Phila. 


We subjoin a notice of the valuable report of Prof. Wautrer R. 
Jounson, whose title is given above. It announces a very impor- 
tant deposit of coal, one among the many with which Pennsylva- 
nia abounds and which must long contribute to sustain domestic 
arts and industry. 

In Bradford county, adjoining to the New York state line, 
is the northeastern extremity of the range of bituminous coal 
formations, which extend quite across the state from this point 
to Somerset county on the borders of Maryland. It also termi- 
nates the line of coal basins which, with perhaps some interrup- 
tions, reach nearly the whole length of the state, on its north- 
ern border. This coal deposit being now about to enjoy the ad- 
vantage of a near connexion with the Pennsylvania public works 
in progress along the north branch of the Susquehannah river ; 
its situation is of great public interest to that portion of the state 
of New York which adjoins Pennsylvania, near the head waters 
of the Susquehannah river, and indeed to the whole central por- 
tion of New York, including the salt district, from which fuel 
furnished by the forest is already so remote, as to become a con- 
siderable drawback upon the profits of the manufacturer. The 
consumption of four hundred thousand cords of wood per annum 
in the manufacture of salt, must indeed require a vast extent of 
country to be preserved in its wooded state, inorder that the growth 
should keep pace with the consumption. 

The geological character of the district traversed by Prof. John- 
son, is similar to that of most other coal fields of Pennsylvania, 
being a secondary formation, embracing a coal trough two or 
three miles in breadth and of six or seven in length, its south- 
western termination not being yet very accurately ascertained. 
The attention of Prof. J. was limited to a district embracing 
chiefly its northeastern portion. 

“Its northern or northwestern border is along a high and toler- 
ably uniform and continuous ridge of mountain, lying south of the 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 18 


138 Prof. Johnson’s Repert on the Bradford Coal Field. 


valley of Towanda creek. On this creek itself, the lower beds 
of limestones, sandstones and shales underlying the coal measures 
are found at a high angle of inclination, often dipping not less 
than 40° or 50° towards the south or southeast. On the easterly 
and southeasterly parts of the coal field, on the contrary, the dip 
of the lower rocks is to the west or northwest, while on the 
southwestern parts, especially on Burnet ridge, the slope is evi- 
dently towards the north. ‘The coal measures lie on both sides 
of the Carbon creek, the valley of which, as well as those of its 
tributaries, is a valley of denudation, made by the action of water, 
which at the northeastern extremity of the coal basin has exca- 
vated its channel through the whole coal series, over two hun- 
dred feet thick, and to a depth of more than seven hundred and 
fifty feet below them, into the underlying strata of slates, lime- 
stones, sandstones and shales. 

Great pains appears to have been bestowed by Prof. Johnson, 
in determining by actual survey and levelling, the true elevation 
of all the important points where any of the mineral deposits are 
opened. ‘'l’his was rendered necessary as well by the wilderness 
and uncultivated condition of the country which prevented ex- 
tended observation as by the generally level position of the strata 
which rendered it often difficult to determine the dip in the ordi- 
nary manner. 

It appears that the main beds of coal in the Bradford district 
are two, one of from five to seven feet and the other from thirty 
inches to three feet in thickness with some intermediate plies of 
less value. They lie about one thousand one hundred and twelve 
feet and one thousand two hundred and nineteen feet respectively 
above the level of the Susquehanna river at 'Towanda, distant 
from ten to fourteen miles. ‘The mineral deposits constitute the 
upper portions, in the nature of outlying masses of the formation, 
and all the streams which intersect the coal field are found in so 
many valleys of denudation, which being wider above than below, 
have of necessity, destroyed more of the upper than of the lower 
beds of coal. ‘This coal field, like nearly all others whether in 
this country or elsewhere, abounds in the argillaceous carbonate 
of iron and in seams of fire clay. Calcareous conglomerates are 
likewise seen at different elevations, but no considerable body of 
good limestone has yet been developed immediately within the 
coal field. ' 


Prof. Johnson's Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 139 


One circumstance worthy of remark in connection with the 
position of the lower coal bed in the formation, is that in the 
central portion of the basin, this bed reposes not on a conglom- 
erate rock nor is it underlaid at all by such material, but rests on 
a fine grained gritstone five or six feet thick, distinguished from 
the underlying sand rocks chiefly by its superior compactness and 
white color. On the borders of the coal basin on the contrary, 
the underlying rock is a massive conglomerate of coarse pebbles 
many feet in thickness, capping the otherwise denuded ridges and 
serving by its great durability to defend the softer rocks below 
from the action of water and the disintegrating power of growing 
and decaying vegetables. 

The materials collected from the several parts of the Bradford 
coal field have been submitted to assay by Prof. Johnson, and 
yielded the following results. 


“ Analyses of Coal.—Eight samples of the coal. of this region have 
been examined. 

“No. 1. This specimen is from the fifth ply of coal in the lower bed, 
opened near the head of Fall creek. Thickness of the ply, 5} inches. 
Its specific gravity is 1.5155, 


At a temp. of 300°, it loses of moisture, 1.3 per cent. 


By distillation at a red heat of water, - - Aiey) x 5 
Uncondensable gaseous matter, - - - OA 
It contains of carbon, - - - woh GG rn 
And of earthy matter, - - - Be Oe: Oia 
100.0 


“The ashes are almost perfectly white, and of moderate density. This 
as well as the two following specimens, is from parts of the bed so near 
the outcrop as to yield, as in all similar cases, a higher proportion of 
earthy matter than would be found to exist in the coal when not exposed 
to any of the decomposing influences of the atmosphere. 

“No. 2. This specimen was from the third ply of coal in the same 
opening as the preceding. The thickness of this ply is 95 inches. Its 
specific gravity is 1.4485. 


At 260° it loses of moisture, - - - 1.9 per cent. 
And at a bright red heat it gives of water, - 6.28 Ges 
66 (73 66 of gas, EN & 93 66 
17.4 
It contains of carbon, = - a8. sels FOO eh 
And of earthy matter, - - - Set (OAK Oa ha: 


140 Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 


“The ashes are dense, and of a grayish white color. 
“No. 3. This sample is from the second ply of the same bed, the thick- 
ness of which is two inches. Its specific gravity is 1.4651. 


At 220° it loses of moisture, - - ; 1.2 per cent. 
At redness it is decomposed, giving of water, - eda |, 
ce 6¢ 6¢ of gas, iS 122 6 
Itcontainsof carbon, - - - - 63.9 “ 
And of earthy matter, - - - - 17. 
100.0 


“The ashes are light, and have a white color, very slightly inclining to 
buff. 

“No. 4. This sample of coal was taken from the old drift of Miller’s 
opening, north-west of the head of Fall creek, and from the middle coal 
of that bed, which is 19} inches thick. Its structure is somewhat irregu- 
lar, inclining to rhombic, and its color rusty brown. The surfaces of de- 
position present distinct traces of vegetable fibres in the state of charcoal. 
Its specific gravity is 1.3771. 


It loses in moisture at 220°, - - - 2.5 per cent. 

At a red heat it parts with water, - - S| cas 

And of combustible and other gases, - - 1500725 

It contains of earthy materials, - - Dae 

And of carbon, - - - - Ste aaa i 
100.0 


“The ashes of this coal are almost perfectly white, or but very slightly 
inclining to buff. 

““No. 5. This specimen is from the lower part of the upper 32 inch ply 
of coal in Miller’s old drift, and possesses a cubical structure, with a spe- 
cific gravity of 1.3784. 


It possesses of hygrometric moisture, - - 1.0 per cent. 

Water given out in coking, - - SO 

Gas volatilized by bright red heat, - - 14.7.“ 

Carbon, - - - - - 65.5 “ 

Earthy impurity, - - - - 15.3 “ 
100.0 


“The ashes are moderately light, and of a gray color, compounded of 
white and chocolate. 

“No. 6. This sample was likewise from the upper, or 32 inch ply of coal 
in the old drift before mentioned. It possessed the cubical structure, and 
fine deep black color. Specific gravity 1.3492. 


Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 141 


‘Tt contains of moisture, vaporized at 212°, - 1.5 per cent. 
Of water, tar, &&c. disengaged in coking, Sil fra @ioune. | 
Uncondensable gas, - - - - PhS. \4 * 
Carbon, - - - - = 74.97.‘ 
Earthy matter, - - - - Bld 

100.0 


“The ashes are of a rather deep chocolate brown, scarcely less marked 
in this particular than any of the red ashes of anthracite. 

“No. 7. This coal was obtained from the middle part of the bed, at 
Mason’s mine, on the head waters of Wagner’s run. ‘The coal from this 
mine, is already in the highest repute, both for domestic consumption, and 
for purposes of the arts. It has a specific gravity of 1.388. 

It is composed of the following ingredients. 


Matter volatile at 390°, - - - 0.6 per cent. 

Vapors condensable, - - - 2S. 

Uncondensable gaseous matter, - - La Aang 

Carbon, - - - - - 68.1 

Earthy matter, - - - - LSebe 
100.0 — 


“The ashes of this coal are white, slightly inclining to buff, moderately 
bulky. 

“No. 8. This coal is from the lower part of Mason’s bed; it possesses 
a columnar structure, the surfaces of deposition being distinctly marked, 
its color is deep black, surface of vertical fractures and lining. 

Its specific gravity is 1.400. It contains of 


Water lost at 340°, - - - - 2.1 per cent. 
Volatile matter expelled in coking, —- - 1G.8 < . 
Carbon, - ay ye iRiae - - 68.57 “ 
Earthy matter, - - -. - 12.53  “ 
100.00 


“The ashes of this coal are of a white color, rather inclining to gray, 
and not remarkably heavy. 

“‘Experiments to detect the presence of sulphur succeeded in giving 
faint traces of that ingredient. 

“From all the analyses of coal detailed in this Report, we have the fol- 


lowing table of general results. 
No. Carbon. Volatile matter. Earthy matter. 


62.6 : 15.0 : j 
70.0 5 : 17.4 ; 3 12.6 
63.9 : ; 19.1 : : 17.0 
68.1 é : 20.5 s , 11.4 
63.5 : , 19.2 : ¢ 15.3 
74.97 : 3 19.3 é : 3.73 
5 69.0 : . 17.9 : ‘ 13.1 
‘ 68.57 : : 18.9 i : 12.53 


Mean, 67.83 18.41 13.76 


DWH OP 9 0 = 


142 Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 


“Thus it appears that the quantity of volatile matter in this coal, is 
small compared with that of most other bituminous coals of our country. 
Being situated on the eastern extremity of the first principal range of bi- 
tuminous coal formations west of the Susquehanna river, it adds another 
to the many evidences which have been derived from my own experiments 
in proof of the proposition long since advanced, that the quantity of vol- 
atile matter in the coals of Pennsylvania, and other states, gradually in- 
creases as we advance from the Atlantic region across and beyond the Al- 
leghany mountain, over the great coal fields of the western and north- 
western states. : 

“This law becomes the more striking when the anthracite fields are 
embraced with the bituminous, for there we. have a series commencing al- 
most at zero, and proceeding upwards in the scale of volatility, till,in 
some of the coals of Kentucky, Hlinois, &c., it attains a maximum of 48 
or 50 per cent. The circumstance of possessing but a moderate share of 
bituminousness, is favorable to the application of the coals of this region, 
to the purposes of iron manufacture, and though the per centage of earthy 
matter is higher than that of some other coals, yet it will be recollected 
that nearly all the samples are taken from points near the outcrop of the 
respective beds, and that consequently the relative proportion of earthy 
matter is likely to be higher than would result from the coals taken a few 
hundred feet from the edge of the same beds. 

“ Tron Ores.—The argillaceous carbonate of iron is the principal vari- 
ety to be expected in all coal districts. ‘The Carbon creek formation is 
found in this respect to sustain the general character of all our Pennsylva- 
nia coal fields, yielding ores in considerable variety, and of different de- 
grees of richness, capable of producing from six or eight, to forty or fifty 
per cent. of metallic iron. These ores have been found either in place in 
the solid strata, or scattered in rolled pebbly masses, over so great an ex- 
tent as to leave no doubt of their constituting, originally, regular portions 
of the formation. Thus I have collected samples from the heads of Fall 
creek, and from those of Long valley, as well as along the channel of the 
latter tributary ; they are also met with in Wagner’s Lick creek, and es- 
pecially on the heads of the latter stream, where the ore has been fully 
exposed a few hundred yards from Mason’s coal mines. Kidney ore is 
found in several places directly overlying the upper bed of coal. 

“'The lowest stratum of ore which I have been enabled to examine, is 
situated 1016 feet above the level of the Susquehanna. It constitutes a 
bed 372 inches thick, reposing on a bed of fire-clay, 16 inches thick, and 
covered with a ferruginous shale, 6 inches thick. From this statement, 
it will appear that the mining of this ore will be effected without any unu- 
sual difficulty. 4 

“In the solid part of the stratum, where the influences of the weather 
have not interfered with its natural state, it is of a light blue color, of ir- 


Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 143 


regular texture, being sometimes uniform, and at others, conglomerated 
of clay, and fragmentary masses of iron ore with a calcareous cement. 
The weathered specimens are commonly of a dark brown color approach- 
ing to black, and are obviously changed from the character of carbonates 
of the protoxide, to hydrated peroxides of the metal. As in passing 
through this change some portions of earthy matter are commonly sepa- 
rated and washed away, the ore in this latter condition is richer than in 
its previous state of a carbonate, the Joss in carbonic acid and earthy mat- 
ter being greater than the gain in oxygen and water. This remark will 
also apply to the other carbonates, as compared with the hydrated parts of 
the balls or blocks of ore. In the process of decomposition the hydrate 
is often accumulated in the form of a shell, more or less regular upon the 
exterior of a nucleus of spongy earthy matter, nearly destitute of iron ; 
such shells are occasionally found in the bed now under consideration. 
The following are the results of my examination of this ore. 

“No. 1. A specimen of this ore from near the outcrop was selected, 
having the elongated kidney form, a shell enclosing white earthy matter, 
its color in recent fractures of the shell, dark brown. 

“Its acne gravity was 3.2264 at a temperature of 56° Hat It lost 
at 320°, 2) per cent. in water; and by the application of a white heat for 
some time, the combined water expelled, amounted to 21.1 per cent. 

“ An assay of this ore in the dry way, without any admixture whatever, 
gave of metallic iron, 32.5 per cent., and of earthy cinder, 29.8 per cent.; 
oxygen, 14.1 per cent.; water, 23.6 per cent.; of which 2.5 per cent., as 
above stated, was uncombined. 

“The pig metal obtained in this assay was of a light gray color, and 
rather brittle. This trial proves that the ore will not actually require the 
use of any flux for its reduction. 

“No. 2. This sample was taken from under the fall, below the lower 
bed of coal and was in the original state of the mineral not changed to 
hydrate, as in the preceding example. Its color is light blue, its texture 
amorphous, or foliated, its fracture irregular ; some shining particles, 
probably pyritous, are distributed through it. 

““Tts specific gravity is 3.0549. At 320° it loses 0.5 per cent. It lo- 
ses when heated to whiteness, 10.5 per cent. of carbonic acid, with prob- 
ably a little sulphur. The amount of iron contained in this ore, was 24.2 
per. cent.; of earthy materials, 49.2. The state in which the iron exists 
in this ore is doubtless that of a proto-carbonate. The cinder was brittle, 
of a green color, and perfectly fused. 

“No. 3. This ore was taken from the fifth ply of a bed about 10 feet 
in thickness, and at an elevation of 1080 feet above the Susquehanna, and 
64 feet above the 372 inch bed already described. ‘The ply is 18 inches 
thick. 


144 Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 


“This ore has a brown or ochrey appearance, and being taken from a 
point at no great distance from the outcrop, has evidently undergone a 
change from atmospheric influences. _ Its fracture is uneven, and its tex- 
ture analogous to some of the argillaceous shales. Its specific gravity is 
2.7256. It contains of hygrometric moisture, vaporizable at 820° Fah. 
2 per cent.; of water in combination, 4.8 per cent. ; metallic iron, 44 per 
cent.; earthy matter, 24.3. 

“The remaining four portions of the 10 feet bed, from which the pre- 
ceding sample was taken, were examined, and found to yield different 
quantities of iron, from 6 to 16 or 20 per cent. It is probable that in 
working some of the other varieties of ore, portions of this 10 feet bed 
will be found available as furnishing materials to promote the fusion and 
facilitate the working of the richer descriptions, which do not contain a 
sufficient quantity of earthy ingredients to produce a eed cinder for the 
protection of the iron in the hearth. 

“No. 4. This sample is from a stratum of iron ore and fire clay found 
on Fall creek, at an elevation of about 46? feet above the lower bed of 
coal, or 1158 feet above the river. The bed of materials in-which it oc- 
curs, 1s 2 feet 6 inches thick, of which four inches at the bottom are fire 
clay, the remaining portion iron shale, intermixed with flattened reniform 
masses of argillaceous carbonate of iron, and some carbonaceous matter 
derived from fossil vegetable remains. ‘The whole bed, together with the 
superincumbent mass of coarse sandstone rock, or fine conglomerate, 
appears to have fallen from place, and the situation was not therefore fa- 
vorable for determining the real value of the bed. The sample submitted 
to experiment, was a fair type of the ore in this bed; but it should be ad- 
ded, that all which we could conveniently obtain at this place, had under- 
gone a change, and been reduced from carbonate to hydrate. ~ Its specific 
gravity was found to be 3.2113. 


It lust of hygrometric moisture, - - - 3.0 per cent. 

Of combined water expelled by a full red heat, - 12.7 — “ 

Pig metal, | - - - - Hah. Be Aai 

Earthy matter, - - - - - Monee Nr 

Oxygen, - - - - aio BAGyir iin 
100.0 


“The pig metal is of good quality, soft, gray, and tough. The cinder~ 
was imperfectly fused, but with 20 per cent. of lime, would probably be 
fully reduced. 

“No. 5. This ore was discovered on the head waters of Long Valley 
creek, in a decayed and broken down portion of the measures, in such a 
situation as induces me to believe that its original place in the formation 
is near the level of the lower bed of coal, probably a little above it. Its 
color is brown, externally, and yellowish within; it is evidently a hydrate, 
formed by the decomposition of carbonate. Its specific gravity is 3.3604. 


Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 145 


It lost of water, by heating to 320°, - - 3.8 per cent. 
And ata white heat, -- - - yh aabysj uc’ 
Of pig iron, it gave - - - = ASA i 
Earthy matter, - - - - - ey’ 


“The pig metal was gray, tough, and moderately soft; the cinder 
opaque, grayish white. In this assay, the cimder was rather imperfectly 
reduced, and some portions were probably lost. 

_ “No. 6. This specimen of ore was taken from a pit sunk about 8 feet 
deep, near Mason’s coal mines, on the head waters of Wagner’s run: the 
band of flattened balls, very closely compacted together, is six inches. 
This band of ore is found near the northeasterly outcrop of the series of 
coal measures, a few feet only above the level of the heavy stratum of 
conglomerate rock, which marks so distinctly the limit of the basin in 
that direction. In this same locality, are exposed three other strata of 
ore, the first of which is 53 feet above the one now under consideration, 
the second 62 feet, and the third about 7} feet. This last is a band of 
balls, as will be more particularly stated below; hence, it will be seen, 
that all four of these bands of ore may be worked together, within a ver- 
tical height of 8 feet. ‘The total thickness of the four bands being about 
18 or 19 inches, and the intervening matter to be mined out, ferruginous 
slate, and rather friable sandstone, will not, I apprehend, present any se- 
rious difficulties in the mining. 

“The following section shows the whole of these measures, commen- 
cing at the top. 


1. Balls of iron ore, - - - - 0 feet 3 inches. 
2. Slaty sandstone, - - - - Os in 
3. Upper band of tron ore, = ° - (Tr Side 

4. Siliceous iron shale, - a hos 08 POP Os 

5. Middle band of kidney ore, = - Der aH Ny 

6. Ferruginous slate, - - - a tha ees EOP Haat 
7. Lower band of compact balls of iron ore, - ORO 

8. Iron shale, - - - - MSs GH see 

9. Black slate, - - - - De PEG: 
10. Iron shale, - - = - [baie ne 


“The four varieties of ore found at the above locality, are also met 
with in various other situations, especially on Long Valley creek, in the 
bed of which, samples exactly similar to the lower band of the above 
section, have been observed in numerous places. ‘This band is of a du- 
rable texture, and appears to resist more firmly than the accompanying 
materials, the decomposing action of the atmosphere, and hence it con- 
tinues unaltered in places where all. the others have been washed away. 
The specific gravity of this lower band is 3.265. 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 19 


146 Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 


It loses by calcination, - = = - - 22.7 per cent. 

And gives of iron, - - - ill QA wit NS 

Earthy matter, - - - - = 86.7 1% 

Volatile matter, oxygen, &c., —- - ou al bea 
100.0 


“No. 7. This is the middle ply of the ore in the bed near Mason’s 
coal mines. It is found in a stratum of kidney-shaped balls, five inches 
thick. Its color, in fresh fractures, is dark bluish gray, surface splintery, 
occasionally giving conchoidal fractures, compact, and of uniform texture. 
Its specific gravity is 3.763. 


Heated to 320°, it loses. but - - - 0.2 per cent. 
Fully calcined, it loses in addition, - She At 
Treated with pure lime, it yields at once malleable 
iron with a little oxide, - - - 46, He 
- Farthy impurity, - - - - Ay Mic oh 
Oxygen, or wat - =n owe ot LOO ae 


“This stratum affords the richest ore which has fallen under my notice 
from any coal formation, for the sample above analyzed was not a surface 
specimen reduced to the state of a hydrate, but a well marked solid car- 
bonate, with only a thin surface coating of hydrate. It will probably be 
found expedient to work it with either No. 1 or No. 3, or with both to- 
gether, in order to obtain a good soft pig metal. 

“No. 8. This ore is found in the upper of the three bands already 
mentioned, It generally presents the appearance of nearly square blocks, 
or brick-shaped masses, seven inches thick. Above this ply of ore, is a 
course of balls separated from !t only by a few inches of friable sandstone. 
A coarse quartzose grit lies a little higher. The aspect of this ore, when 
it has not undergone any decomposition by atmospheric influences, is a — 
dark gray color, a rather rough surface, and a mixture of shining metallic 
particles interspersed through the body of the ore, as well as on its sur- 
face. Its specific gravity is 3.4783. 


At 320°, it loses, - as - - 0.4 per-cent. 
At a white heat it undergoes decomposition, and 
loses, - - - - - Beso 


Tt smelts without difficulty, and yields of pig iron, 43.3 
It contains of earthy impurities, fusing into a dirty 


white cinder, - = - - NS Lai Leh me 
And the oxygen is, - - - - i iene 
100.0 


“The pig metal obtained was soft, gray and tough. There is no doubt 
in my mind, that this ore will be found to work well either by itself, or 
with the other ores found in this bed. 


Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 147 


“No. 9. This specimen was from the stratum of balls three inches 
thick, in the above mentioned opening. - Its color is yellowish or dark 
brown. Its specific gravity is 3.4977. 


At 320°, itloses - - - - 0.5 per cent. 

Calcined to whiteness, it loses in addition, mah OO’ he riy i 

And when smelted, yields of pig metal, - - 456 “ 

Of earthy impurities, it contains, - ee OS 

And of oxygen, - - - se ag ce 
100.0 


“The iron is moderately tough, and of a light color, appearing rather 
less favorable for foundry purposes than the results of the other plies in 
the same bed. 

“No. 10. This specimen was found on Wagner’s run, the precise ele- 
vation not ascertained. It appears in many respects analogous to the ore 
in the 374 inch bed on Fall Creek, being a conglomerate of pebbly mas- 
ses of clay ironstone, with a cement of earthy and ferruginous matter. 
Its specific gravity is 2.8238. 


It contains of water, - - Olin - 9.2 per cent. 

It yields of pig metal, - - ° - PBs) ey 

It contains of earthy impurities, - - 50. ra 

Oxygen, - - - - - 11. " 
100.0 


“No. 11. This specimen, as well as the preceding, was found in the 
channel of Wagner’s run, but as there can be no doubt of its having be- 
longed to a regular stratum of ore not yet explored, but of considerable 
thickness, it was deemed expedient to examine its properties. Its spe- 
cific gravity is 3.5065. 

“Tt yields 50 per cent. of pig metal, soft, gray and tough. It resembles 
strongly the ores found in the bed of Long Valley creek, in some parts in 
large quantities, and also has a striking similarity to the upper ply in Ma- 
son’s ore pit. It contains but 8 per cent. of matter insoluble in acids. 

“From the foregoing details, it will be observed that the yield of the 
several ores is as follows, viz.— 


No. 1. - 32.5 INO. 7 - 45.0 
coolio ange 2 8 - A883 
3. - 44.0 St - 45.6 
A, - 53.4 10. - 29.8 
5. - 48.4 11. - 50.0 
6. - 29.4 Mean, 40.5 per cent. 


“ Fire Clay.—At least three strata of fire clay have been observed on 
the waters of Fall Creek; one 16 inches thick, under the 373 inch bed 
of iron ore ; one 4 feet thick, above the 10 feet bed of ore and iron shale; 


148 Prof. Johnson’s Report on the Bradford Coal Field. 


and another still higher, accompanying a bed of ore under the coarse 
gritstone or conglomerate. This clay, of the 4 feet bed, has a dark gray 
color, compact structure, and possesses a specific gravity of 2.646. In 
the fire it becomes reddish white, but is otherwise unchanged except by 
cracking, as it shrinks, and displaying on the exterior some traces of oxide 
of iron, 

“ Limestone.—Limestone occurs in such quantities as to leave no doubt 
of its constituting a regular part of the formation. It was observed not 
only in the bed of Carbon creek, but also in that of the Long valley, Fall 
creek, and some other tributaries. It is of the gray fossiliferous variety 
and belongs in the strata below the coal. The fact of having noticed 
some of it not far from the great falls of Fall creek, has induced me to 
believe that it must be found in place within a moderate distance of the 
bottom of those falls. 

““ A sample of the limestone picked up in the channel of Long Valley 
creek, possesses a specific gravity of 2.7054. 

“Tt contains about 40 per cent. carbonate of lime. 


“ 3.9 ** peroxide of iron. 
i 56.5 ‘* insoluble argillaceous matter. 
100.0 


“This limestone will probably be found sufficiently pure to serve as a 
flux for any of the ores above enumerated. 

“As the valley of the Towanda creek, below its junction with the Car- 
bon creek, presents many localities where fossiliferous limestone of lower 
strata than that above described, are brought into view, it was deemed 
proper to make also some trials to determine its degree of purity: its 
color is reddish gray. Its specific gravity is 2.658. 


It yielded of carbonate of lime, - Se ee 45.5 per cent. 
sf peroxide of iron, - - - Site 
‘ earthy argillaceous matter and sand, - 49.0 “ 
100.0 


Besides the geological character of this county, and an analy- 
sis of the minerals, Prof. Johnson has given some valuable state- 
ments respecting the timber, water power, and facilities for trans- 
portation afforded by a continuously descending line of railroad, 
of which he has traced the route and given the details of grade, 
direction, and expense. The amount of surveying and levelling, 
including that which refers to geological, as well as to topograph- 
ical purposes, amounts to upwards of thirty-five miles, and when 
the direction of this part of the work is added to the actual explora- 
tion of a wide tract of wilderness, in which scarcely a bridle path - 
is said to have existed before it was cut out by the exploring par- 


References to North American Localities. 149 


ty, and in a region where tents and extemporaneous log cabins 
were the only lodgings, it will require no great effort to conceive 
the amount of labor which has been bestowed on the subject of 
this report. The only previous survey of the Bradford district, 
was, we believe, a partial one, made a few years since by R. C. 
Taylor, Esq., but we are not aware that even of this any account 
has been published. The State geological survey of Pennsylva- 
nia has not yet reached Bradford county, but we cannot doubt 
that when it arrives in this region, the investigations of Prof. 
Rogers will fully confirm those of Prof. Johnson. 


Arr. XIX.—References to North American localities, to be appli- 
ed in illustration of the equivalency of Geological Deposits on 
the eastern and western sides of the Atlantic; by Amos Eaton. 
Brongniart’s theoretical table of succession, is adopted. 


BakEWELL, in his popular and very instructive treatise on geol- 
ogy, manifests a preference for the views of Brongniart. Ameri- 
can geologists who have attempted the application, find a remark- 
able accordance of his system with our own rocks. 

I limit myself, in. this article, to definite American localities, for 
fixing the limits between the seven classes of M. A. Brongniart, 
as applied to this country. 

For the purpose of making myself understood by those who 
may not have seen the original, I insert a familiar view of the 
outline of his system, as first published in 1829; which, as the 
author has signified to me in the present year, he still adopts. 

Ihave been highly interested and much instructed, by the 
striking application of the groups of De La Beche, to our rocks. 
But the geological deposits of England, appeared to me, (from his. 
descriptions, ) to be too limited in extent for giving laws in detail 
to our vastly extended deposits.* 

BxONGNIART’S SEVEN CLASSES OF ROCKS AND EARTHS (Roches 
et Terrains). General groups of organic remains are chiefly 


* About seventeen years since, I was severely censured in a public journal, for 
adopting De-Luc’s suggestion, that European geologists must cross the Atlantic, to 
find strata of sufficient extent for giving laws of generalization to their own rocks. 
I believe I can congratulate our scientific friends almost with the assurance, that we 
are to expect visiters of similar views, the present summer, of very high standing. 


150 References to North American Localities. © 


from M. Adolphe Brongniart’s Ancient Vegetation of the Earth. 
See pp. 315 to 329, Vol. xxx1v, Am. Jour. Science. 

1. Prumitive cuass. Agalysient, Gr. ago, to effect, luo, (Luso,) 
overthrowing or breaking up by internal force. 

Contains no organic remains ; but a few ground pines, (Lycopo- 
dee,) grew on the surface, and are now found in the lowest rocks 
of the next class—particularly the argillite. 

2. Transition ciass. Hemilysient, Gr. hemi, half, luo, break- 
ing up by internal force. 

Contains, in its lowest strata, some remains of ground pine; 
which, in some localities, are converted into coal (anthracite). 
Some chambered mollusca and some trilobites are found here, 
together with Crinoidee and fungites. Vast quantities of ground 
pines, rushes and ferns, grew on the surface, which are now con- 
verted into the coal formation of the next class. 

3. Lower seconpary cuiass. Abyssient, Gr. abussos, deepest 
abyss of the ocean. ‘The sediment of the unfathomable abyss of 
oceans ; from which the waters have retired by the elevation of 
the sediment, or by depressions of former elevations, or into deep 
caverns. | 

Contains vast quantities of coal in some of its lowest strata, 
made of the ground pine, rushes and ferns, which grew on the 
surface of the preceding class. 

4. Upper seconpary cuass. Pelagient, Gr. pelagos, the ocean. 
Sediment of the ocean of ordinary depth, from which the waters 
have retired. j 

Contains some remains of Coniferee and Cycadee (pine, cedar, 
yew, sago-plant). Some of the uppermost deposits contain verte- 
brated animals, such as gigantic lizards. 

5. Tertiary ciass. Thalassient, Gr. thalassa, sea. Sedi- 
ment of seas, or mediterranean seas. 

Contains mammiferous animals; and broad-leaved trees, as 
birch, poplar, elm, walnut, maple. 

6. Divuvian cuass. Clysmient, Gr. kluzo, to deluge or in- 
undate. Sediment of extensive floods or deluges. 

Contains mammalia resembling those now on the earth; but 
not the same species. Also recent vegetables and fresh-water 
shells; but no human remains nor works of art. 

7. Avuuvian crass. Alluvient, Lat: alluo, to wash. Sedi- 
ment from present washing of rivers, torrents, é&c. 


References to North American. Localities. 151 


Contains present species of animals and vegetables ; also works 
of art. 

Limit between Primitive (Agalysient) and Transition (Hemi- 
lysient) rocks. 

The well known Stockbridge marble, fomuuitixe or granular 
limerock, ) is the upper stratum of the primitive rocks of Brong- 
niart. A splendid specimen is the great City Hall of New York.* 

Beginning at West Stockbridge in Massachusetts, this range 
runs northerly through Williamstown, (the College stands on it, ) 
Middlebury in Vermont, (very near the College,) and extends 
onwards far into Lower Canada. Southerly it runs a little west 
of the southwest corner of Massachusetts, west of Taughconnuck 
Mountain, to Barnagat on Hudson River. Crossing the Hudson, 
it passes southwesterly between Newburgh and Butter Hill, of 
the Highiands. Passing onwards in a southwesterly direction, it 
crosses into New Jersey, Pennsylvania, &c., unbroken, into the 
Southern States. Ihave traced it between three and four hun- 
dred miles. It varies exceedingly in its texture and constituents. 
It often becomes very perfect dolomite—is often friable, and fre- 
quently contains pyrites and micaceous masses. It never con- 
tains a fragment of organic remains. 

The Argillaceous slate meets the granular limerock (primitive) 
near the meeting boundaries of Massachusetts and New York, at 
and near the northwest corner of Massachusetts. Near the east 
foot of Williamstown Mt., three or four miles west of the Col- 
lege, isa very abrupt meeting of primitive limerock and transi- 
tion argillite. Immediately adjoining the limerock the slate has 
_ a talcose glazing, as described by Brongniart; but the organic. re- 
mains in the Hoosick slate-quarry, demonstrate it to be a transi- 
tion rock. Our State paleontologist, (Mr. Conrad,) has not yet 
given us a name for our abundant petrifaction in this rock. I 
must, therefore, describe it. From Hoosick slate-quarry to the 
quarry in Dutchess county, (a distance of sixty miles,) and from 
Massachusetts line to Hudson river, (about twenty miles,) we 
find what appears like the fruit-spike of the Lycopodium rupes- 
tre, (festoon pine, ) about two and three inches in length, and one 
eighth of an inchin diameter. I have seen more than twenty of 
them in a square foot of a piece of roofing slate. At Hudson 
city, on the river bank, it abounds in the siliceous slate or basan- 


* One and sometimes two alternations of talcose slate with this rock, precede this 
locality. 


152 References to North American Localities. 


ite, which is imbedded in argillite. It is unquestionably a veg- 
etable petrifaction, and exceedingly abundant throughout more 
than two thousand square miles of surface. This being, geolo- 
gically, the lowest rock in North America, which contains organi- 
zed remains, its meeting with the primitive limerock, is the meet- 
ing of the primitive and transition strata. 

In tracing the localities of the meeting of these classes, we 
will begin at West Stockbridge, where we began with the prim- 
itive limerock; because the argillite 1s co-extensive with that 
limerock. It runs north, and forms the vast prominences called 
Bird’s Mountains, between Rutland and Poultney in Vermont. 
It continues northerly, with various degrees of elevation, to a 
great distance into Canada. It runs southerly, on and near the 
east boundary of the state of New York, curving westerly along 
the westerly side of TTaughconnuck Mountain, its western part 
forming the banks and bed of Hudson River. Its eastern limit 
is between Newburgh and the Highlands, where its meeting with 
the primitive limerock is very manifest. Poughkeepsie on the 
east side of the Hudson, and Newburgh on the west, stand on the 
argillite. | 

Limit between Transition (Hemilysient) and Secondary, tower 
and upper (Abyssient and Pelagient) rocks. 

In article No. IV, published in Vol. xxxv1, p. 61, and note, p. 
198, of this Journal, I endeavored to prove that the rock which 
I had named Corniferous Limerock,* is the best North American 
standard of reference for making out our equivalents to European 
rocks; particularly as it is Brongniart’s upper transition rock.+ 
Unless state geologists are to abandon geology as a science, and 
to amuse us with local names, insulated and heteromorphous in 
character, they must make it their chief object to find out trans- 
atlantic equivalents, since we cannot doubt, that such may be as- 
certained. I was delighted (after being snares with some 
state geologists’ reports) to see the report of the legislative 
committee of the State of New York, (dated April 28th, 1840,) 
in which the sentiments of the committee cannot be misunder- 


* This name I adopted many years since, as a mere temporary name, because 
I could not reconcile its characters to mountain limerock, either by foreign de- 
scriptions or by specimens in Gibbs’s cabinet. Now I am satisfied that this name, 
or some other new name, is essential. See the confusion in De La Beche, Bake- 
well, Brongniart, &c., among the names grauwacke, lime grauwacke, mountain 
limerock, &c. 
t Icalled it the upper rock of lower secondary in some publications. 


References to North American Localities. 153 


stood. Our state geologists, it is to be hoped, will adopt the 
maxim, ‘“ verbum sat.” 

On reviewing my notes and specimens since I wrote the article 
of Vol. xxxv1, p. 61, (to which I refer the reader, ) I feel compelled 
to say, that the corniferous limerock is equivalent to some part 
or most of the grauwacke group of De La Beche, the grauwacke 
limestone of some English writers, the grauwacke slate of Bake- 
well, perhaps the carboniferous rock of Conybeare; and surely 
the upper transition (or one of the Psammite) rocks of Brongniart. 
It is true, that in our country, it is uniformly, almost wholly, a 
limerock, and always contains hornstone. But its relative posi- 
tion, and its numerous organic remains, are unequivocal. I have 
found in corniferous limerock, (and have them now before me,) 
seven species of Cyathophyllum, one Producta, one Belerophon, 
two Orthocera, one Calymene, and one Asaphus, which De La 
Beche quotes as being found in the equivalent rock in Europe, 
which he places in his grauwacke group. 

If we should consider our rock as extending upwards in alter- 
nating portions, so as to compass all De La Beche’s grauwacke 
group, we might attempt to make out the following equivalents. 
Beginning on the encrinal limerock at Fort Plain on the Mo- 
hawk, we find real carboniferous grauwacke, containing thin lay- 
ers of anthracite, and three species of trilobites. On this, if we 
proceed southwesterly, we find the red sandstone, containing vast 
salt springs, froma little west of Utica to Queenstown in Canada, 
beyond Niagara River. For fer carbonate of Brongniart we find 

a vast stratum of lenticular iron ore. Our fetid stratum of geo- 
diferous limerock containing gypsum may be the calcaire fetide 
celluleux et gypse of Brong. And our hydraulic cement, hasoid, 
may be at least compared with the lias of Europe. Ido not pro- 
nounce these to be equivalents, as they may be an older exhibi- 
tion of arepeated group. But if the objection to our cornifer- 
ous limerock is removed, these rocks ought to be reviewed, and their 
organic relics carefully compared. In this case, organic remains 
alone must decide, on account of the vague character of Huro- 
pean grauwacke. 

Limit between Secondary (Pelagient) and Tertiary ('Thalas- 
sient). 

The limit between Brongniart’s secondary and tertiary depos- 
its is most perfectly and definitely presented along the south 


shore of Raritan Bay in New Jersey, from South Amboy to Nev- 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 20 - 


154 References to North American Localities. 


ersink. Most of the towns in the counties of Monmouth and 
Middlesex afford equally satisfactory illustrations; but they are 
not so open to inspection in all places. The uppermost of the 
secondary deposits is the cretaceous formation, most) perfectly 
characterized ; but it contains no white chalk. 'The lowest of 
the tertiary is the plastic clay; but the overlying marly clay and 
marine sand, generally including bog ore, &c., are most extensive. 
Dr. Morton sent numerous specimens of the cretaceous deposit 
to Brongniart and Mantell, with its organic remains ; and has also 
taken other means to put the question forever at rest.* Every 
potter-baker in New England, New York, and New Jersey, can 
testify to the character of the plastic clay, which rests on the green 
sand variety of the chalk (cretaceous) formation. 

The student, or geological surveyor, is requested to take a boat 
from South Amboy to Middletown Point, along the south shore 
of the bay. Here he will find lignite and minute specks of am~ 
ber, embraced in plastic clay, and marly clay, (marine marie, ) pre- 
cisely as described and drawn by Brongniart in his geological ta- 
bles. It isin some places at the water’s edge, at others high in 
the banks. He should then take a view of the two deposits 
within a circle of four or five miles, about Middletown Academy. 
He will be forcibly impressed with the geological history of that 
district. The cretaceous formation seems to have been the up- 
permost deposit for many ages; and to have been moulded in- 
to rounded hillocks, with some gorges cut by rivulets and some by 
large streams. While in this state a new disturbing force threw 
upon it the plastic clay, the marly clay, and marine sand. In 
some places these new tertiary deposits did not cover the tops of 
the hillocks, but left rounded elevations of this secondary depos- 
it, higher than the more recent tertiary. 

If the student carries in his mind these views of the meeting 
of the two classes along the southern parts of Staten Island, Mar- 
tha’s Vineyard, &c., he will find numerous evidgnees of the same 
formation underlaid by red marl, sandstone, &e. 

I am not able to refer definitely to Brongniart’s pot of subdi- 
vision of his secondary formation into upper and lower secondary. 
It is at the meeting of the foreign as and Jura limestone. Bake- 
well says that lias clay separates oolite (of Jura limestone) from 
the lias beneath it. As genuine oolite has been found by Dr. 
Horton in New Jersey, near the south line of Orange county, 


“* The opinion of these eminent men in support of Dr. Morton’s views, has been fully 
expressed in this Journal. 


References to North American Localities. 155 


(probably extending into it) here our state geologists ought to 
search for the true lias. 'Two miles north of Knox village in Al- - 
bany county, is the genuine coral rag, as many foreign geologists 
have decided. ‘This according to Brongniart, is immediately a- 
bove the uppermost of the true Jura limerocks. If our state geol- 
ogists will begin at this rock and descend to Livingston’s Cave, 
making careful comparisons with the organic remains, I think 
some valuable discoveries may be made. ‘The strata are numer- 
ous and thin. A little below the coral rag is a coarse sandy rock 
which breaks by natural cleavages into most perfeet parallelopi- 
peds. It abounds in univalve shells—probably some of the Bel- 
erophon. Laivingston’s Cave is in a coarse, harsh, slaty sandrock. 
i have not. searched for its organic relics. Being in very ill 
health when I visited it, merely learned that it was entitled to 
particular examination. 

Linut between Tertiary and Diluvial deposits ('Thalassient and 
Clysmient). 

The most perfect locality for the illustration of this limit, is 
along the Erie Canal from Rome to Pittsford, a distance of 130 
miles. Here we see at short intervals, gorges in the tertiary clay, 
sand or tufa, of greater or less extent and depth. ‘These gorges 
are generally filled or partly filled with diluvial deposits of vegeta- 
ble matter, shells, gravel, &c. which must have been washed in, 
by waters elevated beyond the limit of any existing cause. Hence 
it must have been caused by adeluge. At low levels, diluvial de- 
posits are known by their resemblance to those of higher eleva- 
tion. Hence we know, that the city of Troy, N. Y. is chiefly 
built on diluvion ; because it is made up of similar materials with 
that of the great diluvial trough of Erie canal and of other simi- 
lar deposits; which required a deluge for their construction. We 
have a general diluvial deposit, which I have called a diluvial 
mantle, or ultimate diluvion. This is the last sediment of a gen- 
eral deluge. It isa yellowish gray, or grayish yellow covering 
of all other deposits in all ancient uncultivated forests. It is call- 
ed the loam over hard-pan in New Hampshire, Vermont, western 
New York, &c. 

Limit between Diluvial and Alluvial deposits (Clysmient sa 
Alluvient). 

These last deposits (which are all necessarily produced by wa- 
ter of ordinary elevation) are alluvial, unless their analogy of 
character demonstrates them to be diluvial. 


156 References to North American Localities. 


Alluvion is divided into Caillouteux, gravel, (as below the sloop- 
dam in Troy.) Limoneux, loam and fine sand, (as at and near 
the Overslaugh below Albany.) Phytogene, peat and vegetable 
loam, as in all cases where vegetable matter has become pulveru- 
lent or turfy. A remarkable locality is to be seen along the bank 
of Erie Canal, west of Nine-Mile-Creek, for several miles. It 
generally overlies the tufa in that locality; but it is not necessa- 
rily a relative position. 

The limit between the tertiary and diluvial, and between the 
diluvial and alluvial, is truly a matter of common sense. I would 
apologize for attempting this common sense limit, were it not ex- 
cusable on the ground of uniformity. 

With the exception of Brongniart’s division of his secondary 
strata into wpper and lower, I think I have referred to satisfactory 
American localities, for finding out the true limits of all his class-— 
es. It is true that every geologist cannot afford time for visiting 
the localities referred to: but geology as a science, is a book of 
vast geographical extent, and no index to this department of the 
study of nature, can be sufficient to present to the student, a view 
of the great book of this giant science. State geologists are dif- 
ferently situated. 

With the hope that this bein from my journals of nee: 
seventeen thousand miles of travel, (more than a moiety at the ex- 
pense of the Hon. 8. Van Rensselaer, ) arranged according to Brong- 
niart, may be useful to the zealous student, and juvenile state _ 
geologist, I camer aa the humble servant of all zealots in 
the science. Amos Eaton. 

Rensselaer Institute, Troy, N. Y., June, 1840. 


P. S.—Catskill Mountain presents a fair exhibition of the Al- 
legany, Catskill, and Helderburgh range, at a point nearly west 
of the village of Catskill; taking a transverse section of about 
fourteen miles. The rock on the bank of the river east of the 
village is transition grauwacke. This passes under the calcifer- 
ous sandrock, best for examination and its usual abundance of 
quartz crystals, two miles north of the village. Both rocks pass 
under corniferous limerock at two miles west of the village, on 
the Mountain road. The last passes under the true Psammite of 
Brongniart, which contains bituminous shale and a little coal 
resting on corniferous limerock. This is seen in the south bank 
of Lake Erie, at the water’s edge and a little below; on Seneca 
Lake, Cayuga Lake, é&c. 


Notice of Minerals from New Holland. 157 


Arr. XX.—WNotice of Minerals from New Holland ; by 
EF, Aucrr. 


Read before the Boston Society of Natural History, June 4, 1840. 


For thé minerals of which I propose to offer a brief notice on 
the present occasion, I am indebted to John Eldridge, Esq., of 
Yarmouth, Mass., who very liberally permitted me to select them 
from a collection purchased by him several years since, while on 
a visit to Calcutta, to which city they had recently been breught 
as ‘‘curlosities,” by a person from the coast of New Holland. 
Their exact locality it is not in the power of Mr. E. to give me, 
a circumstance to be regretted, as the information would give ad- 
ditional interest to the specimens, by directing future discoverers 
to the spot where others of still greater interest might probably 
be met with. They comprise several species of the genus Kou- 
phone-Spar, with varieties of rhombohedral and uncleavable 
quartz of Prof. Mohs. Their uniform gangue is amygdaloidal 
trap, to which they are attached in geodes, or groups of implanted 
erystals, or in compact nodules filling up the cavities of the rock. 

This trap is exactly similar to that brought from Ireland, the 
Hebrides, and the Ferroe islands. There are a few masses of a 
more compact character among the collection, giving evidence of 
the contiguous occurrence of genuine basalt ; thus offering a new 
object of interest, which we hope will induce some enterprising 
naturalist to explore this region, now that the facilities of com- 
munication with it have so much increased. Less is known of 
its mineralogical productions than of any other department of its 
natural history, though the public has been favored with the jour- 
nals of several scientific expeditions to Australia. ‘These works 
I have consulted with the view of finding the probable locality 
of the minerals now referred to, and I have thus obtained infor- 
mation which applies to a few of them. I find mention of both 
amygdaloid and basalt in the interior, as well as upon the sea 
coast; but these rocks are spoken of only as affording remarka- 
ble picturesque or geological scenery, and not in reference to their 
contained minerals. Among the specimens brought home by 
Capt. King, who made a survey of the western coast of Australia 
between the years 1818 and 1822, were agate, jasper, carnelian, 
green chalcedony, and heliotrope, bearing with them portions of 


158 Notice of Minerals Srom New Holland. 


the trap rock, but unaccompanied by any of the zeolites.* In 
describing the same class of rocks, Major Mitchell, the author of 
a more recent and fuller journal of observations,} has enumerated 
the following substances, in addition to the quartzose minerals 
referred to, forming large veins and masses in the trap: “‘decom- 
posing feldspar,” ‘granular feldspar,” “crystals of glassy feld- 
spar,” and “laminated feldspar.” As these substances are not 
very common in secondary or basaltic trap, I would suggest the 
possibility of the author’s having mistaken their true character, 
especially as he was obliged to pass rapidly from place to place, 
and does not appear to have collected specimens of them for sub- 
sequent examination. 'To the unpractised eye, efflorescent zeo- 
lite might be. readily mistaken for decomposed feldspar, and other 
species of zeolite or carbonate of lime, confounded with the other 
varieties of feldspar. We must think it possible, therefore, that 
if Major Mitchell had given the same attention to crystals, which 
he has bestowed upon plants, many interesting substances, over- 
looked or mistaken by him, would have been brought to light, 
and the mineralogical interest of his work greatly enhanced. It 
would appear, then, that none of the Kouphone-spars have been 
described by either of the writers whose observations have reach- 
ed us, and Iam not aware that any of a more recent date have 
‘appeared. They are, I believe, the first and only collection of 
minerals which has been brought to this country from New Hol- 
land, and certainly their uncommon beauty, and the perfection 
of their crystalline forms demand for them some public record. 
Apophyllte. (Pyramidal Kouphone-spar, M.)—There are pe- 
culiarities in the secondary modifications of the crystals of this 
mineral, as well as in the general appearance of the spec.mens, 
which evidently indicate their having come from localities quite 
distinct. In one, Mésotype épointée of Haiiy, the primary square 
prism is in elongated crystals, replaced on all the solid angles by 
triangular planes, and often so deeply as entirely to obliterate the 


* See appendix to King’s narrative, drawn up by Dr. Fitton. Analogous speci- 
mens are also described in the journal of M. Peron, one of the naturalists to the 
French expedition to New Holland, at about the same period. 

t In two vols. 8vo. London, 1838. It is surprising that this work has not re- 
ceived in this country more notice and commendation. It is certainly a most re- 
markable work, full of stirring incident. The author has penetrated into the 
interior of New Holland, where he informs us he has found the craters of recent 
volcanoes, and immense mountains of lava. 


Notice of Minerals from New Holland. 159 


terminal primary faces P, at both extremities of the crystals; thus 
tending to two four-sided pyramids having square bases, as in 
Fig. 1. But as the crystals are usually implanted on the matrix 
in a vertical position, they commonly present only one of the pyra- 
mids, the apex being entire, or showing a portion (sometimes only 
visible by the microscope) of the summits of the prism, as in 
Fig. 2. Sometimes one of the faces of the pyramids is conside- 
rably extended at the expense of the two adjoining ones. 
Fig. 1. 


The lateral edges from a toa, Fig. 1, are always replaced, some- 
times by a tangent plane, inclining equally upon the two adja- 
cent lateral planes, but most frequently by two planes, each of 
these being again followed by another very narrow plane, leaving 
scarcely any remaining portion of the primary faces; thus impart- 
ing to the crystals an oval or cylindrical shape, and, in connexion 
with the low pyramids of the summits, rather a barrel-shaped 
appearance. Fig. 3 represents one of the crystals of occasional 
occurrence with the bevelment of the edges, the decrement of 
the summit being complete and showing the whole of the low- 
er pyramid, where it unites wita the matrix. Fig. 4 represents 
another of these crystals with the additional planes. 'The dotted 
lines on these figures are intended to show deep grooves, or striz, 
which extend longitudinally along the faces of the crystals, or 
parallel with their prismatic axes, and probably indicate the faces 
of cleavage in this direction. This cleavage, however, is ob- 
tained with great difficulty, as is the case with this mineral from 
other localities. ‘There are also transverse striz on some of the 
crystals parallel with the opposite cleavage, appearing very rarely 
upon the acuminating faces. The larger crystals, which are 


160 Notice of Minerals from New Holland. 


nearly of the size of the last figure, are of a grayish white color and 
nearly opake; the smaller are colorless and transparent. ‘These 
erystals are highly axotomous, the folia separating with great 
readiness parallel to P, and the faces of this cleavage present a 
high pearly lustre, though not superior to that of some of the 
faces of crystallization in the same direction. Faces M, M vit- 
reous, some smooth and shining, others roughened and dull. F'a- 
ces a, a of the pyramids, with few exceptions, perfectly smooth 
and brilliant, pearly. 'The proportion between the length and 
breadth of these crystals is variable ; but in the smaller and most 
perfect ones it is not less than four to one. i 

The other crystals of apophyllite alluded to, are of greater di- 
mensions, measuring frequently an inch through the vertical axis 
of the prism. They are derived from a square prism, scarcely 
distinguishable, in the comparative length of the lateral and basal 
edges of the crystal, from a cube, and present only simple re- | 
placements on the solid angles, by perfectly smooth and brilliant 
planes of a high pearly lustre, resembling specimens in the wri- 
ter’s collection from Iceland.* The lateral faces are frequently 
composed of curved laminz ; and the mineral sometimes presents 
compound varieties, consisting of lesser individuals, flattened or 
compressed, so as to show only portions of their planes, or sec- 
tions of smaller crystals, which have been prevented, by their 
mutual contact, from assuming their full and perfect proportions. 
These are united by similar parts, so as to have their similar faces 
in parallel position with each other. The surfaces of several of 
the larger crystals are free from these combinations, having bright 
polished planes, measurable by the common goniometer. The 
amygdaloid to which they are attached, abounds in vesicular cav- 
ities, some of which are filled by green earth and hollow nodules 
of chalcedony. 

Heulandite. (Hemi-prismatic Kouphone- 
spar, M.)—The individuals of this species pre- 
sent the primary form, replaced on the obtuse 
solid angles by very minute scalene triangular 
planes, resembling the subjoined Fig. 5, and 


* T have in my possession, (obtained in Nova Scotia Jast year,) several large trans- 
parent crystals of this mineral, some of which are replaced on the solid angles by 
three planes, as in the case of analcime ; a modification whieh I do not find men- 
tioned as having before been observed in the crystals of this species. 


Notice of Minerals from New Holland. 161 


being usually of nearly the same size. Color, pure white ; lustre 
of P, pearly ; secondary ‘planes a, f, vitreous; but the faces M, T 
possess a dull, waxy, or opalescent lustre, which I have not before 
observed in the crystals of this mineral, apparently, however, con- 
fined to the surface ; and the same faces are more or less curved 
or hollowed, so as not to admit of measurement by the goniome- 
ter. Some of these faces form a regular uniform curve, inclining 
equally towards the terminal planes P, obliterating the small re- 
placements a, f, which are usually very distinct. 

Stilbite..~ (Prismatoidal Kouphone-spar, M.)—The crystals 
generally are not well defined, the masses consisting of pure 
white pearly folia, forming sheafs or fasciculated groups, showing 
at their free extremities, only imperfect crystalline faces of a low 
pyramid, inclining from the solid angles of the prism. Some of 
these masses, composed entirely of the stilbite, are of a globular 
form, presenting on fracture, a radiation of fibres from a common 
centre. A few small, but very brilliant, and perfectly transpa- 
rent crystals of this mineral, were however seen in some of = 
vesicular cavities of the amygdaloid, exhibiting the pri- Fie. 6 
mary prism, compressed into low six-sided tables, the 
four replacements at the summits of the prism being yr 
narrowed down so as to form regular beveled edges upon 
the four corresponding sides of the tables, producing a 
form nearly similar to Fig. 6, taken from the System of \ 
Mineralogy by Beudant, Vol. 2d, plate x, fig. 62. 

- Mesotype of Phillips. (Peritomous Kouphone-spar of Haidin- 
ger.)—A nest of the crystals of this mineral was met with in the 
form of small implanted individuals, occupying the cavity of a 
mass of quartz and chalcedony. They are in elongated rhombic 
prisms, colorless, transparent, and of a glassy lustre; but a few 
of them have a silky, fibrous appearance, similar to some of the 
specimens met with in the more ancient lavas of Vesuvius. They 
do not form groups of united, divergent crystals. 

Rhombohedral Quartz.—I was so fortunate as to find among 
this collection, besides several of the sub-species of this mineral, 
two or three specimens exhibiting the primary obtuse rhomboid 
in great perfection, and of considerable size; some of them mea- 
suring half an inch’across their planes. They present highly 


polished surfaces, are transparent and colorless; and it is evident, 
Vol, xxxix, No. 1 Cea 1840. 21 


162 Notice of Minerals from New Holland. 


I think, that they cannot be regarded as pseudomorphs of any 
other mineral, from the agreement in the value of their angles as 
measured by the goniometer, compared with those of the obtuse 
rhomboid established as the fundamental form of the species, as 
well as from the fact that the crystals are imbedded in cacholong, 
which now occupies the interior of the geodes. If pseudomor- 
phous, the mineral of which they are imitative must have been 
removed so as to admit of a subsequent infiltration of the cacho- 
long. It is more probable that the quartz and cacholong were 
formed at the same time, the latter affording a soft matrix in which. 
the crystalline molecules could freely arrange Beret ge accord- 
ing to the laws which governed them. 

Two other modifications of rhombohedral quartz were met 
with among these specimens, of comparatively rare occurrence. 
In one, the primary rhomboid, by a very deep truncation. of its 
lateral solid angles, has given rise to long six-sided prisms, termi- 
nated by ttihedral summits, there being no triangular replace- 
ments upon the upper edges of the rhomboid by 
which the usual six-sided pyramids are produced. 
See Fig. 7. On some of the rhomboids, however, 
which do not present any portion of the faces par- 
allel with their axes, we may observe the small 
triangular planes which finally produce the six-sided 
pyramids. ‘The terminal primary planes P, are 
smooth and bright, while the elongated faces r, 
are curved and roughened by transverse strie. Sometimes the 
usual six-sided prisms, terminated by similar pyramids, have their 
alternate lateral solid angles replaced by small rhombic planes, 
inclining equally upon the sides of the prism, producing the quartz 
rhombifére of Hauy. The sides are also striated parallel with 
their edges of combination with the faces of the pyramids. This 
author, (Traité de Minéralogie, tome second, p. 413,) describes 
these rhombs as existing only on the alternate angles, but in the 
later works of Mohs, Beudant. and others, they are figured also 
upon the intermediate angles, being always represented as cover- 
ing but a very small portion of the acuminating pyramids. -Ac- 
cording to Phillips, the “ Bornholm diamonds” afford the most 
perfect examples of this modification. 

Green Chalcedony and Heliotrope.—This first mentioned min- 
eral is of a deep serpentine green color. It breaks with a con- 


Fig. 7. . 


Notice of Minerals from New Holland. 163 


choidal fracture, disclosing in the centre of the mass, blood red 
spots of jasper, and thus constitutes the heliotrope. There are 
spots also of a lighter green, and bluish white chalcedony, inter- 
spersed with the deeper ground, which, if polished, would render 
the specimens highly ornamental in jewelry. | 

Ribbon Agate and Moss Agate.—These two interesting vari- 
eties appear in the same specimens. The branching fibres or 
dendrites of the latter, of a brown or reddish brown color, are 
imbedded in a deep ground of transparent blue and white chal- 
cedony, the white chalcedony appearing like a delicate cloud 
passing through the mass, while the former is produced by paral- 
lel zigzag lines of a pure milk white chalcedony, alternating 
with narrow stripes of the same blue ground;——-the parallelism 
forming a beautiful border to the specimens, and enclosing the 
curious moss-like ramifications which are characteristic of this 
variety. In one specimen, the green chalcedony has assumed the 
branching form, and is freely distributed through the same ground 
of blue and white. If polished, these several varieties will vie 
in beauty with the finest oriental specimens. They are usually 
more or less accompanied by masses of pure opake white chalce- 
dony, and-also by a stalactical, botryoidal variety of several shades 
of color, interspersed with quartz crystals, and attached to portions 
of the trap. 

Cacholong.—This variety forms thin crusts upon the surfaces 
of the fragments of quartz, and fills the space in which crystals 
of the latter have been formed. It presents the common charac- 
ters of opacity and adhesiveness to the tongue. It enters into the 
composition of a coarse ribbon agate. 3 

Chloropheite.—Small globular masses, soft, of a greenish color, 
translucent when first broken, and presenting a conchoidal frac- 
ture, occupy the vesicular cavities of the same amygdaloid which 
forms the gangue to the apophyllite before described. It is suffi- 
ciently distinguished from chlorite or green earth, and precisely 
resembles this mineral from Scotland. The opinion of most 
mineralogists is, that this mineral is only a variety of some other 
species, or the remains of some other, which has undergone decom- 
position. I am led to regard the latter opinion as the true one in 
the present case, from the occurrence of small granular concretions 
of what appears to be zeolite in the centre of those masses which 
have not entirely disappeared; though the infusibility of the de- 


164 Fragments of Natural History. 


composed mineral before the blowpipe, would seem to show that 
some of the ingredients of the zeolite have passed away. Shepard 
regards the mineral as decomposed mesotype. | 

_ In breaking some of the masses of quartz found in this collec- 
tion, I was struck with the singular opalescent and waxy appear- 
ance of a fibrous and radiated mineral, which was at first supposed 
to be stilbite or mesotype, and which forms veins and- globular 
knots within the quartz. Its characters before the blowpipe, 
soon satisfied me that iticould not be identical with either of these 
Species or with any other of the Kouphone-spars; nor am J ac- 
quainted with any other substance to which it bears any near 
resémblance in its general characters.. It may prove to be a new 
Species ; but the absence of any regular crystalline faces in the spe- 
cimens, compels me, thus far, to rely solely upon other peculiari- 
ties for the determination of its character. Of these, I have drawn 
up a description, which, however, I -have thought best not to pub- 
lish, until I am enabled to add the results of an analysis of the 
mineral now being made by my friend, Mr. Hayes, which will be 
in season for the next No. of the American Journal of Science. 


Arr. XXIL—Fragments of Natural History; by J. P. Kirr- 
LAND, M. D., Prof. Theo. and Prac. Phys., Medical College of 
Ohio, Cincinnati. 


‘“‘T write that which I have seen.”—Le Baum. 


No. 1—Habits of the Natades. 


~ Tur operations conducive to the life, sustenance, and propaga- 
tion of the bivalve mollusca inhabiting fresh waters, are usually 
carried on beneath the mud and sand, at the bottom of either 
deep or rapid streams, beyond the reach of human observation. 
Owing in part to this circumstance, but perhaps more to the fact 
that their testaceous coverings have attracted greater attention 
than the anatomical and physiological characters of the animals, 
their habits are at present very imperfectly understood. 

In Vol. xxvi, p. 117, of this Journal, I advanced the doctrine 
that these animals are androgynous, and not hermaphrodite, as 
was usually maintained ; also, that the sex of an individual of 
many of the species is indicated with certainty by the contour of 
the shell. 


Fragments of Natural History. 165 


This view of the subject has, I believe, borne the test of ex- 
amination, at least in our own country ; for, so far as I am in- 
formed, it is sustained by every American naturalist who has had 
opportunities for careful and extensive observation. It holds true 
in respect to the following species found in the waters of the 
western states, the animals of which I have repeatedly dissected 
at different seasons of the year, and under various circumstances 
and conditions, without finding in any instance an exception— 
to. wit: 


Unio Hsopus — of Green. Unio Rangianus ~ of Lea. 
“¢. alatus « Say. Hen suleabuss <2citwuuht pant 
¢ lapellus fo CeMuissimesipeid.e. a 
. hasutus Le pis f homer h tore tae 
“ovatus le ae “¢  foliatus “ Hildreth. 
“ compressus “ Lea. “yr onpiewlatysh wisn 
{| eapseeformis, 4° ¢  parvus “ Barnes. 
Be RCUECIUIMS oe 554.1086  otuberculatuse 0a" 
Ave vas enw ff “¢  luteolus “ Lam. 
“  irroratus | Alasmodonta calceolag of Lea. 
6 ee vaissimus (1-4 Anodonta decora Ceate fe 
“es ynultiplicatus’. Ae Ferussaciana ‘ “ 
*“ multiradiatus “ Ke plana Be 
<> ppileus® Bea 


In several of the above species, the difference in the outlines of 
the shells in the two sexes is slight, and might escape the atten- 
tion of a hasty observer, yet it is permanent and invariable in 
whatever locality they are found. 

There are certain other species in- which the sex is not attend- 
ed with any corresponding difference in the shell, at least so far 
as I have been able to discover. It may however yet be found 
upon further examination, that some minute difference has been 
overlooked. Of this Gi jracies are the following: 


* The pileus of Lea, and the personatus of Say, are the male and female of the 
same species. 

t The female is the U. velum of Say. 

t The U. donaciformis, is the female of this species. 

§ The Margaritana deltoidea of Lea is the male, varied from the usual form and 
size by the peculiar influence of the waters of Mill Creek, near Cincinnati. 


¢ 
\ 


166 Fragments of Natural History. 


Unio asperrimus of Lea. Unio-crassidens of Lamarck. 
“ Kirtlandianus “  « - yi oD MigMUsnaNe toe. 

** — coccineus “ Fiildreth.| “  verrucosus “ Barnes. 
phaseolus Bs oa “ melancorus “ Ra finesque. 
‘¢ _crassus « Say. 3 


Besides the species which I have referred to, our western wa- 
ters abound with many others, which I have not examined with 
sufficient attention to allow me to decide with certainty whether 
their sexes are marked with a difference in the form of their shells, 
or whether they are exceptions to this rule. is 

While making these examinations a few years since, I discov- 
ered in a number of instances a peculiar appendage to the young 
bivalves that I have not seen noticed by any author. 

On raising these animals from their beds at the bottom of the 
streams, a small silky filament could frequently be seen issuing 
from between the valves of the shell, and on tracing it to its ori- 
gin, it was found to arise from the margin of the animal immedi- 
ately behind the base of the muscular process, which is usually 
termed the foot. As the other extremity of this filament was ap- 
parently attached, in a few cases, to some portion of the animals 
of older individuals of the same species, or perhaps to the inner 
surface of their shells, I was led to conclude that there exists, for 
a certain period of time, a connection between the old and the 
young of the Naiades, analogous to the umbilical connection of 
the mammalia. In one instance I supposed that I had succeeded. 
in tracing out-a perfect connection of this kind between a young 
Unio crassus not half an inch in length, and a full grown speci- 
men. ‘The filament that united them appeared to pass to the ani- 
mals of both the old and young between the edges of the valves. 

On a subsequent occasion, I saw a female U. cylindricus throw 
off the contents of her oviduct in jets, which I watched till they 
were dissolved and broken, so that each individual ovum was left 
to float in any direction the stream might force it. F'rom this 
circumstance, it was evident that no. umbilical attachment could 
-be subsequently formed between the mother and her progeny, 
and therefore my conclusions must have been erroneous. 

The matter remained with me in this state of uncertainty until 
last autumn, when the low stage of water and the protracted hot 
weather, enabled me to pursue my researches more extensively 
and with better success than on former occasions. 


Fragments of Natural History. 167 - 


In company with my friend J. G. Anthony, of Cincinnati, we 
found great numbers of young Uniones on a sand-bar in the Ohio 
-Yiver, near that city. The water was clear, rapid, and about 

eighteen inches deep, offering the most favorable circumstances 
for the accomplishment of our purpose. 'The young were gene- 
rally imbedded in sand and. pebbles to the depth of three or four 
inches, and when carefully raised from their retreats were always 
found to be furnished with the filament above described. On 
"tracing out the extremity, remote from the body, we discovered 
it to be attached indiscriminately to pebbles, stones, the shells of 
older specimens, or other fixtures. The purpose it is destined to 
accomplish, instead of being an umbilical connection with the 
mother, as I formerly supposed, is evidently that of a cable, to 
anchor the young in safety in a favorable locality, at an age when 
they are unable to do it by other means. It is in fact a byssus, 
similar in many respects to that with which the Chama and cer- 
tain other bivalves-are furnished, and by means of which they 
adhere to other bodies. 


ey SSC 

Tn ee 

S LEG A Vili 
Zgnaed Manly 


S Ty be \ Vie 


Fig. a@ represents a vertical section of the river, exhibiting a 
young U. zigzag raised out of its bed, but still attached to a stone. 


Fig. 6, the origin of the byssus atthe base of the foot of the 
animal. . 


168 Miscellanies. 


At what age it is formed in our young Naiades, I am unable 
to decide. I have discovered it to exist in many instances when 
they had not yet formed the first concentric line of growth on 
their shells, and therefore conclude that they attach themselves 
to some fixture, soon after they are ejected from the oviduct of 
the mother. 

It is probably continued, lees accidentally destroyed, until the 
animal attains strength sufficient to retain its position by grap-_ 
pling the sand and pebbles with its extended and curved foot. ~ 

The length of this byssus when unextended, is from four to six 
inches; the size that of the finest sewing silk, and the strength 
is so great that it will resist the force of the strongest current of 
water, even after the animal is raised out of its bed. 

The species we found thus attached in this locality, were prin- 
cipally the U. zigzag, elegans, dehiscens, ebenus, crassus, folia- 
tus, pyramidatus, crassidens and gibbosus. I believe, however, 
that every species has the power of forming a byssus when oc- 


casion requires it. 
Cleveland, March 10, 1840. 


? 


_MISCELLANIES. 
DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 


BiptiocrapuicaL Notices.—Brief notices of recent Botanical 
works, especially those. most interesting to the student of North 
American Botany. [Communicated.] 


1. DeCandolle, Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regnit Vegetabi- 
lis, §-c., Pars ima. Sectio posterior. (Paris, 1839).—The second 
part of the 7th volume of DeCandolle’s Prodromus—with which our 
notices may appropriately commence—was published at the very 
close of the last year, and comprises the following orders, viz. Sty-- 
lidee, Lobeliacee, Campanulacee, Cyphiacee, (a very small order, 
founded on the Cape genus Cyphia, and here first proposed by Alph. 
DeCandolle,) Goodenoviee, Gesneriacee, Napoleonee, Vaccinee, 
Ericacee, Epacridee, Pyrolacee, Francoacee, and Monotropee. 
Of these, the Lobeliacee, Campanulaceex, and Cyphiacez were elabo- 
rated by Prof. Alphonse DeCandolle, the well known son of the dis- 
tinguished author; the Vaccinee by Prof. Dunal of Montpelier; and 
the tribe Ericez (the Heath-tribe) was prepared by Mr. Bentham.” It 


Miscellanies. — 169 


will be observed that DeCandolle has disposed the Ericacex nearly 
in the manner first proposed in the Théorie Eléméniaire, consider- 
ing the Vacciniee, Monotropee, Pyrolacex, &c., as so many distinct 
families; a view, however, which will not probably be ultimately 
adopted. Among the uncertain or little known Ericaceous plants, 
DeCandolle has introduced the genus Pickeringia of Nuttall (which 
was founded upon Cyrilla paniculata of the same author, published in 
the fifth volume of this Journal:) this however has been long since 
ascertained to be a species of Ardisia, which belongs to a very differ- 
ent order; and Mr. Nuttall has accordingly recently dedicated to Dr. 
Pickering a curious Leguminous plant from California. The genus 
Galax, DeCandolle has appended to Pyrolacez, (tribe Galacex,) a 
view which appears to be confirmed by an unpublished plant from the 
mountains of North Carolina, which, in compliment to an assiduous 
and well-known American botanist, will bear the name of Shoriia 
galacifolia. 

The prior portion of the seventh volume (published in 1838) as 
well as the whole of the fifth (1836) and sixth, (1837,) is exclusively 
devoted to the immense family of the Composite, (the class Syngene- 
sia of Linnzus,) which fills more than seventeen hundred closely 
printed pages, the immediate preparation of which occupied the inde- 
fatigable author for seven years! We may take this family as a fair 
example of the vast increase in the number of known species within 
the last eighty years, or even a much later period, as a large propor- 
tion of this increase is due to the discoveries of the last ten or fifteen 
years. The whole number of Syngenesious plants described by Lin- 
neus in the first edition of the Species Plantarum, (published in 
1'753,) including the few Composite referred to other classes, is five 
hundred and fifty five, which is about one hundred and fifty less than 
the now described species of the single genus Senecio. We have not 
time nor space to enumerate the species of the order in succeeding 
systematic works, so as to show the progressive increase. Suflice it 
to say that the whole number known to Linnzus and published during 
his lifetime cannot exceed eight hundred species, while the number 
described by DeCandolle is in round numbers about 8700, which are 
disposed in eight hundred and ninety three genera. If to these we 
were to add the species which have been since published, or are being 
published in works now in progress, and also the very numerous un- 
published species which exist in all the large collections, making at 
the same time reasonable allowance for nominal species, the number - 
of Composite at present known would scarcely fall short of ten 
thousand, which considerably exceeds the whole number of both flow- 


ering and flowerless plants described by Linnzus or his contempora- 
Vol. xxxix, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 22 


L7G Miscellanies. 


ries. Of the eight thousand seven hundred species given by DeCan- 
dolle, more than three thousand are described for the first time in this" 
work. In the general disposition of the order, the clear and simple 
classification of Lessing is to a great degree adopted. It is first divi- 
ded into three great series, viz. 

1. TusuLirtor#; those with the perfect flowers tubular and regu- 
larly 5- (or rarely 4-) toothed. 

2, LABIATIFLOREZ; those with bilabiate, or 2-eleft, perfect flowers. 

3, LieuLirLoR#; which have all the flowers strap-shaped. 

The first series includes about four fifths of the whole family, which 
are arranged in five tribes, viz. Vernoniacee, Eupatoriacee, Astero- 
idee, Senecionidee, and Cyxaree. ‘The second series consists exclu- 
sively of the Mutisiacee and the Nassawviacee, chiefly South Amer- 
ican plants; a single species of Chaptalia is, we believe, the only 
North American representative. The third series, comprising the 
Cichoracee, so readily known by their milky juice, and by having all 
their florets ligulate, contains many North American representatives. 

So many orders or separate genera. of Monopetalous plants have 
been the subjects of recent monographs, and much valuable assistance 
is also engaged for the ensuing portions of the Prodromus, that seve- 
ral volumes may be expected at no very distant period. Et may not 
be improper to state that Mr. Boissier of Geneva is engaged in the 
preparation of the Plumbaginee; Mr. Duby of Geneva will prepare 
the Primulacee ; Prof. Dunal of Montpelier, the Solanec; Mr. De 
Caisne of Paris, the Asclepiadee; and Mr. Bentham, the Scrophula- 
rinee and Labiaie. 


2. Endlicher, Genera Plantarum secundum Ordines Naturales 
disposita, (Vienna, 1836—1840).—This is one of the most important 
works of the age; and we are anxious to make it more generally 
known to the botanists of this country. Itis not too much to say, 
that without this, and Lindley’s Introduction to the Natural System, 
(or some equivalent work,) no person who does not possess the ad- 
vantage of a large library and an extensive general collection of 
plants, can obtain any correct idea of the present state of systematic 
botany. The work is published in parts, of eighty pages each, in an 
imperial octavo or a kind of oblong quarto form, closely printed in 
double columns. The eleventh fasciculus, which is the last we have 
received, reaches to the eight hundred and eightieth page; but proba- 
bly two or more additional numbers have by this time appeared. It 
is stated in the original announcement that the work will not exceed 
ten or twelve numbers; we imagine, however, that four or five addi- 
tional numbers will be required for its completion. It commences, 


Miscellanies. i7i 


like the Genera Plantarum of Jussieu, with the plants of simplest or 
Jowest organization, { Thallophyta, Endl.3) a plan which is now the 
most common and perhaps the mest philosophical; but which is at- 
tended with many practical inconveniences to the tyre. 

The first edition of the Genera Plantarum by Linneus, was pub- 
lished at Leyden in the year 1737; the second and third were pub- 
lished at the same place, the one in 1742, the other in 1752; the 
fourth and fifth were published at Stockholm; the latter (termed the 
sixth in our copy) in the year 1764, which is the last by Linneus 
himself, is the edition generally cited, and was reprinted at Vienna in 
1767. ‘This last Stockholm edition forms the excellent model of all 
the succeeding editions, as they are termed, edited by various authors. 
¥¢ comprises one thousand two hundred and thirty nine genera, which 
in an appendix are reduced as far as possible to their proper natural 
orders. ‘The first edition after the death of Linneus is, we be- 
lieve, that of Reichard, published at Frankfort in 1778, about the 
same time with the edition of the Systema Plantarum by the same 
author. ‘To this succeeded the edition by Schreber, (published also 
at Frankfort, 1789—1791, in two volumes,) who is chiefly famous 
for having in this work changed all the unclassical names of Aublet 
and others for new ones made according to the Linnean canons. 
Succeeding authors in plucking these borrowed plumes have despoiled 
him of some rightful feathers; as in the case of the genus Brasenia, 
for which most botanists have retained Michaux’s name, Hydro- 
peltis, which was published a dozen years later. The number of 
genera is here increased to one thousand seven hundred and sixty 
nine. About the same time (1791) an edition was published by Hanke 
at Vienna, which is apparently carefully digested. ‘The latest edition 
of the Genera Plantarum which bears the name of Linnzus, and is 
arranged according to the artificial system, is that of Sprengel, pub- 
lished at Gottingen in 1830 and 1831, (2-vols. 8vo.) which is the 
latest complete work in which the known genera are characterized. 
He gives the date of the publication of each genus, and references to 
the principal figures. ‘The whole number of genera described is four 
thousand one hundred and fifty nine. 

The Genera Plantarum secundum Ordines Naturales disposita of 
the immortal Jussieu, with which a new era in botany commenced, 
appeared in the year 1789. ‘This work has never been reprinted in 
France, and but once out ofit, and is now very scarce. Until the com- 
mencement of Dr. Endlicher’s work, a-period of about half a century, 
it has remained the only Genera Plantarum according to the natural 
system. ‘There is one living botanist upon whom the task of prepar- 
ing anew Genera of Plants would seem most appropriately to de- 


172 Miscellanies. 


volve; but since it cannot be expected from that quarter, we are glad 
it has been undertaken, and we may almost say completed, by so 
learned and careful a botanist as Dr. Endlicher. The only fault we 
have to notice is, that there is no mode of distinguishing directly the 
generic characters which are compiled altogether from preceding 
authors, from those drawn from the plants themselves. An author 
can only be considered responsible for the latter; yet unless there 
be some means of distinguishing those which have been verified from 
the remainder, he becomes somewhat implicated in the mistakes of 
his predecessors. Dr. Endlicher being scarcely less distinguished as 
a classical scholar than as a botanist, this work is a perfect model of 
classical style. 

Simultaneously with this work, which it is in part intended to illus- 
trate, the author is publishing an Lconographia Generum Plantarum. 
It appears in quarto parts, with about twelve uncolored plates in each, 
executed in a very superior manner, with full analyses, which leave 
nothing to be desired in this respect. Seven or eight parts are already 
published. It is the cheapest illustrated work of the kind with which 
we are acquainted, and at the same time one of the very best. 


3. Hooker, Flora Boreali-Americana, or the Botany of the North- 
ern paris of British America, &c., part AT, 1839. (London.)—The 
eleventh part of this work has just reached us; and as the twelfth 
and concluding portion may soon be expected, we hope to give in the 
following number of this Journal a more particular notice of Sir Wm. 
Hiooker’s most important and extensive labors in North American 
botany. For the present, we may merely state that the eleventh fasci- 
culus comprises the Orchideous, and the Irideous and Cyperaceous 
plants, and a portion of the Grasses. Beautiful figures are given of 
Platanthera obtusata, P. orbiculata, and P. rotundifolia; also of a 
true Epipactis! from Oregon, (and we believe there is another in 
Texas,) of Spiranthes gracilis, S. decipiens, (a new species with 
just the habit of Goodyera pubescens,) Listera convallarioides, (the 
true one,) Cypripedium passerinum, and of twelve mostly new Ca- 
rices. ‘The account of the genus Carex is by Dr. Boott, who enu- 
merates one hundred and fifty-eight species as natives of British Amer- 
ica, (including Oregon, quite to the border of California,) of which 
nineteen are described as new. 


4. Hooker and Arnott, the Botany of Capt. Beechey’s Voyage, &c. 
Pari IX, 1840. (London.)—This work has extended to four hundred 
and thirty-two quarto pages, and another fasciculus will perhaps com- 
plete the work, but of this we are uncertain. The number of plates 


Miscellanies. 173 


already cited is ninety-nine, of which eighty-nine are published. The 
plants collected in Capt. Beechey’s voyage at Kotzebue Sound and 
California, (the only places in North America where collections were 
made,) were noticed in an early part of the volume; but in a supple- 
ment, which nearly occupies the seventh, eighth, and ninth parts, the 
Californian collection of the late Mr. Douglas is described, with the 
addition of a smaller collection made in what is called the ‘ Snake 
Country,’ which name is given to the prairie region between Califor- 
nia and the Rocky Mountains, through which Snake River, or Lewis 
River, holds its course. Among the plates given in the present fas- 
ciculus, the most interesting are that of NVuttallia cerasiformis, Torr. 
Gr. (a very remarkable Rosaceous plant,) Calycanihus occidenia- 
lis, Hook. Arn., and Lewista rediviva, Pursh, which singular plant 
is at last fully described and illustrated. It was brought to the 
United States by Capt. Lewis many years ago; it is so tenacious of 
life, that the roots brought by him to Philadelphia, without care, be- 
ing intended only as specimens, vegetated and grew freely when placed 
in the earth, and the same thing took place with specimens sent to 
London by Douglas; it appears to abound on all the upper branches 
of the Oregon, where the roots are an important article of food with 
the Indians; yet it is only very recently that sufficient specimens have 
been obtained to complete the very imperfeet account of the plant 
given by Pursh. This had however been done in part by Mr. Nut- 
tall, from a specimen brought by Mr. Wyeth, from which a figure was 
made for the Journal ef the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 
delphia. . 


5. The Genera of South African Plants, arranged according to 
the Natural System ; by Wm. Henry Harvey, Esq. (Cape-Town, 
1838. pp. 429, Svo.)—This volume was written, printed in very 
handsome style, and published, at the Cape of Good Hope. It was 
prepared, not, as we might suppose, for the purpose of making Cape 
plants better known to European botanists, but for the use of the 
students and lovers of flowers at the Cape! It is arranged, more- 
over, according to the Natural System, and is throughout a work of 
genuine science. Truly, if popular botanical works, based on the 
Natural System, are deemed most advantageous for students at the 
Cape of Good Hope, we may indulge the expectation that this method 
will in due time be universally adopted in Europe and the United 
States. Mr. Harvey, who while occupied with his duties as Colonial 
Secretary, has been enabled to do so much for the botany of that rich 
and interesting region, both by his own researches and by encouraging 
the labors of others, was requested to recommend some introductory 


W74 Mroscellantes: 


work on botany. Tad a mere introduction to the elements of the 
science alone been needed, the desideratum might easily have been 
supplied. ‘*But I soon found,” says Mr. Harvey, <‘on cross-ques- 
tioning, that something very different was required. One lady told 
me that she knew already what ‘calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils, 
and all that? meant; and another had penetrated the mystery of Mo- 
nandria, Diandria, &c., and did not want to be told that over again; 
what they desired, was a book in which they could discover the names 
of every plant that struck their fancy in rambling through the fields; 
in short, a flora Capensis.. Here I found myself completely at fault, 
for there seemed little use in recommending the Flora of Thunberg, 
or the more ancient writings of Burmann; for even could they be 
procured, which would not be without much difficulty, they would 
have proved perfectly useless to my lady friends, who, not being 
blue-stockings, could have derived little instruction from the crabbed 
Latin in which they are written.” Mr. Harvey then conceived the 
idea of writing a Flora Capensis; but it at once occurring, that such 
a work must consume a long series of years in preparation, he deci- 
ded upon rendering that more prompt, though less complete assistance, 
which a work like the present is calculated to afford. ‘The Genera 
of South African plants, is the result of this determination; for which 
the author deserves the thanks, not only of the lady friends, whose 
benefit he had chiefly in view, but of all the cultivators of botanical 
science. Although much more time would be required for its prepa- 
ration, the work would have been more valuable had Mr. Harvey 
placed still less dependence on preceding authors, and drawn his 
characters in every practicable instance, from the plants themselves ; 
but only those who are accustomed. to prepare their works in this 
manner, are aware of the vast amount of labor it involves. The gen- 
eral plan of the work, as the author informs us, is taken from Beck’s 
Botany of the Northern and Middle States of North America, and 
Nuttall’s Genera of North American Plants; in the arrangement and 
characters of the orders, Dr. Arnott has chiefly been followed. The 
number of genera described is one thousand and eighty-six, distributed 
under one hundred and thirty-five orders. Many South African gene- 
ra have been published in still more recent general works or particu- 
lar memoirs, or in those which had not reached the Cape in time to 
be employed by Mr. Harvey, so that the number of Cape genera may 
be safely estimated at one thousand two hundred. 


6. Presi, Tentamen Pieridographie, seu Genera Filicacearum 
presertim jucta venarum decursum et distributionem expostta. 
(Prague, 1836, pp. 290, 8vo., with 12 quario lithog graphic plaies.)— 


Miscellanies. 175 


The characters derived from the venation of Ferns, which Mr. Brown 
has applied to the distinction of genera with the consummate skill and 
caution for which he is so greatly distinguished, and which have also 
been largely employed by other authors, especially by Bory, Gaudi- 
chaud, Brongniart, and Schott, are in this treatise carried to an ex- 
travagant extent. Nevertheless, the work will be useful, to our bot- 
anists especially, who seldom have access to extensive libraries, or 
to the scattered observations on this subject in various papers and 
memoirs. .The crowded plates comprise illustrations of nearly all the 
known genera; and the work may be purchased for about a dollar 
and a half. We may observe that the Ragiopteris onocleoides of 
Presl, is founded on a fertile frond of Onoclea sensibilis, to which a 
portion of the sterile frond of a very different plant had been applied 
in the herbarium of Willdenow. The introduction comprises a pretty 
full account of the organization of Ferns. 


7. Dr. Siebold, Flora Japonica; sectio prima, Plante ornatut 
vel usui inservientes; digessit Dr. J. G. Zuccarini: fase. L—10, 
fol. (Leyden, 1835—1839, pp. 100, tab. 1—50.)—This work is, we 
believe, wholly arranged and prepared by Prof. Zuccarini of Munich, 
from notes and specimens furnished by Dr. Siebold of Leyden, accu- 
mulated during his‘long official residence in Japan. The admirable 
plates are executed at Munich: they are engraved upon stone after a 
peculiar method, which is now frequently employed, and are certainly 
not excelled in beauty or accuracy by any copper-plate engravings in 
the same style. The portion already published comprises only some 
of the ornamental or otherwise generally interesting plants; the gen- 
eral account of the Japanese Flora being reserved for a future part of | 
the work. The Flora of Japan presents such ,striking analogies to 
that of the temperate part of North America as to render this work 
of more than ordinary interest to American botanists. 'To show this, 
we select from the forty-six species described and figured by Zucca- 
rini, the following list, placing opposite the Japanese plant the related 
North American forms. 

Flora of Japan. - Flora of North America. 


Hlicium religiosum, Ulicium Floridanum and parviflorum. 
Kadsura Japonica, __ Schizandra coccinea. 

Benthamia Japonica, Cornus florida. 
Corylopsis, two species, Hamamelis and Fothergilla. 

Aralia edulis, Aralia racemosa. 

Symplocos lucida, Hopea tinctoria. 

Styrax Japonicum, d&e. Styrax, several species. 

Deutzia, three species, Philadelphus. 

Schizophragma hydrangeoides, Decumaria and 

Platycrater arguta, ; Hydrangea. 3 : 


176 Miscellunies. 


Flora of Japan. Flora of North America. 
Diervilla, several species, _ Diervilla Tournefortii. 
Viburnum tomentosum, Viburnum lantanoides. 


Wisteria (or as it should be Wistaria) 
Japonica, and two other species, 
Paulownia imperialis, Catalpa cordifolia. 


} Wistaria frutescens. 


While about half the species thus far published are nearly related 
to (chiefly characteristic) North American plants, only eight, besides 
those given above, belong to genera which have no representatives in 
this country. The list might be greatly extended by comparisons 
from other sources. ‘Thus Hoteia Japonica of Morren and De 
Caisne, (which belongs to the earlier established Astilbe, Don,) which 
was by Thunberg mistaken for Spirea Aruncus, closely resembles our 
own Astilbe decandra, which has been more than once confounded 
with Spirea Aruncus. On some future occasion we hope to make a 
somewhat extended comparison between the Flora of temperate 
North America, and that of Japan and Middle Asia. 


8. Grisebach, Genera et Species Gentiancarum, adjectis obser- 
vationibus quibusdam phyto-geographicis. (Stuttgart and Tubingen, 
1839, pp. 364, Svo.)—The most useful works in natural history at 
the present day are monographs of separate orders, when prepared 
from sufficiently extensive materials; and this account of the known 
species of Gentianaceous plants, by Dr. Grisebach, now of Géttin- 
gen, is one of the latest and best works of the kind. The typograph- 
ical arrangement, however, is not what it ought to be, and this is 
an important matter in books of the kind. In this respect, as in 
every other, the most perfect model for a monograph is Mr. Ben- 
tham’s Genera et Species Labiatarum. Dr. Grisebach first gives 
the natural character of the order, in detail; then follow some inter- 
esting observations upon the anatomical and morphological structure 
of these plants. Two species are selected, viz. Swertia perennis 
and Gentiana lutea; and in these the organization of the flower is 
traced from the earliest period when it is distinctly visible through all 
its stages up to its complete development. ‘The petals, which are 
united into a monopetalous corolla, are found to be originally dis- 
tinct; this is now known to be the case as a general rule; so that 
when we say that a monopetalous corolla is formed by the consolida- 
tion of several petals, a calyx, of several united sepals, é&c., our lan- 
guage is not the mere expression of an hypothesis, but the statement 
of observed facts. ‘The conclusion is first deduced as a consequence 
of the theory of floral structure, and is then verified by actual exam- 
ination, and thus the theory is confirmed. The stamens in their early 
state are distinct from the petals, although at length the filaments ad- 


Miscellanies. 177 


here to the corolla; the two carpels which form the ovary are at first 
distinct, and are united only at a later period. Dr. Grisebach makes 
some observations upon the origin of the placenta, (the organ upon 
which the ovules and seeds are prodiuced,) which have an important 
bearing upon some interesting questions in vegetable anatomy and 
physiology, which are now undergoing a lively discussion, but which 
would not be understood by many of the readers for whom these no- 
tices are intended, without a more extended statement of the questions 
in dispute than we have here room to give.* In the account of the 
geographical distribution of Gentianaceous plants, several interesting 
general questions in botanical geography are discussed somewhat in 
‘detail. The whole number of species described in the work (excluding 
the very doubtful ones) is three hundred and forty three; of which 
fifty two are given as natives of North America; the latter are thus 
distributed among thirteen genera. 
Tribe Cutore®; Sabbatia 11 species, and a single Chlora (?) 

“ ErytHr@acez; Erythrea 4, Cicendia 1? 

“ SwerTieEx; Gentiana 22, Centaurella (Bartonia, Muhl.) 3, 

Pleurogyne 1, Halenia 3, Frasera 3, Swertia 2. 
« Menvantuipex; Villarsia 1, Limnanthemum 1, [too few,| 
Menyanthes 1. 

Three genera only are peculiar to this country, viz. Sabbatia, Cen- 
éaurella and Frasera.. The name of Centaurella is still retained 
for the Bartonia of Muhlenberg and Willdenow, which is by several 
years the oldest name, and should be retained, more especially since 
the Bartonia of Nuttall and Pursh will doubtless be merged in Ment- 
zelia. 


9. The Journal of Botany, containing figures and descriptions of 
such plants as recommend themselves by their novelty, rarity, his- 
tory, or uses ; together with Botanical notices and information, and 
occasional portraits and memoirs of deceased Botanisis: by Sir 
Wm. Hooxer, K. HL, &c. (Vol. If, Nos. 9and 10, Febr. and March, 
1840.)—Hooker’s Journal of Botany, which was commenced in 1834, 
but soon discontinued for want of sufficient patronage, is again re- 
sumed, and is to be continued in monthly numbers. Each number 
contains from fifty-two to fifty-six pages, and two plates, (published 
by Longman, Orme & Co., London, at 2s. 6d.) ‘The contents of 
these two numbers are 

I. Musci Indici, or List of the mosses collected in the East Indies 
by Dr. Wallich; with references to the figures of the new species 


* We hope to give some notice of the recent progress of vegetable anatomy and 
physiology, in the ensuing number. 


Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 23 


178 Miscellanies. 


published in Hooker’s Icones Plantarum, Vol. I, tab. XVII—XXIV. 
By the Hon. W. H. Harvey; to which are added those collected by 
Dr. Royle in the northern part of India, by J. D. Hooxerr, M. D., 
Assistant Surgeon and Botanist in Her Majesty’s discovery ship 
. Erebus. 
IL. On the establishment of the genus Mouwriria, Juss., as the type 
of anew natural order; together with notes and observations on the 
structure of the genera Lygodisodea, Cassytha, and Carludovica. 
By Mr. GzorcE GARDNER, Surgeon. 

III. Botanical Information. Notice of the Unio Itineraria. No- 
tice of Mr. Gardner’s Travels and Collections in Brazil. 

IV. Contributions towards-a Flora of South America. Enumera- 
tion of plants collected by Mr. Schomburgh in British Guiana. By 
Grorce Bentuam, Esq., F. L. S. 


10. Hooker; Icones Plantarum, or Figures, with brief descrip- 
tive characters and remarks, of new or rare plants, selected from 
the author’s Herbarium. Part VI. (Vol. 3, part 2.) 1840.—The 
following North American plants are figured in this part, viz. 

Cevallia sinuata, Lagasca.—Texas. Oplotheca Floridana, Nutt.— 
Florida, &c. O. gracilis, a new species from Texas, is described but 
not figured. Ceanothus papillosus, Torr. § Gr.—California. Grayia 
polygaloides, Hook. §- Arn:—Rocky Mountains. Leflingia Texana, 
Hook. (U. squarrosa, Nutt.)—Texas. Hymenolobus divaricatus, Nuit. 
—Oregon. Merimea (Bergia) Texana, Hook.—Texas. Trifolium ob- 
tusiflorum, Hook. & Arn.—California. Phaca densifolia, Smith.— 
California. ‘Trifolium macrocalyx, Hook.—Texas. Stylopus ver- 
nus, Raf.—Kentucky. Condalia obovata, Hook.—Texas. Amyegda- 
lus glandulosa, Hook.—Texas. ‘This part also contains the figure of 
a New Holland Claytonia! (C. Australasica, J. Hook.) which is cer- 
tainly something remarkable. Many North American plants are fig- 
ured in the preceding portions of this work, which is by no means ex- 
pensive, and we think all our botanists and lovers of plants would 
find it very useful. 


11. Linnea: Ein Journal fiir die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Um- 
fange. Herausgegeben von D. F. L. Von Schlechtendal. [The 
Linnea: A Journal of Botany in all its departments, &c.|—The Lin- 
nea, edited by Prof. Von Schlechtendal of Halle, is published every 
two months, and has an extensive circulation in Germany and through- 
out Europe. The price is about seventy-five cents per number, each 
of which contains from sixty to one hundred pages of original matter, 
and about as many more filled with notices of new works, botanical 


Miscellanies. 179 


information, &c., which is prepared with great care, and one or two 
plates. 'The numbers of each year form a very thick octavo volume : 
that for 1839 (of which the earlier numbers only have reached us) is 
the thirteenth of the series. It is doubtless one of the cheapest bo- 
tanical works ever published, and as books printed in the German 
language pay a mere nominal duty, it may be imported at a very low 
price. The following is a list of the contents of the original portion 
ef the three earlier numbers for 1839, viz. 
1. Anatomical Researches concerning the Organs of Reproduction 

in Riccia glauca: by Prof. UnezEr, of Gratz, (with a plate.) 

2. De Vicicis Brasiliensibus, scrips. Dr. J..R. Turop. Voczt. - 

3. Account of the Mosses collected in North America, by the late 
Mr. Beyrich: by E. Hamre, Apothecary in Blankenburg. [Three or 
four new species are described. | 
4, On Mount Slavnik in Carniolia, and its Botanical curiosities ; 

with a description of Pedicularis Frederici-Augusti: by M. Tom- 
MASINI, (with a plate.) 

5. On a new Pancratium, and a new Gilia: by C. Bouché. 

-6. Remarks on the American species of Cerasus of the section 
Laurocerasus: by the Eprror. 

7. Notice of the late Adelbert von Chamisso, as a botanist: by the 
EDITOR. 

8. On Porella pinnata, Linn., or Jungermannia Porella, Dicks. 
{Madotheca Porella, Nees.) by Prof. Scuwm=GRicHEN, of Leipsic. 

9. Additamentum Filicum Mexicanarum, partima B. Schiedeo, par- 
tim a cl. Car. Ehrenbergio aliisque collectarum. Prof. Kunzr. 

10. On Conyza Chilensis, and C. diversifolia, Weinm.: by Mr. 
WeINMANN of Pawlosk. _ 

11. Malpighiacearum Brasiliensium centuriam, recens. Aue. GRISE- 
pacH, M.D. 

12. De Plantis Mexicanis a G. Shiede, M. D., Car. Ehrenbergio, 
aliisque collectis, &c.: by the Eprror. 

13. On the development of the spores of Anihoceros levis: by 
Prof. Hueco Mout, (with a plate.) 

14. Observationes de Bauhiniis Americanis, scrips. Dr. J. R. TuEop. 
VOGEL. 

15. Synopsis Drabarum Scandinavie, auct. A. E. LiInpBLoom. 


12. Lindley; An Introduction to Botany; third edition, 1839. 
(London, pp. 594, Svo.)—The first edition of this well-known and 
excellent work was published in 1832; the second in 1836; and the 
third has appeared during the last season. So great has been the 
increase of our knowledge within the last three or four years, partic- 


180 Miscellanies. 


ularly in vegetable anatomy and physiology, that this portion of the 
work has necessarily been entirely re-written, and has assumed almost 
a new aspect in the present edition; and even during the short period 
that has elapsed since its publication, many interesting discoveries 
have been made. The additions most worthy of notice are a new and 
more minute classification of elementary tissue, recently proposed by 
Morren; much interesting matter concerning the generation of cel- 
lular tissue ; a good account of recent discoveries respecting the va- 
rious forms of tissue composed of membrane and fibre combined, 
which are found to be of almost universal occurrence; the article on 
the laticiferous tissue of Dr. Schultz; and that on Raphides, con- 
cerning which there is an account in the appendix by Mr. Queckett. 
In the chapter on the compound organs of flowering plants, there is 
an account of the views.of Prof. Mohl concerning the structure of 
endogenous stems; an analysis of Bronn’s memoir on the spiral dis- 
position of leaves; and much additional information concerning the 
structure and development of pollen, which will be new to most Eng- 
lish readers. The remarks on placentation are interesting, especially 
as the subject is now exciting considerable attention; Dr. Lindley 
defends, for the most part, the doctrines of Schleiden and Endlicher 
on this subject. The chapter on the chemical constitution of the 
elementary organs, is condensed from the researches of Payen and 
Schleiden, which are models of chemico-physiological investigation. 
The most interesting additions to the subject of vegetable fertiliza- 
tion, are the analysis of Mr. Griffith’s recent memoir on the singular 
structure and the impregnation of the ovulum of Santalum; and a 
(too brief) notice of the novel doctrines which have lately been 
broached by Endlicher, Schleiden, and others respecting the sexuality 
of plants. ‘The opinion of Endlicher is “ that what we call pollen is 
analogous to the spores of cryptogamic plants, and that consequently 
the anther is a female organ, whose contents perform an act similar, 
to that of germination when they fall upon the stigma.” The view 
of Schleiden, although differently expressed, amounts to the same 
thing ; he also considering the anther as nothing but a female ovarium, 
and each grain of pollen the germ of a new individual. ‘The subject 
is exciting much attention; and since the publication of this edition 
of Dr. Lindley’s work, Mirbel has read a paper before the Institute 
of France, in which the views of Schleiden are attacked, and the com- 
monly received Linnzan hypothesis defended. It is to be regretted 
that there is no detailed account of this controversy in the English 
language. ‘Theidea which seems to have given rise to these specula- 
tions is undoubtedly true, viz. that the organization of pollen and of the 
spores of cryptogamic plants is remarkably similar, and that their 


Miscellanies. 181 


development takes place in the same manner. Of the remaining tep- 
ies in vegetable physiology, by far the mest interesting is the account 
of the discoveries of Prof. Schultz of Berlin, relative to the two kinds 
of circulation in plants which he terms rotation and cyclosis. Prof. 
Schultz communicated his discoveries to the Academy of Sciences at 
Paris, which in the year 1833 awarded to him the great Montyon 
prize, and undertook the publication of the memoir and an extensive 
and beautiful suite of drawings. Dr. Lindley’s account is compiled 
chiefly from the abstract given in the Comptes Rendus ; the memoir 
itself having only appeared during the last summer. Having had the 
good fortune to obtain a copy of this memoir we may perhaps give 
an abstract of its contents in a future number of this Journal. 

Those whose knowledge of the language will enable them to con- 
sult the German works on vegetable anatomy and physiology, will 
find numerous interesting papers and memoirs, as well as several sys-. 
tematic treatises of the highest merit. Of the latter, the three fol- 
lowing are the most important: 


13. Meyen: Neues System der Planzen-Physiologie. (New Sys- 
tem of Vegetable Physiology.) Berlin, 1837-89, 3 vols. 8vo.— 
The Phytotomie of the same author is an earlier and smaller work, 
(1830,) in a single volume, with a thin 4to atlas of plates. 


14. Treviranus (Lud. Christ.): Physiologie der Gewdchse. Bonn, 
1835-38, 2 vols. 8vo. 


15. Link: Grundlehren der Krduterkunde, or Elementa Philoso- 
phie Botanice; ed. 2, Berlin, 1837, 2 vols. Svo.—The work, al- 
though it has a double title-page, is, unlike the former edition, wholly 
written in the German language. Under the title of Anatomisch-bo- 
tanische Abbildungen zur Erlduterung der Grundlehren der Krdau- 
terkunde, Prof. Link has published three fasciculi of illustrations, 
with descriptive letter-press, each comprising eight large folio litho- 
graphic plates, filled with highly magnified and very beautiful anatom- 
ical dissections; and, at the age of about eighty-three, the still active 
author is publishing a continuation of the work, under the title of 
Ausgewahlte Anatomisch-botanische Abbildungen, of which the first 
fasciculus has just appeared. The work is published at three Prus- 
sian thalers for each fasciculus. 


182 Miscellanies. 


16. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. Com- 
piled from the Records of the ria by JerFrries Wyman, M. D., 
Recording Secretary. 


Jan. 8, 1840.—Geo. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 


The President mentioned the fact that the brown rat had been found 
at a distance from any habitation on Nantasket beach, burrowing in 
the sand, and subsisting on clams; the brown rat in these regions is 
not generally known to make its habitat at a distance from that of 
man. 

Mr. Bovuve stated that he had met with the nest of the brown rat in 
similar situations. 


Jan. 15, 1840.—Geo. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 


Mr. J. E. TeschemacuErR made a report on Dr. Jackson’s Report 
on the Geology of Maine. He alluded particularly to Dr. Jackson’s 
observations on the deflection of the diluvial current from its usual 
N. and 8. direction, as indicated by the scratches on the rocks; these 
deflections were attributed by Dr. J. to the influence of the surround- 
ing elevations. There are instances in Dorchester, Mass., in which 
the direction of the current was nearly E. and W. 

Dr. J. Wyman exhibited specimens of the Otion Cuvieriz, Leach, 
taken from the bottom of a ship recently returned from India; they 
were found in vast. numbers, and measured from three to three and a 
half inches in length. Dissections were also exhibited illustrating 
the anatomy of the organs of digestion, generation, and of the ner- 
vous system; the latter consists of a double nervous cord, extend- 
ing the whole length of the animal, and on which may be seen 
seven ganglia; the two cords separate and form a ring around the 
esophagus, and at the point of union form a ganglion or brain, from 
which are derived the nerves supplying the mouth and appendages. 
The Otion and other Cirrhopoda, are arranged by Cuvier among the 
Mollusks, but their nervous system approximates them to the Articu- 
lata. 


Jan. 22, 1840.—Gezo. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 


Dr. D. H. Storer read a letter from Mr. J. G. Anthony, of Cin- 
cinnati, in which he states that the localities in and about Cincinnati 
are unusually rich in species of shells. Within the circuit of ten 
miles around that city, there are no less than seventy species of Unio, 
five of Alasmodonta, six of Anodonta, thirty two of Helix, seven of 


Miscellanies. 183 


Melania, five of Pupa, six of Paludina, seven of Planorbis, four of Lu- 
cunea, two of Cyclostoma, two of Bulimus, three of Physa, two of 
Ancylus, besides some doubtful species. He had also found speci- 
mens of the Lymneus humilis, Say, and the Anodonta Ferussaciana. 

Dr. J. Wyman exhibited a portion of the lung of a sheep, in the 
bronchi of which were vast numbers of parasites, a species of Filaria ; 
they invariably occupied those portions of the bronchi most distant 
from the trachea, and were collected together in clusters of from 
ten to twenty in number. He also exhibited a dissection of the egg 
of a snake which had partially undergone the process of incubation. 
The shell was membranous, with granules of calcareous matter scat- 
tered over its surface. When the egg was first opened, the animal 
was living; the circulation could be distinctly seen; the head was 
large in proportion to the rest of the body, and its longest diameter 
at right angles to the trunk instead of being in the same line as in the 
adult. 

Dr. A. A. Govuxp had ascertained that the Scutella referred to him 
at the last meeting was the S. bifissa of Lamarck. The Scutelle have 
a shell extremely depressed, flat on the under surface, in the center 
of which is the mouth, and between the latter and the edge of the 
shell is the anus. The S. bifissa is so called from its two deep emar- 
ginations ; the portion enclosed between the emarginations varies in 
its figure, sometimes projecting beyond the surrounding parts, and 
occasionally overlapping them. ‘There is but one species of Scutella 
common on our coast, which Dr. Gould thinks is undescribed. 


Feb. 12, 1840..-Gro. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 


Rev. J. L. Russextt, of Chelmsford, read a paper entitled ‘‘ Re- 
marks on the Cryptogamia of Chelmsford,’ accompanying which 
were specimens for the Society’s herbarium. ‘The species referred 
to were as follows: 

Squamaria rubina, Hoff., not mentioned in Hitchcock’s catalogue 
of the plants of Massachusetts. This lichen is considered rare in 
other parts of New England. In Chelmsford it is one of the most 
beautiful lichens investing the surfaces of bowlders. Its synonymy, as 
ascertained by Mr. Edward ‘Tuckerman, Jr., embraces Lichen chry- 
soleucus of Hud.; Parmelia chrysoleuca, Ach.; and Lecanora chry- 
soleuca, Ach. It is found uniformly on granite bowlders in intimate 
association with supposed to be Lecidea lapicida, Ach., which also 
is not found in Hitchcock’s catalogue. It is best distinguished by the 
apothecia chiefly occurring between the areole, and by their being 
black with a margin of the same color. 


184 Miscellanies. 


Cornicularia lanata, Ach., is met with; this plant does not appear to 
have been observed by any American botanist. Its co-species, C. pu- 
bescens, Ach., is to be seen on the same exposures, a fact at variance 
with the testimony of Acharius and other botanists. 

Urceolaria scruposa, considered rare, is an inhabitant of the rocks, 
and is a curious and well defined lichen. 

Of the doubtful genus Lepraria, two species have been detected, 
viz. L. chlorina, on stone-walls, and L. latebrarum, of Halsey, on 
bowlders, and a third doubtful one, supposed to be the L. virescens. 

The large rocks afford the Endocarpum miniatum, and E. smarag- 
dalum, while the curious E. Weberi is abundant in the brooks. Va- 
riolaria amara, Halsey and Ach., is abundant, its intense bitterness re- 
sembling quinine. ‘This has been supposed identical with V. faginea; 
but they are probably two different species, only to be distinguished by 
minute characters. Of the Cetrariz, there are three of the four men- 
tioned in Hitchcock’s catalogue, viz. C. lacunosa, C. ciliaris, and C. 
viridis. An interesting small Nephroma is somewhat abundant on 
the faces of small sunken stones, in sunny exposures, which Mr. 
Tuckerman supposes to be N. Helvetica, and identical with the plants 
found by him in Newton. This also adds another new species to 
Hitchcock’s catalogue. ‘Two species of Ramalina occur, viz. R. frax- 
inea, R. polymorpha, the latter common onstone walls. The Borrera fur- 
furacea is common on the branches of the pitch pine; Acharius’s varie- 
ty denudata occurs with this species and can only be regarded as an 
accidental variety in which the cilia of the apothecia are wanting. 
A query whether the American species and the English are identical, 
might be set on foot. Thus Hooker says—thallus, bright greenish 
yellow, alike on both sides; in the specimens found in Chelmsford, 
the under surface is white. Leecanora fulva, Schw., is common on 
old elms and oaks. Evernia prunastri of Hitchcock’s catalogue, or 
what has been supposed to be this, has been found in company with - 
E. vulpina, which is very common. It has nota slight resemblance 
to the Borrera_furfuracea, and it is supposed that B. furfuracea was 
intended by B. purpuracea, given as its synonym. ‘The following is 
the description of the Evernia prunastri; thalio albo, pallescente, la- 
cunis dichotomo-multifidis, erecto, adscendentibus lineari alternatis 
planis rufoso lacunosis subtus subcuniculatis albissimis; apothecia disco 
rufescente. 

Some interesting mosses have also been found, not inserted in Hitch- 
cock’s catalogue. A minute moss found by Edward Tuckerman, Jr. 
on the summit of Bear Hill, Waltham, proves to be Weissia contro- 
versa of the catalogue, and identical with W. viridula, Hedw., given 
as distinct. Two species of Polytrichum and a supposed new one have 


Miscellanies. 185 


been found. A delicate fern, not previously seen in this section, has 
been found in company with the Marchantia hirsuta, Schw. It is the 
Aspidium fragile, Willd.; it has been found in New York in company 
with Asp. rhizophyllum, and in both localities its habitat is about 
limestone quarries._ 


Feb. 19, 1840.—Gro. B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 


Dr. J. Wyman made a report on the Nautilus umbilicatus. The 
principal interest attached to this shell in common with other ceph- 
alopodous mollusks, is the question regarding the use of the cham- 
bers well known to exist in the pale, of all this class of animals. 
They are supposed by naturalists to form a part of an apparatus by 
which the animal is enabled to rise and fall in the water. It is the 
opinion of Professor Owen that there does not yet exist sufficient 
evidence for concluding that the specific gravity can be altered by the 
apparatus in question. ‘The calcareous structure of the syphon of 
the Spirula would seem to prevent the possibility of the condensation 
of the enclosed air or fluid by any force from without. 

Dr. Storer presented the following report on “ Bell’s British Rep- 

tiles.” 
_ From an examination of the splendid “ monograph of the Testu- 
dinata” of our author, we had a right to expect a rich treat from the 
pages before us; nor have we been disappointed. The “history of 
the British Reptiles” is written by a true naturalist, by one whose 
every page is stamped with accuracy and truth, who never finds it 
necessary to exaggerate in order to interest, but who seems to feel his 
responsibility in the statements he makes, and that his reputation is 
associated with the subjects he is endeavoring to elucidate. 

The descriptions of each of the sixteen species which constitute 
the Reptilia of Great Britain, are all clear and interesting—such de- 
scriptions as satisfy the naturalist. 

I will glance at some of the species. Two only of the Testudi- 
nata, have been found on the British coast, and these were evidently 
stragglers. ‘Thus, the ‘Chelonia imbricata,” hawk’s-bill turtle, has 
been observed but three times, and of the “ Sphargis coriacea,” leath- 
ery tortoise, but fowr specimens have been known to be taken. 

The Lacerta agilis, sand lizard, and Zootoca vivipera, common 
lizard, are the only Saurians noticed. The patient investigation of 
our author in comparing the former species with others supposed to 
be different, and settling its synonymes, is well worthy the attention 
of usall. ; 

The Anguis fragilis, slow worm, is the only Saurophidian spo- 
ken of. 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 24 


186 Miscellanies. 


Singular as it may appear, but one of the Colubride is found in 
Great Britain,—the Natrix torquata, common snake; which we are 
here told, ‘inhabits most of the countries of Europe, from Scotland 
and the corresponding latitude of the Continent, to Italy and Sicily.” 
The following curious anecdote is related of the manner in which 
they manage their prey and each other: ‘‘On placing a frog in a 
large box in which were several snakes, one of the latter instantly 
seized it by one of the hinder legs, and immediately afterwards anoth- 
er of the snakes took forcible possession of the fore leg of the oppo- 
site side. Each continued its inroads upon the poor frog’s limbs and 
body, until at length the upper jaws of the two snakes met, and one 
of them in the course of its progress slightly bit the jaw of the other; 
this was retaliated, though evidently without any hostile feeling ; but 
after one or two such accidents, the most powerful of the snakes com- 
menced shaking the other, which still had hold of the frog, with great 
violence, from-side to side against the sides of the box. After a few 
moments’ rest, the other returned the attack, and at length, the one 
which had last seized the frog, having a less firm hold, was shaken off, 
and the victor swallowed the prey in quiet. No sooner was this cu- 
rious contest over, than I put another frog into the box, which was 
at once seized and swallowed by the unsuccessful combatant.” Our 
author, immediately after relating this anecdote, observes: ‘‘'The frog 
is generally alive, not only during the process of deglutition, but even 
after it has passed into the stomach. I once saw avery small one 
which had been swallowed by a large snake in my possession, leap 
again out of the mouth of the latter, which happened to gape, as they 
frequently do immediately after taking food. And on another occa- 
sits, I heard a frog distinctly utter its peculiar cry several minutes 
after it had been swallowed by the snake.” This.reminds us of the 
anecdote related by Harlan,* who, speaking of the tenacity of life ex- 
hibited by the Rana clamata, observes: ‘*A dog of Mr. Bartram’s 
having accidentally swallowed one of these animals, it was observed 
to struggle and cry piteously for at least half an hour, to the great di- 
version of the spectators, and no small confusion of the dog, who was 
at a loss to comprehend this species of intestinal eloquence.” Like 
many of our snakes, the torguata may be easily tamed; our author 
remarks: ‘I had one many years since, which knew me from all other 
persons; and when let out of his box, would immediately come to 
me, and crawl under the sleeve of my coat, where he was fond of 
lying perfectly still, and enjoying the warmth. He was accustomed 


* « Descriptions of several new species of Batracian Reptiles, with observations 
on the Larve of Frogs. By Richard Harlan, of Philadelphia.’”” This Journal, 
Vol. x, p. 63. 


Miscellanies. 187 


to come to my hand for a draught of milk every morning at breakfast, 
which he always did of his own accord; but he would fly from stran- 
gers, and hiss if they meddled with him.” Many of the members of 
this society undoubtedly remember having seen, several years since, 
accounts in the newspapers of snakes being carried to Ireland, and 
that they were increasing there. 'The facts connected with this at- 
tempt to introduce these animals into Ireland, are thus clearly shown 
by a letter to the author from Mr. Thompson. “In this order (Ophi- 
dia) there is not now, nor I believe ever was there, any species indi- 
genous to Ireland. In the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 
April, 1835, it is remarked, ‘ We have learned from good authority, 
that a recent importation of snakes has been made into Ireland, and 
that at present they are multiplying rapidly within a few miles of the 
tomb of St. Patrick.’ I never,” proceeds Mr. Thompson, “heard 
of this circumstance until it was published, and subsequently endeav- 
ored to ascertain its truth, by inquiring of the persons about Down- 
patrick, (where the tomb of St. Patrick is,) who are best acquainted 
with these subjects, not one of whom had ever heard of snakes being 
in the neighborhood. Recollecting that about the year 1831, a snake, 
. (Natrix torquata,) immediately after being killed at Milecross, was 
brought by some country people in great consternation to my friend, 
Dr. I. L. Drummond, I thought this might be one of those alluded to; 
and recently made enquiry of James Cleland, Esq., of Ruth Gael 
House, (County Down,) twenty-five miles distant in a direct line from 
Downpatrick, respecting snakes said to have been turned out by him; 
I was favored by that gentleman with the following satisfactory reply. 
‘The report of my having introduced snakes into this country is cor- 
rect. Being curious to ascertain whether the climate of Ireland was 
destructive to that class of reptiles, about six years ago I purchased 
half a dozen of them in Covent Garden market, in London; they had 
been taken some time, and were quite tame and familiar. I turned 
them out in my garden; they immediately rambled away ; one of them 
was killed at Milecross, three miles distant, in about a week after its 
liberation, and three others were shortly afterwards killed within that 
distance of the place where they were turned out; and it is highly 
probable that the remaining two met with a similar fate, falling vic- 
tims to a reward which it appears was offered for their destruction.’ ” 

Besides the Natrix torquata, but one more of the Ophidia is no- 
ticed; the Pelius Berus, common adder; which, to use the words 
of our author, ‘is the sole British representative of any of the poison- 
ous. groups of serpents, and indeed the only poisonous reptile indi- 
genous to this country.” 


188 Miscellanies. 


The history of the Rana temporaria, common frog, is very interest- 
ing; the changes which take place in its development from the ovum 
to the perfect animal, are pointed out with a clearness which shows 
how well they are understood by the describer. In a pleasing anecdote, 
our author proves its capability of being tamed; he states that his friend, 
Dr. William Roots, of Kingston, informed him, “ that he was in pos- 
session, for several years, of a frog ina perfect state of domestication. 
It appears that the lower offices of his house were what is commonly 
called under-ground, on the banks of the Thames. That this little 
reptile accidentally appeared to his servants, occasionally issuing from 
a hole in the skirting of the kitchén, and that during the first year of 
his sojourn, he constantly withdrew upon their approach; but from 
their showing him kindness, and offering him such food as they thought 
he could partake of, he gradually acquired habits of familiarity and 
friendship; and during the following three years, he regularly came 
out every day, and particularly at the hour of meal-time, and partook 
of the food which the servants gave him. But one of the most re- 
markable features in his artificial state of existence, was his strong 
partiality for warmth, as during the winter seasons, he regularly (and 
contrary to the cold-blooded tendency of his nature) came out of his 
hole in the evening, and directly made for the hearth in front of a 
good kitchen fire, where he would continue to bask and enjoy himself 
until the family retired to rest. 

“There happened to be at the same time a favorite old domestic 
eat, and a sort of intimacy or attachment existed between these two 
incongruous inmates; the frog frequently nestling under the warm 
fur of the cat, whilst the cat appeared extremely jealous of interrupt- 
ing the comforts and convenience of the frog. ‘This curious scene 
was often witnessed by many besides the family.” 

The manner in which the Bufo vulgaris, common toad, -sheds its 
cuticle, is described very instructively. ‘‘ Having often found, among 
several toads which I was then keeping for the purpose of observing 
their habits, some of brighter colors than usual, and with the surface 
moist and very smooth, I had supposed that this appearance might 
have depended upon the state of the animal’s health, or the influence 
of some peculiarity in one or the other of its functions; on watching 
carefully, however, I one day observed a large one, the skin of which 
was particularly dry and dull in its colors, with a bright streak down 
the medial line of the back; and on examining further, I discovered 
a corresponding line along the belly. This proved to arise from an 
entire slit in the old cuticle, which exposed to view the new and bright- 
er skin underneath. Finding, therefore, what was about to happen, 
I watched the whole detail of this curious process. I soon observed 


Miscellanies. 189 


that the two halves of the skin, thus completely divided, continued to 
recede further and further from the centre, and became folded and 
rugose; and after a short space, by means of the continued twitching 
of the animal’s body, it was brought down in folds on the sides. The 
hinder leg, first on one side and then on the other, was brought for- 
ward under the arm, which was pressed down uponit, and on the hind- 
er limb being withdrawn, its cuticle was left inverted under the arms, 
and that of the anterior extremity was now loosened, and at length 
drawn off by the assistance of the mouth. The whole cuticle was 
thus detached, and was now pushed by the two hands into the mouth 
in a little ball, and swallowed at a single gulp.” 

Four species of Salamandride are Meschibed in the volume before 
us. The history of the Triton cristatus, common water-newt, is 
very elaborate; our author has carefully made the same observations 
as Rusconi, and adds his testimony to the value of that writer’s inves- 
tigations with regard to the development of this species. We are 
here told, that Spallanzani supposed that the eggs when deposited, 
fell at once to the bottom of the water, and that “‘ Cuvier asserts, that 
they are produced by several ata time, attached to each other like 
beads.” Now, although Rusconi first published an accurate account 
of this process, our author had several times personally observed it 
before he was acquainted with Rusconi’s book. It appears that the 
egg, instead of being carelessly dropped, is most curiously guarded. 
“‘The female, selecting some leaf of an aquatic plant, sits, as it were, 
upon its edge, and folding it by means of her two hinder feet, deposits 
a single egg in the duplicature of the folded part of the leaf, which 
is thereby glued most securely together, and the egg is thus effectu- 
ally protected from injury.’’* 

The wood cuts accompanying the descriptions are graphic and ex- 
cellent; the vignettes so liberally distributed throughout the volume, 
must enhance its value with general readers. 

In conclusion, we would recommend all who have the slightest taste 
for herpetology, to study this volume; and when again confined to 
our chamber by indisposition, may we have the good fortune to meet 
with a production of the ‘Professor of Zoology, King’s College, 
London.” 


17. Association of American Geologists. 


Ata meeting held at the rooms of the Franklin Institute in the city 
of Philadelphia, on the 2d of April, 1840, the following gentlemen 
were present, viz. 


* An abstract of Rusconi’s memoir on the ‘natural history and structure of the 
aquatic Salamander,” with an illustrative plate, may be found in No. xvii of the 
ae Edinburgh Philosophical Journal” for 1823. 


190 Miscellanies. ' 


Edward Hitchcock, Amherst, Mass.; Lewis C. Beck, New Bruns- 
wick, N. J.; Henry D. Rogers, Philadelphia; Lardner Vanuxem, 
Bristol, Pa.; William W. Mather, Brooklyn, Ct.; Walter R. John- 
son and Timothy A. Conrad, Philadelphia; Ebenezer Emmons and 
James Hall, Albany, N. Y.; Charles B. Trego, James C. Booth, M. 
H. Boyé, R. E. Rogers and Alexander McKinley, Philadelphia ; C. 
B. Hayden, Smithfield, Va.; Richard C. 'Taylor, Philadelphia; Doug- 
lass Houghton and Bela Hubbard, Detroit, Michigan. 

Prof. Hircucocxk was appointed Chairman, and 
Prof. L. C. Becx, Secretary. 

It was then unanimously resolved to organize an sespealion: to be 
called “ The Association of American Geologisis.” 

After the transaction of business relating to the election of addi- 
tional members, the time and place for holding the next annual meet- 
ing, &c., several communications were made to the Association, and 
discussions had thereon. The following is a brief abstract of these 
proceedings. 

First day.—Specimens were laid on the table of quartz, phosphate 
and carbonate of lime, having a fused appearance, occurring in St. 
Lawrence County, N. Y., and some views were offered concerning the 
causes which have given rise to it. Remarks having been made on 
this subject by other members, it was referred for a full report at the 
next meeting of the Association. 

| Specimens were next presented of the sandstones of Massachusetts, 
exhibiting the fossil footmarks, so called, and observations made in 
regard to them. This subject was of so much interest as to induce 
the Association to appoint a committee to visit the localities and to 
report their conclusions at the next meeting. 

After this followed a discussion on the subject of diluvial action, in 
which several members took part. Information was communicated 
concerning the diluvial grooves or scratches, which are observed in 
the valleys of the Hudson, Ohio, and Mississippi, the polished lime- 
stones of Western New York, the erratic blocks found in New York, 
Pennsylvania, é&c.; and several points were suggested for future in- 
vestigation. 

Second day.—The first business was, a lecture on some parts of the 
geology of the State of New Jersey. Upon this, remarks were of- 
fered by several members; after which there was presented to the 
Association, an outline of the geology of the State of Michigan. 
The remaining part of the day was spent in free conversation on va- 
rious geological topics. 

Third day.—The meeting was opened by some remarks on the ap- 
parent stratification of serpentine. A locality was referred to in the 


M earieiee 191 


State of Pennsylvania, where that rock exhibits the appearance of being 
regularly stratified. Several members presented facts respecting other 
localities bearing upon the question of the origin, whether strictly in- 
trusive or metamorphic, of certain belts of serpentine. 

A statement was made in regard to the frequent occurrence of fos- 
‘sil infusoria in almost every town in New England in which primary 
rocks prevail. A member observed, that after the most diligent search, 
he had been unable to detect. them in the cretaceous group. After 
remarks by several other members, the conclusion was, that so far as 
fossil infusoria are known in this country, they are confined to the 
primary formations. 

A notice was next presented of the occurrence of the native black 
peroxide of copper, on the shores of Lake Superior. This was fol- 
lowed by remarks upon the copper ores of New Jersey. 

Some observations were then made regarding the coal fields of 
Pennsylvania, particularly with reference to certain changes in the 
chemical composition of the coal as we proceed from the east to the 
west. Statements corroborating the general correctness of the views 
presented, and extending the same to the States of Ohio and Illinois, 
were made by other members. 

“Some suggestions were next offered concerning the fertilizing pro- 
perties of mica. These led to some remarks on the cause of the fertili- 
zing powers of the green sand, the peroxide of iron, é&c., when it was 

Resolved, That the subject of mineral manures be open for discus- 
sion at the next meeting, and that the members be requested to note 
all such facts as may contribute to its elucidation. 

Professor Silliman was then unanimously elected chairman for the 
next meeting, and the present chairman was requested to open that 
meeting with an address. ! 

The Secretary was requested to prepare an abstract of the proceed- 
ings of this session of the Association, for publication in the Ameri- 
can Journal of Science, and.in the Journal of the Franklin Institute ; 
when after the usual resolutions of thanks, the Association adjourned 
to meet in Philadelphia on the first Monday in April, 1841. 


18. Fossil Infusoria of West Point, New York.—These deposi- 
tions, which are now known to be of common occurrence in many 
parts of the country, were first detected in North America by Profes- 
sor Bailey, of the United States Military Academy, who has noticed 
them in Vol. xxxv, p. 118, of this Journal. A small portion of the 
earth from West Point, which is composed in a great degree of these 
minutest of fossils, reached Prof. Ehrenberg about a year since, and 
is noticed by him in the Account of the Proceedings, &c. of the 


192 : Miscellanies: 


Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences of Berlin, for February, 1839. 
He found it to contain fourteen kinds of siliceous infusory animals, 
viz. 

Cocconema asperum, 7. sp. 

Eunotia Arcus. 


ee Diodon. 
Navicula alata. 
st amphioxys, 7. sp. 
oC Suecica. 
es viridis. 
6c viridula. 


Fragillaria trionodis. 

Gallionella distans. 

Gomphonema paradoxum. 

Spongilla lacustris? (Spongia ?) 
Spongia apiculata. -(Tethya?) n. sp. 
Amphidiscus Rotula. (nov. genus?) 

The most predominating forms are Gallionella distans, Navicula 
viridis, and numerous fragments of the needle-shaped Spongie. 
Besides these animal remains, a very considerable quantity of the 
fossil pollen of the Pine was also observed, wholly similar to that 
which is found in Europe under the same circumstances. Six of these 
fossil American species, it is further mentioned, are known as living 
species in Europe. Four others are known in Europe as fossils, of 
which three have been observed only in the ‘“ Mouniain-meal” 
(Bergmehl) of Sweden and Finland. Needle-shaped Spongie have 
also been found in a fossil state in Sicily. The Amphidiscus, which 
is indicated as a new genus, Prof. Ehrenberg thinks may possibly be 
only the inner portion of some peculiar Spongia or Tethya. In shape 
it is a cylinder with a disk at each end, as the name denotes, and is 
compared to a thread-spool, (Zwirn-Rollchen.) Vide Bericht Ver- 
handl. k. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin for Feb- 
ruary, 1839, p. 31. The Amphidiscus has not been detected in Eu- 
rope; but since the date of the above notice, we learn from Prof. 
Ehrenberg, that he has discovered the same species among other fos- 
sil infusoria from the banks of the Amazon. We would inform the 
curious in such matters, that deposits of the kind are very common 
in the United States, in situations similar to that in which they were | 
first noticed; and those who have suitable microscopes, may readily 
obtain them for examination, and will probably discover many new 
forms. The deposits of nearly pure siliceous infusorial remains in 
some parts of Germany, are twenty or thirty feet in thickness, and 
several miles in extent. 


M ee nNaes. 193 


19. Another work on Chemistry.—Messrs. Barnes and Saxe of Mid- 
dletown, have in press and will shortly publish, a Manual of Chemistry 
on the basis of Turner’s Elements of Chemistry, designed as a text- 
book for students in colleges and other seminaries of learning, by 
Prof. J. Johnston of the Wesleyan University. Dr. Turner’s excellent 
work has been held in deservedly high repute, and as a general trea- 
tise on this branch of science, for a book of the size it is considered 
unrivalled. Much of the work, however, and especially in the later 
editions, is occupied with the minutie of the science, which, in order 
to give a full view of the subject, are indeed important, but which to 
the student in his efforts to master its great principles, ave rather 
embarrassing and perplexing. Prof. J. has therefore formed the plan 
of preparing a work on Chemistry designed exclusively for use as a> 
text-book, which shall present faithfully the great features of the sci- 
ence, with the most recent improvements, unencumbered with other 
matter that cannot be made directly available in the recitation room. 
To do this he has adopted Dr. 'Turner’s general arrangement, and 
made use of so much of his work as was adapted to his purpose, 
supplying the place of the remainder by other matter chosen from 
every source within his reach. ‘The work will be of a medium size, 
but will contain as much matter as is generally made use of by col- 
lege classes. 


20. Progress of the U. S. Exploring Expedition —The vessels of the 
Exploring Squadron arrived at Sydney, New South Wales, early in De- 
cember, 1839. ‘The officers and men were received with great kindness 
and treated with much hospitality by the authorities and the people. The 
Expedition sailed from Sydney on the 26th December, with the intention 
of proceeding as far south as circumstances would permit. It was ex- 
pected that the squadron would return from its’southern explorations so 
as to be at New Zealand about the Ist of April, whence it will proceed 
to the Sandwich isles previous to visiting the Columbia river. The sci- 
entific corps were left at Sydney, with orders to join the squadron at New 
Zealand. 

The schooner Sea Gull, containing fifteen persons, officers and men, 
has not been heard from for more than a year. There seems to be little 
ground for doubt that she perished at sea during the first southern explo- 
ration of the squadron early in the year 1839, and probably left no sur- 
vivor to tell her melancholy fate. 


21. Magnetic Observations.—We are gratified to hear that the Ameri- 
can Academy of Arts and Sciences have also resolved to co-operate in the 
great system of magnetical observations now going on in all parts of the 
globe. The Academy have appropriated $1060 for purchasing the ne- 

Vol. xxxix, No. 1.—Apvril-June, 1840. 20 


1G4 Miscellanies. 


cessary instruments. An arrangement has been made between the Acad- 
emy and the Corporation of Harvard University, by which the instruments: 
will be placed in the buildings recently erected at that University for as- 
tronomical and other observations, and a series of magnetic and meteoro- 
logical observations made with-them by the gentlemen who have the 
charge of the Cambridge Observatory, in correspondence with the instruc- 
tions furnished by the Royal Society of London, and in co-operation with 
their own observers. 


22. Auroral belt of May 29, 1840.—About 9h. 20m. P. M. of Fri- 
day, May 29, 1840, a luminous belt, spanning the heavens from east 
to west, was seen by several persons in this city. When fully form- 
ed, about 9h. 22m., its width was from 3° to 5°, being widest and most 
luminous on the western portion; its altitude, at the highest part, 
about 85° above the southern horizon. Its light wassimilar and 
equal to that of ordinary auroral streamers. ‘The extremities of the 
belt were 10° or 20° above the horizon, but their position was not 
particularly noted, and may have varied 10° or more from the E. and 
W. points. The northern edge of the belt was well defined ; the 
southern was not very distinct. The belt slowly drifted southward, 
at the rate of about a degree per minute. At 9h. 30m., at which time 
the belt was brightest and most perfect, its northern edge was pro- 
jected on Arcturus. Just before the belt reached this star, there was 
a slight bending, concave to the north, in that part of the belt which - 
lay not far east of the meridian. ‘This occurred near that region of 
the heavens in which (at this town) an auroral corona is manifested. 
The belt soon began to fade, and by 9h. 45m. was nearly extinct, but 
for ten minutes longer, a-small remnant of it was visible in the south- 
west, which, just before it disappeared, passed to the south of Regu- 
lus. The summit of the belt was, at vanishing, about 10° south of 
Arcturus. This belt was apparently constituted in part of beams ob- 
liquely transverse to its length, but this character was on this occa- 
sion less conspicuous than has commonly been noticed in other cases. 
During the whole time the sky was obscured by haziness and partially 
by clouds. There was some auroral light about the northern horizon, 
but it had no visible connection with the belt. Soon after 10h. this 
light increased exceedingly; numerous streamers rose to the altitude of 
50°, and auroral waves flashed up nearly or quite to the coronal point. 

This auroral belt was seen at New York city, and doubtless at many 
other places. If observations upon the position of the edge of the 
belt at given times were made at any considerable ern: north or 
south of New Haven, we might have the means of finding approxi- 


Biiscellantes. 195 


mately its height above the earth. If any such observations were 
made, it is to be hoped that they will be given to the public. - 
BR. C. Herricx. 


New Haven, Conn. 


23. Petroleum Oil Well.—About ten years since, whilst boring for 
salt water, near Burksville, Kentucky, after penetrating through solid 
rock upwards of two hundred feet, a fountain of pure oil was struck, 
which was thrown up more than twelve feet above the surface of the 
earth. Although in quantity somewhat abated after the discharge of 
the first few minutes, during which it was supposed to emit seventy 
five gallons a minute, it still continued to flow for several days suc- 
cessively. The well being on the margin and near the mouth of a 
small creek emptying into Cumberland river, the oil soon found its 
way thither, and for a long time covered its surface. Some gentle- 
men below applied a torch, when the surface of the river blazed, and 
the flames soon climbed the most elevated cliffs, and scorched the 
summit of the loftiest trees. It ignites freely, and produces a flame 
as brilliant as gas. Its qualities were then unknown, but a quantity 
was barrelled, most of which soon leaked out. It is so penetrating 
as to be difficult to confine in a wooden vessel, and has so much gas 
as frequently to burst bottles when filled and tightly corked. Upon 
exposure to the air it assumes a greenish hue. It is extremely vola- 
tile, has.a strong, pungent, and indescribable smell, and tastes much 
like the heart of pitch pine. 

For a short time after the discovery, a small quantity of the oil 
would flow whilst pumping the salt water, which led to the impression 
that it could always be drawn by pumping. But all subsequent at- 
tempts to obtain it, except by a spontaneous flow, have entirely failed. 
There have been two such flows within the two last years. The 
last commenced on the 4th of July last, and continued about six 
weeks, during which time twenty barrels of oil were obtained. The 
oil and the salt water, with which it is invariably combined during 
these flows, are forced up by the gas, above two hundred feet, into 
ihe pump, and thence through the spout into a covered trough, 
where the water soon becomes disengaged and setiles at the bottom, 
whilst the oil is readily skimmed from the surface. A rumbling noise 
resembling distant thunder, uniformly attends the flowing of the oil, 
whilst the gas which is then visible every day at the top of the pump, 
leads the passing stranger to inquire whether the well is on fire.—JV. 
O. Bulletin. 


24. Fresh-water and Land Shells from the neighborhood of Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio. Presented to Yale College by A. Bourne, Esq., Civil 


196) Miscellanies. 


Enginecr.—Vhe shells named in the following list have, with great 
liberality, been presented to the cabinet of Yale College, by Mr. 
Bourne. They embrace a full series of all the shells yet discovered 
in the neighborhood of Chillicothe. They are uncommonly perfect ; 
the beaks of many species, which have always been remarked as much 
worn and abraded, are in the specimens of this collection quite cov- 
ered with the epidermis. ; 

There are commonly from four to twelve individuals of each spe- 
cies, embracing all the varieties and discrepancies which arise from 
age, and from still or rapid water, smooth or stony bottom, and par- 
ticularly that curious structural difference of sex first pointed out in 
Vol. xxvi, p. 117, of this Journal, by Dr. J. P. Kirtland, and now 
further illustrated by the same author in the present number, p. 164. 
This local collection contains two orders, fourteen genera, ninety four 
species, and three hundred and ninety five specimens. We give the 
list of Mr. Bourne without alteration or annexing the authorities for 


the specific names he has subjoined, as follows: 


Unio alatus. 
‘¢  gibbosus. 
« parvus. 
«¢  Japillus. 
« calceolus. 
<¢ compressus. 
“& zigzag. 
«planus. 
“ coccineus. 
‘¢ plicatus. 
«¢ torsus. 
“¢ -declivis. 
«¢ metanever. 
‘es Jevissimus. 


“¢  pyramidatus. 


“ 6cuneatus. 
“ undatus. 


“¢ Jachrymosus. 


‘6 securis. 

“  abruptus. 
‘ellipsis. 

«¢ jrroratus. 

se cornutus. 

‘© ventricosus. 
‘6 yubiginosus. 


* iurbuculatus. 


“¢ eylindricus. 
circulus. 

COL UNIS: 

« triangularis. 
‘¢ ovatus. 


Unio oriens. 

** occidens. 

&  politus. 

‘¢  pustulatus. 

«  phaseolus. 

¢  scalenius. 

<¢ rectus. 

‘¢ perplexus. 

“¢ elegans. 

“¢ gracilis, 

«  multiradiatus. 

«  siliquoideus. 
Alasmodonta rugosa. 


s complanata. 
ne edentula. 
ne truncata. 
Anodonta plana. 
« incerta. 
¢s Ferussaciana. 
se aerolatus. 
ee Wardiana. 
Cyclas partumia. 
ca” dubia. 


Helix paterna. 
¢  perspectiva. 
“¢ paliata. 
“  clausa. 
¢¢ hirsuta. 
‘6 arboreus. 
“  elevata. 
“6 solitaria. 


Helix profunda. 
“ alternata. 
“¢  fuliginosus. 
¢  albolabris. 
“¢  thyroidea. 
‘¢  multilineata. 
“ _zaleta. 
‘¢ tridentata. 
“ inflecta. 
« coneava. 
«  Pennsylvanica. 
Melania depigis. 


Re Sayii. 

gs Virginica, 
WG canaliculata. 

oe semicarniata. 
Lymnea umbrosa. 

eC reflexa. 

CC decidiosa. 
Planorbis bicarinata. 

ub amigeris. 

33 trivalvis. 


Physa elliptica. 

«  heierostropha. 

Ae 
Paludina decisa. 

Pupa exigua. 

“  corticaria. 
Succinea obliqua. : 
Cyclostoma lapidiana. 
Ancylus rivularis. A 


Misceliantes. 197 


25. Notices of Proposals for Reforming the Orthography. of the Eng- 
lish Language.—The imperfections of English orthography are so great 
and so manifest, that no one can fail to desire its amendment. 

The legitimate objects of an improved English orthography are, (1.) an 
enumeration of all the simple sounds in the language ; (2.) an appropria- 
tion of one character, and of one only, to each simple sound; (3.) the 
invention of an entirely new character, or else a selection of such char- 
acters now in use as would be most readily understood by all who employ 
the Roman alphabet; (4.) that analogies between certain sounds, as p 
and 6, s and z, should be denoted by corresponding analogies between the 
characters; (5.) that a regard should be had to the ease or conciseness of 
writing ; and (6.) that the names of the letters should be simplified and 
rendered uniform. 

1. Mr. A. D. Sproat, of Chillicothe, Chio, in a letter to the senior edi- 
tor, dated Feb. 22, 1834, proposes to introduce thirty nine entirely new 
characters, viz. twelve for pure vowel sounds, and twenty seven for con- 
sonant sounds. ‘The chief peculiarities of his system are, that the sub- 
tonics 6, z, etc. are expressed by curving one of the lines of the corre- 
sponding atonics, p, s, etc.; that the nasal vowels are expressed by cross- 
ing the stem of the corresponding simple vowels; and that the length of 
- the vowels is denoted by the length of the arm of the letter. These are 
ingenious suggestions. 

2. Mr. Michael H. Barton, of Geneva, N. Y. (the editor of “ Some- 
thing New,’ Boston, 1830,) in the first number of “ The Morning Sun,” 
Geneva, N. Y., Feb. 25, 1839, proposes, after twenty years’ attention to 
the subject, a plan for reforming the present English orthography. 

He finds twelve pure vowel sounds, and twenty one simple consonant 
scunds, besides three diphthongs, and eight double consonants. 

For all*these he offers two distinct modes of notation; one, by means 
of entirely new characters, which he appears to have taken at random ; 
the other, by availing himself of the present English alphabet, together 
with a few Greek characters, which he employs without any care in the 
selection. 

In carrying out the latter mode of notation, he proposes (1.) to reject 
all superfluous letters ; as, da for day, do for dough, gost, hole for whole, no 
for knew, rite for write, shal, tru, woud for would ; (2.) to transpose certain 
letters ; as, center, gentelmen, trubel; (8.) to substitute the appropriate 
character ; as, aéy for eighty, confushun, hoze for whose, na for neigh, nu 
for new, oba for obey, obade for obeyed, ov for of, ruf for rough, savyer for 
saviour, wade for weighed; and (4.) to use simple u for the pronoun you, 
and simple 0 for the verb be. 

3. Dr. Joseph Torrey, of Salem, Mass., in a letter to the editors, dated 
Dec. 1839, dwells largely on the imperfection of our existing orthography, 
and on the acknowledged advantages of a more perfect system. He finds 


198 Muscellanies: 


twelve vowel sounds, and twenty five consonant sounds. He proposes to 
express the short sounds of the vowels by inverting the usual characters 
- for the same, and to express the sounds for which we have no simple char- 
acters-in our language, by taking the characters which are redundant. 

On these various plans we remark, that-in the present advanced state 
of the English language and literature, it is extremely undesirable to in- 
crease the existmg confusion, by giving a new sound to any of the char- 
acters now in use, or to invent new characters, unless their expediency 
shall be almost self-evident. 


26. Flora of North America; by Drs. Torrey and Gray. Parts III 
and IV. June, 1840. New York, Wiley & Putnam.—These two parts 
complete the first volume of the work, which extends to about 720 pages, 
and concludes the history of the polypetalous division of the dicotyledo- 
nous or exogenous plants.. The third part comprises the remainder of 
the Leguminose, and the orders Rosacee, Calycanthacee, Melastoma- 
cee, Lythracee, Rhizophoracee, Combretacee, Onagracee, Loasacee, 
Turneracee, Passifloracee, Cucurbitacee, and Grossulacee. ‘The fourth 
includes the Cactacee, Surianacee, Crassulacee, Sazifragacee, Hama- 
melacee, Umbellifere, Araliacee, Cornacee, Loranthacee, and a copious 
supplement. Several genera are introduced for the first time into the 
North American flora, and the following new ones are established: 

Pickeringia, (Vwét.) founded on a Californian plant. 

Nuttallia, founded on a plant from Oregon. 

Peraphyllum, (Vutt.) from the Rocky Mountains. 

Hypobrichia, (M. O. Curtis,) a plant of the United States. - 

Eulobus, (Nutt.) from California. 

Echinocystis, a plant of the United States. 

- Discanthera, a Texian plant. 

Solmiea, an Oregon plant. 

Jamesia, from the Rocky Mountains, where it was discovered by Dr. 
Edwin James. 

Edosmia, (Vutt.) from California and Oregon. 

Neurophyllum, from the United States. 

Euryptera, (Vuét.) from California. 

Leptotenia, (JVuéé.) from Oregon and California. “ 

Hurytenia, a plant from Texas. 

Glycosma, (Vutt.) a plant from Oregon. 

Cynapium, (Nuéé.) on some plants of Oregon. 

Musenium, (Vuét.) on some plants of the Upper Missouri, Oregon, &c. 

Apiastrum, (Nutt.) on some Oregon and Californian plants. 

Deweya, (which is dedicated to Prof. Dewey, now of Rochester, New 
York,) on a Californian plant. 


\ 


Miscellanies. 199 


27. Specimens of Minerals and Rocks. 
_To the Editors of the American Journal of Science, &c. 


Genilemen,—You will recollect that in Vol. xv of your Journal, I 
gave some account of the extensive establishment at Heidelberg in Ger- 
many, for the sale of specimens of minerals and rocks, having lately re- 
ceived a box myself. As I have within a few weeks received one thou- 
sand two hundred specimens from that institution for Amherst College, 
I take the liberty again to call the attention of your readers to that estab- 
lishment, in the belief that specimens can be obtained there at a cheaper 
rate than almost any where else, and yet of the best quality, and put up 
in the neatest manner. By turning to Vol. xvi of your Journal, your 
readers will see that a great variety of collections in crystallography, pre- 
cious stones, mineralogy, and geology, are put up at this institution. As 
I have given in that place so full an account of these collections and their 
prices, I shall now speak only of those which I have recently received. 

1. A geognostic collection of six hundred specimens, presents all the 
important varieties of known rocks, with many of their characteristic 
petrifactions. - The specimens are three inches by four, and trimmed in 
the neatest manner, with labels in German, French, ane English, and ar- 
ranged according to the system of Prof. ‘basalect! It is so complete a 
collection, as to leave one little to desire in respect to the rocks of conti- 
nental Europe. Price $92. 

2. A smaller collection of two hundred specimens, very similar to the 
above. Price $22. 

3. A collection in economical geology, or the useful rocks and miner- 
als, three hundred specimens. Price $32, This is an admirable collec- 
tion, embracing all the principal ores, several of the precious stones, 
(some of which are polished, ) and the common rocks useful in a pecu- 
niary point of view. 

4, A collection of precious stones. ‘This consists of fifty different sorts, 
and more than three times that number of specimens, from the diamond 
downwards. More than half are cut and polished. Price $28. They 
are very neatly put up. 

I received also three slabs containing the tracks in relief of Chirothe- 
rium, from Hildburghausen, in Saxony. But it is doubtful whether this 
institution can furnish many more of these, as they have become very 
scarce and expensive. 

The above collections were put up in so excellent a manner, that scarce- 
ly a single specimen was injured. It appears to me that many public in- 
stitutions in our country would be glad to obtain such collections as the 
above. ‘They are exactly fitted for public instruction. 

Allow me to say a few words on the mode of procuring collections from 
Heidelberg. If any one wishes to make enquiries, let him direct a letter 


~ 200 Miscellantes. 


by mail (paying the postage to New York,) to Lewis Win. Zimmern, at 


the Mineralogical Institute, Heidelberg, Germany, and he will receive an 
answer. Mr. Zimmern is connected with some of the first mercantile 
houses in Europe, and he requested me to allow him to draw on Hotten- 
guer & Co., in Paris. This I was enabled to do through the kindness 
of the house of Prime, Ward & King, in New York; and I have reason 
to suppose that this firm would be willing to do the like favor to others, 
charging only a very moderate commission. It is necessary only to for- 
ward to that house the amount which Mr. Zimmern has liberty to draw 
for. I give these details because they may save others, as little conver- 
sant with pecuniary transactions as myself, several months delay, should 
they wish to order collections from Heidelberg. 

I beg leave to say, that I have no pecuniary connection with the Hei- 
delberg Institute, and make these statements only with a wish to have 
such collections as can be obtained there, multiplied in our country, and 
because I have abundant reason to believe, that the most perfect confi- 
dence may be placed in the gentleman who has charge of that institution. 
I have a few catalogues of his collection, which I should be happy to 
send to any gentleman why may desire them. Respectfully, 


: Epwarp Hircucock. 
Amherst College, (Mass.) June 1, 1840. 


28. Carburetted Hydrogen.*—The students at West Town boarding 
school, Chester Co., Penn., for want of a better place, bathe in a mill-pond 
of very limited extent. Chester Creek, a mere brook, enters at the north- 
erm extremity. ‘The banks on all sides are covered with timber, from which 
an abundance of leaves and decayed wood find their way into the pond. 
Hence the great quantity of gas, that every person wana in the pond 
must have noted. 

I first visited the place in the year 1834, and on noticing the gas, de- 
termined to collect some for the purpose of examination. ‘Taking as ap- 
paratus a bell-glass furnished with a stop-cock, and a taper, and as com- 
panion an assistant teacher in the school, (now assistant superintendant 
at Harnford School,) we proceeded to the pond, readily filled the receiver, 
and fired the gas issuing from the stop-cock. We next proposed to burn 
the bubbles as they arose from the water. On stirring the leaves the gas 
ascended in large quantities, affording an admirably successful experiment. 
No sooner was the lighted taper brought near the surface of the water, 
than we found ourselves enveloped in flames. 'To retreat was of course 
the first impulse. Fire and water, though usually antagonist elements, 


* Providence, R. I., 5th mo. 2ist, 1840. 
Prof. B. Silliman,—If any of the facts in the following extract from a lecture 
delivered about a year ago, before the Providence Franklin Society, be deemed 
worthy of a place in the “ American Journal,” é&c., they are at thy disposal. 
Thine respectfully, Moszs B. Lockwoop. 


Miscellanies. 201 


in this instance formed an alliance so friendly, that to our consternation 
as well as amusement, we were pursued to the very banks. We however 
escaped with but a slight scorching. We soon found means, however, to 
repeat the experiment with perfect impunity. This was done by selecting 
a position where the water was three or four feet deep, lying on our backs 
with our legs extended, and allowing no part of our persons to touch the 
bottom except the feet, over which the gas might be inflamed, and would 
continue to burn as long as the leaves were stirred beneath. In this way 
we could cause the flame to follow us several rods. By raising the feet 
at pleasure it would expire. 

With this experience, we determined to repeat the experiment in the 
presence of the scholars. Their next visit to the pond was deferred till 
evening, that darkness might render the phenomenon more imposing. 
The boys were simply informed that “ Master Moses was a going to set 
the river afire,’ and that their assistance would be necessary to the sat- 
isfactory performance of the experiment. The usual preparation for 
bathing being made, some fifty of the less timid entered the water, with 
the injunction to step as lightly as possible till the pond was discovered to 
be on fire, when all would be at liberty to proceed as would best suit their 
inclinations. We soon came toa favorable spot, and the gas beginning 
to come up pretty freely, a lighted taper was brought near the surface, 
when in an instant a lambent flame played upon our unprotected bodies, 
and cast a gloomy light upon the surrounding forest, disclosing here and 
there amid the thick underbrush the pale faces of their shouting com- 
panions who remained upon the bank. In the hurry the injunction to 
step lightly was forgotten, and the general stir of the leaves which took 
place extricated the gas in such abundance that the flame rose several feet 
above our heads. As they separated from me I raised my feet from the 
bottom, and found it much more difficult to suppress my laughter than to 
extinguish the flames. 


29. French Exploring Expedition tothe Antarctic Regions.—We 
are indebted to the polite attentions of J. Balestier, Esq., U. S. Con- 
sul at Singapore, for a copy of the “‘ Singapore Free Press,” of July 
11, 1839, containing a translation of a sketch of the movements of 
the French Antarctic Expedition, under D’ Urville. ‘The sketch was 
prepared by Commodore D’Urville for the Society of Arts and Sci- 
ences of Batavia, and was read June 19, 1839. 

The corvettes EL’ Astrolabe and La Zelée sailed from Toulon, Sept. 
7, 1837, on the expedition above mentioned. ‘They arrived at the 
Straits of Magellan, Dec. 12, where they remained twenty-eight 
days employed in surveying, and in ethnographical investigations, 
and in making collections in natural history, and observations in nat- 


ural philosophy. Afterwards they explored the entire eastern coast 
Vol. xxxix, No, 1.—April-June, 1840. 26 


202 Miscellanies. 


of Terra del Fuego, and the northern coast of Staten Island, and 
then about the end of December, sailed for the southern polar regions. 
They were, however, unfortunately prevented by barriers of ice from 
proceeding as far south as had been done by many preceding navi- 
gators. Disappointed here, they occupied the rest of their stay in 
that region in exploring the New South Orkney isles, some of the 
New South Shetland isles, and also for about eighty leagues, a terri- 
tory of great extent, which they named Terres de Louis Philippe. 
They then proceeded to Talcahuano, in Chili, for the restoration of 
the health of the crew. This place they left May 22, and passed three 
days at Valparaiso, and about the beginning of August dropped an- 
chor at the Mangariva (Gambier) islands. They cursorily surveyed the 
isles Minerva and Serles, and passed some days in the isle of Nouhiva. 
The natives are a fine race of Polynesians, handsome, tall, well made, 
agile, and robust. On the 9th Sept. they arrived at Tahiti; they sur- 
veyed all the isles of the Tahitian archipelago, then the isles Mopelia 
and Scilli, and carefully took the bearings of the coasts of the isles 
which compose the archipelago of Samoa. A short stay in the island 
of Opoulon, added to their collections in every department. They 
next visited the isles of Vavao and Hapai, and afterwards the isle of 
Ovalaou. Subsequently they explored the islands of Arviare and 
Pic de l’Etoile, and also the Banks group, which had never been seen 
since its discovery by Bligh,—likewise the isles of Vanikoro, (cele- 
brated for the shipwreck of La Perouse,) Lopona, Nitendi, Mendana, 
and the volcano of Tinakoro; and about the middle of November, 
they reached the Solomon islands. This extensive archipelago was 
the object of a special survey. ‘They laid down with care the bear- 
ings of two hundred leagues of its coasts, and resolved the doubts 
which have divided the opinions of the most distinguished hydro- 
graphers, regarding the number and the relative situation of the isles 
of which it is constituted. ‘They remained several days in the neigh- 
borhood of the large isle Isabella, the natives of which are of the 
small Melanesian race, feeble, averse to labor, and cannibals; but 
who stiil sometimes showed themselves mild and peaceable, and rath- 
er honest. Among the Caroline islands, they surveyed the Nougour 
and Louassap groups, and came to anchor over against the great 
Rook cluster. The natives of the latter appeared to be suspicious 
and hypecritical. The year 1839 they entered upon while at Umata, 
isle of Guam, where they refreshed themselves with some relaxation. 
On the 10th Jan. they set sail, and surveyed the Pelew, Gouap, and 
Palmas isles, and laid down forty leagues of the southern coast of 
Mindanao. - They fixed with care the position of the isles lying be- 
tween Mindanao and Celebes. By the end of January they resumed 


Miscellanies. 203 


their surveys on the southern coast of Ceram, and the coast of New 
Guinea. The westerly monsoon now drawing to a close, they pro- 
ceeded to Raflles Bay, in Australia, where the English for some time 
had a settlement; they also visited the colony at Port Essington, 
which had just been founded under the superintendence of Captain 
Bremer. They surveyed the whole extent of the western coast of 
the Arron isles; spent three days at the anchorage of Aobo, and vis- 
ited the fort which the Dutch once owned in the isle of Wokam, but 
which is now a heap of ruins. They also halted five days at the head 
of Triton Bay, where the Dutch have lately established a small set- 
tlement. The coast of New Guinea was carefully examined from this 
point to the southern extremity of Maclure’s passage. Retracing 
their steps, they employed three days in the anchorage of Warou, in 
Ceram. In May, they took the bearings of the northern coasts of 
Ceram and Bouron, the most southerly part of Bouton, as also of 
Celebes, then the Straits of Salayer, as far as Macassar. They then 
bore straight away for Borneo, where they examined the coast at 
Salatan point, and finally made sail for Batavia, where they arrived 
on the 8th of June, 1839. It was expected that the expedition 
would reach home in twelve or fifteen months from that date. 


30. Proceedings of the Microscopical Society of London. (A. G.)—The 
Microscopical Society of London held their first meeting on Wednesday, 
Jan. 29th, at the Horticultural Society's rooms, No. 21, Regent Street. 
The meeting was attended by upwards of a hundred members and vis- 
itors. 

The President, Prof. Owen, announced that since the provisional meet- 
ang on the 20th of December last, for the purpose of forming the Society, 
the number of members had increased to one hundred and ten, and a 
farther addition of twenty-nine names was announced in the course of 
the evening, making a tetal of one hundred and thirty-nine original mem- 
bers, it having been determined that those who joined the Society on or 
before the first night ef meeting should be considered original mem- 
bers. 

Mr. Owen communicated a paper on the application of microscopic 
examinations of the structure of teeth to the determination of fossil re- 
mains. After alluding to the essential service rendered to the chemist, 
mineralogist, and vegetable physiologist, he proceeded to offer a few ex- 
amples of the utility of the microscope to the investigation of the struc- 
ture of fossilized teeth. 

The first example adduced was that of the Saurocephalus, an Ameri- 
ean fossil animal; which had been referred to the class of reptiles. After 
pointing out the distinctive characters of the microscopic texture of the 
feeth in reptiles and fishes, it was shewn that the Saurocephalus, accord- 


204 —  _Miscellanies. 


ing to this test, unquestionably belonged to the latter class, and that it 
most closely resembled Sphyrena among recent fishes in its dental struc- 
ture. ‘ . ) 

The second instance was'the Basilosaurus of Dr. Harlan, which has 
been referred to the class Reptilia; and the double-fanged structure of its 
teeth had, on the strength of its supposed saurian affinities, been adduced to 
weaken the arguments advanced in favor of the mammiferous nature of 
certain fossils from the Stonesfield oolite. Mr. Owen, after describing the 
microscopic character of the teeth of the Basilosaurus, shewed that it de- 
viated from the saurian structure in this respect as widely as the Sauro- 
cephalus, but that the modifications of its dental structure resembled most 
closely that of the Cachalot and herbivorous Cetacea. Lastly, Mr. Ow- 
en alluded to the difference in the views entertained by Cuvier and M. de 
Blainville, ‘as to the affinities of the Megathertum, which was referred by 
the one to the family of the sloths, and by the other to that of the arma- 
dillos; after explaining the well marked differences in the microscopic 
characters of the dental structure in these two families of the so-called 
Edentata, Mr. Owen proceeded to describe the structure of the teeth of 
the Megatherium, and to shew that in its close resemblance to the dental 
structure of the sloths, it confirmed the views of the great founder of the 
science of fossil remains. This paper was accompanied by a number of 
very beautiful illustrative drawings, exhibiting the minute structure of the 
teeth of the animals referred to. 

Mr. Jackson then read a short paper, drawing the attention of the So- 
ciety to a mode of mounting the compound microscope, which differs 
in some particulars from the methods generally adopted. The principal 
object to be kept in view in the construction of the instrument, is the 
prevention of those accidental vibrations which so much interfere with 
microscopic examinations, especially in the neighborhood of crowded 
thoroughfares. ‘This object is effected by connecting together the body 
and the stage of the instrument in such a manner, that whatever vibra- 
tions are communicated to the one shall be equally communicated to the 
other. In the instrument of Mr. Jackson, this principle has been carried 
further than has hitherto been effected ; and it also affords improved fa- 
cilities for mmute adjustments, and the accurate admeasurement of mi- 
croscopic objects. 

A discussion ensued on the subject of Mr. Jackson’s paper, and also 
on the best modes of measuring microscopic objects, and the greater dif 
ficulties encountered in ascertaining the antero-posterior diameters of mi- 
nute bodies, as compared with the facilities which we possess of obtaining 
lateral measurements. The meeting then resolved itself into a conver- 
sazione, during which a number of interesting objects were exhibited by 
individual members, many of whom had their microscopes upon the ta- 
ble. ‘The meeting adjourned at 11 o’clock. 


Miscellanies. 205 


Wednesday, Feb. 19.—R. H. Solly, Esq. in the chair. A paper was 
read by Mr. Queckett, on the development of the vascular tissue of plants, 
in which it was shown that the membranous tube of vessels originated 
from a cytoblast in a manner similar to that described by Schleiden in 
the formation of cells, from which it is at first difficult to recognize them ; 
but in a short time, they assume a very elongated form, and the cytoblast 
disappears. Before the fibre is deposited, the contents, which are gela- 
tinous, are crowded with numerous most minute granules, which possess the 
motion known as that of “active molecules,” and after a short time, when 
they have become a little enlarged, they adhere to the inner surface of the 
tube containing them in a different manner for each vessel; so that the 
several varieties of vascular tissue are not degenerations of each other, 
but are constructed originally on the plan they are always observed to pre- 
sent to the eye. 

It had been conjectured by Schleiden that a current existed between 
the gelatinous contents of the cell and its walls, which preceded the for- 
mation of a fibre, and gave the direction it afterwards took; this was re- 
futed by showing that the granules became separately attached to the in- 
side of the vessel, at a little distance from each other, beginning first at 
one end and proceeding to the opposite, the fibre elongating like a root, 
by the materials of growth being always added to the point. The gran- 
ules so attached, becoming nourished by the contents of the vessel, and 
the spaces between them are in a short time obliterated by the fibre 
occupying a defined border, which completes its development. [The va- 
ried manner in which the granules are deposited, so as to produce all the 
varieties of vascular tissue, is explained in the remaining portion of the 
abstract of Mr. Queckett’s paper. |—F'rom the Annals of Natural History 

Sor March, 1840. 


31. On the remarkable diffusion of Coralline Animalcules from 
the use of Chalk in the arts of life, as observed by Ehrenberg.—An 
examination of the finest powdered sorts of chalk which are used in 
trade, has afforded Prof. Ehrenberg the following result: that even 
in this finest condition, not merely the inorganic part of the chalk is 
become separated, but that it remains mixed with a great number of 
well-preserved forms of the minute shells of coral animalcules. As 
powdered chalk is used for paper hangings, Prof. Ehrenberg also ex- 
amined these, as well as the walls of his chamber which were simply 
washed with lime, and even a kind of glazed vellum paper called vis- 
iting cards, and obtained the very visible resulidemonstrating the 
minuteness of division of independent organic life; that those walls 
and paper-hangings, and so, doubtless, all similar walls of rooms, 
houses, and churches, and even glazed visiting cards prepared in the 
above mentioned manner, (of which cards, however, many are made 


206 Miscellanies. 


with pure white lead without any addition of chalk,) present, when 
magnified three hundred diameters, and penetrated with Canada bal- 
sam, a delicate mosaic of elegant coralline animalcules, invisible to 
the naked eye, but, if sufficiently magnified, more beautiful than any 
painting that covers them.—Annals of Natural History, p. 286, No. 
24, for December, 1839. 


32. Analysis of the Upas, (Juice of Antiaris toxicaria,) by Mul- 
der.—A portion of the juice of the Upas tree, brought from Java, by 
M. Blume, yielded, on analysis by Prof. Mulder, the following 


results: 


Vegetable albumen, - - - - - 16.14 
Gum, - - - ~ = = = 12.34 
Resin, - - - - - - - 20.93 
Myricin, - - - - - - - 7.02 
Antiarin, - - - - - - - 3.56 
Sugar, - - - - - - - 6.31 
Extractive matter, - - - - - 30.10 

100.00 


Antiarin, the only active substance of this juice, is one of the most 
deadly poisons known. Its effects, when greatly diluted, are vomit- 
ing, diarrhea, convulsions, and the like. It is a peculiar neutral, 
almost uncombinable substance, retaining its properties when mingled 
with water, &c.—Bull. Sci. Phys. & Nat. Neerlande, 1838. 


33. Advaniages of iron compared with wood Steamers. 

1. The first cost of an iron vessel is from fifteen to twenty per 
cent. less than a wood vessel. 

2. The capacity ofan iron vessel is much greater than that of a wood 
vessel of the same dimensions, in consequence of the less space occu- 
pied by the material; an iron vessel of four hundred and thirty tons 
would present about the same internal surface as a vessel of five hun- 
dred tons, built of wood. 

3. The weight of an iron vessel is not more than two-thirds of that 
of a wood vessel of corresponding tonnage ; hence the displacement 
of the iron vessel is much less; therefore the diminished power of 
her engines and comparative quantity of fuel required, makes the 
combined displacement very much in favor of the iron steamer. 

4. Aniron steamer is of much greater durability, without the repairs 
rendered necessary by the common wear and tear of wood steamers. 
It was stated before the House of Commons, that an iron vessel had 
been worked for thirty-six years, and that an iron steamer had been 
constantly employed for sixteen years, and at the expiration of that 


Miscellanies. 207 


time her bottom was examined and found free from oxidation, the 
outer scales and rust had disappeared, leaving the bottom perfectly 
smooth and clean. Now a wood vessel during that time would have 
required her copper to have been four times renewed, as often recalk- 
ed, paid and painted, besides frequent and small repairs in replacing 
defective wood, and at the expiration of that time either condemned 
or thoroughly repaired, and if we add the value of the time required 
to effect such repairs, the economy of using iron steamers will be 
found enormous. 

5. Perfect safety from fire is another of the great advantages to be 
realized by adopting iron steamers. The returns of steam vessels lost 
in one way or another, demonstrate that a great proportion of these 
losses have arisen from fire. It naturally follows that the premium 
of insurance would be much less for iron vessels than wood. The 
present custom is the use of wood beams and deck, but were it neces- 
sary for still further security, iron might be substituted with equal 
ease for both. 

6. The danger of the vessel’s sinking by springing a leak, if not en- 
tirely obviated, is very much lessened. The facility of dividing an 
iron vessel’s hold into departments by iron bulk-heads, which can be 
made as tight and as strong as a boiler, is very obvious; therefore if 
a leak takes place in any one division, that division may be filled as 
high as the outer surface of the water, and the vessel be still compara- 
tively secure. Moreover, a leak at sea on board an iron vessel, may 
be much more easily discovered than it could possibly be on board 
wood vessels, as it would not be hidden by a mass of timber. Another 
advantage would be perfect freedom from the smell of the engine 
room, which could not reach the cabins, and an entire absence of 
bilge water, so offensive on board all wood vessels. The plan of di- 
viding the hold of wood vessels by means of partitions, will doubt- 
less answer some good purpose, but where so intense a heat exists as 
in the interior of a steamer, the wood must and will draw; this, add- 
ed to the working of a wood vessel, would render it absolutely im- 
possible to make the bulk-heads tight. 

7. The danger from lightning is very much diminished, as the 
whole body of the vessel is a conductor of electricity. Lander’s voy- 
age to Africa in an iron steamer corroborates this fact, and I find the 
opinions of the most scientific men concur on this subject. ‘The cap- 
tain of a steam vessel, who commanded a steamer on the Mississippi 
more than twenty years, told me that he never knew a steamer to be 
struck with lightning when her engine was at work. : 

8. In tropical climates there is a great advantage in iron steamers, 
as the internal temperature of the hold would be very much cooled 


208 Miscellanies. 


by the surrounding water, which would greatly add to the health and 
comfort of those on board. This result was also experienced on 
board the iron steamer already referred to, which went to Africa. 
Another advantage, which will be fully appreciated by those accus- 
tomed to voyages in tropical climates, is the entire freedom from in- 
sects and other animals which overrun wood vessels, forming in fre- 
quent instances, a perfect barrier to all comfort. 

9. Iron steamers are less exposed to accidents than wood steamers ; : 
if the latter for instance touches the ground but slightly and only to 
rub her copper, which is often the case, it is absolutely indispensable 
in tropical climates, to have it immediately replaced, or otherwise a 
few weeks will be sufficient for the worms to destroy that part of the 
bottom so exposed. ‘The expense attendant even on such slight re- 
pairs, particularly in the absence of docks, would be immense. In 
an iron vessel, under the same circumstances, no difficulty would 
arise. Again, an iron vessel in striking a rock, would very likely 
suffer an indentation in her bottom, but it would not pass through the 
iron, when a wood plank, under similar circumstances, would, in all 
probability, be broken and rent. An iron vessel has been thrown on 
a ledge of rocks, and after beating on it for some time, was saved; it 
was found that the bottom was greatly bruised and indented, but still 
perfectly tight, and it was admitted by the spectators that a common 
wood vessel, under similar circumstances, would certainly have bilged 
and gone to pieces. The iron bottom presents a perfectly smooth 
surface, the heads of the rivets forming a plane with the plates. 

10. It is, I believe, an understood principle, that superior buoyancy 
makes a superior sea boat, and its application is strong proof in favor 
of iron vessels for steam purposes. We have the united testimony of 
many persons who have witnessed the operation of iron steamers in 
heavy weather, as to their great safety and security. It has been argued 
by some that this very- buoyancy rendered them unfit for high sea use. 
This argument naturally carries one back to about twenty five years 

ince, when it was considered indispensable, that a vessel of three 
hundred tons should draw seventeen or eighteen feet of water, to en- 
able her to hold a good wind and make her safe in a sea way. At 
present the American packet ships of seven to eight hundred tons, 
seldom draw, when in their best trim, more than thirteen feet of wa- 
ter. 

11. It has been urged against iron steamers, that they are subject to 
extensive vibration by the action of the machinery. I was recently 
on board the Rainbow, (an iron steamer of one hundred and ninety- 
eight feet length, twenty-five feet beam, and nearly of six hundred 
tons,) on an experimental trip from Blackwall to Gravesend and back. 


Miscellanies. 209 


We had the full benefit of the tide down, and accomplished the dis- 
tance in seventy-one and a half minutes, and allowing for a tide of 
three and a half milés per hour, we made fifteen and a half miles 
per hour through the water, working ata pressure of less than four 
pounds, with two ninety horse engines. ‘The very slight vibration was 
a subject of general remark. 

12. Another argument against iron steamers, is the difficulty of ma- 
king them stiff. It seems very absurd to say that an iron form cannot 
be rendered equally stiff and firm as one of wood. An iron steamer 
is less likely to bend or hog than a wood steamer. The pressure is 
on the edge downwards, and it would be scarcely possible to produce 
such an effect, unless the iron be broken, for the rivetted part may be 
considered equally strong as, or even stronger than the plate. 

13. The construction of iron vessels can be rendered perfect only 
by practice, time, and experience. The drafts or models which I have 
seen, admit of many improvements, but as to their eventual general 
adoption I have no question. To many it appears such an innova- 
tion upon custom so long established, that it is condemned without 
cause or reason. I am perfectly persuaded that iron steam vessels 
can be navigated for one half the expense incurred at present in wood 
vessels. The opinions of the most practical and scientific men in 
the kingdom are universally in favor of iron as a substitute for wood 
in the building of steamers, both on account of its greater security, 
and durability, and also of its extraordinary economy. 

Since the foregoing was written, I have received a report from the 
Seine respecting the iron steamer Aaron Mont—that she was in cap- 
ital condition, very fast, and performed her voyages to the satisfaction 
of the proprietors; she was built in the year 1817, has run twenty-one 
years, and no signs of corrosion.*—Boston Daily Advertiser and 
Patriot. 
~ London, 18th Oct., 1839. 


84. Medical and Physiological Commentaries, by Martyn Paine, M. 
D., A. M., in two vols. 8vo., pp. 716 and 815. New York, Collins, Keese 
& Co. London, John Churchill, 1840. 

We have received from its author a copy of this extended work just at 
the close of our number, and too late for any thing but a passing notice. 
Its contents are, I. Vital powers, in three sections and an appendix; 
the subject is treated at more than usual length. II. Philosophy of the 
operation of loss of blood, in fifteen sections, with two appendixes. IIT. 


* Drawn up by Wm. Wheelwright, Esq., now engaged in introducing steam nav~ 
igation from England to Chili, across the isthmus by rail road. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 1.—April-June, 1840. 2 


210 Miscellanies. 


The humoral pathology, in fourteen sections, with three appendixes; one 
on scurvy and diabetes, the second on endosmose and exosmose. From a 
cursory glance at the author’s remarks on these subjects, we perceive he 
is inclined to set aside all application of the evidence which their phe- 
nomena have been supposed to bring to bear on physiological and chem- 
ical science, and to view the subject as “a part of the great system of ma- 
terlalism, by which many eminent physiologists, as we shall ultimately 
see, are endeavoring to consign to chance the origin of matter itself.” 
(Vol. I, page 682.) The third appendix is divided into four heads, 1. 
Fasting in relation to humoralism. Next “on the microscope ;’ the val- 
ue which the author sets upon this instrument as a means of advancing 
our knowledge may be best inferred from his ownlanguage. “The micro- 
scope having been extensively employed in the interpretation of vital phe- 
nomena, and now threatening more than ever the subversion of physio- 
logical science,” &c. (p. 699.) The author then proceeds by quoting 
various opinions, and by ridicule, to throw the whole subject of micro- 
scopical observation out of the scale of scientific evidence, and to call 
in question all the discoveries of Ehrenberg in relation to the animal ori- 
gin of the infusorial earth, and the occurrence of animalcules in flint 
and opal; and instances the authority of Prof. Hitchcock as to the sim- 
ilar origin of certain iron ochres from Massachusetts, as proof that “we 
are beginning to try our hand at it in America, having got rid of animal 
magnetism. We believe, however, our able Prof. Hitchcock is alone in 
this glory in the western hemisphere.” (p.'707.) ‘The present advanced 
state of our knowledge on this subject calls for no comment fronr us on 
the mappropriateness (to say the least) of such a mode of treating it.* 

The third part of this appendix is a supplement to the essay on the vital 
powers. The fourth to that on the humoral pathology. This closes the 
first volume. 

‘The contents of the second volume are, 

TI. Philosophy of animal heat. 

II. Philosophy of digestion, and appendix on spontaneous generation. 

III. Theories of inflammation, and appendix on state of circulation in 
fever. 

IV. Philosophy of venous congestion, in sixteen sections, with six ap- 
pendixes on 

1. The demonstration of the disease. 

2. The importance of analogy and principles in medicine. 

3. On cold as a cause of venous congestion. 

4. Pathology of erysipelas. 

5. sf ** tubercle and scrofula. 


* See Prof. Bailey on the infusorial animals found by him at West Point, Vol. 
XXXV, p. 118, of this Journal. 


Miscellanies. 211 


6. On melanosis, animal pigments, and the philosophy of adventitious 
growth. | ‘ 

V. Comparative merits of the Hippocratic and Anatomical schools. 

VI. On the principal writings of P. Ch. A. Louis, M.D. With this 
essay the work closes. 

The typography of the work is very well executed, and does credit to 
the publishers; but it is inexcusable to publish any elaborate work without 
an index. 


30. Applications of the Science of Mechanics to Practical purposes ; 
by Prof. James Renwick, LL. D., of Columbia College. New York, 
Harper & Brothers, 1840. 12mo. pp. 327. 

The distinguished author of this little volume states in the preface that 
in it he has endeavored to exhibit, in as popular, and at the same time as 
condensed a form as possible, the principles and leading facts of the 
application of the theory of mechanics to useful purposes.” A work of 
this description from Prof. Renwick is worthy the attention of every prac- 
tical man. 


36. Entomological Cabinet.—Dr. C. G. Page wishes to dispose of his 
entomological cabinet, comprising about two thousand species and nearly 
a thousand duplicates. T'wo thirds are natives, and with the exception of 
about one hundred, were obtained from the vicinity of Boston, Massachu- 
setts. "The remainder isa choice selection from Maranham, Java, Japan, 
and China. The cabinet is in excellent order, and the characteristic dis- 
tinctions of the Lepidoptera particularly are uncommonly well preserved, 
as most of them were raised from the eggs, in a cocoonery, purposely for 
the cabinet. (The specimens are mostly classified and named.) This 
collection is offered for four hundred dollars. Apply to Dr. Charles G. 
Page, Washington, D. C. 


37. Hog Wallow Prairies.*—Extract of a letter to the Editors from 
Prof. J. L. Riddell, dated New Orleans, May 23, 1840.—While in Texas 
the second time I had full opportunity to study the phenomenon of “hog- 
wallow prairies.” ‘The long droughts in summer cause the woodless sur- 
face of the prairies to crack deeply, and oftentimes symmetrically ; sub- 
sequent rains wash the adjacent earth into these cracks, filling them up, 
converting them into little valleys, and leaving intermediate hillocks, 
Next year the same round of cause and effects occurs in the same places, 
and thus successive years contribute for a long time to produce a maxi- 


* As I make mention of this appearance in my notes on the Trinity country, 
published in your Journal last summer, without assigning a cause, I will ask you 
to publish the explanation here given.—J. L. R. 


212 Miscellanies. 


mum effect, the appearance of which is very striking. When the prairie 
is level, the hillocks are exactly hexagonal, and usually eight or ten feet 
in diameter. ‘The depressions between them are commonly twelve or 
eighteen inches deep. If the surface is inclined, the hexagons become 
elongated at right angles to the direction of the dip, when they frequently 
resemble the waves of the ocean. From difference of surface, soil, and 
exposure, there arises a great diversity in the size, depth, and general ap- 
pearance of the hog-wallows. 'They never occur in a sandy soil, conse- 
quently they are not seen on the sandy prairies near the sea coast. I do 
not remember to have seen them among the mountains in the Camanche 
country ; but else they frequently greet the eye of the traveller in most 
every part of ‘Texas. 


38. Obituary— Death of Wm. Macture.—At a meeting of the 
Academy, held this evening, it was unanimously 

Resolved, 'That the Academy has learned with deep concern, the de- 
cease, at San Angel, near the city of Mexico, of their venerable and re- 
spected President and benefactor, William Maclure, Esq. 

Resolved, That although his declining health induced him to reside for 
some years in a distant and more genial clime, this Academy cherishes 
for Mr. Maclure the kindest personal recollections, and a grateful sense 
of his contributions to the cause of science. 

Resolved, That as the pioneer of American Geology, the whole coun- 
try owes to Mr. Maclure a debt of gratitude, and in his death will ac- 
knowledge the loss of one of the most efficient friends of science and 
the arts. 

Resolved, That as the patron of men of science, even more than for 
his personal researches, Mr. Maclure deserves the lasting regard of man- 
‘kind. 

Resolved, That a member of the Academy be appointed to prepare 
and deliver a discourse commemorative of its lamented President. 

Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretary be requested to commu- 
nicate to Mr. Maclure’s family a copy of these resolutions. 

Samuet Grorce Morron, Corresponding Sec’y. 

Hall of ithe Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, April 28, 1840. 


Agyreeably to announcement, the Academy held an election for officers 
on the 26th of May, when William Hembel, Esq., of Philadelphia, was 
unanimously elected President of the Society, to fill the vacancy occa- 
sioned by the death of William Maclure, Esq. 

On the same occasion, Samuel George Morton, M. D., was elected one 
of the Vice Presidents of the Academy, and Robert Bridges, M. D., 
Corresponding Secretary. 


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JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 


Arr. I.— Account of the Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale 
College, City of New Haven. 


In the Prospectus of this Journal—painting and the other fine - 
arts are named as being withinits plan. It wasin accordance with 
this view, that Col. 'Trumbull’s Historical Pictures of the Ameri- 
can Revolution were mentioned in Vol. 1, p. 200, again in Vol. 
vil, p. 168, and lastly an account is given by Col. Trumbull him- 
self in Vol. xvi, p. 163, of the permanent location of the pictures 
in the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. The studies of all 
the historical pictures, with many other original paintings of the 
same artist, were deposited by him in Yale College in 1832, to 
become, after his decease, the property of the Institution, upon 
the condition that the proceeds of their exhibition shall be devo- 
ted, forever, to the support of indigent students in Yale College. 

A commodious stone building (a view of which forms the fron- 
tispiece of the present number) was erected in 1831, for the re- 
ception of the paintings. 'The basement is appropriated to offices 
and other purposes, and the space above is divided into two apart- 
ments, each thirty feet square and twenty four feet high, lighted 
from the sky. One of these rooms, that which is first entered, is 
devoted to miscellaneous collections, of pictures, statuary, anti- 
quities, écc.; the second room is the Trumbull Gallery ; all the 
pictures which it contains are the productions of the pencil of 
Col. Trumbull, excepting only, his own portrait by Waldo & 
Jewett. 

The father of American Historical Painting still survives, in the 


vigor of his faculties; at the age of eighty four, his eye has not 
Vol. xxxix, ‘Ne 2.—July-September, 1840.” Mees! 


- 


214 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


become dim, nor has the force of his mind, the vividness of his 
imagination, or the delicacy of his touch abated. 

Of this any observer will be convinced, who sees the six paint- 
ings now in the gallery, which have been done within the last 
five or six years, and two of the most difficult during the last 
season. 

A few years ago he commenced copying his historical paintings 
upon canvass of the size of nine feet by six; the great pictures 
at Washington being eighteen by twelve, while the original stu- 
dies are twenty inches by thirty. 

Of the copies of the intermediate size, nine feet by six, five 
have been some years finished, and preparations are made for 
finishing the other three, provided any state, city, university, or 
other institution shall manifest a wish to possess a series of pic- 
tures, which, in relation to the history of this country and to the 
art of painting among us, must ever remain without a rival. 

Col. Trumbull still retains a large number of copies of the 
prints of the Declaration of Independence; of the Death of Gene- 
ral Montgomery in the attack on Quebec, December, 1775; of 
the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775; and of the sortie of 
Gibraltar, November 27, 1781, which terminated one of the most 
memorable of sieges, and was in truth an event of the American 
Revolution, although its scene was in Europe. \ 

Col. Trumbull is the sole survivor of Gen. Washington’s pri- 
vate military family—of those gentlemen who, sharing his full 
confidence, were about his person in the tent and in the battle 
field. 

In relation to his historical pictures he enjoys the rare advan- 
tage of a personal acquaintance with the individuals whose _por- 
traits he has preserved and of having participated in their dangers 
and sufferings. 

‘The Trumbull Gallery has a claim to a place in this Journal 
because it contains the earliest, and hitherto the best historical 
paintings which this country* has produced. In addition to these, 
. there are hung in the same room so many other pictures of high 
interest, that the whole collection presents a splendid triumph of 
the art, at an early day, and exhibits a magnificent and imposing 
spectacle. 


* Mr. West, although an American and the master and instructor of Trumbull, 
confined his labors chiefly to England. 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 215 


The gallery has just been passed in careful revision by the 
artist, and a full descriptive catalogue has received the last touches 
of his hand. In giving an account of the gallery, we shall there- 
fore adopt the language of the artist himself and copy his cata- 
logue, as we did that of Dr. Mantell on a very different subject, 
(see vol. xxim, p. 162,) for we ought not to condense the facts, 
and we cannot improve the style. 

The life of Col. Trumbull, having covered more than four fifths 
of acentury, of the most eventful import, and he having been 
himself, either an actor in, or a witness of many of its most thrill- 
ing events, we are happy to announce that he is just finishing a 
memoir of his own life, and of course, to a great extent of his own 
times, which will fully display, not only the history of the gallery, 
but of many of the events to which its pictures are devoted. 
Having been favored to become acquainted with the work in 
manuscript, we are gratified to say, that the pen of the author is 
not inferior to the peneil of the artist, and that the productions of 
both speak alike to the mind and the heart. 

Col. Trumbull’s writings are remarkable for perspicuity, con- 
densation, and elegant simplicity. His pictures, we presume not 
to criticise—artists will form and express, as they have already 
done, their own opinions; but we hazard nothing in predicting, 
that the Trumbull Gallery, and especially its historical pictures, 
will be appreciated, in a higher and higher degree, with the pro- 
gress of time. 

As long as patriotism and taste shall survive, this Gallery will be 
visited, more and more; and when, beneath its massy walls and 
glowing canvass, the artist himself shall find his last repose—his 
tomb, decorated with more than the beauty of sepulchral flowers, 
will show vivid tints of unfading imagery, proof alike against the 
summer’s drought or winter’s cold.* 

The Gallery will become a shrine, and its relics of the gone-by 
years will be held sacred, even amidst the din of war and the strife 
of civil commotion. 

Nor, while indigent merit, without restriction to sect, party, or 
destination, shall claim the boon which the artist has bequeathed 
forever, to youth, nobly struggling for education—will this holy 


* His tomb, tenanted already by the remains of his nearest friend, is beneath 
the Gallery which will, one day, be his mausoleum—monumentum @re perennius. 


216 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


designation be forgotten; and if the spirits of the departed are 
permitted to hover around our busy walks of life, or to flit, un- 
seen, into our most sacred retirements, may we not presume that 
those who have left rich blessings to mankind, will be among the 
number of our celestial visitants. 


CATALOGUE OF PAINTINGS, BY COLONEL TRUMBULL; INCLUDING EIGHT SUBJECTS 
OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, WITH NEAR TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY POR- 
TRAITS OF PERSONS DISTINGUISHED IN THAT IMPORTANT PERIOD. PAINTED 
BY HIM FROM THE LIFE. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In submitting to the view of the public the Series of Paintings, 
commemorating important events of the American Revolution, 
the consideration, than an entire generation of men have passed. 
away since the enterprise was commenced, and that very few are 
now living who were actors in the scenes represented, renders it 
proper to give some historical account of their origin, in order to 
establish their claim to authenticity in the view of posterity. 

The artist, by whom they have been painted, was one of the 
aids-du-camp of General Washington, in the first year of the Re- 
volution, (1775,) and in the succeeding year, (1776,) was the 
deputy-adjutant-general of the Northern Department, under the 
command of Major-General Gates. He retired from the service 
in the spring of 1777. 

Ardently anticipating the vast consequences of the Revolution, 
and the future greatness of his country; and having a natural 
taste for drawing, in which he had already made some progress, 
(see No. 27,) Colonel Trumbull resolved to cultivate that talent, 
with the hope of binding his name to the great events of the 
time, by becoming the graphic historiographer of them, and of 
his early comrades. 

With this view, he devoted himself to the study of the art of 
painting, first in America, and afterwards in Europe ; and in the 
year 1786, he produced in London, his first considerable histori- 
cal work, the Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s 
Hill. (No. 3 of this collection. ) 

John Adams, afterwards President of the United States, was 
at that time their minister in London; and Thomas Jefferson 
held the same high rank in Paris. The artist was well known 
by both these distinguished men, and this his first patriotic work 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 217 


of art, was seen and appreciated by both. He explained to them 

his intention of painting a series of pictures, in commemoration 

of the principal events of the Revolution, in which should be 

preserved, as far as possible, faithful portraits of those who had 

been conspicuous actors in the various scenes, whether civil or 

military, as well as accurate details of the dress, manners, arms, 

&c. of the times; with all which he had been familiarly ac-. 
quainted. Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson encouraged him in the 

prosecution of this plan, and with their approbation the following 

subjects were selected : 

‘The Death of General Warren, at Bunker’s Hill. 

The Death of General Montgomery, at Quebec. 

The Declaration of Independence. 

The Capture of the Hessians, at Trenton. 

The Death of General Mercer, at Princeton. 

The Surrender of General Burgoyne, at Saratoga. 

The Treaty with France. 

The Battle of Eutaw Springs. 

‘The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown. 

The Treaty of Peace. 

The Evacuation of New York. 

The Resignation of General Washington. 

It was intended to publish a series of engravings from these 
pictures, and therefore a small size was adopted, suited to the use 
of the engraver. 

Several of the compositions were immediately studied and pre- 
pared for the future introduction of the intended portraits, particu- 
larly the Declaration of Independence ; so that, before the two 
great men, before named, returned to the United States, from 
their. respective embassies, their portraits were painted in the 
work now submitted to view, (No. 9,)—the one in London, the 
other in Paris. ‘The portraits of the French officers in the pic- 
ture of the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, (No. 29,) were also 
painted from life, in Paris, in the house of Mr. Jefferson in the 
year 1787. 

After the present Constitution of the United States had been 
adopted, the artist, inthe autumn of 1789, returned to America, 
to pursue his work. He found Congress assembled in New York, 
then the seat of government; and, having procured the portraits 

of General Washington, and of many other distinguished charac- 


218 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


ters, in the several compositions for which they were intended, 
he afterwards travelled through various parts of the country from 
New Hampshire to South Carolina, in search of others; and in 
1794, had nearly completed the collection of portraits, views of 
places, and all the various materials necessary to the execution of 
his entire plan. 

During this period the work attracted much attention, and was 
generally approved. All saw the correctness of the portraits ; 
many knew the accuracy of the circumstances recorded: and it 
was proposed to employ the artist to execute the entire series for 
the nation. 'This proposal failed to be carried into effect ; not 
through any opposition from any quarter to the propriety and fit- 
ness of the object, but because the nation then possessed no build- 
ing proper to receive and preserve such works; and because 
doubts existed then, as they have since, in the minds of some 
gentlemen, whether Ces possessed the right of appropriating 
the public money to such purposes. 

In the mean time the French Révolution had commenced, and 
its subsequent convulsions diverted the attention of all mankind, 
during many years, from the Fine Arts, and from all the works 
and thoughts of peace ; and the further prosecution of this object 
was suspended, until the government of the United States, in the 
year 1816, were pleased to pass a resolution, authorizing the artist 
to execute four of the subjects for the nation ;—Just thirty years 
after he had painted the battle of Bunker’s Hill. 

The attention of the artist was exclusively devoted to the exe- 
cution of this honorable commission, until it was completed, when 
he resumed the small set of these: then unfinished studies; and 
although the lapse of near forty years might have been expected 
to have impaired his sight in a degree which would have pre- 
vented the possibility of finishing such small works, yet, by the 
blessing of God, he has acomplished his original purpose to the 
extent, and ih the degree of success which is now submitted 
to naples examination. 


CATALOGUE, &C. 


e 


No. 1.—Tne Duke or Wetuineton. Painted from a bust ; 
it is recognized as a good likeness by English gentlemen and 
others acquainted with the features of the Duke. 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 219 


No. 2.—F ive Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 
Henry Lawrence, President of Congress, 1791. 
Joun Jay, Chief Justice of the United States, 1792. 
Joun Apams, Vice President of the United States, 1792. 
Grorce Hammonp, Minister from Great Britain, 1792. . 
TrmpLe F'ranxuin, grandson of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, 1792. 


No. 3.—Tue Batrur or Bunxer’s Hmu.—June 17, 1775. 


The Revolution which effected the separation of the British 
Colonies in North America from the parent state, and laid the foun- 
dation of the present United States, forms, and will forever remain, 
the most interesting period of human history. ‘There have been 
many wars, in ancient as well as modern times, marked by more 
extensive devastation and ruin, but these have generally resulted 
in the establishment of some new variety of despotism, or some 
mere change of dynasty; while this Revolution has not only pro- 
duced the establishment of a new and mighty empire, but an em- 
pire founded on a new principle,—the principle that man, under 
the guidance of the representative system, is capable of govern- 
ing himself, without the aid of autocracy, oligarchy, or aristocracy. 
‘The experiment is sublime,—has hitherto proved successful ; and 
may Providence secure its lasting success, so that its influence, 
which is already extensively felt by many nations, may perma- 
nently affect the happiness of the human race. 

Among the many unwise measures of the British Government, 
of which it is the province of history to preserve the unhappy 
record, perhaps no one had a more fatal effect in alienating the 
minds of the colonists, or led more directly or more surely to the 
great result of separation, than the act of Parliament, passed in 
the year 1766, known by the name of the declaratory act, which, 
with a strange and blind fatality, accompanied the auspicious re- 
peal of the Stamp Act. By this it was declared, “that the Brit- 
ish Parliament had the right to pass laws binding the colonies in 
all cases whatsoever.” 

This declaration was in such direct contradiction to the univer- 
sally received opinion of the British people, that representation, 
taxation, and legislation, were inseparably connected ; that it at 
once revolted the feelings of all thinking men in the colonies; 
cancelled the otherwise salutary effect of the repeal of the obnox- 
ious Stamp Act, and gave rise to a series of the most eloquent and 


220 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings n Yale College. 


powerful essays on the origin, nature,-and obligation of govern- 
ment, that had ever before been submitted to the examination of 
the human understanding. All tended to one point; and error 
after error on the one hand, confirming the profound reasonings 
which had thus been provoked on the other, the result became 
inevitable. 

Hostilities commenced at Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775. 
On the first news of this affair, the youth and yeomanry of New 
England hurried to Boston ‘en masse,” with such arms as they 
could command, and the British troops were shut up in the town, 
by a numerous assemblage of enthusiastic men, brave, but undis- 
ciplined, badly armed, ill-supplied with ammunition, destitute of 
military uniforms or equipments; cartridges and cartridge-boxes 
were rare, bayonets almost unknown, and a great proportion of 
these heroic men possessed only fowling-pieces, with some pow- 
der in their horns, and a few bullets in their pockets. 

Science was as imperfect among the officers high in command, 

as was discipline among the inferior officers and troops. 
_ Little was or could be done during the sixty days which elaps- 
ed between the 19th of April and the 17th of June, to reduce 
this assemblage to order and discipline ; yet, such was the zeal of 
the moment, that the determination was taken to advance from 
Cambridge, and to establish a post on Breed’s Hill, the nearest 
point of approach to Boston, distant a little more than half a mile 
from the north part of the town; and on the evening of the 16th 
of June, a detachment of 12 or 1500 men, commanded by Gen. 
Putnam and Col. Prescott, marched for this purpose, arrived. at 
the spot selected at 10 o’clock, and commenced throwing up a 
small redoubt, traces of which were visible a few years since, 
and probably may still be found on the ground now marked by 
the monument. 

The British had no knowledge of this movement until day- 
light exposed to their view the progress which had been made ; 
from the moment of this discovery, they opened a heavy fire 
from ships and batteries, which was continued incessantly through 
the day, until the attack of the works was made in form by the 
troops under the command of Gen. Howe, in the afternoon of 
June 17th. Thus, from 10 o’clock in the evening until 4 o’clock 
in the morning, siz hours, was all the time which this gallant de- 
tachment had to prosecute their work without interruption. They 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 221 


were not relieved in the morning, but remained all day under the 
fire of the enemy, laboring to complete their work, which they 
ultimately defended, under the immediate orders of the gallant 
veteran, Prescott, with the most unyielding bravery ; and quitted 
their post only when their ammunition was entirely expended. 

In the course of the day, other troops were ordered down from 
Cambridge to support this first detachment, some of whom were 
deterred from attempting to cross Charleston neck, by the fire of 
the hostile floating batteries; while others fearlessly dashed on, 
and took up positions on the left of the redoubt, thus forming a 
line which extended from the redoubt on the right, to Mystic riv- 
er on the left ; securing their front, at least in appearance, by throw- 
ing together fences, new-mown hay, and whatever else was mova- 
ble, and could afford some show of shelter. - 

Joseph Warren, an eminent physician of Boston, had for some 
time been distinguished as an ardent and eloquent supporter of 
the rights of his country. At this time he was a very influential 
member of the provincial congress, assembled at Watertown, near 
Cambridge, and a few days preceding the battle had been elected 
a major-general, but as yet had assumed no command. He was 
going out to dine, when the increasing din of the action impelled 
him to gallop to the scene, where he arrived almost at the mo- 
ment of defeat. ‘This is the moment chosen for the painting, 
which, of course, is limited to that part of the scene which was 
near the redoubt, and where the death of Gen. Warren, and the 
obstinate resistance of men almost unarmed to well-armed and 
disciplined troops, is meant to be shown. 

In a scene of such extent and confusion as the entire battle, 
half hidden of course by smoke, it was impossible to represent 
the equal gallantry of those brave troops who formed the line of 
defense between the redoubt and Mystic river, where Major 
Knowlton and many others distinguished themselves by the cool- 
est bravery and the soundest judgment. 

his painting represents the moment when (the Americans 
having expended their ammunition) the British troops became 
completely successful and masters of the field. At this last mo- 
ment of the action, Gen. Warren was killed by a musket ball 
through the head. ‘The principal group represents him expiring ; 
a soldier on his knees supports him, and with one hand wards off 


the bayonet of a British grenadier, who, in the heat and fury nat- 
Vol. xxxix, No. 2.—July-September, 1840, 29 


222 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Vale College. 


ural at such a moment, aims to revenge the death of a favorite 
officer, Col. Abercrombie, who had just. fallen at his feet. Col. 
Small, (whose conduct in America was always equally distin- 
guished by acts of humanity and kindness to his enemies, as by 
bravery and fidelity to the cause he served,) had been intimately 
connected with Gen. Warren,—saw him fall, and flew to save 
him. He is represented seizing the musket of the grenadier, to 
prevent the fatal blow, and speaking to his friend: it was too late ; 
the general had barely life remaining to recognize the voice of 
friendship; he had lost the power of speech, and expired with a 
smile of mingled gratitude and triumph. Near him, several Amer- 
icans, whose ammunition is expended, although destitute of bay- 
onets, are seen to persist in a resistance obstinate and desperate, 
but fruitless. Near this side of the painting is seen Gen. Putnam, 
reluctantly ordering the retreat of these brave men ; while beyond 
him a party of the American troops oppose their last fire to the 
victorious column of the enemy. 

Behind Col. Small is seen Col. Pitcairn, of the British marines, 
mortally wounded, and falling in the arms of his son, to whom 
he was speaking at the fatal moment. Under the feet of Col. 
Small lies the dead body of Col. Abercrombie. 

Gen. Howe, who commanded the British troops, and Gen. Clin- 
ton, who, towards the close of the action, offered his service as a 
volunteer, are seen behind the principal group. 

On the right of the painting, a young American, wounded in 
the sword hand, and in the breast, has begun to retire, attended by 
a faithful negro; but seeing his general fall, hesitates whether to 
save himself, or, wounded as he is, to return and assist in saving 
a life more precious to his country than his own. 

Behind this group are seen the British column ascending the 
hill,—grenadiers, headed by an officer bearing the British colors, 
mounting the feeble entrenchments ; and more distant, the Som- 
erset ship of war, (which lay during the action between Boston 
and Charlestown, ) the north end of Boston, with the battery on 
Copp’s Hill; and the harbor, shipping, &c. &c. 

No part of the town of Charlestown is seen; but the dark 
smoke indicates the conflagration. 

Such was the irregularity of official returns at the time, that 
the number of American troops engaged on this occasion, was 
never ascertained with any degree of accuracy ; they were esti- 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 223 


mated variously from 1500 to.3000: the latter number was prob- 
ably nearest the truth. It was admitted that their loss amounted 
to at least 450 in killed, wounded, and missing ; only thirty priso- 
ners, however, fell into the hands of the British, and they were 
all wounded. 

The British Annual Register of that year, admits the number 
engaged on their side to have been 3000; and states their loss 
(from official returns) to have amounted to 1054, of whom 226 
were killed, and 828 wounded : of this number, 19 officers, inclu- 
ding one lieutenant-colonel and two majors, were killed, and 70 
others wounded. 

The artist was on that day adjutant of the first regiment of Con- 
necticut troops, stationed at Roxbury ; and saw the action from that 
point. 


No. 4.—Five Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Major General Garters, 1792. 
Colonel Wiit1am Huw, 1792. 
Colonel Epenezer Stevens, 1791. 
Captain Tuomas Y. Srymour, 1792. 
General Joun Brooxs, 1792. 


No. 5.—THe Deatu or Gen. Monrcomery, IN THE ATTACK OF 
Quesec.—December 31, 1775. 


The history of that part of the war of the Revolution which 
was carried on in what was called the northern department, is 
full of events of deep and romantic interest, as well as of impor- 
tant instruction. So early as 1775, in the very first moments of 
the contest, it was determined to attempt the reduction of Cana- 
da, and its annexation to the general confederacy. For this pur- 
pose, a body of troops, under the command of General Mont- 
gomery, advanced by the obvious route of Lake Champlain, to 
attack the enemy at the heart, not in the remote extremities : 
Ticonderoga, St. John’s, Chambly, and Montreal, were in his 
possession on the 12th of November. 

In the mean time, an enterprise was planned at Cambridge, and 
placed under the direction of General Arnold, to co-operate in the 
reduction of Quebec, which for brilliancy of conception and har- 
dihood of attempt, and for partial, though not ultimate success, 
may justly be ranked with the passage of the Alps by either the 
ancient or the modern Hannibal. 


224 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


The expedition, composed only of 1100 men, left Cambridge, 
the head-quarters of the grand army, before Boston, on the 13th 
of September, 1775, embarked at Newburyport, and arrived at 
the mouth of the Kennebec river on the 20th; ascended that 
river, then very imperfectly known, through a thinly peopled 
country, following its course so long as it afforded any facilities of 
communication or transport ; then entering upon a tract of moun- 
tainous country, utterly unexplored by civilized man, pursued a 
course through the wilderness, which their gallant leader, like 
another Columbus, calculated would lead to those streams, which, 
running northwardly, must fall into the St. Lawrence: his calcu- 
lations were correct; he struck upon the head waters of the Chau- 
diere, which empties into the St. Lawrence, a few miles above, 
and in sight of the city of Quebec, arrived at Point Levi on the 
5th of November, and on the 14th, crossing the river at the head 
of 500 men, he landed at Wolf’s Cove, marched to the plains of 
Abraham, and presented himself before the walls of the city. 
The hardships, difficulties, and dangers of this march, had dis- 
couraged the last division of troops; and their commander, Col. 
Enos, yielding to the clamors and despondence of his men, had. 
abandoned the enterprise, and returned to Cambridge. Weaken- 
ed by this defection, by fatigue, and consequent sickness, General 
Arnold found himself under the walls of Quebec, at the head of 
a force too feeble to attempt to take possession of the glorious 
prize which lay within his grasp, and it became necessary to de- 
fer any attack upon the town until the arrival and co-operation of 
General Montgomery. In the mean time, Sir Guy Carlton, gov- 
ernor of the province, learning the danger of the capital, flew to 
its aid, and threw himself into the town a few days before the 
arrival of General Montgomery, and the junction of the Ameri- 
can forces, which took place on the first of December. Winter 
now interposed in vain to suspend the hostile efforts of the com- 
batants. 

The term of service for which the American troops had enlist- 
ed, generally expired on the 1st day of January, 1776, and it was 
found that there existed great reluctance to enter into any further 
engagement. General Montgomery therefore resolved to make 
one last effort, and in defiance of frost, snow, and tempest, a gal- 
lant but desperate attempt was made on the night of the 30th of 
December to carry Quebec by storm. ‘The attack was made in 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 225 


two columns; one under the immediate command of General 
Montgomery, attempted the lower town ; the other, commanded 
by General Arnold, was directed against the upper. 

The discharge of a single cannon was fatal to General Mont- 
gomery and his two aids-du-camp, and this misfortune occasioned 
the retreat of hiscolumn. General Arnold, in the mean time, had 
been partially successful in his attack, when he was wounded and 
carried off the field, and the garrison concentrating all their force 
against his column, they were hemmed in and reduced to the ne- 
cessity of laying down their arms; and many gallant officers and 
men remained prisoners of war. Happy would it have been for 
Arnold, if, instead of being wounded, he too had died, since by 
his subsequent treason at West Point, he blasted forever the glory 
of his most gallant conduct on that occasion. 

That part of the scene is chosen where General Montgomery 
commanded in person ; and that moment, when by his unfortunate 
death, the plan of attack was entirely disconcerted, and the con- 
sequent retreat of his column decided at once the fate of the 
place, and of such of the assailants as had already entered at an- 
other point. 

The principal group represents the death of General Montgo- 
mery, who, together with his two aids-du-camp, Major M’Pher- 
son and Captain Cheesman, fell by a discharge of grape-shot from 
the cannon of the place. The General is represented as expiring, 
supported by two of his officers, and surrounded by others, among 
whom is Colonel Campbell, on whom the. command devolved, and 
by whose order a retreat was immediately begun. 3 

Grief and surprise mark the countenances of the various char- 
acters. The earth covered with snow,—trees stripped of their 
foliage,—the desolation of winter, and the gloom of night, height- 
en the melancholy character of the scene. 


No. 6.—Five Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Rurvus Kine, Senator in Congress, 1791. 
Fisner Ames, in Congress, 1791. 

The Inrant, a Chief of the Six Nations, 1792. 
Joun Lanepon, Senator in Congress, 1791. 
Joun Brown, Senator in Congress, 1791. 


226 = =Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale Collexé, 


No. 7.—Battie or Princeron,—original composition (partly 
finished) of No. 23. When the size of the intended copper-plates 
was determined, the artist resolved in his future pictures to adopt 
the size of those plates, as being more convenient to the engraver. 
This picture, which is the same size as the Bunker’s Hill and 
Quebec, and much larger than the copper-plates, is placed in the 
collection, to explain to future artists the manner of proceeding 
with the work: they will see that the ground was white on which 
the work was first merely sketched,—then faintly stained with 
positive colors,—and finally, each head and figure carefully fin- 
ished from nature. 


No. 8.—F ive Heaps or Lapies. Oil Miniatures. 


Miss Harrier Wapsworrn, 1792. 

Miss Farra Trumpuni, 1791. 

Mrs. Farr T’rumputzt, Lebanon, Conn., 1791. 
Miss Carnarine Wapswortn, 1791. 

Miss Jutia Seymour, 1791. 


No. 9.—Dectaration or InpEPENDENCE.—July 4, 1776. 


To preserve the resemblance of the men who were the authors, 
of this memorable act, was an essential object of this painting. Im- 
portant difficulties presented themselves to the artist at the outset; 
for although only ten years had then elapsed since the date of the 
event, it wasalready difficult to ascertain who were the individuals 
to be represented. Should he regard the fact of having been ac- 
tually present in the room on the 4th of July, indispensable ? 
Should he admit those only who were in favor of, and reject those 
who were opposed to the act? Where a person was dead, and 
no authentic portrait could be obtained, should he admit ideal 
heads? ‘These were questions on which Mr. Adams and Mr. Jef- 
ferson were consulted, and they concurred in the advice, that with 
regard to the characters to be introduced, the signatures of the 
original act, (which is still preserved in the office of state, ) ought 
to be the general guide. ‘That portraits ought, however, to be 
admitted, of those who were opposed to, and of course did not 
sign, as well as of those who voted in favor of the Declaration, 
and did sign it, particularly John Dickinson, of Delaware, author 
of the Farmer’s Letters, who was the most eloquent and powerful 
opposer of the measure; not indeed of its principle, but of the 


——— 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 227 


fitness of the time, which he considered premature. And they 
particularly recommended, that wherever it was possible, the artist 


should obtain his portrait from the living person ; that where any 


one was dead he should be careful to copy the finest portrait that 
could be obtained ; but that in case of death, where no portrait 
could be obtained, (and there were many such instances, for, an- 
terior to the Revolution, the arts had been very little attended to, 
except in one or two of the cities,) he should by no means admit 
any ideal representation, lest, it being known that some such were 
to be found in the painting, a doubt of the truth of others should 
be excited in the minds of posterity ; and that, in short, absolute 
authenticity should be attempted, as far as it could be obtained. 

The artist was governed by this advice, and spared neither la- 
bor nor expense in obtaining his portraits from the living men. 
Mr. Adams was painted in London; Mr. Jefferson in Paris; Mr. 
Hancock and Samuel Adams in Boston ; Mr. Edward Rutledge in 
Charleston, South Carolina; Mr. Wythe at Williamsburgh, in 
Virginia; Mr. Bartlett at Exeter, in New Hamphire, &c. &c. &c. 

In order to give some variety to his composition, he found it ne- 
cessary to depart from the usual practice of reporting an act, and 
has made the whole committee of five advance to the table of the 
president, to make their report, instead of having the chairman 
rise in his place for the purpose: the silence and solemnity of the 
scene, offered such real difficulties to a picturesque and agreeable 
composition, as to justify, in his opinion, this departure from cus- 
tom, and perhaps fact. Silence and solemnity he thought essen- 
tial to the dignity of the subject; levity or inattention would 
have been unworthy on such an occasion and in such an assem- 
bly. The dresses are faithfully copied from the costume of the 
time, the present fashion of pantaloons and trowsers being then 
unknown among gentlemen. 

The room is copied from that in which Congress held their ses- 
sions at the time, such as it was before the spirit of innovation laid 
unhallowed hands upon it, and violated its venerable walls by 
modern improvement, as it is called. 

The artist also took the liberty of embellishing the back-ground, 
by suspending upon the wall, military flags and trophies: such 
had been taken from the enemy at St. John’s, Chambly, &c. and 
probably were actually placed in the hall. 

Tn fact nothing has been neglected by the artist, that was in 
his power, to render this a faithful memorial of the great event. 


2298 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Vale College. 


No. 10.—F ive Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Signor Cerracut, Sculptor, 1792. 

J. Darron, Senator in Congress, 1791. 

Tue Youne Sacuem, a Chief of the Six Nations, 1792. 
THEODORE SEDGWICK, in Congress, 1791. | 

Otiver Exitswortn, Senator in Congress, 1791. 


No. 11.—Carrure or tHe Hessians at Trenton.— December 
26, 1776. 


The campaign of 1776 was one continued series of disasters. 
The defeat on Long Island, the loss of New York, the indecisive 
battle at White Plains, and the capture of Fort Washington, were 
followed by a rapid retreat through New Jersey; and the frag- 
ments of the army did not feel themselves safe until they had 
crossed the Delaware, and secured upon the west side of the river, 
all the boats which were to be found. Here the exhausted troops 
enjoyed a few days of repose, and were joined by some reinforce- 
ments from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, and by such 
part of the northern army, under General Gates, as could be spared 
from that quarter; the entire force when united, amounting to 
perhaps 4 or 5000 men. 

The enemy, in the mean time, finding it impossible to cross 
the Delaware, and push on immediately to Philadelphia, as they _ 
had intended, left a strong corps of Hessian troops commanded by 
Col. Rahl, at Trenton, and another, also Hessians, commanded 
by Col. Count Donop, at Bordentown, and withdrew their main 
force to Brunswick, where they established their magazines, &c. 

Washington, now like a chafed lion, meditated vengeance 
against his pursuers; and having ascertained the position and 
strength of his enemy in Trenton and Bordentown, and ‘that it 
consisted entirely of German troops, who were accustomed to 
keep Christmas with great festivity, he determined upon attempt- 
ing to surprise them on the following morning, when the revelry 
of the night would probably leave them off their guard. ‘The 
necessary dispositions were accordingly made for crossing the 
Delaware, in three divisions; one near Bordentown, one just be- 
low Trenton, and the principal force, under his own personal 
command, some few miles above Trenton. ‘The night proved 
tempestuous, with snow and-hail. The river was rendered al- 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. | 229 


most impassable by drifting ice, and thus the elements conspired 
to remove from the minds of the devoted Germans all apprehen- 
sions of an attack. The division under the immediate command 
of Washington, crossed the river with great difficulty, marched 
down on the east shore, and were not discovered until they pre- 
sented themselves at the northern extremity. of the town, a little 
before sunrise. 'The Germans, particularly the regiment of Rahl, 
flew to arms, and for a few minutes made a very spirited but 
ineffectual resistance. The attack was completely successful ; 
and the principal part of the three German regiments, of Rahl, 
Lossberg, and Knyphausen, to the number of 918, were made 
prisoners: in killed and wounded they lost 30 or 40 men; the 
remainder escaped across the creek down the river, and joined 
their comrades at Bordentown,—the meditated attack on that post 
having been prevented by the impossibility of crossing the river. 

Six light battalion brass cannon also fell into the hands of the 
victor, whose loss was trifling. ‘Two officers were wounded,— 
Mr. Monroe, late president of the United States, then a captain in 
the Virginia troops, dangerously, and Wm. Washington, then a 
lieutenant, afterwards the celebrated cavalry officer, slightly. 

When the conflict was ended, General Washington walked his 
horse over the field, to see that the wounded were properly at- 
tended to. Among them he observed an officer richly dressed in 
the hostile uniform, and upon inquiry, found that this was Col. 
Rahl, commanding officer of the enemy. He immediately calied 
one of his aids-du-camp, Col. William Smith, and gave this mem- 
orable order: “Smith, take charge of this gentleman; see him 
carefully and kindly conveyed to a house ; call our best surgeons 
to his assistance, and let us save his life if possible.”’ Col. Rahl 
died in the afternoon, but the memory of this act should never 
die. 

The magnanimous kindness displayed by Washington, on this 
occasion, offers a sublime example of true heroism, and well de- 
serves to be imitated by all military men. ‘The artist chose this 
subject, and composed the picture for the express purpose of giv- 
ing a lesson to all living and future soldiers in the service of his 
country, to show mercy and kindness to a fallen enemy,—their 
enemy no longer when wounded and in their power. 

In the afternoon the army re-crossed the Delaware, with the 


trophies of their victory, and the next day the prisoners and artil- 
Vol, xxx1x, No, 2.—July-September, 1840. + 30 


230 Trumbull. Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


lery which had been taken were marched off to Philadelphia, 
where their arrival caused the most unbounded joy. 


No. 12.—F'our Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Tomas Pinckney, Minister to Great Britain, 1791. 
Judge Jonn Rurieper, 1791. 

CuarLes CorreswortuH Pinckney, 1791. 

General Moutrriz, 1791. 


No. 13.—Copy of the T'ransricuration, the celebrated mas- 
terpiece of Raphael. 


No. 14.—Copy of Correceio’s* celebrated picture, called the 
St. Jerome, ar Parma. Painted in Tothill Fields Prison, near 
London, where the artist was confined on the charge of High 
Treason, during the winter of 1781. 


No. 15.—Copy of the most admired picture of Rapuazt, called 
the “ Maponna DELLA SEepra”—i. e. “ Our Lapy or THE CHatr.” 
Painted in London, October, 1780, in the house and under the 
eye of Mr. West. 


No. 16.—Copy of the Communton or St. Jeromn, the master- 
“piece of Domintcnino. (See the Appendix.) — . 


No. 17.—Portrait of Cou. Trumputt, by Waldo and Jewitt. 
No. 18.—Portrait of Mrs. TRrumputt, by the Colonel. 


No. 19.—PREPARING THE Bopy oF ouR SAVIOR FOR THE 'T'omB. 


* Correggio was born in 1494, at Correggio,a small town in the Duchy of 
Modena. His real name was Antonio Allegri, de Correggio, or of Correggio, ac- 
cording to the Italian and French custom. He died in 1534, at the age of 40, 
and was, therefore, cotemporary with Raphael, M. Angelo, Titian, &c. His 
master in the art was an unimportant artist in Modena, from whom he learned 
little, but formed a style of his own; in which were united truth and purity of 
color, grace, and elegance of design, sweetness of expression, and a superior 
knowledge of light and shadow. He wanted only correctness of drawing to have 
rendered him superior even to Raphael. The little Madonna and infant Savior 
in the gallery at New Haven was copied from a copy made by Mr. West, from the 
original, which is preserved at Parma, and is allowed by all connoisseurs, to be 
one of the three finest paintings in existence: the other two pictures are the trans- 
figuration, by Raphael, and the communion of St. Jerome, by Dominichino ; 
which of these three is the best, is undecided. 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 231 


No. 20.—Copy of the Maponna* av Corset Rover—a favorite 
composition of Raphael. Done in London, 1801. 


No. 21.—Our Savior BEARING THE Cross, AND SINKING UNDER 
iTS WEIGHT. Painted in New York, 1826. 


No. 22.—Four Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Rvrvus Putnam, Brigadier General, first settler of Ohio. 
Jacos Rrxrp, Esq., in Congress, 1792. 

Rar Izarp, Senator in Congress, 1791. 

Judge Grimxe, of Charleston, South Carolina. 


No. 23.—Deratu or Gen. Mercer, at THE BATTLE oF PRINCETON. 
7) 
January 3, 1777. 


Alarmed by the success of the attack upon Trenton, the enemy 
immediately withdrew all their posts from the banks of the Del- 
aware, and concentrated their forces in Princeton and Brunswick. 
On the other hand, Gen. Washington, having received considerable 
reinforcements, re-crossed the river, and again took possession of 
‘Trenton, with a view to further offensive operations. On the 2d 
of January, 1777, Lord Cornwallis, having resumed the command 
of the British troops, marched with his whole force to attack him. 
Washington, at his approach, abandoned the town of Trenton, 
and took his position on the south side of the creek. Some skir- 
mishing followed, and a severe cannonade, with an unsuccessful 
attempt to force the passage of the bridge, closed the events of 
the day. ‘The British troops, to the number of near 10,000, occu- 
pied Trenton. One brigade was halted about six miles in their 
rear, and another brigade, composed of the 17th, 40th and 55th 
regiments, under the command of Col. Mawhood, passed the night 
at Princeton. All these corps were ordered to unite at Trenton 
early in the following morning, with the expectation of over- 
whelming the Americans. 


* Madonna is technically applied by the Italians to the Virgin Mary, the mother 
of our Lord, and therefore emphatically our Lady; ma, in {talian, is my, and Don- 
na, Lady, literally therefore, my Lady. 'The Madonna with the infant Jesus, has 
always been a favorite subject with the Italian artists; since, independently of 
religious motives, it is a subject which unites in one group, the two most beautiful 
objects in nature, a beautiful woman and a lovely infant. 


232 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


Gen. Washington saw his danger. 'The troops he commanded 
were very inferior in number, as well as in discipline and in arms. 
The Delaware had become absolutely impassable in the presence 
of suchanenemy. ‘To retreat down the east bank, and attempt 
to cross at or near Philadelphia, was equally hopeless; and he re- 
solved to extricate himself by falling into the rear of the enemy, 
and by breaking the line of his communications, forcing him in 
his turn to abandon his favorite attempt on Philadelphia, for the se- 
curity of his own magazines and depots at Princeton and Bruns- 
wick. In execution of this daring and almost desperate plan, 
he took the necessary precaution for keeping up the fires, and ev- 
ery other appearance of still oceupying his camp; and leaving 
small parties commanded by confidential officers to go the rounds 
and guard the bridge and fords, he withdrew his troops in the 
dead of night, with the most profound silence; and commenced 
his march to the east, keeping the creek between him and his 
enemy. 

On the morning of the 3d of January, a little before sunrise, 
and at a short distance from Princeton, the leading division, under 
the command of Gen. Mercer, fell in with the 17th British regi- 
ment, commanded by Col. Mawhood, who had just commenced 
their march to join Lord Cornwallis at Trenton. 'The meeting 
was equally unexpected to both parties, and both for a moment 
were disconcerted; but they met on very unequal terms. ‘The 
British had slept warm at Princeton, had breakfasted, and were 
in high spirits, with the expectation of a certain and-decisive vic- 
tory; while the Americans, having marched all night, were be- 
numbed with cold, exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and felt 
little anticipation but of defeat. A deadly conflict was unavoid- 
able, and was maintained by the Americans with the courage of 
desperation, until the horse of Gen. Mercer was killed under him ; 
and before he could disengage himself, and get upon his feet, he 
was attacked by two grenadiers, and mortally wounded. 'The 
division, upon the loss of their commander, gave way, and for a 
moment the British were triumphant. 

Washington saw the imminence and extent of the danger, and 
the utter irretrievable ruin to the cause of his country, which 
would be the consequence of ultimate defeat ; and having formed 
the troops which followed into a close column, he placed himself 
at their head, and advanced to meet the enemy. A sanguinary 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 233 


and obstinate struggle followed, in which the 17th British regi- 
ment was nearly annihilated; the 55th was not much less severely 
cut up, and with difficulty effected a retreat on Brunswick; to 
which place the 40th also escaped by a circuitous road, and with 
less loss. : 

The loss of lives was considerable on both sides; 200 priso- 
ners remained in the hands of the Americans, who immediately 
continued their march, with the intention of pushing on to Bruns- 
wick, and there burning the enemy’s magazines; but upon ex- 
amining the condition of the troops during a short halt at Kings- 
ton, it was found, that although they were in high spirits, yet 
their physical force was too far exhausted by cold, fatigue, and 
hunger. Their march might be traced upon the frozen ground 
by the blood from their lacerated feet ; their shoes, as well as oth- 
er clothing, being utterly inadequate to the extreme rigor of the 
season; in addition to which, their ammunition was found to be 
nearly exhausted. Under these circumstances, the attempt upon 
Brunswick was reluctantly abandoned, and the army filed off to 
the north by an obscure road opposite to the stage-house in Kings- 
ton, and took up a strong position in the hilly country towards 
Morristown. 

In the mean time, Lord Cornwallis, secure of his prey, waited 
with impatience for morning, when he was astonished by a heavy 
firing far in his rear; and upon examination found that his ene- 
my was gone, and that nothing remained of the hostile camp 
but the ashes of the fires by which he had been deluded. He 
instantly comprehended the nature and extent of the evil,—that 
Princeton and Brunswick were exposed to imminent danger, and 
without one moment of unnecessary delay, he commenced his 
retrograde march for their relief. In afew days, the British ar- 
my, lately so triumphant, was reduced to the very narrow limits 
of Brunswick and Amboy, owing their security even in them, 
principally to the open communication with New York by sea; 
while the Americans occupied all other points of East as well as 
of West Jersey, and often insulted their enemy within their nar- 
row quarters. ‘ 

Thus, in the short space of nine days, an extensive country, 
an entire State, was wrested from the hands of a victorious ene- 
my, stiperior in numbers, in arms, and in discipline, by the wis- 
dom, activity, and energy of one great mind. 


234 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


It is not too much to say, that in the history of war, it would 
be difficult to find a parallel event; even in the history of Napo- 
leon, whom mankind have agreed to view with such blind admi- 
ration... He was at the head of a nation which had made war a 
scientific study for ages,—a nation abounding in men at once en- 
thusiastic and disciplined, as well as in all the munitions and equi- 
page of war. With such means at his disposal, the success of 
Bonaparte ought not to excite surprise. But his history offers no 
point, when, with inferior and inadequate means, he bafiled a vic- 
torious enemy, and wrested from him, as in a moment, the fruits 
of an arduous and successful campaign. 


No. 24.—Five Heaps or Lapies. Oil Miniatures. 


‘Miss ExLen Custis, grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington, 1790. 
Miss Cornetia Scuuyier, daughter of the General, 1791. 
Mrs. Marrua Wasuineton, 1791. 

Miss Sopui1a Cuew, of Philadelphia, 1792. 

Miss Harriet Cuew, 1792. 


No. 25.—SuRRENDER OF GENERAL Burcoyne.— October 16, 
1777. 


The conquest of Canada was, from the day of the unfortunate 
attack on Quebec, an idle dream; it was weil known that in 
May reinforcements would arrive from England; yet great but 
ineffectual efforts were made on the American side; and General 
Thomas first, and afterwards Gen. Sullivan, were sent on with 
very considerable forces. ‘The small-pox and sickness, joined 
with the efforts of the enemy to render a retreat as dangerous and 
difficult as it was necessary. Gen. Thomas died, and the broken 
fragments of the invaders fell back upon Crown Point and 'Ticon- 
deroga; where in the beginning of July, they were met by Gen. 
Gates, who had been sent to assume the PonTENS of the north- 
ern Beeaaeme ue 

His first object was of course to obtain a return of the force 
and condition of the army. It was found to consist of 5200 
men, of whom about 2800 were so sick as to require to be sent 
to the hospital, which had been established at the head or south- 
ern extremity of Lake George; and when these, with the num- 
- ber necessary to serve as nurses, were removed, the force remain- 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 235 


ing for active service was too small to offer any effectual resis- 
tance to the victorious enemy, had he possessed the means of 
following up his success. Happily, General Sullivan, on whom 


had devolved the command of this disastrous retreat, had with 


great skill and exertion, found means either to destroy or with- 
draw all the vessels and boats on Lake Champlain, so that the 
victors were compelled to remain at St. John’s until they could 
construct others. ae 

‘The summer was passed by the contending parties, at the two 
extremities of the lake, in preparations to give or repel the attack ; 
the works at Ticonderoga were strengthened, and each endeav- 
ored to secure the command of the lake by constructing a fleet ; 
these met on the 11th of October, when the American squadron 
was defeated, and the enemy advanced to Crown Point, and recon- 
noitered Ticonderoga. But the lateness of the season, and the 
formidable display of apparent force on our side, deterred Sir Guy 
Carlton from making an attack. The defenses of this post had 
been so extended as to require at least 10,000 men, and they 
were occupied for a short time by 13,500, chiefly New England 
militia. It was not only believed by some, but at length demon- 
strated by actual experiment, that this extended position was 
overlooked and completely commanded by Sugar-Loaf Hill, which 
forms the northern extremity of that mountain ridge which sepa- 
rates Lake George from Wood Creek, the southern and narrow 
part of Champlain ; and this important point, elevated six hundred 
feet above the level of the water, had never been occupied by 
French, English, or Americans. ; 

The spring of 1777 found General St. Clair occupying the ex- 
tensive works of 'Ticonderoga with only 3000 men, all the force 
that could be spared for the defense of that point. 

On the first of July, Generait Burgoyne appeared before the 
place at the head of 8000 men, and immediately occupied Mount 
Hope, on the left of our position, distant about 1000 yards from 
the old French lines, so memorable for the defeat of General 
Abercrombie, in 1757. He was thus master of the outlet of Lake 
George, and on the next night he occupied the summit of Sugar- 
Loaf Hill, with several pieces of heavy artillery, and from that 
moment it became unavoidably necessary to abandon Ticonde- 
roga. ‘This was effected in the course of the following day by 
General St. Clair, with as little loss or disorder as could be ex- 


236 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


pected under such circumstances; the troops commenced their 
retreat on the east side of the lake, and after various skirmishes 
and some loss, fell back as far as Stillwater, on the North River, 
twenty miles above Albany; here they were met by reinforce- 
ments and halted, and General Gates again assumed the command. 
General St. Clair was very severely censured for thus losing this 
‘important post. But his means were entirely inadequate to its 
defense ; he merited applause rather for having extricated him- 
self with so little loss from a very difficult situation, and for having 
saved part of the garrison which formed the nucleus of that force, 
which, before the close of the campaign, reversed its character. 
General Burgoyne followed up his success with great caution, 
advancing slowly, and bringing on his entire park of artillery, with 
all its attirail; but it was not until September, that he approached 
General Gates, at Stillwater, where a partial and indecisive action 
took place on the 20th. On the 7th of October, a decisive action 
was fought at Bemus’s Heights. On the 8th, General Burgoyne 
found his situation so critical, that he abandoned his camp, and 
commenced a retreat toward Canada; but finding bad roads, bro- 
ken bridges, and hostile parties posted at every disputable point, 
and hovering around him on all sides, he halted, and took poss at 
Saratoga, where, on the 17th, his army surrendered, under a con- 
vention, of which the following were the first two articles. 


ARTICLES OF CONVENTION BETWEEN LIEUTENANT-GENERAL BURGOYNE 
AND MAJOR-GENERAL GATES. 


‘¢1, The troops under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, to march 
out of their camp with the honors of war, and the artillery of the 
intrenechments, to the verge of the river where the old fort stood, 
where the arms and artillery are to be left ; the arms to be piled 
by word of command from their own oflicers. 

«2. A free passage to be granted to the army under Lieutenant- 
General Burgoyne to Great Britain, on condition of not serving 
again in North America during the present contest ; and the port 
of Boston is assigned for the entry of transports to receive the 
troops, whenever General Howe shall so order.” 

The painting represents General Burgoyne, attended by Gene- 
ral Phillips, and followed by other officers, arriving near the mar- 
quée of General Gates. 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 237 


General Gates has advanced a few steps from the entrance, to 
meet his prisoner, who, with General Phillips, has dismounted, 
and is in the act of offering his sword, which General Gates de- 
clines to receive, and invites them to enter, and partake of re- 
freshments. A number of the principal officers of the American 
army are assembled near their general. 

The confluence of Fish Creek and the North River, where the 
British left their arms, is shown in the distance, near the head of 
Col. Scammell; the troops are indistinctly seen crossing the creek 
and the meadows, under the direction of Colonel (since Gover- 
nor) Lewis, then quarter-master general, and advancing towards 
the fore-ground: they disappear behind the wood, which serves 
to relieve the three principal figures; and again appear, (gren- 
adiers, without arms or accoutrements,) under the left arm of 
General Gates. Officers.on horseback, American, British, and 
German, precede the head of the an and form an interesting 
cavalcade, following the two dismounted generals, ane connect- 
ing the different parts of the picture. 


No. 26.—Five Heaps. Oil: Miniatures. | 


Brigadier General SmaLLwoop. 

Major HasKetu. 

Colonel Morean, of the Rifle Corps. 
Judge Ecpert Benson, in Congress, 1791. 
Major. General Puitie ScHUYLER. 


No. 27.—TxHe Deatn or Pautus Emiutus, at the battle of 
Cannee, arranged and painted at the age of eighteen, before the 
artist had received any instruction. ‘lhe arrangement or compo- 
sition of this early picture is all that is original: the parts or sep- 
arate figures were chosen from various engravings. See Rollin’s 
Roman History, book 14th, sec. 2d, page 64 of the 2d London 
edition. 'The earliest composition of the artist. Painted at Leb- 
anon, 1774. 


“ animeque magne, 
Prodigum Paulum,  superante Peno.” 
Horace, Book 1, Ode 12, l. 37, 38. 


No. 28.—Five Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


JonaTHaN TRumsut, Speaker of the U. S. House of Repre- 


sentatives, 1792. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July—September, 1840. 31 


238 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


Jonatruan Trumputt, Governor of Connecticut during the Rev- 
olution. ; 

Goop Perrr, a Chief of the Six Nations. 1792. 

Dr. Lemvet Horxis, of Hartford, poet and physician. 

Joun Trumputt, author of Mc Fingal. 


No, 29.—Surrenper or Lorp Cornwatx1s.— October 19, 1781. 


The success of this officer in the southern States, during the 
years 1780 and 1781, the capture of Charleston, the victory of 
Camden, and various minor successes, by which almost every 
part of Georgia and South and North Caroline: had been success- 
ively occupied by the British troops, had seriously threatened the 
ruin of American independence. 

In 1781, Lord Cornwallis, regarding his presence as no longer 
essential to the complete reduction of the three southern States, 
marched with the principal part of his force into Virginia, where, 
for some time, his success was almost equally rapid and complete ; 
but the admirable combined movement of General Washington 
and our French allies, from the north, and of the Count de 
Grasse, with the fleet and army of France, from the West Indies, 
turned the scale, and rendered it necessary for him to shut him- 
self up in Yorktown, and attempt to defend himself there, until 
he could receive relief from New York. This hope, however, 
failed him, and on the 19th of October, he surrendered his forces 
to the combined armies of America and France. 

The honor of marching out of the town, with colors flying, 
&c. &c., which had been refused to General Lincoln, when, du- 
ring the preceding campaign, he had surrendered Charleston, was 
now refused to Lord Cornwallis; the terms of the capitulation 
dictated at Charleston were insisted on, and General Lincoln was 

-appointed to superintend the submission of the British at York- 
town, in the same manner as that of the American troops at 
Charleston, under his command, had_been conducted about eigh- 
teen months before. le ok 

The American troops were drawn up. on the right of the road 
leading into York ; General Washington and the American gen- 
eral officers on the right. ‘The French troops on the opposite 

side of the road facing them; General Rochambeau and the 

. principal officers of the French navy and army on the left. The 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 239 


British troops marched out of town, “ with shouldered arms, 
colors cased, and drums beating a British or German march,” 
passed between the two lines-of victorious troops, to a place ap- 
pointed, where they grounded their arms, left them, and returned 
unarmed to their quarters in the town. 

The painting represents the moment when the principal officers. 
of the British army, conducted by General Lincoln, are passing 
the two groups of American and French generals, and entering 
between the two lines of the victors; by this means the princi- 
pal officers of the three nations are iene nt near together, so as 
to admit of distinct portraits. 

In the centre of the painting, in the distance, is seen the en- 
trance of the town, with the captured troops marching out, fol- 
lowing their officers: and also a distant glimpse of York River, 
and the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, as seen from the spof. 


No. 30.—Five Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Judge Oaxtey, 1827. 

Henry Dwient, M. C., 1827. 

Joun C. Carnoun, Wes President of the inated States, 1827. 
Dr. Auuen, 1827. 

Davin B. Oapen, Esq., 1827. 


No. 31.—ReEsignaTIon oF Gen. Wasuineton.— December 23, 
1783. Washington, 1827. 


The peace of 1783 had accomplished the great object of the 
American Revolution; the former colonies were acknowledged 
by the parent state to be independent of her; but they were 
equally independent of each other, and the pressure of common 
danger, which had been the strongest bond of union, being re- 
moved, there remained only a feeble and doubtful sense of com- 
mon interest to hold the different states together; the large states 
began to feel their real superiority, while the memory of faithful 
and disproportioned services swam before the vision of the small ; 
the seeds of discord were sown and germinating. ‘The army, 
whose fidelity, patience, and courage, had won the glorious prize, 
had leisure to look back upon the years, during which, without 
pay, without clothing, and sometimes almost without food, they 
had persevered in duty,—tantalized with promises, often renewed 


240 © Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


under various forms, but never fulfilled, they saw themselves on 
the point of being disbanded, and by being scattered among the 
mass of their fellow-citizens, deprived of any chance of obtain- 
ing justice by the influence of a united effort; nor were there 
wanting among them fiery spirits, to place all this distinctly be- 
fore their view, and to urge them not to lay down their arms or 
disperse, until substantial justice should be obtained. What a 
dazzling temptation was here to earthly ambition! Beloved by 
the military, venerated by the people, who was there to oppose 
the victorious chief, if he had chosen to retain that power which 
he had so long held with universal approbation? 'The Cesars, 
the Cromwells, the Napoleons, yielded to the charm of earthly 
ambition, and betrayed their country ; but Washington aspired to 
loftier, imperishable glory,—to that glory which virtue alone can 
give, and which no power, no effort, no time, can ever take away 
or diminish. 

After taking an affectionate leave of his old comrades at New 
York, accompanied by only two of them, Col. Benjamin Walker 
and Col. Humphreys, aids-du-camp, he proceeded to Annapolis, 
where Congress, the very shadow of a government, were then 
sitting, and there resigned his commission into the hands of 
twenty-three powerless men, divested himself of all authority, 
and retired to private life. : 

The following impressive history of the scene is copied from 
the Journal of Congress, and has been the basis of the picture. 
One additional circumstance deserves notice, not so much for its 
importance as for its singularity. Thomas Mifflin, then presi- 
dent of Congress, and into whose hands the general resigned his 
commission, had been, in 1775, his first aid-du- “camp, and he who 
painted the picture aoe been his second. 


Extract from the Journal of Congress, Dec. 23, 1783. 


According to order, his Excellency, the commander-in-chief, 
was admitted to a public audience, and being seated, the Presi- 
dent, after a pause, informed him that the United States, in Con- 
gress assembled, were prepared to receive his communications ; 
whereupon he arose and addressed Congress as follows :— 


Mr. Presipent, 
The great events on which my resignation depended, hav- 
ing at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 241 


sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself be- 
fore them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, 
and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my 
country. 

Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereign- 
ty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States — 
of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the 
appointment I accepted with diffidence,—a diffidence in my abil- 
ities to accomplish so arduous a task; which, however, was su- 
perseded by aconfidence in the rectitude of our cause, the sup- 
port of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of 
heaven. ua 

The successful termination of the war has verified the most 
sanguine expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition of 
Providence, and the assistance I have received from my country- 
men; Increases with every review of the momentous contest. 

While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should 
do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge in this place, 
the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the gentlemen 
who have been attached to my person during the war. It was 
impossible that the choice of confidential officers to compose my 


family should have been more fortunate. Permit me, sir, to re- , | 


commend in particular, those who have continued in the service 
to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and pat- 
ronage of Congress.’ 

I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last act of my 
official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to 
the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the super- 
intendence of them to his holy keeping. 

Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire froin the 
great theatre of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to 
this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here 
offer my commission, and take my WaT of all the eriplopnene 
of public life. 


He then advanced and delivered to the President his commis- 
sion, with a copy of his address, and having resumed his ‘Place, 
the Beesident returned him the following answer :— —_ 


Str,—The United States, in Congress assembled, receive with 
emotions too affecting for utterance, the solemn resignation of the 


242 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


authorities under which you have led their troops with success, 
through a perilous and doubtful war. Called upon by your country 
to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the sacred charge be- 
fore it had formed alliances, and whilst it was without funds or a 
government to support you; you have conducted the great mili- 
tary contest with wisdom and fortitude, invariably regarding the 
rights of the civil power through all disasters and changes. You 
have, by the love and confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled 
them to display their martial genius, and transmit their fame to 
posterity. You have persevered till these United States, aided 
by a magnanimous king and nation, have been enabled, under a 
just Providence, to close the war in freedom, safety, and indepen- 
dence; on which happy event: we sincerely join you in congratu- 
lations. 4 

Having defended the standard of liberty in this new world, 
having taught a lesson useful to those who inflict; and to those 
who feel oppression, you retire from the great theatre of action 
with the blessings of your fellow-citizens: but the glory of your 
virtues will not terminate with your military command,—it will 
continue to animate remotest ages. 

We feel with-you our obligations to the army in general, and 
will particularly charge ourselves with the interests of those con- 
fidential officers, who have attended your person to this affecting 
moment. 

We join you in commending the interests of our dearest coun- 
try to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching him to dispose 
the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity 
afforded them of becoming a happy and respectable nation. And 
for you, we address to him our earnest prayers, that a life so be- 
loved may be fostered with all his care; that your days may be 
as happy as they have been illustrious; and that he will finally 
give you that reward which this world cannot give. 


No. 32.—F ive Heaps. Oil Miniatures. 


Major General Mirrxin, President of Congress, 1792. 
J. Livermore, Senator in Congress, 1791. 

Captain Mannine, of Lee’s legion, 1791. 

General Burner, 1792. 

Artur Ler, Esq., 1790. 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 243 
No. 33.—Hon. StrepHen Van RENSSELAER. 


No. 34.—THE Woman accuSED OF HAVING BEEN TAKEN IN ADUL- 
rErY.—wS?. John, viii, 2—11. London, 1811. 


“ And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman 
taken in adultery ; and when they had set her in the midst, they 
say to him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very 
act: now, Moses in the law commanded us that such should be 
stoned ; but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, 
that they might have whereof to accuse him: so when they con- 
tinued asking him, he lifted himself up and said unto them: He 
that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 
And they which heard, being convicted by their own conscience, 
went out one by one.” 


No. 35.—Sr. Joun anp Lams,—from memory of an exquisite 
picture by Murillo, in possession of the emperor of Russia. Paint- 
ed in London, 1800. 


No. 36.—Porrrarr or Presipent W asuineton,—head, the 
size of life. Painted in Philadelphia, May, 1793. 


- No. 37.—THe Earu or Ancous, conrFERRING KnigHrHooD oN- 
De-Witton. See Sir Walter Scott’s Marmion.—Painted in 


London, 1810. 


> ‘¢ A Bishop by the altar stood, . 
A noble lord of Douglas’ blood ; 
With mitre sheen, and rocquet white, 
Yet showed his meek and thoughtful eye, 
But little pride of prelacy,” &c. &c. 7 


« Beside him, ancient Angus stood, 
Doff'd his furr’d gown and sable hood: 
O’er his huge form and visage pale, 
He wore a cap and shirt of mail ; 
And lean’d his large and wrinkled hand 
Upon his huge and sweeping brand,” &c. &c. 


* Then at the altar Wilton kneels, 
_<t)--e_, And Clare the spurs bound on his heels ; 
z And think what next he must have felt, 
At buckling of the falchior belt ; 
And judge how Clara changed her hue,” &c. &c. 
Scott's Marmion, Canto 6, Stanzas 11 and 12. 


244 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


No. 38.—Portrair or ALEXANDER Hamitron, copied in 1832, 
_from an original, painted at Washington in 1792, now in posses- 
sion of the family of the late Gov. ete 


No. 39.—HoLy aaa ce | in London, 1802;—finish- - 
ed in America, 1806. 


No. 40.—PREsIDENT Dwicur, 


"Timothy Dwight, D. D., LL. D., was born at rp te in 
Massachusetts, on the Ath of May, A. D. 1752. His parents 
were Timothy and Mary Dwight. ‘The first ancestor of his fa- 
ther’s family, in this country, John Dwight, came from England, 
and. settled in Dedham, in Massachusetts, in 1637. His mother 
was the third daughter of Jonathan Edwards, President of Prince- 
ton College, New Jersey. Dr. Dwight entered Yale College in 
1765, and graduated in 1769, with a high reputation. for scholar- 
ship. ‘Two years afterwards, he was chosen a tutor of Yale Col- 
lege, and for the six succeeding years discharged the duties of this 
office with distinguished success. In March, 1777, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary Woolsey, daughter of Benjamin Woolsey, Esq., 
of Long Island. In September of the same year, he was chap- 
lain to Gen. Parsons’ brigade, which was a part of the division of 
General Putnam, in the army of the United States, and served 
one year. After this, he resided several years at Northamptcn, 
and was twice a member of the legislature of Massachusetts. 
In 1783, he was ordained as minister of the church and congre- 
gation of the parish of Greenfield, in the town of Fairfield in 
Connecticut, and for the succeeding twelve years continued their 
pastor. While at Greenfield, he established an academy, which 
enjoyed a high reputation. 

In May, 1795, on the death of the Rev. Dr. Stiles, he was invi- 
ted to the presidency of Yale College. Much was expected from 
Dr. Dwight in this situation, and public expectation was in no re- 
spect disappointed. By his exertions as an instructor, and by a 
judicious system of discipline, the reputation of the College was 
greatly increased and extended. Dr. Dwight, through the whole 
time of his presidency, discharged, also, the duties of a Professor 
of divinity. In the midst of his usefulness, he was attacked by 
a painful and incurable disorder, which terminated his life.on the 
11th of January, 1817, in the 65th year of hisage. His death 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 245 


was very extensively and deeply lamented. Since the decease 
of Dr. Dwight, his lectures on divinity have been published un- 
der the title of ‘ Theology,’—likewise two volumes of ‘ Ser- 
mons,’ and his ‘Travels in New England and New York.’ In 
early life, he published an epic poem, entitled the ‘Conquest of 
Canaan,’ and while he resided at Greenfield, a collection of poems 
entitled ‘Greenfield Hill.’ He published also at different times, 
numerous occasional sermons and short treatises. 

This picture was, in part, presented to the College by individ- 
uals of the class which graduated in 1817. 


No. 41.—Porrtrarit or GeneraL Wasuineron,—whole length, 
the size of life, painted at Philadelphia, in the year 1792, for the 
city of Charleston, (S. C.) 

This picture was intended to preserve the military character 
of the great original; but the citizens of Charleston being desi- 
rous of seeing him rather in his civil character, such as they had 
recently seen him in his visit to that city, another picture, was, with 
the kind consent of the President, begun and finished, which now 
hangs in some public building at Charleston; this was also fin- 
ished, and with his approval, remained in the hands of the artist, 
who had formerly been his aid-du-camp. 

He is represented in full uniform, standing on an eminence, on 
the south side of the creek at Trenton, a small distance below 
the stone bridge and mill. He holds in his right hand his recon- 
noitering glass, with which he is supposed to have been exam- 
ining the strength of the hostile army, pouring into and occupying 
Trenton, which he had just abandoned at their approach ; and 
having ascertained their great superiority, as well in numbers as 
in discipline, he is supposed to have been meditating how to avoid 
the apparently impending ruin. ‘T’o re-cross the Delaware in 
the presence of such an enemy, was impossible ; to retreat down 
the eastern side of the river, and cross at Philadelphia, was 
equally so; to hazard a battle on the ground, was desperate ; and 
he is supposed to have just formed the plan of that movement 
which he executed during the succeeding night. ‘This led to 
the splendid success at Princeton, on the following morning; and 
in the estimation of the great Frederick of Prussia, placed his 
roilitary character on a level with that of the Bioatest command- 
ers of ancient or modern times. 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 32 


246 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


Behind and near him an attendant holds his horse ; further 
back, are seen artillery, assisting in the defense of the bridge and 
mill, against the attack made by the enemy, a little before sun- 

et; the bridge and mill are seen under the legs of the horse, and 
higher up in the perspective distance, are seen several glimpses 
of the creek in its windings; and the fires which so fatally delu- 
ded the enemy during the night, are in many places already 
lighted and visible. 
- In the countenance of the hero, the likeness, the mere map of 
the face, was not all that was attempted, but the features are an- 
imated, and exalted by the mighty thoughts revolving in the 
mind on that sublime occasion ; the high resolve, stamping on 
the face and attitude its lofty purpose, to conquer or to perish. 

Every minute article of the dress, down to the buttons and 
spurs, and every strap and buckle of the horse-furniture, were 
carefully painted from the several objects. 

‘The picture remained in the possession of Colonel stiri 
until the dissolution of the Society of the Cincinnati in Connec- 
ticut, when His Excellency Governor Trumbull, Gen. Jedediah 
Huntington, the Hon. John Davenport, the Hon. Jeremiah Wads- 
worth, and the Hon. Benjamin Talmadge, joined with him in 
presenting this portrait to Yale College. 


No. 42.—Governor 'T'Rumputt, Sen. 


Jonathan Trumbull was born at Lebanon in 1710, the son of 
Joseph, a respectable and strong-minded farmer, who, feeling the 
deficiency of his own education, resolved that his son should not 
suffer similar mortifications from that eause. He therefore spared 
no care or expense in his education, and at an early age the fa- 
vored boy was sent to Harvard College. Here he became a good 
scholar, acquiring a knowledge of the Hebrew, as well as the 
Greek and Latin languages, and of all the other studies of the 
day. He graduated with honor in 1727.* : 

His original destination was for the pulpit. He went through 
the preparatory studies, and had commenced preaching, when an 
elder brother (Joseph) who had been engaged in commerce, died 
suddenly, leaving extensive business in an unsettled state, and 
Jonathan was the only member of the family qualified to unravel 


* In the same class was Governor Hutchinson. 


Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 247 


these complicated affairs: he of course devoted himself to this 
duty, and was at length so involved in commercial questions and 
occupations, that he quitted his early and favorite pursuit, and 
became a merchant. 

He was early elected by his townsmen to the lower political 
offices of the town; he soon became one of their representatives 
in the Colonial Assembly ; and as his talents and virtues became 
more extensively known, he was appointed one of the Judges, 
then a member of the Council or State Senate ; and at length 
Deputy or Lieutenant Governor, in which office he stood at the 
commencement of the disputes between Great Britain and her 
colonies. In this controversy, he embraced with fervor the patri- 
otic side; became Governor of the State by the free election of 
his countrymen, and continued to be annually elected Governor 
until the close of the Revolution in 1783, when, declining a fur- 
ther election, he withdrew from public life, devoted his last years 
to study and religion, and died at Lebanon in August, 1785, at the 
age of 75 years. 

After General Washington, perhaps no individual contributed 
more to the success of the Revolution than Governor ‘Trumbull. 
He was always at his post, and devoted his time, his talents, and 
his influence, with undivided energy and assiduity to the service 
of his country; his example had a powerful influence on the 
State, and on all New England. 

His correspondence was very extensive, and is preserved in 
many manuscript volumes, which were given by his family to the 
Historical Society in Boston, where, it is to be presumed, they are 
preserved with the care they deserve. 

Governor Trumbull in early life married Faith, daughter of the 
Rev. John Robinson, of Duxbury, Mass., third in direct descent 
from the famous John Robinson who emigrated from England 
in the reign of James I, in 1610, to Holland, and was regarded 
as a leader of the Puritans, and father of the Pilgrims who first 
landed at Plymouth. His remains rest in the family tomb at 
Lebanon. 


No. 43.—Inranr Savior anp St. Joun. Painted in London, 
1801. 


No. 44.—Porrtrair oF THE LATE Rurus Kine.—Head, the size 
of life. Painted in London during his mission, 1800. 


248 Trumbull Gallery of Paintings in Yale College. 


No. 45.—Lampere anp GELcHossa. Ossian’s Poems, 5th book 
of Fingal. London, 1809. | 

“'The gloomy heroes fought.—F ierce Ullin fell. Young Lam- 
derg came all pale to the danghter of the generous Tuathal :— 
‘What blood,’ she said, ‘what blood runs down my warrior’s 
side?’ ‘It is Ullin’s pos ’ the chief replied, ‘thou fairer than 
snow: Gelchossa, let me rest here awhile. The mighty Lam- 
derg died. 'Three days she mourned beside her love :—the hun- 
ters found her cold :—they raised this tomb over the three.” 


No. 46.—Portrair or THE LATE CuristopHer Gore.—Head, 
the size of life. Painted in London, during his residence there, 
as one of the commissioners for the execution of the 7th article 
of Mr. Jay’s treaty, 1800. 


No. 47.—Marternat Trenperness. London, 1809. 


No. 48.—Ovr Savior witu Lirrte Cumpren. London, 1812. 

‘“‘ And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch 
them; but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them; but 
Jesus called them unto him, and said, ‘ Suffer little children to 
come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the nee tee of 
God.’ ”’—Luke, xvii, 15, 16. 


No. 49.—Perer THE GREAT, AT THE Capture or Narva. 
London, 1811. i 


‘Peter, on this occasion, gave an example which ought to have 
gained him the affection of all his new subjects. He ran every 
where in person, to put a stop to the pillage and slaughter,—res- 
_ cued several women out of the clutches of the brutal soldiery, and 
after having, with his own hand, killed two of those ruffians, who 
refused to obey his orders, he enters the town-house, whither the 
citizens had run in crowds for shelter, and laying his sword, yet 
reeking with blood, upon the table,—‘'This sword,’ said he, ‘is 
not stained with the blood of your fellow-citizens, but with that 
of my own soldiers, which I have spilt to save your lives.’ ”— 
Voliaire’s Life of Peter the Great. 


No. 50.—T' ue Hoty Famity—T ae Virein ann Inrant Savior, 
AND JosrPH THE CaRPENTER—ST. JOHN WITH HIS Lams, - AND 
ELIZABETH HIs MorHer. 


Identity of Edwardsite with Monazite. 249 


No. 51.—Josuua at THE Barrier or AI—aTTENDED By DearH. 


‘< O’er the pale rear tremendous Joshua hung 
Their gloomy knell his voice terrific rung ; 
From glowing eyeballs flashed his wrath severe— 
Grim Death before him hurled his murdering spear.” 
Conquest of Canaan, by Pres. Dwight, Book 6th, line 643. 


No. 52.—T we Last Famity wHo PERISHED IN THE DELUGE. 


An infant exhausted by cold, wet, and hunger, lies dead in the 
lap of its mother, whose whole soul is engrossed, and all her fac- 
ulties so absorbed in the contemplation of this calamity, that she 
is insensible to the horrors of the scene which surrounds her, and 
does not even see that her husband is just dashed from the rock 
(their last and only place of refuge) by a violent surge, and is 
perishing at her feet. 'The father throws up his eyes and hand 
to heaven, saying—‘ Heavenly Father! oh, smite us at once 
with thy lightning, and put an end to this lingering misery !” 


No. 53.—‘I was In PRISON AND YE CAME UNTO ME.” Matt. xxv, 36. 


Remark.—Some account of the first room may be given at 
another time. Among the most interesting objects which it con- 
tains, are the group by Mr. Augur, of Jephthah and his daughter; 
and. the busts of Homer, Demosthenes, and Cicero, recently pre- 
sented by Mr. Edward E. Salisbury. Some of the portraits, &c. 


é&c., are worthy of further notice. 
Yale College, October 1, 1840. 


Art. Il.—On the identity of Edwardsite with Monazite, (Men- 
gite,) and on the Composition of the Missouri Meteorite ; by 
Cuartes Urnam Sueparp, Prof. of Chemistry in the Medical 
College of South Carolina. 


Tux Journal of the Franklin Institute for May, 1840, contains 
the following translation from Poceenporrr’s Annalen der Physik 
und Chemie, No. I, 1840, of an article by Gustavus Rose, on the 
identity of Edwardsite and Monazite. 

“The royal collection at Berlin received a fragment of gneiss 
from Norwich, in Connecticut, containing a part of a crystal of 
Edwardsite, which although fractured on either termination, had. 
a sufficient number of planes remaining to determine its angles. 
Shepard (American Journal of Science and Arts, xxxu, 162) cor- 
rectly referred this mineral to the oblique-rhombic system, and 


250. Identity of Edwardsite with Monazite. 


added that the prism was terminated by a four-sided pyramid. 
He observed that the cleavage was sometimes perfect, but gene- 
rally uneven parallel to the oblique terminal plane, but very per- 
fect parallel to the longer diagonal. He further remarks that it 
bore the closest resemblance to zircon, which the Monazite was 
supposed to be by Menge, who first found it in the Ilmen branch 
of the Uralian chain. The few measurements of Edwardsite 
nearly correspond with those of Monazite, excepting the inclina- 
tion of an oblique terminal plane to the plane replacing the ob- 
tuse lateral edge, which, with Monazite, gave an angle of 100° 3’, 
with Edwardsite 103° 58’, but the calculation of the former was 
grounded on imperfect measurements. In regard to form, there- 
fore, the two minerals correspond. 

“They also resemble each other in relation to other properties. 
Color, hyacinth red to reddish brown, the lustre of Edwardsite 
somewhat stronger ; hardness = 5 (apatite). Specific gravity of 
Edwardsite is rated too low by Shepard = 4.2 to 4.6,—that of 
Monazite, according to Breithaupt = 4.992 to 5.079. In behav- 
ior before the blowpipe alone, or with fluxes, both alike, both in- 
fusible. Shepard observes that the former fuses with great diffi- 
culty on the edges, but no such fusion was observable on the 
specimen in the royal cabinet. There are some differences in 
their behavior with acids, the former, according to Shepard, being 
slightly affected by aqua regia, the Monazite, according to Ker- 
sten being decomposed by sleclayeude acid with the evolution 
of chlorine. 

“The apparent differences of their chemical composition may 
be reconciled. 'The Monazite was analyzed by Kersten, the 
Edwardsite by Shepard. : 


Monazite. Edwardsite. A 

Peroxide of cerium, 26.00 | Peroxide of cerium, 56.53 
Oxide of lanthanium, 23.40 | Zirconia, OTS 
Thorina, 17.95 | Alumina, 4.44 
Peroxide of tin, 2.10 | Silica, 3.29 
Protoxide of Pe 1.86 | Protoxide of iron, 
Lime, 1.68 | Glucina, traces. 
‘Titanic acid, 1 : Magnesia, 
oe tae8- | Phosphoric acid, 26.66 

hosphoric acid, 28.50 93.73 

98.49* 


* There is evidently some error in the figures of this analysis, for the sum of those given is 101.49. 


Identity of Edwardsite with Monazite. 251 


“The chief differences then are that Monazite contains both 
oxide of cerium and lanthanium, the Edwardsite only peroxide of 
cerium, (Shepard gives protoxide,) that the former contains tho- 
rina, the latter zirconia. Lanthanium is probably contained in 
Edwardsite, as it generally accompanies cerium, having been first 
discovered during the past year by Mosander, (was unknown to 
Shepard.) In regard to thorina and zirconia, it can hardly be 
assumed that the given quantities are correct, since we have no 
accurate method of separating them from oxide of cerium; it is 
nevertheless, worthy of notice that 7.77 zirconia area nearly full 
equivalent for 17.95 thorina, for the former contains 2.04, the 
thorina 2.12 oxygen. It might, therefore, be supposed that the 
thorina is replaced by zirconia in Edwardsite, which, however, 
cannot be assumed from the present view of their atomic compo- 
sition, since, according to Berzelius, thorina is expressed by Th 
-+- 0, zirconia by 2 Zr + 30. The tin in Monazite is evidently 
accidental from its minuteness; but remarkably enough, as Rose 
remarks, he found it also in Edwardsite, by means of the blow- 
pipe. If the presence of zirconia in Edwardsite be confirmed, 
and its isomorphy with thorina, then these two minerals can only 
be separated as species; if not, then both will probably agree in 
their chemical composition ; in which case, it will be more proper 
to retain the name Monazite, which it first received.” 

It is proper in the first place to observe that. Monazite is the 
same mineral as that described by Mr. H. J. Brooke under the 
name of Mengite in the Philosophical Magazine and Annals for 
Sept. 1831, (p. 189.) Having received from this gentleman a good 
erystal of the Uralian mineral, and being very forcibly struck by 
the considerations presented in the foregoing paper, I instantly set 
about such an examination of the Edwardsite as the nature of the 
ease solicited at my hands. 

Their identity in crystalline form appears to be nearly complete. 
Brooke gives M on M 95° 30’, and I find the crystals of Ed- 
wardsite to measure from 95° to 95° 30’. Again his angle be- 
tween the base (P) and the prism (M) corresponds exactly with 
mine, as given in my first paper on the Edwardsite. (See this 
Journal, Vol. xxxu, p. 162.) Being unwilling to fracture my crys- 
tal of Monazite to learn its cleavages, I can only add on this head 
that lines, or rifts of diagonal cleavage are very conspicuous in it, 
in exact accordance with those which are so striking in the 
American mineral. 


252 Identity of Edwardsite with Monazite. 


The discrepancy in specific gravity between the two minerals 
disappears on subjecting larger crystals of Edwardsite to exam- 
ination. I obtained on a fragment weighing 24 ers. the specific 
gravity of 5.00; whereas the Monazite crystal, whose weight is 
3 ers. equals only 4.61. It will no doubt be a difficult point to 
establish an exact agreement between the two, since the speci- 
mens to be examined are not only exceedingly minute, but much 
entangled with other substances, as mica, tin ore, eschenite, &c. 

After proceeding thus far in the examination, I felt but little 
hesitation in concluding that the analogy would be found to hold 
still further, and extend to an identity in chemical composition ; 
the more so, as I distinctly remembered several ambiguous and 
nearly irreconcilable circumstances in my analysis of Edwardsite. 

All the Edwardsite I could collect by breaking up numerous 
specimens of the rock amounted to but 5.1 grains. In examining 
each fragment in order to separate foreign matters prior to pul- 
verization, I detected one very perfect crystal of zircon, (of the 
form binotriunitatre, fig. 495 of my Treatise,) which taken with 
the fact that they have frequently been observed in proximity to 
ihe Edwardsite, leads me to attribute in part the zirconia of my 
former analysis to this source. 

My present object was not so much to determine the number 
and proportions of the ingredients as to ascertain whether the 
oxide of lanthanium and thorina are constituents of the mineral. 
It was heated to whiteness for half an hour, with twice its weight 
of anhydrous carbonate of soda. The mixture fused into a hard, 
yellowish gray compact mass, which was treated with boiling 
water and the insoluble part separated on the filter. 

The alkaline fluid was supersaturated with acetic acid, and pre- 
cipitated by acetate of lead. ‘The phosphate of lead was ignited 
and weighed 7.5 grs., which is equivalent to 1.38 grs. phosphoric 
acid, or 27.04 per cent. 

The insoluble matter from the aqueous solution of the calcined 
mineral was now treated with nitro-hydrochloric acid, and di- 
gested for several hours. The insoluble portion was separated, 
ignited and weighed. It amounted to 2 grs. Its color was red- 
dish brown. Believing it still to contain oxide of cerium, I sub- 
jected it to a new calcination with carbonate of soda, in order 
to its more complete decomposition. It had the desired effect ; 
for after the digestion of the caleined mass afresh in aqua regia 


/ 


Identity of Edwardsite with Monazite. 253 


for two hours, the insoluble matter was reduced to 1 gr. which 
still retained, however, a pale tinge of red, evincing that it was 
not wholly deprived of the oxide of cerium, or lanthanium, or of 
both. 

This powder was now treated with concentrated sulphuric acid, 
diluted with its weight of water. A solution was effected with 
some difficulty, requiring for its completion a digestion of at least 
two hours. Nothing remained behind, save a feeble trace of titanic 
acid. ‘The color of the fluid was yellow. 

It exhibited the following properties: ammonia threw down a 
white hydrate, which absorbed carbonic acid from the air, and 
was readily soluble again in hydrochloric acid, with effervescence. 
The hydrate is almost wholly soluble in carbonate of ammonia. 
Ferro-cyanide of potassium threw down a precipitate when ad- 
ded to the neutral sulphate, which it does not do in the case of 
zirconia alone. From these facts, I think it safe to infer, that 
the solution in question contained, principally, thorina. 

The nitro-hydrochloric solutions of cerium above mentioned, 
were mingled and precipitated by ammonia. ‘The precipitate was 
dissolved in nitric acid, and the solution evaporated to dryness. 
It assumed a rose red, and had a decided astringent, but metallic 
taste. A solution of hydrochlorate of ammonia was added, and 
on the application of heat, the insoluble oxide was dissolved with 
the evolution of ammoniacal gas. I feel fully authorized, there- 
fore, to announce the existence of the oxide of lanthanium in the 
Edwardsite ; but as to the ratio which it bears to the oxide of 
cerium, I was unable to determine any thing satisfactorily. 

Whenever I am able to procure a sufficient quantity of the 
mineral, I shall renew the research into its composition ; but in 
the mean time I am sufficiently satisfied of its relationship to 
Mengite to withdraw the claim I at first advanced to its distinct 
specific character. 

By the above investigation, new elements are added to those 
already known in the State of Connecticut. Mr. Roser detected 
tin also by the blowpipe in Edwardsite. I may add that I have 
the same metal from two other places in the state, an account of 
which, together with a notice of selenium which accompanies 
the tin at one of its deposits, I reserve for a future occasion. ‘The 
list of our elements has therefore been augmented to the number 


of four, within a short period of time. 
Vol. xxxix, No. 2.—July—September, 1840. 30 


254 Composition of the Missouri Meteorite. 


I detect the Edwardsite in a solitary crystal at the original lo- 
cality of Sillimanite, in the town of Chester, upon the Connecti- 
cut river; but it does not appear probable that this will prove so 
abundant a source of the mineral as the deposit at Norwich. 


Analysis of Meteoric Stone, which fell near Little Piney, Mis- 
sourt, Feb. 13, 1839. 


This specimen was obtained by Mr. Forrest SuepuHerp, and 
described by Mr. E. C. Herricx, in this Journal, Vol. xxxvn, p. 
385. Mr. Sueruerp kindly placed the mass at my disposal, 
which enables me to extend the account already published by the 
following notice. . 

On first inspection, the stone appears rather compact and close 
grained ; itis nevertheless composed for about one half of small 
imperfectly defined globules of the mineral which has been call- 
ed meteoric olivine. In color, they are light gray, inclining to 
pearl-gray, and when freshly broken across, show tints of yellow 
and green. The remaining stony ingredient is white and semi- 
decomposed, resembling the feldspathic mineral in certain tra- 
chytic lavas. 

Through the whole is sprinkled meteoric iron in little shining 
points, which are often invested with a coating of magnetic iron 
pyrites. By the aid of a glass, a few little black points were dis- 
covered of a mineral which appeared to be chrome-iron ore. 

Notwithstanding the apparent firmness of the mass, arising out 
of its close-grained structure, it is still possessed of but little co- 
hesion, since a slight strain of the fingers is sufficient to produce 
a fracture, even in a rounded shaped fragment of the stone. 
When broken up in this manner, however, the pieces are not 
prone to separate still farther, so as easily to give rise to a powder. 

The meteoric iron is not tarnished by exposure to the air. It 
was examined for chlorine, without affording any traces of this 
element. The most striking peculiarity found in this stone, was 
the small proportion of nickel. _ At first I failed to detect it alto- 
gether, but on a repetition of the search with eight grains of the 
alloy, whose nitro-hydrochlorie solution in a concentrated form 
was decomposed by ammonia in excess, I noticed an exceedingly 
faint blue tinge in the fluid. The chromium, however, is more 
abundant than usual, amounting to above 3 p.c. Idid not search 
for tin or manganese. 


Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 255 


The following is a summary of the results obtained. 


- Silicic acid, : : j BLS 
Magnesia, . : : 25.88 
Protoxide of iron, i - 17.25 > Earthy portion. 
Alumina, : : - AY, 
sada, Js : : via sbraces: { 
Tron, é : . ; 16. 
Cobalt, 
Chromium, : 4 : 4.28 \ Meteoric iron. 
Nickel, : traces. 


Sulphur, (phosphorus 2) and loss, 4.73 


100.00 


Art. IlI.—Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra ; 
by Prof. J. W. Guess. 


Tue following account of the language of Ghagh, is taken 
from Augustus William Hanson, a native of that country, aged 
twenty five, son of the British governor at Accra, his mother be- 
ing the daughter of Osai Kwami, (King Kwami,) the late king 
of the Ashantis. 'The Ghagh is his native language, although 
not that of either-of his parents. 

The country of Ghagh or Accra is a small district on the Gold 
Coast in Africa. It is called Ghagh by the natives, who style 
themselves Ghagh me-t, i.e. Ghagh people, and Hngkraing by the 
neighboring Fantis, from which name the Europeans have form- 
ed Accra. ‘The Ghagh people are bounded on the north by the 
Agunas and Akwapims, on the east by the Adampis, on the south 
by the Gulf of Guinea, and on the west by the Fantis. Within 
their territory are three European settlements, viz. the English at 
James’ fort, the Dutch at Creve-ceur, and the Danish at Chris- 
tiansburg. The population of these towns, which nearly ad- 
join each other, is together about fourteen thousand ; that of the 
whole territory about forty thousand. The Ghagh people are a 
distinct race, and differ entirely as to language from the tribes by 
which they are immediately surrounded, with the exception of 
the Adampis. According to their own tradition they came orig- 
inally from Popo, a district to the eastward of Adampi. The in- 
habitants of Little Popo, as well as of Great Popo, speak the same 


256 Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 


language with the people of Ghagh. The people of Popo call 
themselves Tawn Bi, i. e. Tawn people. 


I. Phonology. 


1. This language has the usual vowels, a, e, 7,0, u; the im- 
perfect diphthongs commencing with? and w; also the more per- 
fect diphthongs ai (Eng. 2,) aw (between Eng. aw and o,) 01, 
no au. 

2. It has the simple aspirate h, the semi-vowels w and y, the 
liquids n, m, ng; the sibilants s, sh, no z, nor zh. 

3. It has the palatal mutes, k, g, gh, no kh; the lingual mutes 
t, d, no th, nor dh; the labial mutes p, 6, ph, no v. 

A. It has also tsh, (Eng. ch in ee) and dzh, (Eng. 7 in 
James.) 

5. Besides these sounds, they have the following, which are 
peculiar to themselves ; 

(1.) A sort of palatal labial which may be represented by kp ; 
as, kpingkpagh, a barrel; kplashi, pleasure. 

(2.) Another palatal eich which may be represented by gb; 
as, gbweh, a dog; gberkeng, a child. 

6. But the nasal ng, which they pronounce very soft, pervades 
the language, being sometimes found three or four times in the 
same word, and gives it a very peculiar character. 


Il. Huphony. 


Words ending with ng, before a suffix commencing with m, 
change ng into m; as, eding, black, dzmmo, blackness ; eyeng, 
white, yenumo, whiteness. 


UI. Parts of Speech. 


1. There is a definite article for all genders and numbers, viz. 
leh, resembling the masculine French article. ‘There is no in- 
definite article. 

2. 'The personal pronouns are 

mi, I, me. waw, We, Us. 
bo or o, thou, thee. gni-e, ye, you. 

_ leh or eh, he, she, it, him, her, it. ame, they, them. 

3. These pronouns placed before a noun form possessives ; as, 
toyi, ears; mi toyt, my ears; o toy, thy ears; eh foz, his ears; 
waw toyi, our ears; gni-e toyt, your ears ; amme toy?, their ears. 


Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 257 


A, 'The pronominal forms, where, whither, and whence, are 
not distinguished, except by the context ; as, bi-er, hence, here, 
hither ; dzhe-i, thence, there, thither ; nergbwer, whence, where, 
annie 

5. There is a substantive ae viz. pres. dzhi, is; past, yeh, 
was. Thus mi dzhi, Il am; mi er I was; o dzhi, thou art ; 
_ o yeh, thou wast; etc. 

6. The interjection of grief is ah or oh. 


IV. Derivation of Words. 
Abstract nouns are formed from adjectives by adding leh, hi, 
mli, or mo ; as, 
hewa, strong ; hewaleh, strength. 
tetrer, broad ; tetrerml, breadth. 
kwaw, high; kwawt, height. 
eding, black ; dimmo, blackness. 
eyeng, white ; yemmo, whiteness. 
etshru, red; tshuleh, redness. 


V. Composition. 


In unwritten languages, it is very difficult to distinguish com- 
pound words from the combination of words in phrases. 


VI. Inflection. 


1. There is no inflection to express gender, that is, to distin- 
eunish between the sexes, or between animate and inanimate ob- 
jects. Sex is uniformly expressed both in men and animals by 
adding the words nung, male, and yio, female ; as, gbawmé yio, 
a woman; dzhatta yio, a hecee 

2. Number is expressed both in substantives and adjectives in 
three ways: 

(1.) Some nouns add e for the plural; as, gbawméd, a man; 
plur. gbawme, men. 

(2.) Some nouns add z for the plural; as, faz, a hat ; plur. faz-7, 
hats; gbwe, a dog; plur. gbwe-z, dogs. 

(3. ) Some nouns add dzhz for the plural ; as, shiflone, a dog ; 
plur. shifong-dzhi, dogs. 

3. Cases, or the relations of nouns, are expressed partly by 
prepositions, partly by the termination of nouns, and partly by 
the collocation. 

(1.) The nominative case is known by its collocation before 
the verb. 


258 Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 


(2.) The accusative case is known by its collocation after the 
verb. 

(3.) The local case is expressed by the termination eng or mlz ; 

as, gbawmd, aman; gbawmomlt, in a man. 

(4.) An oblique adverbial case is expressed by the termination 
heh or gnaw indifferently. 

(5.) The genitive or adnominal case is expressed eel by 
placing a substantive before another substantive ; as, gbawmo fat, 
man hat, i. e. aman’s hat; mz toyt, I ears, i. e. my ears; gbaw- 
mo fai-t, a man’s hats; gbawme a fai-1, men’s hats. 

(6.) The declension of the noun then is as follows: 

Sine. Nomin. gbawimo, a man. 
Accus. gbawmo, a man. 
_ Dative ( gbawmohéh 
and and to or from a man. 
Ablat. ( gbawmognaw, 


Toca eee ee ae 
~ 2 gbawmomli, 


Piur. Nomin. gbawmeé, men. 
Accus. gbawmé, men. 
Dative ( gbawmeaheh 
and Yi into to or from men. 
Ablat. ( gbhawmeagnaw, 


Local gbawmeamli, in men. 

4, The comparison of adjectives is expressed by a periphrasis. 
The comparative is formed by adding feh, more ; and the super- 
lative by adding fehféeng, more than all. Thus, 

effong, bad, . 
effongféh, more bad, 
efongfchféng, most bad. 

5. Person in verbs is expressed by merely prefixing the pro- 
nouns; as, 

mi stmo, I love ; 

o sivmo, thou lovest ; 

eh siimo, he, she, or it loves ; 
waw mi simo, we love ; 
eni-e mi siamo, ye love ; 
amme nui simo, they love. 

The force of mé in the plural I am unable to explain. 

6. The tenses of verbs are expressed by varying the accent, or 
by auxiliary particles. 


Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 259 


(1.) The present tense is accented thus: mz simo, I love. 
(2.) The imperfect is expressed by varying the accent; as, mz 
‘sumo, I loved or did love. 

(3.) The perfect again by varying the accent; as, mt sumo, 
I have loved. F 

(4.) The pluperfect, by the particle nah; as, mi nah mi sumo, 
I had loved, liter. I have I loved; 0 nah 6 sumo, thou hast loved; 
etc. Compare mi nah ni, I have wealth. 

(5.) The future is expressed by a periphrasis ; as, mz ba sumo, 
I come to love, i. e. I am about to love. : 

7. There are no voices in Ghagh. ‘The passive is expressed 
actively ; as, a@ simo mt, some one loves me, i. e. Lam loved; a 
keh, some one says, i. e. it is said, French, on dit. 

8. There are no modes in Ghagh ; 

(1.) The subjunctive or conditional is expressed by means of a 
conjunction ; as, mz simo, | love; kedzhdzhi mi sumo, if I love. 

(2.) The potential is expressed by a periphrasis ; as, m’agnie 
akeh mi simo, I am able and I love, i. e. I can love. 

(3.) The imperative of prohibition is expressed by prefixing 
ka ; as, ka simo, love not. 'The imperative of command is si- 
mo, love thou. 

(4.) The infinitive is simo, to love. 

(5.) The present participle is formed by adding mo ; as, swmo- 
mo, loving. 


VIL. Syntaz. 


1. Concord. "The only concords are those of the adjective with 
its substantive in number, and in a compound sentence of the 
relative with its antecedent in number; as, gbawmd kpakpa, a 
good man; plurs gbawmeé kpakpa-1, good men. 

2. Gevernment. Nothing peculiar. 

3. Collocation of Words. 

(1.) The subject of the proposition is placed first, then the 
verb, then the object, as in English. Thus gnung-maw hing, 
God is good; gnung-maw mi simo ghawmé, God loves men; 
gbhawmé mi simo gnung-maw, men love God. 

(2.) The adjective is placed after the substantive which it 
qualifies ; as, gnung-maw dzhungrong, God good, i. e. the good 
God. So thearticle; as, gbawme leh, the man; gbawme dzhung- 
rong leh, the good man. 


260 Characteristies of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 


(3.) Modifying circumstances are placed after the verb which 

they modify ; as, gnung-maw hi-gnaw gnungmawng, God lives 
in heaven. 
A. Idiom. The words for heaven and face combined signify 
the sky ; as, gnung-maw hieh, heaven face, i. e. the sky ; mz 
dzheh Africa mi ba maigneng, 1 came from Africa, I came into 
this country ; mi keh klante gbwhe, land a sword killed, i.e. I 
killed with a sword. 


VIII. Versification. 


There is no poetry in this language. 'The natives, however, 

compose songs in the Ashanti dialect of the Otsh-wi language. 
IX. Orthography. 

This language has never been reduced to writing for the use 
of the natives, except partially by the Danes. Should sucha 
reduction ever take place, it is hoped that the general principles 
may be followed which have been laid down by Dr. John Pick- 
ering for the unwritten languages of America, and which have 
been adopted in this article. 


X. Literature. 


This language possesses no literature. Nor have the natives of 
Ghach any knowledge of writing, except so far as an Ashanti 
convert to Mohammedanism occasionally appears among them, or 
some of the children are taught in the English or Danish schools. 


XI. Vocabulary of Ghagh Words. 


One eko or ekome Eye hing-mwei 
Two eniaw Nose gugong 
Three eteng Mouth na-bu 
Four edzhwe Lip na 

Five enumaw Tooth gnia-gnong 
Six ekpwa Tongue li-le-i 
Seven kpwa-wo Hand nine 
Eight kpwa-gniaw Foot nane 
Nine ne-hu Back koto-ser 
Ten gnung-ma Beard tshe-i 
Twenty gnung-ma-eniaw Bone wu 

Thirty gnung-ma-eteng Chin tshe-i 
Forty gnung-ma-edzhwe |Knee na-ku-tsho 
Hundred oha Neck ku-er 
Head i-tsho Quill tshi-rer 
Hair i-tshaw-i Shoulder kawng 


Ear toi ~ |Soul gbwaw-mo_ 


Characteristics of the Language of Ghagh or Accra. 261 


Tail 
Thigh 
Upper arm 
Sun 
Moon 
Heaven 
Fire 
Water 
Beast 
Cat 
Cricket 
Fly 
Frog 
Kite 
Rat 
Snake 
Turtle. 
God 
Man (genus) 
Man 
Woman 
Child 
Father 
Mother 
King 
Slave 
Name | 
People 
Village 
Town 
Country 


Good 


Bad 
Big 
Little 
Old 
New 
White 
Black 
Strong 
Sick 
Arrow 
Bag 
Basket 
Bell 
Boat 
Bow 
Clothes 
Club 
Comb 


CYmFN 


le-i 

shwi-aw 
ni-ne 

hu-lu 
niong-tshi-re 
gnung-mawng 
la 

nu 

ko-lo 
a-lam-te 
kri-li 
a-di-dong 
kawkaw-de-ne 
lar-law 
o-bi-shi 
o-nu-fung 
ha-la 
gnung-maw 
gbwaw-mo 
nung 

yio 

bi 

tsher or a-ta 
gni-er or a-o 
mang-tsher 
gni-ong 
gbwe-i 
gbwaw-me-i 
a-kro-wa 
mang 

mang or dzhe 
e-dzhung-rong 
or ekpakpa 
e-sha or e-fawng 
e-wu-la 

fio or bibio 
e-mo-mo 
e-he 

e-yeng 
e-ding 
he-wa 
he-mi-ye 
ghang-li 
ko-to-ku 
flaw-taw 
gmwler 
bong-to 
ghah-li-tsho 
a-ta-le 
tsho-kpo-ti 
O-si-rer 


Door 
House-door 
Drum 
Egg 
Food 
Frock 
Land 
Language 
Place 
Rice 
Grain of rice 
Ring 
Road 
Stick 
Thanks 
Thing 
Tree 

‘Son 
Daughter 
Alive 
Every 
Red 

To ask 


To ask pardon 


To build 

To carry 

To catch 

To cut 

To dance 

To die 

To do 

To forgive 

To get or have 
To give 
To keep 

To know 

To land 


To live 


To look after 
To make 

To plant 

To play 

To put 

To put on 
To remember 
To run 

To rest 

To say 

To see 


Vol. -xxxix, No 2.—July-September, 1840. 34 


shi-na 
tshung-shi-na 
mileng 
wlaw 

gmwa 

fra-ka 
shi-pong 
wi-e-mong 
gbwe-he 
o-mong 
o-mong-ku-li 
ga or pe-ti-a 
gbwe 

tsho 
shing-da 
gnong 

tsho 

bi-nung 
bi-yio 
heng-ka 
fe-er 
e-tshu-ru 

bi 

kpwa-fa-i, 
lit. to take off the hat 
mar or tshwa 
te-re 

mong 

fo 

dzho 

gbwo 

fe-i 

ghor-ke 

nah 


kpwle-ke-shing 
ta-shing 
or yl-aw 
ta-o 

fe-i 

dung 
shwer 
wa-o 

bu 

ka-i 
dzho-fu-e 
dzhaw-he 
ke-er 

na 


262 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


To shine kpwer All of them ‘am-me-fe-er 

To speak wi-e Every thing ni-fe-er 

To strike tshwa Forever da or da-da 

To take kaw He is dead eh gbwo 

To thank da-shing He is not dead eh gbwo ko 

To think su-su ' . |He is alive eh hi-eh kang 

To walk gni-er This is good to me en-ne hing ham 

O oh or e-bo This is not good to me en-ne e-hi-i ha-am 
Ah ah 


Arr. IV.—Remarks on the Central Forces of bodies revolving 
about fixed axes ; by JosrepH Martin, M. D. 


Tue theory of curvilinear motion may justly be considered 
one of the most important and interesting subjects connected 
with the physical sciences. It explains the motions of the heav- 
enly bodies, and, by unfolding some of the grand phenomena of 
nature, makes them applicable to the most important and useful 
purposes of life. It has accordingly engaged the attention of the 
greatest philosophers for centuries, who have, by means of the 
most searching analyses, not only pointed out the slightest irreg- 
ularities of those bodies which compose the great planetary sys- 
tem, but have discovered the causes of the seeming aberrations, and 
given satisfactory explanations of them. And yet it would seem 
that the most simple case of ‘central forces,” the rotation of a 
heavy body about a fixed axis, has been in some measure neg- 
lected, or at least, treated as a subject of too little importance, 
either in a theoretical or practical point of view, to deserve more 
than a passing notice. 

To explain the motions of the heavenly bodies it has been 
found necessary, by means of mathematical reasoning, to deter- 
mine the ratio of attraction and original impulse, or projectile 
force, and to show the effects of their separate and combined 
operation. In this way the part that each of the three forces, 
the projectile and the central, perform in producing and _ pre- 
serving the motion of a planet in its orbit, is clearly defined ; 
as well as the results that would follow if either of the last 
should cease to act. But the ratio of the forces which act upon 
a body made to revolve about a fixed axis, and the nature 
and extent of their separate or combined action, have not been 
distinctly shown. In other words, it is believed that the relative 


Revolving about Fixed Ares. 263 


proportions of the moving power, and the forces that it produces 
directly and indirectly—the manner in which the central forces 
are excited—and the combined operation of all the forces upon 
a body whilst revolving and when projected, have not been satis- 
factorily explained. ‘ 

It is not intended, however, at present to enter into an investi- 
gation of the subject upon principles purely dynamical, but the 
object of these remarks is to show by mathematical reasoning, 
founded upon experiment and familiar examples, that the power 
employed to revolve a body about a fixed axis is wholly expend- 
ed in giving velocity to that body in the direction of the circle, 
and that, consequently, the central forces must be excited in obe- 
dience to a law of nature; and, in the second place, that the mo- 
ving and excited forces act in conformity with the principles of 
“the composition of forces.” 


If the bar of soft iron m, Fig. 1, be prepared as a horse-shoe 
magnet and secured in a proper manner to the rod 7, working 
horizontally on an axle at ¢, it may be connected at pleasure with 
a galvanic battery, by means of its wires and the usual arrange- 
ments of cups containing quicksilver at the centre. The iron 
bar A, of a suitable size and description, moving with a given 
uniform velocity along the straight line Ag, would be attracted at 
B by the magnet, if it were connected at that moment with the 
galvanic battery, and would be made to move in the curve Bv 
of the circle BD, but in virtue of its inertia it would, in the ab- 
sence of friction and atmospheric resistance, continue to move in 
that circle with the same uniform velocity. For the deflecting 
force being independent of the projectile force, and acting at all 
times in the direction of the radii of the circle, it cannot in any 
respect increase nor diminish the original velocity of the bar. 
And for the same reasons the force with which the bar is moving 


264 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


in the circle can have no influence upon the deflecting force. 
But a body moving in a curve or circle is always found to be act- 
ed upon by a third force, which is opposite and equal to the de- 
flecting or centripetal force; and as there cannot be an effect 
without a cause, this third force must either be derived from one 
of those mentioned above, or their resultant—or from some other 
source. Supposing the circle BD, in which the bar moves, to be 
one foot in diameter and the velocity of the bar to be 25.14 feet 
per second, or at the rate of eight entire revolutions in a second, 
v2 25.14? 


cond, and its eee force =39 lbs. its weight being one pound, 
v representing the velocity in the circle, and 7 its radius; for if a 
be the weight of the bar, z equal to 32, feet, and # the force re- 

v? va 25.14? 


quired, then r } —!iai ~~ =£= 


—39 Ibs.* But the force 
er 16 


in the circle= Fe =h 55 lbs. only, consequently the centrifu- 


gal force could not have been caused by the projectile force. And 
it is evident that it cannot be a part of the magnetic force, for it 
acts in a directly opposite direction ; and it is equally evident that 
it cannot be the resultant of the other two forces, for then its di- 
rection would be to some point within the circle. The pressure 
from the centre of thirty-nine pounds must therefore have origin- 
ated in some other way. 

Such are the facts when the deflection from a straight line is 
caused by a centripetal force directed to a fixed centre of rota- 
tion, and the projectile or moving force is applied before the body 
is constrained to move in a circle. We will now stop the revolv- 
ing rod 7, leaving the bar A attached to m, by the magnetic force. 
If by means of a winch the same number of revolutions in a 
second be given to the bar that it had in the first experiment, the 
centripetal or magnetic force will perform the part of cohesion, 
and the circumstances in every other respect will be the same 
that would attend such a rotation if the bar were welded to m. 
Does the moving power, applied in this manner, directly produce 
the central force or immediately impart it to the moving body? 
or, in other words, is centrifugal force a part of the force employ- 
ed to revolve the body? Without attempting to prove the nega- 


* Hutton’s Mathematical Dictionary, and Gregory’s Mechanics. 


Revolving about Fixed Azes. 265 


tive of this question by minute mathematical investigations, which 
will be avoided as much as possible on this occasion, I will show 
by a reference to the familiar examples of the common sling and 
fly-wheel, that in a revolving body centrifugal force, whatever 
be its source, is much greater than the power necessary to give 
rotation to that body, and that it cannot therefore be directly 
caused by the moving power,—and then explain how it may be 
proved by a simple experiment. 

It has been stated above that writers on dynamics have not 
clearly defined the operation of the laws of curvilinear motion 
on bodies revolving about fixed axes. One only of the many in- 
stances in which erroneous views are given by popular writers in 
noticing the subject of central forces, will be mentioned. la 
the Library of Useful Knowledge [London edition] a writer, 
after enumerating some of the wonderful effects produced by ac- 
cumulating force in the circumference of a fly-wheel, remarks: 
“the same principle explains the force with which a stone may 
be projected froma sling. The thong is swung several times 
round by the force of the arm until a considerable portion of 
force is accumulated and then it (the stone) is projected with all 

Fig. 2. 


the collected force.* By observing the facts we may discover 
how all this accumulation of force is produced by the strength 
of the arm. A stone, S, Fig. 2, weighing one pound, secured to the 
end of a string rather less than two feet long, may be whirled in 
a circle of four feet diameter at the rate of two entire revolutions in 


* Vol I, p. 51, Art. Mechanics. 


266 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


asecond. It is done by turning the hand in. a small circle AB, 

about a moving axis of rotation. ‘The velocity in the large circle 
= 12.57 x2 =25.14 feet per second; and, as shown above, if S rep- 

resent the weight of the stone, v its velocity, r the radius of the 
; é ; v? vs 

circle and z the centrifugal velocity, then r ; 64: BS 39, = o> 


2 

poe oly pounds. ‘The velocity in the circle being 25.14 
its force in that direction is equal to 1.58 lbs. ;* and if we add 1.42 
lb. for the weight of the stone and atmospheric resistance, which 
is more than sufficient, we have three pounds as the force with 
which it is impelled in the circle ST. To enable him to move 
the stone in the circle the operator has to resist a force nearly 
equal to ten pounds, which urges his hand from the centre at eve- 
ry instant of time. He must therefore exert his strength at A in 
the direction of the resultant of the two forces with an effort 
which is equal in amount to their mechanical equivalent. If we 
make Ae and Ac in length proportionate to the forces 3 and 10 
respectively, then the diagonal Af of the parallelogram Aefc, 
will show the direction in which he draws at the string, and 
/102+32=10.44 lbs. will be the amount of force necessary to 
give the required velocity ; of which, as shown above, two-thirds 
are expended in retaining the stone in the circle. Now it would 
be about as easy to show that a man can draw ata flexible cord 
secured to a stationary object with a force equal to 10 pounds, 
and at the same time press against that object, by means of the 
cord, with a force equal to six pounds, as to prove that the centri- 
fugal force in this case is the immediate effect of the moving 
power. ‘The man moves his hand in a sinall circle and pulls at 
a stone, nearly in the direction of the string to which it is attach- 
ed, with a force equal to six times the weight of the stone, and 
yet, according to the popular belief, he not only imparts directly to 
it all the force with which it is projected, but dashes it off at right 
angles to the thong, as if it were moved at the end of a lever. 

- The thong of the sling, from what is said above, may be con- 
sidered as in the place of an inflexible rod, the hand resisting the 
pressure that would act as a strain upon an axle atc; and if 
such a rod had a handle at A, the same effect might be produced. 


But it would cause great friction and strain upon the axle, and 
mm 


* Cavallo’s Philosophy, p. 66. 


Revolving about Fixed Axes. 267 


to obviate those difficulties, we will consider the circle ST as 
passing through the centre of the rim of a fly-wheel connected 
by arms with the small circle AB, representing a nave working 
-onanaxle atc. If the rim be supposed to weigh 150 lbs. it might 
easily be revolved at the rate of two entire revolutions in a se- 
cond by a handle at A, which is four inches from the centre, or 
so considered for illustration. When the winch A is moved about 
the axis, the force may be considered as acting by repeated slight 
impulses, as if it were applied at right angles to the radius of the 
circle, at each instant of time along the side of a polygon with 
an infinite number of sides, drawn within the circle. If the 
sides of the polygon be one hundred in number, they would be 
one fourth of an inch long, and then one and a half inches in 
the larger circle ST, will be the length of each side of a polygon 
along which the centre particles of the rim may be supposed to 
move. As the proportion of the circle ST is to AB as six is to 
unit, a moving power acting on the latter at the winch A, witha 
given force, through g, h, one fourth of an inch, will move the 
rim through 2, &, equal to six times that space, with one sixth of 
the force applied ; but as the moment of rotation is equal to force 
multiplied by leverage, the whole amount of force upon the rim 
through that space must be exactly equal to the power applied 
through the fourth of an inch upon A. And so of each side of the 
two polygons respectively. But they are considered infinitely small 
and ultimately become parts of the two circles; the power therefore 
must be applied in a circle, and the particles of the rim must be 
propelled in circles with a force exactly equal to that power. Con- 
sequently, the moving power, applied toa fly-wheel or to any 
other revolving body, cannot be expended in pressing the parti- 
cles of such bodies from the centres nor in the direction of tan- 
gents to the circles in which they revolve. And this is evident 
from the fact, that such moving bodies cannot give out nor im- 
part, in any manner whatever, more force than is applied to re- 
volve them. And that force is not only equal to the power ap- 
plied, but it is always returned in the circle in which the body 
moves, and_in a direction contrary to that in which it was 
received. “If a wheel spinning on its axis with a certain velo- 
city be stopped by a hand seizing one of the spokes, the effort 
which accomplishes this is exactly the same, as, had the wheel 
been previously at rest, would have put it in motion in the oppo- 


268 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


site direction with the same velocity.”* The force applied to 
the winch, in the case above, was wholly expended in giving ve- 
locity to the rim, with the slight exceptions mentioned. Conse- 
quently, whatever other forces may have operated on the rim whilst 
revolving must have originated in some other way. And yet those 
extraneous forces would amount to 1480 lbs., as shown by the above 
formula, the rim weighing 150 lbs. and being revolved at the rate 
of two entire revolutions in a second. No part of this force could be 
communicated to the arm of a man who would stop such a wheel 
by seizing one of the spokes, because each particle of the rim is act- 
ed upon by the central forces, which are always-opposite and equal, 
in the direction of the radius of the circle at that point ; and it 
has just been shown that the moment of rotation of each particle 
is equal to the moment of rotation of the power that impels it, 
but “as the direction of the central forces is in that of the ra- 
dius, their moment of rotation is equal to nothing.”+ Conse- 
quently the centrifugal force cannot act upon the hand that stops 
the wheel. If, indeed, the centrifugal force were increased to 
sixteen times the above amount, the result would be the same. 
By giving the wheel eight revolutions in a second we would have 
the central force = 1480 x 16=23680 lbs. and the force in the cir- 


12.57 x8 xX 150 
168) AN aaere Ibs. Here the centrifugal 


cle would be= 


force is twenty times greater than the force in the circle, and yet 
as the central force would act in the direction of the radii, its 
moment of rotation would be=0. Or, what is more strictly the 
fact, the central force acts by pressure, and a resultant from that 
pressure and the force in the circle is the consequence, but so 
long as resistance from cohesion continues, neither motion nor 
pressure can be imparted to another body by the central force. 
These are the obvious reasons why no greater force could be 
communicated by the rim than the 925 lbs., which it only pos- 
sesses as a mass of matter moving in a circle. 

The following experiment may be considered as a practical 
illustration of the theoretical views given above. A whirling 
table may be made of any convenient size, we will say, for the 
present occasion, rather more than four feet in diameter, to revolve 
horizontally on friction rollers placed near the center; the axle 
being a hollow cylinder, through which four cords pass to the 


* Kater and Lardner on Mechanics, p. 24. 
+ Renwick’s Mathematics, Art. Composition of Forces. 


Revolving about Fixed Aves. 269 


floor to be connected with a tin tube for containing shot or some 
other weight. ‘The cords are brought over the pulleys p, p, p, p, 
Fig. 3, at the centre, and secured to the dishes d, d, d, d, weigh- 


ing one pound each, and moving, with very little friction, on little 
wheels adapted to the strips or rails 7,7, 7,7. By connecting this 
table with wheel-work, having bands or teeth acting on the hol- 
low cylinder as a sniate. by means of a weight or power sus- 
pended by a rope wound round an axle, and moving very slowly, 
a certain number of revolutions in a minute will be given to it 
by the power, in passing through a given space, and the four 
dishes will raise, by their centrifugal force, a weight in the tube 
below, proportionate to the velocity and their distance from the 
centre. If the moving power be then doubled, with a slight ad- 
dition to overcome the additional friction and atmospheric resist- 
ance, it will be found, that in moving through an equal space in 
the same time, it will give twice the former velocity, and the 
dishes, at the same distance from the centre, will raise in the tube 
below, in an equal time, quadruple the weight first raised. Then 
by loading the dishes aul increasing or diminishing the velocity, 
and varying the distances of the dishes from the centre, a variety 
of experiments may be made, and weights may be raioed, with 
corresponding distances and velocities proportionate to those given 
above. 

By observing the manner of performing the experiments with 
the magnetized bar, it will be seen that a centrifugal force is ex- 
cited, INDEPENDENTLY OF THE PROJECTILE FORCE, equal to the 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 30 


270 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


supposed power of the magnet, and we have shown that the 
same effects would follow without the use of the magnet. And 
that the impelling or moving power performs no other part in 
producing the complex effects attendant upon rotation, than sim- 
ply to move the particles of a mass of matter in circles about a 
fixed axis, may be clearly shown by the theory of curvilinear 
motion, which those experiments were designed to illustrate. 
But without attempting to prove this at present, by abstract math- 
ematical reasoning, the nature of deflection and the extent of its 
operation in exciting the central forces may be explained by a 
reference to the action of electro-magnetism as shown in Fig. 1. 
‘The bar A, when attracted by the magnet, being supposed to 
revolve ina circle of one foot in diameter, at the rate of eight 
revolutions in a second, or 25.14 feet, to determine the amount of 
deflection in any unit of time, say one fiftieth of a second, the 
whole space through which it moves in a second may be divided 
into fifty parts, which will give six inches for each unit of time. 
If this space be measured on the tangent from B to x, and on the 
circumference of the circle to v, the deflection for the one fiftieth 
of a second would be equal to the square of Bu, divided by BD, 
or the diameter. For by dynamics, ‘‘if a body revolve uniformly 
in acircle, the space through which it would move by the action 
of the centripetal force alone in any unit of time, such as a se- 
cond, will be equal to the square of the arch described in. the 
same unit divided by the diameter or twice the radius.”* And 


the deflection of the bar in the ;, of a second = 575, === 


inches. ‘That is, the deflection from the tangent Bg during the 
time that the bar would have passed over six inches in that line, 
is three inches; and the deflection corresponding with the space 
Bg, which is equal to two feet, and through which the bar would 


2 


have passed in the 4, of a second, would be=5.=4 feet, and so 
of any other space. 

Now to show that the amount of this deflection or centrifugal 
force depends upon the curve in which the bar is moved ina 
given time, and not upon the moving power, or projectile force, 
we will cause the same bar, moving with an equal uniform velo- 
city, to be attracted in a similar manner by the magnet m, attach- 


* Brewster's New Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Art. Dynamics. 


Revolving about Fixed Ares, 271 


ed to an arm ievolving in a circle of eight feet in diameter, and 
let EF be an arch of that circle, touching the straight line Ag at 
B. As the velocity of the bar and the circumference of the circle 
are equal, the bar, after being attracted by the magnet at B, would 
move on with the same uniform velocity and perform one entire 
revolution in a second, friction and the resistance of the atmos- 
phere being considered equal to nothing. And its deflection from 
the straight line, or its centripetal force for =, of a second, would 
be equal to the square of the arch Bz, which is six inches, divi- 


2 


3 


ded by the diameter of the circle, that is=—- = .375 = of an 


inch, or only one eighth of the deflection caused by the smaller 
wheel ; and in the same ratio for any other spaces through which 
the bar would have passed whilst moving through equal spaces 
in the circle. And hence it is that the central forces are inversely 
as the diameters of the circles in which a body is made to move 
with a given velocity. The increment of deflection for an en- 


25.142 ‘ 
tire second being = —j7—~= 622 feet per second in the smaller 


25.14? 
wheel, and in the larger one=—g— =79 feet per second only; 


and yet the bar has precisely the same velocity, and consequently 
the same force in the latter that it had in the former. 'Therefore, 
aside from friction, it would, if welded to m, require no more 
force to revolve it in the former than in the latter case. 

For the same reasons, with a given velocity for the particles 
of the rims, the smaller a fly-wheel is, the greater will be the 
amount of centrifugal force, other things being equal. This will 
appear obvious upon inspecting the figure ; for it will be seen that 
a particle of iron at v in the rim of a small wheel would be de- 
flected from the straight line eight times as many inches in a given 
unit of time asa particle would be at the point z of the large wheel. 
The measure of the deflection from that line must therefore be 
the measure of the centrifugal force for any instant of time; and 
consequently the aggregate amount will be proportionate to the 
curve in which the body moves. This deflection takes place 
when a body is moved in acurved line, and the tendency to resist 
it and move in a straight line is excited in such a mass of matter 
in obedience to the important law of inertia, with as much cer- 
tainty as electricity would result from the action of sulphuric 


272 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


acid upon two contiguous plates of zinc and copper. Centrifugal 
force may therefore with propriety be considered a physical agent, 
which is called into action, by an inscrutable law of nature, when- 
ever matter is made to move in a curve ;—which ought to be no 
more a subject of surprise than that magnetic force should be ex- 
cited in a bar of iron by certain chemical operations, the precise 
nature of which is as little understood as that of inertia. 

The centrifugal principle has been employed as a projectile 
force from the earliest ages. It would be interesting to notice 
the extent to which it was used in ancient wars; and particular- 
ly to point out, as might be done even with the feeble lights af- 
forded us, how much Archimedes was indebted to the central 
forces for the destructive effects of his engines, which I believe 
to have been no fabled nor imaginary productions of genius. 

As I shall here come in conflict with some generally received 
opinions, I will give a short extract from Professor Renwick’s 
Elements of Mechanics. Not that he differs from other writers 
on this subject, but I find that the extract will be useful in ex- 
plaining what is to follow. ‘The simplest case of central force 
is where a body connected with a fixed point by an inflexible 
straight line isimpelled by a projectile force, at right angles to 
that line. he latter force would have impressed upon the body 
a motion with a uniform velocity. The body, then, in conse- 
quence of its connection with a fixed point, describes a circle of 
which that point is the centre. If the connection were to cease 
at any point in the curve, the deflecting force would cease to act, 
and the body would go in a straight line whose direction would 
be a tangent to the curve. The force acting at any point in the 
curve must therefore be-decomposed into two, one of which is in 
the direction of the curve, the other in that of the radius.’’* 

If a ball at A, Fig. 4, weighing one pound, and attached to 
an inflexible rod- AC, two feet long, be impelled by a projec- 
tile force or moving power at the rate of two entire revolutions 
in a second, or 253,4 feet per-second, it will have a centrifugal 
velocity equal to 157.76 feet per second.t 'Those two velocities 
then, equivalent to the forces 1.58 lbs. and 9.87 lbs. respectively, 
constitute the aggregate amount of force acting on the body at 
any point of the curve or circle; the former acting in the direc- 
tion of the curve, and the latter in that of the radius—one caused 


* Page 62. t Cavallo, p. 66. 


Revolving about Fixed Azes. 273 


by the motion of the particles of matter, the other excited by a 
cause producing pressure, resisted by cohesion. Now, according 
to the fundamental principles of mechanics, “the same cause 


Fig. 4. 


acting upon a body will either produce motion or pressure, ac- 
cording as the body is free or restrained.” And, “if two forces 
act upon the same point of a body in different directions, a single 
force may be assigned which, acting on that point, will produce 
the same results as the united effects of the other two.” Here 
we have two forces acting on each particle of the revolving body, 
but they are resisted by cohesion, therefore when cohesion ceases 
to act, the effect of the two forces must be, according to the the- 
orem of the composition of forces, toimpel itin the direction of 
their resultant, and with an amount of force equal to their me- 
chanical equivalent ;—and experiment shows the correctness of 


274 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


the theory. If an ounce ball of lead, with a small hole drilled 
through it, be firmly secured by a catgut string close to the perime- 
ter of a fly-wheel, or any other wheel that can be rapidly revolv- 
ed, it may be discharged from the vertical point of the circumfer- 
ence, whilst the wheel is revolving, by interposing a sharp knife 
well fixed ina slide. When the velocity necessary to project the 
ball horizontally at a given short distance has been ascertained, 
then by increasing the velocity and taking care to discharge the 
ball from the same point of the circle, and at an equal distance 
from the centre of the wheel, its elevation will be found to in- 
crease with the increased projectile force. And the experiment 
may be varied by having a number of balls prepared of the same 
weight, and varying the velocities and the distances from the cen- 
tre. The effects of gravity, however, and the difficulty of re- 
presenting by a straight line what may be considered the direc- 
tion of the circle, have prevented me from determining geomet- 
rically the direction of the projectile, although in practice it may 
easily be ascertained. 

_ If the ball be discharged from the point A, with one revalugen 
in a second, its velocity in the circle would be 12.57 feet per sec- 

2 at hese 


ae per second, and the initial Prorectile ee would be= 


/ 12.572 +39.442 =41.40 feet per second, disregarding for the 
present atmospheric resistance. And if, in the way of illustration, 
AF be considered as the direction of the force in the circle AD, 
the sides AX and Am, of the parallelogram Amvk, being made 
proportionate to the two velocities 12.57 and 39.50 respectively, 
the diagonal Av of the parallelogram will represent in direction 
and proportional amount the velocity 41.45 or initial projectile 
velocity. If a billiard-ball, moving upon a table with a velocity 
equal to 124 feet per second in the direction EF, were to re- 
ceive at A an impulse in the direction of cn, which alone would 
cause it to move with a velocity equal to 394 feet per second, no 
other direction and velocity could be assigned to it than that de- 
signated by the diagonal Av of the parallelogram. The revolving — 
ball is supposed to move in the direction Ak with the velocity of 
12.57 feet per second, represented by that side of the parallelogram, 
and at the same time to be acted upon by a force which would 
cause it to move with a velocity equal to 394 feet per second, in 


Revolving about Fixed Azes. 275 


the direction of the side Am, which indicates that velocity, con- 
sequently no other direction nor amount can be assigned to tt, 
when projected, than the diagonal Av of the parallelogram Amvk. 
If the velocity of the ball be doubled, the centrifugal velocity 
increasing as the square of the increased velocity in the circle, it 
would be=39.44 x 4=157.76 feet per second, and the initial pro- 
jectile velocity would be=~/ 25.14? + 158? =160 feet per second ; 
and the two first would be represented by the sides Ah and An, 
respectively, of the parallelogram Anyh, and the diagonal Ay 
would indicate the direction and relative proportion of the initial 
projectile velocity. With four revolutions in a second, the initial 
projectile velocity would be 635 feet per second, in the direction 
of the line Az. At least such would be the directions for those 
three velocities at the instant the ball leaves the point from which 
it may be discharged. But with such low velocities a pound ball 
would not indicate those directions by its path, for the reasons 
givenabove. Wath very high increasing velocities, however, the 
experimenter will find that a small leaden ball will move in direc- 
tions approaching that of the radius, as shown in the diagram. 
In repeated experiments made with a machine revolving vertical- 
ly, and having a tube placed in the direction of a tangent to the - 
circle in which leaden balls were revolved, it was found that with 
very high velocities they were forced through the tube with diffi- 
culty, anda portion of each was removed by the friction, and the 
upper part of the tube, on the inside, was worn smooth. But 
with much lower velocities the balls passed through the tube 
without any apparent friction. | | 

‘In performing the first experiment, the bar, (A, Fig. 1,) mov- 
ing with uniform velocity in every part of the circle BD, has the 
same centrifugal force at v that it would have after revolving for 
a minute or more; for the amount of that force depends upon 
the curvature and the circular velocity, and consequently was ex- 
cited to the amount of thirty-nine pounds instantaneously, and if 
it had been discharged at three inches from B it would have been 
projected with that force. If this were not the case with bodies 
moving in space, supposed to be thus deflected, they would fall 
to the centre of attraction. Now as this is the fact, the tangent 
Bz in the diagram only serves, as every mathematician knows, 
to show geometrically the amount of deflection in a unit of time, 
measured at right angles to that line, the space xv representing 


276 Remarks on the Central Forces of Bodies 


that through which the centripetal force alone, acting uniformly, 
would cause the body to fall in the fiftieth part of a second; the 
tangent, therefore, represents THE LINE FRom wHicH the body 
would be deflected in an instant of time, and wot that in the di- 
rection of which it would move with all its projectile force. 

Again, if the segment of a fly-wheel disintegrated by centrifu- 
gal force would be projected ‘in a straight line, whose direction 
is that of the tangent,” the pressure which produces the fracture 
must act upon each particle of iron in the direction of a tangent 
to the circle in which the particle is revolved, for the direction of 
a moving body is always that in which a single force, or the re- 
sultant of two or more forces, acts to cause the motion. And it 
is self-evident that no amount of force, applied in that direction 
upon the particles in the revolving rim, could overcome the at- 
traction of cohesion. And it is equally evident that such cannot 
be the direction in which the pressure acts, for whilst it is stated 
that the tangent is the direction in which the dissevered fragment 
is projected, we are informed that the force which causes the 
fracture acts at right angles to the tangent... 

By the theory given above, however, which is founded upon 
observation and experiment, all the circumstances that attend this 
phenomenon are easily explained. And when we consider the 
immense increase of centrifugal force as the velocity of the rim 
is increased, and the direction in which the resultant of the two 
forces acts, we ought not to be surprised to find that such masses 
of iron can be broken and projected with so much destructive ef- 
fect by this powerful agent. The operation of the sling may 
also, in this way, be explained in a few words. Foraman, with 
a thong three and a half. feet long, has only to give to a stone at 
the final effort a velocity, in a very small segment of a circle, 
equal to 132 feet per second, which would be at the rate of 360 
revolutions in a minute, and he will project it with a force equal 
to that given to a ball of the same weight by an ordinary charge 
of gunpowder, after deducting one third of its initial velocity for 
atmospheric resistance. But to “accumulate” an equal force in 
the circle by the strength of his arm, he would have to revolve 
the stone at the rate of 6850 revolutions ina minute, which is 
impossible. 

Without intending to enter into any particulars as to the proba- 
ble results of a practical application of this principle, I will close 


Revolving about Fixed Ares. Qt 


with a few remarks designed to show the amount of force exci- 
ted by the rotation of heavy bodies about fixed axes, and the ex- 
tent to which we may reasonably conclude it might be employ- 
ed, if it could be controlled, by giving the relative proportions of 
the power necessary to revolve a body and the central force exci- 
ted, considered abstractedly, apart from friction and atmospheric 
resistance. “The are which the revolving body describes in a 
given time is a mean proportional between the radius of the cir- 
cle and double the space which its centripetal force alone, acting 
uniformly, would cause it to fall through in the same time.’”* 
Consequently the diameter is to the circumference as the circum- 
ference is to the space which the centripetal force of the body 
would make it fall through in the time of one revolution. ‘That 
space, therefore, is to the circumference as 3.141 is to unit, [3.141 
being the circumference of a circle whose diameter is unit,] and 
the central velocity or force for an entire revolution in a second 
is equal to the circumference multiplied by 3.141. Hence the 
ratio of the central force to the force in the direction of the circle, 
or the moving power, is as the product of the number of revolu- 
tions in a second by 3.141 is to unit. That is, if there be two 
entire revolutions in a second, whatever be the weight of the 
body or its distance from the centre, the ratio of the centrifugal 
force to the moving power would be as 3.141 x2 is to unit, or as 
six to one, nearly; and with eight revolutions ina second the 
ratio is as 3.141 x8 to unit, or as twenty-five to one. And since 
“‘the velocity of rotation is almost unlimited,’ if a fly-wheel, 
similar to the one described above, were revolved at the rate of 
twelve hundred revolutions in a minute, the excited or centrifu- 
gal force in the rim would be equal to sixty-two and a half times 
the amount of power employed to give the requisite velocity, 
some deduction being made for friction and atmospheric resist- 
ance. 


* Cavallo’s Nat. Philos. p. 66. t Fisher’s Nat. Philos, _ 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 36 


278 Account of a Filaria in a Horse's Eye. 


Art. V.—An account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye, with re- 
marks on similar phenomena, and the mode of their origin ; 
by Cuartes A. Les, M. D., of New York. 


Read before the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 


YY 
YW 
WT 


2 A 
= WN \\’\) AI 


XG 
—— 


= —— SSS a 


THE existence of parasitic worms in the interior of animals 
has been known from a very remote period. They are mention- 
ed by Hippocrates, Galen, Celsus, Pliny and other writers; and 
various speculations have been advanced in respect to their ori- 
gin. It is only however within modern times that they have re- 
ceived much attention from physicians and naturalists, except as 
to their agency in the production of disease. Many different gen- 
era and species have now been described by Linnzeus, Rudolphi, 
Bremser, De Blainville, Cruvelhier and others, and arranged ac- 
cording to their several characters.. Indeed so numerous have 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye. 279 


these animals become, that their study constitutes quite an im- 
portant branch of zoology. Large and important works have 
been written upon a single species of these parasites, and Dr. 
Nordmann of Germany has lately published a treatise on those 
that inhabit the eyes of the higher orders of animals. They 
may be arranged under two general divisions. 1. The E’ntozoa, 
or those which reside in the internal parts of the animal, and 2. 
Eictozoa, those which are confined to the external surface. ‘The 
latter are chiefly insects, the former worms. 

Linneeus arranged the E’ntozoa according to the situation 
which they occupied: viz. such as are developed in cavities 
communicating with the external air, as intestinal worms ; and 
such as are imbedded in the very substance of organs, visceral 
worms. 'The classification of Rudolphi, however, is founded on 
the varieties of form, as Nematoides, Acanthocephala, Trematoda, 
Cestoides, Tenia, and Cystica or hydatids. Cuvier divides them 
into two classes; one characterized by a digestive cavity, and the 
other by the parenchymatous structure. 

A horse is now being exhibited in this city whose right eye 
contains a vermiform animal, floating in the anterior chamber, 
between the zrzs and the cornea. It was first observed in Febru- 
ary last, when it was about half an inch in length; since which 
time it has increased so as to measure at present about four inches, 
resembling a portion of white thread or bobbin, with an enlarge- 
ment at one extremity of half an inch or more in extent. 'The 
animal is confined exclusively to the anterior chamber of the eye, 
in which it swims with the greatest ease and activity; doubling 
itself in every direction, and performing the most graceful and 
rapid evolutions. It seems remarkable that it should not pene- 
trate the iris, and visit the posterior chamber. Why it does not, 
it is impossible for me to explain. Its movements do not appear 
to excite any sensation in the horse, although a milky cloudiness 
in the aqueous humor, somewhat dims the vision of the eye in 
which it floats. This discoloration is believed by Mr. Camp, the 
owner of the horse, to be owing to the excreta of the parasite, 
which, he says, are evacuated about once in three weeks, when 
the eye appears much more clouded than at other times. This, 
however, is observed to subside considerably in the course of a 
few hours. Whether this be a fact, may well admit of a doubt. 
We think it more probable that the cloudiness is owing to the ef- 


280 Account of a Filaria in a Horse's E’ye. 


fusion of coagulable lymph, the result of inflammation of the 
vessels, caused by the presence of a foreign body. ‘There is no 
doubt whatever that the discoloration exists in the aqueous hu- 
mor, and not in the cornea. A few weeks after the animal was 
first discovered, the conjunctiva was much injected; but since 
that time it has assumed its natural, healthy appearance, and now 
does not differ in the least from that of the other eye. There is 
nothing peculiar in the appearance of the horse, which is of the 
Eclipse family, and seven years old. Owing to the incessant and 
rapid motion of the worm, it is difficult to examine it with a mi- 
croscope, so as to determine with accuracy, its precise internal 
organization, yet it evidently belongs to the class Entozoa, order 
Nematoidea, genus Filaria, species Papillosa. 'The only oth- 
er genus which it resembles, is the Gordius of Linnzus; but 
as this belongs to the class Annelides, which have red blood, in- 
habit the water only, and are more filiform in shape, there is but 
little danger of confounding them together. 
We have stated that the E’ntozoa are so called Teens they 
inhabit the interior of other animals. Every kind of animal, in- 
deed, has been supposed to have its Hntozoa, or internal parasites, 
which are peculiar to itself, just as it has its Ectozoa, or external 
ones. ‘They not only infest the alimentary canal, and the ducts 
leading into it, but also the muscles, the cellular tissue, and the 
parenchymatous structure of the different organs, as the brain, 
liver, lungs, kidneys, &c. Indeed, it is now believed by many 
naturalists, that every different tissue and organ of the body has 
its peculiar parasite. ‘Thus in man, more than twenty different 
species of animals have been discovered in different parts of his 
body. Inthe brain, we find the E’chinococus hominis ; in the 
liver, the Fasciola hepatica ; in the venous blood, the Linguatu- 
la venarum ; in the kidneys, the Strongylus gigas ; in the mus- 
cles, the Hydatigera cellulosa ; in the cellular tissue, the Fularia 
medinensis, or Guinea worm ; in the female ovaries, the Lingua- 
tula pinguicola ; in the ¢ntestines, the Tenia solium, the Ascaris 
_lumbricoides, &c. ; and some attack infants only, as the Oxryurus 
vermicularis. . 

Mr. Richard Owen, of England, has lately discovered that the 
human muscles of voluntary motion are sometimes the residence 
of very minute cysts of an oblong figure, in size and color bear- 
ing a strong resemblance to nits, or the young of pedicult. 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse's Eye. 281 


These cysts appear, when examined with a lens, not exactly 
ovoid, but irregularly contracted towards one extremity, so as to 
form a kind of short neck. These are dispersed throughout the 
the muscles over the body, and are placed in the direction of the 
fibres, in the cellular membrane, immediately investing the mus- 
cular fibrillee, or the tendinous fibres to which they are attached. 
Ina recent specimen, one and sometimes two thread-like worms 
may be seen, coiled up in each cyst. Mr. Owen regards this an- 
imal as closely allied to the eels which are found in paste and 
vinegar, and has given it the name of Trichina spiralis. It is 
very probable that some anomalous diseases may be occasioned 
by the great multiplication of these worms, while the cause is 
unsuspected and inexplicable. 

The most common worm met with in the different classes of 
animals, is the fluke, or Fasciola hepatica, which is sometimes 
also foundin man. We find it in cattle, sheep, swine, and deer ; 
in reptiles, fishes, and even worms of the largest kind; and it is 
this which occasions the disease called the roé in sheep. Leuwen- 
hoeck counted 870 of these animals in one liver. Hydatids are 
also found in sheep, in the brain and liver, and often carry off 
whole flocks. This is also met with in man, swine, deer and 
oxen, of which there are three different species, viz. cerebral, 
vervecina, and ovilla. It is unnecessary however to go into de- 
tail, in relation to the different species of parasites which inhabit 
the different races of animals; it must suffice to state, that they 
are extremely numerous,—that though some are common to sev- 
eral species, yet that, in general, each has its peculiar parasite ;— 
and, moreover, that probably each texture and organ furnishes a 
habitation for a distinct race of inhabitants. ‘To this it might be 
added, that many of these parasites have parasites of their own, 
so that they are literally paid in their own coin. 

It has been remarked that the FYlaria belongs to the order Ne- 
matoidea of Rudolphi. 'This order embraces those animals whose 
external skin is more or less furnished with muscular fibres, and 
usually striated transversely ; containing an abdominal cavity, in 
which is a distinct intestinal canal, extending nearly the whole 
length of the body. ‘The intestine is connected with the neigh- 
boring parts and the general envelope of the body by numerous 
threads, considered by some writers as vessels for the conveyance 
of the nutritious fluid, and by others as ¢rachee, but without suf- 


282 Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s E'ye. 


ficient proof of the fact. We can discover no true circulation in 
these animals, but in several there appear to be one or two nerv- 
ous cords, which surround the mouth, and extend the whole 
length of the body along the internal surface of the envelope. 
The intestine is for the most part straight and of considerable 
width; the esophagus is contracted, and in some species the 
stomach is distinctly developed. 'The animal is of both sexes 
and propagates by ova, which are extremely small. | 

The Fularia is of a long, slender, filiform shape, and perfora- 
ted at the anterior extremity by a round oval aperture. Some 
species bear considerable resemblance to the Gordius, or hair- 
snake, which abounds in fresh-water brooks and ponds. © It prin- 
cipally occurs within cavities which do not communicate exter- 
nally,—in the cellular membrane, the substance of the muscles, 
and different viscera, and occasionally in the eye. -'The follow- 
ing embrace a few of the more common species. ~ 

1. Filaria medinensis, or Guinea worm, is the most common 
and best known species. It is found chiefly in warm climates, 
where it is often seen in the morning dew, sometimes ten or 
twelve feet long, and not thicker than a horse-hair. It is this 
species which insinuates itself under the skin, where it may be 
felt like a tense string. Here it burrows and grows to a length 
of several feet, without exciting great pain or uneasiness, until 
the skin is perforated by the animal. It is usually drawn out 
with great caution, by means of a piece of silk tied around its 
head. If it break bya too violent effort, the part remaining 
grows with redoubled vigor, and often occasions. a fatal inflam- 
mation. When drawn out, it is found to be elastic, white, trans- 
parent, and contains a gelatinous substance. ‘Though usually 
met with in the lower extremities, it sometimes occurs in the in- 
teguments of the head, neck and trunk, and Baron states that he 
saw two instances of it under the mucous membrane of the eye-_ 
ball. 

2. Filaria bronchialis. 'This species is described by 'Treutler, 
and so named from its occurrence in the lungs of persons labor- 
ing under phthisis. It has also been called Hamularia lymphat- 
ica, and by Rudolphi, Hawlaria sub-compressa. ‘This is also 
met with in the lungs of the inferior animals, especially when 
affected with tubercles. Dr. Hodgkin states that he often found 
the Filaria in the lungs of the boa constrictor. 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye. 283 


3. Filaria gracilis is found in apes and monkeys in great 
abundance. It grows toalength of ten or twelve inches, is 
about as thick as a fine thread, head obtuse, and tapering slightly 
at both extremities. | 

A, Fularia attenuata. This species is found in the abdominal 
cavity of crows, also in the cornea of the eye of fishes. It is 
from one to six inches long, and obtuse at both extremities. 

5. Filaria obtusa inhabits the intestines of swallows. Its head 
is somewhat acute, tail obtuse, body comparatively thick and 
elastic, and has been found twelve inches in length. M. Ru- 
dolphi_has traced out its intestinal canal and ovaries. 

6. Filaria truncata. 'This species is about five inches long, 
has a truncated head, a tail somewhat thick, obtuse, terminated 
by a very sharp point; inhabits the /arva, or caterpillar of cer- 
tain species of moths. ( T%nea, padella.) 

7. Filaria ovale. 'This species formerly went under the name 
of Gordius pisctum, (hair-worm of fishes,) because it is found in 
the liver of the carp. It is three or four inches in length; head 
oval; tapering forwards ; tail round. 

8. Filaria capsularia. From half an inch to an inch long, 
and resembles in thickness a middle-sized thread. The borders 
of the mouth are recurved, resembling, according to De Blain- 
ville, the mouth of a pudding-bag ; tail obtuse, papilliform, and 
ending with a fine, sharp point. It oceurs of both sexes, with a 
large intestinal canal and stomach. ‘The female is more gross— 
often met with in the herring, in large quantities. It is very te- 
nacious of life, for Rudolphi states that he has known it live 
eight days in a dry place, and even to revive after having been 
long frozen in masses of ice. It is this species which Zeder and 
some other naturalists have formed into a genus, under the name 
of Capsularis. 

9. Fularia papillosa. The Fulaire equi of Gmelin, and the 
Gordius equinus of other writers. ‘This is the species which in- 
habits the eye of the horse. It is from one to seven inches in 
length, and about one-third of a line in diameter. It is usually 
of a yellowish white or ash color,—sometimes of a brownish hue. 
Head slightly obtuse; mouth orbicular ; neck studded with pa- 
pillee ; tail slender and curved. It occurs in different parts of the 
horse, chiefly in the muscles and intestinal canal, though it has 
been detected in the brain, as well as the aqueous humor of the 
eye. 


284 Account of a Filaria in a Horse's Eye. 


M. De Blainville, in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, 
describes twelve species of FYlaria, and mentions thirty-one oth- 
ers, which are doubtful, and whose names are derived from the 
species of birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects and reptiles which 
they inhabit. 'The points of difference among these do not ap- 
pear sufficient to constitute them into distinct species, with the 
exception, perhaps, of the four following, viz. coronata, acumin- 
ata, plicata and alata, which have been minutely described by 
Rudolphi and De Blainville. For our knowledge of the others, 
we are chiefly indebted to Lamarck and Reessel. The principal 
animals in which the FYlaria has been detected are the vulture, 
eagle, falcon, owl, swan, duck, stork, heron, lark, starling and 
linnet, among birds, and the horse, swine, ox, hare, weasel and 
lion, among quadrupeds; in numerons species of fishes, and cole- 
opterous insects, among the lower orders. — 

Dr. Nordmann, in his work above referred to, states that he has 
detected the Fidaria in the eye of a person affected with cataract, 
also a hydatid in the eye of a young woman. Ehrenberg agrees 
with Nordmann in opinion that cataract and some other diseases 
of the eye, are probably owing to an accumulation of these par- 
asitic animals. ‘This writer has shown very satisfactorily that 
quadrupeds, birds, reptiles and fishes have each their eye-worms, 
which are, for the most part, peculiar to each species. Several of 
these are figured in his work ; among which, one that infests the 
eyes of different species of perch, is very conspicuous. In one 
instance he counted 360 of these in the eye of a single fish af- 
fected with cataract. ‘This little animal,’ says Kirby in his 
Bridgewater Treatise, “appears something related to the Planaria 
or pseudo-leech, and from Dr. Nordmann’s figures seems able, like 
it, to change its form. Underneath the body, at the anterior ex- 
tremity, is the mouth, and in the middle are what he denomin- 
ates two sucking-cups; these are prominent, and viewed laterally 
form a truncated cone; the anterior one is the smallest and least 
prominent, and more Shae fle a sucker; the other probably has. 
other functions, since he could never ascertain that it was used 
for prehension.” 

It is remarkable that these animals, small as they are, are in- 
fested with parasites of their own. These appear like minute 
brown dots or capsules, attached to the intestinal canal. When 
extracted and laid upon a smooth surface, these capsules burst, 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s E’ye. 285 


and disclose a great number of living animalcules, of the genus 
Monas. 

The accompanying magnified sketch will represent the form 
of this animal with sufficient exactness. 


Achtheres percarum. 

Of the worms which Nordmann describes as infesting the eyes 
of fishes, five out of seven are attached to different species of 
perch. Kirby conjectures that as these constitute the mcst nu- — 
merous body of predaceous fishes in rivers, the object of this sin- 
gular provision is to impair their organs of vision, so that the 
roach, dace, carp and tench tribes may not be entirely destroyed.* 

Instances of the occurrence of FYlaria in the human eye, have 
been recorded by different authors. In alate German medical 
periodical, (Zeitschrift fur die gesammte Medicin, Feb. 1839,) 
several cases of this kind have been recorded. — Blot of Martinique 
saw two worms in active motion under the conjunctiva, which 
he removed by incision. One of these, which was sent to M. 
Blainville, was thread-shaped, thirty-eight millimetres long, with 
a black protuberance adapted for suction. Bajon, in 1768, observ- 
ed a Filaria in the eye of a negress, which kept m a continual ser- 
pentine motion without producing pain; but it caused a constant 
epiphora, or watery secretion. When an incision was made the 
worm went to another part, and was obliged to be secured by a 


*Tt is now a well ascertained fact that animals not only inhabit vegetables, but 
that vegetable growths are sometimes observed in the bodies of living animals. 
The most remarkable example of this, perhaps, is that of the “ vegetating wasp” 
of our Southern States and the West Indies. The insect, which is a species of 
Polystriz, is infested, while alive, with a parasitic fungus allied to Spheria, which 
gradually increases so much in size as to destroy the life of the animal, which 
having deposited its eggs in the plant, perishes; when, in due time, asecond gen- 
eration succeeds, which is cut off in the same manner, and so on. Similar instan- 
ces have been observed among other insects, in all stages of their development. 


Vol. xxxix, No. 2.—July—September, 1840. 37 


286 —«- Account of a Filaria in a Horse's E’ye. 


small forceps. Ina second case the conjunctiva was more in- 
flamed, and the patient refused to submit to an operation. Jn 
Blot’s case above-mentioned, -the worms were between the con- 
junctiva and the cornea, around and across which they traversed, 
producing stinging pains and nervous symptoms. ‘The patient, 
an African negress, was unable to tell where she came from, or 
whether her fellow-country people were subject to similar affec- 
tions. The Cystericus cellulosa has also often been observed in 
the human eye, of which there is a case in the London Medical 
Gazette for Aug. 1833, where one was seen in the eye of a little 
girl six years old, under the conjunctiva resting on the sclerotica, 
and perfect in all its parts. 

The existence of FJaria in the eyes of horses in the East In- 
dies, is of frequent occurrence, as may be seen by consulting an 
article inthe Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal tor Jan. 
1826. Bremser states that he saw three worms in the anterior 
chamber of the eye of a horse at the Veterinary School of Vien- 
na, in 1813. In the Bulletin des Sciences Medicales for Feb. 
1826, it is stated that Dequilleme saw several of these animals in 
the eye of a cow, and the case was published by Gohier, a vet- 
erinary teacher, in his memoirs. In the report of the proceedings 
of the Veterinary School at Lyons, in 1822, there is a case in 
which a knot of worms was seen in the eye of a mule. Some 
of these were extracted; no inflammation followed the operation, 
but a violent nervous agitation of the head and a turning of it to 
the left side, took place. In the same journal mention is made of 
a memoir read before the Medical Society of Calcutta, in which 
the writer states that the Strongylus armatus minor of Rudolphi, 
and the [ilaria papillosa are frequently found in the eyes of horses 
in India, but much more so in the cellular membrane, particularly 
about the loins. "The writer maintains that they make their way 
into the blood-vessels, and through them into the eye. ‘Treutler 
says that he has seen the Strongylus armatus in aneurisms.of the 
mesenteric artery of the horse, and Dr. Kennedy, in the Kdin- 
burgh Phil. Transactions, describes a worm which he calls Asca- 
ris pellucidus, but which was doubtless the FYlaria papillosa, 
as being common in the eyes of horses in the east. A common 
effect ‘of these worms in the muscles of the loins is paralysis of 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Hye. >» 287 


the hind legs.* The only case of the kind which has come to 
my knowledge, as having occurred in our own country, is record- 
ed in the second vol. of the Transactions of the American Philo- 
sophical Society. This volume contains two communications on 
the subject,—one by F. Hopkinson, Esq., entitled “ Account of a 
worm in a horse’s eye ;” the other by John Morgan, M. D., “ Of 
a living snake in a living horse’s eye, and of other unusual pro- 
ductions of animals.’”” Mr. Hopkinson reports the case as fol- 
lows: “A report prevailed last summer that a horse was to be 
seen which had a living serpent in one of his eyes. At first I 
disregarded this report, but numbers of my acquaintance who had 
been to see the horse, confirming the account, I had the curiosity 
to go myself, taking a friend along with me. The horse was 
kept in Arch street, and belonged to a free negro. I examined 
the eye with all the attention in my power, being no ways dispo- 
sed to credit the common report, but rather expecting to detect 
a fraud or vulgar prejudice ; I was much surprised, however, to 
see a real living worm within the ball of the horse’s eye. This 
worm was of aclear white color, in size and appearance much 
like a piece of fine bobbin; it seemed to be from two and a half 
to three inches in length, which, however, could not be duly as- 
certained, its whole length never appearing at one time, but only 
such portion as could be seen through the iris, which was greatly 
dilated. The creature was in constant lively vermicular motion ; 
somtimes retiring so deep into the eye as to become totally invisi- 
ble, and at other times approaching so near to the iris as to become 
plainly and distinctly seen; at least so much of it as was within 
the field of the iris. Icould not distinguish its head, neither end 
being perfectly exhibited whilst I viewed it, and indeed its mo- 
tion was so brisk and constant, that so nice ascrutiny was not to 
be expected. The horse’s eye was exceedingly inflamed, swollen 
and running ; I mean the muscles contiguous to the eye-ball, and 
seemed to give him great pain, so that it was with much diffi- 
eulty the eye could be kept open for more than a few seconds at a 
time; and I was obliged to watch favorable moments for a dis- 


* A singular case is reported by M. Cloquet, in the Archives Generales for Dec. 
1827, where a number of small worms were discovered in the eye of aman. On 
examination, they proved to be the larve of the common fly, (Musca carnaria,) 
which had been deposited in the form of eggs on the eye while the man was 
asleep. These afterwards hatched out, and the result was a total loss of vision. 


\ 


288 ‘Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye. 


tinct view of his tormentor. I believe the horse was quite blind 
in that eye, for it appeared as if all the humors were confounded 
together, and that the worm had the whole orb to range in, which, 
however, was not of a diameter sufficient for the worm to extend 
its whole length, as far as I could discover. As this is a very un- 
common circumstance, and may affect some philosophical doc- 
trines, it is much to be lamented that the horse had not been pur- 
chased, and the eye dissected for better examination. 'That there 
was a living, self-moving worm within the ball of the horse’s eye, 
free from all deception or mistake, I am most confident. How 
this worm got there, or if bred in so remarkable a place, where 
its parents came from, or how they contrived to deposit their se- 
men or convey their egg into the eye of an horse, I team for oth- 
ers to determine.” 

The additional particulars communicated by Dr. Morgan, are 
that the horse was of a sorrel color, nine years old, and belonged. 
to Dr. Dayton, near Elizabethtown, New Jersey. ‘The first cir- 
cumstance which attracted the owner’s attention was, that from 
being very mild and gentle, the horse suddenly became vicious 
and unmanageable, and ran away and dashed the chair to pieces. 
When seen by Dr. Morgan the worm was about four inches in 
length, and ‘‘as thick as a knitting-needle, or piece of common 
twine.” ‘The aqueous humor was of a white, milky appearance, 
bordering on the color of a cataract, which was supposed to be 
owing to a breaking down of the vitreous humor, which had thus 
discolored the aqueous portion. The iris was thought to be de- 
stroyed, but this was doubtless a mistake. At this time the ani- 
mal passed freely from the anterior to the posterior chamber of 
the eye, and vice versa, which the Dr. supposed could not have 
happened unless the partition between had been broken down. 
But it so happens that there is no partition between the two ex- 
cept the thin membrane of the zris, through which there is an 
opening, the pupil, of sufficient size to permit a free passage. 
“Tt may be presumed,” says the writer, ‘that whatever might be 
the state of vision, that eye must be now blind. The lids are 
commonly closed, probably owing to pain excited in the eye by 
so troublesome a-guest ; but there is no blood-shot appearance on 
the cornea, though the surrounding parts, namely, the palpebree, are 
a little tumid. To get a view of the eye, the keeper commonly 
strikes the horse on its back with an open hand, at which, as if 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s E’ye. 289 


frightened, it opens the lid of the left, as well as widens the open- 
ing of the right eye, which continues disclosed but a short time ; 
however, this gives an opportunity for inspection for five or six 
seconds of time together, and the blows must be repeated to keep 
the eye open when a person wishes to have a longer time for in- 
spection.”’ ; 

The similarity of this case to the one now exhibiting, is too 
obvious to need remark. In all their essential points there is al- 
most an exact correspondence, viz. the size, color, shape and ap- 
pearance of the worm; its incessant motion; the cloudiness of 
the aqueous humor, and the partial blindness of the eye. In the 
case, however, reported by Mr. Hopkinson, the worm appeared 
to excite more sensation in the eye, and consequently produced a 
higher degree of inflammation. 'This no doubt was occasioned 
by its passing through the iris, and coming in contact with the 
expansion of the retina and the delicate ciliary processes ; where- 
as in the present case, the animal is confined exclusively to the 
anterior chamber of the eye, which is comparatively insensible. 

Origin.—It is a singular fact that some of the first physiolo- 
gists and helminthologists of the day, attribute the origin of in- 
testinal and visceral worms to spontaneous generation. Such is 
the opinion of Muller, Bremser, and most of the German physi- 
cians. The opinion of Linneus, that they were terrestrial or 
aquatic species, taken in with food or drink in the form of ova or 
germs, is now exploded, for, with the exception perhaps of the 
Filaria, we do not find the same species of worms which 
infest animal bodies, out of them. Indeed, Cruvelhier lays it 
down as an axiom, that worms, like the intestinal and vis- 
ceral, have never been met with out of the bodies of man and 
other animals, unless discharged from them; and the con- 
verse of this he holds to be no less true, viz. that no terrestrial 
or aquatic worms have ever been met with alive, in the bodies of 
men and other animals, unless they had been very recently intro- 
duced into them. We might then conclude, with confidence, that 
worms do not originate from without, but are generated within 
the body, were it not contended that these animals may have 
been introduced ab externo, but that in consequence of a change 
of situation and nutriment, their forms and characteristics are al- 
tered, as plants and animals are under similar circumstances, and 
as neuter bees are made prolific, on the loss of the queen bee, by 


290 Account of a Filaria in a Horse's Eye. 


feeding in a particular manner. But if such transitions occur in 
worms, we should sometimes observe them while undergoing the 
process, for it would be contrary to all analogy to suppose that the 
change would be sudden. But we see no such, transitions ; we 
never find these animals “half way between what they were and 
what they are.” No zoologist, not even Bremser, who devoted © 
twelve years of ‘his life to the study of Entozoa, ever witnessed 
any such change; indeed, he states expressly, “that after having 
diligently examined 15,000 specimens of worms in the Cabinet 
of Vienna, he never was for one moment at a loss to say which 
were intestinal worms and which were not.”’ If worms then ori- 
ginate within the body, how do they originate ?—what are the 
obstacles in the way of our adopting the theory of spontaneous 
generation ? In the first place, if they can be formed by the 
mere combination of inorganic elements, we may well ask, why 
they should be furnished with reproductive organs? No such 
creations or combinations have ever been observed, and therefore 
the fact of their occurrence is a matter of mere supposition. The 
only argument on which this hypothesis may be said to rest, is 
our ignorance of the precise mode of their origin, and derives no 
support from analogy. 

If this theory be true, it is difficult to explain why the law 
should be confined to the lower classes of animals, and not also 
extend to the higher. By some fortuitous concourse of atoms, 
we should expect, occasionally, to see a man, a quadruped, ora 
bird, spring up from some dunghill, or fermenting vat ; but this 
is a phenomenon-which even Ovid never dreamed of. 

The production of certain species of vegetables was once as 
difficult to explain, as it now is to account for the origin of intes- 
tinal worms; but late investigations have removed these difficul- 
ties, and shown that they are propagated in the usual manner by 
seed or reproductive granules. Thus it is observed that white 
clover is ready to spring up on soils which have been rendered 
alkaline by the strewing of wood-ashes, or the burning of weeds; 
sround newly turned up by the plough is found to produce plants 
dissimilar to any in their neighborhood ; parasitic fumg7 sprout up 
upon decaying organized substances, and even in the interior of 
cheese, &c. Dr. Good remarks that he ‘has seen a hop-ground 
completely overrun and desolated by the Aphis humuilz, or hop 
green-louse, within twelve hours after a honey-dew (which is a 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s E'ye. 291 


peculiar haze or mist, loaded with a poisonous miasm) has slowly 
swept through the plantation, and stimulated the leaves of the hop 
to the morbid secretion of a saccharine and viscid juice, which 
while it injures the young shoots by exhaustion, renders them a 
favorite resort for this insect, and a cherishing nidus for the myri- 
ads of little dots that are its eggs. The latter are hatched within 
forty eight hours after their deposit, and succeeded by hosts of 
other eggs of the same kind; or, if the blight take place in an 
early part of the autumn, by hosts of the young insects produced 
viviparously, for, in different seasons of the year, the Aphis breeds 
both ways.” The inference which Dr. Good deduces from these 
phenomena, is, that the atmosphere is freighted with myriads of 
insect eggs that elude our senses, and that such eggs when they 
meet with a proper bed are hatched in a few hours into a perfect 
form. In this manner, damp cellars are covered with Boletuses, 
Agarics, and other fungi, and walls and rocks with lichens and 


* mosses. In these cases it is now fully ascertained, that the vegeta- 


ble is propagated by reproductive granules contained in the frond 
of the Alga, the spores of the higher Cryptogamua, the pileus, or 
cap of the Fungi, and the pollen of the anthers of the Phanero- 
gamia. 

If we adopt the theory of spontaneous generation, we not only 


‘are obliged to adopt the hypothesis of the Archeus, to direct its 


operations, but we shall be unable to account for the extinction 
of some races of organic beings; we shall be unable to explain 
the limitation of the characters of different genera and species, 
to certain defined limits ; and we shall equally be at a loss to ac- 
count for the non-production of new genera and species. Why 
is it, on this hypothesis, that each species is produced of nearly a 
certain uniform size, neither larger or smaller? And why is not 
the whole mass of matter operated upon by this spiritus mundt, 
changed into organized beings ? 

Because we cannot, in many cases, actually detect the ova or 
germs, it by no means follows that they do not exist ; and be- 
cause we find a plant or an animal in some unusual habitat, we 
are not necessarily obliged to suppose that it could only have 
been brought into existence by spontaneous generation. It has 
been well observed, that ‘there are very few, if any, facts taken 
in support of the doctrine of equivocal generation, but what may 
as equally, and perhaps as justly, be used to support the contrary 


292 Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye. 


opinion ; for it is not the obvious appearance of the organisms, 
whether vegetable or animal, that is disputed, but the cause of 
their appearance. A known organism appears in some unusual 
place from its previously known habitats, or an unknown one is 
observed in some locality never as yet minutely examined, or at 
least not made known that it has been examined ; the advocates 
of spontaneous generation immediately say, that our doctrine is 
the right one is plainly evident, because here an organism has 
appeared which cannot be accounted for otherwise. Is assertion 
to take the place of positive facts? and is not this mere assertion ? 
How can we prove that there were no germs of that type of or- 
ganisms in that place where we now observe the organism in 
question? We find, when we begin to examine it, that it pro- 
duces germs itself; then by what parity of reasoning can we 
assert that it has sprung from matter without any previous germ, 
when we find, in every succeeding instance, a germ is always 
given for a succeeding organism?” A full consideration of this 
subject would require an investigation into the nature of the 
vital principle and the vital powers, which our limits will not al- 
low ; we therefore dismiss the question, with the single remark 
that it is more in accordance with the dictates of sound philoso- 
phy, in all doubtful cases, to acknowledge our ignorance than to 
attempt to assign a cause to explain such extraordinary phenom- 
ena. 

Another theory has lately been advanced, which receives the 
support of some highly respectable names in physiology. It is 
that worms are produced within the body by some living process 
or function of the organism, analogous to the secretion of lymph 
upon a serous surface. An organized portion of matter is thus 
formed, under the influence of the vital principle of the original 
animal, which is afterwards thrown off and becomes a separate 
being, and capable of an independent existence. In answer to 
this hypothesis it is sufficient to say, that we have no proof what- 
ever of the existence of such formations; that they are contrary 
to all analogy, and will not explain the identity of characteristics 
which form the different genera and species. In short, it has no 
better foundation to rest upon than Bremser’s notion that intes- 
tinal worms are formed: by the presence of semi-assimilated nu- 
tritious matter in the digestive tube. 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s E’ye. 293 


There remains, therefore, but one other theory, and that is the 
one which attributes the origin of intestinal and visceral. worms, 
in all cases, to ova. Ehrenberg has clearly proved by his care- 
ful microscopical observations, that these animals have organs of 
reproduction clearly developed, and never deficient; indeed, sur- 
passing in development, for the most part, those of other organic 
systems; thus plainly pointing to a predominant cyclical develop- 
ment, in the same manner as we find in the higher organisms. 
Ehrenberg has also shown that the fecundity of these animals is 
most astonishing, each female producing thousands, if not millions 
of ovaatatime. The same diligent and accurate observer states, 
that if we carefully examine animal bodies, whether of man or 
other animals, we shall, in nearly all cases, discover worms of 
some kind, and that we do not meet with more, he thinks is ow- 
ing to the great difficulties in the way of the development of the 
ova, among which the resistance of the vital principle is not the 
least. He therefore believes that the eggs of intestinal worms 
are taken into the circulation and carried into all parts of the body, 
but are developed only where the particular conditions requisite 
for this purpose are favorable. ‘The smaller diameter of the 
finest vessels through which they have to pass,” he remarks, 
“does not appear to me to present any important difficulty, be- 
cause these, as we see in every inflammation, become easily and 
quickly expanded as soon as they are irritated; and these eggs 
may, as excretive bodies, like every body which is foreign to our 
organism, act in an irritative manner, and may be taken up by 
the embouchures of the absorbents and be propelled along with 
increased activity through them ; that this is the case with mer- 
cury, pus and other matters, has been already received as an ob- 
served fact. It is even probable that the eggs of the E’ntozoa 
and their propulsion through the vascular system may be an im- 
portant morbid matter hitherto overlooked, and which causes a 
part of the phenomena comprehended under the name scrofula. 
In bodies which are particularly favorable to the development 
of worms, there must necessarily be an innumerable quantity of 
secreted eggs of these parasites, which, if they are not expelled 
by the intestinal canal or by the prime vie, must, as foreign bod- 
ies, produce disorders. If the absorption takes place entirely or 
for the most part in the lymphatics, it would occasion their gen- 
eral or sole influence upon that system. Obstructions in the 

Vol, xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840, 38 


294 Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye. 


lymphatics, but especially in their reticular tissue, the glands, 
which lead to local congestions of lymph, inflammations, and 
morbid appearances of various kinds, become in this manner ve- 
ry easy of comprehension; and these assuredly deserve the at- 
tention of medical science, not as speculations, but as realities. 
Thousands of eggs of intestinal worms, whose existence in many 
bodies can not be denied, must perish, as they are rarely develop- 
ed in such great quantities from the difficulty of their attaining 
the place and conditions favorable for their development; while 
only some, very often none, ever actually attain those conditions. 
This relative proportion of the number of intestinal worms and 
of their eggs to the organs of the larger animals, is also found to 
exist. There are very often observed in animal dissections a 
small number of full-grown worms, filled with an innumerable 
quantity of eggs, without any young in their proximity; and I 
was often astonished to find in the considerable number of my 
dissections of animal bodies, (I have brought. from Africa alone 
intestinal worms of 196 species of animals, all of which I have 
myself dissected, and of some from 40 to 50 individuals,) only a 
few alive, although these were completely filled with eggs. 
Thus from laborious observations this opinion has become more 
and more firmly fixed in my mind, that it is much more astonish- 
ing how the great fecundity of the Entozoa should be so limited 
by the living organs, than that it should be possible that living 
worms should inhabit them, and, considering their diffusion, es- 
cape observations which are eonerally superficial.” 

Such are the views of this very able naturalist on this diffi- 
cult subject, and-I believe they are those which eventually will 
be generally adopted. In this manner can we only satisfactorily 
account for the existence of worms in the foetus of man and oth- 
er animals, and in the intestines of chickens and the young of 
other birds, which have just broken the shell; numerous instan- 
ces of which have been recorded by Rudolphi, Blumenbach and 
others. Isee no great difficulty in the supposition that these 
ova are absorbed by the lacteals and lymphatics, and carried into 
the circulation, as they are known to be smaller than the particles 
of quicksilver, and the coloring matter of madder, &c., which it 
is weil known are constantly taken up and deposited in the bones 
and other tissues of the body. We believe then that it is in the 
highest degree probable, if not actually proved, that the minute 


Account of a Filaria in a Horse’s Eye. 295 


ova are thus introduced into the blood, carried to every part, and 
there only hatched, where they meet with a suitable nidus or 
pabulum, and other circumstances are favorable to their develop- 
ment.* ‘Thus are they transmitted from parent to offspring, and 
thus do we account for the fact that each species of animal has 
its own parasites. In this manner the ovum of the F'laria was 
deposited in the eye of the horse now exhibiting in this city, 
there hatched into existence, and where it may now be seen, 
reveling in an element which appears, so far as we can judge, to 
be highly congenial to its nature and habits. 
New York, June 24, 1840. 


Postscript. July 22, 1840.—Since writing the above I have 
seen numerous Filaria in eels and black-fish, chiefly on each side of 
the spine ; and the fishmen inform me that they have seen them 
in the eyes of fishes. Mr. A. Halsey also stated at the meeting 
of the Lyceum, after the above paper was read, that he had often 
seen Filaria in coleopterous and other insects. I have ascertained 
that they are extremely tenacious of life, and will not only bear 
Sreezing, but a temperature little inferior to that of boiling water, 
without depriving them of life. Professor Owen of London, the 
celebrated comparative anatomist, estimates the number of ova 
in one Ascaris lumbricoides which he examined, at 64,000,000. 
(Lancet, June.) The fecundity of the Filaria is probably not 
inferior. 


* « A very curious disease of the eye has ina few instances been observed. The 
common symptoms of ophthalmia appear, as injection of the conjunctiva, dimness 
of the cornea, weeping and swelling of the cornea. These are properly attended 
to, but the inflammation increases; and on very close examination, a small white 
worm, about the size of a hair and an inch in length, is found swimming in the 
aqueous humor, or that fluid which is immediately behind the cornea. Now it is 
at once evident that the only way to get rid of or to destroy this worm, is to punc- 
ture the cornea and let it out; and this method has been resorted to. In some 
cases, however, not many days pass before another worm makes its appearance, 
and the operation is to be performed a second time, and the horse eventually loses 
that eye. A veterinary surgeon, M. Chaigraud, who seems to have had most ex- 
perience about this, says that three or four days before the appearance of the 
worms, one or two minute bodies, of a reddish white color, are seen at the bottom of 
the anterior chamber of the eye. He also says, that the disease appears about June, 
and is not seen after December. There is no difficulty about these animalcules get-_ 
ting into the eye, for there are undisputed instances of their passing through the 
smallest capillaries, and being found in almost every tissue.’’— Youatt on Cattle, 


p. 293. 


296 Theory of the Pneumatic Parador. 


Arr. VI.—An Attempt to determine by Experimental Research 
the true Theory of the Pneumatic Parador; by Jos. Hae 
Assor, of Boston, Mass. 


In the year 1828, the following experiment, sometimes denom- 
inated the Pneumatic Paradox, was published in various journals 
in this country. “Cut a couple of cards each into a circle of 
about two inches in diameter ; perforate one of these in the cen- 
tre, and fix it on the top of a tube, say a common quill; make 
the other ever so little concave, and place it over the first, the 
orifice of the tube being thus under and almost in contact with 
the upper card. Try to blow off the upper card—you will find 
it impossible.”* 'To it was appended a statement, presumed to 
be apochryphal, that the Royal Society of London had offered a 
reward of one hundred guineas for a satisfactory explanation of — 
it. Several have been published, both in this country and in 
England, but none that I have seen seem to me admissible, either 
because the experiment may be so modified as wholly to set them 
aside, or because the principle on which they are founded may be 
demonstrated to be false. | 

One explanation attributes the adhesion of the disks to the rare- 
faction of the air, as it issues from the mouth, on account of its 


* It is not material that the movable disk should be concave. The whole of 
the apparatus may be made of sheet brass or tinned sheet iron, which has the ad- 
vantage of admitting a short pin to be soldered to the centre of the movable disk, 
to prevent it from sliding out of place. In this case, the disk may be perfectly 
plane. The diameter of the movable disk need not exceed that of the tube more 
than three or four times, and either disk may be placed uppermost. The phe- 
nomenon was observed almost simultaneously in the latter part of the year 1826, 
by several individuals in France, and by Mr. Roberts, of Manchester, in Eng- 
land. I extract the following interesting account of the circumstances which led 
the latter gentleman to make the discovery, from a late number of the London 
Mechanics’ Magazine. ‘Several years ago, Mr. Roberts had constructed an ap- 
paratus for ventilating his manufactory. A pipe conveying a blast of air termina- 
ted close to the wall of the principal apartment; and with a view to regulate the 
quantity of air to be introduced, he placed a valve over the terminus of the blast 
pipe, but found to his surprise that the most powerful blast of air would not lift 
the valve, (which was merely a piece of flat board,) but that it even held the valve 
firmly down over the mouth of the pipe, so that the strength of one man was 
insufficient to withdraw it. This experiment has often been shown to visitors as 
one of the curiosities of Manchester.” : 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. 297 


being of a higher temperature than the surrounding air. This 
explanation is set aside by the fact, that if a pair of bellows be 
used instead of the lungs, the experiment succeeds equally well. 

Another explanation published in his youth by Charles G. Page, 
M. D., a gentleman well known to scientific readers, both in this 
country and in Europe, for his inventions and discoveries in elec- 
tro-magnetism and magneto-electricity, originally communicated 
to this Journal, ascribes the phenomenon to currents of air which 
strike against the movable disk nearly at right angles to its plane, 
and which give it a tendency to adhere to the fixed disk. He 
demonstrated the existence of these currents, by admitting into a 
darkened room through a hole in the shutter, a beam of light, 
and scattering a little dust in the beam, so that the direction of 
any currents of air might be indicated by the motions of the par- 
ticles of dust. These currents are caused by the air which issues 
from between the disks, carrying with it some of the contiguous — 
air, into the place of which they rush nearly at right angles with 
the disk. They are evidently inadequate to cause the adhesion 
of the disks, since they cannot have a momentum greater than 
that of the aforesaid contiguous air, which is much inferior to 
that of the original blast. 'That they are not: essential to the 
adhesion of the disks, may be demonstrated by the following ex- 
periment. Make of thin letter paper a hollow cylinder, of the 
same diameter as the disks, eight or ten inches long, and tight at 
both ends. Upon the mouth of a jar place a cover having a cir- 
cular hole large enough to admit the cylinder without friction, 
and through this hole sink the cylinder till it projects but little 
above the cover. On applying the fixed disk to the superior base 
of the cylinder, and blowing with a strong and long continued 
blast through the tube, the cylinder may, against its own gravity, 
be raised from the bottom of the jar, and even be lifted entirely 
out of it. . In this case it is obvious that the cylinder cannot be 
sustained by currents underneath, and, of course, that such cur- 
rents cannot be essential to the adhesion of the disks. The same 
thing may be likewise shown in the following manner. Leta 
newspaper be pasted to a table by the edges in such a manner 
as to occasion no tension, and, on applying the fixed disk to the 
middle of it, and blowing strongly through the tube, that part of 
the newspaper may be sensibly raised from the table. In this 


298 Theory of the Pneumatic Parador. 


and in the preceding experiment, the tube should be at least a 
‘quarter of an inch in diameter. . 

The most recent explanation of the pneumatic paradox that has 
come to my knowledge, is extracted in the number of the An- 
nals of Electricity, &c., for August, 1838, from a work on “ The 
Causes of Planetary Motions,” by Jabez Allies, Esq., who infers 
. from the adhesion of the disks, the general principle, that “air ina 
state of agitation, or currents, whether it be cold, as from bellows, 
or warm, as from the mouth, is in a more rarefied state than the 
surrounding atmosphere.” ‘This is certainly a very summary 
method of solving the difficulty. So far is this principle from 
being true, that it may, I think, be satisfactorily shown, that when 
air is expelled from the lungs or from a pair of bellows, it is ina 
denser state than the surrounding atmosphere. ‘The reason is 
obvious; the air, both in the bellows and in the mouth, is con- 
densed at the moment of its expulsion by mechanical pressure, 
and, as it issues into the open air, it meets with resistance to its 
expansion ; so that not only the current itself must be in a denser 
state than the surrounding atmosphere, but it must condense ina 
greater or less degree the air against which it isimpelled. These 
reasonings are verified by the following experiment. Make upon 
a small, square rod, a tube of tissue paper, which, when the rod 
is withdrawn, will retain its form. Fasten this to a tube of me- 
tal, or other hard substance, of at least equal bore, and blow 
strongly through it, either with the bellows or the lungs. The 
sides of the paper tube will become convex, and, of course, the 
tube itself nearly cylindrical. ‘This proves conclusively, that the 
current of air in the tube is more dense than the exterior air, since 
the tube, instead of being compressed, as would be the case, if 
the contained air were in a rarefied state, gains, according to the 
doctrines of isoperimetrical geometry, an actual increase of capa- 
city by its change of form. Instead of a square tube, a cylin- 
drical one may be used. In this case, any rarefaction of the 
contained air, would be indicated by a greater or less degree of 
compression of the tube, which does not take place. ‘The idea 
most naturally suggested on observing the adhesion of the disks, 
and the correct one, is, that it must be caused by the rarefaction 
of the interposed air; but the difficulty of assigning any satisfac- 
tory reason for the rarefaction, seems to have driven all who have 


a Le 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradox. 299 


attempted to explain the phenomenon, with the exception of Mr. 
Allies, to seek some other cause of it. This gentleman, unwil- 
ling to relinquish the idea of rarefaction, regards the adhesion of 
the disks as a particular case of a general principle which he de- 
duces from it, but which, as has been shown, may be demonstra- 
ted to be false. There still remains, therefore, the principal diffi- 
culty, of which J now proceed to offer a solution. 

For the leading ideas contained in it, 1 am indebted to the late 
Samuel Abbot, Esq., of Wilton, N. H. The experiment was de- 
scribed to him in June, 1828, by O. W. B. Peabody, Esq., now 
of this city, during the session of the Legislature of the State of 
New Hampshire, of which they were then both members. After 
alittle reflection, he suggested to Mr. Peabody, and subsequently 
to me, substantially the following explanation. 


Fig. 1. 


Let the accompanying figure represent the space between the 
two disks, O its centre, AAN the circumference of a circle of the 
same diameter as the tube to which the fixed disk is adapted, 
and corresponding to the tube when the two disks are applied to 
each other. Let the distance of the two circles AA, BB from 
each other, be equal to that of the two, BB, CC. On blowing 
through the tube, the air radiates in all directions from the circle 
AAN. As any-portion of air recedes from the centre, that, for 
instance, which at one moment occupies the space AA, BB, it 


300 Theory of the Pnewmatic Paradox. 


continually expands, so that with the same velocity, it would the 
next moment filla much larger space, BB, CC. The same effect 
takes place with respect to every other portion of air, as it recedes 
from the centre. The interposed air becoming thus rarefied, does 
not possess sufficient elasticity to counteract the exterior atmos- 
pheric pressure, and the two disks consequently adhere. The 
rarefaction is maintained during the continuance of: the air-blast, 
by the impulse of the outward currents against the surrounding 
atmospheric air, which prevents it from rushing into the space 
between the disks to restore the equilibrium.* , 

It is to be further observed, that the reaction of the radiating 
currents against the air in the circle AAN, together with the col- 
lision of the air-blast, must cause a certain quantity of air to re- 
main stationary at the centre of the disk, and assume a some- 
what conical form.t. The air-blast strikes obliquely against this 


conical mass of air, and consequently acts with only a part of its _ 


force to separate the disks. 

The experiment explained above, suggests a very important 
caution in regard to the form of safety valves to steam boilers. 
If they are so constructed, that the steam, when it escapes, must 
radiate from the centre of and between two parallel surfaces, they 
will adhere with such force, that instead of being efficient safe- 
guards against explosions, they will serve merely to delude intoa 
false security, not to avert the danger of those dreadful catastro- 
phes. 

Addition.— The preceding part of his article was written seve- 
ral months since, and I was not then aware that any other expla- 
nation of the pneumatic paradox, than those of which I have 
endeavored to expose the fallacy, had been published. I was 
subsequently informed by a friend, that one appeared several years 
ago in the Journal of the Franklin Institute. On consulting that 
work, I found, in the number for July, 1828, three explanations, 
one by the distinguished philosopher Prof. Robert Hare, of Phil- 
adelphia, one by Prof. James P. Espy, since extensively known 


* For an account of a secondary rarefaction aon se to that described in the 


text, see the latter part of the article. 

t An analogous fact respecting jets of fluids striking against an obstacle of equal 
diameter, is stated by Dr. Young in his Lectures on Natural Philosophy, Vol. f, 
p- 302, and represented by figure 273. 


—— 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. 301 


as the author of a new theory of storms, and one by Mr. Asa 
Spencer. Another explanation, different in some respects from 
either of the preceding, is contained in the number of the London 
Mechanics’ Magazine for June, 1839. : 

Professor Espy’s solution of the phenomenon, is in some re- 
spects similar to Mr. Abbot’s, though, we if may judge from the 
date of its publication, posterior in point of time. Being sup- 
ported, however, exclusively by theoretical reasonings, it has left 
the question still open to dispute, and the contradictory opinions, 
which from time to time have since been advanced on the sub- 
ject, would seem to show, that an attempt to detect their errors, 
and to establish the true theory, on the basis of direct, unequivo- 
cal experiment, would not be a work of supererogation. 

Prof. Hare, whose explanation is similar, as it respects its lead- 
ing principle, to that of Dr. Page, attributes the phenomenon to 
the afflux of air against the disks, occasioned by the radiating 
currents carrying with them, as they issue from between the 
disks, some of the contiguous air. He demonstrates by a very 
ingenious process of reasoning, that the velocity with which the 
two disks tend, from the force of the blast, to move asunder, is as 
many times less than the velocity of the blast, as the area of the 
movable disk is greater than the area of the orifice of the tube. 
Thus if the diameter of the disk and that of the orifice be as eight 
to one, the area of the former must be sixty four times greater 
than that of the latter, and consequently, in this case, the disks 
have no tendency to move asunder with a velocity greater than 
one sixty fourth of that of the blast. Hence he infers, that the 
blast tends to communicate only a very small velocity, and inclines 
with a very small force to separate the disks. It has been shown 
that the afflux of air against the movable disk, though as the ex- 
periment is usually performed auxiliary, is not essential to the 
adhesion of the disks. It is however adequate to sustain the mere 
weight of a second disk of letter paper, and of the same size of the 
first, asmay be thusshown. ‘Through the centre of the movable 
disk, to prevent it from sliding out of place, let a small needle pass 
and project on each side. Having made a small hole through the 
disk of letter paper, so that it move freely on the needle, place it 
underneath the movable disk, and both underneath the fixed one. 
On blowing through the tube, the disk of letter paper, being pro- 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July—September, 1840, 39 


302 Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoc. 


tected. from the impulse of the blast, will be sustained against its 
eravity by the afilux of air against its under side. 

_ Mr. Spencer’s very ingenious explanation is founded on the 
principle, to use his own words, “that currents of fluid, whether 
elastic or non-elastic, exert no force but in the direction in which 
they move; the latter is fully proved by forcing air or water 
through a cylindrical tube; if holes be made through the sides of 
the tube, none of the fluid will escape.” A late writer, in a Lon- 
don scientific journal, expresses the same principle thus: “It isa 
well known property of fluids that they transmit their pressure 
equally in all directions; but this law applies only to fluids in a 
state of rest. When they are in motion, they are subject to the 
laws which regulate the motions of solids, and do not transmit 
any lateral pressure, except where they meet obstacles to their 
onward motion.” Hence it is inferred, that the currents which 
radiate from the centre of the disks, exert no pressure against their 
internal surfaces, and that, as the impact of the blast is not suffi- 
cient to overcome the exterior atmospheric pressure, the movable 
disk consequently adheres. 

This inference seems necessarily to follow, if we admit the cor- 
rectness of the alledged principle of hydraulics from which it is 
deduced. The only proofs of the principle, as applied to liquids, 
I have seen cited—not by Mr. Spencer, who cites none—but by 
others, are the experiments of Bossut and Venturi, both philoso- 
phers preeminently distinguished for their experimental researches 
and discoveries in hydrodynamics. It may however be asserted 
without fear of contradiction, that whoever carefully reads Ven- 
turi’s original work ‘‘on the Lateral Communication of Motion 
in Fluids,” cannot fail to perceive not only that he nowhere ad- 
vances such a general proposition, but that it is irreconcilable 
with his reasonings in several parts of the work. He describes 
but two or three experiments with cylindrical tubes that lend 
any semblance of support to it, and it is hardly necessary to say, 
that the very novel and interesting results he obtained with tubes 
of a different form, or with long, descending, cylindrical tubes, 
are so inseparably connected with the peculiar form, or the posi- 
tion of the tubes employed, as to furnish no evidence of the gene- 
ral principle alledged by Mr. Spencer. 


* 


Theory of the Pneumatic Parador. 303 


The following is the experiment of Venturi, cited in proof of it. 


To an orifice near the bottom of a reservoir, in which water 
was maintained at the constant height of 31.5 inches above the 
centre of the orifice, he adapted the tube KLV, one inch anda 
half in diameter, and four inches and three quarters in length. 
Into the tube KLV was inserted the glass tube QRS, at the dis- 
tance of two thirds of an inch from the orifice KL. The lower 
end was plunged in colored water, contained in the vessel T. 
The efflux of water through the tube being permitted to take 
place, four cubic feet flowed out in thirty one seconds, and the 
colored water in T’ rose in the tube to S, twenty four inches 
above the surface of the water in 'T. 'The branch RT was short- 
ened so that RT was only six inches longer than RQ, and the 
colored liquid in 'T’ rose through RS, and mixed with the water 
that flowed from the reservoir through the tube KLV, and ina 
short time the water in the vessel 'T was emptied. 'The same 
effect takes place when the tube KLV is directed upwards or 
downwards. 

The true explanation of these and kindred experiments of 
Venturi, is found in a fact, apparently overlooked by those who 
have adduced them as proofs of the general principle, that liquids 
flowing through a horizontal cylindrical tube, exert no pressure 
against its interior surface. When water flows through a circular 
orifice in a thin plate, the jet, in consequence of ‘ the interference 
of the particles of the fluid coming from the parts on each side of 


304 Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. 


the orifice with those which are moving towards it,’’ becomes con- 
tracted, and then again enlarged ; so that at the distance from the 
orifice equal to its semidiameter, where the greatest contraction 
takes place, the diameter of the stream is about eight tenths, and 
of course its area about two thirds of that of the orifice. Sir 
Isaac Newton gave the contracted part of the jet the name of 
vena contracta. The same phenomenon occurs when a cylin- 
drical tube is adapted to the orifice. It will be perceived, there- 
fore, that in the experiments of Venturi just described, the water 
did not entirely fill the tube at the part where the glass tube was 
inserted. Now flowing liquids in contact with air in a state of 
rest, carry along with them a portion of the contiguous air, and 
this effect taking place within the tube at the place of the vena | 
contracta, the air in the glass tube becomes rarefied, and its elas- 
ticity being thereby diminished, is no longer sufficient to resist 
the atmospheric pressure upon the colored water in the vessel 
T, which consequently rises. Venturi, well aware, without 
doubt, though I do not recollect that he states the fact, that the 
ascent of the colored water was dependent upon the vena con- 
tracta, describes no attempt to obtain a similar result by inserting 
the glass tube at any other part of the tube KLV, and he was far 
from applying to the whole tube, like some recent writers, a con- 
clusion true of only a small portion of it. 
The only. direct evidence, as it respects liquids, of the proposi- 
tion of Mr. Spencer, that has come to my knowledge, is a single 
experiment of Bossut, described in his work entitled ‘“ Traité 
Théorique et Expérimental d’ Hydrody- Fig. 3. 
namique,”’ the first edition of which was 
published in the year 1771. 'The follow- 
ing translation from the edition of 1796, 
comprises Bossut’s description of the ex- 
periment, and his remarks thereupon. 
Let the cylindrical horizontal tube EN 
be adapted to the reservoir ABCD; and 
let us suppose this reservoir to be kept 
constantly full to the height AB, and the 
water to flow freely in the tube without 
meeting with any resistance. It is certain 
that, if we except the pressure which re- 
sults from the weight of the column of water EN, the tube expe- 


A 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradox. 305 


rie-ces no effort; for the velocity of the water havinga free and 
horizontal direction, there can result from it no force which will 
exert itself against the interior surface of the tube. If proof of 
this is desired, it is furnished by the following experiment. 

To a large reservoir I adapted a horizontal tube three feet long 
and nine or-ten lines in diameter. Near the middle of it a small 
lateral hole was made, destined to form a jet which could be di- 
rected upwards or downwards, or inclined at pleasure, by turning 
the tube on its axis. The water was kept in the reservoir at the 
height of about four feet above the tube. When the end N was 
stopped, the jet had the height such as has been already deter- 
mined; but when the end N was unstopped, the jet ceased 
almost entirely in all directions. Only when the hole M was di- 
rected downwards, the water dropped a little by its edge. It is 
evident that the cessation of the jet demonstrates the cessation of 
pressure against the interior surface of the tube. 

The result thus obtained by Bossut appeared to me so much at 
variance with what we should expect a priori, when we compare 
the rapid propagation of pressure in liquids with the very moder- 
ate velocity of water issuing from an orifice with a head of only 
four feet, that I was induced to repeat, with various modifications, 
the foregoing experiment. Having in all of them arrived at simi- 
lar results, I think I may, without fear of mistake, venture to 
ascribe that of Bossut to some inaccuracy in his mode of perform- 
ing the experiment. 'The grounds of this inference are imme- 
diately subjoined. 

Experiment I. To the stop-cock of a copper condensing cham- 
ber having a bore of one eighth of an inch in diameter, was 
adapted a common brass tube of the same diameter, and about 
eight inches long, which had three lateral holes at intervals of an 
inch or two from each other, varying in diameter from an eighth _ 
to a twentieth of an inch. Great care was used in making these 
holes not to leave the slightest protrusion on the inside of the 
tube, and in no respect to change its form. The condensing 
chamber having been partly filled with water, and a quantity of 
air condensed into it above the water, the stop-cock was opened, 
and the water being forced through it by the elasticity of the con- 
densed air, in any position of the tube strong jets of water issued 
from the lateral holes, reaching, when the tube was in a horizon- 
tal position and the holes were directed upwards, the height of 
several feet. 


306 Theory of the Pneumatic Paradox. 


| 

Experiment II. A reservoir was made five feet high and eight 
inches square, and into one of its vertical sides, six or eight inches 
from the bottom, was set, like a pane of glass in a window, a 
square piece of tinned sheet iron, to the middle of which had 
been soldered, so as to have one end exactly even with its inner 
surface, an English smooth-drawn or triblet tube, twelve inches 
anda half long, and three eighths of an inch in diameter. This 
kind of tube was selected on account of its being, from the man- 
ner in which it is made, perfectly cylindrical. ‘The one used in 
this experiment, which was the longest in proportion to its diam- 
eter I could obtain in this city, had a very highly polished inte-— 
rior surface, and was in every respect suited to afford exact re- 
sults. A lateral hole, one line in diameter, which was now di- 
rected upwards, had been previously made in the middle of it, 
with great care to have no protrusion on the inside, and not to 
impair in the slightest degree its cylindrical shape. ‘The outer 
end of the tube being stopped with a cork, and a strip of oiled 
silk tied over the hole, the reservoir was filled with water. On 
removing the oiled silk, a vertical jet rose to the height of forty 
seven inches. ‘The reservoir being kept full, and the cork with- 
drawn, the water flowed through the tube, and the jet, not ceas- 
ing as in the experiment of Bossut, assumed an oblique direction, 
making an angle with the horizon of forty or forty five degrees. 
The greatest height it attained above the level of the tube, which 
had been previously adjusted in a horizontal position by means 
of a spirit-level, was twelve and a half inches, and the distance 
to which it was projected before descending to the same level, 
was twenty four inches. 

Experiment III. 'T'o one end of a tube, similar in every respect 
to the one used in the preceding experiment, was soldered, in 
order that water flowing through might entirely fill it throughout 
its whole extent, an ajutage nearly of the form of the vena con- 
tracta. The accompanying fig- _ Fig. 4. 


ure represents, though imper- ‘ 

fectly, the tube with the ajut- | f 
age soldered to a piece of tinned — 

sheet iron, which was set in the | 

side of a reservoir, and every | 

thing arranged as in the preceding experiment. The end of the 
tube being stopped, and the water allowed to issue through the 


Theory of the Pneumatic Parador. 307 


lateral hole, the jet rose vertically, as in the preceding case, to the 
height of forty seven inches. 'The end of the tube was then 
unstopped, and the jet becoming inclined at an angle of forty or 
forty five degrees with the horizon, attained the height of sixteen 
or seventeen inches above the level of the tube, and the distance 
of thirty inches before descending to the same level. The force 
of the jet was not apparently diminished by inclining the reser- 
voir, so as to give the tube an ascending or descending direction. 
By diminishing the head of water, a corresponding diminution 
was produced in the height of the jet. 

Experiments similar to the two last described, with the excep- 
tion of the substitution of drawn leaden tubes, both with and 
without an ajutage, and of the same dimensions with those em- 
ployed by Bossut, gave results not materially different from the 
preceding. 'The tubes were one eighth of an inch in thickness, 
which interfered with the natural direction of the jet, and somewhat 
diminished its height, and it was almost impossible to pare away 
the lead about the holes sufficiently to obviate this obstruction, 
without impairing the cylindrical shape of the tubes. Cn this 
account, therefore, and because of the imperfection of their inte- 
rior surface, experiments made with them are less to be relied on 
than those which I have already described. They were suffi- 
cient to show that mere difference of size produces no material 
discrepancy of results. 

‘The foregoing experiments demonstrate a pressure against the 
inner surface of horizontal and inclined tubes, independent of 
that which arises from the column of water contained in them. 
Of this pressure the lateral jet, though it proves its existence, 
cannot be regarded as a measure. Its oblique direction, and the 
consequent obstruction presented by the thickness of the tube, 
together with the diminution of pressure arising from the expen- 
diture of the jet itself, prevent it from reaching the height due 
to the actual lateral pressure exerted by the flowing water, when 
the hole is closed. 

Experiment IV. In order to determine whether lateral pressure 
takes place in vertical descending tubes also, I procured a cylindri- 
cal vessel of tinned sheet iron, thirteen inches in height and nine 
inches in diameter ; to the centre of the bottom, where a perfora- 
tion had been made, was soldered the triblet tube, furnished with 
an ajutage, used in Experiment IL, having two lateral holes, each 


308 Theory of the Pneumatic Parador. 


one line in diameter, and situated two and six inches respectively 
below the ajutage. To the top were soldered two leaden tubes, 
the larger six feet high and three quarters of an inch in diame- 
‘er, and surmounted by a funnel; and the smaller somewhat 
shorter, and terminating above ina glass tube. A shelf of tin- 
red sheet iron five or six inches wide, was soldered to the oppo- 
site sides of the vessel, so as to cross it two inches from the top, 
under the end of the larger tube. ‘The accompany- Fig. 5 
ing figure exhibits the form, though not the relative \ , 
proportions, of the several parts of the apparatus. 
The whole was supported by frame-work, not seen 
in the figure. The end of the descending tube, and 
also the lateral holes, being stopped, and the vessel 
and tubes. being kept full of water to the brim of the 
funnel, which was somewhat more than seven feet 
above the bottom of the vessel, on removing the oiled 
silk from either lateral hole, a horizontal jet issued, 
which reached the distance of seven and a half feet 
before falling to the brick pavement, situated two and 
a half feet below the bottom of the vessel. On un- 
stopping the lower end of the triblet tube, the water 
immediately sunk nine inches in the small glass tube below its 
level in the large tube, showing a diminution of the effective head 
to that amount. Meanwhile the jet continued to issue from the 
lateral holes, but it assumed, owing to the joint action of onward 
and lateral forces, instead of a horizontal direction as before, an 
oblique downward one, which would of course prevent its attain- 
ing the random due to the actual pressure against the surface of 
the tube, and, it reached the pavement at the horizontal distance 
of a little more than three feet. 'The distance became less by 
diminishing the head of water. Jets of nearly equal force issued 
from the lateral holes when a similar descending tube without an 
ajutage was used. : 

This result completes the ae of the proposition I have been 
endeavoring to establish, that water, flowing through a cylindrical - 
tube, whether in a horizontal, inclined, or—if short—in a verti- 
cal position, exerts, contrary to the principle laid down by Bossut 
and others, a lateral pressure, varying with its incumbent head 
and independent of its weight, against the interior surface of the 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradov. 309 


tube. This proposition is subject to one or two limitations. 
When, in Experiments III and IV, the water in the reservoir was 
allowed to discharge itself to the level of the tube, it ceased to 
escape in the form of a jet, though not to drop from the lateral 
holes, after its head was reduced to a few inches, and in the case 
of tubes not having an ajutage, after it was reduced to a little. 
more than a foot. Also, if descending tubes of considerable 
length be employed, there will be no lateral jet beyond a certain 
depth, since in obedience to the laws of falling bodies, the de- 
scent of the water will be constantly accelerated by gravity ; and 
this effect will finally become such as to overcome the mutual 
adhesion of the particles, and the lower portions becoming detach- 
ed from those above, will leave void spaces, into which, if lateral 
holes be made, the surrounding air will rush, and be carried down 
with the stream. 

I have described the foregoing experiments with considerable 
minuteness, on account of the importance they possess, inde- 
pendently of their connexion with the main object of the pre- 
sent article, as proofs of a controverted if not new principle of 
hydraulics. 'They do not prove that the lateral pressure of water 
flowing through cylindrical tubes is equal to that of water ina 
state of rest under the same head. It is undoubtedly less, but to 
determine in what precise degree it is less, would be an exceed- 
ingly difficult problem, the solution of which is not necessary to 
my present purpose. 

It remains to be shown that Mr. Spencer’s proposition is false, 
as it respects aeriform fluids as well as liquids. (The experiments 
with the tubes of tissue paper, described in the first part of this 
article, prove not only that air ina state of motion is not, asa 


necessary consequence, in a rarer state than the surrounding at- 


mosphere, but that, when it is blown through tubes of a uniform 
bore, and having orifices equal to that bore, it exerts a lateral pres- 
sure. The following additional experiments corroborate the same 
conclusion. 

Exp. I..Make with care several holes of various sizes, from a 
twentieth to an eighth of an inch in diameter, and at intervals of 
an inch or two, ina brass tube one eighth of an inch in diameter ; 
on blowing strongly through it, the air will issue in an oblique di- 
rection from either hole, when the others are stopped, with such 


force as to extinguish acommon lamp. Likewise, if a narrow strip 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 40 


310 Theory of the Pneumatic Parados. 


of tissue paper two inches long be held in the hand by one end, 
so that the other may rest against the hole, it will be blown away 
from it. ‘To obtain more exact results, | used a brass triblet tube 
similar to those already described, twelve and a half inches long, 
and three eighths of an inch in diameter, and having a lateral 
hole in the middle one line in diameter. 'The sectional area of 
the tube, therefore, was twenty and a quarter times greater than 
the area of the hole ; consequently, the latter would not, even 
on the supposition that the lateral and outward forces are equal, 
permit the issue of so much as one twentieth of the air expelled 
from the mouth ; notwithstanding which, the lamp was readily 
extinguished, an the. strips of tissue paper ronald by the lateral 
jet of air. 

These results prove cepeaath the possibility of doubt, the fact of 
the lateral pressure of air forced through cylindrical ives It is 
not important to determine the comparative intensity of the on- 
ward and the lateral force; the latter must be greater than the 

exterior atmospheric pressure, since the lateral jet could not other- 
wise take place. This fact being incompatible with the funda- 


mental principle by which Mr. Spencer explains the adhesion of 


the disks, his hypothesis secescataly falls to the ground. 

A writer in a late number of the London Mechenius! Magazine, 
maintains, on the authority of an experiment of Mr. Tomlinson, 
that the movable disk is not retained in its place during the con- 
tinuance of the air-blast by exterior atmospheric pressure. As- 
suming also the principle which has just been disproved, that 
currents of air flowing through tubes exert no lateral pressure, 
and applying it to the currents that radiate from the common 
centre of the tube and disks, he asserts that “the disk is not re- 
moved because there is in fact no force to effect its removal.” 
He overlooks the tendency of the impulse of the blast to separate 
the disks, and leaves the adhesion of the movable disk against 
iis own gravity, when it is placed underneath, unaccounted for, 


unless he means to be understood to refer it to what he calls “the 


attractive force of the air-blast,” when it is “spread out in a thin 
film” between the disks. The necessity of having recourse to 
so novel a supposition, will be obviated by the results I obtained 
in repeating the following experiment of Mr. Tomlinson. 

“Let a brass tube, open at both ends, and terminated at the 
end by a perforated screw, be fixed to the table of an air-pump. 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. Stk 


A disk of card two inches in diameter, is placed horizontally at 
the upper end of the tube. Another card of the same size made 
slightly coneave, is placed over the first. Let the whole be cov- 
ered with a glass receiver; then let the air be removed, which of 
course can only quit the receiver by passing out through the brass 
tube ; when the exhaustion is carried to the utmost limit, let the 
air be readmitted in a full gush through the brass tube, and the 
upper card will not be blown off. This experiment has been 
tried many times with various states of exhaustion, from a quarter 
of an inch of mercury to twenty inches, but in no case was the 
card blown off, or even agitated in the slightest degree ; therefore 
the upper card is not retained in its position by the pressure of 
the atmosphere.” 

Mr. 'Tomlinson’s ilar to blow off the disk may have arisen 
from the concavity of the upper card, from not carrying the ex- 
haustion far enough in proportion to the size of the movable disk, 
or from the warping of the cards, which, owing to the evapora- 
tion of moisture usually contained in their substance even when 
apparently quite dry, is very apt to take place as the exhaustion 
proceeds. To obviate this difficulty, the fixed disk may be made 
of tinned sheet iron or brass, and the movable one of the same 
material, very thin and light, or of card recently dried by expo- 
sure to heat, and pressed, in order that both disks may be perfectly 
plane and in contact throughout their whole extent, when_applied 
to each other. For the convenience of suspending, during the 
process of exhaustion, the movable disk from the top of the re- 
ceiver, by means of arod sliding through a collar of leathers, and 
also to prevent it from moving laterally out of place, a cambrie 
needle may-be passed through its centre, projecting, when the two 
disks are applied to eachother, about an eighth of an inch into the 

-tube. I repeated Mr. Tomlinson’s experiment with a very pow- 
erful air-pump, recently made for the University of Cambridge 
by N. B. Chamberlain of this city. ‘The passage by which air 
is admitted into the receiver is one eighth of an inch in diameter. 
Every thing having been adjusted as above described, the air was 
exhausted to such a degree as to reduce the mercury in a very 
accurate syphon gauge to within one tenth of an inch of a level 
in the two branches, indicating a residue in the receiver of only 
one three hundredth of the air naturally contained init. By 
means of two stop-cocks the.air was first admitted into the air pas- 


312 Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. 


sage and barrel, and then in a full gush into the receiver through 
the tube, when a disk of card three inches in diameter was imme- 
diately blown off. I repeated the experiment with a very excel- 
lent air-pump, made by Mr. Joseph Wightman of this city, capa- 
ble of producing the degree of exhaustion just described, and hav- 
ing a passage for admitting air into the receiver one fifth of an 
inch in diameter. 'The tube to which the perforated disk was 
adapted being of the same diameter with the air passage, and the 
latter being closed with the thumb, and the air exhausted to the 
one two hundred and fortieth part, on suddenly removing the 
thumb a circular card three inches in diameter, and.on another 
trial, a disk of tinned sheet iron two inches in diameter and 
weighing forty nine and a quarter grains, were blown nearly to 
the top of the receiver. By reducing the size of the disk, a less 
degree of exhaustion becomes necessary in order to blow it off. 
If it does not exceed one inch in diameter, it is not necessary to 
exhaust the air to more than a sixtieth part, though I have found 
it impossible, when the apparatus is adapted to the stop-cock of a 
condensing chamber, the tube being one eighth of an inch in di- 
ameter, to blow off a movable disk one inch in diameter by 
means of a very powerful current of highly condensed air. 

Having completed the ungrateful labor of pointing out the 
errors of the various theories that have been proposed to explain 
the pneumatic paradox—which seem- Fig. 6. 
ed however a prerequisite to the undis- ; 
puted admission of the correct one— 
I now proceed to adduce the proofs of 
the theory contained in the first part 
of this article. 

Experiment I. In order to show that 
rarefaction may be produced in a space 
having a free communication with the 
external air, I cite the following expe- - 
riment of Hauksbee. 

In two opposite sides of a small box 
holes were made, one somewhat larger 
than the other, and to these holes were 
adapted the short tubes A and B, seen . ; 
in the accompanying figure.- 'Through the top passed in an air- 
tight manner a barometer tube, the lower end being immersed 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradox. 313 


in mercury contained in a basin supported in the upper part of the 
box. Having forced into a condensing chamber, by means of a 
syringe, three or four times as much air as it naturally contained, 
he directed a very rapid current through the tubes A and B, and 
the mercury was depressed from C to D, more than two inches, 
in consequence of the rarefaction which the current produced in 
the air of the box. 

Experiment If. In order to determine to what degree air can be 
condensed by means of the mouth and lungs, I poured a quantity 
of mercury into a glass tube, bent into the form of the letter U, 
and furnished at one end with a brass cap, stop-cock, and mouth- 
piece. The greatest difference that could be produced in the 
height of the mercury in the two branches of the tube by blow- 
ing through the stop-cock, was found, in a series of trials made 
by half a dozen able-bodied men, to vary from two and a half to 
nearly four inches. This result shows, that the degree of con- 
densation producible by this means, ranges from a twelfth to less 
than a seventh of an additional atmosphere. ‘The condensation 
producible by blowing through a tube presenting no obstruction 
to the escape of air, is obviously much less. - One of the individ- 
uals mentioned above was able to exhaust fourteen fifteenths of 
the air from a tube having the lower end immersed in mercury, 
and the other furnished witha stop-cock, as was shown by the 
rise of the mercury in it to the height of twenty eight inches. 

Experiment III. Make a cylindrical tube of tissue paper, about 
three fourths of an inch in diameter and five or six inches 
long, and fit into one end of it a circular piece of wood, having 
a hole in its centre one quarter of an inch in diameter. On blow- 
ing through the hole the tube will collapse. On blowing through 
a metallic tube of the same size, having a similar circular piece 
of wood in one end, and lateral holes, the flame of a lamp will 
be drawn into the holes. In both these cases the current from 
the mouth communicates a share of its outward motion to the 
lateral portion of air with which it comes in contact, and being, 
as has been already shown, but slightly condensed, becomes more 
rare, when it expands to fill the tube, than the external air; which 
is prevented from rushing in at the end of the tubes to restore 
the equilibrium, by the impulse of the blast. _ 

Experiment IV. Lateral holes were made ina cylindrical brass 
tube, about five inches long and three sixteenths of an inch in 


314 Theory of the Pneumatic Parador. 


diameter. - On blowing through the tube, strong jets ¢ssued from 
them, as in similar cases already described. 'To one end of the 
tube was then soldered, in such a manner as to offer no obstruc- 
tion to currents of air, a diverging conical tube, as represented in 


the accompanying figure, Fig. 7. 

of which the length was Maun oo aa 

about eight inches; the oe 
aah. dL. dia 


diameter of the smaller 
end was of the same diameter with the cylindrical tube, and that _ 
of the larger end, one inch anda half. On blowing through this 

compound tube, the flame was drawn into lateral holes made at 

intervals in the conical part, and in the half of the cylindrical 

part next to it, although previously to joining the two tubes it had 

been blown from ail the holes in the cylindrical one. It should 
seem, that in consequence of the rarefaction produced in the con- 

ical part, the air in the cylindrical part, meeting with diminished 

_ resistance to its progress, rushed forward by virtue of its elasticity 

and tendency to equilibrium with a velocity much greater than 

that with which it was expelled from the mouth, and thus became 

rarer and rarer as it proceeded, and more so than the external air. 

Analogous to this effect is the well known fact, that the addition 

of a diverging conical termination to a tube conveying liquids, 

greatly increases the discharge in the open air, though not in an © 
exhausted receiver. If the cylindrical part of the compound 
tube be only one eighth of an inch in diameter, flame will not be 
drawn in at any part of it except very near the place of junction, 
nor will it be much affected in any way when’ held near lateral 
holes in the conical part, more than two or three inches from the 
same place ; within that distance it will be drawn in. 

If we conceive the conical part of the compound tube to be 
flattened in such a manner that the opposite sides may be plane 
and parallel, and to be soldered at the small end perpendicularly 
to the end of the tube, the interior will represent a portion of the 
space between the disks, (the whole of which may be considered 
as composed of a series of flat diverging tubes radiating from a 
common centre,) with the whole of the tube attached. If we 
blow through the tube, the results will be similar to those before 
described, except that lateral jets will escape from all holes inthe 
tube, in consequence of the obstruction the blast meets with at 
the angle of junction. , 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoc. 315. 


Experiment V. Let the compound tube just described, having 
its cylindrical part one eighth of an inch in diameter, be adapted 
to a stop-cock screwed into a ground brass plate, and pass down 
from it into a very large open mouthed receiver.. On exhausting 
the air to the one three hundredth part, and suddenly opening 
the stop-cock to readmit the air, a narrow strip of tissue paper, 
attached by the upper end, so as to have its lower end press against 
a hole in the smaller part of the diverging tube, will be blown 
jrom the hole. This experiment, in connection with the fact 
that on blowing through the tube, air is drawn into the same 
hole, proves that the direction, whether inward or outward, of 
the air that passes through lateral holes made in tubes through 
which air is forced, depends upon the comparative density of the 
internal and external air. 

Experiment VI. Instead of the fixed disk, substitute a plate of 
tinned sheet iron about_one foot square, perforated in the middle, 
and having a tube one quarter of an inch in diameter soldered at 
the same place. Drill holes in the plate one line in diameter, at 
various distances around the orifice, the nearest bordering on. the 
tube itself. Having closed all but one of the holes by means of 
small pieces of tissue paper and gum arabic, support the plate in 
a horizontal position, and.apply underneath a plane disk of tinned 
sheet iron, two inches in diameter, and having a cambric needle 
slightly projecting from its centre into the tube to keep it in place. 
On blowing through the tube with sufficient force to make the 
disk adhere, it may be ascertained whether air is drawn inwards 
or issues outwards through the open hole, by laying, after the 
blast has commenced, (at the instant it commences, for obvious 
reasons, there is a little puff of air outwards,) a piece of tissue 
paper upon the hole large enough to cover it, and having a narrow 
filament extending from one side for the convenience of holding 
it by a pair of forceps. Proceeding in this manner, I found the 
air drawn. in at all the holes, including the one. bordering on the 
tube itself, whose distance from the orifice did not exceed three 
quarters of aninch. At all the holes nearer the circumference of 
the disk, the air issued outwards. With a similar disk three 
inches in diameter, the alr was found to be drawn in only to the 
distance of a little more than half an inch from the tube, beyond 
which it issued outwards. In this experiment a disk of card is 
objectionable on account of its soon becoming moist and warped, 


316 Theory of the Pneumatic Paradox. 


and care must be used not te confound the occasional adhesion of 
the tissue paper after it becomes moist, with the exterior atmos- 
pheric pressure. ‘The substantial accuracy of the preceding re- 
sults was verified by holding the plate in a nearly vertical posi- 
tion, and applying a very small flame close to the holes. 

From the results 1 have described the eee inferences 
seem to me incontrovertible. 

1. Between the disk, there is a thin ring of rarefied air, the 
inner circumference ae which coincides with that of the ori- 
fice of the tube, and the breadth of which, in the experiments 
last described, varied from a little more than a half toa little 
more than three quarters of an inch. ‘The rarefaction of this 
ring is a compound result due to two causes. The first is the 
expansion of the radiating currents, as explained in the first part 
of this article, in consequence of their: filling more and more — 
space as they recede from the centre, which I shall call the pri- 
mary rarefaction; the second is a sort of retrograde action of the 
primary rarefaction, by which it becomes in its turn a cause of 
additional rarefaction nearer the orifice of the tube, and which 1 
shall call the secondary rarefaction. I discovered this retrograde 
action by means of my experiments with the compound tube, 
in the first of which it has been seen, that on blowing, previously 
to the juncture of the two parts, through the cylindrical tube, 
jets of air issued from lateral holes in any part, proving the air 
to be condensed throughout iis whole extent; yet, on adding the 
conical diverging termination and blowing through the compound 
tube thus formed, the air became rarefied, not only in the conical 
part, but also in the contiguous half of the cylindrical part, as 
was shown by flame being drawn into lateral holes made in it. 
A similar effect must be produced in the experiment of the pneu- 
matic paradox, with this modification, that, in consequence of the 
blast being arrested by the movable disk, the secondary rarefac- 
tion extends only to the orifice—not into the tube itself... In what 
proportion the secondary rarefaction contributes, in comparison 
with the primary; to the adhesion of the disks, it is impossible to 
decide, as they necessarily coexist, so that one cannot be produced 
without at the same time producing the other. ‘The existence of 
the secondary rarefaction seems not to have been suspected, either 
by Mr. Abbot or Professor Espy, which accounts for the latter 
gentleman’s supposing the distance from the centre at which 


Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. 317 


the air becomes “of the same density with the atmosphere,” and 
beyond which it expands, to “be not much more than double 
the diameter of the tube.” 

2. There is, exterior to the thin ring of rarefied air and sur- 
rounding it, a thin ring of condensed air, extending to the cir- 
cumfereace of the movable disk. This ring of condensed air is 
owing to the resistance of the exterior air to the egress of the 
radiating currents, and proves the fallacy of the idea advanced 
by Prof. Espy, in order to account for the maintenance of rare- 
faction during the continuance of the air-blast, that ‘‘ the atmos- 
phere makes no sensible resistance to the egress of a current.” 

The reason why the rarefaction extends to so small a distance 
only from the tube, is set in a clear point-of view by the follow- 
ing experiment. Blow through a brass tube one eighth of an 
inch in diameter and six or eight inches long, and a common 
lamp may be extinguished at the distance of about two feet. 
Attempt to extinguish it at the same distance by blowing through 
a similar tube, having a conical termination, such as is described 
in Exp. IV, and the flame will not waver in the slightest degree, 
and it will be impossible to extinguish it, even when held quite 
near to the end of the tube. If the flame be applied close to 
lateral holes in the conical part, it will be drawn in at those only 
which are near the place of junction, and not be affected in any 
way at the remote ones. Hence it would appear, that the current 
expands as it enters the conical tube, and quickly loses its mo- 
mentum by having to overcome the inertia of a continually en- 
larging column of air, while, in the atmosphere, it is prevented 
from expanding in an equal degree by surrounding pressure, and 
consequently moving before it aless column of air, it does not 
so quickly lose its momentum. 'The above reasoning applies 
equally to currents radiating from the centre of the disks, which 
on account of their diffusion are quickly retarded, and hence pro- 
duce a rarefaction to only a small distance from the tube, and 
hence too are capable of producing only a slight condensation 
before them.’ 

The principal results of the foregoing researches may be stated 
as follows: On blowing through the tube, there are, when the 
movable disk is placed underneath, three forces which urge it 
downwards—its own gravity; the impulse of the blast, weak- 


ened by striking obliquely against a somewhat conical mass of 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 41 


318 Theory of the Pneumatic Paradoz. 


nearly stationary air; and the elasticity of the interposed air, 
greatly diminished by the rarefaction around the tube. On the 
other hand, the disk is urged upwards by the atmospheric pres- 
sure underneath, assisted, though not-essentially, by the currents 
striking against its under surface ; the latter forces preponderate, 
and the disk adheres. ; 

The following modification of the experiment of the pneu- 
matic paradox admits of easy explanation, in conformity with the 
principles established in this article. Condense the air strongly 
into a condensing chamber partly filled with water, and adjust 
the tube, with the perforated disk attached, to the stop-cock. On 
applying the movable disk and opening the stop-cock, the water 
is forced against the movable disk, which adheres in the same 
manner as when air is used. In this case the water, which, not 
being expansible, may be seen not to fill the whole space bet ween 
the disks, carries with it a portion of the interposed air, and the 
rarefaction thence resulting causes the adhesion of the disks. 

Most of the original experiments I have described, have been 
repeated with George B. Emerson, Esq. of this city, President of 
the Boston Society 65 Natural History; those which required an 
air-pump were performed with Prof. Lovering, by whose kindness 
I was permitted to make use of the very powerful instrument be- 
longing to his department in Harvard University ; and several of 
those undertaken to determine the truth of the proposition advan- 
ced by Bossut, were repeated with Professor Treadwell, likewise 
of Harvard University, to whom I am indebted for several valua- 
ble suggestions. 

I feel unwilling to bring this nthiele to a close without adding 
a brief tribute to the memory of the late lamented Samuel Ab- 
bot, Esq., the gentleman whose theory of the pneumatic paradox 
T have attempted to establish on the basis of experiment. Hav- 
ing been bred to the bar, he practiced his profession several years 
in New Hampshire, and subsequently in Massachusetts, with the 
reputation of being an accurate and able lawyer. Not finding it 
however congenial to his tastes, he relinquished it, engaged in a 
course of nice experiments to ascertain the practicability of ad- 
vantageously making starchyon a large scale from the potato, and 
invented the machinery and processes by which that article is 
now manufactured in the Northern States, to the annual amount 
of probably five or six million pounds. He thus originated a, 


Terrestrial Magnetism. ~ 319 - 


branch of business which affords employment to numerous indi- 
viduals, which has enhanced the profits of agricultural industry 
and the value of real estate, in those parts of the country where 
it is carried on, and contributed to reduce the cost of those pro- 
ducts of labor, in the manufacture of which potato starch is used. 
His mind was highly cultivated and original. He was remarkable 
for the accuracy, variety, extent and depth of his knowledge, and 
still more so for a perspicacity of intellect, which enabled him to 
detect error in its least suspected forms, and to perceive, with al- 
most the quickness and certainty of intuition, truths and relations 
which reveal themselves to most minds of even a high order, only 
after patient and profound thought. What most distinguished 
him, however, and peculiarly endeared him to his friends, was the 
singular purity, elevation and benevolence of his character. It is 
hardly exaggeration to say, that they who knew him longest and 
best, recollect no feeling, word or act of his that was wrong. He 
seemed to be wholly free from any desire of distinction, though 
always active to do good, whenever and wherever he thought he 
could be useful. Possessing a competent fortune, he made a most 
liberal and generous use of it. In the words of one* qualified both 
by ability and from opportunity to form a right estimate of his 
character, ‘‘his unambitious career was bright with a daily use- 
fulness. His life bore witness that the finest minds may find as 
large a sphere of usefulness in the retirements of the country, as 
among the crowd of acity. Few have been more beloved and 
respected when living, or more widely mourned when dead.” 
He perished in a fire, January 2, 1839, in the prime of life. 


Art. VIL—On Terrestrial Magnetism; by Joun Locke, M. D., 
of Cincinnati, Ohio. 


Messrs. E'ditors—For three or four years past, most of the 
scientific men of our country have felt an interest in the exami- 
nation of the elements of terrestrial magnetism on this continent. 
The increasing attention to the subject in Europe has operated 
sympathetically, and has excited a few of us to action. Profes- 
sors Bache, Courtenay, Loomis, Jackson, and myself, have each 
devoted a portion of our time to actual surveys; the results, so 


* Rev. E. Peabody, of New Bedford, Mass. 


320 Terrestrial Magnetism. 


far as they have been communicated and published, are to be 
found mostly in the papers of the American Philosophical Soci- 
ety. But few of mine have yet been made public. The field is 
a very broad one, and the amount of labor yet to be performed is 
very great. As these elements are subject to a constant and pro- 
gressive change, besides an annual and diurnal fluctuation, the 
exact laws of which are as yet unknown, time anda multiplicity 
of observations at each separate station are required before any 
generalizations can be well established. 

I have this year commenced making monthly, and sometimes 
even hourly, observations at this place. In our money making 
country, I can procure little or no assistance in so unprofitable a 
business, and my hourly observations are almost too laborious to be 
continued. My friend and correspondent, Prof. Loomis, has col- 
lected together such observations as have been made, and has pub- 
lished them in tables and in the form of a chart in your Journal,* 
but so few have been the observations, and in them generally no 
attention paid to the annual and diurnal changes, that such a chart 
must necessarily be only an approximation to the truth, except at 
the few points which have been particularly examined. In the pre- 
sent volume of this Journal, pp. 49, 50, Prof. Loomis has, upon 
rather hypothetical grounds, marked his own observations, mine 
and Prof. Courtenay’s, with “apparent errors,” to a considerable 
amount. Now most readers will understand by this, that the re- 
sults of the observations are absolutely out of truth, or disagree 
with nature to the amount noted. A careful examination of the 
article shows that this was not his meaning, for the standard by 
which these “errors” are made to appear, is more questionable 
than the observations themselves. Prof: Loomis, from a com- 
parison of the most ancient with the most recent observations in 
our country, supposes that he has obtained the average annual 
decrease of-the magnetical dip in the United States. He then 
applies this quantity as a correction to previous observations up 
to the present year, projects lines of “ equal dip” in the direction 
indicated by two or more points thus determined, and by so much 
as late observations disagree with these calculations, he has noted 
them in “error.” The only objection which I offer to this mode 
of expressing difference, is that it will not generally be under- 


* Vide this Journal, Vol. XXXIV, p. 290, Vol. xxxrx, p. 41. 


Terrestrial Magnetism. | 321 


stood. 'There is certainly no better authority for the dip at any 
particular time and place, than careful observations made with 
the best instruments. When artificial lines do not agree with 
observations, it is evident that those lines should be marked “in 
error.” 'The lines of equal dip, as* obtained by actual survey, 
are not great circles nor uniform curves; they undulate irregu- 
larly, converging in some places and diverging in others, and 
sometimes, I believe, one line of equal dip will divide into two 
which will afterwards reunite.. It is perhaps customary with 
those who make magnetical charts, to endeavor to equalize these 
natural irregularities, as the engineer after a survey for a road 
equalizes the hills and hollows to obtain a less devious but more 
artificial surface. Such a line, although it is easily projected, and 
looks well in the chart, has no existence in nature, and is only 
an artificial approximation to truth; so far as it departs from the 
results of actual observations, the line itself should be marked in 
error, not the observations. This, I say, would be philosophical ; 
a conventional mode of expressing the same relation in different 
terms may obtain a preference, and would be unobjectionable pro- 
vided it should be properly understood. 

The largest number of my magnetical experiments were made 
in Jowa and Wisconsin Territories during last autumn, and the 
general results, including both the dip and intensity, have been 
communicated both to Congress and to the American Philosophical 
Society. But I am reminded by the above suggestions that I 
ought to lay before the public a specimen of the details at large, 
that a proper judgment may be formed of the degree of credit to 
which they are entitled. I shall confine myself at present to that 
part of my observations for determining the dip. My dipping 
compass was made by Robinson, of London, in 1837. Asa 
check upon errors, I make at each station, by means of two sep- 
arate needles, a double suite of observations. In each suite, all 
of the usual reversals are made, including the face of the instru- 
ment, the face of the needle, and the polarity of the needle by 
retouching. The dip is therefore determined by eight distinct 
readings of each needle, the two results almost always agreeing 
within one or two minutes of a degree. ‘The mean of the whole 
of the sixteen readings is finally taken. 'The following are ex- 
amples : . 


o22 


Terrestrial Magnetism. 


No.1. Davenport, Iowa Territory, Sept. 15, 1839. Lat. 41° 30! N., Lon, 90° 18! W. 


Needle No. 1. B North. 
Face of -| Face of ) 
strument. | needle. Dip indicated. 
E. E. 72°05! 
W. Ww. 70 47 
Ww. E. 72 AZ 
E. w. 71 06 
A North. 
E. E. 70 59 
w. w. 72 52 
Ww. E. 70 53 
E. w. CS SO 
8)574 16 


Mean, 71 48.25 


BH 3.3 5 


Needle No. 2. B- North. 


Face of in- 
strument. 


‘Face of 
needle. Dip indicated. 
E (eon ae 
Ww. 72, O02 
E 71 54 
Ww 72 03 
A North. — 
E 72 16 
Ww 71 26 
E 72 12:5 
Ww 71 28.5 
“B)STS 20 
Mean, 71 55 


No. 2. Davenport, Iowa Territory, Sept. 18, 1839. 


Needle No. 1. B North. } 
Face of in-| Face of 
strument.| needle. | Dip indicated. 
E. E. 73°05! 
w. w. 70 43 
Ww. E. 72 51 
E. w. 70 AO 
A North. 
E E. 170 57 
Ww w. 73 14) 
Ww E. 70 50 
E w. 73 04 
8)575 24 
Mean, 71 55.5 


No. 3. Lost Grove, (Iowa,) Sept. 23, 1839. Lat. 41° 39’ N., Lon. 90° 09! W. 


Needle No. 1. A North. 


Face of in-| Face of ‘ 
strument.| needle. | Dipindicated. 
E. E. CASORE + 
Ww. w. 73 16 
w. E. 70 56 
E. Ww. 73 19 
B North. | 
E. E. 72 59 
W. W. 70 50 
w. E. 73 OL 
E. w. 10"54.7 
8)576 22 


Mean, 72 02.75 


Needle No. 2. A North. 
Face of in-, Face of 
strument. | needle. Dip indicated. 
Ee. E. (ASB oy Ws 
w. Ww 71 26 
Ww. E 72 14 
E. Ww 71 25 
B North. 
E. E 71 Al 
Ww. Ww ee) 
W. E 71 30 
E. Ww esr 
8)575 20 
Mean, 71 55 
Needle No. 2. B North. 
Face of in-; Face of 
strument. | needle. Dip indicated. 
E. E. 7 1°43’ 
W. WwW 72 36 
wW, _E. 71 45 
E. Wet vllughy us Met oO 
A North. 
E. E 72.11 
Ww. Ww Tost 
w. E 72 05 
E. Ww. 71 44 
8)576 17 


Mean, 72 02.125 


I 


Terrestrial Magnetism. ~ | 329 


No. 4. Wapsipinnicon River, Sept. 25, 1839. Lat. 41° 45! M., Lon. 90° 23! W. 


: Needle No. 1. B North. Needle No. 2. A North. 
Face of in-| Face of Face of in-| Face of 
strument. | needle. Dip indicated. strument. | needle. Dip indicated. 
By E. 73° 16/ Eis ae 12°23! 
w. Ww 71 07 ; Ww. 71 48 
Ww. E 73 17 Ww E. 72 18 
E. Ww 71 10 E w. BA oT 
A North B North. 
i E 71:15 E. E 72 15 
w. Ww 73 20 w. Ww mee 20 
Ww. E 71 10 WwW. E 72 12 
E. Ww Wo 20 . E. Ww 72 37 
~8)b78 02 8)577 57 
Mean, 72 15.25 Mean, 72 14.625 


No.5. Brown’s Settlement, (Iowa,) Sept. 20, 1839. Lat. 42° 04! V., Lon. 94° 02! W. 


Needle No. 1. B North. Needle No.2. A North. 
Face of in| Face of Facé of in-; Face of 
strument.| needle. Dip indicated. strument.| needle. D p indicated. 
E. E. oot ie WE: E. 12°25! 
Ww. Ww. 71 18 w. W. 71 53 
Ww. E te V4 Ww. E. 72 25 
E. w. 71 26 E. W. 72 10 
A North. B North. 
E. E 71 26 E. 1 72 33 
w. w hea 22 w. Ww. 72 25 
Ww. E 71 19 w. E. 72 28 
E. Ww 73 32 E. Ww. 72 26 
8)578 58 8)578 45 
Mean, 72 22.25 Mean, 72 20.625 
No. 6. Mahoqueta River, (Iowa,) Oct. 1, 1839. Lat. 42° 14’ N., Lon. 90° 57! W. 
Needle No. I. A North. Needle No. 2. B North. 
Face of in-| Face of © Face of in-| Face of 
strument. needle. Dip indicated. strument. | needle. Dip indicated. - 
E. E. 71°42’ E. E. 72°48’ 
w. w. 73 A7 w. w. ~ 72 46 
Ww. E: i eal AO es W. E. 72 45 
19%; Ww. 7A 00 E. W. 72 51 
B North. - A North. 
EE E 73 35 E E 72 52 
Ww. Ww 71 44 W Ww 72 25 
w. E 73 39 Ww E 72 44 
E. Ww 71 45 E. Ww 72 35 
8)581 52 8)581 46 


Mean, 72 44 : Mean, 72 43.25 


324 


Terrestrial Magnetism. 


NVo.7. Farmer’s Creek, (Iowa,) Oct.5, 1839. Lat. 42° 13! N., Lon. 90° 23! W. 
Needle No. 2. A North. 


ae es | | ee 


Face of in- 
strument. 


Baas 


Face of - 
needle. | Dip indicated. 
E. 72°15/ 
W. 72 36 
E. 72 16 

B North 
E. 72 43 
w. 72 37 
E. 72 AT 
w. 72 33 
8)580 23 


Mean, 72 32.875 


No.8. Prairie du Chien, W. T., Oct. 24,1839. Lat. 43° 03! NV., Lon. 90° 52! W. 
Needle No. 2. -B North. i 


Needle No.1. B North. 

Fate of in-| Face of 

strument. | needle. Dip *7i-ated. 
E. E. CAS 
W. Ww. 1324 
w. E. al. 26: 
E. Ww. 73 22 

A North. 
E. E. fora 
WwW. Ww. 71 42 
w. E. 73 51 
E. W. 71 30 
8)580 26 
Mean, 72 33.25 

Needle No.1. A North. 

Face of in-| Face of 

strument. | needle. Dip ind‘cated. 
E. E. 02°25! 
Ww. w. 74 17 
w. E. 72 05 
E. Ww. 74 32 

B North. 

ie E. 74 33 
Ww. W. 71 53 
Ww. E. 74 24 
E. Ww 72 02 


rt S586 Tia 


Face of in-| 


strument. 


Ho¢ go 


ioe et te 


Mean, 73 16.375] 


Face of 
needle. Dip indicated. 
E. Fac25. 5 
Ww. 73 22 
E. a2 
Weep 73 25 
A North. 
E. 73 26.5 
Ww. 73 02 
E. 73 14.5 
W. 72 58.5 
- 8)586 14.5 


Mean, 73 16.875 


No.9. Blue Mounds, (W. T.) Oct. 30, 1839. _ Lat. 43° 01! NV., Lon. 89° 38! IV. 


Needle No.1. B North. 
Face of in-| Face of ; 

strument.| needle. | Dip indicated. 
E. ie? 74°59’ 
w. W. 72 14 
W. E. 74 A775 

E. W. 72 21 

A North 

E. E. 73 08.5 
w. W. 74 21.5 

w. E. 73 03 
E. W. 74 35 
8)589 29.5 


Needle No. 2... A North. 


Face of in- 


~ | strument. 


maa e 


Mean, 73 41.2 | 


Face of 
needle. _Dip indicated. 
3h 13°A3* 
W. 3 22.5 
E. 73 42 
w. 73 31.5 
~ B North. 
E. 73 A8 
w. 73 A6 
‘3 73 AO 
w. 73 52.5 
8)589 25.5 


Mean, 73 40.6875 


on NE SI A EE LC LT a Se aa 


_ Terrestrial M agnetism. 325 


No. 10. Madison, (W. T.) Nov. 2, 1839.. Lat. 43° 05! N., Lon. 89° 06! W. 
Needle No.1. A North. Needle No. 2. B North. 


Face of in- |” Face of Face of in-{ Face of 


strument. | needle. Dip indicated. strument.| needle. | Dip indicated. 
Ee - E. 73°28! Bo eho e: RACK IS 
w. i 7A AQ w. w. 404 
w. E 73 24 w. eee 74 O1.5 
E. Ww 7A 56 E. w. 7A 16.5 
B North. | A North. 
E. E. 74 59 E. E. 74 12 
w. w. 73 00 w. w. 73 AZ 
w. E 75 02.5 w. E. 74 02 
E. Ww 72 AT E. Ww. 73 49.5 
8)592 25.5 8)592 31 


Mean, 74 03.1275 Mean, 74 03.875 


No. 11. Mineral Point, (W.T.) Nov. 1839. Lat. 42° 50! N., Lon. 89° 54! W. 


Needle No. 1. B North: Needle No. 2. A North. 
Face of in- Face of {Face of in-| Face of 
strument.| needle. Dip indicated. strument.| needle. | Dip indicated. 
E. E. A230! E. E 73°261.5 
w. w. 72 10.5 W. Ww. 73 09 
w. E. 74 22 w. E. a 18.5 
E. W. 72 22.5 E. Ww. WSGE2.5 
{ A North. B North. 
E. gE. ° (2, a5 E. E. LOeoOLO, 
Ww. Ww a NON WwW. w. Vey Ls) 
Ww. E 72 (25 Ww. E. Ca 2.9 
E. Ww 74 26.5 E. w. for elio 
8)586 45.5 8)586 44 
Mean, 73 20.6875 Mean, 73 20.5 


The above specimens of my field notes are not selected, but 
are taken in course from one to seven. ‘Those which follow are 
also in course, and have been selected because they differ from 
what would be expected from the projections of isoclinal lines. 
The evidence of the accuracy of the observations rests chiefly 
on the very close agreement of the independent result obtained 


‘by the two separate needles. It will be seen that out of the 


eleven cases above quoted, there is but one in which the differ- 
ence is over a fraction of one minute of a degree, and that is the 
fifth, which shows a difference of one minute and five eighths of 
a minute. If there were a certain latitude of error, say five min- 
utes, it is evident, by the calculation of chances, that such error 


between the two needles, would as often be doubled by being, the 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 42 


326 Terrestrial Magnetism. 


one plus and the other minus, as it would be merged by both be- 
ing plus or both minus; and hence half of the greatest difference 
by the two needles may be taken as the limit of instrumental 
errors, which in the above observations would be only 0/.8625 of 
a minute; a quantity much smaller than I should have anticipa- 
ted before making the examination. The instrument is evidently 
a very perfect one, yet at certain points, when the dip arrives at 
a particular quantity, probably from a want of perfect roundness 
of the pivots, one needle will read constantly and uniformly more 
than the other. Thus at Dubuque, where the dip is 73° 04’, 
needle No. 1, read in the mean, constantly 23’ more than No. 2. 
Even this error would ordinarily be considered very small. The 
French have a saying that “the dipping compass is one very un- 
grateful instrument.” But with this fine piece of workmanship 
of Robinson’s, I have repeatedly admired the beautiful manner 
in which the reversals correct all of the errors, and the two nee- 
dles, none of whose individual readings are alike, will ultimately 
in the mean, give almost identical results. 

In my surveys, I did not expect the dip to be so little at Prairie 
du Chien, nor so great at Madison, Wisconsin Territory, as I 
found it. I went through with four suits of observations at the 
former place, before I was satisfied of their correctness. But all 
of the observations between Prairie du Chien and the four lakes, 
agree in determining that the lines of equal dip along the Wis- 
consin river, in advancing westward, incline rapidly to the north. 
From a point about five miles south of Mineral Point, the line of 
dip for 73° 16’ passes to Prairie du Chien, in the direction of 
west 22° 10’ north. The curvature between Madison and Blue 
Mounds, is probably still more to the north. At Dubuque, how- 
ever, there was no evidence of such a northern inclination of the 
lines of equal dip. At Columbus, Ohio, the dip appeared to be 
so much less than I expected, that after determining it twice at 
our station, suspecting local attraction, I removed to another a 
mile distant, but the result was still the same. At the very points 
marked by Prof. Loomis, I anticipated the departure of the mag- 
netical quantities from their general direction, and was especially 
cautious in my examinations, but finally was compelled to record 
their results in obedience to the authority of nature. I believe 
there are so many anomalies in the elements of terrestrial magnet- 
ism, that the only safe way in proceeding with our surveys, is to 


Terrestrial Magnetism. 327 


observe industriously, and put down carefully, the results of ex- 
periments, without any reference to artificial lines, until we have 
dotted the map pretty thickly over with our récords, and then see 
into what forms they will arrange themselves. 

I have thus laid before your readers so much of my field notes 
as will enable them to understand in general my mode of opera- 
ting, and have presented to them the evidence which convinces 
me that the results, at the time and place given, were accurate 
within at least two or three minutes of a degree._ By this means 
I lope to inspire that confidence which alone gives interest to 
such researches. 'The papers of Prof. Loomis are well calculated 
to draw popular attention to this very interesting subject, and we 
hope that a science which has been considered of sufficient im- 
portance in foreign countries to induce their governments to erect 
observatories, supply them with instruments and observers, and 
even to fit out naval expeditions to explore distant regions for the 
advancement of its interests, will not soon be neglected by its 
few votaries in this country, or be so far overlooked by. the great 
body of our community, that all encouragement to its cultivation 
will be withheld. 

Here I had intended to bring my remarks to a close; but on 
reviewing them I perceive there is a possibility that some of them 
may be understood as a censure upon my friend Prof. Loomis. 
‘Nothing of this kind is intended. There is no difference of 
opinion between him and myself as to the facts. It is merely 
the manner of representing a fact which has elicited the remarks. 
A difference exists between an artificial line and a quantity deter- 
mined in fact; call the one A and the other B. The question is 
then merely, is it more expedient to assume A to be the standard 
and mark B in error, or to assume B as the standard and mark A 
in error? I object to the choice which Prof. Loomis has made, 
because it will give to most of your readers, such as are not mag- 
neticians, the impression that both Prof. Loomis, Prof. Courtenay, 
Capt. Sabine, myself and others, are unable to determine the dip 
within a very great latitude of error. But Prof. Loomis did not 
originate this mode of expressing the difference of the two quan- 
tities ; he had the precedent established by the most able foreign 
magneticians. It may be that conventional authority in this 
case, as in numerous others, ought to prevail, and that Prof. 
Loomis is right in conforming to that authority. Still we hope 


328 Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 


the discussion of the subject is not without its use to a large class 
of readers, by making them more familiar with some of the mi- 
nutize of an interesting and in many respects a new science, and 
by inspiring them with greater confidence in the degree of per- 
fection to which magneticians have arrived in their observations. 
They will I hope feel more interest in the observations of Prof. 
Loomis himself, who is furnished with the best of instruments, 
not only in magnetism, but in meteorology and astronomy, and 
is in all of these departments an industrious and accurate ob- 
server. i 

Could the necessary labor be performed, such charts as would 
exhibit the lines of equal dip, equal variation, and equal intensity 
in all of their various windings, including all of the so called 
local influences, minutely true and faithful to nature, I believe 
some new generalizations would be obtained. Possibly it might 
appear that particular geological formations are associated with 
some peculiarities of magnetism. There was an indication of 
this kind in the survey of Iowa, to the Report of which the read- 
er is referred. But to establish a generalization requires the con- 
currence of numerous instances of the same kind; the change of 
_ magnetism with a change of minerals might in a single instance 


be accidental. 
Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, July 30, 1840. 


\ 


Arr. VIII.— Observations on the Shooting Stars of August 9th 
and 10th, 1840; communicated by Epwarp C. Herrick, 
Rec. Sec. Conn. Acad. 


In 1839, the night of the tenth of August appeared to be that 
on which the meteors of this epoch arrived at their maximum. 
The present being leap-year, our attention was directed more par- 
ticularly to the night of the 9th, as that which would this year 
probably afford the greatest number. Some desultory observa- 
tions were, however, as usual, made previous to this date. ‘The 
evenings of August 1, 2, 3, and 4, were almost entirely overcast 
up to a late hour. The evening of the 5th was clear, but the 
moon, eight days old, considerably impaired the light of the stars. 
From 9h. 30m. to 10h. P. M. I noted four meteors, all as large as __ 
stars of the first magnitude, and three of them with trains. ‘The 


Shooting Stars of Aucust 9 and 10, 1840. 329 


direction of their paths was similar to the general course on the 
9th. The evening of the 6th was overcast. The evenings of 
the 7th and 8th were mostly clear, yet I made no special obser- 
vation, preferring to watch in the morning, but, unfortunately, 
the sky was too much clouded both on the mornings of the 8th 
and 9th. ‘The night of the 9th was beautifully clear and serene. 
Mr. Francis Bradley, Mr. J. T. Hotchkiss and myself, watched 
most of the night, each confining his attention to a quarter of the 
heavens, the southern being neglected during the moon’s pres- 
ence. At 3 A.M. (10th) Mr. Amos Hill (who with his son had 
been in company with us the whole time) took charge of the 
southern quadrant. Our station was on the summit of the Hos- 
pital, which commands an unobstructed view of the heavens. 
The following isa statement of our observations; the meteors 
being reckoned in that quadrant in which they started. 
1. Number of Meteors noted. 


~ Ww. N. 05 Ss. Total. 

Aug. 9th, 10h. to 11h. p.m. 15 OEE AG 40 
toy NIMs BN Net 1SGT AO! 4G 53 

Oday 12 HiCaok Win we eltOhs (257 87 Ge 

i aise SO ates Bem abe 152 145 


[At 2 a.m. the moon set. | 
LOthieZhe to yshramn for. Vee Os Oo 332 
BC Tig par ee Gunees ay AVS 35 236.7 159 sbearg 

818 

Three observers can not generally detect more than three 
fourths of the meteors which would be seen by four; and four 
observers are certainly insufficient to secure the whole. — Brilliant 
meteors may undoubtedly be seen through half the heavens, but 
we have often found that many of the fainter class pass unnoti- 
ced if the observer is not looking within ten degrees of their 
path. Until a few minutes before setting, the moon’s light must 
have concealed from our view about half the meteors which ac- 
tually fell. Taking these circumstances into account, it can not 
be reasonably doubted that if the moon had been absent, more 
than 1500 shooting stars would have been visible at this place 
between 10 P. M. of the 9th and.4 A. M. of the 10th. The aver- 
age number of these meteors visible to four observers during the 
like space of time at ordinary seasons may be taken at about 250, 


330 Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 


so that we may safely conclude that on the night of the 9th and 
10th August, 1840, shooting stars were here at least six times as 
numerous as usual. 

2. Place of the radiant. A eee majority of the meteors 

moved, as is usual on these occasions, in paths which were doubt- 
Jess nearly parallel. Their visible tracks appeared to us to diverge 
from a region about the cluster in the sword-handle of Perseus, 
but it was not easy to determine within three or four degrees the 
centre of this region. ‘l'o make this determination with much 
precision, the track of each meteor must be noted on a star-chart, 
as has in several instances been done by observers in Europe. 
This we could not conveniently do without numerous assistants. 
According to observations made at the Konigsberg Observatory, 
Aug. 10 and 11, 1839, (Astr. Nach. No. 385, p. 1,) the point of 
divergence was then near the head of Perseus, which differs 
scarcely at all from the determination made here. ‘The observa- 
tions made at Breslau, in August, 1839, by a corps of fifteen ob- 
servers, (see this Journ. Vol. xxxvim, p. 203,) would furnish am- 
ple materials for settling the place of the radiant with all the 
precision of which the case admits. The general apparent course 
of the meteors must have been towards a point little west of 
south. 
3. Time of mazimum. "The determination of the time of the 
night at which the meteors are most humerous is an important 
element in ascertaining the direction of the ‘‘meteoric stream.” 
The observations of the present year agree with what appeared 
most probable from the observations made in this country last 
year, that the maximum occurs after three o’clock in the morning. 
This agrees nearly with the results of observations made by M. 
Colla and others, at Parma, in Italy, on the 9th and 10th of Aug. 
1839, (Bull. Acad. de Brux. vi: 9, p. 11,) but other European 
observers have reported the meteors of the August epoch no less 
abundant before than after midnight. I can not doubt that in 
this country at least, and probably throughout the northern hemi- 
sphere, the meteors of this season are most numerous as late as 
three in the morning. : 

A. Apparent sizes, colors, §c. We kept no account of the ap- 
parent sizes of the meteors, and can only say, in general, that as 
many as 50 equaled the planet Jupiter, and a few surpassed it in 
splendor, and about 200 were equal or superior to stars of the 


Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 331 


first magnitude. Very many left trains behind them. The color 

of the majority was the usual phosphoric white, but frequently 

with a tinge of red. Of the whole number there was but one 

which seemed to explode. 'The larger meteors generally vanish- 

ed when at their brightest. The écmes of fight varied from about. 
a tenth of a second to about two seconds; the majority being 

certainly not more than three fourths of a second. In all these 
characters, the meteors of the seasons of abundance, appear not 

to differ materially from those of other periods of the year. 

5. Zodiacal Light. Soon after the moon had set, (2 A. M. 
10th,) I noticed a faint light lying along the northern horizon, 
chiefly on the east of the north point, and extending upwards 
about five degrees. By 3 o’clock, the familiar appearance of the 
Zodiacal Light was distinctly visible in the northeast. It was 
hearly as conspicuous as we commonly see it in October. The 
stars Castor and Pollux were near its brightest part, from which 
it stretched obliquely upwards in a triangular form about as faras 
Aldebaran, its base blending with the horizontal light lying along 
the Horizon a little east of north. 

Having had occasion since March, 1837, to observe the north- 
ern portion of the heavens every evening, in order to ascertain 
the presence or absence of the Aurora Borealis, I was in the sum- 
mer months much perplexed with what appeared to be a faint 
Auroral illumination in the north and a little west of north. 
This light was on favorable occasions at that season, so constant, 
that I was at first inclined to conclude that there is in summer 
a continual Aurora Borealis. After a while, I was disposed to 
believe that this appearance might be the -Zodiacal Light. On 
the 16th of July, 1839, when, in company with Messrs. Bush 
and Haile, | watched until 2 A. M. and found that after midnight 
this faint luminous appearance could not be discerned west of 
north, but was evidently visible on the eastern side, I could 
scarcely doubt that my last opinion was well founded. During 
the present summer I have, in company with others, seen this ap- 
pearance west of north as late as 10 P.M. ; but, not having look- 
ed in the morning, had not noticed it cher midnight until the 
morning of the 10th. 

Although it is not established what relation there is between 
the Zodiacal Light and the periodical return of meteors, yet the 
connection between them traced by Professor Olmsted, seems to 
render it proper to make the preceding statement in this place. 


332 Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 


The night of Monday, the 10th, was clear, but as the light of 
the moon, nearly full, rendered observation exceedingly irksome, 
we watched only so far as to make sure that meteors were less 
abundant than on the preceding night. Mr. A. B. Haile and my- 
self watched from 10h. to 11h.-P. M. and saw in the N. E. six — 
meteors, and in the N. W. seven. From the observations of a 
person who was out about 3 A. M. (11th,) I inferred that the 
number at that time was not far from 200 an hour. ‘The nights 
of the 11th, 12th and 13th were overcast,—the first up to mid- 
night, and the others until morning. 


_ Observations at Jamaica, L. I., 9 miles HE. New York City. 


The following particulars have been communicated to me by 
my friend, Mr. George C. Schaeffer. ‘About the first of Au- 
gust, the majority of several bright meteors which I saw, seemed 
to indicate a common radiant. I also received a note from a 
friend who had his attention attracted by several brilliant meteors 
between 11 and 12 o’clock on the 2d inst. They were appa- 
rently not much more numerous than usual, but appear to have 
radiated from a common point. 

‘On the evening of Saturday, the 8th, I saw nothing remark- 
able, but about 3 A. M. (9th,) I.saw five or six meteors within a 
few minutes, but watched some time longer without seeing more. 
On the evening of the 9th, I saw several, although the moon 
was very bright. When the moon was about setting, [ found 
the number of meteors was considerable, and from about 2h. 
15m. A. M. (10th,) I kept a sharp lookout, with an intermission 
only of about five minutes, directing my attention towards Cas- 
siopeia. During the hour from 2h. 15m. to 3h. 15m. I counted 
sixty seven meteors, and in the next half hour I counted thir- 
ty eight, and in all until I retired, (about 4h. A. M.,) one hun- 
dred and twelve. It will be seen that notwithstanding the light 
of day, the number was.on the increase during the last half 
hour. Most of the meteors were above the second magnitude; 
some were very bright and left trains ; few were very small, and 
still fewer were nonconformists. I was struck by one peculiarity 
which continued during the night,—the appearance of four or 
five meteors in rapid succession, and then a considerable pause. 
The point (or rather the centre of the region) of radiation, care- 
fully observed, was at 3 A. M. a little south of a point one third 


ee 


Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 330 


of the distance from « to « Cassiopeiee, or about 30° R. A., 63° or 
64° N. Dec. A few meteors very near this point seemed to indi- 
eate it pretty fairly. Of the small number of nonconforming 
meteors that I saw, nearly-all had one identical path, intersecting 
the milky way at right angles about midway between Cassiopeia 
and Deneb. Of the whole number visible I am quite certain 
that I could not see more than one fifth part. Iam confirmed in 
my opinion by the fact that another person in directing attention 
to the same quarter, detected in two or three minutes, several 
more than I saw. | 

“lhe evening of Monday, (10th,) with a still brighter moon, 
showed only a few meteors; but after the moon had set, a little 
after 3 A. M. (11th,) I saw thirty five in as many minutes, a much 
larger proportion being brilliant than on the morning previous. 
The dawn again interfered. The radiant point had shifted from 
last night’s position, but I could not determine it exactly. On 
both these mornings the Zodiacal Light was bright, and extend- 
ed, as I thought, to a point between the Hyades and Pleiades. 

“Thus you will see that on the morning of the 10th August, 
1840, meteors appeared at the rate of from 330 to 400 per hour, 
and on the morning of the 11th, at the rate of at least 300 per 
hour. ‘This gives us a fair shower, and I trust it has been gener- 
ally observed. I find on comparing this year’s observations with 
those I made two years ago, that we are at least approximating 
to the place of the radiant.” 

Philadelphia, Pa. “'The August period of the return of the 
shower of meteors came round last evening, the 9th, this year 
being leap year. Notwithstanding the brightness of the moon, 
nearly full, the display began early in the evening, and continued 
till late in the morning. Many of the meteors were as bright as 
Venus. They all moved, with few exceptions, in directions 
which, being extended backward, would pass through the head 
of Perseus, which continued for several hours to be the radiant 
point. Some brilliant meteors were also seen on the evening of 
the 8th inst. The circumstance of these meteors radiating from 
the head of Perseus, was noticed on the 9th, 10th and 11th of 
August, last year, at several observatories in Europe, where their 
directions were measured with much care and precision, particu- 
larly at Bessel’s Observatory in Konigsberg.”—Philad. Gazette, 
August 10, 1840. 

Vol, xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 43 


- 


334 Shooting Stars of August 9 and 10, 1840. 


Some other meteoric periods. 


It seems quite probable that the months of June, October and 
January, (the dates first named at p. 366, Vol. xxxv, among possi- 
ble meteoric seasons,) will each furnish a period at which shoot- 
ing stars may be seen, either annually or occasionally, in uncom- 
mon frequency. The following is the evidence in regard to the 
date last referred to,—the morning of the second of January. 

1. At the conclusion of a description of a singular meteor seen 
about 5 A. M. January 2, 1825, between S. Giovanni and Monte- 
varchi, in Tuscany, M. Antonio Brucalassi, the observer, adds,— 
“The night during which this meteor appeared, was clear, calm, 
and very cold. Before and after its appearance, the atmosphere 
was traversed by a multitude of the luminous bodies known by 
the name of falling stars.”—Antologia, Feb. 1825, p. 135, quoted 
in Ferussac’s Bull. Univ., Math. Phys., ete. 111, 328. 

2. I have been informed, but not directly, that a person at this 
place, (New Haven,) saw an unusual number of meteors before 
daylight on the morning of the first of January, 1839. 

3 and 4. M. L. F. Wartmann, of Geneva, in a paper on the 
meteors of August 10 and 11, 1838, (Corresp. Math. et Phys. 
de M. Quetelet, Bruxelles, Juillet, 1839,) states the following :—. 
‘¢M. Reynier has informed me that on the 2d of January, 1838, 
at 3 o’clock in the morning, there was seen at Planchettes and at 
La Chaux-de-Fonds, (Switzerland, ) an unusual display of shoot- 
ing stars. JI may add that a similar phenomenon was observed 
at Mornex, near Geneva, on the 2d of January, 1835, from 4 
A. M. until daylight.” p. 351. 

The testimony which can be adduced in support of a meteoric 
period in June, seems no less strong than that given above in 
regard to January, yet it does not appear certain on what day of 
the month the maximum falls. ‘The data now in hand indicate 
the period from the 15th to the 20th; but this must be deter- 
mined by future observation. ‘The precise date of the greatest 
meteoric frequency in October is still less definitely known, but 
it will in all probability be found to occur between the 8th and 


25th of the month. 
New Haven, Conn., August 28, 1840. 


Earthquake in Connecticut, §c. 335 


Ant. IX.—Farthquake in Connecticut, Sc. 


On Sunday, August 9, 1840, a shock of an earthquake was 
distinctly perceived in many parts of Connecticut, and at Hart- 
ford was so severe as to cause considerable alarm, especially in 
the churches in which many people were assembled, and out of 
one of them they rushed with precipitation. 

“In New Haven it was not perceived at all by the people as- 
sembled in the churches, and the trembling was slightly felt by 
oue or two persons in their own dwellings. In one house two 
persons lying down were aroused by the shaking of the bed and 
the rattling of the window blinds; the house is of brick. At 
North Milford, six miles west of New Haven, it was not perceiv- 
ed. At Milford, still further west, and at Bridgeport, it was felt 
and heard distinctly. Hence we hear of it to the north and 
northeast, as very distinct in a part at least of Derby, in Water- 
bury, Middlebury and Woodbury, nine to twenty five miles from 
New Haven; and still more distinctly, it is reported, in Washing- 
ton, yet in Watertown it was not noticed at all. Further north, 
we trace it through Farmington and Simsbury, ten and fifteen 
miles from Hartford. 'The report is, that it was not observed in 
Hartland and other towns in the north of Litchfield county. It 
was very perceptible in some parts of Massachusetts—not at all 
in Westfield. In Worcester county it was severe. In Boston 
there was nothing of it. It extended into Tolland county, in 
this State. Between Hartford and New Haven, it was severely 
felt in Meriden, not at all in Wallingford, nor we believe at Ber- 
lin. At Middletown there wasa slight shock. From most of 
these places we have our information direct, yet it is probable 
that in some cases in which our informant had not noticed it or 
heard of it, it may have been perceived by others in the neigh- 
borhood. 

‘The noise was thought by some to proceed from east to west, 
and by others from northeast to southwest. 

‘¢ We learn also that the shock was noticed distinctly at Clin- 
ton, about twenty five miles east of New Haven, also at Wood- 
bridge and Wolcott. The noise is compared by different persons 
to the roll of thunder, the rumbling of a carriage, and the roar of 
a chimney on fire.’’* 


* Hartford and New Haven Congregational Observer. 


336 Earthquake in Connecticut, §*c. 


Some persons have been disposed to attribute this earthquake 
to the explosion of a meteor. It is true that the explosion of 
meteors does sometimes produce this effect, as happened Feb. 2, 
1766, in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and at Charleston, 
South Carolina, in November of the same year, and remarkably 
at Weston, Connecticut, December, 1807. But there is in the 
present case no distinct evidence of the transit of a meteor, no 
such body having been observed,* nor have any fragments been 
reported as having fallen from the atmosphere. 

The great seat of American earthquakes being on the western 
side of the continent, comparatively few events of this nature 
have been observed on the eastern side since Europeans have 
become acquainted with the western hemisphere. 

An interesting account of the earthquakes of New England 
was given to the American Academy of Boston by Prof. Williams, 
in the volume of their Transactions for 1785, and the remarkable 
facts described in it might well form the subject of a distinct 
notice, for which we have not now room. What we have at our 
disposition shall be devoted to a scene of local disturbance in Con- 
necticut which has been observed ever since the settlement of the 
country. ‘The region is around East Haddam, on the Connec- 
ticut river, a few miles below Middletown. The following mem- 
orandum was by request communicated to the senior editor of 
this Journal twenty five years ago, by the late Rev. Henry Chap- 
man,ft and it has been kept on file with the expectation of mak- 
ing an investigation on the spot ; but, as that which has been so 
long delayed may never be done, we are induced to give the 
fragment on the present occasion. 

‘In attempting to give an account of the circumstances attend- 
ant on subterranean noises, so frequently heard at East Haddam, 
perhaps it may be proper to mention the common opinion re- 
specting them. 

“Kast Haddam was cailed by the natives Morehemoodus, or 
place of noises, and a numerous tribe of cannibals resided there. 
They were famous for worshipping the evil spirit, to appease his 
wrath. Their account of the occasion of the noises is, ‘that the . 
Indian god was angry because the English god intruded upon 


* The atmosphere was clear, and the sun shining bright, which might have 
rendered a fiery meteor invisible, unless its ignition had been very intense. 
t Who died in Arkansaw, as a missionary. 


Flarthquake in Connecticut, §c. Bye 


him, and those were the expressions of his displeasure.’ Hence 
it has been imagined that they originated after the arrival of the 
English in this country. 

“About fifty years ago, an European by the name of Steele 
came into the place and boarded in the family of a Mr. Knowl- 
ton for a short period. He was a man of intelligence, and sup- 
posed to be in disguise. He told Mr. Knowlton in confidence, 
that he had discovered the place of a fossil which he called a 
carbuncle, and that he should be able to procure it in a few days. 
Accordingly, he soon after brought home a white round substance 
resembling a stone in the light, but became remarkably luminous 
in the dark. It was his practice to labor after his mineral in the 
night season. ‘The night on which he procured it he secreted it 
in Mr. K.’s cellar, which was without windows, yet its illumina- 
ting power was so great that the house appeared to be on fire, 
and was seen at a great distance. 'The next morning he enclosed 
it in sheet lead, and departed for Europe, and has never since 
been heard of. It is rumored that he was murdered on his way 
by the ship’s crew. He said that this substance was the cause 
of the noises—that a change of temperature collects the moist- 
ness of the atmosphere, which causes an explosion. 

‘¢ He further observed, that. there would be no more noises for 
twelve or fifteen years, and then they would be heard again in 
consequence of the explosion of some small pieces of this sub- 
stance which he had left, which would by that time become 
sufficiently large to produce the effect. It is reported that his 
prediction was strikingly fulfilled. These circumstances are cur- 
rently reported, and as they are recollected and often spoken of 
by many respectable old people, they are generally believed. 

‘‘Perhaps these stories may only serve as instances of public 
credulity, but as they are in the mouth of every one who says 
any thing about this subject, I thought it might not be improper 
briefly to communicate them.* 

‘““'These shocks are generally perceived in the neighboring 
towns, and sometimes at a great distance. ‘They begin with a 
trembling of the earth, and a rumbling noise nearly resembling 
the discharge of very heavy cannon at a distance. Sometimes 


* It is almost unnecessary to say, that these foolish stories are deserving of no 
credit whatever, and they are here preserved only as a part of the legends of the 
day.— Eps. 


338 _ Earthquake in Connecticut, &§c. 


three or four follow each other in quick succession, and in this 
case the first is generally the most powerful. 

“© While I was pursuing my inquiries concerning this subject, 
I was so fortunate as to find a register, in which was recorded. 
a collection of observations on the state and changes of the at- 
mosphere, the tides, and in short the most remarkable occurrences 
of the last thirty years, which were noted at the time, with some 
of the attendant circumstances. From this I copied in short 
notes an account of the Moodus noises since that period, which I 
here subjoin in detail. 

“The first which was recorded occurred on the 16th of May, 
1791. It began at 8 o’clock, P. M. with two very heavy shocks 
in quick succession. The first was the most powerful; the earth 
appeared to undergo very violent convulsions. 'The stone walls 
were shaken down, chimnies were untopped, doors which were 
latched were thrown open, and a fissure in the ground of several 
rods in extent was afterwards discovered. Thirty lighter ones 
succeeded in a short time, and upwards of one hundred were 
counted in the course of the night. 

“This shock was felt at a great distance. It was so severe at 
Killingworth, (about twenty miles distant,) that a Capt. Benedict, 
who was walking the deck of his vessel, then lying in the har- 
bor of that place, observed the fish to leap out of water in every 
direction as far as his eye could reach. 

“The atmosphere was perfectly clear and pleasant, and the 
moon, which was near its full, shone remarkably bright. On the 
night of the 17th, six more were observed. The atmosphere was 
still clear and warm. 

“The next occurred August 28th, 1792, at 10 o’clock, P. M. 

‘Rain in the forenoon, wind at the eastward. In the afternoon 
the wind was southwest. Warm and somewhat squally. 

“ October 24th, 1792, at 1 o’clock in the morning, occurred 
three shocks. Very pleasant weather—wind southwest. 

‘¢ Another was observed on the 11th of January, 1793, at 8 
o’clock, A. M. The weather was very pleasant and warm. It 
thawed. 

“'PMhere was another on the 6th of July, at 6 o’clock in the 
morning. Very warm and damp. Rain with thunder in the af- 
ternoon. 


Earthquake in Connecticut, Sc. 339 


“March 9th, 1794, at 2 o’clock, P. M. there were two, anda 
third at 11 o’clock, P. M. The atmosphere was clear in the 
morning, hazy and damp in the afternoon. 

“Two others were observed on the 11th of August, 1805, at 
7 o’clock, P. M. Wind southwest in the forenoon, and a thunder 
storm about 4 o’clock, P. M. 

‘ Another occurred on the 30th December, at 6 o’clock, A. M. 
The atmosphere was moist. 

‘There were two others on the 9th of February, 1812, at 9 
o’clock in the forenoon. Weather was clear, and the wind south- 
erly. 

‘“‘ Another was observed on the 5th of July, at 8 o’clock in the 
forenoon. The atmosphere was filled with rain and mist. 

‘The last was on December 28th, 1813, at 4 o’clock in the 
afternoon. ‘The weather was damp, and thawed the snow fast. 

“his account has been several times interrupted by the ill 
health of the gentleman who kept it. ‘These periods have been 
frequently of considerable length, and in all probability in these 
intervals many of these occurrences were omitted. 

“The particular place where these explosions originate, has not 
been ascertained. It appears to be near the northwest corner of 
the town. It was near this place that Steele found his fossil. 
The place where the ground was broken when the first one oc- 
curred which I mentioned above, was about three and a half miles 
from this place. ‘There was no appearance of a deposit near 
where the ground was broken, but it has been observed that this 
place has been repeatedly struck with lightning. 

“ The above is the amount of the information which I collected 
on this subject. Iam conscious of the insignificance of some of 
it ; but these stories were blended with all the virtual information 
which I could find. For this reason I have written them.” 

The Haddam earthquakes were described more than a century 
ago by the Rev. Mr. Hosmer, of Haddam, in a letter to Mr. 
Prince, of Boston, dated Aug. 13, 1729, and recorded in 'Trum- 
bull’s History of Connecticut, (Vol. 1, p. 92,) from which the 
following passages are extracted: they have the tinge of the 
times, which only adds to their credibility. 

“¢ As to the earthquakes,” he observes, ‘‘I have something con- 
siderable and awful to tell you. Earthquakes have been here, 
(and no where but in this precinct, as can be discerned ; that is, 


340 Earthquake in Connecticut, &§e. 


they seem to have their centre, rise and origin among us,) as has 
been observed for more than thirty years. I have been informed, 
that in this place, before the English settlements, there were 
sreat numbers of Indian inhabitants, and that it was a place of 
extraordinary Indian pawaws, or in short, that it was a place 
where the Indians drove a prodigious trade at worshipping the 
devil. Also I was informed, that, many years past, an old Indian 
was asked what was the reason of the noises in this place? 'To 
which he replied, that the Indian’s God was very angry because 
Englishman’s God was come here. 

‘Now whether there be any thing diabolical in these things, 
I know not; but this I know, that God Almighty is to be seen 
and trembled at, in what has been often heard among us. Wheth- 
er it be fire or air distressed in the subterraneous caverns of the 
earth, cannot be known; for there is no eruption, no explosion 
perceptible, but by sounds and tremors, which sometimes are 
very fearful and dreadful. I have myself heard eight or ten 
sounds successively, and imitating small arms, in the space of five 
minutes. I have, I suppose, heard several hundreds of them 
within twenty years; some more, some less terrible. Sometimes 
we have heard them almost every day, and great numbers of 
them in the space of a year. Oftentimes I have observed them 
to be coming down from the north, imitating slow thunder, until 
the sound came near or right under, and then there seemed to 
be a breaking like the noise of a cannon shot, or severe thunder, 
which shakes the houses and all that isinthem. 'They have in 
a manner ceased, since the great earthquake. As I remember, 
there have been but two heard since that time, and those but 
moderate.” 

Dr. Trumbull, without giving an exact date, goes on to remark 
in his history: “A worthy gentleman, about six years since, gave. 
the following account of them.”*—-“ The awful noises, of which — 
Mr. Hosmer gave an account, in his historical minutes, and con- 
cerning which you desire further information, continue to the pre- 
sent time. he effects they produce, are various as the intermedi- 
ate degrees between the roar of a cannon and the noise of a pistol. 


* As the venerable historian placed the MS. of his second volume ceonfiden- 
tially in the hands of the senior editor of this Journal in the year 1810, the let- 
ter alluded to above must have been written about the beginning of the present 
- century. 


Earthquake in Connecticut, Sc. 341 


The concussions of the earth, made at the same time, are as much 
diversified as the sounds in the air. The shock they give toa 
dwelling house, is the same as the falling of logs on the floor. 
The smaller shocks produced no emotions of terror or fear in the 
minds of the inhabitants. 'They are spoken of as usual occur- 
rences, and are called Moodus noises. But when they are so violent 
as to be heard in the adjacent towns, they are called earthquakes. 
During my residence here, which has been almost thirty-six years, 
I have invariably observed, after some of the most violent of 
these shocks, that an account has been published in the news- 
papers, of a small shock of an earthquake, at New London and 
Hartford. Nor do I believe, in all that period, there has been an 
account published of an earthquake in Connecticut, which was 
not far more violent here than in any other place. By recurring 
to the newspapers, you will find, that an earthquake was noticed 
on the 18th May, 1791, about 10 o’clock, P. M. It was perceiv- 
ed as far distant as Boston and New York. A few minutes after 
there was another shock, which was perceptible at the distance 
of seventy miles. Here, at that time, the concussion of the 
earth, and the roaring of the atmosphere, were most tremendous. 
Consternation and dread filled every house. Many chimnies 
were untopped and walls thrown down. It wasa night much to 
be remembered ; for besides the two shocks which were noticed 
ata distance, during the night there was here a succession of 
shocks, to the number of twenty, perhaps thirty ; the effects of 
which, like all others, decreased in every direction, in proportion 
to the distances. The next day, stones of several tons weight, 
were found removed from their places ; and apertures in the earth, 
and fissures in immovable rocks, ascertained where the explosions 
were made. Since that time the noises and shocks have been 
less frequent than before; though not a year passes over us but 
some of them are perceptible.” 

It appears that the earthquake was perceived at’ Middle Had- 
dam on the present occasion. - The country in that region is of 
granite, gneiss, and other primary rocks, and has during many 
years been famous for its fine crystallized minerals,—beryl and 
emerald, chrysoberyl, tourmaline, garnet, columbite, &c. Its nu- 
merous quarries afford the most magnificent slabs of hornblende 
gneiss for pavements, and supply distant parts of the United 


States; and porcelain feldspar has been obtained there by hun- 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.July-September, 1840. 44 


342 _ Earthquake in Connecticut, Sc. 


dreds of tons for exportation. A few miles above, (north,) the 
primary changes to red sandstone, with trap ; and near this junc- 
tion is a lead mine, formerly wrought, but now abandoned. A 
trap dyke of vast extent intersects the country, running from the 
coast at Guilford a great way inland. } 

In Middle Haddam, near the centre of the well known Moodus 
noises, ‘‘ the shock was quite severe.” 'The direction was thought 
to be from west to east, but not exactly in a line with the strati- 
fication of the country. ‘The above remark is quoted from an ob- 
server by the Rev. Mr. Brewer, late missionary in Smyrna.* 
The same gentleman adds the following facts. Being at Chester 
on the day of the earthquake, (August 9,) a few miles below 
East Haddam, on the Connecticut River, he observed the jar to 
be equal in violence to one half of some 15 or 20 shocks to which 
he had been annually accustomed for a course of years in Srayr- 
na. He thinks that the rumbling may have continued half a 
minute, and that its course was from N. W. to S. E., nearly in 
the direction of the strata. It was perceived at Westbrook, Had- 
dam and Wethersfield. : 

Mr. B. thinks that the earthquakes in Connecticut all proceed 
from the Moodus Hill, called Mount Tom. He observes that 
Smyrna was destroyed by an earthquake A. D. 177, and that the 
catastrophe has been several times repeated, ‘‘ but generally speak- 
ing, its numerous annual earthquakes extend over a circumference 
of probably not more than 20 or 30 miles, and are ordinarily so 
slight as barely to arouse one out of sleep, and seldom if ever 
does any rumbling accompany the shock.” “ Besides their limited 
extent, there are hot springs about five miles from the city, under 
the foot of Mount Corea, which go to prove them of local origin.” 

Nothing has, we believe, been suggested regarding the cause 
of the Haddam convulsions, worthy of confidence. The old 
story of fermenting or decomposing pyrites has been repeated, 
but this cause seems quite inadequate to account for movements 
extending at intervals through centuries. - 


*Y¥n the Hartford and New Haven Congregational Observer, of Aug. 29, 1840. - 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 343 


Arr. X.—A Synopsis of the Birds of North America; by Joun 
James Aupuson, FE. R. SS. Lond. and Ed., &c. Edinburgh, 
1839. 


The Birds of America, from drawings made in the United States 
and their Territories; by Joun James Aupuson, F. R. SS. 
Lond. and Ed., etc. Vol.I. New York, 1840. 


Wuen the celebrated French naturalist, Buffon, had concluded 
the ornithological portion of his interesting but visionary and 
imaginative work on natural history, he announced with all the 
solemn and dogmatical assurance of even more than Gallic ego- 
tism, that he had completed the ‘History of the Birds of the 
world.” The work he had just finished embraced descriptions 
and the history of eight hundred species of birds from different 
parts of the globe.. Their discovery had been the work of nearly 
twenty centuries. Their present number seemed immense to the 
short-sighted votary of science ; and the self-satisfied naturalist 
looked upon his own handiwork with ecstatic delight, and un- 


_hesitatingly pronounced it to be as nearly perfect and as complete 


as it was in the power of humanity to accomplish. . The student 
of nature who now attempts to tread the mazy and perplexing 
labyrinth of modern ornithology, pauses with wonder and con- 
templates with astonishment, the blindness or contracted vision 
of him, who could deem a work ‘so nearly complete as not to 
admit of a material augmentation,” which he now finds to con- 
tain hardly a sixteenth part of the species kuown to inhabit the 
earth. He can hardly realize, that while nearly twenty centu- 
ries on the one hand did not furnish the knowledge of one half 
as many hundreds of species, a single half century has multi- 
plied that number-almost by twenty. 

Nor has this astonishing change been confined to the science 
of ornithology. ‘The progress of every other of the natural sci- 
ences during the latter part of the eighteenth, and their advance- 
ment since the commencement of the nineteenth century, have- 
been wonderful in the highest degree. Not only have all those 
before recognized as such received such immense augmentations 
and improvements as to throw their former selves very far into 
the shade, but even others wholly new but admitted to be dis- 
tinct sciences, have been brought to light. 


344 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


Botany, for instance, is no longer an overgrown accumulation 
of synonyms and absurdities. It no longer is deformed by the 
ignorance, the want of method, and the lack of fertility of in- 
vention of its historians, as it had been rendered by the followers 
of Linnzeus. Entomology has taken rank, to which it is clearly 
entitled, as a distinct science. Ornithology is no longer the dry 
and repulsive study of uninteresting technicalities that it was in 
the day of the great Linnzus, nor on the other hand does’ it suf- 
fer from the crude and ridiculous though eloquent and attractive 
theories of Buffon. And, although it may not have escaped the 
effects of the whimsical notions of modern systematists, it is still 
a science, upon the study of which few can enter without deri- 
ving from it delight, instruction and improvement. Comparative 
anatomy is no longer a despised and neglected pursuit, but is now 
recognized as a distinct science, and is rapidly becoming the 
basis of all zoological arrangement. Ichthyology has been so 
changed by separation of subjects no longer embraced by it, and 
by more than equivalent increases, that it may almost without 
exaggeration be regarded as having become an entirely new sci- 
ence. And that most interesting, most instructive, aye, and most 
profitable of all the natural sciences, geology, has sprung at once, 
as it were, into light and life. 

By what agency have all these surprising changes been smeee 
ed? By whom have all these things been accomplished in so brief 
aspace of time? By the munificence of what government, aided 
and directed by the persevering industry and intelligent investi- 
gations of what scientific associations, have these incredible 
changes been brought about? It seems hardly possible, and yet 
it is strictly true, that all this astounding revolution, effected as 
it has been in the short space of half a century, has been brought 
about with hardly any aid from the patronage of governments, 
and with very limited and contracted assistance from the coépe- 
ration of scientific societies. 'T'rue it is, both have lent their par- 
tial and of themselves ineffectual labors in promoting this great 
end, but both have been but as humble instruments to set in mo- 
tion a power far mightier than they. As the single spark will 
ignite a train of powder, and thus becomes an instrument of suffi- 
cient power, humble as it may seem of itself, to destroy whole 
cities, so have the feeble but well directed efforts of the friends 
of science, by removing the mountain of popular prejudice that 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 345 


was resting upon it, been enabled to awaken public opinion to 
the subject, and by almost a single stride to place the study of 
natural history in that elevated rank to which it properly belongs, 
but from which it had been forever before shut out by prejudices 
as unfounded as they were narrow and contracted. 

It is not our present purpose to point out the steps by which, 
nor enumerate those through whose agency, this radical change 
in the public mind has, with unexampled rapidity, taken place ; 
but we cannot forbear to point te one whose efforts in the cause 
have. been preéminent, and whose success has been without ex- 
ample. Our readers hardly need be told we refer to George Cu- 
vier. By his labors as a naturalist—by arranging, in a manner 
never before equalled, the objects of his research, by displaying 
at one view the wonders of the remotest ages, and of the most 
distant portions of the earth,—as the public lecturer who carried 
away with him his audience, by the variety of his illustrations, the 
vividness of his descriptions, and the fascination of his eloquence, 
—as the philosophical writer, by his powers of combination and 
analysis, by his classification of what was insulated, by giving 
system and unity to the most desultory fragments of natural sci- 
ence, by establishing new laws, by opening new fields of research, 
by throwing the light of his genius over the darkest pages of 
nature,—in fine, by a whole life devoted to that object, he carried 
away captive the intelligence of a whole people, and an almost 
universal acquiescence on the part of his countrymen in favor of 
his darling studies. ‘The change in public opinion in favor of 
the natural sciences, then progressing slowly and with uncertain 
steps, received an impetus at his hands which carried it onward 
at a rapid rate, and which has since continued without intermis- 
sion, and in spite of the scoffs and the sneers of the ignorant, the 
doubting shrug of the short-sighted, or the illiberal cuz bono of 
him whose contracted vision looks only to immediate advantage, 
and the dimness of whose sight will not enable him to discern 
the remote, but not on that account less certain advantages which 
accrue to him who opens, in a proper spirit, the great book of 
nature, every page of mamels speaks to him so plainly of nature’s 
great Originator. 

The day has now gone by when the field naturalist, whose 
days are spent in roaming in search of ornithological specimens, 
and whose gun is his inseparable and perhaps only companion, is 


346 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


to be carelessly and capriciously set down by the prejudice and 
injustice of those who may not sympathize with his pursuits and 
his tastes, as a vagabond, an idler, and at best a very useless indi- 
vidual, if not one who should be regarded as an outcast from 
society. The entomologist, with his net and other paraphernalia 
for the pursuit of the objects of his study, has at last ceased to 
be looked upon except by the ignorant and the unintelligent, as 
at best a sort of monomaniac, who manifests his insanity by pin- 
ning all sorts of curious bugs to the crown of his hat. — 

The study of the natural sciences is fast becoming a more and- 
more favorite pursuit ; every hour adds to the numbers of its vo- 
taries, and its warmest friends have at length every reason to be 
satisfied with the progress it is making, and to feel that before 
long it will keep pace with that of. civilization and intelligence. 
Beyond this would be to expect impossibilities, — 

The friends of the natural sciences need ask for no stronger 
proof of the beneficial effects which follow the study of their 
favorite pursuits, than that offered by the simple fact of its on- 
ward progress, and the rapidly increasing favor it finds with the 
public. Did these not exist, in vain might Cuvier have labored ; 
in vain would have been all the fascinating eloquence of his lec- 
tures; in vain the simplicity and clearness of his writings. He 
might, indeed, for a time, have carried captive, by his powers of 
intellect, an imaginative people ; but they would sooner or later 
have detected the imposture, had they been pursuing an ignis 
fatuus, or even a harmless but unprofitable shadow. An intelli- 
gent people may for atime be deceived and misled, but they 
are never long deliberately in error; and we may therefore appeal 
with confidence to the striking and conclusive facts that where 
there is most intelligence, there and there only, the natural sci- 
ences flourish best, and also that the more the attention of a peo- 
ple is called to the subject, the more and more popular do they 
become, and the greater and more universal the avidity with 
which their study is pursued. It is not only because they are a 
never failing source of delightful occupation—it is not only be- 
cause their study has been found by the experience of years to 
convey nothing at all at variance with morality or religion—but 
it is moreover because of the direct and positive benefit which 
they are found to create both in a religious and a moral point of 
view, that we find their study now encouraged and sanctioned 
by the enlightened and the unprejudiced public. 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 347 


The study of nature is but the study of the works of the Al- 
mighty. We-see in every portion, whether the animalcule, or 
the mastodon, the products of His all-directing hand. We trace 
in every atom that goes to make up the whole, the undeniable 
evidence of his inscrutable wisdom. No wonder, therefore, that~ 
all who ever opened the book of nature, with a preper spirit, 
never failed to turn from its contemplation with a more devout 
and reverential acknowledgment of their Author’s infinite wis- . 
dom, goodness, and power. No wonder, therefore, that the natu- 
ralist is seldom or never other than most seriously impressed with 
religious and devotional feelings. It is no wonder, limited as are 
the number of those whose labors in‘the cause of natural history 
have rendered them conspicuous, so large a proportion should 
have been preéminent for their piety,—that the Willoughbys and 
the Rays, the Linneeuses and the Cuviers, and a host of others, 
should have been as bright examples in the walks of private life, as 
they have since become celebrated for their writings. No wonder 
that we are constantly meeting in their productions, a pure spirit 
of religious belief breathing in all their writings,:or bursts of 
lofty praise and enthusiastic admiration of Nature’s God, breaking 
forth and irradiating all they ever wrote. ‘The cold and hypo- 
critical materialism which marked a certain school of French nat- 
uralists in the days of their revolution, forms no real exception to 
this rule. 'Their land was at the time overflowing with atheism 
and infidelity. _They bowed in weakness before the current of 
popular frenzy, and in insincere attempts to palliate their unbelief 
they impiously attempted to pervert the book of nature, and to 
make it support their absurdities. But this very effort was of 
itself the means of defeating the end they had in view, and the 
unwieldy bubble burst under the pressure of truth. The fabric 
of French infidelity tottered and fell under the efforts of the phi- 
losophers to sustain it, and through the very weight of that which 
they vainly supposed would give to it symmetry and strength. 
Their wild conclusions disgusted by their absurdity all whom 
their impiety had failed to shock, and Christianity triumphed by 
means of the very blows that were designed for its destruction. 

It is therefore impossible to come to any other conclusion than 
that the study of natural history must have a necessary and in- 
evitable tendency to impress the mind with the truth of religion, 
and thereby to improve as well as regulate the moral feelings. 


& 


348 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


The book of nature expounds the works of Omnipotence ; and 
what grander, what more dignified, or what more ennobling 
study can occupy the human mind? If, as has been well said 
by one of the best of English poets, 


‘The undevout astronomer is mad,”’ 


what are we to think.of him who contemplates—not objects, all 
inquiry into whose nature, is utterly futile—but, those whose pro- 
perties he can distinguish, whose structure he can examine, and 
whose economy he can explore, without feelings of awe and 
wonder at the power that contrived them? 

The good effects of the study of natural history ina simply 
moral point of view, are even more apparent, if it be possible, 
and more inevitable than in that of religion. That proverb is a 
trite one, but on that account only the more true, which tells us 
that idleness is the root of all evil. And how fearfully true is it 
that nine tenths of the immorality that pervades society, origi- 
nates in the first place from a want of some occupation at least 
harmless, to fill up vacant time. If, therefore, the study of the 
natural sciences are as attractive as they have been shown to be 
beneficial—sufficiently so to occupy the idle hours of him who 
has nothing else to do, even if it conduces to nothing beyond a 
prevention of the effects of idleness, must necessarily exert a 
beneficial moral influence, apart from the religious feelings in- 
spired. That it is thus attractive, who can doubt, that looks upon 
it as it is—a recreation rather than a study; a means of acquir- 
ing as well as of preserving health, and a never failing source of 
pleasure? Let him, if he still dleynbiee read the poetic and ani- 
mated pages of the Wilsons and the Audubons, and other kindred 
spirits, and he cannot fail of being himself inspired with a love 
for their pursuits. It has been well remarked by Swainson, that 
“ the tediousness of a country life is proverbial ; but did we ever 
hear this complaint from a naturalist? Never ; every man who 
in his walks derives interest from the works of creation, is in 
spirit both a naturalist and a philosopher. ‘'T’o him every season 
of the year is doubly interesting. With each succeeding month 
new races of animals and being rise into existence, and become 
new objects for his research ; these in their turn pass away, and 
are succeeded by others, until autumn fades into winter, and both 
the animal and the vegetable world sink into repose.” 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 349 


“Thus may our lives, exempt from public toil, 
Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.”’ 


A very visible and decided change in the public mind in favor 
of the study of natural. history, has taken place in this country 
within a very short space of time. The universal dependence of 
almost every one upon his own individual exertions for support, 
have deterred, till within a few years, nearly all from even the 
most partial attention to this subject. Our young men have felt 
that their time was too precious to be so employed. But a mark- 
ed change has been taking place. The avidity with which the 
youth of many of our seminaries of learning are turning their 
attention hither is most gratifying. We hail it as a harbinger of 
good—as a means of doing away with a vast deal of those vi- 
cious habits into which students at colleges are but too prone to 
fall from sheer want of something to occupy their leisure hours, 
and which we cannot but believe the study of nature will sup- 
ply tomany. It was well remarked by one familiar with the 
subject, in a recent lecture before the Natural History Society of 
the young men of Harvard College, at their anniversary in May: 


‘He who loves nature, loves not revelry ; artificial excitement has no fascina- 
tion for him. The overflowing cup and unmeaning and dishonest game, cannot 
entice him. He avoids them with disgust and disdain. Fortunate indeed is it for 
that young man who early imbibes his taste for natural objects, and who has not 
been thwarted in his wishes by injudicious friends! 

“Does any one doubt the influence of these studies upon the morals? I will 
ask him to point to me the ¢mmoral young man who is devotedly fond of natural 
history? I never knew such an one. Does he still doubt the correctness of my 
inferences? I will show him valued friends who once mistook their course of 
duty and greatly erred: examining some natural productions, they were delighted ; 
farther examination changed their delight to wonder and astonishment; they could 
hardly realize that such sources of exquisite pleasure were ever within their reach. 
Ashamed to indulge in their previous degrading career, to associate with their for- 
mer companions, they stood forth regenerated ; and, with renovated health and 
ardent devotion, live, grateful worshippers of the Omnipotent. 

“The day is not far distant, when the establishment of your society shall be 
acknowledged to have been a most happy occurrence ; when it shall be looked 
back to as theera at which commenced a visible change in the tastes and habits 
of the young men, who have resorted hither, when to be one of its members will 
be a passport to confidence and respect. Heaven grant the time may not be long 
delayed ere a fountain shall flow here, whose water shall be the purer the deeper 
it is drawn—ere, within these consecrated walls, by the enthusiastic naturalist, 
shall be explained the works of the Almighty.” 


No one has probably contributed more towards creating and fos- 


tering a taste for nature in this country, than the justly celebrated 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 45 


- 


350 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


naturalist whose works we have placed at the head of this article.. 
His magnificent and unequalled painting created every where a 
great interest in the subject, which was confirmed and matured to 
a great extent by his adventurous and enthusiastic pursuit of his 
darling study, and still more by the fascinating and attractive his- 
tory of those whose painting at first drew attention tothem. The 
more the public notice was drawn to his undertaking, the more did 
it seem unrivalled for the boldness, almost amounting to temerity, 
with which it was commenced, the perseverance and untiring 
zeal with which it was carried on, as well as the fidelity, industry 
and celerity, with which it was finally completed. It became as 
conspicuous, as it will ever remain an enduring, monument of his 
enterprise and scientific acquirements. It was impossible to know 
any thing of the man without entertaining a high sense of his 
unexampled and unequalled fortitude, self-denial, and moral cour- 
age. We see in him the splendid painter of nature, her eloquent 
historian, and the accomplished gentleman, all united in the same 
person, who appeared a few years since in the capital of Scotland, 
an unknown and friendless stranger, of humble means, and as- 
tonished the scientific world by his proposal to publish a work on 
ornithology upon a scale so magnificent and stupendous, as would 
have deterred many a wealthier devotee of science. We follow 
the same individual, his object in Edinburgh accomplished, in the 
prosecution of his Herculean task. We find him now buffeting 
the repulsive waves on the inhospitable shores of Labrador, now 
treading the mazy and unhealthy swamps of Florida, and again 
ransacking the rivers and lagoons of Texas. We behold him re- 
turning with the spoils of patient and unyielding assiduity, to 
meet with new and unexpected obstacles, thrown in his path by 
the commercial crisis of the country, the loss of nearly one half 
of the subscribers upon whom he had depended to repay his ex- 
penditures. But we see him superior to all disasters, surmounting 
all obstacles, and completing in spite of them, the most magnifi- 
cent work on natural history the world had ever seen. Sucha 
man is an honor to any age and to any country, and no one can 
contemplate his life or his labors without feeling himself carried 
away by the interest they inspire ; and to this we hesitate not to 
attribute a large share of the pervading interest that has within a 
few years been created in this country in favor of the natural 
sciences. 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 351 


The first of the works to which we propose to ask the atten- 
tion of our readers, is, as its name implies, simply a synopsis of 
the birds of North America. It is comprised in a single duode- 
cimo volume of about three hundred and fifty pages. The num- 
ber of birds enumerated is 491. And some idea may be form- 
ed of the discoveries which have been made in this department 
of science within the few past years, from the fact that among 
them are no less than 142 birds not included in the synopsis of 
Bonaparte, and about one half of the whole number are not men- 
tioned in the work of Wilson. Quite a number of these are 
new species, from the Rocky Mountains, the discovery of Mr. 
Townsend. 

Mr. Audubon has adopted, very nearly, the quinary system in 
his arrangement, a system that finds no favor in our eyes, but 
which we will refer to more at length when we speak of the 
Ornithology itself. ‘To each family is appended the characteris- 
tics, as well as to each genus, and to every species of bird, be- 
sides a reference to his own works and plates; wherever they 
have been described by any other American naturalist, the au- 
thor, volume and page are given. Besides this he has added in 
each instance a brief but accurate, and for every essential purpose, 
complete scientific description of the specific marks, as well as 
the habitat of every species. 

Just such a work as this synopsis has long been a great desid- 
eratum among our ornithologists; indeed it has been next to im- 
possible to do without one. We are therefore somewhat surprised 
that, although it is now more than a year since the present work 
first appeared, it has never been republished in this country. 

Such a work as the Synopsis can never of course be a popular 
one, or of any interest to one not an ornithologist. Confined as 
it is to the technicalities of science, and affording, as it must to 
the beginner, nothing to interest him, it is still as absolutely in- 
dispensable as ‘the dictionary is to the student of a language. 
And although we should as soon think of placing the latter alone 
in the hands of the student, as the means of learning any un- 
known tongue, as we should of relying solely upon a synopsis for 
the study of ornithology—the one is as absolutely necessary as the 
other. As ornithologists are multiplying among us, in an almost 
geometrical ratio, the want of such a work as a cheap reprint of 
Mr. Audubon’s, is very much felt. It is the only key that yet ex- 


352 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


ists in many inextricable problems in American ornithology. 
‘Thus, for instance, the Falco lineatus of Gmelin, our common 
red-shouldered hawk, he would find variously described as the 
young or the old of the F’. hyemalis, asa distinct species, etc., and 
he might read over the pages of Bonaparte, Wilson, Nuttall, as 
well as the two first volumes of Audubon’s text to his larger 
plates, changing his mind at each authority to which he referred, 
and at last be utterly unable to decide amid the labyrinth of con- 
flicting testimony. But the work before us would solve his 
doubts, by telling him that both were but varieties of the same 
bird. ‘The same would be the case with the rough-legged hawk, 
which he would here find to be but one bird, although multiplied 
into the Falco niger, F. Sancti-Johannis, etc. And so with a 
large number of birds to which we have not room to refer, at the 
length we could wish; the confusion in which they had become 
entangled being such as to throw no slight obstacles in the way 
of him who attempts to wade through them without assistance. 
We would therefore, from a strong sense of the want of it, ad- 
vise.a cheap republication by Mr. Audubon of his Synopsis. 

The remaining work is one of a much more extensive charac- 
ter than the other, being a full and complete history, so far as 
present knowledge on the subject extends, of all the known spe- 
cies of the birds of North America. It is designed as a republi- 
cation of his great work in such a form and at so reduced a price 
as to render it accessible to very many who were shut out from 
the other, with all the additions not only of new species, but also 
of new facts relative to those before known, and the whole scien- 
tifically arranged. ‘The entire work, embracing colored plates— 
miniatures in most instances of his large work—as well as the 
text incorporated with them, is published at a cost of less than a 
tenth part of the expense of his former publication. It is issued 
in numbers, each containing the plates and descriptions of five 
species of birds. 'The first volume, embraced in fourteen num- 
bers, and consequently containing seventy species, is, thus far, all 
yet published. It forms, however, adequate means of judging 
of the character of the entire work when published. As it will, 
in all probability, be for years to come the standard of American 
ornithology, it deserves our careful consideration as a scientific 
work on one of the most popular of the natural sciences. 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 353 


The seventy birds that are given in this volume comprise all 
the birds of prey, the swallows, swifts, goat suckers, and the fly 
catchers. ‘These are divided in the work as follows: The vul- 
tures form the family Vulturinee, with but one genus, Cathartes. 
The falcons are all included in the family Falconinze, which is 
subdivided into the following genera,—-polyborus, buteo, or buz- 
zard, aquila, or eagle, haliaetus, or sea eagle, pandion, or fish- 
hawk, elanus, ictinia, or kite, nauclerus, or swallow-tailed hawk, 
falco, astur, and circus. The third family, Striginze, embrace the 
six genera of owls, viz. surnia, or day owl, ulula, or night owl, 
strix, or screech owl, symium, or hooting owl, otus, or eared owl, 
and bubo, or horned owl. The goat suckers make another fam- 
ily, Caprimulgine, containing the genera of caprimulgus and 
chordeiles, or night-hawk. To the single species of swift are de- 
voted the fifth family, Cypselinze, and the genus cheetura. The 
swallows are all embraced in the single genus hirundo, family 
Hirundine. The fly catchers, family Muscicapine, are divided 
into the four genera of milvulus, muscicapa, ptilogonys, and culi- 
civora. 

We have said that the system by which Mr. Audubon has ar- 
ranged the birds of America, both in the Synopsis and the Orni- 
thology, is one upon which we cannot bestow our humble favor. 
Tn spite of the arrogant and intolerable assumption on the part of 
advocates abroad, and especially of him who has so undeservedly 
laid claim to the title of the English Cuvier, and who pretends 
that no objections have or can be brought against the system, we 
would, in all humility, venture to suggest what to our rash but 
deliberate judgment appears somewhat in the light of one radi- 
cal defect in the system, to go no farther ; enough in our estima- 
tion to render it worse than no system at all. We mean the idle, 
unnecessary, and, especially to the beginner, most perplexing sub- 
divisions into new genera. We might quote the language of the 
naturalist himself to whom we refer, were it necessary, to prove 
the evils of this needless multiplication of new genera. But 
they are too apparent of themselves to require the equivocal 
weight of his authority. We appeal to the very work before us 
in evidence of the validity of our objections. No portion of the 
feathered tribe is more strongly marked in their characteristics 
than the birds of prey. It isin them therefore that the folly of 
the fashionable subdivisions of the present day are most conspic- 


354 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


uous. The different kinds of these birds are so well marked by 
the hand of nature, that the rudest and most unskilled observer 
can at once distinguish them and separate them into their three 
natural genera of owls, hawks, and vultures. Why mystify, then, 
what is in itself so simple? What is to be gained by manufac- 
turing genera where no generic characters exist on the surface? 
Certainly nothing to simplify, nothing to benefit science. A falcon 
is still a falcon, no matter whether it have the compact form, the 
talons and beak of an eagle—whether it have a swallow-tail, a 
wing longer than tail, a collar round its neck, or whatever specific 
difference may exist. Why then, where nature has given us but 
one genus, and that one as distinctly defined as any in the ani- 
mal kingdom, create twenty others from mere specific character- 
istics? Twenty three American hawks, and nearly half as many 
genera! And if we are to have a genus for nearly every species 
that may differ from the genus to which it naturally belongs, 
why is not the principle carried out every where? Why, for in- 
stance, if the Falco furcatus is to be separated from its kindred, 
and marked off into a genus by itself, because it has a swallow 
tail, why are the purple martins, the white-bellied swallow, and 
the barn swallow, with their forked tails, put in the same genus 
as the cliff swallow, with its tail perfectly square? If the night- 
hawk is to be separated from the goat sucker because it has no 
bristles at the base of its mandible, why is not the Hirundo serri- 
pennis made into a distinct genus because it has spines where no 
others of the genus Hirundo are known to have them? In short, 
we think the quinary system a very objectionable one, tending 
to perplex and mystify the science of ornithology, with no sub- 
stantial foundation—indeed with none at all, beyond the acci- 
dental whims and caprice of its founders. We regret therefore 
the necessity under which Mr. Audubon felt himself to lend to it 
the weight of his authority, by adopting it. We mean to con- 
vey no censure whatever upon him for having done so. For 
while we know full well there is no. one more fully sensible of 
its imperfections than he, we know too that it was only because 
he would be exposed to the hasty and unjust censure of foreign 
critics if he did not do so, that he submitted to the necessity of 
the case. We all know the sneering manner in which his first 
work was spoken of by an English naturalist, very far Mr. Au- 
dubon’s inferior in every respect, solely because he had not seen 


Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 355 


fit to adopt this system then. We were gravely informed that 
our birds had been ‘‘so admirably figured by the celebrated Wil- 
son that little has been left for those who have gone over the 
same ground.”* Again we were told ‘Mr. Audubon’s two vol- 
umes may be consulted with advantage, but the scientific de- 
scriptions are destitute of that precision and detail which might 
have been expected in these days; and as the nomenclature is 
not that now in use, it is impossible to make out the modern gen- 
era,” &c. 

The verdict of the intelligent public have however seen fit to 
set aside, in one instance, a decision so wholly unjust, and we 
believe it would have done so again. Still we think Mr. Audu- 
bon right in consulting his interest rather than incur the risk of - 
having his new work shut out of the pale of foreign favor. We 
could not however forbear entering our humble protest against 
this cumbersome, unwieldy, top-heavy system, which, we trust, 
will soon crumble into fragments, from its own want of symme- 
try and ill-arranged proportions, and from its ruins arise a new 
one, upon which Dame Nature may not dread to look for fear of 
being frightened at her own distorted image. 

The volume before us, if it shall be succeeded by others of 
equal merit, affords a promise which we have no doubt will be 
fulfilled, of the best work on American ornithology yet published. 
To the student the plates it contains offer all the advantages that 
are to be derived from the larger work, while the text, having 
been arranged and well-assorted, is free from the confusion and 
contradictions arising from new discoveries, and other necessary 
faults in a work published, as was his first, in the midst of his 
labors, and while the results of his investigations were constantly 
rendering what he had before written, nugatory and out of date. 
In short, we have here presented to us at a single view, the dis- 
coveries and labors of a lifetime. 

A large portion of the text of this volume is the same with 
what has already appeared in his former work. There is howev- 
er much that now appears for the first time, and which is replete 
with interest and information. We regret that our narrow limits 
forbid us to make extracts. We can therefore only glance at a 
few instances. 


* Swainson on the Natural History and Classification of Birds, Lardner, V, p. 83. 


356 Audubon’s Ornithology, First Volume. 


His remarks relative to the flight of diurnal birds, more espe- 
cially of the falcons, given in the history of Harris’ Buzzard, p. 
25, present many new and interesting facts and observations. 
Mr. Audubon’s experience has led him to the conclusion that a 
greater length of wing affords no indication of consequently 
greater power of flight in any species. 'The power of flight is 
dependent upon the rapidity with which the wings are moved, 
and the muscular energy applied to them. In evidence of this 
he cites the turkey buzzard, which, notwithstanding its very am- 
ple wings, is one of the very slowest birds. The golden eagle, 
which has universally been considered a bird of most extraordi- 
nary powers of flight, is little better than a sluggard. The va- 
rious groups of hawks are classified by their mode of flight, but 
we have not room to state the classification at length. The swift- 
est group is that containing the pigeon hawk, goshawk, etc. The 
speed of the latter is so great as to enable it to outstrip even the 
wild pigeon, the swiftness of whose flight is proverbial. 

Some diversity has existed among our ornithologists of late years 
relative to the plumage of the little screech owl; the disagree- 
ment being which.is the old bird, that with the red or that with 
the gray plumage. This controversy, supposed to have been set- 
iled by the fact that Mr. Samuel Cabot, Jr. shot a red plumaged 
female in the act of feeding gray plumaged young, is, it seems, 
still mooted. Mr. Audubon says: ‘the Red Owl of Wilson and 
other naturalists is merely the young of the bird called by the - 
same authors the Mottled Owl, and which in fact is the adult of 
the species.” While we confess our own leaning to be slightly 
in favor of the seniority of the red plumage, we cannot decide 
between such conflicting opinions without clearer evidence than 
has been adduced. 'The question is an interesting one, and we 
hope some one having the means will keep live specimens of 
birds in each plumage, for the purpose of definitely ascertaining 
the adult. 

Among those species the existence of which on this Continent 
was a matter of doubt, or even wholly unsuspected, there are 
several given in this volume, which have now ceased to be sub- 
ject for longer uncertainty. These are as follows: the Caracura 
eagle, found in Florida; Harris’ buzzard, new species, shot in 
Louisiana ; common buzzard, Columbia river; little night owl, 
Kuropean species, obtained near Pictou, in Nova Scotia, where it 


Supposed New Mineral Species. 357 


was said to be not uncommon; little Columbian owl, Columbia riv- 
er; '‘l'engmalm’s owl, near Bangor; violet-green swallow, Rocky 
Mountains; rough winged swallow, Louisiana ; Rocky Mountain 
fly-catcher, North California; and Townsend’s Ptilogonys, Colum- 
bia river. The proportion will be seen to be very large, being 
no less than ten out of seventy species described. 

But we have already extended our article too far, and must 
take leave, at least for the present, of a subject so replete with 
interest. We have only to add, that if the residue of the publi- 
cation shall equal the numbers now issued, with especial pains 
taken to secure the accuracy of the coloring of the several plates, 
the present work will without exception be the most splendid 
one on natural history that has yet been published in the country. 


Arr. XI.—On a supposed new Mineral Species ; by Cuarues 
Uruam Sueparp, M. D., Prof. of Chemistry in the Medical 
College of South Carolina. 


Te mineral here described, is one with which mineralogists 
have, to a certain extent, been acquainted for several years. 
From a list of localities, by Dr. Joseru Barrarr, prepared in 
1824, and published in the 9th volume of this Journal, (pp. 39— 
42,) it appears to have been first discovered in 1820, at Phillips- 
town, Putnam county, New York; and was from that time until 
very recently, regarded, in common with the other varieties of 
the same substance hereafter to be mentioned, as Sphene. A 
second locality of the mineral was made known by Dr. A. F. 
Homes, of Montreal about eight years ago, who obtained it in 
considerable abundance from Grenville, in Canada. 

My attention was first directed to a peculiarity in the cleavages 
of the Grenville specimens, in the year 1834. I observed 
they afforded an oblique rhombic prism, whose lateral faces in- 
clined to each other, according to measurements with the com- 
- mon goniometer, under angles of about 123° 30’. The fact ap- 
peared to me of sufficient interest to be mentioned in my Trea- 
tise on Mineralogy, and I accordingly introduced it in the form of 
a note, under Sphene, (Vol. II, part 2nd, p. 201.) 

In a letter from H. J. Brooxr, Esq., dated London, May, 


1837, (accompanied by a box of minerals,) my attention was di- 
Vol. xxxix, No. 2.—July-September, 1840, 46 


358 Supposed New Mineral Species. 


rected anew to the subject, by receiving from him a specimen of 
the Phillipstown mineral, along with the following remarks. “1 
send a specimen of a mineral found in Canada, and near West 
Point. It was ticketed Sphene, but its measure on the only faces 
[ have found, differs from Sphene, and every other mineral I am 
acquainted with. It splits parallel to the planes of a rhombic 
prism of about 125° 15’. Iconclude that it is an undescribed 
substance. Can you find it in crystals ?” 

In reply to which, I referred Mr. Brooxe to the note in my. 
Treatise above alluded to, and transmitted him specimens from 
Canada, upon which in a letter of 1838, he remarks again as fol- 
lows: “Dr. Forcuammer, of Copenhagen, took specimens of the 
Canada Sphene with him last year to analyze, and I expect his 
results shortly. I have the angle of the Canada variety ae 
30’, instead of 123° 30/.” 

Nothing farther, to elucidate the subject, had transpired last 
October, when I had an opportunity of examining, with Mr. 
Brooxe, in his own cabinet, the specimens he possessed from 
the localities above mentioned. 

On a visit to the mineral district of St. Lawrence county, 
(N. Y.,) in company with Baron Leprrer, of New York, and 
Capt. Witx1ams, of Bristol, Conn., I had the pleasure of obtain- 
ing from two recently discovered localities, highly perfect crystals 
of the mineral under consideration. One of these was on Mr. 
CLeveLann’s farm, near a place called Natural Bridge, in Lewis 
county, where it occurs in small quantity, in coarse granular 
limestone, associated with a dark colored pyroxene, a pearl-blue 
scapolite, (nuttallite,) and crystallized white feldspar. ‘The other 
locality is in a similar formation, at a spot called Robinson’s mine, 
two miles from the Rossie lead mine in St. Lawrence county. 
At this place the associated minerals are, (besides pyroxene, scap- 
olite, and feldspar,) apatite in large green crystals, Za and 
plumbago. 

The crystals vary much in size, from above an ‘lh to one 
eighth of an inch in diameter, and are variously blended up with, 
and implanted upon, some one or all_of the above mentioned 
species. 

The primary form of the crystals is an sirens rhombic prism, 
whose bases are oblique, from an obtuse edge; the inclinations 
being M on M=112° 10’ and M on P=115° 30’.. Several crys- 
tals of this form were observed at Natural Bridge. 


= ey 


Supposed New Mineral Species. 359 


Figures 1 and 2, however, represent the usual forms of the 


_ mineral; and it is a somewhat remarkable circumstance, that it 


appears to be as rare at these localities, under a compound or mas- 
sive form, as it is under regular crystals at Phillipstown and Gren- 
ville. 


Fig. 2. 


141° 30’ to 142° 
151 30 
137 30 
135 10 
110 30 
é : ‘ 3 145 00 
| a a . ; i : 118 00? 

The edges of the crystals are generally sharp and well defined. 
The faces also are flat, though considerably pitted, from a natural 
incompleteness in part, but still more from imbedded minerals, as 
apatite, zircon, pyroxene, plumbago, &c. It must not be consid- 
ered, therefore, that the angles above given, will be found inca- 
pable of correction. 'They are, however, the averages of numer- 
ous trials, the limits of variation were generally within 40’. 

No very marked difference in lustre is perceptible on the dis- 
similar faces of the crystals, if we except c and b, which are both 
inferior to the others in this respect. 

The planes P, ona few of the crystals, exhibit delicate lines of 
cleavage in two directions, approaching, but not identical with, 
their edges of intersection with M and M; which cleavage marks 
are likewise visible on the lateral planes, both primary and sec- 
ondary, as denoted in figure 2. The cleavage which takes place 
in conformity with these lines, does not afford a solid of the 
same dimensions with the primary form. Indeed, there is a con- 
stant difference between the two cleavages, as to the facility 
with which they are effected, and the lustre of the resulting 


faces. The inclination of the most brilliant cleavage plane to P, 


is between 130° and 131°, while the cleavage prism itself affords 


360 Supposed New Mineral Species. 


an angle of 125° 30’, and exhibits qualities which prove it iden- 
tical with, those cleavage forms so readily obtained of the min- 
eral from Phillipstown and Grenville. No cleavage appears in 
other directions ;* but the mineral on being broken shows an un- 
even or sub-conchoidal fracture. 

Lustre vitreous, inclining to adamantine. Color dark clove- 
brown, (St. Lawrence county :) chocolate-brown, (Phillipstown:) 
light clove-brown, (Grenville.) Semi-transparent to translucent. 

Hardness=5.5... 5.75. . 

Sp. gr.=3.33...3.34, (St. Lawrence county ;)=3.43 ... 3.48, 
(Plhillipstown ;)=3.45...3.57, (Grenville.) The slight dis- 
crepancies in specific gravity among the specimens from different 
localities, probably -arise from the adherence of foreign minerals. 

When heated before the blowpipe it affords the same phenom- 
ena. as Sphene. 

From the foregoing description it will be obvious, that the only 
difference between the mineral under consideration and Sphene, 
(independently of chemical composition, of which, as yet, we 
know nothing,) is confined to crystalline form. The attention of 
crystallographers is now invited to the subject. Should it be ad- 
mitted, as it appears to me probable, that to reconcile them will 
be impracticable, we shall then have (apart from the possible dis- 
covery on analysis, of dimorphism, ) a new species in the varieties 
here described ; in that event, I shall bespeak for them the name 
of Lederite, an appellation in which every American cultivator of 


mineralogy will, I am confident, be happy to acquiesce. 
New Haven, Ace 31, 1840. 


* With the exception of what is observable in a single specimen, where a per- 
fectly foliated structure is visible in the direction of a tangential truncation of one 
of the edges between a and P. The lustre of this cleavage plane is highly 
splendent. 


_ —————— 


Miscellanies. 361 


MISCELLANIES. 
DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 
PROCEEDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 


1. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society; Philadel- 
phia.* October 18, 1839.—Mr. 8. C. Walker, in behalf of the Com- 
mittee on the paper entitled, ‘‘ Astronomical Observations made at 
Hudson Observatory, &c., by Elias Loomis, Professor of Nat. Phi- 
los., &c. in the Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio,” made the 
following report :-— 

The memoir of Prof. Loomis contains a description of the Hudson 
Observatory, erected at the expense of the Western Reserve College 
at Hudson, Ohio. The building consists of a central portion, fifteen 
feet square upon the inside. From a circular platform of ten feet di- 
ameter, rise twelve small cherry columns, that.sustain a hemispheric 
dome of nine feet internal diameter, covering a five and a half feet 
equatorial of 3.8 inches aperture, by Simms. The dome rotates on 
ten lignumvite wheels of five inches diameter. The equatorial rests 
on an insulated pier, descending six feet below the surface of the 
ground, and rising three feet above the platform, which is itself about 
six feet above the surface of the ground. . 

The eastern wing is ten feet by twelve, and seven and a half feet 
high, and covers a Simms’ transit circle of eighteen inches diameter, 
graduated on platinum to 5’, and reading to single seconds by three 
Troughton’s microscopes. The telescope has a focal length of thirty 
inches andan aperture of 2.7 inches. The transit circle, and a clock 
by Molyneux, are each mounted on separate insulated piers. ‘The 


_ Western wing contains no instruments; but serves for a lodging-room, 


computing-room, &c. 
Professor Loomis gives the following results for the latitude of the 
Hudson Observatory. 


2 1) / Md 
By u.c. Polaris, Aug. 8, Latitude41 14 39.8 
. “© 10, 36.7 
ess 36.8 
“14, 37.8 
Cyl 40.8 
i kc 36.6 


mean, 41 14 38.1 


* So much has accumulated since our last publication of the Proceedings of the 
American Philosophical Society, that we are under the necessity of abridging to 
some extent the abstract given by the Society.—Eps. 


362 Miscellanies. 


By u. c. 6 urse minoris, Aug. 13, Latitude 41.14 35.1. 
SS Tb aie 2 36.2 


mean, 41 14 35.7 


From which he concludes that the latitude is 41° 14’ 37” nearly. 

The paper contains a series of fifty moon culminations, one eclipse, 
and six occultations, observed in 1838 and 1839. ‘These furnish data 
for determining the longitude of the Hudson Observatory when cor- 
responding European and American observations shall have been ob- 
tained. Prof. Loomis gives for the approximate longitude 5h. 25m. 
42s. It may be proper to add, that one of the undersigned, 8. C. 
Walker, having reduced the six occultations contained in this paper, 
and compared them with four corresponding observations at the Phil- 
adelphia Observatory, four at the Dorchester Observatory, two at Mr. 
- Paine’s House, Boston, and one at Princeton College, New Jersey, 
finds for the longitude of the Hudson Observatory 5h. 25m. 47s. 

The instruments for this observatory were selected by Professor 
Loomis during his late journey in Europe. This economical estab- 
lishment appears to be more complete than any of the kind now 
known to be in operation in the United States, and the Committee 
cordially recommend the example of the Western Reserve College, as 
worthy of being followed by those universities which are desirous -at 
moderate expense, of inculcating practical astronomy, of making ob- 
servations highly useful for geographical purposes, and of prosecu- 
ting interesting researches connected with the progress and advance- 
ment of astronomy. 

The Committee recommend the paper for publication. 


Sears C. WALKER, 
R. M. Parterson, + Committee. 
Gero. M. Justice, 


The recommendation in favor of publication, was adopted. 

Dr. Bache, on behalf of the Committee on Dr. Hare’s paper enti- 
tled ‘On the extrication of Barium, Strontium and Calcium,” report- 
ed in favor of publication in the Society’s Transactions, which was 
ordered accordingly. 

In this paper Dr. Hare first calls attention to the following phe- 
nomenon observed by him almost twelve years since, and published. 
When the circuit in a galvanic battery, the deflagrator of the author, 
was completed through a saturated solution of chloride of calcium, 
the anode being formed by a coarse, and the cathode by a fine pla- 
tinum wire, the latter was rapidly fused, while, when the situation 
of the wires was reversed, the ignition was comparatively feeble. It 


Miscellanies. 363 


having occurred, some months since, to Dr. Hare, that this phenome- 
non might be due to the evolution and combustion of calcium at the 
cathode, he proceeded to apply a galvanic deflagrator of three hun- 
dred and fifty pairs of plates, in the process of Berzelius and Pontin, 
for preparing the amalgams of the metallic radicals of the earths. 
The author gives a sketch of the present state of our knowledge in 
relation to the metallic bases of the alkaline earths, as derived from 
the experiments of Davy; adding his own observations, in confirma- 
tion of the declaration of Davy, that the substances ‘obtained by him 
from baryta and strontia, were amalgams of their metallic bases, and 
not the bases themselves ; and, further, that the process employed for 
obtaining calcium, by Davy, was really incompetent to effect the desi- 
red result. He then proceeds to describe the peculiar apparatus by 
which amalgams of barium, strontium and calcium were procured ; 
the chlorides of the respective alkaline radicals being exposed to gal- 
vanic action, the cathode being mercury, and the anode a coil of pla- 
tinum wire. ‘The details of the apparatus cannot be properly under- 
‘stood without the figure which accompanies Dr. Hare’s communica- 
tion: its chief peculiarities are the following: Ist. It furnishes the 
means of keeping the mercury, forming the cathode, at a temperature 
nearly as low as 32° Fah. 2d. It prevents exposure of the amalgam 
of the radical, to the direct action of the chlorine from the chloride 
used. 3d. The alternate and successive, or the simultaneous action 
of two galvanic deflagrators, was conveniently obtained. 

Dr. Hare states, that after operating with a series of two hundred 
pairs of plates of one hundred square inches each, for twenty minutes, 
unaided by these improvements, he had found the proportion of cal- 
cium to be but one six-hundredth part of the amalgamated mass. 

An apparatus for distilling the amalgam is also described and fig- 
ured in Dr. Hare’s memoir. It consists of an iron alembic, connected 
with a glass receiver, and an adopter communicating with a reser- 

voir of hydrogen, and containing chloride of calcium and quick-lime. 
Within the alembic, an iron crucible, containing the amalgam, was 
placed, the crucible being closed by a capsule, in which was a portion 
of caoutchoucine, and by its cover. Naphtha was poured into the 
alembic. The air from the apparatus was expelled by hydrogen, de- 
siccated by passing through the chloride of calcium and quick-lime in 
the adopter. The distillation was conducted by applying heat prin- 
cipally to the upper part of the amalgam, to prevent an explosive 
ebullition. The mercury being distilled off, which requires a bright 
red heat in expelling the last portions, the metallic radical remained 
in the crucible. § 


364 Miscellanies. 


The metals oxidize rapidly in water ; are brittle, fixed, and require 
a good red heat for fusion. They sink in sulphuric acid. By keep- 
ing in naphtha, they acquire a coating which renders them less active 
when exposed to water. 3 

Dr. Hare attempted to separate the mercury from the amalgams 
when solidified by the use of solid carbonic acid, by straining them 
through leather, but the result did not answer his expectations. 

By using solid carbonic acid and hydric (sulphuric) ether, Dr. Hare 
solidified a mass of the amalgam of ammonium. He considers that 


in this case a portion of ether combines with the alloy, without im- 


pairing its metallic character. 

Professor Bache, in behalf of Professor Alexander, of Princeton, 
made a verbal communication of a description of the aurora borealis, 
of September 3d, 1839, as it appeared at Princeton. 

At about ten or fifteen minutes past eight, P. M. an ill-defined, but 

considerably bright light was seen to extend for some distance above 
the horizon, in a direction nearly due east; it was similar, in intensity 
and appearance, to a lunar twilight. Soon after this, a continuous 
arch or zone of light was manifest, extending from the same spot to 
the opposite, or nearly opposite portion of the western horizon. This 
soon separated into two parts,* and, after a short interval, beams of 
light shot up from the eastern portion of the arch, which were speedily 
multiplied in every direction around the observer, except within about 
thirty degrees of the true (or it might be magnetic) south. 

A corona was soon formed, which was at first quite indistinct, and 
was not continuous for any great length of time, during the existence 
of the aurora, except at the period of its greatest brilliancy. At about 
twenty minutes past eight, this corona was situated in a line with, and 
about midway between « Aquile and « Lyre. This may be consider- 
ed as a very tolerable approximation to its position, though, from the 
apparent intersection, or, as it might almost be termed interweaving 
of the beams which composed it, it was not often easy to fix upon the 
place of its centre with much precision, if indeed that which seemed 
its centre, did not really change its place; since, at times, it seemed 
to occupy a position very sensibly lower than that which the prece- 
ding observation would indicate. 

At about half past eight, the appearance of the aurora was superb. 
The radiations which extended from the corona, nearly reached the 
horizon in every direction, with the exception of those which tended 
toward the southern space before-mentioned, which, it is believed, was 


“Two arches, it is believed, were at this tine formed, and either separated 
throughout their entire extent, or united only near their extremities ; but this my 
notes do not explicitly state. 


M iscellanies. 365 


even at this time bounded by something like an arch, that was convex 
toward the zenith. The aurora was often party-colored; frequentiy 
of a rose-red, especially in spots, in that portion of the sky which 
might be supposed to be near the plane of the dipping needle ; and al- 
so about the center of the corona. It was in the part of the heavens 
here described, that the arch of greatest intensity could most common- 
ly, if not uniformly, be traced: though the crown of it frequently fa- 
ded away, or became excessively faint. 

Between the spots of red light, or beams of the same tint, others 
were observed, which, either from the effect of the first mentioned 
color, or something peculiar to themselves, appeared of a color ap- 
proaching to a bottle-green. 

At times, again, when the corona was deficient, the appearance of 
what remained on each side of the vacant spot, was not unlike that of 
two immense comets; their heads some small distance asunder, and 
their tails turned eastward and westward. 

The light of the corona, when most perfect, was quite dense, not 
only at the central point, but also near to what seemed to be the outer 
limits of its radiations, at which the tint commonly exhibited the near- 
est approach to white. 

Two meteors or shooting stars were seen, which in both cases ap- 
peared to pass between the aurora and the eye of the observer; one 
nearly in the direction of the arch of greatest intensity, and the oth- 
er almost perpendicular to it. The precise times of their appearance 
were not noted, though they fell within that period in which the phe- 
nomena already described were exhibited. 

The corona formed again at nine; and, though again broken, was 
imperfectly visible after that time. 

At half past nine, the eastern portion of the sky became tinted with 
intense red and green; but at half past ten, little else remained than 
the appearance of bright horizontal beams of a white color in the 
north. . 

If it be admitted that the centre of the aurora was precisely midway 
between « Aquile and o Lyre, at twenty minutes past eight, its azi- 
muth must have been 1° 14’ 42” E. of 'S., and its altitude 73° 27' 6”; 
the latitude of the observer being 40° 20' 47’ N. The point thus des- 
ignated, would be very nearly in the direction of the dipping needle ;_ 
the dip being, by observation, 72° 47’ 6” (72° 47.1’) and the variation 
(though not accurately determined,) some 4° W. or that of the S. end 
of the needle, of course, the same extent to the east. The degrees 
of azimuth, reckoned on a parallel to the horizon at an altitude of 72° 
and more, being small, the deviation from the direction of the dipping 
needle, measured on the are of a great circle, would be scarcely more 
than 1° towards the N. W. 

Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 47 


366 Miscellanies. 


Professor Bache stated that his own observations near Philadelphia, 
of the altitude of the apparent converging point of the auroral beams, 
at nine, P. M. made it but about 69°. He had witnessed a case of the 
appearance of a dark spot of irregular shape, between two beams of 
light, which was certainly not a cloud, as the stars were not at all ob- 
scured by it, and which he supposed to be the phenomenon referred 
to recently by Professor Lloyd. No mottled clouds, such as usually 
attend the aurora, were visible during the period between nine and ten 
o clock, when he had been able to observe. Professor Bache stated 
that he did not place much stress upon his measurements, as he had 
been prevented from sustained observation by indisposition. There 
had been, in the newspapers, an account of an auroral display visible 
at Londen, on the morning of the fourth of September, at about the 
same absolute time as at Princeton, according to Professor Alexander’s 
observations. It was said to have been accompanied by a very unu- 
sual number of shooting stars, compared in one statement to the splen- 
did display of iarerner 13th, 1833. 

Professor Henry had examined the light of this aurora by the pola- 
riscopes of Savart and Arago, but had not been able to detect the 
slightest trace of polarization.* 

The following gentlemen were duly elected members of the Soci- 
ety :— 

Tuomas U. Water, of Philadelphia: 

Joun PEenineTon, of Philadel] phia. 

Eucene A. Vatt, of Paris. 

Cuar.es Rumxer, of Hamburgh. 

CuarLes GuTzuarr, of Macao. 

Joun WasuineoTon, Captain R. B. N. 

Exias Loomis, of the Western Reserve College, Ohio. 

STEPHEN ALEXANDER, of Princeton College, N. J. 

November 1, 1839.—The Committee, consisting of Dr. Bache, Dr. 
Patterson and Mr. Booth, to whom the paper of Dr. Hare, read at 
the last meeting of the society, was referred, entitled, ‘‘ Description 
of an Apparatus for deflagrating carburets, phosphurets, or cyanides, 
in vacuo, or in an atmosphere of hydrogen, between electrodes of 
charcoal; with an account of the results obtained by these and other 
means, especially the isolation of calcium, and formation of a new 
fulminating compound. By R. Hare, M. D., Professor of Chemistry 
in the University of Pennsylvania,” reported in favor of publication 
in the Society’s Transactions. The publication was ordered accord- 
ingly. 

* Other observations, made in this country and in England, on this magnificent 


Aurora, have already popeared in this Journal, (Vol. xxxvim1, pp. 146, 260, and 
376.)—Eps. 


Miscellanies. 367 


The apparatus is of a convenient construction for the purposes de- 
signated in the title of the paper. The lower electrode or cathode is 
a parallelopipedon of charoal, on which the body is placed, to be sub- 
jected to the influence of one or more batteries ; and tubes, with valve- 
cocks, communicating with an air-pump, a barometer-gauge, and a 
reservoir of hydrogen, open into the interior of a ground plate, on 
which a bell-glass is fitted, air tight. In the experiments of the au- 
thor, an equivalent of lime was heated with one equivalent and a half 
of bicyanide of mercury, in a porcelain crucible, enclosed in the 
alembic made for this purpose, and described ina former paper. (See 
p- 131 of the Proceedings.) The weight of the residue was such as. 
would result from the union of an equivalent of calcium with an 
equivalent of cyanogen. This was then subjected to galvanic action 
on the cathode of the apparatus, the anode being brought in contact 
with it, and the result was the production of masses on the charcoal, 
having a metallic appearance. 

_ Phosphuret of calcium, exposed in the same manner, in the galvan- 
ic circuit, left pulverulent matter which effervesced in water, and, when 
rubbed on porcelain, appeared to contain metallic spangles, which 
were rapidly oxidized in the air. 

In one experiment, particles of charcoal, apparently fused or re- 
sembling plumbago, dropped from the anode. 

After heating lime with bicyanide of mercury, the mass was dis- 
solved in acetic acid, in which nitrate of mercury produced a-copious 
white precipitate, that detonated under the hammer like fulminating 
silver. 

November 15.—The committee, consisting of Dr. Patterson, Mr. 
Justice, and Prof. A. D. Bache, on Mr. E. Otis Kendall’s paper, read 
November 1, and entitled “‘On the longitude of several places in the 
United States, as deduced from the observations of the Solar Eclipse 
of September 18th, 1838. By E. Otis Kendall, Professor of Mathe- 
matics in the Central High School of Philadelphia,” reported in fa- 


vor of publication in the Society’s Transactions. The publication 


was ordered accordingly. The following abstract of the paper was 
contained in the report of the committee. 

The paper contains the reductions of all the observations of the 
Annular Eclipse of the Sun, September 18th, 1838, yet reported to 
the Society; together with those of Mr. Hallowell at Alexandria, 
D. C.; of Messrs. Olmsted, Mason and Smith, at New Haven, Conn. ; 
and of Mr. J. Blickensderfer, jr. of Dover, Tuscarawas county, Qhio. 
The computations were made after Bessel’s method. 

The corrections of the elements in the Nautical Almanac as derived 
from eight equations of condition, from the durations of the ring, and 


twelve from that of. the eclipse, were— 


368  Miscellanies. 


é = —14,'"782 = correction of moon’s place on true orbit. 
¢= — 7.’310— correction. of do. onasecondary to do. 
= — 3.198 = correction of sum of semi-diameters. 

7=-+- 0.515— correction of difference of do. 

In which 7 and 7’ refer to Burckhardt’s semidiameter of the moon 
and Bessel’s semidiameter of the sun. The value of «¢ is obtained by 
assuming the longitude of the State House, Philadelphia, to be 5h. 
Om. 39s.. west of Greenwich. After applying these corrections of 
the elements, Mr. Kendall deduces the following longitudes of the 


places of observation. 


- Long.+EHast,—West . 
Place of Observation. from Greenwich. 


m. Ss. 

Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio, B. —5 22 40.70 
B. ——§ 25) 5271 
Dover, Tuscarawas ELE Ohio, y a Be 
me 59.45 
B. +5 8 24.44 
Alexandria, D. C. ss . ie 
_E. 38.79 
B. —5. 8 3.25 
Washington Capitol, ue ee ote 
E. 1.96 
B. —5 1 12.03 
Haverford School, Penn. Hs A : ea 
E. Les 
"baie Bh X=5 bad pom 
; , F. R. 38.72 
Philadelphia State House, RR. Weie 
E. 39.32 
B. —5 0 40.99 

Germantown, Penn. . 6 4 Bais 
E. 36.06 
B. —4 59 24.69 
Burlington, N. J. : = ee 
: E. 30.35 
‘iB. —4 58 43.69 
Princeton, N. J. . F. R. 43.68 
E. 30.70 
B.  —4 56 46.75 
Weasel Mountain, N. J. a Z i fae 
IEey 51.34 


Miscellanies. 369 


Long.-+-East,— West 


Place of Observation. ‘ from Greenwich. 

: . m. Ss. 
B. —4 56 0.02 
Brooklyn, N. Y. a io Be Re ~ 0.80 
E. 231 
: ; B. —4 51 47.65 
New Haven, Conn. . ‘ F E. 56.82 
: tes B. —4 51 16.92 
Southwick, Mass. Sree : E. 20.16 
Wesleyan University, Conn. -. a san ee } ae 
Williamstown College, Mass. : : B- = —4 52 26.93 
Dorchester Observatory, Mass. B. —4 44 22.76 


The committee to whom was referred the paper of Prof. Loomis, 
entitled ‘‘ Additional Observations of the Magnetic Dip in the United 
States,” reported in favor of its publication, and which was ordered 
accordingly. These observations are incorporated in Art. V. of this 
Vol., p. 4i. 

The committee, consisting of Dr. Hare, Dr. Bache, and Mr. Booth, 
on a paper entitled **On a new compound of deutochloride of plati- 
num, nitric oxide, and hydrochloric acid; by Henry D. Rogers, 
Professor of Geology in the University of Pennsyivania, and Martin 
H. Boye, Graduate of the University of Copenhagen,” reported in 
favor of publication in the Transactions of the Society. The publi- 
cation was ordered accordingly. 

This substance is procured by dissolving platinum in an excess of 
nitromuriatic acid, and evaporating nearly to dryness; after which it 
is treated with aqua regia, freshly prepared, from concentrated hy- 
drochloric and nitric acids. A little water is afterwards added, drop 
by drop, just sufficient to keep the chloride of platinum dissolved, 
when the compound will remain in the form of a gamboge yellow 
powder. It is then separated by decanting and filtering, and pressed 
between the folds of bibulous paper, and dried im vacuo over sulphu- 
ric acid. 

The precipitate is a yellow, minutely crystalline powder, which ab- 
sorbs water with great avidity. It may be preserved, without decom- 
position, in dry air, or 7m vacuo. Itis decomposed by water, alcohol, | 
&c., with extrication of nitric oxide, chloride of platinum remaining 
in solution. A concentrated solution of chloride of platinum has, 
however, no action on it. Heated in an atmosphere of hydrogen, it 
gives off a large amount of chloride of ammonium, leaving a residu- 
um of metallic platinum. 

Anatysis.—The salt analyzed, was prepared and kept in the man- 
ner described. Heated to the temperature of 212° F., it does not 


370 : Miscellanies. 


part with any of its water of combination. For estimating the 
amount of platinum and chlorine, the salt was fused with carbonate 
of potassa, é&c., and the platinum, thus obtained, weighed by itself, 
and the chlorine precipitated from the solution by nitrate of silver. 

The quantity of nitric oxide was determined by introducing a por- 
tion of the salt into a graduated tube, inverted over mercury, and de- 
composing it by letting up the requisite proportion of water. 

The mean of a series of experiments, varied in different ways, gave. 


Platinum, - — - 41.26 per cent. 
Chlorine, Saat 43.89 *“ 
Nitric oxide, - 4.98 |“ 


The above results correspond to five atoms of bichloride of plati- 
num; five atoms of hydrochloric acid, and two atoms of nitric oxide. 
The water was calculated from the loss, in the analysis, to be equiv- 
alent to ten atoms. 

Respecting the chemical nature of this compound, it may be re- 
garded, either as a chloride of platinum, with a muriate of nitric ox- 
ide, represented by the following formula, (Pt Cl?) 5+ [(Cl H)>+ 
(NO?)?]+ 10 Aq, or as a double chlorosalt, a chloroplatinate of ni- 
trogen, with a chloroplatinate of hydrogen, represented by the formu- 
la, [(Pt Cl?)?-+-N Cl? |? +(Pt Cl? +H Cl) +14 Ag. ~ 

Professor A. D. Bache made a verbal communication in which he 
compared the observations on the magnetic dip by Professor Loomis, 
contained in his paper ordered this evening for publication, with those 
given in a paper by Professor Courtenay and himself, read before the 
Society in 1834. 

The following resolutions in relation to combined magnetic obser- 
vations were adopted : 

Resolved, That in the opinion of the American Philosophical So- 
ciety, it is highly desirable that the combined series of magnetic ob- 
servations now in progress under the direction of the British govern- 
ment, should be extended to the United States, by the establishment 
of Magnetic Observatories at suitable places. - 

Relaiaed: That a Committee be appointed, with authority, on be- 
half of the Society, to invite the attention of one of the departments 
of the Government of the United States to the plan for combined 
magnetic observations, a sketch of which was presented in the docu- 
ments from a Committee of the Royal Society of London, and io urge 
co-operation in the plan as a national undertaking, in every way wor- 
thy of the United States.* 


* A Committee were appointed, and a letter or memorial on the subject drawn 
up by them was addressed to Hon. J. R. Poinsett, Secretary of War. This letter 
is given at length in the Proceedings, but as it file to effect its oniees at the pro- 


Miscellanies. 371 


December 20, 1839.—Doctor Hare made a verbal communication 
relative to the application of radiant heat to glass. 

The combustion of anthracite coal, in an open grate, in his labora- 
tory, having four flues of about 4.12 by 2.12 inches each, in area, just 
above the level of the grate, (the upper stratum of the fire having 
nothing between it and the ceiling,) had allowed him to perform some 
Operations with success, which formerly he would have considered 
impracticable. The fire having attained to that state of incandes- 
cence to which it easily arrives when well managed, he had, on open- 
ing a hole by means of an iron rod, so as to have a perpendicular 
perforation extending to the bottom of the fire, repeatedly fused the 
beaks of retorts of any capacity, not being more than three gallons, 
causing them to draw out, by the force of gravity, into a tapering 
tube; so that, on lifting the beak from the fire, and holding the body 
of the retort upright, the fused portion would hang down so as to 
form an angle with the rest of the beak, or to have any desired 
obliquity. By these means, in a series of retorts, the beak of the 
first might be made to descend through the tubulure of a second; the 
beak of the second through that of a third, and so on; the beak of 
the last retort in the row being made, when requisite, to enter a tube 
passing through ice and water in an inverted bell-glass. 

Dr, Hare further communicated a method of preparing pure chlo- 
rohydric acid, from the impure muriatic acid of commerce, by the 
action of sulphuric acid. 

It is known, said Dr. Hare, that concentrated sulphuric acid, en 
added to liquid chlorohydric acid, expels more or less of it as a gas, 
in consequence of its superior.affiinity for water. At the present low 
price of the ordinary acid of commerce, Dr. Hare had found it advan- 
tageous to procure the latter in purity, by subjecting it to the former. 

A tubulated glass retort, having been half filled with chlorohydric 
acid, sulphuric acid was allowed to drop from a glass funnel, with a 
cock, into a tube descending into the acid in the retort, through the 
tubulure, to which it was luted by strips of gum-elastic. The tube 
terminated in a very small bore. The beak of the retort, bent in the 
fire, as he had just described, descended through the tubulure into the 
body of a small retort containing water not refrigerated. The beak 
of the latter descended into a larger one, half full of water, to which 
ice was appied. Of course the beak of the third might, in like man- 
ner, enter the body'of a fourth. After an equivalent weight on sul- 


per time, we do not insert it, althonati it is a most able document, and should be 
Uses read. This letter, owing to the representations of the oy of War, 
was referred to a select committee of Congress.—Eps. 


372 Miscellanies. 


phuric acid had been introduced, and the evolution of gas was no 
longer sufficiently active, heat might be applied until nearly all wo 
chlorohydric acid should come over. 

The residual diluted sulphuric acid was, with the addition of nitrate 
of soda or potassa, or nitric acid, as serviceable for galvanic purpo- 
ses, as if it had not been thus used. 

Dr. Hare further communicated a method of preparing hydrochlo- 
ric acid and chlorine in the self-regulating reservoir invented by him, 
and spoke of some of the applications of the gases thus prepared. 

By means of the reservoir of chlorohydric acid. he had been en- 
couraged to make an effort which proved successful ; to form artificial 
camphor by the impregnation of oil of turpentine with that gas. 

Subjecting an ingot of tin to a current from his reservoir of chlo- 
rine, it was rapidly converted into the bichloride, or fuming liquor of 
Libavius. To his surprise the ingot was fused by the heat generated. 
In the last mentioned reservoir the materials were manganese, in 
lumps, and concentrated chlorohydric acid, diluted sulphuric acid 
being also introduced; as the reaction of this last mentioned acid with 
the manganese was more active than that of the chlorohydric acid. 
In fact, sulphuric acid, diluted with its weight of water and common 
salt, might be used without chlorohydric acid.- In the reservoir for 
chlorohydric acid, the materials were sal ammoniac and sulphuric acid, 
to which some water was added, but not so much as to prevent the 
chlorohydric acid from assuming the gaseous state. ‘ 

Mr. Sears C. Walker made an oral communication on the subject 
of determining longitudes from corresponding observations of me- 
teors. gts 

It had been recently remarked by Prof. Schumacher, Astr. Nachr. 
No. 283, that, so far as his information extended, no trial had been 
made of the observation of meteors for determining longitude; 
though the subject had been proposed Jong since by Prof. Benzenberg. 
Accerdingly, on the 11th of August, 1839, observations, chiefly of the 
instant of vanishing of meteors, were made at the observatories of 
Altona, Bremen, Konigsberg, Breslaw, &c., with such success as to’ 
lead Dr. Olbers to the conclusion announced in a succeeding No. (284) 
that observations of this kind are adequate for the complete determi- 
nation of longitudes of places. By means of twelve coincidences on 
the same night, Prof. Boguslawski found the Breslaw Observatory to 
be 28m. 22.07s. east of Altona, differing less than a second from that 
which had been previously adopted. 

As the subject of priority in this inquiry might be considered im- 
portant, Mr. Walker deemed it his duty to communicate the substance 
of a letter from Prof. Alexander, of Princeton College, New Jersey, 


Miscellanies. 373 


dated January 14th, 1839, in-which is contained the result of seven 
coincidences of observations of meteors, made 25th Nov. 1835, by 
Messrs. A. D. Bache and J. P. Espy, at the house of Prof. Bache, in 
Philadelphia, and by Professors Henry and Alexander, at the Philo- 
sophical Hall, 0.1s. east of Nassau Hall, College of New Jersey, at 
Princeton. As the time referred to by the Philadelphia observers is 
that of the University of Pennsylvania, which is about 0.7s. west of 
the State House, Philadelphia, the differences of longitude, given by 
Prof. Alexander, have been diminished by 0.6s. to reduce them to the 
State House, Philadelphia, and Nassau Hall, Princeton. The results 
are contained in the table. The time of the disappearance of the 
meteors was noted. : 


Meteor.) N. Hall, East of loaascaeaiies Observers. 
State House. | Weight. 
a |+2m. 0.45sec. I Espy and Alexander. | 
lop ges cen Chet De co 1 sand és and Henry. 
Ce ee fh Ke 5920rs 0.5 «© and Henry. 
d |j+2 0.20 « 1 eee aan aes 
ey ieee 00s 1 Bacheand * 
fy lela AOL SO RC 1 *¢ and Alexander. 
g i142" 260.« 0.5 Espy and Henry. 
Mean according to weights + 2m. 0.61 sec. 


S. House, W. of Greenwich —5h. O “ 39.12 * 
N. Hall, W. of Greenwich —4‘ 58 “ 38.51 * 


The longitude of Nassau Hall: mean of meteoric, chronometrical, 
and astronomical determinations ; is — 4h. 58m. 38.20s. 


2. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. Com- 
piled from the Records of the Society, by Jerrries Wyman, M. D., 
Recording Secretary. 


Feb. 26th, 1840.—B. D. Greene, Esq. i the chair. 


Dr. A. A. Goutp laid before the Society the following descriptions 
of new species of shells, by Prof. C. B. Adams. 

1. CeRITHIUM TEREBRALE. C. testa parva, elongata, spe albo- 
cincta; anfractibus duodecim planulatis ; cum quatuor elevatis lineis, 
quorum suprema in altera anfractu, supra inferum in precedente, su- 
pra posita est; spira elevata, conica, sutura subimpressa; apertura 
ovata, parva; caunda ad sinistrum torta. 

Remarks.—This shell is found in New Bedford and vicinity, in the 
soft mud below low-water mark. It was first regarded as a variety of 
the C. Emersonii ; it differs from that shell however in having a large 
elevated ridge in the place of the carina on the upper part of the 

Vol. xxxix, No. 2.—July—September, 1840. 48 


374 Miscellanies. 


whorls of the spire. The entire want of granulations distinguishes 
it from the common type of the species. It is distinguished from the 
Murex tubercularis, Mont., by the same character. 

2. PLANORBIS VIRENS. P. testa parva, viridi, striis transversis 
erebris revolventibus tenuissimis ; anfractibus quatuor; spira haud 
prominente; vix concava; anfractu ultimo superne sub-planulato; 
inferne sub-carinato; labro superne prominente; umbilico subulato 
profundo. Habitat New Bedford. 

Remarks.—-This species differs from P. parvus, Say, in being much 
less broadly and more deeply umbilicate beneath ; it is also higher. 
P. parvus instead of being subcarinate on the lower side is much flat- 
tened. P. concavus, Antheny MSS., resembles this species, but is 
more convex above and concave beneath. 

3. Limnea acuminata. L. testa fragili, semitransparente, ovate 
striis transversis irregularibus revolventibus creberrimis parallelis; 
anfractibus quatuor; spira perbrevi, subacuta; anfractu ultimo max- 
imo; aperturdé amplissima, spire interiorem ostendente; columella 
tenui subreflexa; labio haud appresso. Habitat New Bedford. 

Remarks.—This differs from the L. columella, Say, in the much 
greater proportional size of the last whorl, the breadth of the shell 
and the presence of very distinct revolving lines. It resembles the 
Succinea obliqua, Say, but the spire is rather less, and no revolving 
lines are mentioned in the description of that species. The L. acumi- 
nata has also been found at Horn pond, in Woburn, Mass., by T. J. 
Whittemore, Esq. 

4, Limnea umBiLicaTa. L. testa fused, ovata, striis transversis 
revolventibus tenuibus; anfractibus quinque convexis ; sutura perim- 
pressa; spira subacuta; anfractu ultimo subgloboso; apertura ovata 
dimidio longiore quam spira; labro intus fusco marginato,' punicea 
albo submarginato; columella late reflecta, obsolete plicataé; umbili- 
co subamplo haud profundo. Habitat New Bedford. 

Remarks.—F or this and the second species described above, Prof. 
Adams is indebted to Mr. Shiverick: The L. umbilicata resembles 
L. caperatus of Say, but in the latter the aperture is about one half 
the length; revolving lines are raised, more distinct and numerous ; 
umbilicus is rather less, and there is one more whorl. 

5. Limnra PALLIDA. L. testa ovata fusiformi pallida; anfracti- 
bus quinque; sutura impressa, spira conica subacuta; anfractu pos- 
tremo producto; apertura superne acuta, haud magna; umbilico par- 
vo. Habitat Shoreham, Vt., on shores of Lake Champlain, clinging 
to rocks and stones. 

Remarks.—This species most resembles L. acuta, Lea; it differs 
from it in being long, striate, and of a pale brown color, like the 


Miscellanies. 375 


weathered shells of kindred species. ‘The figure of the L. acuta rep- 
resents the columella as intruding upon the aperture, which is not the 
case with this shell. ; 

6. Cycitas ELEcans. C. testA bizonataé, subglobosa, rhombico or- 
biculari, equilaterali, eleganter et tenuissime striata, natibus haud pro- 
~ minentibus; umbonibus tenuibus; infra albo-ccrulescente. 

Remarks.—This shell is remarkable for its inflation, which contin- 
ues far over the disk of the shell, and terminates quite abruptly near 
the margin. The circumference very nearly resembles that of the 
C. calyculata, except that itis less curved below; that shell however 
is flattish and has prominent beaks. C. rhomboidea, Say, approaches 
this in form, but is much less inflated between the umbo and margin, 
has very coarse’ strie and is destitute of the paler zones, whichin 
this shell appear. to be a constant character. 


March 11, {840.—Grorcr B. Emerson, Esq., President, in the chair. 


Dr. Storer stated that he had received information from Dr. Kirt- 
land, of Ohio, that the descriptions and figures of the following fishes 
of the western waters, by the latter gentleman, had been completed : 
viz. Centrarchus hexacanthus; Polyodon folinm; Catostomus Du- 
quesnii; C. melanops; C. gracilis; C. anisurus; C. elongatus; Hy- 
odon turgissus; Pimelodus cupressus; P. limosus; P. ceruleus; Ca- 
tostomus bubalus; ©. nigrans; Chatoessus ellipticus; Lepisosteus 
oxyurus; L. platostomus; L. ferox; Leucioperca Americana; Aci- 
penser nudus; A. macrostomus; Anguilla lutea; Ammocoetes con- 
color; Labrax chrysops; Icthelis macrochira. 

A specimen of shell limestone from Machias, Me. presented for the 
cabinet by Lynde M. Walter, Esq-, was laid on the table. Dr C. T. 
Jackson stated that this was from the sandstone formation in Machi- 
as, Me., and was composed principally of univalve shells. It had 

-been consolidated by the heat of the trap which had forced its way 
through it, so that in some instances it had been converted into com- 
pact and even into crystalline limestone ; occasionally the limestone 
has been broken, by the intermixture of the trap, so as to form lime- | 
stone breccia. > 


March 18, 1840.—Tuomas A. GREENE, Esq. in the chair. 


Dr. M. Gay read the following communication from A. A. Hayes, 
Esq., of Roxbury, on the Native Nitrate of Soda, found in South Peru. 

The existence of beds of Nitrate of Soda in Peru has been long 
known, and the inhabitants of a most arid and desolate region, have 
made it by simple operations an important article of commerce and 
manufacture. 


376 Miscellanies. 


This salt has claims of scientific interest quite equal to those of 
any mineral hitherto discovered. It indicates to us, who are accus- 
tomed to a humid climate, with heavy rain storms, a state of atmos- 
pheric dryness, as far removed from our experience as the singular 
products there deposited are from our own rocks and soils. 

During the scientific tour of Mr. John H. Blake, of Boston, a great 
number of specimens, illustrating the forms and composition of this 
salt, were collected, and I have been able to Jearn some. facts from 
the chemical examination of them, but have to regret that the loss of 
Mr. Blake’s journal has prevented our having a full account of their 
geological relations. 

The Nitrate of Soda exists in large beds, a few feet below the sa- 
line soil, or forming that soil in various places, from Arica. on the 
north and west, to the course of the river Loa on the south. The 
country is an elevated pampa, having the form of a shallow basin, 
bounded by the coast cliffs on the west, by the higher. pampas on the 
north, by sandstone hills on the east, and the ravine through which 
the river Loa falls into the sea on the south. The elevation of the 
pampa of Tamarugal in the province of Tarapaca is neanly 3300 feet 
above the level of the Pacific. 

The western. border or coast presents granite, on which the pale 
flesh-colored feldspar porphyry, peculiar to volcanic regions, reposes. 
This rock is doubtless trachyte, and its extent and volcanic character 
make it one of the most important of known rocks. Imbedded in the 
soil and forming extensive tracts, are shells of the same species as 
those now existing in the ocean. A saline soil and other appearances 
denote that a long line of coast has been elevated from below the 
ocean’s waters. In travelling north, Mr. Blake found that the pam- 
pas were broken by ravines, through which the waters from the Cor- 
dilleras flow at times. A remarkable feature is disclosed by these 
ravines: a section always presents a higher level on the north than on 
the south side, so that each pampa presents a steppe, rising as we ad- 
vance northward. The sandstone hills forming the eastern boundary 
are of moderate elevation; they contain beds of gypsum, and form 
the western barrier of another basin, the eastern bounds of which 
are the Cordilleras. 

The pampa.is mostly uninhabitable, but spots where water can be 
obtained, and parts of the ravines are cultivated. Nearly midway 
between the eastern and western limits of this pampa there exists a 
buried forest of large trees, mostly of the Algorabo species. The 
trees are inclined towards the southwest, and the wood is singularly 
well preserved. Specimens have the color and grain of old mahoga- 
ny, but are brittle. The gaseous constituents of recent wood seem 


Miscellanies. Bil 


to have been lost, for although resinous, it burns without flame. 
From personal examination of the country, east of the sandstone ele- 
vations, Mr. Blake concludes that a lake of considerable extent once 
covered the space between these and the Cordilleras. Numerous vol- 
canic rents now exist among the mountains, and it is probable that 
the saline matter produced by them was dissolved in the water, form- 
ing a lake at the base of the mountains. This lake subsequently 
broke its barriers, and prostrated a forest then growing where the 
saline matter is now found.~ I have carefully examined the earthy 
matter which is mixed with the nitrate of soda from different parts 
of the province of Tarapaca, and find that the larger part is com- 
posed of fragments of finely powdered shells, the color being un- 
changed. A brown marl forms the remainder, such as results from 
the washings of sandstone,—these facts I cunsider as supporting the 
conclusion of Mr. Blake. The surface of the pampa is mostly sand, 
clay, and saline matter. The latter is composed of sulphate of lime 
and soda, salt, and nitrate of soda—some parts present the nitrate of 
soda at the surface—at others, a few feet below. These salts have 
all the physical and chemical characters of salts produced by decom- 
position and separated by evaporation from solutions. The nitrate of 
soda is found in-distinet strata, a thin layer of brown loam separating 
the parts; it is also found mixed with salt, and forming a small por- 
tion of the whole mass. The refining operations are rude and simple. 
The richest masses of the native salt are blasted or broken and divi- 
ded into small portions; with these, copper kettles are in part filled, 
and water, or the mother water of former operations, is added, and 
heat applied until a boiling and saturated solution is obtained. The 
solution is transferred to wooden coolers, where the nitrate of soda 
crystallizes. The undissolved salt remaining in the kettles is thrown 
aside, fresh salt being used each time, although not. one half of the 
nitrate of soda is dissolved. The coolers are emptied after the crys- 
tals of nitrate have ceased to form; it is dried, packed in bags, and 
sent to the coast on mules. The wood used in the operations is 
transported from a distance on the backs of mules from the borders 
of the pampa. Of late, attention has been turned to using the alter- 
ed wood of the buried forest, and some excavations promised a sup- 
ply. Water is found by sinking wells in some places, below the sa- 
line soil. The subsistence of the workmen, drivers and mules, is 
mostly. drawn from Valparaiso. The quantity of nitrate of soda 
which exists in beds is immense, and in addition it is probable that 
the saline soil would afford a large supply. 

Native nitrate of soda, in fractured masses, has a granular struc- 
ture, arising from the aggregation of irregular rhombic crystals, va- 


378 Miscellanies. 


“rying from fine grained to coarse grained. It is brittle, but yields 
more easily in one direction, separating into angular parts, resembling 
loaf sugar closely, in some specimens. Color varies from snow-white 
to reddish brown and gray. Some specimens have a lemon yellow 
tint irregularly distributed ; specific gravity, 2.290; taste, nitrous, 
with a cooling impression; odor, peculiar, and when warmed resem- 
bling chloride of iodine dissolved in water. 

Composition of average specimens is nitrate of soda 64. 98, we 
phate of soda 3.00, enter of sodium 28.69, iodic salts 0.63, shells 
and marl 2.60, 99.90. 

Mixed with this mineral, I have found nitrate of potash, sulphate 
of lime, chloride of sedium, iodate of potash or soda, and chloriodate 
of magnesia, the latter imparting the bright yellow tint which some 
specimens show. 


April ty 1640;--Dr. He Stans. an the choi 


Dr. Storer presented the following report on the fishes referred to 
him at the last meeting of the Society. 

The fishes presented to the Society at its last meeting, as having 
been taken from Jamaica pond, about five miles from this city, are the 
Osmerus eperlanus, common smelt. You may be surprised at the 
circumstance of salt water fishes being taken in a fresh water pond 


entirely disconnected with the sea. During the preparation of my 


report upon the Fishes of Massachusetts, I learned from Benjamin 
Weld, Esq. of Roxbury, it was generally understood that the smelts 
found in Jamaica pond, were originally placed there by Governor 
Barnard. Investigating this subject, to procure some certain data, I 
met with the following extract, in a note, by Daines Barrington, the 
then Vice President of the Royal Society, toa letter from John Rein- 
hold Foster, ‘‘on the management of Carp in Polish Prussia :” 
‘‘T have been informed by Sir Francis Barnard (the late Governor of 
New England) that in a large pool which he rented not far from Bos- 
ton, and which had not the least communication with the sea, several 
of these fish, originally introduced from the salt water, had lived many 
years, and were, to all appearance, very healthy.”* As I have never 
heard of this fish having been taken in any other pond in this neigh- 
borhood, there can be but little doubt that the ‘‘large pool” referred 
to in the above note, was Jamaica pond.t The specimens you per- 
ceive are considerably smaller than those purchased in our market— 


* Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 61, for the year 1771, p. 312. 
t I have ascertained since writing the above, that Gov. Barnard’s residence was 
on the borders of Jamaica pond. 


a 


a 


Miscellanies. 379 


all that I have seen from this pond for the last year, are smaller than 
those commonly met with. From the quantities yearly taken, how- 
ever, they must have increased considerably in number; and their 
flesh has lost nothing of its sweetness or flavor, as I have repeatedly 
had opportunities of testing. 

This is the only experiment, so far as I am able to pene which has 
been made to transport marine fishes to fresh water, in our country. 
It has proved that this species can bear the change, and that it will 
increase in numbers in its new locality. In many ponds in our state 
more-favorably circumstanced, better supplied with food, this fish 
would undoubtedly retain its usual size. Ina highly interesting pa- 
per, entitled ‘‘ Hints on the possibility of changing the residence of 
certain Fishes from salt water to fresh—by J. MacCulloch, M. D. 
F. R.S.,” we learn that this same species, the smelt, has been kept 
by Mr. Meyneil, of Yarm, Yorkshire, in a fresh water pond for four 
years, having no communication with the sea, and they grew well, 
and bred as freely as under other circumstances.* In the valuable 
communication of Dr. MacCulloch, just alluded to, several other spe- 
cies of fishes are mentioned as having been transported in a similar 
manner, and he observes that the flavor of every fish has been impro- 
ved by the change. ‘‘The sole becomes twice as thick as a fish of 
the same size from the sea. The plaice also increases materially in 
thickness : in some cases, it appeared three times as thick as in the 
sea. "The barse also turns much thicker, and improves in delicacy. 
The muilet almost ceases to grow in length, but enlarges in breadth, 
and presents a much deeper layer of fat.”"} No one can give this 
elaborate paper, which I have merely referred to, a careful perusal, — 
without being satisfied that our own ponds, many of them now utterly 
useless, may be made rich repositories of numerous marine fishes. 

Several instances might be referred to of fresh water fishes being 
transported successfully, not merely to neighboring ponds, separated 
from each other by a few miles, but also from countries even in very 
different degrees of latitude. The Cyprinus carpio, common carp, 
originally from the central part of Europe, is now distributed through 
almost all its ponds, rivers and lakes—and I have previously stated 
to this Society, that a pond in Newburgh, N. Y. was stocked with 
English carp.t The Osphromenus olfar, a native of China, has _ 
been introduced into the Isle of France, where it increases rapidly, 
and has been taken thence to Cayenne.§ | The Cyprinus auratus, so 


* Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and the Arts, Vol. 17, London, 1824, 
Also, Yarrell’s British Fishes, Vol. 11, p. 77. 

+ Quarterly Journ. Science, Lit. and Arts, Vol. 19. 

{ Silliman’s Journal, Vol. 36, p. 342. § Griffith’s Cuvier, Vol. 10, p. 220. 


380 Miscellanies. 


generally known as the gold fish, the native of a lake in China, in 
about the 30th degree of latitude, has been introduced and natural- 
ized in the Mauritius by the French, where they now abound in the 
fish ponds and streams; they are completely naturalized, and are 
found in large numbers in many of the streams of Portugal, whence 
they are carried to England by trading vessels from Lisbon, St. Ubes, 
&c. in large earthern jars.* It breeds freely in small ponds and even 
in tanks in England.| Numerous ponds in Massachusetts abound 
with them, notwithstanding the severity of our winters.{ 

The only instance with which I am acquainted of a fresh water 
species being removed from one sheet of water to another in this 
country, is that of the Perca flavescens, yellow perch; and for this 
successful attempt we are indebted to the zeal and perseverance of 
the late Dr. Mitchill, of New York, whose paper on the Fishes of 
New York, published in the Transactions of the Literary and Philo- 
sophical Society of New York, is of great value to the American ich- 
thyologist. He first published an account of his transporting the 
perch in the ‘“ Medical Repository,”’|| and afterward referred to it in 
his paper just spoken of. From the original statement I extract the 
following remarks: ‘In 1790, Uriah Mitchill, Esq., high. sheriff -of 
Queen’s county, and myself went to Rockonkoma. pond, in Suffolk 
county, a distance of about forty miles, ina waggon. The object of 
our journey was to transport alive some of the yellow perch with 
which this body of water abounds, to Success pond, in the town of 
North Hempstead. We took about three dozen of those which had 
been wounded most superficially by the hook, and were so fortunate 
as to dismiss all of them but two into Success pond, in a condition 
vigorous enough to swim away. We were enabled to do this by fill- 
ing a very large churn with the water of Rockonkoma pond, and put- 
ting so few fishes into it that there was no necessity of changing it 
on the road, and afterwards driving steadily on a walk the whole dis- 
tance, without stopping to refresh either man or horse. In two years 
these fishes multiplied so fast, and became so numerous, that they 
might be caught with the hook in any part of the water, which is 
about a mile in circumference.” 

I was unwilling the present opportunity should pass, without offer- 
ing the Society some few facts to show the importance of the sub- 
ject,—and would now close these hurried observations with the hope 
that we shall ere long be able to adduce successful experiments within 
the territory of Massachusetts. 


* Yarrell’s British Fishes, Vol. 1, p. 316. t Ib. 
{ State Report on the Fishes of Massachusetts, p. 82. 
§ Vol. 1, p. 422. | Vol. 3, p. 422. 


re 


Miseellanies. 381 


SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE AND NOTICES OF BOOKS, 


3. Most Brilliant Meteor.—On the evening of the 14th (August 
or July, 1839, old style, i. e. 26th, new style,) about 9 P. M., Capt. 
Pellegrines, being on the coast near Koutzolara, saw an extraordina- 
ry meteor toward the shores of Albania, Greece. A luminous body, 
which at first appeared like a common: falling-star, crossed the sky 
from North to South; the blazing nucleus soon bursting forth with 
so much splendor that it eclipsed the stars, and turned night into day. . 
It seemed as though the vessel would be burned up. The duration of 
the meteor was, as usual, very short; but when it disappeared it left 
behind it a long and broad fiery track, which, for the space of twenty 
minutes, accurately noted, sparkled like Bengal fire; until after an 
undulating motion, it curled up into the form of the letter Z, and by 
degrees ceased to be visible. 

(Translated from the Dios Tov Aaov, Athens, Sept. 18, [O. S.] 
1839, p. 64, where it is quoted from the Journal of Corcyra, Corfu.) 


4. Explosion of a Meteor near Antigua, West Indies.—The fol- 
lowing account is taken from the Dansk Westindisk Regierings 
Avis, of Jan. 2, 1840. 

‘‘ On Saturday morning, November 9, 1839, a little after daybreak, 
a concussion was felt in this town, preceded by a sound like the dis- 
charge of a heavy, piece of ordnance, not far off, with blank cartridge, 
with reverberations; we thought it might be an earthquake. ‘The im- 
pression was various in the town, it being an hour at which so few 
persons are awake: some thought it thunder; others, guns; and 
others, again, the explosion of one of the. magazines at the forts at 
the mouth of the harbor. On inquiry in the course of the day, we 
heard that it was said by some servants and laborers, who were out 
soon, that it was a star with a train of fire, which came from the 
eastward, passed over the town toward the sea, and burst in a blaze. 
Anxious for all the information we could procure, we sent down to 
the fort, about three miles below the town, and at the south entrance 
to the harbor, to desire the chief signal man to report any observa- 
tions he may have made on that morning. The following reply, 
coming from a person of great steadiness of character and intelli- 
gence, may be relied upon. It has been since fully corroborated by 
others, and epoca fishermen, who were at sea at a very early hour 


that morning.” 
& QurEn’s Batrery, Goat Hitt, Nov. 11, 1839. 
“I received your note yesterday about that ball or star.. It was 
the case ; about two or three minutes before James’s fort fired the 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 49 


382 Miscellanies. 


morning gun, this ball was seen about southeast of Goat Hill; it then 
darted along to a considerable distance westward; and immediately 
after it disappeared, there was an explosion as of great guns, in quick 
‘succession, three times, from the sky, with a quaking: the distance of 
time between each report was only about a second; and fifteen or 
twenty seconds after the whole, fort James fired its notice gun. 
These are my own observations, and of half a dozen respectable per- 
sons, who saw the whole, and on whose character I can depend for 
the truth, and who were so shocked at the time, that they betook 
themselves instantly to prayer.” 


5. Splendid Meteoric Fire-Ball.—On the morning of Wednes- 
day, May 13, 1840, about 3 o’clock, a meteor of very uncommon 
splendor was seen in Connecticut, and in many places in the adjoin- 
ing States. At New Haven, the illumination caused, by the meteor 
was surprisingly vivid; but the person who saw the light, was pre- 
vented by a large building, from obtaining a view of the body. He 
could only perceive that its course was from S. EK. to E. Accounts 
from Albany, N. Y., Boston, Mass., and other places, all agree in 
stating the light of the meteor to have been uncommonly powerful, 
and its apparent size nearly or quite equal to the moon at full. The 
accounts do not give the data necessary for determining the path, 
velocity, or size of this meteor, which was, undoubtedly, one of 
those from which stony masses are thrown down to the earth. The 
report of the explosion was, of course, much less distinctly heard 
here than in the eastern part of the State. Through the kindness of 
Mr. Gurdon Trumbull, of Stonington, I have received the following 
account of the occurrence from Capt. Comstock, of the steamboat 
Massachusetts, who happened to be near the scene of the explosion. 
It seems probable that when the meteor exploded, it was over the 
town of Westerly, in Rhode Island. EK. C. H. 


‘‘ The meteor observed on the 18th of May, at 3 A. M., bore at its 
starting point, (from my position, in lat. 41° 18’ N.; long. 71° 57 
W.,) about E. S. E. perhaps 60° above the horizon, and went with 
great rapidity on a course N. N. W. } W., at an inclination of about 
30° towards the earth. When bearing N. E. or thereabouts, it par- 
tially exploded; the remainder (in appearance nearly as large as at 
first,) pursued the same course as before, until it descended within a 
short distance of the horizon, when it exploded with a report which I 
distinctly heard. At the time of its explosion, it bore N. N. E., per- 
haps a little more northerly. Its size appeared larger than the full 
moon. There was a brilliant train left behind, which retained its 
brightness some seconds after the main body had become entirely ex- 


Miscellanies. 383. 


tinct. It may have been ten or fifteen seconds from the explosion 
until I heard. the report, which led me to believe it was not far dis- 
tant, and I drew the same conclusion from its extreme brilliancy, as it 
rendered the sea and land as light as at noon-day. It was a dark mor- 
ning, and so sudden a transition to sun-shine, as it were, produced a 
spectacle truly grand. My position was four miles exactly south 
from Stonington, Conn., in a rather difficult passage between Napper- 
tree point, so called, and Watch Hill reef. The light given out by 
this meteor was of great advantage, as it enabled us to ascertain the 
true position of our boat, and to take a correct departure to go 
through the passage. From the time of its commencement, until its 
light was entirely gone, may have been three and a half minutes.” 


Josepu J. Comstock. 
Providence, R. I., June 2, 1840. 


6. Alleged fall of a Meteor in Canada.—A paragraph appeared 
in many of our newspapers in April, 1840, stating that a meteor, 
“judged to be about three times the size of an ordinary farm house,” 
struck the earth, on the 17th [March?] near the house of Mr. John 
Daniels, Cook’s Manor, U. C. The paragraph was credited to the 
Sandwich Herald. The Editor of this paper, on being written to for 
further information concerning the matter, replied that he knew 
nothing of the phenomenon, and was of opinion that the story is un- 
true. 


7. Auroral Belt of May 29, 1840.—This Auroral belt, of which 
some account was given at page 194, was also seen at the Tippecanoe 
battle ground in Indiana, about 700 miles west of New Haven. It 
was, at that place, preceded by a brilliant display of the Aurora 
Borealis, and seems to have presented the same aspect there as here. 
The following description of the phenomenon, as observed at Nan- 
tucket, (N. lat. 41° 17',) was published by Mr. William Mitchell, in the 
Nantucket Inquirer of June 2, 1840: 

‘¢A display of the Aurora Borealis, in one of its most magnificent 
modifications, was witnessed in this place, [Nantucket,] on the eve- 
ning of the 29th May last. During the evening, the twilight-form of 
the Aurora had been manifest along the northern horizon; from this, 
a zone of effulgent white light seemed to detach itself, extending from 
the east to the west point of the horizon, which moved towards the 
zenith, and passed that point, with a slow but uniform and majestic 
motion. ‘This phenomenon, though somewhat less imposing, was, in 
most other respects, similar to that which excited so much attention, 
and created so much alarm in the autumn of 1827, [August 28.] On 
that occasion, the appearance was described by the various papers 


384 Miscellanies. 


throughout a vast extent of our country, in a manner so strikingly 
similar, that no doubt could be entertained that it was one and the 
same object.. This fact suggested to the writer of this article the pos- 
sibility of calculating its distance from the earth, by noting the time, 
in various locations, in which it appeared to pass different regions of 
the heavens; and the result, though far from rigorously exact, affurd- 
ed evidence, that while it partook decidedly of the motions of the 
earth, its elevation was more than five hundred miles. During the 
appearance of the zone on the 29th May, the time of its apparent 
contact with, and departure from the star Arcturus, then nearly in the 
meridian, was noted by a chronometer, with a hope that the same 
course would be pursued elsewhere, and thus detect its parallax. 
With this view, the periods are given below, in mean solar time at 
this meridian : 

«‘ Contact of the Southern border, 9 hrs. 36 min. and 46 sec. Pp. m. 

‘‘ Departure of the Nouhern and better defined border, 9 hrs. 39 
min. and 16 sec. p. Mm.’ 


8. Tornado at Northford, Conn., June 19, 1794.—The following 
is taken from an interesting account of this tornado, sent to Rey. Dr. 
Stiles of Yale College, by-Mr. Jonathan Maltby, who was not more 
than 100 rods distant when it passed by. 

On Thursday, the 19th inst., P. M., passed over this place (North- 
ford, Ct.,) a cloud, proceeding from S. W. to N. E., resembling the 
common thunder cloud, but of a light, smoky appearance, without 
rain or hail, and agitated beyond description. It was of a circular 
figure, whirling most violently upon its centre, its height and diamet- 
rical extent being about one eighth of a mile. From the midst of it 
issued a vortex of air, much in the form of an hour-glass, or similar 
to the vortex often seen in water, which descended to the earth. 
This figure alternately contracted and expanded from one to two 
rods, apparently, but really from ten to twenty. The hour-glass had 
constant communication with the cloud, from which it descended. 
When it contracted, it was less violent, but when it expanded, the 
scene was frightful, the fowls of the air, the herbage, fences, leaves, 
boughs and trunks of large trees, filled the atmosphere, whirling in 
every direction. Its progress was rapid and terrible, in a zigzag 
course, and attended with an alarming rumbling, somewhat like an 
earthquake. What is remarkable, on each side of it all was calm. 
A gentleman who sat in his stoop at the door of his house, scarcely 
felt it, while his barn, the width of the road from him, moved several 


feet from its foundation. The extent of the path of the tornado I 
have not ascertained. 


Miscellanies. 385 


9. Method of permanently fixing, Engraving, and Printing from 
Daguerréotype Pictures: by Dr. BErres, of Vienna. 

The method of permanently fixing the Daguerréotype picture with 
a transparent metal coating, consists in the following process :— 

I take the pictures produced in the usual manner, by the Daguerré- 
otype process, hold them for some minutes over a moderately-warmed 
nitric acid vapor, or steam, and then lay them in nitric acid of 13° to 
14° Reaumur, in which a considerable quantity of copper or silver, 
or both together, has been previously dissolved. Shortly after being 
placed therein, a precipitate of metal is formed, and can now be 
changed to what degree of intensity I desire. I then take the helio- 
graphic picture coated with metal, place it in water, clean it, dry it, 
polish it with chalk or magnesia, and a dry cloth or soft leather. 
After this process, the coating will become clean, clear, and transpa- 
rent,* so that the picture canagain be easily seen. The greatest care 
and attention are required in preparing the Daguerréotype impres- 
sions intended to be printed from. The picture must be carefully 
freed from iodine, and prepared upon a plate of the most chemically 
pure silver. ; 

That the production of this picture should be certain of succeed- 
ing, according to the experiments of M. Kratochwila, it is necessary 
to unite a silver with a copper plate; while upon other occasions, 
without being able to explain the reason, deep etchings or impres- 
sions are produced, without the assistance of the copper plate, upon 
pure silver plate. 

The plate will now, upon the spot where the acid ought not to have 
dropped, be varnished ;f then held for one or two minutes over a 
weak warm vapor or steam, of 25° to 30° (Reaumur) of nitric acid, 
and then a solution of gum arabic, of the consistence of honey, must 
be poured over it, and it must be placed in a horizontal position, with 
the impression uppermost, for some minutes.- Then place the plate, 
by means of a kind of double pincette, (whose ends are protected by 
a coating of asphalt or hard wood,) in nitric acid, at 12° or 13° (Reau- 
mur.) Let the coating of gum slowly melt off or disappear, and 
commence now to add, though carefully and gradually, and at a dis- 
tance from the picture, a solution of nitric acid, of from 25° to 30°, 
for the purpose of deepening or increasing the etching power of the 
solution. After the acid has arrived at 16° to 17° (Reaumur,) and 
gives off a peculiarly biting vapor, which powerfully affects the sense 
of smelling, the metal becomes softened, and then generally the pro- 


* We do not well see how a film of metallic silver, however thin, can be trans- 
parent. 
t This and some other passages, are a little obscure. 


386 Miscellanies. 


cess commences of changing the shadow upon the plate into a deep 
engraving or etching. This is the decisive moment, and upon it must 
be bestowed the greatest attention. The best method of proving if 
the acid be strong enough, is to apply a drop of the acid in which the 
plate now lies, to another plate: if the acid make no impression, it is, 
of course, necessary to continue adding nitric acid; if, however, it 
corrode too deeply, then it is necessary to add water, the acid being 
too strong. ‘The greatest attention must be bestowed upon this pro- 
cess. If the acid has been too potent, a fermentation or white froth 
will cover the whole picture, and thus not alone the surface of the 
picture, but also the whole surface of the plate, will quickly be corro- 
ded. When, by a proper strength of the etching powers of the acid, 
a soft and expressive outline of the picture shal] be produced, then 
may we hope to finish the undertaking favorably. We have now 
only to guard against an ill-measured division of the acid, and the 
avoidance of a precipitate. To attain this end, [ frequently lift the 
plate out of the fluid, taking care that the etching power shall be di- 
rected to whatever part of the plate it may have worked the least, and 
seek to avoid the bubbles and precipitate, by a gentile movement of 
the acid. 

In this manner, the process can be continued to the proper points 
of strength and clearness of etching required upon the plates from 
which it is proposed to print. I believe that a man of talent, who 
might be interested with this art of etching, and who had acquired a 
certain degree of dexterity in preparing for it, would very soon ar- 
tive at the greatest clearness and perfection; and, from my experi- 
ence, I consider that he would soon be able to simplify the whole pro- 
cess. I have tried very often to omit the steaming and the gum ara- 
bic, but the result was not satisfactory, or the picture very soon after 
was entirely destroyed, so that I was compelled again to have recourse 
to them. 

The task which I have undertaken is now fully performed, by 
placing in the hands of the public my method of etching and print- 
ing from the Daguerréotype plates, which information, being uni- 
ted to the knowledge and mechanical experience we already possess, 
and published to the world, may open a road to extensive improve- 
ment in the arts and sciences. By thus laying open my statement to 
the scientific world, I hope to prove my devotion to the arts and sci- 
ences, which can end only with my life.— Atheneum, (London) May 23. 


10. Cloth of Glass.—Messrs. Williams and Sowerby of London, 
have been exhibiting, at the Annual Show of the Polytechnic Institu- 
tion, (London,) their process by which glass first spun by steam 


Miscellanies. 387 


power, is woven by the loom into those sumptuous tapestries and rich 
hangings, which have excited the astonishment of all beholders. 
This curious manufacture alone is worth a visit to the Institution.— 
Atheneum. 


11. Death of Olbers.—Henry William Matthew Olbers, M. D. ete. 
died at Bremen, on the morning of the 2d of March, 1840, in the 82d 
year of his age. He was born at Arbergen, duchy of Bremen, Oct. 
11, 1758, and during a long life has been an industrious and success- 
ful cultivator of science. In 1802 he discovered the planet Pallas, 
and in 1807, the planet Vesta. His mathematical and astronomical 
labors, particularly those relating to comets, have been extensive and 
of the highest order. He retained and employed his exalted faculties 
far beyond the term usually allotted to man, and gently breathed his 
last, beloved and venerated by his friends and the whole scientific 
world. 


12. New fossil Shells from N. Carolina.—My. T. A. Conrad, in a 
letter to the Editors, says,— 

Having obtained a few interesting fossil shells from Duplin county, 
in North Carolina, I send you for publication descriptions of some 
species, I believe to be new. The formation is the same as that of 
Virginia, which I have termed Medial Tertiary. The fossils belong 
to my friend Daniel B. Smith, and were found by Professor Mitchell, 
of Chapel! Hill, N. C. 

Natica canrena.—This differs oaly from the recent specimens, in 
having the lines of growth on the spire more deeply impressed. 

Fulgur excavatus.—Shell pyriform, with spiral lines, very promi- 
nent on the inferior half of the large whorl; shoulder of large whorl 
with a wide concave depression; spire widely and profoundly chan- 
neled; the whorls bicarinated, and slightly tuberculated on the 
carine. Length 3 inches. 

Fulgur conirarius.—Shell sinistral, pyriform, with wrinkled spi- 
yal lines, obsolete on the middle of the large whorl, shoulder obtuse- 
ly angulated, without spines or tubercles; summit of the whorls con- 
cave; whorls of ihe spire angulated in the middle, and slightly tuber- 
culated on the angle; beak very long, sinuous; labium with distant 
prominent lines within. Length 4 inches. 

Voluta Carolinensis.—Shell subfusiform; whorls deeply channel- 
ed below the suture; superior margin of the channel carinated ; 
spire elevated, with prominent, rather distant acute spiral lines on the 
three or four superior whorls; large whorl with obscure, distant spi- 
ral lines, except towards the base, which is suleated, and strongly 
striated. Length 3 inches. 


388 Miscellanies. 


Conus adversarius.—Shell sinistral, with obsolete spiral lines, ex- 
cept at base, where they are prominent; angle of body whorl, and 
base of the whorls of the spire carinated; the carina slightly tuber- 
culated towards the apex; spire prominent. Length 2! inches. 

Lucina jamaicensis, Lam.—This is a single valve, which differs in 
no respect from the recent specimens of the West Indies. 


13. Intelligence.—The twelfth number of Mr. Conrad’s Naiades has 
been published by Mr. J. Dobson, Philadel phia.* 

Dr. Holbrook’s fourth volume on North American Herpetology 
will-soon appear. 

Dr. Binney of Boston is, we are informed, about to reprint his Mono- 
graph of the Helices, with plates, executed in the best style of art. 

The Zoology of the State of New York.—It is the present inten- 
tion of this commonwealth to publish the zoological portion of the 
survey, which has been making for three years past, in the most beau- 
tiful and elaborate manner. Every species, from mammalia to insects, 
to be engraved on steel plates—the insects to be described by Dr. 
Harris, of Cambridge, and the other departments by Dr. DeKay, the 
surveyor. 

We hope this is only the dawn of liberal state and governmental 
patronage of science in this country, and that the day is not far dis- 
tant when every State in the Union will follow the same example. 
On the return of our Antarctic Exploring Squadron, the general gov- 
ernment will no doubt take pride in executing the scientific portion 
of their reports, in a manner equal to similar productions of Eng- 
land, and more particularly of France. 


14. Sorex parvus and Sorex brevicaudis.—The Rev. James H. 
Linsley says in a letter to the junior Editor—Dear Sir: I would in- 
form you that I discovered and caught the Sorer parvus of Say 
(small shrew) in the town of. Darien, in this State, some time since. 
This is probably one of the smallest quadrupeds of the class mam- 
malia, being but about two inches in length, and the tail three-fourths 
of aninch. I do not ascertain that it has ever been before seen east 
of the Mississippi. I would also add, that about a week since, (Aug. 
25,) I found, drowned in a small cistern, at my house in this place, 
the Sorex brevicaudis of Say. The description in Dr. Godman’s 
American Nat. Hist. is perfect, and answered in every particular to 
my animal, except that mine was 41 inches in length, and his 42 inch- 
es, including the tail, which was one inch in both. The division of 
the ear in this animal is a remarkable feature—the ear is nearly be- 
hind the head, divided in two parts, “tragus and antiiragus,” very 
white—the nose a livid brown color, quite remarkable—the teeth as 


* See this Journal, Vol. xxrx, p. 391. t See Vol. xxxv, p. 186. 


Miscellanies. 389 


black as night—all the four feet greatly resemble the human hand in 
shape, and are all white. Say supposes this to be what Barton calls 
the black shrew. I do not find it mentioned in Dr. DeKay’s Report 
to the legislature of New York. Dr. Kirtland mentions it in his Re- 
port to the legislature of Ohio, as inhabiting that State, but adds, in a 
note, page 175, that “it does not agree with Mr. Say’s description, 
and it may prove to be only a variety of the DeKayii.” 

I am gratified to add these two animals to the list of the mammif- 
erous animals of Connecticut. 

Elm Wood Place, Stratford, Sept. 3, 1840. 


15. The Natural History and Classification of Fishes, Amphib- 
zans, and Reptiles, or Monocardian animals: by Wm. Swainson, 
F. L. S. &c. Vol. 2, (Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopedia,) 450 pages. 

Mr. Swainson has given to the public a complete classification of 
reptiles, amphibians, and fishes, in this volume. Descriptions of the 
tribes, families, subfamilies, genera, and subgenera, could not, of 
course, be given at length in a work of this size; but the distinguish- 
ing characters are given in a few words, with great perspicuity. 

The arrangement is sufficiently near that of Cuvier, but is varied 
for the purpose of showing the analogies of the various families. 
We were dissatisfied with this departure, until we saw the utility of 
it in pointing out the affinities, and simplifying the study of fishes. 
Mr. S. has given many original tables, showing the analogies of the 
different families, as the following : 


Analogies of the Percin#% and the SERRANINE. 


Genera of Genera of the 


PERCINE. Analogies. — SERRANINE. 
Penee Body oblong, or ovate; mouth horizon- ee em 
tal, large. : 
Enopiosus. Body short, roundish; mouth small. PENTACEROS. 
ee BS broad, projecting over the lower AC Ee 
oe Meni subvertical, large; lower jaw Geeee 
ongest. 
Aeseeohes La puch developed; eyes remarkably teh ce 
- large. 
Sub-genera of the Sub-genera of the 
genus PERCA.  ) Analogies. - genus SERRANUS. 
Perca. Cuv. ee tyipizals caudal fin Serranus. Cuv. 


Lates. Cuv. Body broad; caudal fin rounded. Chromileptes. Sw. 
Centropomus. Cuv. Anal spines very large. Plectropoma. Cuv. - 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July-September, 1840. 50 


390 Miscellanies. 


# 


Niphon. Cuv. Lower jaw considerably longest. Cynichihys. Sw. 
arene forked; eyes very Ween Se 

The tables alone, prove that Mr. S. has studied ichthyology deep- 
ly, and the work should, therefore, be carefully studied by those who 
are interested in this branch of zoology. We object to Perca and 
Labraz being united, (as they are in the last table,) and think Lucio- 
percaand Perca cannot be placed in the same genus. The analogies, 


however, would remain the same, were all the sub-genera elevated to 
genera. ; S. S. H. 


Lucioperca. Cuv. 


16. Natural History of the fresh water fish of Central Europe ; 
by Louis Acassiz: plates, folio, 1839, Neuchatel.* 

The first livraison of this long promised work has at length reach- 
ed us from its accomplished author. The beauty of the Poissons 
Fossiles led us to high expectations of this performance, and we are 
most happy to find that they were not vain. 

The genera Salmo and Thymallus form the subject of this first di- 
vision, to the illustration of which twenty-seven plates are devoted, 
giving each species from three to five plates. Thus Salmo Fario is 
represented in five different plates, showing the difference of age, 
sex, and locality, and presenting the fish as seen from above, on the 
side, and in a transverse section, taken before the ventral or dorsal 
fins ; also the structure of the scales much magnified, and the posi- 
tion and anatomy of the fins. ‘The descriptions are in French, Ger- 
man, and English, which arrangement must be of great service to the 
work, as well as to ichthyologists of different nations, who might not 
all be equally satisfied, if one language alone was used. ‘The present 
livraison contains only the first division of the genera named above, 
and is to be soon followed by another, which will complete this monog- 
raphy; and then each succeeding livraison is to finish, as far as prac- 
ticable, the monography of the genus of which it treats. 

The first volume of text, which includes the natural history and 
anatomy of the Salmonidae, will appear with the second livraison of 
plates, which will include the species of the genus Coregon, and the 
anatomical details relative to this family. 

The following is a list of the species figured in the present livrai- 
son: 1. Salmo salar, L., four plates, three of them colored. 2. S. 
Fario, L., five plates, four colored. 3. S. Trutta, L., four plates, 
three colored. 4. S. Umbla, L., four plates, three colored. 5. S. 
Hucho, L., three plates, two colored. 6. S. lacustris, L., three 


* Histoire Naturelle des Poissons d’Eau douce de Europe Centrale, par L. Agas- 
siz; planches. Neuchatel (Suisse) aux frais de l’Auteur, 1839. 


i 


Miscellanies. 391 


plates, two colored. 7 Thymallus vexillifer, Ag., three plates, two 
colored. This work is to the fishes of Europe what Audubon is to 
the birds of America, a perfect iconography. 

We are happy to state that two copies of it are on sale in the 
hands of M. Augustus Mayor, of New York, who has been before 
mentioned as the friend and correspondent of M. Agassiz,* and we 
hope that they will be speedily placed in the libraries of some of our 
societies, where they will be accessible to the student of this much 
neglected but most interesting branch of natural history. ‘There are 
three prices for the first division, viz. on ordinary paper, 75 francs ; 
on superfine paper, with selected plates, retouched with great care, 
100 francs; on Bristol board, (carton vélin,) the most sumptuous im- 
pressions, 150 francs. This work is published at the expense of the 
author, and we hope that the public will, in this case, do what the 
British Association did for the Poissons Fossiles, indemnify him for 
the cost. 


17. Elements of Chemistry, containing the elements of the sci- 
ence, both experimental and theoretical, intended as a text-book for 
academies, high schools and colleges; by Alonzo Gray, A. M., teach- 
er of Chemistry and Natural History in the Teachers’ Seminary, An- 
dover, Mass. 1840—12mo. pp. 359. 

A Manual of Chemistry, on the basis of Dr. 'Turner’s Elements 
of Chemistry ; containing in a condensed form all the most important 
facts and principles of the science,—designed as a text book in col- 
leges and other seminaries of learning; by John Johnston, A. M., 
Professor of Natural Science in Wesleyan University, Middletown. 
1840—12mo. pp. 453. 

Both the above compilations made their appearance about the same 
time, and are both published with the same object—that of bringing 
the subject into a moderate compass, and within the means of all stu- 
dents. Unhappily for our reputation as advancers of science, almost 
all the works on chemistry which have yet been issued here, have been 
written on the basis of some foreign treatise. We hope the day is 
not far distant when American chemists will take a high rank as ori- 
ginal investigators. 


18. Hitchcock's Geology.—Elementary Geology, by Edward Hitch- 
cock, Professor of Chemistry and Natural History in Amherst Col- 
lege, and Geologist to the State of Massachusetts. Amherst, 1840, 
pp- 329, small 8vo. 


* M. Mayor has also for sale two copies of the Echinodermata, of the same au- 
thor. Vol. 35, p. 400. Vol. 37, p. 369. 


392 Miscellanies. 


Such is the unassuming title of a little volume, which has come to 
hand just as we are closing the present number. ‘The readers of this 
Journal, and those who know the progress of American geology, are 
well aware of the important services Prof. Hitchcock has rendered 
to this branch of science, through a period of many years, both by his 
laborious explorations and his written works. We are happy also to 
add, that his transatlantic reputation is such, that no American name is 
considered of better authority in geology, or more highly esteemed. 

In the present instance he has attempted to prepare a work which 
shall filla vacancy long felt by the instructors of geology in this 
country, a work which, while it gives a good view of the progress of 
the science in other countries, draws its illustrations mainly from 
American facts. From the rapid glance which we have been able to 
bestow on this performance, we should think that Prof. Hitchcock had 
succeeded in imparting this feature to his book. 

We subjoin an extract from the preface, which will give the au- 
thor’s own views in the composition of the volume, better than they 
can be expressed in other words. He says: “In preparing this work 
three objects have been kept principally in view: I, to prepare a 
text book for my classes in Geology; 2, to bring together the mate- 
rials for a synopsis of geology, to be appended to my final report on 
the Geology of Massachusetts, now in press ; and 3d was, to present 
to the public a condensed view of the state of geological facts, theo- 
ries and hypotheses, especially to those who have not leisure to study 
very extended works on this subject. In its execution the work dif- 
fers from any with which I am acquainted, in the following particu- 
lars: 1. It is arranged in the form of distinct propositions or princi- 
ples, with definitions and proofs; and the inferences follow those 
principles on which they are mainly dependent. This method was 
adopted, as it has long been in most sciences, for the convenience of 
teaching ; but it also enables one to condense the matter very much. 
2. An attempt has been made to present the whole subject in its pro- 
per proportion; viz. its facts, theories and hypotheses, with their his- 
torical and religious relations, and a sketch of the geology of all the 
countries of the globe, which have been explored. All geological 
works with which I am acquainted, either omit some of these sub- 
jects or dwell very disproportionately upon some of them. 3. It is 
made more American than republications from European writers, by 
introducing a greater amount of our geology.. 4. It contains copious 
references to writers, where the different points here briefly discussed 
may be found amply treated.” 

The style of execution in the work is not equal to its value, partic- 
ularly some of the wood cuts, (which are very numerous,) but these 
are minor considerations. 


Miscellanies. 393 


19. Monograph of the Limniades, and other Fresh Water Uni- 
valve Shells of North America: by S. S. Haldeman, Philadelphia. 
Judah Dobson, July, 1840. No. 1. 8vo. 

The specimen number of a series bearing the above title, reached 
us last January, and was duly acknowledged in the list appended to 
the 78th number of this Journal. 

The object of the work is to fill the space left unoccupied by the 
labors of Messrs. Lea and Conrad on the Unionide, and Mr. Binney 
on the Helices. The plates are executed in fine style, on copper, 
drawn by Miss Lawson, and colored very beautifully, with five or six 
examples of each species. The following species of Paludine are 
contained in the first number,—decisa, Say; subcarinata, Say; inte- 
gra, Say; ponderosa, Say; genicula, Conrad. Mr. Haldeman des- 
cribes five new Mollusca and parasitic animals, viz. Anculosa littori- 
na, from Holston river, Va.; Cerithium (Potamis) Californicum, 
hab. California, Mr. Nuttall ; Cyclas elevata, hab. near N. Orleans; 
Hirudo (Clepsina) scabra, found on Planorbis bicarinatus; Cercaria 
hyalocauda; parasite of Physa heterostropha. He also proposes to 
establish a new genus Discus, for the reception of Planorbis armi- 
gerus, Say ; its characters are the same as Planorbis, with the addi- 
tion of the teeth situated within the aperture of the shell. Each 
number will contain five plates and descriptions, and costs $1 per 
number, and may-be had of Mr. Dobson. 


20. Leonhard’s Geology. (Géologie des Gens du monde, par K. 
C. de Leonhard, conseiller intime, professeur a luniversité de Hei- 
delberg: traduite de 1 Allemand sous les yeux de Vauteur, par P. 
Grimblot et P. A. Toulonzau.- Tome deuziéme, Paris et Stutt- 
gart, 1840, pp. 484, 8vo-) 

This is the second volume of a series of three, in course of publi- 
cation, by the celebrated author of the Hand-book of Mineralogy, 
and Editor of the Jarbuch fir Mineralogie, &c. We have not seen 
the first volume, and are therefore unable to speak of it in connec- 
tion with the present; but the second is evidently a continuation of 
the first, and not an independent treatise. It commences with an ac- 
count of the prismatic divisions and vesicles of the volcanic and Plu- 
tonic rocks, and their action on the other rocks. He then proceeds 
in the usual order, through the superincumbent strata to the top of 
the coal. But the work is enriched throughout by every attraction of 
style and illustration, and the author has brought, to the elucidation 
of his subject, all the resources of a highly cultivated and accomplish- 
ed mind. He is by no means confined to the mere technical details of 
his science, but draws interest from every source. ‘Thus, at the con- 


394 Miscellanies.. 


clusion of the Plutonic rocks, he gives an account of the mineral 
wealth of the gneiss, granite, and mica schist, and other rocks of this 
class; of their precious gems, and ornamental and architectural stones. 
There are two chapters on grottoes and caves, with an account of the 
ancient false ideas and suppositions concerning them, and their physi- 
cal phenomena. ‘The volume ends with a chapter on the mercury 
mines of the coal measures and other formations, and the metallur- 
gic processes by which the metal is reduced from its ores. 

Numerous well executed steel engravings are given, representing 


in many cases, views and scenery illustrative of his subject, which are » 


not usually seen in works of this class. We believe that there is no 
one who would not feel himself both interested and instructed by its 
perusal. 


21. The American Repertory of Aris, Sciences, and Manufac- 
tures, embracing records of American and other patent inventions— 
accounts of Manufactures, Arts, &-c.—observations on Natural His- 
tory and Mechanical Science, &c. &c. Edited by J. P. Mars, Prof. 
of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in the National Academy of 
Design, N. Y. 

The first number of this journal made its appearance in February 
of the present year, and weare reminded, by the receipt of the con- 

cluding (sixth) number of the first volume, of our remissness in not 
sooner recognizing so valuable a contemporary. ‘The prospectus 
states that it is intended peculiarly for the mechanics of this country, 
and the leading articles have hada corresponding character. Thus, 
a series of papers has been published “‘On the Art of Building,” 
“Manufacture of white lead,’ ‘‘ Mechanics’ vade mecum,’’ being 
tables of strength, weight, &c., with rules for the practical applica- 
tion of the same to the daily requisitions of the mechanic. Reports 
of the Mechanics’ Institute are also given regularly, as well as those 
of several other societies, as the N. Y. Lyceum of Natural History, 
National Academy of Design, General Society of Tradesmen, &c. 

This journal is so successfully applied to the elucidation of practi- 
cal science, and its applications to the arts, that it seems peculiarly 


suited to the character of the American mechanic and - practitioner, 


while the excellence of some of its original articles entitles it to the 
high consideration of all. These features will, we hope, ensure for 
the American Repertory an extensive patronage. We shall take 
pleasure in enriching our pages, as opportunity occurs, with miscella- 
neous extracts from it. It is published monthly in New York, at $4 
per annum, and the first volume contains 483 pages. 


a Se 
——— 


Miscellanies. 395 


22. Principles of Statistical Inquiry, as illustrated in proposals 
for uniting an examination into the resources of the United States, 
with the census to be taken in 1840; by ArcuipaLp RusseELt. 
New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1839, 8vo. pp. 263. 

Constitution and By-Laws of the American Statistical Associa- 
tion, with an Address. Boston, 18490. 

This is a lucid statement of the chief points of interest, and the 
mode of making the investigation ina statistical history of the Uni- 
ted States. It seems to have been written with a view of calling the 
attention of the general government to the importance of the subject, 
and of inducing the Secretary of State to adopt such measures as lie 
within his power, to combine with the census of the population the 
following interesting inquiries into— : 

Ist. The products of Manufactures and Arts—viz. mines and min- 
erals, manufactures of metals, manufactures on the loom, general man- 
ufactures. 2d. Agricultural statistics. 3d. Occupations in which the 
inhabitants are engaged. 4th. Place of nativity of the inhabitants. 
5th. Vital statistics, i.e. the average duration and value of human 
life in the U. S. 6th. Crime. 7th. Pauperism. 8th. Education. 
9th. Clergy. 10th. Taxation. For all these subjects plans of con- 
ducting the investigation are proposed, which seem to be well devis- 
ed, and conceived in a philosophical spirit. It is certainly to be 
hoped that the general government, with whom alone rests the power 
of collecting accurate statistics, will faithfully discharge this most 
important subject; for it is evident that exact knowledge on the topics 
embraced in the present treatise will be of vastly more value than a 
mere numerical return of the inhabitants. 

In connection with this subject, we have the pleasure of mention- 
ing that a Statistical Society has been recently organized in Boston, 
called the American Statistical Society, and that they have issued 
their constitution and laws, and lists of membersand fellows. Their 
objects are briefly stated in an address. They are associated and 
will cooperate with the foreign statistical societies at Paris, London, 
&c., by whose exertions the subject has been exalted into a science. 


23. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 
Vol. VIL, Part I. 8vo. pp. 171. Philadelphia, 1839. 

The transactions of this Society have always been characterized by 
their scientific accuracy and permanent value. ‘The Academy has 
been more fortunate than any other similar institution in this country, 
in enjoying, through a long course of years, the munificent patronage 
of the pioneer of American geology, the late and lamented William 
Maclure. They had just removed their library and collections to a 


396 Miscellanies. =~ 


new and elegant hall, erected at the expense of Mr. Maclure, when 
the news of. his death in Mexico reached this country. 

Dr. Morton is, we understand, drawing up an account of the life of 
this remarkable man,. and when it appears we shall feel it our duty, 
as it is our pleasure, to do further honor to his memory. 

The contents of the present part areas follows: 

Officers of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for 
the year 1839. 

Descriptions of new North American Neuropterous Insects, and 
Observations on some already described. By (the late) Thomas Say. 

Summary of Meteorological Observations for 1836; made in Fay- 
ette county, Tennessee. By M. Rhea. 

Description of five new Fossils, of the older Pliocene formation 
_ of Maryland and North Carolina. By Wm. Wagner. 

A few facts in relation to the identity of the Red and Mottled Owls, 
é&c. By Ezra Michener, M. D. 

Description of several new Species of American Quadrupeds. By 
Rev. J. Bachman, of Charleston, S. C. 

List of Quadrupeds procured by Mr. ‘Townsend, and sent to the 
Academy of Natural Sciences. 

Additional remarks on the genus Lepus, with corrections of a for- 
mer paper, and descriptions of other Species of Quadrupeds found in 
North America. By John Bachman. 

Additional Species to the list of Mr. Townsend’s Quadrupeds. 

Catalogue of the Crustacea brought by Thomas Nuttall and J. K. 
Townsend, from the West Coast of North America and the Sandwich 
Islands, with descriptions of such species as are apparently new, 
among which are included several species of different localities, pre- 
viously existing in the collection of the Academy. By J. W. Ran- 
dall. 

Description of a new Species of Cypcelus, from the Columbia Riv- 
er. By John K. Townsend. 

Description of a new Species of Sylvia, from the Columbia River. 
By John K. Townsend. 

An Analysis of Marl, from New Jersey. By S. S. Haldeman. 

List of Birds inhabiting the region of the Rocky Mountains, the 
Territory of the Oregon, and the North West Coast of America. By 
John K. Townsend. 

Note on Sylvia Tolmei. ag John K. Townsend. 

Description of the White-winged Tanager, (Pyranga leucoptera.) 
By J. Trudeau. 

Description of a Species of Land Tortoise, from Africa. By Ed- 
ward Hallowell, M. D. 


Miscellanies. 397 


24. Transactions of the Society instituted at London, for the en- 
couragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce,—with premi- 
ums offered for the years 1838-9 and 1839-40. Vol. 52, Part II. 
London, 1839. 

By the attention of its Secretary, we have been favored with a copy 
of the 2nd part of the transactions of the Society of Arts, &c. This 
society is conducted on the most liberal plan, and under its fostering 
care science has advanced in the most encouraging manner. Large 
premiums are annually offered and awarded, according to a list of 
subjects drawn up with great care. All inventions which are elicited 
in this manner, are thrown open for the free use of all, without pa- 
tent, and the halls of the society contain models of all machines and 
contrivances which have ever come under its patronage. 

The contents of the present volume are as follows :— 


PART I. 


Agriculture.—Colonel Le Couteur on Hoeing Wheat. 

Fine Arts.—Mr. E. W. Whitehouse on making Casts from soft 
Anatomical Specimens; Mr. T. Carrick on Marble Tablets for Min- 
iature Painters; Mr. J. Esquilant on Ornaments in Pressed Leather 
for Mouldings, &c. 

Chemisiry.—Mr. L. Thompson on Making Prussian Blue; on n Pu- 
vifying Copper; Messrs. G. and W. Bursill on a Safe Lamp, &c. for 
Miners. 

Mie haiictuie one J. Farley on an Improvement in the Broad 
Silk Loom. 

Mechanics.—Mr. J. F. Goddard on an Apparatus for exhibiting 
Experiments on the Polarization of Light; Mr. J. P. Paine on an 
Escapement Wheel and Micrometer Adjustment for 'Turret-Clocks ; 
Mr. A. P. Walsh on a Remontoire Watch Escapement; Mr. H. Map- 
ple ona Resonant Spring for Table-Clocks; Mr. F. Danchell ona 
Tuning Key for a Pianoforte; Mr. J. Crockford ona Ball-Valve for 
Shallow Water Cisterns; Mr. W. Baddeley on a Portable Tank for 
use at Fires; Mr. A. G. Edye on an Instrument for ascertaining the 
Stability of a Ship: Mr. W. Kennish on the disadvantages of the use 
of Black Paint on board Ship; Mr. J. Burkitt on a Self-Supplying 
Tympan; Mr. W. Levick on a Furnace for Type-Founders; Mr. A. 
Alexander on’a Ventilating Eye-Shade; Mr. C. Jenkins on an Ad- 
justable Step-Ladder; Captain Ericsson on a Hydrostatic Weighing 
Machine. 


Illustrations.—On Artificial Light and the Manufacture of Candles, 
by the Secretary ; The Natural History and Commercial History of 


Cotton, by Ditto. 
Vol. xxx1x, No. 2.—July—September, 1840. 51 


398 Miscellanies. 


PART Il. 

Agriculture.—George Aikin, Esq. on Improvements in the Culture 

of the Cambridgeshire Fens; W. Buchanan, Esq. on Cultivation of 
Potatoes. 

Fine Aris.—Mr. R. W. Billings on Analysis of the East AWindow 
of Carlisle Cathedral; Mr. R. Redman on Transfers from Copper- 
plate to Zine or Stone. 

Chemistry.—Mr. J. T. Cooper on Preparation of Photogenic Pa- 
per; Mr. J. Marsh on new Test-liquor for Acids and Alkalies. 

Colonies and Trade.—On Tea from Assam; on Bengal Silk; on 
Jungle Silk. 

Wieean pretanee. —Messrs. C. Hanchard, James Cole, J. Soda on 
Improvements in weaving Wide Velvet; Mr. J. Dove on a Loom for 
weaving Silk Tissue. 

Mechanics.—Mr. Jos. Jeay on Diagrams for finding the Lengths 
and Bevels of the Rafters in a Hip-roof; Mr. J. C. Bowles on raising 
Empty Casks; on a Putlog for Builders’ Scaffolds; Mr. Benjamin 
Holmes on a Bolt-plate; Mr. W. Jones ona Travelling Platform ; 
Mr. C. H. Page on Lettering Marble; Mr. M. Jennings on Night 
Signals for River Steamers; Mr. W. H. Thornthwaite on an Appara- 
tus for Divers; Mr. James Hopkins on a Safety Scale-lever; Mr. J. 
Gray on Instruments for Extracting Teeth; Mr. J. L. Fenner ona 
Cupping-glass; Mr. A. Wivell on a Fire-escape; Captain J. Cookes- 
ley on a Raft. 

Illustrations.—Mr. Andrew Ross on the Achromatic Telescope, 
(Part I. and I.); the Secretary on Horn and Tortoiseshell ; on Bone 
and its Uses in the Arts; on Horn, Tortoiseshell, and Bone; Pres- 
ents; Catalogue of the Models, Machines, &c. 


25. A System of Practical Medicine, arranged and edited by Alex- 
ander Tweedie, M. D., republished by Lea and Blanchard, R. 8vo. 
Philadelphia. Volume on Fevers and Diseases of the Skin. 1840. 
pp- 561.—This volume is one of a series of Medical Treatises, by vari- 
ous living authors, and edited by Dr. Tweedie. Each volume is, 
however, complete in itself, and is sold separately. The contents of 
the present are as follows :—Introduction, by Dr. J. A. Symonds ; 
Inflammation, by Dr. W. P. Allison; Fevers and Hectic Fever, by 
Dr. R. Chrisiison; Plague, Intermittent Fever, Remittent Fever, 
and Yellow Fever, by Dr. Thos. Shapter; Infantile Gastric Re- 
mitient Fever, and Puerperal Fevers, by Dr. Chas. Locock; Small 
Pox, by Dr. Geo. Gregory; Measles and Scarlatina, by Dr. Geo. 
Burrows; Diseases of the Skin, by Dr. H. E. Schedel. 


Miscellanies. 399 


26. Lycopodium.—On the morning of May 22, 1839, between 2 
and 3 o’clock, a shower of rain was falling in Troy, (New York,) and 
soon after a yellow substance was observed on the tinned roof of a 
house, as well as on all the flat roofs in the vicinity,* and was wash- 
ed off by the rain. The highly characteristic flash which it gives in 
the flame of a candle, resembling lightning, leaves no doubt of its 
identity with lycopodium, or at least of its belonging to the same fam- 

ily. The ground pine or club-moss is the humble representative of 
this family in modern times ; none of the species ever attain a greater 
height than a few feet, whereas at the coal era there were trees of 
this family which attained a height of 60 or 70 feet in the stem. 

Prof. Eaton and the botanists in Troy have probably long since de- 
termined from what source this yellow powder was brought by the 
winds. The specimen has only now arrived, or it would have been 
mentioned before. 

The substance is probably a collection of the sporules, (or powder 
performing the office of seeds in the flowering plants) of the Lyco- 
podium clavatum, or other species of the Lycopodiacex, (or club 
mosses.) These sporules are well known to be highly inflammable. 

The above facts as well as the specimen have been communicated 
to us by the politeness of Mr. Avery J. Skilton, of Troy.—Eps. 


27. The burning of Monkton Pond, Vt.—The following account 
was given me by Dr. Smith, of Monkton. He says his father, broth- 
er, and himself were burning briars early in the spring near the pond, 
and in an instant the pond took fire with a terrible roar; in a fright, 
they fled away from it, and when they looked back they saw the blaze 
to rise many yards high, and although it was a calm day, and the 
pond still till that moment, the water became agitated in great waves, 
and the roaring of the fire was heard several miles. Dr. Smith was 
a man of strict veracity, and the statement of facts can be relied on. 
He savs the blaze settled lower and lower till it was extinct. 

S. FaNsHER. 


28. Bone Cavern.—Extract of a letter to the Editors from Mr. W. 
Gaylord, dated Otisco, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1839. 

“¢ My dear Sirs—In looking over a Philadelphia paper a few days 
since, I saw it stated that a cave had been lately discovered on the 
bank of the Susquehannah, in constructing the railroad near Harris- 
burg, and in noticing it, the Harrisburg Keystone states ‘that its 
depth is about 20 feet, its extent unknown. Bones of various kinds 


* There is an account in Dr. Mitchill’s Med. Repos. (Vol. 3, p. 414,) of a yel- 
low deposit from rain, which fell at New York, April 12, 1800. 


A00 Miscellanies. 


and sizes have been found in it, and the spoils of the cave, we are 
told, would be a very valuable addition to the collection of the cu- 
rious antiquarian.’ 

“As bones, I believe, have rarely been found in caves in this coun- 
try, though common in Europe, and deemed of great impertance in 
settling the geological character of a country, I thought I would 
bring the above to your notice, if it has not already been done, as 
you have probably some correspondent in that vicinity, who would at 
your request, examine the premises, secure the bones, or make such 
a report as would be interesting to the readers of your Journal, and 
important to the cause of science.” 

Mr. Gaylord remarks that the average temperature of June and 
July has been about 7° lower than that of the corresponding months 
of last year. 

We request information respecting this cavern and ils osseous con- 
tents.—Ebs. 


29. Case of Transpiration of half the body.* 
Fort Hamilton, New York, Nov. 25, 1837. 

Prof. Siztman—Dear Sir—In 1834 I called the attention of the sci- 
entific community to an anomalous case of cutaneous transpiration which 
presented itself in the person of a friend of mine, a merchant of Balti- 
more. ‘The particulars of the case were published in the “ Medical Li- 
brary,”’ a journal conducted by Prof. Pattison, and copied from thence 
into the “Transylvania Journal of Medical Sciences;” but the expla- 
nation of the phenomenon attempted by the editor was to me unsatisfac- 
tory. Will you oblige me by giving the ‘case’ a place in your Journal, 
with such comments as its perusal may suggest. 

The merchant referred to, from his earliest youth enjoyed a marked 
immunity from disease ; and assured me that from infancy to the moment 
at which he spoke, his ‘‘ sweating” was confined to one side of his body. 
The right side of his scalp, the right side of his face, right side of his 
thoracic, hypochondriac, iliac, lumbar, and pelvic regions, right thigh, 
leg, and foot, were frequently saturated with the matter of perspiration, 
whilst their corresponding opposites maintained an unvarying aridity. My 
intimacy with him afforded me repeated opportunities of observing the 
phenomenon. © It was often a subject of merriment with him, and never 
one of the least concern. Could paralysis of the exhalents of the oppo- 
site side have existed without other morbid manifestations? I think not. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
Lucivs O’Brien, Lieut. 3d Reg. U.S. Infantry. 


* This fragment would have appeared before but for the expectation of hearing 
again from the writer of the letter, in answer to certain inquiries addressed to him 
in a letter hitherto unanswered. Being unable to suggest any satisfactory expla- 
nation, we must refer the case to our medical friends.—Eps. 


INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIX. 


A. 


Abbot, J. H., theory of the pneumatic 

paradox, 296. 
Samuel, obituary notice of, 318. 

Acad. Nat. Sci. of Philad. notice of their 
Journal, 395. 

Accra, elements of the language of, 255. 

Adams, C. B., descriptions of new shells, 
373. 

Africa, South, plants of, 173. = 

Agassiz, L. notice of his fresh-water 
fishes of Europe, 390. 

Alexander, S., on Aurora’ Borealis of 
Sept. 3, 1839, 364. 

Alger, Francis, notice of minerals from 
New Holland, 157. 

American Philos. Society, proceedings 
ef, 361. 

Antiaris toxicaria, its juice analyzed, 
206. 

Apophyllite from New Holland, 158. 

Arnott and Hooker’s Botany of Beech- 
ey’s Voyage, 172. 

Association, American Statistical, 395. 

of American geologists, 189. 

Astronomical Observations, 361, 367. 

Audubon’s birds of America, review of, 
343. 

Auroral belt of May 29, 1840, 194, 383. 

Aurora Borealis of Sept. 3, 1839, 364. 


B. 


Barium, extraction of, 362. 

Barratt, Joseph, table of closing and 
opening of Conn. river, 88. 

Barton, M. H., proposed reform of Eng- 
lish orthography, 197. 

Bell’s British Reptiles, noticed, 185. 

Berres, on engraving from Daguerreo- 
types, 385. 

Birds of America by Audubon, review 
of, 343. 

Bone Cavern, 399. 

Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist., proceedings 
of, 182,373. 

Botanical works noticed, 168. 

Bourne, A., donation of shells to Yale 
College cabinet, 195. 

Bradford Coal field, examination of, 137. 

Bunker’s Hill, 'Trumbull’s painting of the 
battle of, 219. 

Burgoyne’s surrender, Trumbull’s paint- 
ing of, 234. 4 

Burksville, petroleum oil well at, 195. 

Byssus of the Naiades, 166. 


C. 


Calcium, extrication of, 362. 
Carburetted hydrogen discharged from a 
pond, 200, 399. 
Caricography, 50. 
Central forces, 262. 
Chalk powdered, coralline animalcules 
in, 205. 
Chemistry, elements of by Alonzo Gray, 
391. 
08 J. Johnston, 
193, 391. 
Coal, anthracite, analyses of, 139. 
Coal field of Carbon Creek, Pa., exam- 
ination of, 137. 
Combe, Geo., notice of his lectures on 
.phrenology, 65. 
Comstock, J. J., account of a meteor, 
82. 


Connecticut river, table of time of open- 
ing and closing, 88. 

Conrad, T. A., on new fossil shells, 387. 

Cornwallis, surrender of, painted by 
Trumbull, 238. 


D. 
Daguerreotypes, engravings taken from, 
385 


DeCandolle’s Prodromus noticed, 168. 

Declaration of Independence, Trumbull’s 
painting of, 226. 

Dewey, Chester, on Caricography, 50. 

Dip, magnetic, in the U. S., 47, 319. 

Divisibility infinite, of matter, 55. 

Dwight, Pres., sketch of, 244. 


E. 


Earth, igneous theory of applied, 90. 

Earthquake in Connecticut, 335. 

East Haddam, subterranean noises at, 
336. 

Eaton, Amos, on equivalence of Ameri- 
can and European strata, 149. 

Edwardsite, its identity with Monazite, 
249. 

Ehrenberg on diffusion of coralline ani- 
malcules, 205. 

Electricity, Faraday’s letter to Hare, con- 
cerning, 108. 

in machinery, 134. 

Endlicher’s Genera Plantarum noticed, 
170. 

English orthography, proposed reforms 
of, 197. 

[Entomological cabinet for sale, 211. 


A02 


INDEX. — 


Espy, J. P., synopsis of his philosophy||Herrick, E. C., auroral belt of May 29, 


of storms, 120. 
Exploring Expedition, American, pro- 
gress of, 193. 
French, to the Antarctic re- 
gions, 201. 


F. 


Faraday’s letter to Dr. Hare on topics of 
electricity, 108. 

Filaria in the eye of a horse, 278. 

Fishes of the West, descriptions of, 375. 
“ cultivation of, 378. 
“of fresh waters of Europe, 390. 

Flora of North America, by Torrey and 
Gray, noticed, 198. 

French Exploring expedition, 201. 

Frog domesticated, 138. 

Frost, its effects on plants, 18. 


G. 


Gallery of Paintings, by Trumbull, 213. 
Galvanic processes and results, 28, 132. 
Gaylord, W. on a thunder shower, 59. 
parhelia, 61. : 
meteorological register, 63. 
Geological specimens for sale, 199. 
ce survey of N. Y. noticed, 95. 


1840, 194, 383. 
meteors of August 9 and 
10, 1840, 328. 
on other meteoric peri- 
ods, 334. 
on a fire-ball, 382. 
Hessians, Trumbull’s painting of the 
capture of, at Trenton, 228. 
Heulandite from New Holland, 160. 
Hitchcock, E., his elementary geology 
noticed, 391. . 
on collections of minerals, 199. 
Hooker and Arnott’s Botany of Bee- 
chey’s voyage noticed, 172. 
Hooker’s Flora Boreali-Americana no- 
ticed, 172. 
Icones plantarum noticed, 178. 
Journal of Botany noticed, 177. 
Horse, Filaria in the eye of, 278. 
Hubbard, O. P., notice of Geological sur- 
vey of N. Y., 95. 
Hudson, Ohio, Observatory at, 361. 
Hydrogen carburetted, natural discharge 
of, 200, 399. 


I. 
Igneous theory of the earth applied, 90. 


Geologists American, association of, 189. Infinite divisibility of matter, 55. 
Geology Elementary, by Hitchcock, no- Infusoria, fossil, of West Point, 191. 


ticed, 391. 

Geology Elementary, by Leonhard, no- 
ticed, 393. 

Geology, wonders of, by Mantell, 1. 
fe of Europe and America, cor- 
respondence of, 149. 

Ghagh, language of, 255. 

Gibbs, J. W., on the Janguage of Ghagh 
or Accra, 255. 
« 0. W., on magneto-electric ma- 
chine, and carbon baitery, 132. 

Glass woven into cloth, 386. 

Gray and Torrey, their Flora of North 
America noticed, 198. 

Gray’s Elements of Chemistry noticed, 
391. 

Grisebach, his Genera et Species Genti- 
anearum noticed, 176. 


Hi. 


Haldeman’s Monograph of the Limni- 
ades noticed, 393. 


Iron steamboats, their superiority to 
wooden, 206. 


J. 
Johnson, W. R., examination of coal 
field of Carbon Creek, 137. 
Johnston, John, his manual of Chemis- 
try noticed, 193, 391. 
Journal of Acad. of Nat. Sci. of Phila- 
delphia, 395. 
K. 


Kendall, KE. O., on longitudes of several 
places in U.S., 367 
Kirtland, J. P., descriptions of western 
- fishes, 375. 
on habits of the Naiades, 164. 


L. 

Lathrop, J. H., applications of igneous 
theory of earth, 90. c 
Lee, C. A., account of a Filaria in a 

horse’s eye, 278. 


Hanson, A. W., elements of the Accra||Leonhard’s Geology noticed, 393. 


language, 255. 
Hare, Robert, answer to his letter, by 
Faraday, 108. 
«« apparatus for deflagration, 366. 
“ on extrication of barium, stron- 
tium, and calcium, 363. 
“on radiant heat, 371. 
Harvey, W. H., his Genera of South 
African plants noticed, 173. 
meee A. A., on native nitrate of soda, 
Heidelberg mineral establishment, 199. 


Limniades, Haldeman’s Monograph of, 
noticed, 393. : 

Lindley, John, on the effects of frost on 
plants, 18. 

his Introduction to Botany 

noticed, 179. 

Link’s Philosophia Botanica, 181. 

Linnea, a Journal of Botany, noticed,178. 

Linsley, J. H., on Sorex parvus and 8. 
brevicaudis, 388. 

Locke, John, observations of magnetic 
dip, 319. 


INDEX. 


Longitudes determined by meteors, 372. 
of several places in the U. S., 
Boer) yl)s 


Loomis, Elias, astronomical observations, 
361. 


on magnetic variation and dip in 
the U. S., (with chart,) 41. 

account of Hudson observatory, 
361 


Lycopodium, fall of, in a shower of rain, 
me : 


M. 


Machinery, electricity excited in, 134. 
Maclure, Wm., obituary of, 212, 395. 
Magnetic chart of the U.S8., 41. 
dip and variation in do., 41. 
observations by J. Locke, 319. 
observations in U.S., 193, 370. 
Maeneto-electric machine, 132. 
Maltby, J., tornado in Northford, 384. 
Mantell’s Wonders of Geology, notice 
of, 1. 
Mapes’s American Repertory, notice of, 
394. 
Martin, Joseph, on central forces, 262. 
Mastodon, tooth of, described, 53. 
Matter, infinite divisibility of, 55. 
Mengite identical with Edwardsite, 249. 
Meteoric fire-balls, 381, 382. 
Meteorite of Missouri, analysis of, 254. 
Meteorolegical register, 63. 
Meteors of August 9 and 10, 1840, 328. 
Meteors observed for finding longitudes, 
~ 372. 
Meyen’s New System of Vegetable 
Physiology noticed, 181. 
Microscopical Society of London, 203. 
Mineral, supposed new species, 357. 
Minerals, collections of for sale, 199. 
from New Holland, notice of, 
157. 
Mitchell, Wm., on auroral belt, 383. 
Monazite identical with Edwardsite, 249. 
Monkton pond, burning, 399. 
Montgomery, Gen., death of, in attack 
on Quebec, Trumbull’s painting of, 
223. 
Moodus noises at E. Haddam, 386. 


N 


Naiades, habits of, 164. 
New Holland, notice of minerals from, 
157. 
New York, geological Survey of, 95. 
zoology of, 388. 
North American Flora, by Torrey and 


403 


P. 


Page’s entomological cabinet for sale, 
211. 

Paine’s Medical Commentaries noticed, 
209 

Paintings, Trumbull Gallery of at Yale 
College, 213. 

Parhelia, descriptions of, 61. 

Peru, South, native nitrate of soda in, 
375. 

Petroleum oil well, 195. 

Phrenology, remarks on, 67. 

Plants, how affected by frost, 18. 

Pneumatic paradox, theory of, 296. 

Presl, his Genera Filicacearum noticed, 
174. 

Princeton, battle of, painted by Trum- 
bull, 231. 


Q. 


Quartz, rhombohedral, from New Hol- 
land, 161. 


R. 


Renwick’s applications of mechanics 
noticed, 211. 

Riddell, J. L. on Hog Wallow Prairies 
of Texas, 211. 

Rogers, H. D. on a new chemical com- 
pound, 369. 

Rose, G. on identity of Edwardsite and 
Monazite, 249. 

Russell on Statistical Inquiry, noticed, 
395. 

Russell, J. L. on cryptogamia of Chelms- 
ford, 183. 


S. 


Schaeffer, Geo. C. on meteors of August, 
1840, 332. 
Shells, fossils from North Carolina, 387. 
new species described, 373. 


Gray, noticed, 198. 
O. 


O’Brien on case of transpiration, 400. 

Observatory at Hudson, Ohio, 361. 

Olbers, obituary of, 387. 

Orhoe ey, English, proposed reforms 
or, 


Shepard, C. U. analysis of Missouri me- 
teorite, 254. 
identity of Edwardsite and 
Monazite, 249. 
supposed new mineral, 
307, 
Shooting Stars of Aug. 9 and 10, 1840, 
328. 
Siebold’s Flora Japonica noticed, 175, 
Silliman, B. remarks on phrenology, 67. 
Smith, Azariah, on electricity in ma- 
chinery, 134. 
Snell, E. S. on mean temperature of the 
year, 36. 
Society, microscopical, of London, 203. 
of Arts, Manufactures, &c., 397. 
Amer. Philos., proceedings of, 
361. 
Soda, nitrate of, native, 375. 


pelene supposed new mineral allied to, 
307 


A404 


Sproat, A. D. proposed reform of orthog- 
raphy, 197 

Siatistical Association at Boston, 395. 

Steamboats, iron and wooden compared, 
206. 

Stilbite from New. Holland, 161. 

Storer, D. H. on Bell’s British Reptiles, 
185. 

account of several fishes, 

378. 

Storms, philosophy of, by J. P. Espy, 
120. 


Strontium, extrication of, 362. 
Sturgeon, Wm. galvanic processes and 
results, 28. 
on galvanic batteries, 35. 
Swainson on the Monocardian animals, 
notice of, 389. 


T. 


Temperature, mean, of the year, 36. 
rule for obtaining, 
40 


Texas, prairies of, described, 211. 

Thunder shower, account of, 59. 

Tooth of Mastodon, described, 53. 

Tornado at Northford, 384. 

Torrey and Gray, their North Am. Flora 
noticed, 198. 

Torrey, Joseph, proposed reform of or- 
thography, 197. 

Transactions of Society of Arts, d&c. no- 
ticed, 397. 

Transpiration throughout half the body, 
400. 

Treviranus, physiology of plants, 181. 

Trumbull Gallery of Paintings at Yale 
College, 213. 

Trumbull, Goy. (Sen.) sketch of, 246. 


INDEX. 


Trumbull, John, account of his paint- 
ings, 213. ; 

ate Practical Medicine, noticed, 
98. 


U. 
Upas tree, its sap analyzed, 206. 
V. 
Variation, magnetic, in the U.S., 41. 


Von Schlechtendal, his Journal of Bota- 
ny noticed, 178 


W. 


Walker, Chas. V. galvanic experiments, 


Weenie portrait of, by Trumbull, 
245. 
his resignation of office, 
Trumbull’s painting of, 239. 
Well of petroleum oil, 195. 
Wonders of Geology by Dr. Mantell, 
review of, 1. 
Wooden steamboats compared with iron, 
206. 
Wyman, J. description of tooth of mas- 
todon, 53. 
on Filariain lungs of asheep, 
183. 
on Nautilus umbilicatus, 185. 
on Otion Cuvieri, 182. 


Y. 
Yale College, Trumbull Gallery of 
Paintings at, 213. , 
donation of shells to, 195. 
Z 


Zodiacal Light in August, 331, 333. 
Zuccarini’s Flora Japonica, noticed, 175. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS, FRIENDS 
AND STRANGERS. 


Remarks.—This method of acknowledgment has been adopt- 
ed, because it is not always practicable to write letters, where 
they might be reasonably expected; and still more difficult is it 
to prepare and insert in this Journal, notices of all the books, pamph- 
lets, &c., which are kindly presented, even in cases, where such no- 
tices, critical or commendatory, would be appropriate ; for it is often 
equally impossible to command the time requisite to frame them, or 
even to read the works; still, judicious remarks, from other hands, 
would usually find both acceptance and insertion. 

In public, it is rarely proper to advert to personal concerns; to 
excuse, for instance, any apparent neglect of courtesy, by pleading 
the unintermitting pressure of labor, and the numerous calls of our 
fellow-men for information, advice, or assistance, in lines of duty, 
with which they presume us to be acquainted. 

The apology, implied in this remark, is drawn from us, that we may 
not seem inattentive to the civilities of many respectable persons, au- 
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is still our endeavor to reply to all letters which appear to require an 
answer ; although, as a substitute, many acknowledgments are made 
in these pages, which may sometimes be, in part, retrospective.— 


Eds. 
SCIENCE.—FOREIGN. 


Géologie des Gens du Monde, par K. C. de Leonhard de Hei- 
delberg ; translated from the German by P. Grimblot and P. A. 
Toulougan. ‘Tome deuxieme. Paris, 1840. From the Author. 

Lethea Geognostica ; feuilles 13 and 14 of text, and Taf 13, 14, 
16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23 and 24. From the Author. 

Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, &c. 1833, Heft. 1 and 6. 
1838, Heft. 1, 4,5, 6. From Messrs. Leonhard and Bronn. 

Several German Catalogues of Books, for sale by Nestler & Mel- 
le, Hamburg. From N. & M. 

Histoire Naturelle des Poissons d’Eau Douce de L’ Europe Cen- 
trale, par L. Agassiz. 1 Livraison, contenante les Salmones, folio, 
with beautiful colored plates. From the Author. 

1 


2 


Monographie des Echinodermes vivans et fossiles, par L. Agassiz. 
Neuchatel. ler Livraison. From the Author. - 

Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Man- 
ufactures, &c. 1839. Vol. 52, part II. From the Society. 

Report on A. M. Perkins’s Patent Steam Boiler, by J. Parkes, 
Civil Engineer. Lond. 4to. 1840. From Mr. Wheelwright. 

Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. 133 Pia 
From the Society. 

Anniversary Address of the Duke of Sussex, before the Royal 
Society, Nov. 30, 1887. S8vo. Lond. From Dr. Mantell. 

List of the Geological Society of London. March 1, 1839. From 
the same. 

Notes on the Age of the Limestones of South Devonshire, by 
Wm. Lonsdale, F. G.S. 1840. From Dr. Mantell. 

Catalogue of Adelaide Gallery of Practical Science for 1837. 
Lond. From Dr. Mantell. 

Lithographic Figures of Fossils from the London Clay on Wads- 
worth Common. From Mr. G. A. Mantell. 

Die Phanomene der Geologie leichtfasslich in Vorlecuneen ent- 
wickelt von Dr. Gideon Mantell: Deutch herausgegeben von Dr. 
Joseph Burkart. 2 Bande. Bonn, 1839. From Dr. Mantell. 

Bericht uber den Verein zur Verbreitung von Naturkenntniss und 
hoherer Wahrheit aus dem Jahr 1827 and 1828. Vom Dr. J. S. 
C. Schweigger. 12mo. 

Icones Plantarum, by Sir Wm. Jackson Hooker, KH. London, 
Svo. pt. VI, 1840. From the Author. 

The Wonders of Geology, by Gideon A. Mantell, LL. D. F.R.S. 
2 vols. Fourth Edition, 1840. London. From the Author. 

On the discovery of Fossil Teeth of a leopard, bear, and other 
animals in a crag-pit, at Newbrurn, in Suffolk, by Charles Lyell, 
Esq., F. R. S., &c. From the Author. 

On the occurrence of Fossil Quadrumanous, Marsupial, and other 
mammalia in the London clay, near Woodbridge, in Suffolk. By 
and from the same. 

Description of the mammalian remains found at Kyson, in Suf- 
folk, mentioned in the preceding notice by Richard Owen, Esq., 
F.R. S., &c. From the same. 

Proceedings of the Royal Society, No. 40, Nov. 1839. With 
the address of the President, the Marquis of Northampton. From 
the same. ; 

Sur la Longitude de Observatoire Royal de Bruxelles, par A. 
Quetelet, Bruxelles. 4to, 1839. From the Author. 

Sur Etat du Magnétisme Terrestre a Bruxelles pendant les douze 
années de 1827 a 1839, par A. Quetelet. 4to, 1839. From the 
Author. 

Bulletin de ’ Acad. Royale de Bruxelles. Tom. 6, No. 12. Me- 
teorologie, &c., Svo. From A. Quetelet. 


Ss 


Meteorologie, No. 10, tom. 6. From the same. 

Apercu de Vétat de Observatoire pendant Pannée 18389, par 
A. Quetelet. Svo. Bruxelles. From the author. 

Premier Mémoire sur les Kaolins, ou Argiles a Porcelaine, sur la 
nature, le gisement, lorigine et l’emploi de cette sorte d’Argile. 
Par M. Alex. Brongniart, de Acad. Roy. des Sci. 4to. Paris, 
1839. From the Author. 

Tableau de la distribution méthodique des Especes Minérales, 
etc. Par M. Alex. Brongniart, Professeur.. Svo. Paris, 1833. _ 
From the Author. 

Catalogo de Minerali Esotici della Collezione del Cav. Monticelli. 
Ato. Italy. From Jas. Hall. 

Extracts from a Memoir on the Geological Structure and Phe- 
nomena of the County of Suffolk, &c. by Rev. W. B. Clarke. 
From the Author. 

On the results of an Extensive System of Tide Observations 
made on the Coasts of Europe and America, in June, 1835, by Rev. 
W. Whewell. Phil. Trans. 1886, 4to. Lond. From the Author. 

On the Temperatures and Geological Relations of certain Hot 
Springs, particularly those of the Pyrenees; and on the Verifica- 
tion of Thermometers, by Jas. D. Forbes, Esq. Phil. ‘Trans. 1836. 
Ato. From the Author. 

Recueil d’Observations Magnétiques et Meteorologiques faites 
dans L’Russie, anne 1837, par A. T. Kupffer. 4to. St. Peters- 
burgh. From M. Kupffer. 

The hand-book of Chemistry, by G. H. Cannter. London, W. 
S. Orr, Amen Corner. 8vo. pp. 280. From the Author. 

Account of an intermitting brine spring discharging carbonic acid 
gas, near Kissengen in Bavaria. By and from Prof. Forbes. 8vo. 
pp- 21. Edinburgh New Phil. Jour. 

On the color of Steam under certain circumstances, and on the 
colors of the Atmosphere. By and from James D. Forbes, F. R.S., 
&c. Ato. pp. 20. Edinburgh, 1839. 

On the ages of the Tertiary Deposits. commonly called crag, in 
the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. By and from C. Lyell, Esq. 

Proceedings of London Geological Society, No. 62. From the 
pociety. 

Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Journal and Remarks, by 
Mr. Charles Darwin, Sec. Geol. Soc. From the Author. 

Journal des Connaissances Utiles, Manuel, pratique, &c. Paris, 
1840. From Wiley & Putnam. 

Supplement to the introduction to Atomic Theory, by Charles 
Daubeny, M. D., F. R.S., &c. London. 

Sketch of the Geology of North America, by Charles Daubeny, 
M.D. 8vo. 

Communication faite a la Societé Philosophique Américaine dans 
une des Séances de 1839, au sujet des ‘Trombes, par Robert Hare, 
M. D., Philad. 


4. 


India Review, edited by Frederick Corbyn, for Aug. 1839. 

Traité Elémentaire de Conchyliologie, par G. P. Deshayes. 
Paris. 

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, Svo. Nos. 
4and5. New Series. April and May, 1839. 

Consumption curable, &c., by F. H. Ramadge, M.D. From J. 
L. Sullivan, M. D. 

Statistics and Philosophy of Storms, from the Edinburgh Review 
for Jan. 1839. 

Catalogue des Principales Apparitions d’Etoiles Filantes, par A. 
Quetelet, Directeur de |’Observatoire de Bruxelles. 4to. pp. 63. 
Bruxelles. From the Author. 


SCIENCE.—DOMESTIC. 


Transactions of the Amer. Philos. Society. Vol. 6, New Se- 
ries. pt. 3, 4to. From the Society. 

Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 
Vol. 7, pt. ii, 1837, and Vol. 8, pt. i, 8vo. From the Academy. © 

Reports of Prof. C. U. Shepard, and Forrest Shepherd, Esq., 
respecting mineral deposits in the States of Missouri and Arkansas. 
Accompanied bya Map. 8vo. One also for B. Silliman, Jr. From 
the Authors. 

Second Annual Report on the Geological Survey of Ohio, by W. 
W. Mather, Principal Geologist, and the several assistants. 8vo. 
Columbus, 1838. From Dr. John Locke. 

Annual Reports of the Geologists of the State of New York, 
Jan. 24, 1840.. Doc. No. 50, pp. 484. From Prof. E. Emmons. 
One do. for B. Silliman, Jr. From Jas. Hall, Esq. 

Maryland Medical and Surgical Journal, and Official Organ of 
the Medical Department of the Army and Navy of the U. States. 
Vol. I, Nos. 1 and 2, 1840. From the editors. 

Report of the Select Committee of so much of the Governor’s . 
Message as relates to the Geological Survey of the State of New 
York. April 28, 1840. From James Hall, and one do. for Yale 
Nat. Hist. Soc. from the same. 

Proceedings of Pres. and Fellows of Conn. Medical Society in 
Convention, May, 1838. Hartford. 

The Magnet, devoted to Arts, Science, and Mechanism, edited 
by J. S. Burr, Sec. U.S. Soc. A. and M. No.1, Vol. 1. New 
York, July 4,1840. [Zhe Printing Press worked ‘by Taghtning.| 

Phrenology, a lecture delivered before the Woodville Lyceum 
Association, by Prof. Mariano Cubi Y. Soler. 

History and Progress of Phrenology, two Lectures delivered be- 
fore the Western Phrenological Society, by R. W. Haskins. Buffa- 
lo, 1839. . 8vo. pp. 217. From the Author. 

Report on the Geological Survey of Michigan, for Dr. Doug- 
ass Houghton, State Geologist. 


5 


A Manual of Chemistry on the basis of Turner, by Prof. John 
Johnston, of the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. 

Elements of Chemistry, containing principles of the science, &c., | 
by Alonzo Gray, A. M., teacher of chemistry and natural history 
in the Teachers’ Seminary, Andover, 1840. Small 8vo. pp. 359. 
From the Author. 

Hitchcock’s Geology. Elementary Geology, by Prof. Edward 
Hitchcock. Amherst, 1840. Small 8vo. pp. 320. From the Au- 
thor. 

Proceedings of Am. Phil. Society, Nos. 9 and 10, 2 copies, one 
from the Society, and one from Dr. Hare. 

The Homeopathic Examiner, by A. G. Hull, M.D. Vol. 1, 
Nos. 1 and 2, Jan. and Feb. 1840. 

Examitation’ of some of’ the Anthracites of Pennsylvania. By 
and from Prof. W. R. Johnson. 

A full description of the Daguerreotype process, as published by 
M. Daguerre, from the Am. Repertory, edited by Prof. J. Mapes. 
From Dr. J. R. Chilton, N. Y. 

Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Virginia for 1839. 

Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Society for 1839. From 
Henry Colman. 

Fifth Geological Report of Tennessee for 1839. From. G. Troost, 
M.D. 

Geological Report of the se of New York. From L. Vanux- 
em. Do. from James Hall. 

American Repertory of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, edited 
by J. P. Mapes. 

First Report of the Geological Survey of New Brunswick, by 
Abraham Gesner. From the Author. 

Report of the Examination of the Coal Field of Carbon Creek, 
by W. R. Johnson, A. M. 

Spinal Irritation, by J. H. Griscom, M. D., New York. From 
the Author. 

A System of Practical Medicine, comprising a series of original 
dissertations, arranged and edited by Alexander Tweedie, M. D. 
F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Fevers and 
Diseases of the Skin. Philadelphia, 1840. Lea & Blanchard, pub- 
lishers. 

North American Botany, by Eaton & Wright. 8th ed. Svo. pp. 
625. Troy, N.Y. 1840. From E. Gates, publisher. 

Remarks on the Geology and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia, by 
Abm. Gesner, Esq. Halifax, Svo. From the Author. 

Inquiry concerning the diseases and functions of the Brain, Spinal 
Cord, and the Nerves, by A. Brigham, M.D. 12mo. From the 
Author. 


MISCELLANEOUS.—FOREIGN——-BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS. 


Letters to the Shareholders of the Great Western Railway, Lon- 
don, 1838. 

Catalogue de la Libraire d’ Auguste Desrez, Janvier, 1840. Paris. 
From W. and P. 

The Publishers’ Circular, from Wiley & Putnam. 

Catalogue of Books. From Wiley & Putnam. 

Publishers’ Circular, 9 numbers. From Wiley & Putnam. 

‘Twentieth Annual Report of the London Provident Institution. 

Foreign Monthly Review for May, July and August. London. 

Twenty Third Annual Report of the London Provident Institu- 
tion. 

Statements and Documents relative to the establishment of Steam 
Navigation in the Pacific. 12mo. Lond. From Mr. Wheelwright. 

The Colonial Pearl, Halifax, N.S., May 23, 1840. 

Western Herald, Sandwich, U. C., May 6, 1840. 

Telegraph and Texas Register, Houston, May, 1840. 

Galignani’s Messenger, Paris, May 4, 1840. Earthquakes in 
Scotland, 1839, also several other Nos. of this paper, from 8. H. 
Walley, Esq., Paris. 

Royal Gazette and Newfoundland Advertiser, Nos. 1671-4, with 
Report on the Geology of Newfoundland, by J. B. Jukes, F. G. S. 
St. Johns, 1840. 

Sussex Advertiser, Lewes & Brighton, March, 1840. From Dr. 
Mantell. 

Verzeichniss der Vom Juli bis December, 1839, herausgegeben 
Neuen Bucher. No. 52, Hamburg. From Perthes & Besser. 

The Liverpool Journal, May 10, 1840; temperance in Ireland, 
and murder of Lord Wm. Russell. 

The London Patriot, June 24 and 25, 1840; British and Foreign 
Anti-Slavery Society, and punishment of death. 

London British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Rep. July 1, 1840. 

London Morning Herald, June 22, 1840. ‘Trial of Courvoisier. 

London Sun, June 20 and 23, 1840; British and Foreign Anti- 
Slavery Society, and attack on the Queen. 

London Sun, Feb. 10, 1840, with medallion portraits of Queen 
Victoria and Prince Albert. From 8. H. Walley, Esq., at Paris. 

South African Advertiser, Cape of Good Hope, Dec. 27 and 11, 
1839, two large folio papers ; notice of the Cold Bokkeveld meteo- 
rite of October, 1838. Rev. G. Champion, Bokkeveld. 

The Chinese Repository, Canton, Vol. 8, Nos. 9,10, 11. From 
the editor. 

Syllabus of the course of lectures on Chemistry, delivered in 
King’s College, by J. F. Daniell, F. R.S., 1836. 


7 


MISCELLANEOUS.—DOMESTIC. 


Speech of Mr. Slade, of Vt., on the right of petition, &c., Wash- 
ington, delivered before the House of Representatives, Jan. 18 and 
20,1840. From Joseph Trumbull, Esq., M. C. 

Message from the President of the U. States, transmitting Hon. 
J. R. Poinsett’s communication on the internal improvements carri- 
ed on by the General Government. From J. Trumbull, Esq., M. C. 

A bill to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers 
on board Steam Vessels propelled in whole or in part by Steam. 
From Hon. Mr. Ruggles, U. S. Senate. 

The Peru Gazette, Ind. March 7, 1840, containing an extract 
from a Meteorological Journal. By and from Horatio Waldo, Jr. 

The Millennium Oracle, a sacred drama, by E. P. Page. Mari- 
etta, Ohio, 1840. From the Author. 

Twenty first Annual Report of the N. Y. Institution for instruct- 
ing the Deaf and Dumb. N. York, 1840. From Mr. H. P. Peet, 
A. M., Principal. 

Albany Daily Advertiser, March 12th, 1840, and Smithsonian 
Legacy Memorial in relation to a National Agricultural Institution. 
From C. Morgan, M. C. 

Boston Atlas of March 27, “ on the Hair-istocracy.” 

Albany Daily Advertiser of March 12, containing abstracts of 
proceedings of Albany Institute. From Dr. Beck. 

Banks and Currency. From Mr. Gardner, of ‘Troy. 

Address and Suppressed Report of the minority of the Commit- 
tee on Elections on the New Jersey case. From Hon. Wm. L. 
Storrs, M. C. Washington, D. C. 

Catalogue of a Private Library, sold March 18, 1840. By and 
from Messrs. Bangs, Richards & Platt. 

Memoir Historical and Political of the northwest coast of North 
America, by Robert Greenhow. From Hon. J. Davis. 

Thirtieth Annual Report of the Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions. 

Chancellor Kent’s course of Reading. From the Directors of 
the Mercantile Library Association, New York. 

Memorial on the impolicy and injustice of certain enactments con- 
tained in the law relating to steamboats. From W. C. Redfield. 

Account of the Yellow Fever in Galveston, ‘Texas, in the autumn 
of 1839, by Ashbel Smith, M.D. From the Author. 

On the study of the Celtic Languages, by Rev. A. B. Chapin. 
From the Author. 

Notice of the Daguerreotype, by Wm. E. A. Aikin, M.D. From 
the Author. 

Second Annual Report of the Board of Commissioners of Com- 
mon Schools, 1840. From H. Barnard. 


8 


Memoir of Mrs. Elizabeth Adams, by Moses Stuart. 
Remarks of the Hon. Peleg Sprague, on the character and servi- 
ces of Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison. 

Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Oberlin Collegiate 
Institute. From Henry Cowles. 

Catalogue of Cliosophic Society of the College of New Jersey. 
From Eli Whitney. 

Letter to the Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen and Hon. Benj. F. 
Butler, on the consideration of the Colonization scheme, by S. E. 
Cornish and Theo. S. Wright. From the Authors. 

Address to the Medical College of South Carolina, by J. Moul- 
trie, M. D. 

Catalogue of the Medical College of S. Carolina, for 1839-40. 

Sermon on the death of John Lowell, LL. D., by F. W. P. 
Greenwood. Boston, 1840. 

Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society, May, 1840. 

Philadelphia Gazette, with the life of Wm. Henry Harrison. 

Mohawk Courier, with account of earthquake at Little Falls. 

The Constitution, with an account of the canker-worm moth. 
By J. Barratt, M. D. ) 

Prospectus of Faculty of Physic of the Univ. of Maryland. 

Speech of Mr. Brockway of Connecticut on the Sub-Treasury 
Bill. From the Author. 

Speech of Mr. Osborne of Connecticut on the Sub-Treasury 
Bill. From the Author. 

Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Svo. Vol. I. From 
the Society. 

Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Vol. 4, 8vo. 
From Lieut. Wm. Rogers Taylor. 

Report on Education in Europe, to the Trustees of the Girard 
College for Orphans. By A. D. Bache, LL. D., President 8vo. 
Philad. From the Author. 

Discourse embracing the Civil and Religious History of Rhode 
Island, delivered April 4, 1838, 2d century from settlement of the 
island. By Rev. Arthur A. Ross. Prov. 12mo. From Lieut. W. 
R. Taylor. : 

Battle of Lake Erie, with Notices of Com. Elliott’s conduct in 
that engagement. By Hon. T. Burges, 12mo. From. Lieut. W. 
R. Taylor. 

Discourse on Life and Character of President Kirtland, by Alex. 
Young. Boston. From the Author. One also for Library of Yale 
College. , 

Twenty Fourth Annual Report of the American Bible Society, 
8vo. From the Society. | 

Twenty Fourth Annual Report of the Directors of the American 
Education Society. May, 1840. From the Society. 


9 


Rey. Mr. Rogers’s Sermon occasioned by the loss of the Harold 
and the Lexington. Boston. From J. C. Proctor. 

Zula, a Tragedy in four Acts, by a Kentuckian. 18mo. Philad. 
From the Author. 

Letter from the Secretary of War on N ational Defence and Na- 
tional Founderies. Doc. No. 206, House of Rep. May 15, 1840. 
From Hon. J. Trumbull. 

Address before the Dorchester (Md.) Agricultural Society, Nov. 
1837, by Joseph E. Muse, President. From the Author. 

Prospectus of the Missouri Iron Company and Missouri and Iron 
Mountain Cities. Boston, 1837. 

Jewett’s Advertiser, New Series. Vol. 1, No. 3. 

Cape Cod Celebration, at Barnstable, Sept. 3, 1839. S8vo. 1840. 
From W. Marston. 

Annual announcement of the Medical Department of Pennsylva- 
nia College, at Philadelphia. 

Report of the Secretary of War relative to preserving timber by 
a process called Kyanising. April, 1840. From Hon. O. Baker. 

Speech of Mr. Osborne of Conn. on Sub-Treasury Bill, June 3, 
1840, House of Rep. From Hon. W. L. Storrs. 

Speech of Mr. Brockway on the same, June 2, 1840. From 
Hon. W. L. Storrs. 

Speech of Wm. Cost Johnson, of Maryland, on the rejection of 
petitions for the Abolition of Slavery, House of Rep. Jan. 1840. 

Report of the Secretary of State on the subject of the law for 
taking the 6th census of the U. States. 

Memoir, historical and political, on the northwest coast of North 
America, &c. with a map, by Robert Greenhow,. translator and li- 
brarian to Dept. of State. 26th Congress, Ist session. Feb. 10, 
1240. From Hon. J. Davis. 

Memorial of the Committee of Tobacco Planters, to 26th Cong. 
U.S. Doc. 198. From Hon. J. Trumbull. 

Catalogue of Westfield Academy, Mass. 1839-40. From Mr. 
A. Parish. 

Address before the Faculty and Students of Emory College, Ox- 
ford, Ga. By A. H. Longstreet, President, at his inauguration, Feb. 
10, 1840. 

Catalogue of rare and curious Old Books, for sale by Bartlett & 
Welford, New York City. 

Water from the White Sulphur Springs, Greenbriar Co., Va., &c. 
&c., by J. J. Mooman, M. D. 

The Bow of Promise, an Address, by the Rev. John Marsh, 
July 4, 1840, before the Marine Temperance Society, N. Y. From 
the Author, 

Catalogus Collegii Dartmuthensis, 1840. From Prof. O. P. Hub- 
bard. 

2 


10 
Report of the case of Taylor vs. Delavan, for libel. Albany, 
1840. 


Introductory Address of the Medical College of the State of S. 
Carolina, by James Moultrie, M. D., (Dean of the Faculty.) Charles- 
ton, S. C., 1840. 

Annual announcement of the Jefferson Medical College at Phila- 
delphia, with a Catalogue of graduates. 1840. 

Catalogus Collegii Hamiltonensis, 1840. From Rev. President 
©. North. 

Report of the select committee on the Geol. Survey, of N. York, 
in Assembly April 28, 1840, No. 338. From James Hall. 

Report of the minority of the Committee of Elections on the 
New Jersey contested election. From Hon. W. J. Hastings, M. C. 

The Mad Dog, or Hydrophobia. From Dr. Lewis Feuchtwan- 
ger, New York. 

Yankee Land and the Yankee—Poem by and from the author, 
Daniel March, A. B. 

Philosophy of Mind, by John Stearns, M.D. N.Y. 1840. From 
the Author. 

Address of the Philomathean Society of Mount St. Mary’s Col- 
lege, Maryland, by Eugene H. Lynch, Esq., Baltimore. From the 
Society. 

Specifications of the materials and construction of Susquehannah 
division of the New York and Erie Rail Road. From D. V. Ma- 
cumber, Esq. 

History of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, with Maps, 
3 copies. From J. Watson, Jr., Esq. 

Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Medical College 
of the State of South Carolina. From T. L. Bender. 

The real nature of the Electric Fluid, and the Polarity of the 
Magnet explained. From the author, James Glenn. 

Original and galvanie copy of a print, both beautiful and quite 
identical. From an unknown source, supposed New York. 

A folio printed page on the ten tribes of Israel and the aborigines 
of America. New Albany, Indiana. 


SPECIMENS.—DOMESTIC. 


A few seeds of choice culinary vegetables. From L. Stone, Esq., 
Derby. 

Soeondaty Fossils from Indiana, Spirifere, Terebratule, Favosites, 
Madrapore, &c. From Dr. iPllneannes 

A medallion of copper, precipitated by the process of Prof. Ja- 
cobi, prepared by Prof. Jos. Henry, of Princeton. From Prof. H. 
Also another from Mr. Jos. Saxton, U. S. Mint at Philad. 

Species of fresh water and land shells, for the Yale Nat. History 
Society. From John Anthony, Esq., Cincinnati, Ohio. 


11 


Iron and copper ore, and a few minerals from Cornwall furnace, 
five miles south of Lebanon, Pa. From John Reynolds, Esq. 

Fossils of the Tertiary of Scriven county, Georgia, chiefly casts 
of Shells. From Mr. Thomas R. Dutton. 

Quartz crystals from Little Falls, New York. From Mr. J. W. 
Douglass. \ 


SPECIMENS.—FOREIGN. 


Ammonites and trigoniz from the Sub-Himalayeh mountains, col- 
lections of Capt. Cautley. From Dr. G. A. Mantell. 

Sample of the gold ore or matrix, from Jabani, near Seembus, 
Borneo. From Rev. Mr. E. Doty, Missionary ; forwarded -by kind- 
ness of Rev. Dr. Ball, Singapore. 

Mineralogical and Geological specimens from Palestine. From 
Rey. Mr. Hibbert—a very interesting suit of specimens historically 
and scientifically. 


NEWSPAPERS.—DOMESTIC. 


Commercial Advertiser and Journal, Buffalo, June 2, 1840 ; with 
notice of floods of the Mississippi. From Mr. R. W. Haskins. 

Yankee Farmer, Boston, edited by Mr. S. W. Cole. 1840. 

Com. Adv. and Journal, Buffalo, May 23, 1840; with notice of 
inclination of earth’s axis to the ecliptic. From R. W. Haskins. 

Ohio Observer, Hudson, Ohio, July 9, 1840; with Meteorological 
Journal, June, 1840, kept at Western Reserve College, by Prof. 
Taemis: . 

Citizen Soldier, Nerwieh, Vt., July 29, 1840. J. Richards, pub- 
lisher. Vol. 1, No. 2. 

New England Weekly Review, Hartford, July 11, 1840; with 
notice of Torrey’s & Gray’s Flora of North America; by Dr. Jo- 
seph Barratt. 

The Disseminator, New Harmony, Ind., May 7, 1840. 

Ohio Republican, Zanesville, May 23, 1840. 

Salem Observer, June 27, 1840 ; with notice of Essex Co. Nat. 
Hist. Society. 

Literary Advertiser, Prospectus of the National Society of Lite- 
rature and Science, N. Y. June, 1840. 

Eastern Argus, Portland, April 30,1840. 

North American, Philadelphia, April 28,1840. From Mr. B. B. 
Thatcher. 

Boston Journal, April 30, 1840. 

American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter, New York, 1840. 

National Gazette, Philad. July 14; with a notice of the storm 
of the 13th. 


12 


Boston Mercantile Evening Journal, Friday, Aug. 7, 1840; with 
a notice of the article on Phrenology in the 79th “No. of the Am. 
Jour. Science. Editors. 

The Christian Citizen, Boston, May 1, 1840. Vol. 1, No. 1. 
From the Editors, J. & G. Stearns. 

Louisville Literary News Letter. Nos. 1 to 36. 

Boston Mercantile Journal, Aug. 20,1840. From the Editors. 


Lowell Journal, Aug. 22; containing notice of ‘‘ Bang up Novel- 


ties.” 

The New World, by Park Benjamin, Esq., Aug. 22 5 containing 
an account of the steamer President, with a “ portrait’ ’ of that ves- 
sel. 

Boston Mercantile Journal, Aug. 20, 1840. Earthquakes. 

New York American, Aug. 26, 1840. Mr. Webster’s Speech at 
Saratoga. 


“CHEMICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SUPPLIES. 


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Bavaria; Imp. Agric. Soc., Moscow; Nat. Hist. Soc., Belfast, Ire.; Phil. and Lit. — 

Soc., Bristol; and Hon. Mem. Rey. Sussex Inst., Brighton, Eng.; Cor. 

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