pear eee erent mee er cre Goer) Ha etn! AB Naat Me Mh ee A ane ee tie ee maw en. tet a - . an . dint Seat A a he beara a aa a RE ak ae a LOT EC EELS TT ETT TON TE TE EN Meee ma rend aaa Ws hope we “me oe) z Pacers se eae AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ARTS. CONDUCTED BY BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, M. D. LL. D. Prof. Chem., Min., &c. in Yale Coli.; Cor. Mem. Soc. Arts, Mar. and Com.; ana For. Mem. Geol. Soc., london; Mem. Geol. Sov., Taris; Mei. Roy. Min. Soc., Dresden; Nat. Hist. Soc., Halle; Imp. Agric. Soc., Moscow; Hon. Mem. Lin. Soc., Paris; Nat. Hist. Soc. Belfast, lre.; Phil. and Lit. Soc. Bristol, Eng ; Hon. Mem. Roy. Sussex Inst. Brighton, Eng. ; Lit. and Hist. Soc., Quebec; Mem. of various Lit. and Scien. Soc. in America. : VOL. XXXII.—JdUb¥ 1837. NEW HAVEN: Sold by A. H. MALTBY and HERRICK & NOYES.—Ballimore, 1. SMITH HOMANS, (late BE. J. Coane & Co.)—Philadelphia, CAREY & HART and J. S. LITTELL.—Wew York, G. & C. CARVILL & Co., Ne. 73 Cedar St., and G. S. SILLIMAN, No. 45 William St— Boston, HILLIARD, GRAY & Co. PRINTED BY B. L. HAMLEN. CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXII. pie eee ‘ NUMBER I. Page. Art. I. General Remarks on the Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe and the Planetary Spaces; by Baron Fourier, 1 II. Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin, in Maine; by Prof. J. W. BatLey, - - - - - - 20 Il]. Experiments on the Adhesion of Iron Spikes of various forms, when driven into different species of ‘Timber ; by Prof. WattTrr R. Jounson, - - - - 34 IV. Remarks on the Natural order Cycadex, with a deserip- tion of the ovula and seeds of Cycas revoluta, Willd. ; by A. J. Downine, - - - - - - 45 V. On the Economical. Uses of some species of Testacea, 53 VI. Notes ona Tour in France, Italy, and Elba, with a notice of its Mines of Iron; by Prof. F. Hatt, - - 74 VII. Notes on Chemistry, &c.; by Prof. J. W. Barey, 85 VIIL. A Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera, near Bogota, in New Granada; by J. H. Gizzon, M. D. - =) .89 IX. Meteorological Journal, for the year 1836, kept at Mari- etta, Ohio; by Dr. S. P. Hitpretu, = - =)/2)95 X. Remarks on some of the Gold Mines, and on parts of the e Gold Region of Virginia, founded on personal obser- vations, made in the months of August and September, 1836;, by B. Sirtiman, - - - - - =Vi), 9S XI. Notice of some facts connected with the Gold of a por- tion of North Carolina; by Franxurn L. Surru, Esq. 130 XII. Notice of the Shad and Shad Fisheries of the River Dela- ware; by Samuet Howe tt, M. D. - - - [34 = XIII. Formic Acid—remarks upon its utility, together with a_ correction of Débereiner’s process and views respecting the theory of its formation; by Prof. J. P. Emmet, 140 XIV. On the Identity of the Torrelite of Thomson with Co- — _ lumbite; by James D. Dana, A.M. - - - 149 XY. On the Causes of the Tornado, or Water Spout; yy Prof. R. Harz, M.D. - - - - - - 158 XVI. Description of Edwardsite, a new Mineral; ie Prof. Cuarites UpHam Sueparp, M.D. - - - - 162 XVII. Description of a new Trilobite; by Prof. Jacos Grezn, 167 [71109 CONTENTS. MISCELLANIES.—* °MESTIC AND FOREIGN. . Mr. Faraday on the most improved form of the Galvanic De- flagrator, especially as constructed by Dr. Hare, - - Fossil footsteps in sandstone and graywacke, - - - Observations on the Aurora Borealis of Jan. 25, 1837, - Foreign accounts of the Meteoric Shower of Nov. 1836, - United States’ gold mine, near Fredericksburgh, Va., - 7. Culpeper pall mine, Virginia—Geological Reports, - 8, 9. Fire bricks—Supposed voleano at sea, - - 2 10. Visit to Iceland, - - - - - - - - 11, 12. Storms—Galvanism, - Se ti - - - - 13. Animal electricity, - - - - - - - - 14. Fall of fishes from the atmosphere in India, - - - 15. Nature of different cements, - - - - - - 16. Telegraphs, - - - - - - oT As - 17, 18. Scientific Congress at Metz—New York Statistical So- : ciety, - - - - - - 19, 20. Officers of the New York isan of Natural History! Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Science and Lite- rature, - - - - - - - - - - 21. Proposed new work on American skulls, - - - - 22, 23. Maury’s treatise on Navigation—Gummere’s Astronomy, 24. Wiseman’s Lectures on ihe connection between Science and Revealed Religion, - - - - 25, 26, 27. Dr. Buckland’s new Boe eine Geology, 5th edi- tion—Lindley’s Introduction to Botany, - - - @&- 28, 29. Lindley’s Natural System of Botany—Hints on the culti- vation of the Mulberry, (SEE - - - - - 30, 31, 32. Johnston’s Chemical Tables—Magazine of Zoology Jo. and Botany—Thomson’s Records of Science, - - The Annals of Electricity, Magnetism and Chemistry, &c. Obituary: Dr. Edward Turner, — - - - - - M. Persoon—Mr. Richard Cunningham—Mr. Edward * Turner Bennet, - - = 2 2 s “4 Dr. William Henry, - - - = eer Fast Indian Geology, - - - - 4 : Appendix. Notice of the Electro-Magnetic Machine of Mr. Thomas Davenport, of Brandon, near Rutland, Vermont. Page. 170 174 176 181 183 183 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 204 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 213 215 216 216 CONTENTS. I Vi NUMBER TI. Page. Art.J. Observations upon certain Av ‘an® Optical Phenom- ‘ena; by ALEXANDER C. 'TwiNIne, - ° - 217 II. Geological and Mineralogical Notices; by Prof. OLiveR P. Hussarp, M.D. - - - - - = 230 III. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea, 235 - IV. Criticisms and suggestions respecting Nomenclature; by Prof. Ropert Haret, M.D. Also, a Letter from the. celebrated J. J. BerzELivs, - = - = 259 V. Description of an Electrical Machine, with a Plate four VI. VIL. VIIl. IX. XVII. feet in diameter, so constructed as to be above the Ope- rator: also, of a Battery Discharger employed there- with: and some Observations on the Causes of the Di- versity in the Length of the Sparks erroneously distin- guished by the terms Positive and Negative; by Prof. R. Hare; M.D. &c.' --. = = - 272 Of an Improved Barometer Gage midioneter by Prof R. Harz, M.D. &e. - - - = - - 280 Engraving and Description of Voltaic Series, combining the advantages of the trough of Cruickshank with these of the Deflagrator; by Prof. R. Harr, M.D. &e. 285 A Natural System of Botany; or a systematic view of the Organization, Natural Affinities, and Geographical Distribution of the whole Vegetable Kingdom; together with the uses of the most important species in Medi- cine, the Arts, and rural or domestic economy; by Joun Linptey, Ph. D. &ce. - - - - 292 Electro-Meteorological Observations; by Jas. Swarm, 304 . Experiments upon the Induction of Metallic Coils; by Joun B. Zapriskiz, M. D. - os - - 308 . Description of the model of an Electro-Magnetic Engine, constructed by Joun B. Zasriskiz, M.D. - - 313 . On Zine Roofing; by Prof. L. D. Gare, - -- $815 . On the Common Blowpipe; by Prof. J. W. BarLey, 319 . Notice of the Gold Veins of the United States’ Mine near Fredericksburg, Va.; by Lieut. M. F. Maury, U.S. N. 325 . Chronometers, - - - - - - - 330 . Chemical Examination of Microlite; by Prof. Cuar.es Upnam Sueparp, M.D. - - - - - 338 Notice of Eremite, a new Mineral Species; by Prof. Cuarwes U. Surparp, M.D. - - - - 341 vi XVII. Description of several New Trilobites; by Prof. Jauoe XIX. Remarks on the supposed connexion of the Gulf Stream with opposite currents, on the coast of the United States; XX. On the use of the Dynamic Multiplier, with a new accom- XXI. Description of the Skull of the Guadaloupe Fossil Hu- man Skeleton; by Prof. James Mouttriz, M.D. With introductory remarks; by C. U. SHeparp, M.D. 14. 15. 16, 17. Aurora Borealis of February 18, 1837—The Peodueien 18. 19. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. Peuh ate’ nincncon 8 revolving magnet— Electro-magnetic machine of Davenport & Cook—Geologi- 25, CONTENTS. Green, M.D. - - - - - - by Wixiiam C. Repriexp, - - - panying apparatus; by C.G. Paczr, M.D. - MISCELLANIES.—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. ral History, - - - 4 2 o “ . Crosse’s galvanic apparatus, - - - - . Accidental production of animal life, - - - . Fossil remains of the elephant, - - - - . Interlocking of beech trees, - - - - . Rotting of timber in certain situations, - - . The odor of wines, due to a peculiar ether, - - . Essential oil of potatoes, - - - - - . Memoir on the province of Oman, in Arabia, - . Meteorological tables for the year 1836, at St. Louis, . Dana’s System of Mineralogy, - - - - 13. Transactions of the Natural History Society of Hartford, Conn.—Meteors at Hingham, Mass. - - - Auroral appearance, - - - E x 2 Meteorite, - - a a K of galvanic music, - - = 2 = e American edition of Dr. Buckland’s late Work on Geology and Mineralogy, considered with reference to Natural The- ology, - - : 4 z Incidents of Travel in Bays Arabia Petre, Pg the nee hand - = x s Z 2 cal survey of Connecticut—Asia Minor, - - 26. Silex—White race of Atlas, - 2 2 = . Annual Report of the Curators of the Boston Society of Natu- Page. 343 349 304 361 364 a72 - 374 377 379 380 381 382 383 386 387 392 393 395 396 397 398 399 400 ERRATA. The reader is requested to correct the following errata in Vol. XXX. of the American Journal of Science. The writer of that article, at the time of its pub- lication was in the Indian country, on Red river, several hundred miles west of the Mississippi, where the proof sheets could not be sent to him; and it is only since his return from that part of the country, that he has seen the article in print. There are several errors in punctuation, but the verbal errors only will be noticed. W. W. Martuer, Mining Engineer. P. 326, 1.3 fr. bot. for quality, read equality.—P. 328, 1.9 fr. top, for exhaustible, read expansible ; 1.11 fr. top, for will thrust, read will be thrust.—P. 329, 1.7 fr. top, for those, read that. . Vol. xxx11.—P. 272, 1.5 fr. top, for 9, fond 266.—P. 290, 1. 17 fr. top, for oppo- site, read preceding. CORRECTION. In Prof. Green’s notice of Trilobites, in this No. p. 169, for Asaphus Platypleu- rus, read Trimerus Platyplewrus, this correction being made in consequence of the examination of more specimens from the same locality. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. Art. l.—General Remarks on the Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe and the Planetary Spaces; by Baron Fourtrr.* Translated from the French, by Mr. Hpennzer Bourcess, of Amherst College. Tue question of terrestrial temperature, one of the most remark- able and difficult in natural philosophy, involves very different ele- ments which require to be considered in a general light. I have thought it would be useful to have condensed in a single essay, all the results of this theory. The analytical details here admitted, are found in works which I have already published. 1 was specially desirous of presenting to philosophers, in a concise table, a complete view of the phenomena and the mathematical relations which exist between them. The heat of the earth is derived from three sources, which should first be distinctly mentioned. 1. The earth is heated by the solar rays; the unequal distribution of which causes diversities of climate. * TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. Dear Sir—Although it is several years since they were published in France, I have never met with a translation of any of Baron Fourier’s able papers on the temperature of the globe, nor seen in the English language a full view of the im- portant principles which they develop. Ihave, therefore, requested Mr. Ebene- zer Burgess, a tutor in Amherst College, to make a translation from the 27th No. of the Annales de Chimie et de Physique, of an article of Fourier, in which he gives a summary of the results to which he has come on the subject, by the use of mathematical analysis. And should your views of the value of this paper cor- respond with my own, I hope you may find a place for it, even at this late day, in your Journal. With much respect, Amherst College, July 4th, 1836. Epwarp HitcHcocr. Vou. XX XI.—No., 1. 1 2 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 2. It partakes of the common temperature of the planetary spaces ; being exposed to the radiations from the innumerable stars which surround the solar system. 3. The earth preserves in its interior a part of that primitive heat which it had at the time of the first formation of the planets. We shall separately examine each of these three causes, and the phenomena which they produce. We will show, as clearly as we are able in the present state of the science, the principal features of these phenomena. For the purpose of giving a general idea of this great question, and showing at a glance the results of our researches, we present them in the following summary, which is in some meas- ure a synoptic table of the contents of this article, and of several which have preceded it. The solar system is situated in a region of the universe, every point of which has acommon and constant temperature, determined by the rays of light and heat which proceed from the surrounding stars. This low temperature of the planetary space, is a little below that of the polar regions of the earth. The earth would have only the same temperature with the heavens, were it not for two causes which are concurring to heat it. One is the internal heat which it possessed at its formation, a part of which only is dissipated through the surface; the other is the continued action of the solar rays, which penetrate the whole mass, and. produce at the surface, the diversities of climate. The primitive heat of the globe has no longer any sensible effect upon the surface: but it may be very great as we approach the center. The temperature of the surface does not exceed by the thirtieth of a centesimal degree, (,';° Fahrenheit,) the lowest state to which it can ever be reduced. At first it diminished very rap- idly: but at present with the greatest slowness. The observations heretofore collected seem to show that the tem- perature of different points of the same vertical line, is proportional to the depth, and that this increase of temperature, as we advance towards the center, is about one degree for every thirty or forty me- ters. Such a result supposes a very high internal temperature. It cannot proceed from the action of the sun’s rays; and it is naturally explained by the heat which belonged to the earth at its formation. This increase of temperature, of about one degree for thirty-two meters will not always remain the same. It gradually diminishes ; but many ages must elapse before it can be reduced to half its pres- ent value. Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 3 If other causes hitherto unknown, can explain the same facts, and _ if there exist other sources of terrestrial heat, either general or acci- dental, they will be discovered by comparing the results of this theory with those of observation. The rays of heat which are continually proceeding from the sun to the earth, produce upon its surface two very distinct effects: one is periodical, and reaches no farther than the exterior crust. The other is constant. It is observed at great depths, say thirty meters, from the surface. ‘The temperature of these places undergoes no sensible change in the course of the vear; it is fixed. But it is very differ- ent in different climates ; it results from the continual action of the solar rays, and from the unequal exposure of different parts of the surface between the equator and the poles. We can determine the time which must pass before the effect of the sun’s rays could produce that difference in climate which now exists. Al] these results agree with those of the dynamic theories which have proved to us the sta- bility of the axis of the earth. The periodical effects of the solar heat, arise from the diurnal or annual variations. ‘This order of facts is explained exactly, and in all its details, by the theory. The comparison of the results with the observations will serve to measure the conducting power of those substances of which the crust of the globe is composed. The pressure of the atmosphere and bodies of water, has the gen- eral effect to render the distribution of heat more uniform. In the ocean and in the lakes, the coldest particles, or rather those whose density is the greatest, are continually tending downwards, and the motion of heat depending on this cause is much more rapid than that which takes place in solid masses in consequence of their connecting power. The mathematical examination of this effect would require exact and numerous observations. ‘These would enable us to under- stand how this internal motion prevents the internal heat of the globe from becoming sensible in deep waters. Liquids are very poor conductors of heat; but they have, like aeriform media, the property of carrying it rapidly in certain direc- tions. This is the same property which, combining with the centri- fugal force, displaces and mingles all parts of the atmosphere as well as the ocean, and maintains in them regular and immense cur- rents. | The interposition of the air very much modifies the effects of the heat upon the surface of the globe. ‘The solar rays traversing the 4 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. atmospheric strata which are condensed by their own weight, heat them very unequally: those which are rarest are likewise coldest, because they extinguish and absorb a smaller part of the rays. The heat of the sun, coming in the form of light, possesses the property of penetrating transparent solids or liquids, and loses this property entirely, when by communication with terrestrial bodies, it is turned into heat radiating without light. This distinction of luminous and non-luminous heat, explains the elevation of temperature caused by transparent bodies. ‘The mass of waters which cover a great part of the globe, and the ice of the polar regions, oppose a less obstacle to the admission of luminous heat, than to the heat without light, which returns in a contrary di- rection to open space. ‘The pressure of the atmosphere produces an effect of the same kind: but an effect, which, in the present state of the theory, and from want of observations compared with each other, cannot be exactly defined. Whatever it may be, we cannot doubt that the effect which should be attributed to the impression of the solar rays upon a solid body of very large dimensions, by far surpasses that which would be observed in exposing a common ther- mometer to the same rays. The radiation of the most elevated strata of the atmosphere, the cold of which is very intense and almost constant, has an influence upon all the meteorogical facts of our observation; it can be ren- dered more sensible by reflexion from the surface with concave mir- rors. The presence of the clouds which intercept these rays, miti- gates the cold of the nights. We see that the surface of the terrestrial globe is placed between a solid mass, the central part of which may surpass that of matter heated to whiteness, and an immense girdle, whose temperature is below that requisite for the congelation of mercury. All the preceding results can be applied to other planetary bo- dies. ‘They can be considered as placed in a medium whose con- stant and common temperature is little below that of the terrestrial poles. This same temperature of the heavens is that of the surface of the most distant planets; for the impression of the rays of the sun, even when augmented by the disposition of the superficies, would be too feeble to occasion sensible effects; and we know by the condition of the terrestrial globe, that, in the planets whose formation cannot be less ancient, there exists upon the surface no longer any elevation of temperature to be attributed to internal heat. Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 5 It is equally probable, that in respect to most of the planets, the temperature of the poles is little above that of the surrounding space, with respect to the temperature which each of these bodies owes to the sun, it is not known; because it may depend on the pressure of an atmosphere and the condition of the surface. We can only ap- proximate to the truth in assigning the mean temperature which the earth would have acquired situated in the place of the planet. After this exposition, we shall examine successively, the different parts of this question. We would first make a remark which has a relation to all these parts, because it is founded upon the nature of differential equations of the motion of heat. It is this: the effects of each of the three causes we have mentioned, may be calculated separately, as if it had no connection with the others. It is suffi- cient afterwards to unite these partial effects: ils se swperposent li- brement comme les dernieres oscillations des corps. We shall describe in the first place the principal results of the prolonged action of the solar rays upon the terrestrial globe. if a thermometer is placed at a considerable depth below the sur- face of the solid earth, forty meters for example, the instrument in- dicates a fixed temperature. This fact is observed in every part of the globe. ‘This temperature of deep places is always the same in the same place; but it is not the same in different climates. It generally decreases as we advance towards the poles. If we observe the temperature of points much nearer the surface of the earth, for example, at the depth of one, five, or ten meters, we see very different effects. ‘The temperature varies during a single day or year. But we can suppose the crust or envelop in which these variations take place, to be removed, and consider the fixed temperatures of the points of the new superficies of the globe. We can conceive that the state of the mass has varied continually in proportion to the heat received from the origin of heat itself. This variable state of internal temperature has changed by degrees, and has approached nearer and nearer to a final state, which is sub- ject to no change. ‘Then each point of the solid sphere has acquir- ed, and preserves, a temperature, a fixed temperature, which de- pends only on the situation of the point itself. The final state of the mass, the heat of which has penetrated all its parts, can very justly be compared to that of a vessel which re- ceives by openings at the top, liquid from some constant source, and permits exactly an equal quantity to escape by orifices. 6 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. Thus the solar heat has accumulated in the interior of the globe and is there continually renewed. It penetrates the parts of the surface near the equator, and is dissipated through the polar regions. The first question of this kind which has been submitted to the cal- culus, is found in a memoir which I read to the French Institute, at the close of the year 1807, Art. 115, page 167. This article is deposited in the archives. I then took up this first question to ex- hibit a remarkable example of the application of the new theory ex- posed in the memoir; and to show how the analysis points out the tract followed by the solar heat in the interior of the earth. If now we replace this exterior envelop of the earth, whose points are not sufficiently deep to have a fixed temperature, we remark an order of facts more compound, the complete expression of which is given by our analysis. At a moderate depth, as three or four me- ters, the temperature observed does not vary during each day, but the change is very perceptible in the course of a year; it varies and and falls alternately. ‘The extent of these variations, that is, the difference between the maximum and minimum of temperature, is not the same at all depths; it is inversely as the distance from the surface. ‘The different points of the same vertical line do not arrive at the same time at the extreme temperatures. The extent of the variations, the times of the year, which correspond to the greatest, to the mean, or to the least temperatures, change with the position of the point in the vertical line. ‘There are the same quantities of heat which fall and rise alternately ; all these values have a fixed relation between themselves, which are indicated by experiments and expressed distinctly by the analysis. The results observed are in accordance with those furnished by the theory ; no phenomenon is more completely explained.. The mean annual temperature of of any point whatever in the vertical line, that is, the mean value of all those which might be observed in the course of a year, at this point, is independent of the depth. It is the same for all points of the vertical, and consequently that which would be observed imme- diately below the surface; it is the fixed temperature which exists at great depths. It is evident that in the enunciation of this proposition, we make no account of the internal heat of the globe, and those accessory causes which would modify this result in a particular place. Our principal object is to ascertain general phenomena. We have be- fore remarked that the different effects can be separately considered. Temperature of the Terrestrial. Globe. 7 We ought likewise to observe respecting all the numerical values mentioned in this memoir, that they are presented here only as ex- amples of the calculus. The meteorological observations proper for furnishing the necessary data, those which would show the capacity for heat and the permeability of the substances which compose the globe, are too uncertain and too limited, to enable us, by the cal- culus to deduce accurate results. But we mention these numbers to show, how formulas ought to be applied: and however much they may differ from true results, these values are much more suitable for giving a correct idea of the phenomena, than general expressions without their numerical application. In those parts of the crust nearest the surface, the thermometer rises and falls during each day. ‘These diurnal variations cease to be sensible at the depth of two or three meters. Below this we can perceive only annual variations, and these again peels MAL at a still greater depth. If the rapidity of the motion of the earth around its axis were to be infinitely increased, and the same were supposed to take place respecting its motion round the sun, the diurnal and annual variations would no longer be observed, the points of the surface would have acquired and would preserve the fixed temperatures of places at a great depth. In general the depth which we must reach in order that the variations may become insensible, has a very simple ratio to the duration of the period which reproduces the same effects at the surface. This depth is exactly proportional to the square root of the period. It is for this reason that the diurnal variations pene- trate only to one nineteenth of the depth at which the annual varia- tions are observed. ‘The question of a periodical motion of the solar heat was examined for the first time, and resolved in a separate paper, submitted to the French Institute in October, 1809. I again brought forward this solution in a paper submitted at the close of 1811, and printed in the collection of our memoirs. — The same theory furnishes the means of measuring the quantity of heat which in the course of a year determines the succession of the seasons. The design of this example of the application of formulas is to show that there exists a necessary relation between the laws of peri- odical variation and the whole quantity of heat which effects this variation: so that this law being known by observations made in a given climate, we can determine the quantity of heat which pene- 8 Temperature of the Terrestrial G'lobe.. trates the ea h and returns into the air. Considering, therefore, a law similar’ this, which is established of itself in the interior of the globe, I he obtained the following results. In one. ath of a year after the temperature at the surface is raised toi mean value, the earth begins to be heated; the rays of the sun y 2trate it during six months. Then the heat of the earth takes an _ posite direction; it comes out and is dissipated in the air and ext ial space. Now the quantity of heat which undergoes these ve .tions in the course of a year is expressed by the calculus. If thee t of the earth was formed of a metallic substance of forged iron, (t substance which I have chosen for an example, after hav- ing m_ ured. the specific coefticients,) the heat which produces the su ssion of the seasons, would be for the climate of Paris, and for a — re meter of surface, equivalent to what would melt a cylin- drica!_ slumn of ice, having for its base this square meter, anda heig' about three meters and one tenth. Although the value of : oefficients for substances of which the globe is composed, has as yet been measured, we can easily see that they would giv -esult much less than we have just mentioned. It is propor- tio to the square root of the product of the capacity for heat, ec tered in relation to volume and the permeability. e will now consider the second cause of terrestrial heat, which, «.e think, resides in the planetary spaces. ‘The temperature of space exactly defined, is that which a thermometer would indi- , Supposing the instrument placed in any part of the space occu- | by the solar system, and the bodies which compose this system uhilated. We shall give a detail of the principal facts from which we kare scertained the existence of this heat, peculiar to the planetary paces, which is independent of the presence of the sun, and of the original heat which the earth has preserved. To obtain a knowledge of this singular phenomenon, it is necessary to ascertain what would be the thermometrical state of the terrestrial mass, if it received only the heat from the sun. ‘To facilitate this enquiry we may at first leave the atmosphere out of the account. Now if there existed no cause sufficient to give the planetary spaces a common and constant temperature, that is, if the earth and all the bodies of the solar sys- tem, were placed in space deprived of all heat, the phenomena ob- served would be altogether contrary to what we now witness. 'The polar regions would be subject to an intense cold and the decrease Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 9 of temperature from the equator to the poles would be incomparably more rapid and extended. In this hypothesis of the absolute cold of space, if it is possible to conceive of it, all the effects of heat which we observe at the surface of the earth, should be attributed to the presence of the sun. The least variations in the distance of that body from the earth, would occasion very considerable changes of temperature. The interrup- tion of day and night, would produce effects sudden and totally dif- ferent from what we observe. The surfaces of bodies, would be exposed all at once, at the com- mencement of night, to a cold of infinite intensity. Animals and vegetables could not resist the sudden and powerful change which would be produced at the rising of the sun. The primitive heat preserved in the interior of the earth could not increase the external temperature of space, and would prevent none of the effects which we have just described ; for we know with certainty, by theory and observation, that the effect of this central heat has long since become insensible at the surface, although it may be very great at a moderate depth. We conclude from these observations, and chiefly from the mathematical examination of the subject, that there exists a physical cause always present which modifies the temperature at the surface of the earth, and gives this planet a fundamental heat, which is both independent of the action of the sun and that internal heat preserved in its own center. This fixed temperature, which the earth receives from space, differs but little from that which is measured at the poles. It is necessarily less than that of the coldest regions; but in this comparison we ought to admit only accurate observations, and should not consider the accidental effects of a very intense cold which may be caused by evaporation, by violent winds, and extraordinary dilatation of air. After ascertaining the existence of this fundamental temperature of space, without which the effects of heat observed upon the surface of our globe could not be explained, we proceed to remark, that the origin of this phenomenon, thus to call it, is evident. It is to be attributed to the radiation from all the bodies in the universe, whose light and heat can reach us; the stars visible to the naked eye, the innumerable multitude of telescopic stars or opaque bodies, which fill the universe, the atmospheres which surround these immense bodies, the rare matter disseminated through every part of space, concur in forming rays which penetrate every part of the planetary Vout. XX XII.—WNo. 1. 2. 10 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. regions. We cannot conceive of the existence of such a system of luminous and heated bodies without admitting that any point of space whatever which contains these bodies acquires a fixed temperature. The immense number of bodies compensates for the inequalities in their temperatures, and renders radiation sensible and uniform. This temperature of space is not the same in different regions of the universe ; but it does not vary in the regions in which are situa- ted the planetary bodies; because the dimensions of this space are incomparably smaller than those distances which separate it from the radiating bodies; for example, in all points of the orbit of the earth this planet finds the same temperature. It is the same with other planets of our system: they all equally participate in the common temperature, which is more or less aug- mented for each one of them, by the rays of the sun, according to the distance of the planet from that body. Respecting the inquiry what must be the temperature of each of the planets, the principles which must settle it, furnished by an exact theory, are as follows. The intensity and distribution of heat on the surface of these bodies results from the distance of the sun, the inclination of the axes of rotation to the orbit, and the state of the surface. It is very differ- ent even in its mean value, from what would be indicated by a ther- mometer insulated in the place of the planet, for the solid state, the very great dimensions, and doubtless the presence of an atmos- phere and the nature of the surface, determine the mean value. The original heat which has been preserved in the interior, has long since ceased to have a very sensible effect upon the surface. For the present state of the crust of the earth shows us that the primitive heat of the surface is almost entirely dissipated. From the constitution of the solar system it is very probable that the tem- perature of the poles of each planet, or at least of the greatest part of them, is little less than that of space. ‘This polar temperature is the same for all these bodies, although their distances from the sun may be unequal. We can determine with some degree of precision, the temperature which the earth would have acquired if situated in the place of each of the planets; but the temperature of the planets themselves, can- not be ascertained ; for in order to that we must know the state of the surface and the atmosphere. However, this uncertainty no longer exists as to the bodies which are placed at the extremities of the solar system like the planet Uranus. ‘The impression of the solar rays Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 11 upon this planet is evidently insensible. ‘The temperature of the surface differs therefore, very little from that of planetary spaces, or from that which is observed at the poles of our globe. We have made known this last result in a discourse recently delivered before the Academy. it is evident we can apply it only to the most dis- tant planets. We know of no means of assigning with any precision the mean temperature of the other planetary bodies. ‘The motion of the air and waters, the extent of the seas, the elevation and form of the surface, the effects of human industry and all the accidental changes of the earth’s surface, modify the temperatures of each cli- mate. ‘The character of phenomena attributable to general causes exists: but the thermometrical effects observed at the surface are different from what they would be without the influence of accessory causes. The motion of the waters and of the air, tends to modify the ef- fects of heat and cold. It renders their distribution more uniform, but it would be impos- sible for the atmosphere to supply the place of that universal cause which supports the common temperature of the planetary spaces ; and if this cause did not exist, we should observe, notwithstanding the atmosphere and seas, an enormous difference between the tem- peratures of the equatorial and polar regions. It is difficult to know how far the atmosphere influences the mean temperature of the globe; and in this examination we are no longer guided by a regular mathematical theory. It is to the celebrated traveller, M. de Saussure, that we are indebted for a capital experi- ment, which appears to throw some light on this question. The experiment consists in exposing to the rays of the sun, a vessel covered with one or more plates of glass, very transparent, and placed at some distance one above the other. ‘The interior of the vessel is furnished with a thick covering of black cork, proper for receiving and preserving heat. ‘The heated air is contained in all parts, both in the interior of the vessel and in the spaces between the plates. ‘Thermometers placed in the vessel itself and im the intervals above, mark the degree of heat in each space. This in- strument was placed in the sun about noon, and the thermometer in the vessel was seen to rise to 70°, 80°, 100°, 110°, (Reaumur,) and upwards. ‘The thermometers placed in the intervals between the glass plates indicated much lower degrees of heat, and the heat decreased from the bottom of the vessel to the highest interval. 12 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. The effect of solar heat upon air confined within transparent cov- erings, has long since been observed. ‘The object of the apparatus we have just described, is to carry the acquired heat to its maximum ; and especially to compare the effect of the solar ray upon very high mountains, with what is observed in plains below. ‘This experiment is chiefly worthy of remark on account of the just and extensive inferences drawn from it by the inventor. It has been repeated sev- eral times at Paris and Edinburgh, and with analogous results. The theory of the instrument is easily understood. It is sufficient to remark, Ist, that the acquired heat is concentrated, because it is not dissipated immediately by renewing the air; 2d, that the heat of the sun, has properties different from those of heat without light. The rays of that body are transmitted in considerable quantity through the glass plates into all the intervals, even to the bottom of the vessel. They heat the air and the partitions which contain it. Their heat thus communicated ceases to be Juminous, and preserves only the properties of non-luminous radiating heat. In- this state it cannot pass through the plates of glass covering the vessel. It is accumulated more and more in the interval which is sur- rounded by substances of small conducting power, and the tempera- ture rises till the heat flowing in, shall exactly equal that which is dissipated. This explanation might be verified, and the results made more apparent, by varying the conditions and employing col- ored or blackened glasses, and exhausting the air from the intervals which contain the thermometers. When this effect is examined by the calculus, results are obtained in exact accordance with those of observation. It is necessary to consider attentively this order of facts, and the results of the calculus when we would ascertain the influence of the atmosphere and waters upon the thermometrical state of our globe. In short, if all the strata of air of which the atmosphere is formed, preserved their density with their transparency, and lost only the mobility which is peculiar to them, this mass of air, thus become solid, on being exposed to the rays of the san, would produce an effect the same in kind with that we have just described. The heat, coming in the state of light to the solid earth, would lose all at once, and almost entirely, its power of passing through transparent solids: it would accumulate in the lower strata of the atmosphere, which would thus acquire very high temperatures. We should ob- serve at the same time a diminution of the degree of acquired heat, as we go from the surface of the earth. Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 13 The mobility of the air, which is rapidly displaced in every direc- tion, and which rises when heated, and the radiation of non-lumin- ous heat into the air, diminish the intensity of the effects which would take place in a transparent and solid atmosphere, but do not entirely change their character. ‘The decrease of heat in the higher regions of the air does not cease, and the temperature can be aug- mented by the interposition of the atmosphere, because heat in the state of light finds less resistance in penetrating the air, than in re- passing into the air when converted into non-luminous heat. We shall now consider that peculiar heat which our globe had at the time of the formation of the planets, and which continues to be dis- sipated at the surface under the influence of the low temperature of the planetary space. The opinion of an internal fire as a perpetual cause of many re- markable phenomena, has been renewed in every age of philoso- phy. ‘The end we have in view at this time, and which the latest progress of mathematical science enables us to reach, is to ascertain exactly by what laws a solid sphere heated by a Jong immersion in a medium, would discharge that primitive heat if it were transported into a space of a constant temperature inferior to that of the first me- dium. The design of the experiment is, to ascertain if the present temperature of the surface of the globe can yet undergo any sensi- ble changes. ‘The form of the terrestrial spheroid, the regular order of the lower strata, made manifest by experiments with the pendulum, their density increasing with the depth, and divers other considera- tions, concur in proving that a heat of very great intensity has at some previous period penetrated every part of the globe. This heat is dis- sipated. by radiation into surrounding space, which has a temperature much below that of the eongelation of water. Now the mathemat- ical expression for the law of cooling shows that the primitive heat contained in a spherical mass of as great dimensions as the earth, diminishes much more rapidly at the surface than in parts situated ata great depth. These latter preserve almost all their heat for an immense period of time. ‘There can be no doubt respecting the truth of these results, because we have calculated these times for metallic substances, which have a greater conducting power than those of which the globe is composed, But it is evident that theory alone can only teach us the laws: to which phenomena are subject. It remains now to inquire whether in penetrating the earth, we find any indications of a central heat. 14 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. We must ascertain, for example, whether the temperature increases with the depth as we go below those points whose diurnal and an- nual variations have ceased to be sensible. Now all observations collected and examined by the most learned philosophers of our day, show us that such an increase actually exists. It has been estimated at about one degree for thirty or forty metres. ‘The experiments with which we have lately entertained the Academy, relating to the heat of springs, confirm the results of preceding observations. The object of the inquiry we propose, is to discover the certain consequences of this single fact, admitting it to be given by direct observation; and to prove that it determines, first, the situation of the source of heat, and, secondly, the excess of temperature which still exists at the surface. It is easy to conclude, (and the same result is obtained from an exact analysis,) that the increase of temperature as we go towards the centre cannot be produced by a prolonged action of the sun’s rays. ‘The heat proceeding from that body is accumulated in the interior of the earth ; but the progress has almost entirely ceased, and if the accumulation was still continued, we should observe that increase in a direction precisely contrary to what we have mentioned. The cause which gives to deep strata a higher temperature, is, therefore, an internal source of constant or variable heat, situated be- low where man has been able to penetrate. ‘This cause raises the temperature of the surface above what it would have been from the simple action of the sun’s rays. But this excess of temperature of the surface has become almost insensible. Of this we are assured, because there exists a mathematical ratio between the value of in- crease by metre and the quantity, by which the temperature of the surface still exceeds that which would be found, if the internal cause of which we are speaking did not exist. ‘To measure the increase by unity of depth, is the same thing as to measure the excess of temperature at the surface. In a globe of iron the increase of a thirtieth of a degree per me- tre, would only give a fourth degree of actual elevation of tempera- ture at the surface. This elevation is in direct ratio to the conduct- ing power of the substance of which the crust is formed, all other conditions remaining the same. ‘Thus the excess of temperature, which the terrestrial surface has at present, in consequence of this internal source, is very small; it is probably below the thirtieth of a centesimal degree, (,';° Fahrenheit.) We ought to remark that Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 15 this last result can be applied to all suppositions which can be made upon the cause, whether it be regarded as local or universal, con- stant or variable. When we examine all the observations relative to the figure of the earth attentively, and according to principles of dynamics, we can- not doubt that the earth received at its origin a very high tempera- ture. On the other hand, thermometrical observations show that the actual distribution of heat in the crust of the earth, is pre- cisely what it would be if the earth had been formed in a medium of very high temperature, and had afterwards been left gradually to cool. It is important to notice the agreement of these two kinds of observations. The question of terrestrial temperature has always appeared to us as one of the most important inquiries relating to cosmogony ; and we have had this principally in view in establishing the mathemat- ical theory of heat. From the commencement of our researches we have been desirous of ascertaining the laws of internal temperature in a solid sphere, heated at first by immersion in a medium, and af- terwards left to cool in a medium of lower temperature. The me- moir of 1807, before cited, contains a complete solution of that ques- tion, which was never before examined. We have therefore determined the variable state of a clobe, of a substance whose specific qualities we know, by experiment, and which after being immersed for some time in a heated medium, is transported to acolder space. We have considered likewise the va- riable state of a sphere which, having been plunged successively and for some time in two or more media of different temperatures, should undergo a final cooling in a medium of constant temperature. After having noticed the general consequences of the solution of that question, we have examined particularly the case in which the primitive temperature acquired in a heated medium, might become common to the whole mass. And supposing the solid sphere to be of very great dimensions, we have endeavored to ascertain the law of progressive diminution of temperature in those strata nearest the surface. If we apply the results of this analysis to our globe, to as- certain what would be the successive effects of a primitive formation like that we have just supposed: we find that the increase of a thir- tieth of a degree per metre, considered as the resultant of central heat, has in former periods been much greater, and that this increase is now almost a constant quantity, since more than thirty thousand 16 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. years must elapse before it would be reduced to half its present value. Respecting the excess of temperature at the surface, it varies ac- cording to the same law. The quantity by which it diminishes each century, is equal to the present value divided by double the number of centuries which have elapsed since the cooling process commen- ced: and since the limit of this number is given by historical monu- ments, we conclude that, from the Greek school at Alexandria, till the present time, the temperature of the surface has not diminished, on this account, the three hundredth part of a degree, (;1;° Fah- renheit.) Here again we find that stability which the great phe- nomena of the universe every where present. ‘This stability, fur- thermore, is a necessary result, and independent of the primitive state, since the present excess of temperature is extremely small, and will diminish for an infinite length of time. The effect of the primitive heat which our globe still preserves, has become nearly insensible at the surface of the crust; but it be- comes more sensible at accessible depths, since the temperature augments with the distance from the surface. ‘This augmentation, considered by unity of measure, would not have the same value for depths very much greater. It diminishes with this depth; but the same theory shows that the excess of temperature, which is almost nothing at the surface, can become enormous at a distance of some thousands of metres, so that the heat of the intermediate strata would exceed by far that of substances heated to whiteness. The course of centuries will produce great changes in these in- ternal temperatures ; but at the surface these changes are at an end, and the continual loss of internal heat cannot hereafter occasion any cooling of climate. It is important to remark, that the mean temperature of any place may undergo, from other accessory causes, variations more sensible by far than those which are produced by the continued cooling of the globe. The establishment and progress of human society, and the action of natural powers, may, in extensive regions, produce remarkable changes in the state of the surface, the distribution of the waters, and the great movements of the air. Such effects, in the course of some centuries, must produce variations in the mean temperature for such places ; for the analytical expressions contain coefficients which are related to the state of the surface, and have a great influence on the temperature. Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 17 Although the effect of internal heat may be no longer sensible at the surface, the sum total of this heat which escapes in a given time, as in a year or a century, is measurable, and has been ascertained. That which escapes ina century through a square metre, and is dis- sipated in the celestial space, would melt a column of ice, of which the base should be a square metre, and height three metres. This result is derived from a fundamental proposition, which can be applied to all questions relating to the motions of heat, and espe- cially to that of terrestrial temperature. I allude to the differential equation, which expresses for each moment the state of surface. This equation, the truth of which is plain, and easily demonstrated, establishes a simple relation between the temperature of an element of the surface and the normal motion of heat. What renders this result of theory very important, and more valuable than any other for throwing light upon the questions which form the subject of this article, is, that it exists independent of the form and dimensions of bodies, and ofthe nature of the substances, whether homogeneous or not, of which the internal mass may be composed. ‘The results of this equation are absolute: they are the same, whatever may have been the material constitution or original state of the globe. We have published in the ‘Annales de Chimie et de Physique,” the abstract of a memoir, which has not yet been printed, and the object of which is to apply to the terrestrial globe the analyses of the motions of heat in a sphere or plane solid, of great dimensions. In that extract the principal formulas were exhibited, particularly those which express the variable state of a solid uniformly heated at a determinate and very great depth, or in its whole depth. If the original temperature, instead of being the same to a very great depth, results from successive immersions in several media, the consequen- ces are not less simple or remarkable. But this case, and several others which we have considered, are comprised in the general ex- pressions which have been mentioned. After having explained separately the principles of the inquiry respecting the temperature of the earth, in order to form a correct idea of these phenomena united, we ought to give, in a general statement, all the effects we have just described. The earth receives the rays of the sun, which penetrate its mass, and are converted into non-luminous heat: it likewise possesses an internal heat with which it was created, and which is continually dissipated at the surface: and lastly, the earth receives rays of light Vou. XX XII.—No. 1. 3 18 Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. and heat from innumerable stars, in the midst of which is placed the solar system. ‘These are three general causes which determine the temperature of the earth. The third, that is, the influence of the stars, is equivalent to the presence of an immense hollow sphere, with the earth in the center, the constant temperature of which should be a little below what would be observed in the polar regions. We might, doubtless, suppose radiating heat to possess properties hitherto unknown, which might, in some way, take the place of this fundamental temperature, which we attribute to space. But in the present state of physical science, all known facts are naturally ex- plained without having recourse to other properties than those deri- ved from actual observation. It is sufficient tc represent the plane- tary bodies as occupying a space, the temperature of which is constant. We have endeavored, therefore, to ascertain what this temperature ought to be, in order that the effects on the thermome- ter should be what we now observe. Now they would be entirely different if we were to admit an absolute cold in space: but if we progressively increase the common temperature of the girdle or hol- low sphere which encloses this space, we should see effects produced similar to what we now witness. We can, therefore, affirm, that the actual phenomena are such as would be produced if radiation from the stars was giving this temperature to all points of the planetary space. ‘The primitive internal heat which is not yet dissipated, pro- duces now but a very slight effect upon the surface of the earth : it manifests itself by an increase of temperature at great depths. At still greater distances from the surface it may exceed the highest temperatures which have ever been measured. The effect of the solar rays is periodical in the superficial strata of the terrestrial crust. It is fixed in all points of great depths. This fixed temperature of the internal parts is not the same for all points. It depends principally upon the latitude of the place. The solar heat has accumulated in the interior of the globe, the state of which has become unchangeable. ‘That which penetrates in the equatorial regions is exactly balanced by that which escapes atthe parts around the poles. ‘Thus the earth gives out to celestial space all the heat which it receives from the sun, and adds a part of what is peculiar to itself. All the terrestrial effects of solar heat are modified by the inter- position of the atmosphere and the presence of water. The great motions of these fluids render the distribution more uniform. The Temperature of the Terrestrial Globe. 19 transparency of the waters appears to concur with that of the air in augmenting the degree of heat already acquired, because luminous heat flowing in, penetrates, with little difficulty, the terior of the mass, and non-luminous heat has more difficulty in finding its way out in a contrary direction. The succession of the seasons is maintained by an immense quan- tity of solar heat, which oscillates in the crust of the earth, passing below the surface during one half of the year, and returning into the air in the other half. Nothing can contribute more to throw light upon this part of the inquiry than the experiments, the object of which is, to measure with precision the effects of the solar rays upon the earth’s surface. or this reason, we heard with the greatest interest the reading of the memoir presented by Prof. Pouillet; and if in the course of this article we have not mentioned his experimental researches, it is simply from the wish not to anticipate the report which will soon be made. I have united in this article all the principal elements of the analy- sis of terrestrial temperature. It is made up from the results of my researches long since given to the public. When I began the inves- tigation of such questions there existed no mathematical theory of heat, and we might well have doubted that such a theory could be possible. ‘Those memoirs and treatises in which | have established this theory, and which contain the exact solution of the fundamen- tal questions, have been submitted and publicly read, or printed and analyzed in the “ Recuetls Scientifiques,” of the last few years. The object of this last article is to invite attention to one of the most im- portant questions of natural philosophy, and to present general views and results. It would be impossible to resolve all doubts connected with a subject so extensive; which comprises, besides the results of a new and different analysis, physical considerations very varied in their natures. Exact observations will hereafter be multiplied. The laws on which depends the motion of heatin liquids and air, will be studied. Perhaps other properties of radiating heat will be discov- ered, or causes which modify the temperatures of the globe. But all the principal laws of the motion of heat are known. This the- ory, which rests upon immutable foundations, constitutes a new branch of mathematical science. It is composed, at present, of differ- ential equations of the motion of heat in solids and liquids, and of the integrals of these first equations, and theorems relative to the equi- librium of radiating heat. 20 Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. These theories will be hereafter much farther extended, and noth- ing will contribute more to bring them to perfection than numerous series of exact experiments; for mathematical analysis can deduce from general and simple phenomena, the expressions of the laws of nature ; but the application of these laws to very complicated: effects, neguures a long course of accurate observations. Art. IIl.—Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin, in Maine ; by J. W. Batrey, Acting Professor of Chemistry, &c. U.S. Mili- tary Academy, West Point. TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. Sir—During a short visit which I made this summer to Water- ville, in Maine, my curiosity was excited by the accounts I read and heard concerning Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in the State. Its elevation and isolated position, together with the tradi- tionary legends of the Penobscot Indians, that Katahdin is the resi- dence of evil spirits, have given to this mountain considerable local celebrity. It has, however, been visited by few white men, and of their observations no accurate accounts have been published. Not being aware of the proposed geological survey of the State, (which, since my return, | learn has been assigned to able hands,) and in hopes that by visiting this mountain some interesting geological and botanical observations might be made, I proposed to Prof. Keely of Waterville College an excursion, on which Prof. Barnes of the same institution promised to accompany us. In this communication, the object of which is to give a sketch of our journey and observations, I have purposely entered into some details, which may appear too trivial for admission into a scientific journal, but I believe these will be useful, by giving to any persons who may wish to visit Katahdin some idea of the manner of life they may expect to lead, the preparations to be made, and the route to be pursued. Having procured a light wagon, Mr. Keely and myself proceeded on Saturday, the 6th of August, for Bangor. Our route lay through Clinton, Dixmont and Hampden. ‘The rock passed over this day was argillite or graywacke slate, divided into very thin, nearly ver- tical lamine, slightly dipping to the southeast. The direction or Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. 21 bearing of the edges of the lamin is almost invariably about north- east and southwest, subject however in some places to most singular contortions, the general direction being still preserved. This argil- lite is well exposed in the bed of the Kennebeck at Waterville, and at the beautiful falls in West Waterville. This day we saw it in the bed of the Sebasticook at Clinton, and observed it often on the road to Dixmont, where it rises to a considerable elevation, and forms part of the dividing ridge between the Kennebeck and Penobscot valleys. Over the slate is generally spread a deposit of bluish gray clay, much used in making bricks, and upon the clay a dilu- vial deposit of boulders, principally of granite. We stopped for the night at a tavern near Hampden, and the next morning rode through Bangor and Stillwater, to Orono or Old Town. In the Pe- nobscot at Bangor, and all the way to Old Town, the slate was seen preserving all its usual characters. At Orono it forms both banks of the Penobscot, and continues eastward, but how far I had no means of determining. At Old Town, it being Sunday, we remained through the day and until noon on Monday, awaiting the arrival of Prof. Barnes, who had promised to join us at this place. During our stay we visited the In- dian island belonging to the miserable remnant of the Penobscot tribe. The greater part of the Indians were absent on a fishing expedition to the sea-coast. ‘They have here a neat chapel, and several frame houses, besides huts. A Roman Catholic priest resides with them. We asked one of the Indians how he liked his priest ; he answered, #°Oh, middling!’ On Monday at noon, as Mr. Barnes had not ar- rived, we went on without him, and proceeded on the left bank of the river, by a fine road, to the tavern at Piscataquis, where we found as good accommodations as could be desired. We were particularly struck during our ride with the great quantity of Epzlobvum spica- tum, which is generally known in this state by the name of Fire weed, from the abundance in which it springs up in fields recently burned over. Near Old Town I observed beds of Calla palustris in flower. From a short distance above Old Town, we did not ob- serve along the road any argillite in situ, although its occasional appearance, in loose masses, indicated its close proximity. At the Piscataquis Falls, it again appears an situ. Tuesday Morning.—We set out early for Matawamkeag Point, and proceeded as far as Lincoln on the good state road; breakfasted at Lincoln, and then proceeded on the military road leading by Mata- 22 Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. wamkeag Point to Holton, to which place a mail stage runs three times a week. Along the road we found fine specimens of Orchis blephariglottis, and near Matawamkeag Point passed over argillite well exposed. At “the Point” there is a tolerable tavern, where we left our horse and wagon, trunks, &c. and prepared for our march into the woods. As we had been informed that there was a settlement at Grand Falls, about twenty three miles from the Point, where we would be able to procure blankets, provisions, boat and guides, we took with us only a few indispensable articles of dress, and a book to preserve botanical specimens. Thus lightly laden, we commen- ced the most arduous part of our journey. Crossing the Matawam- keag by the fine bridge built at the expense of the United States, and bidding farewell to civilization, we plunged into the woods by a blind path, (if path it might be called,) which was scarcely passable, although we were on foot, it was so obstructed by fallen trees, tan- gled roots, bushes and mud holes. At first it led us to the bank of the Penobscot ; along the left bank it then continues, generally ata short distance from the river. As we had no guides, we were often much at a loss what direction to take, as the true path is often crossed by “logging paths,” made during winter by the “loggers,” for the purpose of hauling their lumber to the river. Whenever we lost our way, we made for the river, and proceeded awhile along its banks, until progress became too difficult, when we again turned into the woods, and generally succeeded in finding our path at a short distance from shore. The forest through which we passed consisted generally of a growth of white pine, Pinus strobus; hemlock, P. Canadensis ; larch, P. pendula, Ait.; spruce, P. mgra and P. alba; cedar or arbor vite, Thwa occidentalis; beach, Tagus ferruginea; &c. with an under growth of moose-wood, Acer striatum, and hobble- bush, Viburnum lantanoides. Among the herbaceous plants, we found fine specimens of Orchis orbiculata, Pursh, Orchis grandi- flora, Goodyera pubescens, Neottia cernua, Aralia hispida, A. ra- cemosa, Dalibarda repens, Monotropa uniflora, Pyrola secunda, and P. umbellata. ; Among the plants not in flower were great quantities of the fol- lowing, viz. Cornus Canadensis, (known in Maine by the expressive name of bunch berry, from its beautiful bunches of scarlet berries ; these berries are dry and insipid, but not unpleasant to eat;) the Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. 23 ivory berry, Gaultheria hispidula of Linneus, of which Dr. Torrey has made a new genus ; Linnea borealis, Streptopus roseus, S. dis- tortus, Convallaria umbellulata, Panax quinquifolium, Coptis tri- foliata, Tiarella cordifolia, Mitella prostrata; and the following ferns, &c. were seen in fruit, viz.: Polypodium dryopteris, P. con- nectile, Adiantum pedatum, Struthiopteris Pennsylvanica, great. quantities of Pteris aquilina; also Lycopodium clavatum, L. com- planatum, L. obscurum, and L. lucidulum. On the shore of the river I noticed the following plants growing abundantly, viz.: Ranunculus repens, Campanula rotundifolia, Sa- gittaria sagittifolia, and Mimulus ringens ; also a.very large speci- men of Orchis dilatata. We lost our way near Salmon stream, but after considerable labor effected a passage through the tangled bushes to the mouth of this creek, which we forded; after which we soon reached the first set- tlement above Matawamkeag Point, on this side of the river. Here we found a log cabin occupied by a family of Howards, who gave us a good supper and tolerable accommodations for the night. The Indian name of the settlement is Nickatow; its distance from ‘the Point” is about ten miles. Wednesday, Aug. 10th.—This morning we proceeded to the next log hut on the same side of the river, and there crossed in a boat to the opposite side. I was much pleased by finding directly on land- ing great abundance of Swertia defleca; I am not aware that this plant has been previously noticed as growing in New England. This locality is on the right bank of the Penobscot, just below the mouth of the East Branch, latitude about 45° 25’. The corolla of this plant is generally described as greenish yellow; I found, however, that before the ripening of the seed the corolla was dark blue, dark- est on the spurs and shaded with green as in several of the Gentian tribe. The corolla does not become greenish yellow until the cap- sule has nearly ripened ; but gradually increases in size and changes its hue until it finally withers, still adhering to the base of the ripened capsule. The latter when ripe is membranous, beaked, and splits half way to the base into two valves. In Dr. Beck’s Botany I ob- serve the remark, that this plant in drying turns black ; this has not happened to my specimens, which retain their original color even better than is usual with dry plants. Our path lay next on the right bank of the river, and was fully as difficult as the one we had travel- led upon the previous day. After going about six miles we arrived 24 Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. opposite “ Dolby’s,” about six miles from Grand Falls. Here we found two log cabins, to which we went after crossing the river in a bateau belonging to one of them. After getting a miserable dinner we engaged two men to convey us in their boat to Grand Falls. We found the river very low, and had many opportunities of admiring the skill and coolness with which our boatmen managed their bateau, and forced it up rapids which at first seemed impassable. We stopped at the mouth of the Millinoket to fish for pickerel ; while our boat lay here, I observed in the water great quantities of Lobelia Dortmanna, Nymphea odorata, Nuphar advena, Hydropeltis purpurea, Villar- sta lacunosa, Eriocaulon pellucidum, with stipes two or three feet long. The E. pellucidum is generally described as being but two or three inches in height; but the plants above referred to, as well as similar ones four feet long, which I have seen in ponds near Ha- verhill, Mass. do not appear to differ essentially from this species. The length of the stipe depends on the depth of water in which the plant grows. We also noticed here the leaves of a plant which I believe is Sparganium natans, Smith; these leaves were “ long, floating, flat, and pellucid,’’ about one fourth of an inch wide, and from eight to ten inches in length. It grows abundantly in all the upper lakes of the Penobscot. A short time after we reached the settlement at Grand Falls, we were agreeably surprised by the arri- val of Prof. Barnes, who had set out from Matawamkeag Point in pursuit of us that morning, and performed on foot in one day the same distance for which we took part of two. We gave him a hearty welcome, and this evening determined upon our plan of proceeding to the mountain. We engaged two athletic “‘ loggers” named Mac Astlin to act as guides and boatmen, and agreed to pay each two dollars per day for his services. At Grand Falls, the only settlement consists of two log huts, oc- cupied by persons engaged in logging. ‘They cultivate but little ground, and have most of their supplies brought up the river in boats. In the smoky garret of one of these huts we passed the night, and rose early on Thursday to prepare for our journey. While waiting for our breakfast | was much pleased by discovering at this cabin— the very out-post of civilization in this direction—a well thumbed copy of Scott’s Heart of Mid Lothian. ‘‘There’s fame for you!” Having each procured a blanket, a pound of pork and a pound of bread per day, a little tea and salt, and by a lucky thought, each taking a red flannel shirt, which afterwards proved very serviceable Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. 25 to us; we made our packs by means of our blankets, and then sling- ing them over our shoulders, we proceeded on the Portage or “ Car- rying Place,” by the Grand Falls to reach our bateau, which was about three miles above. The appearance of our party as we filed through the woods, was very picturesque ; our sturdy guide, Cyrus, led the van, having on his head a white felt hat, from which rains and time had long removed all stiffness, and which now formed a perfect cone, except where part of the brim was turned in over the forehead to give the eyes fair play. Over his shoulders was thrown an im- mense pack made of blankets, and containing provisions, &c., its color contrasting finely with his red flannel shirt. Around his waist was a broad leathern belt to which were buckled a couple of tin cups anda brass kettle. On one shoulder he bore his oars and pad- dles, on the other a frying pan, axe, &c. His brother followed, somewhat similarly equipped, carrying a fowling piece, &c., and we with our smaller packs, and some light articles, closed the procession. On our way through the woods we again found the Swertza de- flera, and also passed over arsillite in situ. This place, between Grand Falls and Quakish Lake, about three miles from the former, is the most northern point at which I have cbserved this rock. When we launched our boat she was found to leak very badly, but we soon remedied this difficulty by scraping from her sides some of the superfluous pitch, which we placed upon her bottom; then by applying the heated frying pan the cracks were soon stopped, and we proceeded. Crossing the Quakish Lake and North Twin, we soon entered Lake Pemmidumkook; here we had a fine view of Katahdin, and could distinguish the various slides with which its sides are furrowed. At noon we went on shore to dine, and having made a fire at an old logging camp, we prepared our meal in cam- paign style, by each taking a large slice of fat pork, which we stuck upon sharpened sticks and then roasted until it was black. Pork thus cooked, with stale bread, and strong tea made in our brass kettle and swallowed without milk or sugar, formed our frugal fare, of which we partook with almost incredible relish. At this camp | was fortunate enough to find a pair of excellent moose skin mocca- sins, which were a great prize to me, as my boots were already worn through. After dinner we embarked again, and proceeding by the Deep Cove and the Ambijeegis Lake and Falls, we stopped at night at the foot of the Passamagamet Falls, where, leaving Mr. Keely on Vol. XX XII.—No. 1. 4 Qoyre Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. the rocks to fish, the rest prepared for our nightcamp. Mr. Barnes and myself collected for our couch the fragrant boughs of the cedar, (Thuja occidentalis,) while our guides cut down bushes and pulled up their roots from the spot selected for an encampment. Our friend Cyrus ina few minutes chopped down a mighty hemlock, which fell with a tremendous crash ; its trunk was to serve for our back log, against which we soon had a fine blazing fire. Four stakes support- ing cross pieces, over which were thrown a couple of blankets fas- tened together by wooden pegs, formed a very comfortable tent, under which we spread a soft carpet of twigs. Mr. Keely appeared presently with a fine mess of white perch and chub, which when fried, furnished us a delicious meal. ‘The stump of the hemlock served as our table and the clean chips as plates. The whole scene formed a picture worthy of the pencil of Weir. During the night it rained hard, but our blankets proved sufficient protection. After a good night’s rest we went forward again the next morning, (Friday,) having first caught and cooked for our break- fast another fine mess of fish. At all the falls which we had passed since leaving Grand Falls, we found the rocks to be loose boulders of granite ; but this morning we observed just below Debskoneegan Falls a large ledge of granite in situ. This is the most southern point where we had an opportu- nity of seeing it in situ during this journey. At these falls we were obliged to carry our boat a distance of about ninety eight rods, when we again launched her. From Debskoneegan Lake the view of Katahdin is very fine. I have attempted in the accompanying sketch to give some idea of its outline. (See the fig.) The mountain on the right is Katahdin ; (A) the large western slide, and (B) the eastern. ‘The mountain on the extreme left is Sugar Loaf; it bears a striking resemblance to a vol- canic mountain, of which the remarkable depression in its summit represents the crater. We were unable to determine whether this apparent hollowing out of the summit was real, or an optical decep- tion produced by the receding ridge. Between the two principal slides (A) and (B), the chief growth upon the mountain appeared to be very low deciduous trees. ‘These we afterwards found to be white birch, (Betula populifolia.) ‘The eastern and western extremities of the mountain beyond the above mentioned slides, presented the dark green color of the evergreen pines and furs. ‘The summit and a considerable space below, bare of vegetation. On the lower part 27 = "aaiglet. Se 2 e By ran Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. Outline of Mount Katahdin, as seen from Debskoneegan Lake. A, West Slide—B, East Slide—C, Camp.—D, Sugar Loaf. ~ 28 Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. of the mountain we observed an appearance indicating horizontal terraces. After taking the annexed sketch, and examining the plants near the shore, among which I found Potentilla fruticosa growing abun- dantly, we continued our route and soon arrived at the Pockwock- amus Falls, which presented a very wild and picturesque scene. It is an immense collection of fragments of granite, rounded and pol- ished by the action of the current, which in many places bas, by the attrition of the gravel and pebbles, worn circular cavities in the rocks. Upon the rocks are piled, in wild confusion, a great quantity of logs, which have formed at these falls a “jam,” which the loggers had not been able to loosen. We noticed several places where the rocks had been blasted to liberate the lumber. It was with much labor that we transported our baggage over these rocks, while our boatmen forced the empty boat up the falls. The next falls we ar- rived at are called Abawljacarmegas, where a fine ledge of granite of the best quality is well exposed in the bed of the river. We arrived early in the afternoon at Hoyt’s stream, where we hauled our boat on shore, turned ber over, and deposited under the bottom the greater part of our provisions, our gun, frying pan, extra clothing, &c.; then, having made up our packs with one blanket each, and a short allowance of provisions for two days, we proceed- ed on foot for the mountain, from whose base we estimated our dis- tance to be about three miles. Our guides were now upon ground entirely new to them, neither of them having ever ascended the the mountain. We directed our course towards the slide marked (A) inthe drawing. Having no path to direct us, we found our journey exceedingly difficult. The first part of our way was over a ridge where the woods had been burned ; here our principal an- noyance was caused by a very small black fly, which our guides called ‘‘minges,” and to which the Indians give the appropriate name of ‘ No-see-’ems.” After leaving the ‘burnt woods,” we descended into a dense cedar swamp, from which we extricated our- selves with much labor, and then soon struck upon a rapid mountain brook, which for the purity and transparency of its water, surpassed all I had ever beheld. We followed this stream a while, but finding that it was leading us from our course we left it and turned to the west, by doing which we soon arrived at the slide. Here a scene of wild confusion presented itself; masses of granite, shivered by their fall from above, lay scattered over the path of the slide ; all traces of Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. 29 the original soil and vegetation were swept away, so that the denu- ded ledges of granite appeared in some places, while in others they were covered with great quantities of a coarse gravel, evidently produced by the crumbling of some of the coarse varieties of gran- ite, much of which was seen ina state of partial disintegration. The flank of the mountain on which the slide is situated is covered with a low growth of white birch, (Betula populifolia.) Some small bushes of the same have sprung up in the path of the slide and in time will probably cover it. At sunset we had ascended about one third of the height of the mountain, when finding the ascent very tiresome, we determined to encamp for the night. We selected for our camp a spot in the birch woods on the western edge of the slide, near which was a stream of excellent water. It was with much difficulty that we suc- ceeded in making a small fire, our only fuel being the green trunks of the birch, and a few fragments of dead wood found in the slide. We felt very sensibly the want of the dry hemlock and cedar, which had so well served us for fuel the preceding evening. After supper we rolled ourselves up in our blankets, and with no canopy but the heavens, prepared for repose, for which the fatigues of the day had given us sufficient desire. ‘The evening was clear, except a cloud which rested on the highest summit. During the evening some brilliant flashes of aurora borealis were seen. Saturday, Aug. 13.—Our disappointment was very great this morning at finding ourselves surrounded by a drizzly mist, which threatened rain, and completely prevented our enjoying any view of the surrounding country. After waiting a while, in hopes of its clearing away, we commenced our ascent, placing ourselves abreast of each other that the stones which one might loosen should cause no injuries to the rest of the party. The slide near our encamp- ment was about forty yards wide, narrowing very slowly towards the top. Soon after leaving our campI discovered fragments of compact limestone containing distinct impressions of Terebratule. These were found in the path of the slide, but a slight examination convinced me that they were masses which had been deposited on the mountain by diluvial action. Mr. Keely informs that rolled masses of similar limestone have been found near Waterville College. From the steepness of the mountain, the slipping of the loose stones and gravel, and the weight of our clothes drenched with the rain, our progress was slow, and very fatiguing ; we toiled on, how- 30 Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. ever, in spite of the rain, until we had reached a point about six hun- dred feet from the summit. By this time I became so much exhausted as to fear I would not be able to reach the summit, and have strength enough left to return to the boat that afternoon. Our time being lim- ited, as well as our provisions, it was necessary that we should reach the boat that day; for fear therefore of detaining the party I determin- ed very unwillingly not to exhaust my strength by ascending any high- er. Had the day been fine there would have been more inducement to proceed; but we were enveloped in clouds, drenched with rain, and there was no prospect of the weather becoming such as to enable us to enjoy that view from the summit which is the principal inducement to reach it. Mr. Barnes with the two guides determined to pro- ceed, while Mr. Keely and myself were to return to the camp and prepare a fire. Before descending, I examined the plants growing at the elevation which we had reached. If found the following in great abundance near the slide, viz.: Ledum latifolium, Vaccinium Vitis Idea, Vaccinium uliginosum, and Solidago virgaurea, var. alpina. In the slide itself were large patches of Potentilla triden- tata, and Arenaria glabra. (The P. tridentata is somewhat im- properly called Mountain potentilla ; it however flourishes within a few yards of the ocean, near the observatory at Portland.) We found also in descending, many bushes of Rzbes ringens, whose berries, though ripe, were very nauseous at first; but my thirst made me persist in eating them, and I soon found them quite palatable. We examined the rocks in the slide while on our way to the camp, but found little of interest: fragments of shell limestone were not uncommon, besides which were many fragments of hornblende rock, graywacke, and amygdaloid. Some of the latter has a green paste resembling compact epidote ; in this was once imbedded a substance which has decomposed, leaving the globular cavities which it once filled, nearly empty. ‘The vesicular stone thus formed hasa striking resemblance to a volcanic product. I also noticed many fragments of jasper of a fine red color. No indications of any ores were per- ceived. When we arrived at our camp, we found our fire extincuished, and ascertained, much to our chagrin, that our friends had taken with them our only means of kindling one. ‘The rain was increasing in violence, our only resource therefore, was to spread one blanket on the ground and another over it as a tent, by which we were partly sheltered from the storm. In about an hour we heard the merry Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. 31 shout of our comrades, who, thoroughly drenched, and much fa- tigued, soon arrived at camp. Mr. Barnes stated that the difficulty of the ascent increased greatly until he reached the ridge above the slide, along which he then proceeded without much trouble to the summit. On the very summit he found a fine bed of grass, and picked specimens of two plants, which I found to be Vaccinium uli- ginosum and Empetrum nigrum, both in fruit. He brought no spe- cimens of the grass. ; The summit rock, of which he brought down some specimens, is a reddish colored granite, containing small, well formed crystals of feldspar. It is stated in Williams’s History of Maine, that on Ka- tahdin, vegetation ceases a mile from the summit, and that the ele- vation is so great as to cause difficulty of breathing, as well as intense cold to be felt; Mr. Barnes contradicts this, having found vegetation on the summit, and not having perceived any great rarefaction of the air, or sensible reduction of temperature. It is evident from this, that the height of this mountain has been greatly overrated. It has been variously estimated at from five thousand to six thousand four hundred feet above the level of the sea. It was our intention to have measured its height, but unfortu- nately we could not procure a mountain barometer either in Water- ville or Bangor. Before we descended from our camp, the clouds rose a little, so as to give us a fair view of some of the numerous lakes with which the region abounds. We could distinguish Millinoket, Debskonee- gan, Pemmidumkook, &c. In descending, we passed numerous horizontal terraces which appeared to extend along the flanks of the mountain beyond the slide. When we had descended nearly to the point where we had first entered the slide, we turned to the left, and pursued a southerly course ; but in the endeavor to avoid the swamp which the day pre- vious had caused us so much trouble, we lost our way and became entangled in several dense sphagnous swamps, in which was a thick growth of cedar, (Taya occidentalis,) through which it was very difficult to effect a passage. Often we would completely lose sight of each other, and be obliged to shout to our guides to stop, for fear we might part company. ‘The heavy rain in the morning had com- pletely drenched the trees and bushes, so that every one we touch- ed sent down upon us a shower, which soon wet us to the skin. Climbing over fallen trees, stumbling at tangled roots, now by main t 32 Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. force making a passage through the bushes, and anon falling pros- trate, as some rotten branch gave way, to which we had trusted for support, we at last reached the “ burnt wood,” with much less eloth- ing upon us than when we began our journey. None of us, not even our guides, who were experienced woodsmen, were ever on so fatiguing a journey. Had we trusted entirely to our pocket com- pass, we might easily have returned to our boat by the same route by which we left it, but in the endeavor to avoid one swamp we got into a dozen, besides adding several miles to the length of our route. In the burnt wood we advanced with more ease, but before we reached the river we were again obliged to enter a difficult swamp. We finally struck the river a few rods above our boat, and were as much rejoiced to see it as was ever sea-sick traveller by beholding shore. ‘The plants which I had an opportunity of noticing around the base of Katahdin during our hasty return, were the following, viz. Monotropa uniflora ; Pyrola secunda; Pyrola umbellata ; Dalbarda repens ; Cornus Canadensis ; Epilobium spicatum ; Convallaria trifolia; Gaultheria hispidula; G. repens; Strepto- pus roseus; §. distortus ; Ledum latifolium; Kalmia angustifolia, and Sorbus Americana. This last is sometimes called Round wood, because the stem is so perfect a cylinder. On the shores of the Penobscot, near our landing place, I ob- served in the same abundance as at the lakes below, Ranunculus re- pens; Potentilla fruticosa; Campanula rotundifolia, and Spartina cynosuroides ; to the latter our boatmen gave the name of “ Blue Joints.” In the stream were great quantities of Lobelia Dortman- ni; Eriocaulon pellucidum, and Sparganium natans. This night we encamped at the head of the Debskoneegan Carry- ing Place, where we found a small camp made of hemlock bark, which required but little adjusting to render it very comfortable. We made a large fire to dry our clothes and blankets, and then lay down for the night. In the morning (Sunday) I found myself suffering from a violent cold in my throat, which however had no serious con- sequences. Making a hasty breakfast, we again set out, eager to reach the Grand Falls before night. Whenever we were in still water we used both paddles and oars, and thus made rapid progress. We were particularly struck, during this day’s journey, with the re- markable purity and transparency of the water, as well as the beauty and accuracy of the reflections from its surface. Every leaf and branch of the trees was distinguishable, and the rounded rocks, pro- Account of an Excursion to Mount Katahdin. 33 jecting above water, appeared like globular masses of some light substance afloat, and it was almost impossible to distinguish the di- viding line between an object and its image. A solemn stillness reigned upon these lakes, broken only by the sound of our paddles, the wild laugh of a loon, or cry of a white ea- gle which we occasionally startled from his perch on some lofty pine. Near Hoyt’s stream, however, we heard one ‘sound familiar to our ear ;”’ it was the tinkling of cow bells, which we found were fastened to some fine oxen grazing on the islands in the stream. They belonged to Mr. Gibson, who has a camp farm at Sowada- hunk, six miles above our landing place. We met him in his boat as we were descending the river; he was carrying up some men to cut the wild meadow hay, which is in great demand in this region during winter, when the woods are filled with “loggers”? and their cattle. Nothing worth recording occurred during the remainder of our journey to Grand Fails, where we arrived before sunset. ‘The next morning, Monday, we engaged our faithful guides to transport us in their boat to Matawamkeag Point, where we arrived about three o'clock, P. M. with our relish for the comforts of civilization much heightened by our excursion. We returned, via Bangor, &c., to Waterville, and on calculating our expenses, found them to have been but twenty five dollars each, including the hire of the horse and wagon. Before closing this article, I wish briefly to mention the places at which I have had an opportunity of observing the Argillite so often alluded to in the above article. During this journey it was the only rock seen in situ, from Waterville, east to Bangor, and thence north and north westerly to a point between Grand Falls and Quakish Lake. I observed it on an excursion made on foot to Mount Abra- ham in 1832, at the following places: from Waterville all the way to Norridgewock, where it forms the falls; and in Starks, Industry, Freeman, Kingsfield, and Anson. The only other rock observed, was asmall hill of granite between Starks and Industry, and the granite forming the summit of Mount Abraham. I have merely stated above the places where I have myself had an opportunity of examining the Argillite formation. It doubtless ex- tends far beyond the limits of my observations, and as it is said to occur at Holton, it is not improbable that it traverses the whole state in a north easterly direction, and enters into New Brunswick. This Vout. XXXII.—No. 1. 5 34 Experiments on the Adhesion of Iron Spikes, formation appears very deficient in mineralogica! interest. I have not seen in it any minerals, except quartz and sulphuret of iron. In some places it furnishes good roofing slate, and I have been informed that a vein of limestone occurs in the rocks near Ticonic Falls at Waterville, but I had not an opportunity of examining this place. | have called the formation Argillite from its prevailing character, al- though in some places it resembles talcose slate, and at others gray- wacke. I think it worthy of remark, that the valley of the Kennebeck, from Waterville, as far north as I had an opportunity of observing during my visit in 1832 to Mount Abraham, is covered with boul- ders of granite, of so peculiar a character that they may perhaps some day be traced to their original position. ‘These boulders dif- fer from those observed on the Penobscot, by containing large im- bedded crystals of white feldspar, which make the masses appear at a little distance as if they were covered with broad chalk marks. These crystals are generally about three inches long and one fourth of an inch wide. I have seen some, however, five inches long by four wide. I hope soon to be able to send you an account of the botanical observations which I have made in the vicinity of Waterville: in the mean time I send this hasty article, hoping that the few facts it contains respecting the geology and botany of the regions visited,, will be received with interest, on account of the few notices which have hitherto been published upon these departments of the natural history of Maine. West Point, Aug. 31, 1836. Arr. WI.—Experiments on the Adhesion of tron Spikes of various forms, when driven into different species of Timber; by WautTER R. Jounson, Professor of Mechanics and Natural Philosophy in the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. In reference to rail-road constructions, bridge-building, and sey- eral other useful applications in civil engineering, as well as in naval architecture, the adhesion of spikes, bolts and nails of various forms becomes an object of much practical importance. Jn regard to rail- roads, this matter is worthy of more attention than might at first sight when driven into different species of Timber. 35 be supposed. Owing to the high price of iron, the flat rail is often unavoidably adopted in preference to the edge rail; and whenever the speed of a train descending by gravity, or impelled with great velocity by the moving power, is to be suddenly checked by the brake, the friction of the periphery of the wheel on the rail, tends to drive the latter lengthwise, and thus to force all the spikes with which it is fastened into closer contact with the ends of the fibres which have been cut in driving them. [If this partial or total drag- ging of the wheels along the rails take place, sometimes in one di- rection, and sometimes in the other, the spikes must be subjected to alternate impulses on opposite sides. Indeed, whenever the motive power depends on friction for its efficacy, as in the case of the com- mon locomotive engine, there is a constant succession of these two opposite dragging forces, the engine constantly tending by its driving wheels to urge the rail backwards, and the train by an equal but more extensively distributed action tending to urge forward all the rails over which it is at the same moment passing. So decided is this influence, that on a rail road where the transportation is all in one direction, and where the cars descend by gravity, I have seen rails entirely detached, or remaining loosely connected but by a sin- gle spike, while others clearly indicated by the inclined position of their upper faces or heads, that they were pressed into an oblique or leaning position in the wooden sill. This single case may serve to show the importance of attending to the character of the spikes used in similar constructions. To determine some of the points relating to the forms of spikes, and the kind of timber into which they are driven, the following ex- periments were undertaken. ‘They serve to show the relative econo- my of each form of spike, as well as its fitness for the purpose in- tended. ‘The mode of executing the experiments was, to drive each spike to a certain distance above its cutting edge, into the edge of a piece of plank or scantling, and by means of a suitable apparatus, adapted to that purpose, to draw it out by a direct longitudinal strain. The machine employed for this purpose was the same as that which has been used for testing the strength of iron and copper, in experi- ments on the tenacity of materials employed in steam boilers. A strong band or strap of iron, connected with the weighing beam of that machine, held the piece of plank, and a clamped pincers, with a suitable jaw, for taking hold of the head and projecting part of the spike, was attached to the opposite part of the machine, which being 36 Experiments on the Adhesion of Iron Spikes, tightened by a strong screw held the spike firmly, while the appli- cation of weights upon the long arm of the lever drew the timber away, and released the spike. Care was taken to cause the strain to pass through the axis of the spike, and, by a very gradual appli- cation of weights, to avoid surpassing that foree which was just suffi- cient for its extraction. The first experiment was upon one of Burden’s patent square spikes, with a cutting edge, intended to be in all cases placed across the grain of the timber. This spike was .375 of an inch square, and was driven into a sound plank of seasoned New Jersey yellow pine, 32 inches. The force required to extract it was 2052 Ibs. and the exact weight of the part driven into the wood was 866 grains troy. The second trial was upon a flanched, grooved and swelled spike, having the grooves between two projecting wings or flanches, on the same sides as the faces of the cutting edge. ‘The other two sides were planes, continuing to the head. A cross section of this spike, taken 1} inches above its edge or pe, y Fig. 2. point, had the form of fig. 1. At ;°> of an inch, that is, where the flanch- es project least from the edge, or where the swell between them comes nearest to forming a perfect square, the form is as shown in fig. 2; the dotted line ee, in each figure, representing the direction of the cutting edge. ‘Towards the head of this spike, the flanching-and grooving is suppressed, and the form becomes a square. ‘This experiment was made on the same piece of Jersey yellow pine as the first, and the weight required for extracting the spike was 1596 lbs. ‘The weight of the part driven in was 7084 grains. The cutting edge was irregular; the distance to which it was driven, was 32 inches, as in the first trial. ‘To know the rela- tive value of the two forms of spikes, we have but to divide the weight required for the extraction of each by the number of grains in the part which had been buried in the wood; thus, 2052—866 = 2.37, and 1596 —708.25=2.112. Hence the plain spike had an advantage over the swelled and grooved one, in about the proportion 23 to 21. It should be mentioned also, that the plain spike was drawn out by a very gradual addition of force, whereas the force of 1596 lbs. drew the grooved spike immediately after its application. In the first trial, an attempt was made to detect any yielding or grad- ual retreat of the spike, before the final start, but none was observed. when driven into different species of Timber. 37 The third and fourth experiments were made with the same spikes respectively as the first and second ; but instead of yellow pine, the timber employed was thoroughly seasoned white oak. ‘The plain spike driven 32 inches into that timber, required for its extraction a force of 3,910 lbs. and, as before, exhibited no signs of movement until the instant of starting, when it suddenly came out about + of an inch, or as far as the range of motion and the elasti- city of the machine would permit. The flanched, swelled and grooved spike, driven 32 inches into nother part of the same piece of plank, from which the plain one nad been extracted, was drawn out with a force of 3,791 Ibs. A slow motion to the extent of ;'- or 54, of an inch was, in this trial, perceived to precede the starting of the spike ; and was accompa- nied by a gradual protrusion of the fibres of the timber immediately around the iron. In these experiments, though the plain spike bore the greater absolute weights, yet when the weight of metal is con- sidered, it is seen that the relative values of the two are 4.515 in the plain, and 5.354 in the grooved form. ‘The various circum- stances of the four preceding experiments are seen at a single view in the following table. TABLE I. Ratio of extracting force to weight of spike. Weight in grains of part REMARKS. timber. used. Depth to which it was Breadth of spike. Thickness of spike. driven in. -|Force requiredto extract Kind and condition of it in Ibs. avoirdupois. |No. of experiments Description of spike 8 Inch. |Inch. Eorce gradually ‘Japplied, no mo- “|tion previous to the starting. Bur- |Season’d den’s. | Jersey plain sq.| yellow spike. pine. Flanch- |Season’d ed,groov-| Jersey ed and | yellow swelled.| pine | ° | J | | Bur- iSeason’d | a J —" ( a i raat | Force applied 3/5 | .300/3.375 708 1596)2.254 atl i 75, 708 159 5 | mone" () eo mB wen Ot oo Ot Started sud- den’s | white 375 | .375/3.375) 866 3910/4.515 ye plain. | oak. denly. Fibres protru- 4 Grooved |Season’d eA aera and white .375 | .300|3.375| 708 3791/5.354 Be NE Sie ae ees swelled.| oak. | Ieee Aer Hence it appears, that in yellow pine the grooved and swelled form was about 5 per cent. less advantageous than the plain, while 38 Experiments on the Adhesion of Iron Spikes, in the seasoned oak the former was 184 per cent. superior to the latter. It is also apparent that the advantage of seasoned oak over seasoned yellow pine for retaining spikes, is, by a comparison of ex- periments 1 and 3, as 1 to 1.9; and by a comparison of 2 and 4, it is as 1 to 2.37. In the preceding experiments the spikes were driven into the timber and immediately drawn out again. In the second series, the spikes were driven into their respective pieces of timber, and then soaked for a few days in water. ‘The pieces into which the different spikes were driven, were as nearly alike as it was practicable to obtain them, being always cut from the same plank, avoiding knots, cracks, &c. The following table contains a view of the experiments after soaking the timber. TABLE II. Timber soaked after the spikes were driven. as Gl ionles 2s © 2 & ie toy oO 52 iB eas fo] ® | wa |e io) nS an = 2 S el tis! 2 ale S “ 5S) etree OPP Sees 2 g R ig Soe aiSereea | OE = a Ome Shae [esse tore ies) cif © 2 2g a, 2s Sve he eele le ae ieees tal So} oo] BSP (ee | o:a gy cD) iS aq 3] OS las | +o oo so © oS oO} so | a isons aa = S 3 ro Colinas a|G)o (SR 1 Ss | Oo] & 3 & & Alea j© 8) se Sens Zz i M4 Inch)Inchj Inch = oF eo A 1|Swelled and grooved.|Chestnut unseasoned. _|.375).300/3.5 |806. |1710. |2.121|188?, 2 a tt Yellow pine seasoned. |.375'.300/3.5 |806. |1668. |2.069} “ 3 ue ie Hemlock partly season’d|.375).300)3.5 |806. |1738. |2.156| “ 4 et e W hite oak seasoned. .375|.30013.5 1806. |3373. -|4.184) “ 5 ua x Locust partly seasoned. |.375).300/3.5 |806. |4902. |6.081| “ Sweiled and grooved,|~y .. cg i iS 5 it Ol eeeoniialed away. Chestnut unseasoned. |.390).300|3.5 1759. |1852.5 |2.440 7 ue a Seasoned yellow pine. |.390).300)3.5 |759. |1'767. |2.328} “ ME nts is Hemlock partly season’d).390).300/3.5 759. |1296.8 |1.576) “ g[Plain spike, filed Ichestnut unseasoned. 400).394)3.625/933.5]1790. |1.810| 10| ae mane 4 Hemlock partly season’d}.400).394|3.5 |933.5/1638.'75|1.755} “‘ Ly epanes is i Locust partly seasoned. |.400'.394)3.5 |933.5)3990. |4.167| “ Oise e 4 ¢: < re .400).394|3.5 |933.5/4332. {4.640} “ (aes ea Ge alWihite onl. .392|.31513.675(759. |2622. [3.454] « 14\Burden’s patent. a .339!.329|3.625/639, 12152. 13.367] “ REMARKS. Experiment No. 1.—In this and the four following, the thickness of the spike is that at the bottom of the grooves. Experiment No. 4.—The oak used in this experiment was firmer than that em- ployed in the first series. Experiment No. 5.—The timber had been slightly split by the driving of this spike. Experiment No.6.—The flanches remained after filing out the swelled part of the original form. Eixperime#t No. 12—Timber slightly split in driving the spike. when driven into different species of Timber. 39 The first five of the preceding experiments show that with a spike of given form, and driven a certain distance into different timbers, the order of retentiveness, beginning with the highest, is as follows: 1, locust; 2, white oak; 3, hemlock; 4, unseasoned chestnut; 5, yellow pine. From the 6th, 7th and 8th experiments, we see that chestnut is still above yellow pine, but that hemlock is inferior to both. By the 9th and 10th, it also appears that hemlock is still to be placed below chestnut. Comparing the Ist experiment in this table with the 6th, and the 2nd with the 7th, we perceive that the swell towards the point of the spike, was so far from being an ad- vantage to it, that it in fact rendered the spike less retentive than when that swelled part had been removed; so that, even could this form have been produced without any increase in the weight of the spike, it would still have been less advantageous than the simple groove without the swell: but when it is considered that the swell added 47 ers. (=806 —759) to the weight, it is evident that the groove alone has a decided advantage over the other form. By the trials in unseasoned chestnut, (Nos. 1 and 6.) this advantage is 2440 —2121 15 per cent. : thus Tem eee and by those on yellow i . , 23828 — 2069 pine, (Nos. 2 and 7,) it is “TON eee per cents.) Ini face, after the ends of the fibres have once been thrust apart by the thick part of the swell, it is evident that when they come opposite to the cavity above the swell they must lose some portion of their power to press the spike and produce the retaining force of friction ; this force must then depend for its production on the action of those fibres of the wood which are opposite to the swelled portion, or between it and the point of the spikes. In the next series of experiments, it was attempted to ascertain the relation between forms more diversified than had hitherto been employed. As it is evident that the total retentiveness of the wood must de- pend, in a considerable degree, upon the number of fibres which are longitudinally compressed by the spike, it was inferred, that on the area of the two faces, which in driving the spike are placed against the ends of the fibres, must in a great measure depend the retention of the spike. In this series, four kinds of wood and ten forms of spikes were employed. ¢ 40 Experiments on ab Aithesion of Iron Spies, A comparison of the results given in the Bllowins table, will shove what order those forms would possess among Heccelvesi in point of retentiveness, as well as the advantages of the respective species of timber into which they were severally driven. TABLE III. Spikes of various forms—timber of different kinds. a © va oa ages Ones = a) sean e| ely [202 2 et FS |e la (£ J2fts2lesied bd a © a a |e - a Sl Vl oso n FL ayaa se (SS|esisg [ee melsZie5 sé ae a3 (S#Sels2 eee Sse ns Ee cass se sees ZA Na ms Inch. Inch.| Sq. im: |Inch.| Grs. |Tbs. |p4 2 (a) { | Chestnut 9 é | 1835. 1 |straightsquare. 3] Gecett, | 405 402] 2.83 /3.5 | 942/1995/2.116, 99% 2 |Burden’s patent. Se .373 384) 2.64 |3.5 | 866/1873]/2.162|Dec. 8. 3 [Broad flat. ‘ 539,288) 3.77 |3.5 | 898/2394/2.663)Dec. 4. 4 |Narrow flat. Meek 390) .253) 2.73 13.5 | 566|2223/3.927|Dec. 8. White oak 5 |Straight square. q |thoroughly | .405 .402| 2.83 |3.5 | 942 3996/4.129|Dec. 7. seasoned. | 6 |Broad flat. y 539 .288) 3.77 |3.5 | 898)/5130|5.712| “ 7 |Narrow flat. i .390, .253| 2.73 [3.5 | 566,3990/7.049| “ 8 |Burden’s patent. oe 873,384 2.64 |3.5 | 86639054509} Cylindrical, with, a 'Di- 2 eal j 2 ; cutting edge. 485 om. 3.5 1211/3876 3.200 10 ae || | 8t5| 376) 60 5 | (cogil A coda F | Grooved, but not) és o) Ada” 6 I] ea .375, .375| .260 | 3.5 | 759 aay Grooved, and bot-! 12 2| tom of grooves ef .375)| .375| 260 |2.5 | 500/26505.300) “ serrated. - | Locust sea- | 13 |Square. soned three} .405| .402) 2.83 | 3.5 | 942)5967,6.334|Dec. 8. years. | 14 |Broad fiat. ‘ .539} .285) 3.77 |3.5 | 898)7040'7.839| — * 15 |Narrow flat. 3 .390) 253) 2.73 13.5 | 566/52739.316) ( |Cylindrical, point- j jed with 15 grooves| : : 165 filed longitudinal-| “482 S¢ | 599DE 3.5 | 929/2052.2.208| 1836. WW? from the point} ah CR anaes upwards. 17 os Rs F500) 3.5 1 929;2309)2:50 ia) win Plain, cylindrical, | 184 |pointed, scale not u 500} . 3.5 |1015 2451/2414)“ removed. REMARKS. Experiment No. 10.—The measures in this and the two following cases were taken outside the flanches. Experiment No. 12.—The weight of the part inserted is given by estimation in this experiment. Experiment No. 16.—In this and the two following experiments, the spikes were driven into the timber in the direction of the length of the fibres. The above table furnishes three sets of comparisons for deducing the relative retaining powers of green chestnut, thoroughly seasoned a - it, * * J ae ? when driven into different species of Timber. 4] oak, and equally seasoned locust. Thus the weight which in those three cases drew the square spike from chestnut, was 1995; and that which extracted the broad flat one 2394; and that which drew the narrow flat one from the same timber was 2223. ‘The sum of these is 6612. ‘The sum of the three numbers for the same three spikes used with oak, was by experiments 5, 6, and 7, 13110; and the sum of the three in locust, by experiments 13, 14, and 15, is 18280; these three numbers have to each other the relation of 1, 2, and 22; from which we infer that oak is almost precisely twice, and locust 22 times as retentive as unseasoned chestnut. By com- paring together the results of experiments 1 and , it will be seen that the weights required for extracting the two spikes respectively, are more nearly proportional to the breadth than to either the thick- nesses, or the weights of the spikes. For the spike with a breadth of .405 inch anda thickness of .402, required 1995 lbs. for its removal, while that which had a breadth of .375 inch took 1873 lbs. Now .3873 ; 405::1073 : 2033 for the calculated retentive- ness, instead of 1995, as given by experiments ;—a difference of only +388 lbs. between the observed and calculated results. Cal- culating the retention by the weights of the respective spikes, we should have 866 : 942::1873 : 2987, ora difference of 42 lbs. while using the thickness alone, we obtain .3884 ; 402::1873 : 1960, a difference of an opposite kind of 35 lbs. from the observed result, the greater thickness yielding the less retentive power. ‘This cor- respondence between the breadths and the extracting weights be- comes still more apparent when we compare the third, and especially the fourth with the second experiment. Thus for the broad flat spike, (8d Ex.)—compared with experiment 2, we obtain By breadths, | .373:539:: 1873: 2701, instead of 2394, diff. + 307 “ weights, .866: 898 : : 1873 : 1942, * if “ — 452 “* thicknesses, .384:288:: 1873 : 1379, is iy “ —1615 and for the thinner and lighter spike, (Ex. 4th.)—compared with the same, By breadths, 373: 390:: 1873: 1958, instead of 2228, observed diff. — 265 “ weights, .866:566::1873:1224, “ oe “¢ ~_999 “ thicknesses, .384:253::1873:1234, “ i u “= 989 Nearly the same conclusions would result from a comparison of those trials, which were made on seasoned white oak and locust. Indeed, it appears that with a given breadth on the face of the spike, a diminution of thickness is sometimes a positive advantage to the retentiveness of the timber; for in white oak, the spike which had Vou. XX XII.—No. 1. 6 42 Experiments on the Adhesion of fron Spikes, a breadth of only .890, required as much force to extract it, as one of which the breadth was .405, though the thickness of the former was but .253, while that of the latter was .402; and on chestnut, the thinner, narrower, and lighter spike, required absolutely more force to withdraw it than the other. This leads us to notice the different kinds of action of the respective spikes on timber of vari- ous kinds. In the softer and more spongy kinds of wood, the fibres instead of being forced back longitudinally and condensed upon themselves, are, by driving a thick, and especially a rather obtusely pointed spike, folded in masses backward and downward so as to leave in certain parts the faces of the grains of the timber in contact with the surface of the metal. | That the view just presented is correct, seems also probable from what was observed in the case of the swelled spike. For while the grooved but unswelled one, driven into chestnut timber, (table II. Ex. 6,) required 1852 lbs. to extract it, the grooved and swelled spike, (Ex. 1, same table,) took but 1710 lbs. And in table III. Ex. 11, we find the swelled spike drawn from white oak by 3727 Ibs. and the grooved but not swelled one, Ex. 12, requiring 4247. Hence it ap- pears to be necessary, in order to obtain the greatest effect, that the fibres of the wood should press the face as nearly as possible in their longitudinal direction and with equal intensities throughout the whole length of the spike. Arranging the spikes according to the order of their ratios of retention to weight, as given by the experi- ments in table III, from five to twelve inclusive, we have the fol- lowing: 1. Narrow flat spike, with a ratio of . : 7.049 2. Wide i EF es POMEL SS Ais a 5.712 3. Grooved but not swelled, “ <“ . ; 5.662 4. Grooved and notched, eae hai : 5.300 5. Grooved and swelled, Se cube ; 4.624 6. Burden’s patent, PPS : 4.509 7. Square hammered, << ee ae ‘ 4.129 8. Plain cylindrical, “ Rae ire so 2 3.200 Experiments 16, 17 and 18, of the same table, were made by driving the spikes which were cylindrical with conical points into the timber endwise of the grain. ‘This method of comparing two forms, the one grooved and the other plain, was adopted on account of the extreme liability of the timber to be split by driving spikes of these forms across the direction of the fibres. It was observed that on when driven into different species of Timber. 43 drawing these spikes, the holes were almost perfectly square. ‘This resulted from the position of the rings of annual growth and the greater elasticity in some directions than in others. It is probable that if the filed grooves in experiments 16 and 17 had been covered with a scale of oxide, as was the case with the plain spike used in experiment 18, the former would have given a result somewhat higher. When holes are drilled into stone blocks and afterwards plugged with timber to receive spikes in fastening on the chairs of edge rails, the method of experimenting just described finds an application, and it is probable that in such cases the grooved cylinder with a conical grooved point, may prove advantageous. A few experiments were made to determine the effect of driving to different depths, on the total amount of retention. For this pur- pose two different spikes were selected, viz. the square hand-wrought spike, the section of which was .405 x .402, and the wide flat one of which the section was .539x.288. ‘They were respectively driven to acertain depth ito unseasoned chestnut, and then subject- ed to a force just sufficient to start them. ‘This force was noted, and the spike was immediately driven down one inch deeper than before, and the force again applied. All my experiments proved that when a spike is once started, the force required for its final ex- traction is much less than that which produced the first movement. This is readily accounted for on the principle that as the wedge- shaped point was from half an inch to an inch in length; and as this, on the starting back of the spike a very little distance, became mostly relieved from the pressure of the fibres, all that part of the retention which had been due to the wedge-shaped portion of the spike was at once destroyed. The following table will show, how- ever, that the mere starting of the spike with parallel faces does not essentially diminish the retention, when again driven into the timber to a greater depth than before. But when a bar of iron is spiked upon wood, if the spike be driven down until the bar compresses the wood to a great degree, the recoil of the latter may become so great as to start back the spike a short distance after the last blow has been given. In this case a great diminution in the useful effect will be the consequence. ‘This shows that a limit may exist to the force which we should apply in urging down spikes or bolts destined to fasten materials together. 7 a4 Experiments on the Adhesion of Iron Spikes, &c. * Be : t m TABLE IV. iar Spikes driven to different depths. IMrearciviet ea sce NRL a Sr eas oS FS ORG (oe y 3. 22-2 al ee EW eel ee l= 2 ea} A f=) Se SBqgarsae esis OS A a eee Sy KS) il useless) cS Sy a wm | Ace |S Oly Via w vs B oS win IS Sni/7 Ss |e eloSis Sao ropes SaaS Evoll’o is MONS Tel tees |g © ane 3 ls2\s 24 SZlf2se on a ° S | ka one ak on ov Ss 3 5) a Lone zs JO E/S VRS oO |) 5-5/8 a 3) one 5 seo a AS Soy ane sails |so| 8 Z isa tS eo) MSN ces (Ves fei les a chesnut un- | sg. in. jinches.| grs 1835 1 |square not Ned.) seasoned. | .405) .402) .7695| 1.9 | 483/1183|2.428) Dec. 4 aM ‘S Saige ‘ a E7457 2°9"" "789 1995 |2.528 Hi 3 i Bi = a f “| © 1.5795) 3.9 |1095/2565)/2.342 4 Broad flat. . .539) .288) 9702, 1.8 | 449)1525|3.457 os 5 erie f «| © |1.5092| 9.8 | 745/2594/3.482! By comparing experiments 1 and 4 together, it will be found that weight for weight, the flatspike had when driven 1.8 inches, an ad- vantage of 42.3 per cent. over the square one; and by a like com- parison of experiments 2 and 5, it is evident the former had a supe- riority of 37.7 per cent. As the spike when driven in only 1.9 inches had a much less proportion of its parallel faces exposed to the reaction of the fibres anda greater proportion of the wedge- shaped point, it is reasonable to expect that the retention would not correspond precisely with the lengths inserted. It will be understood that when we speak of cutting edges and the wedge-shaped portion of spikes, whether square, flat, or cylindrical, the direction of the cutting edges is always across the fibre or grain of the timber. It must be evident that the wedge-shaped part may be so acute, as to correspond nearly with two parallel faces, in which case, the tenden- cy to retreat from the lateral pressures is small; and the pressures themselves, increasing from the point upwards to where the spike is thickest, the total efficiency of a given length may be as great as that of an equal length of the parallel faces, and even greater, provided the thickness of the spike be so considerable as in driving it to pro- duce much crushing and irregular folding of the fibres of the timber. If, on the other hand, the edge be very blunt, the tendency to recoil may be such as to diminish the adhesion, and in this case the effect of the wedge shape is negative. In the other it may be positive.* * The following formula may represent the several experiments; R=/fac,in which R isthe observed retention; /= the length in inches of the part inserted; == the force of retention on one inch of the parallel faces, and c= the difference between the retention of a parallel portion of the spike, and of an equal length of the converging faces nearthe point. The sign of ambiguity arises from the cause above explained. Remarks on the Natural order Cycadee. 45 The first, second and third experiments indicate, in the tenth column of the preceding table, that beyond a certain limit the ratio of weight of metal to extracting force begins to diminish, showing that it would be more economical to increase the number rather than the length of the spikes, for producing a given effect in fastening materials together. In this case, also, it will be perceived, that the adhesion has a much closer relation to the areas of the compressing faces of the spikes, than to their weights. For three of the experi- ments this ratio may be regarded as identical, and dividing, for each of the five experiments, the observed retention by the area of the two faces opposed to the ends of the fibres, we get a mean result, which proves that the absolute retaining power of unseasoned chest- nut, on square or flat spikes of from 1.8 to 8.9 inches in length, is about 813 lbs. for every square inch of those faces which condense longitudinally the fibres of the timber. Arr. 1V.— Remarks on the Natural order Cycadea, with a descrip- tion of the ovula and seeds of Cycas revoluta, Willd.; by A. J. Downie. [Read before the Lyceum of Natura! History, New York, Oct. 17, 1836.] Cycas revoluta, figured in the accompanying plate, (Plate I.) be- longs to a genus comprising but four other known species, which to- gether with Zamia constitute the Cycadea, one of the smallest but most interesting orders in the whole vegetable kingdom. ‘Their sin- cular structure and manner of growth, their simple cylindrical stems and crowning tufts of foliage, like some of the Palms, and their commonly gyrate vernation, like that of most Ferns, as well as their anomalous inflorescence and fructification, have rendered them ob- jects alike of the greatest interest and perplexity to the learned bot- anists who have examined them. Cycas circinalis, Willd., a native of Malabar and Japan, seems to have been the first species discovered, having been described by Rheede, as early as 1682.* Rumphius,} in 1741, figured and de- scribed it under the name of Olus calappoides: he remarks its re- semblance to the arborescent Ferns, and thinks it might with pro- priety be called Osmunda arborescens. Linneus, who first gave the genus its present name, seems, from the imperfect manner in which its structure was known in his time, to have been greatly at a loss * Hort. Malab. vol. iu, p. 9. + Herb. Amboiense, vol. 1, p. 87. 46 Remarks on the Natural order Cycadee. where to place it; for we find it first arranged by him among the Palms, and afterwards with the Ferns. It was not until the year 1807, after the suggestions of Ventenat, that the natural order of Cycadee was established, it having been first characterized by the elder Richard, in Persoon’s Synopsis Plantarum. C. revoluta, though of late years well known in the fine living collections of England and the Continent, appears to have produ- ced its flowers but rarely. ‘The description and plate,* by Sir J. E. Smith, taken from a specimen which flowered in the hot-houses of the Bishop of Winchester in 1779, and the plant at Wentworth House, mentioned as being in a state of inflorescence in 1829, by Sir Wm. J. Hooker, and figured in the Botanical Magazine,t+ (both of which notices are now considered imperfect in their views of the structure of the stem and seeds,) are all that have come under our observation. In Japan, the native country of this species, its curious fructifica- tion is, we believe, renewed annually ; and the Japanese, who make considerable plantations of it around their houses, are said to eat the seeds and extract an inferior kind of sago from the pith or central part of the stem; whence it has received the name of Sago Palm, although the true sago of the shops is the production of a very dif- ferent plant, the Sagus Rumphii, Willd., which is a true Palm. According to Dr. Hamilton,t the flour used by the poorer natives of Malabar, called Indum Podt, is prepared from the seeds of a species of Cycas, dried and beaten in a mortar. For a long time, those who examined this group of plants seem to have been more occupied with their external appearance, as ex- hibited in the fine pinnated foliage and simple trunk of Cycas, than with any minute investigation of the real nature of the reproductive organs. When, however, the plants of this order were attentively examined as to their germination, their mode of inflorescence, and especially as to the nature of those singular bodies denominated the female flowers, new light was thrown upon their characters and aftin- ities. To that learned and most accurate botanist, Robert Brown, we are mainly indebted for those views which explain the true struc- ture of Cycadez, and establish an intimate relationship with the ap- parently very different group of plants, known under the name of Co- nifere. ‘These views were presented to the world in a paper read be- fore the Linnean Society of London, in 1825, on the “ structure of * Trans. Linnean Soc. of London, vol. vi, p. 312. t Bot. Mag. tab. 2968. t Travels in the Mysore, vol. ii, p. 469. Remarks on the Natural order Cycadee. AT the female flowers in Cycadew and Conifere.”* ‘The elder Richard, in his admirable ‘‘ Mémoire sur les Conzféeres et les Cycadées,” pre- pared about the same time, and published afterwards by his son, had indeed, with great ingenuity, established the affinity between Cyca- dex and Conifer ; but his views respecting the female flower and seed of both these tribes differ widely from those of Brown, and are now generally admitted by the first botanists to be erroneous. ‘The female flower of these orders consists, according to Richard, of a monosepalous perianth or calyx, enveloping or adhering to an uni- locular ovarium, which contains the true seed. He considers the aperture at the apex of the outer coat to be the style, and the pro- jecting point of the second, the stigma. Brown, on the contrary, suggested that the calyx, &c. of Richard, are but the membranes of the ovula, and in the mature state the intecuments of the seed ; in short, that the bodies called by Richard and other writers the fe- male flowers, are naked ovula, borne upon the margins of a con- tracted leaf, which last may be considered as an imperfect and open ovarium. ‘The impregnation he supposed to take place through the foramen of the ovulum, (the perforated stigma of Richard,) there be- ing (contrary to the usual structure in phenogamous plants) no style or stigma through which the pollen can find its way to that body. These ideas, so startling and paradoxical at first sight, were slowly received even by the most acute botanists, but have finally been al- most universally adopted. ‘The so-called naked seeds of Linneus having been demonstrated to be one-seeded fruits, it appears that the Cycadez and Conifere alone have the peculiarity of producing truly naked seeds, and that they compose therefore a distinct natural group, to which the name of Gymnosperme has very appropriately been given. Aside from an examination of the ovula themselves, and their in- teouments, the botanist who studies the structure of the organs of reproduction.in Cycadee, cannot but be convinced, that what were formerly called pistillate flowers are simply ovula in the first place, and afterwards naked seeds. ‘The modified leaf, bearing the ovula upon its face or margin, is undoubtedly a carpellum in an imperfect state of development, the seeds of which would be enclosed in an ovarium, if the edges of that carpellary leaf were folded together in the usual manner. In Cycas circinalis, the ordinary appearance of the pinnated leaf is so far depavted from as to exhibit in fact a flat * Vide Appendix to Capt. King’s Voyage, p. 22. 48 Remarks on the Nutural order Cycadee. scale-like carpel, with the rows of ovula upon either margin, thus closely resembling an ovarium formed of a single carpellum, (such as a follicle or legume,) spread open. In C. revoluta the leaf is in a less altered state, having at the extremity contracted pinnated di- visions, (PI. II, fig. 1,) but the part occupied by the ovula is, as in C. circinalis, the margin of the leaf. If, therefore, the pistel/um be a modified leaf or carpellum, from the edges of which are produced the ovula, as is now admitted by the first structural botanists, the en- velopes of the bodies which constitute the female organs in Cycadee and Conifere cannot be the calyx and ovarium, or indeed any thing else than the proper integuments of the seed; inasmuch as these bodies are produced upon the margins of the ovarium, the summit of which, if it were folded together, would become the style or stig- ma, and at the base, or surrounding which, would be found, perhaps, if in a state of sufficient development, the true floral envelopes. This argument receives additional force from the well known ten- dency of many leaves to produce upon their mareins, either buds, (as in Bryophyllum and other plants,) which are in fact distinct individu- als, or ovula, which are capable of becoming such by impregnation. The species of Cycas more commonly examined by European botanists, appears to have been C. circinalis, which, with regard to the seed itself, seems to be in a less perfect state of development than the species now before us. Richard’s admirable figures repre- sent only the former species; and Professor Lindley’s essential char- acters of the order, in his “Introduction to the Natural System,” are obviously drawn, so far as relates to Cycas, from C. carcinalis.* In the specimen of C. revoluta before us, the most important difference arises from the presence of a brown membranous coating of the nu- cleus, perfectly distinct during the latter part of the growth of the * In the “essential character” of Cycadez, given by Professor Lindley, in his “Introduction to the Natural System,” the “ pistilliferous flowers” are described as ‘either collected in cones, or surrounding the central bud, in the form of con- tracted leaves, without pinne, bearing the ovula upon their margins.” Such is really the case in C. circinalis, where the leaf is contracted into a flat scale. But in C. revoluta, only that portion of the modified leaf upon which the ovula are produced, is without the usual pinnated divisions. The same distinguished bota- nist likewise states the “gyrate vernation” of the leaves to be an essential char- acteristic of the whole order; while, so far as we have observed, such is actually the case only in C. circinalis, which in the beautifully gyrate disposition of its young leaflets, and also in the whole appearance of the growing plant, exhibits in the strongest manner the affinity of this order to the Ferns. ‘The vernation is by no means gyrate in C. revoluta, nor in our American Zamia, or in such of the exotic species of that genus as we have had an opportunity to examine. Remarks on the Natural order Cycaded. 49 ovulum, and contracting no adhesion with it. (Fig. 3, a.) This we believe to be the tercine. From the apex of this coat, if the ovulum be dissected carefully, (even in a nearly matured state,) a minute co- lumnar summit (fig. 3, 6) is seen projecting upwards from the nucleus to the perforated apex of the inner membrane (secundine) of the ovulum. This is undoubtedly the point through which impregna- tion takes place, and as we can perceive no trace of the fungous sub- stance* which in Richard’s figures is represented as occupymg a considerable portion of space between the nucleus and the inner in- tegument, (the ovarium,) may we not infer that in this species it, in a state of greater development, appears under the form of the tercine or proper coating of the nucleus? In the mature seeds of C. revoluta, the micropyle is distinctly vis- ible upon the projecting point of the corneous inner integument of the seed. ‘This projecting apex assumes, in the young ovula, some- what the appearance of a dilated stigma, and the prémine, or outer membrane surrounding it, also shows an opening, (the exostome, fig. 2, a,) which is the perforated style of the older authors. In the present specimen of C. revoluta, the exostome has disappeared en- tirely, as the seeds increased in size, and the true foramen of the ovulum has closed in such @ manner as only to show the micropyle upon the apex of the inner integument, showing however a distinct trace of the foramen leading down to the minute process arising from the nucleus. (Fig. 3, c.) As the seed approaches maturity, the outer integument, which is still covered, like the contracted leaf with which it is connected, by a dense woolly pubescence, becomes in its inferior part easily sepa- rable from the inner integument, which has now acquired a hard and corneous texture; this in C. revoluta is undoubtedly distinct from the outer soft covering, both together constituting the two genuine integuments of the seed. ‘That these two integuments are not easily separable throughout, is no proof of their not being distinct. It is evident, therefore, that the so-called female flowers and fruit in Cycadee and Conifere, are naked ovula and seeds, not only from their position upon an imperfectly formed ovarium, (the convolution of which not having taken place, the seeds are consequently left na- ked upon its face or margin,) but from their similarity to other plants * Sir W.. J. Hooker, (Bot. Mag. tab. 2827.) has remarked the absence of this fun- gous substance in the specimens of C. circinalis which he examined, and also the presence of the same “ membranous lining” observed by us in €. revoluta. Vol. XXXII.—No. 1. 7 50 ‘Remarks on the Natural order Cycadee. in the structure of the seeds themselves, having the same integu- ments, the same foramina in the ovula and micropyle in the mature seed, with only such slight deviations in structure as might be ex- pected from the peculiar economy of these orders. Tn a paper read before the ‘ British Association for the Advance- ment of Science,” at the fourth meeting, held at Edinburgh in 1834, Mr. Brown has adduced a new point of analogy between Conifere and Cycadez, in the tendency which exists in both these orders to the production of a “plurality of embryos’? in the same nucleus.. Occasional examples of this plurality were not unknown in other plants, but it was only in Cycadee that any constaney in this partic- ular had been observed. Mr. Brown’s recent investigations, how- ever, have demonstrated not only the general occurrence of this plu- rality of embryos in many Pines, but also that a regular arrange- ment of these embryos within the nucleus takes place with much uniformity in both these families.* A resemblance in inflorescence, fructification, and seed, are not the only points of agreement between Cycadex and Conifere. The simple cylindrical stem of the former, which resembles outwardly the trunk of the Palms, (a monocotyledonous order,) has been shown by M. Brongniart to be decidedly exogenous im Structure—probably only growing in the form of a simple trunk, in consequence of the non-development of the axillary buds. ‘The leaves of both the Cy- cas and the Fir tribes, as Prof. Lindley remarks, have the same par- allel arrangement of veins, and both tribes exhibit a marked similar- ity in the fewness of their spiral vessels. Cycadew and Conifere still farther agree in a character lately discovered, as unique as it is important, and which alone would establish the fact of a strong affin- ity existing between the two orders; namely, the singular perfora- tions in, or rather globules adherent to, the fibres of their wood, to which there exists nothing analogous in the structure of any other tribe of plants.+ * Since writing this paper, a work has reached us, containing details of some re- markable experiments and investigations, made by Corda, on the impregnation of plants, conducted with that accuracy and minuteness so eminently characteristic of the Germans, which tends to elucidate this hitherto obscure portion of structu- ral botany. Corda’s experiments were made upon plants of the order Conifere, and the results are highly curious. Dr. Gray has lately read before the Lyceum of Natural History of New York a translation of Corda’s memoir, which will probably soon be published. (See Vol. XX XE, p. 317.—Ep.) + So permanent is this characteristic, that geologists have recently through it identified Coniferous wood, which has been imbedded in the coal strata for thou- Remarks on the Natural order Cycadee. 51 Placed thus as it were at the lowest step in the gradation of plants which have a vascular system and an exogenous structure, Gymno- sperme approach closely in their affinities to Flowerless Plants, through the Cycadex, which have mostly the same gyrate verna- tion as the Ferns, a manner of producing their seeds upon the mar- gins of the leaves, analogous to the production of the thece in Os- mundacee, and the same pinnated foliage and simple columnar trunks as some of the arborescent Ferns. ‘They are also related to Equi- setacee by a similar simplicity of structure in the female organs, if the sporules of that singular order are really naked ovula, as is very plausibly suggested by M. Ad. Brongniart. At least the resem- blance of those organs to the female flower of Zamia, is in the high- est degree obvious and striking. But the relation between the Ferns and other flowerless plants, and Cycadee and Conifere, as well as the importance of these orders in former times, can only be properly appreciated by those who have paid attention to fossil botany, and are acquainted, by means of that interesting science, with the primitive flora of the globe. In those remote ages, when Ferns and marine Alge, Equisetacee, and Ly- copodiacee, with Cycadee, Conifere, and a few Palms, constitu- ted the whole of the vegetable kingdom, these orders occupied a much more conspicuous station than at the present day. At that period, when, as geology has now incontestibly proved, the globe was tenanted by a “‘race of reptiles’’—(those strangely formed ani- mals, the aquatic and amphibious Saurians, which existed before the formation of the secondary strata,)—the vegetation of the earth was also in a corresponding primitive state of organization. Cellu- lares or flowerless plants, covered the greater portion of the globe; among which were Equisetacee of enormous size, herbaceous and ar- borescent Ferns, the latter of extraordinary altitude, and Lycopodi- acee#, an order now dwindled down to a few diminutive, moss-like plants, but which, it is thought by Brongniart, reached at that time the stature of our tallest forest trees. Associated with these, are found the first Coniferee and Cycadew, which compose a very con- siderable proportion of the flora of those remote ages, being proba- bly the next advance in the ascending scale of vegetable structure. sands of years! Messrs. Nicol and Witham, by grinding down to very thin plates sections of fossil woods, have been able to call in the microscope to their aid, and have ascertained their structure in the most satisfactory manner. Their examin- ations have led them to the conclusion, that all known exogenous fossil woods be- long either to Coniferee or Cycadee. 52 Remarks on the Natural order Cycadee. In the Ferns and other flowerless plants, we find the reproductive organs either obscure or imperfect; and in the next succeeding step, (the Coniferee and Cycadew,) those organs, though distinctly char- acterized, are still formed in the most simple manner and accompa- nied with a corresponding simplicity in the structure of the wood, the leaves, and the whole vegetable system. As also we perceive - the remains of the carnivorous and lacustrine mammalia succeeding in a later formation to those of the more primitive animals, so we find the Palms, some of the Liliacee, and many dicotyledonous plants, gradually assuming their respective places, just as the improving condition of the globe became more fitted to their respective organ- izations. In this way the Azstory of the earth is unfolded to us; and such are the proofs perpetuated and unchanged through centuries of time, which show that it is through successive ages,- and by a slow and gradual series of changes that the globe has acquired its present more perfect state; and that both departments of organized matter have advanced with equal steps and mutually dependent relations to that condition (perhaps still progressive,) in which they are found at the present moment, EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. Pl. I, Cycas revoluta, with the crown of contracted leaves in the centre bearing the nearly mature seeds. Pl. I, Fig. 1, the contracted leaf or imperfect ovarium, with the full grown ovules upon the margin of its lower half. Fig. 2, the young ovulum or female flower: a, exostome, or opening in the outer membrane, (primine.) 0b, the dilated apex of the secundine or inner membrane, through which the foramen leads to the nucleus. Fig.3, the full grown seed: e, outer integument of a soft texture: d, in- ner integument, hard and bony. 4a, tercine, or third coat enveloping the nucleus (f): 6, minute columnar process connecting the nucleus with the foramen c. Fig.4, impregnated nucleus. a, embryo. b,albumen. A!l of the size of nature. Note,—It is proper to observe, that in the specimen of C. revoluta here figured, the ovula (there being no male flowers in bloom at the same time,) have not been impregnated. This perhaps renders it still more interesting ; for while the ovula have goneon gradually acquiring color and consistency, as is the case when impreg- nated, there has of course been no embryo produced in the nucleus, which has the usual homogeneous appearance, with a trifling cavity in many of the matured spe- cimens, where the embryo should have been found. It presents therefore a strong point of interest, in the fact that the coats of the seeds being here quite perfect and distinguishable, are of course proved, contrary to the opinion of some car- pologists, not to be the product of fecundation. In PI, II, Fig. 4, the embryo ais shown as figured by Richard and others. The drawings in both plates were executed from a noble specimen in the exotic collection of J. W. Knevels, Esq., Newburgh, N. Y., which also contains several other fine specimens of Cycadew. This plant, probably about thirty years old, has flowered this season for the second time. The trunk is about four feet in height, the crown of foliage about eight feet in diameter, and the tuft of contract- ed leaves in the center eighteen inches in diameter. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 53 Art. V.—On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. Tue study of natural history in this country is evidently progress- ing ; cabinets are formed, and a lively interest is taken in the sub- ject, where not long since it was entirely neglected ; and the day is nearly past when specimens are collected merely for their beauty, and preserved solely as ornaments. A scientific interest is now more or less attached to all such objects, and we believe that an ear- nest desire to study nature as she exists in the woods, in the air, and in the waters, is daily gaining ground. It is when the science is thus applied, and only then, that natural history is fully useful or inter- esting ; and the more it is so studied, the sooner we reach the truth, and the greater is the pleasure. A The causes of this progress are many and obvious; but we cannot help thinking that the beautiful plates and the enthusiastic writings of Wilson, Bonaparte, and Audubon, as well as the valuable pub- lic museums, in most of our large cities, have done much to promote and force it on.* ‘They have, as it were, forcibly turned the attention of the public to the subject, and laid open to them the stores of happiness and pleasure contained in such pursuits; by in- timately mixing in their amusements they have torn from the face of science the mask of mystery and difficulty with which it was (and perhaps, in some parts, still is) unfortunately shrouded ; and by ma- king it familiar, have caused it to be admired and cultivated. But not- withstanding this, natural science has not yet been sufficiently brought home to the every day feelings and occupations of men. It is still looked upon asa thing apart, not as a thing connected with our edu- cation, with our pleasures, or our luxuries ; and the knowledge of it, instead of being an assistance in our business, is considered by too ma- ny as only an hindrance toit. Professional writers on the subject have perhaps rather nourished, than helped to dissipate this prejudice: absorbed in the technical and more scientific parts of the subject, they have neglected to show its connection with the arts, and they have either overlooked entirely, or kept in the back ground the application of this knowledge. Natural history is a true science—as are all its * Jt may be necessary to explain to foreigners, that these museums, besides being open daily to visitors, on payment of a small sum, are generally used as exhibition rooms for ventriloquists, jugglers, fat men, et hoc genus omne. 54 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. branches; and as such they are the parents and fosterers of the arts. What do not the miner and the landowner owe the geologist ?—the agriculturist to the zoologist and botanist ?—and every one to mine- ralogy ? and yet how seldom is it that we view these pursuits in this light. Were this connection more frequently reflected on, and the useful results of science more generally brought to notice, we are convinced that many who now neglect it would study it, as condu- cing to their own progress, as well as to that of their country, in prac- tical knowledge ; and those who now idly despise it, would become its warm and active advocates. As far as regards the cultivation of our minds, the utility of the science cannot be denied. It is from the contemplation of the works of the Creator, that the highest and most glorious thoughts of his majesty and beneficence are drawn; it is from the observation of them that we form our ideas of beauty, of elegance, or of grace ; and in them we find a never-ceasing source of admiration, amuse- ment, and instruction. ‘This study enlarges the mind, in a peculiar manner softens the heart, and above all, prompts to a continued de- pendence on Him who “ provideth the raven with his food,” and decks the lily with more beauty than even Solomon in all his glory was possessed of. “No man,” remarks the great Bacon, ‘need say that learning will expulse business, but rather it will keep and defend the posses- sion of the mind against idleness and pleasure, which otherwise may at unawares enter in to the prejudice of both.” ‘The greatest and best in all ages have been celebrated for their knowledge of and love for natural history. To mention but a few—Solomon, we are told, wrote a work on the subject: ‘of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.... of beasts and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes ;” Aris- totle, the deepest and most able ethical philosopher that perhaps ever existed, has left us a large and most learned work on the same; to Sir Isaac Newton, the christian is not less indebted than the phi- losopher ; and in still more modern times, Cuvier is scarcely more celebrated for his researches into, and classification of nature, than for his political acme, general learning, and piety. But perhaps in no branch of natural history has this connection been more neglected than in Conchology ; the generality of our shells are comparatively so minute, and their uses so seldom obvious to us, that with a very few exceptions, writers have altogether forgotten to mention the pur- On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 55 poses for which society in general is interested in them; and yet on examining into this subject, we are surprised to find how much we owe to shells, for our luxuries, our pleasures, and our tables; and not only are we, but the ancients were eminently their debtors. The object of this article is to trace and elucidate those uses, and to show, in connection with their natural history, in what manner shell-fish either of old were, or, in the present day are, turned to profit. Had the writer been acquainted with any work in which this had been done, he probably would not have attempted it now ; but in seeking information on the subject, he was surprised to find how meagre and contradictory were the statements in most of the Encyclopeedias, and works of general reference. In the ancient prose writers and poets, in books of history and commerce, in travels and scientific journals, he has found much information, but scattered far and wide, and not likely to be sought after by those who are but little interested im the subject, or unacquainted with the science. ‘This he has endeavored to compress, as far as was possible with a regard to clearness, and by carefully giving the references, he has put it into the power of all to look to the original sources if they desire further information. Of all the departments of natural history, Conchology appears to be here the most popular: owing to the maritime connections of this country with all parts of the world, but especially with India and the South Seas, opportunities of procuring specimens are enjoyed, scarcely surpassed elsewhere. And although our marine shells are neither numerous nor generally beautiful, yet those of our rivers are peculiarly interesting, and they are those to which we have most general access. Besides, a collection of shells has advantages over that of any other department ; they are always beautiful, they take up but little space, and require no art to preserve them, while by the Linnean arrangement, a knowledge sufficient for amusement is easily acquired. But notwithstanding they are in general such fa- vorites, little attention seems to have been paid to their economical uses, and still less, if any, to the improving or becoming possessed of the advantages foreign countries enjoy from them. While our fields and farm yards are stocked with plants and animals from every part of the world, we have not one shell which has been intention- ally mtroduced for use. In England we are only aware of one at- tempt to naturalize marine shells, and how that has succeeded we know not; but were proper means used, there is little doubt that many of them would be successful. There, as here, they have ani- 56 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. mals, and birds, and plants from every part of the world—from the most contrary climates, and yet all thriving. The quail and the turkey from this country, the guinea-fowl from the burning plains of Africa, the peacock from Asia, and still more lately the kangaroo and emeu from New South Wales ;* and what is to prevent shells living and breeding in an element by far less subject to. change in temperature than the air. The Ostree and Pectines in particular might, we feel sure, be successfully transplanted, if proper care were taken. F To guess at the causes why this has not been done, were futile ; but we may suggest, that it is perhaps owing to the very general ignorance on the subject, the employment of fishermen being in- ferior and ill paid, and the variations of the ocean throwing difficul- ties in the way greater than in the introduction of animals and birds on land. The descriptions of the shells have not been arranged systematically: but they stand according to their general interest, or their artificial connection one with another. It has also been thought best to omit all scientific descriptions, as most of the species are well known, and are to be met with in all books on Conchology. The Linnean nomenclature has, with a few exceptions, been fol- lowed. I. Myritus mMarGaRiTIFERUS, (Lion.)— The Pearl Oyster. Of all the Testacea, this species is the most valuable, the best known, and enters the most largely into the arts. It not only pro- * The following are the foreign animals domesticated in England. The origi- nal habitats (with the exception of the two last) are given on the authority of Jenyns, in his Manual of British vertebrate-animals. From Europe, Cervus Dama, Perdiz rubra, Cygnus Olor, Cyprinus Carpio, Esox Lucius(?) From Asia, Mus decumanus, Equus Caballus, E. Asinus, Phasianus Colchis. From Africa, Mustela Furo, Felis maniculata, Numida Meleagris, Anas Aigypticus, Cygnus Guineensis. From North America, Meleagris Gallapavo, Perdix Vir- giniana, Cygnus Canadensis. From South America, Cavia Cobaya. From India, Pavo cristatus, Gallus domesticus, G. lanatus, §-c. From China, Phasia- nus torquatus, Cyprinus.auratus. From Australia, Halmaturus giganteus, (Il.) Rhea Nove- Hollandie. + In Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History, Vol. [X. pp. 572—574, mention is made of two shells which have naturalized themselves in Great Britain. The one is the Mytilus polymorphus, (Pallas,) supposed to have been introduced into the Thames on timber, and now spread through England and Scotland. The other isthe Mytilus crenatus, (Linn.) which must have been brought from Bombay on the bottom of a ship, and has now firmly established itself, in company with the M. edulis, in Portsmouth harbor. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 57 duces a beautiful and expensive luxury, but the shell is used in the manufacture of various useful and ornamental articles, while the ani- mal serves as food for the inhabitants of those countries where it 1s most generally found ; and although pearls are produced by many other bivalves, yet from their inferiority in color and size, this is the only species which can new be said to be of any real importance for this purpose. Anciently European pearls were extensively used, though never considered equal to the oriental ; but as the trade be- tween foreign countries has increased, so has the value of the former gradually diminished, and they are now seldom sought for, and of little comparative worth. Ancient history.—During the earliest periods of which we have authentic history, the oriental pearl appears to have been known and appreciated ; Job, who is supposed to have lived about B. C. 1520, speaks of it as being in his time of high value, and much esteemed.* Solomon frequently refers to them; and Jeremiah,{ speaking of the Nazarites of Jerusalem, makes use of a beautiful simile in de- seribing them as more ruddy than pearls. In the New Testament, we frequently meet with them, as inferring great riches and splen- dor. || In Rome pearls were extensively used, and of great value. Pliny tells us that in his time the ladies were not content with using them as ear drops and rings, but had them embroidered on their dresses and their sandals ; they were not satisfied with solely wear- ing them, but must walk on them, and among them. 'They were obtained from the Red Sea, or brought to Rome by the Arabian merchants, from the Indian Ocean. ‘They were the most numerous on the coast of Taprobane, (now Ceylon,) and Toidis, and round the promontory and city of Perimula; but those from the western * Job, xxviii. 18. Dr. Hales supposes that Job lived at a much earlier period, and dates his trial, of which we have the account, B.C. 2130. He also appears to have lived in the land of Idumea, and if so, may very naturally have been ac- quainted with the pearls of the Persian Gulf, + Proverbs, 111. 15, viii. 11, xx. 15, xxxi. 10. + Lamentations, iv. 7. ‘The Hebrew word is Penemin, and occurs only in the above cited passages. ‘The Septuagint and the Vulgate translate it as “ things hid, precious stones, or ivory.” Our English version, with the one exception in Job, always rendersit “ruby.” David, in his Psalms, makes no mention of it, and as we do not hear of it till the time of Solomon, when riches from all parts of the world were collected at Jerusalem, we may infer that previously, the Israelites were not acquainted with it—See Calmet’s Dic. of Holy Bible, Art. Pearu. || Matthew, xiil. 45. Revelations, xxi. 21, &e. &e. Vou. XXXIT.—No. 1. 8 58 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. shores of Arabia, the Persian Gulf,* and the Red Sea were the most perfect and the most celebrated. The mode of capturing them seems to have varied little from that practised at the present day. Divers were employed, who brought them to the surface in nets, and they were packed in jars with salt till the animal was decayed. On being taken out, the pearls were found at the bottom of the jars.+ Among the ancient philosophers, effects were continually attributed to causes the most inconsistent and the most contrary to nature—in fact, merely wild or fanciful guesses. Many were of course made as to the origin of these substances. ‘The general opinion appears to have been, that they were formed by drops of dew falling mto the shell, for which purpose it periodically rose to the surface ; and Pliny gravely informs us that if the atmosphere was thick at the time, they were dark and clouded ; if it was clear, they were white and brilliant. It is singular that the same opinion is found to prevail at the present day among the natives of Ceylon, and very similar to it, is the account of their formation recorded in one of the Sanscrit books of the Brahmins.{ ‘The same fancy also exists in the inte- rior of Hindoostan.|| The nacre was manufactured into boxes for the preservation of sweet perfumes and precious ointments. Of the pearls of ancient times, those belonging to Cleopatra are certainly the most celebrated, and though there is reason for believ- ing that the account of her dissolving one of them in vinegar and drinking it to Antony’s health at supper is an historical fiction, yet that a pearl or pearls of great value were in her possession is pretty certain. In Pliny’s time, the two halves of a magnificent pearl, said to have been the fellow to the one destroyed, were hung in the ears of the statue of Venus Genetrix inthe Pantheon. This author esti- mates the value of it at a sum equal to $375,000. Other persons are also reported to have dissolved pearls and treated their guests to the same expensive draught. Julius Cesar gave £48,437 for one, which he presented to one of his mistresses.$ There was so much difficulty in obtaining pearls of exactly the same size and color, that the Roman ladies, about the time of the * As early as B. C. 311, the Persian Gulf was famous for them.—Macpherson’s Annals of Commerce, I. 83. + Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 1x. cap. 35. ¢ Asiatic Researches, V. 410, Lond. ed. || Forbes’ Oriental Memoirs, II. 235. § Macpherson’s Annals of Commerce, I. 144. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 59 Jugurthan war, gave them the name of Uniones, which appears to have been the first occasion on which this word, now so well known, was applied to shells.* The derivation of the Greek word papyapov or papyapirns, from which the other countries of the south of Europe have derived theirs, is supposed to be from the Tartar margion, signifying a globe of fire, and the Persian marvarid, meaning offspring of light.— In the pres- ent day, the Arabians, Persians and Turks use the word merovorid, for this gem.{ In Rome they were entailed and handed down to posterity, and if sold, a warrantry of their identity required. Modern history.—The pearls and shells used at the present dig are chiefly brought from the island of Ceylon, where the fisheries are extensively prosecuted, but other parts of the eastern as well as the western hemisphere are celebrated for producing them. In India the chief places are the island of Bahren or Beharein in the Persian Gulf,§ Catesa on the coast of Arabia Felix, and near the city of Nipehoa, on the lake of the same name in Chinese Tartary, as well as in the Red Sea, and on the coast of Japan. A few also are pro- cured near Java and Sumatra. Pearls are brought in great numbers from the Persian Gulf to Bombay,]|| but those sold at Madras, and which are found in the Gulf of Manaar, are more highly esteemed in Europe than those procured in this place.1 The best shells of commerce are from the Sooloo Islands, situ- ated between Borneo and the Philippines, the shores of which afford the finest and largest shells hitherto discovered. ‘There is also a fishery at Tuticoveen, on the coast of Coromandel, which is held as a monopoly by the British East India Company. They are also found off Algiers, in the Mediterranean; in 1826, this fishery was farmed by an English company, but with what success is not known.** They also inhabit the islands of the South Seas, especially on the * Plin. Hist. Nat. rx. 35. + Rees’ Cyclopedia, Art. Peart. + Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Art. Peart. § “ We can hardly consider any of the fisheries on the Persian Gulf as belong- “ing to Persia, for although the monarchs of this nation have always claimed the “ sovereignty of the sea, they have at no period had a navy that could enable “them to contend with the Arabic rulers of the opposite coast.”—Sir J, Malcolm’s History of Persia, II. 515. \| Heber’s Narrative, II1.165. Am. Ed. 7 Kelly’s Univ. Cambist. I. 95, note. ** McCulloch’s Commercial Dictionary, Art. PEARL. 60 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. coasts of the Paumotu Islands, to which places vessels are sent from New South Wales, and prosecute the fisheries to some extent.* In the Atlantic Ocean, they are chiefly fished for on the coast of Terra Firma, in the Gulf of Mexico, near the island of Cubagna, and on the Margarita or Pearl Islands. The River de la Hache abounds with them.+ . In the Pacific, they are plentiful on the island of Gorgona, and generally along the coast of the Bay of Panama, and being found in shallow water are easily obtained.{ In the ocean around Califor- nia, and in the adjacent islands, they are also found in great abun- dance.$ The oriental pearls are however by far the finest, surpass- ing the occidental specimens in color, clearness and size. In the time of Marco Polo, (1295,) Bagdat, on the Tigris, was the great mart of the world for pearls, and all Europe was supplied from thence. || In 1506, the Spaniards carried on a large pearl fishery in the West Indies. About the same time adventurers flocked to California from all parts, to enrich themselves with these jewels, and in the beginning of the 18th century, numbers from all the western ports of Spanish America, congregated there for the same purpose. Natural history.—The shell of the young of this species is com- paratively smooth, but as they grow older it becomes more scaly, rough and unequal. When full grown, it is sometimes ten or twelve inches long, and the length rather exceeds the breadth. ‘These are thick and ponderous, but the young shells are brittle and slightly eared.{1 [tis in the former that pearls are chiefly found, the young ones being either entirely without them, or having them very small and inferior; and the practised fisherman can generally judge in which he will find the largest and most valuable.** ‘They lie in banks or beds, generally near coasts, and in water from three to fif- teen fathoms, and like the other members of the genus, adhere to the rocks and to each other, by the Byssus. The older shells lie separately, while the young are attached to the surface of their par- * Ellis’ Polynesian Researches, Vol. I, pp. 133, 207. + Chalmers’ Universal Dictionary, Art. Peart. + Burney’s Chron. Hist. of Discoveries, IV. 168. § Natural and Civil History of California, I. 49. | Maepherson’s Annals of Commerce, I. 456. q Dillwyn’s Descr. Catal. of Shells, I. 302. ** Asiatic Researches, V.393—411. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 61 ‘ents. The Byssus is of a dark green color and metallic hue, and they can move slightly by contracting or extending the muscle to which it is attached. ‘The ancients supposed them to be endowed with peculiar powers of locomotion, describing them as grazing at the bottom of the ocean, with a leader to direct them, &c.* but. whether they have any such power is extremely doubtful, at least after attaining the thick shell.t ‘The sexual differences have not hitherto been discovered, although the natives of Ceylon pretend to distinguish the sexes, by the appearance of the shell. ‘Those that are large and flat, they call males; those that are thick, concave and vaulted, they call females; but Mr. Le Beck, who appears to have carefully examined and decried this animal, declares he was una- ble to discover any difference. Like the Ostrea edulis, this fish appears to thrive best in a mix- iure of fresh and salt water. Pearls are always the most beautiful in those places of the sea where a quantity of fresh water falls, as at the mouth of rivers and streams, 1] while those produced by the shells growing on rocky bottoms, are found to be of a better water than those that lie among sand and coral. Of the many suppositions as to the cause of pearls, ite of Rau- meur is the most probable, and in the present day generally adopt- ed. He supposed them to be owing to a disease in the fish, as cal- culi in mammalia, and to arise from a ruptured or morbid state of the vessels provided for the secretion of the materials of the shell: most experiments and observations go to prove the truth of it. || * Pliny, rx. 35. + Mr. Montgomery Martyn makes the following remaris on this shell, but from his very obvious ignorance of natural history, and the general inaccuracy and haste of his observations in this department, they are very little to be relied on. We however give them, as from a modern and widely circulated work, and not entirely without its merits, although abounding in faults. ‘At certain seasons, the young oysters are seen floating in masses, and are carried by the currents round the coasts (of Ceylon.) ‘They afterwards settle and attach themselves by a fibre or beard on coral rocks, and on sand; they adhere together in clusters; when full grown, they again separate, and become locomotive. The pearls enlarge dur- ing six years, and the oyster is supposed to die after seven years.” —Martyn’s His- tory of the British Colonies, 2d ed. I. 522, note. ¢ Asiatic Researches, wi supra. Dr. Kirtland remarks the same with respect to those species of the family of Natades of Lamarck, which are found in the waters of this country, and he is “persuaded that each sex possesses a peeuliar organiza- tion of body, associated with a corresponding form of the shell, sufficiently well marked to distinguish it from the other.”—Silliman’s American Journal, Vol. XXVI, pp. 118, 119. 7 Bruce’s Travels to discover the Sources of the Nile, VII. 322. | Transactions of the French Academy. 62 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. They are found in the body of the animal, and not confined to any particular part. Some contain but one, some a multitude of small specimens, known by the name of seed pearls, while in the shell itself, and protruding above the surface, are frequently circular nodules resembling them; as these must be cut, and on one side are flat, they can only be used for setting, and of course are of less value. They are technically termed by jewellers the wens of pearls. There is a common opinion that the animal may be forced to produce the gems by artificial means. ‘The inhabitants of the shores of the Red Sea were said to have wounded them, and returned them to the water; and the Chinese we are told insert beads of the nacre into the shell, to be covered by the animal with the perlaceous substance.* But these accounts from many obvious reasons are im- probable, and we have not been able to meet in modern histories with any authenticated instance of its having been done. In river shells it might be more easily effected ; and we shall have to refer to it again under the description of Mya margaritifera. ‘They some- times grow so large as to hinder the shell from shutting; in which ease the fish dies, and they are comparatively not uncommon of the size of a small bullet. On analyzation, perlaceous shells appear to be formed of animal matter, applied stratum upon stratum, with carbonate of lime be- * See Rees’ Cyclopedia; Encyclopedia Americana, &c. &c. Art. PEARL. Beekman, in his History of Inventions, vol. ii. page 5, third Lond. Ed., seems to have been the first in more modern times to have given extended publicity to this opinion. He quotes as his authority a German work, and adds, that “the truth of this information eannot be doubted.” That it might happen, we do not mean to deny, but sufficient authority is wanting to prove it, and many powerful reasons are against it. How and when does the reader suppose the pearls were inserted? ona string containing five beads; and the clever Chinese caught the shell when it rose to the surface in the spring to enjoy itself! Of course next year it had to be caught again to get at them, but how we are not informed. He has however been servilely copied by most subsequent writers on this subject, with the exception that he expressly says the shells are fluviatile, while his copyists confuse them with, or describe them as the present marine species. Beekman confesses that some experiments of the kind, made in Bohemia, were without success. Postlethwaite gives an account in some respects similar, but still less creditable, from a Chinese work. The pearl was made of several materials; among others, nacre and bruised pearls, and the shell was kept in a basin, to be daily fed on me- dicinal and gummy roots. He himself allows that it does not appear probable. (See Postlethwaite’s Dictionary, vol. ii. Art. Pearl.) It is time however thatsuch fables were exploded, and left out of works professedly scientific, and bearing on the title page the name of some learned editor, assisted, as we are told, by “‘em- inent professional gentlemen.” + Chalmers’ Universal Dictionary, Art, PEARL. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 63 tween them; each membrane has a corresponding coat or crust of carbonate of lime, secured by a new membrane; and each coat of lime is so situated that it is always between every two membranes, beginning with the epidermis, and ending with the last formed inter- nal one. The animals which inhabit these stratified shells, increase their habitation by means of a stratum of carbonate of lime secured by a new membrane, and as every additional stratum exceeds in extent that which was previously formed, the shell becomes stronger in pro- portion as it is enlarged; and the growth and age of the animal may be denoted by the number of strata, which concur to form the shell. Pearls prove also to be similar in composition to the nacre, and they appear to be formed of concentric coats of membrane and carbonate of lime. ‘The wavy appearance and iridescence of mother of pearl, and of the pearl itself, are evidently the effect of the lamellated structure and semi-transparency. On dissolving the lime by acid, the animal frame-work of the shell is left exposed.* Fisheries.—In the older writers, the following mode of catching this fish is given, and though it differs in some respects from the la- test accounts, yet the difference may probably be owing to the lapse of time, or from being practiced at different places. It however re- fers to the island of Ceylon, though we are not told the exact part. There were two seasons when the shells were particularly sought after, during March and April, August and September. The vessels used were of two sizes, the larger carrying two divers, the smaller only one. Inthe morning they set sail for the banks, with the land breeze, which at these seasons blows regularly, and on arriving there an- chored. ‘The diver bound a stone to his body about six inches thick and one foot long to enable him to walk against the water, and another of from twenty to thirty pounds weight to his foot in order to sink him; around his neck was a net to hold what he collected, and he was provided with strong gloves or a short iron rake, to tear the shells from the rocks.t His ears and nostrils were filled with cot- ton, and a sponge dipped in oil was fastened to his arm that he might occasionally breathe without inhaling water.t Round his waist was * Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, xviii. 554. Abrid. Ed. 1807. + Chalmers’ Dictionary, Art. Pearn. + Encyclopedia Americana, Art. Praru. ‘“‘ According to the depth of the wa- ter, the seal takes into its stomach a quantity of pebbles, as ballast, as it were, being obliged to sink itself. To enable it to dive so admirably, it collects a quan- 64 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. a cord to pull him up again when he grew tired. ‘Thus equipped, he leaped overboard, and collected as many shells as he could while he remained under water. We are told they sometimes remained below fifteen to twenty minutes, but this seems a very gross exag- geration, from two to seven minutes being the general period in the present day ; they repeated this while they stayed as often as they could. In the evening the boats returned with the sea breeze, which then blows on land. On the beach the fishers dug pits four or five feet square, and throwing in the oysters, raised heaps of sand over them to the height of a man, so that at a distance they looked like an army ranged in order of battle. When the animal was de- cayed, these were opened, and the sand passed through sieves, to collect the shells. ‘These again were passed through nine sieves, to assort the qualities, and the smallest sold as seed pearls. The manner of catching them in the West Indies differs very little from this mode. ‘The employment is considered very un- healthy, and the divers are continually in danger from sharks. Among the Colchi, during the first century of the Christian era, so dangerous was this business considered, that condemned criminals were entirely and solely employed in it.* Since the British have held possession of the island of Ceylon, the pearl fishery has been a monopoly in the hands of government. It is now a more important business, and carried on with greater skill and tact. About twelve miles from Manaar, and in the gulf so called, lies the bay of Condotchy, on which is a small town of the same name. Off here the fishing banks lie, and extend several miles along the coast from Manaar Sound to Arippo. ‘The principal one is about twenty miles out tosea. At this town, scarcely inhabited except during the fishing time, all the boats collect in the beginning of the season; few of them belong to the island, and most of them are brought annually from the coast of Coromandel and Malabar. ‘The fishing is confined to one season, and begins generally about the second week in Feb- ruary. ‘The first thing that is then done is to sell by auction to the highest bidder the right of fishing for the season, and he either catches all himself, hiring the boats, or lets out the privilege to oth- ers. The fishing seldom continues above thirty entire days, for tity of blood on the right side, the same as is fownd to be the case with those persons employed in diving for pearls.”—Dr. Riley, at the meeting of the British Associa- tion at Bristol, 1836, reported in the Literary Gazette, September 3d. * McPherson, I. 172. ” On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 65 though it may be carried on till the 15th of April, yet owing to holydays, storms, and. other causes, they seldom work more than this time in the two months. It is found necessary to leave the banks from four to seven years to recruit, so that parts only are annually disturbed. Each boat carries twenty one men, ten of whom are divers, and one the Sandel or head boatman. At ten o’clock at night, ona signal, the boats leave Condotchy together, with the land breeze, and reach the banks about day light. They immediately begin diving, and continue till the sea breeze sets in. The divers are very expert, and go down by fives, so that there is always one — half resting: ‘They require no assistance, except a stone to their feet, a net and arope. From their earliest infancy they are accus- tomed to the exercise, and fearlessly descend to the bottom at a depth of from five to ten fathoms, in search of the treasure. ‘The time they generally stay below is about two minutes, but some have been known to exceed seven. ‘To continue longer than this is sup- posed to be impossible. On coming up they generally discharge water from the nose and mouth, and occasionally blood. The cargo of one boat may amount to thirty thousand oysters, if the divers have been industrious and successful. On landing them, some merely throw them on mats to rot in the open air; others bury them in enclosed pits about two feet deep, till the animal has dried up. For sorting them they make use of brass plates, perforated with holes of different sizes. The piercing is accomplished by an instrument peculiar to the natives, and which they use with much ingenuity. It is a conical piece of soft wood, on legs, with pits for the larger pearls. ‘The smaller ones are beaten in with a wooden mallet. ‘The drilling instruments are iron spindles of various sizes, and are turned round in a wooden head by means of a bow, while the pearl is occasionally moistened with a little water.* In the Persian Gulf there are two seasons, but shells are fished for chiefly in July, August and September. The divers use a piece of horn to compress their nostrils, and bees’ wax to stop their ears. Yn California, the banks (which are there called Hostzas,) lie in three or four fathoms of water, and the fishery is carried on by divers, but owing to the little depth at which they are found, with neither labor nor difficulty.[ The fishery at Colombo, in Ceylon, was at * Asiatic Researches, wl supra. + McCulloch, Art. Pear. + History of California, 1. 49. Vou. XX XII.—No. 1. 9 66 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. one time very productive, but some years ago it entirely failed; and though it has been lately (1825) resumed, the success has beer small.* These sudden failures occasionally occur in most banks, but we have not met with any satisfactory explanation of the cause. Tn the Red Sea this species holds the first rank among pearls, and is called the Lulu el Berber—i. e. the pearl of Berber, or Beja, the country of the shepherds.t Uses.—Besides the pearls, the shell and fish are both used. The former in the manufacture of knives—for inlaying, in the construct- ine of ornaments, &c.; and the latter as food. ‘The nacre is gene- rally separated from the external part by the lapidary’s mill or aqua fortis, and cut up by instruments made expressly for the purpose.$ The inlaying of mother of pearl has been brought to high perfection at Jerusalem ; great quantities of the shell are carried daily from the Red Sea to that place, and of these, all the fine works—the crucifixes, the wafer boxes, and the beads are made, which are sent to the cath- olic countries of South America. We may suppose the Romans were ignorant of this art, as Pliny makes no mention of it. The fish is eaten by the lower classes of the Singhalese, either fresh in their curries, or cured by drying. In this latter state they are carried to the coast of Hindoostan and disposed of there.|| In the Island of Gorgona also, they are used by the Indians and Spaniards, and hung on strings todry. If eaten raw they taste coppery ; but when boiled are considered good.** ‘The aborigines of California were ignorant of the use of the pearl, but they used the fish, throwing it on the fire io get at it and cook it.tf It is said also, that on the discovery of Mexico, the Spaniards found these gems in use and esteemed by the Indians, but that from the same manner of killing the animal their color and lustre were destroyed. In the Society Islands, the Indians manufacture their fish-hooks out of this shell, the glitter of which serves instead of bait.{{ * Heber, IT. 165. + Dictionnaire Universelle de la Geographie, par J. Peuchet, Art. Ceynon. t Bruce, VII. 328. § Ency. Ameri. Art. Nacre. ‘| Bruce, VII. 322. || Asiatic Researches, ut supra. ** Burney, IV. 168. +t Hist. California, I. 49. t+ Ellis’ Polynesian Researches, I. 146. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 67 Besides being used as an ornament, pearls were formerly in high estimation as a medicine, and given in cordial potions; but as they differ in no respect from any other calcareous earth, they have been long neglected, and are now, we believe, never administered.* The ladies, however, still use a cosmetic under the name of pearl pow- der, but which is, notwithstanding, understood to be metallic. The most remarkable pearls of modern times are, one which was in the possession of Philip H, in 1574, as large as a pigeon’s egg ; one mentioned by Tavernier in the hands of the Emperor of Persia in 1633, and which was purchased of an Arab for the extraordinary sum of £110,400; and that of the Emperor Rudolph, mentioned by Boetius, called La Peregrina, of the shape of a pear, weighing thirty carats.| In Europe, in common with all jewels, they are sold by the carat. in A’sia, the weight differs in different states. At Bombay and Madras pearls are valued by two kinds of weights, real - and nominal; by the former they are weighed, by the latter sold.{ In the former country, pearls of a ‘ white water” are most sought after, but the Indians and Arabs prefer those of a “ yellow water.”’|| Artificial pearls, of which the Romans appear to have been igno- rant, are made of thin glass beads lmed with the scales of, or a white powder from the belly of the Bleak, (Cyprinus Alburnus, Linn.) and filled with wax. ‘To obtain a pound of scales, four thousand fish are necessary, and these do not produce four ounces of the es- sence d’orient, as the perlaceous substance is termed. At St. John de Maizel in the Challonnois is a manufactory in which ten thousand pearls are made daily.11_ From the facility and accuracy with which these are manufactured, the price of the real article in modern times has much declined. A handsome necklace of Ceylon pearls smaller than a pea, costs from seven hundred and fifty to thirteen hundred and fifty dollars ; but one of pearls about the size of peppercorns may be had for about sixty five dollars ; the pearls in the former sell- ing at five dollars each ; those of the latter at thirty seven cents. The importation of mother of pearl shells in England in 1832, amounted to seven hundred twenty one thousand five hundred and twenty seven pounds weight.** * Hooper’s Med. Dic. Art. Marcarira. + Chalmers, Art. Peart, # Kelly’s Univ. Cambist. Vol. I. pp. 92, 95. || Rees’ Cyclopeedia, Art. Peart. 7 Beekman, II. 16. ** McCulloch, Art. Prarr,, 68 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. II. Mya marcaritirera, (Linn.)—The Horse Muscle. 3 Next to the last species, this shell is the most celebrated ae its pearls, and which in old times not unfrequently came into competi- tion with those from India. Julius Cesar is said to have been stim- ulated to the invasion of Britain by the sight of the pearls brought from it ;* and he certainly on his return to Rome presented a breast- plate made of them to the Temple of Venus Genetrix.t They appear to have been at that time, A. D. 14, an object of commerce to Gaul, if not further south.f Forty years later they were com- mon in Rome. Pliny informs us they were used in his time, and though of inferior worth, were often so large and beautiful as to be of considerable value. In general, however, they were small, dim, and wanting in lustre. About the year 1120, the Seotch pearls were in great request. King Alexander I. is said to have exceeded all men in that species of riches, and his pearls, on account of their large size and superior brightness were celebrated and coveted in distant countries.¢ In 1355, they were still an article of exportation. ‘They were esteem- ed in France, but not equally with those of India, as appears by.the MS. statutes of the Goldsmiths’ Company at Paris, where it is ordained that no worker in gold or silver shall set any Scottish pearls among the oriental ones, except in large jewelry for churches,|| for which, probably, a sufficient quantity of the oriental pearls could not be obtained, or were too expensive. Among the articles exported to Antwerp from Scotland in 1560, and enumerated by G'uicczardin, we find “‘fine large pearls’ men- tioned. In 1665, they were still sought for and worn in England, and a writer in the Philosophical Transactions of London at that time, makes mention of one found in Ireland which weighed fifty six carats, and was valued at £40, and of another for which: £80 had been refused, besides ‘‘ a vast number of fair, merchantable pearls, too good for the apothecary,” offered for sale by persons from the same place.** About 1760, the wearing of real pearls coming more into fashion, those of Scotland, which had previously been almost * Sueton. Vit. Jul. Ces. cap. Ixiv. + Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. rx. 35. £ Macpherson, I. 133. § Macpherson, I. 318. \| Ibid, 1. 555. | Macpherson, IT. 131. ** Phil. Trans. of the Royal Society, II. 831, On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 69 neglected, increased in price greatly beyond their value, and superior often. to the price of oriental ones when bought in the east.* At present 1 ee are not aware that they are sought for, except as curi- ~“osities, ee ae history. —T his shells is common to most of the rivers of Europe, but is chiefly found in those which are violent and rapid, and in the temperate or colder climates. In Norway and Sweden they abound, and they are found plentiful in the streams of West- ern Siberia.t In Great Britain they are common in the English, Welsh, and Scotch, and some of the Irish rivers ; in all which the fisheries were formerly prosecuted. ‘The same opinion as to the formation of the pearls in these was held, as with respect to the last species; and the supposition, that they were formed of dew, or of eggs which had not been evacuated, was supported by scientific writers as late as the seventeenth century. In 1761 Linneus informed the King and council of Sweden that he had discovered an art by which muscles might be made to pro- duce pearls, and he offered to disclose the method for the benefit of the kingdom. This however was not done, but he disposed of the secret for about five hundred ducats toa German. At the death of this man it was offered for sale, sealed up to the highest bidder, but what became of it is not known. Linneus once showed Beekman a small box filled with pearls, and said, ‘‘ Hos uniones confect artificio meo, sunt tantum guingue annorum, et tamen tam magni ;” and he declared that he could succeed in the same manner with all kinds of muscles.{ ‘They he in the mud, generally sticking up in a horizon- tal position by one end. Fishertes—Lying generally in shallow water, little exertion or skill is necessary in procuring them, and the business was probably never sufficiently extended or valuable to cause either their cultiva- tion or particular protection. ‘The manner practised in procuring them in the north of Ireland in 1660, is described in the Philosophical Trans- actions, and exhibits neither art, nor much intelligence. Inthe warm months before the harvest, while the rivers were low and clear, the poor people waded into the water, and some with their toes, some with wooden tongs, and others with a sharpened stick, thrust into the open shell, brought them to the surface ; and although by com- * Macpherson, III. 419. Bruce, VII. 321. + Cochrane’s Pedestrian Tour. + Beekman, II. 5—11. 7 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. mon estimate, not above one shell in one hundred might have a — pearl, and of these pearls, not above one in one hundred might be round and clear, yet sufficient were found to remunerate those who sought for them. ‘“ The natives, though very foul eaters, will not eat the fish.” ‘The shells which contain the best pearls are wrinkled, twisted and bunched, and not smooth and equal as those that have none ; and “ the fishermen will guess so well by the shell, that though watched never so closely, they will open such shells under water, and conceal the pearl in their mouths or otherwise.” ‘They do not appear to have been laid in heaps to rot as the muscle is, but opened and the gem extracted immediately.* The following ingenious mode of catching them was practiced about fifty years since, in the river Teith, county of Perth, Scotland, and we may remark, that it is the only instance we can meet with, where any skill or invention is obvious in the manner of fishing for them. A kind of spear was made use of, which was shod at the point with iron spoons, having their mouths inverted. The handles were long, elastic, and joined at the extremity, which was formed into a socket to receive the shaft. With this machine in his hand by way of a staff, the fisher, being often up to his chin in water, groped with his feet for the muscles, which are fixed in the mud and sand by one end. He pressed down these iron spoons upon the point, so that by the spring in the handles they opened to receive the muscle, held it fast, and pulled it up to the surface of the water. It was customary at one time for the Crown to grant patents for the privilege of fishing for pearls in particular streams. Sir John Haw- kins held a patent of this sort, and in 1633, one which had been granted to Robert Buchan of Auchmacoy, in the county of Aber- deen, was repealed by Charles the First. ‘There were also some fisheries in Saxony, which were monopolized by the government, but whether productive or not, we are not informed. They are called by the Welsh, Cregin Diluw, or deluge shells, as if they had been left there by the flood. Til. Pinna rotunpata? (Linn.) Before the introduction of the silk worm into Europe from the East, this shell was of much importance in the arts. The only silk * Phil. Trans. II. 831. + Sinclair’s Statistical History of Scotland, XI. 600, t Ibid. LV, 423. § Pennant’s British Zoology, in loco. On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 71 of any value, or in any quantity, that could then be obtained, was procured from it, and it was only gradually that it gave way before the cheaper and more beautiful fabric. The animals inhabiting the Pinne have the power of fixing themselves to any substance, by throwing out an extensile member, and discharging from its tip a drop of gluten, which, by the retraction of the same organ, is formed into a silky filament, and by frequently repeating this operation a thick tuft is formed, by which the shell is fastened in any situation the animal chooses.* It is of these silky filaments, which are of a rich gold color, that cloth was made; and of such value was it, that for a long time none but monarchs and persons of high rank wore it, as their robes of state. There have been endless disputes among commentators, what ma- terial was meant among the Greeks and Romans by the word Byssus, and they have not unfrequently confounded the Byssinum, the Bom- bicina, and the Serzcum of the ancients altogether as one. Some have supposed the Bysstnum to be a cotton, some make it the same with the Sericum, and others, very fine linen. The fact however seems to be, that the word was frequently applied indiscriminately to any texture finer than woolen; but on speaking appropriately, it was used solely for the stuff manufactured from the produce of the Pinna.t — It was in use during the earliest periods, as we find David, B.C. 1043, clothed with a robe of it, and we can trace it as an arti- cle of commerce until near the end of the fourteenth century. The Hebrew word is Butz, but is in general erroneously translated, and in our version of the Bible is confounded with real linen and cot- ton, under the name of “fine linen.” It does not appear in the text of Moses; and the only books in which it occurs are Chronicles, Ezekiel$ and Esther.|| In Chronicles we see David with a mantle of Butz, with the sinvers and the Levites. Solomon used it in the veils of the temple and sanctuary. Ahasuerus’ tents were upheld by cords of it; and Mordecai was clothed with a mantle of purple and Butz, when king Ahasuerus honored him with the first employ- ment in his kingdom, about B. C. 509. It was among the mer- chandize imported into Tyre from Syria, enumerated by Ezekiel, * Dillwyn, IIL. 24. T ‘**As ds avon “opbaipuovrou ’sx Biocou ’ev Tog "appwdeds xcs Pop Popw- deow 5”? and Duval in explanation adds, ‘‘ex bysso, id est, villo, sive lana illa pin- nalt.”—Aristotle, Oper. omnia, Paris, mpcxx1x; tom. II. p. 844, t 1 Chron. xv. 27. § Ezek, xxvii. 16. | Esther, i. 6. vii. 15. §] 2 Chron. iu. 14, 72 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. B.C. 588. Lastly, it is to be observed that there was a manufac- tory of this article in the city of Beersheba in Palestine.* The Butz must have been different from common linen, since in the same place where it is said David wore a mantle of Byssus, we read likewise he wore a linen ephod. Herodotus (B. C. 450) says, that the bodies of rich persons in Eeypt were wrapped in bandages of it, after being embalmed.t In the time of Pliny, the Roman ladies were particularly fond of it, and would buy it for its weight in gold.t Inthe New Testament the word frequently occurs, where it is translated the same as in the Old, but always indicating riches and splendor.$ In later times, it was chiefly brought from india, Egypt, and Elis in Achaia, and some apparently from ‘the coast of Judea. In 1265 it was imported from Asia into England,|| and in 1380 we find five bales of it mentioned, in the catalogue of the cargo of a ship bound from Genoa to Bruges in landers, and which was driven ashore on the English coast.1 It is still manufactured at Palermo into gloves and other small ar- ticles.** It is also used at Taranto, (the ancient Tarentum,) where it is called lana pesce or lana penna. Waving been cleaned, comb- ed, carded and spun, it is finally knit into stockings and gloves of a soft and extremely warm texture, and a beautifully glossy brown color, enriched with a golden hue. They are reckoned excellent preservatives against cold and damp, but the price renders the arti- cle more an object of luxury and curiosity than of general utility. To spin this Byssus they leave it some days in a damp cellar, to moisten and grow soft ; after this they comb it to get out its impu- rities, and lastly spin it as they do silk; and though grossly spun, it appears much finer and more beautiful than wool, and does not come much short of silk itself.t{ A species of Pinna is much fished for in the Red Sea, as it contains pearls. ‘The inside is of a beautiful red, and the pearls always partake of this color, while they are gen- erally the darkest as they approach the large end, which is the most brilliant.|||| Bruce supposes, that from this circumstance, the He- brew word Penzn, or, as it is more generally written in the plural, * See Calmet’s Dict. Art. Byssus. + Zwdovog Bvocivys. Herod. lib. 1. cap. 86. Compare also the Greek of Luke, xxiii. 53. + Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xrx. cap. 1. § Luke, xvi. 19. Rev. xvii. 16, &e. || Macpherson, I. 415. 7 Ibid. V. 590. ** Dillwyn, III. 24. tt Hon. Keppel Craven’s Tour through the southern provinces of the kingdom of Naples, p.185. tt Rees’ Cyclopedia, Art. Byssus. lill Bruce, wt supra. ~ On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 13 Penemin, Pearl, is derived, as the root of it signifies red, and that it was from these shells the pearls used in Judea were taken; of course it is impossible to decide, as oriental pearls are also found thus tinged, but it is not improbable.* The derivation of the word Byssus—Siccog, is probably Buccs, Jonicé for 8véis—depth, as‘being found in comparatively deep wa- ter. The word Pinna has been idly supposed to be derived from the Latin word penna, a feather—from an imagined resemblance between the shell and the quill. ‘The Greeks, however, used the word wwa or viva, and must have derived it from the Hebrews. Bruce asserts, that in the Red Sea they live in the mud without any byssus, stick- ing up horizontally on the sharp end; he is, however, most probably mistaken. ‘They were the only shell fish that he found there not eatable. IV. Myrirus ———? (Linn.) There is another shell in the Red Sea, which is regularly sought after as containing pearls. It isa Mytilus, and appears nearly to resemble the M. edulis. It is the rarest kind, and is chiefly found at the north end of the Gulf, and on the Egyptian side. The only place where Bruce ever saw them, was about Cossier and to the northward of it, where there was an ancient port, which took its name Myos Hormos, the Harbor of Muscles, from their locality. The fish contains often pearls of great beauty for lustre and shape, but seldom of a white or clear water. They lie in the deepest and stillest water and on the softest bottom, and they stick upright by their extremity. V. In Australasia we are told of another large pearl-bearing shell, but of what genus we are not able from the accounts to decide. It is the Menangey—occasionally denominated the New Holland cockle, and it produces large and beautiful pearls. Mr. Dalrymple mentions one belonging to Lord Pigot, which weighed 8 dwt. 17 anal EO aE En SR grains, and was 4% inch in length, and 22 inch in diameter.t ( To be continued.) * Statius (Szlvze@, 4. 6. 18.) uses the phrase ‘ Hrythreus lapillus,’ and some other writers make use of the words ‘ Erythrae gemme,’ for pearls, but whether from their red hue, (€pudpasos) or because they were from the Red Sea, Erythrewm Mare, is questionable. Pliny says that the pearls from this sea in his time were the most orient and clear. Plin.1x. 35. + Bruce’s Abyssinia, VII. 314, and VIII. Plate 43. + Burney, Chron. Hist. of Dis. 1. 94. Vol. XXXII.—No. 1. 10 74 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. Art. VI.—Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba, with a notice of tts Mines of Iron; by Prof. F. Hatir—in a letter to the Editor, dated Porto Ferrajo, Elba, July 24, 1836. TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. Dear Sir,—Being wind-bound, in the capital of this romantic island, and without occupation, I have concluded to spend an hour this morning in telling you something of what I have seen on this side of the Atlantic. You are aware that | embarked at New York for Havre; eighteen days brought me there. From that port I trav- elled, in an elegant and commodious steamboat, up the serpentine Seine, through a country whose landscapes are enchanting, and not surpassed in richness and variety, by any in the United States, those of the Hudson, perhaps, excepted. ‘The land, as you proceed up the stream, is first level, or slightly uneven, then more undulating— the waves growing larger and larger till you come into the neigh- borhood of Rouen, where I landed, and where the surface is hilly, and even mountainous. ‘The geological structure of the banks is very apparent and curious. Most of the rock of which they are formed, seemed to me asseen from the boat, to be sandstone. Ata considerable distance from Havre, however, the gray carbonate of lime appears, and still farther up, granular gypsum. The rocks all lie in strata nearly horizontal, but of very unequal thickness. I re- mained but a few hours in this ancient city, famous for its manufac- tures, its high houses, its narrow streets, and its cathedral, which is exceedingly splendid, and deserves attention from every traveller. After refreshing myself with a good dinner, and taking a bird’s eye view of the wonders of Rouen, I posted off, moonlit, for the French capital. There I met some old friends, whom the grave had not yet claimed, and made a few new ones. Paris is not what it was when I saw it nearly thirty years ago. Improvement has made giant strides in every thing—in the pavements of the streets, in the private and public edifices, in the national gardens and squares, and in the royal palaces. I remained in that gay city twenty days only, and then took my place in the diligence for Chalons, on the Saone, passing through Sens, whose archbishop formerly assumed to him- self the modest title of ‘“ Primate of the Gauls and Germany,” to Avallon. This small city stands on a plateau of granite, and it is the first granite I had observed zn situ after leaving Paris. Indeed, Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. 75 the principal rocks which I saw between these two cities, are sand- “stone, limestone, and gypsum. In the neighborhood of Avallon I picked up, near the road side, several good specimens of ammonite. IT reached Chalons at noon, having been imprisoned in the diligence forty eight hours, without regular meals, and without much sleep. Chalons, you know, is the Gabilonum of the Romans—a place of business and bustle, being the great thorouchfare of the mer- chandize going from the south to the north of France, and to the United States. Steamboats ply daily on the Saone, between this city and Lyons. The river is about half as large as the Connecti- cut at Hartford. I took passage in one of these bateaux &@ vapeur, for Lyons. From the water, several ancient towns and cities were pointed out to me, the thrilling tales of the heroic deeds of whose inhabitants I had read in my youthful years, and wept while I read them; savage however, they may be better called, than heroic. Macon drew my eye, and fixed it. Here the innocent Huguenots were drowned by hundreds, by order of the bigoted governor ; history tells more of this matter than I wish to remember. ‘The entrance to Lyons on the river is exceedingly delightful; this city rests on a tongue of land, formed by the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone—the Rhodanus of Cesar, and, Paris excepted, acknowledges no superior in France ; its population is one hundred and sixty thousand. A Roman consul founded it forty years before the commencement of our era. Its silk fabrics are known over the whole earth—they are worn by all nations. I took my departure from Lyons in the twilight of the morning, in a steamboat which descends the river to Avignon ; an old city, walled up to heaven, and gloomy, as was the Bastile in 1750, con- taining the tombs of some of the popes, who once resided here, and the grave of Laura, or at least a monument to her memory, standing in a retired garden, and surrounded by the sepulchral cypress and willow. The scenery presented to the eye as we moved down the Rhone, could not be too much admired, and yet the country disappointed me. Itisless fertile, and more broken, hilly, and mountainous than I anticipated finding it. Over thousands and thousands of acres sterility reigns, and will eternally reign unmolested. Nothing shows itself on the surface but naked, weather-worn rocks, thrown into all imaginable fantastic shapes. But every nook of earth that is tilla- 76 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. ble, is used to the best advantage ; not a yard, not a foot is lost. The sides of even the most precipitous mountains are terraced high up, exhibiting the appearance of a vast escalier, each step of which is set with the vine, then sending forth copious, verdant foliage, in- terspersed with fair promises of an abundant harvest. The Rhone is wonderfully tortuous in its course, and filled with islands, which materially embarrass its navigation. ‘The water is shallow, and the current rapid, but not broad. In size and impor- tance it is surpassed by many of our New England rivers; at Avig- non, it is perhaps half as wide as the Delaware at Philadelphia. ‘‘ Does the country resemble ours?” No, sir, not much ; it is more rocky than Maryland, or Vermont, or Massachusetts. ‘* What is the nature of the rocks?” They are principally calcareous. ‘“‘ How do the mountains differ from the Blue Ridge of Virginia, or from the Green Mountains of New England?” ‘They are more angular, more irregular in their forms—have a much greater number of peaks. These peaks are more acuminated, run higher above the body of the mountain, stand nearer to each other, and seem to have been produced, as I have no doubt they were, by the ejection of earthy matter, partially fused, from a thousand little volcanic craters. ‘‘Is the country more interesting to the traveller than ours?” I think it is. Not that it is wilder, or naturally more romantic, or pic- turesque ; nature has done more, far more, for America. But art, and old age, and superstition, and feudal customs, and volcanic fires, have done every thing here. ‘The ruins of ancient castles, and ‘de- serted chateaux and convents, placed on the pinnacles of craggy rocks,”’ present themselves to you at every turn of the river, as you move down the Rhone. The falling tower, the crumbling statue, the moss-clad mouldering arch, the antique, costly tomb, all tell you, in language that cannot be misunderstood, that hundreds of genera- tions of men have been born here, have toiled and died ; that genius, and wealth, and power have dwelt here, and left monuments of their achievements for the admiration of all after ages. Yes, sir, it is the old age of the land—the antiqueness, the gloomy remembrancers of the deeds of days long ago past; it is the granite column, which is uninjured by the wear and tear of a thousand winters—it is the sculptured marble chiselled by hands, centuries since, turned to dust. These, and a host of kindred objects, give the charm, the thrilling charm, to the countries I have passed through, and this charm the new world does not possess. Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. 17 At noon I left Avignon for Nismes, in the diligence. ‘The ride was delightful—the country better cultivated, and more beautiful than any which my eye had yet rested on. The first two miles were on a gradually ascending plain, covered on all sides, and to a great extent, with mulberry and olive trees. The latter, at a little distance, bear some resemblance, both in size and foliage, to our common willow. They were innumerable; 1 am confident, that be- tween Avignon and Nismes I passed millions of them; they form, a great part of the way, an almost uninterrupted forest. Wherever the olive occurs, there you may expect to find the vine accompany- ing it; they occupy the same ground, and flourish well together. This tree is long-lived; some of the orchards I passed were said to be more than two hundred years old. It is not large, never reaching the size of our largest apple trees. ‘The fig tree was seen in that region, here and there, and the almond tree in vast numbers, loaded with fruit, nearly mature. Nismes, called Nemausus when Hannibal was there, is one of the best built, and cleanliest cities of France. It has a population of forty thousand inhabitants, and is celebrated, as you well know, for its antiquities—its oval amphitheatre, four hundred and forty two feet in length, and seventy in height; its Corinthian temple, and its Roman baths, all in a state of tolerable preservation. I can only say, that every traveller, who visits Italy to see its ancient monu- ments, ought first to visit Nismes. My next fifteen miles lay through an almost unbroken wheat field. Few mulberry, or almond, or olive trees were visible, and but little grass. ‘This brought me to a canal, commenced by Napoleon. In a dirty boat, drawn by a single horse, I travelled fifteen or twenty miles ; the diligence then took me up, and brought me to Marseilles, where I embarked on board the new and splendid steamboat Pho- cion, now on her first voyage of pleasure around the Mediterranean. On the first of June we anchored in the bay of Genoa, or Genes, as it is there called, where the city exhibited itself in the most favora- ble point of light. Indeed, its situation, spread out on the sides of lofty, converging mountains, forming a magnificent semi-amphithea- tre, is more eminently beautiful than that of any city I have seen in either hemisphere. Its objects of curiosity are rich and multifari- ous; its palaces are sumptuously decorated with elegant columns, and statues, and paintings. I looked at them till my eyes were sat- isfied. This, you know, was the birth-place of Christopher Colum- 78 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. bus, the greatest navigator—perhaps I ought to say, the greatest man, the world has yet produced. I searched two hours for his house, but searched in vain. ‘The spot, one told me, where he first saw the light, ison a small stream a mile or two distant from the city. At the close of the third of June we moved off for Leghorn, which contains little to attract the attention of a man whose object in going abroad is not commercial. TI therefore took a trip of four- teen miles to Pisa, a city built soon after the overthrow of Troy ; and was nobly rewarded by a view of the Campanile, or Leaning Tower, the Duomo, or church in the form of a Latin cross; the Baptistery, or the edifice in which baptisms are performed, and the Campo Santo, or ancient burial ground. They fill the bosom of the gazer with astonishment ; the sight of each of them is worth a jour- ney from Moscow. The Leaning Tower I most admired ; it is of a circular form, one hundred and ninety feet in height, consisting of eight stories, and ornamented with two hundred and seven granite and marble columns. I mounted, by an easy, winding staircase to the eighth story, where I had a commanding prospect of Pisa, of a broad zone of land encompassing it, and of many conspicuous objects far distant, among which was Leghorn. It is believed that the tower was originally perpendicular, and that its present declining position was occasioned by an earthquake, or by some other physical phenom- enon. You will not allow me to speak of the abode of the illustrious dead, and tell you that it is ‘a vast quadrangle, surrounded by sixty light and elegant Gothic arches, composed of white marble, and paved with the same substance ;” that it contains sarcophagi innu- merable, of Parian and Luni marble, ancient vases and rich frescoes, cinerary urns of alabaster, and paintings of enormous size. 1 must leave the magnificence of the interior of the Duomo—its high altar, ornamented with lapis lazuli, verd antique, bronze gilt, &c.—its por- phyry columns, its group of angels, all must be left for you to ima- gine. The next pause the Phocion made, was at the little filthy city of Civita Vecchia, whose harbor was built by Trajan, who had a villa in its vicinity. Here she remained eight days, for the purpose of giv- ing her passengers an opportunity to visit the “ Eternal City.” ‘This period being expired, she brought me to Naples, or Napoli in Ital- ian, which stands at the extremity of my voyage. I remained in that city of business and noise eight days, examining its merveilles, and those of the region around it; in treading the narrow streets of Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. 79 Pompeii, and gazing at its untombed wonders, its edifices, its altars, and its gods; in groping my way in the deep and dark theatre of Herculaneum ; visiting the lake of Tartarus, now Avernus; the old city of Puteoli, where St. Paul resided seven days; the tomb of Virgil; the Grotto del Cane; the Monte Nuova, or New Mount, ‘formed in thirty six hours by a volcanic explosion of 1538 ;” the Stygian Lake, the Elysian Fields, &c. &c., or inhaling the sul- phurous odors of the still smoking Solfaterra, or in clambering up the lofty, ashes-clad Vesuvius. ‘This being accomplished, and more, I came to Rome by land, travelling on the Via Appia, much of whose ancient pavement is yet visible, consisting of stones a foot or more in length, six or eight inches in width, and perhaps as many in depth, and passing near the spot of ground on which the second orator the world has produced was basely murdered, and over the Pontine marshes, of which our company felt no dread. I shall say nothing of Rome, except to remark, en passant, that it is far the most interesting city 1 ever entered. 1 do not mean modern Ftome. Burn St. Peter’s, and what adjoins it, and young Rome would be infinitely inferior to London, to Paris, to Edin- burgh, and to many other cities in Europe. No, sir, it is the old Rome, with which I was enraptured; where Horace was, and Cicero, and St. Paul; where Cato lived, and Virgil sung, and Ce- sar bled; where are monuments still visible, which tell the tales of other times, the Via Sacra, the Tarpeian rock, the triumphal arches, the aqueducts, the Coliseum! What a luxury it would be to you, sir, who are an admirer of the Latin classsics, to plunge into this ocean of speaking ruins, and spend weeks and months in it! | A voiturin conveyed me to Florence, over a country of hills and dales, of mountains and valleys, overspread with the best of earth’s blessings—corn, wine and oil; a land of figs, and almonds, and pomegranates and olives. [I did not sojourn long in this splendid city. The heat was oppressive, and yet not more oppressive than it often is at Washington or Philadelphia. Indeed, the summer heat of Italy is, | am persuaded, quite as tolerable as that of Maryland or Virginia, and the climate not a whit more unhealthy. My stay in Florence was, however, long enough to give me an opportunity to examine most of its curiosities. I early betook myself to the church called ‘‘ Santa Croce,” where repose the ashes of Italy’s noblest sons. On one of the walls is placed a simple epitaph over the tomb of that wonderful man, Galileo. On the opposite side are the chaste 80 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. and beautiful sepulchral monuments of Dante and Michael Angelo. The chisel has here done its best to perpetuate many illustrious names which I cannot now enumerate. ‘The museum is rich in ob- jects of art, and of the natural sciences. I have seen no collection of minerals so large, and so valuable, except that of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris. The galleries in the: ducal palace are bewitch- ingly attractive, adorned with the finest paintings and statues, glit- tering with the richest articles of furniture, with sumptuous vases, and tables, composed of the most costly and splendid minerals, in- laid, such as malachite, amber, lazulite and many of the gems. Florence is sometimes termed “the city of palaces,” and is right- ly named. ‘The palaces are numerous, and many of them exceed- ingly elegant and capacious. Eleven of them were for sale when | was in the city. Would you know the value of a palace in Flor- ence? At my request, our consul took me to the man, who had the disposal of one of them. It was finely situated, was four stories high ; had fourteen apartments, and some of them very spacious, on each floor, or fifty six rooms in all. ‘The price demanded for the entire palace was seven thousand and three hundred dollars, or it might be rented for any length of time, for three hundred and sev- enty five dollars a year! 1 left that noble and lovely city with deep regret, and made my way to Leghorn by land. Unwilling to prosecute my journey into Switzerland, without see- ing Elba, that singular island, celebrated the world over for its min- eral productions, and scarcely less celebrated as having been the place of Bonaparte’s temporary confinement, I engaged a passage to it in an open crazy boat, as no other could be obtained at the time. The distance is forty five miles. She set off from Leg- horn at noon. I spent a sleepless night on the waters of the ‘‘ Great Sea,”’ having the heavens for my canopy, and a plank for my bed. At six, the following morning, I rejoiced to arrive in this city, Porto Ferrajo, which is finely situated on a broad and safe bay, capable of affording good anchorage for five hundred ships of war, and strongly fortified, containing about seven thousand inhabit- ants, three churches, one theatre, the hotel de ville, and the gov- ernmental palace, in which I am writing this communication. ‘This last edifice was in part erected, and was inhabited by Napoleon. The American consul at Leghorn, Mr. Appleton, very politely gave me a letter of recommendation from the governor of Lechorn to the governor of the island of Elba. It procured me the kindest recep- Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. ES). tion, both from the governor and all the officers of the government. I was received into the governor’s family, and requested to occupy a chamber in the palace while I remained on the island. This offi- cer is a gentleman of unaffected politeness, of great simplicity of manners, and is much loved and respected by the islanders. Elba is about sixty miles in circumference, of an irregular oblong figure, its longer diameter running from west to east. Its surface is exceedingly uneven, being thrown into every imaginable shape ; there, rising into mountains two or three thousand feet in elevation ; here, sinking into deep vallies. Some of the high lands are covered with vegetation, but most of the summits of the mountains are na- ked, and exhibit nothing but rocks, which a hundred centuries have rendered almost as white as Parian marble. The vallies are pro- ductive, yielding grapes in vast abundance, and grain of various kinds, the fig, the orange, the watermelon, (which is here called cu- cumber,) pears, apples, plumbs, &c. &c. The number of inhabit- ants in the island is about fifteen thousand. They are principally in Porto Ferrajo, and the villages of Longone, Capoleon, Marinna and Campo. ‘There is little wood on the island, and what there is, is asmall growth. Jackasses, loaded with faggots, and pieces of wood two or three inches in diameter, are constantly seen coming into Porto Ferrajo from the country. ‘The oak grows here, and the ma- ple, and several other trees, which are common in America: but there is one here that I have not met with before ; it is the cork tree, whose bark is thick, and is used for stoppers of bottles, to make lines float on water, &c. I have cut astick of it, which I shall have converted into a cane when I arrive in Paris. The geological structure of Elba is different from any other part of Italy. I saw no decidedly primitive country between Avallon in France, and Naples. ‘There may be land of this character in Italy, and the south of France, which I did not see. I infer from what I saw, that the whole country of which I speak, was of volcanic ori- gin: in some places the lava is old, and in others young, but always bearing evident marks of igneous fusion. I have crossed the Ap- penines twice; once over Mount Somma, one of the highest, where I expected to find primitive rocks, but found nothing but secondary limestone, full of pores, once, doubtless, filled with gas, and a combination of other materials, which nothing but intense heat could have generated. ‘This island presents a curious mixture of primitive and volcanic formations. ‘The rugged mountain which Vou. XX XII.—No. 1. 11 82 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. you see at the right hand as you enter the harbor of Porto Ferrajo, has all the appearance of having been ejected from the earth by an internal energy ; whereas those massy piles which stand on the south and east of the island, bear no obvious marks of fire, although they, too, may have been raised, at a more remote period, by that agent. I have spent a week here, and seen many of the mineral productions. I shall enumerate some of those which I have seen, without any re- gard to system. ‘There are probably others which have not come under my observation. 1. Rock erystals, of various sizes, from a ae in diameter to two inches; all in ihe form of the hexagonal pyramid at one extremity, and some at both; some diaphanous, as the purest water, and oth- ers entirely opaque. 2. Feldspar, crystallized and massive. 3. Tourmaline. It often occurs in the feldspar. I found a vast quantity of it in rolled fragments, lying along the northern shore of the island, and it must have been brought there by the waves of the sea. Some of the balls were nothing but black tourmaline, (schorl ;) others were a mixture of this substance with feldspar. 4. Rubellite, in beautiful crystals, but not enveloped, like those of Chesterfield, in green tourmaline. 5. Aqua-marine, not plentiful, but sometimes found. 6. Epidote, crystallized, and in irregular masses. 7. Jasper, red, green, and brown; very abundant. 8. Porcelain earth, or decomposed feldspar, in different parts of the island. ‘The manufacture of this article into porcelain, or China ware, might be made a source of revenue to the government, were fuel more plentiful. 9. Limestone, primitive and secondary, red, white, and sky- colored. ‘The white is capable of being converted into a marble, little, if at all, inferior to that of Carrara. ‘The red, too, when pol- ished, strongly resembles the best of the Rouge Antique of Rome. 10. Arragonite, in the shape of calcareous stalactites. 11. Mica, silver white, green and black. 12. Yenite, jet black and brown, crystallized and massive. ‘The crystals usually occur in groups, which are, occasionally, large and splendid. Formerly, yenite was abundant here, but at present good crystals are rarely to be met with, and when bought of the inhabit- ants, they are purchased at a high price. I have obtained, by dis- covery and by purchase, a good number of specimens. A large group Notes on a Tour an France, Italy, and Elba. 83 of crystals of yenite was offered to me by a gentleman of this city, who estimated its value at the moderate sum of three hundred pias- tres or dollars. ; I have made several mineralogical excursions, on different parts of the island. In one of them only, I will ask you to accompany me. Having provided myself with a guide, the only practical min- eralogist on the island, and being furnished with little horses, accus- tomed to climb mountains—by the way, I had the same pony, as the guide told me, which Napoleon had rode, with a rope bridle, over the same grounds—we first passed the bay, which is two or three miles across. We then ascended a ragged mountain, probably three thousand feet in height, composed chiefly of micaceous schist and jaspery ironstone. On the almost inaccessible summit of this moun- tain, stand, frowning on the world below, an old tower and fort, built at an unknown period. Descending, we found on the eastern slope the ancient village of Rio, consisting of about one hundred houses. It is placed on a succession of serpentine rocks, both precious and common. We descended into a narrow valley, where the walls, along the sides of the road, were formed principally of serpentine and common jasper. After travelling a few miles further, we came to another mean and filthy village, called also Rio, but to distinguish it from the other village of the same name, and because it is situated on the margin of the sea, it is denominated Rio Marina. There was yet another lofty elevation to climb, before I could gain a view of the famous mine of specular oxide of iron, to see which was the main object of my visit to Elba. All this part of the island seemed little else but a vast ore bed, made up of the sulphuret, the sulphate, the specular and the magnetic oxides of iron. Winding our way up the mountain by a most zigzag path, we met hundreds of donkies, almost crushed to the ground by the astonishing loads of the ore, in baskets, two tied together and slung across their backs, which they were bringing down to the vessels lying in the harbor ready toreceive it. I pitied the poor animals, mo pectore, as I have often done before. Indeed, the ass is the animal the most used and the most abused in Italy, always toiling from break of day to dusky eve, willing to eat any thing, and yet always starved ; if among the slippery ledges he makes a misstep, he is sure to be lashed for it; and yet is patient and uncomplaining, under all his hardships and cruel treatment. 84 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. The surface of the ground, in many places, exhibits a very curious appearance. ‘The sides of the ravines, produced by the force of the water, rushing down from the highlands, look as if they were covered with a thick green moss; but, on approaching, I discovered that the substance was copperas, or the sulphate of iron crystallized. In other places, it is carpeted by nearly pure sulphur. ‘The‘summit of the mountain is taken off. The removal of an immense amount of the ore, has converted a large area of the highest land into an hori- zontal plain. On this plain is situated a round building, called the Coliseum, in which visitors take repose, and in which, | believe, an account is kept of the labor performed by the workmen. Near to this edifice is a grotto, in the mine, made by the ancients, in which have been found hammers, wedges, and other instruments, used by them in digging out the ore. ‘The ore is obtained in the same man- ner here, that it is in America, by blasting, wedges and pounding. I was a little surprised, on learning that no metallic iron has been obtained in modern times, from this excellent ore, in the island of Elba. The work is done elsewhere, in Sicily, Turkey, and Spain. It is all conveyed to foreign countries in the ore. It was smelted here in old times, but has not been in modern days, nor can it be, for there is no fuel here which can be spared for this purpose, no mineral coal, and next to no wood. After procuring a large variety of specimens of the different substances found in this neighborhood, I returned to Porto Ferrajo, well satisfied with my day’s work, but not a little fatigued. To-morrow I trust a good wind will carry me back to Leghorn, whence I shall, as soon as possible, pursue my course to the snow- capped Alps. You will, I hope, my dear sir, excuse me for troubling you witha much longer communication than I at first intended. Yours, most respectfully. Notes on Chemistry, &c. 85 Arr. VII.— Notes on Chemistry, &c.; by J. W. Bamny, Acting Prof. Chem. &c., U.S. Mil. Acad. West Point. 1. Ona new Test for Nitric Acid.—Chemical reagents may be divided into two classes; first, those which produce with the sub- stance they are employed to detect, an action which they will pro- duce with no other known body ; an example is starch, as a test for free iodine: secondly, those which cause a certain action with a small number of bodies, which they will not exhibit with any others; as, for example, sulphuretted hydrogen, which causes a black pre- cipitate with a few metals. The first class are, of course, the most valuable reagents, as they require no subsequent operation to determine whether certain sub- stances are present or not; while with those of the second class, we only determine that one of a certain number of bodies must be pres- ent, but must then resort to other means to ascertain which particular one it may be. There are many cases, however, when we may know that only one of those bodies which are capable of giving similar results with the reagent added is present, and then if this result 2s produced, the evidence is as satisfactory as can be desired. The test which | would propose, must be placed among those of the second class, and is therefore inferior in value to morphia as a re- agent for nitric acid; but I think it at least as valuable as the method by means of gold leaf and hydrochloric acid, or by the bleaching of indigo. The substance I now suggest, as a new reagent for nitric acid, is the cyano-hydrargyrate of iodide of potassium, discovered by M. Caillot. It is formed by mixing together bicyanuret of mercury and iodide of potassium, (one equivalent of each,) dissolved in small quantities of warm water. It soon crystallizes in a very beautiful manner. ‘This is the same salt which has recently been recom- mended as a means of detecting the presence of hydrochloric acid in hydrocyanic acid. (See Lond. and Ed. Phil. Mag. Nov. 1835.) Its use as a test for nitric acid depends upon the fact, that if one of the scale-like crystals be introduced into most acids, it immediately becomes of a beautiful red, being changed into the bi-iodide of mer- cury ; while in concentrated nitric acid, (spec. grav. 1.4 to 1.5,) the scale instantly becomes almost black, from the liberation of iodine. 86 Notes on Chemistry, &c. A scale of the salt introduced into a drop of the acid no larger than a pin’s head will show the effect distinctly. The acids in which I have found the salt to redden are, sulphuric, hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, chromic, phosphoric, (if slightly diluted,) and the common vegetable acids, such as oxalic, tartaric, citric and acetic acids. ; I have found it to blacken with chlorine gas, solution of chlorine, (recently prepared,) bromine, sulphuretted hydrogen, nitrous acid vapors, and nitric acid. It is highly probable, that it would be blackened by bromic acid and chloric acid, and possibly by iodic acid, but I have not at pres- ent these acids ina free state to determine their action; the method, however, in which I use the test will prevent any fallacy from the _ presence of chloric, bromic, iodic or chromic acids, and of sulphuret- ted hydrogen. It is to evaporate the supposed nitrate to dryness, and introduce into a tube retort A, (see the figure,) a small portion of the salt, on which a few drops of sulphuric acid are to be poured ; then on applying moderate heat, by means of a spirit lamp, a portion of the volatile products are to be driven over into the receiver B, in which a few scales of the salt are previously placed. If these are blackened, the salt is to be considered as a nitrate, provided the pres- ence of those few substances which might cause the same result has been guarded against. Now by the very method proposed, viz. evaporating to dryness and adding sulphuric acid, the presence or absence of chromic, chloric or iodic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen will be determined ; for the color of a chromate, the evolution of per- oxide of chlorine from a chlorate, the liberation of iodine from an iodate, and the odor from a sulphuret, will at once decide with re- gard to each. As iodic and bromic acids, even if they are found to blacken the salt, are not sufficiently volatile to be driven over by the heat to be employed, no error could arise from their presence. I have observed, that if the salt used above, or the bi-iodide of mercury itself, be introduced into a test tube, with strong sulphuric Notes on Chemistry, &c. 87 acid, on adding a concentrated solution of any nitrate, (except those of silver and mercury,) the red color of the scale or bi-iodide will speedily disappear, and will be followed by the dark hue of iodine. Even when the sulphuric acid forms an insoluble precipitate, the action may be seen, by stirring up the precipitate with a glass rod, when the dark spots will be easily observed. This method of testing may sometimes be used, but is liable to the objection that a chromate, chlorate, and probably some other salts, would give the same result. It is greatly inferior to the method by distillation, as given above. 2. Locality of Hyalite at West Point.—Last autumn [I noticed at a quarry of gneiss on the shore of the Hudson, about a quarter of a mile below West Point, a beautiful incrustation on some of the masses of gneiss which had been removed from situ by blasting. On examination by the microscope, and by analysis, I am satisfied that it is Hyalite, although gneiss is I believe a very unusval situation for this mineral.* The mineral forms a crust of about the thickness of one or two wafers, upon what appears to have been a natural seam of the rock, and it does not appear to have been produced by any decomposition of the surrounding mass. Its color is white; lustre varying from silvery or pearly to glassy. When examined by a magnifier it is very beautiful, presenting a brilliant collection of small mammillated masses, in some places opaque, and at others transpa- rent as glass. By analysis it gave about 84 per cent. of silica, 6 per cent. of alumina and oxide of iron, and 10 per cent. of water. Specimens are sent with this; those in the paper marked (A) show the mineral in its purest state. On the same surface with the above, and apparently passing into the same, was a silicious crust, which by the magnifier showed no signs of the mammillated structure, nor any lustre, but small eleva- ted straight lines, about one fourth of an inch in length, were ob- served, crossing each other in various directions, and indicating an imperfect crystallization. A specimen (B) showing this character is also sent. * It is found in the gneiss at Haddam, Conn., in exactly similar form and cir- cumstances.—Ep. + Not received, Jan. 26, 1837.—Eb. 88 Notes on Chemistry, &c. 3. Curious effects of a current of air on the flame of lamps, &c.— The singular change of direction produced by introducing into the axis of an Argand burner a jet from which a current of air is forced, of which an account is given in the Lond. and Edin. Phil. Mag. for November, 1835, led me to notice some effects of currents of air on the flame of a common lamp. If a small tube, of the size of the barrel of a quill, be blown through strongly with the mouth, while in the positions shown in the figures below, the flame of the lamp will be drawn from its course towards the orifice of the tube ina very singular manner. ‘The figures show some of the results. A, the flame before affected by a current. B, C, D, position of the flame under the influence of the currents. These effects evidently depend for an explanation upon the same principles as the well known experiment with a tube and disk. West Point, Nov. 26, 1836. Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. 89 Arr. VIN.—A Visit to the Salt Works of ZLipaquera, near Bo- _ gota, in New Granada; by J. H. Gisson, M. D. On the 11th of June, 1936, I accompanied the gentleman who has the management of the Salt Works at Zipaquera, to visit that place, a distance of thirty miles from Bogota; which distance we cantered over in five hours, passing along the skirts of the moun- tains at the foot of which the city is built, and through the rich plain, watered by the river of Bogota, whose banks were covered with fine cattle of various kinds, while lively patches of corn, wheat, bar- ley, potatoes, and artificial grapes, protected by Indian boys and girls from the depredations of the four footed creatures which gra-= zed under their charge, were seen to surround the villages of low Indian huts ; some of which, situated in the midst of this cultivation, are nearly concealed by trees and flowers. A few large country seats, built by the Spaniards, appeared at intervals upon eminences at the base of the hills; they are now seldom frequented by the proprietors, who prefer to live in the city ; their estates are left to the care of managers, being principally employed for grazing ; the cattle are said to thrive and fatten very rapidly upon them, being re- strained from wandering by an enclosure of substantial stone walls. I had an opportunity of seeing the very slow and tedious process of repairing roads—an art itself altogether curious in that country ; being apparently, to judge from experience of their condition, very seldom attempted. A pair of oxen were fastened by ropes to one corner of a large hide; this being drawn to the side of a hill, was filled over with earth and stones ; the corners of the hide were then tied together, and the rubbish was dragged upon the ground in this strange vehicle to the spot where it was needed. Zipaquera is an old Indian settlement, and now contains about eight thousand souls. ‘The salt works are managed upon the same general plan pursued by the natives before the conquest, for calcining and hardening the salt, that no injury or loss might be sustained by heavy rains, in its transportation to distant stations, or in passing rivers in- tercepting the roads. Upon the mountain directly above the town is exposed a huge rock of salt, of a dark lustrous color, interspersed with crystals of a purer white, called palamos, bleached also in streaks by the filtration of water and heat of the sun. Between the main body of salt and Vou. XXXII.—WNo. 1. 12 90 Visit to the Salt Works of Zupaquera. two distinct strata, each several feet in thickness, which lie above it, inclining at an angle of about 45°, there is a dark colored, unctuous hard clay, among which there are found pyrites, called by the na- tives marmajos, some of which are compact and unique ; others, in smaller crystals, spread out upon the hard earth, form a congeries of small sparkling bodies, which have a very brilliant appearance when cleansed ; these are sometimes wrought into ornaments—they look like diamonds by candle light ; other specimens resembling gold are occasionally ground into powder, and used as sand upon writings. Very near to the salt rock appears a deposit of fine limestone, called yeso, made use of about the altars of the churches, hke stucco work, and for white washing. Sulphur is also indicated about the mine ; the salt is said to contain a considerable quantity of it. The masses of salt are dug from the rock by means of crow bars, and in its impure native state, is bought by the people of certain dis- tricts of the country, who thus prefer it; while others will purchase it only after being purified and hardened by calcination, although the price for both kinds is now the same. ‘The consumption of grained salt, made in pans or calderos, is very trifling; the salt un- dergoes this process of crystallization before it is calcined; and it was supposed that the ability and desire on the part of the Company to supply grained salt at a lower price would increase the consump- tion of it, especially in the vicinity of the works. But “‘ ancient cus- tom’’ has still more influence with these people than any arguments of special or political economy ; and arrangements which are well appreciated elsewhere, have often no sort of influence upon their minds, in comparison with former prepossessions. ‘Some years ago the price of the rough natural rock salt, in the state in which it was dug from the mountain, was suddenly reduced, the expense of cutting it out being trifling compared with that of the process for calcination. As one portion of the population gave it the preference, it was pre- sumed the consumption of it might be augmented in other districts 5 but the people who had formerly purchased this kind in preference, could not understand the sudden decrease in its value, and were pre- judiced to believe that the salt was “rotten,” as they said, or that there was some peculiar cause not apparent to them, and therefore suspected why the reduction took place ; so that the Company found it better to keep the price at the former rate—there was then no diminution in the consumption. ‘The abstract reasonings of political economy, it appears, must have reference always to the condition Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. er, | and information of those among whom its principles are to be ap- plied. ‘ The impure salt taken from the rock is principally used to strength- en the water from the salt springs which rise in its neighborhood, and contain from ten to eighteen degrees of strength; the point of saturation being twenty five degrees, regulated by an instrument sraduated for that purpose. I was told that after various experi- ments it was found, that water at any degree of temperature would not take up more than one fourth of its weight of salt. The water from the salt springs is received into a large basin of substantial mason work coated with cement, built in the time of the Spaniards ; large lumps of the rock salt are cast in to saturate it, after which it is drawn off to be filtered into large earthen pots containing from seven to fifteen gallons, arranged in an arch of a very peculiar construction over a furnace heated by wood and bituminous coal, found in large quantities in the vicinity. From one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty earthen pots of a sugar loaf form, are ar- ranged in an arch over the furnace, (which is a large, square apartment, like an open shallow cellar,) in lines beginning at each side, being supported below by the faggots and coal, and at the sides by unburnt bricks plastered with clay, which fill up the interstices between the pots, leaving here and there, apertures for the smoke to escape; after the first four hours of the process these apertures are closed up. When the rows of pots approach the center, a row of the largest size are ranged in the middle like key-stones to.an arch, and the whole fabric is supported by lateral pressure, after the wood and coal which at first serve as a resting point, have burnt away and consolidated the clay which is dashed in between the sides of the pots. The saturated salt water is at first thrown into the exposed mouths of the pots in small quantities, as a glaze; they are then gradually filled up with graimed salt, prepared in the ordinary manner in large iron pans. For twenty four hours after, salt water of the highest grade of saturation is thrown in occasionally, (the mouths of the range of pots being reached by calabashes fixed to long handles,) in order to consolidate the texture throughout the mass in the pots. Fresh wood is cast into the furnace underneath the arch for twenty four hours, and the pots are left in their position for forty eight hours afterwards, to receive the heat of the cinders, which are occasionally raked up. ‘This continued heat of seventy two hours renders the salt of a marble-like firmness and appearance ; being glazed on the 92 Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. - exterior in a manner to render it capable of resisting rain, or the water which reaches it when carried across rivers upon mules, its form being well adapted to this mode of transportation ; the large loaves of salt are slung upon each side of the pack saddle. When the salt is sufficiently calcined and cooled, hundreds of poles or fag- gots are placed underneath the pots to receive their weight, and serve as subsequent fuel; the arch is then broken down, and the earthen ware, which adheres very closely to the salt, is cut off by a crowd of Indian women with chisels and mallets. ‘These women are allowed as their perquisite, to take away the broken pottery, to which some salt necessarily adheres ; they steep the earthen ware in water, and the saline solution is sold by them for purposes of cooking ; they sometimes also attempt what is considered a contra- band, by boiling and granulating it in their huts; for salt is a mo- nopoly of the government, which formerly rented out the whole sup- ply for a certain annual income, but now pay a company a fixed _price for manufacturing it, on account of the revenue. ‘The springs and mines are therefore carefully watched to prevent private inter- ference. When the “Salt Company” first undertook these works, there was much illicit working at the springs, and the agents were obliged to interfere with those who were employed in the contraband manu- facture, breaking their pots and pans, and seizing the salt ; the con- sequence was the murder of several foreigners engaged at the works; and for several years the greatest animosity prevailed between the parties. Some judicious alterations attaching the burthen of pro- tection and seizure upon the government, and not upon the Com- pany, and the encouragement of various industry connected with the legal manufacture, have at length caused a cessation of the hos- tile feelings. The Company is now allowed 23 reals, (311 cents,) for manufac- turing each arroba, (25 Ibs.) of salt; to this amount the government adds a charge of 4 reals, (50 cents,) per arroba, more. It costs then the consumer, or trader at the works, $3 25 per one hundred pounds, of the calcined salt; the expense of transportation is very great, and therefore the consumption is, as much as possible, econ- omized. When the Company farmed the rents, it paid to the government $19,133 per month, nearly $230,000 annually. Last year the government paid the Company $118,000 for making four hundred Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. 93. and sixty thousand arrobas of calcined salt, and derived a nett reve- nue of about $250,000 from its sales. There are two establishments under the direction of the same Company. I was informed that all the salt springs in New Granada he nearly within two straight lines, forming an obtuse angle with each other at a point where one extremity of each strikes a range of the Andes, beginning near Popayou and terminating at Chita, near the plains of Casinare, a distance of more than three hundred miles. Some salt springs are found at a great elevation in the Andes, and others in the valley of the Cauca. The salt springs at Zipaquera are all cold; those at Chita, a dis- tance of five days’ journey, or about forty leagues, are almost all boiling hot. ‘The cold springs are found strongest with salt; but Chita is more exposed to rains, (the rainy season continues seven months,) these are said to dilute the springs, and thus reduce the average strength of the waters. On our way to Zipaquera we pass- eda great number of Indians—men, women, and children, ‘bearing upon their backs long bundles of poles, or faggots, which are sus- tained in that position by a bandage passed over the forehead. They bring their wood a considerable distance to the salt works for a price varying from three quartillos, or nine cents, to one real, or twelve cents, each bundle. Although coal could be advantageously used to a greater extent, it is thought judicious to encourage the industry of the people in their own way, for it can with difficulty be drawn into ether channels than those they have been long accustomed to. Upon one occasion there was a great demand by the company, who wished to extend their operations, for the earthen ware pots in which the salt is calcined: these are made altogether by the Indians. The gentleman who had charge of the works, in order to effect the supply, as he thought, offered double the usual price for these ne- cessary articles; still there was a great deficiency. In this dilemma he applied to the priest of the parish to aid him with advice, and to know what plan he should pursue to obtain the required number of pots for the work. The padre, having heard the fact of the pay- ment of an increased price for the pots, shook his head, and ob- served, that since the people received so much more money than formerly for their labors, they occupied their time in spending it, in- stead of making more pots. He advised that the price, which was originally three medias (182 cts.) for each pot, and had lately been increased to three reals, (374 cents.) should be lowered to three of - Visit to the Salt Works of Zipaquera. quartillos, (9 cents.) ‘The plan was tried, and the stores were soon found filled with a superabundance of earthen ware. _ The gentlemen who have charge of the salt works are aware of the very rude manner of conducting the processes, but the want of artizans, the influence of ancient customs, and deficiency of scien- tific and other practical information, induce them to adhere to the old plan. Some of those however who have an interest in their works, propose to establish, at some short distance, a forge and foun- dery, ultimately to supply iron pots, with contrivances to allow the escape of the loaves of salt after the processes of calcination. Although the impost of the government is so high upon the man- ufacture of salt at the springs, that procured by evaporation on the sea coast is not subject to any duty; and foreign salt has been per- mitted to enter almost free, until the last session of the congress at Bogota, when a duty of eight rials (one dollar) for every hundred lbs. was imposed. The state of the roads in New Granada, inaccessible for the most part to wheel carriages ; with its rapid rivers, navigated almost solely by canoes, makes transportation so expensive, that with the high price created by the government monopoly, salt is much economized. Strangers find themselves obliged to carry a lump of salt with their ‘baggage, to add to the very scanty seasoning of it usual in the cooking. A salt cellar is by no means thought an indispensable part -of the table equipage, and in many instances it will be in vain called for. A North American vessel was found at Buenaventura, on the Pacific, with salt brought from the Sandwich Islands: this, inclosed in hides, was conveyed up very rapid rivers into the interior, al- though by nature so extensively and amply supplied with it. Some of the medical gentlemen in the country are inclined to believe that the deficient use of salt has a tendency to promote the govtre, a dis- ease which prevails very extensively in some districts, and for which jodine internally, and frictions with sea water and Aceyte de Sal,* * Dr. Cheyne, of Bogota, a highly e esteemed English phy ysician, gave me the fol- Jowing analysis of the Aceyté de Sal, compared with that of'sea water: ori de Sal. Sea Water. Water, - 0.7064 - - - 0.9691 Hy doy Mat ate of soda, 0.1527 - - - 0.0218 “ magnesia, 0.0450 - - - 0.0049 a “ime, - 0.0930 - - - 0.0008 te “ potash, - 0.0002 - - - traces. sf “ iron, - 0.0027 - - - ‘Hydriodate of iron, - traces. - = = = Sulphate of soda, - - - 0.0034 1.6000 1.0000 Meteorological Journal. 95 oil of salt, which drains from the rock salt, have been used with ad- vantage. Whatever may be thought upon this subject, there ap- pear to have been, from ancient date, very decided opinions upon the utility of the general use of salt, which is craved with great ar- dor by many animals. It is the well known token of hospitality and confidence among the Arab tribes, and the ancient Hebrew moral law enjoins its employment as a point of religious as well as of phys- ical propriety. It is hardly possible to appreciate the value of such an article, un-. tl one has suffered the miseries of privation. , Arr. IX. — Meteorological Journal, for the year 1836, i at Marietta, Ohio, in Lat. 39° 25’ N. and Long. 4° 28’ W. of Washington; by S. P. Hinpreru. THERMOMETER. Ss BAROMETER. rey ere re RS (canon biti 5 So iS £3 Months. [ & | . a} | Prevailing winds. 8 igi ¢ a|s| & g : Sil BNSe| peel Soke 5. | 8 a |Sl aelolo 1B] ele g A | = \|s|5 |sle ls /se So enue en January, |31.30:63/-10/73| 17] 14) 2/55 W. & N.W. Sas 53/29.70129.00) .70 February, |27.23 56)-18|74| 14) 15) 1/80) w.N.w.,s. & 8.8, |29.5529.80/29.00| .80 March, 36.23/62) 3/59) 17) 14) 2/80) w.s. w., "E. & SVE. 29.43 29.80/28.65|1.15 April, 44.24/89) 22/67) 18} 12) 3/87 8.8.6. & E, 29.45 /29.70/29.00| .70 May, 65.76/90) 38/52} 20) 11) 663 8.S.E. & E. 29.37/29.65|29.10| .55 June, 69.66/88} 48/40) 20) 10) 2/04) s.5., En. & s.w. 29.35 /29.55/29.20) .35 July, 75.20/86] 56/30} 22) 9) 3/92 S.S.W. & N. 29.41)/29.70/29.10) .60 August, 69.80/85) 48/37} 20 1 3/16 E.S.E. & N. 29.43)29.55|29.15!| .40 September, |68.08/88) 38/50) 20/ 10) 3116 s.s.e.&8.w. |29.37/29.65/29.10] .55 October, [45.32/76] 22/54] 16] 15) 2/08; w.n.w.es.e. |29.41/29.70/29.10) .60 November, |36.90)75} 12/63) 17] 13) 2)/50) N. Nn. w. & w.s.w. |29.42/29.82)/29.05) .77 December, |30.70/54| 6/48 18 (13) 2/25) w.s.w.& N.w. |29.52/30.00/28.75]1.25 Mean, {50.03 219|147/36/75 ~ Mean range, 29.44 Remarks on the year 1836.—The same diminution of mean an- nual heat, which has prevailed in the middle and eastern states for the last three years, appears still to be continued, and in the year which has passed at rather an increased ratio. ‘T’o what cause or A Spanish physician of reputation at Bogota, assured me that dogs and cats were occasionally subject to govére, and that he had seen instances in both, although he was not aware that it prevailed among any other domestic animals. Whether some clue to its origin and causes may be discovered by the fuct that those animals which feed upon the offals of our table, are alone affected by this peculiar disease, is yet to be shown. 96 Meteorological Journal. causes we are to attribute this series of cool years, is a mystery as yet hidden from mortal ken, although without doubt it arises from the fulfilment of uniform and fixed laws in the regulation of the seasons. ‘The succeeding series of years will most probably restore to the earth the usual amount of heat experienced in former periods. The mean annual temperature for 1836 stands at 50.039, which is nearly four degrees below the mean heat for this part of the valley of the Ohio, as ascertained from observations made a number of years since, and is more than half a degree less than the year 1835, which was considered an extraordinary cold year. On the 28th of January the mercury fell to —10° below zero, and on the 5th of February following to — 18°, an excess of cold very unusual in this climate. It seems to have pervaded the whole northern continent, and on the lower Mississippi was very destructive to exotic trees _and plants, which usually support the winters of that climate with- out injury. On the Atlantic coast of the eastern states, the cold was more intense and longer continued, than in any year since the winter of 1779-80. At that time the inland sea, called the Sound, between Long Island and the main, near Norwalk in Connecticut, was so frozen as to bear the weight of a man, who deserted from the British troops and came over on the ice. It was now so cov- ered with ice as to put a stop to navigation. Boston harbor was also closed, and many points about New York so frozen as to bear loaded teams, at places not obstructed in this manner since the days of the Revolution. In Ohio, the effect on fruit trees, whose ves- sels contain a gummy juice, as the plum and the peach, was very disastrous, freezing them so hard as to split the wood and bark into long seams, through which the sap exuded the summer following. The mean temperature, for the winter months, is 29.749 Do. do. for the spring months, 48.75 Do. do. for the summer months, 71.55 Do. do. for the autumnal months, 50.10 The mean for the winter is only a fourth of a degree less than that of 1835. That of the spring months is nearly three degrees less, while that of the summer is two and a half degrees greater, than that of the preceding year, and that of the autumnal months is two degrees less. ‘The cold in the spring was continued later than usual, while the heat of autumn disappeared much sooner, especially in October and November, each of which months was more than eight degrees cooler than those of the preceding year. ‘The peach Meteorological Journal. oF bloomed the 26th of April, and the apple the 1st of May, which was about the same as last year, although there was very little pro- gress made in vegetation until the last week in April, when the weather set in with the warmth of July, bringing forward the un- folding of leaves and flowers with the rapidity of a Russian summer. It exceeded any thing I have ever witnessed in Ohio, and clothed the naked trees, in the space of six days, with the beautiful garments of spring. ‘The mean of the summer months being two and a half decrees greater than that of the former year, ripened the wheat at the usual period, that is, about the 4th of July. Other grains and fruits were also forwarded in their growth as rapidly as usual, so that they were perfected before the setting in of frosts early in October. September was with us warmer than common, the mean heat being eleven degrees greater than that of the year 1835, at which time the Indian corn suffered from the early cold in a similar manner to that of New England in 1836, while here no frost was seen during the whole month. The heat of the autumnal months being consid- erably less than usual, abridged to a few days the weeks of beauti- ful ‘Indian summer” weather, formerly so common to this region. The amount of rain and melted snow is 36-75 inches, which is be- low the annual average at Marietta. We have had more winds from the easterly points of the compass, than in any preceding year since I have kept a regular diary of the weather, which is twelve years. What effect this may have had on the temperature is un- known. ‘The fluctuations in the mercurial column of the barometer have been greater than usual. It was at the lowest on the 10th of March, when it fell to 28.65 inches, during a gale of wind and rain from the S.W. ‘The greatest elevation took place on the 22d of December, rising to 30 inches, wind N.W. This is higher than I have before seen it, by a few hundredths of an inch, making the ex- treme range one inch and thirty five hundredths for the year. Snow fell to the depth of four inches on the 16th of December, but melted away ina few days. The Ohio river has been partially covered with floating ice since the last of November, and for a few days in December was frozen across at particular bends, with open spaces between. It is now open, but crowded with floating ice. Disease amongst shell fish.—One of the most curious phenomena of the year has been the fatal effect of an epidemic disease amongst the molluscous animals or shell fish of the Muskingum river. It commenced in April and continued until June, destroying millions Vou. XX XII.—No. 1. 13 98 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. of that quiet and retiring race, which people the beds of our streams. As the animal died, the valves of the shell opened, and decomposi- tion commencing, the muscular adhesions gave way, and the fleshy portion rose to the surface of the water, leaving the shell in the bed of the stream. As these dead bodies floated down with the current, the heads of islands, masses of fixed drift wood, and the shores, in many places, were covered with them, tainting the air in the vicinity with putrid effluvia. ‘The cause of the disease amongst the shelly race, remains as much a mystery, as that of the Asiatic cholera amongst the human family. It might possibly have arisen from the slight change made in the quality of the water, from the addition of marine salt, from the numerous salt furnaces now in ope- ration along the borders of the river, the bittern of which, and more or less of the salt water, is daily mingling with the stream. Even a slight change in their vital element, might produce disease and death amongst molluscous animals; as in the atmosphere, fatal dis- eases fall upon man, from trifling contaminations. Marietta, Jan. 2, 18377. Arr. X.—Remarks on some of the Gold Mines, and on parts of the Gold Region of Virginia, founded on personal observa- tions, made in the months of August and September, 1836; by B. Sinuiman. As these remarks cannot lay claim to the character of a general summary, (since they were founded on local, although somewhat numerous observations,) perhaps there can be no better course, than to give an abstract of some of the most important reports that were made on the occasion, to different mining companies. To those who are anxious to be correctly informed, this proce- dure will afford a fair view of facts, as they were presented to the eye of an actual observer and enquirer; while reference for more general views may be had to the Report of the Geological Recon- naissance of the State of Virginia, by Prof. William B. Rogers, and to the more detailed account which may be given by that gentleman, when his geological survey shall have been finished. Some details of topography and of machinery, and other local facts, are preserved in these reports, because—although they may Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 99 not interest the general reader—they will serve to give a more pre- cise idea of the actual condition and value of some of these mines, and of the promise they afford of being pursued with advantage. Moss and Busby’s Mines,* in Goochland County, belonging to the Richmond Mining Company. The gold in the above named mines is contained in quartz. In this respect, with a single exception, they resemble all the other gold mines which I have seen in the gold region of Virginia, where the gold is in place. The rocks in which the quartz is imbedded are decidedly primary, and belong to the slaty family. Those which I have seen are generally varieties of mica slate, passing occasionally into argillite and the subordinate varieties of chlorite slate, talcose slate, hornblende slate, &c. Among these, as far as | have observ- ed, mica slate is most predominant ; and much that is here usually called talcose slate, appears to me to be mica slate. It is indeed often shining and smooth in its scales, but it wants the soapy feel that distinguishes talcose slate. ‘The gold is therefore (as far as I have seen) to be referred, primarily, to the mica slate formation. The usual schistose or slaty structure and stratified arrangement of this rock, are here conspicuous. As is commonly the fact elsewhere, its position is inclined—frequently at a high angle with the horizon ; forty five degrees, and more or less in different places. ‘The rock is, in general, partially decomposed ; almost always it is shivered and crumbly, and often to such a degree as to form earthy banks—soil above—clay farther down, and still lower exhibiting the lines of stratification and structure belonging to the original rock, but so soft as to be easily picked to pieces or cut. The quartz in which the gold is contained is, in this region, usu- ally spoken of as being in veins. It is perhaps not expedient to object to language that is in general use. It may, however, be proper to remark, that, in strictness, veins intersect and cross the strata at various angles; most metals are found in that situation, en- gaged in some material different from the rock; this material is called the matrix or gangue of the metal, and it is usually more or less crystalline in its structure, frequently affording the beautiful crystals that adorn the cabinets of mineralogy, such as rock crystal, fluor spar, calcareous spar, sulphate of barytes, &c. * About fifty miles from Richmond and from Fredericksburgh, 100 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. Since my observations were made, I have seen, for the first tume, the remarks of Professor Rogers on this point ; he regards these as true veins of injection ; his observations having been more extensive than mine, it is certainly possible I may be in an error; I can speak only from what I have seen. The auriferous or gold-bearing quartz of the gold region of Virginia (and, as far as I am informed, of the States farther south) forms, not strictly veins, but rather beds or lay- ers—in general not interfering with, but conforming to, the regular structure of the slaty rocks of the country, and like them, descend- ing to an unknown and probably an unfathomable depth. ‘There is therefore no probability that the quartz will ever be worked out to the bottom or exhausted, or that it will often be found heaved or displaced by fractures and dislocations, usually called faults, except so far as this accident may have befallen the rocks themselves. ‘This structure makes the working of these mines very simple; the miner follows, unerringly, the bed or layer of quartz ; it is rarely diminished to strings or disappears, and when that is the fact, it often reappears at no great distance, in an enlarged size. The quartz is, therefore, as regular a part of the structure of the country as the slaty rocks themselves, and when it is auriferous, (as is not unfrequently the fact in the gold region,) the gold is disseminated through it in spangles, flakes and points, sometimes visible on breaking the quartz, but most usually entirely invisible, even with a powerful magnifying glass. In far the greater number of cases, the eye detects nothing but quartz, or sometimes metallic sulphurets of iron, zinc or lead; and the observer, unless previously instructed in the case, would never suspect the presence of gold, either distinct, or in the metallic sul- phurets. The gold, being generally disseminated in the quartz of this gold region, it is obvious that it must have been laid by in its stony bed, at the same time that the quartz and the slaty rocks in which it is contained were deposited. ‘This fact increases the proba- bility that the gold will not be exhausted ; no one can indeed predict with certainty, to what depth it descends or in what proportion it exists below ; but no reason can be assigned, why it should cease or be found in less abundance than near the surface. The same causes would appear to have been in operation—at the same geological epoch, from the Gulf of Mexico, through the gold region, quite to Maryland—perhaps quite to Lower Canada, and possibly still far- ther, as some facts would appear to indicate. Gold has been found in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Lower Canada, and, as is reported, in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 101 The nature of this report precludes discussions of geological the- ory, and the omission is of the less importance, because the origin of metallic veins and deposits is still, to a degree, obscure, and the clear light which now illuminates most topics of geology, is here, to a degree, wanting ; nor would it be pertinent or profitable to recite the various hypotheses that have been, or are still entertained. It is however worthy of remark, that whether the quartz veins are, as Prof. Rogers supposes, true veins of injection, or original members of the rock, the probability of their continuance, and of their con- tinuing to be auriferous, is equally great. The mines now under consideration, belong to what are called the vein mines, in contradistinction from the deposit mines. ‘The latter contain only alluvial gold, or gold, at least, disengaged from rock or vein stones ; it is obviously not in its original connexion ; it has, doubtless, proceeded from the destruction of regular veins or beds, and of the rocks which contained them; the gold has either remained mixed with the ruins of the rocks and the veins, or it has been trans- ported and scattered, sometimes far and wide, by the moving power of water, and buried at depths more or less considerable, in loose ma- terials. Sometimes the gold is found immediately under the turf or soil; this happens, most frequently, on hills, but more commonly it lies in lower situations under several feet, or even yards of soil, clay and gravel, and it is most abundant next to the slate, which underlies the whole of the loose materials, and which slate is sometimes soft, being in a state of decomposition. Where the slate rocks are solid, and their strata stand nearly perpendicular, the gold has been some- times found in the crevices between the natural layers of rock; at the Whitehall mines, in Spotsylvania County, the gold extended down- ward in this manner, sometimes to the depth of three feet. It should be remarked, that in the regular vein mines, the gold is not confined entirely to the solid quartz ; it is sometimes found in the slate, and both the rock itself and the soft matters proceeding from its decom- position, are occasionally washed for gold, with advantage. The largest masses of gold have been discovered in or near rivu- lets, or brooks, or runs of water, called in the language of the coun- try, branches. In such situations, pieces have been found weigh- ing several ounces, and in North Carolina several pounds. Ona branch at the Whitehall mine, gold of the value of $10,000 was found in the course of a few days, ina space about twenty feet square, and $7,000 value of gold was found at Tinder’s mine, in 102 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. Louisa County, in the course of one week. It happens not unfre- quently, that the vein mines are discovered in consequence of wash- ing the earth, particularly in the branches. Busby’s Mine.—This mine is wrought in solid quartz. A shaft has been sunk to the depth of fifty seven feet, and it is intended to sink it to seventy feet, until it strikes the vein at this depth; this vein is the first or the most easterly in the series. ‘The thickness of the quartz, as ascertained by excavating it between the strata of rock in four proof pits, which have been sunk to the depth of from twenty to twenty six feet, averaging twenty two feet, is from twelve to thir- ty inches, averaging from fifteen to eighteen inches. In consequence of the influx of water, it has become necessary to erect a steam en- gine at the shaft; the machinery is now at the place, protected by a good framed engine-house, and will be soon in operation ; this, it is expected, will effectually drain, not only the shaft and the vein to which it leads, but the other veins also, which have been already excavated, and will moreover serve to work the mills. The whim* at the shaft and all the machinery connected with it, are well shel- tered by a good framed building. There are also temporary log tenements for the accommodation of the superintendant and his as- sistants and laborers, and there are abundant materials at hand for the erection of other buildings whenever they shall be needed. The quartz in Busby’s mine is very firm—its structure is coarsely granu- lar, and it considerably resembles coarse loaf sugar; indeed, at the mine, it has been significantly called sugar quartz; much of it is, apparently, free from all foreign matter, except the inherent gold, and it is so white that even when pulverized, it shows no tint of color. The quartz, with its included gold, is, at the mines, universally call- ed ore. Strictly, the word ore should be applied only to the metal of beds and veins, and especially to those combinations of metals with ether substances, e. g. with sulphur, oxygen, &c., by which their properties are more or less disguised ; and it is a liberty of speech, to make it include also, the stony matrix or gangue which encloses the metallic substances that form the proper ores. From necessity I shall adopt the language now in general use in the gold region, and I will, therefore, in compliance with general custom, call the aurifer- ous quartz, ore of gold. * A technical name for the machine that winds the rope. Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 103 In general, the auriferous quartz or gold ore of Busby’s mine is des- titute of any metallic appearance, the pieces which, on fracture, pre- sent metallic gold, being but a very small part of the whole. Hence the surprise and delight of the spectator are very much increased, ~ when he sees the precious metal evolved by very simple processes. I would here observe, that to obtain this, (the only decisive result,) all necessary precautions were, during my investigations, adopted to prevent error. Imposition is, indeed, spoken of, and is said to have been practised in some cases. It is however but justice to the re- spectable gentlemen and master miners, with whom I was conver- sant in all these trials, to say, that their conduct appeared to me uni- formly upright and honorable, and I believe there was neither dis- position nor opportunity for fraudulent practices. ‘There is no reason whatever to doubt that the results, about to be stated in the case of both the mines, were correct ; if there were any error, it was in sta- ting the gold too low, as it is certain, that after every precaution, some of it was lost in the washing ; still, it is not to be expected that a more favorable result will be obtained in the large way, even sup- posing that the quartz should, in the progress of working the mines, continue equally rich in gold, as the pieces that were tried; and for practical purposes (aside from science) it is always desirable that trial- processes should, in their results, as nearly as possible, resemble those that may be actually used in the large way. The quantity of ore which has been accumulated at the Busby mine, and which now waits for the final operations for extracting the gold, was estimated by the underground captain of the mines, at twelve or thirteen thousand bushels. From a large heap, some pie- ces of quartz were taken at random. ‘They were carefully examined by a good magnifier, and not a particle of gold or of any other sub- stance, except the quartz, could be discerned. Portions were knock- ed off from each, and were pulverized and sifted. Of this powdered quartz, in which, during the pounding, only a few points of metallic gold became visible, six pounds were taken and washed in an iron pan in the usual way ; the matters that were carried into the tub, (used asa recipient,) were washed several times, and gold, although in decreased quantities, was, in every instance, obtained from them: all these portions of gold were then amalgamated with mercury, which had been strained through leather ; the amalgam was strained through silk to separate the excess of mercury, and the globule of amalgam that remained was then decomposed by heating it in a clean 104 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. iron pan, until the quicksilver was all expelled. The gold that re- mained weighed six grains, which is in the proportion of one hun- _ dred grains to one hundred pounds, or one bushel of the ore. These one hundred grains of gold, at 4,1, cents per grain, the price paid at the United States’ Mint, amount to $4.08 for the one hundred pounds of ore. In a second trial, pieces of quartz were taken, which presented some points of metallic gold to the naked eye; they were not very numerous; and still, pieces were selected which were about as good in visible metallic gold as could be readily found. Two pounds of the powder of this ore, treated in precisely the same manner, yielded six grains of gold; this, being exactly three times as much as in the former trial, gave $12.25 to one hundred pounds, or one bushel of the ore. Perhaps it is not to be supposed that the mere accident of gold being visible would, of course, indicate so rich a result; and on the other hand, the mere fact that the gold is in- visible, does not, of course, imply that the yield will be as low as, or lower, than that obtained in the first trial. The average of these two trials gives $8.16 for one hundred pounds, or one bushel. It is probable that this result is too high for a general average; even half this amount would be very rich, and a quarter of it would be very safe, supposing the expenses of working the mines to be no greater than they have been generally stated to be. It is worthy of remark, that, by report, the earth around the Busby mine yields, generally, more or less of gold by washing; and I saw this statement repeatedly confirmed by experiments made under my own eye, upon the loose earth thrown out from the pits; it was un- derstood to be that in which the quartz veins were imbedded in the ground, and had doubtless proceeded from the decomposition of the slaty rocks. Indeed, through the whole of the gold region, I was assured that the loose materials of the surface are generally so far auriferous, that visible gold can, in many cases, perhaps generally, be extracted by simple washing. With a small iron pan, they wash the earth in a tub, or in some brook or branch of water, and many persons in the gold region have acquired the necessary tact. ‘They call the oper- ation panning, and the soil, gravel, &c. is said to pan well or to pan poorly, according to the result. Moss’ Mine.—This mine is three quarters of a mile from Busby’s, and both mines are about fifty miles from Richmond and fifty three from Fredericksburg. Moss’ mine is situated in decomposed slaty Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 105 rock, the same which, in a greater or less degree, pervades the gold region. Here, in the portions nearest to the surface, the rock is completely destroyed, and is little else than a red clay ;* lower down, it becomes somewhat firmer, and shews, distinctly, the lines of stra- tification and of the slaty structure. The inclination of the rock and of the included quartz veins is about forty five degrees; the di- rection by compass, is about N. by E. and S. by W. The diame- ter of the vein, which is at present wrought is, taking it at different places, sixteen, eighteen, twenty four, twenty seven and thirty inches, averaging about twenty four inches. The structure of the quartz vein is distinctly laminar; it divides easily into tabular portions, from half an inch, to four or five inches in thickness, and these pieces have cross divisions. Hence, the quartz is broken up with great ease, especially as there is no adherence of the quartz to the slate, and therefore blasting is not needed, nor are any instruments requi- site except simple picks and crows, and other common tools. ‘The mine is, at present, approached by a single inclined plane or cov- ered way thirty one feet long in the slant, and twenty five feet deep inthe perpendicular. ‘There is another and a parallel shaft fifty feet deep, but now filled in the lower twenty feet, by earth washed in by recent rains. ‘There is an adit connecting the two shafts which slant in the direction of the vein; the adit is seventy feet long, in the entire length, and the vein is exposed through this whole extent. I had full opportunity to examine the vein at the bottom of the mine, and it is impossible that one should be found more accessible or more easily wrought. With a view to a careful examination of the proportion of gold, I caused pieces of the vein to be knocked off in several places, at distances of twelve feet. From each of these pieces, portions were broken, and being care- fully examined with a magnifier, no. traces of gold could be any where perceived. ‘They were then pounded and sifted, as in the case of the Busby mine; nine pounds were washed, and the gold was amalgamated and the amalgam decomposed by heat, precisely as in the former case. From the nine pounds of ore, a button of gold was obtained weighing eleven grains, which is in the proportion of one hundred * From which, by washing and subsidence, a good and very useful paint might probably be prepared—admitting of various shades by the application of heat— forming a strong color for coarse work, and an elegant one, if covered by copal varnish. Vout. XX XIT.—No. 1. 14 106 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. and twenty two grains for every one hundred pounds, or one bushel. This, at 4,1; cents for each grain of gold as before stated, gives $4 98 for one hundred pounds of the ore. . In another trial, three and a half pounds of the powdered ore in which no gold was visible, yielded six grains of gold, or one hundred and seventy one grains for one hundred pounds, equal in value to $6 98. A third experiment on ore in which gold was not visible, produced five grains from two pounds, equal to two hundred and fifty grains from one hundred pounds, and worth $10 21 to one hundred pounds ofore. The average of the three trials upon the ore of Moss’ mine is $7 39 to the one hundred pounds of ore; and the average of the five trials made in the two mines is &7 70. Tam assured that when a mine yields one dollar to every one hundred pounds of the ore, (as the cost of working is stated to be about one third of this sum,) such a mine is regarded as profitable, and as justifying heavy expen- ditures in machinery and in operations of deep mining. At the Walton mine which f visited and examined, the average yield has been, as stated to me by the manager, $5 92* to the one hundred pounds of ore; and two skillful gentlemen obtained from ee of that mine between twelve and thirteen dollars to the one hundred pounds, being about the maximum obtained by me from the ore of the Busby mine. I forbear to quote instances of a much larger product, stated tome as having been obtained from the Busby mine, because the result was procured by an officer of the mines, although I have no reason to question either his integrity or his skill. The average product at Fisher’s or Hughes’ mine, as stated to me at the mine by Mr. Fisher, is $3 15* for every one hundred pounds of the ore, and I infer from his statements of expenditure, that the cost is not over thirty to thirty five cents for every one hundred pounds. Comparisons can- not be made with accuracy between deposit mines and vein mines, because the expenses of working are so widely different. It may not, however, be useless to state, that at the Whitehall deposit mme, where twenty seven hands are employed, the work is profitably carri- ed on, with twenty dollars of gold obtained at present, in a day, and it is said that two cents on a bushel would yield a good return. Being dependent entirely upon information obtained since I came into the * Andnow mentioned by permission. I afterwards examined the Walton mine at another visit, and the report is annexed. Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 107 gold. region, as to the expense of working the mines, I give on this head merely the reports of others, but, I would suggest that the expense must, of course, increase as the mines are sunk deeper. It is true that experience in management aad improvement in ma- chinery, operations, and processes, will tend to diminish expense, and increase the product ; but the ore may not continue equally rich, and on the other hand it may grow richer ; this is, both ways, uncer- tain, and as no human science or skill can remove this ambiguity, it follows that mining enterprises cannot be relieved from this hazard. It is, however, wise to make estimates of expenses high, and of re- ceipts reasonably low, that the chances of disappointment may be, as far as possible, provided against. Should the trials made by me, and under my direction prove, in the event, to be a fair representa- tion of the average produce of the mines of Busby and Moss, (pro- vided also, that the expenses have been correctly reported,) it fol- lows of course, that the profits must be great. Prudence would suggest, however, that the estimate should be made at a lower rate than that which I have reported; if it were taken at one half of what was actually obtained, the yield would exceed that at Fisher’s mine, which is understood to be a very profitable one ; and if it were estimated even at one quarter, and the expenses are no greater than have been reported, the enterprise could still be profitably sustain- ed, unless the interest of capital should cast the balance the other way. - With respect to the sums paid for the mines, I am not called upon to speak, nor would it be proper that 1 should express any opinion. I would simply remark that, in my judgment, nothing could be more inauspicious to the mining interest and to the welfare of the country, than a spirit of speculation in these concerns. In an excited state of the public mind, it is rare that facts are correctly reported, or correctly viewed. ‘The speculator, who buys merely that he may sell again, is, too frequently, ignorant of the facts, and reckless also of the consequence in regard to those who may succeed him in his ob- ligations ; flattering gains from sales of stock are reported from day to day ; the property rapidly changes hands ; the public mind being morbidly excited, is of course blinded, and at no distant period, ac- cumulated ruin falls heavily upon the last in the train. This is ex- actly the opposite of that mental sobriety and moral rectitude which ought to govern men in all concerns, and especially in such transac- tions as these; it is not too much to say, that no man should either 108 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. buy or sell a mining interest, unless he can, in honor and conscience, declare that he believes it can be profitably carried on. So far as I have had opportunity to observe the gold mining region of Virginia, I am convinced, that in several places (and it is proba- ble their number will be increased) the explorations may be prose- cuted with advantage, while in other cases they will prove losing concerns. The small proprietors of land should not be encouraged to abandon their regular industry for gold hunting, and even when capitalists associate for these objects, (which is certainly the more proper course,) prudent men will be slow to pledge more than they can Jose without embarrassment, certainly without ruin. In recurring again to the mines of Busby and Moss, I have to re- mark that the land, (consisting as I am informed, of one hundred and eighty three acres—fifty three to Busby’s, and one hundred and thirty to Moss’, lying in tracts nearly contiguous,) is well wooded with valuable timber, and well watered for the purposes of mining or of agriculture. The soil is thin, like most of that in the gold re- gion ; but the physical features of the country are favorable to mi- ning operations, the surface being formed in gentle swells; and good roads may be constructed at a moderate expense. At Moss’ mine, about one thousand bushels of ore have been raised. It is due to the gentlemen charged with the management of these mines to say, that I have been most favorably impressed by their intelligence, zeal, and candor ; and I with pleasure acknowledge my obligations to them for their uniform kindness, and judicious and useful co-operation du- ring this investigation. I am not willing to omit a deserved commendation to the master miners, both here, and at several other mines which | have visited:; comparing them with persons of their profession with whom I was formerly conversant, in some of the most important mining districts of England, I am justified in saying that they appear deserving of confidence. Mr. Forrest Shepherd, a gentleman who has had much acquaint- ance with the gold mines of Virginia, being present at the examina- tion whose result is given above, and being requested by me to aid in the processes, states in a published letter, that at Moss’ vein he saw the ore broken from the rock—that he counted every fragment, and broke portions in numerous places from these same fragments in order to obtain a fair average. ‘This ore, he states, was pounded Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 109 under his eye, and a part of it weighed by his own hands, and that the results given above, he believes to have been in all respects cor- rect, both with regard to the veins and the gold obtained from them. The Walton Mine, in Louisa County, forty miles S. W. of Frede- ricksburgh, and belonging to the Walton Mining Company. The tract of land in which this mine is situated, contains one hun- dred and four acres. The surface is formed in fine swells and de- pressions, presenting hills, bounded by large curves, and vallies of similar shape. ‘The soil is considered as good for agriculture ; much better than the average of land in the gold region. There are sev- eral good springs of water, and several branches or rivulets quite sufficient for the washing of gold, but not sufficiently copious for driving powerful machinery. The land is clothed mainly with for- est ; the principal kinds of trees are oak of several varieties, pine, hickory, and maple: a good proportion of the trees are large, and well fitted for building or machinery, while the rest of the growth is good for fuel and other ordinary purposes. ‘There are passable roads, communicating with the tract in every direction: some of them are good, and ali are capable of being made so with moderate expense. The geological structure is similar to that which pervades the gold region of Virginia generally, as far as I have seen it. In this region also slaty rocks form the basis of the country ; their strata are highly inclined: they are not however placed on their edges, as in some parts of the gold country, nor dropped down to a position approach- ing the horizontal, as in other parts. At the place where the mine is opened, the strata form an angle of about thirty five decrees with the perpendicular, and their bearing, by compass, is considerably to the east of north. Several veins of quartz accompany the strata of slate, it is prestmed quite through the territory. This is known to be the fact with the vein that is wrought, and it cannot be reasonably doubted that this is the fact also with all the others, whose knobs, evidently in place, and whose scattered ruins appear here and there above ground, although generally covered by forest, by soil, and by vegetable deposits. ‘These veins are distinctly traced in the tract south, and it is believed, also, in that north ; so that the land is fully and distinctly marked by the characteristic features of the gold re- gion. ‘There are also rich deposits and veins of gold in its immedi- 110 Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. ate vicinity, as appears from: the following facts, communicated to me by persons of good information, although not by the parties themselves. Tinder’s mine lies about two miles northeast from that of Walton. It has been explored, chiefly by surface diggings, and washings of the gravel, &c. The excavations of the surface are numerous and extensive, and within four or five years they have obtained forty thousand dollars, about seven thousand dollars of which was from a single depot. A tract belonging to Jenkins and others, lies between Walton’s and 'Tinder’s, and also immediately beyond the latter; from the Jenkins tract, by working ina careful and economical way, they obtain from two to three thousand dollars per annum, and Jenkins is in the habit of substituting a fall-working in the gold, for which he obtains one thousand dollars annually, as a compensation for his to- bacco crop, which he relinguishes in favor of the gold. Within a few days, they have discovered on Jenkins’ land, a vein of quartz, which is very rich in gold. A good observer, a master miner, in- formed me, that he saw in this vein of quartz, pieces of gold project- ing from it, as large as the first joint of a finger. In consequence of this discovery, so much curiosity and cupidity have been excited, that they have been compelled to inundate the vein, until measures can be adopted for its adequate protection. At Boxley’s, near 'Tin- der’s, they obtained, the first year, nine thousand dollars, and have probably accumulated twice that amount of gold in the whole. At Baker’s, near Walton’s, they gathered, with their own people, about five or six hundred dollars in one year. At William Goodwin’s, a little south of the Walton Mine, they procured, with their own hands, about one thousand dollars, and at Childs’, one mile and a half south- west, they got three hundred pennyweights. ‘Thus it appears that there is much gold in the immediate neighborhood of the Walton Mine; there are also many places not named above, and not far off, where gold has been obtained by washing; and measures, as | am informed, are about being taken, to open some other places in this region, more effectually. These facts are of great value, as indicating that the tract now under consideration must also be auriferous, and were its real char- acter in this respect unknown, we could scarcely doubt that it must resemble its neighbors. But we are not left to conjecture. Four years have now elapsed since diggings and washings for surface gold were commenced here upon three branches, (small streams,) and the Remarks on the Gold Mines of Virginia. 111 precious metal, being discovered in all these situations, as well as in various other places upon the land, the explorations were, for some time prosecuted with considerable energy, as may be inferred from the diggings in many places, and more especially from the great piles of gravel now lying near the principal branch. ‘They remain still, to a great extent unwashed, and it is believed they would. pay well, if subjected throughout, as portions of them have already been, to the rocker and to amalgamation. This will probably be done at some future period of more leisure and convenience. ‘That it has not been already done, must doubtless be attributed to the discovery very soon after the surface gold had been found, of the rich vein of auriferous quartz, which, with its contents, will now claim our atten- tion. This vein has the same bearing and inclination as those already described in connection with the slaty rocks, between which it lies. The vein is over one foot in thickness. ‘The quartz is, in general, firm and compact; occasionally it is porous and interspersed with iron pyrites and a dark iron ore, probably proceeding from their de- composition. ‘The slaty rock is much decomposed—or as it is term- ed by the miners—