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THE 


EDINBURGH NEW 


se 


PHILOSO [ICAL JOURNAL, 


[ey 


BITING A VIEW. OF THE 
7 


PROGRESSIVE DISCO “AND IMPROVEMENTS 


IN THE 


SCIENCES AND THE ARTS. 


CONDUCTED BY 


ROBERT JAMESON, 


REGIUS PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, LECTURER ON MINERALOGY, AND KEEPER OF 
THE MUSEUM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH 5 


Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh ; Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy ; of the 
Royal Society of Sciences of Denmark ; of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin ; of the Royal Academy of 
Naples ; of the Geological Society of France; Honorary Member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta; Fellow of 
the Royal Linnean, and of the Geological Societies of London ; of the Royal Geological Society of Corawall, and 
of the Cambridge Philosophical Society ; of the Antiquarian, Wernerian Natural History, Royal Medical, Royal 
Physical, and Horticultural Societies of Edinburgh ; of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland ; of 
the Antiquarian and Literary Society of Perth; of the Statistical Society of Glasgow ; of the Royal Dublin 
Society ; of the York, Bristol, Cambrian, Whitby, Northern, and Cork Institutions ; of the Natural History So- 
ciety of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle ; of the Imperial Pharmaceutical Society of Petersburgh ; of 
the Natural History Society of Wetterau ; of the Mineralogical Society of Jena ; of the Royal Mineralogical So- 
ciety of Dresden ; of the Natural History Society of Paris ; of the Philomathic Society of Paris ; of the Natural 
History Society of Calvados ; of the Senkenberg Society of Natural History ; of the Society of Natural Sciences 
and Medicine of Heidelberg ; Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York ; of 
the New York Historical Society ; of the American Antiquarian Society ; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia ; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York ; of the Natural History Society of Montreal ; of 
the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts ; of the Gevlavieal 
Society of Pennsylvania ; of the Boston Society of Natural History of the United States ; of the South African 
Institution of the Cape of Good Hope ; Honorary Member of the Statistical Society of France ; Member of the 
Entomological Society of Stettin, &c. &c. &e. 


JANUARY.... APRIL 1848. 


VOL. XXXIV. 
TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY. 


EDINBURGH : 


ADAM & CHARLES BLACK, EDINBURGH: 
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN & LONGMANS, LONDON. 


1843. 


PRINTED BY NEILL & cO., EDINBURGH. 


Art. I. 


II. 


ITI. 


IV. 


jo 


Vil. 


Vill. 


XI. 


CONTENTS. 


Fourth Letter on the Glacier Theory to Profes- 
sor Jameson. By Professor For3eEs, , 

On the Salt Steppe south of Orenburg, and on 
a remarkable Freezing Cavern. By Ropve- 
rick Impey Murcuison, Esq. Pres. G. S. 

Extracts from a Letter addressed by Sir J. 
Herschel, Bart., F.G.S., to Mr Murchison, ex- 
planatory of the Phenomena of the Freezing 
Cave of Illetzkaya Zatchita, 

On some Phenomena observed on Glaciers, na 
on the internal Temperature of large masses 
of Ice or Snow, with some remarks on the na- 
tural Ice-caves which occur below the limit 
of perpetual snow. By Sir Jonn Herscuet, 
Bart., F.G.S., &c. 


. Analysis of Caporcianite and Phakolite, tire new 


Minerals of the Zeolite Family. By THomas 
Anverson, M.D. 

M. Doyere’s Experiments on the Riévivifieation 
of animals of the types Tardigrada and Ro- 
tifera, ‘ 

On the light of the Laanphits Ttalica. By M. 
W. PETERs, 

On Coral Islands and Heetiy 4 as described by 
Mr Darwin. By Cuartes Macraren, Esq. 
F.R.S.E. Communicated by the Author, 

Remarks on the preceding paper, in a Letter 
from CuarLEs Darwin, Esq.,to Mr Macta- 
REN, 


. Description of an tt dutpiroved Tilting Avppatitas 


for emptying Waggons at the Termini of Rail- 
ways, Shipping-Places, &c., as used at the 
Magheramorne Lime-Works, Ireland. With 
a Plate. By James Tuomson, Esq., F.R.S.E., 
M.R.I.A., F.R.S.S.A., Civil Engineer, Glas- 
gow. Communicated by the en Scottish 
Society of Arts, : 
Description of the Elaps Jamesoni, a New Spe- 
cies of Serpent from Demerara. By THomas 


Page 


1 


14 


17 


21 


30 


33 


47 


50 


XII. 


XITT. 


og 


XVI. 


XVII. 


MVE 


XIX. 


XXI. 


CONTENTS, 
Page 
S. Trait, M.D., F.R.S.E., M.W.S., &e. Com- 
municated by the Author, 2 coe 


On the Application of the Hypothesis of M. 
Venetz to the Erratic Phenomena ofthe North; 
in a Letter addressed to M. Macaire, Counsel- 
lor of State. By M. Jean pe CHARPENTIER, 

Fragments of Philosophy. By Sir Witiiam 
Hamitron, Bart., Professor of Logic and Me- 
taphysics in the University of Edinburgh, . 74 

Notices of Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Bri- 
tain, andespecially in Scotland, withinferences 
suggested by these notices as to the causes of 
the Shocks. By Davin Mirng, Esq., F.R.S.E., 
M.W.S., F.G.S., &c. Communicated by the 
ee g 5 mie si 


or 
cr 


- Remarks on Bariemchess in British India, con- 


tained in a Letter addressed to Davin MILNE, 

Esq. by Lieutenant R. Bairp Smirn, Bengal 

Engineers, Assistant Superintendent of the 

Doab Canal, Saharunpore, . : . 167. 
Remarks on two points in the Theory of Gla- 

ciers. By M. Evie pe Beaumont, Member of 

the Royal Academy of Sciences, : . 110 
On the Slopes of the Upper Limit of the Erra- 

tic Zone, and on their Comparison with the 

Slopes of Glaciers and of River-Courses. By 

M. Etre pe Beaumont, Member of the Royal 

Academy of Sciences, . > Ais 
Description of the genus Gna and of Two 

New Genera nearly ailied to it. By Henry 

D. S. Goopsir, Esq. Communicated by the 

Author. (No. V.) With Three Plates, 119 
Description of a Self-Registering Tide-Gauge, 

invented by Mr Jonn Maxton, Engineer, 

Leith. Witha Plate. Communicated by the 

Royal Scottish Society of Arts, ‘ - 130 


. Historical Remarks on the first Discovery of the 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. By Professor 
Forses, Corresponding Member of the Royal 
Institute of France. Communicated by the 
Author, . : = ‘ 133 
On the Natural-Historical Writings of the 
Chinese. By M.Scuort, . : - 153 


CONTENTS. 


iil 


Page 


XXII. The Origin and History of the Red Race accord- 
ing to Mr Brabrorp, Fs 


XXIII. Mean Results of the Thermometer, and dive 
tity of Rain, for 1841, at Alford in Aberdeen- 
shire—about lat. 57° 13’ N.; 420 feet above 
the level of the sea, and 26 miles inland from 
the sea at Aberdeen. Also, the number of 
fair days, and of days on which rain or snow 
fell, more or less. By the Rev. James Far- 
quHarson, LL.D., F.R.S. Communicated by 
the Author, . 


XXIV. Abstract of micas Observations for 
1841, made at Applegarth Manse, Dumfries- 
shire. By the Rev. Wu. Dunbar, D.D. Com- 
municated by the Author, . 


XXV. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
Continued from Vol. XX XIII. p. 197, 
On the Action of Water on Lead. By Dr Cunis- 
TISON, : ‘ 
Geological Notes on the rene of Dauphiné, By 
Professor ForBEs, 3 
On the Ultimate Secreting Structure of Animals. 
By Joun Goopsir, Esq., 
Results of Experiments on the Specific Heat of 
Certain Rocks. By M. ReeNnavutt, ° 
On the Effect of Snow in apparently increasing 
the Force of Solar Radiation. By Professor 
Forses, . . ; : . 
On the Structure, Formation, and Movement of 
' Glaciers; and the probable cause of their for- 
mer extension and subsequent disappearance. 
By James Srark, M.D., 2 
On the several ages at which the leaves of the 
Assam and China Tea-plants are used for mak- 
ing the different commercial varieties of Black 
and Green Tea. By Dr CHRISTISON, . 
XXVI. Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History 
Society. Continued from Vol. XXIII. p. 198, 
XXVII. Screntiric INTELLIGENCE— 
GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 


1. M. Elie de Beaumont on the former low Tempera- 
ture of European Winters, 


2, Determination of the Amount of Depression of the 
Dexd Sea below the level of the Mediterranean, 


155 


176 


176 


iV 


3 


— 


a> ow 


CONTENTS. 


On the Grooves and Polished Surfaces at the con- 
tact of Ancient Secondary Strata, . 


- Geological Maps of Piedmont, &c., 
. Humboldt’s “ Fragmens Asiatiques,” . 
. Heights of Localities in the Holy Land ascertained 


Barometrically by Russegger, . 


MINERALOGY AND CHEMISTRY. 


7. Dr Traill’s Collection, ‘ ¥ 

8. Potash and Lime in Flint, . : . 
9. Amphodelite, . . 

10. Andesine, ‘ F id . 

11, Arquerite, ‘ 

12. Bromide of Silver in Mexico, . 

13. Bromide of Silver in Chili, . . : 
14. Bamlite, 3 E ° 

15. Calstron-baryte, 2 3 . . 
16. Discovery of Euclase in Connecticut, North Ame- 

TICK, : : 

17. New Locality of Geokronite, 

18. Greenovite, . : , 

19. Blue Colour of Lapis Lazuli, 
20. Pennine, 


30. 


XXVIII. New Publications, A 
XXIX. List of Patents, . 


Exrarom in M. Studer’s pa 
154, line 10 from bottom ; for “ that we reco 


. Platina in the Auriferous Sand of the Rhine, 

. Villarsite, 

. Xenolite, : : : 

. Sulphuric and Molybdic Acids, i 

- Caleareous Rocks pierced by Helices, : 

. On the Residuum of the Combustion of the Dia- 


mond, By M. PetzHouprt, 
MISCELLANEOUS, 


. Indian Isinglass, : : ‘ 
» Ancient Fable of Colossal Ants producing Gold, 
- On the Transformations which have been produced 


in Turf by the Essence of Turpentine, or by a Com- 
position similar to it. By M. Forcunammer, 
On the Preservation of Flowers, 


Page 
178 
179 
179 


per on the Geological Structure of the Alps, vol. xxxiii. p. 
gnise it neither mineralogically nor geologi- 


cally as the analogue of the macigno of the Apennines 5” vead * that we recognise it both 


mineralogically and geologically as the analogue of the 


error was in the original French memoir, 


macigno of the Apennines.” 


This 


CONTENTS. 


Art. I. Sketch of the Writings and Philosophical Cha- 
racter of Augustin Pyramus Decandolle, Pro- 
fessor of Natural History at the Academy of 
Geneva, &c., &c. By Cuartes Dauseny, 
M.D., F.R.S., &ce., Professor of Chemistry and 
of Botany in the University of Oxford. Com- 
municated to this Journal by the Author, 

Tabular View of the Cruciferz, distributed accord- 
ing to their Cotyledons and Seed- Vessels, 

II. Observations on Subterranean Temperature in 
the Mines of Cornwall and Devon. By W. J. 
Henwoonp, C.E., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c., &c., &e., 

III. Summary of Results on the Fossil Animals of the 
Chalk Formation, still found in a living state. 
By Professor EuRENBERG of Berlin, 


IV. On a method of Registering the Force actually 
transmitted through a Driving-Belt. By Ep- 
WARD SanG, Esq., F.R.S.S.A., Professor of 
Civil Engineering, College, Manchester. Com- 
municated ne the ui Scottish Sone of 
Arts, ‘ 

V. On the English Arce of the Meridian. ‘By WI1L- 
LIAM GaLBraitH, Esq., M.A., Vice-President 
of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, F.R.A.S., 
&c. Communicated by the Royal Scottish 
Society of Arts, P 

I. Of the Bases, . 
II. Trigonometrical Heals, 
III. General Remarks, 
Additional Note, 


Page 


197 


224 


246 


256 


261 


263 
265 
267 
269 
274 


ii 


Wile 


VALE. 


VIII. 


IX. 


XI. 


XII. 


XITl. 


XIV. 


CONTENTS. 


Description of a Portable Diorama, which may 
be viewed by a number of persons at a time. 
By Georce Tair, Esq., Advocate, F.R.S.S.A. 
With a Plan. Communicated by the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts, 


Description of a Marine Salinometer for the pur- 
pose of indicating the Density of Brine in the 
Boilers of Marine Steam-Engines. Invented by 
J. Scorr Russer1, M.A., F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A., 
Civil Engineer. (With two Plates.) Commu- 
nicated by the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 

Observations on the Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and 
Vieuna. By Marniz Hamitton, Esq., M.D., 
late of Peru. Communicated by the Author, 

Vicuna and Guanaco, 
Llama and Alpaca, 


On the Existence of Raised Beaches in the neigh- 
bourhood of St Andrews. By R. CHAMBERS, 
Esq., F.R.S.E., With a Plate. Communicated 
by the Author, 


. Brief remarks on the Expediency of Forming 


Harbours of Refuge on the East Coast of Scot- 
land, between the Moray Firth and the Firth of 
Forth. “By Jonny Fremine, D.D., Professor of 
Natural Philosophy, King’s College, Aberdeen, 
F.R.S.E., Member of Wernerian Society, &c. 
Communicated by the Author, ; 

On the Formation of the Diamond. By Dr ALrEx- 
ANDER PerzHoLpT, of Dresden, 


An Attempt to determine the mean height of 
Continents. By Baron Von HumsBo.tpr, 


Notice of the Great Explosion at Dover. Con- 
tained in a Letter to the Earl of Cathcart, by 
Captain Sruart, 7th Royal Fusiliers. Com- 
municated by Lord Greenock, _ 

On the Introduction into Scotland of Granite, for 
Ornamental Purposes, by Messrs Macdonald 
and Leslie of Aberdeen. By Professor TRAILL, 


Page 


275 


278 


285 


285 
290 


298 


306 
317 


326 


337 


CONTENTS. lil 


Page 
F.R.S.E., M.W.S., &c. Communicated by the | 
Author, , : : : : 341 
XV. Researches on the Comparative pay fl of the 
Chimpanzee. By M. Vrotix, : 347 
XVI. On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. By GusTAV 
Perrer Brom, Member of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences at Drontheim, &e., . : ; 352 
XVII. £ Connection of the Physiognomy of a Country, 
with the Character of its Inhabitants, &c., ; 359 
I. Belgium, 5 A p : - 359 
II. Holland, ‘ : y 361 
III. A Midnight Scene on the Onead, : ; 362 
IV. A Scene in Norway, . - : A 363 


XVIII. Meteorological Tables for the Years 1842-1843, 364-373 
XIX. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 


Continued from last Number, p. 176, : 374 
On the Growth of the Salmon. By Mr AnpDREw 
Youne, . . : 375 
On the Geology of Boxburghehire. By Davip 
Mixnge, Esq., ; 376 


On the Property of Transmitting Light, wee 
by Charcoal and Plumbago, in fine plates and par- 
ticles. By Joun Davy, M.D., &c. P = 378 


XX. Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History 
Society. Continued from Jast Number, p. 177, 379 


XXI. Screntiric INTELLIGENCE— 


METEOROLOGY. 
1. Variation of Temperature during the. Russian 
Expedition to Khiva, . 380 
2. On the Movement and Structure of the Mer FE 
Glace of Chamouni, . ; ‘ F 380 
3. Climate of Malta, ; 382 
4, Ignis Fatuus (Will- theo Wars Jack-with-a- 
Lantern, Spunkie) observed near Bolgona, 383 
GEOLOGY. 
5. Geological Chronometer, : : : 385 
6. Gold Mines in Ireland, . : ‘ : 386 
MINERALOGY. 
7. Large mass of Native Gold found in the Oural 
Mountains, . 3 : : - 386 
8. Fahlerz containing Mercury, from Hungary, . 388 


iv CONTENTS. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
9. Egyptian Bronze, ° 4 : 
10. On the Production of the Guano of Commerce, 


11. Visit of Columbus to Iceland, in 1477, and his 
Conyersations there with learned men, 


12, Ethnological Society, 
XXII. The Great Comet, 
XXIII. New Publications, 
XXIV. List of Patents for Inventions, granted for Scot- 
land from 23d December 1842 to 22d March 
1843, inclusive, . A < 


XXV. INDEX, 


Page 


388 
389 
391 
392 
393 
394 


397 
401 


THE 


EDINBURGH NEW 


PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 


Fourth Letter on the Glacier Theory, to Professor Jameson. 
By Professor Fores. 


Geneva, 5th October 1842. 


My Dear Sir,—Since my last letter from Zermatt, I have 
had an opportunity of examining the glaciers on different sides 
of Monte Rosa, particularly those of Lys and Macugnaga, and 
those near the Valley of Saas; and on my return to Cha- 
mouni earlyin September, I devoted a day toeach of the glaciers 
of Trient and Argentiére, before resuming my station at the 
Montanyert, where I remained until almost the last days of 
the month. 

What I think it most interesting now to add as supplemen- 
tary to my former statements, is not a description of these 
various glaciers, but, with particular reference to the Mer de 
Glace, to mention what the extended period of examination 
which I have been able to give to it, has enabled me to con- 
clude beyond what is contained in my previous letters, re- 
specting the Theory of glacier-movement generally. Having 
accurately observed the condition and motions of this glacier 
throughout by far the greater part of the season at which it, 

VOL. XX1V. NO. LXVviI.—sanuary 1843. A ’ 


2 Professor Forbes’ Account of his recent 


or indeed any glacier is easily accessible, or sufficiently free 
from snow for accurate observations,—having also, especially 
during the month of September, observed it under every cir- 
cumstance of weather and a great range of atmospheric tem- 
perature, I believe that I have obtained the chief data neces- 
sary for basing a theory of its motion, upon sound mechanical 
principles. The changes which I have witnessed upon its 
surface, during the period of above three months during which I 
have studied it, are so great and remarkable, and in some re- 
spects so unexpected, as to be of capital importance in any 
theory which may be proposed. 

I was very greatly struck with the change, in the general 
appearance of the glacier during my absence, from the 10th 
August to the 10th September. I left it comparatively high 
and tumid in the centre, at no great depth below the arrée of 
its natural boundary, the moraine by its side ; and fissured by 
crevasses, deep and rather narrow, with well-defined vertical 
walls.—On my return, the icy mass had most visibly sunk in 
its bed ; it seemed to me to have a wasted, cadaverous look ; 
the moraines protruded far higher than before from its sides ; 
and the ice itself clinging to the moraine at a considerable 
height above its general level, was covered by the fallen masses 
of stone and gravel which had rolled down the inclined plane 
formed by this central subsidence. The whole resembled 
somewhat the Wye, or some of those narrow tidal rivers 
whose muddy banks are left exposed by the retreat of the ocean. 
That this subsidence was in a good measure occasioned by the 
melting of the ice in contact with the bottom of the valley 
in which it lies, and by the falling together of the parts in a 
soft and yielding state, owing to a complete infiltration of the 
whole mass with water during the warm season of the year, 
was proved by a variety of circumstances which I shall not 
stop to detail. I may mention however, that the crevasses were 
wider but less deep and regular,—excessively degraded on the 
side to which the mid-day sun had free access, and in many 
places where several crevasses nearly joined, the icy partitions 
had sunk gradually towards a level, and thus rendered the 
fissured parts of the glacier more easily traversed than at an 
earlier part of the season. It is plain, too, that the fact of the 


Observations on Glaciers. 3 


more rapid advancement of the centre of the glacier mentioned 
in my earliest letter, implies a subsidence of that part, and a 
consequent drain from the lateral ice, to supply the vacuity 
which it leaves. 

It will at once be understood that the change of which I 
speak in the external figure of the ice, its crevasses and ine- 
qualities, is an effect due to the season, and must be repeated 
every year. Were the summer considerably prolonged, the 
annihilation of the glacier would take place from a simple con- 
tinuation of the process, namely, the increased velocity of the 
central part, the exaggeration of the crevasses in width, and 
the falling of their walls, or rather the gradual subsidence of 
the elevations, softened by the warmth, into the hollows which 
separate them, whilst the moraine would be left in all its 
continuity as a witness of the original boundary of the glacier. 
The ice must possess within itself some reproductive power 
(if the phrase may be permitted,) to restore it in spring to the 
level from whence it had descended ; and since crevasses thus 
form, extend, and again vanish,—perhaps in a single season 
but certainly in a very few years,—we must consider the glacier 
as a much more plastic body than it has commonly been ima- 
gined. 

I state it, then, as a result of observation the most direct, 
that, in the early part of summer, the glacier level is highest, 
and the fissures least numerous. The latter form and widen 
especially during the months of June and July; and, in the 
beginning of August, the glacier is most difficult to traverse, 
(generally speaking), owing to the multitude and sharpness of 
these cracks ; but later, the prolonged sunshine and autumnal 
rains, not only reduce the ice to water, and thus carry off a part 
of its surface, but leave the remainder in a softened and plastic 
state, in which the tendency is to a general subsidence of all 
the elevations, whilst the prolonged excess of velocity of the 
central above the lateral parts, causes an increased hollow- 
ness and subsidence there, and produces a great fissuring, the 
lateral ice still clinging to the moraines, which it is compelled 
gradually to uncover. Before spring, by some process which 
it remains to explain, the level of the ice is restored (supposing 
the glacier not to be permanently wasting). 


4 Professor Forbes’ Account of his recent 


Another mode of considering the successive conditions of a 
eertain portion of the glacier, will lead also to the admission 
of the ever-varying state of its aggregation and subdivision. 
In a glacier, like the Mer de Glace of Chamouni, which pre- 
sents a great many and well-marked “ accidents” of surface 
in its different parts, it is yet perfectly well known, that, though 
continually moving and changing, the distribution of these 
“ accidents” is sensibly invariable. Every year, and year af- 
ter year, the water courses follow the same lines of direction, 
—their streams are precipitated into the heart of the glacier 
by vertical funnels called “ moulins ;” at the very same 
points, the fissures, though forming very different angles with 
the axis or sides of the glacier at different points of its length, 
opposite the same point are always similarly disposed,—the 
same parts of the glacier, relatively to fixed rocks, are every 
year passable, and the same parts are traversed by innume- 
rable fissures. Yet the solid ice of one year is the fissured 
ice of the next, and the very ice which this year forms the 
walls of a “ moulin,” will next year be some hundred feet far- 
ther forward and without perforation, whilst the cascade re- 
mains immovable, or sensibly so, with reference to fixed ob- 
jects around. All these facts, attested by long and invariable 
experience, prove that the ice of the glaciers is insensibly and 
continually moulding itself under the influence of external 
circumstances, of which the principal, be it remarked, is its 
own weight affecting its figure, in connection with the sur- 
faces over which it passes, and between which it struggles on- 
wards. [Ht is, in this respect, absolutely comparable to the 
water of a river, which has here its deep pools, here its con- 
stant eddy, continually changing in substance, yet ever the 
same in form. 

With reference to the yet more essential modifications of 
structure, | mean the veined structure which I formerly de- 
seribed ; I shewed in my last letter, that it is equally muta- 
ble and subjected to the momentary conditions of external re- 
straint ; and, that far from being an original structure in the 
higher part of the glacier, variously modified in its subsequent 
course, but never annihilated, it owes its existence at any 
moment to the conditions of varying velocity indifferent parts 


Observations on Glaciers. 5 


of the transverse section of the glacier, and that it is not un- 
frequently entirely destroyed in one part of the glacier, to be 
renewed in a totally different direction in another. A mole- 
cule of ice is as passive and structureless a unit as a molecule 
of water, so far as it has not that structure impressed by some- 
thing external at the time. Like the water in the river, my- 
riads succeed one another, and might be mistaken for the 
same. 

Few words will suffice to shew how intimately what I have 
stated is connected with the first rudiments of a theory of gla- 
cier motion, which I endeavoured to sketch in my last letter, 
and tbe truth of which all that I have since seen has tended 
greatly to confirm. The centre of the glacier stream is urged 
onwards by pressure from above (how caused we shall im- 
mediately consider), which is there resisted less than at the 
sides and bottom, owing to the comparative absence of fric- 
tion. The lateral parts are dragged onwards by the mo- 
tion of the centre, and move also, but it is quite compatible 
with this idea of semifluid motion, that the bottom of the 
glacier should remain frozen to its bed, as some writers 
have supposed to be the case, though I am far from as- 
serting this to be the fact, or even supposing it probable. 
Why, then, are the fissures generally vertical, and also where 
a glacier is most regular, simply ¢ransverse, and not con- 
vex towards the lower extremity ? The first of these ques- 
tions had always till lately appeared to me a serious diffi- 
eulty. The fact stated in the second, combined with the posi- 
tive certainty that the centre of a glacier moves faster than 
its sides, in the ratio frequently of 5 to 3, shews that an an- 
swer must be found, and, therefore, that it offers no insur- 
mountable objection. The explanation is to be sought in the 
continually varying condition of the glacier, the perpetual re- 
newal of the crevasses, the action of water in tending to pre- 
serve verticality, and the really small variation of velocity of 
different parts of the ice towards the centre of a glacier of im- 
mense depth. From these circumstances, it follows that a 
crevasse is either renewed or altogether extirpated before its 
yerticality is sensibly effected. For the same reason, a stick 


several feet long, inserted vertically in the ice, remains sensi- 


6 Professor Forbes’ Account of his recent 


bly vertical so long as it stands at all; for the velocity of the 
surface is sensibly the same as that at 10 or 20, or probably 
even 100 feet deep in most glaciers. It is only near the bot- 
tom or bed that the velocity is materially affected, as I have 
found also, that, in respect to breadth, it is in the immediate 
neighbourhood of the sides that the velocity diminishes rapid- 
ly, and that, for half its breadth in the centre, the velocity does 
not vary by more than from j, to J; of its amount. It is 
farther worthy of notice, that whenever a glacier is of no great 
thickness, and, at the same time, highly inclined, that is, in 
circumstances calculated to produce a great difference between 
the motions of points of the glacier in a vertical line, there 
the fissures are not transverse but radiated, as in almost all 
glaciers of the second order, and, therefore, the fissures are 
not liable to distortion. 

I might put it rather as a direct result of observation than 
as a hypothesis, that the motion of a glacier resembles that of 
a viscid fluid, not being uniform in all parts of the trans- 
verse section, but the motion of the parts in contact with the 
walls being determined mainly by the motion of the centre ; 
but it yet remains to be shewn what is the cause of the pres- 
sure which conveys the motion, whether it is the mere weight 
of the semifluid mass, or the dilatation of the head of the glacier 
pushing onwards. The answer to this question involves the 
fate of the rival theories of De Saussure and De Charpentier. 
I still entertain the same difficulties with respect to both, 
which I have stated in an article in the Edinburgh Review ; 
but these difficulties amount, I think, to a proof of insufiicien- 
cy, if taken in connection with the observations which I have 
made this summer. On the one hand, if it were possible that 
the glacier could slide by the mere action of gravity in a trough 
inclined only 3, or 4, or 5 degrees, it is probable that one of two 
things would happen ; either it would slide altogether with an 
accelerated velocity into the valley beneath, or else it would move 
by fits and starts, being stayed by obstacles until these were over- 
come by the melting of the ice beneath, or by the accumulated 
weight of snow above and behind. Now, neither of these 
things happen; the glacier moves on day and night, or from 
day to day, with a continuous regulated motion, which, 


Observations on Glaciers. | 


I feel certain, could not take place were the sliding theory 
true. 

But if possible, still stronger, as well as more multiplied, 
objections are to be found to the theory of dilatation, and I 
trust I shall not be accused of levity in thus, as it were, in a 
few lines, dismissing a theory which has so much prima facie 
plausibility to recommend it, and which has been maintained 
with so much ingenuity by men such as Scheuchzer, De Char- 
pentier, and Agassiz. It is essential to the aim of this letter, 
that I state briefly the grounds of the conclusions at which I 
have arrived, whilst it is equally essential that my observa- 
tions should be confined within small compass. In another 
place I shall give them all the development that may be re- 
quisite. 

Summarily, then (1.) The motion of the glacier, in its several 
parts, does not appear to follow the law which the dilatation 
theory would require. It has been shewn (Ed. Rev., April 1842, 
p- 77.) that the motion ought to vanish near the origin of the 
glacier, and increase continually towards its lower extremity. 
L have found the motion of the higher part of the Mer de Glace 
to differ sometimes very little from that several leagues far- 
ther down; whilst in the middle, owing to the expansion of 
the glacier in breadth, its march was slower than in either of 
the other parts. (2.) Whilst I admit that the glacier is, dur- 
ing summer, infiltrated with water in all or most of its thick- 
ness (a point on which I had last year great doubts), 1 feel 
quite confident that, during some months of the year during 
which the glacier is in most rapid motion, no congelation takes 
place in the mass of the ice beyond a depth of a very few 
inches, much less during the cold of each night, and least of 
all, at ail times, as appears to be now the opinion held upon 
the subject. Whilst I say that I am confident of this, I will 
state one proof. Less than ten days since I traversed the Mer 
de Glace up to the higher part of the Glacier de Lechaud, 
whilst it was covered with snow to a depth of six inches at 
Montanvert, and three times as much in the higher part. It 
was snowing at the time, and for a week the glacier had been 
in the same state nearly, the thermometer having fallen in the 
mean while to 20° Fahr. Yet I had abundant evidence that 


8 Professor Forbes’ Account of his recent 


the effect of the frost had not penetrated farther into the ice 
than it might be expected to have done into the earth under 
the same circumstances. All the superficial rills were indeed 
frozen over ; there were no cascades in the “ moulins;” all 
was as still as it could be in mid-winter ; yet even on the Gla- 
cier de Lechaud, my wooden poles, sunk to a depth of less 
than a foot in the ice, were quite wet, literally standing in 
water, and consequently unfrozen to the walls; and in the 
hollows beneath the stones of the moraines, by breaking the 
crust of ice, pools of unfrozen water might be found almost 
on the surface. Is it possible, then, that the mere passing 
chill of a summer night, or the mere cold of the ice itself at 
all times, can produce the congelation which has been so much 
insisted on ? 

But (3), What was the effect of the congelation, trifling as it 
was, upon the motion of the glacier? So sharp and sudden a 
cold succeeding summer weather, must inevitably, it seems to 
me, were this theory true, have produced an instantaneous ac- 
celeration of the mean motion of the glacier. But the con- 
trary was the fact ; the diurnal motion fell rather short of its 
previous value, and so soon as the severe weather was past, 
and the little congelation which had taken place thawed, and 
the snow reduced to water, than the glacier, saturated in all 
its pores, resumed its march nearly as in the height of sum- 
mer. 

(4.) It has been inferred from the dilatation theory that whilst 
the surface of the glacier continually wastes, it at the same 
time heaved bodily upwards from beneath, so that its absolute 
level is unchanged. My experiments, as well as the most 
ordinary observation (as has been already remarked) disprove 
this hypothesis. I find that between the 26th June and the 
16th September, the surface of the ice near the side of the Mer 
de Glace had lowered absolutely rwenty-Five feet 1.5 inches, 
and the centre had undoubtedly fallen more. The observa- 
tion of the waste of the surface by the protrusion of a stick 
sunk to a determinate depth in a hole, is very inaccurate, and 
gives results below the truth. 

I am perfectly ready to admit, with M. de Charpentier, that 
the congelation of the infiltrated water of glaciers is an im- 


Observations on Glaciers. 9 


portant part of their functions ; only, I conceive that it occurs 
but once a year to any effective extent, instead of daily or con- 
tinually, as he supposes. Every thing which I have seen on 
the glacier, during cold weather and when covered with snow, 
confirms the idea I have always entertained, that the progress 
of congelation in the mass of the glacier is very similar to that 
of a mass of moist earth, and that, therefore, the daily varia- 
tions of temperature can make no sensible impression, with 
respect to the mass of the infiltrated ice. The prolonged cold 
of winter must, however, produce a very sensible effect ; and 
considering that the temperature of the mass is never above 
32°, it may be expected that the congelation of the water in 
eapillary fissures in ice will, in the course of months of tran- 
quillity, reach a great depth. I apprehend that there is only 
an annual congelation, and that its effect is not to move the 
glacier onwards by sliding down its bed—for that the friction 
of so enormous a body seems evidently to render impossible— 
but (what Mr Hopkins has very well shewn is the only alter- 
native, and which he has used as an argument against Char- 
pentier’s theory) to dilate the ice in the direction of Jeast re- 
sistance, that is, vertically, and consequently to increase its 
thickness. The tendency of such a force would, therefore, 
be to restore during the winter the thickness of ice lost during 
the summer ; and in those winters which are less severe, a less 
depth of ice being frozen, a less expansion would occur, and a 
permanent diminution of the glacier would result. Nothing 
can be more certain than the fact, so well stated by Charpen- 
tier in his 10th section, that the glacier does not owe its in- 
crease to the snow of avalanches, nor indecd to any snow which 
falls on the greater part of its surface. 

In conclusion, the admission of semifluid motion produced 
by the weight of the ice itself, appears to explain the chief 
facts of glacier-movement, viz. (1.) That it is more rapid at 
the centre than at the sides; (2.) For the most part, most 
rapid near the lower extremity of glaciers, but varying rather 
with the transverse section than the length; (3.) That it is 
more rapid in summer than in winter, in hot than in cold 
weather, and especially more rapid after rain, and less rapid 
in sudden frosts; (4.) It is farther in conformity with what 


10 Mr Murchison on the Salt Steppe of Orenburg, 


we know of the plasticity of semisolids generally, especially 
near their point of fusion. Many examples will occur to every 
one of what they have observed of the plasticity of hard bo- 
dies,—such as sealing-wax, for example,—exposed for a long 
time to a temperature far below their melting heat, and which 
have moulded themselves to the form of the surfaces on which 
they rest. (5.) When the ice is very highly fissured, it yields 
sensibly to the pressure of the hand, having a slight determi- 
nate play, like some kinds of limestone, well known for this 
quality of flexibility. (6.) I have formerly endeavoured to 
shew how such a condition of semirigidity, combined with the 
determined movements of the glacier, accounts for the re- 
markable veined structure which pervades it. I am, my Dear 
Sir, yours very truly, 
James D. Forsss. 
Professor JAMESON. 


On the Salt Steppe south of Orenburg, and on a remarkable 
Freezing Cavern. By Roprricx Impry Munrcuison, Esq. 


Pres. G. S.* 


I. Tuis salt steppe is distinguished from many of those which 
are interposed between the Ouralsk and the Volga, or are si- 
tuated on the Siberian side of the Ural Mountains, by con- 
sisting not of an uniform flat resembling the bed of a dried up 
sea, but of wide undulations and distantly separated low ridges ; 
nevertheless it is, Mr Murchison states, a true steppe, being 
devoid of trees and little irrigated by streams. The surface 
consists of gypseous marls and sands, considered by the author 
to be of the age of the Zechstein,} and it is pierced in the 
neighbourhood of the imperial establishment of Illetzkaya 
Zatchita by small pyramids of rock salt. These protruding 


* From the Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iii. part 2, p. 695; 
having been read March 9. 1842. 

f His extensive surveys of Russia have convinced Mr Murchison, that 
rock-salt and salt springs occur in all the lower sedimentary rocks of that 
empire, from great depths below the Devonian, or old red sandstone system 
to the Zechstein and the overlying marls and sandstones. 


and on a remarkable Freezing Cavern. 11 


masses attracted the attention of the Kirghiss long before the 
country was colonized by the Russians ; but it is only during 
a short period that the great subjacent bed has been exten- 
sively worked. The principal quarries, exposed to open day, 
are situated immediately south of the establishment, and have 
a length of 300 paces, with a breadth of 200, and a depth of 
40 feet. The mass of salt thus exposed is of great purity, 
the only extraneous ingredient being gypsum, distantly dis- 
tributed in minute filaments. At first sight the salt seems to 
be horizontally stratified, but this apparent structure, Mr Mur- 
chison states, is owing to the mineral being extracted in large 
parallelopipedal blocks 12 feet long, 3 feet deep, and 3 wide. 
On the side where the quarry was first worked, the cuttings 
presented, in consequence of the action of the weather, a ver- 
tical face as smooth as glass, but at its base there was a black 
cavern formed by the water which accumulates at certain 
periods of the year, and from its roof were saline stalactites. 
The entire range of this bed of salt is not known; but the 
mass has been ascertained to extend two versts in one direc- 
tion, and Mr Murchison is of opinion that it constitutes the 
subsoil of a very large area ; its entire thickness also does not 
appear to have been determined, but it is stated to exceed 100 
feet. The upper surface of the deposit is very irregular, pe- 
netrating, in some places, as already mentioned, the overlying 
sands and marls. 

In consequence of the salt occurring at so small a depth, 
every pool supplied with springs from below is affected by it ;* 
and one of them used by the inhabitants as a bath, is so hi ghly 
charged with saline contents, that there is a difficulty in keep- 
ing the body submerged, and the skin, on leaving the pool, is 
encrusted with salt. This brine swarms with animalcules. 

II. Mr Murchison then describes the freezing cavern and 
the phenomena exhibited by it. The cave is situated at the 

perry Sites ie og Da Be Sage at Parle cl nobis uit ab bte 


* The abundance of these brine springs in various parts of Russia must 
lead, the author says, to the abandonment of Pallas’s hypothesis, that the 
saline pools and lakes are the residue of former Caspians ; though he admits, 
that some of the vast low steppes of the south formed the bottom of a former 
condition of the existing Caspian. 


12 Mr Murchison on the Salt Steppe of Orenburg, 


southern base of a hillock of gypsum at the eastern end of the 
village connected with the imperial establishment ; and it is 
one of a series of apparently, for the greater part, natural hol- 
lows, used by the peasantry for cellars or stores. The cave in 
question is, however, the only one which possesses the singu- 
lar property of being partially filled with ice in summer, and 
of being destitute of it in winter. ‘‘ Standing on the heated 
ground and under a broiling sun, I shall never forget,” says the 
author, “ my astonishment when the woman to whom the 
eavern belonged unlocked a frail door, and a volume of air so 
piercingly keen struck the legs and feet, that we were glad to 
rush into a cold bath in front of us fo equalize the effect.” 
Three or four feet within the door, and on a level with the 
village street, beer and quash were half frozen. A little fur- 
ther, the narrow chasm opened into a vault fifteen feet high, 
ten paces long, and from seven to eight wide, which seemed 
to send off irregular fissures into the body of the hillock. The 
whole of the roof and sides were hung with solid undripping 
icicles, and the floor was covered with hard snow, ice, or frozen 
earth. During the winter all these phenomena disappear, and 
when the external air is very cold, and all the country is frozen 
up, the temperature of the cave is such, that the Russians state 
they could sleep in it without their sheep-skins. 

In order to lay before the Society an explanation of these 
curious opposite conditions of the cave, the author communi- 
eated with Sir John Herschel, and received the documents 
which follow this abstract. With respect to the observations 
in Sir J. Herschel’s letter, Mr Murchison says, he does not 
conceive that the ice caverns at Teneriffe, in Auvergne and 
elsewhere, are analogous cases with that at Illetzkaya Zatchita, 
the frozen materials in the last not arising from the preserva- 
tion of the snow or ice of the preceding winter, but from the 
peculiar condition of the cavern during the hottest summer 
months. He states also, that he particularly urged the au- 
thorities at Orenburg, as well as the directors of the Salines, 
to keep accurate registers of the temperature throughout the 
year, and to ascertain precisely the changes which the cave un- 
dergoes between the extremes of summer and winter. There 


and on a remarkable Freezing Cavern. 13 


is, he observes, a very marked difference between the climate 
of the steppes south of Orenburg and that of Ekaterinburg, 
not merely due to the difference of six degrees of latitude, but 
arising also from the altitude of the position of Ekaterinburg, 
and the shortness of its varying summers, as well as from the 
long droughty summers of the steppes, which are removed 
from all mountain chains, and possess comparatively no great 
altitude above the sea. In the southern region, he conceives, 
a substratum of frozen matter cannot exist, there being a most 
extraordinary difference between the climate of Yakatsk (lat. 
621° N. long 131° E.), and that of Orenburg (lat. 51° 46’ N.), 
the winter of the former lasting eight or nine months, with 
the thermometer during long periods constantly 30°, and some- 
times 40° of Reaumur below zero.* 

Respecting the explanation that the difference of tempera- 
ture in the cave is due to the propagation through the gypsum 
hillock of the heat or cold of the preceding summer or win- 
ter season, Mr Murchison conceives that the fissures which 
ramify from the cave into the hill, present difficulties to such 
a solution. When he was on the spot, the existence of these 
fissures led him to speculate upon the possibility of the phzeno- 
mena being due to currents of air passing over subterranean 
floors of moistened rock-salt, and on the effects which would 
be produced when such currents came in contact with a stream 
of dry heated air. 


* Mr Murchison ascertained, during his journey in the North of Russia 
in 1840, that much remains to be done relative to the circumstances of the 
recorded frozen substratum of Yakatsk; and he states the following as 
points requiring attention. Ist, With the exception of about sixty feet of 
alluvial soil, the whole shaft to a depth of 350 feet, was sunk through solid 
strata of limestone two to six feet thick, and shale with a little coal ; 2dly, 
That none of the sinkings took place in summer, although renewed for 
several years, on account of the foul air generated in the shaft ; 3d/y, That 
when Admiral Wrangel descended the shaft during summer, and the sur- 
face was burnt up, he found the thermometer to stand at 6° Reaum. below 
zeTO. 


Ci) 


Extracts from a Letter addressed by Sir J. Herschel, Bart., F.GS., 
to Mr Murchison, explanatory of the Phenomena of the Freezing 
Cave of Illetzkaya Zatchita.* 


That the cold in ice caves (several of which are alluded 
to in a part of this letter not published) does nor arise from 
evaporation, is, I think, too obvious to need insisting on. It 
is equally impossible that it can arise from condensation of 
vapour, which produces heat, not cold. When the cold (by 
contrast with the external air, 7. e. the difference of tempera- 
ture) is greatest, the reverse process is going on. Caves in 
moderately free communication with the air are dry and (to 
the feelings) warm in winter, wet or damp and cold in sum- 
mer. And from the general course of this law I do not con- 
sider even your Orenburg caves exempt, since however ap- 
parently arid the external air at 120° Fahr.! may be, the mois- 
ture in it may yet be in excess and tending to deposition, when 
the same air is cooled down to many degrees beneath the 
freezing point. 

The data wanting in the case of your Orenburg cave are 
the mean temperature of every month in the year of the air, and 
of thermometers buried, say a foot deep, on two or three points 
of the surface of the hill, which, if I understand youright, is of 
gypsum and of small elevation. I do not remember the winter 
temperature of Orenburg, but for Catherinenbourg (only 5° 
north of Orenburg), the temperatures are given in Kuppfer’s 
reports of the returns from the Russian magnetic observato- 
ries. If any thing similar obtains at Orenburg, I see no diffi- 
culty in explaining your phenomenon. Rejecting diurnal fluc- 
tuations, and confining ourselves to a single summer wave of 
heat propagated downwards alternately with a single winter 
wave of cold, every point at the interior of an insulated hill, 
rising above the level plain, will be invaded by these waves in 


* From the Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iii. part 2; 
having been read March 9, 1842. 


Extracts explanatory of the Phenomena, &c. 15 


succession (converging towards the centre in the form of shells 
similar to the external surface), at times which will deviate 
further from midwinter and midsummer the deeper the point 
is in the interior, so that, at certain depths in the interior, the 
cold wave will arrive at midsummer, and the heat wave in 
midwinter. A cave (if not very wide mouthed and very ary) 
penetrating to such a point, will have its temperature deter- 
mined by that of the solid rock which forms its walls, and 
will of course be so alternately heated and cooled. As the 
south side of the hill is swnned, and the north not, the summer 
wave will be more intense on that side, and the winter less so; 
and thus, though the form of the wave will still generally cor- 
respond with that of the hill, their intensity will vary at differ- 
ent points of each wave-surface. The analogy of waves is 
not strictly that of the progress of heat in solids, but nearly 
enough so for my present purpose. 

The mean temperature for the three winter months, De- 
cember, January, February, and the three summer months, 
June, July, August, for the years 1836, 7, 8, and the mean of 
the year, are for Catherinenbourg as follows :— 


Winter. Summer. Annual Mean. 


1836 |~ 10°93 R. | + 11°90 R.- | + 1°.22R. 
1837 | — 12°90 + 12°.93 + 0°30 
1838 | — 12°.37 + 12°37 + 0°.60 


Mean | — 12°.07 R. = oy (1) 2 Be Se C1 So 
+ 4°.83 Fahr.! + 59°. 9 Fahr.) + 33°.57 Fahr. 


The means of the intermediate months are almost exactly 
that of the whole year, and the temperature during the three 
winter, as well as the three summer months, most remarkably 
uniform. 

This is precisely that distribution of temperature over time, 
which ought, under such circumstances, to give rise to well- 
defined and intense waves of heat and cold; and I have little 
doubt, therefore, that this is the true explanation of your phe- 
nomenon. 


16 Extracts explanatory of the Phenomena, &c. 


I should observe that, in the recorded observations of the 
Catherinenbourg Observatory, the temperatures are observed 
two-hourly, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m, and not at night. The 
mean monthly temperatures are thence concluded by a for- 
mula which I am not very well satisfied with ; but the error, 
if any, so introduced, must be far too trifling to affect this ar- 
gument. The works whence the above data are obtained are— 
Observations Météorologiques et Magnétiques faites dans Vinté- 
rieur de V Empire de Russie, and Annuaire Magnétique et Meé- 
teorologique du corps des Ingénieurs des Mines de Russie,—works 
which we owe to the munificence of the Russian government, 
and which it is satisfactory to find thus early affording proofs 
of utility to science, in explaining what certainly might be 
regarded as a somewhat puzzling phenomenon, as it is one 
highly worthy of being further studied, and being made the 
subject of exact thermometric researches on the spot, and 
wherever else anything similar occurs. 

Sir John Herschel then states, that since he began this 
letter he had examined some old documents, and found the 
paper which accompanied his letter. “‘ The date of this manu- 
script,” he adds, “as nearly as I can collect it from collateral 
circumstances, must have been somewhere about the year 
1829, or rather before than after. I remain, &c. 

J. F. W. Herscuer. 


P.S.—Thermometric observations in the Steppes, of the mean monthly 
temperature of the soil at different depths, from 1 to 100 feet (at Forbes’ 
intervals), would be most interesting. At Catherinenbourg, the mean 
temperature of the air being 33°. 6 Fahr., no permanently frozen soil would 
probably be reached, but a very little more to the northward that pheno- 
menon must occur. 

The “ thinning out” of the frozen stratum would be most interesting 
to trace, but in thinning out by decrease of latitude, it might possibly at 
the same time “ dip” beyond reach, all above it being occupied by soil 
subject to the law of periodic frost and thaw, and giving room, under 
favourable circumstances, to ice caverns, pits, or galleries. What deter- 
mines the distinct definition of the hot and cold alternating layers, is the 
exceedingly peculiar form of the curve of the monthly temperatures, as 
given in the tables above referred to. 


ae ES) 


On some Phenomena observed on Glaciers, and on the internal 
Temperature of large masses of Ice or Snow, with some Re- 
marks on the natural Ice-caves which occur below the limit 
of perpetual snow. By Sir Joun Herscuet, Bart, F.G.S. 
&c.* 


In a visit to the glacier of Chamouni in the summer of 1821, 
I was struck with the very remarkable positions of several 
large blocks of granite resting on the glacier in various parts. 
They were perched on stools of ice of less diameter than the 
blocks themselves, which overhang their supports on all sides, 
as a mushroom does its stalk. The position of these large 
masses was rendered the more striking when contrasted with 
that of small fragments of stone, equally (to appearance) ex- 
posed to all the local heating and cooling influences, but which 
were uniformly found to have sunk into the ice, and that the 
deeper (within certain limits) the less their size. On consi- 
deration, the cause became apparent, and, as it affords a very 
pretty illustration of the laws of the propagation of heat through 
bad conductors, and the steps by which an average tempera- 
ture is attained in large masses from a varying source, I will 
here state it as it occurred to me at the time. 

With regard to the sinking of small masses into the ice when 
heated by the sun, it is the natural effect of the greater power 
of absorbing heat which stone possesses beyond ice. When- 
ever the sun shines, the stone will detain more of its heat than 
an equal surface of ice would do; and asit gives this out to 
the ice below nearly as fast as it receives it, a greater depth 
of ice is melted in a given time beneath the stone than in 
the parts around. On the other hand at night, ice radiates 
terrestrial heat nearly or quite as copiously as stone, and thus 
they are on a par in frigorific power. 

The elevation of great masses above the general level, which 
at first sight would appear to contradict this explanation, is 
however equally a consequence of the laws of the propagation 


* From the Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iii. part 2 ; having 
been read March 9. 1842. 


VOL. XXXIV. NO, LXvi1.—sanuary 18438. B 


18 Sir John Herschel on some Phenomena 


of heat. To conceive this, let us imagine a very large block 
of stone at the commencement of the summer, to lie on a level 
surface of ice, in a situation exposed to the direct rays of the 
sun, where the meantemperature of dayand night is(eveninsum- 
mer) but little above the freezing point, but where, however, 
no fresh snow falls during the whole summer. In the day-time 
then, while receiving the sun’s rays, the upper surface of the 
stone will be strongly heated, and a wave of heat will be propa- 
gated slowly downwards through the stone towards the ice, di- 
minishing in intensity rapidly, however, as it travels, since each 
superior stratum only divides its excess of temperature with 
that below. Long before this can reach the ice, however, 
night comes on. The surface cools below the mean or even 
below the actual temperature of the air by radiation, and a 
wave of cold is propagated (or which comes to the same thing, 
heat is abstracted from stratum to stratum) by the same laws. 
This follows close on the wave of heat below, and travels with 
equal velocity. In consequence, the heated stratum parts with 
its heat, now both upwards and downwards, and thus the in- 
tensity of the wave of heat diminishes with much greater ra- 
pidity as it proceeds downwards. It is manifest, that were 
the thickness of the stone infinite, the wave of heat being a/- 
mays followed close up by the wave of cold, and a perpetual 
tendency to an equilibrium of temperature going on between 
them, they would ultimately reduce each other to their mean 
quantity, and (not to take the extreme case of infinity) at 
some very moderate depth, the fluctuations above and below 
the mean temperature of the air, as the successive nocturnal 
and diurnal waves pass through a particle of the stone there 
situated, will be rendered very trifling, and may for our pre- 
sent purpose be regarded as evanescent. Beyond this depth, 
whatever mass of stone may exist, may be regarded as a slow 
conducting mass, interposed between a surface of ice constantly 
maintained at 32°, and a surface of stone constantly maintained 
at the mean temperature of the air, which by hypothesis is 
very little above it. Through this, then, the heat will perco- 
late uniformly but feebly, and the ice below will be very slowly 
melted, and the more so in proportion to the thickness of the 
interposed stratum. Let us now consider what happens to the 


observed on Glaciers. 19 


ice on the parts undefended by the stone. In the day time these 
experience the direct radiation of the sun, and therefore melt 
and run off in water. At night, it is true, the remaining sur- 
face cools by radiation ; but this cold is propagated down- 
wards, and on the return of day the superficial lamina is ne- 
cessarily put in equilibrium with the air and melted by the 
sun, and however cold the interior of the mass may be, the 
surface will still be kept all day in a state of fusion. Thus 
the degradation of the general surface of the ice will be in 
proportion to the direct intensity of the sun’s rays and the 
time they shine ; while that of the surface beneath the stone 
will only be in proportion to the excess of the mean tempera- 
ture of day and night above 32°, diminished by the effect of 
the thickness of the stone. This, of course, will produce a 
difference of level, and a relative elevation of the stone sunk 
as really observed. One curious, and at first sight, para- 
doxical consequence seems to follow from this reasoning, viz., 
that the ice of a glacier, or other great accumulation of the 
kind, may, at some depth beneath the surface, have a per- 
manent temperature very much below freezing, though in a 
situation whose mean annual temperature is sensibly above 
that point. In fact (continually to use the metaphorical ex- 
pression already employed), there is no reason why waves of 
cold, of any intensity below 32°, may not be propagated down- 
wards into the interior of the ice; but waves of heat above 
that point, of course, never can. Thus, the cold of winter 
and the frost produced by radiation in the clear nights of sum- 
mer, will enter the mass and lower its internal temperature ; 
while the heat of the summer air, and that imparted by solar 
radiation, will mainly be employed in melting the surface, and 
will run off with the water produced. 

I am not aware of any observations on the internal tempe- 
rature of glaciers ; they are of course difficult from their usual 
rifty state ; but the point may not be unworthy the attention 
of the scientific traveller. May not this be the cause of those 
natural formations of ice which have been observed in caverns 
in Teneriffe, and on some elevated points of the Jura chain, 
below the level of perpetual snow? It is obviously no matter 
whether the interior mass in the above reasoning be ice or 


20 On some Phenomena observed on Glaciers. 


rock. It is enough that its surface, during the whole or 
greater part of the year, should be covered with ice, to bring 
down the mean annual temperature of its interior materially 
below the temperature due to its elevation, and which it 
mould have were it not so covered. Conceive, now, a mountain 
whose summit is in this predicament, viz. constantly main- 
tained at a mean temperature below that due to its elevation. 
This intense cold will not break off at the level of the line of 
perpetual snow, which is determined by the mean tempera- 
ture of the atmosphere due to elevation, but will be propa- 
gated downwards in the interior of its mass.- Hence, if, at a 
short distance below the line of perpetual snow, where the 
mean diurnal temperature of the exposed part, taken at a few 
feet or a few yards deep in the soil or rock, is a little above 
freezing, we drive an adit, or take advantage of a natural fis- 
sure, to obtain the internal temperature at a much greater 
depth from the surface ; we ought to find it below 32°, and 
ice ought constantly to form in such cavities. 

But even when the summit of a hill is not covered with ice, 
and when, therefore, this particular principle does not apply, 
it is easy to see, on the same general grounds, that something 
of the same kind may obtain. It is obvious, that whenever 
a change of temperature on the surface of a solid takes place, 
a wave of heat or cold, as the case may be, will be propagated 
through its substance ; and if the changes be regularly peri- 
odic, the waves will be also. Moreover, it is clear that the 
longer the periods of the external fluctuations are supposed, 
the greater will be the interval of the waves, so as to make 
the time taken for the propagated heat to run over them pre- 
cisely equal to the period of fluctuation. Now the rapidity 
with which successive waves of heat and cold destroy each 
other is inversely as the intervals, and thus the fluctuations 
of temperature, depending on long periods of external change, 
will be propagated to greater depths than those arising from 
shorter periods, nearly in the ratio of the lengths of the pe- 
riods. Thus the depths at which the annual fluctuations of 
temperature cease to be sensible will be between 300 and 400 
times greater than those at which the diurnal ones are neu- 
tralized. Now it may happen, from the slowness of propaga- 


Dr Anderson’s Analysis of Caporcianite, &c. 21 


tion through so considerable a depth, that the winter wave of 
cold (consisting of many diurnal waves of alternate, greater 
and less intensity) may not travel down to the adit or cavern 
till the hottest period of the next summer, or of many sum- 
mers; in short, that if at any given time the interior of the 
mountain were sounded by thermometers down its whole axis, 
these instruments would exhibit alternate deviations + and 
— from the mean temperature of the air. 


Analysis of Caporcianite and Phakolite, two new Minerals of 
the Zeolite Family. By Tuomas Anperson, M.D. Com- 
municated by Dr Curistison.* 


The minerals of the zeolite family have for many years attracted the 
especial attention of men of science, and the class has been rapidly ex- 
tended in proportion to the progress made in its study in a crystallogra- 
phic as well as chemical point of view. The first characteristic difference, 
originally observed long since by Cronstedt, and by him considered to 
be the distinguishing mark of one single mineral species, which he de- 
signated Zeolite,—namely, the property of swelling out by heat previous 
to fusion,—has since been found to belong to a great number of other com- 
binations. These, although materially different from each other in crys- 
tallographic form, have proved to be closely allied in chemical constitu- 
tion, in so far as they consist, without exception, of a silicate of an alkali 
or alkaline earth in combination with a silicate of alumina and water. 
It is evident, then, that the relation of the silicic acid to the base, in both 
terms, as well as the quantity of water, is capable of considerable varia- 
tion, so that the general mineralogical formula which should embrace 
‘all the members of the zeolite family would be 

urSe+2ASy+2z2Ag 
Where r represents the monatomic alkaline or earthy basis, and the 
terms u, v, 2, y, and 2, are capable of varying within certain limits. 

The minerals Caporcianite and Phakolite form two new members of 
the above general formula. Their analysis was conducted in the follow- 
ing manner :— 

The finely pulverized mineral was dried for several days over sulphuric 
acid in an exsiccator, at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere. A 
certain quantity of the dry powder was then weighed in a small tube 
retort, and heated to moderate redness for the space of halfan hour. The 
water thus driven off was absorbed in a counterpoised tube of chloride 


* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on April 18, 1842, and 
published in part 2, vol. xy. of the Transactions. 


22 Dr Anderson’s Analysis of 


of calcium and weighed. Another portion of the dry powder was then 
dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and evaporated to dryness for the separa- 
tion of the silicie acid. The dry mass was then moistened with hydro- 
chloric acid, digested for several hours, and dissolved in water, and the 
silicic acid filtered off. The purity of the silicic acid was then tested by 
solution in a boiling solution of carbonate of soda; the undissolved mat- 
ter, which consisted chiefly of silicate of lime, reproduced by the strong 
drying necessary for the separation of the silicic acid, was then heated to 
redness with carbonate of soda ; and alumina and lime were precipitated 
respectively by ammonia and oxalate ammonia. The precipitates thus 
obtained, weighed and subtracted from the first weight, gave that of the 

pure silicic acid. The solution, after the filtration of the silicic acid, was 
precipitated by caustic ammonia; the precipitate, after being filtered, 
washed, dried, and weighed, was dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and the 
silicic acid left undissolyed was weighed ; to the filtered solution potass 
was added in sufficient quantity to redissolve the alumina at first preci- 
pitated. By this means iron and magnesia were left undissolved, which 
were again precipitated from a solution in hydrochloric acid, the first by 
succinate, and the second by phosphate, of soda. The weights of «the 
silicic acid, peroxide of iron, and magnesia, contained in the phosphate, 
being subtracted from the first weight of the ammoniacal precipitate, 
gave that of the pure alumina. The solution filtered from the ammonia- 
cal precipitate was then treated with a solution of oxalate of ammonia ; 
and the precipitate of oxalate of lime, after filtration and washing, was 
heated to strong redness, and treated several times in succession with a 
solution of carbonate of ammonia at a gentle heat as long as it continued 
to gain weight ; and the lime was then weighed in the state of carbonate. 
The solution which was left after the separation of the oxalate of lime, 
was then evaporated to dryness in a counterpoised platinum crucible, 
and the ammoniacal salts driven off by a moderate heat; after which a 
higher temperature was given for the purpose of melting the remaining 
salts. These, which consisted of chloride of potassium, chloride of so- 
dium, and magnesia, were weighed together. By solution in water the 
magnesia remained undissolved, and was filtered off, washed and weigh- 
ed ; to the solution, chloride of platinum and spirit were added, when the 
double chloride of platinum and potassium fell, which was collected on a 
weighed filter, and from which the quantity of chloride of potassium, 
and thence that of the potassa, were determined. By subtraction of the 
weights of magnesia and chloride of potassium from the first weight, 
that of the chloride of sodium was obtained from which the soda was 
reckoned. 


CaPoRCIANITE. 
This mineral was kindly presented to me for analysis by Professor 


Berzelius. It was first observed by Dr Paolo Savi at Caporciani, in the 
valley of the Ceecino, where it occurs in a copper mine worked by two 


Caporcianite and Phakolite. 23 


Englishmen of the names of Hall and Sloane, and has been described by 
its discoverer in his Memorie per servire allo studio della costituzione fisica 
della Toscana, parte 2%, § 53. 

Caporcianite conducts itself before the blowpipe in a manner perfectly 
similar to other zeolites, in so far as its fusibility and relation to the 
fluxes are concerned ; but it differs from them in this much, that, previous 
to melting, it swells out only to a very inconsiderable degree ; for it 
melts almost at the same instant that the swelling manifests itself. 

The analysis yielded the following results :— 


Silicic acid, . 52.8 oxygen contained 27.43 8. 
PATTEM Meer ct AMC trices cy soue'ncven ieema 10.15 } 

: 10.18—3. 
IPETORING GHILON, Oil ici ccc.scsceswsckeets 0.03 
Lime, BC ASM teens opreebockene 3.23 
Magnesia, . DELO ROPER ET 0.15 

.65—1. 
Potassa, UI Re eapsee ee Coe Pree 0.22 : 
Soda, ase a 7 fears a le hat. 0.05 
Water, Pee PRM eet coc ee ds coccacas 11.64 3. 
100.7 


If we here express by 7 the monatomic bases, then the quantities of oxy- 
gen in r, A, 8, and Aqa are to each other as 1: 3: 8: 3, which evidently 
when transformed to the chemical formula, ersten 73 Si? + 3 ‘18? 
+9H. 

It thns appears that Caporcianite stands chemically in near relation 
with the minerals, Analcime, Ledererite, Potash-Harmotome, Chabasie, 
and Leyyne, from which it is separated merely by the difference in the 
quantity of water which it contains. All these minerals consist of a bisi- 
licate of the first as well as of the second term; and the quantity of 
oxygen in the alumina is in all of them three times that contained in the 
monatomic basis. The formule of these minerals are as follows :— 


Analcime, } i = r=N. 
Ledererite, rS°+3A8 eo 25 eam 


Caporcianite, . rS?+3AS?+3Aq r=C. 
Potash-Harmotome, 7S? +3A8?+5Aq r=K.C. 
Terme, } | TS +8 AS + CALL Ory 
The formula 7 S? + 3 A So is thus, then, known to exist in no less than 
four different combinations with water, namely, with 2, 3, 5, and 6 atoms, 
the second of which results from the foregoing analysis. 


PHAKOLITE. 


This mineral occurs in small crystals in the Bohemian Mittelgebirge, 
and was from crystallographic investigation believed to be nearly related 
to Chabasie. But the following analysis shews that this supposition is 
not confirmed by its chemical constitution. 


24 Dr Anderson’s Analysis of Caporcianite and Phakolite. 


Phakolite, which, in its relations before the blowpipe, agrees in all 
respects with the other zeolites, was analyzed after the foregoing method, 
with this exception, that the quantity of water was determined simply by 
the loss of weight sustained at a red heat. The composition was found 


to be as follows :— : 
Silicic acid, . 45.628 oxygen contained 23.708. 
Alamiray= gt gl O.8 00 ostaca. cece. cca teecene's 9.097 ) 
Peroxide Of AON; OS) so.s Ancceesctes cee 0.144 J pea 
Lime, i TA Sta Facto, Ma ere 3.737 | 
Magnesia, . ORAS aoc er ade ionsccaeekarss 0.053 \ 4 449 
Potassas yas Op PAIL ice ae 0.222 | 
Soda, Suid GBd “eke tee Uy 0.430 
Water, Be TOT Gikm i acc ivamens athens 15.982. 
99.960 


This constitution has little resemblance to that of chabasie; for the 
quantities of oxygen in 7, AS and Aq, are to each other in chabasie, 
whose mineralogical formula is » S? + 8 AS? + 6Aq, as1:3: 8: 6, 
whereas those quantities in phakolite are in the relation of 1: 2: 5: 33. 
If we assume that the quantity of water has come out too high, which is 
generally the case when it is determined by the simple loss of weight at 
a red heat, then the constitution of phakolite would be represented by 
the mineralogical formula r SP +2AS + 3Aq, which transformed to 

It appears, then, that phakolite belongs to that class of minerals which 
in the first term contain a tersilicate, and in the second, a simple silicate 
of the base, along with water. The minerals belonging to this class at 
present made out are :— 


Gigantolite, . rSi+ AS+ Aq r= fe, mg, K.N. 
Harringtonite, c i= CN. 
Mesotype, } Arty pone We eee te = N.C: 
Lehuntite, ~. £rS?+ AS+3AQq r=(NC. 
Phakolite, » rS'+2A84+3Aq r=(C)KN 
Mezolite, ‘ r=N+2C 
Zari rs +3A8+3A0 {7g 
Pyrargillite, . 7rS'+3AS+4+4Aq r= fe, mg, K.N. 
Antrimolite, . r7rS'15AS+5Aq r= C.K.) 


From this table it will be seen that phakolite forms a middle term be- 
tween lehuntite and mezolite, and differs from them only in the second 
or alumina term, which in the three minerals stand to each other in the 
ratio of 1, 2, and 3, while the quantities of silicate of the monatomic 
bases and water are the same in all three. 


ee NE ————-- =  - 


( 25 ) 


«- 


M. Doyére’s Experiments on the Revivification of animals of 
the types Tardigrada and Rotifera. 


Shortly after the existence of swarms of animalcule in 
water containing organic matters had been revealed by the 
microscope, the use of that instrument led to the discovery of 
another fact, equally unexpected, and more difficult of com- 
prehension, inasmuch as it still more widely differed from all 
the results heretofore arrived at from the study of animated 
beings. In fact, by the examination of dry dust collected from 
a gutter, Leuwenhoeck ascertained the existence of an animal 
which, under the influence of desiccation, ceased to move, lost 
its form, and no longer gave any signs of life ; and which, in 
this condition, appeared to differ in no respect from a dead 
body, as it were mummified, by being deprived of the fluids 
necessary for all animal existence ; and yet which, after having 
been preserved for a long period in this dried condition, was 
restored to life by contact with a drop of water. Leuwenhoeck 
did not perceive the whole extent of the singular fact which 
he had thus discovered, with respect to the Rotifer of house 
roofs, and did not pursue his researches farther on this sub- 
ject; but a phenomenon of this kind could not fail to excite 
lively curiosity among zoologists, and to give rise to long con- 
troversies, as well as to interesting experiments. It may be 
remarked that the discovery of Leuwenhoeck soon ceased to be 
an isolated fact in science, for Needham announced that the eels 
of mildewed corn possessed, like the Rotifera, the faculty of re- 
viving after having been completely dried; and Spallanzani 
arrived at the same result, after observation, not only of the 
Rotifera and Anguillula, but also of another microscopic ani- 
malcule, to which he gave the name of Tardigrade (R. tardus). 

The investigations of this skilful observer were numerous, 
and conducted with the profoundly scientific spirit which cha- 
racterizes all his labours, and might perhaps have been deemed 
sufficient to convince naturalists as to the truth of the fact, 
and to serve as a basis to subsequent inquiries. 

But theresults thus obtained carried little weight, and it would 
be easy to give a long list of naturalists, who even at present 


26 M. Doyere on the Revivification of Animals of the 


deny, in the most positive manner, what has been termed.the 
Revivification of Rotifera. 

Latterly, it is true M. Schultz has successfully repeated 
some of Spallanzani’s experiments, and has furnished many 
naturalists with the opportunity of making similar researches ; 
but still more lately, M. Ehrenberg has added the weight of 
his great authority to the opposite opinion ; and having for- 
mally rejected the opinion of Spallanzani, has attempted to 
explain the way in which an error of the kind could find its 
way into science. 

This interesting and much debated question, then, could not 
be considered as definitely settled, and appeared to demand 

_further investigation. It was necessary to examine carefully 
all the circumstances attending the phenomena described by 
Leuwenhoeck, Needham, and Spallanzani, to submit to the 
proof of experiment, the objections and hypotheses presented 
by others, antagonists of these celebrated observers, and to ac- 
quire new facts by which one or other of the contradictory 
opinions of naturalists might be supported or refuted. This 
difficult task has been undertaken by M. Doyére. 

The Rotifera and the Tardigrada are found, as is well known, 
in the moss growing upon roofs, or in the sand found in the 
gutters of the roof, and are seen in the living state when these 
matters, after having been for a long time dry, are wetted with 
water. The fact of the appearance of these animalcule in a 
living state in dust which had been dry during months, or even 
whole years, can no longer be disputed, and it is equally well 
demonstrated that, with these minute beings as with animals 
of a higher class, evaporation of their fluids, carried to a cer- 
tain extent, induces the abolition of every sign of vital mo- 
tion. The partizans of Spallanzani’s opinion regard the re- 
appearance of these living beings as a sort of resurrection ; 
and the advocates of the contrary opinion think that the phe- 
nomena may be explained in a simpler manner ; the opinion 
is, that the Rotifera, &c. are of an amphibious nature, and ca- 
pable of living in dry air as well as in water or sand, where 
the moss with which they are surrounded would preserve them 
from too complete desiccation, so that in fact, in the above 
cited instances, the active state of the animalcule would never 


Types Tardigrada and Rotifera. 27 


even be interrupted, and these little animals buried in appa- 
rently dry dust, would still meet with sufficient humidity to 
prolong their lives and to allow of reproduction, so that those 
which have been supposed to become revivified would be in 
reality, to use the expression of Ehrenberg, only the great 
grand-children of those observed in the same material at the 
commencement of the experiment. According to other na- 
turalists, the desiccation of the sand or moss containing the 
Rotifera, would infallibly kill the animals themselves, but 
would not destroy the vital principle in the ova which they 
may have deposited, and consequently, instead of witnessing 
the resurrection of the animals themselves, we only see the 
ova rapidly developed by the influence of the water, and giving 
birth to animalculz whose growth would be equally rapid. 

Finally, there are other physiologists who consider that the 
Rotifera, &c., of dry sand, do not undergo a complete de- 
siccation, but such a degree of it only, as to plunge them into 
a sort of torpor, and conceive that these animalcule, although 
to all appearance dead, yet preserve a latent life, but still a 
real life sufficient to establish a bond of connection between 
the active life which precedes the evaporation of the fluids, and 
that equally active, when they are restored by the addition of 
humidity, to the full exercise of their functions. The obser- 
vations of M. Doyére overturn all these hypotheses, and con- 
firm, in the clearest way, the results obtained by Spallan- 
zani. 

Thus, in answer to the arguments employed by Ehrenberg, 
it is sufficient to observe, that living Tardigrada are never 
found in the dry dust of gutters ; but that, by the aid of the 
microscope, corpuscles can be seen which entirely resemble 
the dead bodies of these animalculz, deformed by desicca- 
tion ; and that in matters where no living being was previously 
discernible, living Tardigrada frequently appear on the addi- 
tion of a little distilled water. M. Doyére is even assured 
that it is not impossible to revivify these animalcule, if taken 
one by one, and dried separately on pieces of glass, without 
being surrounded by sand or other material, organic or inor- 
ganic, capable of preserving them from the ordinary effects of 
evaporation. In his experiments, he has been able to count 


28 M. Doyére on the Revivification of Animals of the 


them, and to trace in each separate individual all the phases 
of desiccation ; to observe them gradually assume the appear- 
ance of dead bodies, and to determine afterwards that these 
same bodies, dry and brittle, are susceptible of reassuming 
their primitive form, and of returning to life, under the in- 
fluence merely of a few drops of water. 

This experiment appears to be decisive ; but it may still be 
asked, whether the drying which the animalculz have under- 
gone has been complete, and if the privation of all the water 
contained in their tissue, would not render them incapable of 
resurrection, after having in this way passed years in a state 
of apparent death ? 

In order to determine satisfactorily this highly interesting 
and physiological question, M. Doyérehad recourse to the most 
powerful means by desiccation employed by chemists in the 
analysis of organic substances. He suspended for five days, 
in the vacuum of the air-pump, over a vessel containing pure 
sulphuric acid, some Tardigrada surrounded with sand, or un- 
covered and dried upon slips of glass ; and he left others dur- 
ing thirty days, in the Torricellian vacuum, dried by chloride 
of calcium ; and in all these instances, he obtained some re- 
surrections. These results are of great importance towards 
the solution of the question which M. Doyére had proposed 
to himself; but he still conceived that they might be con- 
sidered as offering only a strong probability in favour of the 
complete desiccation of the animalcule, in which the faculty 
of becoming revivified was retained ; he continued his experi- 
ments, and by studying the influence of elevated temperatures 
upon these singular beings, he arrived at the discovery of 
most decisive and surprising facts. 

It is well known that animals perish when their tempera- 
ture is raised above a certain limit ; inferior, however, to that 
at which the white of egg coagulates, and which in the ma- 
jority of cases does not exceed 50° cent. (122° F.) Animal- 
cule capable of resurrection are not exempted from this law. 
M. Doyére is satisfied that the Rotifera and Tardigrada perish 
when the water in which they swim is heated to 45° cent. 
(113° F.), and that they cannot then be recalled to life by any 
means. But he has found that this is not the case when the 


Types Tardigrada and Rotifera. 29 


animalcule have been previously dried. If, instead of ex- 
perimenting upon Tardigrada in full life, it is done upon indi- 
viduals which have lost all their humidity by the ordinary 
means of desiccation, and which appear as dead, it is possible, 
without depriving them of the faculty of reviving, to raise their 
temperature to a degree which would necessarily involve the 
disorganization of all living tissue containing any water beyond 
that chemically combined with its constituent principles. In 
an experiment repeated in the presence of the commission of 
the Academy, a certain quantity of moss, containing Tardi- 
grada, after having been properly dried, was placed in a stove, 
and around the bulb of a thermometer, the stem of which ex- 
tended out of the apparatus ; heat was gradually applied, until 
the thermometer thus placed in the centre of the moss indi- 
cated a temperature of 120° cent. (248° F.) This considerable 
heat was maintained for several minutes ; nevertheless, some 
of the animaleule contained in the moss returned to life, and 
appeared in their usual condition after they had been placed 
for 24 hours in a suitable degree of moisture. In other ex- 
periments, M. Doyére submitted some dried animalcule to a 
heat of more than 140° cent. (284° F.), and still witnessed 
some of them revive after immersion in water. These facts 
are in themselves of considerable importance towards the solu- 
tion of the question at issue, and the result, without doubt, 
depends upon the circumstance first pointed out by M. Chey- 
reul, that albumen, deprived of its water by previous drying, 
can be submitted to a much higher temperature, without, in 
consequence, losing its solubility, than it could be if exposed to 
the same temperature in the moist state ; and from the simple 
fact that a Tardigrade, exposed to the action of a temperature 
of 120° cent. (248° F.), can still be made to revive, it may be 
concluded, with great probability, that the whole of the water 
chemically free in its body had been dissipated, a degree of 
desiccation which would preclude all idea of vital movement. 
Thus the Tardigrada and Rotifera, when dry, and retaining 
the property of living when moistened, cannot be considered 
as actually alive; and their mode of existence can only be com- 
pared to that of a seed, which is organized so as to live, and 
which will live when exposed to the influence of air, of water, 


6 


30 M. Peters on the Light of Lampyris Italica. 


and of heat, but which, in the absence of one of these excit- 
ants, manifests no sign of activity or life, and can be preserved 
thus for ages, although the duration of its real life may not 
exceed perhaps a few weeks. 

M. Doyere has also given a detailed and excellent account 
of the anatomy of these animalcule, including, especially, the 
nervous and muscular systems; and his work is illustrated 
with beautiful and exact figures.* 


On the Light of Lampyris Italica. By M. W. Perers. 


The Lampyres have been the subject of a great number of researches 
in reference to their luminous organ; but in regard to the Lampyris 
Italica, we scarcely possess more than the observations of Carrara, ac- 
cording to whom this species is provided with a particular aérial sac, 
which, proceeding from the mouth, conducts the air to the luminous 
organ. This particular apparatus ought to be the cause of the differ- 
ences in the luminous state, since the species of the North of Europe 
diffuse a continuous, equal, and tranquil light, while that of the Italian 
species is emitted in sparks. ‘“ It is on account of this difference,” says 
M. Peters, ‘‘ that I had a great desire to find an opportunity of exa- 
mining the last-mentioned animal. This I at last obtained, during a long 
stay at Nice, and I did not allow it to escape, in the hope that with a 
good microscope I should succeed in discovering something positive, both 
respecting the structure of the phosphorescent part itself, and its relations 
with the other organs. 

From the middle of May till the middle of the month of July, when 
walking in the vicinity of Nice after sunset, one is surprised at the 
curious spectacle then presented by the millions of small scintillating 
lights creeping about in every direction, sometimes illuminating the 
point of a rock—sometimes lighting a deep cavity—sometimes suddenly 
producing, as with a magician’s wand, a brilliant illumination on the 
dark trunks of the olive trees,—a scene which, continually shifting and 
changing, is of the greatest interest. This appearance is renewed every 
evening; but it appears to me to be the more brilliant the greater the 
degree of humidity in the air. The interval between the scintillations is 
variable,—sometimes longer—sometimes shorter ; and if one of these 
animals be examined while it is in a phosphorescent state, it is soon 
seen that the luminosity is intermittent, and that it only appears when 


* Vide Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 2d Series, 9th year, tome xiv. 
p. 269 ; tome xvii. &c. p. 193; tome xviii. p. 54. Microscopical Journal, vol. 
ii., No. 20, p. 251. 


M. Peters on the Light of Lampyris Italica. 31 


the animal has traversed a space of one or two feet, but that while it 
traverses that space, it emits a permanent light, which produces a band 
of very brilliant fire. When the animal is in repose, I have often counted 
from 80 to 100 luminous discharges in a minute ; it then remains for a 
pretty long time without phosphorescence. There always remains a 
slight luminosity, which is never wholly extinguished, at the point of 
the body from which the luminous discharges are made. The luminous 
region, in the male, extends along the under side of the belly, between 
the fifth segment (from the anal extremity) and the penultimate one, 
with very nearly an equal degree of intensity; but, in the female, it 
scarcely occupies more than the fifth segment, and is even concentrated 
at its sides. If we observe this phosphorescent organ with a glass while 
it is emitting sparks, we notice in it a tremulous or undulatory move- 
ment, as when molecules are in motion. If we remove the luminous 
organs, and expose them to the air free, they shine with tle same in- 
tensity as in the living animal, until their light becomes gradually ex- 
tinguished. If they be rubbed against some body, the place shines for 
an instant with a greenish light, which can be made to reappear after 
becoming extinct by pouring a little water upon it. When the belly of 
the insect is opened, and the adjacent portions of the intestines removed 
without injuring the phosphoric organs, the latter continue to shine as 
before, but this luminosity ceases on the instant that the head is separated 
from the trunk. 


According to these observations, are we not permitted to conclude,— 
ist, that it is not necessary that a globule of air should proceed from the 
head in order to produce these sparks, since the removal of the anterior 
and most essential parts of the trunk exercises no influence on the phos- 
phorescence ; 2d, Since the removal of the head immediately causes the 
luminosity to disappear, is this not a proof that the phenomenon depends 
on the will of the animal ? 


I believe it is quite unnecessary, continues M. Peters, to refute in this 
place the opinion of some observers, such as Roda and Murray, who af- 
firm that many Coleoptera enjoy the same faculty of absorbing the solar 
light, and emitting it again at pleasure, since the Lampyris shines in the 
night even when it has been protected all the day from the solar light. 
Nay more, I kept some individuals in darkness for upwards of eight 
lays, and they shone with as much intensity and splendour as before. 


In order to study the organa lucifera more at my leisure, I carefully 
remoyed all the dorsal part of the skeleton, and exposed the intestines, 
which were filled with air. In the females, the ovaries immediately ap- 
pear, as they fill a large portion of the interior of the body ; while, in the 
males, we notice behind the posterior canals the deferential and semeni- 
ferous canals rolled upon themselves. Neither the bodies nor fluids con- 
tained in these canals possess luminous properties ; and these two organs, 
very distinct from those of the phosphorescence throughout their whole 


32 M. Peters on the Light of Lampyris Italica. 


extent, both open into a rectum of a very delicate structure. It was 
probably this delicate structure of the extremity of the intestinal canal 
that made Carrara suppose that it communicated with the luminous ap- 
paratus ; but with the exception of the alternate dilatation of this con- 
duit, we find no bubble of air throughout its whole extent. The phos- . 
phorescent organ is even separated from the intestines by a cushion of 
white fat, which can be easily raised, when we get a view of this organ, 
the colour of which is sulphur-yellow. On the two penultimate segments, 
and partially even on that which precedes them, we notice a multi- 
tude of tracheal ramifications converging, and these, when examined 
with the glass, appear to consist of round corpuscles closely pressed 
against each other, in such a way that the whole presents some resem- 
blance to the electrical organ of the Torpedo, although I am unable to 
determine the degree of resemblance that may exist between the two 
organs. Ifa stronger magnifying power be used, we notice in the lumin- 
ous part regular series of brownish corpuscles, having a silvery white 
point in the middle, which, seen with a still higher magnifying power, 
presents itself under the appearance of small ramifications. When a 
compound microscope is used, we then distinctly see that the whole or- 
gan consists of a regular bed of small spheres, into which the tracheal 
ramifications penetrate, and then spread themselves in the most elegant 
manner, forming, so to speak, the skeleton. Besides that, we see deve- 
loped in this delicate membrane of small spheres a quantity of molecules, 
to which is attached the luminous extremity ; the latter, by means of the 
considerable interlacement of aérial vessels, may receive an enormous 
quantity of air at once. 

The luminous substance itself is of a yellow colour; the intensity of 
the light is in the direct ratio of the change of the yellow colour of the 
organ, which can be easily shewn when we bring the latter in contact 
with water. I was unable to trace the progress of the nervous system in 
it, because the principal branch consisted of a filet of extreme tenuity. 

It must not be here supposed that we witness, in these spheres pro- 
ducing the phosphorescence, a transformation of the ordinary corpuscles 
of the fatty matter, for the former are completely different from the lat- 
ter, as well in respect of form as of colour; the same in all their contours, 
such as they are observed by the microscope ; but it appears to me likely 
that the principal matter entering into their structure, independently of 
the ramifications of the trachez, is a fatty matter, and that it is to the 
latter the luminous and phosphorescent substance is attached. 

It therefore appears to me demonstrated, says M. Peters in conclusion, 
that the luminous organ in Lampyris Italica, has the most intimate rela- 
tion with the organs of respiration ; but I cannot determine if this is 
equally the case with the sexual organs.” * 


* From L’Institut. No. 432, p. 127, where the paper is translated from 
Archiy. fiir Physiol., &c., 1841, p. 229. 


( 33 ) 


On Coral Islands and Reefs, as described by Mr Darwin. By 
Cuartes Macraren, Esq. F.R.S.E.* 


Coral islands are one of the wonders of Natural History. 
That masses of rock, many leagues in extent, should be founded 
in the depths of the ocean, and built up to the height of hun- 
dreds of feet, by minute animalcule scarcely visible to the 
naked eye, is a phenomenon calculated to stagger the unlearned, 
and which even philosophers were slow to believe. The struc- 
ture and arrangement of the mineral masses thus produced, 
are not less singular than their origin, and present problems 
whieh have puzzled and divided men of science. An excellent 
work on the latter branch of the subject has been recently 
published by Mr Charles Darwin, in which this able naturalist 
has condensed and systematized his own observations and those 
of his predecessors, and, for the first time, presented us with a 
complete view of these singular objects. The facts have led 
him to some new and highly curious conclusions bearing on 
the past and future physical history of the globe. An outline 
of these may not be without interest. 

Corals—What they are.—The term coral includes two objects 
—the animal, called the Polype or Polypifer, and the tenement 
in which it lodges, called the Polypidom, or, more usually, the 
Coral.” The solid massive corals, which form reefs and islands, 
are chiefly found in tropical seas, and it is cf these we mean 
to speak. 

Polypes cannot live unless constantly immersed in water, 
or beaten by the surf: even a short exposure to the sun 
kills them; and hence the reefs they build terminate below 
the surface, sometimes one or two feet, sometimes several 
fathoms. Different species inhabit different depths. Some 
slender branching corals are found living (that is, tenanted 
by living animaleule) at the depth of a thousand feet ; but 
the massive corals which constitute reefs, do not exist at a 
greater depth than 20 or 30 fathoms; and there are species 
which delight in the surf, and carry on their labours amidst 
breakers which would swampa boat. All the varieties included 
in coral reefs are not known with certainty. Those found 
near the top by Mr Darwin were the Porite and Millepore, 
“taller aja SDE LI SEN, Sag 


* This Article is slightly abridged from the original. 
_ VOL. XXXIV. NO. Lxvi.—sanuary 1843. c 


34 Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


and ata greater depth the Madrepore and Astrea are believed 
to exist. On the exterior margin of the reef at the surface, 
the Porites were in irregularly rounded masses from four to 
eight feet broad, nearly of equal thickness, and divided from 
each other by narrow crooked channels about six feet deep. 
Other parts of the reef were composed of thick vertical plates 
(Millepora complanata),intersecting each other at various angles, 
and ‘‘forming an exceedingly strong honeyeombed mass.” 
Between these plates and in protected crevices, a multitude of 
branching corals live, and the lagoon is inhabited by_a distinct 
set of corals, generally brittle and thinly branched. The 
Nulliporee, which have no visible cells, and though resembling 
corals, are supposed to be plants, occasionally cover the 
Porites and Millipores up to the level of high water. 

Coral Reefs and Atolls——These reefs are submarine rocks of 
coral, usually ascending so near to the surface of the sea that 
their existence is indicated to the navigator by breakers. They 
are found remote from land, are in vast numbers, and often of 
great extent, and generally affect an irregularly circular form, 
having a pool of comparatively still water in the middle, called 
a lagoon. Storms throw up masses of broken coral upon them, 
which accumulate to the depth of some feet above high-water, 
forming chains of islets along the reef. The whole reef in this 
condition is called a “ lagoon island,” or more conveniently an 
‘* atoll,” a word borrowed from the South Sea islanders. Some 
reefs haye many islands upon them, some have few, and some 
have none. 

A coral reef may be defined a wall or mound of coral rock, 
Luilt up in the ocean from a considerable depth, and generally 
returning into itself, so as to form a ring, with a sheet of still 
water in the interior. “ Every one,” says Mr Darwin, “ must 
be struck with astonishment when he first beholds one of these 
vast rings of coral rock, often many leagues in diameter, here 
and there surmounted by a low verdant island with dazzling 
white shores, bathed on the outside by the foaming breakers 
of the ocean, and on the inside surrounding a calm expanse of 
water, which, from reflection, is of a bright but pale green 
colour.” The wall of coral rock forming the ring, is generally 
from a furlong to half a mile in breadth, averaging about a 
quarter of a mile. In one rare case it is three miles. The 


described by Mr Darwin. 35 


diameter of the atoll, or circle formed by the reef, varies from 
less than one mile to 30 or 40. There is one 50 miles in length 
by 20 in breadth; so that, if the ledge of coral rock forming 
the ring were extended in one line, it would be 120 miles in 
length. Assuming it to be a quarter of a mile in breadth, and 
150 feet deep, here is a mound compared with which the walls 
of Babylon, the great wall of China, or the Pyramids of Egypt, 
are but children’s toys—and built too, amidst the waves of the 
ocean, and in defiance of its storms, which sweep away the 
most solid works of man. 

The wall of coral is generally breached in one or more places ; 
and when the breaches are deep enough to admit a ship, the 
atoll affords a convenient and safe harbour. 

Some of the atolls are perfect circles. The external side of 
the reef often plunges to a depth of 200 or 300 fathoms, at an 
angle of 45 degrees or more. At Cardoo Atoll no bottom was 
found with a line of 200 fathoms (1200 feet), at the distance 
of 60 yards from the reef. The internal side, on the other 
hand, shelves gradually towards the centre of the lagoon, form- 
ing a saucer-shaped cavity, the depth of which varies from one 
fathom to fifty. In no instance has it been found entirely 
filled up. Beyond the line where the coral ceases to grow, the 
bottom of the lagoon consists of rolled fragments of it, or a 
whitish mud consisting chiefly of the same substance in a com- 
minuted state. Much of this mud is supposed to be produced 
by certain species of fish and molluscous animals which browse 
upon the coral; grinding it down to fine meal, part of which 
will pass from them and be deposited by the water. From 
this description it will be seen that an atoll closely resembles 
in form the cone of a submarine volcano, the coral reef repre- 
senting the rim, the lagoon occupying precisely the place of 
the crater. 

The islets formed on these reefs are very singular objects. 
In storms, the sea throws up fragments of coral, sometimes 
mixed with sand. The outer and lowest stratum of this mat- 
ter, which is bathed by the sea at high tide, is sometimes con- 
verted into a brecciated coral rock by calcareous infiltrations 
from the water. Above this, and generally at the distance of 
200 or 300 yards from the outer margin of the reef, the loose 
fragments cast up in strong gales, mixed occasionally with sand 


36 Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


and shells, accumulate till they form a bank rising from six to 
twelve feet above high water, with the highest side towards 
the sea, from which the surface slopes inward to the lagoon. 
The ordinary width of these islets is under a quarter of a mile, 
and their length varies from a few yards to several miles. 


In the above cut, No. 1 is a plan of Keeling Atoll, in S. latitude 12°., 
and EK. longitude 96.54°, the structure of which Mr Darwin examined 
with peculiar care. 

a,d,b,r, i,t, f, the coral reef; the scale being + of an inch to the mile, 
the largest diameter of the atoll is 9 miles, and the shortest 7. 

N, the lagoon, which, a little northward of the centre, is 8 fathoms 
deep, as marked in the figure. The part south of the dotted line is nearly 
dry at low water. 

i, t, the dark space here on the surface of the reef, is a long narrow 
islet of an irregular figure. There are other two between db and 7; smaller 
ones at f, d, and a; and others of very minute size between f and ¢. 

There is a wide breach in the reef between and d, and a narrower one. 
between d and a, either of which admits a ship. 


described by Mr Darwin. 37 


The island abounds in cocoa trees, sprung from nuts brought 
by the currents of the ocean from Sumatra or Java, 600 miles 
distant. Turtles browse on the sea-weeds which grow in the 
lagoon. ‘The islands are inhabited, and these two articles sup- 
ply the people with food. What is singular, fresh water is ob- 
tained from wells which ebb and flow with the tides. Mr Dar- 
win thinks that the rain water being specifically lighter than 
the salt, keeps floating on its surface, and is subject to the 
same movements. 

Barrier Reefs.—Besides the atolls, which have merely a sheet 
of water in the interior, there are many reefs in the Pacific 
and Indian Oceans which encircle one or more islands of pri- 
mary, secondary, or volcanic rock. To these Mr Darwin gives 
the name of “ barrier reefs,” and the water which separates the 
islands from the reef is called “‘ the lagoon channel.” These 
reefs resemble the others inall respects. They support scattered 
lineal islets ; they are pierced by breaches; their exterior sides 
are steep and deep, while their interior are shallow and slope 
gently. Fig. 2. represents one of these (Maurua) on the same 
scale as the last. 

1, f, the reef, with two long narrow islets at its northern end, and some 


smaller ones at other parts. 
N, the lagoon channel. The narrow entrance on its south side ha 


from four to five fathoms of water. 

L, an island 2 miles long, and 800 feet high in the lagoon. 

In this instance, the lagoon channel, separating the island 
from the reef, is of small depth and narrow, the breadth rang- 
ing from a furlong to a mile; but in other cases, it is 20 miles 
broad and 60 fathoms deep ; and, instead of one or two islands, 
almost filling the lagoon (as at Raiatea), there are sometimes 
four, six, or more, of small size, forming mere spots in it. This 
is exemplified at Hogoleu and Gambier Islands. There are 
two very remarkable barrier reefs known. The first is that 
which runs along the north-east coast of Australia 1000 miles 
in length. It is divided from the land by a lagoon channel 
from 10 to 30 miles broad, and from 10 to 60 fathoms deep. 
The other runs parallel to the shores of New Caledonia for a 
length of 400 miles. It accompanies the shores for 250 miles, 
and continues for J50 miles more in the same direction, afford- 
ing presumptive evidence that the island has a submarine pro- 


38 Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


longation of this extent. At some places it is but a few yards 
from the island ; at others it is 20 miles; and so steep was its ex- 
terior side found to be in one instance, that at two ship-lengths 
from the reef no bottom was found with a line of 900 feet. 

Double and triple Atolls.—There are small atolls sometimes 
placed in elliptical rows, with a sheet of water in the centre, 
and thus becoming constituent parts of a large atoll. This is 
shewn at fig. 5, where 14 small atolls, each with its little 
lagoon, are so arranged as to form one large atoll, with a large 
lagoon, N, in its centre. The figure is ideal, but we have an 
example in the Maldiva Archipelago, where the combination 
is carried a stage higher. This group extends over a space of 
470 miles in length by 50 in breadth, and forms, as it were, 
three orders of atolls. First, you have a hundred of these 
little reefs, with pools in the centre, so disposed as to form one 
large atoll, 50 or 60 miles long, by 10 or 15 broad, with a 
lagoon 25 fathoms deep. Next, twenty of these large atolls 
of the second order, are arranged in the shape of a narrow 
ellipse, so as to form one vast atoll of the third order, 470 
miles in length by 50 in breadth, with a lagoon in the interior 
of unfathomable depth. 

The atolls and barrier reefs are dispersed in great numbers 
over the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Ave they the remnants 
of a former continent which has disappeared, or is disappearing, 
from that vast watery waste ?—or are they the harbingers of a 
new continent which is coming into existence? These are the 
questions which Mr Darwin has discussed with great learning 
and ingenuity. 

Fringing Reefs—The third form in which coral-reefs pre- 
sent themselves is, that of Fringing Reefs, the difference be- 
tween which and the other two must be pointed out. “ Atolls” 
are rings of coral-rock, rising nearly to the surface of the 
sea, with or without islets of drifted coral generally having a 
great depth of water on the outside, and a lagoon from 5 to 
50 fathoms deep in the centre. ‘ Barrier reefs” are exactly 
similar, except that they encircle one or more islands of sedi- 
mentary or yoleanic rock, from which they are divided by a 
lagoon-channel, which, like the lagoons of the atolls, is gene- 
rally from 5 to 50 fathoms deep. “ Fringing reefs’? resemble 
barrier reefs, except that they have a comparatively small 


Described by Mr Darwin. 39 


depth of water on the outside, and small shallow lagoon chan- 
nels between them and the land. They are generally found 
in seas that shelve gradually. The distinction between the 
last two classes of reefs has reference chiefly to theoretical 
considerations, as will be shewn by and by. 

Theory of Atolls—Land that has subsided or is subsiding.— 
It must be kept in mind, as already stated, that reef-building 
corals do not live at a greater depth than 20 or 30 fathoms, 
or, to take the extreme in round numbers, say 200 feet. This 
fact is of fundamental importance in reference to every theory 
of coral reefs. 

1. The earliest opinion was, that these reefs were built up 
in the ocean from unfathomable depths. But this is at once 
disposed of by the fact just stated. 

2. At a more recent period some naturalists, struck by the 
generally circular form of the reefs, and the steepness of their 
exterior sides in many instances, supposed that they were 
based on the craters of submarine voleanoes. To this idea 
there is the conclusive objection, that it does not apply to long 
narrow reefs like Bow Atoll, 30 miles by 6, or Menchikoft 
Atoll 60 miles in length, or the larger rings, composed of 
smaller rings, of the Maldives. That submarine craters, if 
they reached the proper height, would afford fit foundations 
for atolls, is probable, and such may exist; but that all the 
numerous atolls scattered over the ocean rest on such a basis 
is inadmissible. 

3. It has been supposed that the atolls rest on the sum- 
mits of the submarine mountains. But this fails in explain- 
ing the existence of those which appear in groups. The low 
Archipelago, for instance, contains 80 atolls, scattered over a 
space of 840 geographical miles by 420, and not a single 
island of ordinary rock. How can we believe that a chain or 
group of mountains extending over such a vast area had 80 
summits, all reaching within less than 200 feet of the surface, 
and not one rising above it? And this is not a solitary case ; 
for the objection applies equally to the Gilbert group, 300 miles 
in length; the Marshall group, 520 miles by 240; and the 
Maldive and Lacadive group, 1000 miles in length by 100 in 
breadth—none of which contain a single island of any other 


40 Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


material than drifted coral, resting on the edge of the sub- 
marine reef. The argument holds equally good against the 
hypothesis of submarine craters; for so many hundreds of 
these could not approach within a few fathoms of the surface, 
without some of them rising above it. 

4. Banks of sediment might (as some suppose) serve for a 
basis to atolls in shallow seas; but to assume the existence of 
hundreds of such banks of moveable matter in the profound 
depths of the ocean, is absurd ; and it is positively disproved 
in the case of those atolls whose exterior sides are steeper 
than the cone of a volcano, descending, as some of them do, at 
an angle of 40 or 50 degrees. 

The theory adopted, whatever it is, should also explain the 
existence of barrier reefs, which are analogous to atolls in every 
point, except that of having solid land within them. How, for 
instance, on any of the theories proposed, are we to account 
for the great barrier reef of Australia, with 60 fathoms of 
water even on its inner side, and descending on its outer side 
to unfathomable depths at a high angle? Are we to assume 
that there is a submarine precipice here 1000 miles in length, 
on which it rests. 

The only hypothesis, Mr Darwin observes, which solves all dif- 
ficulties, is that which assumes that the atolls rest on land which 
has subsided, and part of which was once dry. Detached atolls 
far from others, may stand on submarine rocks which have un- 
dergone no change of position; but those found in groups 
mark the site of land which has subsided. In short, the atolls, 
according to Mr Darwin’s theory, may be regarded as the ves- 
tiges or foot-prints of land which has disappeared ; and the islands, 
encircled by barrier reefs, as remnants of land now partly submer- 
ged, and perhaps in progress towards final disappearance. 

As the coral animalculz do not live at a greater depth than 
200 feet, it follows that all reefs, however deep, must have 
begun in shallow seas ; in other words, they must have been 
originally of the nature of *‘ Fringing Reefs.” 

Let us suppose an island 350 feet high to exist in the tro- 
pieal seas. The animalcule commence their labours on some 
spot, and at a distance from the shore, as turbid water is per- 
nicious to them. But since they cannot exist at more than 


described by Mr Darwin. 41 


200 feet beneath the surface, they are checked in their pro- 
gress seaward, and therefore continue their work to the right 
or left, keeping always within the requisite depth; and thus 
their instinct guides them to form the reef in the shape of a 
girdle round the island, following the sinuosities of its shores, 
keeping nearer them where the water deepens rapidly, and 
farther off where it deepens slowly. Here we have a reason 
why reefs may be circular, oblong, or of any other form which 
islands assume. Mr Darwin’s plates of Raiatea and Vanikoro 
are good examples of the manner in which reefs adapt them- 
selves to the outline of the islands they encircle. 

The little architects carry up their fabric to the level of the 
low water line, and there they stop. Suppose the island now 
to subside 200 feet, either suddenly or slowly. They then 
commence a new fabric on the top of the old, and again carry 
it up to the low water level. But the island itself, besides 
losing 200 feet of height, is contracted in breadth from its 
low shores being covered with water; the channel between it 
and the reef becomes broader and deeper; and the reef hay- 
ing its basis at a depth beyond that where living coral exists 
becomes a “ barrier reef.” 

Suppose the island to subside other 200 feet. A third fa- 
brie of coral now rises on the top of the second, till the reef 
again reaches the low water level. But the island itself has 
disappeared, and the lagoon which occupies its place, with the 
encircling reef, now forms an “ atoll.” 

The subjoined figures illustrate what has been stated, and 
shew the process by which a ‘‘Fringing reef” passes into a 
“ Barrier reef,’ and a barrier reef into an “ Atoll.” 


| First Stage—The Fringing reef. 

aba—A section of an island, roughly copied from one given by Mr 
Darwin. 

S 1—The surface of the sea. 

+ r—A fringing reef formed within a small distance of its shores. 


42 Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


Second Stage—The Barrier reef. 

a b a—The island having subsided 200 feet, is now more than halfsub- 
merged ; but its double summit is still visible. 

S 2—The surface of the sea in its second position. 

The fringing reef now raised to the level of S 2, forms 77, a “ Barrier 
reef.” 

The small gutter which divided the reef from the island, is enlarged to 
the wider and deeper cavity n n, and forms a “ lagoon channel.” 


Third Stage—The Atoll. 

a b a—The island having subdivided other 200 feet, is now completely 
submerged. 

S 3—The sea in its third position. 

The barrier reef having 200 feet added to its height, now rises to 7 *. 

A broad lagoon n, now occupies the place of the island, and the reef 
becomes an “ Atoll.” 

Mr Darwin endeavoured to collect some positive evidence 
of subsidence in the islands, but it is not very satisfactory. 
Geology, however, renders it certain that some portions of the 
earth’s surface have sunk to a lower level. The subsidence 
assumed, therefore, involves no inconsistency ; and it enables 
us to account for the otherwise puzzling fact, that though corals 
do not live at a greater depth than 200 feet, yet numerous 
reefs are found 1000 feet or more in depth, the basis of which, 
as the steepness of their sides attest, can scarcely consist of 
any thing else than coral. 

It explains also the appearance of the atolls in groups. 
Suppose a tropical island, like Ireland in size, to sink under 
the waves by slow stages. The hills being of different heights, 
the corals would begin their work on those first submerged— 
that is, the lowest—and new reefs would be founded succes- 
sively on the higher ones as they descended, one after another, 


described by Mr Darwin. 43 


to the proper depth. When the whole island had disappeared, 
a group of isolated atolls, scattered over a space of 250 miles 
by 150, would mark the place it oecupied, and indicate its 
figure. All the atolls would be built up to the level of low 
water; and while the last founded might be only two or three 
fathoms deep, the first might be two or three hundred. In 
this way, the lower hills might have their representative reefs 
as well as the higher, though the creatures that construct them 
can work only at limited depths. 

Again, if the principle be correct, we would expect to find 
occasionally an unsubmerged remnant of land (an island), ac- 
companied with barrier reefs, in a region where subsidence was 
going on, that is, amidst a group of atolls. Now, this occurs 
in the Caroline Archipelago, and one or two other places. 
Moreover, as the conditions necessary to the life of corals 
(which are imperfectly known) may cease at some spots where 
they once existed, we might also expect (admitting the prin- 
ciple of subsidence) to find reefs, in which the coral being dead, 
could not raise itself to the low water level. Such a case is 
met with in the Great Chagos Bank, 90 miles by 70. It has 
a border from 5 to 10 fathoms under water, a second border, 
or inner ledge, about 16 fathoms under water, and its central 
parts, consisting of mud, are from 40 to 50 fathoms deep. It 
is conceived to be “a half-drowned atoll.” 

In New Caledonia, as Mr Darwin observes, we seem to wit- 
ness the effects of subsidence in actual progress. It is an 
island 200 miles in length by 45 in breadth, quite straight, 
and consisting of a single ridge of mountains. Now, the coral 
reefs, which run parallel to its shores on the two sides, instead 
of turning round the north end and uniting, as we would ex- 
pect, continue in their original north-west direction for 150 
miles beyond it in the open sea. The most probable explana- 
tion of this anomaly is, that the reefs, in their northern pro- 
longation, accompany a part ‘of the ridge, which, owing to the 
island having subsided, is now submarine, but consisted of dry 
land at an earlier period when the reefs were founded. The 
reefs, in short, follow the ancient line of the shore, a large 
part of which is now under water, and the process of submer- 
gence is perhaps still going on. 

Lands recently raised, or still rising from the ocean.— While 


dd Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


ancient lands have sunk under the waves in some parts of the 
Indian and Pacific Oceans, Mr Darwin thinks that new lands 
have risen, or are rising, in others. The corals furnish the 
evidence of the latter change as well as the former. 

As all corals are formed in the sea, it follows that when we 
find them zz situ on dry land, they afford distinct proof of the 
land having been upraised. Now, coral banks are found in 
most of the Sandwich Islands many yards above the sea. In 
one they form three strata, each 10 feet thick. In Oahu, 
Mr Pierce, an intelligent European who has lived there six- 
teen years, is convinced that elevation is at present going on 
**at avery perceptible rate.’ Elizabeth Island (S. lat. 24, 
W. long. 129) 80 feet high, is entirely composed of coral. Five 
of the ‘‘Cook and Austral” islands (S. lat. 20, W. long. 160) are 
of coral rock. The sixth Mangaia, 300 feet high, is, with the 
exception of a little basalt, entirely of coral ; and having a flat 
top with a lagoon-shaped cavity in it, is evidently an upraised 
atoll. Tongataboo, one of the Friendly Isles, is entirely of 
coral; Eoua and Vavao, in this group, the former 200 or 300 
feet high, are of the same substance. Anamouka, another, 20 
or 30 feet high, with a salt-water lake in the middle, is, in 
truth, an atoll, only a very little elevated. Savage Island, 40 
feet high (south-east of the Friendly group), exhibits tree- 
shaped corals still unbroken, a proof that its elevation is recent. 
In the Navigators’ group (S. lat. 14, W. long. 170) large frag- 
ments of coral were found on a steep hill at the height of 80 
feet, embedded in a base of decomposed Java and sand. On 
the new Hebrides (S. lat. 18, E. long. 168), coral, seomingly of 
recent origin, is found at a great altitude. New Ireland (S. 
lat. 4, E. long. 153), which belongs to the Salomon group, pre- 
sents beds of madreporite rock, with the corals little altered, 
forming a newer line of coast modelled round an ancient one. 
In the Mariana group (N. lat. 15, E. long. 146), a succession of 
cliffs of madreporite limestone present themselves. In the 
great circular chain of islands extending from the Bay of Ben- 
gal to Japan, embracing Sumatra, Java, Timor, Ceram, the 
Philippines, and Loo Choo, corals or beds of sea-shells at 
considerable heights, afford abundant evidence of elevation ; 
but for details we refer to Mr Darwin’s book. Where reefs 
oceur on the shores of these islands, they are fringing reefs, 


described by Mr Darwin. 45 


indicating either that the shores are stationary, or that they 
are now rising. 

Mr Darwin went painfully over every work in which any 
account of coral reefs was to be found, and marked by colours 
on a map to which of the three classes they belonged—of 
“ fringing reefs,” “ barrier reefs,” or “ atolls.” On classifying 
them in this way, the following general facts arrested his at- 
tention :— 

1. They are not mingled indiscriminately, but generally those 
of each class appear in groups, spread over a considerable area. 

2. Where they are mingled, the barrier reefs and atolls, 
both of which indicate subsidence, are found together. 

3. On the other hand, fringing reefs and coral beds on terra 
Jirma, indicating that the land is either stationary or uprising, 
are generally found together. 

4. Active volcanoes, the agents of elevation, are numerous 
in the stationary or uprising groups, and, except in a very few 
cases, are absent from the subsiding groups. 

Mr Darwin was thus led to conclude that the ocean contains 
areas of elevation and areas of subsidence ; in other words, that 
in some parts its bottom is sinking, and burying ancient lands 
under the waves ; while in others, it is rising, and unveiling to 
us the germs of future islands and continents. Let us pursue 
this idea into a few details. 

The Maldive and Lacadive Atolls and Great Chagos Bank, 
probably mark the former existence of an island extending 
1500 miles from north to south, or equal in length to Britain, 
France, and Spain united. 

In the Caroline Archipelago, northward of New Britain, we 
have perhaps the traces of a second island of similar size, of 
which two or three small portions are still above water ; in the 
Marshall, and Gilbert, and Ellice groups, traces of a third ; 
in the Society Isles and Low Archipelago, a few remnants of a 
fourth ; and in the Fidgi Islands, remnants of a fifth. According 
to the theory also, New Caledonia and the north-east coast of 
Australia have subsided, and may still be subiding. 

On the other hand, Sumatra, Java, Sumba, Timor, with Gil- 
olo, the Philippines, Formosa, and Loo Choo, which abound in 
active voleanoes, and perhaps also Borneo and Celebes, belong 
to the category of uprising lands. If we suppose that the ele- 


46 Mr Maclaren on Coral Islands and Reefs, as 


vatory movement is still proceeding, its ultimate result, some 
thousand years hence, may be to unite that vast chain of 
islands to one another, and to the continent of Asia, by the pe- 
ninsula of Malacca on the one side, and the eastern coast of 
China on the other, converting the Chinese sea into a vast in- 
land lake. Further eastward, the Salomon Isles, which are 
also uprising, may be united into one narrow ridge, 500 miles 
long ; and the New Hebrides, Sandwich Isles, and Navigators’ 
Isles, may undergo a similar change. For other examples we 
refer to the work. 

This theory explains the phenomena under consideration 
better than any other which has been proposed, and it is not 
at variance with the principles of geology, which teach us, 
that some parts of the crust of the globe are rising, and others 
subsiding at the present day. It seems to us, however, that 
it is attended with difficulties, of which some are perhaps ap- 
parent but others are real. 

First, The anomalous facts are rather numerous. An in- 
spection of the map shews that atolls and barrier reefs occur 
in ‘areas of elevation,” and fringing reefs and voleanoes in 
“ areas of subsidence,” unless we confine these areas within 
very narrow limits. We grant, however, that this objection 
may admit of an answer. For instance, in an area that is 
rising, corals may take root upon a subaqueous rock or bank 
when it comes within less than 200 feet of the surface, and 
raise upon it an atoll. Again, a volcano like that of Monte 
Nuovo, near Naples, may break out in an area that is station- 
ary or subsiding; and thus the indications of elevation and 
subsidence may be found intermingled. 

Secondly, If the theory is correct, we would expect to find 
in areas of elevation, fringing reefs in a great variety of stages 
—some 2 or 3 feet above low water, some 2 or 5 yards, 
some with the lagoon channel almost, and others with it al- 
together, obliterated. That there are examples of this transi- 
tion from the fringing reef to the coral rock on dry land, and 
that corals are found at considerable heights, we do not deny ; 
but they occur, in our opinion, much more rarely than they 
ought to do, considering that the areas supposed to be upris- 
ing are of great extent, and many of them often visited and 
well known. 


described by Mr Darwin. 47 


Thirdly, What seems to us the most serious objection to the 
theory, remains to be stated. On the outside of coral reefs 


very highly inclined, no bottom is sometimes found with a line 
of 2000 or 3000 feet, and this is by no means a rare case. 
Tt follows that the reef ought to have this thickness ; and Mr 
Darwin’s diagrams, pages 48 and 98, shew that he understood 
it so. Now, if such masses of coral exist under the sea, they 
ought somewhere to be found on ¢erra firma ; for there is evi- 
dence that all the lands yet visited by geologists have been at 
one time submerged. But neither in the great volcanic chain, 
extending from Sumatra to Japan, nor in the West Indies, 
nor in any other region yet explored, has a bed or formation 
of coral, even 500 feet thick, been discovered, so far as we know. 
We state this objection, not as conclusive against the theory, 
but as one deserving the able and ingenious author's consider- 
ation. 


Pssides Si aw bs ee 


Remarks on the preceding paper, in a Letter from CHARLES 
Darwin, Esq., to Mr Macraren. 


Down near Breomley, Kent. 

Dear Sir,—I have been so much pleased with the very clear, and, at the 
same time, in many points quite original manner in which you have stated 
and explained my views, that I cannot refrain from troubling you with my 
thanks. Your third objection appears to me much the most, indeed the 
only, formidable one, which has hitherto occurred to me. I fear I shall 
be tempted to reply to it at great length, but perhaps sometime you will 
find leisure to read my attempted vindication. With respect to the first 
objection, I can hardly admit that we know enough of the laws of ele- 
vation and subsidence to argue against the theory, because the areas of 
different movements are not more distinct. Some have been startled at 
my view on directly the reverse grounds to your objection, viz. that, 
according to their notions of probability, the areas of the same movements 
were too large and uniform. With respect to your second objection, all 
those who believe that exceedingly slow and gradual elevations are the 
order of nature, must admit a great amount of contemporaneous denuda- 
tion, which would tend to annihilate the characteristic form of the fring~ 
ing-reefs during their upheaval, and leave merely a coating on the upraised 
land of coral-rock either thicker or thinner, according to the original thick- 
ness, rate of growth of the reef at each successive level, and the rate of 
elevation ; indeed I am surprised that there exists even one case, viz. at 
Mauritius, where the peculiar moat-like structure of a mere fringing-reef 
has been partially preserved on dry land. 

Your third criticism strikes me as a very weighty and perplexing one. 


48 Mr Darwin on Coral Reefs. 


It had passed through my head, but I had not considered it with nearly 
the attention it deserved, otherwise I assuredly would have noticed it in my 
volume. [had always intended to examine the limestone formations of Eng- 
land for comparison, but was prevented by bad health ; I was, however, led 
away from the subject, and baffled when I consulted published accounts, for 
the limestones all appeared to be uniformly spread out, and most, if not allof 
them, to be associated with layers of earthy matter, whereas a formation 
of the nature of a group of atolls, would consist of separate large patches 
of calcareous rock, which would be quite pure.—I was thus led from the 
subject, and did not reflect on their want of thickness. The want of thick- 
ness, however, in any limestone formation, until it be first shewn to be 
analogous in structure, form, and composition, to a barrier-reef, an atoll 
or group of atolls, evidently cannot be brought forward as any argument 
against the theory of the long-continued subsidence of reefs of these 
classes. During the elevation of all reefs in open seas, I think there can 
be no doubt (as is dwelt on at p. 117, 3d. vol.) that a considerable thick- 
ness of the exterior would be denuded, and the only parts preserved would 
be those which had accumulated in lagoons or lagoon-channels ; these 
would be chiefly sedimentary, and in some cases might contain (p. 117) 
searcely any coral ; within barrier-reefs such beds would often be associated 
with much earthy sediment. Mr Lyell, in a note just received, in which he 
alludes to your criticisms, speaks of the limestones of the Alps and Pyre- 
nees, as being of enormous thickness, namely, about 4000 feet. Ido not 
know what their composition is, but I have no doubt that the strata now 
accumulating within the barrier-reef of Australia and New Caledonia, are 
chiefly formed of horizontal layers of calcareous sediment and not of coral. 

T suspect that denudation has acted on a far grander scale than in 
merely peeling the outsides of upraised reefs. My theory leads me to infer 
that the areas, where groups of atolls and barrier-reefs stand, have sub- 
sided to agreat amount and over a wide space. Now it appears to me pro- 
bable, thata subterranean change, producing a directly opposite movement, 
namely, a great and widely extended elevation, would be extremely slow, 
and would be interrupted by long periods of rest, and perhaps of oscil- 
lation of level. When I think of the denudation along the fault, which goes 
across the northern carboniferous counties of England, where 1000 feet of 
strata have been smoothed away ; when I think how commonly volcanic 
islands, formed of very hard rock, are eaten back in cliffs from 100 or 200 to 
800 or 1000 feet in height, I hardly see where we can stop, with respect to 
the probable limits of erosion on the comparatively soft, generally cavernous, 
tabular, though wide, masses of coral rock, standing exposed in great oceans 
during very slow changes of level. Most of the atolls which have been 
raised a few hundred feet are mere wrecks, and at the Friendly Archipelago 
where there are upraised atolls, there are large irregular reefs, also, which I 
haye always thought were probably the basal vestiges of worn down atolls. 
Many submerged reefs, which may have had this same origin, occur out- 
side the line of elevation of the Salomon and New Hebrides archipelagoes. 
The great steepness of the shores of upraised reefs (p. 65. Ehrenberg 


quoted, and p. 51.) would probably be unfavourable to the growth of new 
7 


Mr Darwin on Coral Reefs. 49 


reefs, and therefore to the protection afforded by them. I can conceive 
it very possible, that should, at some period, as far in futurity as the 
secondary rocks are in the past, the bed of the Pacific, with its atolls and 
barrier reefs, be raised in reefs, by an elevation of some thousand feet, and 
be converted into a continent, that scarcely any, or none of the existing 
reefs would be preserved ; but only widely spread beds of calcareous 
matter derived from their wear and tear. As a corollary from this, I sus- 
pect that the reefs of the secondary periods (if any, as is probable, existed), 
have been ground into sand, and no longer exist. This notion will cer- 
tainly at first appear preposterous 5 its only justification lies in the proba- 
bility of upward movements after long periods of subsidence, being exceed- 
ingly slow and often interrupted by pauses of rest, and perhaps of oscilla- 
tions of land, during all which the soft coral rock would be exposed to the 
action of waves never at rest. 

This notion, preposterous as it will probably appear, would not have 
occurred to me, had I not several times, from independent reasons, been 
driven to the conclusion, that a formation to be preserved to a very dis- 
tant sera (or which probably is the same thing, to be elevated to a great 
height from its original level over a wide area) must be of great extent, 
and must be covered by a great thickness of superincumbent matter in 
order to escape the chances of denudation. I have come to this conclu- 
sion chiefly from considering the character of the deposits of the long 
series of formations piled one upon another, in Europe, with evidence 
of land near many of them. I can explain my meaning more clearly 
by looking to the future ; it scarcely seems probable, judging from 
what I see of the ancient parts of the crust of the earth, that any of 
the numerous sub-littoral formations (¢. e. deposits formed along and 
near shores, and not of great width or breadth), now accumulating on 
most parts of the shores of Europe (and indeed of the whole world), al- 
though, no doubt, many of them must be of considerable thickness, will 
be preserved to a period as far in the future, as the lias or chalk are in 
the past, but that only those deposits of the present day will be preserved 
which are accumulating over a wide area, and which shall hereafter chance 
to be protected by successive thick deposits. I should think that most of the 
sublittoral deposits of the present day will suffer, what I conclude the 
sublittoral formations of the secondary eras have generally suffered, 
namely, denudation. Now, barrier and atoll coral reefs, though, accord- 
ing to my theory, of great thickness, are, in the above sense, not widely 
extended; and hence I conclude they will suffer, as I suspect ancient 
coral reefs have suffered—the same fate with sublittoral deposits. 

With respect to the vertical amount of subsidence, requisite by my 
theory to have produced the spaces coloured blue on the map, more facts 
regarding the average heights of islands and tracts of Jand are wanted 
than all those, even if perfectly known, which this one world of ours 
would afford ; for the question of the probable amount, or, which is the 
same thing, the probable thickness of the coral-recf, resolves itself into 
this, What is the ordinary height of tracts of land, or groups of islands 

VOL. XXXIV, NO. LXVU.—sanvary 1849. D 


50 Mr James Thomson on an Improved Tilting Apparatus 


of the size of the existing groups of atolls (excepting as many of the high- 
est islands or mountains in such groups, as there usually oceur of “ en- 
circled islands” in groups of atolls)? and likewise what is the ordinary 
height of the single scattered islands between such groups of islands >— 
subsidence sufficient to bury all these islands (with the above exception) 
my theory absolutely requires, but no more. In my volume, I rather 
vaguely concluded that the atolls, which are studded in so marvellous a 
manner over wide spaces of ocean, marked the spots where the moun- 
tains of a great continent lay buried, instead of merely separate tracts of 
land or mountainous islands ; and I was thus led to speak somewhat more 
strongly than warranted, of the probable vertical amount of subsidence 
in the areas in question. 

Mr Lyell in the note alluded to, thinks we are much too icnorant of 
intra-tropical geology (and ignorant enough we certainly are) to «firm 
that calcareous rocks of the supposed thickness of coral reefs, do not 
occur. I am inclined to lay considerable stress on this. I do not expect 
the foregoing view will appear at all satisfactory to any one besides my- 
self,—I believe, however, there is more in it than mere special pleading. 
The case, undoubtedly, is very perplexing ; but I have the confidence to 
think, that the theory explains so well many facts, that I shall hold fast 
by it, in the face of two or three puzzles, even as good ones as your third 
objection. Believe me, my Dear Sir, yours very truly, 

Cuartes Darwin. 


Description of an improved Tilting Apparatus for emptying 
Waggons at the termini of Railways, Shipping-Places, &c., as 
used at the Magheramorne Lime-Works, Ireland. With a 
Plate. By James Tuomson, Esq., F.R.S.E., M.R.1A., 
F.R.S.S.A., Civil Engineer, Glasgow. Communicated by 
the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.* 


The apparatus may be generally described as consisting of 
three parts, viz :— 
1s¢, The cast-iron brackets or quadrants for supporting the 
machine, Plate I. awa. 
2d, The tilting-frame upon which the waggon is placed, 
6 6,—and 
3d, The malleable iron-swings for suspending the frame to 
the brackets, ¢ ¢. 
The supporting brackets a aa, are bolted to the wooden 
frame d d, ofa moveable shipping platform, by means of which 
* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, and working model ex- 


hibited, 10th January 1842, and the Society’s Honorary Silver Medal award- 
ed, 14th November 1842, 


Kdin. New Phil. Journal. 


M® THOMSON'S 


VANXXIV Plated. Tage IO. 


TING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY WACCONS. 


Scale of Feel 
td ae 7) 7 g¥ 5 4 7) 


Inches ——— 


S Leth s Lik? Rain” 


¥ 


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4 “ale ’ h y/ , 
y - ah iat 
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Ex é _ . . . —_ ‘. “J 
} an y > ee 
a. se 
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“i . . & 7 as 
. o wae 
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n 
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‘ “ > 

na | ‘ 

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od ¥ 
ree 
iP a 


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ir * * 
- yi % “a 
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“4 
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he 


for emptying Waggons at the Termini of Railways, &c. 51 


the apparatus is advanced at pleasure, and made to project be- 
yond the wharf so as to discharge the waggon immediately 
over the hold of a vessel, 

The tilting-frame is formed of two cast-iron cheeks or sides, 
as shewn in fig. 4, having in each two slots or grooves for at- 
taching to the swings, and for adjustment of the apparatus. 
These sides of the frame are connected together by two flat 
malleable iron stays e e, as representel in fig. 3, with two 
bolts in each end, and a light round iron stay f at the curved 
ends. 

The swings are attached to the frame by means of snubs 
9 J, Which are bolted vertically to the lower ends of the swings 
and horizontally to the sides of the frame, the bolts passing 
through the grooves or slots already mentioned, in which they 
are moveable—the upper ends of the swings work upon mal- 
leable iron journals fastened in the top of the cast-iron 
brackets. When the apparatus is properly adjusted (which 
is done by moving the tilting-frame forward or backward 
upon the swings by means of the adjusting slots), the waggon, 
on taking its position, should be so placed that its centre of 
gravity may be slightly in advance of the point of suspension. 

The rails to the tilting-frame are laid with a gentle decli- 
vity, so that the waggon may be brought upon it with a slight 
impetus just sufficient to set the frame in motion—the waggon 
will then immediately fall into a position ready to discharge, 
as shewn in fig 2, when by a simple contrivance, which may 
be effected in various ways, the door of the waggon is opened 
from behind by a handle and connecting-rod communicating 
with the door-latch, and the load discharged. 

While loaded, the position of the waggon will of itself remain 
the same, being in equilibrio; but immediately after it is dis- 
charged, and consequently the centre of gravity thrown behind 
the point of suspension, the tendency of the waggon is then to 
resume the horizontal position, which, however, it is prevented 
from doing, by means of the spur /, until completely emptied 
—the spur is then disengaged, and the waggon resumes its 
level position ready to be removed. 

The whole operation of discharging a waggon (of whatever 
weight) is effected with perfect safety and facility in a few 
seconds, and one very important desileratum is supplied by 


52 Mr James Thomson on an Improved Tilting Apparatus. 


this apparatus, viz. :—the practicability of discharging waggons 
of different dimensions and different sized wheels upon the same 
tilting-jrame. 

The advantages of the apparatus have been fully tested at 
the Magheramorne lime-works in Ireland, where they were first 
applied, and have since been in constant operation for the last 
three years, discharging waggons of three tons with 24-inch 
wheels, and waggons of only 20 ewt. and 20-inch wheels, with 
perfect facility and expedition—the cost of each apparatus 
not exceeding from £10 to £11 complete. 


Revort of the Committee of the Royal Scottish Society 
of Arts, on Mr Thomson's Tilting Apparatus for loaded 
Waggons. 


Before the termination of the last Session, your Committee 
held a meeting to consider the merits of Mr Thomson's im- 
proved tilting apparatus, and though they were well satisfied 
with the principle on which the apparatus is constructed, in so 
far as could be judged from the drawings, yet your Committee 
deeming it expedient that they should have a report from the 
persons using the machine in the locality named by Mr Thom- 
son, deferred coming toa conclusion on the subject, and submit- 
ted an interim report. Upon this they were instructed to corre- 
spond with such persons at Maghcramorne as might be consider- 
ed qualified to give an opinion of the working of the machine. 

A correspondence was accordingly opened with Mr Maxwell, 
manager of the lime-works at Magheramorne, and the accom- 
panying letter, dated 21st October, contains Mr Maxwell’s re- 
port of the practical working of the apparatus. 

Your Committee have, therefore, now no hesitation in giving 
avery favourable opinion of Mr Thomson’s improvements on 
this tilting apparatus, and they are the more strongly induced to 
report thus favourably, from having lately learned that the im- 
proved apparatus is now being introduced upon the coal-wharfs 
of the Monkland and other canals; and it is, therefore, humbly 
suggested, that Mr Thomson merits the marked approbation of 
the Society. All which is humbly reported by your Committee, 

James Siicut. Convener, 


Edinburgh, 28th October 1842. 


ee 


~ 


ee te 
eo —s 


Professor Traill’s Description of the Elaps Jamesoni. 53 


MaGurramorne, 21st October 1842. 

Sir,—I am in receipt of your favour of the 17th inst., 
making enquiry in regard to Mr Thomson’s tilting machine, 
and in ao I am happy in the opportunity of bearing testimony 
to the great value and usefulness of the invention. Five of 
them were erected at our works here, about five years ago, 
and have been in constant and daily use since, and nothing 
could be more admirable than the ease and simplicity with 
which they work, or the perfect manner they answer the pur- 
pose for which they were intended, and in that time, without 
any of them requiring the replacement of almost a single bolt. 
Altogether I have seen no apparatus of the kind so well 
adapted for loading vessels with coals, limestone, or other 
articles of a similar heavy description—I am, Sir, your 


obedient Servant. 
Tuo, Maxwetu. 
James Suicut, Esq., Edinburgh. 


Description of the Elaps Jamesoni, a New Species of Serpent 
from Demerara. By Tuomas S. Traitr, M.D., I.R.S.E. 
M.W.S., &. Communicated by the Author.* 


Tuts very elegant serpent was received from Demerara 
many years ago, with a collection of other snakes; and ap- 
pears to have hitherto escaped the researches of the natural- 
ists who have published on the animals of Equinoxial Ame- 
rica. I have lately examined it anatomically, and find it pro- 
vided with true moveable fangs, and with a gland, not granu- 
lar, like the salivary glands of innocuous snakes, but very 
much resembling that of our viper, covered with an albugi- 
neous tunic, and sending a small but distinct duct to the root 
of its fangs. Not having met with a description of this spe- 
cies in any work on ophiology, I consider it as an undescribed 
species, and propose naming it in honour of the Satinewieney 
Professor of Natural History in this University. 

The general form of this serpent, and length of its tail, ap- 
proximate it to the genus Coluber of M. Schlegel; its physio- 
gnomy to his genus Lycodon ; but its fangs, the whole structure 


* Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society, Dec, 10. 1642. 


54 Professor Traill’s Description of the Elaps Jamesoni. 
of its mouth, and the fossule in its nasal plates, indicate that 
t belongs to the genus laps. Perhaps it might form the 


O40, 
aus ‘' 
S HAO 
ROAA 
type of a new genus of venomous serpents; but unless other 
species resembling it be hereafter found, it is better to avoid 
the multiplication of genera,—the rage for which has too often 


greatly retarded the study of Natural History. Ihave, therefore, 
considered it as an Elaps, and beg leave to designate it 


Exars JamEsont. 
The only specimen which I have seen, and which is in my 
possession, measures 
Ft. Inches. 


From the snout to the anus, : : Se hal 
From the anus to the extremity of the tail, =1 7.5 
Extreme length, . AS eens 
Circumference of the trunk where thickest, = 4.5 
Length of the head, . - C - ae 1.3 


The trunk diminishes towards the neck and tail. The back 
is slightly carinated ; the abdomen is large ; the tail tapers gra- 
dually; the scales are lozenge-shaped, smooth, and arranged 
in fifteen rows; the scuta are wide, and number 220+ 108 
(the first, as in Schlegel’s work, indicating the abdominal, the 
latter the divided caudal scuta). The general colour of the 
upper part of the animal is of a bluish-grey; but where the 
epidermis has peeled off, the scales are of a brilliant sky-blue. 
Each scale on the posterior part of the body, and also on the 
whole tail, is edged with deep black; and on the latter they 
are, moreover, tipt with the same colour, giving a very ele- 
gant appearance to this snake. The general colour of the 
under parts of the body is yellowish-white, but the abdominal 


— 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 55 


scuta near the anus have their posterior edges black, and the 
divided scuta of the tail are deeply edged with the same hue. 
The plates protecting the head are nine, of the normal shape ; 
the vertical plate is middle-sized; the temporals are rather 
large; the occipitals very large; the posterior frontals are 
considerably larger than the anterior pair; the superciliaries 
are large; the rostral is rounded, and emarginate below ; 
each nasal plate has a sulcus, in which are placed the open, 
lateral nostrils; the frenals are wanting. There are four pos- 
terior and three anterior orbiter plates. There are eight su- 
perior and ten inferior labial plates. 

The eye is rather large and prominent; the pupil orbicular. 

The fangs are slender, and have a distinct longitudinal fur- 
row on their anterior convex surface, as in Schlegel’s first 
subdivision of venomous serpents. They are attached to the 
maxillary bones, which are, as usual in venomous snakes, 
moveable by muscles attached to the pterygoid bones. The 
poison-gland, placed at the angle of the jaw, is covered by a 
firm albugineous tunic, has a cellular structure, and sends off 
a slender poison duct, in the usual manner, to the root of the 
fangs. 

These particulars are noticed to shew that this serpent 
really belongs to the true venomous snakes, not to the Lyco- 
dons, with which a superficial view might readily confound it, 
as it has several analogies with that genus of harmless ser- 


pents. 
Epinzurcu University, March 19, 1842. 


On the Application of the Hypothesis of M. Venetz to the Er- 
ratic Phenomena of the North; a Letter addressed to M. 
Macaire, Counsellor of State, by M. Jean de Charpentier.* 


Srr—You have been good enough to take the trouble of 


* From the Bibliotheque Universelle de Genéve, No. 78. As we have 
all along endeavoured, so far as our space permitted, to conyey to our 
readers full information respecting glaciers, and the topics more imme- 
diately connected with them, we collected, at p. 160 of vol. xxx., references 
to the most important papers which had appeared in this Journal on the 
subject ; and we now continue that list, premising the titles of some shorter 


56 M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 


giving in the Bibliotheque Universelle de Geneve an account of 
my Lssai sur les glaciers et le terrain erratique du bassin du 
Rhéne.* there remarked with much satisfaction that you 
have perused that work with attention, and have completely 
understood the ideas which it was my intention to express. 
In fact, I think it would be impossible to prepare a better ab- 
stract than you have published of a work which, in some mea- 
sure, is only a summary of observations. I therefore request 
you to accept of my sincere thanks on this account, and also 
for all the kind observations regarding me, which, on that oc- 
casion, were dictated by your indulgent goodness. 

If all my readers had considered the subject with the same 
attention and the same sagacity which you have brought to 


communications published previously to vol. xxx., but not included in our 
former note: Vol. xviii. p. 363, Kl6éden on the Origin of the Erratic Blocks 
of the North of Germany. Vol. xxiii. p. 69, Sefstrém on the Traces of a 
vast Aucient Flood (On ésars and Jiittegryttor). Vol. xxiy., p. 438, Von 
Baer on the Transported Blocks of the South Coast of Finland. Vol. xxix. 
p- 185, On the Origin of Fissures in Glaciers, and on Sefstrém’s Investiga- 
tions. Vol. xxx. pp. 160 and 284, Dr Martens on the Glaciers of Spitzber- 
gen, compared with those of Switzerland and Norway ; p. 194, Dr Buckland 
on the former existence of Glaciers in Scotland; p. 199, Mr Lyell on the 
Geological Evidence of the former existence of Glaciers in Forfarshire ; 
p. 202, Dr Buckland on the former existence of Glaciers in the North of 
England. Vol. xxxi. p. 38, Dr Black on the Antediluvian Congelation of 
the Interstitial Water of Rocks; p. 56, Captain Vetch on Icebergs, &c.; p. 
77, M. Renoir on the Traces of Ancient Glaciers in Dauphiny and in 
Northern Russia; p. 252, M. Robert on the Grooves and Furrows on the 
Rocks of Scandinavia; p. 253, M. Bohtlingk on the Traces of the last Re- 
volution in Scandinavia. Vol. xxxii. p. 76, Professor Hitchcock on Glacial 
Action, &c., in America ; p. 64, Professor Forbes on a Remarkable Struc- 
ture observed by him in the Ice of Glaciers; p. 105, M. Bohtlingk on the 
Scratches and Furrows observed on the Rocks of Finland; p. 291, M. 
Desor’s Account of an Ascent of the Jungfrau. Vol. xxxiii. p. 1, Sir G. 
Mackenzie on an Hypothesis to account for the Origin of Glaciers; p. 36, 
Professor Bronn on the Glacier Theory of Agassiz; p. 104, M. de Char- 
pentier on the Glaciers and Erratic Formation of the Valley of the Rhone; 
p. 124, Mr Murchison on the Glacial Theory ; p. 161, M. Studer on the Di- 
luyium and Erratic Blocks of Switzerland; p. 217, Professor Agassiz on 
the Glacial Theory and its Recent Progress ; p. 338, Professor Forbes’ Re- 
cent Observations on Glaciers : p. 352, Mr Darwin on the Ancient Glaciers 
of Caernarvonshire ; p. 399, Professor Agassiz’ Recent Observations on the 
Glacier of the Aar—Epir. 
* Jameson’s Journal, vol. xxxiii. p. 104. 


SS ee | 


-M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 57 


bear on it, the hypothesis of M. Venetz, that is to say, the 
hypothesis which attributes the transport of erratic blocks to 
glaciers, would certainly by this time have gained a larger 
number of supporters. There are, it is true, many persons 
who adopt it for the explanation of the erratic phenomena of 
the Alps; but this is not the case with regard to the erratic 
phenomena of the north of Europe. Nevertheless, there seems 
to me to be so great an analogy between the erratic phenomena 
of the north and those of the Alps and the Pyrenees, that we 
may assert that there is an almost complete identity. Not hay- 
ing visited any of the countries of the north, I only know the 
erratic phenomenon of Scandinavia by the descriptions that 
have been given of it, but the most interesting of these had 
not appeared, or at least had not come under my notice, be- 
fore the publication of my book. Judging from the descriptions 
given by skilful observers and good geologists, the difference 
between the erratic formations of the north and those of the 
south, consists solely in the extent of the dispersion of the 
debris ; that dispersion being in the north spread over a sur- 
face incomparably greater than in the south. It appears, 
moreover, that in the north, floating masses of ice have had a 
share in producing this dispersion, whereas in the south, such 
an agent has been so feeble in its operation, if it existed at 
all, that traces of its action have not yet been ascertained. 

Although I am far from pretending that analogous, or even 
identical facts, are always the result of a common cause, it 
seems to me that the glacier hypothesis explains the erratic 
phenomena of Scandinavia quite as well as it does those of 
the Alps. The great repugnance which has hitherto been 
shewn to the application of this hypothesis to the transport of 
the erratic debris of the north, proceeds, 1s‘, From the false 
idea that has been adopted of the mode of formation, the de- 
velopment, and the movement of glaciers; and, 2¢, From the 
error of believing that the glacier hypothesis excludes all 
operation of other agents. 

Notwithstanding the care I took in the first part of my 
book to describe, as clearly as was possible for me, the chief 
phenomena of glaciers, and to explain their theory, it never- 
theless appears that I have not always been properly under- 


58 M. Charpentier on the Hrratic Phenomena of the North. 


stood, for there are still many persons who never hear the 
word glacier, without associating with it the idea of moun- 
tains, lofty mountains, mountains of many thousand feet in 
height. Such individuals think that mountains are an indis- 
pensable condition for the existence of glaciers; but such an 
opinion is quite erroneous. Mountains do not exercise any 
direct influence on glaciers, except that they sometimes favour 
the accumulation of snow drifted by the wind. It is only 
their cold, snowy, and rainy climate which causes the for- 
mation, development, and movement of glaciers. Now, then, 
if from any cause a similar climate existed in a flat country, 
were it even at the level of the sea, there would be nothing 
to prevent glaciers from being formed and developed. Nor 
is the declivity of the surface a necessary condition for their 
movement; for, as I have shewn in my Zssai (§ 14), gla- 
ciers do not move by the action of their own gravity, nor by 
the pressure of the high nevés, or upper snow; this movement 
being produced solely by the dilation which the ice undergoes, 
when the water that it has absorbed by means of the capillary 
fissures traversing its whole mass, becomes frozen. Conse- 
quently, if a cold, snowy, and rainy climate existed during a 
long course of years in a region forming part of a flat and 
smooth country, and if the summer temperature were insufh- 
cient to cause the complete melting of the winter snows, 
these snows would not fail to be converted into glacier. If 
the surface of that region presented a perfectly horizontal 
plane, the glacier, as it became developed, would extend in 
the direction of rays from the centre to the circumference ; 
but if the surface were inclined, that extension, and conse- 
quently the principal movement, would take place in the 
direction of the line of greatest inclination (#ssa/, § 22). 
These considerations render it apparent, that the absence of 
high mountains, and the presence of immense plains, in coun- 
tries where the erratic debris of the north have been met with, 
cannot furnish a valid objection to the glacier hypothesis. 
The change of climate supposed by the hypothesis, must 
have occurred after the great catastrophe which has modified 
the surface of an immense extent of the northern hemisphere, 
and has given to the principal chain of the Alps, to the Atlas 


8 ee ey ee 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 59 


group, to the Caucasus, to the Himalaya, &c., their present 
configuration.* It must have been the effect, the inevitable 
consequence, of that revolution (Essai, § 82). The facts de- 
mand this conclusion in so decisive a manner, that it is even 
admitted by geologists who do not adopt the glacier hypo- 
thesis. Thus M. Durochert supposes, ‘‘ that the winters in 
Europe were colder during the geological period which imme- 
diately preceded the present one ;” that is to say, the epoch 
during which the dispersion of the erratic debris took place. 
This opinion is supported in a note at the bottom of the page 
by M. Elie de Beaumont. Instead, however, of supposing 
with M. Durocher, the existence of colder winters than those 
of the present day, I should rather be inclined to believe that 
they were more snowy than they now are, but that the sum- 
mers were more rainy and colder, so that the difference 
between the mean temperature of summer and that of winter 
was less considerable than it is at present. Such a climate 
must have been very analogous to that of Terra del Fuego, 
and the northern coast of the Straits of Magellan ; for, judg- 
ing from the work of Mr Darwin,f the climate of the most 
southern portions of America is perfectly similar to that which 
must formerly have prevailed in the north, if the summers in 
the former were a little more cold and more rainy, and the 
winters more snowy. If this were the case, these regions 
would now present us with the same phenomenon which was 
formerly exhibited in the north, that of a vast country entirely 
covered by an immense glacier. 

There is another difficulty which prevents many persons 
from adopting the hypothesis of glaciers for the explanation 
of the erratic phenomenon of the north, a difficulty arising 
solely from the erroneous idea conceived of the origin of 
the snow or the ice that must have formed that immense 
glacier. They, in fact, imagine, that the snow which has 
formed the ice of a glacier, proceeds entirely from the moun- 
tain on which it takes its origin ; and they found this opinion 


* Elie de Beaumont in the French translation of De la Béche, p. 659. 

+ Report on a Memoir by M. Durocher, entitled, Observations sur le Phéno- 
mine Diluvien dans le Nord de? Europe, p. 25. (Comptes Rendus, yol. xiv. p. 
101, Edit.) 

{ Journal of Researches in Geology, &c. 


60 M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 


on the fact, that they find at the foot of the glacier, among 
the debris brought down by it, fragments of rock evidently 
detached from that mountain. Starting with this idea, they 
believe that the hypothesis in question, applied to the erratic 
phenomenon of the north, obliges them to admit that the ice 
which formerly covered the countries where the erratic debris 
are met with, that is to say, the immense extent included be- 
tween the north of Scandinavia, Moscow, and Leipsic, came 
wholly from the mountains of Norway or of Spitzbergen, or 
of some part of the Polar regions. But such a supposition is 
quite as inadmissible as that which would attribute to the 
source of the Rhone all the water which that river contains 
when it falls into the lake, and that because there had been 
recognised among the wood it transports, trees evidently de- 
rived from near itssource. The absurdity of this supposition, 
though based on a fact which is very true, is at once apparent. 
It is the same thing with glaciers; for the snow which has 
given rise to the formation of the ice, does not all come from 
the mountains where they had their origin ; on the contrary, 
the ice derived from the hauts-névés (Hssai, § 3 and § 10) 
only forms a part, sometimes a very small one, of their en- 
tire mass. In fact, as the ice of a glacier is chiefly produced 
by the congelation of the water which, as often under the 
form of rain as of snow, has fallen on it and been absorbed by 
it, it is evident that the more surface a glacier presents, the 
more the portion of ice having that origin ought to be consi- 
derable, compared with that which has really descended from 
the mountain. There is therefore no need of supposing that 
all the ice of the diluvian glacier of the north came from one 
single point ; on the contrary, that vast glacier would be con- 
stantly increased by the rain and the snow falling directly 
upon it, and its increase must have gone on augmenting in 
proportion. as it acquired a larger surface. 

We must no longer persuade ourselves that the change in 
the snows of the north only commenced its operations at one 
single locality, more or less limited. This change must have 
taken place simultaneously in the whole region where the 
summer temperature was not sufficiently high to cause the 
entire disappearance of the winter snows. Such a state of the 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 61 


climate must have extended over a large surface, which must 
have comprised, as we shall immediately see, Finmark, Lap- 
land, Norway, and the greater part of Sweden and Finland. 
Consequently, a glacier formed at once over so large a surface, 
must, in a short time, have acquired an immense development. 
As it crossed the Baltic and extended to the north of Ger- 
many, Prussia, and the plains of Russia, as far as Moscow, 
there is nothing extraordinary in supposing that the erratic 
formation really reaches to Moscow, Stezyka, Oppeln, Leipsic, 
&e., and that in the indications of the boundary of this forma- 
tion, it may sometimes have been regarded as identical with 
the diluvium, as I am almost tempted to believe. 

These considerations shew us that the supposition of a 
glacier occupying nearly the whole of Scandinavia, and stretch- 
ing over a portion of the countries situated to the south of the 
Baltic, does not imply any thing impossible or contrary to the 
laws of physics. The only thing that may appear at first 
sight a difficulty, is the circumstance, that this glacier must 
have traversed the Baltic and its gulfs, and that sea must un- 
doubtedly have been, at the period alluded to, of much greater 
extent than it now is. But what I have said in my Essay 
(§ 305) regarding the lakes which occurred in the course 
of the diluvian glaciers of the Alps, is equally applicable to 
the sea; while the localities where there were no currents of an 
elevated temperature, like the Gulf Stream, could not have 
been an obstacle to the progression of a glacier of such vast 
breadth as the diluvian glacier of the north. 

The erratic formation presents itself in the north under the 
same form as in the Alps, and exhibits the same phenomena. 
Thus, the debris of the rocks are sometimes scattered widely, 
which is most frequently the case, and sometimes accumulated 
in bands or mounds. Fragments of all sizes are met with 
mixed pell-mell, without any separation, according to their 
volume. Many of them have their prominent portions well 
preserved, as well as their surfaces. The rocks, as in the 
Alps, exhibit marks of wearing and rubbing, smooth surfaces, 
striae, furrows, and vertical erosions in the form of caul- 
drons. 

Deposits of diluvium are likewise met with, composed of 


62 M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 


beds of pebbles, of sand, and of mud, and not only within the 
limits of the erratic formation, but also beyond them, at a 
great distance to the south. The Scandinavian diluvium, 
indeed, covers a considerable extent of the north-west of 
Russia, of Prussia, of Poland, and of the north of Germany. 
This formation, whose materials have evidently been trans- 
ported and deposited by water, offers a feature which has not 
yet been observed in the Alps, and that consists in the pre- 
sence of well-preserved angular debris, and of large blocks, 
beyond the domain of the erratic formation. The good state 
of preservation of their surface, of their angles, and of their 
edges, as well as the considerable volume of a large number of 
them, do not allow of their being regarded as having been trans- 
ported by water. It is therefore to be presumed, that their 
transport was effected by floating ice. The external configu- 
ration of the region in which the glacier had its origin, and 
that of the countries successively invaded, far from being un- 
favourable to this supposition, render it, on the contrary, very 
probable. In fact, the masses of ice which must from time to 
time have been detached from the glacier, and carried away 
by the water, had not, as in the Alps, to cross narrow defiles, 
or to follow valleys with numerous windings, in which they 
would be speedily broken up against the mountains forming 
the re-entering angle of the bend. 

The marine shells frequently found in the diluvium, prove 
that, at the epoch of its formation, the countries where they 
are observed must have been submerged by the sea. The 
perfect preservation of these molluscous animals, belonging 
chiefly to species still living in the seas of the north, and the 
stratification, often very regular, of these sedimentary de- 
posits, do not allow us to doubt that the materials were trans- 
ported by slow currents, or, at all events, by currents of but 
little rapidity. 

But those who reject the glacier hypothesis, and wish to 
explain the erratic phenomena of the north solely by floating 
ice and currents, fall, in my opinion, into great improbabili- 
ties. First of all, in order to explain the marks of rubbing 
and of wearing on the rocks, they are obliged to commence 
with the supposition of an enormous current, flowing from 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 63 


north and south, and for whose origin they have to seek “ to 
the north of Scandinavia, perhaps even beyond Spitzbergen 
and the neighbouring islands, towards the polar regions.”’* 
In order to account for the facts, it is absolutely necessary to 
admit that this current, like a flowing tide, had risen on the 
coast of Finmark to the height of 2500 feet above the present 
level of the sea, because it is at that elevation, on the summit 
of the mountain of Raipas and on the high plateau of Nor- 
wegian Lapland, that M. Durocher found polished and grooved 
surfaces of rock. But pure water cannot polish and scoop 
out rocks; and we are thus farther constrained to admit, on 
this hypothesis, that the current was charged with matter 
from the bottom of the sea to the height of 2500 feet above 
its present level. 

I confess I cannot conceive what catastrophe could have 
produced such a current, a tide so monstrous; nor ean I ima- 
gine the current itself, especially when I consider that this 
mass of water could not be confined between the mountains 
of a valley, but that it must have been accumulated on an 
open and boundless sea. The supposition of the sowlévement 
of an island, of a vast island, even of a continent, does not 
explain to me, in a satisfactory manner, this enormous current. 
If the soulévement was gradual, it could not occasion rapid 
currents, and still less so great an accumulation of water on 
the surface of the sea. We must, therefore, suppose that this 
soulévement was as sudden as the explosion of a mine; but a 
sudden and instantaneous souwlévement seems to me the least 
probable occurrence in the world. 

But leaving aside the difficulties arising from the cause and 
the mode of formation of this current, let us suppose it to 
- have been such as is required by the hypothesis, that is to 
say, endowed with great rapidity, and charged with materials 
for rounding rocks, polishing surfaces to a height of 2500 feet, 
and forming those accumulations of debris in the form of 
mounds or causeways, known in Sweden by the name of ésars. 
In this case, I would ask, What has become of these materials ? 
Have they, perhaps, been all employed in the construction of 


* M. Durocher, Mémoire, p. 32. (Comptes Rendus, vol, xiv. p. 108. Edit.) 


64 M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 


the Gsars? That cannot be, because the total mass of these 
accumulations is much too small compared with the quantity 
of rocky debris which the current must have transported. 
Perhaps this excess, this surplus of materials, may have given 
rise to the deposit of diluvium which is of such extent in the 
north of Europe? But neither could that be the case, for 
the stratification, often very regular, of this formation, and 
** good state of preservation of the shells which it contains, 

not allow us to attribute its formation to a current so 
sudden and so impetuous as that one must have been which 
is supposed to have abraded and furrowed the rocks, and to 
have tra. sported the blocks constituting the ésars. How did 
these matters not fill up, if not the Gulfs of Scandinavia, at 
all events the lakes existing in such abundance in the coun- 
tries invaded by this debacle? I am indeed unable to give a 
reply to this question. 

Perhaps an objection to the glacier hypothesis will be found 
in the quantity of debris composing the erratic formation, 
for it may be said, and with much reason, that the mountains 
which rose above the surface of the glacier were too few in 
number, and presented too limited a superficies, to allow of 
the eboulements which fell on the glacier, furnishing a mass 
of debris so considerable as that now found distributed. This 
objection would, indeed, be unanswerable, if the materials 
which a glacier transports must necessarily have fudlen on its 
surface. But it is not so, for the fragments of rock which we 
find on the ridge of a glacier are not all derived from eboule- 
ments; on the contrary, there are many of them which come 
from the bottom or bed of the glacier. As to the manner in 
which these stones arrive at the surface from the bottom or bed 
of a glacier, I have described it in detail in my Essay (§ 25). 
Thus, then, undoubtedly, the largest portion of the debris con- 
stituting the erratic formation and the diluvium of the north, 
does not owe its origin to eboulements. These fragments 
have been detached from the rocks at a period anterior to the 
formation of the ice, by the very revolutions which varied the 
configuration of Scandinavia, and they have arrived at the 
surface of the glacier, not from above by a descent, but from 
beneath, having been elevated by the ice. 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 65 


The external configuration of the 6sars, “ being in the form 
of long mounds,” is, in my opinion, much better explained 
by the glacier hypothesis, than by that of a great current and 
of floating ice. 

It is the same with the fine strie which have been en- 
grayed on the surface of the rubbed and smoothed rocks. If 
currents, transporting matter, could produce strie of this de- 
scription, these ought also to be met with on the naked rock 
of the beds of torrents, where, however, we never find them. 

The hypothesis of currents and of floating ice is altogether 
insufficient to explain the vertical erosions, having the form 
of caldrons, so common in Scandinavia, where they receive 
the name of Jattegryttor, (Riesentipfe, in German) or giants’ 
boilers.* There is, in fact, no other hypothesis but that 
of glaciers, which can account in a manner really satisfactory 
for this remarkable phenomenon (Zssai, § 35 and § 80.) 

If I were not afraid of exceeding too much the limits of a 
letter, I could adduce other improbabilities and other diffi- 
culties which present themselves, when the whole erratic for- 
mation of the north is attributed so/ely to an enormous cur- 
rent, and to floating ice. I will do this when I continue (ac- 
cording to my announcement, Hssaz, preface, p. 10), my work 
on glaciers and the erratic formation. I shall then shew that 
this astonishing phenomenon can be explained even to its most 
minute details by the hypothesis of glaciers, combining it at 
the same time with that of floating ice and currents. I 
must, however, state, that by currents, I do not mean that de- 
bacle, that enormous tide, which must have reached a height 
of 2500 feet above the level of the sea, and which I cannot 
admit; but I suppose the existence of currents similar to those 
of the seas of the present day, and to the great rivers of flat 
countries. 

If we admit the combination of these three causes, against 
which no valid objection can be made, we shall be able to ex- 


Mier i uel ety We he eR A 


» Bergmann’s Physikalische Beschreibung der Erdkugel, vol. ii. p. 193 ; and 
Sefstrém, in Poggendorff’s Annalen, vol. xxxviii. p. 614, and in Jameson’s 
Journal, vol. xxiii. p. 69. 


VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVvII.—sanuary 18&43. E 


66 M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 


plain the dispersion of the erratic debris of the north in as 
satisfactory a manner as we can that of the Alps and of the 
Pyrenees. It will be the task of the geologist to assign ap- 
proximately the share which each of these agents has had in 
the production of this great phenomenon. 

The deposits of erratic debris, properly so called, the abra- 
sion of the rocks, the marks of attrition, the striz, the fur- 
rows, and the erosions in the form of caldrons, are to be at- 
tributed to glacier action. Erratic deposits can always be 
distinguished from the diluvium by the frequency of well- 
preserved angular debris. The dsars serve not only io prove 
the existence of the erratic formation in any particular region, 
but are also of great assistance in determining its limits. 
For this purpose it would be necessary to delineate on a map 
the dsars the farthest removed from the north, or, in their 
absence, to indicate the localities where the debris cease to be 
mixed pell-mell as regards their volume, and where, con- 
sequently, a selection, according to relative weight, begins to 
be perceptible.* The line joining all these localities would 
indicate the limit of the erratic formation properly so called, 
that is to say, the limit of the debris dispersed by the glacier. 
It would also exhibit the form of the glacier at the period of 
its greatest development. Consequently, the regions com- 
prised between this line and the north, must have been covered 
by ice at the epoch of its maximum of extent. 

The sedimentary deposits, whether stratified deposits of 
pebbles, of sand, or of clay, situated within or without that 
line, are, in my opinion, not the erratic formation, but dilu- 
vium, that is to say, a sediment whose materials have been 
conveyed and deposited by water. In the countries which 
were not submerged by the sea, this transport must have been 
effected by the streams which issued from the glacier, and 
which, during the period of its melting, doubtless acquired a 
considerable volume. But in regions covered by the sea, this 


* It will be found that there is rarely an opportunity of observing marks 
of attrition in the vicinity of the limit of the erratic formation, because the 
regions where it terminates being in the plains, the rock constituting the 
surface is generally covered and masked by the diluyium. 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 67 


transport could only have been effected by an actual sub- 
marine current, produced by the difference of temperature 
between the water in the vicinity of the glacier, and that 
which was more to the south. Looking at the course of the 
current, it must have assumed a direction from north to south, 
and traversed the bottom of the sea; the greater part of that 
sea having probably had but little depth. Carrying along 
with it the comminuted debris, that current deposited the 
diluvium which constitutes the plains of the north-west of 
Russia, of Poland, of Prussia, and of the north of Germany. 
Beyond the limit of the erratic formation, and dispersed on 
the surface of the soil or enveloped in the diluvium, we find 
fragments of rock which have their surfaces and their pro- 
minent portions in a good state of preservation, Rolled 
blocks are also met with there, whose volume is too consider- 
able to allow us to suppose that they have been transported 
by currents, which, judging from the regularity of the stratifi- 
cation of the diluvium, cannot have been-violent. I attribute, 
without hesitation, the transport of such matters to floating ice, 
that is to say, to masses of ice detached from the glacier, of which 
some have been transported by rivers, while others, and pro- 
bably the larger proportion, having fallen into the sea, have 
been forced to the south by the impulsion of the winds from 
the north ; in fact, marine currents could not have conveyed 
them to the south, because, that of the bottom having pursued, 
as I have already said, a course from north to south, the cur- 
rent existing at the surface must have hada contrary direction. 
The formation of the erratic formation must have com- 
menced from the period when the snow was transformed into 
ice. But these first deposits were not permanent ; for in pro- 
portion as the glacier made progress, it overthrew them and 
displaced them anew. It thus continued to destroy its own 
work until it reached the maximum of its development. 
During the time of its greatest extension, it formed the ter- 
minal moraine, that is to say, the moraine farthest to the south. 
The circumstance that this moraine probably does not exist 
along the whole line indicating the shape of the glacier at the 
period of its greatest development, cannot be an objection to 
the hypothesis which I defend. In fact, existing glaciers 


63 M. Charpentier on the Hrratic Phenomena of the North. 


themselves are not uninterruptedly skirted by moraines; f-r 
the latter cannot be met with except in the localities where 
the rocky debris have reached the edge of the glacier, and 
where torrents havenot prevented itsaccumulation. Moreover, 
in places where the glacier deposited little matter, the moraine 
having remained small and but little elevated, has been after- 
wards buried by the diluvium, and thus removed from the 
view of the observer. 

On each occasion when the glacier, during the process of 
melting, was subjected to some oscillation, it gave rise to 
new accumulations of debris. In this manner it necessarily 
formed other frontal moraines ; these are recognised by their 
direction, which is nearly east and west, and they are known 
in eastern Prussia by the name of Steindéimme. 

Having at last retreated beyond the Baltic, the glacier was 
so much reduced as only to oceupy the regions in which it had 
originated. The return of a milder climate must also have 
gradually produced a melting in these countries. We can 
easily conceive that the lower regions were the first that were 
freed from ice ; but that the latter kept its ground on the moun- 
tains and higher table-lands, until the return of heat had also 
reached such elevated points. Previous to this complete melt- 
ing, the glacier was, so to speak, lacerated or divided into 
shreds, forming so many separate glaciers, of which the largest, 
as happens in the Alps, descended into the neighbouring val- 
leys, and, depositing on the flanks of the mountains the debris 
which they transported, caused the formation of the Scandi- 
navian dsars of the present day. When the mountain which 
retained its ice, was more or less isolated, or advanced into the 
flat country, so that the glacier which descended from it could 
extend freely over a smooth surface, there would result the 
phenomenon described by M. Durocher, and which consists in 
this, “ that in taking each of the rocks which have furnished 
erratic blocks as the centre of a circle, the region which con- 
tains blocks derived from that rock, occupies more than a third, 
and sometimes nearly a half, of the cireumference, so that the 
blocks have followed, in certain cases, a line almost perpen- 
dicular to the general direction which the power of transport 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 69 


from north to south ought to have” (Mém. p. 17.) I quote 
this fact, because it explains extremely well the crossing of 
the striz which is sometimes remarked on the surface of rocks. 
The localities where the striz cross have been covered at two 
different times by ice ; the first time, they have been invaded 
by the great glacier, which has scratched them in the general 
direction from north to south ; and the second time, they have 
been so by partial glaciers, whose action has there produced 
strize, in some degree anomalous, which cross the first in va- 
rious directions. 

When two of these partial glaciers became joined together 
and united into a single one, they would give rise to a super- 
ficial moraine. (Hssaz, § 20 and § 21.)* 

The abraded and polished surfaces of rocks, the striae, fur- 
rows, and caldron-like erosions, could only be produced dur- 
ing the period when the various localities where they are ob- 
served were covered by ice. The direction of the furrows and 
strie being generally from north to south, we are authorized 
in believing that the principal movement of the glacier was in 
that direction. 

In order to assign the cause which determined this direc« 
tion, we must turn our attention to the state of the snow in 
the north during the epoch of which we are speaking. I have 
already remarked that the whole erratic phenomenon obliges us 
to admit that some time after the last great catastrophe which 
altered the configuration of the northern hemisphere, the cli- 
mate became so much colder, that in Scandinavia, perhaps 
from the 60th degree, the summer heat was no longer suffi- 
cient to cause the complete melting of the winter snows. Ne- 
vertheless, the liquefaction was not entirely suspended, and the 
water proceeding from it, as well as that derived from rain, 
must gradually have converted the snow into a glacier which 
invaded countries more to the south and having a milder cli- 


* The ésars which have had this origin may be recognised by the fact 
that their upper extremity generally rests against the rock or eminence form- 
ing the termination of the chain of mountains, which, by separating the two 
glaciers, has given rise to the deposit of the superficial moraine (Essai, p. 55, 
fig. xil., cand 1.) This appearance has been supposed to be an evident proof 
of the formation of Gsars by a powerful current. 


70 M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 


mate. But it is probable that from the 70th degree the melt- 
ing of the snow had nearly ceased, or, at least, that it was 
scarcely more considerable than it now is on our most elevated 
mountains. The snow, beyond the 70th degree, from the im- 
possibility of its transformation into glacier, must have corres- 
ponded completely with the most elevated hauts nevés (Essat, 
§ 3). The fact that the larger portion of the polar regions is 
occupied by seas, is not opposed to this supposition ; for, if 
these seas, as is very probable, weze then covered by ice, as 
they are at the present day from the 80th degree, the snow 
could rest there just as well as on solid land. 

Nor is there anything which obliges us to restrict the trans- 
formation of snow into ice to Scandinavia alone. On the 
contrary, it is more probable that the conditions of climate 
necessary for the transformation were to be found in the 
whole zone, comprised between the 60° and 70° parallel. This 
supposition is supported by the existence of the erratic for- 
mation in Siberia, and in the North of America. The isother- 
mal, and particularly the isotheral lines, have, it is true, ma- 
terialiy modified the northern limit of this zone of permanent 
snow ; but these modifications, however great they may have 
been, do not at all influence the theory of the erratic pheno- 
mena.* 


* The isothermal lines, and especially the isotheral lines, must have 
exercised a considerable influence on the formation and on the development 
of the diluvian glacier of the North. Itis, without doubt, in the direction or 
course of these lines that we must seek for the cause of the erratic forma- 
tion not reaching the same parallel throughout the whole of the north ; 
thus, for example, the limit of this formation advances much more to the 
south in the north of Germany, than in Russia and in Siberia. It is plain, 
that the more these lines ascend to the north, the less could the glacier ad- 
vance towards the south. The exact determination of the limit of the er- 
ratic formation, would be of great importance for the physics of the globe; 
it would throw much light on the climatological condition of the north of 
the northern hemisphere during the earliest periods of the present geological 
epoch. But in order that this investigation might accomplish its object, 
and acquire that scientific interest, it is indispensable that the erratic for- 
mation should be accurately distinguished from the diluvium, because, by 
confounding these two formations, as is often done, false results are ob: 
tained, and cironcous conclusions deduced, 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 71 


We may admit, therefore, that, some time after the last 
great revolution of the globe, the northern hemisphere was 
covered by a sheet of snow, from about the 60° parallel to the 
pole ; and that the snow of the zone comprised between the 
60° and 70° parallels, was transformed into a glacier, which, 
in its dilatation, could not extend in any other but a southern 
direction, because, in other directions, it had to encounter 
the resistance arising from snow and ice themselves (Lssa?, 
§ 11). The movement of the glacier must, therefore, have 
been from north to south. This result of the theory is com- 
pletely confirmed by the observation of facts, for we know 
that the general direction of the furrows and scratches traced 
by the great glacier, is nearly in that direction. The slight 
deviations, sometimes remarked, have been occasioned by the 
slope and inequalities of the surface. There is likewise an- 
other fact, which proves conclusively that the movement of 
the glacier was from north to south. This consists in the 
fact, that the northern flank of the rocks having been ex- 
posed to the whole action of the expansive force of the ice, 
and to that of the movement, presents marks of abrasion and 
attrition of a much more distinct nature than the flank di- 
rected towards the south, which, having been more or less 
sheltered by the body of the mountain, must have experienced 
to a smaller extent the effect of this action. An argument 
has been drawn from this fact in favour of the debacle or 
great northern current ; but the same phenomenon actually 
takes place under our eyes in the Alps, for, when a glacier 
encounters a rock or eminence in its passage, we find that the 
flank turned towards the side whence the glacier proceeds, 
is always more rounded and more rubbed than that turned 
towards the opposite direction. 

Lastly, as to the formation of the diluvium, which is met 
with not only within the limits of the erratic formation, but 
also to a great distance beyond it, it must have commenced 
in the first periods of the epoch which we are now considering, 
and must have gone on augmenting in proportion as the gla- 
cier was developed. The materials which were deposited, as 
much by the rivers as by the submarine current, in the re- 
gions afterwards invaded by the glacier, experienced new dis- 


72 M. Charpentier on the Hrratic Phenomena of the North. 


placements ; because, as in the case of modern glaciers, that 
of Scandinavia must have upturned the soil, and pierced to 
the solid rock, in the localities where the inequalities of the 
formation interfered with its movement. But where it could 
extend freely, and where there was no obstacle to the expansion 
of the ice, it must have stretched over the diluvyium without 
raising it, if, at least in the upper beds, the latter was of such 
a nature as to afford the water the means of flowing off quickly 
(Essai, § 16). 

Although the deposition of diluvium may have been going 
on during the whole period of the existence of the glacier, it 
will nevertheless be easily understood, that the largest quantity 
of boulders, sand, and clay, was transported during the melting 
of the ice; so that, in many localities, the erratic formation 
must have been covered by it, especially if it only presented 
scattered deposits (Hssai, § 47). 

The transport of fragments of rock, by means of floating 
ice, must have taken place during the whole period of the ex- 
istence of the glacier; but it is when the glacier was most in 
contact with the sea, that this transport must have been most 
frequent. I have already said, that I attribute to this mode 
of transport, the angular and well-preserved debris, and the 
blocks of large size, which are both found beyond the limit of 
the erratic formation, lying sometimes scattered on the sur- 
face of the ground, sometimes disseminated in the interior of 
the diluvium. The first must have been carried thither when 
the current and the rivers had ceased to convey matters to 
the locality where these fragments are found; the others, 
when the transport of boulders, sand, and clay, caused by cur- 
rents, was still taking place. 

You are now, Sir, in possession of my opinion regarding the 
mode of origin of the Erratic Phenomenon of the North, which, 
however, I have not had an opportunity of examining per- 
sonally, but only know from the descriptions that have been 
given, and more especially those of Messrs Durocher, Boéht- 
lingk,* and Sefstrom. However succinct, and therefore im- 
perfect, may be the summary which I have now offered, of 


* Jameson’s Journal, vol, xxxii. p. 103. 


,= 


M. Charpentier on the Erratic Phenomena of the North. 73 


the manner in which I conceive this great phenomenon to 
have been caused, it must suffice, I think, to shew that the hy- 
pothesis of M. Venetz, combined to a certain extent with that 
of floating ice, accounts for it better than that which attri- 
butes it to an enormous current, coming from the polar re- 
gions, and which, at the same time, assigns too important a 
part in the operations to floating ice. This latter hypothesis, 
apart from the improbabilities which it presents, is, even in 
the opinion of its defenders, insufficient to explain many facts 
that are of importance, and are connected with the erratic 
phenomenon ; it thus leaves us in doubt and in uncertainty. 

Permit me, Sir, to terminate this long letter by giving, in 
a few words, a summary of the principal ideas which I have 
now offered :— 

1. In consequence of the last great catastrophe which 
altered the configuration of the surface of the northern hemis- 
phere over a vast extent, the climate became colder and 
moister than it was previously, or is at the present day. 

2. During the long continuance of this climatological con- 
dition, the summer temperature was insufficient to melt com- 
pletely the snows from the 60th parallel. 

3. The snows comprised between the 60th and 70th paral- 
lels were transformed into glaciers. Beyond the 70th paral- 
lel they remained in the state of névé. 

“4. This glacier having acquired a considerable development, 
invaded the north of Russia as far as Moscow, Prussia, Poland, 
the north of Germany, and perhaps the eastern shores of 
England. 

5. It transported and deposited the erratic formation, and 
produced marks of abrasion, the striae and furrows which have 
been observed on rocks. The cascades to which it gave rise 
have caused the erosions in the form of caldrons. 

6. The most southern accumulations, having the form of 
mounds or bands, are the moraines which it deposited during 
the maximum of its development. 

7. Osars are moraines, some having been formed by the 
oscillations to which the great glacier was subjected during 
its retreat, others by the ice which remained on elevated 
mountains and table-lands, long after the low regions had been 
freed from it. 


74 = Sir William Hamilton’s /ragments of Philosophy. 

8. The matters constituting the diluvium, both those within 
and those without the limits of the erratic formation, were con- 
veyed by rivers and by the submarine current. 

9. The great mass of diluvium was deposited during the 
melting or retreat of the glacier. 

Lastly, 10. The angular debris and the blocks of large size, 
dispersed on the surface of the ground or embedded in the di- 
luvium, but both beyond the limits of the erratic formation, 
have been transported by masses of ice, detached from the 
glacier. Of these masses of ice, some have been carried 
along by rivers, and others, floating on the sea, have been 
propelled towards the south by the force of the winds. 

Bex, 26th May, 1842. 


Fragments of Philosophy. By Sir Witi1am Hamitron, Bart., 
Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in the University of 
Edinburgh.* 


For some years we have heard much of the Scottish and German phi- 
losophy, of the former especially, which M. Royer-Collard and M. Cousin 
have assisted in making known by means of their eloquent lectures ; but 
it happens in this case, as in so many others, that the word is more fami- 
liar than the thing, and the first mentioned of these two philosophies not 
having yet become the fashion, it has hitherto continued in some degree 
of obscurity, from which it is of importance that it should be freed. 

The four philosophical dissertations translated in the work, the title of 
which has been given above, will be fitted to throw some light on this 
important subject: they are from the pen of Sir William Hamilton, Pro- 
fessor of Logic and Metaphysics in Edinburgh. This author would have 
been almost unknown in France until the appearance of the work in ques- 
tion, had not some of our professors mentioned his writings. Messrs 
Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire, Cousin, and Jouffroy, have done us this ser- 
vice, which is undoubtedly of some value, when we consider that all 
his productions, published anonymously in the Edinburgh Review, are 
scarcely known, in regard to their authorship, even in their own country. 
Sir W. Hamilton is one of those profound thinkers and true friends of 
science, who never think of publishing their works till they conceive them 
to be of such a nature as to produce some solid and substantial result. 
It happens more frequently still, that writers of this description, thinking 


* Fragments de Philosophie, &c. Translated, with a long Preface, Notes, 


and Appendix, by L. Peisse. Paris, 1840. 


oe 


Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 75 


little of the public, are entirely occupied with satisfying the wants of 
their own mind ; having but little anxiety about the effect of their thoughts 
on others, their mind dwells only on the intrinsic value of their researches, 
and they create for themselves, as Maine de Biran said, *¢ a world in their 
own brain.’ By this, however, we do not mean to say that Sir W. Ha- 
milton is a visionary or a fabricator of fantastical systems ; hitherto, on 
the contrary, his career has been one of remarkable activity ; but the 
pledges which he has given to science rest almost entirely on the merits 
of his teaching ; his publications, hitherto few in number, bear the im- 
press of true and original powers of mind. The four dissertations col- 
lected in this volume, have been selected from the pieces which the 
author has laid before the public ; these pieces altogether do not exceed 
the amount of a dozen articles, but all afford proofs of a rich philosophi- 
cal erudition, and an excellent method of investigation. Convinced as 
we are that the Scotch philosophy is not yet truly known in France, we 
do not hesitate to offer a succinct analysis of the fragments translated in 
Mr Peisse’s volume ; it will be the means of familiarizing our readers with 
this philosophy, which ought not to be strange to us, and also of render- 
ing’ homage to a modest and laborious philosopher. But, before enter- 
ing upon the examination of the volume, let us supply some particulars 
regarding the author. 

Sir William Hamilton belongs to the great family of Hamilton, which 
has given to France one of its classical writers. He commenced his stu- 
dies at the University of Glasgow, and concluded them at Oxford. Hav- 
ing acquitted himself with honour in the examinations requisite for ob- 
taining University degrees, he entered himself at the bar, obtained the 
chair of Universal History, and subsequently gave up this charge for 
another more suited to the nature of his talents and the character of his 
studies. Thomas Brown died in 1820, after having filled, in the capa- 
city of assistant, the chair of Dugald Stewart, from which this illustrious 
professor developed the principles of moral philosophy. Sir William 
Hamilton was among the candidates, but was unsuccessful, notwithstand- 
ing the suffrage of Dugald Stewart himself, who had rendered homage to 
his rising merits. It was not till 1836, in consequence of the retirement 
of Dr Ritchie, that Sir William Hamilton, now properly appreciated, 
obtained the vacant chair of logic and metaphysics. It was honourable 
for France to witness. at this period, one of our professors, M. Cousin, 
supporting Sir William Hamilton’s claims with his influence. Success 
crowned his wishes ; M. Cousin had no small influence in the nomination 
of the Scottish savant, and he deserves the praise of discovering the 
merit of a stranger whom his fellow-citizens had not always judged of 
with the favour lie deserved. 

Among the remarkable circumstances in Sir William Hamilton's lite- 
rary life, may be mentioned the discussion between him and the partisans 
of the phrenological doctrine, of which the principal representative was 
Dr Spurzheim. The occasion of it was two memoirs written by Sir Wil- 


76 Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 


liam Hamilton in 1826-1827, On the Practical Consequences of Dr Gall’s 
Theory of the Functions of the Brain. These memoirs, and such as ap- 
peared in the English reviews, of which we have formerly spoken, com- 
pose all the literary works which Sir William Hamilton has published ; 
but of what importance is the quantity of his works? is it not from their 
effect solely that the public ought definitively to form a judgment ? 

The general character of this;author’s thought is that which marks the 
spirit of the whole Scottish philosophy ; the examination of the funda- 
mental point of metaphysical science. Now, what is this fundamental 
ontological point? It is the very possibility of philosophy, the determi- 
nation of its object and its domain. The Scottish school has defined 
philosophy to be, the natural history of the human mind. According to 
this definition, all that is beyond the reach of observation, is by that very 
circumstance without the limits of the science. Sir William Hamiltoa 
has illustrated and developed this idea ; he has explained the doctrine of 
common sense. He has skilfully taken up a position between scepticism 
and dogmatism, and, drawing from the principles of the school of Kant, 
he has combined them with those of Reid and Dugald Stewart. He has 
perceived how to avoid the rock on which the Scottish philosophy has 
struck, the want of a logical tie and connection in the explanation of facts. 
It is the absence of this systematic method which has subjected this school 
to the reproach of eluding questions instead of answering them—of sup- 
pressing difficulties rather than solving them. Restoring dialectic to 
its true place, he has replaced it in the rank it ought of right to occupy 
at the head of the sciences. The richest erudition in all matters of phi- 
losophy likewise distinguishes Sir William Hamilton’s works; versed in 
the study of the German philosophy, he has not neglected antiquity, the 
primary source of all our researches and of our means of comparison. 
Mr Brandis, a professor of high reputation in Germany, has called him 
the great master of peripatetism. Finally, Sir William Hamilton, while 
preserving all the philosophical character of his nation, and losing none of 
his originality, has been enabled to unite therewith all the benefits that 
flow from an enlightened criticism, and the examination of the principal 
scientific results among foreign nations. 

These preliminary considerations, useful when we are about to enter 
upon the examination of a work so important as the present, are pre- 
ceded, in the translator’s volume, by some general views of the charac- 
ter of philosophy in France in the nineteenth century, of which we shall 
give a rapid exposition. 

According to M. Peisse, the principal schools may be summed up as 
the following:—the Sensualist school, the Spiritualist, the Scotch, German, 
the Progressive (celle du progres), and another, which combines the attri- 
butes of Scepticism and Mysticism. In his opinion, the first mentioned of 
these is the most numerous, the most popular, and the most national. 
Sensualism prevails among all the learned professions, medicine, the 
natural sciences, and even in political economy. But, banished from the 


Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 77 


Sorbonne, it has particularly established itself in medicine ; it has there 
created a new category of applications which, under the name of Phre- 
nology, has brought together a pretty considerable number of disciples. 
The Spiritualist school, the leading members of which are of considerable. 
influence, is divided into two branches, the Scotch and German philoso- 
phy. The first was introduced into France, almost suddenly, after the 
prelections of M. Royer-Collard (1811 to 1813); afterwards supported 
by M. Cousin, then by M. Jouffroy, it has brought into France a method 
founded on experience, having for its object the empirical science of the 
human mind, facts for its basis, and Bacon and Newton for its masters. 
It is exclusively scientific, and consequently gives offence to no received 
opinions, which is perhaps the cause of its reception having been so 
prompt and easy. Certain points of relation likewise unite it to the sen- 
sualist philosophy, and it has contracted an alliance with this school, 
which may have promoted its popularity.’ 

But the same motives to union did not exist between the Scotch and 
German school, nor, consequently, between the German school and the 
French mind of the nineteenth century ; accordingly, the influence of Ger- 
many has been less considerable than that of Scotland. At no period, 
moreover, has France much relished the German spirit: Leibnitz, who 
wrote a part of his works in French, established no school in France, 
while his cotemporary Locke had little difficulty in making an impression 
on the mind of the masses. The reason of this is, that the French cha- 
racter is more curious to know than desirous of assimilating foreign ele- 
ments ; better calculated to judge of than to appropriate to itself the 
riches of others. The German philosophy has, nevertheless, taken root 
among us by means of some works of detail ; numerous works have been 
translated, and certain professors, among whom M. Cousin may be men- 
tioned, have adopted a portion of its principles and methods, subjecting 
them at the same time to considerable modifications. 

The Spiritualist school is the one which, at this moment, can boast of 
the greatest number of adepts: represented by professors of no small po- 
pularity, it has obtained the support of public opinion. M. Peisse does 
not, however, predict for it a very long futurity. He believes it destined 
to prevail exclusively within the circle of the official schools. He does not 
think that it possesses sufficient vitality to exercise a continued influence 
over the mind of the masses, and he accuses it particularly of a false en- 
thusiasm, and a natural inclination to mysticism and obscurity. The 
school called the Theological, created by a spirit of reaction, does not ap- 
pear to him to possess in any higher degree the necessary means of long 
duration ; but he places more confidence in the elements which consti- 
tute the doctrine which people have agreed to call the Doctrine of Pro- 
gress ; a kind of ramification of St Simonism, but which has the merit of 
extending the field of science, by directing it towards the perfecting of 
the whole of humanity. We may here use M. Peisse’s own words, as he 
justly characterizes the influence of this new philosophy, by comparing it 


78 — Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 


to the known influence of many other systems which have existed in his- 
tory :— 

* We shall now make one concluding observation. This school (that 
ofjprogress), placing its point of departure in the social action, is evi- 
dently on the fair way to success and popularity: it rests on the most 
active interest of our times—the political. At no epoch, in fact, has 
philosophy (whatever definition may have elsewhere been given to what 
bears this name), enjoyed any celebrity, splendour, or power, but by its 
alliances. In the times of antiquity it never emerged from the schools 
till it began to interfere, by its practical action, with public and private 
morals, in the forms of Epicurism, Stoicism, and Mysticism. In the mid- 
dle ages it had no influence on the public mind but through the channels 
of theology and religion. After the Cartesian reform it identified itself 
with the scientific movement, and was there almost entirely absorbed. 
The philosophers of these times were Copernicus, Descartes, Leibnitz, 
Newton, Galileo, Bacon, Gassendi, Huygens; to these may be added 
the Academy of Sciences of Paris, and the Royal Society of London. In 
the eighteenth century, philosophy introduced itself by every possible 
way into the political order ; it is the sign, the name, the standard, and 
the lever of the revolutionary movement, in the midst of which we still 
live. Its three great philosophers are expounders of public law; one 
writes the Essay on the Genius and Manners of Nations; the other the 
Spirit of the Laws; and the last, the Social Contract. Then come Tur- 
got, Condorcet, that is to say, the Economists and the Constituents. The 
Theological school also mingles with the spirit of the times, but it is by 
way of reaction ; it is of no influence but by resisting. The Eclectic 
school abandoned its active part too early and completely, by refusing or 
neglecting to resolve the social questions, and thereby compromised not 
only its influence but even,its existence. The St Simonian school, on 
the contrary, and all its off-shoots, Fourierism, and its connections, 
again took up (under forms, and by means, which it is useless to attempt 
to appreciate) the inheritance of the preceding age. Thus, through all, 
and eyen in spite of all their deviations, absurdities, and even follies, 
these sects have struck deep roots ; they have warmed the imaginations, 
modified the spirit of economical and political science, filled the minds 
of statesmen and governments ; they have given a colour to general li- 
terature, and even introduced into language new words which have almost 
ceased to be barbarous. 

“‘ Up to the present time, in truth, all these doctrines have been rather 
borne up by the spirit of the times than supported by their philosophical 
value ; they have found no representatives but in minds less original than 
eccentric, and have been most frequently produced under the extra-scien- 
tific forms of mysticism and illuminism. In a literary point of view, they 
have given birth only to works void of taste, infected with neologism, 
and in which a false originality is an unequivocal symptom of want of 
power. In general, the resourtes of mind, erndition, reasoning, and 


Sir William Hamilton’s /’raginents of Philosophy. 79 


talent in the writers of this school are far from being in conformity with 
the gigantic proportions of their undertaking.” (Preface, p. 1x.-lxiii.) 

M. Peisse’s conclusions regarding the present state of philosophy in 
France are, that these different schools appear destined to be mutually 
tolerant of each other ; they live in peace, or rather in a state of mutual 
indifference. 
ie Thus, as I have stated at the commencement, all these schools and 
doctrines, the existence of which can be discovered by the researches of 
the critic and the historian, subsist apart from each other ; they seem re- 
signed to tolerate and reciprocally admit each other in virtue of the right 
of legitimate concurrence, just as if a place could be afforded for every 
one in the region of thought, in the same manner as in the region of space. 
Each of these schools, retrenched within its own private domains, will- 
ingly consents to make no inroad on the territory of another, provided 
that other exercise the same forbearance towards it. By this piecemeal 
proceeding, which likewise affects the higher branches of knowledge and 
art, philosophy abdicates her highest function, which is a mission at once 
universal, directive, organizing, and legislative. Reduced by these ad- 
mitted fractional partitions to the restricted proportions of a subordinate 
study, she loses her high and independent position, Instead of being the 
connecting principle, the key, and the common centre of all the sciences, 
insulated from them, and ruling over them all, she permits herself to be 
absorbed by them, and can claim no object, notion, or fact which they do 
not dispute with her. As a branch of study co-ordinate with all others, 
she is far from being in a position to maintain herself even in this equi- 
vocal rank, and to advance along with them on a footing of equality ; 
rejected on all sides as a superfetation which represents nothing, and 
knows not even to what she should affix her name, she will gradually 
disappear from the scene; for we may truly say of her, reversing the 
words of the poet, that she obeys if she does not command, Paret nisi 
imperat. 

‘* This tendency to decline betrays itself even materially in the exte- 
rior means by which it is intended to be taught and propagated. The 
few chairs nominally designed for a superior kind of instruction in philo- 
sophy, are almost silent, for the masters whose voice was formerly heard 
there, have retired andleft themempty. The official programme of phi- 
losophical instruction is otherwise characteristically insufficient, both in 
regard to the number as well as the nature of the courses. The Faculty 
of Letters in Paris has only three chairs of philosophy, and two out of 
these three are deyoted to the history of the science ; and the only dog- 
matic chair existing in the capital has been for many years so neglected, 
that it may be said to be vacant. In the College of France, that great 
subsidiary to the University, the focus of all the higher studies, philoso- 
phy could preserve a place in its extensive programme, which forms a 
complete encyclopzedia, in no other way than by presenting herself as a 
branch of ancient literature and philology. Finally, there do not exist 


80 Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 


throughout all the rest of France more than five public courses of philo- 
sophy in the five Faculties of Letters. There is not a German university 
which does not offer almost as many advantages, in this respect, as the 
whole kingdom. Does the teaching of private individuals offer compen- 
sation? If we examine, we shall find that it affords none, absolutely 
none. Apart from the means of teaching it, we find the same spectacle, 
Philosophy has no avowed organ in the immense machinery of the perio- 
dical press, and this is a fact of the most significant description. Its only 
public asylum is the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, where it 
is, thank God, very worthily represented, but even there it had difficulty 
in obtaining a portion of the attention and interest which were disputed 
with it by statistics and political economy. Books still remain, which, 
by their abundance, may give rise to some illussion, and belie the picture 
given above; but it must not be forgotten, as I have already remarked, 
that the great majority of these publications belong to erudition, philolo- 
gy, history, criticism, in a word, to general literature rather than to phi- 
losophy.” Preface, p. Ixy—Ixviii. 

It is by this interesting discussion, conducted with skill and sagacity, 
as well as a careful observance of facts, that M. Peisse introduces us, by 
a natural transition, to the examination of the following fragments, which 
will afford us a term of comparison between the works of France and 
those of other countries, and enable us to judge of the character of the 
metaphysical sciences in Scotland. We shall ourselves select from these 
fragments what is most new and original. 

The first of them, entitled, Cousin-Schelling, is an examination of 
M. Cousin’s system of philosophy, in its relations with the German 
philosophy, and in particular with that of Professor Schelling. This 
article was written on the occasion of the opening of M. Cousin’s course 
in 1829. Sir William Hamilton endeavours to seize the prominent points 
in the Professor’s prelections ; he attributes to him in part the introduc- 
tion of the rational philosophy into France, and tries to demonstrate in 
what these doctrines, viewed as a whole, consist. 

Going back to the state in which philosophy existed in France at the 
beginning of the century, he indicates at what point M. Cousin took it 
up, and in the midst of what influences he announced his own ideas, and 
endeavoured to construct a new rationalism which, making conscience 
its starting point, derives from conscience, as interrogated by reason, the 
whole of the scientific edifice. He scrupulously analyses the Professor’s 
doctrine ; we shall briefly refer to it here for the sake of those who may 
have lost sight of the characteristic features of his doctrine. 

Three elements are found in intelligence, which reciprocally presup- 
pose each other, all of them essential and inseparable from each other. 
These elements or principles, recognised by Aristotle and Kant, are the 
infinite or unconditional, the finite or conditional ; finally, the relation of 
the finite to the infinite, which forms the integral element of intelligence. 


Sir William Hamilton's Fragments of Philosophy. 81 


Reason, in which these three principles appear, is not personal nor indi- 
vidual, it is absolute and divine ; it is the true manifestation of God in 
man. The ideas of which we are conscious, place us in immediate re- 
lation with God, and which affords us a means of knowing him ; thus 
God may be conceived of by us, the relation of God to the universe may 
be manifested to our intelligence. God, the absolute and independent 
eause of all that exists, may, and must, create; creation thus becomes 
necessary, and affords to our eyes the striking proof of the existence and 
action of the Divinity. These ontological principles are likewise those 
which govern the moral and material world. Every where these two 
elements again appear,—the finite, the infinite, and their common rela- 
tion which forms the third element. In psychology, the essence and 
point of departure of every science, human and divine, we likewise meet 
with three terms of the same phenomenon: 1st, The idea of me and of not 
me as finite ; 2d, The idea of some other thing, as infinite ; 3d, The idea 
of the relation of the finite to the infinite element. What constitutes 
psychological science, likewise constitutes the science of the history of 
philosophy itself, for the latter is just the history of human reason, with 
all its relations, its laws, and vicissitudes. Four systems or partial views 
of human intelligence divide history and include all opinions ; these sys- 
tems are, Sensualism, Idealism, Scepticism, and Mysticism. None of them 
is false, but in as far as it is incomplete ; thus, all are true, inasmuch as 
they affirm, and false, inasmuch as they deny ; the electism founded by 
M. Cousin should reconcile them, and bring together the portion of truth 
which each presents, without having the power of itself to shew it en- 
tire. 

Sir William Hamilton has illustrated and discussed what we have here 
reduced to a mere skeleton, but the subject has been so often noticed 
and commented on by the journals of the time, that this will be sufficient 
to recall it to the mind of every reader in any degree familiar with the 
progress of philosophical ideas in our times. Sir William Hamilton re- 
views the most celebrated professed opinions on the subject of the theory 
of the infinite, as the immediate object of knowledge and thought. These 
opinions, according to him, are reducible to four: that of the author, that 
of Kant, that of Schelling, and that of Cousin. The Scotch Professor 
compares them, and makes use of this comparison to remove the faults 
and imperfections of those in which he does not concur. He makes an 
attack, chiefly in reference to M. Cousin, on the definition of the abso- 
lute by absolute cause, undertakes to demonstrate the falsity of his 
rational theology, and combats, in particular, his theory of liberty. Ac- 
cording to the whole of his observations, he considers it impossible to 
realize the attempt of establishing a general harmony among all the sys- 
tems ; but, rendering justice to the talents of the author, he pardons him 
for the bold and vigorous attempt, common to all men devoted to the 
cultivation of thought, and who, wishing to overpass the limits of our in- 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVII.— JANUARY 1843. F 


82 Sir William Hamilton's Fragments of Philosophy. 


telligence, would attempt, by a sudden bound, honourable to human na- 
ture, to attain even to the knowledge of the infinite. 

In a second fragment, still more curious to us, inasmuch as it transports 
us into a less known field of the Scottish philosophy, Sir William Hamil- 
ton institutes a comparison between two celebrated metaphysicians, 
Reid and Brown. Reid, as may easily be seen, obtains all his sympa- 
thies ; but this does not prevent him, at the same time, judging of Brown 
with that impartiality becoming a philosopher and a man of letters ; but 
Reid’s philosophy had been combated by Brown ; and Sir William Ha- 
milton takes this opportunity of resenting some unjust attacks, which 
would have been calculated, without his efforts to establish the truth, to 
lessen, at least for a time, the merit of the founder of Scotch metaphy- 
sies, and diminish the number of his followers. 

In order to understand this discussion, it must be remembered that 
Reid is the founder of a system of philosophy which rests on the obser- 
vation of the acts of conscience ; and, by interpreting it better, endea- 
vours radically to destroy the scepticism of Hume. The foundation of 
Reid's doctrine, and what constitutes his glory, is his new theory of per- 
ception, by means of which we are enabled to conceive and analyse the 
foundations of our belief in the existence of exterior objects. According 
to him, the act of perception is a pure belief, independent of all demon- 
stration, and instinctively determined by the natural constitution of the 
human mind. 

While Sir William Hamilton assigns to Reid’s doctrine the advantage 
over that of Brown, he discovers several errors in the former. He blames 
Reid for having classed consciousness among the other intellectual facul- 
ties, while all philosophers, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, have con- 
sidered consciousness, not as a particular faculty, but as the condition itself 
of intelligence. Sir William Hamilton finds fault with this distinction as 
neither very logical nor natural, and he forcibly exposes the defects in the 
analysis of this philosopher, who limits the sphere of consciousness by as- 
signing to it only the knowledge of intellectual operations to the exclu- 
sion of their objects. Reid affirms that we are conscious of an act of 
knowledge without being conscious of its object. Sir William Hamilton 
opposes this assertion of the Scotch philosopher, because, after having 
himself interpreted the part performed by consciousness in the phenomenon 
of perception, he reduces the number of the different systems of philo- 
sophy, which this interpretation can furnish, to six, and ranks the opinion 
of Brown, Reid’s opponent, in the latter of these systems. In this sys- 
tem one may conceive the object of perception as a simple modification 
of the perceiving subject ; the consequence which naturally flows from 
this is the negation of the external world ; and it is against this conse- 
quence that the author of the system defends himself by endeavouring to 
establish the reality of external things by various hypotheses. This system 
may be reduced to the following formula :—The mind has no consciousness 
nor immediate knowledge of anything beyond its subjective states. In order 


Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 83 


to enable us to judge accurately of this system, Sir William Hamilton 
compares it with all those which the history of philosophy has handed 
down to us. He judges of it in relation to the opinions of Descartes, 
Locke, Malebranche, and Leibnitz ; and, with this vigorous analysis be- 
fore us, it is not difficult to allow ourselves to be drawn over to the opi- 
nion of Reid, much more popular in France than that of Brown, but of 
which a more accurate estimate will be formed by an acquaintance with 
this curious discussion, one which has been so often renewed in the field 
of the history of philosophy. 

It will be seen that Sir William Hamilton, although a disciple of Reid, 
ean judge of him with impartiality ; that he can divest himself of all the 
influence of sect ; and that, while he assigns in this analysis the prefer- 
ence to Reid’s system, he does not believe it to be free from important 
defects ; accordingly, the treatise in question is rather intended to refute 
Brown than to exalt Reid. We have seen with pleasure some pieces of 
the former of these writers collected at the end cf this article under the 
form of extracts from his lectures. These extracts form so many vouchers 
calculated to throw light on the discussion. 

The fragment on Logic, which follows that on Reid and Brown, is but 
of accessory interest, notwithstanding the importance of the subject. The 
author undertakes the task of passing in review the most remarkable 
works published in England of late years on the teaching of this science. 
It is a minute critical detail, which only makes us acquainted with the 
names of some of the professors in the University of Oxford. We here 
learn that, according to Sir William Hamilton’s testimony, the study of 
logic has been singularly neglected in the universities of Great Britain. 
These criticisms are preceded by some general considerations on logic 
and its importance in the study of philosophy, which divest this treatise 
of any thing of a technical character which might otherwise have belonged 
to it. 

But the best fragment we have noticed in the volume is that in which 
the author treats of the study of Mathematics. The field which this 
question opens up is sufficiently vast to merit a serious attention ; our 
author has accordingly devoted to it nearly a hundred pages in this me- 
moir, where the subject is thoroughly discussed. This treatise was writ- 
ten on occasion of the publication of a work entitled Thoughts on the 
Study of Mathematics as part of a Liberal Education, by the Rey. Wil- 
liam Whewell ; Cambridge, 1835. 

Do mathematics favour the superior development of the mind? Do 
they form it by enlarging its faculties ? Such is the question treated of 
in this Memoir and answered in the negative. Adducing the testimony of 
a great number of authors, and the support of numerous examples, Sir 
William Hamilton undertakes to prove, in opposition to the authority of 
the Cambridge professor, that mathematics do not afford a general edu- 
cation to the mind. This opinion, which is maintained by modern Gers 
man professors of celebrity, is likewise that of Voltaire and Franklin, 


84 Sir William Hamilton’s Fragments of Philosophy. 


both of whom had cultivated this science. It will probably excite sur- 
prise to see the authority of Descartes himself likewise turned against 
mathematics, a science which he had cultivated with so much success ; 
this is shewn by a fragment of his life by Baillet, quoted in this volume, 
and in which the French philosopher acknowledges that his own experi- 
ence had convinced him of the small utility of mathematics, especially when 
cultivated on their own account, and without applying the means which 
they afford us to the acquisition of other kinds of knowledge. Sir Wil- 
liam Hamilton then compares philosophy with mathematics, and ex- 
amines the aids which they respectively afford to the intellect. Claiming’ 
the whole preference for philosophy, he affirms that a too exclusive study 
of mathematics renders the mind incapable of observation, whether in- 
ternal or external, of abstraction and of reasoning ; to these disadvantages 
he adds that of precipitating the mind either into a state of blind credu- 
lity, or of irrational scepticism. 

But, again, if the study of the mathematical sciences cannot, like logic, 
fortify the reason against the errors of thought, may it not at least 
strengthen the reason itself? Sir William Hamilton does not think that 
it can. According to him, the principles of mathematics being self-evi- 
dent, every step which the mind takes in the process has the same degree 
of evidence ; every step in a mathematical demonstration can be easily 
made, and requires only an easy application of thought ; and as a faculty 
is always developed in proportion to its degree of exercise, it thence fol- 
lows, according to him, that the mathematics, by submitting the intellec- 
tual powers to a very feeble degree of activity, develope them in a very 
limited manner. Further, relying on the opinions of different writers of 
distinguished character, he undertakes to shew that the study of mathe- 
matics is accessible to all, and requires no special adaptation. The tes- 
timonies cited are those of Berkeley, S’Gravesande, D’Alembert, Gibbon, 
Mme. de Staél, and others, who, although less celebrated. nevertheless lend 
their authority to countenance this conclusion. He exposes the double ten- 
dency to credulity and scepticism, which often leads the individual astray 
who gives himself up exclusively to sciences of calculation. We cannot 
help thinking that there is somewhat of exaggeration in this assertion, 
which is very like a paradox skilfully defended ; but it is pleasant to fol- 
low the animated pen of a writer fully master of his subject, while he 
draws deductions always well connected, and supported by an accurate 
acquaintance with the history and minute analysis of human intelligence. 

Sir William Hamilton concludes by blaming the University of Cam- 
bridge for giving too much encouragement. to the study of mathematies 
in preference to the other sciences. Resting his views on the principles 
already explained, he points out the impropriety of directing the minds 
of youth to this in preference to every other kind of instruction, seeing 
that it is of importance to fortify the intellect with resources adapted to 
be useful in every circumstance of life, and not in some one in particular. 

Such is the volume of Fragments we owe to the Scottish Professor. 


Mr D. Milne on Earthquake Shocks, ce. 85 


Every one will peruse with interest this collection of four dissertations, 
all of which throw light on the questions of which they treat, and indi- 
cate a rare power of analysis, and very uncommon sagacity. We 
should be glad to see many similar pieces on the moral sciences adorn 
the pages of our periodical reviews ; such memoirs, without pretension 
or borrowed splendour, afford real instruction, and familiarize the reader 
with all the questions of the science. Thus reduced to less extended 
proportions than in a long and elaborate work, the science becomes sim- 
plified under a skilful pen, without contracting anything narrow or 
mean.* 


Notices of Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, and espe- 
cially in Scotland, with inferences suggested by these notices as 
to the causes of the Shocks. By Davip Mine, Esq., F.R.S.E., 
M.W.S., F.G.S., &. Communicated by the Author. 


(Continued from Vol. XX XIII. page 372.) 


At Alford Manse, Aberdeenshire, about eighty miles N. E. 
of Comrie, “the earthquake was felt at half-past 10 p.m. ; 
but owing to the great alarm occasioned in the family, there 
may be an error of some minutes. At the moment of the 
shock, I was sitting reading at a table, with candles before 
me, nearly in the middle of the dining-room, with my back 
directly to the south-west, and face to the north-east. Sud- 
denly I heard a loud noise behind, and also under my feet, 
and immediately felt my chair raised up, and inclined forward 
at a considerable angle under me; and as I was catching the 
table with my hands to save myself from what I conceived to 
be an impending fall, the motion of the chair was as suddenly 
reversed, and feeling as if I were in danger of being thrown 
backwards, I clung to the table, which I had just seized, to 
escape a backward fall,—but the chair directly settled into its 
horizontal position without any farther oscillation. As the 
noise continued, I became instantly convinced that I had felt 
an earthquake, and any danger from it seeming over, I sat 
still with the view of analysing, at the moment, all the sensa- 
tions I had experienced, and estimating the character and 


* From Bibliothtque Uniyerselle de Genéve, No. 80; Sept. 1842, p. 
210-225 


86 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


duration of the noise. I became aware on reflection, and 
when my attention was no longer arrested by the imminent 
danger of falling, that the table before me had sustained a 
vibration similar to that of the chair on which I sat. The 
south-west side of the table had become elevated above the 
level, and again immediately became depressed below it. I 
became particularly sensible of the depression of the south- 
west, having been impressed with the fear that the cat dles 
would be thrown down upon me, but the extent of the move- 
ment was not such as to make the candlesticks ¢oé/er, I 
could make no doubt that the whole house had undergone a 
similar vibration to those of the chair and table of which I 
was so sensible,—or rather that the vibration of the house com- 
prebended within it those of the chair and table. 

“The noise was of two distinct kinds. The front of the 
house is about directly southwest, and the first noise heard, 
was as if an immense quantity of small but sharp shingle had 
been tilted against the foundation of the front wall, and 
poured inward below the whole house. The shock instantly 
followed, and was accompanied by a creaking and rattling of 
the doors, windows, and various articles of furniture, amidst 
which a sharp rattling of the slates on the roof was distinctly 
sensible. This latter noise was not of a continuous and uni- 
form kind, and did not last long—not longer, I think, than 
about a second; but that which resembled the grinding noise 
of tilted shingle, extended itself, apparently under ground, on 
all sides, and became an immense volume of sound, gradually, 
however, diminishing in intensity, and dying away first in the 
southwest, and finally in the north-east, after an interval of 
four or five seconds from its being first heard. 

« About a quarter of an hour previous to the shock, Mrs Far- 
quharson had gone into the nursery on the same flat with me, 
which is that above the ground story ; and a young lady then 
in the house had retired to her bed-room on the same flat, 
while my eldest daughter had retired to hers in the flat just 
above me. I had searcely estimated the duration of the noise, 
when Mrs F. suddenly entered the room where I was sitting, 
and stated that the young lady on the same flat had risen. 
from her bed, and come to her in great alarm, saying, that 


and especially in Scotland. 87 


she had certainly experienced an earthquake. At the same 
moment, my daughter descended from the upper storey, say- 
ing that there was some person in her room, who, after shak- 
ing her bed, made several heayy steps across the floor, and 
had at last fallen down in it. I felt it right at the time to 
calm these alarms. without acknowledging that there had 
been any earthquake. In the morning, I learnt from the 
young lady in the lower flat, that while in bed, which stands 
lengthwise south-east and north-west, she had felt herself, by 
the rising of the west side of the bed, suddenly tossed towards 
the east, and as suddenly again thrown down towards the west. 
She described the noises she heard at the same time, in a 
way similar to that in which I have done above. Mrs F. was 
actively engaged at the moment of the shock, which she felt, 
and she also heard the noise, but imagined it was a violent 
gust of wind, of which there had been several in the previous 
part of the evening. 

“ The house stands upon a bed of shingle, anciently deposited 
by the small river Leochal. The rocks, only slightly covered, 
over all this neighbourhood, are micaceous schist and granite.’’ 


(5.) Accounts from Districts East of Comrie. 


Near Kinross, at Shanwell, ‘the residence of the Rev. Mr 
Coventry, the shock is thus described by him :—* At the time 
of the shock I was sitting. A noise preceded it as of a rushing 
wind, though the air was perfectly still at the time, and this was 
accompanied by a noise as if of cattle or horses running rapidly 
past the windows. The duration of the shock was of such a 
length, as to give Mrs C. and those who felt it, time to speak 
of it as an earthquake, and to express their feelings in regard 
to it. She thinks it lasted a minute. The rushing noise 
seemed to be in the air, as well as the sound like the tramp- 
ling of horses or cattle. But besides these, and following 
them, there was heard a rumbling noise as if of carts on a 
pavement, but more hollow in the sound; and this latter 
sound was in the earth, and began distinctly on the north-west 
end of the house, and proceeded gradually to the south-east 
side, when it gradually died away. The rushing sound in the 
air was heard both on the north and south sides of the house, 


88 Mr D. Milne on Larthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


the concussion appeared to follow the same direction as the 
rumbling sound in the earth. With regard to the effects of 
the shock, Mrs C. felt the floor of the drawing-room to rock 
and the window to shake ; and, in one of the bedrooms, where 
two of my daughters and a servant were, the floor was felt to 
beso unsteady, thatthey were fain to cling to the chimney-piece, 
and the doors of the wardrobes and the joists of the roof were 
heard to creak, The inmates of this room complained of 
being giddy and sick at the time of its occurrence. No ob- 
servations were made, as to any walls being cracked. The 
weather was very wet, the barometer high, and the night ex- 
tremely dark and perfectly still. I understand that at the Old 
Manse, our friend David Syme’s residence, at Kinross, the 
shock was very violent, and four distinct rockings were felt. 
In the town of Kinross, the shock was felt very distinetly by 
most of the inhabitants, and is thus described by Mr Syme, 
the sheriff-substitute of that county :—‘“ I was sitting alone in 
a room on the ground-floor in the south-west corner of our 
house which fronts the south, when, a few minutes after ten 
P.M., my attention was attracted by a strange hoarse rushing 
sound inthe south. I laid down my book to listen, and almost 
immediately heard a louder sound, as if of a heavy body falling 
gently on the floor of the room above, directly overhead, and 
continuing to roll along towards the other end—the apparent 
motion being thus from south to north. I was not sensible 
of any shock or concussion, and did not think of an earth- 
quake, but was startled by the strangeness of the noise, and 
ran up stairs to inquire, and found that Mrs S., her mother, 
and two female servants who happened to be in the drawing- 
room—a very small room on the second floor in the south-east 
angle of the house (with one window to the south and one to 
the east), had the instant before felt the shock of an earth- 
quake most alarmingly. They heard and saw the crystal and 
china-ornaments on the chimney-piece in motion, and Mrs 8S. 
felt four distinct rockings. She thought that the eas¢ wall was 
coming ¢o her; and her mother, who was a little farther off, 
that it was going from her, and all were sensible of a strong 
undulatory motion. They think it began at the east side, and 
that the east wall or gable-end was most affected, but there 


and especially in Scotland. 89 


was no rent of the wall, nor have I heard of anything of the 
kind in this neighbourhood. A second shock was experienced 
about two o'clock next morning (24th), by some of our neigh- 
bours, but not by us: though about an hour and a half after 
the first, I fancied I heard the same rushing sound as before, 
but less distinctly. 

At Perth, as the author was informed by several of the in- 
habitants, the furniture in their houses was shaken, and lamps 
hanging from the ceilings of their rooms, were made to vibrate. 
On the side of the Tay, opposite to Perth, a crack was 
formed during the night of the 23d October, on the side of 
the turnpike-road, where it runs above a steep bank. This 
crack was noticed early in the morning of the 24th October, 
and was such as to endanger the integrity of the road. Two 
days afterwards, a slice of the road along the line of the crack, 
for about twenty-five yards in length, slipped down the bank 
altogether. 

From S¢ Andrews, in the East of Fife, two accounts were 
received. 

Dr Govan of the E.I.C.S. writes,—* I had just gone to bed, 
which was placed, as nearly as I can estimate, N. by W., and 
S. by E., when I experienced a smart and sudden movement - 
from below upwards, and as I thought nearly at right angles 
to the line in which I lay, coming from the 8S. and W. I im- 
mediately said, it was a very smart shock of an earthquake, 
and looked at my watch, which shewed 104, 24’ p.m. An undu- 
lating movement immediately succeeding, the smart shock was 
perceived by those in the room, which caused a degree of gid- 
diness. I immediately went to observe the barometer, which 
stood unaffected at about 30 inches; without, all was quiet 
and more still than usual. 

Dr Mudie of St Andrews writes,—‘ Colonel Playfair of the 
E.LC.S. was sitting with his family on the night of the 23d Oc- 
tober. They all distinctly felt the earthquake, and as both the 
Colonel and Mrs P. had repeatedly felt earthquakes in India, 
they instantly recognised the nature of the shock. To all of 
the company, there was the sensation of the earth rising sud- 
denly up, and vibrating before it returned to its former site. 
The vibration proceeded from the south-west to the north- 


90 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


east, and the gas lamp suspended in the middle of the room 
indicated by its oscillation a movement in that direction. The 
Colonel instantly pulled out his watch, and found the time 
exactly twenty minutes past ten; and whilst he was looking 
at his watch, he distinctly felt a second shock, not so strong 
as the first, but the vibration was in the same direction. 

** Mrs General Farquharson was in bed at the time of the 
shock, and she felt as if a person was under the bed, and lifted 
it up; the ewer in the basin gingled with the motion, and 
when she rung for her servant, she came in great alarm, 
thinking, from the rattling of the windows, that some person 
was attempting to break into the house. 

« A young man, a student in a lodging-house, was awakened 
by the lifting of his bed ;—and thinking it was a trick by 
one of his companions, got out of bed, and seizing a golf- 
club, continued to strike at the supposed intruder under the 
bed. 


(6.) Accounts from districts South-East of Comrie. 


In East-Lothian, near North-Berwick, as Mr Scougall at Bal- 
gone wrote, “ the noise or sound preceded the shock. The shock 
was not tremulous, but undulating. Those who were in bed 
describe it thus: They felt, as if their beds had been swung 
from the top. ‘The shock lasted about two or three seconds. 

* Dr Moir of Musselburgh writes,—‘‘ 1 was sitting in. 
the dining-room of Loretto with Mr Langhorne; but al- 
though there is a gas-chandelier suspended from the centre 
of the roof, which readily vibrates in treading across the 
room, neither of us were attracted by this or any other cir- 
cumstance. Next morning, however, in making my rounds, 
I called on Mr Watson of Pinkieburn, who asked me if I 
had perceived any thing uncommon on the night before. 
I said, No. He then informed me, that, from ten minutes 
to a quarter after ten, while seated in his parlour by the 
table, he distinctly felt his chair move under him; at the 
lapse of about two seconds another movement was distinctly 
perceptible, at which time he said to Mrs Watson, who was 
walking along the floor, ‘ What is that? Did you observe my 
chair moving under me? ‘ No, she replied, ‘ but there is 


and especially in Scotland. 91 


somebody knocking at the outside of the house’ She then 
rang the bell for the servant, who was ordered to open the 
front docr, but saw nobody. Here there were two distinct 
shocks, between which the noise continued, something like 
a rumbling wind, and came from the west. 

“ During the same forenoon, while at Pres/onpans, the same 
question was put to me by Mrs Hislop (sister to Mrs Cadell 
of Cockenzie), who was at the time confined to bed. While 
alone in her bedroom, at nearly a quarter after ten on the 
preceding night, she felt as if something was raising up the 
bed from the floor, and the sensation was so perfect, that she 
involuntarily seized hold of the curtains near her, when a 
second, and then a third repetition, caused her to grasp them 
more tightly, and exclaim—‘ Have mercy on us! These 
heavings were accompanied by a sound from the south, which 
caused one of the windows to rattle during the whole time. 
A thimble, which happened to be lying on the stand of a mir- 
ror on the dressing-table, kept rattling, as also an empty 
jug within the basin of the wash-hand stand. Strange to 
say, none of the other inmates of the house perceived any 
thing of this, although Mr Hislop himself was at the time, 
but not in the same room, only a few yards’ distant. The 
family then retired to bed, but, in about half an hour after, a 
deep rumbling noise was heard from the west, both by Mrs 
Hislop, and by Mr Patrick Turnbull, her nephew, who was 
awoke by it, and listened for some time, thinking that it was 
some one sent from the distillery, of which he has the charge, 
to awake him. 

“ Lady Harriet Suttie has since told me, that she and Sir 
George were at Newbyth on that evening, and that the tre- 
mors and heavings were felt there to a degree, that attracted 
the attention of every one.” 

At Trinity, near Leith, Lieutenant Forrest, R. N., felt the 
shock very distinctly in a house 300 yards from the sea beach. 
He described his sensations in a memorandum which he wrote 
down next morning. The following is a copy of it. ‘* Last 
night, about a quarter past ten o'clock, I had been about ten 
minutes in bed, when I felt the bed tremble severely under 
me ; so much so, that I asked my wife (who had been confined 


92 Myr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


to bed for two days previously) if she was taken worse ? my 
impression being at the moment that ¢ha¢ was the cause. She 
answered that she was not trembling, but the noise and shak- 
ing, she thought, was caused by the servants shutting in the 
doors below (my bedroom is on the first floor) ; the window all 
this time was rattling as if from a high wind, although it was 
calm at the time; and the furniture in the room creaked, as 
if in the cabin of a steamer going over a sea. There was a 
tin-ease with hot water in the bed, which I heard shaken about 
very distinctly. Iobserved at the time to Mrs F., that I was 
convinced it was the shock of an earthquake, and noted the 
time in my watch. It must have continued nearly a minute, 
as I had time to sit up in my bed, and make the above remarks 
during its continuance.” 

In Edinburgh, the following persons have communicated to 
the author their several perceptions. 

Mr Syme, of the Bank of Scotland, when in his house in 
North Castle Street, felt the shock, and a noise accompanying 
it. The noise seemed to be above his head, in the upper part 
of the house. Keys hanging on the key-hole of a book-case 
were made to dangle. 

Mrs Swinton, in Athole Crescent, was in bed, and felt the 
shock. It appeared to come from the north. Her bed rocked 
twice or thrice. She has felt several shocks in India, of which 
only one was more severe than this. 

Mr M‘Callum, of the Bank of Scotland, when in the fifth 
storey of the bank (about 120 feet from the ground behind it) 
felt the shock between 10" 5’ and 10°20’. He first experienced 
a tendency to fall over towards the east. He distinctly heard 
the floor near the east gable shake. One windowrattled, fac- 
ing towards the east. 

At Dunning, about 16 miles SE. of Comrie, the shock is 
stated by Dr Martin, physician there, to have been felt about 
102 14’ p.m. “It was akind of double shock, consisting of two 
strokes in quick succession, with about half a second between 
them. The first was much the strongest blow. In about half 
an hour after, another shock was felt, but weaker, and of 
shorter duration. 


and especially in Scotland. 93 


« The first or double shock lasted about 5” ; the second about 
2” or 3”. ; 

“As to the nature of the concussion, it seemed as if some 
subterranean element had suddenly struck the solid surface of 
the earth from beneath, with such a force as to make it yield 
a little upward. The tremor that followed, arose from its 
own elasticity and the violence of the impulse. It was both 
a tremor or vibration of the earth’s surface, and an undula- 
tion of the ground. At the commencement of the shock, it 
was a sudden double jolt and tremor of the earth’s surface, the 
result of a subterraneous blow quickly repeated, and, at the 
end, an undulation or movement of the ground. Objects were 
more rocked and shaken by the tremulous motion than by the 
undulation ; but none of them were lifted up and let down 
again. The surface of the earth and buildings thereon, houses, 
and furniture therein, were moved simultaneously, and trem- 
bled or shook altogether as one continuous integral. 

« With regard to the points of the compass, the first inclina- 
tion was nearly in the direction of the north-west. It was the 
effect of an invisible sudden force, and was quick. The mo- 
tion back again was slower, and appeared to be the mere re- 
covery of balance or perpendicularity. 

« Tt seemed to travel with great velocity, and was loudest at 
its termination. 

« The 23d of October 1839 was cloudy, with rain ; the hills 
were foggy; wind east, with calm intervals. Much more rain 
fell than usual in the autumn of 1839. 

« About a mile from Dunning, in a farm-house situated on a 
high level, and founded on whinstone rock of unknown depth, 
the concussion so marred the swing or vibration of the pendu- 
lum of the clock, that it stood still. 

“The mounds of earth covering potato-pits were cracked from 
end to end, and the water of sundry wells was made drumly.” 

At Muckhart, situated at the opening of a gorge on the 
south side of Ochils, and about 20 miles S.SE. of Comrie, Mr 
Harvey heard and felt the shock. He writes,—‘* Having been 
at Comrie some years ago, when there was a very smart shock, 
the moment this of the 23d October commenced, I said to a 
friend with whom I was conversing at the time, ‘ An earth- 


94 Mr D. Milne on Larthguake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


quake !'—‘ It is the same sort of sound (he added) that we 
heard the other day in the harvest field.” I took observation 
of the time, and all this passed while yet the sound of it was 
heard; we concluded that it lasted above 50 seconds. As to 
the sort of sound, it resembled in its approach a multitude of 
coal waggons on a railroad somewhat as to sound, but chiefly 
as to the motion produced ; there was a quick vibration. My 
house stands on a bed of channel. There is another near it 
on mossy ground, and there the shock was felt as a heave. 
The inhabitant imagined, being in bed, that some huge ani- 
mal had got beneath his bed and was bearing up the bed to 
get from beneath. No walls cracked in this neighbourhood, 
so far as I can learn, but there were several bursts of earth, 
and slides on the sides of the hills, and breakings of wellheads. 
Birds’ cages moved like pendulums. Noise accompanied, pre- 
ceeded, and followed the shock. The noise was continuous, 
with variation of the sounds. The sound was first like the 
distant sound of carriages on the public road ; as it approached 
it grew deep and hollow from the earth, and passed away like 
the effect produced by a close body of cavalry in quick march 
over acommon. It was in the earth. The concussions were 
most felt in the upper parts of houses. Doors upstairs in my 
house, were thrown open and moved on their hinges. From 
all I can collect, it appears it was not so much felt in houses 
on the hill sides, as in the houses along the bottom of the range ; 
the houses on the hills are mostly built on rock, those along 
the bottom of the hills on gravel or loose soil. We had much 
rain previously. One night, in the end of September, from 
8 in the evening to 8 next morning, as nearly as I could ascer- 
tain, there fell about 1 inch of water in thickness on the ground. 
Besides shooting stars,some nights after I saw the most splendid 
meteor I ever witnessed. It was passing from the west to the 
east, and proceeded in a line parallel to the earth’s surface.” 
At Woodeot, near Dollar, about 22 miles 8.S.E. from 
Comrie, the shocks and the state of the weather at the 
time, are thus described by Mr Walker. “ The first con- 
cussion felt here was at 10" 10’ p.m. on the 23d of October, 
the second about half-an-hour afterwards. The noise pre- 
ceding the first, lasted about four or five seconds ; in the second 


and especially in Scotiand. 95 


the duration of the noise was shorter, and I felt no shock. 
The concussion of the first appeared to me to resemble more 
the slight lurch of a ship under way, struck by a wave and 
righting immediately again, than any other motion. As far 
as I can judge from the situation of this house (at the imme- 
diate base of one of the Ochils) and the quarter of it whence 
the sound and concussion came from, I should say that they 
both came from N.NW., and went in the opposite direction 
across the room where I was sitting; I was placed in rather 
a fayourable situation for ascertaining this, as I was reading at 
the time, with my arms leaning upon the table, and both it 
and the chair upon which I was sitting were thrown first to 
one side and then to the other, or, to speak more correctly, 
first towards the S.SE. and then back to where they had been ; 
the noise was very loud. It seemed to me to be very like what 
would have been occasioned by some one over head dragging 
some heavy piece of furniture along the floor from one side of 
the room to the other, the sound gradually increasing and 
diminishing as it came towards or receded from the position 
where I was. The weather on the day of the shock, and also 
the one preceding it, was uncommonly calm, very foggy to- 
wards the evening, and the air at that time felt much warmer 
than, the degree of heat indicated by the thermometer would 
have led one to expect, and I thought (but it may have been 
fancy) that there was a peculiar odour perceptible. In the 
year 1824, when I was at Lisbon, I perfectly recollect having 
remarked the same thing, though, from the difference of lati- 
tude, the heat and the closeness of the air was much more 
oppressive ; and I remember well that the inhabitants of that 
city were much alarmed at the appearance of the weather, 
the same phenomena having, they said, been observed imme- 
diately before the tremendous earthquake in 1755.” 

In a subsequent letter, Mr Walker adds,—* 1 did not per- 
ceive any leaning of the house to the N.NW., after recover- 
ing the perpendicular,—though I have no doubt it must have 
done so, as your explanation appears to me quite consistent in 
other respects with what I felt at the time. I was not sensi- 
ble of the house being lifted up. It appeared to me, as if it 
had been struck by something which caused it to heel sud- 


96 Mr D. Milne on Earthguake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


denly to the S.SE.;—indeed I can compare it to’ nothing 
but the motion of a ship, when she gives a slight lee- 
lurch.” 

The gardener of the Dollar Academy has given the follow- 
ing graphic account of what he perceived. ‘ My family had 
retired to bed; I alone sat reading, opposite the fire-place, 
which is in the east side of the room. The candle was burn- 
ing on the chimney-piece, with the snuffer-tray beside it. I 
was startled by an unusual noise towards the NW., like the 
roliing of many carriages, or the sound of distant thunder. It 
appeared to die away toward the SE., and struck me as being 
immediately under or on the surface of the earth,—not over 
head. I still looked in the direction from whence the sound 
came, and perceived the bed-curtains agitated. The bed stood 
in the NW. corner of the room. There was a looking-glass 
in the window, which looks to the west.—It also was shaken. 
The chair which I sat on, was moved first toward the SE. se- 
veral times, the candlestick in the same direction. The snuffer- 
tray was nearly thrown down. The motion of the earth was 
decidedly undulatory ; and from the circumstance of the bed- 
curtains and looking-glass being moved first, and my chair 
being next moved toward the S E., and the candlestick in the 
same direction, I concluded that the shock was from the NW. 
to the SE. I was sitting in a position peculiarly favourable 
for observing it. My feet rested on one side of the grate, and 
my whole weight was on the chair. My attention was 
keenly alive at the time. The noise preceding the shock last- 
ed, I think, about 4”; a shorter time) intervened between the 
noise and the shock, which lastéd also about 4”.. The strength 
of the shock throughout appeared to be the same.” 

At Tillicoultry, a considerable village a little farther to the 
east than Dollar, also situated on the south base of the Ochil 
range, Mr Thomson, surgeon there, writes, that ‘ Those in 
Tillicoultry who most distinctly experienced the shock, agree 
generally in stating, that there was a decided undulatory mo- 
tion communicated to their houses, whereby they themselves, 
and objects on the floor, were, or seemed to be, lifted up and 
let down again, as if they were rocked in a cradle, or tossed in 
a hammock at sea. 


and especially in Scotland. 97 


‘© Two considerable masses of rock, it is believed, were de- 
tached from the face of one of the Ochil hills here by the 
shock of the earthquake, as the shepherd was on the spot 
where they now lie, on the preceding day, and did not observe 
them till the morning after the event. One of these is esti- 
mated at ten tons weight. A large rent, of 4 or 5 yards long, 
and about one foot and a half wide at its widest part, was ob- 
served, on the succeeding day, running across a potato-heap, 
whose whole length might be 12 yards by 2 yards wide. All 
- the houses in our village, which are nearly 300, were more or 
less shaken. The slates upon certain roofs of the higher 
houses, and the dishes upon the shelves, clattered against each 
other—several bells rang—articles hanging from the ceiling 
oscillated—windows shivered—doors moved on their hinges— 
individuals walking or sitting, were thrown slightly off their 
centre. Many who were asleep or in bed, started up in stupid 
amazement. One man says he was pitched from one side of 
the bed to the other. In the upper flats of houses, the chairs 
on which individuals were sitting, and the beds on which they 
were lying, rocked like a cradle, or a boat gently lifted by a 
waye. 

** It seems to be the prevailing opinion of those who were 
in a recumbent posture, or .in bed, that the couch was first 
moved from the N. or NE., and that the S. or SW. side was 
then affected. The motion of dishes,'and the rattling of slates, 
was on the north side of the houses chiefly. 

** The majority with whom I have'spoken on this topic, think 
that the shock came from N. or NE., and travelled to 8. or 
SW. This was the impression of those who were a-bed, and 
is perhaps confirmed by the following facts.. The masses of 
projected rock referred to took the direction of the S. from the 
N. (the face of the hill is steep, and slopes southward). The 
rent or fissure referred to, ran from NE. to SW. The persons 
felt moved towards the S. who were in bed. 

“In the months of September and October, the aurora bo- 
realis, or northern lights, were uncommonly brilliant, and 
stretched across the zenith southward farther than I have seen 
them before; they had a curious fery colour.” 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVit.-—sanuary 1843. G 


98 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


At Alva, as the Rev. Mr Drysdale reports, “1 was moved 
upon my chair from one side to the other. I was within half 
a foot of a wall-press, the standards and door of which cracked 
as if breaking. My house is situated within 300 yards of the 
Ochil range. It faces due south. I was sitting in a room at 
the west gable. When I heard the noise, I turned my face 
towards the east, in which direction it seemed to me coming. 
When it came, as it were, around me, I felt very strange, and 
as if there was something like a shock of electricity over my 
body, beginning at the feet and going to the head. Sitting 
still in this position, after the noise seemed to have passed to 
the west, I saw the carpet move as it had been a wave of the 
sea, and as it undulated along to my chair :—then was my 
chair moved to the west, then to the east.” 

The Rev. Mr Brown, parochial minister of Alva, who felt 
the shock in his manse at the foot of the Ochils, says,—‘* What 
I first perceived was a loud and very singular noise, which 
lasted 2” or 3’. Immediately after, I felt the house shake 
violently.” I may add, “ That before perceiving the shock, 
or thinking that an earthquake was approaching, I felt, during 
the continuance of the noise, as if I had been slightly electri- 
fied. A quivering sensation pervaded my whole body from 
the feet upwards.” 

From Alloa, situated on the Forth, about S. by E, from Com- 
rie, various communications were received, of which a few 
may be noticed. 

One correspondent writes,—“ I felt a remarkable sensation 
come over me at the time of the shock. But whether it was 
connected with the phenomenon, or merely a sensation pro- 
duced by the mind, being instantly aware of what the pheno- 
menon was, which was taking place, I could not determine. 
The leg of a piano in the room distinctly creaked.” 

Mr Roy writes,—‘‘ I was sitting in the dining-room on the 
ground floor, reading, one of my arms resting on the table, 
and the other on one of the arms of the chair on which I was 
sitting, when I suddenly felt a violent shock (as if a very heavy 
weight had been thrown on an elastic floor), which made the 
table move as if from under my arm in a southerly direction. 
limmediately called out, ‘ What was that’ to some of the 
family who were in the room and also felt the shock. The 


eee ee 


and especially in Scotland. 9 


shock was accompanied, or rather succeeded, by a rushing or 
rumbling kind of noise, resembling the sound of a carriage, 
passing along the road, which continued for a second or two, 
and appeared to me to proceed as from north to south or south- 
east,—at this period, I must say I felt a peculiar sensation 
just as if I had been suddenly exposed to danger ; and when 
this had a little subsided, I went to the kitchen to inquire 
whether the servants had been up stairs making any noise, 
and found them all alarmed, having heard the noise and felt 
the shock without knowing the cause ; I therefore concluded 
it must have been an earthquake.” 

« Another correspondent says,—‘* The first circumstance 
that attracted my attention was a sudden and violent gust of 
wind, accompanied with a more than ordinary rushing noise, 
as from the north-east, against the window. I then felt 
the shock, and the doors of the wardrobe, before which I 
was standing, which are rather loose, rattled sharply four or 
five times, and the noise seemed to pass to the other side or 
front of the house, and roll heavily, as if under ground, away 
to the south-west. The shock excited a most peculiar sickish 
sensation, such as I think I never felt before.” 

Mr Donald, writer in Alloa, communicated several circum- 
stances of interest. 

(1.) The landlord of the Tontine Inn there was, when the 
shock occurred, standing at the door of his stables, which 
front the west, and was leaning with his back on the south 
lintel. He very distinctly heard the noise, which he thought 
came from the north. He then felt a jerk similar to that felt 
by a person leaning on a steam-boat when it strikes a quay. 
He was precipitated forward about a foot. The bells in his 
house were set a-ringing, and the glasses on his tables and 
sideboard were put in motion. 

(2.) A steam-boat was lashed alongside of a quay, running 
nearly east and west. The boat was on the north side of the south 
wall of the quay, and the paddle-box was within two feet of the 
wall. There was about a foot and a half of water between her 
keel and the bottom of the river. An engineer and a boy were 
sitting in the steerage cabin, the former reading. Suddenly 
the boat gave “a heavy jerk” on the pier. These two per-< 


100 Mr D. Milne on EHarthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


sons immediately started on deck, to ascertain the cause. The 
vessel was then about three or three and a half feet from the 
pier, the shock having caused her to recoil, and she was then 
moving back to it again. Just before the collision, the engi- 
neer heard a distinct rumbling noise, as if under ground, 
which seemed to proceed towards the south. The engineer 
on looking at his watch, found the time to be between 10 and 
20 minutes past 10 o’clock. The shock was felt at the same 
moment, by another vessel in the harbour. 

(3.) Close to Alloa Ferry there is a small watch-house, the 
back wall of which runs parallel with a wall inclosing the 
glass-house premises. These two walls are about eleven feet 
high, and are about four inches apart. The watch-house has a 
sloping roof, and, in order that the rain falling on it may not 
run down the back wall, there is an edging of lead which pro- 
jects from the roof, making the distance between it and the 
glass-house wall only three inches. 

The ferryman was, at the time of the shock, sitting in the 
watch-house, when he was startled by a noise and concussion, 
produced by something striking against the wall or roof of the 
house, He supposed, at the moment, that the glass- house people 
were playing him a trick, by tumbling some heavy body upon the 
house. This thought, however, was almost immediately dis- 
pelled by seeing some articles within the house moved, and 
in particular the cover of a pot, which was shaken from the 
spar of a small table on which it was placed. The noise ap- 
peared to come from the N. or NW. 

On examination of the premises next day, it was found that 
the leaden gutter or edging on the roof of the watch-house, 
had been bent upwards by the pressure of the glass-house 
wall. 

The glass-house wall runs in a direction NE. and SW. It 
is built on the thick deposit of diluvial or alluvial clay, which 
extends through all the low grounds adjoining the river Forth 
in this part of its course. 

Considering the height and distance from each other of the 
two walls just described, it is plain, that if one remained sta- 
tionary and the other leaned over, the deviation of the latter 
from the perpendicular, must have been at Jeast 1° 18’, in order 


and especially in Scotland. 101 


to produce simply a condact, but no pressure of the walls, at 
the height of 11 feet from the ground. If then, this deviation 
is to be ascribed to a rising of the ground, such as would be 
caused by the propagation of a wave along the earth’s surface, 
the surface must have inclined or sloped to at least the extent 
of the above angle, so that the wave must have formed with 
the horizon an angie of more than 1° 18’. 

But is it a probable supposition, that one of the walls would 
remain stationary, whilst the other leaned towards it? If the 
wave came from the north, the glass-house wall would, no 
doubt, be first affected ; but would not the back wall of the 
watch-house be also made to lean over almost simultane- 
ously? It is true that the two walls were at the foundations 
only 4 inches apart; but then the back wall of the watch~- 
house formed one side of a solid building, abutting against 
two gables 14 feet long. The back wall of the watch-house, 
therefore, would probably not move until the wave had ad- 
vanced far enough to affect the whole building. Moreover, 
it is plain, that the house would not by the supposed wave 
coming from the north, lean over so much as the glass-house 
wall. A wall at right angles to the course of a wave would 
deviate from the perpendicular, whilst a wall running in the 
direction of the wave would scarcely rise at one end and be 
depressed at the other, but would, if at all affected, be rent. 
In this way it may be understood how the back wall of the 
watch-house abutting against the north ends of the gables 
would remain vertical, and would be reached by the upper part 
of the glass-house wall as it leaned over. 


(7.) Accounts from Districts South of Comrie. 


On the south side of the Forth, and at Airth, nearly oppo- 
site to Alloa, about nine miles east of Stirling, the concussion 
was felt as one undulation or heave, with but little noise. 

At Throsk house, about four miles east of Stirling, situated 
in the low flat Carse land, only seventeen feet above high-water 
mark, effects, in some respects similar, were observed. Mr 
Jeffrey, “ whilst sitting at a writing-desk, was suddenly moved 
forward by a very heavy undulation, which I immediately con- 


102 Mr D. Milne on ELarthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


cluded to be an earthquake. The undulation came from the 
north and proceeded to the south; and after it had passed, it 
was immediately followed by a tremulous movement of the 
earth from the west towards the east, and then from the east 
back again to the west. The clock which stood upon the north 
wall of the house, was several times moved towards the south, 
and once, I think, was five or six inches off the perpendicular. 
In the flat immediately above the ground floor, where I was 
sitting, and in the attic storey, the shock was so severely felt, 
that some of the members and servants of the family were 
raised from their sleep; and some of them were nearly thrown 
out of bed altogether. The shock must therefore have been 
more violent in the upper than the lower parts of the house. 
* The first heavy undulation, which I have already men- 
tioned, appeared to elevate me about four or five inches, and 
then I gradually sunk down again, precisely in the same way 
as a boat falls down, after having been lifted upon the top of 
a highwave. The tremulous motion which followed this, was 
much more sudden though less violent in its effects. No noise 
of any kind preceded, accompanied, or followed the earth- 
quake at Throsk. As I immediately went to the door to 
examine the state of the atmosphere, every thing was per- 
fectly still; there was not a breath of wind, but the rain fell 
heavily, as it had done (1 think) the two preceding days and 
nights, without intermission. I may mention a circumstance 
which | have not seen taken notice of in any account which I 
have seen given of the late earthquake, and it is, that Iam con- 
fident that it was accompanied with an electric shock. I was 
perfectly calm and collected at the time when it came on, 
and never had any doubt of what it was, nor was I at all 
alarmed for the consequences; but the feeling produced upon 
my body, was exactly similar to what an electric shock has in 
other circumstances had upon me. In this opinion I am not 
singular. The Rey. Mr Brown of Alvais confident that he felt 
an electric shock likewise ; I may also mention that the sound 
which he heard, was very loud and terrific. I do not think, at 
least I have never been informed of the sound being heard 
any where but upon rocky and rising ground. The earthquake 
did not Jast more than five seconds altogether. So far cs I 


and especially in Scotland. 103 


have been able to collect information, the shock was much 
more severely felt on the low lands, along the banks of the 
Forth, than on the rising ground which rests on different 
strata.” 

In a subsequent letter to the author, Mr Jeffrey gives some 
farther particulars. He says that “ the first heavy undulation 
proceeded, as nearly as I have been able to ascertain, from N. 
by E. or N.NE. to S. by W. or S.SW. No tremulous motion 
whatever began, until the first undulation passed. I find I 
have not stated quite accurately, in my previous account, the 
motion of the clock. It was thrown from the north wall of 
the house, by which it stood, to the south, and was moved five 
or six inches off the perpendicular by the first shock. Of 
course, both clock and wall were off the perpendicular at the 
same time. But as the clock was not attached to the wall, 
when it returned back to its original position it seemed to rock 
and swing for a space, until it recovered from the forward im- 
pulse which it had received. It made a considerable noise, 
as did also the crockery in the room. There were only three 
undulations, or rather one undulation and two tremulous mo- 
tions. The first undulation we have already noticed. The 
first ¢remulous motion proceeded from the west to the east, at 
about right angles to the line of movement of the heavy un- 
dulation, the direction of which is stated above; then the 
second tremulous motion proceeded from the east to the west, 
at about right angles to the same line. Now, these cross tre- 
mulous motions, which were partly undulatory, were concave 
and not convex. The site of the house, which was first moved 
by these slight cross shocks, sunk. The motion was very much 
like that of a ship, when struck by a heavy sea; she lurches 
over to the one side, and as she falls down between the two 
wayes, she gradually rights, until the masts become perpen- 
dicular, without the side which dipped into the water first 
being elevated at all; that side does not rise, the other side 
only comes down to the same level with it. I may likewise 
state, that these two tremulous motions, at right angles to the 
path of the first undulation, did not appear to me to be occa- 
sioned so much by distinct shocks, as they seemed to be some- 
thing like the settling down of the earth, after the first undu- 


104 Mr D. Milne on Zarthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain, 


lation had passed. Yet it must be observed, that they were 
quite distinct and separate from the first undulation. In 
order that you may obtain the inclination or slope of the wave, 
which was convex, I have measured the height of the clock, 
which is exactly 6 feet 11 inches. You may take the distance 
of the clock off the perpendicular, at 53 inches. The slope of 
the table at which I was writing was, as nearly as [ can de- 
termine after trial, about 7° from the horizontal. I am quite 
certain that the two tremulous motions were exactly across 
the path of the first undulatory shock ; the former were con- 
caye, the latter was convex; the former had not above one- 
fourth of the power of the latter, though, taken together, they 
lasted rather longer.” 

In another letter, Mr Jeffrey corrected the estimate he had 
made of the degree to which the table was inclined, and limited 
it to 44 degrees. He also added, that he has “ a sensible 
recollection of hearing the pendulum strike the sides of the 
clock,—but how often I cannot say.” As to the duration of 
the undulation and the lateral vibrations respectively, Mr Jef- 
frey observes,—“ The first undulation took 13” to pass,—then 
say that ?” elapsed between the first undulation and the side 
movements. This leaves about 3” for them, which is perhaps 
rather above than below the time which they occupied.” 

Two things are remarkable in these accounts from Throsk, 
especially when contrasted with the effects observed in places 
not remote from it. The /ivst is the absence of all noise, not- 
withstanding the violence of the heave. The second is the 
extent to which the clock and table were seen by Mr Jeffray 
to deviate from the perpendicular. Judging by the eye, Mr 
Jeffrey thought the table sloped to the horizon at an angle of 
about 43.° On the other hand, if the top of the clock was 
53 inches from the perpendicular, it must have deviated to the 
extent of only 3° 47’. 

In Stirling, as the Messrs Drummond wrote, “the shock 
was most perceptible around the base of the hill, where a com- 
bination of the heave and tremor was felt. In the upper parts 
of the town situated on rock, there was merely a tremor or vi- 
bration.” The rock here referred to is a mass of greenstone, 
on which the castle and the older part of the town is built. 


and especially in Scotland. 105 


At the base of this rock, the deposit of carse or finely lami- 
nated clay extends on all sides of it, except the south, where 
there are accumulations of sand and gravel. 

At Thornhill, about sixteen miles from Comrie, the shock, 
as felt by the post-master there, is compared to “ the heaving 
of a steam-boat,” and as being an undulation. ‘* The bed on 
which I lay rocked like a cradle, and leaned to the north first 
and south last. I consider it came from the south and pro- 
ceeded to the north.” 

At Blair-Drummond, about eighteen miles from Comrie, 
Mr Home Drummond, M.P., writes :—“ The noise was the 
thing most remarkable. It was usually compared to that 
caused by a train of carriages passing. It seemed to me to 
proceed from the north, or a little to the east of north, and to 
pass off to the south, or a little to the west of south. Had I 
been in the open air, 1 could have spoken with more certainty ; 
but the noise did certainly appear to me, being within the 
house, to pass in the direction I have mentioned. It continued 
a good many seconds, perhaps twenty, and died gradually 
away. Small loose articles were shaken in the houses in this 
quarter. For two days after the earthquake, we had a con- 
stant small rain from the east, without a breath of wind, and 
the barometer was stationary and very high for such weather. 
I remember shocks of earthquake which were felt here on two 
occasions, above thirty-five years ago; one about 11 p. m. 
and one about 6 a.m. They resembled more a blow or sud- 
den concussion than this ; but the noise on this occasion was 
much greater, though I do not think the shaking of the house 
was much more perceptible now than formerly. The even- 
ing was quite still.” 

From Bucklyvie, about twenty-twomilesS.S W. from Comrie, 
a report was received, certified by John M‘Ewan, post-master, 
and Daniel Kennedy, M.D., detailing some of the effects pro- 
duced on the mossy ground west of Stirling. The report con- 
tains the following statements of persons living on the moss, 
and who go there by the name of moss-farmers :— 

‘“*Mrs Napier says noise came off NE. When she heard 
it, it seemed to be at a distance. In her own words, calls it 
a long soughing, dundering noise. It died away for some se- 


106 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake-Shocks felt in Great Britain. 


conds, and was succeeded by a second noise which was louder. 
She then asked her family, ‘Do you think that’s thunder ;’ 
and with latter sentence in her mouth began to sit down, when, 
being seated, she felt the earth (in her own words) rowing or 
coming till me. She sat with her back to the north. One of 
her sons had his hand placed on jambs of fire-place, when 
he thought they would fall to him. Her husband was in 
bed half asleep ; being alarmed, got up on his elbows in bed, 
when, by an undulation, he was thrown down on his back 
again. From these narrations, it appears to me that the 
first ‘lean over’ was to the east. House of these people faces 
S., and bed lies N. and S., fire-place facing E.” 

Mrs M‘Ewen “ was dozing in bed. Heard no noise. She 
lies E.and W. Her head seemed fo lie lower than rest of 
body, during movement. Old man (e¢. 80) lies N. and 8. 
His left shoulder received a shock while in a slumbering state, 
which made him ery to people of house ; says it came off E.” 

“ Frederick Campbell says noise was very loud. It came 
off the south-west or south. After noise, felt motion in bed. 
Head lies to the south. Felt a pitch to the east first, and then 
to the west, and there was no more of it. Wood of house 
cracked. House seemed to be drawn together, and then went 
back again. House also seemed to sink, just as a ship at sea.” 

It only remains to be mentioned, that this shock of 23d Oc- 
tober 1859 was felt as far south as the English borders. It was 
felt at Netherby Hall by Miss Burdon in a room at the top of 
one of the turrets ; but it was not perceived in any other part 
of the house.* It was felt at Closeburn Castle, Dumfriesshire, 
at 10h 2’ p.m. 

It was felt at Sedkirk, and in the neighbourhood also at 
Kelso, where the windows rattled, and crockery ware was 
shaken. It was felt at Coldstream, in the neighbouring village 
of Newtown and the farm of Mountfair. 


* Letter from J. A. Campbell, Esq., W.S., Edinburgh. 


( 107+) 


Remarks on Earthquakes in British India, contained in a Letter 
addressed to Daviv Mitnez, Esq. by Lieutenant R. Barro 
Smiru, Bengal Engineers, Assistant Superintendent of the 
Doab Canal, Saharunpore. 


Mussoori£, IN THE HIMALAyYas, 
9th September 1842. 

My attention was first specially attracted to the subject of 
earthquake shocks, by the occurrence of that of the 19th of 
February last, to which many circumstances combined to give 
to the English in India a peculiar and exciting interest. Its 
most destructive influence was experienced in the valley of Jel- 
lalabad, the chief town of which, of the same name, was at the 
moment occupied by the small but gallant brigade under Sir 
Robert Sale, which alone of all the forces in northern Affghan- 
istan, had sustained, without a spot, the honour of our arms 
and name. They were beleagured by a force at least qua- 
druple their own, which was flushed with recent success, and 
commanded in person by the most active, energetic, and un- 
scrupulous of the whole of the Affghan chiefs, Akbar Khan; and 
it was only by labour almost incredible, continued by night and 
by day, that the miserable defences of Jellalabad had been 
made even moderately effective. In amoment, the exertions of 
months were nullified; their bastions, parapets, &c., were thrown 
open by large breaches ; and to the superstitious natives it must 
have seemed as if their gods had combined with their foes to 
insure their destruction. But the energies of the ‘“ Illustrious 
Garrison,’ as Lord Ellenborough most justly styled it, were 
more than equal to their difficulties; and the final result of 
their defence is one, which we all contemplate with the pride 
of soldiers, and feel it to be the redeeming feature of the 
wretched series of events in Affghanistan, with which you are 
now familiar. 

’ The details of this earthquake, which was felt from Jellala- 
bad, to Shalkur in Thibet on the north, and to Saharunpore 
on the south, I collected as they became public, but they 
proved of a most diserepant and unsatisfactory character. 
Still I was unwilling to lose so favourable an opportunity for 


108 Lieutenant R. Baird Smith on Indian Earthquakes. 


attracting the attention of qualified observers to the subject of 
earthquakes generally, and I therefore arranged these details 
and published them in the local journals. The effect more 
than equalled my anticipations, for a large amount of addi- 
tional information was furnished me, and I have received from 
many quarters assurances of active co-operation. Numerous 
corrections are necessary in my paper on the Jellalabad earth- 
quake, and these it is my intention to make when I prepare 
the “ Register of Indian Earthquakes for the year 1842,” ma- 
terials for which are rapidly accumulating. 

Such a subject as the present expands almost insensibly, and 
I find myself in possession of information that leads me to con- 
sider the past as well as the future history of earthquakes in 
India. From an analysis of details which cannot be given 
here, I have been enabled to recognise several distinct foci of 
disturbance so to speak, throughout this country. The classi- 
fication of these has been limited strictly by the facts in my 
possession, so that as these extend, modification may be neces- 
sary. At present, the following are the most distinctly marked 
“regions,” to borrow a term from Mr Lyell, throughout which 
the actual foci of disturbance are distributed :— 

1. The great central region of the Himalayas, extending 
from the Burrampooter on the east, to the limits of the Hindoo 
Khoosh on the west. Undoubted evidence exists of the ema- 
nation of earthquake shocks from different points on the 
southern side of the axis of the Himalayas, but none has yet 
reached me, of any proceeding from the northern, although, 
throughout the whole of Thibet, indications of igneous action 
abound. It is, however, probable that such evftence may yet 
be obtained. 

2. The lateral region of the Himalayas. To this belong 
the earthquakes that proceed from the lateral valleys of the 
Himalayas, as from the valleys of Jellalabad, of Cashmere, 
of Katenander, each of which has been the ascertained focus 
of shocks, which have been strictly local in their effects. Lines 
of hot springs appear to connect the foci both of the central 
and lateral Himalayan regions. 

3. The region of Sinde and the Delta of the Indus. The 
country between the Hindoo Khoosh and the ocean is con- 


Lieutenant R. Baird Smith on Indian Earthquakes. 109 


stantly subject to earthquakes, but I have not yet been able 
to recognise any distinct focus of disturbance throughout the 
mountains by which it is traversed, and at present I consider 
the shocks as emanating either from the mountains on the 
north, or from the well known region of Sinde and Cutch on 
the soutb. 

4, The region of Chittagong and the Delta of the Ganges. 
Throughout the line joining this with the former region, which 
stretches completely across the Peninsula, numerous signs of 
voleanie action occur. The great trap district of central 
India extends to the right and left of it ; hot springs are plen- 
tiful, and disruptive action is in numerous instances strikingly 
evidenced. 

5. The region of the Arracan coast. The earthquakes in 
this region have occasionally been of appalling violence, and 
the volcanic indications throughout it are of the most interest- 
ing and striking character. An archipelago of volcanic islands 
fringes the main coast, some of which have been active within 
a recent historical era, and, at this moment, symptoms of ac- 
tivity exist. This region is directly connected with the vol- 
eanic train of the Moluccas, and also with the region of Chit- 
tagong just adverted to. 

‘6. The ocean region. Relative to this my information is 
still very imperfect, and I make it distinct in consequence of 
some very singular phenomena observed in the open sea on 
the Indian coast, clearly indicating subaqueous voleanic action. 

Details connected with each of these regions will be given 
at a future time,—the arrangement of them is still imperfect, 
and [ would wish you to consider the preceding as a mere out- 
line sketch ; but it will suffice to indicate to you the interest- 
ing field India presents, and I trust the harvest to be reaped 
from it will yet prove an abundant one. Our countrymen 
are distributed over the whole extent of these tracts, and I 
will spare no efforts to ensure their co-operation. From south 
Tndia, our information is at present a total blank, but I do not 
despair of yet seeing it filled up.* 

* We perceive that Lieutenant Baird Smith is publishing the materials 


he has collected on Indian Earthquakes, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society 
of Bengal. See p. 242 of No. 123 (39, New Series). 1842. 


(M209 


Remarks on two Points in the Theory of Glaciers. By M. 
Erte ve Beaumont, Member of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences.* 


The lectures which I delivered this year at the Collége de 
France on erratic phenomena, led me to examine the theory 
of glaciers, and I now ask the permission of the Society to 
submit to their attention two theoretical remarks which have 
occurred to me in the course of my investigations. 


lst Remark ; relative to the action which central heat exercises 
on glaciers. 

The increase of temperature observed in penetrating the 
solid crust of the earth, gives rise to a constant flow of 
heat which traverses that crust, and is dissipated at its sur- 
face. If we call g the fraction of a degree by which the tem- 
perature becomes augmented when we penetrate to the depth 
of a metre, and & the conductibility of the terrestrial crust, 
this flow of heat has as its measure the product g. k. This 
flow of heat would be capable of melting, taking time as 
unity, a bed of ice whose thickness would be ge . Lattempted, 
some years ago, to calculate approximately this quantity 
for the surface of the ground at the Observatory of Paris, 
and I found that the flow of heat which proceeds from the 
earth, would at that locality melt annually a bed of ice of 
Om. 0065 (six millimétres and a half), a result which M. Pois- 
son has inserted in his work, entitled, Memotre et notes for- 
mant un supplément a la théorie mathematique de la chaleur 
(Paris 1837.) This quantity may doubtless vary from one 
point on the surface of the globe to another with the values 
of k and g; but it seems to me very probable that the varia- 
tions would not be extensive, and that by admitting that the 
flow of heat emanating from the terrestrial crust, and dis- 
sipated at the surface, is generally capable of melting 6 mil- 
limétres and a half of ice in the year, and of producing, by 


* Read to the Philomathic Society of Paris, 30th July 1842. A corrected 
copy of this paper, and the following one, was kindly transmitted to us by the 


Author.—Eb. 


M. de Beaumont on ‘he Glacier Theory. 111 


this liquefaction, about 6 millimétres of water, we should not 
be very far from the truth for any given point. 

This influx of heat proceeding from the interior of the 
earth, arrives at the bed of glaciers as at the bed of the sea 
and of lakes, and, in general, at all points of the rocky crust 
of the earth. Having reached the bed of a glacier, it conducts 
itself differently, according to circumstances, as I have already 
remarked in a note read to the Philomathie Society on the 6th 
June 1836. (See L’ Institut, vol. iv. p. 192, No. 162, June 
15th, 1836.) The flow of heat may traverse the entire gla- 
cier, and then become dissipated at its surface; or it may 
stop at the bed of the glacier, and be there entirely employed 
in melting the ice; or, more generally, it may become divided 
into two portions, of which the one is employed in melting the 
ice, and the other traverses the ice, and is dissipated at the 
surface by radiation, by contact with the air, &e. 

Hence it results that the maximum quantity of water which 
can result from the action of central heat on the ice and 
snow distributed over the surface of the earth, is represented 
by a sheet of water six millimétres in thickness, having the 
same extent as that ice and that snow, and that the maximum 
quantity which can be produced in a month, is represented by 
a sheet of water half a millimétre in thickness, a quantity cor- 
responding with that produced by a very small fall of rain. 

The quantity of water resulting from the liquefaction 
caused by the sun, and by atmospherical actions, is incompar- 
ably greater. 

In the physical atlas of Berghaus, the quantity of water 
which falls annually on the elevated portions of the Alps, in 
the state of rain, hail, or snow, is estimated at thirty-five inches, 
or 947 millimétres; the snows and the glaciers of the Alps 
having remained for many ages in a state almost stationary, 
but more retrograde than progressive, it must necessarily be 
the case that the quantity of water which flows from them 
annually (apart from the evaporation) must be equivalent to 
that which falls in all forms; this quantity ought even to 
exceed, relatively to the surface really covered by permanent 
snow or ice, the proportion stated above, because, the slopes 
which are too rapid for the adherence of snow, throw off all 


112 M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Theory. 


that they receive into the valleys situated at their base, where 
it accumulates until it liquefies along with that which has fallen 
directly upon them. It thus appears that we should not ex- 
aggerate by calculating at about 1200 millimétres the quan- 
tity of water which flows annually from all the snowy surfaces. 

Nearly the whole of this quantity must flow off in conse- 
quence of superficial liquefaction, and during the six months 
in the course of which this superficial liquefaction is percep- 
tible, seeing that the six millimétres which can result from 
the permanent liquefaction beneath only form a very small 
fraction of it. The quantity of water which the snow and the 
ice of the Alps give forth during the summer ought thus to 
amount to 200 millimétres per month, that is to say, about 
400 times the maximum quantity which the flow of internal 
heat is capable of melting in the same period. 

Hence it results, that in winter, mere threads of water should 
be seen issuing from glaciers, altogether disproportionate to 
the torrents which flow during summer ; and this, indeed, is 
the fact, according to old as well as new observations made 
on glaciers during the winter season ; thus observation con- 
firms the deductions afforded by the theory of heat, and is very 
far from contradicting them, as has been supposed. The 
quantity of water which the flow of internal heat ought to 
produce from glaciers in winter, is even so small, that at most 
it can account for the slender threads of water which are seen 
running from them ; and that the latter may very well repre- 
sent both the water of liquefaction and the spring water ; it 
is, moreover, quite natural that this small quantity of water 
should be limpid. 

We may nevertheless remark, that however feeble may be 
the action exercised by the flux of the internal heat on the 
masses of snow and of ice covering the high mountains, this 
permanent flow of heat is one of the regulators of the extent 
of glaciers. If, che climate remaining the same, the internal 
heat sensibly diminished, the glaciers would require to ad- 
vance into the valleys to a considerable extent, in order 
that the increase of liquefaction which would take place at 
their extremity should compensate for the diminished lique- 


M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Theory. 113 


faction produced at the inferior portion of the whole snowy 
surface. ; 

Any diminution in the influx of internal heat would also 
have the effect, in the course of time, of giving rise to glaciers 
at points where they do not exist at the present day; and 
this is what must take place in remote futurity when the cen- 
tral heat shall have suffered a sensible diminution. 

In former times, on the contrary, the flow of heat must 
have been greater than at present, and this cause must have 
tended to render glaciers a little shorter ; if they were more 
extensive at a certain epoch, as every thing seems to indicate, 
such an extension must have resulted from differences between 
the climate of former periods and that of the present day.* 

2d Remark ; relative to the influence of external cold on the for- 
mation of glaciers—Certain expressions, perhaps misinter- 
preted, have been the cause of there being attributed to some 
of the individuals who are at present occupied with the theory 
of glaciers, the opinion that the water, formed at their sur- 
face during the day, and introduced into the capillary fissures, 
congeals there during the night by the penetration of the noc- 
turnal cold ; but M. de Charpentier, at the end of the interest- 
ing work he has published, Sur les glaciers et sur le terrain 
ervatique du bassin du Rhéne, rejects this idea (p. 307), and 
even terms it adsurd. In fact, the conductibility of ice, which 
indeed has not yet been measured, cannot be very much 
greater than that of the rocks forming the surface of the 
ground. It is therefore evident, that the nocturnal cold can 
only congeal the water in the interior of a glacier to an incon- 
siderable depth, such as that to which the diurnal variations 
of temperature penetrate into the ground with a sensible in- 
tensity. 

But then, how can the water become congealed in the in- 
terior of glaciers, as is supposed by the theory which regards 
their progression as an effect of dilatation? This congelation 
cannot take place without a considerable abstraction of heat, 


* I have elsewhere suggested the supposition as to this point, which ap- 
péars to me the most probable. (See Annales des Sciences Geologigues. vol. 
i, p. 204, and Comptes Rendus de Academie de Sciences, vol. xiv., p- 101.) 


VOL, XXXIV. NO. LXvir.—sanuary 1848. II 


114 M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Theory. 


for we know that water at 0° (32° F.), in order to become 
converted into ice at 0°, must lose a quantity of heat capable 
of raising the same quantity of water from 0° to 75° cent. 
The phenomenon cannot be easily conceived, unless there exist 
in the interior of the glacier a sort of magazine of cold: this 
magazine of cold cannot be derived from the diurnal variations 
of temperature ; the annual variations alone are capable of pro- 
ducing it. During winter, the temperature of the surface of 
the glacier is lowered to a great many degrees below 0°, and 
this low temperature penetrates, although with a gradual di- 
minution, into the interior of the mass. The glacier splits up 
in consequence of the contraction resulting from this coving. 
At first the fissures remain empty, and assist in the refrigera- 
tion of glaciers by favouring the introduction of the cold ex- 
ternal air; but in spring, when the rays of the sun heat the 
surface of the snow which covers the glacier, they restore it 
first of all to 0° (82° F.), and then cause the production of 
water at 0° which falls into the cooled and fissured glacier. 
This water immediately becomes congealed by the disengage- 
ment of the heat which tends to restore the glacier to 0°, and 
the phenomenon continues until the entire mass of the cooled 
glacier is restored to the temperature of 0°. 

Hence results a certain amount of expansion which may 
contribute, without any doubt, to the movements of glaciers, 
but which explains still more distinctly one of the most curious 
of the glacier phenomena described by observers. It is, in 
fact, because the glacier thus augments by intus-susception, 
while it melts at the surface, that the stones originally en- 
veloped in its mass are constantly brought to the upper por- 
tion, where the superficial liquefaction disengages them, as 
has been proved during the last year by MM. Martins and 
Bravais ; it is also on this account that the interior of glaciers 
at last becomes formed of ice nearly pure, as has at all times 
been remarked by the inhabitants of the Alps. 

Even the existence of glaciers formed really of ice, like those 
of the Alps, thus results from the annual variations and not 
from the diurnal variations of the temperature, and it is for 
this reason that there are no glaciers, but only perpetual snows 
under the equator, where there are only diurnal variations of 
temperature. 


M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Theory. 115 


In proposing this theoretical explanation of the formation 
of ice in the interior of glaciers, and of the effects that result 
from it, 1 by no means seek to dispute the conclusions in the 
interesting memoir where Mr Hopkins has lately shewn the 
feebleness of the theory which maintains that the sole cause 
of the movement of glaciers is to be found in the effects of di- 
latation. I may even add, in support of the arguments so well 
developed by the learned Cambridge author, that if the expla- 
nation now given be correct, i is only during a short period 
(a few days or a few weeks) that glaciers augment internally, 
and consequently dé/ate each year. I am also convinced, by 
many reasons which cannot be explained in this notice, that 
the phenomena of expansion are not the sole, or even the prin- 
cipal cause, of the movement of glaciers, which, with their 
numerous crevasses, appear to me rather to resemble straps 
(laniéres) drawn downwards (as if by the action of a weight), 
than bars which are compressed and pushed by a force pro- 
ceeding from above (as would be the case on the supposition 
of a force resulting from expansion). 


- alpsligd SORE hint lee ee saat ERNE 


On the Slopes of the Upper Limit of the Erratic Zone, and on 
their Comparison with the Slopes of Glaciers and of River- 
Courses. By M. Exre ve Beaumont, Member of the Royal 
Academy of Sciences.* 


The interesting investigations of which the erratic pheno- 
mena of the Alps have been for some years the object, have 
contributed to demonstrate an important circumstance that 
pervades the whole of this class of facts. The traces left by 
the erratic phenomenon rarely extend tothe summits of moun- 
tains. They are coneentrated in a zone which embraces their 
base, and which has a well defined upper limit. This upper 
limit is very frequently marked either by the passage of the 
rounded rocks (roches moutonnées) into the angular rocks, or 
by the highest terraces formed of erratic materials. 

In a district. of small extent, the upper limit often seems to 
be indicated by a horizontal line, but this is an illusion caused 


Te 


% Read to the Philomathic Society on the 13th August 1842. 


116 M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Theory. 


by the slight inclination of the line. Although the amount is 
but little, yet the upper limit of the erratic zone is sensibly 
inclined ; and this limit is formed by a surface which gradually 
sinks from the centre of the mountainous region towards its 
edges, cutting the flanks of the mountains in lines very dif- 
ferent from horizontal ones. 

The knowledge of the inclination of the upper limit of the 
erratic zone, is one of the most essential elements of the pro- 
blem to which the erratic phenomena have given rise. It is 
a bed of Procrustes, in which all the theories that may be pro- 
pounded on the subject must necessarily be tested. 

We are now in possession of many data as to the absolute 
height of the upper level of the traces of the erratic pheno- 
mena; but these heights have rarely been combined with the 
horizontal distances of the points to which they refer, so as to 
admit of the inclination of the surface-limit being deduced. I 
have made this calculation for the valley of the Rhone from 
the Grimsel to the Lake of Geneva; for the valley of the 
Drance from the Saint-Bernard to Martigny; and for the por- 
tion of the basin of Lower Switzerland over which the erratic 
phenomenon of the Valais extends. I have also made it for 
some parts of the valley of the Aar. Perhaps the publication 
of these numerical results may cause the publication of ana- 
logous calculations for the other valleys of the Alps, and for 
those of the Pyrenees, the Vosges, &c. The following is the 


table :— 
Height of the Upper Limit of the Erratic Zone. 


Metres. 

Near the Col du Grimsel (about), : : : - . 2800 
Near Afrnen (Valais) Re eae : ; : : 1813 
In the basin of Brieg, : . - ; 1520 
In the vicinity of Martigny, - 5 : : 1450 
Near the Great Saint-Bernard Gahoumes” : - : z 2500 
At the Mountain of Plan-y-beuf bis ache ; é 1769 
Above Monthey, " : . 1157 
At the rocks of Mimisse, 5 4 ‘ a ; 1025 
At the huts of Playau, . 5 4 : - 1222 
On the slope of Chasseron (J és, 5 : a Q . 1050 
Geneva (the Lake), A - . : 875 
Névé of Ober-Aar (limit of the fhe sibboiinées), a iE 2924 
Grimsel (the Col itself), . ~ - - . > 2200 


Brunig (the Co/), 4 ° A 3 ‘ 1163 


M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Theory. 117 


By combining these numbers with the distances of the points 
to which the heights they express refer, measured on Keller’s 
map, I have prepared the following table, which indicates the 
inclination of the Upper limit of the erratic zone from one 
point to another. 


Inclinations of the Upper Limit of the Erratic Zone. 


Distance of pe Here € Slope in De- Slope ne 
Points compared. the different | **6!S26O!| cimal Frac- Brees; 
pea the two . nutes, and 
Points. 3 tions, 
Points. Seconds. 


° ’ ” 


25,000 487 0.019480 1 6 57 


Grimsel, . . 
Atmen,. . . 
irnen, . : 
a 
Brieg, 

Martigny, . 

Great “Saint-Bernard, 
Plan-y-beuf, . . 
Plan-y-beuf, . 
Martigny, . 
Martigny,... 
Monthey, . . 
Martigny, . s 
Mimisse, .... 
Mimisse, ... 
Geneva, . 
Martigny,. . . 
Playau, «. 
Martigny,. . 
Chasseron, ... 


16,000 293 0.018312 1 2 56 


80,000 70 0.000875 | 0 3 1 


15,000 731 0.048730 2 47 24 
18,000 319 0.017722 1 0 55 


18,000 293 0.016277 0 55 57 


. © ster a ec 


44,000 425 0.009659 0 33 12 


49,000 585 0.011938 041 2 


44,000 228 0.005182 0 17 48 
92,000 400 0.004348 0 14 56 


Bava; . 2 se) 6 
Chasseron, . . . 49,090 172 0.003510 012 4 
a ana 110,000 719 0.006536 | 0 22 28 


) 

Chasseron, .. J 
as Berna, 125,000 | 1450 0.011600 | 0 39 52 
Grimsel, .. . ‘« 
Martigny, “ita tee 
Grimsel, ce 
Playau, . } 

Grimsel, 
Chasseron, .. } 
@fmen,. . « « 
Plavau cam ‘site e: 
Névé of the Ober- 
2 TT eleg tpe hae einai 
Giimsel_ . 
(Limit of the ‘roches 

moutonnées). 
Grimsel, 
Brunig, . 
(The two Cols merely, 
are compared) 


121,000 850 0.007025 | 624 9 
165,000 1078 0.006333 | 0 22 27 
| 213,000 1250 0.005869 | 0 20 10' 
140,000 591 0.004221 | 014 3 


13,500 624 0.046211 2 38 45 


29,000 1037 0.035758 2 2 52 


118 M. de Beaumont on the Glacier Thecry. 


This table, if farther extended, would express completely 
the features of the erratic phenomenon, and would be of utility 
in interpreting its real nature. We might be guided in the 
choice of hypotheses by the comparison of this table with other 
tables expressing similar features in certain natural pheno- 
mena. 

At the end of my Memoir on Etna,* I have given a table of 
the slopes of some glaciers. It would be desirable that this 
table should be extended, in order that we might see what is 
the lower limit of the slopes on which glaciers are capable of 
moving. At present I am not acquainted with any glacier in 
the Alps which moves for a considerable extent (a league for 
example) over a slope of distinctly less inclination than 3°. _ 

I have also presented to the Philomathic Society a table 
expressing the features of currents of water, by giving the 
slopes of the courses of a great number of rivers and torrents. 
These slopes have, so to speak, neither an inferior limit nor a 
superior limit, because there are many vertical cascades, and 
we find the Seine and the Rhone in certain parts of their course 
flowing over slopes of very slight inclination, of four and of 
eight seconds. The mobility of the molecules of water accounts 
sufficiently for the variety presented by the slopes of courses 
of water. We may remark, however, that the study of courses 
of water leads us to consider slopes of much smaller inclina- 
tion generally than those of glaciers: the Rhone, between 
Lyons and Arles, flows on a mean slope of 0.000553, or of 
154’; the Rhine, between Bale and Lauterbourg, flows on a 
mean slope of 0.000647, or of 2'13”. Now, the Rhine and 

he Rhone are two very rapid rivers, and the Doubs, which, in 
the environs of Besancon, flows on a slope of 0.001000, or of 
3’ 26”, reaches about the limit of the slopes of navigable rivers. 
This slope, however, is only about a fiftieth or sixtieth of the 
sinallest slopes of glaciers over spaces of some extent. 

The slopes of the upper limit of the erratic zone are inter- 
mediate between those of glaciers and those of the great navi- 


* Annales des Mines, 3d Series, vol. x., p. 565 (1836), and Memoires pour 
servir @ une description Geologique de la France, vol. iy., p. 215. 


Mr H, Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 119 


gable rivers. They are of an inferior order to the slopes of 
glaciers, whereas they are of the same order as those of the 
most impetuous torrents. These slopes, without any excep- 
tion, would be very considerable for rivers of a few yards in 
depth, and they would be enormous for masses of water having 
a section equal to those determined by the limits of the erratic 
zone in the valleys of the Alps, sections having a depth of 
from 800 to 1000 yards! With such slopes and such sections, 
the currents of water would have frightful rapidity ; currents of 
mud, even the most viscid, forming nants sauvages on a gigan- 
tic scale, would also acquire enormous rapidity, and be capable 
of prodigious effects. 

The rapidity of a liquid augments with the slope of its sur- 
face, and with the depth of its section; of this the rapidity 
acquired by all rivers when flooded is a demonstrative proof. 
On the contrary, it is doubtful if a very thick glacier expe- 
riences less difficulty than a thinner one in its movement over 
a gentle slope. This is an essential point to which attention 
ought to be paid in the comparison of these two classes of 
transporting agents. Acquired velocity has no share in the 
movement of glaciers. 

Such a difference exists between the régime of ice in move- 
ment and that of running water, that by preparing ¢hree com- 
parative tables, one of the above-mentioned features of glaciers, 
another of those of streams of water, and a third of those 
of erratic phenomena, a powerful aid would be obtained in 
determining the cause of the last. 


Description of the genus Cuma, and of Two New Genera nearly 
allied to it. By Henry D, S. Goonsrr, Esq. Communi- 
cated by the Author.* (No V.) With Plates. 


During the summers of 1841 and 1842, I obtained a num- 
ber of crustaceous animals, which I arranged promiscuously 
under the genus Cuma of M. Edwards, it being my intention 


* Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society, Dee, 10, 1842, 


120 Mr HW. Goodsir on the Genus Cuina. 


to publish them at that time under this arrangement. I 
waited, however, until it could be satisfactorily proved whether 
they were perfect animals, or, according to the suspicions of 
M. Edwards, merely the larva of some Decapodous Crustacea. 
I have now satisfied myself that they are perfect animals, and 
at the same time have discovered the types of two new genera, 
which places the group in a still more interesting point of 
view. 

Ihave applied the name Lodotria to one of these genera, 
and A/auna to the other ; the former being the ancient name 
of the Firth of Forth, at the mouth of which all these animals 
were got ; and the latter, the ancient name of the river Forth. 

The latter of these genera (Alauna) may be the genus Con- 
dylurus of Latreille, as I have never scen that author’s de- 
scription; but whether it be so or not there cannot be any 
danger in applying the name Alauna, as Condylurus had been 
previously used amongst the Mammalia. 

As [had a greater number of specimens of the Cuma Ed- 
wardsii than of any of the others, I have been enabled to make 
out the structure of that species with greater minuteness. 

These animals are very like small prawns in their general 
appearance ; but they bear perhaps in this respect a greater 
likeness to the species of the genus Veébalia than to any other 
known Crustaceans. 

The shell is hard and brittle, cracking under pressure. All 
the species are of a pale straw colour. The thoracic portion 
of the body is large and swollen; it is composed of six seg- 
ments ; the abdomen is longer, and is composed of seven seg- 
ments. 

M. Edwards, in his Memoir on the genus Cuma, published 
in the 13th vol. of the Ann. des Se. Nat., considers that the 
whole of the first and largest segment of the body constitutes 
the head. In all the specimens which I have dissected, I have 
found a suture running across this segment, immediately be- 
fore the middle part of it; this is observed very distinctly in 
the Cuma trispinosa, in the Bodotria arenosa, and also in the 
genus dlauna. The first of these parts I consider to be the 
head ; the second part as the first thoracie segment. To the 
first we find attached the rostrum, eyes, antenna, organs of 


Mr H. Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 121 


the mouth, and footjaws four in number. The second part 
bears the first pair of true ambulatory legs ; these legs consti- 
tuting (according to M. Edwards) the third pair of footjaws. 

The second thoracic segment is quite obsolete in M. Ed- 
ward's species (Cuma A udouinii) ; it is but slightly observed in 
the C. Ldwardsii; in the C. trispinosa, however, it becomes 
quite apparent, being of considerable breadth at the dorsal 
portion. In the Alauna rostrata also, We find this segment 
quite developed throughout its whole extent, and the second 
pair of thoracic legs arising from it. 

These two thoracic segments (the first and second) bear the 
compound legs in the genera Cuma and Podotria, in which two 
genera the four following segments bear the four pairs of 
simple legs. In the genus Alauna, however, we find a dif- 
ferent arrangement, there being an equal number of simple 
and compound legs, three pairs of each. 

The eyes in this tribe of animals are exceedingly small ; 
they are pedunculated, but sessile, and are placed very close 
together ; they are situated near the posterior part of the 
head, a short distance behind the rostrum, and on the mesial 
line. They are covered by the shell, owing to which, and 
their proximity to one another, the animal is at first sight apt 
to be considered as monoculous. The rostrum is short and 
truncated in the genus Cuma ; is almost altogether awanting 
in Bodotria, but is well developed in Alauna, being of consi- 
derable length and pointed. 

The antenne undergo considerable changes in the different 
genera of this tribe. In Cuma we find the superior antennz 
consisting of a single scale-like joint, armed with a number of 
strong spines; the inferior antenne* are five-jointed, being 
in general very little longer than the rostrum. In Bodotria 
the superior antennz are altogether obsolete, and the inferior 
antennz are very short. In Alawna again, we find the an- 
tenn more developed; the superior} consisting of a single 
jointed peduncle, and a long multiarticulate filament which 
is covered with hairs. The inferior pairt are eight or nine- 
jointed, and are somewhat larger than the rostrum. The 
organs of the mouth consist of one pair of maxille,§ three 


* Plate II. Fig.8. +t Pl. IV. Fig. 3. { Pl. IV. Fig. 4. § Pl. I. Fig. 2. 


122 Mr H. Goodsir an the Genus Cuma. 


pairs of mandibles,* and two pairs of foot-jaws.t These last 
organs will be found minutely described under Cuma Edwardsii, 
the species which I have been enabled to examine most mi- 
nutely. 

The true legs may be classed into compound and simple. 
The compound legs, as we have already stated, are four in 
number in the genera Cuma and Bodotria ; but six in Alauna. 
The first, or compound legs, are divided into two parts, the 
anterior or ambulatory, and the posterior or natatory. The 
simple legs are much shorter than the compound, and are 
more adapted for prehension; but they are unarmed with 
claws, and are seldom used for this purpose. 

The abdomen is moniliform, seven jointed, in all the genera. 
The last joint is very smallin the genera Cuma and Bodofria ; 
but in Alawna we find this segment very much developed. 
All the genera have the sixth abdominal segment armed with 
a pair of long bifurcated styles. The genera Cuma and 
Alauna are quite free of appendages to the other abdominal 
segments ; but in Bodotria we find that all the abdominal 
segments are armed with a pair of bifurcated appendages. 

Owing to the opacity of the shell, I have not been able as 
yet to make out the minuter parts of the anatomy of these 
animals. The intestinal canal consists of a long straight tube, 
considerably dilated as it passes through the thoracic portion 
of the body; when it reaches the abdominal portion it sud- 
denly becomes much narrower. 

The anal aperture is found in the seventh abdominal seg- 
ment. 

The branchiz§ are situated on each side of the thorax, 
immediately above the insertions of the legs, and approach, 
in their comb-like appearance, to those of the higher Crus- 
tacea. Interiorly, each of them is connected with the su- 
perior foot-jaws, and excepting that connection, lies appa- 
rently quite free in a sac formed by the reflection of a thin 
transparent membrane, which lines the internal surface of 
the thorax. The superior part of the branchiz consists” of 
one continuous piece, which is bent in a hook-like manner at 
its posterior extremity; the branchiz themselves arise from 


PL. IL. Figs. 3, 4,5. t PI. IL. Fig. 7, } PL IL. Fig. 17. § PL IV. Fig. 1. 


Mr H. Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 123 


the inferior edge of this part, and are about sixteen or seven- 
teen in number ; they are not laminated like those of the higher 
Crustacea, but consist of one large piece, which is apparently 
composed of a great number of cells. 

The organs of generation are not apparent in the male, but 
in the female, and, especially when she is loaded with spawn, 
these organs are at once perceptible. They are very similar 
in their structure and appearance to the same parts in the fe- 
male Mysis. They consist of four scales, which arise from 
the inferior edge of the thoracic segments. ‘These scales are 
of an irregular oval shape, concave internally, and convex ex- 
ternaliy, and they are overlapped by one another.* The eggs 
are of considerable size, and of a bright straw colour. It is 
from the genus Cuma only that these observations were taken 
in regard to the organs of generation. 

When a portion of the skin, or shell rather, is placed under 
the microscope, it presents a very beautiful appearance ; it 
apparently consists of a great number of nuclei, arranged in 
some degree of order. These nuclei are stellated, and here 
and there larger nuclei may be observed, the edges of which 
are quite smooth.t 

The structure of these animals is so peculiar, as to render 
the assignation (at present) of a proper place in a natural ar- 
rangement of the class, a point of very considerable difficulty. 
This arises in a great measure, without doubt, from our very 
limited knowledge of the class. I rather think, however, that 
they should be ranged among the lower Decapoda macroura. 


Genus Cuma (Hdwards). 

Generic Characters.—The superior antennee are single-jointed, and scale- 
like ; the inferior antennz are five-jointed. The caudal styles have the 
double terminal scales biarticulate, the last of which is always the 
shortest. 

Cuma Edwardsii, mihi.t 


C.—With the superior antennee rhomboidal ; with the ambulatory divi- 
sion of the first pair of legs, with the first joint bent at an obtuse 
angle ; with the thumb-like process single-jointed, and with the last 
joints clavate. Length, 4 lines. Hab. Frith of Forth. 

Description —The whole animal is of a fine straw colour, with a delicate 
tinge of pink, which is brighter in certain lights; the shell is quite 


* Plate IV. Fig. 12. t Plate IL. Fig 18, t Plate IL. Fig. 1. 


124 Mer H. Goodsiv on the Genus Cuma. 


rough, which is caused by the great number of shallow fovea with 
which the whole surface is thickly covered. This, and the following 
species, are perhaps the smallest of the genus ; at the same time, they 
are much thicker and stronger in proportion to their size than the other 
species. The rostrum is short, thick, and suddenly truncated obliquely. 
The antennez are minute ; the first or superior pair are almost obsolete 5 
they consist of one joint only, which is rhomboidal ; the extremity of 
each is armed with several strong but minute hairs or spines; they 
arise from the truncated extremity of the rostrum. The inferior an- 
tennse* arise from the inferior surface and base of the rostrum ; they 
are considerably larger than the superior pair; they are five-jointed, 
the third joint being the longest, the fifth or last is extremely small, 
and is armed with three very strong pointed and articulated spines. 
These pair of antenne are somewhat longer than the rostrum. The 
foot jaws are rather powerful, and havea great resemblance to the 
following pairs of feet. The first, or superior pair, are the smallest ; 
the first joint is of considerable length, being equal to all the others 
combined ; it is rather bent and broad, and is armed at its distal ex- 
tremity with two thumb-like processes or tubercles. Two very long 
and slender spines, which are almost as long as the foot-jaw itself, 
arise from the middle part of this segment ; the external spine is free 
of spinules altogether, but the internal is armed, on its external edge 
only, with a great number of articulated spinules. The second seg- 
ment of this foot-jaw is very short, and its posterior edge bears two 
very short articulated spines of equal length; these spines are spini- 
ferous. The third segment is almost equal in length to the first, and, 
like the second, also gives rise to nine or ten articulated and spinife- 
rous spines. The fourth segment is small and rounded, being also 
armed on its posterior edge with simple spines. The fifth segment is 
thumb-like, and spinous on its posterior edge. 

The external pair of footjaws are much larger than the internal ; they are 
five jointed, and are armed in the same way as the first pair, except 
that the external edge of the first segment is armed at regular inter- 
vals with small tufts of very fine hairs; the extremity of the second 
segment is also armed with a very long articulated and spiniferous 
spine. These two extremities just described are in general lying in 
such a way as to cover the organs of the mouth.t 

The two first pairs of legs are constantly concealed beneath the carapace 
when the animal is at rest, covering the footjaws and the organs of the 
mouth, and appear only to be used when the animal is swimming. 
The anterior or ambulatory division is five-jointed ; the first joint is 
about twice the length of all the others combined ; it is considerably 
bent and very broad; its internal edge is armed at regular intervals 
with pennicillated tufts of hair ; the three following segments are quite 
free of spines, but the last is armed at its extremity with a strong claw 
and two smaller spines. An articulated thumb-like and chelate joint 


* Plate II. Fig, 5. t Plate IL. Vig. 7. 


Mr H. Goodsir on ths Genus Cuma. 125 


arises from the extremity of the first segment, immediately internal to 
the four last segments. The natatory or posterior division of this leg 
is multiarticulate ; the two first segments are longest, being equal in 
length to the first segment of the anterior division ; the remaining seg- 
ments are minute, about nine or ten in number, each of which gives 
off a very long spiniferous sctum, which is articulated at its distal half.* 
The second thoracic leg of this species presents to us one of those 
beautiful and delicate structures which it is impossible either to de- 
scribe or delineate with even a remote degree of accuracy. The am- 
bulatory division is very long and slender, six-jointed; the first joint 
is long and very much flattened, but tapers from the middle towards 
its distal extremity, which is armed with a very long and pointed spine ; 
the following joints are all equal to one another in length, except the 
last, which is minute. The natatory division of this leg is seven or 
eight-jointed, and is equal in length to the first segment of the other 
division. The five last segments are all armed with long articulated 
and spiniferous setee, which smaller spines are again spinulose.t The 
four following pairs of legs are simple, that is, they are merely ambu- 
latory ; they are all six-jointed, and are very spiny. The segments of 
the body from which they arise are all ovoid, their dorsal edge being 
sharp and pointed.} 

The abdominal portion of the body is long and slender, seven-jointed 
and moniliform ; the last joint is minute, and lics between the caudal 
styles which arise from the extremity of the sixth segment ; these 
styles are of no great length in this species; they are composed of 
three parts; each style consists of a long jointed peduncle, from the 
distal extremity of which two biarticulated seales arise ; these scales 
lie one above the other. The first segment of the peduncle is some- 
what longer than the sixth abdominal segment ; the first segments of 
the scales are about half the length, and the last segment about one- 
fourth the length of the pedunele ; the inner edge of the superior scales 
is armed with a number of long, pointed, and articulated spines. The 
spines which arise from the inner edge of the inferior scales are more 
numefous ; they are all bent, their points being turned backwards ; the 
convex or anterior edges of all these spines are very much serrated. || 

Ihave named this species after M. Edwards, the founder of the genus, 
and the leading crustaceologist of the day. 


Cuma Audouinii. Edwards.§ 


C. With the superior antennee very small ; with the first joint of the am- 
bulatory division of the first pair of legs almost bent at right angles ; 
the terminal joints oval, and the thumb-like process multiarticulate. 
Long four lines to five. Hab., Frith of Forth. 

Deseription—Under casual observation this specics is very apt to be mis- 
taken for that last described, but by careful examination the difference is 


Ppa ai ea ge 


* Plate IT. Fig. 10. ¢ Plate II. Fig. 9. + Plate IT. Firs. l1, 12. 
\) Plate 11. Fig. 13. § Plate II. Fig. 13. 


126 Mr H. Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 


found to be very material. In its general appearance, this species resem-~ 
bles the Cuma Edwardsii. The first thoracic segment, however, is longer 
and not so rounded ; the rostrumisshorter and more pointed, and the eyes 
arelarger ; the flattened surface on the sides of this species is not so de- 
cided. The second thoracic segment is more hid ; the third is larger, 
ovoid, and rounded ; the adjoined scale projects backwards ; the fourth 
segment is of the same shape as the third, but not nearly so large ; the 
fifth ends in a sharp point, both superiorly and inferiorly ; the sixth 
thoracic segment is clavate. The superior antenne are very small, and 
scarcely to be distinguished from the rostrum. The inferior antenns 
are very similar to those of the Cuma Edwardsii. The foot-jaws are 
also similar in their structure to those of the last described species ; the 
ambulatory division of the first leg is five-jointed ; the first-joint is very 
much bent, and is of considerable breadth ; the two last joints are 
quite oval, and the last nonchelate. The internal thumb-like process, 
instead of being composed of one-joint only, as in the last described 
species, consists of four or five segments, which are all armed with 
short spiniferous and pointed spines ; the natatory portion of this leg 
is multiarticulate, the extreme joints being very small, so as to place 
the long spiniferous setee very close to one another.* 
The second pair of legs are very short.t The four last pairs of legs are 
similar in their structure to those of the last described species. The ab- 
domen and caudal fins also bearing a similar resemblance. 
This species is apparently the Cuma Audouinii of M. Edwards, but 
whether it is or not I cannot be quite certain. 

Cuma trispinosa, mihi.t 
C.—With the dorsal ridge of the caraface surmounted by three spines, 
with the ambulatory division of the first pair of legs extremely short, 
and with the second thoracic segment well developed. Long, 8 lines. 
Hab., Frith of Forth. 
Description.—This is a most characteristic species, and brings out several 
points of material consequence in the character of the genus. This 
species has the body quite smooth, and of the same colour as the pre- 
ceeding. It is the largest of all the species, but is more slender. The 
thoracic segments are not so deep as those of the preceding species, 
and the lateral compression is awanting. The rostrum is sharp-pointed, 
and bent considerably upwards ; the eyes are small, and the dorsal 
ridge immediately behind the eye is surmounted with three thick short 
spines. The second thoracic segment is of considerable extent at its 
dorsal part, but is quite obsolete at the middle ; it again, however, 
makes its appearance at its inferior part, where it supports the second 
pair of compound legs. The four following segments gradually de- 
crease in size :—The superior antenna are of considerable size, oblong 
and spinous. The inferior antenne are much longer than the rostrum, 
The ambulatory division of the first pair of legs is extremely short, and 


ne 


* Plate H. Fig 19. + Plate IIL Fig. 1. { Plate LV. Fig. 15. 


Mr H. Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 127 


the first joint is of no great breadth. The natatory division is about 
the same length as the first joint of the anterior division.* 

The second pair of legs are very long and slender; the first segment is 
not broader than the following joints, and is armed internally at its ex- 
tremity with a very long spine.t 

The simple feet are extremely spiny.t 

The abdominal portion of the body is very long and slender, the fifth 
segment being the longest. The caudal styles are long, slender, and 
pointed ; the internal scale has the last joint pointed and armed with 
two spines; the last segment of the external scale is more obtuse. || 


Genus Arauna, mihi.? 


Generic Characters.—The superior antenne are composed of a peduncle 
and a multi-articulate filament. The inferior antenna are eight-jointed. 
The three first pair of legs are compound. The internal scale of the 
caudal style is composed of three segments, and the external of one. 


Alauna rostrata, mihi. 


Description.—The whole animal is of a beautiful bright straw colour, 
inclining to yellow. The thoracic portion of the body is very large 
and swollen. The first segment or carapace is almost oval. The ros- 
trum is long, pointed, and is bent upwards at its extremity. The eyes, 
which are of considerable size, are situated at the base of the rostrum. 
The superior pair of antenne are very slender, consisting of a delicate 
filament covered with hairs, which arises from a short peduncle ; these 
antennee are almost equal in length to the rostrum. 

The inferior antennz are much longer, consisting of eight joints slightly 
spinous ; the distal extremity of the third is armed with a strong multi- 
articulate spine.’ The foot-jaws are seen projecting considerably beyond 
the edge of the carapace ; they are very spiny, and the last joint but 
one is armed with a long articulated ‘spiniferous spine.* 

The first pair of legs are extremely short ; the thumb-like process at the 
extremity of the ambulatory division is single-jointed and spiniferous.5 
The second pair of legs are also short. The ambulatory division of 
the third pair of legs is very long and slender, being almost as long as 
that of the second pair of legs ; the fifth joint is the longest. The na- 
tatory division is as long asthe first fourjoints of the ambulatory.7 The 

_ simple legs are very spiny on their anterior edges.’ 

The abdomen is short and thick, seven-jointed, the last joint being pro- 
duced into a long spine which is spiniferous on either edge ; the anal 
aperture is seen near the base of this segment. The caudal styles arise 
from the sixth segment, and they are much more complicated than 
those of the foregoing genera. The first segment is slightly clavate, 
longer than the seventh abdominal segment, and armed with a single 


—__—_—eeee reer 


* Plate III. Fig. 3. t Plate III. Fig. 4, { Plate III. Fig, 6. 
|| Plate III. Fig. 5. 1 Plate lV. Fig. 1. * Plate IV. Fig, 3. 
3 Plate IV. Fig. 4. 4 Plate IV. Fig. 5. * Plate IV. Fig. 6. 


6 Plate LV. Fig. 7. 7 Plate IV. Fis. 9. 8 Plate LV. Fic. 8. 


128 Mr H. Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 


row of spines on its inner edge. The internal scale consists of one joint 
only ; it is very spiny, and is about half the length of the external. 
The external scale is composed of three joints, the two first of which 
are equal in length to one another ; the third is about twice the length 
of both of these, and is very spiny at its extremity. 

Long, half-an-inch. Hab., Frith of Forth. 


Having only obtained one specimen of Alauna rostrata, and 
one also of Bodotria arenosa, | have not been able to examine 
the structure of these two genera satisfactorily. 


Genus Boporrta, mihi. 


Generic Characters.—The first, second, third, fourth, and fifth abdominal 
segments are cach armed with a pair of bifurcated finlets. The two 
terminal scales of the caudal styles are single-jointed. 

Bodotria arenosa, mihi. 

Description.—The carapace is almost oval, rostrum awanting, that part 
of the carapace being merely rounded off. The superior antennee are 
quite obsolete. The inferior pair are of considerable length, and are 
terminated by means of two long spines. 

The ambulatory division of the first pair of legs has the first joint of a 
very great size, being very much flattened and slightly curved. The 
four remaining joints, together with the internal thumb, are very spiny. 
The natatory division of the leg is six-jointed, the four last joints giving 
rise to as many long spiniferous spines, which are articulated at their 
distal halves. The external edge of these spines are spiniferous at the 
articulated half only. The ambulatory division of the second pair of 
legs has the first segment very broad, and tapering gradually towards 
its distal extremity, from which arises a very long, articulated, and 
spiniferous spine. 

The abdominal finlets are five in number. They are composed of two 
parts, viz., the first or pedicle, and the second or bifurcation ; the pe- 
dicle is of considerable length, from the extremity of which there arises 
two scales, which are armed on their margins with long spiniferous 
spines, which are much longer than the finlet itself. 

The first segment of the caudal styles tapers very slightly, and the two 
terminal scales are each of them single-jointed, and end by means of 
very fine points. The external is armed at its extremity with two 
spines. Long, 5 lines. 

This genus forms doubtless a link between the Stomapoda of M. Edwards 
and the higher Crustacea. 


In their habits all these animals seem to agree. I have not 
been able to observe any thing peculiar in them. They swim 
with very great rapidity, and on stopping they fall to the bot- 
tom on the sand or gravel, without attempting to lay hold of 
anything, as I have already remarked, seldom using their feet 


AEs TLE... Edin! New Phil. Jour Vol. 4p 129. 


H.Gacdsir, Del* 


a. ie 


PLA PE IL. 


E.Goedsir, Dat SG Mitchell, St. 


Mr H. Goodsir on the Genus Cuma. 


asa means of prehension. They free themselves with great 
dexterity from any weight which may happen to fall on them. 
I have often placed the point of a needle on their thorax and 
pressed them down into the sand; the animal immediately 
frees itself with very little apparent trouble, by means of its 
tail. The extremity of the tail is placed against the needle with 
one of the styles on either side of it, and by pressing upwards 


in this way, it soon regains its liberty. 


They frequent sandy banks, and chiefly those where there 


is a little sea-weed. 


DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 
Plate II. 


Fig. 1. Cuma Edwardsii. 
2, 3, 4, 5. Organs of the mouth. 
... 6. Natural size of Cuma Edwardsii. 
7. A superior and an inferior footjaw. 
8. One of the inferior antenne. 
... 9. One of the second pair of compound feet. 
.»- 10. One of the first pair of compound feet. 
:.. 11. One of the first pair of simple feet. 
-.. 12. One of the second pair of simple feet. 
... 13. Caudal styles. 
.. 14. Enlarged view of Cuma Audouinii. 
.. 15. Natural size. 
.. 16. One of the first pair of compound fect of C. Audouinii. 
.. 17. One of the abdominal appendages of Bodotria arenosa. 


... 18. Portion of the shell of Cuma Edwardsii, very much magnified. 


Plate ITT. 


Fig. 1. Enlarged view of Cuma trispinosa. 
.. 2, Natural size. 
3. One of the first pair of legs. 
-.. 4. One of the second pair of legs. 
5. One of the caudal styles. 
... 6. One of the simple legs. 
.. %. Enlarged view of the carapace of the Cuma trispinosa. 
-» 8. Bodotria arenosa. 
«» 9. Natural size. 
.» 10. One of the first pairs of legs. 
... 11. One of the second pairs of legs. 
.. 12, Enlarged view of anterior part of carapace. 
... 13. One of the caudal styles. 
VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVII.— JANUARY 1848, I 


130 Description of a Self-Registering Tide-Guage. 
Plate IV. 


Fig, 1, Alauna rostrata. 
+» 2. Natural size. 
+» 8, One of the superior antennee. 
+ 4, One-of the inferior antenne. 
Enlarged view of the anterior part of the carapace, with one of 
the footjaws projecting from its anterior edge. 
6. One of the first pair of compound legs. 
7. One of the second pair of compound legs. 
8 
9 


se 


. One of the simple legs. 

. One of the third pair of compound legs. 

.. 10. Caudal styles. 

... 11. Branchize of Cuma Edwardsii, with one of the footjaws attached. 
... 12. One of the second pair of compound legs of Cuma Auduuinit, 
with the ovarian scale attached. 


Description of a Self-Registering Tide-Gauge, invented by Mr 
Joun Maxton, Engineer, Leith.* With a Plate. Com- 
municated by the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. 


The machine represented in Plate V. was designed by me for 
registering the amount of tidal rise at any point on the coast, 
as at a sea-port or navigable river, or in any situation where 
it is of importance to ascertain the whole rise of the tides for 
a length of time. Several instruments have been invented 
for this purpose, and some of these are now in use, it is be- 
lieved, both in this country and in France ; but that which I 
have invented, and am now to describe, seems more simple in 
its construction, and promises to be, at least, as well, if not 
better, calculated to effect the object for which it is intended, 
than any other construction that has come under my notice. 

In figs. 1 and 2, ais a plate of % of an inch thick, with 
dovetailed feathers & 6, on its surface, between which are 
grooves represented by the dark spaces, } inch in depth; in 
these grooves are placed moveable studs, ¢ c, which are made 
to slide easily along the whole length of the grooves, and be- 
fore the machine begins to operate, the whole of them are 
set near the centre of the plate in two lines, as shewn in the 
upper part of fig. 1. Each groove represents the rise and fall 
of a tide ; and there being two tides in the twenty-four hours, 
two of these grooves are employed in registering one day’s 


* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 28th Novy. 1842. 


Edin! New Phil. Jour. Vol..34, p.130. 


PLATE Iv. 


TE Mitchell , Se. 


HGoodsir Dele 


POV thee dae ~omray,! 


- * 
: me 


RNa hiAMrw Np | 
i atten 4 GRAS, ee ‘ 
a Se 

vo oy aes. — ; 


ere i 


fe TA nytt 
+, 


ee shape te 
tage ; 


\Aidin’ Véiw Philar. Journal. 
| Fig, 2 
| 


| 


nv and Invented by Sohn Maxton, Leith 


7, 


agelI0, | 


TM Plate VP. 


7. 


~ 


S Leith L, tthog) 


~~ 


To. 


ue for hegistering the Sides. Figs. 


wes ae > 


_—_——.... —— A oF Ue Sr a — 


ae <$<$< 


Description of a Self-Registering Tide-Guage. 181 


tides. From the mechanism of the machine the studs on the 
right hand of the centre or zero line are for registering the 
height ; and those on the left the lowness of the tides as 
measured from the half-tide level. The figures on the right 
and left margins correspond to the days of the month; and 
the drawing represents a register for twenty-eight days’ tides, 
or one lunar month. In figs. 1 and 3, / is a pulley with a 
cord or small chain passing round it; to one end of the cord 
is attached a float g (fig. 3.), and to the other end of the cord 
is a weight / (figs. 1 and 3), which acts as a counter balance 
to the float. On the axle of the large pulley /, is a pinion 2, 
and the smaller the diameter of the pinion is, in proportion 
to that of the pulley, the narrower and more compact the re- 
gistering plate or table (fig. 1) will be. Letter 7 represents 
a rack; the number of teeth and revolutions of pinion a, dur- 
ing the whole range of tide, determining the length of the 
rack and the proportion of the scales of feet and inches at the 
top and bottom of the registering plate (fig. 1.) Connected 
with the horizontal rack 7, is a vertical guide or traversing 
bar Z, which is made to move the whole breadth of the table 
by its rack and the pinion. At the top and bottom of the 
vertical bar are pullies », for running along the guide-rods z. 
In the vertical bar there is a groove, in which the sliding bush 
2, is made to move freely up and down; to this bush is at- 
tached a cord, passing over the pulley p, at the upper end of 
the bar, and a constant strain is kept on the cord over the pul- 
ley bya weight g, to prevent the bush 2, from falling downwards. 
In the bush z is a pin which projects into the dovetailed grooves, 
between the feathers J, and slides easily along in them, as the 
bar /traverses either way. This pin moves the studscc, to their 
proper places for indicating high and low tide. Letter 7, as will 
be explained presently, represents moveable tongues or switches, 
having joints at one end, so loose, that when lifted they will fall 
down again by their own weight. 

We shall suppose that the machine has registered the tides 
as far as the second tide, on the 9th of the month, as shewn 
in the diagram (the studs below this being all shewn as moved 
to their places, and those in the upper grooves remaining un- 
moved), and that the tide on the 9th has fallen 7 feet from 
the datum line (marked o on the seale), to this position, there- 
fore, the pin in the bush = has moved the sliding stud from the 


132 Description of a Self-Registering Tide-Gauge. 


original position in which it was sct. Supposing the tide be- 
gan to flow when the machine was in this last position, by the 
float g (fig. 3), rising, it would reverse the motion of pulley 
and pinion, and bring the rack and traversing bar towards the 
right, or towards high water, on the table. After having left 
the sliding piece at its position for denoting low water on the 
9th of the month, it is now proceeding towards the sliding 
piece for denoting high water on the 10th; and when the 
bush and pin come to the tongue or switch, the pin moves up 
the inclined plane and on towards the right, moving the slid- 
ing piece for denoting high water on the 10th to its right po- 
sition for that tide. Supposing now the tide to ebb, the ac- 
tion of the float reverses the wheel, pinion, rack, and travers- 
ing-bar, and when the bush and pin come to the under side of 
the tongue, towards the left, the pin will lift the tongue by 
the strain produced by the weight g, on the cord which is at- 
tached to the bush; and having lifted the tongue, and passed 
on in a straight line, the tongue falls immediately by its own 
weight after the pin in the bush 2, has passed it; and com- 
ing back for the next high water, the pin has to move up the 
inclined plane as before, and so on with the whole of them. 

The snugs s, are for fixing the machine securely by screws 
to any convenient place for its reception. 

There is another way that might be adopted for the float 
giving motion to the machine than a cord and pulley (see fig. 
4.) <A vertical rack 0, attached to the float to work a spur- 
wheel y, which could be of the same diameter at the pitch- 
line as the diameter of the pulley f, so as not to derange the 
other parts and scales. The vertical rack might be more cor- 
rect in the event of a cord being apt to stretch, which, how- 
ever, would be obviated with a chain; but for high tides, say 
20 or 21 feet, a rack would be very unwieldy, for it would re- 
quire to be equal in length to the highest tides. 

The full size of the registering part of the machine is about 
2 feet square over all, and 23 inches in depth ; and if made of 
brass (as iron is apt to corrode from the action of the moisture 
from salt water), the cost of the whole apparatus, including 
the float and counterbalance, and the pipes in which they 


work, I have estimated at about L 30. 


Joun Maxton. 
Leirnm Encine-Works, 171) Nov, 1842. 


(452° > 


Historical Remarks on the first Di_covery of the real Structure 
of Glacier Ice. By Proressor Forses, Corresponding 
Member of the Royal Institute of France. 


I feel myself most reluctantly called upon to state some cir- 
cumstances respecting the discovery of a fact in the theory of 
Glaciers which M. Agassiz has declared, in a paper printed in 
the last number of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, to 
be erroneously claimed by me. 

The first account of “a remarkable structure of the ice of 
glaciers,’ by myself, was printed in this Journal for January 
1842. A history of this discovery, entirely opposed to mine, 
appears at pages 265 and 266 of the last number. By the 
kind permission of the Editor, I have now the opportunity 
allowed me of stating how the facts really stand, and at the 
same time of explaining the circumstances under which the 
publication of the original paper, claiming the discovery, took 
place,—circumstances which delicacy prevented me from men- 
tioning at the time, but which it now appears essential to make 
known. 

Private report, proverbially exaggerates and misrepre- 
sents the history of transactions little interesting to any but 
those immediately concerned. I believe that my own con- 
duct and its motives have been misunderstood, with refer- 
ence to the matter in question. A few extracts from the 
ample correspondence of which I am possessed in illustra- 
tion of every step of the transaction, will, I hope, suffice to 
place the matter clearly before such readers as shall feel 
sufficient interest to follow them. I pledge myself to their 
accuracy, and to their being fairly extracted in conformity 
with the tenor of the letters to which they belong. If any 
doubt shall be raised on this point, I shall have only the 
disagreeable alternative of publishing the entire correspond- 
ence, the length of which would render it unsuitable for 
the pages of a scientific journal. But I repeat my belief that 
the extracts I shall make, and the narrative with which I 
shall connect them, will put the matter in a light sufficiently 
clear ; and for the facts which I shall have to state, Iam con- 
scious of their admitting of no colouring or denial. 

In the first place, I shall briefly state the circumstances 


134 Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


under which the observation of Tne VEINED STRUCTURE IN 
THE ICE OF GLACIERS* was made. 

In the second place, I shall explain the cireumstances under 
which I made it public 

In the third place, I shall discuss shortly the claims to pri- 
ority of observation which have subsequently been made. 


iE. 


In 1840, M. Agassiz invited me to make a tour with him 
the next summer amongst the glaciers of the Oberland, 
Vallais, and Savoy. I understood the invitation to extend 
simply to our mutual companionship on a journey of mutual 
interest. Of third parties there was no mention ; and it was 
with difidence that I requested permission for my friend and 
fellow traveller, Mr Heath, fellow and tutor of Trinity Col- 
lege, Cambridge, to increase the number. It was only after 
all preliminaries were arranged, and after I had agreed, 
in order to accominodate M. Agassiz, to change the direc- 
tion in which I proposed to commence our intended tour, 
that I learned that he had several friends in company with 
him ; and it was not until my arrival at the Grimsel, on the 
8th of August, that I learned that the plan of a tour, into 
which I had originally gone, had been abandoned by my fel- 
low-traveller, for reasons which he did not assign, and that | 
was expected to unite with the party he had formed at Neuf- 
chatel, to spend some time on the glacier of the Aar, instead 
of prosecuting the journey originally proposed. I cheerfully 
acquiesced, however, in the arrangement, which promised to 
give me a good insight into the structure of glaciers, which I 
proposed farther to study by prosecuting alone, or with Mr 
Heath, my originally projected tour to Monte Rosa and Mont 
Blanc. 

It is to be remembered that the glacier of the Aar was the 
one which M. Agassiz had already repeatedly visited in former 
years, and on which he had constructed a sort of hut in which 
he had lived for some time. 

His other friends not having all arrived, M. Agassiz, Mr 
Heath, and myself, accompanied by (I believe) a single guide, 
ascended the glacier on the 9th August 1841. 


* Soe Edinburgh Philo: ophical Jouna’, January 1642, p. 69. 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 135 


Fact 1. We had not walked for half an hour on the ice, 
when I directed the attention of my companions to what I 
called a vertical stratification pervading the ice. It appeared to 
me so plain, that it scarcely occurred to me that it could be new 
to M. Agassiz, who had so often traversed the same ground. 

Fact 2. M. Agassiz having his attention called to the fact, 
stated that he thought I was deceived in considering that it 
penetrated the ice ; that, indeed, the surface of the glacier 
seemed to him much changed since last year, but that he had 
observed superficial linear markings of the same kind on (I 
think) the Glacier du Bois. 

Fact 3. At each new crevasse we came to, I took pains to 
shew him that the apparent strata penetrated into the mass 
of the glacier; but he seemed incredulous, until I noticed a 
deep hollow in the ice close to the left margin of the medial 
moraine between Hugi’s and Agassiz’ cabins, at least 20 
feet deep, to which I called M. Agassiz’ attention, in proof of 
the position I had maintained. 

Fact 4. To this he assented, but expressed his belief that 
it would only be found in the neighbourhood of the moraine, 
and not throughout the breadth of the glacier. 

Fact 5. In the course of the same afternoon, we ascertained, 
by conjoint inspection, that the structure in question was 
traceable all across the glacier of the Finster Aar. 

Fact 6. M. Agassiz, unwilling to admit that he could for- 
merly have overlooked so palpable a structure, expressed a 
frequent doubt whether this structure had not been superin- 
duced since his last visit. 

Fact 7. I took the fol- 
lowing means of proy- 
ing that this could not 
be the case. I shewed 
him some crevasses, and 

-asked him how old he 
supposed them to be? 
He answered, several 
years; they certainly 
had not Opened since 
last summer (1840.) I 
shewed that the veined 
structure crossed these 


136 Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


crevasses, and was dislocated by them, as in the margin, and, 
therefore, must have been anterior to their formation. 

Let us hear the evidence of Mr Heath and M. Agassiz, the 
only witnesses present besides the guide. 

Mr Heath wrote to me thus, on sending him the above 
statement of facts :— 


Exrracr First.—Rev. J. M. Heath to Professor Forbes, (printed 
by Mr Heath’s permission.) 
Trinity CoLuecE, &th March 1842. 


ce * * But those who were there this summer have very different 


evidence that this was a new fact. I remember when it was first re- 
marked, Agassiz said he had seen it before, but not to such an extent. 
That it had a peculiar relation to the medial moraines, and would not 
be found in the centre of the glacier; that it was only superficial, and 
owing, as he believed, to the sand which placed itself in parallel straight 
lines, and produced these incisions by melting the ice. The afternoon 
was taken up in what I then thought a very superfluous endeavour to make 
out whether it was superficial or not, and I believe he maintained the 
contrary opinion until the discovery of the great hole of which you have 
given a drawing.” 


It will be observed, then, that the whole question lies in 
this, Whether the lined appearance of the ice was due to an 
inequality of melting, occasioned by a linear arrangement of 
sand on the surface, washed from the moraines, and inter- 
cepting here and there the sun’s rays‘—or, Whether it was 
occasioned by the unequal action of the weather on alternat- 
ing vertical bands of friable and of compact ice, of which the 
glacier is composed. M. Agassiz appears, upon Mr Heath's 
testimony and my own, to have taken the former view, whilst 
I took the latter. According to him, the ice was striated on 
its surface, because the sand lay in lines; according to me, the 
sand lay in lines, because the ice has a veined structure through- 
out its mass. 

M. Agassiz, the other witness, admitted as much himself, 
when I requested him to say whether the above-cited facts 
were accurately stated or not. In a letter to me, dated 29th 
March 1842, he says,— 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 137 


Extract Seconp.—Professor Agassiz to Professor Forbes, 29th March 
1842. 


<‘ Comme vous en convenez vous-méme lorsque nous discutames pour 
la premiere fois les bandes de glace de teintes diverses que lon observe 
dans le glacicr, je vous dis que jen avais remarqué DES TRACES SUPERFI- 
ciettxs au glacier des Bois en 1838, ce qui est mentionné dans mon livre 
p- 121, 4 l’occasion des moraines médianes.” 


It appears, then, that Mr Heath’s memory and my own agree 
thus far precisely with M. Agassiz’. Let us see whether the 
reference to the “ Etudes sur les Glaciers,” published in 1840, 
gives any farther evidence. 


Exrract Tuirv.—Agassiz, Etudes sur les Glaciers, p. 121-2. 


« Les trainées réguliéres et paralléles de grains de sable que l’on pour- 
suit quelquefois sur de trés grandes étendues, le long des moraines mé- 
dianes, me paraissent étre un effét de la dilatation de la surface chargée 
de debris, combiné avec le mouvement progressif de toute la masse. Les 
petits grains de sable épars, n’agissant pas comme les gros blocs,* tendent 
3 former des series [Qu. stries ?] longitudinales et paralléles qui se trans- 
forment quelquefois en rainures, ct qui servent méme souvent de lit aux 
petits filets d’cau qui coulent le long des moraines. Nulle part je nai 
observé ce phénoméne d’une maniere aussi frappante que sur la Mer de 
glace de Chamonix en 1888 ; je lai également remarqué sur le Glacier de 
J’Aar, et ce qui m’a confirmé dans -Yexplication que j’en donne, c’est 
quici on remarque sur le cété gauche de la grande moraine une petite 
moraine qui lui est paralléle, et qui me parait détachée de la meme 
maniere que les trainées de sable dont je viens de parler se détachent des 
moraines en général.” 


It appears then, that, after three years of observation of the 
elaciers, M. Agassiz still entertained, in 1841, the same view 
of the cause of a fact which he had observed in 1838, and pub- 
lished in 1840. The fact was the superficial arrangement of 
lines of sand near the moraines of glaciers, which, according 
to him, arose from some molecular dilatation of the ice, which 
he does not very clearly explain ; and its effect was sometimes 
to produce grooves (rainures), by the heat of the sun acting on . 
the sand thus arranged. 

The fact which I pointed out to him on the 9th of August 
had no reference to the arrangement of sand on the ice, but 


li) eee Ea a 


%* This refers to the well-known action of large blocks of stone in de- 


fending the surface of the ice from eyaporation ; here, on the other hand, 
the sand sunk in the ice. 


138 — Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


consisted in a texture which the ice itself presented through- 
out its mass, of harder and softer layers, whose wasting, when 
it occurred in the neighbourhood of the moraines where the 
glacier was covered with sand, occasioned hollow grooves, into 
which, for obvious reasons, the sand was speedily washed, and 
there it lay. M. Agassiz was very naturally and properly 
slow to admit, in explanation of a fact which had for three 
years been before his eyes, the existence of a prevalent struc- 
ture to which he had not adverted. Accordingly, his convic- 
tions were proportionably gradual; and, as Mr Heath observes, 
“the afternoon was taken up in what I then thought a very 
superfluous endeavour to make out whether it was superficial 
or not.” 

Two days after the discovery of the structure, namely, on 
the 11th of August, we were joined by Professor Studer, the 
distinguished geologist of Berne, and by other friends of M. 
Agassiz. The structure in question having been discussed, it 
is important to know the impression which it left as to novel- 
ty or originality upon the mind of so competent a judge. M. 
Studer writes to me :— 


Extract Fourtu.—Professor Studer to Professor Forbes, 19th March 
1842. Extracted by M. Studer’s permission. 

«© M. Desor* m’a écrit il y a quelques semaines de cette contestation de 
priorité ; je lui ai repondu que je ne me mélerais pas de cette affaire, mais 
que bien certainement vous m’aviez fait remarquer pour la premiere fois 
la structure en question, et que j’avais cru en effét que son importance 
avait échappée a Agassiz, comme a tous ses devanciers.” 

I will only cite one other testimony as to the origin of the 
discovery on the Glacier of the Aar, also by an eye-witness, 
Mr Robertson of Newton House, near Elgin, a friend of M. 
Agassiz, whom I did not know before, and whom I have not 
seen since, but who, having learnt the nature of the contest 
as to priority which has occurred, generously and voluntarily 
sent me the following statement of facts, which I have like- 
wise his permission to publish. 


* A friend of M. Agassiz. 


= 


= 


a 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 139 


Exrract Firru.—Mr Robertson of Newton to Professor Forbes. 


Newton, 4th May 1842. 

* Before joining you on the 13th August last year, I was pretty familiar, 
from reading, with all the ordinary phenomena of glaciers, and, on my 
walk to the ‘ Cabane,’ examined each as it presented itself. Among others 
I observed the superficial indications of the ribboned structure ; and, dur- 
ing the first half hour after my arrival, I recollect perfectly, in walking 
from the ‘ Crevasse’ at the end of the Finster Aar glacier (where you bad 
been preparing the experiment on the absorption of ice with red wine) to 
the left flank of the Lauter Aar (where we exposed, with a hatchet, the 
contact of the ice and rock, in order to see the sand, &c. between them), 
having asked Agassiz how it was produced? He told me that the sur- 
face of the glacier had completely changed since last year, when he had 
scarcely observed it,—that it was an effect of the moraines, and probably 
caused by the greater variations of temperature to which they were sub- 
ject as compared to the rest of the glacier, and that it had nothing to do 
with stratification. I remember also asking whether the horizontal lines 
at the end of the glacier were those of stratification? and was told ‘ un- 
doubtedly.’ 

**On our return to the ‘ Cabane,’ I pointed out the structure very well 
marked, at some distance from the moraines, and, on cross questioning 
Agassiz, saw that he was far from satisfied with his theory. 

‘1 have thus abundant evidence, independent of your ample testimony, 
to shew, that, at the date I have mentioned, my friend Agassiz was un- 
aware of the general occurrence of the ribboned structure, through thie 
mass of glaciers ; and, in writing to him some days ago, mentioned my 
conviction that the discovery, certainly the most important of the recent 
ones, was due to you. J shall be glad to find that, as I believe is the 
case, M. Desor alone, and not M. Agassiz, could call it in question.” 


The “ stratification” alluded to at the close of the first pa- 
ragraph of the preceding letter, refers to the twisted planes of 
structure which I have described in my paper, and which are, 
in fact, continuous with the veins which, throughout the 
greater mass of the glacier, run parallel to its sides, when 
these sides are steep and continuous. The complex form of 
the surfaces of the shells into which a glacier is divided by 
these bands of compact and friable ice, I was first able to dis- 
cover, during a visit to the glacier of the Rhone on the 23d 
August 1842. I was accompanied by Mr Heath, and Mr Cal- 
verley Trevelyan, but not by M. Agassiz or any of his party. 
In the course of a very careful examination of the glacier, I 
succeeded in satisfying myself completely of the conoidal form 
of the veined surface, and in explaining the apparent frontal 


140 = Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


stratification, which I have since confirmed in eyery point.* 
On our return to the Grimsel, I explained my views to M. 
Agassiz, who copied the sketch I had made, which corres- 
ponds exactly to that in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 
January 1842, p. 89. A month later, I explained this sys- 
tem of curves of structure of the glacier of the Rhone to M. 
Studer at Berne. His penetration immediately perceived its 
importance, and he expressed great satisfaction at the insulated 
fact which I had pointed out to him on the glacier of the Aar 
being thus generalized.t We both agreed that its explana- 
tion must involve, in a good measure, the true theory of gla- 
ciers. Ina letter to Professor Bronn of Heidelberg, dated 
Ist October 1841, a week after I had quitted Berne, M. Stu- 
der gives an accurate account of my observations, being the 
first publication on the subject.{ 


il. 


I now come to state shortly the circumstances which led 
to the publication of my paper describing this new structure 
of glacier ice ; and about which there seems to have prevailed 
a misapprehension which I am anxious to remove. 

It has been supposed that I resisted every offer to take a 
share in a joint publication of the proceedings of the summer, 
in order to bring forth a separate notice of the structure which 
I had observed ; that even whilst in Switzerland, I contem- 
plated such a separate publication ; and having reached Eng- 
land, hastened to anticipate M. Agassiz. 

The facts are precisely the reverse. The idea of publish- 


* See Letters to Professor Jameson in this Journal for October 1842, 
p. 346. 

t M. Studer, after quitting the glacier of the Aar, had recognized the 
structure on several others in the canton of Vallais. I should add that I 
pointed out the veined structure to M. Agassiz on the glacier of Gauli, in the 
Urbachthal, on the 20th August, and it was afterwards noticed by both of us 
on the Oberaar glacier, and that of Aletsch. So that no reasonable doubt re- 
mained, at least, on my mind, that, having been observed on no less than 
five contiguous glaciers, it was a gencral and not a particular phenomenon. 
This meets M. Agassiz’ statement, that I not only “ erroncously claimed the 
discovery,” but ‘‘ assigned to it a generality which the facts observed by my- 
self did not at all justify."—Zd. Phil. Jour., p. 265. 

t Leonhard’s Jahrbuch, 1841, 


ae a Vo AN Pate WM Fage 140. 


PLAN 
NG & BRASS WHEEL 


SECTION 
RULER, PINION & RACK. 


a — Drawn by James bryson Assistant : Seiths Lithog Tidin™ 


TANNA Mate Vt lage 140. 


hitin! Sew Vhitos. Journal. - 
DRAWINGS of: Buchanan's VR OTRACTING TABLE 


PLAN 
OF 
FRAMING & BRASS WHEEL 


PERSPECTIVE VIEW 


SECTION 
PARALLEL RULER, PINION & RACK. 


Scale for Section. 
2 a - lie 7 oc 


2 10 Mt 12 bawhes. 


Scale for Plan 
a o eo 4 2 St Feet 


SS SS SSS 


Drawn by Sames Bryson Assistant to MN! hachanan. S heiths lithog "Fidin o 
: 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 141 


ing either this or any original observation of my own, on a 
subject so new and so unexpectedly dificult as I found the 
glacier theory to be, had certainly not entered my imagination 
during any part of my stay abroad. A precis of the labours 
of others in the form of a Review of the writings of Venetz, de 
Charpentier, and Agassiz, such as subsequently appeared in 
the Edinburgh Review, I certainly contemplated, thinking, 
that if I pursued the subject another year, sucha preliminary 
study would be the fittest introduction to any original investi- 
gations. But I can safely say, that the way and manner in 
which my observations on the glacier structure should be 
brought out, was not a matter of the slightest concern to me, 
until an unexpected circumstance brought it to my mind. 

1 must mention, however, what passed between M. Agassiz 
and myself relatively to a joint publication, when I was at 
Neufchatel in the middle of September 1841. I will state 
this in the words which I employed in writing to a friend a 
few months after the transaction took place. 


Exrracr Sixtu.—From a Letter from Professor Forbes to a Friend, 
dated 1st April 1842. 


« M, Agassiz never asked me, so far as I recollect, to publish with him 
on the subject of the Glaciers. He once proposed to me to communicate 
the observations I had made on Solar Radiation on the Glacier of the 
Aar, to form part of the description of the journey, of which the narrative 
part was to be written by Desor. 

« This I declined, on the ground that these observations formed part of 
a series of experiments, long since commenced, and which must be treated 
of in connection.* 

«J was very well aware, however, that a declaration of my opinion on 
the Glacier Theory was what was desired 5 and M. Desor took upon him 
to intimate this to me at Neufehatel, in these words :—‘ M. Forbes ne 
veut pas se compromettre, mais nous le compromettrons’ —which you will 
think rather a singular way of securing support to a scientific dogma. 
The following reasons determined me against taking any part in a joint 
publication :— 

«1st, That however willing I might be to have my name associated with 
that of Agassiz, in any common work, experience led me entirely to de- 
cline such an association with M. Desor. 

«9d, That the utmost extent to which I could then conscientiously 


2S 2 RATE 


* They accordingly form part of a very extensive enqniry since commu- 
nicated to the Royal Society of London. 


142. Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


haye gone in support of the Glacier Theory, would, I knew, not have 
satisfied M. Agassiz. 

* 3d, That, from the perusal of Charpentier’s work, and from communi- 
eations with those best acquainted with the history of the Theory in Swit- 
zerland, I had begun to perceive, that were I to take any part in the dis- 
cussion going on between Agassiz and Charpentier, it must be in favour 
of the latter, and not of the former, as an original observer and just rea- 
soner,” 

Treached home in the month of October 1841, and soon com- 
menced the Historical Review of the Glacier Question which 
Thad projected. Whilst I was thus engaged, the Comptes 
Rendus of the Academy of Sciences at Paris for the 18th Oc- 
tober reached me. In it I found a letter from M. Agassiz to 
Baron Humboldt, containing the following passage, with refe- 
rence to the observations made on the Glacier of the Aar. 


Exrracr Srventu.—From Professor Agassiz to Baron Humboldt. 


“Le fait le plus nouveau que j’ai remarqué, c’est la présence dans la 
masse de la glace de rubans verticaux de glace bleue, alternant avec des 
bandes de glace blanche d’un quart de ligne a plusieurs pouces de large, 
s’étendant sur toute la longueur du glacier, e’est a dire, a plusieurs lieues 
de longueur, et pénétrant a une profondeur d’au moins 120 pieds puisque 


“ 


jai observé encore ce phénomeéne au fond du trou de sonde.” 

On reading this letter, from which all mention even of my 
presence on the glacier of the Aar is excluded, my first 
impression was of surprise and pain. That I could not 
suffer so direct a plagiarism to remain unchallenged never 
appeared to me to admit of doubt; le fait le plus nouveau 
que Ai remarqué, was an assertion as articulate as it was 
unfounded. How to take notice of it was a point of more 
difficulty. I felt fully the delicacy of my position. Towards M. 
Agassiz I felt the warmest friendship ; sympathy with his zeal, 
and gratitude for his kindness and hospitality. This he well 
knew: during several weeks of the closest intimacy, we had been 
perpetually engaged in discussions connected with his theore- 
tical views, and also respecting facts. I believe it may safely 
be stated, that neither of us ever for a moment lost temper in 
these amicable disputes, which often lasted for hours together, 
and which were uninterrupted either by our walks or our 
meals. His enthusiasm and good temper in these discussions 
delighted me, even where he failed to convince me of the 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 143 


constancy of his alleged facts, or the cogency of his reasons. 
We parted at Neufchatel with even more cordiality (at least 
on my part), than we had met at the Grimsel; and my letters 
written afterwards testify that I freely acknowledged my obli- 
gations. Accordingly, in vindicating the originality of my ob- 
servation, I resolved to take the plan which seemed to me most 
likely to secure a continuance of a friendship I so much valued. 
Were I to write to complain directly of want of justice on his 
part, though I did not doubt his willingness to correct his 
error, I felt that it would place him in a somewhat pain- 
ful position, after so direct an assertion of his own rights. I 
preferred a different, and, I think, a natural course. Know- 
ing well the facts stated in the commencement of this paper, 
and feeling that M. Agassiz must be equally aware of their 
truth, I resolved to make no reclamation, and especially to 
testify in my letters no irritation at the part which he had 
taken ; but simply in a short and matter-of-fact communica- 
tion to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which I lost no time 
in transmitting to him, to state my own version of the 
affair, and claim my discovery without the slightest allusion to 
its having been erroneously claimed elsewhere. This was the 
origin of the paper which, at Professor Jameson’s request, was 
communicated afterwards to his Journal ; and any one who 
looks at it in this view, will, I think, admit that it was well 
calculated to answer the end proposed. It has not a trace of 
a controversial character, but I well knew that when it should 
meet M. Agassiz’ eye, it would be understood as an intima- 
tion that when he should next publish, I expected my claims 
to original observation to be more carefully regarded, though, 
in consideration of our friendship, and of the informal charac- 
ter of the communication to M. de Humboldt, I was both 
willing and happy to dispense with any apology. 

At the same time that I communicated my paper to M. 
Agassiz, I sent it to Mr Heath, the only other party to the ob- 
servation of the 9th August,—referring to the letter to Hum- 
boldt as the cause of the publication, and requesting his friendly 
opinion as to whether I had acted prudently in thus asserting 
my claim, and whether he considered all that 1 had stated to 
be justly my due. To this letter I received the following re- 
ply, which is here printed with Mr Heath’s kind permission. 


144 Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


Extract Ereatn,—From the Rev. J. M. Heath to Professor Forbes. 


Trinity CoLueGE, 25th Feb. 1842. 

“Tam very much obliged to you for the extract from the Philosophical 
Journal. I saw the paper in the Journal before you sent it me, and I 
most cordially approved of its appearing. I did not know, what you 
seem to say in your letter, that Agassiz has claimed the main observa- 
tionashisown. * * * JI will witness that, Ist, He knew nothing 
about it ; 2d, When he did see it, he said it was superficial, and caused by 
superficial sand ; 8d, That he was the last to believe that it went to any 
depth. I think your account very truc, and not claiming one jot more 
than fully belongs to you.” 


I certainly anticipated that my forbearance with respect to 
M. Agassiz would have been rightly interpreted, and that 
silent acquiescence would have acknowledged the justice of 
my claim. 

The event proved otherwise. The particular steps which 
were taken by M. Agassiz to vindicate what he professed to 
consider his due, arbitrarily and unexpectedly claimed in this 
paper of mine, were singularly in contrast to my conduct in 
the matter of Humboldt’s letter, and to the usage in such 
eases. But éhaé 1 am willing to pass over for the present, and 
I will now refer to the new claims of priority which he ulti- 
mately substituted for his own. 


Ts. 


We now pass on to the other claims to the priority of the 
observation. 

About the same time that M. Agassiz claimed the obser- 
vation of the Lamellar Structure of Glaciers, in the letter to 
Humboldt, he communicated verbally to the societies of Ge- 
neva and Neufchatel the same fact; and though my informa- 
tion is not specific on this point, I presume that my name was 
not mentioned in connection with it. This I learn from my 
friend Professor Guyot of Neufchatel, who, immediately on 
hearing the account of the observations on the Glacier of the 
Aar, recollected having observed and described something 
similar, three years before, on the Glacier of the Gries. The 
note containing this observation, and others connected with 
glaciers, had been read in 1888 in the presence of M. 
Agassiz, to the meeting of the Geological Society of Vrance 


veal Structure of Glacier Ice. 145 


at Porrentruy, but was published neither at large nor in 
abstract. It appears to have dropped not only out of the 
records of the meeting, but from the minds of those who 
were present, since M. Agassiz, whom it was specially cal- 
culated to interest, takes no notice of it in his book, published 
two years later, containing his own observations, already 
quoted, on the superficial striz ; which he could not in com- 
mon fairness have published without mentioning M. Guy- 
ot’s contemporaneous and far more important observation of 
the structure, of which these strize are only the outward in- 
dication, had he been acquainted with its true bearing, or, 
in truth, had he recollected it at all. Be this as it may, it 
seems that M. Guyot himself never repeated the observation, 
and, so far as it appears, never even spoke of it, between the 
meeting at Porrentruy in 1838, and his hearing, first at Gene- 
va in October 1841, then at Neufchatel in November, M. Agas- 
siz account of his “ new fact.” M. Guyot has most honour- 
ably testified to me* that not one word had ever passed between 
himself and me, which could have informed me of what he al- 
ready knew on the subject; and, also, that he twice traversed 
the Glacier of the Aar, on the 18th and 19th of August 1841, 
without noticing or recognising the structure which he had him- 
self described. I mention this, because M. Agassiz has thought 
it necessary to assume that the Glacier of the Aar was more 
distinctly veined in 1841 than in any of the previous years 
that he visited it, in order to account for his not having noticed 
it until he returned to the glacier in my company. In the 
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal for October last, page 266, 
he says.—‘“‘ During the months of August and September 1841, 
this phenomenon was so well developed in the Glacier of the 
Aar, that it could not fail to strike every observer.” 

M. Guyot’s next step was a perfectly natural and just one. 
Finding that his original observation had been totally for- 
gotten, he reproduced his paper from his bureau, where it still 
remained in MS., and read it afresh before the Société des 
Sciences Naturelles at Neufchatel, on the lst December 1841, 
just five days before I was similarly engaged, not merely in 
claiming for myself, before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 


* In a Letter dated 3d June 1842, in answer to mine in Hatract Tenth. 
VOL. XXEIY. NO. LXxvir.—sanvary 1&48. ae 


146 ~— Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


the priority of observation to M. Agassiz, but likewise proving 
that he had his attention directed by me to the structure in 
question. The transaction with M. Guyot did not come to 
my knowledge until long after. 

Meanwhile, M. Agassiz sent no direct answer or complaint 
upon the receipt of my Paper on the Structure of Glaciers. I 
will not now advert to the means taken, through third parties, 
to discredit my statements, on the one hand, and on the other, 
to obtain from me a renunciation of my claim under a threat 
of exposure. Having no exposure to fear, I contented myself 
with sending to M. Agassiz a statement of the various facés, 
cited in the commencement of this paper, connected with the 
discovery on the 9th of August, requesting to know whether 
any of them, or which, were denied. A tardy and involved 
reply (29th March 1842) contained a denial of none of them, but 
(as we have seen, Extract Second) an exact confirmation of what 
both Mr Heath and I recollected him then to have stated re- 
specting his own observations. But the real cause of the marked 
embarrassment of his reply I was not at the t me aware of. 
He had now no apology for ignorance of M. Guyot’s claim to 
prior observation, yet feeling that his own dissatisfaction with 
my publication was solely grounded upon wy » ving claimed 
for myself something which rightfully Lcloriged to Aim (M. 
Agassiz),—* le fait le plus nouveau” of 1841,—* les observa- 
tions /es plus précieuses de la campagne ;” he naturally felt an 
embarrassment at being obliged to admit that similar facts and 
observations had been described in his hearing at Porrentruy 
three years before. Unable to maintain any longer his own 
originality, in his letter of the 29th March 1842 (afterwards 
privately printed), he endeavours to impeach mine ; and, de- 
scribing what passed on the 9th August, in the words already 
quoted in Extract Second, he adds,— 


Extract Nintu.— From Professor Agassiz to Professor Forbes. 

«Je suis certain d’avoir ajouté que M. Guyot les avait vues la méme 
année (1838), 4 une profoundeur notable sur le Glacier du Gries.” 

To prove the negative fact that M. Agassiz did not cite M. 
Guyot upon the occasion, I can only state (1.), that neither Mr 
Heath nor myself recollect his name to have been mentioned, 
although we perfectly collected M. Agassiz’ meaning as to his 
having observed the linear arrangement of the sand on the 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 147 


‘surface. (2.), That had the occurrence of this structure to any 
depth been a recognised fact subsisting previously in the mind 
of M. Agassiz, whether from his own observations or those of 
another, Mr Heath and J would not have spent the whole after- 
noon in what then seemed to Mr Heath “ the very superfluous 
endeavour to make out whether it was superficial or not.” (3.), 
What seems decisive in the matter, M. Agassiz claimed the 
observation as his own in the letter to Humboldt, written in 
October ; nor does he appear to have made any allusion to M. 
Guyot in his communication on the same subject to the Société 
de Physique at Geneva, which occasioned M. Guyot to men- 
tion his prior observation. 

Between M. Guyot and myself there remains nothing to ex- 
plain. That gentleman has never contested the originality of 
my observation, and I have never pretended to doubt the 
reality of his, which, far from being made known to the world 
by the publication of the proceedings at Porrentruy, seems to 
have slipt entirely from the memory of the persons present 
(including, I am informed, MM. Studer and Agassiz), whilst 
every written proof of it remained in manuscript. Accord- 
ingly, so soon as I had satisfactory evidence of the nature of 
M. Guyot’s communication, I hastened to write to him, and 
assure him that I admitted his observation to be identical with 
mine. This I did in the following terms :— 


Extract Textu.—From Professor Forbes to Professor Guyot of 
Neufchétel. 


* EDINBURGH, 28th April 1842. 

“My Dear Sir,—In a printed letter which M. Agassiz has forwarded 
to me, I find a memorandum (printed for the first time) from your manu- 
script, containing an account of the structure of the Glacier of the Gries, 
observed in 1838, and stated to have been read at a meeting of Naturalists 
at Porrentruy, in that year. 

“I have no hesitation in saying, that that note describes clearly a struc- 
ture similar to that which I observed and pointed out to M. Agassiz and 
Mr Heath, on the Glacier of the Aar, on the 9th of August last. 

“ Whilst, then, Iam most ready to do you full justice in respect to 
the originality and clearness of your observation, you will, I doubt not, 
as freely admit, that not having the pleasure of your acquaintance at the 
time of my observing and ascertaining the existence and modifications of 
this structure on the Aar Glacicr, and never having heard, to the best of 


148 —— Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


my recollection, during the course of my stay in Switzerland, of your 
having made such an observation, I could not in any respect have bor- 
rowed it from you. As no printed record of your communication then 
existed, I could not, of course, have learned of it from books. You will also, 
I doubt not, candidly admit, that your having failed to publish your ob- 
servation in any, even the most abridged abstract,—your having omitted 
to press it as a fact important in the theory of glaciers upon any of your 
Swiss friends, and especially on M. Agassiz, who was writing a book on 
the subject, shews that the observation had not excited either on your 
part or that of your auditors at Porrentruy, any very lively interest. The 
fact itself would probably have been soon lost to science, if it had not 
been revived last summer by re-diseoyery, and by a strong indication of 
its generality, and importance in the theories now agitated. 
* * * * 

«« Every one in the slightest degree conversant with questions of this 
kind will see, on reading M. Agassiz’ letter, that your observations com- 
municated three years before at a provincial meeting, not published even 
in the vaguest form in the minutes of the proceedings, nor alluded to in 
their writings by any one of the contemporary authors who are stated to 
have been present, leave my claim to have made the observation inde- 
pendently, and first insisted on its importance and generality, quite un- 
impeached. 

‘* My firm belief is, that M. Agassiz had totally forgotten this passage 
in the verbal proceedings at Porrentruy. I believe him to be incapable 
of the sustained duplicity of affected ignorance and surprise when I first 
pointed out the fact to his notice on the 9th of August. I believe his 
present newly displayed zeal for your originality in this matter to be oc- 
casioned solely by finding it impracticable to maintain the charge against 
me of plagiarism and ingratitude towards himself, which he at first alone 
urged. 

“The dilemma in which M. Agassiz has placed himself appears to be 
this :— 

* Kither he was acquainted with this structure of ice on the 9th August, 
or he was not. 

“Tf he was not acquainted with it, he learned it from me; for he has 
never attempted to maintain that he shewed it to me. 

“Tf he was acquainted with it, he learned it from you. And if he 
learned it from either of us, how does he claim it as his own in the letter 
to Humboldt, and in one other private letter at least, not yet published ? 
Iam, my Dear Sir, yours very truly, James D. Forzss.” 

Professor Guyot.” 


There are few sciences which have not offered parallel cases 
of insulated cbservations which lie dormant for many years, 
before, by being generalized and made units of a class of facts, 
they form the basis of theoretical induction. This is what I 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 149 
claim to have done:—to have ve-discovered M. Guyot’s unpub- 
lished and all but forgotten fact ;—to have generalized it so as 
to shew that it was common to most if not all glaciers ;—to have 
explained the law of its occurrence in one glacier (the lamel- 
lar surfaces of the glacier of the Rhone) ;—and to have applied 
it to account for two appearances formerly ascribed to other 
and imaginary causes, the distribution of sand on the surface 
of the ice, and the supposed stratification of the terminal face 
of some glaciers. 

I might here close my observations on the question of prio- 
rity, but I will add a sentence or two, in order to avoid all 
cavil. 

Can it be necessary to state that M. Agassiz has found a 
friend —M. Dubois—obliging enough to state, in April 1842, 
that M. Agassiz had described to a meeting at Bale, in 1838, 
a structure similar to that noticed by M. Guyot, at Porren- 
truy, in the same year? Is it possible that discoveries in 
science can be made without the consciousness of those who 
make them? or that a discovery made in 1838 shall be wholly 
misrepresented by the discoverer himself in 1840 (see Extract 
Third), claimed anew for himself in 1841, and when re-claimed 
in the same year by two other persons, the discoverer recol- 
lects to have heard at Porrentruy the very fact which his 
friends assure him they heard him claim for himself at Bale 
the same year? Yet such is the newest claim of M. Agassiz 
to an observation, which a discussion respecting priority of six 
months’ duration failed to recall to his mind, but which he is 
now persuaded that he made, upon the friendly testimony of 
M. Dubois of Montpéreux, in the following words :— 


Extract Exeventa.—WM. Dubois’ Certificate. 


« Je soussigné conjointement avec M. Arnold. Escher de la Linth, Se- 
erétaire de la Section de Géologie de la Société Helvetique des Sciences 
Naturelles lors de la Réunion a Bale, certifie que dans les notes recueillées 
pendant la Séance du 14 Septembre 1838, il se trouve mentionné page 12 
que M. Agassiz a signalé le fait de Ja structure lamellaire des glaciers, et 
quvil en trouvait la cause dans Paccumulation des matiéres congélables 
qui se déposent a la surface du glacier. La note est accompagnée d’un 
dessin représentant cette structure. Frepenic Dusois. 

“< Péreux, 27 Avril 1842.” 


Now, this was on the 14th September 1838 M. Guyct 


150 Professor Forbes on the First Discovery of the 


made his communication on the 6th September in the same 
year, consequently M. Agassiz could not have revisited the 
Glaciers in the interval. The communication at Bale was 
therefore. no doubt, a repetition of the communication at Por- 
rentruy made eight days before, and the drawing of Agassiz 
was probably done from memory after the drawing of Guyot. 
At least, I am at a loss to explain these seemingly independ- 
ent communications in any other way, nor will I even put the 
question, whether the structure described was a_ vertical 
structure at all. Ido not suspect M. Agassiz of the reserve 
of having made no mention at Porrentruy that the fact of 
Guyot had been ascertained by himself, and then of hay- 
ing gone immediately to claim it as original at Bale. I ap- 
prehend rather that the Secretaries at Bale (to whose MS. 
notes we are indebted alone for any knowledge of this trans- 
action, forgotten even by the principal actor in it) had sup- 
posed, from M. Agassiz’ verbal communication (de vive voir), 
that whilst relating what his friend M. Guyot had seen, he 
was really giving an account of his own observations. 

I mention this as the explanation most natural and most fa- 
vourable to M. Agassiz. But I would ask, if facts and theo- 
ries are to be introduced thus into the history of science, where 
is the palm of discovery ever to be bestowed? Surely a man 
must have very little skill as an observer, and have exer- 
cised still less thought to render his observations worth re- 
cording, if he cannot recognise his own discovery when pointed 
out to him, but is obliged to take the authority of his friends, 
at the end of three years, that he ever knew it! Such evi- 
dence is barely tolerated in the case of posthumous claims. I 
suppose that this is the first instance of its being gravely urged 
during life. That I may not be imagined to have brought 
forward this claim more strongly than its author has done, I 
quote from his letter to myself. 


Extract Twerrru.— Professor Agassiz to Professor Forbes. 


“* Monsirur—Je recois la lettre suivante de M. Dubois de Montpéreux 
* * * dont je crois devoir vous donner copie afin de vous prouver que 
de mon cété j’avais aussi remarqué dés 1888, la structure lamellaire d’une 
partie des glaciers, alors meme que faute de plus amples détails, je n’en 
ai mentionnée dans mon livre que les apparences superficielles. Vous 


real Structure of Glacier Ice. 151 


verrez par la que si vous avez pi croire avoir fait une decouverte a ce 
sujet, ce n’a pi étre qu’en mecomprenant ce que j’ai pu vous dire* sur la 
profondeur a laquelle ces lames descendent, et qui n’ayaient été remar- 
queés qu’a une faible profondeur avant 1841, et par moi seulement dans 
le voisinage des moraines. 

[Here follows the Letter, and Ewvtract Eleventh. ] 

“«Jugez maintenant si j'ai du étre surpris de vos reclamationst et si 
j’étais en droit d’y repondre comme je V’ai fait. N’ayant pas Vhabitude 
de tenir un journal régulier des moindres particularités des observations 
que je fais, et addressant dans nos sociétés scientifiques toutes mes Com- 
munications de vive voix, ces faits ne me sont revenus a moi~méme avec 


les circonstances accessoires que lorsque mes amis me les ont rappelés. 
* * * * = 


“ Neufchatel, 28 Avril 1842.” 


After receiving the preceding letter, I gave up all thoughts 
of attempting to convince M. Agassiz respecting the history 
of this, or indeed of any, scientific question. In the course 
of a few months, he had entertained four different opinions 
respecting the authorship of the discovery in question, and 
still, I suppose, has some doubt as to whether he disco- 
vered it himself in 1838, or only in 1841 ; or whether he 
learned it from M. Guyot at Porrentruy, or from me at the 
glacier of the Aar. 

The structure in question, which is common to every glacier 
in which I have looked for it, is in some so exceedingly strik- 
ing, that it would seem impossible to escape notice. Such, 
for instance, is the case with a glacier of great beauty and 
extent, and which is remarkable from being almost touched 
by a frequented mule-road, whence the structure is admirably 
seen,—I mean the glacier of La Brenva, near Courmayeur. 
That it has not been described by any of the modern writers 
on glaciers, De Saussure, De Charpentier, Hugi, Agassiz, or 


* See Extract Second for M. Agassiz’ own account of what he did tell 
me of his previous observations. 

+ Of course I maintain that he had no right whatever to be surprised, since 
it appears from the following sentence, that he was equally ignorant with 
myself of what he had himself done in 1838, until receiving M. Dubois’ 
letter, dated the day before this was written :— Ces fails ne me sont reve- 
nus & moi-méme avec les circonstances accessoires que lorsque mes amis mé 
les out rappelés.” 


Re ; . 
152 Professor Forbes on Glacier Ice. 


Godefroy, is certainly a most convincing proof of how long 
the most evident and important facts may remain practically 
unnoticed. It can hardly be doubted that it must have been 
casually seen by these intelligent persons, who have traversed 
such a vast extent of glacier surface ; but certainly every prin- 
ciple of interpretation leads us to the conclusion that it was not 
observed in such a way as facts must be to enter within the 
pale of science, since no trace of it is to be found in any of their 
writings on this very subject. I have it on the authority of 
three eminent persons in England, France, and Switzerland, 
—all men of science, much travelled, and much observing,— 
that, upon reading my account, they recognised what they 
could distinctly recall having seen on the glaciers which they 
had visited, though they never attempted to generalize the 
observation, or to attach theoretical importance to it. 

In like manner the older observers, whose more vague lan- 
guage and antiquated terms make their meaning capable of 
several interpretations, may very possibly have described this 
appearance, without its having been handed down to their 
successors. I have not yet seen any evidence that they have 
done so, but I stated last winter to the Royal Society of Edin- 
burgh, that I should not feel the least surprise if such an an- 
ticipation were discovered. How easy it is to find meanings in 
undefined phrases, after a well-marked truth has been an- 
nounced, may be judged of from the interpretation given even 
by a very able and candid judge, of a passage in Godefroy’s 
Notice sur les Glaciers, p. 12, as referring to the present ques- 
tion, but which a closer examination shews has no relation to 
it whatever. 

I cannot conclude with any observation so just, or so much to 
the point, as that which Professor Studer has added to the tes- 
timony, of which I have already quoted a part [Zxtract Fourth], 
in a letter to myself. ‘C'est toujours Phistoire de oeuf de 
Colombo ; je ne doute pas que De Saussure, De Charpentier, 
Agassiz et tant d’autres, parmi lesquels je me placerai moi- 
méme, comme vous vous y étes placé aussi, n’aient vu cette di- 
vision verticale de la glace bien avant notre dernier voyage 
au Grimsel:—comme Newton, aura souvent vii tomber des pom- 
mes sans songer Ala lune, Dans toutes les découvertes il ne 
suffit pas de voir les choses, ou bien la science ne ferait pas 
des progrés aussi lents.” 


On the Natural-Historical Writings of the Chinese. By 
M. Scuort. 


Tue Chinese, whose literary efforts have hitherto been 
chiefly directed to History, Geography, and Natural History, 
have in these departments far surpassed all the other Asiatics 
in completeness, accuracy, and the discrimination of objects. 
The simple and clear arrangement of the rich materials col- 
lected by them renders the use of their works, when we have 
mastered the difficulties of the language, much easier than 
the evident absence of a really systematic mode of treat- 
ing subjects would lead us to expect. The most important of 
their works in which information is given on natural produc- 
tions are, 1. Actual treatises on Natural History ; 2. Encyclo- 
pedias and Dictionaries ; 3. Narratives of Travels in foreign 
countries ; and, 4. Geographical Treatises. 

Treatises on Natural History (or rather descriptions of na- 
ture) are first of all mentioned in the annals of the dynasty 
Han ; and the oldest which have reached us belong to the 5th 
and 6th centuries. Altogether their number is reckoned at 
about forty. The newest, and that which makes the greatest 
claim to completeness and criticism, the Pen-ts’ao-kang-mu of 
Li-schi-tschin, is a work of the 16th century, and has been re- 
published frequently without alteration. The author made 
use of all his predecessors, gives extracts from an almost in- 
conceivable number of other works, and finished his own in 
26 years. The Pen-és’ao-kang-mu is divided into 52 books. 
Each article of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, 
contains the following paragraphs :—1. The different names 
. which the natural object receives in China ; frequently with in- 
formation as to the cause of its appellations, and when exotic, 
with the addition of its Indian, Turkish, and other names. 
2. The actual description; under which head are given the 
particular locality of the production, its external characters, 
and all its non-medical properties. These two paragraphs 
are, as it were, the disinterested portions of the article, and 


154 On the Natural-Historical Writings of the Chinese. 


written to satisfy pure desire for knowledge. 3. The medi- 
cal properties of the whole and of individual parts. 4. An 
elenchus of all diseases or accidents in which the production 
may be employed with advantage, together with indications 
of the mode of use (recipes). These popular medical additions 
are frequently of much greater extent than the descriptive 
paragraphs ; and we here perceive, as in other departments, 
an impatient eagerness for practical utility. Each descrip- 
tive paragraph is a sort of examination of witnesses; all the 
authorities follow one another in chronological order, and the 
actual view or experience of Li-schi-tschin generally comes 
last. False statements of his predecessors are either rectified 
incidentally, or in a special addendum, entitled ‘ Corrected 
errors.” Whenever it can be historically proved in regard to 
an object, that China is not its native country, the naturalists 
scrupulously point this out, even when an immense time inter- 
venes between their own epoch and that of its introduction. 
The author has communicated to the Berlin Academy a few 
articles relating to the animal and vegetable kingdoms, wholly 
or partially translated. 

The Encyclopedias of the Chinese are exceedingly nume- 
rous, and extremely different in style and extent. The Royal 
Library at Berlin possesses one of the most esteemed encyclope- 
dias, the San-ts’ai-t’u-hoei, the natural historical part of which 
contains well executed representations of selected productions 
of the kingdoms of nature. ‘The descriptions themselves are 
generally merely abridged articles of the Pen-ts’ao, but some- 
times with modifications and original additions. Among the 
dictionaries in the encyclopzdia style, there is one which de- 
serves particularly to be mentioned, the Buleku-bitche, or Mir- 
ror of the Mandju Language, in which the definitions of na- 
tural objects frequently amount to actual descriptions. 

The Royal Library at Berlin possesses two geographical 
works, between the dates of which there is an interval of 700 
years. The comparison of these offers much that is instruc- 
tive in an ethnological and natural historical point of view, 
because the surface of China at the time when the first of 
these works appeared (ahout 900 years ago) was not nearly 


* 


The Origin and History of the Red Race. 155 


so generally cultivated nor so well peopled, and the popula- 
tion had by no means so uniform a type, as at present. In 
both, the productions are noticed topographically, according 
to the political division of China as it stood at the different 
periods; but in comparing them we must assign the old dis- 
tricts to the present ones or their parts. This labour is much 
facilitated, however, by the local-historical sections of the geo- 
graphy, which always tell us how the district referred to was 
named under the different dynasties, or to what larger division 
it belonged. (Bericht iiber die Verhandlungen der Kénigl. 
Preuss. Akademie der Wissenchaften zu Berlin, 1842. p. 167.) 


The Origin and History of the Red Race according to 
Mr Braprorp. 


Tue facts adduced in the course of the author’s investi- 
gation tend, he conceives, to support the following conclu- 
sions :— 

I. That the three great groups of monumental antiquities in the United 
States, New Spain, and South America, in their style and character, pre- 
sent indications of having proceeded from branches of the same human 
family. 

II, That these nations were a rich, populous, civilized, and agricultural 
people ; constructed extensive cities, roads, aqueducts, fortifications, and 
temples ; were skilled in the arts of pottery, metallurgy, and sculpture ; 
had attained an accurate knowledge of the science of astronomy ; were 
possessed of a national religion, subjected to a salutary control of a defi- 
nite system of laws, and were associated under regular forms of govern- 
ment. 

Ill. That from the uniformity of their physical appearance ; from the 
possession of relics of the art of hieroglyphic painting ; from universal 
analogies in their language, religion, traditions, and methods of interring 
the dead ; and from the general prevalence of certain arbitrary customs, 
nearly all the aborigines appear to be of the same descent and origin; 
and that the barbarous tribes are the broken, scattered, and degraded rem- 
nants of a society originally more enlightened and cultivated. 

IV. That two distinct ages may be pointed out in the history of the 
civilized nations—the first and most ancient, subsisting for a long and 
indeterminate period in unbroken tranquillity, and marked towards its 


156 The Origin and History of the Red Race. 


close by the signs of social decadence ; the second, distinguished by na- 
tional changes, the inroads of barbarous or semi-civilized tribes, the ex- 
tinction or subjugation of the old and the foundation of new and more 
extensive empires ; and, 

VY. That the first seats of civilization were in central America, whence 
population was diffused through both continents, from Cape Horn to the 
Arctic Ocean. 

In relation to the question of their origin, it appears— 

I. That the Red race, under various modifications, may be traced phy- 
sically into Etruria, Egypt, Madagascar, Ancient Scythia, Mongolia, 
China, Hindoostan, Malaya, Polynesia, and America, and was a primi- 
tive and cultivated branch of the human family ; and, 

II. That the American aborigines are more or less connected with 
these several countries, by striking analogies in their arts,—their customs 
and traditions,—their hieroglyphical painting,—-their architecture and 
temple-building,—their astronomical systems, and their superstitions, 
religion, and theocratical governments. It has long been a favourite 
theory, to trace the aborigines to a Tartar or Mongol migration from Si- 
beria, by Behring’s Straits. But the Mexicans and Peruvians resemble 
the cultivated nations of Oriental Asia, even more closely than do the 
ruder tribes, the Siberian nomades ; in fact, they are all of the same 
race, and, both in Asia and America, a decline into barbarism has pro- 
duced analogous developments, which, in connection with the relies of 
their ancient religion and customs, nearly assimilate the savages of both 
continents. It is not to be denied, that there are some tribes in North 
America, which may have proceeded in modern times from Siberia,—for 
example,—the Chippewyans,* and perhaps the Sioux, the Osages, Paw- 
nees,t and some of the North-Western nations ;; but even in relation 
to these, the proof depends mainly upon vague and uncertain traditions. 
But to suppose that the Mexicans, the Toltecs, the Chiapanese, the 
Mayas, and the Peruvians, were the descendants of such degraded and 
savage hordes as occupy north-eastern Asia ; or that they wandered from 
more southern Asiatic countries, through the cold and inhospitable re- 
gions of the north, without leaving any vestige of civilization on their 
way, appears equally contrary to experience and philosophy. The an- 
cient monuments in Siberia are situated to the west and to the south, 
those of America are limited in their extent on the north-west ; and, in 
spite of the facility of communication afforded by the contiguity of the 
two continents in that direction, these facts would seem to be decisive 
of the question. On the other hand, the evidence of an early knowledge 
of the compass in China, of the great maritime skill of the Malays, and 


NS ee 
* Mackenzie’s Journal, pp. 387, 113. 
+ Pike’s Expedition, part i. p. 63; part ii. p. 9, 14. 
+ Saucr, pp. 160,177. Coxe, pp. 151, 257. 


The Origin and History of the Red Race. 157 


of their navigation, in remote ages, of the Asiatic seas, the facts stated 
in relation to the peopling of islands by the accidental drifting of canoes, 
and more than all, the actual proof of the distribution of population 
over the numerous and distant islands of the great Pacific, from Asia to 
Easter Island, render it unnecessary to resort to the violent hypothesis of 
a northern route. What greater obstacles were there, to impede a pas- 
sage from Easter Island to the American coast, than attended a migra- 
tion to Easter Island? Indeed, this island itself appears to have been 
successively occupied by different families ; and its pyramidical edifices, 
and its colossal obelisks and statues, are closely analogous to the Ameri- 
can monuments. 

When and by whom was America peopled? This interesting ques- 
tion, if it shall ever be solved, of course can be answered only in a gene- 
ral manner. The character of American civilization is not wholly indi- 
genous. Its mutual diversities are no more than might naturally arise, 
when nations of the same stock are separated ; its uniformities are great 
and striking, and exhibit, in common, an astonishing resemblance to 
many of the features of the most ancient types of eivilization in the 
Eastern hemisphere. The monuments of these nations were temples and 
palaces ; their temples were pyramids ; their traditions were interwoven 
with cosmogonical fables, which still retained relics of primitive history ; 
and their religion was sublime and just in many of its original doctrines, 
though debased in their superstitious abuse and corruption. In all this 
there is nothing modern,—nothing recent ; these features are not strictly 
Hindoo, Egyptian, or Chinese, though they approximate the aboriginal 
civilization to that of cach of these nations. The origin of this resem- 
blance is to be traced back to the earliest ages, when these great nations 
first separated, and carried into Egypt, Hindoostan, China, and America, 
the same religion, arts, customs, and institutions, to be variously modi- 
fied under the influence of diverse causes. The great diversity of Ame- 
rican languages, the few analogies they present to those of the Old 
World ; the absence of the use of iron; certain peculiarities in their 
astronomical systems ; and some of their own traditions which have 
preserved the memory of the great events of ancient sacred history, and 
attribute the colonization of the continent to one of those tribes who 
were present at the dispersion of mankind, all tend to support this po- 
sition. The Red race, then, appears to be a primilive branch of the hu- 
man family, to have existed in many portions of the globe, distinguished 
for early civilization ; and to have penetrated at a very ancient period 
into America. The American family does not appear to be derived from 
any nation now existing ; but it is assimilated by numerous analogies to 
the Etrurians, Egyptians, Mongols, Chinese, and Hindoos ; it is most 
closely related to the Malays and Polynesians ; and the conjecture pos- 


158 The Origin and Listory of the Red Race. 


sessing perhaps the highest degree of probability, is that which maintains 
its origin from Asia, through the Indian Archipelago. 

The most remarkable peculiarity in the institutions of all these nations, 
is their religious character. Laws, government, the arts and sciences, and 
the whole routine of private and public affairs, were under the direetion 
of the priesthood. Thence several consequences flowed,—the preserva- 
tion from a rapid decline into barbarism, so long as religion retained its 
supremacy,—the utter absence of progression and improvement,—and 
the stereotype character of the whole system of society. The sciences 
were occult ; long religious probations were necessary before their prin- 
ciples were taught, and thus no generation possessed an advantage over 
the preceding one. Knowledge and civilization were not animate and 
instinct with natural warmth and vigour, but were embalmed, and like a 
shrivelled mummy, presented the mere outward form with none of the 
vitality of existence. From this continued religious subjection originated 
also, that unchangeableness, that fixed and immutable character, which 
distinguished all these nations, and which is a marked and prominent 
trait of the savage Indian. . An inflexibility which adheres tenaciously to 
old forms and customs, and despises change ; which may be overpowered, 
but never yields ; and which, in view of the dreary impending fate of the 
aborigines, possess an air of melancholy grandeur ; for, as one of those 
coming events which ‘ cast their shadows before,” the absolute extine- 
tion of this ancient race seems to be rapidly and irresistibly approach- 
ing, Upon this continent, the pure types of the new and the old era of 
civilization have met and encountered each other. The family presenting 
the one, having occupied this vast region for countless ages undisturbed 
by the approach of other and modern races, had been allowed the amplest 
scope for development, and yet, at the discovery, the greater portion of 
the continent was inhabited by savage hordes; within the United States, 
the barbarous tribes appear to have been greatly depopulated, and the 
ancient cultivated nations to have become extinct ; even in Mexico and 
Peru, the civilization of the first ages seems to have surpassed that of 
later times, and society generally was in a state of decadence. The old 
system,—its moral and social elements,—its capacity for self-improve- 
ment,—had thus been fairly tried and tested; and the time had arrived 
when a new race, and the Christian religion, were appointed to take 
possession of the soil.—(From an interesting work lately published On the 
Origin and History of the Red Race, by Alexander W. Bradford.) 


Meteorological Tables. 159 


Mean Results of the Thermometer, and the Quantity of Rain, 
for 1841, at Alford in Aberdeenshire—about Lat. 57° 13' N.; 
420 feet above the level of the sea, and 26 miles inland from 
the sea at Aberdeen. Also, the number of fair days, and of 
days on which rain or snow fell, more or less. By the Rev. 
James Faraqunarson, LL.D., F.R.S. Communicated by 
the Author. 


Tue Thermometer was registered at 83h. a.m, and Sh. p.m., 
and the daily extremes, indicated by self-registering Thermo- 
meters, were registered at the latter hour. 


THERMOMETER. RAIN, 


Bel as S./Ss 

Mean | Meanof |-"*S | 5S ‘ <é > 

Mean | Mean of daily 2E|38 Rain 55/58 
of of | Morn.| highest | £2 | 22 =2 23/25 
Morn. | Even. | and and ke z & || Inches. | 2, Ea 
Even. | lowest. | ZS] 2 ZElZe 


Deg. 
«..|] 30.193] 30.7 | 30.446) 31.5 45 |- 
...|| 35.39 | 35.82 | 35.6 36.19 | 51 | 25 
43.38 | 43.06 | 43.22 43.82 | 60 | 32 
«|| 44.1 42,93 | 43.51 43.35 | 60 | 30 
(| 52.97 | 51.77 | 52.37 61.13 | 72 | 31 
...|| 52.8 51.9 | 52.35 52.42 | 68 | 36 
54. 14 


oi wo 6 
ou 
_ 
© 


we 


Pe oP BR Ot eho to 
ENDO SU RGRRO! Se GERD 05) G0 
— 

LS) 


October, 
Nov...... 
Dec... ... 


44,729 44.689 


Mean 
of year. 


33.7 174 


Rain of 
the year. 


Means, 191 


Deg. 
Mean temperature from April to September, both inclusive, 51.95 
Mean Temperature of July, August, September. . ° 54.5 


Deg. 

Mean eg of 1833, ...... 44.573 | Rain in 
oes -» 1834, ...... 47.99 Inches. 
eee vee ese 1835, wee... 45.93 37.7 
see oes ws 1836, ...... 44.718 45.55 
eas oe «» 1887, ...... 44.73 32.05 
oe eee ... 1888, ...... 48.0933 | 41.25 


Bek! wei) Rss | ABOU) cas ME), OS 
te ing AGED, ovat, Mey | S45 7B 
eR a OBI acl AD 1884 


Mean temperature of nine years, 45.0439 | 37.707 Mean of seven years. 


160 Metcorological Tables. 


The adoption of Sir David Brewster’s suggestion—to make 
each of the daily observations half-an-hour earlier than the 
hours at which the mean temperature came out at Leith, has 
brought the means of the morning and evening hours within 
one thirteenth of a degree of each other ; so that, as far as one 
year’s observations can determine the matter, his calculation 
of the hours at which the mean temperature occurs at Alford 
seems very correct. 

The year 1841 has been, as a whole, unkindly to the pro- 
ductions of the earth. This has been owing to the unfavour- 
able distribution of the heat and moisture to the different months, 
rather than to any mean deficiency of the former or excess of 
the latter. The dry months of March and April were highly 
favourable for cultivating the ground and depositing the seed 
in it; but unseasonably dry weather, from about the 10th of 
May to the 4th of July, prevented the grain crops from stock- 
ing, and making the usual progress; and caused the hay crop 
to be very deficient. From the 4th, the month of July proved 
cold and wet, and unusually gloomy—to such a degree, indeed, 
that a part of the oats failed in the flowering process; a thing 
very uncommon in that hardy grain. August proved favour- 
able, especially after the 13th; and as September, till the 
25th, was of the average temperature for the season, the grain 
crops, although deficient in quantity, filled and ripened tolera- 
bly well. From that latter date repeated heavy rains, with- 
out intermediate windy days, as occurred in the harvest of 
1840, rendered the labours of the harvest extremely difficult, 
and the grain suffered considerable damage by sprouting in 
the sheaf. The weather did not steadily clear up till No- 
vember, when the latest cut grain was ultimately secured in 
greater safety than what was cut earlier. Happily, amidst 
these unfavourable circumstances, and although the ripening 
of the grain was somewhat late, no frost intervened to damage 
it while abroad in the fields ; and neither the deficiency of the 
produce, nor the injury inflicted by the wet harvest, are of 
such magnitude as to excite much alarm. 

The unusual number of the days on which rain has fallen, 
and the gloominess of the later summer and of the autumnal 
months, have rendered the year a very uncomfortable one to 
the human feelings. 


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i i ee ee 


( 163 ) 


Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 


(Continued from vol. xxxiii. p. 197.) 


January 17. 1842.—Dr Axsercromate, V. P. in the Chair. 


1. On the Identity of the Animal Matters which form the 
Basis of the Animal Fluids and Solids. By James Stark, 
M.D., F.R.C. Phys. 

2. On the Parasitic Fungi found growing on the Bodies of 
Living Animals. By John Hughes Bennett, M.D. Com- 
municated by Dr Graham. Part I. 


February 7.—Sir T. M. Brissane, Bart., President in the 
Chair. 


1. On the Parasitic Fungi found growing on the Bodies of 
Living Animals. By John Hughes Bennett, M D. Com- 
municated by Dr Graham. Part II. 


2. On the Action of Water on Lead. By Dr Christison. 


The author, after briefly stating the results of his Experimental 
Inquiries, published oa this subject in 1829, proceeded to describe 
two instances which had recently come under his notice, illustrative 
of the solvent action of certain terrestrial waters on lead, and of the 
danger of using this metal for conducting water in pipes, unless with 
a due regard to the circumstances which promote or prevent its cor- 
roding property. In one instance, the water of a spring, conveyed 
in a lead-pipe from a distance of three quarters of a mile, was found 
to act so powerfully on the lead, that in a short time the cistern in 
which the water was collected became covered with loose carbonate of 
lead, and the metal could easily be detected in the state of oxide dis- 
solved in the water. In this case, the action was found to depend 
on the spring being of extraordinary purity, its total saline ingre- 
dients being only a 22,000th part. In the other instance, water 
conveyed half a mile in a lead pipe, was impregnated exactly in the 
same way, and with the very same phenomena,—but with the addi- 
tional circumstance, that, in consequence of the impregnation not 
having been detected in time, as in the previous case, the disease, 


164 Proceedings of the Royal Society. 


Colica pictonum, broke out in the house supplied with the water. In 
this case, the water was by no means pure, as it was found to con- 
tain no less than a 4,500th part of saline matter, But there was 
scarcely any other salt present except muriates, which the author 
had ascertained in his former researches not to prevent the action 
of water on lead, unless present in much larger quantity. 

Tle next proceeded to explain in what manner the action of the 
watel was put an end to in both these cases. In similar instances, 
the only remedy formerly thought of was substitution of iron- 
pipes. In the former of the two cases which fell under his notice, 
the water was left at rest in the pipe for four months, till a firm 
erust of mixed carbonate and sulphate of lead had crystallized on the 
lead ; after which no farther action took place. In the latter in- 
stance, the same end was attained by keeping the pipe full of a solu- 
tion of phosphate of soda, consisting of 27,000th of the salt. 

The author appended an analysis of the compound formed by the 
action of distilled water on lead. Guyton-Morveau and others con- 
sidered it a hydrated oxide; the author himself, in 1829, thought 
it a neutral carbonate ;“and, in 1834, Captain Yorke first considered 
it a hydrated oxide, and eventually concluded from his analyses, 
that it is an irregular mixture of hydrated oxide and carbonate of 
lead. The author finds that the product is a hydrated oxide, when 
the action goes on without the access of carbonic acid; but that, 
when the action proceeds in the usual way, under exposure to the 
atmosphere, the product is a crystalline body, of which the primi- 
tive form seems to be the regular octahedron, and which is composed 
of two equivalents of neutral carbonate, united with one equivalent 
of hydrated oxide (2 PhO CO?+PbO Aq). 

He then stated the following to be the general conclusions to be 
drawn in a practical point of view, from his present and previous 
inquiries as to the use of lead for conveying water :— 

1. Lead-pipes ought not to be used for the purpose of conveying 
water, at least where the distance is considerable, without a careful 
chemical examination of the water to be transmitted. ; 

2. The risk of a dangerous impregnation with lead is greatest in 
the instance of the purest waters, 

3. Water, which tarnishes polished lead, when left at rest upon 
it in a glass vessel for a few hours, cannot be safely transmitted 
through lead-pipes without certain precautions. 


On the. Alps of Dauphiné. 164 


4. Water, which contains less than about an 8000th of salts in 
solution, cannot be safely conducted in lead-pipes, without certain 
precautions, % 

5. Even this proportion will prove insufficient to prevent corro- 
sion, unless a considerable part of the saline matter consist of carbo- 
nates and sulphates, especially the former. 

6. So large a proportion as a 4000th, probably even a consider- 
ably larger proportion, will be insufficient, if the salts in solution be 
in a great measure muriates, 

7. In all cases, even though the composition of the water secms 
to bring it within the conditions of safety, now stated, an attentive 
examination should be made of the water, after it has been running 
for a few days through the pipes. For it is not improbable, that 
other circumstances, besides those hitherto ascertained, may modify 
the preventive influence of the neutral salts. 

8. When the water is judged to be of a kind which is likely to 
attack lead-pipes, or when it actually flows through them impreg- 
nated with lead, a remedy may be found, either in leaving the pipes 
full of the water, and at rest for three or four months, or by substi- 
tuting for the water a weak solution of phosphate of soda, in the 
proportion of about a 25,000th part. 


February 22.—The Right Hon. Lord Greenock, V. P., in 
the Chair. 


1. On the Necessity of the Sense of Muscular Action to the 
full Exercise of the Organs of the Senses. By Sir 
Charles Bell, K.H. 


March 7.—Sir T. M. Brissanr, Bart., President, in the 

Chair. 

1. On the most recent Disturbance of the Crust of the Earth, 
in respect to its suggesting a Hypothesis to account for 
the Origin of Glaciers, By Sir George Mackenzie, Bart. 

(Published in this Journal, vol. xxxiii. p. 1.) 


2. Geological Notes on the Alps of Dauphiné. By Professor 
Forbes. 

The district proposed to be described, in so far as it was studied 

by the author in two journeys in 1839 and 1841, is an out-lyer or 


166 Proceedings of the Royal Scciety. 

appendage to the main Alpine chain, which occupies a considerable 
portion of the old province of Dauphiné, and the modern depart- 
ments of the Hautes Alpes and Isére. It is bounded, roughly, by 
the rivers Arc and Isére on the north, and by the Durance and the 
Drac in other directions. Its nucleus is essentially granitic, against 
which sedimentary deposits of limestone, of different ages, and espe- 
cially of lias and chalk, repose in highly elevated or contorted strata ; 
and it not unfrequently happens, that the dislocation of strata has 
been so great, that the gneiss or granite rocks are superimposed upon 
the secondary formations. 

The granitic mountains of Oisans, which are amongst the highest 
of the second order of European chains, attain a greater elevation at 
their culminating point, the Mont Pelvoux, than any of the Alps 
between Mont Blane and the Mediterranean, Even Mont Iseran 
anl Monte Viso are surpassed in height by this summit, which 
measures 13,468 English feet. The ravines by which the chain is 
intersected have a corresponding depth and ruggedness, so that the 
cols, or passages from one valley to another, are generally covered 
with perpetual ice and snow, and present, besides, more continuous 
and inaccessible precipices than are common in any part of Switzer- 
land. The author shortly described several journeys made through 
the central part of this district, in which it became necessary to 
cross cols of above 10,000 feet in height, from whence alone an in- 
timate knowledze of the structure of these mountains can be ob- 
tained. 

Guided by the interesting memoir of M. Elie de Beaumont, on 
the geology of the Montagnes d’ Oisans, and by the admirable map 
of Bourcet, he was enabled, in a great many particulars, to verify 
the observations of the first named distinguished geologist, especially 
as refers to the phenomena visible at the contract of the calcareous 
and granitic rocks, which left no doubt on the author’s mind that 
the superposition of the latter to the former is undeniably true. No 
more can it be doubted, that, as M. E. de Beaumont affirms, we 
have here evidence of the extensive elevation of previously deposited 
sedimentary rocks, probably by the appearance from below of the 
granite itself, Professor Forbes fecls some hesitation in admitting, 
with M. de Beaumont, the crateriform nature of this elevation, as 
indicated by a qud-qua-versal dip of the stratified rocks round a cen- 
tral point in the neighbourhood of the Mont Pelvoux, and by the 


On the Secreting Structure of Animals. 167 


radiation of the vallies from that centre. He considers that the 
observations of the great French geologist, when analyzed, as well 
as his own, rather point to an anti-clinal axis passing through the 
point in question, and prolonged in a NN.W. and SS§.E. direction ; 
accompanied, however, with various minor lines or centres of dislo- 
cation, especially that which elevated the mountain of Grande Rousse 
to the northward, of which the geology has been ably described by 
M. Dausse. The interference of this elevation with the previous 
one (roughly parallel to the torrent of the Veneau), probably pro- 
duced the excessive disturbance of the strata of lias near La Grave, 
which have been jostled between the two granite masses. 

These views are supported, partly by a consideration of the ex- 
ternal contour of the group, and partly by direct observations of the 
bearing and dip of the strata. 


March 24.—Dr Asercromsie, V.P. in the Chair. 


1. On a New Species of British Grass of the genus Holcus, 
and Observations on some of the more closely allied spe- 
cies of Grasses found in the Neighbourhood of Edin- 
burgh. By Richard Parnell, M.D., F.R.S.E. 


2. On the Ultimate Secreting Structure of Animals. By 
John Goodsir, Esq. Communicated by Professor Syme. 


After referring to the labours of those anatomists who had veri- 
fied Malpighi’s doctrine of the follicular nature of gland ducts, the 
-author alluded to Purkinje’s hypothesis of the secreting function of 
the nucleated corpuscules of these organs. Jn a rapid sketch of the 
results of inquiries since the appearance of Miiller’s work ‘* De Peni- 
tiore Structura Glandularum,” and more particularly of the obser- 
vations of Henle and others on the closed vesicles which are situated 
-at the extremities of certain ducts, Mr Goodsir stated, that no ana- 
tomist had hitherto “ proved that secretion takes place within the 
primitive nucleated cell itself, or had pointed out the intimate nature 
of the changes which go on in a secreting organ during the perform- 
ance of its function.” 
Numerous examples were now given of secretions detected in tha 
cavities of nucleated cells of various glands and secreting surfaces, 
Among these secretions were the ink of the Cephalopoda, and the 


168 Proceedings of the Royal Society. 


purple of Janthina and Aplysia, bile in-an extensive series of ani- 
mals, urine in the mollusk, milk, &c. 

The wall is believed by the author to be the part of the cell en- 
gaged in the process of secretion. The cavity contains the secreted 
substance, and the nucleus is the reproductive organ of the cell. A 
primitive cell engaged in secretion is denominated by the author a 
primary secreting cell; and each cell of this kind is endowed with 
its own peculiar property, according to the organ in which it is situ- 
ated. The discovery of the secreting agency of the primitive cell 
does not remove the principal mystery in which the function has al- 
ways been involved; but the general fact that the primitive cell is 
the ultimate secreting structure is of great value in physiology, in- 
asmuch as it connects secretion with growth as phenomena regulated 
by the same laws ; and explains one of the greatest difficulties in the 
science, viz. why a secretion flows from a free surface only of a se- 
creting membrane,—the secretion exists only on the free surface en- 
closed in the ripe cells which constitute that surface. 

The author then proceeded to the consideration of the origin, the 
development, and the disappearance of the primary secreting cell— 
a subject which necessarily involved the description of the various 
minute arrangements of glands and other secreting organs. After 
describing the changes which occur in the testicle of Squalus cormu- 
bicus, when the organ is in a state of functional activity, and in the 
liver of Carcinus menas, it was stated that these were selected as 
examples of two orders of glands denominated by the author vesicu- 
Jar and follicular. 

The changes which occur in the first order consist in the forma- 
tion and disappearance of closed vesicles or acini. 

Each acinus might be, first, a single cell, denominated by the 
author the primary or germinal cell; or, secondly, of two or more 
cells enclosed in the primary cell, and produced from its nucleus. 

The enclosed cells he denominates the secondary cells of the aci- 
nus, and in the cavities of these, between their nuclei and cell-walls, 
the peculiar secretion of the gland is contained. The primary cell 
with its included group of cells, each full of secretion, is appended 
to the extremity or side of one of the terminal ducts, and conse- 
quently does not communicate with that duct, a diaphragm formed 
by a portion of the primary cell-wall stretching across the pedicle. 
When the secretion in the group of included cells is fully elabo- 


Specific Heat of certain Rocks. 169 


rated, the diaphragm dissolves or gives way, the cells burst, and the 
secretion flows along the ducts, the acinus disappearing, and mak- 
ing room for a neighbouring acinus, which has in the mean time 
been advancing in a similar manner. The whole parenchyma of 
glands of this order is thus, according to these observations, in a 
constant state of change,—of development, maturity, and atrophy,— 
this series of changes being directly proportional to the profuseness 
of the secretion. 

In the second order of glands, the follicular, as exemplified in the 
liver of Carcinus menas, the germinal cell or spot, is situated at the 
blind extremity of the follicle, and the secreting cells, as they ad- 
vance along the follicle, become distended with their peculiar secre- 
tion. 

Among other general conclusions deducible from these observa- 
tions, it appeared that ducts are to be considered as intercellular 
passages, into which the secretions formed by cells are cast. 

Finally, the author inferred from the whole inquiry, 1. That se- 
cretion is a function of the nucleated cell, and takes place within it ; 
and, 2, That growth and secretion are identical—the same process 
under different circumstances. 


April 4,—Sir T. M. Brissane, Bart., President, in the 
Chair. 


“1. On the Theoretical Investigation of the Absolute Intensity 
of Interfering Light. By Professor Kelland. 


. On the Quarantine-Classification of Substances, with a 
View to the Prevention of Plague. By John Davy, 
M.D., F.R.S., L. & E. 


. Results of Experiments on the Specific Heat of Certain 


Rocks. By M. Regnault of Paris. Communicated by 
the Secretary. 


oo 


Professor Forbes observed, that, in his communication to the Royal 
Society on the Conductivity of Soils for Heat, on the 20th Decem- 
ber last (see Proceedings, page 843*), he had referred to the sepa- 
ration of the conductivity and specific heat, which are involved in the 
results of the thermometric experiments on subterranean tempera- 
ture. In order to eliminate the effect of specific heat, M. Regnault 
of Paris (well known by his experiments on this subject) undertook, 


170 Proceedings of the Royal Society. 

at the request of M. Elie de Beaumont, to ascertain the specific 
heats of the soils in which the different sets of thermometers are 
sunk. These are communicated in a letter from M. E. de Beau- 
mont to Professor Forbes, as follows : 


Specific Heat. 


Porphyry of the Calton Hill, : : - 5 0.20654 
Another experiment, , é : 0.20587 
Mean,: . °  « 0.20620 


Sand of the Experimental Garden, Soe gen» Oot gea2 


Sandstone of Craigleith Quarry, ee emUe nn 9S 137/ 
Another experiment, : ; - . 0.19152 
Mean, 4 3 i 0.19205 


Some correction would no doubt require to be made for the quan- 
tity of moisture contained in the rocks, 


4 On the Effect of Snow in apparently increasing the Force 
of Solar Radiation. By Professor Forbes. 


Referring to a communication made by him to the Society on the 
Ist February 1841 (see Proceedings, page 322), the author re- 
minded the Society that he had then endeavoured to account for cer- 
tain anomalous facts observed by Dr Richardson, connected with 
solar radiation in the Polar Regions, by adverting to the intense 
radiating effect of a covering of snow. The disappearance of this 
snowy covering in the month of May, the author had observed to be 
syncbronous with the anomalous diminution of solar radiation, ascer- 
tained by a blackened thermometer, in the months of June and July, 
compared with the months of April and May. 

Professor Forbes endeavoured to verify his conjecture, by direct 
experiments on the force of the sun amongst the snowy mountains 
of Switzerland; and it was so completely borne out, that the limited 
range of his instrument (Leslie’s photometer) was in clear weather 
always outrun, when it was exposed on a snowy surface; and even 
when placed upon a dark rock (on the moraine of a glacier), the re- 
flected light from the neighbouring snowy summits was so intense 
as to give extraordinarily high indications. Owing to the construc- 
tion of the instruments, he was unable to estimate their readings 
correctly ; but he hopes to make move accurate observations during 


Ou the Structure of Glaciers. 171 


the ensuing summer. Sir John Herschel’s actinometer gave a value 
of the solar radiation nearly independent of its position upon snow 
or rock. 


April 18.—The Right Hon. Lord Greenock, V. P. in the 
Chair. 


1. On the Structure, Formation, and Movement of Glaciers ; 
and the probable cause of their former extension and 
subsequent disappearance. By James Stark, M.D., 
F.R.S E. 


The author endeavoured to prove, from the recorded facts stated 
by different writers, that the crystalline particles of which the ice 
of glaciers is composed, do not sensibly enlarge after being consoli- 
dated into compact ice; that the crystals have been shewn to be 
fully and perfeetly formed in the course of a few nights in the 
Polar Regions ; and that they have a position perpendicular to the 
layer of ice which they form,—their length being thus determined 
by the thickness of that layer. 

The author next considered the different forms of stratification 
met with in glaciers, and stated that the greatest confusion prevailed 
on this point, different forms of stratification being confounded to- 
gether. He therefore considers glaciers as composed of— 

1. Horizontal Strata, or layers lying in the position in which 
they were first deposited, and only seen in the upper regions of the 
mountains. He stated that these strata were usually regarded as 
marking the additions which the icy mass had annually received, 
each layer being the accumulated snow of one year; but that, as 
the Meteorological Tables kept at the Hospice of the Great St Ber- 
nard shewed that from 300 to 700 inches of snow fell during the 
six winter months, it seemed possible that each layer marked the 
separate storms of snow; or, if they marked the annual accumula- 
tions, they apparently proved, what had not previously been sus- 
pected, that snow and ice waste nearly as rapidly in the upper as 
they do in the lower regions. 

2. Vertical and Longitudinal Strata. The author stated, that 
these strata were always of great tenuity, were more or less perpen- 
dicular, but had always a direction parallel with the retaining wall 
or length of the glacier. Their mode of formation he attributed to 


172 Proceedings of the Royal Society. 

the onward movement of the glacier leaving narrow spaces interven- 
ing between the sides of the already formed icy mass and the flanks 
of the valley, which, being filled up with the loose and softened 
snow lying on the sloping flanks, was, from the falling of the tem- 
perature during the night, and from contact with the already formed 
icy mass, converted into a layer of solid ice. From the thinness of 
these layers, the author regarded them as marking the additions 
which had been daily made to the glacier, The author also stated 
that it would, in all probability, be found that, wherever pillars, pyra- 
mids, or needles of ice were met with, this structure would be found 
present ; as the fissures which always crossed the glacier from side 
to side, divided it into transverse sections, which, when unequally 
supported below, would split into smaller fragments in the planes of 
their stratification, so that each fragment would necessarily assume 
the form of a vertical prismatic column. 

3. A combination of the Horizontal with the Vertical and Lon- 
gitudinal Strata. The author stated, that, as the mass composed of 
the horizontal strata of the upper regions slowly advanced to the 
lower ones, it received, in the manner above stated, a lateral increase, 
which, at the same time that it increased its breadth, probably also 
added to its depth. That, as the glacier continued to advance, the 
horizontal strata, “which lay uppermost, would melt away first, so 
that at one point they would only be observed in the middle of the 
glacier, and lower down even completely disappear. He mentioned 
several facts which seemed to prove his position. 

4, Transverse more or less inclined Strata. The author stated 
that this variety of stratification had not been recognised as a dis- 
tinct form, but had been confounded with the horizontal stratifica- 
tion. He stated that this form would only be met with when the 
original structure of the glacier had been broken up and destroyed 
by some obstructing barrier or other cause. He instanced as the 
most marked example of this the terminal portion of the Rhone 
glacier, after it pours into the valley of the Rhone over its rocky 
barrier or precipice. He described the strata as being formed close 
to the icy mass on which the icy cataract descends, originally paral- 
lel to each other, and with a dip of 70°; but that, as new layers 
are formed, and the first formed layers are pushed forwards, they 
lose their parallelism to each other, and assume angles of dip less 
and less as they approach the termination of the glacier. This 


On the Movement of Glaciers. 173 


change of dip and of parallelism the author attributed to the for- 
ward movement and plasticity of the mass, together with the greater 
amount of friction below, where the ends of the layers were in con- 
tact with the ground, and the constant deprivation of support ante- 
riorly and below, from the continued melting of the ice at these parts, 
which would give the layers a constant tendency to fall forwards. 

The author then proceeded to shew that fissures or crevices in 
glaciers could not be produced in consequence of the unequal expan- 
sion of the ice itself, nor in consequence of the expansion of the air 
contained within its pores ; but that in every case crevices were pro- 
duced in consequence of the movement of the glacier over the in- 
clined plane on which it rested. 

The author next passed to the second division of his subject, the 
Movement of Glaciers, and first commented on the Dilatation Theory. 
He endeavoured to prove that none of the phenomena observed in 
glaciers could be accounted for by that theory ; that a glacier was. 
not retarded in its movement though riddled with crevices; that 
the supposed dilatation did not alter the form of the walls of thee 
erevices; that it did not close them at their upper extremity nor 
widen them out below ; that it did not give rise to any convexity of 
the surface of the glacier ; that the icy mass did not require to touch 
the rocky walls of the valley through which it passed ; that it could 
move onwards for miles quite unsupported on its margins ; that du- 
ring a whole summer, whilst its movement was greatest, it never 
dilated even the few feet requisite to fill up the spaces intervening: 
between its margin and the rocky walls of the valley; that it ad- 
vanced during the heat of the day, and during winter, when it is al- 
lowed no dilatation can take place; that it was unlikely water could 
percolate during the course of one day through a solid mass of ice,. 
more than 100 feet thick, especially when that ice was colder than 
the freezing point of water; that pools of water (in the Polar Re- 
gions) remained unfrozen for whole weeks during the summer, whilst. 
their progressive motion was greatest. For these and other reasons,. 
the author arrived at the conclusion, ‘‘ that glaciers do not advance 
in consequence of a process of dilatation of their icy mass.” 

The author next enquired into the proofs of the truth of the 
sliding theory, and stated, that he had satisfied himself that every 
phenomenon known to occur in glaciers could be explained by it. 
He brought forward, as explanatory circumstances, the descent of 


174 Proceedings of the Royal Society. 


avalanches ;—the descent of trees, along the slide of Alpnach ;—the 
fact proved by the meteorological tables kept at the Hospice of the 
Great St Bernard, when compared with the descent of Hugi’s hut on 
the Aar Glacier,—that the greater the fall of snow in the upper re- 
gions during winter, the greater is the descent of the glaciers during 
the following summer ;—and lastly, the fact that the higher the moun- 
tain range (and of course the greater the quantity of ice or snow), the 
lower was the level to which glaciers descend. He also endeavoured to 
shew that the glaciers, or icy masses, covering the mountains, and 
filling their vallies, at no part of their course are frozen to the soil on 
which they rest; and that the temperature of the soil covered with 
deep masses of snow or ice, was probably never below 32° Fahren- 
heit. 

The author made a short digression here, to account for the pro- 
bable cause of the former extension of glaciers, and their subse- 
quent disappearance. He endeavoured to shew, that the scattered 
boulders, &c. marking the former extension of glaciers, were all 
over the surface of the older alluvium (diluvium of Buckland) and 
he hence endeavoured to ascertain at what period that alluvium was. 
formed. After a full examination of the subject, and especially 
from the examination of the fossil remains found in that alluvium, 
he arrived at the conclusion, that the waters of the deluge were the 
cause of the formation of that alluvium; and he accounted for 
the former extension of glaciers, by the known effect of water, in 
the act of evaporating, producing cold, especially when acted on by 
a brisk wind, which was the state of the earth immediately after 
the deluge. The increased moisture in the atmosphere at this 
period, he thought, would furnish ample supplies of snow and ice 
for the purpose, and being first deposited on the elevated peaks, 
would rapidly spread over all those extended surfaces which glaciers 
are thought once to have covered. Their subsequent disappearance 
he accounted for, by supposing that the icy or snowy.covering pre- 
vented the loss by radiation of the heat received by the earth's crust 
from the interior of the earth ; since this heat, gradually aceumu- 
lating below, would in time melt the icy masses at their lower ex- 
tremities faster than they could be supplied from above, and thus 
reduce them to their present dimensions. He illustrated this view, 
by mentioning the fact, that the angular boulders, &c. are pretty 
equally seattered over all the extended surfaces which glaciers are 


On the Movement of Glaciers. 175 


thought formerly to have covered, but are rarely seen to form the 
dykés or moraines seen at the terminations of glaciers at present in 
existence; this fact apparently proving that they must have com- 
menced their decay very shortly after their formation. 

The author stated several other arguments in favour of the truth 
of the sliding theory ; from all which he inferred, that the move- 
ment was not a continuous but an interrupted process ;—that when 
the melting of the sides of the mass detached it from its attachment 
to the sides of the valley, and it became undermined below, by the 
melting of its base, the force of gravity, unresisted by friction, was 
brought into play, and it made a sudden progressive movement 
(which might be only an inch or several feet), when it remained at 
rest, till the same causes produced a renewal of the same result. 
He shewed, that though many parts of these icy masses were nearly 
level, all the upper portions, and many of the lower, were lying over 
such inclined planes, that gravity could exert its full power in their 
propulsion ; and as the whole icy mass was tolerably solid and con- 
tinuous, the greater movement of one portion was communicated 
more or less throughout its whole lenoth, and tended to urge for- 
wards and downwards those parts which had less tendency to move 
onwards of themselves. 

The author also endeavoured to account for the advance of one 
glacier, and the retirement of another alongside of it, by supposing 
that it was caused by the snows being drifted away from the one 
valley exposed to the blast, and from which the glacier, which was 
retiring, descended, and being deposited in deep wreaths in the other, 
which was probably more sheltered, and from which descended the 
glacier, which was making destructive advances. The increased ac- 
cumulation of snow, by furnishing a supply greater than the waste, 
caused the one glacier to advance, whilst the other retired, in conse- 
quence of the waste at its lower extremity exceeding the supplies 
from above. 


2. On Plague, in relation to the question of its Nature, whe- 
ther or not a Contagious Disease. By John Davy, M.D, 
F.R.S.S. L. & E. 


3. Analysis of Two New Minerals of the Zeolite Family 


176 Proceedings of the Wernerian Society. 
By Thomas Anderson, MD. Communicated by Dr 
Christison.* 

4. Dr Christison exhibited specimens from the Government 
Superintendant of Tea Culture in Assam, illustrating 
the several ages at which the leaves of the Assam and 
China Tea-plants are used for making the different com- 
mercial varieties of black and green tea. 

An examination of these specimens seemed to prove, that the leaves 
of the China tea-plant, cultivated at the same plantation with the 
tea-plant of Assam, are considerably less, and somewhat thicker, but 
otherwise so exactly similar, that the two plants may well be mere 
varieties of the same species, —an opinion now generally adopted by 
botanists in India. The specimens further illustrated the doctrine 
deduced from recent investigations in India, that the different kinds 
of green and black tea are made from the leaves of one species of 
plant, collected at different periods of their development. The spe- 
cimens were collected in April 1841. The unexpanded shoots and 
very young leaves are marked as yielding Pekoe, a black tea, and 
Young Hyson, a green tea, by different modes of preparation. The 
fully-expanded, but still young leaves, are stated to produce Pou- 
chong, Souchong, and Campoi, among the black teas, and Imperial, 
Gunpowder, and Hyson, among the green teas. Older and firmer 
leaves produce Congo, a black tea, and Twangkay and Hyson-skins, 
two of the green teas; and the oldest and coarsest of the leaves pro- 
duce Bohea, the lowest in quality of the black teas. 


Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History Society. 
(Continued from vol. xxxiii. p. 198.) 


The thirty-sixth Session commenced on the 26th November 1842, Dr 
Rosert Haminton, V.P., in the Chair. The following office-bearers were 
elected for the ensuing year:— 


President, 


Rozert Jameson, Esq. F.R.SS.L. & E., Professor of Natural History in 
the University of Edinburgh. 


* Published in the present Number, p. 21. 


Scientific Intelligence—Geology and Geography. 177 


Vice-Presidents. 
Dr Rosert Granam, F.R.S.E. Sir Cau. G.S. Menreirn, Bart. F.R.S.E, 
Sir Wm. Newsicerne, F.R.S.E. Dr Roserr Paterson. 
Rt. Hon. Lord Greenock, F.R.S.E. Professor Epwarp Forses, 


Council. 

Rosert Srevenson, Esq., F.R.S.E. Sir Witttam Jarvine, Bart. F,R.S.E. 
Davip Miuyg, Esq. F.R.S.E. Professor T. S. Trait. 

Joun Stark, Esq. F.R.S.E, Dr R. K. Grevitter. 


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Joint-Secretaries. 

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Treasurer. 

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Joint-Librarians. 

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Artists. 
P, Syme, Esq., and W. H. Townsenp, Esq., 


SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 
GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY. 


1.M. Eliede Beaumont on the former low Temperature of European 
Winters—When speaking of winters sufficiently cold to admit of 
large ice-bergs floating in great numbers as far as latitude 50° (see 
Charpentier’s Paper, at p. 59. of the present Number), M. E. de 
Beaumont says :—At first sight, this supposition appears contrary 
to the hypothesis so generally admitted, that the terrestrial globe 
was warmer during former geological periods than it is at present, and 
that it has been subsequently gradually cooled. This apparent op- 
position ceases, however, when we consider that the temperature of 
a given portion of the globe during a given ‘time, depends not only 
on the general temperature of the globe, but also on the manner in 
which the Isothermal Lines were disposed, during that same period, 
under the infiuence of seas and of mountains whose configuration 
was quite different from ihe configuration of the seas and mountains 
of the present day. The globe, during the period which preceded 
ours, may as a whole have been a little warmer than it now is, and 
yet central Europe may have had a climate similar to that of Ca- 
nada, where the phenomenon of the transport of blocks of rock by 
ice has been observed in latitude 48° or 50°. This supposition of 
colder winters in Europe, during the geological period preceding our 
epoch, would, moreover, be in harmony with many other observations. 
(Comptes Rendus, vol. xiv. p. 101.) 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVIT.—JaNnvuARY 1843. M 


178 — Scientific Intelligence—Geology and Geography. 


2 Determination ofthe Amount of Depression of the Dead Sea below 
the level of the Mediterrancan.—tIn an article published in the 29th 
vol. of this Journal, p. 96, we detailed, at considerable length, the 
various conclusions regarding this depression deduced from the ob- 
servations and experiments of Schubert, Moore and Beek, Bertou 
and Russegger. Since that time its amount has been estimated at 
1200 feet from data obtained by the late Sir Daniel Wilkie. We 
are glad to find, by the following remarks contained in Mr Hamil- 
ton’s address to the Geographical Society of London, that this in- 
teresting problem has now been completely and satisfactorily solved 
by Lieutenant Symonds of the Royal Engineers :—* This officer, 
during the last year, carried a line of levels across from J." to the 
Dead Sea by two different routes ; and the results, corresponding to 
within an insignificant fraction, give 1311.9 feet for the depression 
of the Dead Sea below the level of the Mediterranean, being a very 
few feet less than that given by M. Bertou. Lieutenant Symonds, 
by the same operations, found the level of the Lake of Tiberias to 
be only 328 feet below that of the Mediterranean, making an in- 
clination of nearly 1000 feet between this lake and the Dead Sea, 
a distance of about 70 miles.” 

3. On the Grooves and Polished Surfaces atthe contact of Ancient Se- 
condary Strata.—Professor Rogers, at a late meeting of the As- 
sociation of American Geologists, made some remarks respecting 
the grooved and polished surfaces at the contact of ancient se- 
condary strata. He thinks he has seen unequivocal instances of 
these in Pennsylvania. Their production, at periods when the 
earth’s temperature was manifestly incompatible with the exist- 
ence of ice, would seem to demonstrate that angular detrital 
matter, urged by water, is able of itself to score and polish the 
surfaces of rocks. 

Professor W. B. Rogers continued the illustration of this sub- 
ject, by calling attention particularly to the evidences of ancient 
denudation and drifting action, so strikingly displayed along the 
place of junction of the Oriskany sandstone (Formation VII., of 
the Reports), and the subjacent limestones Formation VI.). 
In many districts the limestone has been irregularly denuded, 
and even to a great extent removed; and at the same time 
fragments of the limestone and fossils, water-worn and blended 
with coarse sand and gravel, have been accumulated to form 
the lower beds of the Oriskany rock. The rapid fluctuation 
in thickness of the upper limestones, as wituessed in Virginia, 
Pennsylvania, and Western New York (near Black Rock, for 
example), Professor R. ascribed rather to the irregular foree of 


: 


Scientific Tntelligence—Geoloqgy and Geography. 179 


the denudation, than to irregularity of thickness in the original 
deposit. He dwelt upon the epoch of this limestone series, and the 
conmmencementof theoverlying sandstone, as one of great interestin 
the history of the Appalachian rocks, marked as it is, throughout a 
great part of the Appalachian belt, by evidences of a sudden and 
great change in the physical conditions of the ancient sea, and 
by the proofs of attendant drifting and denuding action of extra- 
ordinary energy. He contended that the grooved and worn sur- 
faces of the limestone which mark the abrading action of a drift 
at this ancient period, together with the same phenomena ob- 
served in the rocks of other portions of the Appalachian series, as 
described by Professor H. S. Rogers and Mr Hall, bear so striking 
a resemblance to those more recent effects, which have given rise 
of late to such deeply interesting speculations, that it would seem 
unphilosophical to refer the two to diferent mechanical causes. 
He therefore maintained, that as in the production of these ancient 
phenomena of diluvium or drift, it can hardly be supposed that 
ice, either floating or in the form of glaciers, could have performed 
any part, since the existence of ice in the ocean at that period is 
searcely conceivable, we are under no necessity of resorting to the 
glacial, or even the glacio-aqueous theory, in explanation of the 
more modern phenomena of grooved and striated rocks.—Silli- 
man’s American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xliii., No. 1, 
p. 181 

4. Geological Maps of Piedmont, §c.—We ave informed that Sis- 
mondi’s Geological Map of Piedmont and Savoy will shortly appear, 
and that Pareto’s Geological Map of the Duchy of Genoa and County 
of Nice is nearly finished. 

5. Humboldt’s “ Fragmens Asiatiques."—We are glad to hear that 
Humboldt is actively engaged in the preparation of a second edition 
of his Fragmens Asiatiques. 

6. Heights of Localities in the Holy Land ascertained Barometri- 
eally by Russegger.—Mounastery of St Catharine on Sinai 5115 Par- 
isian feet above the sea; summit of Dschebel Horeb, 7097 ; summit 
of Dschebel Catharine, 8168; Jericho, 717 below the sea; bathing 
place of the pilgrims in the Jordan, 1291 below the sea; Catholic 
Convent at Nazareth, 1161 ab:ve the sea; summit of Tabor, 1755; 
surface of the Lake of Tiberias, 625 below the sea; Dschebel Makmel, 
above Tripolis, the highest point of Lebanon, 8800 above the sea; the 
Cedars of Lebanon, above Eden, 6000; mountain pass between Beirout 
and Baalbeck, 5485; Bseddin coal-mines, 2906; Makla-ain-el-Bed 
eoal- mines, 2873; Mar-hanna-el-Kennise coal-mines, 1803; Room at 
Beirout, 60; mountain pass from Beirout to Damascus, 4886 ; town 


180 Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 


of Sebediini, 4024 ; the Fall of Barada, at the Pass of el-Suk, 3346; 
town of Baalbeck, 3196 ; Damascus, 2304. The mountain elevations 
in Lebanon and Antilebanon are older than those in Southern 
Syria. The former belong to the chalk formation, but the latter 
to the tertiary deposits. This fact seems to correspond perfectly 
with the physical characters of the surface——(Poggendorf’s An- 
nalen, 1841, No. 5.) 


MINERALOGY AND CHEMISTRY. 


7. Dr Traill’s Collection.—We understand that Dr Traill wishes to 
dispose of his extensive and valuable Mineralogical and Geological 
Collection. The specimens of minerals amount to 3000, the rocks 
to 1500, and the organic remains to 500; in all about 5000, The 
whole are carefully named and catalogued, and arranged in handsome 
cabinets. The mineralogical department is rich in Fluors, Barytic mi- 
nerals, Leads, Salts of Copper, Zeolites (particularly Apophyllites), 
Felspars, Scapolites, the scarcer Swedish and Norwegian minerals, 
the ores of Silver and Tellurium, Meteoric stones, &c.; and 
includes among the greater rareties, a superb crystal of Euclase 
(1 inch long, by 3 an inch broad, quite transparent, and finely acu- 
minated); Gold in the matrix from Lead Hills; Stromnite or 
Barystrontianite (discovered by Dr Traill), &c. The geological 
series is illustrative more especially of Scotland, Spain, Brazil, 
Greenland, the Arctic Regions, &c. ; and, among the fossil remains, 
there is a fine set of fishes from the Orkney Islands, named by 
Agassiz. 

8. Potash and Lime in Flint.—It is known from Klaproth’s analy- 
sis, that flint contains lime ; but Berzeliushas also found potash in the 
flint of the chalk of Limhamn, in Schonen. In 1000 parts of flint 
he detected 1.17 parts potash, and 1.18 parts lime, with traces of 
oxide of iron and alumina, and likewise a small quantity of a car- 
bonaceous matter, which left no residue on being ignited, and which 
probably produces the colour in flint resembling the tint of brown 
rock crystal (Rauchtopas.) The analysis was undertaken with 
the view of ascertaining the cause of the decomposition of the 
surface of a flint knife, a change not unfrequently observed in flint 
exposed to the action of the atmosphere. ‘The result obtained was, 
that the interior and undecomposed portion of this knife contained 
in the 1600 parts 1.34 potash ; 5.74 lime; and 1.2 oxide of iron 
and alumina. The decomposed portion, on the other hand, which 
could easily be rubbed cff in the state of powder, contained in the 
1000 parts, 3.2 parts of potash, and 3.2 parts of lime; whence it 
would seem that the decomposition had its origin in a long continued 
action of aliquid containing potash, which ervadually replaced the lime 


Se-entific Intelligence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 181 


by potash. The decomposition proceeded progressively, so that it had 
already evidently commenced in the still coherent portion of the 
flint, and had formed a white stripe round the mass, having a breadth 
of 0.3 to 0.4, decimal lines.—/(Berzelius’ Jahres-Bericht, xxi. Jahr- 
gang, ti. Heft., p. 187. 

9. Amphodclite.—Breithaupt has found that Amphodclite and Dip- 
loite (Latrobite, Brooke) not only resemble each other in colour and 
appearance, but also in the angles of their cleavage planes, and in the 
proportions of their constituent parts. The Diploite, however, con- 
tains, according to C. G. Gmelin’s analysis, 63 per cent. of potash, 
while that alkali is entirely awanting in the amphodelite, and is there 
replaced by a larger amount of lime and magnesia.—(Berzclius’ 
Jahres-Bericht, Jahrgang xxi, p. 202.) 

10. Andesine.—Abich has analysed a mineral to which he has given 
this name, and which is from the Andes. It was formerly termed 
Pseudoalbite, from its resembling greatly, in crystalline form, the 
twin crystals of Albite ; but it presents a less distinct cleavage than 
that mineral, and its cleavage-surfaces are not so well defined. The 
Andesine is imbedded in a greyish-white mass, which is termed 
Andesite, and has a specific gravity of 3.5924; and it is mixed with 
hornblende and quartz, on which the crystals broken out leave a shin- 
ing impression. The specific gravity of the Andesine is 8.7328, 
therefore greater than that of Albite. In thin splinters it melts 
before the blow-pipe, and in grains it fuses into a vesicular slag. 
The analysis with carbonate of Baryta gave— 


Oxygen. 

SIHCICTACIGs ive tee be FORO Me PHT Sees 30.90 8 
Alumina, coheed oe QELS 11.22 } 11.70 3 
Oxide ofiron, . . 1.58 0.48 
PME S sy ay wl edd) 1.61 
Magnesia,. . . . 1.08 0.37 

3.79 1 
ROG» Zc) hein «digi sme 1.65 , 
KPottsu, So |. cot 08 0.16 


It is therefore a Leucite, in which the greater proportion of the 
potash is replaced by Lime and Soda.—(Berzelius’ Jahires-Bericht, 
Jahrgang xxi., Heft ii., p. 167.) 

11. Arqucrite—In a report made to the French Academy of 
Sciences by MM. Berthicr, Elie de Beaumont and Dufrenoy, on two 
memoirs by M. Domeyko, on the mineral products of the silver 
mines of Chili, there is an account given of a new native amal- 
gam, which constitutes almost exclusively the riches of the silver 
mines of Arqueros, in the province of Coquimbo, in Chili. This 
amalgam consists of six atoms of silver, and one atom of mercury, a 
composition presented by no mineral previously analysed. Its cem- 


182 Sedentifie Intel’igence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 


position is constant ; and its title to be regarded as a new mineral 
species is, according to M. Dufrenoy, undoubted, for it is founded 
both on composition and crystallographic characters. It occurs in a 
dendritic form, or in small octahedral crystals; it is of a silver-white 
colour like the amalgam of Moschel-Landsberg, but differs from it 
in being malleable. It can be extended by the hammer, and cut by 
the knife. The proportions of its constituent parts are 86.5 silver, 
and 13.5 mercury ; while those of the Moschel-Landsberg species are 
36 silver and 64 mercury. The name of Arquerite is proposed for 
the new mineral. 

12. Bromide of Silver in Mewico.—Berthier has discovered the bro- 

mide of silver in a perfectly pure condition in the mineral kingdom. 
In the district of Plateros in Mexico, there is a silver mine where 
the chief ore is chloride of silver. This substance is there termed 
Platu azul (blue silver), and, along with it, grains and small crystals 
occur, which receive the name of Plata verde (green silver); the 
latter, which are green only externally, ave internally of a beautiful 
yellow colour, and, according to Berthier'’s analysis, are pure bromide 
of silver. The mine from which the analysed ore was extracted 
bears the name of San Onofre. It is mixed with chloride of silver, 
carbonate of lead, oxide of iron, and a little quartz containing alumina. 
Its powder is yellow, but exposure to the light soon produces the su- 
perficial green tint. Berthier has subsequently found traces of 
bromide of silver in a silver ore containing chloride of silver from 
Huélgoat in France.—(Berzelius’ Jahvres-Bericht, 1842.) 
i 13. Bromide of Silver inChilii—M. Berthier, who has verified a part 
of the analyses of M. Domeyko, has recognised in the argentiferous 
minerals from Chanaveillo, designated Pacos and Collorados, the 
bromide of silver, which he had previously discovered in the ores of 
Peru. The proportion of the bromide is very variable, but it is at 
least equal to that of the chloride, so that this new species holds 
an important position in the mineral riches of Chili and of Peru. 

14. Bamlite. 


ral from Bamle in Norway. It forms a fibrous, white or gray, trans- 


Erdmann has described under this name a new mine- 


lucent mass, having an uneven and splintery fracture; a specific 
gravity = 2.984, and a hardness a little above 6. It consists of 


UGH a) ta, O91 Oxygen . . . . 2956 3 
Alumina, . « » 40:73 —— .... « 19.34 2 
Oxide of Iron, . 1.04 
AGO, ee be. AOS 
Fluorine, . . . <A trace. 

971 


—Berzelius Jahres-Bericht, 1642. 


Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 188 


15. Calstron-baryte—Sometime ago Dr Sheppard, Professor of 
Chemistry in the Medical College of South Carolina, described as a 
new species, a mineral he named Calstron-baryte. On analysis it 
afforded sulphate of barytes 65.55, carbonate of strontia 22.30, car- 
bonate of lime 12.15. Recent specimens of this mineral have been 
carefully examined by the Professor, with results so various in re- 
gard to the carbonates present, as to lead him to consider it a me- 
chanical mixture of sulphate of barytes, strontianite, and carbonate of 
lime, and, therefore, not entitled to be considered as a new mineral 
species. The same appears to be the case with the Stromnite, a 
mineral found near Strommess, in Orkney, analysed and named as a 
distinct species by the discoverer, Dr Traill. 

16. Discovery of Euclase in Connecticut, North Am erica—This 
rare and beautiful gem is found in a vein containing topaz and fluor- 
spar. It occurs in yellowish white tabular crystals, which are thin 
and transparent. The crystals sometimes occur lining cavities in silver 
white mica, and occasionally imbedded in dark purple fluor-spar — 
Sillinan'’s American Journal, vol. xliii., p. 366. 

17. New locality of Geokronite—This mineral, of which we gave 
Svanberg’s analysis and description in the 33d vol. of this Journal, 
p- 204, has been found at Meredo, in Gallicia. The variety resembles 
the Swedish one, but has a greater specific gravity (= 6.43), and 
contains neither Arsenic nor Zinc. According to Sauvage (Annales 
des Mines, xvii. p. 525), it is composed of lead, 64.89 ; copper 
1.60; antimony, 16.00; and sulphur, 16.90. (Berzclius’ Jahres- 
Bericht, xxi. Jahrgang, 2d Heft, p. 185.) 

18. Greenovite—Under this name Dufrenoy (Annales des Mines, 
xvil. p. 529), has described a mineral from St Marcel, in Piedmont, 
which he has thus dedicated to Mr Greenough of London. It is of 
a dark rose-red colour; is partly crystalline, partly crystallized ; has 
three cleavages, of which the second is parallel to the lateral planes, 
and forms, with the others, an angle of 11° 35’. The specific 
gravity = 3.44. It scratches fluorspar, but not glass. It is not 
acted on by acids, and is not fusible before the blowpipe. With 
fluxes, however, it affurds the reactions denoting titanium and man- 
ganese. According to the analysis of Cacarrié, it consists of 74.5 
titanic acid, and 21.8 oxide of manganese, with traces of lime. 
(Berzelius’ Jahres-Bericht, xxi. p. 180.) 

19. Blue Colour of Lapis Lazuli.—Flsner has made some experi- 
ments on the blue colour of the Lapis Lazuli, and has ascertained 
that it is caused by a silicate of alumina and soda, which may be 
replaced by lime, combined with a double sulphuret of sodium and 
iron, in which the amount of iron is very small, but is essential for 


184 Seventijic J utelligence—Mineraleqy and Chemistry. 


the production of the colour. The colouring matter in artificial ultra- 
marines is partly of a fine blue, and partly of a fine green tint. The 
latter, by contiuued heating in an open vessel, passes into the for- 
mer; which, Elsner says, takes place, because the blue colour re- 
quires the combination of a larger quantity of sulphur with the so- 
dium. ‘This is effected when a portion of the sulphur is converted 
into sulphuric acid, which removes soda from the sulphuret, by 
which means the latter becomes comparatively richer in sulphur. 
On this account the natural as well as the artificial ultramarine al- 
ways contains sulphuric acid. (Berzelius’ Jahres-Bericht, 1842.) 

20. Pennine.—Frébel has described, in Pogeendorff’s Annals, a 
mineral from the Matter or Nikolai valley, in the Pennine chain of 
the Alps, which has been analysed by Schweitzer, and has received 
the name of Pennine. It sometimes oceurs in hexagonal tables, some- 
times in streaked prisms ; its colour is blackish green to leek green ; 
it is translucent in thin plates; but, at right angles to the principal 
axis, it is brown or hyacinth red. Hardness between that of gypsum 
and calcareous spar. Its composition is— 


Oxygen. 
Silica, 35.82 39.07 17.07 
Alumina, 9.32 9.69 4.35 
Oxide of Iron, 11.30 11.36 2.02 ) ms 
15.31 
Magnesia, 33.04 32.34 12.79 J 
Water, 11.50 12.58 10:22 


98.98 99.04 

It does not seem possible to deduce a proper formula from the re- 
sult of the analysis. It is plain, however, that its composition ap- 
proaches that of the chloritic minerals. (Berzelius’ Jahres-Bericht, 
21st Jahrgang, p. 177. 

21. Platina in the Awiferous Sand of the Rhine.—M. J. Dibe- 
reiner has detected a small quantity of platina in the auriferous sand 
of the Rhine. The amount was only 0.4 of a grain in 2 ounces. 

22. Villarsite—M. Dufrenoy (Comptes Rendus, vol. xiv. p: 697) 
has given the designation to a new mineral, in honour of M. Villars, 
the author of a Natural History of Dauphiny. It was recently found 
by M. Bertrand de Lom ina vein of iron-ore at Traversella, in Pied- 
mont, and is there associated with dolomite, mica, quartz, and do- 
decahedral crystals of magnetic iron-ore. The Villarsite has a yel- 
lowish-green colour, and a granular fracture ; and in these respects 
bears a considerable resemblance to some of the Arendal apatites. 
The primitive form is a right rhombic prism of 119° 59’, and the 
crystals examined were rhombic octahedrons with truncated summits. 
The following is its composition— 


Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 185 


Oxygen. 
Silica, . ¢ 5 F F 39.60 20.57 4 
Magnesia, z 2 a - 47.37 18.37 
Protoxide of iron, . : ° 3.59 0.69 
Protoxide of manganese, : 2.42 0.53 >4 
Lime, . ~ . - : 0.53 0.14 
Bibet eR ee 0.46 . 
Water, . > “ : ° 5.80 5.14 1 

99.77 


Hence the formula is 4 Mg 8 + Aq, and the Villarsite is to be re- 
garded as a monosilicate of magnesia. Except that it contains water, 
this newly discovered substance has the same composition as cryso- 
lite; but, while the proportion of water is too large to admit of its 
presence being regarded as accidental, the external, crystallographic, 
and chemical characters are opposed to its being united with that 
species. The Villarsite furnishes a new example of a mineral as- 
sociated with Plutonic crystalline products containing water of crys- 
tallisation. M. Dufrenoy remarks, that we are already in possession 
of analyses which prove the presence of water in rocks evidently vol- 
canic, and hence concludes, that it is not necessary to have recourse to 
the theory of infiltrations for the explanation of the occurrence of 
zeolites in basalts, trachytes, and even in traps. 

23. Xenolite——This new mineral is so named from its not belong- 
ing to the locality where it is found. It occurs along with Wérth- 
ite, near Peterhoff, in boulders, which are probably derived from Fin- 
land. It is crystallized in prisms, united together in very delicate 
fibrous masses. On being separated, the fibres are found to be 
three-sided prisms, in which two of the sides form an angle of 45° 
38’, and the third seems to be at right angles to one of the others. 
There isa terminal plane. Hardness = that of quartz. Sp. gr. = 
3.58. It is colourless, but occasionally presents greyish or yellowish 
portions. Translucent. Fracture uneven, granular. Lustre vitreous, 
and, on the more distinct cleavages, pearly. Gives no water before the 
blowpipe. Infusible in fragments and in powder. Fusible with diffi- 
culty, along with borax and phosphate of soda. According to an analy- 
sis by M. Komonen, this mineral consists of silica 47.44, and alumina 
(with a little oxide of iron) 52.54 = 99.98. (Poggendorf'’s Annal. - 
1842, No. 8, from paper by Nordenskiéld in the Act. Soc. Scient. 
Fennice, vol. i. p. 372.) 

24, Sulphuric and Molybdic Acids—Dr Thomas Anderson of 
Leith has lately made some experiments on the relations of these 
two acids. The molybdic acid dissolves in the sulphuric, but the 
combination cannot be made to crystallize by evaporation. How- 
ever, on decomposing mvlybdate of baryta with an excess of sulphuric 


186 = Scientific Lntelliyence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 

acid, and evaporating the solution over sulphuric acid, a crystallized 
compound is obtained, which, according to the analysis of Anderson, 
consists of sulphuric acid 57.3, molybdic acid 32.8, water and loss 9.9. 
Two isomeric modifications seem to be indicated.—(Berzelius’ Jahres- 
Bericht, 1842.) 

25. Caleareous Rocks pierced by Helices.—M. Constant Prévost 
exhibited to the Société Philomatique de Paris, numerous speci- 
mens of a very compact grey limestone, which appeared to him to 
have been deeply perforated by Helices. He collected these speci- 
mens himself, in 1831, on Monte Pelegrino, near Palermo, at an 
elevation of about 200 metres above the level of the sea. He at 
first supposed that the perforations were the work of marine litho- 
phagous mollusca, and that they indicated one of the levels of the 
sea at a remote period ; but the irregular and sinuated form of the 
cavities,—their depth (extending to 12 and 15 centimetres),—their 
dimensions (being from 4 or 5 millimetres to 4 centimetres in 
breadth),— and above all, the presence of a Helix of different ages, 
belonging to the same species, and each individual lodged in a eavity 
exactly proportioned to the dimensions of the shell,—led him to the 
belief that the Helices had themselves scooped out their abode. The 
difficulty, however, of understanding how they could accomplish this, 
made him hesitate in announcing publicly the fact he had observed, 
until new facts, and more direct and positive observations, had con- 
firmed his opinion. He carefully collected fragments of the perfo- 
rated rock, and the Helices which inhabited it. 

In 1839, when the Geological Society of France met at Boulogne- 
sur-mer, M. Constant Prévost, along with Messrs Buckland and 
Greenough, who attended the meeting, discovered perforations pre- 
cisely analogous to those of Palermo in an equally hard limestone 
in the neighbourhood of Boulogne (the mountain limestone), and Dr 
Buckland, on breaking the perforated rock, found many Helices at 
the bottom of the cavities. 

This new instance, although strengthening the presumption aris- 
ing from the fact observed at Palermo, did not yet definitely settle 
the question—Had the Helices pierced the stone, or had they merely 
taken advantage of the old perforations of marine lithophagous mol- 
luses, and converted them into a residence? At the meeting of the 
British Association at Plymouth, in 1841, Dr Buckland remarked, 
in reference to a Memoir by Mr Walker, on the destructive action 
of Pholades, that all the perforations observed in calcareous rocks 
are not necessarily the work of marine molluscs, and he mentioned 
Helices as likewise perforating stones, supporting this assertion by 
the observation made at Boulogne in 1839, and even adding that Mr 


Scientific Intelliyence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 187 


Greenough had positively ascertained the action of the Helix aspersa 
on limestone. 

To the facts above narrated, and the authorities just cited, M. 
Constant Prévost adds a circumstance which appears to him to con- 
firm his first idea, and to render it unquestionable that the Helices 
have themselves scooped out the long canals at the bottom of which 
we find them. He pointed out the fact, in one of the specimens 
presented to the Society, that the bottom of one of the largest ca- 
vities presented an exact counterpart to the form of the Helix which 
lodged in it: a small projection corresponds exactly to the depres- 
sion at the origin of the column, and, by taking an impression of the 
cavity in plaster, he obtained a relief which in no respect differed 
from that of the base of the shell. 

The Helix found at Boulogne-sur-mer was the common H. aspersa. 
That observed at Monte Pelegrino seemed to be a very remarkable 
variety of that species, at least it is so regarded by Rosmaesler, who 
has figured it under that name in his Teonographia of Land and 
Fresh-water Shells, pl. xxii. It is the Helix described and figured 
as distinct, under the name of Helix Mazzuli by Zau and Phillipi, 
and under that of [. Retirugis by Menke. 

The same Helix, now found alive in the vicinity of Palermo, is 
met with in a fossil state in the marine tertiary deposits which 
surround the base of Monte Pelegrino. M. Constant Prévost further 
remarked, that it is by maceration, or by chemical action, and not by 
a mechanical action, that the Helix corrodes the stone. In fact, the 
compact limestone of Monte Pelegrino, which is a little argillaceous 
and bituminous, is traversed in every direction by numerous veins of 
crystalline limestone ; these more resisting parts are seen projecting 
like a kind of net-work on the interior walls of the cavities, which 
could not have taken place if the calcareous matter had been re- 
moved by friction. 

M. Constant Prévost terminates his communication by shewing 
how important it is that geologists should not confound the perfora- 
tions which may have been produced in rocks by marine molluscs 
with those of Helices, since the former, observed at the present time 
on very elevated parts of continents, indicate ancient levels of the 
sea, or the relative elevations of the ground, whereas the perforations 
of the Helex indicate nothing of that nature—From L’Institut., 
April 1842, p. 132. 

26. On the residuum of the Combustion of the Diamond, by M. 
Peizholdt.—By repeating the experiments of Messrs Dumas and 
Stass, in order to determine the atomic weight of carbon by the coni- 


186 Scientific Lutelligence—Mineralogy and Chemistry. 


bustion of the diamond, Messrs Erdmann and Marchand have ob- 
tained, like these chemists, a residuum of very small volume, scarcely 
perceptible in the case of small diamonds, and which consisted of a 
reddish substance, the parts of which sometimes presented a brilliant 
surface, and seemed as if they had been already formed and enclosed 
in the fissures of the burnt mineral. M. Petzholdt found that this 
residuum (which was not more than 0.0072 gram, in a diamond of 
5.6344), consisted principally of a great number of small plates or 
scales, among which were found mingled, but very rarely, softer 
and more rounded parts. Under the microscope these bodies ap- 
peared some of them black and not transparent, others like- 
wise black, but passing into brown, and a little transparent ; 
others also were transparent, light brown, passing into yellow, 
and, finally, some were yellow or white. With regard to their 
internal structure, as far at least as it was disclosed by the micro- 
scope, it appeared to differ in an equal degree, particularly in 
such as were transparent and semi-transparent; generally it ap- 
peared granular in those that were transparent and white, radi- 
ated or plicate in the yellow. Sometimes black masses, similar 
to grains, might be observed here and there in the substance of the 
transparent splinters, as well as in the leaflets, which gave these 
portions a brownish aspect when they were looked at with the 
naked eye. The most interesting circumstance of all is, that ia 
a great number of these bodies, we distinctly perceive a delicate 
net-work, black or deep brown, with hexagonal meshes, many of 
which often run into each other, and bear an absolute resemblance 
to those which the researches of the microscope discover in the 
parenchyma of plants. Sometimes this net-work appears to dis- 
solve, or rather to have been affected in such a way that its con- 
tours appear to become confounded and disappear, while in the 
other parts of the same body it was perfectly entire. 

These observations give rise to the conjecture, that this net- 
work, and the black substances which accompany it, are nothing 
more than the debris of vegetable carbon, the combustion of which 
could not take place simultaneously with that of the diamond, 
because they were surrounded by bodies incapable of burning. 

The analysis of this residuum by means of the blowpipe for 
sale, shews that it consists of silica, with traces of iron. 

On examining the diamonds of commerce at Dresden, and 
those of the mineralogical collection at the Royal Museum, M. 
Petzhold has again found among many of them the same plates 
or scales, and, in the middle of one of them, a small brown, 
transparent, triangular leaflet, in which he remarked one of these 


Scientific Intelligence—Miscellaneous. 189 


reticulations in question, although already in a state of dissolution. 
This seems to confirm the opinion of Messrs Erdmann and Mar- 
chand, that these bodies are all formed in the fissures of the 
diamond in which they are enclosed, and it tends to support the 
notions which M. Liebig has expressed in his Organie Chemistry, 
respecting the constitution of the diamond.— From L’ Institut., 21st 
July 1842, p. 260. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


27. Indian Isinglass—Isinglass, as is well known, is manufactured 
from the swimming-bladders or sounds of certain fish. Of these the 
large sturgeon, caught in several rivers of Russia, furnishes the best, 
or is the best prepared; selling by wholesale at 10s. to 12s. the 
pound, whilst the Brazilian or North American only fetches from 
2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d., and there are inferior qualities realizing no 
more than 9d. The value of this seemingly trifling article to Russia 
may be inferred from the annual imports into England, which vary 
from 1800 to 2000 hundredweight. 

After an occupation of Calcutta of more than a century, and a 
territorial possession of Bengal of eighty years, an individual, 
writing anonymously in a periodical, acquainted the Indian public 
with the noy.1 facts, not merely that the waters of India produced in 
plenty fishes that would furnish isinglass, but that a trade in 
this commodity had long been carried on (it turns out from time 
immemorial) between the Indian fishermen and the Chinese, whe, 
not satisfied with the products of the Ganges, ransacked the whole 
of the archipelago for parts of fish yielding isinglass, or a gelatinous 
substance very much akin to it. They have extended their re- 
searches even to Bombay ; whence upwards of 5000 hundredweight 
of “shark fins and fish maws” were exported to China in 1837-88 ; 
fish maws, though known by name, being quite unknown in their 
nature till Dr Royle, after great difficulty, obtained specimens 
through the house of Forbes and Co. “On examination, these 
proved to be composed of a sack-like membrane, which had been 
split open, of a light colour, and semi-transparent, resembling the 
ordinary qualities of isinglass in appearance.” It is also said 
that the Chinese, after exporting the roughly-cured Ganges isin- 
glass, refine some of it, and reimport it at a large profit. 

Attention has also been paid to the isinglass itself, specimens 
of which have been forwarded to Europe, some prepared under 
the inspection of Mr M‘Cleland, of the Bengal medical service. 
The less scientifically-prepared samples were valued at Is. Sd. 
and 4s. per pound; that prepared under the inspection of Mr 
M‘Cleland, of the Bengal medical service, produecd Is. 7d.; the 


190 Seientific Intelligence—Miscellaneous. 


mere cost of which, in India, including the purchase and prepa- 
ration, was only Is. 1d. per pound ; but subsequent expenses, and 
duties of various kinds, rendered the whole cost threefold the 
amount realized by the sale. Subjected to scientific analysis, the 
Indian isinglass differs but little from the Russian. It is of so 
much less market value, partly because it is new and the supply 
uncertain ; partly from the form in which it has been brought to 
England, which is favourable to adulteration ; but chiefly from 
the want of care in the preparation, an unpleasant fishy smell 
remaining, which renders it impossible to bring it into use here 
for culinary purposes. Some importations, however, have taken 
place, nor is the article now unknown to the London brokers ; so 
that there is every prospect of a new and profitable source of com- 
merce being opened to India, if care and capital be applied to 
the preparation of the isinglass. 

28. Ancient Fable of Colossal Ants produeing Gold.*—One pas- 
sage will satisfactorily explain the extravagant fable related by 
the Greeks, and repeated by travellers in the middle ages, of ants 
as big as foxes, who produc» gold. The passage states, that the 
tribes of various names who dwell between the Meru and Man- 
dara Mountains, brought lumps of gold, of the sort called paip- 
pilika, or ant gold,—so named, because it was dug out by the com- 
mon large ant or pipilika. It was, in fact, believed that the 
native gold found on the surface of some of the auriferous deserts 
of northern India had been laid bare by the action of these 
insects ;—an idea by no means irrational, although erroneous, 
but which grew up, in its progress westward, into a mon- 
strous absurdity. The native country of these tribes is that de- 
scribed by the Greeks, the mountains between Hindoostan and 
Thibet; and the names given are those of barbarous races still 
found in those localities. 

29. On the Transformations which have been produced in Turf by the 
Essence of Turpentine, or by a composition isomeric with it. By M. 
Forchhammer.—Extensive researches have demonstrated that 
Denmark was formerly covered with a forest of firs, and that this 
vegetation had already disappeared at a period so remote, that 
there remains no historical or traditional trace of it. The stems 
and roots of magnificent firs are now found in the greater part 
of the peat-bog's of the country; and M. Steenstrup has recently 
discovered in these some crystals, which have such a resemblance 


* From a paper read to the Royal Asiatic Society, by Professor Wilson, 
“ On a portion of the Mahabharata,” &c. 


scientific Intelligence—Miscellaneous. 191 


to the scheererite of Uznach, in Switzerland, that they were at first 
taken for that mineral substance. M. Forchhammer, who has 
studied these crystals, has found that they are composed of two 
substances, to one of which he gives the name of Tecorctine, on ac- 
count of the facility with which it enters into a state of fusion ; 
to the other, that of Phylloretine, because it crystallizes in fine 
leaflets. These two substances may be separated, by dissolving 
the crystals in boiling aleohol._—From L’Institut., June 16, 1842, 
p- 217. 

30. On the Preservation of Flowers.—To preserve flowers fresh. It 
is now, alas! a long eighteen years ago since we first saw, in 
the drawing-room of a gentleman now no more, in the hot, dry 
weather of the dog-days, flowers preserved day after day in all 
their freshness by the following simple contrivance :—A flat dish 
of porcelain had water poured into it; in the water a vase of 
flowers was set ; over the whole a bell-glass was placed, with its 
rim in-the water. This was a “ Ward's case” in principle, 
although different in its construction. The air that surrounded the 
flowers, being confined beneath the bell-glass, was constantly 
moist with the water that rose into it in the form of vapour. As 
fast as the water was condensed, it ran down the sides of the 
bell-glass into the dish ; and if means had been taken to enclose 
the water on the outside of the bell glass, so as to prevent its 
evaporating into the air of the sitting-room, the atmosphere 
around the flowers would haye remained continually damp. 
What is the explanation of this? Do the flowers feed on the 
viewless vapour that surrounds them? Perhaps they do; but the 
great cause of their preserving their freshness, is to be sought in 
another fact. When flowers are brought into a sitting-room they 
fade, because of the dryness of the air. The air of a sitting-room 
is usually something drier than that of the garden, and always 
much more so than that of a good green-house or stove. Flowers, 
when gathered, are cut off from the supply of moisture collected 
for them by their roots, and their mutilated stems are far from. 
having so great a power of sucking up fluids as the roots have. 
If, then, with diminished powers of feeding, they are exposed to 
augmented perspiration, as is the case in a dry sitting-room, it is 
evident that the balance of gain on the one hand by the roots, 
and of loss on the other hand by their whole surface, cannot be 
maintained. The result can only be their destruction. Now, to 
place them in a damp atmosphere, is to restore this balance ; 
because, if their power of sucking by their wounded ends is 
diminished, so is their power of perspiring 5 for a damp atmos- 


192 Scientific Intelligence— Miscellaneous. 


phere will rob them of no water. Hence they maintain their 
freshness. The only difference between plants in a ‘ Ward's 
ease,” and flowers in the little apparatus just described, is this— 
that the former is intended for plants to grow in for a consider- 
able space of time, while the latter is merely for their preservation 
. for a few days; and that the air which surrounds the flowers is 
always charged with the same quantity of vapour, but will vary 
with the circumstances, and at the will of him who has the 
management of it. We recommend those who love to see plenty 
of fresh flowers in their sitting-rooms in dry weather, to procure 
it. The experiment can be tried by inserting a tumbler over a 
rosebud in a saucer of water.—Gardeners’ Chronicle. 


NEW PUBLICATIONS. 


We have received among others the following works, which 
we recommend to the attention of our readers :— 

1. W. E. Redfield on Whirlwind Storms ; with replies to the Objec- 
tions and Strictures of Dr Hare. New York. 1842. 

2. An Introduction to Entomology, or Klements of the Natural His- 
tory of Insects ; by Messrs Kirby and Spence. Two volumes 8vo. Long- 
man, Brown, Green, and Longmans, London. 1848. The sixth edition 
of these admirable volumes. 

3. Descriptive and Historical account of Hydraulic and other machines 
for raising water, ancient and modern; including the progressive deve- 
lopment of the Steam Engine ; by Thomas Ewbank. Illustrated by nearly 
three hundred Engravings. One volume 8vo, pp. 582. Tilt and Bogue, 
Fleet Street, London. 1842. The English edition of a valuable, very in- 
teresting, and amusing work. 


4. Nomenclator Zoologicus, continens Nomina Systematica Genera 
Animalium, Tam viventium quam Fossilium ; auctore JL. Agassiz. Fas- 
ciculus IJ. continens Aves. Solodur, 1842. This work, when finished, 
will become indispensable to every naturalist. 

5. Sketch of the Geology of Moray ; by Patrick Duff, Esq. 8vo. With 
Plates. Forsyth and Young, Elgin. A lucid geological account of a small 
but interesting district. 

6. On the Voltaic Circuit ; by Alfred Smee, I*.R.S. 

7. Popular Conchology, or the Shell Cabinet arranged, being an Intro- 
duction to the modern System of Conchology ; by Agnes Catlow.  II- 
Iustrated by figures of all the genera. Small 8vo., pp. 8300. Longman, 
Brown, Green and Longmans, London. A pleasant, useful, and well il- 
lustrated volume. 

8. The employment of the Microscope in Medical Studies ; by John 
Hughes Bennet, M.D., Lecturer on Clinical Medicine, &c. Maclachlan 


op Sei 


New Publications. 193 


and Stewart, Edinburgh. An interesting discourse ona very popular sub- 
ject. 

9. Memoire sur les Kaolins ou Argiles a Porcelaine; par MM. Alex- 
andre Brongniart et Malaguti. 4to. Paris, 1841. The most philosophical 
essay on the Porcelain Earth we have met with. 

10. Rede zum Andenken an Dr Ignaz Ddllinger; von Dr Fr. v. Wal- 
ther. Miinchen. 4to. 1841. An excellent biography of a distinguished 
phystologist. 

11. On the Fossils of the Mountain Limestone in Ireland, as compared 
with those of Great Britain; by R. Griffith, F.R.S.E.. &ce. 4to. A valu- 
able geological document. 

12. Recherches sur certaines circonstances qui influent sur la Tempera- 
ture du point d’ebuillition des liquides ; par W. F. Marcet. 4to. 1842. 

13. Elements of Electro-Metallurgy ; by Alfred Smee, F.R.S. Parts 
4,5,6,7. Palmer, London. A work now nearly completed, the best on 
Electro-Metallurgy in our language. 

14, Ninth Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. 
184]. J. Trathan, Falmouth. Vhe record of the ninth Session of a very 
useful association. 

15. What to Teach, and how to Teach, &c.; by H. Mayhew. 8vo- 
William Smith, London. 

16. American Repertory of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures. 1841. 
New York. 

17. Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, 
1842. ie 

18. Report of a Committee. appointed by the British Association “ to 
consider the rules by which the Nomenclature of Zoology may be estab- 
lished on a uniform and permanent basis.” 1842. 

19. Experimental Inquiry into the advantages attending the use of 
Cylindrical Wheels on Railways; by W. J. Macquorn Rankine, Esgq., 
Civil Engineer. R. Grant andSons, Edinburgh. The first publication of 
a young and promising engineer. 

20. Memoir of William Maclure, Esq., late President of the Academy 
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia ; by S. G. Morton, M.D. Philadel- 
phia, 1841. The biography of an excellent man and active geologist. 

21. Boston Journal of Natural History. Boston. 

22. Professor Silliman’s Address before the Association of American 
Geologists and Naturalists. Held in Boston, April 25-80, 1842. The 
best view of the present state of geology in America. 

23. Zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. Edited by Charles 
Darwin, Esq., F.R.S. Part V. Reptiles by Thomas Bell, Esq., F.R.S. 
No. 1. 

24. Illustrations of the Zoology of Southern Africa ; by Andrew Smith, 
M.D., No. 16. 

25. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 

26. Report of Mr Owen’s Monograph on the Apteryx Australis. 

27. The Maryland Medical Journal. 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVil —Janu_ry 1845. N 


194 ) 


List of Patents granted for Scotland from 26th September to 
22d December 1842. 


1. To Cuarves WitttaMm Fircninp, of Wesley Park, in the parish of 
Northfield, in the county of Worcester, farmer, “ an improved propelling 
apparatus for marine and other purposes.’—26th September 1842. 

2. To Epwin Warp Trent of Old Ford Bow, in the county of Middle- 
sex, rope-maker, “an improved mode of preparing oakum and other fibrous 
substances for caulking ships and other vessels.”—29th September 1842. 

3. To Perer Kacensuscn, of Wetter on Rhur, in Westphalia, in the king- 
dom of Prussia, dycr, now residing in the parish of Lyth, in the county of 
York, in England,“ certain improvements in the treatment of the alum rock 
or schist, and in the manufacture and application of the products derived 
therefrom.”’—29th September 1842. 

4. To Henry Bewrey, of Dublin, in the county of the city of Dublin, 
liccntiate apothecary and chemist, “an improved chalybeate water.”’—4th 
October 1842. 

5. To Atrrep Jerrery, of Lloyd’s Street, Pentonville, in the county of 
Middlesex, gentleman, “a new method of preparing masts, spars, and other 
wood for ship-building and other purposes.”—18th October 1842. 


6. To CLraupE Epwarp Deutscue, of Fricour’s Hotel, St Martin’s Lane, 
in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, beinga communication from abroad, 
“improvements in combining materials to be used for cementing purposes, 
and for the preventing the passage of fluids, and also tor forming articles 
frum such composition of materials.’”—18th October 1842. 


7. To Joun Rripspa.e of Leeds, in the county of York, “ improvements 
in preparing fibrous materials for weaving, and in sizing warps.’”’—20th 
October 1842. 

8 To Samurt Carson, of York Street, Covent Garden, in the county of 
Middlesex, gentleman, “ improvements in purifying and preserving animal 
substances.”’— 20th October 1842. 


9. To Henry Brown, of Selkirk, manufacturer, and Tuomas Water, of 
the same place, manufacturer, “ improvements on woollen-carding engines.” 
— 20th October 1842. 


10. To ALPHONSE DE TrotsBrioux, of Great Russel Street, Bloomsbury, 
in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, being acommunication from abroad, 
“jmprovements in lithographic and other printing presses.”—20th October 
1642. 

11. To Joun Vartey, of Colne, inthe county of Lancaster, engineer, and 
Epmonson Varuey of the same place, cotton-manufacturer, “ certain im- 
provements in steam-engines.”—26th October 1842, 

12. To James Hypr of Duckenfield, Cheshire, mechanic, and Joun HypE 
of the same place, cotton-spinner and manufacturer, “ a certain improvement 
or improvements in the machinery used for preparing cotton, wool, silk, flax, 
and similar fibrous material fer spinning cotton.”—3d November 1842. 


Ee 


List of Patents. 195 


13, To Joux Cray, ef Cottingham, in the county of Yerk, gentleman, 
and Freperick Rosengore of Sculcoates, in the county of York, gentleman, 
“improvements in arranging and setting up types for printing.”—3d No- 
vember 1842. 

14. To James Pitsrow, of Tottenham Green, in the county of Middlesex, 
engineer, “ certain improvements in the application of steam, air, and ether 
vapours and gaseous agents to the production of motive power, and in the 
machinery by which the same is effected.”—7th November 1842. 


15. To Francis Rouninziac Conver, of Highgate, in the county of 
Middlesex, civil-engineer, being a communication from ubroad, “ improye- 
ments in the cutting and shaping of wood, end in the machinery for that 
purpose.”—9th November 1842. 


16. To Jonx M:tcHext, of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, steel- 
pen manufacturer, “a certain improvement in the manufacture of metallic 
pens, and a certain improvement in the manufacture of penholders.”—11th 
November 1842. 


17. To Henry Crake, of Drogheda, in the county of Louth, in the king- 
dom of Ireland, linen merchant, “ improvements in machinery for lapping 
and folding all descriptions of fabrics, whether woven by hand or power.”— 
17th November 1842. ’ , 

18. To Joun Spinxs, the younger of John Street, Bedford Row, in the 
county of Middlesex, gentleman, “an improved apparatus for giving elas- 
ticity to certain parts of railways, and other carriages requiring the same,” 
being a communication from abroad.—21st November 1842. 


19. To Tuomas Wrictey, of Bridge Hall Mills, Bury, Lancaster, paper 
manufacturer, “ certain improvements in machinery for manufacturing 
paper.”—28th November 1842. 

£0. To Witti1am Cotey Jones of Vauxhall Walk, in the parish of Lam- 
beth, in the county of Surrey, chemist, ‘ improvements in treating or ope- 
rating upon a certain unctuous substance, in order to obtain products there- 


from, for the manufacture of candles and other purposes.’’—7th December 
1842. 


21. To Curantes Maurice Exizer Sauter, of Austin Friars, in the city 
of London, gentleman, being a communication frem abroad, “ improvements 
in the manufacture of sulphuric acid.””—7th December 1842. 

22. To Don PEpro Poucuant, of Glasgow, civil-engineer, “a certain im- 
provement or improvements in the construction of machinery for manufac- 
turing sugar.’’—7th December 1842. 


23. To CHarLtes Hearp Witp of Birmingham, in the county of War- 
wick, enginecr, “an improved switch for railway purposes.”—7th Decem- 
ber 1842. 

24. To Joun Browne, of Chariotte Street, Portland Place, in the county 
of Middlesex, Esquire, “improvements in the manufacture of mud-boots 
and overalls.”—7th December 1842. 


25. To Witttam Coxtey Jones of Vauxhall Terrace, in the county of 


196 List of Patents. 


Surrey, practical chemist, and Grorar Frrousson Witson of Vauxhall, 
in the same.county, gentleman, “improvements in operating upon certain 
organic bodies or substances, in order to obtain products or materials there- 
—7th December 


from, for the manufacture of candles and other purposes. 
1842. 

26. To Writ1AMm Losu, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Esquire, “ improvements 
in the construction of wheels for carriages-and locomotive engines intended 
to be employed on railways.”—9th December 1842. 

27. To THomas CarpDwE Lt of Bombay, in the East Indies, merchant, 
“jmproyements in the construction of presses for compressing cotton and 
other articles.”—9th December 1842. 

28. To CuarLEs AuGcustus PRELLER, of East Cheap, in the City of Lon- 
don, merchant, being a communication from abroad, “improvements in ma- 
chinery for preparing, combing, and drawing wool and goat’s hair.”—9th 
December 1642. 

29. To Tuomas SEviLte, of Royton, in the county of Lancaster, cotton- 
spinner, “certain improvements in machinery used in the preparing and 
spinning of cotton, flax, and other fibrous substances.”—9th December 1842. 

30; To WiLL1amM Youna of Queen Street, in the city of London, lamp- 
maker, “improvements in lamps and candlesticks.”—12th December 1842. 

31. To George Epmunp DonisrHorre, of Bradford, in the county of 
York, top-manufacturer, “ improvements in combing and drawing wool and 
certain descriptions of hair.’””—12th December 1842, 

32. To Joun Brsyop of Poland Street, in the county of Middlesex, Jew- 
eller, “improvements in apparatus used for retarding carriages on railways, 
parts of which are applicable for portioning power, and improvements in 
steam-cocks or plugs.”’—12th December 1842. 

33. To IsHam Baaas, of Wharton Street, in the county of Middlesex, 
chemist, “improvements in the production of light.”—13th December 1842. 

34. To Gasriet Hipporire Moreau, of Leicester Square, in the county 
of Middlesex, gentleman, “ certain improvements in steam-generators.”’— 
13th December 1842. 

35. To Joun GrorGcE Bopmer of Manchester, in the county of Lancas- 
ter, engineer, ‘“ certain improvements in the manufacture of metallic hoops 
and tyres for wheels, and in the method of fixing the same for use, and also 
improvements in the machinery or apparatus to be employed therein,”— 
19th December 1842. 

36. To Witt1am Lomas of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, 
worsted-spinner, and Isaac SuimweE tt, of the same place, worsted-spinner. 
« certain improvements in the manufacture of fringes, cords, and other simi- 
lar small wares; and also in the machinery or apparatus for producing the 
same.”—21st December 1842. 

37. To Moses Poote of Lincoln’s Inn, in the county of Middlesex, gen- 
tleman, being a communication from abroad, ‘ improvements in dressing 
mill-stones.”—-22d December 1842. 

38. To Witt1am Patmer of Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, in the county of 
Middlesex, manufacturer, “ improvements in the manufacture of candles.” 
—22d December 1842. 


THE 


EDINBURGH NEW 


PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 


Sketch of the Writings and Philosophical Character of Augus- 
tin Pyramus Decandolle, Professor of Natural History at 
the Academy of Geneva, &c. &c.* By Cuartes Davuseny, 
M.D., F.R.S., &c., Professor of Chemistry and of Botany in 
the University of Oxford. Communicated to this Journal 
by the Author. 


Tue name of Decandolle is, I conceive, familiar to the ears 
_ of most persons of education, as that of an individual eminent 
in the ranks of modern naturalists—holding a place amongst 
botanists of the age which has just gone by, similar to that 
which Linneus and Tournefort might have filled at an ante- 
cedent epoch, or which Brown and Hooker occupy in the 
present. 

But I question, nevertheless, whether those I now address 
are in general acquainted with the peculiar grounds upon 
which his scientific reputation is based, and whether they 
may not regard him simply as one of those individuals who 
signalized themselves in their day, either by the discovery of 
new plants, or by their extensive acquaintance with those which 
the researches of others had already brought to light. 

Were such the case, I certainly should not have chosen for 
the subject of a communication to the Ashmolean Society a 
topic like the present ; for although prompted to the task 


* Read before the Ashmolean Society of Oxford, February 13, 1843. 
VOL, XXXIV. NO. LXYIII.—=APRIL 1843. o 


198 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


now entered upon by a sense of the obligations I owe to this 
great botanist, not only in common with all who have studied 
his works, but also more particularly for many acts of per- 
sonal kindness, and much information liberally afforded me 
during my former residence at Geneva; yet I should despair 
of being able to interest you in my delineation of his scientific 
character, if accuracy of observation, and a retentive memory, 
applied to the subject-matter of botany, had constituted the 
only traits by which he stood remarkable amongst his fellows. 

But I flatter myself, that a sketch of his several contribu- 
tions to science, and of the qualities of mind displayed in his 
mode of handling the subjects they embrace, will possess 
some interest, not only as it ‘may lead to a higher estimate 
of the branch of natural history to which they relate, but 
also because it will enable you to trace the steps by which a 
great mind was enabled to ascend to many important gene- 
ral principles, not by mere happy guesses at truth, but by a 
gradual and laborious accumulation of facts—a power of as- 
similating, as it were, and combining into an harmonious 
whole, the discoveries of other men, together with a singular 
sagacity in deducing conclusions from the data he had thus 
collected. 


Augustin Pyramus Decandolle was born at Geneva in the 
year 1778, within a month, it has been remarked, of the death 
of Linnzeus.* He was distinguished from his infancy by a 
most retentive memory,t and by a fondness and aptitude for 
study ; but it is remarkable, that his earliest tastes were ex- 
clusively literary, and that he had acquired in his boyhood 
a great facility in composing verses, which, indeed, he re- 
tained ever afterwards, though I am not aware of any poetry 
having been published under hisname. ‘To these literary oc- 
cupations of his youth, antecedent to his devotion to natural 
history, I should be disposed to attribute, the purity of his 
language, the remarkable clearness and sustained energy of 


* Also, as Flourens states, two months after the death of Haller, and 
three months after that of Bernard de Jussieu. 

t He has been known to repeat every word of a copy of yerses after hear- 
ing them once recited. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 199 


his style, and the absence at once of those affectations, and 
those involved periods, which too often disgust or embarrass 
us in the writings of other men of science. 

Those who have perused the works of the late Sir John 
Leslie, or of the still more celebrated John Hunter, not to al- 
lude to men of less name and distinction, will be sensible, by 
the aid of contrast, how much the reception of scientific 
truths is promoted by the power which Monsieur Decandolle 
had acquired, from an early familiarity with the purest models 
of style, no less perhaps than from his own natural clearness 
of conception, of presenting before us, without study or pre- 
meditation, that copious flow of ideas with which his mind 
was fraught on all subjects connected with his favourite 
science, in language so perfectly precise, and in an order so 
completely methodical. 

At length, after he had in some measure satiated himself 
with the sweets of elegant literature, a love for botany ap- 
pears to have been awakened in his mind by an attendance 
on the lectures of Professor Vaucher* of Geneva, who lived 
long enough to have the satisfaction, at a later period, of see- 
ing his former pupil in undisputed possession of the fore- 
most rank amongst European naturalists. 

At the age of 18, in the year 1796, he went to Paris,t where 
a taste for physical science, which had been suspended for a 
while by the atrocities and by the vandalism of the Revolu- 
tion, began to revive. 

Here he attended the lectures of Vauquelin, Cuvier, Four- 
croy, and others, and contracted a friendship with Desfon- 
taines and Lamarck. 

The former had, in 1787, established that important gene- 


* Flourens, in his Eloge of Decandolle, which has reached me since the 
present memoir was drawn up, attributes the awakening of a taste for bo- 
tany in the mind of Decandolle to another circumstance, namely, to his 
taking refuge, when a boy, with his mother and brother, whilst the French 
were besieging Geneva in 1792, in a village situated at the foot of the Jura, 
where he amused himself in collecting wild plants, The statement given 
in the text was taken from the sketch of Decandolle’slife given in the Fe- 
deral newspaper by a distinguished fellow-citizen of Geneva; and it seems 
probable that both causes may have contributed to give him this early bias. 


7 At the suggestion of Dolomieu, according to Flourens. 


200 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


ralization, with respect to the essential differences pervading 

plants with one cotyledon and with more, which I have ven- 

tured on a former occasion* to characterize “as the key- 

stone of the natural system, and as holding the same rank in 

botany, which the discovery of the circulation of the blood, 

or the distinction between vertebrated and invertebrated ani- 
mals, claims in zoology.” 

The latter had already promulgated those singular specu- 
lations respecting the origin of inorganic matters, intended 
by him to supersede the new chemistry, which Lavoisier had 
so recently founded on the basis of experiment. 

In these it had been assumed, that life was the original 
cause of all combinations, the antagonist to those natural 
forces, which tend to resolve the elements of matter into their 
simplest forms, and which bring about death in organic, and 
dissolution in inorganic substances. 

But although such immense effects were attributed to the 
operation of life, Lamarck had not yet explained to the 
public how he considered this principle to operate ; and it was 
only in 1802 that we find him, in his “researches on the 
organization of living bodies,’ attributing to that blind im- 
pulse, or creative energy, which he denominates life, the power 
of building up, by an indefinite succession of efforts, the com- 
plicated organization of an animal or a plant. 

It is probable, however, that these theories were floating in 
his mind at the time when Decandolle’s intimacy with him 
commenced, and must have formed the subjects of frequent 
discussion, thus serving to render the latter familiar with 
those facts respecting abortive and rudimentary organs, on 
which the French Naturalist had raised this fanciful and airy 
superstructure. 

That a connexion with such persons as I have mentioned, 
should impart a bias to the genius and pursuits of a young 
man just entering into life, was unavoidable; but what may 
be remarked as the peculiar merit of Monsieur Decandolle 
was, that whilst we may trace in his writings the impress of 
those principles of science, which might be gleaned from the 


* See my Inaugural Lecture on the Study of Botany, Oxford, 1834, 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 201 


writings of both the above mentioned philosophers, we shall 
find them in his writings expanded by more extensive infor- 
mation, and corrected by a sounder and severer judgment. 

Thus he adopted the distinction between monocotyledonous 
and dicotyledonous plants from Desfontaines, and the doctrine 
of abortive and rudimentary parts from Lamarck; but the 
former truth was exhibited by him, not in the form of the bare 
announcement of a great principle, but as the very foundation 
on which all his systems, both in physiological and descrip- 
tive botany, were based ; whilst the latter never became in 
his hands the pretext for any such chimerical and dangerous 
speculations, as were associated with them in the mind of their 
originator. 

The earliest publications, however, of a botanical kind in 
which Decandolle’s name figures, were calculated to display 
his power of accurately discriminating species, rather than the 
philosophical character of his genius. 

In 1802 he published the first part of the description of 
Succulent Plants, drawings of which were supplied by the ce- 
lebrated Redouté. 

He likewise, about the same time, drew up a description of 
the Liliacez for the same author, and published a folio volume 
on the Astragalus and its allied genera, 

In 1804 he obtained his degree of Doctor of Physic, and 
delivered on that occasion a thesis on the Medical Properties 
of Plants, which served as the basis of a work on that subject, 
brought out by him in 1816, shewing that he was already 
alive to the connexion that subsists between the natural 
structure of plants and their medicinal virtues. 

In the same year he delivered, at the College of France, 
his first course of lectures on the Principles of Botanical Ar- 
rangement, of which he has given a sketch in the introduc- 
tion to the Flore Frangaise published the following year. 

Although this essay may not have attracted all the atten- 
tion it deserved, in consequence of making part of a Flora, a 
kind of work in which persons in general do not look for prin- 
ciples of physiology ; yet it contributed in no slight degree to 
the establishment of correct principles of classification, and 
served as the basis of the Treatise which he published on this 
branch of the subject some years afterwards. 


202 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


We thus see that the germs of two of his most important 
publications existed in the mind of M. Decandolle at an early 
period of his life, for in 1804, when he delivered his inau- 
gural dissertation, and gave his first course on Botany, he was 
only 26 years of age. 

The basis also of two other great undertakings was laid at 
a period not much later, for in 1805 commenced, as I have 
already stated, the publication of the third edition of the 
Flore Francaise, under the joint auspices of Lamarck and 
Decandolle ; and in 1806, we owe to the subject of this sketch 
a Botanical Chart, in which France is divided into six re- 
gions, distinguished by the character of their respective vege- 
tations, to which are appended some remarks on the geogra- 
phical distribution of plants, serving as a prelude to that more 
detailed exposition of the subject, which we shall find to have 
been given, in the year 1820, in the Dictionnaire des Sciences 
Naturelles. 

The former editions of the Flore Francaise, as Cuvier ob- 
serves,* had no pretensions to be considered as a complete 
history of the species of plants indigenous to France,—their 
aim was rather that of exemplifying, by means of the plants 
which former botanists had enumerated, the peculiar artifi- 
cial method of determining the name of a species, which La- 
marck had proposed as a substitute for the then popular one 
of Linnzus. 

This system consists in setting out with the most general 
forms, dividing and subdividing always by two, and only al- 
lowing the choice between two opposite characters, so as to 
conduct the reader, step by step, almost infallibly to the deter- 
mination of the plant of which he desires to discover the 
name. 

The services, therefore, which Decandolle rendered to Bo- 
tany by associating himself with Lamarck in the publication 
of the third edition, may be easily estimated by this circeum- 
stance alone, that whereas the preceding Floras of France 
contained an enumeration of only 2700 plants, he had aug- 
mented the number, in the third edition of this work, to no 
less than 4700. 


* See Memoire of M. de Lamarck. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 203 
ce 


This, however, was not all; for although, out of deference 
to his colleague, he retains, in the first portion of his work, 
the artificial method of determining a plant by the system of 
dichotomy which Lamarck had invented, he proceeds, in all 
the subsequent parts, to arrange them according to the prin- 
ciples of that natural arrangement which the great Jussieu 
had first reduced to a system. 

In his preface to the first volume of the Flore Francaise, 
published in 1805, we find him thus contrasting the distince- 
tive merits of the natural and artificial methods. 

“ The natural method,” he says, “ endeavours to place each 
individual object in the midst of those with which it possesses 
the greatest number of important points of resemblance ; the 
artificial has no other end than that of enabling us to recog- 
nize each individual plant, and to isolate it from the rest of 
the vegetable kingdom. The former, being truly a science, 
will serve as an immutable foundation for anatomy and phy- 
siology to build upon; whilst the second, being a mere em- 
pirical art, may indeed offer some conveniences for practical 
purposes, but does nothing towards enlarging the boundaries 
of science, and places before us an indefinite number of arbi- 
trary arrangements. The former, searching merely after truth, 
has established its foundation on the organs that are of the 
greatest importance to the existence of plants, without con- 
sidering whether these organs are easy or difficult of observa~ 
tion ; the second, aiming only at facility, bases its distinctions 
upon those which are most readily examined, and, therefore, 
present the greatest facilities for study.” 

We thus perceive, that at this early period the mind of 
Mons. Decandolle was impressed with those philosophical 
principles which his subsequent labours so materially calcu- 
lated to establish and to diffuse ; and that, at a time when the 
school of Sir J. E. Smith in England was still shackled by the 
trammels of the Linnzean system, this great botanist was him- 
self taking advantage of those methods of arrangement, which, 
in a more mature form, he afterwards presented to the world 
for the guidance of others. 

But I am inclined to regard it as a peculiar proof, at once 
of the caution and of the self-control which formed a distin- 


204 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


guishing feature in the character of this great botanist, that, 
so much in advance as he appears to have been of most of his 
cotemporaries, he should have nevertheless abstained for so 
many years from the publication of any work expressly designed 
for the elucidation, either of the physiology of plants, or of 
those principles of classification of which he appears to have 
had so clear a conception, and should have confined himself, 
as it would appear, exclusively to a laborious accumulation of 
facts, calculated to illustrate and to confirm his principles, be- 
fore he indulged himself in a fuller development of them. 

From the period at which he became associated with La- 
marck in the publication of the Flore Frangaise, till the year 
1812, he was employed almost incessantly in studying the de- 
tails of the botany and agriculture of France ; and in the course 
of that time, as he himself assures us, traversed the whole of 
that extensive country, herborising in every province, and 
presenting each year to the Government a report, embodying 
the results of his labours and researches during the preceding 
summer. 

Nor could he have chosen a better method for at once en- 
larging his views of nature, and putting to the test the truths 
of his preconceived views ; the compilation of a local Flora, 
indeed, may only be serviceable in disciplining the mind to 
habits of accurate observation, but the survey of a country so 
large as France then was, combining such an extent of geo- 
graphical range, and so many differences of local position, 
would also expand our views of nature, by furnishing us with 
examples of a very large proportion of vegetable forms, speci- 
mens of the productions of a considerable variety of distinct 
countries. 

Thus, the flora of Picardy and Normandy is analogous to 
that of the neighbouring coasts of England, or of the Nether- 
lands, that of the centre of France approaches, in the charac- 
ter of its vegetation, to the south of Germany, and that of 
Languedoc to the north of Spain; whilst the neighbourhood 
of Toulon and of Hyéres partakes even of the climate of 
southern Italy—for the orange and the date, which thrive 
along many parts of the Gulf of Genoa, do not reappear till we 
reach a latitude somewhat more southern than that of Rome. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 205 


And whereas the Alps of Dauphiny and the Pyrenees exhibit 
the influence upon vegetation of an atmosphere rarified by the 
elevated nature of their position, the long extent of the coast 
may enable us to contrast the productions of a climate modi- 
fied by the effect of the sea, with that which belongs more pe- 
culiarly to the interior of continents. 


It was not till after the completion of this great work, when 
his authority, as an accurate, as well as a profound botanist, 
had been established throughout Europe, both by the estima- 
tion in which his publications were held, and also by the re- 
putation of the lectures he delivered at Montpellier, where, in 
1810, he had been appointed professor of botany to the Uni- 
versity, that he ventured upon that admirable Treatise, which 
was intended, at once to establish a code of Jaws for directing 
future botanists in their description and arrangement of the 
species of plants, and to explain the philosophical principles 
upon which such laws were to be justified. 

It is far from my intention to ascribe to Mons. Decandolle 
the sole merit of the views which he promulgated in the work 
alluded to, for of all men certainly he is the one who least re- 
quires from his biographer the sacrifice of the reputation of 
other philosophers, to enhance the glory of his own. 

Linnzus himself, indeed, had expressed in the strongest 
terms his sense of the importance of a natural classification, 
and had thrown together the greater part of the then known 
genera of plants in groups or families, designated by their ap- 
propriate names, though without defining the characters of the 
latter. 

Bernard de Jussieu, in France, had also exemplified this 
method, by his arrangement of the plants in the royal garden 
at Trianon, although he did not reduce to writing the princi- 
ples on which he had proceeded. 

Adanson had gone somewhat further, by labouring to estab- 
lish the necessity of founding a system of classification, not on 
one, but on all the organs of a plant collectively; but he too 
stopped short of the mark, by not sufficiently appreciating the 
relative importance of the several organs, thus placing them 
all, as it were, upon the same level, and estimating the affini- 


206 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


ties between plants, by the number, and not by the importance, 
of their points of agreement. 

Lastly, the younger Jussieu, in his important memoirs pub- 
lished in the years 1777 and 1778, laid down correctly the 
laws which were to determine the relative value of these or- 
gans, by which he afforded a clew to the principles which had 
guided himself and his uncle in the classification which they 
had adopted. 

What remained then for Decandolle to achieve, was the re- 
ducing to certain fixed principles those deviations from the 
normal structure which are perceived in plants naturally allied 
—explaining how it happens, that species or genera, which 
approach each other so nearly in the character of those organs 
which Jussieu had justly considered the most important, should 
differ, nevertheless, both with respect to the number, and eyen 
sometimes in the entire absence, of parts in the one, which 
exist in the other. 

In short, whilst Jussieu established the general principles of 
a correct classification, it remained for Decandolle to remove 
the difficulties which interfered with their application to par- 
ticular cases. 

Nor was this all—for Jussieu contented himself, with laying 
down those practical rules which were to guide future bota- 
nists in grouping together the several objects which present 
themselves in the vegetable kingdom, and with affording in 
his works correct models of classification for others to imitate ; 
whilst the task which Decandolle undertook, was that of refer- 
ring to their first principles the rules and practice of this 
school, explaining thereby the reasons on which they were 
founded, and vindicating the correctness of the models which 
they had presented for our imitation. 

« The theory of a natural classification,” remarks Decan- 
dolle, ‘‘ has never yet been properly set down in print, even 
by those who have contributed most to advance it. Connected, 
as it is, with all branches of the science, we can only arrive at 
it by dint of laborious investigations and continued reflections, 
of which it ought, at this time of day, to be the groundwork, 
and not the result. Whatever we are able to learn on the sub- 
ject may be reduced to certain general ideas, which botanists 


a] 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 207 


of an higher order have put forth, and that in their conversa- 
tion, rather than in their writings, being still amongst the 
number of those opinions which Bacon named floating, be- 
cause, having never been methodically expounded, they never 
could be seriously discussed.” 

Now, the principles on which a natural classification pro- 
ceeds, are composed essentially of three parts. 1s¢, An estima- 
tion of the relative importance which we ought to assign to the 
several organs compared one with the other. 2d, A know- 
ledge of the circumstances which may lead the observer astray 
relative to the true nature of these organs; and, 3d, An esti- 
mation of the importance which ought to be attributed to each 
of the points of view under which the same organ admits of 
being regarded. 

With respect to the Ist and 3d of these,—namely, the 
importance of the several organs considered relatively, and 
the importance of the several points of view in which the 
same organ may be regarded,—Decandolle has done nothing 
more, than to reduce to a system the rules upon which Jussieu 
and other preceding botanists had proceeded in their natural 
arrangements of plants, and to explain the principles upon 
which their rules were founded, or by which they admit of 
being justified. 

But, with respect to the 2d part, namely, the appreciation 
of the circumstances which may lead the observer astray as to 
the true nature of the organs themselves, he has the merit of 
having unfolded a theory, at once ingenious and philosophical, 
of the highest practical utility with reference to the details of 
botany, and calculated to simplify, as well as to enlarge, our 
ideas with respect to the organization of vegetables. 

In my Inaugural Lecture on Botany I have already presented 
a sketch of this one of Decandolle’s treatises, which, though 
concise, may perhaps serve as a sufficient account of it for the 
present occasion. 

“The causes which bring about a deviation from the 
normal structure of a particular part, and thus lead a botanist 
to take a mistaken view of its nature, or at least of its struc- 
ture, may be reduced to three: 1s¢, The abortion of some one 
or more of those organs, which, in the regular course of things, 


208 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


are considered as natural to it; 2d/y, An alteration in its 
structure, and consequently in its functions ; 3d/y, The union 
or coherence of several organs, so as to appear like one. 

** These causes are ranked by Decandolle under the three 
general heads of the abortion of organs, their degeneration, 
and their mutual coherence ; and any one of them may be 
considered competent to induce such a change in the general 
appearance of a plant, as shall render it altogether different 
from another to which it would, on general grounds, appear to 
be closely allied. 

* That particular organs in plants do frequently become 
abortive, in consequence of the common accidents of excessive 
or defective humidity, light, &c., had been before admitted ; 
but to Monsieur Decandolle we are indebted for assigning a 
wider influence to this cause, and for shewing, that in many 
cases there are forces in regular operation which produce a 
constant alteration zz, or obliteration of, certain parts. 

“ If, indeed, we admit, that such effects may and do arise 
from internal as well as from external causes, from the effect 
of the mere growth and development of parts connected with 
its own structure, as well as from the operation of foreign 
agents, it is plain that they would extend, not to a few only, 
but to all the individuals belonging to the family of plants 
possessing the kind of structure which occasions it. 

*« Thus, for example, we observe in the horse-chesnut three 
seed-vessels or carpels, each containing two seeds; whilst in 
the fruit we perceive in all never more than three seeds, and 
sometimes only a single one. It is evident, therefore, that at 
least three of the seeds have died away, not from any cause 
which can be considered accidental, but from something inhe- 
rent in the very structure of the tree. We may indeed trace 
the gradual decay of these abortive seeds, by opening the seed- 
vessel at different stages of its growth. In like manner it is 
found to be the rule, that in some cases the terminal, in others 
the lateral buds, will arrive at maturity ; but, that the abor- 
tion of the one arises merely from the development of the 
other, and not from any inherent peculiarity of structure in 
itself, has been proved, by removing the bud, which commonly 
expands at an early age, by which means the one which is 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 209 


commonly abortive is made to develope itself, and to arrive at 
maturity. 

« The reality of this occurrence cannot therefore be ques- 
tioned, but to pronounce in what cases it has actually happen- 
ed, becomes a question of great intricacy. 

« The first principle on which M. Decandolle proceeds, in 
order to determine what organs in a particular plant have be- 
come abortive, or are deficient, is by observing what are called 
the monstrosities to which the species is liable, or its occasional 
deviations from the accustomed standard. 

« These monstrosities arise in some cases from a return to 

he primitive type of the species, in consequence of the re- 
moval, by accident, of those forces which usually modify its 
natural condition. 

“ In the horse-chesnut, for example, the six embryos rarely 
ever grow to maturity, because those which first have acquired 

-vitality abstract nourishment from the rest, and thus cause 
them to die away. 

“It might happen, however, by some singular accident, that 
all the six embryos received the principle of life at one and 
the same instant of time, on which supposition the existence 
of six mature seeds in the two seed-vessels might occur—a 
monstrosity which, so far from being a further departure from 
the natural form, would be in fact a return to it. 

« The second method, by which the same point is deter- 
mined, consists in examining the general analogy subsisting 
between the plant and others. If, for instance, all those spe- 
cies, which bear the nearest resemblance to the one we are 
examining, should have five stamens, whilst this possesses only 
four, we might reasonably conclude, knowing the great ten- 
dency of this organ to become abortive, that one habitually 
dies away, owing to some cause incident to the nature of the 
vegetable. 

“ The abortions which take place, may occur either from 
the plant being nourished in excess, or defectively. By an ex- 
cess of nourishment, the growth of the contiguous organs may 
be so accelerated, that the part itself is prevented growing, 
or becomes stunted; by defect of nourishment, on the con- 
trary, the same consequence may directly ensue, and under 


210 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


either state of things one of two results will occur, either that 
the organ is so diminished, as to be incapable of performing 
its proper office, or that it is entirely obliterated. In the 
former case it often happens, by a beautiful provision of na- 
ture, that it is transformed into some other organ, and dis- 
charges certain other functions. Thus branches, petioles of 
leaves, petals of flowers, and other parts, degenerate, some- 
times into thorns, and at other times into tendrils; thus the 
branches, becoming succulent, acquire the appearance, and 
perform the functions, of leaves; thus that which is essen- 
tially nothing more than one of the envelopes of the kernel of 
the peach, becoming pulpy, is converted into a wholesome kind 
of fruit. 

« The third cause of deviation from the accustomed stan- 
dard is the mutual adhesion of certain parts, a process similar 
to that which we produce artificially in the operation of graft- 
ing, and which often takes place also under natural cireum- 
stances. 

“ It is, therefore, quite intelligible that this same union of 
parts should also be produced in consequence of their natural 
proximity. Thus, if two ovaries grow very near each other, 
it is obvious that they will have a tendency to cohere. M. 
Decandolle, therefore, contends, that the corolla and the 
calyx are in fact compound organs, made up of a certain num- 
ber of petals and of sepals which have grown together, that 
a seed-vessel is a congeries of as many distinct organs as there 
are cells, and that a flower is no assemblage of individuals 
clustered round a common centre.” 

The sagacity of our countryman, Robert Brown, had al- 
ready led him to point out this principle, so far as relates to 
one portion of the subject, for in his Prodromus Flora Novee 
Hollandiz, published so long ago as 1810, he pronounces, that 
all multilocular capsules are composed of a number of thecz 
equal in number to the divisions of which they consist, and 
differ from each other only in the degrees and modes of their 
cohesion or separation. 

He also, in his observations on the “ Natural Family called 
Composite,’”’ published in the Linnzan Transactions for 1816, 
between the publication of the first and second editions of 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 211 


Decandolle’s Theorie Elementaire, announces the same truth 
in more clear and distinct language, stating, that he considers 
the pistillum, or female organ, of all pheenogamous plants, to 
be formed on the same plan, of which a polyspermous legumen, 
or folliculus, whose seeds are disposed in a double series, may 
be taken asa type. “A circular series of these pistilla,” he 
continues, “disposed round an imaginary axis, and whose 
number corresponds with that of the parts of the calyx or 
corolla, enterg into my notion of a flower complete in all its 
parts.” 

Other hints of the same kind thrown out in this memoir, 
and likewise in his Appendix to Flinders’ Voyages, published 
in 1814, respecting the family Euphorbiacex, shew, that the 
doctrine of abortion, which Decandolle has explained so lu- 
minously, was present also to the mind of Robert Brown, 
and render it probable, that, in the conception of some parts 
of the work alluded to, its author may have derived assist- 
ance from the writings of our countryman. 

The Memoirs of Cassini on the Composite might also have 
improved and enlarged, though, as they were brought out in 
1814, they could not have originated the ideas of M. Decan- 
dolle; but the two sources to which he seems to have been 
peculiarly indebted for the general views, and for the train 
of thought which he has put forth, were, 1s¢, The system 
of crystallography which had lately been developed by the 
Abbé Hauy; and, 2dly, The opinions and speculations of 
Mons. Lamarck concerning the successive progression of or- 
ganized beings. 

The Abbé Hauy had shewn, how a number of secondary 
forms may be produced by the same mineral species, owing 
to an assemblage of crystals possessing the same figure being 
piled up one upon the other in a decreasing series. 

Thus an octohedral figure may be produced by a mineral 
whose primitive form is a cube, in consequence of the number 
of little crystals which go to constitute the aggregate which 
we see, decreasing in regular proportion from the sides to the 
centre. 

This principle suggested to Mons. Decandolle the analo- 
gous idea of regarding the apparent irregularities of struc- 


212 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


ture, which are seen in species of plants belonging to the 
same common type, as modifications produced by the causes 
above assigned, just as the apparent irregularity of figure 
which we observe in the same mineral had been referred by 
Hauy to certain crystalline laws acting upon molecules possess- 
ing the same type. 

Moreover, a similar difference exists between the mode of 
considering the organs of plants adopted by Decandolle, and 
by antecedent botanists, as that which prevails between the 
system of crystallography invented by the Abbé Hauy, and 
that previously proposed by Romé de L’Isle. 

According to the latter, each crystal was viewed as in itself 
a whole, possessing a certain definite figure, which was in 
many cases modified by truncation, that is, by having its an- 
gles bevelled off. 

According to the former, a crystal is an aggregate of a 
number of molecules, possessing a particular figure, which, 
clustering together in obedience to certain laws, produce a 
variety of secondary forms, all, however, bearing some relation 
to the primary one. 

So, according tothe old mode of considering plants, the 
corolla, the calyx, the seed-vessel, &c., was each considered a 
simple organ, and the petals, the sepals, the carpels, &c. its 
parts—whereas Decandolle regards each of the former as a 
compound organ, and the latter to bear the same relation to 
it, which the primitive molecules in Hauy’s system do to the 
crystals formed by their union. 

But the individual, to whom probably Decandolle was most 
indebted for the germs of those opinions, which he has so 
ably developed in his Théorie Elémentaire, was his colleague 
and associate, Lamarck ; and I could hardly fix upon any cir- 
cumstance in the whole of his scientific career, more calcu- 
lated to exalt his character morally as well as intellectually, 
than the use he has made of the ingenious but fanciful views 
which he obtained from this source, and the discrimination 
which he exercised in separating the pure metal from the base 
alloy. 

It is foreign to the objects of this Society to enter upon 
any discussions connected with religion, nor indeed, if I were 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 213 


to allude to-that part of M. Decandolle’s character, should I 
be able to do justice to him in these respects, not having been 
honoured with a sufficient degree of intimacy with him in the 
privacy of his domestic circle, to learn his sentiments on those 
grave subjects. 

This, however, I may venture to assert, that whilst there is 
no passage in any of hisnumerous works, which ean even by 
implication convey an impression of another kind, there are 
many which evince a disposition, on his part, to apply, on every 
suitable opportunity, the truths of his favourite science to the 
advocacy of the eternal interests of mankind. 

The use which he and Lamarck have made of the doctrine 
of rudimentary organs common to them both will serve to 
illustrate this fact, and evince, not only the greater soundness 
of M. Decandolle’s judgment, but likewise the moral truth, 
that food and poison may be extracted out of the very same 
materials, according to the character of the recipient. 

The doctrine of rudimentary organs, that is, the notion 
“that parts which exercise some important function in the or- 
ganization of animals or of vegetables, may exist in some spe- 
cies in so imperfect a condition, as to be apparently of no use 
to the individual,’ is one that scarcely can admit of dispute 
from those who take a wide survey of either of the two king- 
doms of nature. 

The mamme of male animals in general, the stumps of 
wings in birds, which, like the penguin, are unable to fly, 
the eyes covered with skin belonging to the mole and the 
Proteus anguinus, and the rudiments of toes concealed under 
the skin of ruminant animals, are all familiar illustrations of 
this position. 

But in the use which has been severally made of the above 
principle, the genius of the two philosophers alluded to stands 
remarkably contrasted. 

By Lamarck it was regarded as a confirmation of that ex- 
travagant hypothesis of appetencies creating parts, by which, 
though without directly denying the existence of a Deity, he 
represented his agency as being as little exercised in the works 
of creation, as that of the gods of Olympus were according to 
the system of Epicurus. 

VOL, XXXIV. NO. LXyt.—aprit 1843, P 


214 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


Out of deference for the opinions of his fellow men, or per- 
haps from some latent sentiment of religion at variance with 
his philosophical dogmas, he admitted, that the order of na- 
ture emanated from the Deity, but supposed that it proceeded 
to do its work, by blind and imperfect, and merely mechani- , 
eal efforts, productive at first of only rough and abortive 
draughts of what, in the course of an infinite succession of 
ages, ripened itself into its present wonderful complexity, and 
perfection of form and structure. 

So even Epicurus, out of respect for the common opinions 
of mankind, the innate ideas, as it were, which existed in the 
minds of others, admitted that there were gods, but removed 
them from all share in the concerns of humanity, by suppos- 
ing the whole structure of the universe to result from a for- 
tuitous concourse of atoms. 

How different in these respects was the proceeding of M. 
Decandolle ! 

He did not indeed attempt to deny the existence of rudi- 
mentary organs, from seeing the use which others had made 
of the doctrine—to have attempted this indeed would have 
been as hopeless a task, as to deny the deductions arrived at by 
geologists with respect to the age of the world, because some 
persons may have perversely availed themselves of such facts 
as a handle against revelation—but, boldly admitting their 
reality, and skilfully availing himself of this principle as a clew 
whereby to trace the affinities between plants, he vindicated 
it from the imputation of being in any degree inconsistent 
with the existence of design, or of lending any countenance to 
the doubts of the sceptic. 

According to his views, all organized beings, when compared 
one with another, present groups of greater or lesser extent, 
which themselves form parts of groups embracing a still wider 
range, and are divisible into others of a subordinate descrip- 
tion. Each group is subject to two classes of laws ; the first 
producing that regular order in which its organs are disposed, 
or in other words the symmetry of its organization ; the second 
regulating the action of the processes of vitality, from which 
often results such a degree of derangement in the symmetry 
of its parts, that their natural disposition may thereby be eom- 
pletely disguised. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 215 


This derangement of the normal structure may be ascribed 
—either to the abortion of certain organs—to their alteration 
in form and appearance—or to the adhesions between organs 
of the same or of different descriptions. 

The existence, then, of rudimentary parts, is only a conse- 
quence of those general rules, which the divine Author of 
Nature has thought fit to impose upon himself in all the arrange- 
ments of the universe, and can in no wise be regarded as in- 
consistent with the idea of design, if we only can shew, that 
the whole proceeds upon a consistent plan, and that plan a 
wise one, inasmuch as each organ, in the great majority of 
cases, and in its perfect and developed form, is subservient 
to some beneficial purpose. 

As a consequence, of that general analogy which runs 
throughout the whole of organized nature, and of the inter- 
ference of causes which in their main result are productive of 
good, we find parts existing in a rudimentary or abortive state 
in one species, which in others serve some manifestly import- 
ant office ; neither would it be any objection to the idea of 
design, if it could be proved, that in this rudimentary condition 
they were absolutely useless, although it must be considered 
as an additional evidence of provision, when, as in many in- 
stances, we are able to shew, that they become subservient to 
a new purpose, by being unfitted to their primary one. 

Thus the parts of the calyx in many composite flowers de- 
generate into a pappus, or down, which, being of a light and 
feathery texture, serves to waft the seeds attached to it to a 
great distance, and in this manner to disseminate the species ; 
thus the nectaries, which are regarded as degenerated stamens, 
seerete honey, and by this means attract insects, by whose 
entrance into the flower, the pollen is dispersed and lodged 
upon the pistils. 

Perhaps, had not one of the seed-vessels of leguminous 
plants been constantly abortive, the seeds would have all been 
so stunted in their growth, as to have been unfitted for supply- 
ing nutriment to animals. 

These, and other facts that might be alleged, prove, that the 
degeneration or abortion of particular organs, often serves 
some wise purpose with reference to the plant itself, or to 
other beings ; and that the same may be the case in other in- 


216 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


stances, in which we do not perceive it, it would be presump- 
tuous to deny. 

Nevertheless, it does not seem requisite for the argument 
as to final causes, to contend, that every organ must have a 
definite use in all the individuals in which it occurs, since its 
existence may be regarded, as being nothing more than a con- 
sequence of that general law of nature above stated, the wis- 
dom of which there is no ground for impugning. 

“ Tf,” says M. Decandolle,* ‘ on a subject so grave and so 
elevated, I may be permitted to avail myself of a comparison 
somewhat mean and trivial, I shall perhaps render my views 
on this subject somewhat better understood. 

*‘ ] will suppose myself seated at a splendid banquet, and 
certainly the repast which Nature sets before us may well merit 
this appellation, 

“ IT endeavour to discover what evidence can be afforded 
that this banquet is not the result of chance, but has been due 
to the will of an intelligent being. No doubt, I should remark, 
that each of the dishes is in itself well prepared (this is the 
argument of the anatomist), and that the selection of them 
implies a reference to the wants of the individuals who partake 
of them. (This is the reasoning of the physiologist.) But may 
I not likewise observe, that the dishes that constitute this re- 
past are arranged in a certain symmetrical order, such as is 
agreeable to the eye, and in itself announces design and 
volition ? 

“* Now, if on examining the above arrangement, I should 
find certain dishes repeated, as for instance in double rows, 
for no other apparent reason, than that the one might ina 
manner correspond to the other; or observe, that the places 
which they should occupy were filled with imitations of the 
real dishes, which seem of no use with reference to the object 
of the repast, ought I, on that account, to reject the idea of 
design ? 

** So far from this, I might infer from the very circumstances 
stated, an attention to symmetrical arrangement, and conse- 
quently the operation of intelligence. 

‘“‘Nowthis is precisely what happens on the great scale in na- 


* Théorie Elémentaire. 2d edition, page 185. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 217 


ture. Considerations derived from the symmetry of parts correct 
in great measure what is deficient in the theory of final causes, 
and tend, not only to resolve many difficulties, which present 
themselves in the general economy of nature, but even to 


transform them’ into evidences of the existence of this very 
order.” 


And here, perhaps, I may be permitted to make a short 
digression, in order to say a few words with respect to the 
general spirit and influence of the writings which have pro- 
ceeded from the Republic of Geneva. 

Let others, if they please, censure the laxity of opinion which 
is attributed to their theologians—my more grateful as well as 
more appropriate office in this place shall be, to bear testimony 
to the general moral tone, and beneficial tendency of their 
literature. 

Had it not been for the existence of this independent focus 
of learning and talent, all French publications would have been 
but a reflexion of the light which radiated from the often cor- 
rupt atmosphere of Paris; for in France everything centres 
in the metropolis, and in that country, as a witty writer® has 
quaintly expressed himself—the opinions of the provinces are 
of little more importance than the opinion of a man’s legs.} 

But Geneva, from its high intellectual eminence, its Pro- 
testantism, and its independent political position, has always 
possessed a school, both of literature and science, exclusively 
its own, so that not only those of her sons who have continued 


* Heyne. 

t M. Flourens has unexpectedly supplied me, in his Eloge of Decandolle, 
with an anecdote which may serve to confirm this position. When Decan- 
dolle had been appointed by M. Cretet, the Minister of the Interior, to his 
professorship at Montpellier, the following conversation passed between the 
minister and Laplace, who,by way of expressing his high admiration of Decan- 
dolle, began it as follows :—“ Monseigneur, vous nous jouez un mauvais tour, 
nous comptions avoir bientét M. de Candolle, a l'Institut.” “ Votre Institut! 
votre Institut! s’écrie M. Cretet.” ‘Eh quoi!” repond M. de Laplace, tout 
etonné, “ Sayez vous que j’ai quelquefois envie de faire tirer un coup de 
canon sur votre Institut ? Oui, monsieur, un coup de canon, pour en disperser 
les membres dans toute la France. N’est ce pas une chose deplorable de 
yoir toutes les lumiéres concentrées dans Paris, et les provinces en ignorance. 
J’envoic M. de Candolle 4 Montpellier, pour y porter l’activité.” 


218 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


under her wing during life, but even the offsets she has sent 
forth to other lands, have preserved the impress of those na- 
tional characteristics which they had acquired from early edu- 
cation. 

Thus Necker maintained, even in his financial measures at 
Paris, the ideas that he has brought with him from Geneva ; 
and his illustrious daughter was reproached and almost pro- 
scribed by Napoleon, for the singular reason, that her writings 
were not written in a French spirit. 

Nor will an impartial critic deny, that the literature of 
Geneva, whatever may be its faults, possesses a greater purity 
and elevation of sentiment, than belongs to the school which 
was at one time regarded as essentially Parisian. With one 
lamentable exception, no doubt, which we regret the more, 
because the gross impurities that sully the works to which I al- 
lude, are perceived to have been the offspring of a mind, not 
destitute of “ some glorious elements,” * or deficient in high 
and noble aspirations, the writers who have emanated from the 
little Republic of which I speak, may fairly participate in the 
praise which the most eminent of her native historians} claims 
for himself as his highest merit, namely, “ that of never noticing 
vice but with the disgust it deserves, never surrounding it with 
seductive pictures, or treating it as a subject of pleasantry ; 
and, in the course of the whole of his voluminous publications, 
of having never written a single passage which a modest 
female might not read aloud without a blush.” 

As for Decandolle, he partook fully in that sentiment of 
nationality which has kept Geneva distinct from Paris, in 
science and literature, as well as in government. 

It is related of him, that when, in 1809, he represented the 
department of Leman in the Assembly of Notables, convened 
by Bonaparte as Emperor, on being presented to the latter, 
and asked by him how Geneva was pleased with its union 
with France, he had the courage to remain silent; and no 
sooner had the peace of 1814 secured to his native place an 


* “ A goodly frame of glorious elements, 
Had they been wisely mingled.” 


{ See Sismondi’s Preface to his “ Histoire des Francais.” 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 219 


independent existence, than he gave up his emoluments at 
Montpellier, and preferred the almost honorary appointment 
which he henceforth discharged as Professor of Natural His- 
tory at Geneva, to any more lucrative office in a foreign city. 

From this period may be dated the commencement of those 
important works, upon which his reputation amongst Euro- 
pean botanists is principally founded. 

In 1818 appeared the first volume of his Systema Naturale, 
intended to embrace a detailed description of all known plants, 
arranged according to their natural affinities or design,—an un- 
dertaking which, since the days of Ray, no botanist had had 
the courage to attempt. 

He was not, indeed, unaware of the magnitude and difficulty 
of such a work, or of the danger lest his labours should be sub- 
verted by discoveries made during their progress ; but he was 
encouraged to proceed in it, by the consciousness that a trea- 
tise of this description, even though imperfect, would be the 
one of all others most instrumental in spreading a knowledge 
both of general and special botany. 

It is indeed a happy circumstance for the cause of science, 
when an individual, possessing the comprehensive views and 
the powers of generalisation which belonged to Decandolle, 
can be induced to enter upon this species of labour; and not 
one of the least advantages accruing from it I conceive to be, 
that it relieves the pursuit itself from the imputation of frivo- 
lousness, to be found worthy of occupying so large a portion 
of the attention of one, who had already shewn himself, by his 
previous publications, capable of grappling with the more phi- 
losophical departments of the science. 

It may be remarked, that whilst in the Flore Frangaise, 
and I believe in most other works of antecedent date, found- 
ed on the natural system, plants of the most simple structure 
were placed first, and the more complex ones afterwards, the 
contrary order has been pursued in the Systema Nature of 
Decandolle. 

And in this difference of arrangement I think I can trace 
the influence of those general views which he had adopted in 
opposition to his distinguished colleague and early master, 
Lamarck. 


220 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


It was, no doubt, quite natural and consistent in the latter, 
imagining, as he did, that the more complicated forms of vege- 
table life had proceeded out of the simpler ones, by a number 
of successive tentative efforts of creative energy, to imagine 
that he was following the order of nature in describing, in the 
first place, those plants which he conceived to be of earliest 
production : whilst Decandolle, who regarded the whole vege- 
table kingdom as equally the result of the same wise and bene- 
ficial plan, and who had been taught by the researches of 
Cuvier, that the inhabitants of the early periods of the world 
were as complicated in their organisation, and as skilfully con- 
trived for their respective uses, as those at present in exist- 
ence, was led to prefer that mode of considering the subject, 
which enabled him to place first before his readers the organs 
of a plant, in their most complete state of development, and 
therefore in their most intelligible point of view. 

He felt, that it was pursuing a mistaken analogy, to ima- 
gine that the organs of reproduction or of vegetation could be 
studied with more facility in a moss, than in a flower ; it might 
be rather said, that in the former they were in a manner in 
a rudimentary condition, and consequently that their true 
uses could best be inferred by analogy, after we had fully exa- 
mined them in plants of a more complicated structure ; just as 
we should be at a loss to explain the uses of the eye, from exa- 
mining it in the mole, or of the mamme from a dissection of 
those in the male subject, instead of beginning with those cases 
in which the above organs were in a state of the most complete 
development. 

Decandolle accordingly commences his system with the fa- 
mily Ranunculacez, as that in which the natural symmetry 
of plants belonging to the Dicotyledonous division is in the 
least degree departed from, the sepals, petals, stamens, and 
even the pistils, being here separate and distinct; and he then 
proceeds, step by step, to trace the different degrees and kinds 
of irregularity which may be perceived in those other natural 
families which he places before us in succession. 

Nor are the more technical, or, as it may be termed, the 
mechanical arrangements adopted in this treatise, selected with 
less judgment and discretion. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 221 


In the Systema Nature, the authority for each description 
is scrupulously given ; and it is stated, by appropriate marks, 
whether the plant has been observed by Decandolle himself 
in a dry or in a living state, cultivated or wild. The syno- 
nymes of each species are appended, with a mark affixed to 
the name of their author, whenever the identification has been 
fully made out by an actual comparison of the specimen refer- 
red to with that on which Decandolle’s description is based. 

The habitat is given with greater accuracy than heretofore, 
by appending to it the name of the author on whose authority 
it rests, either in italics, where Decandolle himself has seen 
the specimen referred to, or in roman letters, included in a 
parenthesis, where he has not; whilst, where it rests on De- 
candolle’s personal examination, the locality is given without 
any name at all. 

Another pointattended to scrupulously in this treatise was the 
breaking up of the genera into natural sections, so as to group 
the species together, as much as possible, according to their 
natural affinities ; an idea which has been followed out by sub- 
sequent botanists, with regard to the natural families them- 
selves, which are now arranged according to their alliances, 
and thus serve as links whereby to connect in one consecutive 
chain the most general divisions into classes, with the most 
subordinate one into species and varieties.’ 

But even the indefatigable zeal and the steady perseverance 
of Mons. Decandolle were found unequal to the herculean 
task of describing, in the detailed manner originally proposed, 
the enormous catalogue of plants at present enumerated, 
swelled, as it has been, by the researches of modern botanists, 
from 8000 species known to Linnzus, to more than 50,000; 
and, accordingly, after bringing out two volumes of his Sys- 
tema, embracing within their compass 11 natural families, he 
determined on carrying on his work in a more compendious 
form, under the title of Prodromus Systematis Naturalis, 

What the extent of his original work would have been, had 
it ever been completed in its original plan, may be estimated 
from this calculation alone. 

The Prodromus, at the time of his death, consisted of six thickly 
printed volumes, each averaging about 700 pages, and of a se- 


i) 


22 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


venth of half that size, and yet it includes only 102 natural 
families ; whereas the whole number comprehended in his son’s 
enumeration of those belonging to the class of flowering plants 
is 195. : 

It is true, that one of those completed is the immense order 
of Composite, which alone hasbeen estimated at nearly aquar- 
terof the whole of the Dicotyledonous division; but then, on the 
other hand, it must be recollected, that, during the interval 
since the work commenced, such vast additions have been made 
to the catalogue of plants, that the families hereafter to be de- 
scribed would be more voluminous in proportion than the 
earlier ones. 

We may, therefore, perhaps calculate, that the Prodromus, 
had it been completed, would have formed 15 volumes of 
700 pages each; but the plants described in the two volumes 
of the Systema are compressed into 236 pages of the latter 
work, so that the Systema, if executed on the same plan, 
would have occupied no less than 44 volumes octavo. 

For, if 236 pages = 1 yol. — 10,500 (viz, 15 vols. of 700 pages each) = 44 vols. 

This great undertaking, commencing with the preparation 
of the first volume cf the Systema, which was published in 
1818, occupied him till his death, which occurred in 1841 ; 
but the last portion of it which appeared was the concluding 
part of the description of the Composit, bearing the date of 


1838. 


We must not, however, suppose, that the whole business of 
his life during so long a period consisted in the exhausting la- 
bour of describing and classifying species. From time to time, 
for instance, during this interval he brought out those admi- 
rable Monographs, in which he has delineated in so masterly a 
manner the general characters of particular natural families. 

These Monographs were intended to serve as fuller expla- 
nations of the grounds of that classification which he had 
adopted in his Prodromus, as illustrations of those principles 
which he had laid down in his Theorie Elementaire, and as cri- 
ticisms on the plans of arrangement which had been proposed 
by antecedent writers. 

They hold an intermediate place between the mere particu- 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 223 


lar descriptions of species which are contained in the Prodro- 
mus, and the general observations on the structure of plants 
considered in the aggregate, which are found in the Organo- 
graphie ; constituting the groundwork of the former, and the 
data upon which the latter was constructed. 

Thus, in his Memoir on the Cruciferze, he carries us in de- 
tail through the structure of all the parts, first, of vegetation, 
and afterwards of reproduction, belonging to this important 
natural family ; and he shews, that the only distinction which 
can be relied on for separating its members into natural groups, 
are drawn, either from the form of the embryo, or from that 
of the seed-vessel. ° If we adopt the former as the basis of our 
system, we shall divide the Crucifere into five natural groups, 
according to the position of the Radicle with reference to the 
Cotyledons ; if we adopt the latter, we shall distinguish them 
into six, according to the position of the valves of the Seed- 
vessel. 

This latter method he shews to be preferable to the old 

Linnzean division, depending upon the length of the pod, as the 
~ Jatter admits of no exact limits, and as it places'together gene- 
ra in no way allied, and divides others which are naturally con- 
nected ; but he nevertheless regards it as of inferior moment 
to the distinction founded upon the embryo, both because the 
latter is an organ of greater importance than the seed-vessel, 
and because there is not such a gradation in its form, as is 
found in that of the pod which incloses it. 

He adopts, therefore, as the basis of his classification, the 
principle suggested by Robert Brown, with respect to the 
manner in which the radicle is folded upon the cotyledons, 
and afterwards subdivides the groups So formed according to 
the form and mode of opening of the seed-vessel. 

He thus, by means of these two characters, constructs 
twenty-one natural groups, and satisfies himself of the cor- 
rectness of the principles upon which he has proceeded in his 
classification, by finding that the genera thrown together by 
virtue of this arrangement, are really such as stand most nearly 
allied one to the other. 

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Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 225 


experiments of a kind more or less exact, and having, by 
means of them, traced our route, rectify it by means of geo- 
metrical formule, which serve as a check upon the errors of 
manipulation ; so, after having thrown together all known 
plants of the cruciform family into groups determined by the 
sum of their affinities, he submits these groups to the rules of 
theory, and finding the two methods to lead him to the same 
result, is satisfied that he has made a near approximation to 
truth. 

But the object of the classifier, is not only to arrange in the 
most natural order the several genera belonging to the family 
which he describes, but also to ascertain the relations of the 
family itself taken collectively to other portions of the sys- 
tem. 

From the earliest times at which botany was studied, the 
importance of this inquiry has been felt, and the first attempts 
made to effect this object consisted in disposing the several 
objects in a linear series, according to the degrees of their 
deviation from some one taken as a standard of comparison. 

The objection to this method was, that the same plant might 
be nearly allied to one member of the series in certain respects, 
and to one occupying a very different place in others ; and Lin- 
nus himself, being fully alive to the impossibility of con- 
structing a linear arrangement which should harmonize with 
nature, suggested the ingenious idea of representing the rela- 
tion in which plants stand one towards each other, by a kind 
of map, in which the classes should stand toward each other, 
as the quarters of the world do on an artificial globe, including 
the families as separate countries, their genera as provinces, 
their species as districts. As on the map, each district touches 
many others, at distinct points, so likewise do the families in 
the vegetable kingdom ; as the individuals in each district 
agree in so many particulars with the inhabitants of the neigh- 
bouring districts as to be scarcely recognisable from them, so 
also do the species composing various allied genera.* 


* Giesecke, in his “ Prelectiones in Ordines Naturales Plantarum, Ham- 
burgh 1792,” has attempted to carry out this idea, ina Chart, entitled Tabula 
Genealogico-Geographica Affinitatum Plantarum, 


226 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


Decandolle, in his Théorie Elémentaive, and other writings, 
has followed up this notion in his usual masterly manner ; but 
aware that a complete map of this kind ean only be con- 
structed when the whole vegetable kingdom is fully investi- 
gated, just as it would be impossible to make a general map 
of the globe, till every part of it had been explored, he has 
contented himself with the preliminary labour of constructing 
local maps, as it were, of different countries, by pointing out 
the relations of each of the families which he notices to the rest. 

In some cases, indeed, the characters of a family are so 
well marked, and so distinct from those of most others, that 
it is difficult to say to what the plants included in it are most 
allied. They stand in the relation of islands in the midst of 
a vast ocean, ‘ penitus toto divisos orbe,” and in any map of 
the vegetable kingdom which may hereafter be constructed 
would be represented as detached groups. 

Such is the case with the Crucifere, a family which, al- 
though it bears some analogies to the Papaveracez in the num- 
ber of its petals, and in the structure of its fruit, possesses 
nevertheless so many peculiarities of structure, that it seems 
to lie apart from all other natural groups, except, perhaps, 
from the small one of the Capparidee. 

But in the greater number of instances, the characters of 
the natural groups graduate into those of several others, like 
the countries included within the same continent; and in 
these cases, Decandolle has presented us with a sort of pic- 
torial view of the entire family, representing the several 
genera of which it consists diverging from a common centre, 
around the circumference of which are placed the families 
with which these genera bear respectively the nearest con- 
nection. 

Thus in the case of the Crassulacez, the division into tribes 
is drawn from the relation of the stamens, in point of num- 
ber, to the petals, they being in some cases the same, in 
others double of the latter; and these two tribes are again 
subdivided, according as the petals are united or distinct. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 227 


guhBoItMd 
yt) 
ut 


We, therefore, obtain four groups, viz. :— 


Isostemones polypetale. Diplostemones polypetale. 
Isostemones gamopetalez. Diplostemones gamopetalz. 


These distinctions Decandolle delineates by the device of a 
circle, for the whole family taken collectively, divided into 
four equal parts, to represent the four tribes alluded to, whilst 
the genera placed circularly nearest to the central point, are 
those which shew the general characters of the family in the 
most perfect manner, and in each division those in the bor- 
ders indicate the genera which are more anomalous. 

Thus in the division entitled Isostemones polypetale, we. 


228 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


see on the margins the genera Dasystemon, Bulliarda, and 
Tillea, which deviate somewhat from the standard. 

Amongst the Diplostemones gamopetale, are placed on the 
borders of the circle the genera Kalanchoe and Bryophyllum, 
which by their pinnated leaves deviate from the rule ; amongst 
the Diplostemones polypetale we place the genus Penthorum 
and Diamorpha half way beyond the circle, to shew that it 
may be doubted whether they belong to the family at all. 

The genera that more immediately surround the centre, are 
disposed in the order of their natural affinities, which it would 
have been impossible to have done if a linear arrangement 
had been adopted. 

But with reference to the point more immediately under 
consideration, it may be remarked, that this expedient of 
Decandolle’s enables him to shew to what other natural 
families the Crassulaceze are most allied, and which of the 
genera included in it constitute the connecting links. Thus 
they approach to the Saxifrages by means of the genera Dia- 
morpha and Penthorum, which are not succulent, and have 
the ovaries concrete, and with Paronychie through Tillea, 
which has but two ovules, and agrees in habit with Ilecebrum. 

Decandolle has exemplified the same method in his Mono- 
graph of the family Mclastomacez ; but he has not thought 
proper to follow it in later works, either from the difficulty of 
presenting the characters in the same compendious form, or 
from the marked natural distinctions between the family de- 
scribed and other groups. 


One subject particularly attended to by Decandolle in all 
these monographs was, the relative proportion of the mem- 
bers of each family found in different regions of the globe. 
By ascertaining in each instance this point, he hoped to ob- 
tain, at length, the requisite data for perfecting a branch of 
botanical science, in which, from a very early period of his 
life, he had taken a lively interest—I mean the geographical 
distribution of plants. 

Already, in the year 1807, he had given, in his Flore 
Franeaise, a sketch of the several botanical regions into which 
France might be divided ; and when, in 1817, Humboldt pub- 
lished his Prolegomena on the Geographical distribution of 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 229 


Plants, and likewise, in the Memoires de la Société d’Arcueil, 
his masterly dissertation on the Distribution of Heat through- 
out the Globe, M. Decandolle contributed to the same work, a 
general sketch of the subject of Botanical Geography, which, 
in an expanded and corrected form, has been inserted in the 
Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, by Levrault, published 
in 1820. 

In this essay, he first considers in detail, the influence of 
the different agents which affect the growth of plants, such 
as temperature, light, humidity, the soil, and the atmosphere 
—he then points out the several stations or situations in a 
particular country which certain plants affect, as, for example, 
the neighbourhood of the sea, marshes, cultivated land, rocks, 
sand, forests, the dwellings of man, &c.—and, lastly, he passes 
in review the distribution of the different tribes of plants over 
the various regions of the globe, such as the tropical, the 
temperate, and the frigid zones. 

Having thus, both from theory and from observation, estimated 

the degree of influence exerted by external agents upon the 
distribution of plants, he is ina condition to consider the in- 
teresting problem, as to whether the limited range of country, 
to which in a state of nature each species would appear to be 
confined, is referable solely to the above circumstances. 

If the affirmative of this proposition be granted, we have 
then the choice of several suppositions, for either we may sup- 
pose, that plants were at first scattered indiscriminately over 
the whole globe, or, as Linnzus imagined, that they spread 
themselves from some one central spot in different directions, 
according as the conditions were favourable or otherwise ; 
or, if we chose to give in to the Lamarckian view of the 
gradual progression of more perfect from less perfect forms, we 
might imagine each plant to be generated at or near the spot 
where it is found, owing to the influence of external causes 
operating upon matter endued with some principle of vita- 
lity. 

But if the negative must be concluded—if, after making 
all allowance rag circumstances, there remains something yet 
to be explained with respect to the geographical distribution 
of vegetables, we are then led to the conclusion, that each 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. Lxyit.—aprit 1843, Q 


230 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


species was originally created within a certain distance of the 

locality where it is met with, having spread itself to a point» 
more or less remote from its original site, according as cir- 

cumstances were more or less favourable to its propagation. 

This question, which involves higher considerations than 
thoserelating merely to botany, has been discussed by Monsieur 
Decandolle with his usual sagacity and judgment, and the re- 
sult he has arrived at seems to be—that it is far more easy to 
explain, on physical principles, the occurrence in a compara- 
tiyely small number of cases of the same species in distant 
regions of the globe, than the limitation of the greater num- 
ber to certain fixed geographical limits by considerations of 
climate. 

Thus, he observes, it would not be difficult to pitch upon 
two points of the globe situated respectively, either in the 
United States and in Europe, or in America and tropical 
Africa, presenting the same circumstances of temperature, 
elevation, soil, and humidity, and yet with a perfectly distinct 
flora; whilst, on the other hand, if a plant be pointed out 
which occurs in two localities very remote one from the other, 
we may generally discover something, in the nature of its seed- 
vessel, in its known properties, or in its uses, which may have 
caused its propagation and naturalization in regions to which 
it was not indigenous. 

He thus arrives at a conclusion, in entire harmony with 
those views which I have before represented him as enter- 
taining, with respect to the perfect condition in which all the 
works of nature had issued from the hand of the Creator ; in- 
ferring, that each plant was at first established in some parti- 
cular locality for which its habits and structure were suited, 
not that it was rendered what it is, by the operation of the 
causes which there affected it ; contending, in opposition to 
Lamarck, for the permanency of species, and making common 
cause with Cuvier in opposing the absurd and dangerous theory 
of spontaneous generation. 


One of the strongest reasons for preferring a natural ar- 
rangement of plants to an artificial one is, that the former 
affords us a clew to the medicinal, as well as to all the other 
qualities which may be expected to reside in a particular 
species. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 231 


We have seen, that Decandolle was, from an early period 
of his life, awake to this important application of botanical 
science to purposes of utility, for the medicinal properties of 
plants were selected by him as the subject of his Thesis, when 
candidate for the degree of Doctor in Physic at Paris in 
1804. 

In the year 1813, whilst still professor at Montpellier, he 
brought out a distinct work on the same subject, pointing out 
in it the physiological properties of each of the principal na- 
tural families ; and of this treatise a second edition appeared 
in 1816. 

In 1819, he published a new and corrected edition of his 
Théorie Elémentaire, in which he added, 1s¢, a chapter on 
the degeneration of organs, a particular case, it is true, of their 
abortion, but one deserving a distinct notice, from the peculiar 
character of the effects that are numbered under it. 2dly, a 
more full development of the principle laid down in his for- 
mer edition, as to the effects produced on the organization of 
plants by the adhesion of organs. The general principle had 
indeed been clearly pointed out before, but the application of 
it, to explain, for instance, the manner in which all the diffe- 
rent kinds of seed-vessel result from the union of distinct car- 
pels, was first brought forward on the present occasion. 3dly, 
The chapter was added, to which allusion has been made in 
the former part of this sketch, vindicating the theory of abor- 
tive organs from those objections which had been raised 
against it, as though it militated against the idea of design, 
and clearly pointing out the distinctions between the views 
of their Author, and those of Lamarck. 


It was quite natural, that a mind which had obtained, even 
in 1813, and still more completely in 1819, such clear views 
with respect to the causes of irregularity existing in the or- 
gans of plants, should have been carried forwards to the 
beautiful doctrine of vegetable metamorphosis, which is only 
a further development of the same theory. 

No doubt, indeed, Linnzus himself had obtained a glimpse 
of this truth, as appears from his Thesis, called the Prolepsis 
Plantarum, sustained in the year 1760, in which, though under 
the influence of a mistaken and fanciful hypothesis, he never- 


232 Dr Danbeny on the Writings and’ 


theless distinctly maintains, that the bracts, the calyx, the 
corolla, the stamens, and the pistil, are modified leaves. 

The defects of this theory Dr Lindley states to be, “ in its 
failing to account for the modifications which the pistil under- 
goes, and in the fanciful supposition, that the organs of frue- 
tification are prepared six years beforehand, and that their 
peculiar appearance is owing to the time of their development 
being anticipated by some unknown but ever acting cause.” 

The celebrated poet Goethe, in the year 1790, had the merit 
of presenting this theory divested of the above accompani- 
ments, and his “ Versuch die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu 
erkliren,” is remarkable as an example of one of those happy 
guesses at truth, which great minds occasionally arrive at, by 
arapid glance over nature, rather than by that patient inves- 
tigation of particular phenomena, by which great general 
principles require, for the most part, to be worked out. 

Coming, however, from an individual whose reputation was 
built upon works of poetry and imagination, his theory ex- 
cited little attention amongst naturalists, until it was found to 
harmonize so remarkably with the principles, hinted at by 
Brown, and propounded more fully by Decandolle, with re- 
spect to the modifications which organs undergo from adhe- 
sion, &e.; and it at length came to be discovered, that the 
* degeneration of organs’ and their ‘‘ metamorphosis,” are 
only different modes of regarding the same phenomenon,* and 
that the poet and the philosopher, though setting out from 
opposite directions, had in fact met at the same point. 


This doctrine was more fully explained in his work on the 
Anatomy, or, as he proposed to call it, the Organography of 
plants, which was not given to the world till 1827, although 
its principal contents had been imparted to a numerous class 
of pupils in the lectures he had delivered for several preced- 
ing years. 

In this admirable work, which can only be estimated at its 
full value by those who compare it with the treatises on bo- 
tany published at the same time, as by Smith and Keith in 
England, by Mirbel in France, or by Sprengel in Germany, 


* See some good remarks in Flourens’ Eloge on the distinction between 
the views of Decandolle and Goethe on this subject. 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 233 
he proceeds upon the principle of tracing each organ through 
all its several modifications of structure in the different plants 
in which it occurs, and of reducing every part to its organic 
elements. Hence the whole of this treatise may be regarded 
as in some sense a development of the great doctrine of me- 
tamorphosis, which he had pointed out in his foregoing trea- 
tise—a detailed exposition of the symmetrical plan, which the 
parts of all plants affect, and of the causes which interfere 
with their regularity of form and disposition. 

It is this philosophical mode of considering the structure 
of plants, which has mainly contributed to impart to the work 
of Decandolle the superiority which it possesses over all an- 
tecedent, all contemporaneous treaties on botany, and which 
has even rendered it in many respects a model for those which 
have subsequently appeared. 

The organs of vegetables are here set before us, not in dry 
detail, as separate and independent parts of the structure which 
they serve to make up, or even in a purely physiological point 
of view, as subservient to the uses of the individual of which 
they are a constituent ; but they are treated, as links of a com- 
mon chain, as portions of the same harmonious system, sub- 
ject indeed to endless variations, and productive of continual 
diversities of form and function, but nevertheless all influenced 
by the same universal law of symmetry and order. 

One of the greatest advantages attendant on this mode of 
treating the subject of botany, is the facility which it affords 
us of conveying a clear conception of, and in imprinting upon 
the memory, the numerous varieties of structure, which we 
adopt in describing and distinguishing individual plants. 

How perplexing, for instance, is the enumeration of the dif- 
ferent kinds of seed-vessel, according to old books on botany 
founded on the Linnzean method of classification! how weari- 
some to the mind, to burden itself with the names and defini- 
tions of a long string of objects, between which no relation or 
connexion of form has been pointed out to us! 

But, according to Decandolle’s method, all these several 
forms of organization are shewn to result from leaves variously | 
modified, and adherent ; and thus, whilst engaged in the in- 
teresting task of reducing all these variations of form to one 
common symmetrical plan, we are insensibly led to classify 


234 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


them under distinct heads, in a manner which renders their 
subsequent recollection a matter of comparative facility. 

It is the same with respect to the several varieties of leaves, 
which are rendered much more easy of recollection, in conse- 
quence of being first reduced to two great heads, characteris- 
tic of the two natural divisions of plants into monocotyledo- 
nous and dicotyledonous; then subdividing the former into 
those with convergent and divergent nerves ; and the latter, 
into the four heads of penninerve, peltinerve, palminerve, and 
pedalinerve, if simple, and of pinnate, pellate, palmate, and 
pedalate, if composite, thus limiting the effort of memory 
chiefly to the task of distinguishing the several terminations, 
which, from their great variety, do not seem reducible to any 
such principle of classification. 

But the most successful application of physiological princi- 
ples to terminology occurs in the chapter in which Mons. 
Decandolle has availed himself of Roeper’s ingenious method 
of distinguishing the various modes in which flowers are situat- 
ed upon their stalk, which, under the name of their inflorescence, 
has given rise to so much confusion, but of which, neverthe- 
less, our countryman Robert Brown, in his Memoir on the 
Composite, published in 1818, shewed that he had entertained 
a just conception.* 

Instead of contenting himself with merely setting down the 
names and dispositions of their respective kinds, as of the Ver- 
ticillum, the Raceme, the Spike, the Corymb, the Fascicle, the 
Capitulum, the Umbell, the Cyme, the Panicle, &c., Decandolle 
begins by noticing, in the first place, the two different plans 
upon which the evolution of flowers may proceed—the ten- 
dency in some cases being towards, in others away from, the 
centre of the tree. The first he denominates centripetal, the 
latter centrifugal inflorescence. 

He further finds, that some of the kinds observed by bota- 
nists are modifications of the centripetal, others of the centri- 
fugal tendency ; and he goes on to point out, how one kind is 
related to another, how it may graduate into it, and how cer- 
tain species of inflorescence (such as a capitulum) may arise 
out of either of these tendencies, and therefore cannot be re- 


* See alsoa Memoir by M. Turpin in the 5th yolume of the Memoires 
du Museum, 1819, 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 235 


lied upon as indicative of any fundamental distinction in the 
cases in which it occurs. 

I have now instanced, rather for the sake of illustration, than 
under any idea of doing justice to the subject, a few of the pecu- 
liar merits of Mons. Decandolle’s Organographie, which, more- 
over, as a full, candid, and luminous exposition of all that was 
known at the time with respect to the structure of vegetables, 
stands, to say the least, on a par with any other work of the 
kind; nor are there any portions of it, which, even at the pre- 
sent more advanced period of our knowledge, are liable to lead 
us into mistakes, except, perhaps, what relates to the micro- 
scopic anatomy of plants, on which neither the leisure, nor the 
perfection of the instruments, which Mons. Decandolle could 
command, was such as to justify him in speaking with au- 
thority. 


Without caring for the order of dates, it may be convenient 
for me to proceed next to notice the other treatise, in which 
Decandolle aimed at completing that general survey of the 
entire vegetable kingdom, which it had been the business of 
his life to systematize and arrange. 

In the year 1832, his treatise on the physiology of plants, 
in 3 vols. 8vo., was first offered to the public; but its principal 
contents had formed the subject of his lectures for several pre- 
ceding years, and had even been, with the permission of their 
author, given in an English dress, by Mrs Marcet, in her in- 
teresting Conversations on Vegetable Physiology, published in 
1829. 

Regarded as a clear and comprehensive digest of what 
was known with respect to the functions of the organs de- 
scribed in his preceding work, the treatise now alluded to 
stood probably without a rival at the time of its appearance ; 
but it did not afford the same room for originality in the mode 
of treating the subjects under discussion, which had been 
afforded him in the preceding volumes, by applying the law 
of symmetry to the subject of vegetable organization, and by 
following out the consequences of that prolific principle. 

Amongst the points on which the reader may look for much 
sound information, I may allude to those relating to chemical 
phenomena of vegetation, to which subject the naturalists of Ge- 


236 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


neva, during the last century, have devoted especial atten- 
tion. 

Bonnet, it will be recollected, had observed the evolution 
of air from leaves whilst exposed to the sun’s light, long before 
Priestley had been led by observations of a similar kind to 
his beautiful theory as to the influence of plants in purifying 
the atmosphere. 

Senebier had examined, in much detail, the circumstances 
under which this evolution of gas took place, and the causes 
by which it was determined, to which Decandolle himself has 
made some additions, by shewing, that artificial light may, to 
a certain extent, supply the place of solar radiation,—a fact, 
however, which had been first pointed out by Humboldt, so 
early as 1793, in the aphorisms appended to his Flora Subter- 
ranea of Freyberg.* 

But the younger De Saussure had distinguished himself 
above the rest, by investigating the influence at once of water, 
of air, and of the soil, on the processes of vegetation, and by 
introducing into this department of inquiry, a degree of ac- 
curacy, which renders his labours, even after a lapse of nearly 
forty years, still the best authority we can appeal to on many 
of the questions under discussion. 

Into the consideration of questions which had exercised the 
genius of some of the most distinguished of his countrymen, 
Decandolle entered, as might be expected, with more than 


* Ihave been reminded by the perusal of M. Flourens’ Eloge, of an 
omission in the former part of this memoir relative to the subject here 
alluded to, namely, of the fact, that these researches on artificial light were 
made known to the world so early as the year 1800. (See Memoires des 
Savants Etrangers de l’Institut, vol. i.) He there established, that the 
period of the sleep of plants may be gradually reversed, by keeping them in 
the dark during day, and exposing them to artificial light at night ; and that 
we might communicate a green colour to etiolated leaves by the same action, 
although we could not produce from them a sensible evolution of oxygen. 
Thus concludes Flourens— 

“La vie des plantes est un phenomene bien plus compliqué, bien plus 
rapproché de la vie des animaux qu’ on ne l’ayoit soupconné encore: elles 
ont leur action, leur repos, leur sommeil, leur veille, leurs habitudes (car 
ce n’est pas tout de suite, ce n’est qu’au bout d’un certain temps qu’elles 
perdent leurs heures ordinaires pour en prendre d’autres) et lorsque Delille, 
s’empressant de celebrer ces resultats en beaux vers, va jusqu’a dire: 

“ De la credule fleur le calice est trompé.” 
Ce language metaphorique de la poesie ne parait presque plus metaphorique. 


or 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 237 


common interest, and his masterly chapter on this subject 
might, we should think, if properly studied, have removed, 
from the minds of certain German physiologists, the doubts 
they appear at a much more recent period to have entertained, 
with respect to the source of the carbon existing in plants, 
and also perhaps have induced an illustrious living chemist of 
that country,* to limit to the naturalists of his own nation the 
strictures, which he seems to consider applicable to the general 
body of those in Europe, for being, as he conceives, so far in ar- 
rear of the actual state of chemical knowledge in this respect. 

Nevertheless he still leaves undecided, what the descrip- 
tion of rays may be which acts most favourably in promoting 
vegetation, whether, for instance, the chemical or the Jumi- 
nous portion of the spectrum is most efficient ; neither has he 
adduced from De Saussure a sufficient amount of evidence to 
overpower the weight due to the experiments of Mr Ellis, 
which tended to throw doubts upon the extent of the purify- 
ing influence attributable to plants. 

Iam, therefore, induced to flatter myself, that theresearchest 
in which I have myself been subsequently engaged, with a 
view to the more satisfactory elucidation of these two points, 
would not have been regarded by this great botanist as alto- 
gether superfluous. 

Decandolle has also presented us with a very ingenious 
theory with respect to the autumnal coloration of leaves and 
fruits, which he regards as due to an action exerted upon their 
colouring matter, by an acid generated within their tissue, 
when the latter has begun to lose, with its vitality, the power 
of separating carbon from oxygen.t 

He has also laid down a curious law with respect to the 


* See Liebig’s remarks, in his Report “ On Chemistry in its application 
to Agriculture and Physiology,’ 2d English edition, p. 30. 

t See my Paper in the Philosophical Transactions for 1836, “ On the action 
of Light upon Plants, and of Plants upon the Atmosphere.” 

{ The new photographic researches of Sir John Herschel on vegetable 
colours promise to lead to a better understanding of this subject. He finds 
leaves to contain two colours, the green destructible by light, the red not. 
Hence, when the activity of the vegetation no longer recruits the green prin- 
ciple, in the same ratio in which it is destroyed by the solar influence, the 
red predominates, and the sere or withered appearance of the leaf super- 
venes.—See Philosophical Magazine for February 1843. 


238 . Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


series of tints, which the flowers in ‘each species may be 
brought to assume, founded upon the same chemical principles, 
and confirmed by observing the degree in which art is capa- 
ble of modifying their natural colour. 

Both these theories were suggested in the Flore Frangaise 
published in 1805; and whilst the former has since been con- 
firmed by the researches of Macaire, respecting the chromule 
of the leaf, the latter has been more fully developed by 
Sehubler and Funk in a memoir published by them at Tu- 
bingen in 1825. 

One of the ablest chapters in the work, may perhaps be 
considered the one in which he discusses the cause of the di- 
rections which the parts of plants severally affect. 

He has here proceeded upon the sound, but too often ne- 
elected, principle, of declining to call in the aid of the vital 
principle, for the purpose of explaining phenomena which may 
be referred to physical causes alone. The maxim, “ Nec Deus 
intersit,” holds good in the natural sciences not less than 
in poetry. 

Thus, instead of vaguely attributing the tendency of the 
stem to mount upwards, and that of the root to descend, to any 
principle so near akin to instinct or volition, as that of a dis- 
position in the one to seek, and the other to avoid light, as 
some former physiologists had done, Decandolle shews, that both 
these phenomena would arise out of the difference in the mode 
of growth belonging to these two parts, and out of that in the 
way which certain external agents affect their organization. 

Nor has our author been less successful, in applying those 
principles of vegetable physiology, which he had previously 
laid down, to the explanation of the differences which subsist 
between the various kinds of parasitical plants, and in estab- 
lishing a classification of them founded on the above consi- 
derations. 

He has pointed out that those parasites which insert their 
roots into the woody matter of the plant which nourishes 
them, require leaves, because they obtain the sap unelaborated ; 
whilst those which are rooted merely into the bark, are desti- 
tute of leaves, because they draw their supply from the de- 
scending sap, which has already undergone the necessary pre- 
paration in the parent tree, 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 239 


The former, such as the misletoe, may live on several diffe- 
rent sorts of trees, because its own leaves enable it to bring 
about the requisite changes in the juice which it imbibes ; but 
the latter are generally confined to plants of the same genus, 
or at most of the same natural family, since they possess no 
organs adapted for modifying the quality of the sap, so as to 
suit it to their own purposes. 

Another question upon which new light appears to have 
been thrown by the writings of M. Decandolle, although many 
probably are not aware of the source from whence their pre- 
sent notions on this subject have been derived, relates to the 
indefinite duration of the life of a tree, as contrasted with the 
definite term of existence which nature has prescribed to every 
animal. 

The former is destroyed merely by the accidents and dis- 
eases contingent upon the peculiar circumstances under which 
it is placed; the latter, if it were not carried off prematurely 
by the maladies to which it is exposed, would nevertheless at 
length perish from old age alone. 

This distinction between a plant and an animal, which at 
present may appear to follow as a natural consequence from 
the fact, that, agreeably to the views of modern botanists, a 

plant is to be regarded, not as an individual, but as an aggre- 
- gate of individuals, each bud being a new being, grafted upon 
the branch from which it issues, was warmly disputed when 
Decandolle first alluded to it in 1805. 

Its universal admission at the present time affords a satis- 
factory proof, that the philosopher who sets out with sound 
principles, and is capable of deducing correct inferences from 
them, may often live to see those very opinions, which, when 
he first broached them, appeared to others the most paradoxi- 
cal, take such deep root in the public mind, that their paren- 
tage shall be forgotten by the majority of those who adopt 
them as their own. 

I next proceed to notice two points discussed in these vo- 
lumes, upon which the conclusions arrived at by our author 
do not meet with such general concurrence amongst physiolo- 
gists. 

I will allude, in the first place, to his opinions with respect 
to the descending sap, on which subject he adopts the views of 
the older botanists, and maintains that nourishment, in a liquid 


240 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


form, flows down from the summit of every exogenous tree to 
its base, and that the new layers of bark and wood produced 
each year are formed by the pre-existing ones, and nourished 
by the juice which descends, 

If these conclusions can be maintained, they may seein to 
bear him out in dissenting from the theory of M. Petit Thouars 
with respect to the growth of exogenous trees; but I must 
admit that they cannot be allowed to set aside the direct evi- 
dence which the latter botanist has brought together to prove, 
that fibres actually descend from the branches in certain endo- 
genous trees, and penetrate between the rind and the old 
wood. 

Are we, then, to suppose the mode of growth in these two 
classes of plants to proceed upon a different principle? or may 
we reconcile the two apparently conflicting statements, by sup- 
posing fibres to be sent down from the buds, and to constitute 
the rudiments of the young wood and of the young bark, ad- 
mitting at the same time that these fibres require the descend- 
ing sap to supply them with materials for further growth and 
development ? 

Without, indeed, pretending to gainsay the argunents alleged 
by Decandolle on the contrary side, I must freely admit, that 
the more recent observations of Mohl, with respect to the 
structure of endogenous stems, have afforded some additional, 
though indirect, confirmation of M. du Petit Thouars’ theory, 
as to the fact that fibres descending from buds, may constitute, 
in endogenous trees, the woody matter of the stem.* 

The reasons on both sides of the question are ably placed 
before us in Dr Lindley’s Introduction to Botany; and a com- 
parison of what is there said with Decandolle’s remarks in his 
Physiologie Vegetale may be recommended to those whose 
disposition leads them to institute experiments on Vegetable 
Physiology, as being well calculated to set before them the 
doubts which still hang over the subject, and the true points 
which remain open for investigation. 

Another portion of the volume, from which many may be 
inclined to dissent, is that which relates to the excretory fune- 


* See also the Researches of Gaudichaud, in confirmation of M. Petit 
Thouars’ theory. Paris, 1841. 


saa ied 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 241 


tion ascribed to the roots, from which our author has deduced 
an explanation of the deterioration which a plant is subject to, 
when sown year after year upon the same ground, as well as 
of the consequent advantages of a due rotation of crops in 
agriculture. 

All, I apprehend, will be disposed to allow his theory on 
this subject to be ingenious and plausible, and to admit that 
he has evinced considerable dexterity and skill in removing 
the objections that lie upon the face of such an hypothesis, 
and in particular in reconciling the permanent existence of 
forest trees on a particular locality, with the assumed neces- 
sity for a frequent change in the soil from which they draw 
their nourishment. 

I conceive also, that subsequent observations have tended to 
confirm, rather than to invalidate, his fundamental position, 
that the roots are excretory, as well as secretory organs ;* and 
the experiments of Macaire and others seem to place beyond 
doubt the fact, that in plants which contain poisonous juices, 
the excretions are also poisonous. 

It is likewise very probable, that the juices emitted by the 
roots of a plant, may be better adapted for the nourishment 
of certain species than of others; and that hence each culti- 
vated crop, and perhaps each kind of forest tree, may foster 
its own class of weeds, as well as its own particular parasites. 

But it yet remains to be proved, whether the advantage of 
a frequent interchange of crops be connected in any degree 
with the emission of juices, which are more injurious to the 
plants of the same kind, or of similar conformation, than they 
are to others ; or whether, on the contrary, a different set of 
causes may not serve to account for the result. 

The doubts, which I myself entertained at the time the 
theory was first propounded, have led me to originate a series of 
experiments, which may, I hope, tend eventually to throw some 
light upon the question ; and I must confess that these doubts 
have since been much increased by the results to which the 


* Thus, for instance, in Mr Hyctt’s experiments on the absorption of liquid 
solutions by growing timber, which are detailed in vol. xiv. p. 535 of the 
Transactions of the Highland Society, the neighbouring trees were found 
by him, as I understand, to have been affected by the poisonous matters 
imbibed, under circumstances, which seem to imply, that they had been ex- 
creted by the roots of the plants to the trunks of which they were applied. 


242 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


latter have already led, no less than by the researches of Bra- 
connot and others, which have lately been instituted with 
reference to the same question, 

I must not conclude my remarks on these two treatises, 
which, together taken, present us more completely than any 
other work of the kind, a statement of what is known respect- 
ing the structure and functions of the vegetable kingdom, 
without noticing those most useful appendices to either part, 
in which our author has followed up his delineation of the ea- 
plored regions of botany, with a series of acute and searching 
questions calculated to point out to us also the ¢erra incognita 
of the science. 

A few of these may, indeed, have since been answered, but 
the greater number remain still unresolved ; and I know not 
where the young experimentalist can better go, in order to 
learn in what direction his investigations may most profitably 
be carried on, or to what authority the student may more fitly 
appeal, in order to estimate the relative degrees of confidence 
that deserve to be placed on the statements of physiological 
writers, than to the questions alluded to, in which, as our au- 
thor informs us, he has laid open to the world all the doubts, 
all the suspicions, all the schemes of research, which hehad har- 
boured in his mind, originally with a view merely to his own 
guidance and instruction in the scientific labours which he 
had proposed to undertake, but which he was now compelled, 
from the pressure of other engagements, to abandon to younger 
men. 


It was previously to the publication of this work, namely, 
in the year 1830, that I had the advantage, during a residence 
of many months at Geneva, of hearing the principal points of 
theory which are therein embodied set forth in the course of 
lectures which their author annually delivered before the aca- 
demy; and although his fellow-citizen, who has written a 
brief sketch of his life and writings in the ‘* Federal news- 
paper,” is mistaken in attributing my subsequent success in 
gaining the professorship of botany in this university to the 
certificate of capacity for that office which the professor was 
so obliging as to send to me when the vacancy occurred, as, 
in point of fact, the election had taken place before its arrival ; 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 243 


yet, I must freely own, that but for my stay at Geneva, I might 
never have obtained a sufficient mastery of the subject, to have 
held with any satisfaction to myself the Office I have the hon- 
our to discharge in this Seat of Learning. 

Unacquainted as I was, until the period of my residence at 
Geneva, with any other than the artificial method of classifi- 
cation, it required the influence of such lectures, and of such 
writings as those of Decandolle, to remove from my mind the 
prejudices arising from early association, and to invest the 
science of botany with dignity and importance in my eyes. 

And though I have since attended, with much satisfaction, 
the course delivered in London by Professor Lindley, and have 
corrected on many points the notions I received from Decan- 
dolle by the subsequent perusal of the papers of Mirbel, Brown, 
Schleiden, and others; yet it is but fair to admit, that it was 
at Geneva I first began to estimate at their true weight the 
pretensions of botany to be regarded as a science, and not 
merely as an ingenious art for discovering the name of any 
plant that might be put before us, 

I then began to comprehend on what principle a certain 
acquaintance with botany was inculeated at the academy at 
Geneva as constituting an essential part of a liberal educa- 
tion, perceiving that, like every other branch of natural know- 
ledge, if prosecuted in a philosophical spirit, and with a con- 
stant reference to first principles, it might be capable of sery- 
ing an important purpose in training and disciplining the mind 
of the student. 

For the furtherance indeed of this object, the lectures of few 
Professors could have been better adapted than those of the 
individual who forms the subject of my memoir, combining, as 
he did, great powers of generalization, with a most extensive 
acquaintance with facts relating to all branches of natural 
history, and able, from his correct and classical taste, as well 
as from his perfect clearness of understanding, to render the 
most technical portions of the subject interesting, and the ob- 
scurest intelligible. 

For my own part, I can only say, that, although by no 
means familiar with the language in which he spoke, I fol- 
lowed, nevertheless, the thread of his discourse, even when 
it related to the more intricate points of structural or physio- 


244 Dr Daubeny on the Writings and 


logical botany, with as much ease, and with as thorough a 
comprehension of its drift and import, as I ever recollect 
doing that of the professors whose instructions conveyed to 
me the greatest amount of information in my own country. 

I recollect Monsieur Decandolle, with what might be con- 
sidered a pardonable piece of vanity in such a case, relating 
to me an anecdote, which illustrated, in a very striking man- 
ner, the estimation in which his style and language was held 
by better judges than a foreigner like myself. 

Amongst his hearers, on one occasion, was the celebrated De 
Bonstetten, the friend of Madame de Staél, at that time nearly 
80, who, though he had evinced at former periods of his life 
some interest in physical phenomena, was, nevertheless, chiefly 
distinguished as a man of letters. M. Decandolle observed him 
occasionally taking notes at his lectures with much diligence, 
but this was not at the parts which appeared most worth re- 
membering for the purposes of a botanical student. 

His curiosity was therefore excited, and he was tempted 
one day, after the lecture was over, to ask Monsieur de Bon- - 
stetten on what principle he proceeded in selecting passages 
for particular annotation. ‘ Oh, don’t flatter yourself,” said 
his friend in reply, “that I am come here, at my time of life, 
to learn botany ; what I am curious about is to observe, how, 
when you get involved in the mazes of a difficult sentence, you 
manage to disentangle the thread of your discourse, and to 
round off your period.” 

But it was not merely the excellence and beauty of Mon- 
sieur Decandolle’s lectures that rendered, Geneva, at the time 
I speak of, an admirable school for acquiring botanical know- 
ledge. 

His extensive herbarium and library were at all times open 
to the student, as well as to the more advanced cultivator of 
this science ; and I can well recollect, that the rooms which 
contained it were the daily rendezvous of a number of indivi- 
duals, Genevese as well as Foreigners, whose names are not 
unknown amongst the cultivators of Natural History. 

Here, besides that accurate practical botanist Monsieur 
Seringe, who acted as curator to Decandolle’s museum, and 
is now Professor of Botany at Lyons, I used to meet Professor 


Philosophical Character of Decandolle. 245 


Choisy, who, though principally occupied on the Philosophy of 
the Human Mind, has nevertheless found time to publish seve- 
ral profound memoirs on botanical subjects ; Vaucher, who 
still retained at this late period of his life an ardour for natu- 
ral history ; Moricand, the author of the Flora Venetiana and 
other memoirs; and, amongst foreigners, Blith, now Profes- 
sor at Upsala; Wydler, distinguished for researches on the 
Impregnation of Plants; Dr Macreight, now resident in Jer- 
sey, who has since published an excellent Synopsis of British 
Plants; and others, whom I have not time to enumerate. 

His influence in the city of Geneva was proportionate to the 
zeal he displayed, and to the talents he put forth, in the ad- 
vancement and diffusion of botanical science. To him we owe 
the foundation of the Botanical Garden at Geneva, as well as 
of its Museum of Natural History, two institutions which were 
created, mainly, at least, by his influence and exertions ;* andin 
botany, so lively and so universal was the interest he inspired, 
that when, on a certain occasion, he was called upon unexpect- 
edly to return a collection of designs of Mexican plants, of 
which he had obtained the loan, one hundred ladies of the place 
came forward of their own accord, and in ten days completed 
for him copies of no less than 1000 of these drawings, to take 
the place of the originals which he was about to surrender. 

It was in the autumn of the year 1840 that I saw, for the 
last time, at Geneva, the subject of this memoir. He was then 
just returned from the Scientific Congress at Turin, where he 
had been received with all the honours due to his distinguish- 
ed talents, and to his long services in the cause of natural his- 
tory. 

He appeared to me much broken in constitution, but with 
his mental faculties unimpaired ; and although he spoke, as 
might be expected, with some degree of despondency, as to the 
prospects of his completing the Prodromus, the great object 
of his ambition, he nevertheless dwelt with satisfaction on 


* He shewed much address in extracting subscriptions from his fellow- 
citizens for the furtherance of these scientific cbjects. One of his friends he 
would persuade to pay for the wood-work of a cabinet, another for the glass, 
whilst a third would be prevailed upon to stock it with specimens. 

VOL, XXXIV. NC. LXvIUI.—aprRIL 1843. R 


246 Mr W. J. Henwood on the Temperature 


having brought to a close that most formidable portion of it 
which related to the immense family of the Composite, and on 
the assistance he should derive in-the subsequent parts from 
the monographs already drawn up of several of the more im- 
portant natural families which would come before him, as 
from that of the Labiate by Mr Bentham. 

His death, which took place in September of the following 
year, has indeed frustrated these hopes and aspirations; but 
the public may doubtless look to the completion of this most 
useful undertaking under the auspices of the same Name which 
figures at its commencement; as his son, who has succeeded 
him in his professorship at Geneva, and who is already distin- 
guished by his Memoir on the Campanulacex, and by other 
writings, will, I trust, bring to a successful termination a work 
in which the reputation of his illustrious parent is so deeply 
involved. 

This, however, is a point, upon which it does not become 
one who, like myself, have, since the year 1830, known Mon- 
sieur Decandolle only through his writings, to affect to speak 
with authority ; and, for the same reason, I shall forbear to 
dwell upon his private worth, or on his public services, as 
member of the Legislative Body, and as Rector of the Aca- 
demy of Geneva, confident that justice will be hereafter 
done to these his deserts, by persons who had more opportu- 
nities fully to appreciate such points in his character. 


Observations on Subterrancan Temperature in the Mines of 
Cornwall and Devon. By W. J. Henwoop, C.E., F.R.S., 
F.G.S., &c. &c. &e.* 


My geological survey of the mines in the Duchy of Corn- 
wall afforded many opportunities for observations on subter- 
ranean temperature, of which I always availed myself. 

After most careful consideration of the subject, and consul- 


* From the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, 
yol, y., at present in the press. 


of the Mines of Cornwall and Devon. 247 


tation with others who have also been engaged in this inquiry, 
it has been thought best to confine the observations, as much 
as possible, to the temperature of the streams of water imme- 
diately issuing from the unbroken portions of the rocks and 
veins. 

The reasons for this preference are :—That the temperature 
of the air in mines is affected, not only by the presence of the 
workmen, the combustion of candles, and the explosion of gun- 
powder, but also by the warm or cold air which is brought to 
the same spot, by the varying directions of the currents under- 
ground, which are more or less influenced by the changes of 
wind at the surface ;—that the rocks, forming the sides of the 
shafts and levels, must, to a certain extent, partake of the 
temperature of the air circulating through them, and, of 
course, be affected by its changes ;*—and, that the water 
flowing through, or standing in pools, in the levels, is exposed 
to the same modifying causes, and probably, also, warmed by 
the workmen who frequently stand in it. 

As all these causes operate irregularly, it is difficult, if not 
altogether impossible, to select any distant periods at which 
their influence should be the same. The present observations 
were therefore made on the water as it issued from the un- 
broken rock, before the streams could be affected by the tem- 
perature of the levels; and they were, for the most part, in- 
stituted where frequent excavations scarcely permit even the 
apertures to partake of that influence, whilst the more deeply 
seated portions of their channels are perfectly free from it. 

The following table presents a comparison of the tempera- 
tures prevailing at nearly similar depths, in the different dis- 


* “ During his observations on the hourly variations of the magnet, Reich 
had an opportunity of observing the rapidity with which the air operates 
upon the rock even at a distance of 40 inches. The air in the mine shewed 
48°.6 with but slight variations, and a thermometer sunk into the rock 48°.64 ; 
but when, after 44 hours’ observation of the magnet, the temperature of the 
air had been raised by the presence of the observers, and their two candles, 
to 49°.7, the thermometer in the rock, which was subject to no change of 
air whatsoever, was found to have risen to 48°.71, 48°.73. This destroyed 
all hope of obtaining the temperature of the rock, quite free from the influ- 
ence of the air, by sinking thermometers even 40 inches deep into the rock.” 


. 
. 


Mr W. J. Henwood on the Temperature 
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of the Mines of Cornwall and Devon. 249 


TABLE II. 


Mean Temperature at nearly’ equal depths in the granite and slate rocks. 


Granite. 


DEPTHS. 
Depth Depth 


fathoms. * | fathoms. Temp. 


Surface to 50 fathoms 55°°9 


50 to 100 ap edevedsnanbecvavenarsase : PS GLES 


100 ... 150 es P 1 125° | 68°14 
150 ... 200 i sivas aatpasus nenskana ; 0" 174 79°17 
241: 89°-4 


Means 4° 35 116 | 68°89 


200 fathoms and beyond 


* From five observations only. 


TABLE III. 


Mean Temperatures of the rocks, cross-veins, and lodes, at nearly equal depths. 


Rocks, Cross-veins. 


Deprtus. 
Depth 


Surface to 50 fathoms, ... 
50 to 100 


100 ... 150 stoi si : ° : 64°°75* 
150 ... 200 fy nam 2° 740-4 
200 fathoms and beyond, . : 88°-75* 


* From only two observations, 


250 Mr W. J. Henwood on the Temperature 


TABLE IV. 


Mean Temperatures, at nearly equal depths, in the lodes which contain ores of 
different metals. 


Lodes yielding both 


Tin lodes, tin & copper ores. 


Copper lodes, 


Derrus. 


Depth 
fms, 


Depth 


Temp. Gus, 


Temp. 


Surface to 50 fathoms, ... 27° 53°14 ; : 32: 56°-9 


50 to 100 S06 Sor wl: 69°15 2: : | 74 61°'8 


100 ...150 aerate Laat | Gb>O2 24 ; 127° | 68°:39 
150... 200 ses ee) Lele 4 GES 1% - | SL°75t] 172: | 78:33 
200 fathoms and beyond, | 280: 74°°3 _ 244: 89°14 


Moaied. ERT! Bak ne 140: | 72%39 


* From three observations only. t From four obseryations. 


The following table (viz. Table V.) indicates the respective 
ratios of increase in temperature, expressed in fathoms of de- 
scent requisite to produce an elevation of one degree. The 
columns 2 and 3 are formed from Table II. ; 4, 5, and 6, from 
Table III. ; 7, 8, and 9, from Table IV.; and the last is the 
arithmetical mean of all the others. The eight columns are 
therefore deduced from the same facts, grouped in three dif- 
ferent ways ; it may therefore be anticipated that there will be 
considerable resemblance—between some of them, at least. 

The temperature of the air at Plymouth and Penzance, 
which are near the eastern and western limits of the mining 
districts of Devon and Cornwall, has been very accurately * 
determined ; and the observations made at several interme- 
diate spots} may, perhaps, be equally relied on. 

But this temperature, though affecting the rock to the depth 


* The mean temperature of Plymouth is stated, by Mr Harris, at 52°.081; 
Reports of the British Association, vii. p. 24: that of Penzance, at 52°.0, by 
Mr Giddy, Phil. Mag. and Annals, iii. p. 182. 

t Observations on the Temperature of Truro are recorded in the Reports 
of the Royal Institution of Cornwall; and of Falmouth, in the Reports of 
the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, 


of the Mines of Cornwall and Devon. 251 


of several feet,* cannot extend its influence very far; and, 
consequently, the observations made upon it will not, perhaps, 
avail much in the present inquiry, 

No experiments have been made in Cornwall to determine 
at what depths, in different soils and rocks, at various periods 
of the year, the effects of atmospheric temperature cease, and 
those of subterranean heat commence. 

Mr R. W. Fox’s observationst on the temperature at the 
depth of a few feet, are the only ones here with which 1 am 
acquainted ; and, because in many of the wells and shallower 
parts of the mines which I have examined, I have obtained 
the same average, viz. about 50 degrees, I concur with himt 
in thinking that we may begin our computations at that tem- 
perature ; and I have, accordingly, taken it as my point of de- 
parture. 


* Professor Forbes, from observations made in the neighbourhood of 
Edinburgh, states, on the average of three years’ experiment, that the effects 
of atmospheric temperature will become insensible at the following depths, 
in different substances :— 


Trap-rock,............ 55.5 feet. 
SU Sate Sea ae a ae 658 ... 
Sandstone,............ 96.1 ... 


Reports of the Brit. Assoc. (1840), p, 435. 
At Paris the effects of atmospheric temperature ceased at 25 feet; whilst 
in various Prussian mining establishments it was found to extend to depths 
varying from 27 to 63 feet. 
Professor Bischof, Edin. New Phil. Jour, xxiii. (1837), p. 341. 


+ The bulbs of the thermometers were sunk to a depth of three feet below 
the surface, and the mean annual temperatures observed were,— 


At Wheal Gorland (granite)......... 48°.09 
»+» Doleoath (slate)a......0020+> sere 49°.94 
... Falmouth (Sslate)............:sc000es 50°.67 

Means. ci cccs. cece 49°86 


Mr R. W. Fox, Corn. Geo. Trans., iii. p. 326. 


Corn. Geo. Trans., iii. p. 326, and Reports of Brit. As. (1840), p. 310, 


252 Mr W. J. Henwood on the Temperature 


TABLE VY. 


Lodes 
? 4. | Cross- _| Tin | yielding |Copper 
DEFTHS. Granite. | Slate. | Rocks. Sea: Lode3. Ioades hotles Gin | Rete 
& copper 
ore. 


Fms, | Fms. ] Fms.| Fms. 1 Py Mime OS 14 Fms, 
Surface to 50 
EMSS. cokes nn ce 93 50 58 | 8:2 ; H 65 


50tol00 fms) 91 71] 81 | 60 f : 6-4 
100...150 ... ; 83 | 67 |11-0t 
150 ...200 ... 5 37 | 49 


200 fms. and 
beyond, ... : ; 95 | 39T 


Means, : : 67 | 68 


* Five observations only. } From only three observations. 
+ From two observations only. § From four observations. 


(1.) As the mining districts vary considerably in their geo- 
logical characters, it might have been expected that the tem- 
peratures at equal depths would not exactly coincide in all, 
Of this inequality, which is very conspicuous in Table I., 
it is not easy, and perhaps not possible, to give a satis- 
factory explanation. As the situations of the mines differ 
very much in their elevations, in very few instances do equal 
depths below the surface hold the same positions with regard 
to the sea-level. This is probably one cause of the observed 
irregularities in temperature ; but it will presently be seen 


that there are others, which depend on the geological charac- 


ters of the rocks and veins. 

Table I. shews that the subterranean isothermal lines are 
not exactly parallel to the configuration of the surface ;* ai- 
though, in many instances, there is a sort of distant resem- 
blance in their outline. 


* « A chthonisothermal line of any temperature, which was under a small 
district parallel to the surface, cannot continue its course under a neigh- 
bouring mountain, either parallel to the external configuration of the moun- 
tain, or in the continuation of its former direction, but must curve upwards.” 
Professor Bischof, Jameson’s Edin. New Phil. Journ., xxiv, (1838), p. 146, 


of the Mincs of Cornwall and Devon. 253 


A detailed table, which I have prepared, presents many 
examples of different temperatures at equal depths ; not only 
in the same mines, but even in various parts of the streams of 
water flowing out of the very same crevices and apertures, with- 
in a few feet, or even inches, of each other. It need, there- 
fore, excite no surprise that there is not a perfect uniformity 
in the temperatures of tracts miles distant from each other. 

(2). No attempt to determine the difference between the 
mean temperature of the granite and slate, at various depths, 
was made before this inquiry had been considerably ad- 
vanced ;* although the fact had been alluded to,t and had 
been, from time immemorial, known to practical miners.t 

This difference is exhibited in Table II., and is far more 
conspicuous in the deeper than in the shallower levels. 

The granitic rocks may be more exposed to the cooling 
influences of descending streams, as their structure permits 
the percolation of water more readily than that of the slate- 
series. 

(3). The general impression has been, that the temperature 
of the rocks is lower than that of the veins:§ the results of 
my inquiries, however, conclusively demonstrate, that, at all 
depths, the rocks are warmer than the /odes, and the /cdes 
than the cross-veins. (Table III.) 

It is well known to miners that the largest streams of water 
flow through the cross-veins ;|| smaller ones through the lodes ; 


* My own Papers, Thomson's Records of General Science, iv. (1836), 
p- 198; Reports of the British Association, vi. (1837), p. 36. 

t Mr R. W. Fox, Annals of Philosophy, iv. (1822), p. 447; Phil. Mag. 
and Annals, ix. (1831), p. 98. 

{ “From observations carried on in various mining establishments in the 
Prussian dominions, M. Von Dechen finds that the increase of temperature 
is, in general, much more rapid in coal than in metalliferous mines.” Pro- 
fessor Bischof, Edin. New Phil. Journ., xxiv. (1838), p. 141. 

§ Mr R. W. Foz, Corn. Geo. Trans., ii. p. 21; Report of the Royal Corn. 
Polytech. Soc. (1836), p. 307; Dr Forbes, Corn. Geo. Trans., ii. p. 217; my 
own Summary of Experiments made in Cornwall (by other observers), Edin. 
Jour. of Science, x. 0. s. (1829), p. 244. 

|| As a general fact, the cross-veins traverse the lodes ; and thus, by falling 
in contact with and separating all of them, become the main subterranean 
aqueducts or channels for the circulation of water. 


254 Mr W. J. Henwood on the Temperature 


whilst but little issues from the rocks, whether granitic or 
slaty. It is an equally recognised fact, that a considerable 
portion of the water pumped out of our mines has been rain- 
water, which must have entered the ground at a temperature 
nearly the same as that of the atmosphere; consequently, 
much lower than that prevailing at even comparatively small 
depths in the mines. 

It therefore is obvious, that, as the cvoss-veins receive the 
largest quantity of this cold water, they will be most affected 
by its cooling influence ;* whilst, as the rocks absorb the 
smallest proportion of it, they will therefore suffer the least 
depression of temperature. 

That this is one cause of the observed difference can admit 
of no doubt; whether it is the only one, is foreign to this 
inquiry. 

It may be true that the ascent of vapour, which would tend 
to raise their temperature,} is facilitated by the more porous 


* At 264 fathoms deep, in Mr Pemberton’s Colliery, at Monk-Wear- 
mouth, Professor Phillips found, that, as bubbles of gas rose through the 
water, its temperature fluctuated; in one case, from 69°'1 to 69°°7, and in 
another, from 71°-6 to 72°°6. Lond. and Edin, Phil. Mag., v. (1834), p. 449. 

At 230 fathoms deep, in Dolcoath, Mr R. W. Fox placed a long thermo- 
meter in the copper /ode ; and, unless overflowed by water, it for many 
months indicated a temperature varying only from 75°-0 to 75°5. Cornwall 
Geo. Trans., ii. p. 27. 

But in metalliferous districts, the constancy of the temperature of water 
issuing from the same spot, at distant periods, must depend on the subter- 
ranean works remaining unaltered ; for, if the deeper levels are untouched, 
and the shallower ones are extended, the warm water from below will rise 
as before, whilst the cold from above will be intercepted, and thus the tem- 
perature of that flowing from intermediate spots will rise. If, on the other 
hand, the shafts are deepened and levels driven beneath, whilst the shallower 
ones are unwrought, the former will intercept the warm water and prevent 
its rising, and the cold water from above still flowing as before, the tem- 
perature of intermediate stations will decline. 

Such, in fact, is the case at Hast Wheal Crofty, where the temperatures at 
two different spots, within two years, diminished—the one 3°-0 to 7°25, and 
the other 7°-0,—both parts of the mine Having in the interval been deepened 
30 fathoms. 

Whatever cause may increase the water from above, must lower the tem- 
perature ; whilst any addition to that from below must elevate it. 

+ Mr R. W. Fox, Corn. Geo, Trans., ii, p. 16. 


of the Mines of Cornwall and Devon. 255 


nature of the veins ; but, on the other hand, it must not be 
forgotten, that this porous structure also affords a readier 
passage for the descending water. 

(4). The working miners of Cornwall have long known that 
the Jodes containing tin-ores are, at equal depths, colder than 
those in which copper-ores occur. This has been noticed by 
Mr M. P. Moyle ;* but no attempt has, until now, been made 
to determine the exact difference between them. 

Table IV. clearly proves the truth of this popular opinion ; 
and indicates that the ¢in-lodes possess the lowest tempera- 
ture,t and copper-lodes the highest ; whilst the Jodes in which 
the ores of both metals are mixed hold, in this respect, an 
intermediate position. 

(5). The general fact of a progressive elevation of tem- 
perature as we penetrate farther into the crust of the earth, 
naturally leads us to inquire the ratio of its increase. 

The manner in which Table V. is constructed has been 
already described ; and as the ratios presented by the different 
varieties of rocks and veins are there exhibited connectedly 
and at one view, it is needless to dilate on them. 

From the surface to 150 fathoms deep, the rise of tempera- 
ture, for equal increments of depth, seems to be ina dimi- 
nishing ratio,—a fact previously known. But deeper obser- 
vations disclose the curious, and, as it would seem, almost 
anomalous circumstance, that at more than 150 fathoms deep, 
the progression again becomes more rapid ; and that the ratio 
at about 150 fathoms in depth is at a minimum, and increases, 
both at greater and smaller depths. 

Whether further experiments may confirm or disprove the 
generality of this fact, I do not pretend even to conjecture ; 


* Mr R. W. Fox, Corn. Geo. Trans., ii. p. 414. 

+ The same general fact is also known in Germany; for Professor Bis- 
chof says,—“ The tin-mines of Sauberg at Ehrenfriedersdorf shew a re- 
markably low temperature: indeed, it is a prevailing opinion there, that 
stanniferous mountains are colder than others. . . - The low tempera- 
ture of Heinrichssohle, in the Altenberg district in the Erzgebirge, was also 
ascribable to the rocks of tin-stone.” Edin. New Phil. Journal, xxiv. (1838), 
p. 140. 

¢ Mr R. W. Fox, Reports of the British Association (1840), p. 315. 


256 Professor Ehrenberg on the Fossil Animals 


but I must remark, that the number of observations | have 
made at more than 150 fathoms deep is very considerable. 

The various ramifications of the great adit in the Gwennap 
mining district, have an aggregate extent of between thirty 
and forty miles. It drains a tract of about 5550 acres in area, 
and discharges nearly 1500 cubic feet of water per minute. 
Rather less than one-third of this stream is collected at the 
adit level, whilst the remainder is pumped up from a mean 
depth of about 190 fathoms. Its temperature varies between 
60°:5 and 68°-0, and is, on an average, more than 12° above 
the mean of the climate. 

The subject of subterranean temperature attracted atten- 
tion in France and Germany long before it did so in this 
country.* Though I have made some progress in a compa- 
rison of the results there observed with those obtained here 
(and such an inquiry would embrace many points of interest), 
I must defer its completion until a more convenient opportu- 
nity; as, in this communication, I have purposely confined 
myself to my own observations in Devon and Cornwall. 


4 CLARENCE STREET, PENZANCE, 
16th January 1843. 


Summary of Results on the Fossil Animals of the Chalk For- 
mation, still found in a living state. By Professor Euren- 
BERG Of Berlin.t 


It should be the endeavour of one who has collected new 
facts not merely to bring them accurately and clearly under 


* M. Daubuisson, des Mines de Freiberg, i. p. 258 ; ibid. iii. pp. 151-186- 
200; M. de Trebra, Annales des Mines, i. (1816), p. 377; ibid. iii. (1818, obser- 
vations made 185-7), p. 59; M. Hassenfratz, ibid. i. p. 378; M. Le Baron 
Cordier, Sur la Température de Vintérieur de la Terre, Memoires de l’Aca- 
déemie des Sciences, vii. (1827); M. J. Levallois, Annales des Mines, iii. 
(1833), p. 629 ; M. Reich, Beobachtungen ueber die Temperatur des Gesteins 
in verschiedenen Tiefen in den Gruben des Sachsischen Erzgebirges in den 
Jahren 1830 bis 1832; Prof. Bischof, Edin. New Phil. Journal, xxiii. (1637), 
p. 330; ibid. xxiv. (1838), pp. 132-252. 

+ Extracted from page 160, 161, 162, 163,164, of a memoir in the Berlin 
Memoirs for 1839; but read before the Academy on the 17th and 31st of Oc- 
tober, and 16th February 1840. ‘Translated for and inserted in No. XI. of 
Taylor’s Scientific Memoirs. 


es 


of the Chalk Formation. 257 


view, and to compare them according to his own idea of them 
with the existing state of science, but also to elucidate the 
conclusions which directly and necessarily result from them. 
This additional task is generally very difficult, sometimes lead- 
ing to the discovery that what had been supposed new was 
not so, or not of sufficient importance for such an extended 
investigation ; sometimes rendering a fresh and more pro- 
found examination requisite, or misleading to an evident ex- 


’ aggeration of the facts discovered, and to conclusions which 


they do not justify, and is therefore very frequently avoided 
from motives of fear or convenience. To leave this to others 
lightens indeed the labour of the task; but this alleviation, 
at the same time, lessens the value of isolated observations, 
and throws a doubt upon the care employed in making the 
comparison. 

Along with the general view of the facts advanced, I have 
also aimed at forming comparisons and conclusions, not in 
order to veil any erroneous view of the facts, but to render it 
the more conspicuous where it had gained ground ; and, on the 
other hand, to render the truth discovered more striking, and 
thus to awaken a more general and active interest for this 
kind of inquiry, I shall only draw such conclusions as are 
most obvious, since the further we depart from actual observa~ 
tion, the more we deviate into the field of uncertain specula- 
tion, which, when constructive, instead of being completive 
nearly, becomes the very opposite of philosophical inquiry, 
and is just as feasible for anybody as for the philosopher him- 
self. I would desire, that my conclusions should always be 
less rather than more than the observations might warrant 
me to draw. 

1. There are numerous animals of the chalk formation 
which are still found living, and precisely such as do not, 
either from great variation of form within generic limits, or 
from the simplicity of their exterior, leave any uncertainty in 
determining their specific difference. 

2. Of the animal forms which constitute the greater mass 
of the white chalk, those which preponderate in number of 
individuals are identical with living species ; and hitherto all 
the principal species which form the rocks, have been observed 


258 Professor Ehrenberg on the Fossil Animals 


alive even in the short time daring which the inquiry has 
been proceeding. 

3. The principal number of species, and the great mass of 
individuals of these recent forms, are microscopic infusoria 
with siliceous shells, and Polythalamia with calcareous shells, 
searcely or not at all perceptible to the naked eye, which 
nevertheless form so incaleulably great a volume of the solid 
portion of the earth, that the few species asserted to be still 
living, from other groups of animals of higher organization, 
even if they were all decidedly identical, bear not the slightest 
comparison with the number and mass. 

4, The microscopic organisms are, it is true, far inferior 
in individual energy to lions and elephants; but in their 
united influences they appear far more important than all 
those animals. 

5. The fifty-seven recent species of the chalk in Europe, 
Africa, and Asia, do not live solely or principally in southern 
latitudes, as has been shewn with respect to the recent larger 
forms of the so-called Eocene formation, but have been ob- 
served living both in those and in northern latitudes, These 
recent species are not rare nor isolated, but fill, in incalculable 
numbers, the seas of northern Europe, and are not wanting on 
the tropical coasts of the American ocean. 

6. The idea that the temperature and constitution of 
the atmosphere and oceans were essentially different at the 
period of the chalk formation, and adverse to the organized 
beings at present existing, naturally acquired more probability 
and weight, the more decidedly different all the creatures of 
that period were from those of the present time; but loses 
more and more in importance the less the chalk proves to be 
a chemical precipitate, and the more numerous the forms 
agreeing with those of the present day become by renewed 
inquiry. Nay, there is not the least doubt that the perfectly 
ascertained identity of a single species of the present day 
with one of those of the chalk, renders doubtful the neces- 
sary transformation of all the others subsequently to the 
formation of the chalk rocks; how much more so when 
these are numerous, and such as form masses! The size ap- 
pears to be of no importance, as the small organisms have 


of the Chalk Formation. 259 


already been shewn to agree with the large, with regard to 
the effect of external influences upon them. 

7. The period of the dawn of the organic creation co-ex- 
istent with ourselves, can only be admitted as being anterior 
to, and below, the chalk formation, if indeed, which is ques- 
tionable, such a distinction can be made ; or the chalk, with 
its rocks, covering far and high the superticies of the earth, 
forms part of the series of recent formations, and some of the 
four as yet well established great geological periods of the 
earth’s formation, the quaternary, tertiary, and secondary for- 
mations, contain recent organisms, it is, as three to one, more 
probable that the transition or primary formation is not dif- 
ferently circumstanced ; but that, from the gradual longer 
chemical decomposition and change of many of its organic 
relations, it is more difficult to examine and determine. 

Paludina vivipara and Cyclas cornea of the Weald clay, 
and the recent Zrochus below the chalk, according to De- 
france, as well as the confirmation of the occurrence of Tere- 
bratula caput Serpentis in the upper Jura formation, by Von 
Buch, together with my observations of microscopic, yet, 
nevertheless, peculiar Polythalamia in the flints of the Jura, 
are additional positive indications of the inconceivable ex- 
tent of similar organic relations, the further investigation of 
which is one of the important questions to be determined in 
the present age. 

8. It cannot be denied that the notion hitherto frequently 
asserted, that all recent organisms, including man, are the 
descendants and perfected stages of metamorphoses of trilo- 
bites and ferns, has something in it opposed to sound sense ; 
when, therefore, the direct inquiry leads powerfully to a dif- 
ferent point of view, it has much in its favour, even though it 
be reserved to a future period, to explain the vast connection 
of the phenomena. 

9, Since now, Polythalamia, and other forms identical with 
chalk animals, exist, which are not endowed with spontaneous 
division, this faculty of the Infusoria, and their general nature, 
are not the sole causes to which the indefinite duration of the 
species is owing. 


260 On the Fossil Animals of the Chalk Formation. 


10. In consequence of the mass-building Infusoria and 
Polythalamia, the secondary formations can now no longer be 
distinguished from the tertiary ; and in accordance with what 
has been above stated, masses of rock might be formed even 
at the present time in the ocean, and be raised by voleanic 
power above the surface, the great mass of which would, as 
to its constituents, perfectly resemble the chalk. Thus, then, 
the chalk remains still to be distinguished by its organic con- 
tents as a geological formation, but no longer as a species of 
rock. 

11. The power so conspicuous in the organic beings under 
consideration is, according to experience, so immensely great, 
even in its influence on the inorganic, that, with the concur- 
rence of favourable circumstances, they alone might give rise 
to the greatest changes in the distribution of the solid land of 
the earth in the shortest space of time, especially in the 
water ; and the ascertainable extent of such influences, how- 
ever great, remains constantly small in comparison to those 
that are possible, consequently do not give, by their magni- 
tude, any certain measure of periods of time. 

12. The correctness of the above expositions is not founded 
on individual opinion, formed from hasty inspections of trifling 
objects ; but the microscopic objects on which the opinions are 
based (though fading from our notice as individuals, yet, by 
their number, forming mountains and countries), are acces- 
sible to any comparison in distinct preparations, made accord- 
ing to the methods already described; and almost all the 
forms here mentioned, especially all the more important ones, 
have been carefully preserved by me, and laid before the 
Academy. 

13. Thus then, there is a chain, which, though in the indivi- 
dual tt be microscopic, yet in the mass a mighty one, connéct- 
ing the organic life of distant ages of the earth, and proving 
that it is not always the smaller, or most deeply lying, which is 
the base and the type of those which are larger and nearer the 
surface on our earth ; and, moreover, that the dawn of organic 
nature, co-existent uith us, reaches farther back into the history 
of the earth than had hitherto appeared. 


( 261 ) 


On amethod of Registering the Forceactually transmitted through 
a Driving-Belt. By Epwarp Sane, Esq., F.R.SS.A., Pro- 
fessor of Civil Engineering, College, Manchester. Com- 
municated by the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.* 


It is a desideratum to have the means of ascertaining how 
much force is actually consumed in the working of a machine. 
Whenever the motion is communicated by the intervention of 
a belt or band, this can be very easily accomplished. 

When we see a belt passed over two pulleys, and look with- 
out any narrow examination at the motion, we regard the ac- 
tion as a very simple one; there is more in it, however, than 
appears at first sight. For the sake of clearness, let us call 
thedriving-pulley the drum, and the other the pulley. The belt 
passed over them, whether plain or crossed, has two free parts, 
one of which draws and the other of which follows. If it were 
possible that no force were needed to turn the pulley, these 
two free parts would be in the same state of tension; but 
whenever any resistance is made to the motion of the pulley, 
the drawing part is distended more, and the following part less, 
than usual; and experiments show, that, within all practical 
limits, this change is exactly proportional to the pressure ne- 
cessary for overcoming the resistance. 

As the movement proceeds, the distended part of the belt 
is lapped over the drum, and, so to speak, the contracted part 
is lapped ‘over the pulley, so that the circumference of the 
drum moves more swiftly than that of the pulley; thus, if the 
distension be 1 in 100, for 100 inches of the drum there would 
only be 99 inches of the pulley passed over. 

The difference between the velocity of the drum and that 
of the pulley thus indicates the pressure needed to carry the 
drum round. Now, this pressure, combined with the distance 
through which it acts, gives the force used; and hence, the 
simple difference between the distances passed over by the 
circumference of the drum and by that of the pulley is exactly 


* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts 9th January 1843. 
‘VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVIIL—APRIL 1843. s 


262 Mode of Registering Force transmitted through a Driving Belt. 


proportional to the foree ; and we have only to contrive some 
method of registering this difference, in order to have a record 
of the total force transmitted by the belt. 

There may easily be contrived a variety of seteeareticuts for 
shewing the difference between the motions of the drum and 
pulley. Thus a pair of indicators may be fitted, one to each 
shaft, so as to tell the total number of turns made by each ; 
from this number, by help of the measured diameter, the dis- 
tance passed over by each circumference can be found, and 
thus the element for knowing the force transmitted can be 
had. 

Or otherwise, and this perhaps is the most convenient ar- 
rangement, a light pulley, having its circumference one faot, 
may be brought to bear against the belt on the drum, and 
another against the belt on the pulley; if these light pulleys 
have counting geer attached, a simple reading off and subtrac- 
tion will give the difference of distance. 

Having now ascertained the difference between the motiotis 
of the drum and pulley, it remains to ascertain by what this 
must be multiplied, in order to give the force. It is not my 
object, at present, to enter into the theory of the matter—al- 
though this theory presents several points of considerable in- 
terest—but to give a practical application of the principle. In 
order to find out the force due to a single foot of difference, 
we have to run the pulley unburdened for a considerable time, 
taking notice of the difference of motion, and then loading the 
shaft by means of a spring friction-strap with two arms, re- 
peat the observation over as many strokes of the engine or: 
turns of the drum; in this way we shall have a new difference, 
and subtracting the one from the other, we shall have what 
is due to the force as shewn by the friction-strap. 

When the multiplier for one belt has been ascertained, that 
for any other belt may be approximately computed, if it be of 
the same material, by having regard to the relative weights of 
a foot of each ; so that a pair of accurately constructed coun- 
ters form a portable apparatus, by means of which the force 
transmitted by any belt may at once be ascertained, the weight, 
length, and material of that belt being known. 

MANCHESTER, Ist Sept, 1842. 


( 268 ) 


On the English Arc of the Meridian. By Wit11am GALBRAITH, 
Esq., M.A., Vice-President of the Royal Scottish Society of 
Arts, F.R.A.S., &c.* Communicated by the Royal Scot- 
tish Society of Arts. 


The paper which I now lay before this Society is one relative to 4 very 
important branch of science, whatever may be its own merits. The Eng- 
lish are of the meridian, betweeen Dunnose in the Isle of Wight, and 
Clifton on the southern borders of Yorkshire, extends through a tract of 
country of about 200 miles, and has created considerable discussion in fo- 
reign journals, as well as in those of this country. The notion of errors 
having been committed in the original zenith-sector observations to de- 
termine the length of the celestial are corresponding to that measured on 
the earth’s surface, is now generally exploded ; since instances of much 
greater differences between the observed and geodetic latitudes have oc- 
curred in many extensive similar operations on the Continent. 

M. Bessel has indeed discovered that there has been a very consider- 
able error committed in the original reduction of the observations made 
on the star Capella, amounting to about 18’; but, as this error was simi- 
larly applied to the observations at both the north and south ends of the 
are, it produced little effect on the intercepted arc,—the only result then 
deduced. 

M. Bessel has, however, determined the latitude of Dunnose carefully 
from the zenith-sector observations, and, in this case, he could not avoid 
detecting this grave error, since it would have produced an equal effect 
on the observed latitude. 

The original bases from which the sides of the triangles are determined, 
were not measured in the imperial standard, and therefore all the dis- 
tances given in the Survey require to be reduced to it. M. Bessel has 
made this reduction correctly according to Kater’s experiments ; but he 
has not recomputed the triangulation. He took merely the final result 
as it stoodin the survey. This part of the operation forms the subject of the 
present paper, and it is hoped that the results (not differing greatly from 
Bessel’s) of my enquiries are stated in such moderate and candid language 
that no offence can, by any possibility, be reasonably given to any gen- 
tleman either formerly or now connected with this great national work, 
so highly beneficial to the interests, and, on the whole, creditable to the 
science of thecountry. 

These operations have been, and still continue to be, of great service 
to practical science, as well as to the useful arts. In many instances, the 
Ordnance Survey in this country has been of great importance in the se- 
lection of lines of railways, canals, and roads. On the Continent, the 


* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 13th February 1843. 


264 Mr Galbraith on the English Are of the Meridian. 


railway from Paris to Lille, with the branches to Valenciennes, Dunkirk, 
Calais, and Boulogne, derived great advantages from the new Survey of 
France, both with regard to economy in time and diminution of expense. 
The Marine Surveys are also of immense benefit for the purpose of en- 
abling our vessels to navigate the ocean in safety, and also to facilitate 
the selection of the proper points for the erection of piers and harbours, 
either by the nation or by patriotic individuals,—a noble example of 
which has been set by his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and Mr Glad- 
stone in the erection of the piers at Granton and Burntisland. It is much 
to be regretted that our Trigonometrical Survey has proceeded so slowly. 
The English Trigonometrical Survey commenced in earnest in 1791, the 
Trench Description Geometrique de la France, similar to ours, after the 
peace of 1815, and, considering their relative progress, the latter, though 
begun a quarter of a century after the former, it appears probable will be 
finished before it.* 


Wit1i1aM GALBRAITH. 
54 SoutH BripceE, November 1842. 


In the Astronomische Nachrichten, conducted by Professor 
Schumacher of Altona, there are several papers by M. Bessel, 
the justly celebrated astronomer of Konigsberg, relative to the 
figure and magnitude of the earth. In this new determination, M. 
Bessel has thought proper to reduce almost all the astronomical 
observations afresh, and to introduce every necessary correc- 
tion relative to the true places of the stars, the instruments 
employed in making the observations, and the latest correc- 
tions of the measured arcs. In general, however, he has not 
re-examined the trigonometrical calculations, but merely ap- 
plied such corrections to the ares as had been suggested by 
recent examinations of the standard scales from which the 
fundamental bases were obtained. This he has done with 
regard to the-are of the meridian in England, between Dun- 
nose and Clifton, and it will be seen by the following remarks 


* It is now generally admitted, that, by a deflection of the plumb-line from the 
vertical in the direction of the meridian, an irregularity of 5” of latitude has oc- 
curred at Arburyhill. But a deflection of the plumb-line in an are at right 
angles to the meridian would cause a like irregularity in the azimuth there ; and 
if that azimuth be determined from the pole star, as obtained by Ramsden’s theo- 
dolite, the irregularity from this cause must be multiplied by the secant of the 
altitude, or 1.68. Hence an error of 5” committed at the height_of the pole star 
becomes 5” x 1.68 or 8”.4 at the horizon. 

This hypothesis may be offered as a solution of the inconsistency pointed out 
in page 270 of this paper, independent of errors of collimation arising from a ne- 
glect to reverse the axis of the telescope, 


Mr Galbraith on the English Arc of the Meridian. 265 


that the trigonometrical operations have, in general, been-con- 
ducted with so much precision, that he was justified in the 
process which he pursued. The difference between my new 
calculations and those of the late General Mudge amount toa 
few feet only, when both are given in the imperial standard. 
Having come to this conclusion, it might be supposed that I 
need not have extended my. remarks farther ; but as some cir- 
cumstances are alluded to that have not hitherto been observ- 
ed, it may not, perhaps, be unnecessary or uninteresting to 
notice them. It is very probable that new computations have 
been made in the Ordnance Map Office nearly analogous to 
ours ; but as they have not, to my knowledge, been yet made 
public, I may thus be excused for communicating mine. 


I. Or tue Bases. 


From the remarks made by General Roy himself in the 
Trigonometrical Survey, vol. i. page 15, &c., there can be little 
doubt that, of the first base measured on Hounslow Heath with 
glass-rods, the results were in Roy’s own scale. Again, from 
the observations made by Mudge in p. 218, it is clear, I think, 
that the second base was measured in terms of Ramsden’s 
seale. Now, the ratio of the first to the imperial standard is, 
from the best information we possess, 1.0000244 to 1, and that 
of the second as 1.0000691 to 1. The same applies to the 
bases measured on Salisbury Plain and Misterston Carr. From 
these data, the whole arc is readily converted into the impe- 
rial standard. 


1. Roy’s base, measured on Hounslow Heath, in terms of his own 
scale, at 62° Fahrenheit, and 100 above the mean level of the sea, 


was Sit eee iy Ree RO Oj ao! SA reese 
Reduction of Roy’s scale to the imperial standard 

= 27404 x 0.0000244 = Siwy Puss chine + 0.6699* 
Length of base in imperial feet,. 1. . « 27404.6836 

- Log. of 27404.6886 feet, . . -  «  4,4378248 

Reduction for 100 feet of height tosea, . »- — 21 
Reduction to chord, . : - c _ 0 
Log. at level of the sea (1784), . -  « 44378227 


* The ingenious writer of the article Trigonometrical Surveying in the Ency- 
clopedia Britannica has applied this correction with a wrong sign. 


266 Mr Galbraith on the English Are of the Meridian. 
2. Mudge’s base, on Hounslow Heath, at 62° Fahr., 100 feet above the 


sea, in feet, - ; : : 27404.8155 
By Ramsden’s scale, of which the iestans is 4,4378190 
Reduction to imperial standard, é . , + 300 
Reduction to level of the sea, . ; r 5 _ 21 
Log. of true length of base (1791), -  « 44878469 
Which gives, imperial feet, ? 3 é - _ 27406.076 
3. Mudge’s base, on Salisbury Plain, 690 feet above the level of the 

sea, at the temperature of 62° Fahr., was. . 36575.4 feet. 
Of which the log.is_ . r : See + 4,5631891 
Reduction to imperial standard, : : : + 300 
Reduction to level of the sea, . 5 : — 148 
Log. of true length of base, . - . -  4.5632048 
Which gives, in imperial feet, 5 : : 36576.723 


4. Mudge’s base, on Misterston Carr, 35 feet above the level of the 
sea, at 62° Fahr., was in the same standard, 26342.712 feet. 
Of which the log. is . - - - : 4.4206605 
Reduction to imperial standard, : - - + 300 
Reduction from 35 feet to level of sea, : : _ 7 


Log. of true length of base at sea, : . 4.4206898 
Which in imperial feet is . s > : . 26344491 


Hence we have the whole of these four bases all in imperial 
feet, with their corresponding logarithms, ready for the ulte- 
rior calculations, though the two bases on Hounslow Heath 
disagree more than is generally believed ; because, instead of 
being, as usually supposed, in terms of the same scale, they 
are essentially different, and their lengths differ by 1 foot 42 
inches. 


Spherical Excess. 


In computing the spherical excess, I employed the formula 
e’ = ssin 1’x2af?. In which a is the area of the triangle 
in square feet, f the factor to convert feet into ares for 
4 (J+ 7+’) = L, the mean latitude of the three angular points 
of the triangle at an angle. a of 45° with the meridian. My 
results correspond nearly to those in the Survey, with one or 
two exceptions. That in which the error is greatest is the 
triangle Castle Ring, Bardonhill, Orpit. In this triangle, the 
‘spherical excess is 4”.06 instead of 2”.85, as stated in the 


Mr Galbraith on the English Are of the Meridian, 267 


Trigonometrical Survey, vol. ii., Arc of the Meridian, page 
53, No. XX. Here the error is —1”.21, from an erroneous 
calculation. The differences in any other case are hardly 
worth pointing out. 

In preparing the triangles for calculation, according to Le- 
gendre’s method, by the mean angles, I have taken a fair mean 
of all the angles, whether by simple observation or by combi- 
nation with others, without any arbitrary or empirical mode of 
proceeding according to any judgment formed of their relative 
accuracy in the opinion of the observers, as adopted in the 
Survey, being convinced, from experience, that such a method 
of procedure is often fallacious. 


Il. TriconometTRicaL ReEsutts. 


With the bases and angles thus prepared, I found, from the 
bases, as measured on Hounslow Heath, the distance between 
Bagshot and Hindhead, forming one of the sides of the series 
of triangles constituting the are of the meridian between Dun- 
nose and Clifton. From the base on Salisbury Plain, I found 
the distance between Deanhill and Highclere, another of the 
sides of one of the triangles of the same series. Lastly, I found 
from the base measured on Misterton Carr, the distance of 
Clifton from Gringley, one of the sides of these series also. 
Whence I had the means of computing the sides of the whole 
series from four different bases, two values of that on Hounslow 
Heath, one on Salisbury Plain, and one on Misterton Carr— 
all prepared for calculation with the greatest care, I had also 
the choice of three methods of computing the length of the 
whole, two by parallels to the meridian, one on the east, one 
ont the west, and a third by the intersections of the are with 
the sides of the triangles. 

From the base on Salisbury Plain I obtained 

By the eastern series from Dunnose to Clifton, . 1036405.62 ft. 

By the western series from Clifton to Dunnose,  - 1036406,13 

By intersections from Dunnose to Clifton, . - 1036405.58 


Mean, . ‘ : i ; F ; 1036405.78 
Correction for position of Zenith sector, F ‘ + 8.00 


Final results from Salisbury Plain base, .  »  1036408.78 


268 Mr Galbraith on the English Are of the Meridian. 


In all, the reduction of the distance between the perpendi- 
culars to that between the parallels has been applied, a quan- 
tity entirely overlooked in the survey. 

From a combination of the whole we have from 


Roy’s base on Hounslow Heath, . 1036361.06 ft. «, = 
Mudge’s base on Hounslow Heath,. 1036418.83... «= 
Mudge’s base on Salisbury Plain, . 1036408.78... ©, =-+ 19.99 
Mudgé’s base on Misterton Carr, . 1036366.48... &,= 


Mean of the whole, A 5 - 1036888.79 


Now, dividing this mean by the length of the celestial are 
2° 50’ 23” .497, and we have 1036388.79 + 2°.83986027 = 
364943.58 feet, the length of one degree of the meridian at 
the middle latitude 52° 2’ 19” between Dunnose and Clifton. 

The value employed by M. Bessel agrees very nearly with 
our third result from Mudge’s base on Salisbury Plain, and is 
consequently greater than our mean by about 20 feet,—a small 
difference in a distance of somewhat less than 200 miles; and 
the consistency of the whole is a proof of the great care and 
general accuracy of all the operations even at that early period. 
Whence the accuracy of Bessel’s conclusions cannot in any 
appreciable degree be vitiated by the small discrepancy be- 
tween the length of this are, assumed by him, and that obtained 
by me from direct calculation. In short, he, by taking from the 
survey 10363387 feet, and multiplying this by 1.00007, Kater’s 
number for reducing measures taken in Ramsden’s scale to 
those in the imperial standard, obtained 1036409.54 feet, 
agreeing within less than a foot* of our third result, which, 
converted into French toises, was used in his subsequent inves- 
tigations. Having thus proved that the results, in whatever 
way they be derived, are as accurate as could in general be 
expected, and that no error of consequence has been made so 
as to affect any conclusions deduced from the commonly re- 
ceived length of the are of the meridian, [ shall now pro- 
ceed to make a very few concluding remarks. 


* Occasioned by the omission, in the Survey, of the reduction of the dis- 
tance between the perpendiculars to that between the parallels, 


Mr Galbraith on the English Arc of the Meridian. 269 


III. Generat Remarks. 


Computing the co-ordinates of Leithhill from Kater’s new survey, rela- 
tive to the meridian and perpendicular to the meridian of Greenwich, and 
also those from the same point from Dunnose by the data given in the 
Trigonometrical Survey, I have found the difference of latitude, between 
Greenwich and Dunnose, to be geodetically « — 0°51'34" 308. 

Latitude of Greenwich by observation, . . 51 28 38 .50N. 


Latitude of Dunnose geodetically, -  « 60°37’ 4”.20N. 
Latitude by Kater’s observations, . : : 50 87 5 .27 
Latitude by Bessel’s Z sector observations, . 50 37 6 .85 


Mean of these three, E 2 A é E 50° 37’ 5” .44N. 


which, from their close agreement, must be very near the truth. 


From the same co-ordinates, the longitude geo- 
detically, is, . : A ieee sitet itd 1°11' 51” .66 W. 
Longitude by Trigonometrical Survey, .  . 1 11 36 00 W. 


Difference, : é ~ - - - : 15” .56 
or about 13” in a degree. 


This error arises from slight inaccuracies in the data as- 
sumed and methods then practised, but which, by Colonel 
Colby, the present conductor, have been long ago abandoned. 

It is much to be regretted, indeed, that the later results and 
observations have not hitherto been published, for it would be 
very desirable that every thing connected with the Survey, 
like the astronomical observations made at the Royal Obser- 
vatory at Greenwich, and other places, should be annually 
published at the public expense, since they are undoubtedly 
public property, and the results would enable civil-engineers, 
and private amateurs, to reap all the advantages justly expected 
from so valuable a source. 

From calculation I have found the station at Clifton 4737.59 
feet west of the meridian of Dunnose, when the arc is deduced 
from the azimuth at Dunnose; while, from the azimuth at Clif. 
ton, the arc passing through that station is 4909.95 feet west 
of Dunnose, or conversely, the station at Dunnose is 4909.95 
feet east of the meridian of Clifton. Now, if all the opera- 
tions and observations have been accurately performed, espe- 
cially those to determine the azimuths, these numbers ought 


270) =Mr Galbraith on the English Are of the Meridian. 


to be consistent; that is, they ought to be proportional to the 
radii of their respective parallels. 


From this analogy 4787.59 feet become » « 6047-71 feet 
But the calculation from the azimuths is, ; ‘ 4909.95 . 


Difference, . - 4 3 137.76 feet 

Now, from Clifton, at t the dimes of Dunnose 137.76 feet, 
would subtend an angle of 27”.42. But the accurate deter- 
mination of the azimuth by the pole star with the great theo- 
dolite, is an operation difficult to be performed in the manner 
described by General Mudge in the first volume of the Tri- 
gonometrical Survey, page 243. Captain Kater remarks in the 
new Survey for connecting the observatories of Greenwich and 
Paris, Philosophical Transactions for 1828, page 183: “* There 
is, however, another source of inaccuracy to which azimuths by 
the pole-star are liable, and which seems to have been wholly 
disregarded—I allude to an error in the line of collimation. 
This error may, however, be destroyed by inverting the tele- 
scope, or placing that end of the axis which was on the east 
to the west; and taking a mean of the observations of the 
star in both positions.” Certainly, if this inversion of the axis 
was omitted, a considerable error might ensue, as Captain 
Kater justly remarks; and though General Mudge does not 
directly say the axis was inverted, yet it is difficult to believe 
that so experienced an observer was likely to neglect it, 
though it is not impossible, unless he rectified it completely by 
the usual adjustments, But even though complete adjustment 
be attempted, yet the experienced observer will never impli- 
citly trust to this, but will regularly invert the axis, as I am 
constantly in the habit of doing in all my determinations of 
angles, whether in altitude or azimuth. Ifthis precaution, how- 
ever, was really neglected, then it would seem to follow, from 
our computations above, that that error had amounted to one- 
half of 27’.42, or 13”’.71, at each of the stations of Dunnose 
and Clifton. Indeed, from a computation which I have made, 
if the azimuth at Beachy Head be supposed correct, that at 
Dunnose would, by computation, differ from the observed 
quantity, by 13’.93; and conversely, if the azimuth at Dun- 
nose be considered accurate, that at Beachy Head would, by 
calculation, differ from the observed quantity by 13.93, or 


ee 


Mr Galbraith on the English Arce of the Meridian. 271 


there is a probability of an error of 7” in each, if considered 
equal. There is at least, certainly, some inconsistencies in 
these operations, for which it is difficult to account on any 
other hypothesis. The effect, however, on the length of the 
are of the meridian, would be nearly insensible, though it 
might in some degree slightly vitiate other deductions, such as 
the latitudes, longitudes, and azimuths, dependent upon it. 
Indeed it may be remarked, that the peculiar construction of 
the old theodolite, by Ramsden, is not favourable to the accu- 
rate determination of azimuths by the pole-star. The altitude 
and azimuth circle, or transit instrument properly constructed, 
would, in my opinion, be greatly superior. A good altitude 
and azimuth circle, I believe to be the best instrument for de- 
termining the latitude ; and the adoption of a small are, as in 
the caseof the zenith sectors, hitherto employed in this country, 
has always to me appeared not a little singular. A new zenith 
sector has lately been proposed by Mr Airy, with several im- 
provements over the old instrument, which, if I am rightly 
informed, was destroyed by the late fire at the Tower. Still, 
however, though in the new instrument the angle be read on 
opposite arcs, yet it seems to be doubtful if its results can be 
considered equal to those from a circle of much smaller radius, 
read from ¢hree or six microscopes, distributed equidistantly 
round the circumference, when for every pair of observations it 
is reversed in azimuth, and the repetitions carried to four or six 
times within proper limits, and nicely reduced to the meridian. 


' Indeed, notwithstanding the general excellence of the mural 


circle, asnow constructed with microscopes attached to the stone 
pier for the sake of permanence, yet the circle itself being built 


‘up of so many different pieces liable to unequal strain, its ex- 


ecution is not entirely conformable to sound mechanical prin- 
ciples.* A transit circle, having both ends of its axis sup- 
ported on stone-piers, must possess much greater stability, 
especially if made, with the exception of the axis, of cast-iron, 
with radiating bars, broad at the axis, and tapering towards 
the circumference‘on which the divisions are cut. The glasses 
of the telescope, too, ought to be much more substantially 


* It has little or no stability by braces in the direction of the axis. 


272) Mr Galbraith on the English Are of the Meridian. 


fixed to the circle than in the comparatively slender tube at 
present in use. The instrument would then be reversed by a 
proper machine in the same manner as the transit instrument ; 
while, from the cheapness of the materials, it would be far less 
expensive. 

While these general objections are made to English instru- 
ments, one would be justified in making still stronger to most 
of the foreign. The French repeating circle, invented by 
Borda, depends upon a principle of great ingenuity, though in 
practice it does not equal the sanguine expectations of its 
greatest admirers. There is a much greater want of stability 
in its structure than in any of our instruments, which, perhaps, 
might be improved by the suppression of some of their numer- 
ous adjustments ; and though in the French arc of the meridian, 
and in the New Trigonometrical Survey of France, under the 
title, ‘“‘ Description Geometrique dela France,’ it has played a 
very important part; yet there are discrepancies in several of 
the observations connected with some of these fine operations, 
which would tend greatly to shake our confidence for extreme 
precision in its final results, deduced from even ¢housands of 
repetitions. In determining the latitude of the Observatory of 
Saint Martin d’ Angers, as recorded in the Description Geo- 
metrique, Deuxieme Partie, page 499, Colonel Corabceuf, with 
a thirteen-inch repeating circle of Gambey, from observations 
on Palaris, at its upper transit north of the zenith, by about 
40° 55’, found the latitude to be. : 47° 28’ 15”. 21 N. 
By a Serpentis, 40° 29'S. of zenith, . 47 27 59 ALN. 


——— 


Half sum or mean, } : E 47°28" 7.31 N. 
which is accounted the true satu: But there is a difference 
between these results, amounting to no less than 15”.8, one- 
half of which, or 7”.9 taken negatively, is reckoned the error 
of the instrument at a zenith distance of about 40° 40’. 
Again, by @ Ursee Minoris, at a zenith distance of about 
27° 23’ N. at its upper transit, the latitude by the same instru- 
ment was. ; 47° 28’ 10".95 N. 
By Arcturus, wait Z. D,, a7" 23 s, itwas 47 28 1.41N. 


—$—<$<$<$<—— 


Half sum or mean, ; ; ‘ ; 47°28 6”.95 N. 


Mr Galbraith on the English Arc of the Meridian. 278 


which is accounted the true latitude, and agrees very closely 
with the preceding result. There is, however; between the 
two last, a difference of 9’.54, one-half of which, or 4’.77, is 
here, at the zenith distance of about 27° 20’, reckoned the er- 
ror. Hence, for a change of zenith distance of 13° 20’, there 
is a corresponding change of error of 3’.13. Some observers 
find, or think they find, that these errors vary as the sine of 
the zenith distance ;* while others can detect no such law, 
though a mean of judiciously chosen observations give remark- 
ably consistent results, when the observations are very numer- 
ously repeated. Still, however, in this country, observers ac- 
customed to British instruments, would greatly suspect their 
final accuracy, even from very numerous observations, however 
consistent the individual results might be, whenever they in- 
volved such remarkable discrepancies. The opposite error 
seems applicable to our observers. Generally provided with 
large instruments, having powerful telescopes, they trust per- 
haps rather too confidently, in a very few observations which 
they consider good, and neglect to repeat them sufficiently to 
counteract atmospheric irregularities, for which no power of 
telescope will compensate. Even the power of the telescope 
of Roy’s theodolite, by Ramsden, was not great, as he himself 
states, in the Trigonometrical Survey, vol. i. page 123 ; it only 
magnified about forty or fifty times, as commonly employed. 
I have not seen the power of that belonging to the Board of 


. Ordnance anywhere stated. 


In taking horizontal angles, “ the errors,” says Captain 
Kater, Phil. Transactions for 1828, page 197, “‘ which may 
arise from lateral refraction, have often been suspected, but 
never clearly ascertained. In the course of our work, how- 
ever, we had such evidence of the fact as to leave no doubt of 
its existence. The angle (measured) between the same ob- 
jects would differ (when taken) under the most favourable cir- 
cumstances, about five seconds on different days, and perhaps 
a second and a-half, or two seconds, may be considered as the 
error which may effect an angle from lateral refraction in an 
ordinary state of the atmosphere.” 


* This coincides nearly with these examples, the difference being only 
0’.78 from this hypothesis. 7 


274 Mr Galbraith on the Knglish Arc of the Meridian. 


These remarks of Captain Kater have been verified by my 
own experience, and there is no probable way of obviating the 
effects of refraction on horizontal angles, but by combining 
the French method of repetition with our own more powerful 
instruments on different days under various atmospheric cir- 
cumstances. 


ADDITIONAL NOTE. 


The following remarks have been occasioned by the receipt 
of a part of the Ordnance Survey, since the original paper 
was delivered to the Secretary :— 


After a lapse of thirty years, the publication of the results of the Ord- 
nance Trigonometrical Survey of Britain has been resumed. This has 
been recommenced by the publication of a part, titled, “ Astronomical 
Observations, made with Ramsden’s zenith sector, together with a Cata- 
logue of Stars which haye been observed, and the amplitudes of the celes- 
tial ares, deduced from the observations at the differeit stations; and 
published by order of the Board of Ordnance.” ; 

Of this work a few copies have been distributed, by presentation, to 
different individuals, and it is but justice to those employed, to affirm, 
that all the deductions are made according to the best methods now used 
in that branch of science. Colonel Colby, the indefatigable conductor, 
has availed himself of the advice of Mr Airy, the astronomer-royal ; and 
Lieutenant Yolland, of the Royal Engineers, under the Colonel, has fol- 
lowed up this advice with diligence and care. 

The points of which the latitudes and intermediate ares of the meridian 
are here given, are Dunnose in the Isle of Wight ; Greenwich Observa- 
tory ; Clifton Beacon in Yorkshire ; Arburyhill in Northamptonshire ; 
Delamere Forest in Cheshire ; Burleigh Moor in Yorkshire ; Kellie Law 
in Fifeshire ; Cowhythe hill in Banffshire ; and, lastly, the station on the 
small isle of Balta in Shetland, comprehending an are of the meridian 
passing from the southern extremity of Britain, to the more northerly of 
the islets belonging to it, amounting to above ten degrees, or about one- 
ninth part of the quadrantal are of the meridian from the equator to the 
pole. This will not only be a most valuable operation for improving the 
geography of the country,—a thing much wanted from the great inaccu- 
racy of our maps and charts, but a valuable contribution also to astrono- 
mical and geodetical science. We are informed by the Colonel towards 
the close of his preface,—‘* That the terrestrial observations requisite to 
enable me,” says he, “ to complete and publish the geodetic distances 
connected with the astronomical results, are now in so advanced a state, 
that the printing of them will shortly be commenced.” These being com- 
pared with others of a similar kind in different parts of the world, will 
enable him to deduce a proper value of the earth’s axes, and thence to fix 


e 


Description of a Portable Diorama. 275 


geodetically, With precision, the latitudes and longitudes of all the im- 
portant points throughout the British Isles. 

May all these important labours be speedily brought to a satisfactory 
conclusion, for the benefit of both agriculture and commerce, since, in the 
present state of our maps, the most palpable and dangerous errors, not- 
withstanding all that has been urged for their correction, still continue 
to exist, as will readily appear by an examination of the maps now sub- 
mitted for inspection. 

*,* A few maps and charts were here exhibited, containing glaring 
and dangerous errors to navigators. 


Description of a Portable Diorama, which may be viewed by a 
number of persons at atime. By Grorcz Tair, Esquire, 
Advocate, F.R.S.S.A. WithaPlan. Communicated by 
the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.* 


A portable diorama which I exhibited to the Royal Scottish 
Society of Arts in November 1841 and April 1842, and which 
was honoured with their medal, could be viewed by only one 
or two persons at atime, the pictures being within the box, 
and being seen through eye-holes.t 

I have now made a diorama having the construction modi- 
fied so that it may be viewed by a number of persons at a time, 
the pictures being placed upon the front of a box, where they 
are exposed uncovered. The front light is thrown upon them 
from without, and the back light from within, the box; and 
both may be increased or diminished at pleasure. Gas is 
the most conyenient light ; but oil may be employed, by adopt- 
ing means for properly increasing or diminishing the light 
upon the pictures. The apparatus is used in a dark apart- 
ment ; and ought to be so placed that the horizon of the pic- 
tures may be on a level with the eye. The effect of coloured 
sketches of a variety of changes which I made for the former 
diorama, is equally satisfactory in this. 

The following side-elevation and plan represent a small 
diorama made upon this principle :— 


* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, on 23d January 1843, 
+ See the printed Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, and 
the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1841, 1842. 


Rortable Diorama. 


Description of a 


Fig. 1. 


Description of a Portable Diorama. 277 


A BCD, a board to which the apparatus is attached. The 
length of the board is 18 inches, and that of the painted sur- 
face exposed, 6 inches,—but the larger the more striking. 

E F GH, a box for receiving the pictures in front, at EF. 

J K, opening in the side of the box, by which the pictures 
are introduced successively into a groove in front, behind a 
border of black velvet, to absorb stray rays from the front 
light. [In the former construction, as in this, the pictures may 
be conveniently entered at the side of the box. Both boxes 
may be made to receive the same pictures. | 

L, front light, compact and bright, in a lantern constructed 
to direct and confine it to the pictures. If the flame be flat 
and have not a reflector or a lens, its edge may front the pic- 
tures. A simple swallow-tail burner, No. 0, gives sufficient 
light for this scale, The inside of the lantern is done with 
black japan, flat ; and the sides and bottom, and outside of the 
bottom, and the supports, so far as necessary, are covered with 
black velvet. 

M, back light. Swallow-tail No. 1, is sufficient for this scale. 
~ A circulation of air is admitted to both flames without al- 
lowing the escape of light. Their covers are moveable, and 
are represented on the plan as removed. 

N O, opening for receiving into a groove a slight frame of 
tissue paper, to be used when found of advantage ; particu- 
larly, when any part of a picture, for example the moon, is 
made transparent. 

P Q, opening through both sides of the box, for receiving 
into a groove an opaque slider, of a length equal to about 
double the breadth of the box, properly pierced, to be drawn 
gradually across, in order to represent passing gleams of sun- 
shine ; also for receiving a slider or sliders of tissue paper, 
painted with various tints in succession, to be drawn gradu- 
ally across, in order to represent changes of tints, for evening 
or the like, with the back light, where day is represented by 
that light, as in fog or snow scenes. The light is not to be 
allowed to pass over or under those sliders. 

When a slider is used, the tissue paper N O is to be re- 
moved ; and the open space in front of the back light is to be 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVII.—aAPRIL 1843. T 


278 Mr Russell on a Marine Salinometer for indicating the 


contracted to about a third part of its breadth, by leaves moved 
forward for the time, as represented by R S on the plan, or 
otherwise. 

A narrow projection immediately before any opening, if 
necessary, prevents the light within from being seen in front. 

The box is white within, to reflect light. 

T M, T L, on the Plan, tubes for gas (the latter consisting 
of one of the supports of the lantern, hollow), supplied, when in 
use, by inserting the nozle of a flexible tube at T, or other- 
wise. 

U, V, stop-cocks moved by levers attached, which are closed 
by springs and opened by cords extending to the front. The 
levers have checks adaptable to the variable pressure of the 
gas, for example, linen threads attached to pins turning in the 
board, so that either flame, when not required, may be reduced 
toa blue point. The levers and springs are made to fold back 
upon the board when not in use. 


The arrangement now shortly described is given merely as 
aspecimen. The details of any diorama made upon this prin- 
ciple of construction, for example the description, number and 
position of the lights, will, of course, be adjusted according to 
the judgment of the maker, and will be modified by the size 
of the apparatus and other circumstances. 

G. Tarr. 


Epinzpureu, 2d January 1843. 


Description of a Marine Salinometer for the purpose of indi- 
cating the Density of Brine in the Boilers of Marine Steam- 
Engines. Invented by J. Scorr Russer1, M.A., F.R.S.E., 
F.R.S.S.A., Civil Engineer. (With two Plates.) Commu- 
nicated by the Royal Scottish Society of Arts.* 


It was very early in the history of steam navigation that 
the inconvenience of raising steam from salt water was ex- 
perienced. When the Comet descended below Port-Glasgow 


* Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts 28th February 1842, 
and the Honorary Silver Medal of the Society awarded 14th Noyember 1842. 


LOOT, ORT SYROT 


LOYIUT 
s 


EZ 


94g Abad Ih PT AINNX 104 HOV) ANTE MO MALANONTIVS: §.TTHNSINE L008 aK 


af fara  e 


VOAVQ WING AA WALIWANIMWVO CO nanoccow 11nAnNKd 


-W 


as fo 2099 
i 


Vol. XXX Plate Vi, Page 278. 


S Lath s Lithog 1 kin? 


Hadin.- Vew Phil Journal. 


ME SCOTT RUSSELL'S SMLINOMETER OR BRINE GAUGE 


Vol. XXXIVP late. Vi Page 278. 


Density of Brine in Boilers of Marine Steam-Engines. 279 


in 1812, the boiler was found to boil over, or prime, as it is 
technically called by engineers, when part of the water is forced. 
up so violently, along with the steam, as to pass over into the 
cylinder of the engine—a circumstance always detrimental, 
and sometimes destructive to the engines. This arises from 
the thickening of the water, its density being increased by the 
retention of the solid substances, which compose sea-water, 
and which remain and accumulate in the boiler, while the 
fresh portion of the water is passing off in the shape of steam. 

This process of accumulation of solid matter in the marine 
boiler is by no means slow. The whole of the water which a 
marine-boiler usually contains is evaporated in three or four 
hours, leaying the solid substances in the cubic content of 
boiler behind it, and being replaced by salt water, with an equal 
quantity of depositary matter, accumulating as rapidly as be- 
fore ; and since it is known the solid matter amounts to as 
much as 7; of the whole mass of water, it would follow, if the 
process of ebullition could continue so long as 150 hours, there 
would be deposited in the boiler-a quantity of solid matter 
equal to the number of tons of water in the whole content of 
the boiler. 

Long, however, before this degree of solidification can take 
place, evils of a different description intervene to impair and 
put an end to the functions of the boiler. The solid consti- 
tuents of salt water which are left behind do not diffuse them- 
selves uniformly over the whole liquid mass, so as to constitute 
a homogeneous brine ; on the contrary, the new supplies of 
sea-water, as they enter the boiler, remain secluded from the 
former more saturated brine, rise by their less specific gravity 
into an upper stratum, while the denser brine forms a bed in the 
lower part of the boiler, and surrounds the fire-box and heater- 
flues occupying the water-spaces and legs, which are usually 
at a high temperature, and which, in double-tiered boilers, are 
generally the most intensely heated. The intense heat of the 
metal expels the water from the brine in contact with it most 
rapidly in the hottest places, and salt is deposited on the hot- 
test parts of the furnaces and flues, extending rapidly to those 
less heated, and so not only diminishing the evaporative power 
of the boiler, but injuring its substance, and endangering its 
existence. 


280 Mr Russell ox a Marine Salinometer for indicating the 


The remedy for these evils was very early invented. But 
i have not been able to discover the inventor of the cleansing 
process commonly called “ blowing down,” or ‘“ blowing off.” 
It is almost universal, and is performed in the following way : 
—'‘rhere is forced into the boiler, at each stroke, rather more 
water than is required for the supply of steam, so that the 
boiler becomes too full. Openings are then suddenly made at 
the bottom of the boiler, and the brine at the bottom being 
violently ejected, carries with it any solid substances that may 
have accumulated near the bottom—the boiler is thus cleansed ; 
and before the water has got too low, the openings are again 
closed, and the boiler continues to be fed as formerly. 

Another remedy, pretty generally adopted, is the brine- 
pump, by which, for every portion of water supplied to the 
boiler, about one-fourth part of that quantity of brine is with- 
drawn from it. This process does not so thoroughly carry off 
all the impurities as the former; but it is attended with a 
saving of fuel by a contrivance for giving to the feed-water 
entering the boiler a portion of the heat of the discharged 
brine. The recent introduction of this process is due to 
Messrs Maudslay and Field of London. 

In whatever way the saturation of the water with solid mat- 
ter may be remedied, it is essential to the accomplishment of 
this object, that some simple apparatus should be contrived 
for the purpose of shewing when the cleansing process is re- 
quired, and whether it is successfully applied. If this be not 
obtained, the usual consequence of acting on wrong data are 
sure to follow. 

A contrivance was patented, which was thought promising, 
but was found liable to be mechanically out of order when 
most wanted ;—a ball of greater specific gravity than salt 
water was connected with an external index, by which there 
was indicated on the outside the fact of the brine becoming 
sufficiently saturated to float this ball. 

Another was to place in the glass gauge of the boiler a glass 
hydrometer bead, which would float when the brine became 
saturated to a given point, and fall to the bottom in the ordi- 
nary state of the boiler. But this fails entirely of accuracy, 
although very elegant, for the brine of which we wish to indi- 


Density of Brine in Boilers of Marine Steam-Engines. 281 


cate the density is in the lower stratum, not the upper one,. 
where the usual glass gauge is placed, and irretrievable mis- 
chief might be done before the indication would shew any 
change. 

I have lately employed, in some large ships destined for 
transatlantic voyages, a species of brine-gauge, or index of 
saturation, which is found to possess every advantage, and 
which I therefore desire to communicate to the public through 
this Society. The drawings sent are such as may enable any 
engineer to construct them for himself. The details of the 
arrangement of the apparatus were made under the direction 
of Mr James Laurie, formerly one of my assistants; and he 
also has obliged me by writing out the annexed description of 
the operation of using the index. 

The principle I have used is the well-known law, “ that the 
heights of equiponderant columns of liquids vary inversely as 
the densities of those liquids.” 

If I take open glass tubes bent in the form of the letter U. 
as in the diagram (fig. 1), and pour one fluid into one of the 
sides, and another fluid into the opposite side (taking care to 
use the heavier liquid before the other); the one being mer- 
cury, and the other water, they will stand at the height of 
1 inch and 13 inches respectively. If I use aleohol and water 
(fig. 2), they will stand at the height of 10 inches and 8 inches 
respectively, the height of the one fluid being always greater 
than that of the other, in the proportion in which its weight, 
density, or specific gravity is less. 

Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 


(p-----F Alcohol ‘ 
| 10 


{| 


Water 
Al 


> 


all Hater 


282 Mr Russell on a Marine Salinometer for indicating the 


In like manner fresh water and salt water (fig. 3) will stand 
at heights of 40 and 41 inches, shewing a difference of 1 inch. 

The use which I make of this principle is as follows :—I 
reckon the best scale of saltness of a boiler to be that which 
takes the common sea-water asa standard. Sea-water con- 
tains 1, of saline matter. When the water has been evapo- 
rated, so as to leave only half the quantity of distilled water 
to the same quantity of saline matter, I call that two degrees 
of salt, or brine of the strength of two, and such brine would 
shew, in fig. 3, the columns 40 and 42, or double the saltness of 
sea-water, indicated by a difference of 2 inches. A farther 
saturation would be indicated by a difference of 3, 4, 5, and 
6 inches between the columns, and so indicate three, four, five, 
six, and any further degrees of saltness—a range which may 
be made to any degree of minuteness by the subdivision of the 
seale of inches. This scale is that which appears to me most 
simply applicable here—and it is that which I adopt for marine 
boilers. 

The mechanical apparatus which I have employed to give 
this indication is perfectly simple, and has the advantage of 
being such as the engineer already perfectly understands. To 
the marine boiler I apply two water-gauges of glass, instead of 
one as at present used ; they both serve the purpose of the 
present glass gauges, and the pair would be valuable for this, 
if for no other reason, that there would always be a duplicate 
when one is broken, an accident not unfrequent. To these 
gauges I simply attach small copper pipes, so that one of them 
may be placed in communication only with the salt brine in 
the lower part of the boiler, and the other with the feed-water 
which is entering the boiler ; the one then holds a column of 
brine, and the other of pure sea-water, and each inch of dif- 
ference shews the degree of saturation. 

Without the use of any attached scale, the engineer, by a 
little practice, comes to know in his particular vessel what dif- 
ference in inches can be admitted without danger, and at what 
difference of height it is imperative to blow off. But it is con- 
venient to have an attached scale. 

It may be satisfactory to state, that the practical range of 
scale in an ordinary boiler in the ordinary working, is 6 to 10 
inches, a difference sufficiently great to be easily observed. 


Density of Brine in Boilers of Marine Steam-Engines. 283 


The rule of working them is nearly this :—Continue the 
operation of blowing off until, if possible, the difference of the 
columns is less than an inch, it will be unnecessary to blow off 
again until the difference is at least 6 inches. 

As a practical rule, I find that it is necessary to blow off 
when the brine at the bottom has about three degrees of salt- 
ness. But this will vary exceedingly, according as the con- 
struction of the boilers is more or less judicious. When the 
heat is greatest in the lowest portion of the boiler, and the 
flues return above, they will be most liable to salt, and require 
the most frequent cleansing. 

The following is Mr Laurie’s description of the instrument. 
The drawings give the details of the apparatus.—J. S. R. 

The fact that the specific gravity of salt-water is greater 
than that of fresh, and that it increases with the degree of 
saturation, is what the operation of this instrument depends 
on; by its means two columns of water, the one feed and the 
other brine, are poised against each other, so as that any dif- 
ference of weight betwixt these columns immediately becomes 
apparent by the lighter of the two requiring an accession in 
quantity to resist the upward pressure to which both columns 
are subjected. This is accomplished by having two common 
glass gauge-tubes close together, each of which is connected 
with a separate tube ; that inside the boiler descends to the 
level of the water, the specific gravity of which is to be mea- 
sured, and having either or both of these tubes so connected 
with the feed-pipe of the boiler, that by opening a cock one of 
the pipes will be filled with feed-water, while the other re- 
mains filled with brine, which cock being shut, the tubes re- 
main so filled ; but inasmuch as feed-water is of less specific 
gravity than brine, it will be forced up and stand in the glass 
tube at a higher level than the brine, which difference of levels 
increases with the saturation—and hence the index to judge 
of the saltness. 

In Plates VI. and VIL, A, B, are the two glass gauge-tubes ; 
C, one of the tubes forming the connection betwixt one of these 
glass gauge-tubes and its tube D, that descends inside of the 
boiler ; E, the tube forming the connection betwixt the upper 
ends of these tubes and the inside of the boiler ; F, G, two cocks 


284 Mr Russell on a Marine Salinometer, &c. 


so made, as shewn in the drawing, that by their means each of 
the tubes inside of the boiler may be shut off from the glass 
tubes, and also may be connected with the tube H, leading 
from the feed-pipe of the boiler ; I, a cock affording the means 
of shutting off the tube E from the glass tubes, and also of 
connecting either of these glass tubes with the tube K, lead- 
ing to the bilge of the vessel; each of these cocks has a handle, 
and when the instrument is indicating, the three handles hang 


perpendicularly downwards. Tobringthe instrument into ope- 
o—s 
ration, the three handles must first be put in the position ° °® 


which has the effect of allowing the brine to flow right up the 
glass tube A, and out through the tube K, into the bilge of 
the vessel ; this having been done for so long a time as that 
A and its tube inside the boiler be thoroughly cleansed and 
filled with brine, the handles are then to be put in the posi- 


ee 
tion © @® , which, in like manner, cleanses and fills B and its 


tube inside of the boiler with brine ; finally, bring the handle 
of the top-cock into its original position, and put either of the 
lower handles horizontal, which forming a connection of the 
feed-pipe with one of the tubes inside of the boiler fills that 
tube with feed-water ; thus there are in the two tubes inside of 
the boiler two columns of water of different specific gravities, 
the one being brine, the specific gravity of which is to be 
measured, and the other feed-water, the specific gravity of 
which is pretty nearly constant, so long as the temperature of 
condensation is the same, and does not vary much let the tem- 
perature of condensation be what it may; but, inasmuch as 
these columns of water are of different specific gravities, the 
pressure on the bottoms of them will force the lighter up the 
glass tube, until such a quantity of brine has followed it as 
makes it of equal weight with the other ; and hence, in the 
two glass tubes, the water stands at different heights, the mag- 
nitude of which difference becomes known by means of the 
scale fixed betwixt the glass tubes, and therefore also the de- 
gree of saturation of the brine. 

The use of this instrument, which might be called a Sali- 
nometer, is not confined to this one object, for it answers 


th 


Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, &c. 285 
thoroughly all the purposes of the common glass gauge, the 


‘position of the surface of water in the boiler being midway 


betwixt the surfaces of water in the tubes. 
When either or both of the glass tubes is broken, put the 


o—=» 
handles in the position {  , and nothing can escape from 
] e 


the boiler. 
T. W. L. 


Observations on the Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 
By Marute Hamitron, Esq., M. D., late of Peru. Com- 
municated by the Author. 


Of all the quadrupeds on the elevated regions of the southern 
American continent, the most worthy of notice is the Llama 
tribe, which includes the Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vi- 
cuna. The llama and alpaca are seen domesticated in 
Peru, but the guanaco and vicuna only in the wild state, ex- 
cept where they are kept as prisoners. When the vicuna 
has been kept within doors for a time, it becomes an interest- 
ing, frolicksome creature, but it never acquires the tame and 
docile habits of the llama or alpaca. A beautiful pet vicuna 
lived in the house with me for several months, and was in the 
habit of coming into the public room at stated times, and took 
bread from my hand, when it often jumped about in the apart- 
ment, and put itself in the most graceful attitudes. 


Vicuna AND GUANACO. 


The vicuna is much smaller than the guanaco or alpaca, 
and is more delicate and handsome in every respect. It has 
a large, prominent, glistening eye, which has a peculiar and 
expressive softness ; and when running with amazing speed, its 
neck, which is long and slender, is carried in a curved positicn 
like that of a swan or the letter S. These creatures are ex- 
ceedingly difficult to take without having recourse to artifice. 

They are seen in small bands of a dozen or more, and are 
found chiefly in those uninhabited regions of the Andes, where 


286 Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, 


vegetation is hardly sufficient to afford them a scanty subsist- 
ence. I never saw either a guanaco or a vicuna on the plain of 
Oruro, which is above 100 miles long, and about 12,000 feet 
above the sea; nor have I observed them on any part of the 
table-land of Bolivia. They were seen chiefly on the journey 
across what is called the Cordillera of the coast, which, tra- 
velling from Tacna or Arica to Potosi via Oruro, with cargo 
mules, requires 6 or 7 days before descending to the table- 
land, on which numerous flocks of llamas, alpacas, and sheep, 
are seen ; but in the dismal region of the Cordillera the vicuna 
is found enjoying its freedom, and frequently indulging in its 
peculiar ery or rather whistle. It would seem to be ever on 
the watch against danger, for, when on the rout to Potosi, it 
sometimes happened, that on turning the shoulder of a moun- 
tain, or entering a ravine, I have seen a vicuna peep round 
a rock, or view us from an eminence, then immediately its 
whistle, not unlike that of the boatswain’s, was heard, and a 
troop of vicunas might be seen bounding in the distance, 
setting at defiance pursuit. 

It may be noticed, that the haunts of the vicuna appear to 
be confined to the more elevated regions of Peru only, for 
though in the higher lands towards the Equator, about Quito, 
we meet with the llama and alpaca, the vicuna is not found 
so far north, neither is it met with to the south beyond the 
tropic of Capricorn. It should also be noticed, that the same 
sort of food is used by all these species, and that which is most 
relished by them is called by the Indians Jchw, and grows to 
the height of several feet; it is a gramineous plant, and is 
called Jarava in the Flora Peruana. 

No satisfactory reason has been given for the circumstance 
of vicunas being seen only within these latitudes. They are 
found on the elevated parts of the province of Santa Cruz de 
la Sierra, in the interior of Bolivia, near the junction of that 
state with Brazil; but they are not seen in the equatorial re- 
gions of the Andes, nor in Chili, nor farther south. It is pos- 
sible that the greater altitude of the Punas of Peru, or Bo- 
livia, where the atmosphere is drier and its pressure less, may 
be more congenial to the nature of this interésting animal 


Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 287 


than other parts of the Cordillera, such as about Quito, where 
there is more humidity, and several thousand feet less eleva- 
tion. In some parts of those sterile solitudes frequented by 
vicunas, even the ichu does not grow; and in such places the 
mosses afford them a scanty subsistence. 

In Peru, the guanaco haunts the same secluded tracts ; 
but it does not mingle with the vicuna. The former is 
much larger and more powerful, and is found on the high 
lands throughout nearly 50 degrees of latitude, even to the 
straights of Magellan. The guanaco weighs, on an average, 
about 8 arrobas, or 200 Ib., and it is much more easily caught 
or run down than the vicuna; though extremely shy and 
sensitive on the approach of danger, emitting a sound some- 
what like the neigh of a horse, warning its companions, and 
then galloping off. Its skin is covered with a short coarse 
wool of a reddish-brown colour on the back and sides, running 
into stripes towards the belly, which inferiorly is white ; and 
the neck, which is much stronger than that of the vicuna, is 
earried straight while it is running. Its wool is exported, and 
is used for domestic purposes. The wool of the vicuna is of 
a brown or fawn colour; and though it is shorter than that of 
the alpaca, yet it is much more valuable, being exceedingly 
fine and soft, so that articles made of it are very handsome. 
The real wool of the vicuna sells at a high price in Peru; and 
the best hats, gloves, ponchos, &e. are made of it, being more 
costly in proportion than the wool; but that may be a result 
of no spurious materials being put into the things manufac- 
tured there, and also from the difliculty of working such fine 
wool. 

The city of La Paz, in Bolivia, is famous for the manufac- 
ture of hats ; the finer sort are very well made, having a very 
broad brim, and are well adapted both for shading the head 
from the solar rays, and also from rain. In 1835, the price 
of hats in La Paz varied from one to fifty dollars each; one 
of the best, of vicuna wool, cost three doubloons, or L.10 ster- 
ling. Such a hat is soft and light, and may last many years. 
Ponchos are sometimes made of the same sort of wool, one 
of which costs more than fifty cotton ones, which for use 
serve nearly as well. The ancient sovereigns, the Incas of 


288 Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, 


Péru, and their families, were clothed with the manufactured 
wool of vicunas ; for the native Peruvians, and especially the 
females, in districts far in the interior, near the confines of 
Brazil, are expert weavers. 

I have seen cotton goods of superior quality, such as table- 
covers, quilts, ponchos, &c. from the province of Moxos, but 
these were sold at a much higher price than similar articles 
from Europe. The late General Parroisien informed me that 
he had a poncho of vicuna wool, which cost 700 dollars, or 
L.140. There is reason to fear that now the vicunas will 
soon be exterminated, if those who have the power do not 
adopt measures for their protection, and prevent that indis- 
criminate slaughter which is now being inflicted on these in- 
teresting and valuable animals. 

From time immemorial, the vicuna has been captured 
chiefly in the following manner :—A number of Indians 
form themselves into a chaco, or hunting party, together with 
some of those small dogs of which almost every family pos- 
sesses one or more. They choose the proper time of the 
year, and, with a supply of corn and chuno,* resort to those 
dreary regions where the guanaco and vicuna are found. Hay- 
ing fallen in with their game, the Indians spread themselves 
over a wide extent of ground, accompanied by their dogs, and 
gradually narrow the circle. At a spot previously fixed on, 
there is a sort of enclosure made with ropes attached to poles 
brought for the purpose, and which are fixed in the ground 
at the necessary distances, and with the ropes at such a height 
as the pursued vicunas cannot pass with their heads elevated. 
On some occasions, to make the snare more complete, a wide 
space near the enclosure is surrounded by a number of small 
red flags, raised a little from the ground, and floating in the 
air. 

The result is, that by means of the shouts of the Indians, 
and their gradual approach to the enclosure, with the barking 
and movements of the dogs, and the motion of the flags with 
the wind, the vicunas being naturally timid, are driven into 
the snare, and, neither jumping over nor stooping under the 


* Chuno is frosted potatoes in powder, and boiled in water with lard and 
spice into a sort of pottage, which is nutritive, and much used by the Indians. 


Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 289 


ropes, they are taken and slain, and skinned on the spot. In 
such excursions, the Indians in some cases are many weeks, 
and even months, in those inhospitable regions, away from the 
haunts of men, and at all times they suffer great privations. 
The cold is always severe during night, in consequence of the 
great altitude, and they are exposed to terrific storms of light- 
ning and thunder, often accompanied with very large hail, or 
rather pieces of ice. When unsuccessful in the chase, they 
may be short of food and suffer severely. 

Though such expeditions are called hunting, yet sport is 
not the object in view, but gain only. When the vicunas are 
captured, they are not shorn as in olden times, and then let 
go; but are killed, and the skins put aside with the wool 
on them ; then the Indians gorge themselves and their dogs 
with the flesh, and if any portion of the carcase is left, the 
condors devour it. 

In former times, the Indians were obliged by law to let all 
female vicunas escape after being shorn, and also the males, 
except a few which were allowed to be retained for food when 
necessary ; and thus the continuance of the species was secured. 
But for many years past, an indiscriminate slaughter has been 
executed, and of course the number of vicunas is diminishing 
every year; and if stringent measures are not soon adopted 
to give protection, there is reason to fear that the race of 
vicunas will, ere long, become extinct, at least in so far as 
relates to the obtainment of the wool. 

The reason assigned for flaying these creatures, instead of 
merely shearing them, is, that the wool is so valuable, that, 
when put up in bales, it is fraudulently mixed with other 
wool similar in colour, which in some eases is obtained both 
from the llama and alpaca ; and, in these circumstances, mer- 
chants are not so willing to buy it. The government of Peru 
and Bolivia should immediately prohibit, under severe penal- 
ties, the destruction of vicunas. These animals might be 
shorn of their wool as in the time of the Incas, and as is done 
now with other wool producers in those parts, such as llamas, 
alpacas, and the common sheep, of which latter there are 
millions in Upper Peru. 


290 Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, 


Liama anp ALPACA. 


The lama is at present found all over the southern tropic, 
from Rio Bamba at the foot of Chimborazo, under the equator, 
to beyond Potosi, It is a most important agent for the com- 
fort and convenience of the Indian population of Peru. It 
affords food, and more especially clothing, and serves as a 
beast of burden ; but it is not used for riding on, as has been 
erroneously narrated by some authors, for a Peruvian Indian 
never makes a journey on any animal, except when he is com- 
pelled to do so; and then it ison one capable of conveying 
more than 100 lbs., which is the maximum cargo for a llama 
or alpaca. It is not known when these creatures first ap- 
peared in those lofty regions where they now abound, but it 
would seem that they were in Peru prior to the appearance 
of the first Inca, Manco Capac, who reigned in the 12th cen- 
tury ; for it is supposed that at an earlier period Peru was in 
the possession of a people who, though less advanced in civili- 
zation, we may conclude were in the habit of spinning the 
wool of these animals with the distaff; as, in the absence of 
written evidence, we find in their burial-places distaffs made 
of wood, indicating an earlier and a more rude state of society 
than that which existed under the Incas, whose subjects made 
their distaffs of copper, which have been taken from their 
huacas, along with the materials for spinning. 

It is probable that these more ancient people availed them- 
selves of the wool of the llama tribe for domestic purposes, 
and that the present race of Peruvians merely copied the ex- 
ample, or improved on the manufactures of their predecessors. 
Be that as it may, the llama and alpaca still exist in immense 
numbers all over the higher regions of Peru and Bolivia, and 
are a source both of profit and amusement to the natives. 

None but those who have been on familiar terms with the 
Peruvian mountaineers, can know the deep interest which 
they take in their llamas and alpacas: they exhibit a solici- 
tude in the welfare of these creatures, which seems to have 
other root than mere pecuniary considerations. 

The Peruvian Indian is a mild, kindly being, when not 
under the debasing influence of ardent spirits, of which a great 


i 


PEE, E93 


Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 291 


quantity is now annually consumed in the elevated districts. 
He is often insulated from neighbours and from his family 
while tending his flocks on the ‘ichuales,” or on some long 
journey with them. In these circumstances, the Indian looks 
on his charge more as companions than as mere beasts of 
burden. I have often been amused to hear an Indian speak 
to a llama or alpaca as if it had understood him; and the 
plaintive instrumental music of the Indian, called yaravies, 
consisting of a succession of doleful and monotonous sounds, 
produced by blowing into one end of a reed, which is held 
like a clarionet, is supposed by them to be much appreciated 
by the llama. Those brutal acts of cruelty, which are so often 
inflicted on the dumb creation in some parts of Europe, are 
never imposed by the Peruvian on his fleecy charge ; he rather 
adopts every means in his power to make them happy, and on 
a march with cargoes, he is ever on the watch to render 
assistance to a llama or alpaca whose burden may have shifted 
from its place, or where symptoms of weakness or weariness 
may appear. 

Llamas, in their native clime, are on an average rather 
more than four feet in height from the spine to the ground, 
and the alpaca is a few inches less ; but the latter is a much 
more handsome and interesting animal. There is a brilliancy 
and expression in the eye of the alpaca, as seen when on the 
punas of the Andes, which are not so striking to the observer 
who sees it on the coast only. 

Indeed, there is a greater degree of vigour and vivacity in 
all the movements of these creatures when on their native 
soil, where the atmosphere is little more than half the density 
of that at the sea-level. The llama receives the male in the 
recumbent position, with its limbs doubled under its body, in 
the same manner as when asleep or at rest. Gestation con- 
tinues seven months; one at atime is produced; it begins 
to breed the third year, and the duration of life is ten or 
twelve years. These animals are invaluable to the Indians 
of the Andes, who cannot afford to keep mules, even did the 
climate admit, but who, with a troop of llamas and alpacas, 
manage both to maintain their position in the social circle, 
and to save money when not plundered by the operations of 


292 Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, 


contending armies. It would appear from the statements of 
some of the earlier writers on Peru, particularly Acosta, who 
wrote soon after the Spanish conquest, that llamas were then’ 
used for carrying silver from Potosi to Arica, on the coast of 
the Pacific Ocean, prior to its being shipped for Europe ; but 
neither llamas nor alpacas have been employed for any such 
purpose during a long period, for the distance is so great, and 
the march of llamas so slow, as to make some other mode of 
transit necessary. Acosta states that the distance from Po- 
tosi to Arica is seventy leagues; hence it may be supposed 
that he never went over the ground, and that some of the 
earlier writers on Peru, like others of more recent date, often 
wrote without a competent knowledge of their subject, and 
drew on the imagination for facts alleged by them. 

Of late years, much care has been taken to obtain more 
accurate information as to places and distances in Peru than 
can be had either from recorded statements or Spanish maps, 
most of which, either from design or ignorance, were often 
most erroneously given. The distance from Arica to Potosi, 
via Oruro, is 170 leagues, or 510 English miles, and the 
distance between the same places, by the Desert of Caran- 
ja, which is taking the hypotenuse of the triangle, is 154 
leagues, or about 460 miles, by both of which routes I have 
travelled to Potosi and the coast. On the Desert route there 
is only one village seen, that of Andamarca, which is occu- 
pied by Indians, who speak the Amara language, and is 
seventy leagues from Potosi, and eighty-four from Arica or 
Tacna, 

Llamas are not used for the conveyance of silver from Po- 
tosi to the coast ; but the ¢éz, which is obtained from the mines 
of Oruro, is brought to Arica by llamas and alpacas. The 
journey from Oruro to Arica, which is 100 leagues, takes one 
month with these creatures, for with burdens they travel only 
three or four leagues in twenty-four hours, and there are days 
of rest. 

When a llama or alpaca is tired, he gives vent to his feel- 
ings by a peculiar cry, which is different from the sound 
which he utters when teased or irritated.* 


* These Indians believe, that if the cud or saliya which is ejected to a 


Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 293 


If he is not allowed to rest, or relieved from his load soon 
after giving the notice of his weariness, he sinks to the earth 
in his usual peculiar manner, all his limbs being bent under 
his body, and there he dies. No kind treatment can induce him 
to attempt a renewal of the journey ; and the Indians, knowing 
this singular characteristic of these animals, are disposed at 
all times to attend to their complaints, and to halt when ne- 
cessary. It may be supposed that it would not be expedient 
to trust to such a mode of conveyance any thing of much 
intrinsic value. 

The great motive which the Indian has to employ the llama 
as a beast of burden, is the total exemption from expense on 
the journey. They do not cost any thing for food or lodg- 
ing ; there are no tolls, and the Indian has his own necessaries 
carried by one of his pets, so that when one of them comes 
down to the coast with a quantity of tin bars or other goods, 
he both obtains a sum of money for freight, and also ma- 
nages to sell some of his aged fleecy friends to the butcher 
to feed Indians resident on the coast. 

No locality in Peru was more benefited by the Hama than 
the city of Potosi during its greatest prosperity. When I 
was there in 1827, the population of that place was only 
9000 souls, of whom only 1000 were employed in the mines ; 
though so recently as in the year 1800, the population was 
80,000, and at that time 20,000 men and boys were engaged in 
the mines and the works connected therewith. But it appears 
that about the year 1680 the population of the city of Potosi 
amounted to 160,000 souls, in consequence of the flourishing 
state of the mines at that time—for without these mines there 
never would have been a town or any inhabitants in a loca- 
lity so very difficult of access as it is, and with such a horrid 
climate as is there experienced. However, it is wonderful 
what mercenary men will do to obtain the precious metals, 
and Potosi, to some extent, still stands a monument of the 
enterprise and perseverance of the Spaniards. A mint-house, 


distance by the lama when irritated, touches the human cutis, it produces 
asrna or itch, or, in the Indian language, carache. But though I have seen 
the experiment tried, I never knew a case of psoia so induced. 

” VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVIII—apPRIL 1843. U 


294 Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, 


larger than that at London, a palace, a theatre, court-houses, 
eighteen parish churches, and other public edifices, still testify 
what Potosi has been. This may seem to be a digression 
from the llama; but it is not so, for without the services of 
that animal, so well adapted to such an extraordinary locality, 
the mines could not have been wrought to the extent which 
they weré. To understand how the llama was so necessary 
there, it should be stated that the cerro of Potosi, whence the 
silver ore is obtained, is at one end of the city, and all the 
works, where the ore is pounded, ground, roasted, and the sil- 
ver extracted, have ever been at the other extremity of the 
town, and distant about a league from where the ore is brought 
up to the surface by Indians. All the ore is pounded and 
ground by means of machinery, acted on by water-wheels, 
which are moved by water from a very large reservoir placed 
among the hills above the city. The reservoir is supplied 
from various sources or ponds among the hills, whence the 
water is conveyed to the reservoir by means of aqueducts 
and conduits, and descends from the reservoir to the city by gra- 
vitation, supplying both the silver works and the town, many 
of the houses having the water conveyed into them through 
leaden pipes. But with all these advantages, the mines of » 
Potosi could not have been wrought so easily without the aid 
of the llama and alpaca; for the ore, in immense quantity, 
had to be carried from the mines to the works, and that, too, 
over a most rugged and unequal surface, at an altitude of 
nearly 14,000 feet above the level of the ocean : no other ani- 
mals in the world are so well adapted for such work in such a 
locality. Except water, every thing for the sustenance of 
man and beast has to be brought to Potosi from a distance of 
many miles over mountain tracts, the nearest spot where fuel 
(wood or charcoal) is obtained being thirty miles off. In such 
circumstances, the llama was invaluable, its food, pajon, 7. e. 
ichu in the dry state, was brought by means of mules and 
asses, so that these llamas or alpacas cost very little for 
maintenance while working at the mines. The result was, 
that many thousands of them were employed in Potosi as beasts 
of burden between the mines and the places where the ma- 
chinery is placed ; and, when necessary, the flesh was used 


Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 295 


for food by the vast Indian population of Potosi, while the 
wool was made into warm clothing, so necessary in that rigor- 
ous climate, where at night the temperature is below the 
freezing point, though, during the day, the solar rays are often 
noxious to health. 

The number of llamas and alpacas in Bolivia and Upper 
Peru is still very great, amounting to several millions, and 
the common sheep is also abundant. From the milk of the 
latter good butter is made by the Indians, but is little used 
by them, it being mostly put into bladders and sent to places 
where a good price is obtained for it ; cheese is also made from 
the same source. The common sheep there affords a large 
quantity of wool; and if proper means were adopted, the 
number of llamas, alpacas, and sheep might be increased, and, 
of course, there would be a corresponding amount of fleeces. 
The Indians are not much in the habit of slaughtering the 
llama or alpaca for food so long as they are otherwise useful ; 
the sheep and lamb are oftener used for culinary purposes, and 
white men seldom wish to eat llama-flesh a second time if they 
can get anything better. None of those animals require the 
use of tar or any unctuous substance while on the punas of 
Peru. 

The climate on these heights is very peculiar, for though 
during a part of the year there is much rain or snow on the 
western slopes of the Andes, and occasionally where the llama 
and alpaca are mostly seen, yet the air on the punas is singu- 
larly dry, so that a want of perspiration, even among the hu- 
man species, is a general complaint there. ‘ No puedo yoa 
sudor,”’ is often heard, 

Thus, the climate where these animals thrive so well, is 
very elastic, and the reverse of damp or humid, which cir- 
cumstance, together with the sort of food they get, and the 
exceeding rare atmosphere in which they live, may be the 
cause of the fine fleece obtained. 

When I was in Bolivia much ignorance and carelessness 
was shewn by most of the proprietors of flocks relative to the 
management of the wool, which, in many cases, was allowed 
to drop, or to be torn off, and was not shorn at stated periods, 
as should be done under a proper system of management. 


296 Dr Hamilton’s Observations on the Llama, 


But latterly there has been such a demand for wool that more 
attention will be given to the fleece, both of the llama tribe 
and the common sheep of Peru; and if this important object 
he taken up by competent parties, both the quality and quan- 
tity of wools from that quarter may be increased. 

It has been suggested that attempts should be made to na- 
turalize the alpaca and Ilama on a large scale in this country 
for the purpose of wool-growing, and also for obtaining the 
flesh of these animals to eat; but as to the latter, not to no- 
tice its cost, the important question arises, would the flesh of 
these creatures be relished by people in Britain ; and though I 
have no desire again to partake of such ‘ venison,’ yet the ex- 
periment may now be made, seeing that a number of these 
animals are now domiciled in this country; and as tastes do 
differ, it is possible that a joint of a llama or alpaca may be- 
come a welcome dish on the Englishman’s table. 

But allowing the eatability of alpaca flesh among Eng- 
lishmen, another question arises, would it be profitable? and 
also, can the wools of these animals be purchased at a much 
cheaper rate when sent from Peru than they could be bought 
at, if purchased from the speculator in llamas or alpacas, 
who would propose to rear them on a grand scale on the 
bogs and sterile mountains, or other parts of Britain and Ire- 
land? These are important points for the consideration of 
all who would involve capital in sucha speculation. I still hold 
the opinion expressed at the meeting of the British Associa- 
tion at Glasgow, @. e. that the experiment is worth trying by 
those who are able and willing to risk the necessary expense ; 
but I fear that it cannot succeed, because, besides other ad- 
verse circumstances, the climate of Britain is very unlike that 
of the native country of the alpaca. 

It mtay be noticed that many llamas and alpacas are alto- 
gether white, but more of them, especially alpacas, are wholly 
black, exhibiting as marked a contrast as the black and white 
swine which are seen in Piedmont. 

Party-coloured llamas and alpacas are numerous ; and wool 
from them of a brown colour has occasionally been mixed 
with that of the vicuna. 


Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna. 297 


The Indians of the mountains manufacture themselves 
nearly all their warm clothing from the wool of their animals ; 
and so many being all black, they are able to appear in dresses 
of a sable hue without the aid of a dyer ; and numbers of them 
of both sexes are dressed in black garments, which circum- 
stance has induced some persons to suppose, that the Peru- 
vians of the present day are still in mourning for their Incas ; 
but the true explanation is the fact just noted. 

From the wools of different colours, fancy pieces are also 
made by these Indians, whose mode of weaving, in so far as 
I saw it, is primitive in the extreme. When passing through 
the village of Andamarca, I observed a woman weaving a 
piece of black cloth : her loom was composed of only four short 
bits of wood, which were stuck into the ground in the open 
air before her hut ; she was resting on both her knees, and 
stooping at the work, and conveyed the weft from one side of 
the cloth to the other with her fingers—the piece appeared 
about 18 inches in width. 

A few years ago, there was no fixed price in Bolivia for 
alpacas, &c., for that varied with the locality and other cir- 
cumstances. In 1827, when on the route from Potosi to the 
coast, through the desert of Caranja, we were under the ne- 
cessity of occasionally buying a sheep or llama, for we travelled 
with a number of mules loaded with silver, and were seventeen 
days on the journey. We passed some numerous flocks of 
Ilamas, alpacas, and sheep, and though not a human habitation 
was seen throughout one portion of the route of above 200 miles, 
yet, as was stated by our guides, all these creatures had owners 
who would miss any which might be taken from their flocks. 
While on the march one day, our cook first ran down with 
his mule, and then picked up a sheep from a herd, for which 
he had not paid, as no person was in sight; but after we had 
travelled four hours, or above twelve miles from the spot where 
our mutton was obtained, an Indian overtook us and held out 
his hand for “ quatro reales,” 2s., the price of the sheep, and’ 
was quite happy with his half dollar, though he had to trudge 
24 miles for it; at the same time I learned that while half-a- 
dollar was the price of a sheep there, that of an alpaca was a 
dollar, and two dollars that of a full grown Ilama. 


298 Mr Chambers on the existence of raised Beaches 


In some parts of those vast solitudes between the eastern 
and western Andes, there is no vegetation of any sort, but at 
other places the ichu grows in abundance, and there myriads 
of llamas and alpacas are seen, thriving in their native but 
rigorous climate ; and exhibiting a length of fleece (in some 
cases not shorn for years) which would astonish an English 
wool-stapler. In these deserts water is rarely seen, except at 
some of the halting stations, where a hole dug in the ground 
affords a supply of bad quality. I never saw a llama or an 
alpaca take a drink. 

The price of llamas on the coast of Peru varies at different 
times and places. At Tacna, in 1835, the price was three or 
four dollars, and I never knew more than six dollars being 
paid for those which were shipped for Europe. When we 
consider the expense of conveying these creatures from Peru 
to England, it is obvious that it will not be profitable to ob- 
tain wool from the animals so imported; and it has been 
already stated, that an attempt to rear them in this country, 
in sufficient numbers, is not likely to succeed. 


On the Existence of raised Beaches in the neighbourhood of St 
Andrews. By R. Cuamugrs, Esq., F.R.S.E. With a 
Plate. Communicated by the Author.* 


On coming, in May last year, to reside in St Andrews, I 
was much struck at the very first by certain geognostic fea- 
tures of the environs, of the same character with those re- 
mains of ancient beaches which have excited the attention 
of geologists in other parts of the island, but much more 
distinct than any which I have had an opportunity of seeing. 
Afterwards, as I extended my rambles from St Andrews, I 
was much interested in observing continuations of these re- 
markable platforms along towards the vale of the Eden, some 
way up that vale, and on the country immediately beyond it. 
It seemed to me that St Andrews presented unusual oppor- 


* Read before the Philosophical Society of St Andrews. 


WUC WN 


ULLPRUOPS aah 
ay 


obunuqog < 
ae Bi lay Powe 


UOLLDE) 


Ses =; ) 
vn (SAMOA gasivy ) 
re ra nalgcaes eet : 
(Ne ) (SLNAMEUAS VEN) 
q = 4 aot 
CSWUOTONViS J° COOMLMOMHOLEN ) 
Sain ——— / Sh aii 


HLM 


“ oo 


- 
~." 
' 
Rs 
ap 
& 


oe. 


in the neighbourhood of St Andrenrs. 299 


tunities for the study of this particular class of geological phe- 
nomena, and that it might be worth while to direct local 
attention to these geognostic features, as many young persons, 
and others who had not given much attention to geology, 
might thus be enabled, at the cost of little more trouble than 
that of a forenoon’s walk, to study what is certainly one of the 
most curious and wonderful results of geological research and 
speculation which have been laid before the public for some 
years. 

The particular superficial feature which first arrested my 
attention in this neighbourhood, was the platform on which 
the town stands, with its smooth continuation westwards to 
Lawpark, and north-westwards to Strathtyrum. The uniform 
linearity of this piece of country is such as might strike the 
most careless eye. I also observed that, to the south of the 
Kinness Burn, there was a continuation of this platform on 
exactly the same level—a vale of from an eighth to a quar- 
ter of a mile intervening. It was not long after, that I 
found a narrow stripe of the same platform extending be- 
yond Strathtyrum, towards the Guard Bridge, and traced, 
what appeared, its continuation in Leuchars parish, north of 
the Eden. I also could plainly trace, on the ascent towards 
Scooniehill, a second or higher platform, less extensive in all 
respects, but equally linear and level. Finally, I have found 
fainter traces of a third, and even of a fourth platform, the 
last being the narrow stripe on which Mount Melville House 
and Feddinch Mains are situated. 

To speak particularly of thefirst plateau. Itmay be described 
as a slope of very slight inclination, rising from the verge of the 
sea between St Nicholas and the Butts, towards Lawpark, and 
extending westwards to the site of Bloomhill and Kincaple. 
The town of St Andrews is situated on the part nearest the 
sea. But for the deep and wide intersection formed by the 
Kinness Burn, and a few similar but smaller intersections, it 
would have been a still more remarkable tract of linearly sur- 
faced ground. The soil, I am told, is generally of a sandy 
character, such as might be expected on a tract like Leith 
Sands, or the West Sands of St Andrews, if these beaches 
were to be raised above the sea-level, and transformed into 


300 Mr Chambers on the existence of raised Beaches 


dry land. It is observable to every eye, that scarcely any 
stones occur throughout this tract : the fields everywhere seem 
composed of a light powdery earth, and the site of the town 
itself is so sandy, that rain never rests on the streets for any 
length of time. 

The second plateau is a comparatively narrow terrace, trace- 
able on the hither face of Scooniehill, and for a considerable 
way to the eastward, generally about a hundred feet above the 
level of the first plateau. I have chiefly observed it opposite 
to the town, but I learn from Mr Duncan, land-surveyor, that 
it is clearly traceable along by Brownhills farm, and as far 
eastward as his own house at Thornbank, three miles from St 
Andrews. Its western extremity melts into the slope of 
Scooniehill, at a point a little to the westward of Pipeland 
farm-house, which is situated upon it. 

What I think may prove to be a third plateau is the gene- 
rally level piece of ground on which Ballone and Lumbo 
farm-houses are situated, and which extends a little to the 
eastward of Cairnsmill, overlapping (so to speak) the western 
termination of the second terrace. Cairnsmill is situated in 
a hollow of this plateau, wrought by the rivulet which passes 
it on its way to join the Kinness Burn. I have paid less at- 
tention to the fourth plateau, but deem it also tolerably distinct. 
As mentioned before, Mount Melville House and Feddinch 
Mains farm-house are situated upon it. It seems to be less 
elevated above the third than the third is elevated above the 
second, or the second above the first; but, on this point, I 
only speak by the vague information of the eye. 

From what I had previously seen of the ancient beach along 
the Firth of Forth, I had, of course, no doubt as to the origi- 
nal character of, at least, the first and second plateau at St 
Andrews ; but, as many here, from unacquaintance with the 
subject, might be unprepared to see the matter as I saw it, 
and for the sake of accurate information for myself, I re- 
solved to have the levels along these beaches taken by an 
unprejudiced and professional hand. Mr Duncan has done 
me this service in a highly satisfactory manner. It must 
here be remarked, that to take these levels is a very deli- 
cate matter, for the plateau is in so many places cut down, 


‘in the neighbourhood of St Andrews. — ° 301 


or worn away, by rills, that it is difficult to pitch upon spots 
which may be presumed to be near the line of the original sur- 
face. When you stand, indeed, upon the plateau itself, you 
are apt to be confounded by the undulations which you sce 
near you, and it is when you take a somewhat distant view 
that the linearity is most striking. There is another effect 
of time which adds to the confusion, namely, the wearing 
down of the ancient sea-cliffs above and below, which tends 
to give the sectional line only a slight wave in some places. 
It was necessary beforehand to pitch upon places which, at a 
distant view, seemed unworn by the intersecting rills, and to 
follow a line sufficiently distant from the ancient sea-cliff, to 
be unaffected by its debris. Mr Duncan did his best to walk 
by these rules ; but he could not be expected, in the circum- 
stances, to work out my wishes with perfect exactness. We 
must also be prepared to allow for slight discrepancies, on ac- 
count of presumable slight inequalities in even the original 
line of the ground. Every here and there, along such an 
esplanade as the West Sands, we may observe slight swells and 
depressions of the surface. Besides, an uniform degree of ele- 
vation is not predicated in the case ; a general linearity with- 
in a considerable space or tract, is what we may say is looked 
for by the geologist. 

The accompanying map (Plate VIII.) contains Mr Duncan’s 
marks along the lines of the first and second plateau, namely, 
ten marked levels in the first instance, and nine in the second. 
Beginning with the first plateau at aninteresting crust of it which 
overhangs the eastern extremity of the East Sands, he goes west- 
ward in a curving line to the south-east corner of the Strath- 
tyrum policy, near Balgove, giving the following levels in suc- 
cession :—60, 62, 654, 683, 70, 683, 70, 74, 69, 74. The sixth 
of these numbers (684 feet) is given at the spot where the line 
crosses the Largo road. The eighth of the series (74 feet) is 
given near Lawpark. I may here observe, that Mr Duncan 
takes, as a datum line from which to mark his levels, the high- 
water mark, as presumed to be indicated by the abutment of 
the arch which crosses the Kinness Burn at St Nicholas. He 
has also found by the spirit-level, that the gently sloping table- 


302 Mr Chambers on the existence of raised Beaches 


land behind Easter Kincaple is on the same level with the 
ground immediately south-east of Strathtyrum. Indeed, the 
identity of surface line which exists between Strathtyrum and 
Kineaple is remarkable to the unassisted eye, and forms a 
phenomenon which it would be impossible at present to ac- 
count for otherwise. Mr Duncan’s marks on the second pla- 
teau are equally striking, from not only a uniformity in them- 
selves, but a uniformity in relation to the first plateau. Com- 
mencing here to the eastward of Kingask, and following a 
curving line westwards to the termination at Pipeland, he 
gives the following series of numbers, expressive of the height 
of the various parts above the present high-water mark :— 
156, 154, 154, 157, 161, 156, 155, 170, 166. The extreme 
variation here is 14 feet; that between the first and last num- 
ber only ten, the places pointed to being several miles apart. 
As in the first plateau, the increase of height is towards the 
west or énland. 

Mr Duncan has made some further observations, not by re- 
gular levelling, as in these instances, but by his eye only and by 
the use of the telescopic spirit-level. I here quote from his 
notes :—‘ Taking up the first old beach where we left off near 
St Nicholas, we have first (going eastward) a break of about a 
mile, caused by the steep cliffs and high bold shore under 
Brownhills. Passing, however, alittle to the east of Kittock’s 
Den, we again come upon land exactly suiting our level, and an- 
swering, not only in this particular, but in every other, the cha- 
racter of an old sea-bed. This almost level surface, I followed 
out for several miles, with no interruptions but what were 
perfectly explicable. Where I left off, the same gently slop- 
ing land was continued onward, and I have no doubt that it 
would be found to go all the way round above Fife Ness, and 
for a considerable way up the shores of the Firth of Forth. 
The soil, almost everywhere throughout what I have inspected 
of this ancient beach, is of a like nature, being light and dry, 
and full of small shells, and of excellent quality.” 

With respect to the country beyond the Eden, he states as 
follows: ‘*‘ Commencing my levelling from what was pointed 
out to me as being nearly about high-water mark, on the 


in the neighbourhood of St Andrews. 303 


Mottrey Burn, at Milton Saw-Mill, I passed by Milton farm- 
house, ascended the hill or steep bank northward, and conti- 
‘nued along its flattish ridge, as far as the small round hollow 
near its northern extremity. In passing along, I determined 
the elevation of the under-mentioned objects, principally by 
directing the telescopic sight of the spirit-level towards them, 
and making the necessary allowances for dip, &c. This tak- 
ing the height by observation, it may be remarked, cannot be 


depended upon within a few feet :— 
Feet. 
1. Elevation of a rounded bank on the Dundee Road, opposite 


Milton farm-house, : < é ‘ 50 
2. Ground on which Leuchars Babi einai: ‘ : 55 
3. A flat bank or surface extending from the west end of ha 

chars village northward, along the left of the Dundce 

Road, é s ‘ - 56to 60 
4, A high flattish hbanld to the onthe ct of Milton Saw-Mill, 62 
6. A flattish gently-sloping nee north-east of Pusk (aver- 


RAO), ss pegs : Pere 
6. Height of Milton fivti-hank, near its south did, : ar Puke 
7. The same, at the north march of the farm, : : . 91” 


Mr Duncan found some other platforms in this neighbour- 
hood, which are generally about 107 feet above the level of 
the sea. This, it will be observed, does not correspond with 
any beach observable near St Andrews; but this may be ac- 
counted for in various ways—by none more simple than this, 
that that beach may not be marked in our immediate neigh- 
bourhood. As our second plateau is not marked on Scoonie- 
Hill, west of Pipeland, so may this not have been marked in 
that situation at all. The other elevations enumerated by 
Mr Duncan, correspond strikingly with those of our first pla- 
teau. The remarkable-looking mound on which Leuchars 
kirk stands, is composed of gravel and other sea-deposited 
materials. It is clearly a fragment of the last sea-bed, left 
by accidental causes. Mr Fraser, in his Map of Fife, gives 
its height as 57 feet, which is just about that of a large part 
of the platform on which St Andrews is situated. The linea- 
rity of the surfaces enumerated by Mr Duncan in the Leuchars 
district, is extremely striking ; and from that place, the lines 
formed by our own second, third, and fourth terraces, are seen 
with the greatest distinctness. 


304 Mr Chambers on the existence of raised Beaches, 


Applying the theory of upheaving forces to our vicinage, 
we must presume, that at one time—a time early as compared 
with our historical retrospect, but late in geological chrono- 
logy—certainly later than any of the trap disturbances, or 
even the age of the diluvium—only the tops of some of the 
neighbouring hills were above the surface of the sea. The 
sea then closely surrounded the heights on which Scoonie- 
Hill farm-house and Feddinch House are situated, and the 
Drumearrie Hill. It was at that time that the platform on 
which Mount Melville house and Feddinch Mains stand, was 
formed. An upheaval, to an extent which I am not able at 
present to specify, raised a larger portion of the slopes of 
those and cther heights into the air, and then began the for- 
mation of the second platform—that on which Pipeland and 
Old Grange are situated. Another upheaval, of about 100 
feet, extended the bounds of dry-land still farther, and then 
began the formation of what I have called the first or great 
plateau. This may be presumed to have been, in our locality, 
an extensive sandy-beach, much like that now existing at 
Leith. The tide must have every day risen and fallen at 
least a mile, namely, along the ground now covered by the 
town, and up to the site of Lawpark Cottage, where the traces 
of the beach terminate in that direction. Afterwards an up- 
heaval of about 60 feet must have taken place, leaving land 
and sea in what, generally speaking, may be called their pre- 
sent relative situations. The last beach was now dry land. 
At the site of the town and to the eastward, the ocean rested 
upon the upturned edges of aseries of the lower carboniferous 
strata, which, in time, it seems to have cut down into the pre- 
sent beach and overhanging cliffs. To the westward of the 
site of the town, where these sandstone strata ceased to ap- 
pear, the sea rested against a bank of clay, which it, in like 
manner, cut in upon; this is the bank which now sweeps 
round from Pilmour Row, by Strathtyrum, and along under 
Bloomhill and Kineaple, to the Eden. At the one place, 
there was a promontory; at the other, a bay. But as the 
rocks were worn down at the one place, the bay was filled up 
with sand at the other. ‘This effect the waves and winds 


‘in the neighbourhood of St Andrews. 305 


would conspire to bring about. We must not, therefore, be 
surprised to find the Links of St Andrews, and the whole 
ground under the Strathtyrum bank, several feet above the 
level of the sea. The whole of that land is one mass of sand, 
the lower part of which is probably of aqueous deposition, 
while the upper part is evidently an accumulation effected by 
high winds blowing from the sea, after the manner of many 
similar accumulations in other parts of the world, aided, per- 
haps, by occasional tides of abnormal height. Towards the 
mouth of the Eden, another cause comes in to help this for- 
mation, namely, the silt brought down by the river. The 
Tents’ Muir, to the north of the mouth of the Eden, is an ac- 
cumulation chiefly of wind-blown sand, like the Pilmour or St 
Andrews Links. 

Both the beaches and cliffs have here, as usual, been 
much cut by water-courses. We have a cut on each side of 
Mr Brown’s house of Grange, one on each side of Pipeland 
farmhouse, a great one in the line of the Kinness Burn, and 
several others. The vale of the Kinness Burn, below Law- 
park, has all, of course, been formed since the last upheaval, 
and it is easy to see why it has taken the direction which we 
find it has taken. The spot at Lawpark has been the bottom 
or terminating point of a small bay, where the rivulet was 
originally received. The direction of this bay was towards 
St Nicolas, or the site of the present harbour ; that is to say, 
a line between these two points ran over a somewhat lower 
part of the beach than the rest. Along this line, the rivulet 
would proceed at the ebb of tide. After the upheaval it would 
begin to cut down into its original sandy channel ; and this 
process would be continued till, with its small accessories, it 
had carved out the present little vale between the site of the - 
town and the opposite bank, nearly (in some places) a quar- 
ter of a mile distant. But for the formation of this vale, and 
the rearing of the town, we should have had at this place a 
piece of ancient beach clearly perceptible to the eye, of an 
extent which I have never seen equalled. 

The apparatus brought before the society in connection 
with this paper, is an humble attempt of my own to illustrate 


306 Dr Fleming on the Expediency of forming Harbours 


sensibly the upheaving power and its effects. A model in 
putty of the country near St Andrews, is formed upon a flat 
plate of iron, which is suspended in a trough partially filled 
with water, so as to leave the supposed Mount Melville beach 
on a level with the surface of the water. By mechanism, the 
plate can be raised till the third beach is brought to the same 
level, next the second, afterwards the first ; and, finally, by a 
further elevation, land and sea are shewn in their present re- 
lative situations, excepting that I have represented, as already 
formed, that sandy embankment which now keeps the sea 
most part of a mile away from the Strathtyrum bank, 


Brief remarks on the Expediency of Forming Harbours of Re- 
fuge on the Kast Coast of Scotland, between the Moray Firth 
and the Firth of Forth.* By Joun Frxmine, D, D., Pro- 
fessor of Natural Philosophy, King’s College, Aberdeen, 
F.R.S.E., Member of Wernerian Society, &e. Communi- 
cated by the Author. 


The subject of the following observations appears to be well 
calculated to command public attention, whether we consider 
the amount of human life, or the value of commercial property 
at stake. That no public enquiry should have been instituted 
respecting the @xposed state of the East Coast of Scotland, 
with a view to the formation of Harsnours or Rerucr, when 
it was granted elsewhere, may seem inexplicable, unless we 
bear in mind that lamentable apathy exhibited by our repre- 
sentatives in Parliament, wherever Scottish interests of a 
general character are concerned. 

The necessity which arises for the construction of harbours 
of refuge, involves the consideration of the defects of the ex- 
isting harbours, which have been so long resorted to, and which 
at one period of our trade might have been deemed sufficient 
for every ordinary purpose. But to comprehend the true 


* The substance of the remarks on Harbours of Refuge, was communicated 
to the Aberdeen Philosophical Society, at their first meeting, February 7. 
1840. 


of Refuge on the East Coast of Scotland. 307 


character of these defects, it is necessary to advert, however 
briefly, to a few clementary truths of physical geography, 
which may not perhaps be generally attended to, although 
highly ilhustrative of the subject. 

When we examine a Vatuey of any extent with the eye of 
a geologist, we shall generally find that the rocks which ex- 
ist in the trough, are softer and more easily acted upon than 
those which form the bounding ridges. Interspersed portions 
of harder rock may be occasionally found among the softer 
materials, but those will merely cause inequalities in the 
valley, and mark, by their elevation, the resistance which has 
been offered to the disintegrating forces which have reduced 
the contiguous portions to a lower level. 

When we examine a Bay, or indentation on the coast, we 
generally find analogous appearances. The softer beds have 
been acted upon, broken up, and removed by the action of the 
ripple or wind-waves ; while the harder materials remain and 
constitute those promontories or nesses, which form the lateral 
limits of the recess or creek. Even in the bay, as in the 
valley, certain portions of harder rock may have existed, and 
such will usually be preserved as islets or skerries, to mark 
the abrasion which has taken place around. 

If, then, the softness of the strata be the primary condition 
which gives rise to valleys and bays, we may expect to find 
in general a valley, on reaching the sea-shore, terminating in 
a bay, while a bay will be a tolerably sure indication of a 
landward valley. Several rather interesting examples, in il- 
lustration of these statements, may be observed in this imme- 
diate neighbourhood. 

The bay of Aberdeen, with its lateral messes of gneiss, 
seems to have been excavated in a deposit of old red sand- 
stone, several patches of which occur in the neighbourhood, 
and attest its former more extended distribution. The 
bay of Nigg, with similar lateral nesses, appears to have been 
produced by the yielding of soft strata of mica-slate. The 
bay of Stonehaven has been excavated in comparatively soft 
strata of grey sandstone, with its northern ness of compact 
mica-slate, and its southern ness of old red sandstone con- 
glomerate. To the south of Stonehaven, and in the neigh- 


308 Dr Fleming on the Expediency of forming Harbours 


bourhood of the ancient and celebrated Dunottar Casile, 
several small bays may be observed, deriving their origin 
from the beds of soft grey sandstone which alternate with the 
conglomerate, and the latter being less destructible by the 
action of the sea, forms the bounding nesses, aided in a few 
places by amygdaloid or porphyry. In general, indeed, it will 
be found that the observer of nature can seldom traverse any 
considerable portion of the coast without, here and there, 
meeting with sandy beaches, at the margin of bays, where all 
traces of the rock have disappeared, and he may consider 
himself fortunate if he succeed in detecting the solid materials 
he is searching after, at low water-mark, or in some inland 
ravine. 

The valleys necessarily form the recipients of the rain water, 
and constitute river basins; and the rivers thus formed by 
them, and flowing through them, serve, in turn, to augment 
their capacity, by carrying to a lower level the disintegrated 
materials which have been produced by atmospheric influence. 
These materials become accumulated at the junction of the 
river with the sea, and constitute, in certain cases, those deltas 
which frequently occasion a subdivision of the main stream. 

The disintegrated materials of the bay, associated in some 
places with those of the valley, and which usually consist of sand 
and gravel, are employed in forming the sea-beach. The irregu- 
lar but almost constant action of the ripple or wind-waves, 
produces a uniform distribution of these materials, and as cer- 
tainly restores the breach which disturbing causes may have 
produced in its continuity. 

These materials, thus exposed toa ripple action variable in 
its intensity and direction, are usually arrested in their pro- 
gress by the nesses which limit the bays, so that the character 
of the beaches of two contiguous bays may differ considerably 
from each other. The beach of Aberdeen bay, e. g., is sandy, 
while that of the neighbouring bay of Nigg consists of very 
coarse gravel. 

When ariver, on its way to the sea, reaches a bay with its 
margin constituted as we have been describing, it has to 
maintain a constant warfare with this tendency to continuity 
of the sand and pebbles of the beach. If, during a flood, the 


of Refuge on the East Coast of Scotland. 309 


river has succeeded in forcing a passage, and in making for 
itself a channel towards low water-mark, this new course be- 
eomes exposed to ripple action, and will be speedily obliterated 
to a certain extent, whenever the quantity and velocity of the 
water become reduced. This is strikingly illustrated in the 
condition of many of the rivulets which empty themselves into 
the bay of Aberdeen, to the north of the river Don, and may 
be observed with but little modification in the Don itself. 

In general, therefore, it will be found, that when a river, after 
traversing a valley, falls into a bay of the sea having its shore 
covered with moveable materials, it has to contend with this 
character of the beach, to have its contents continuously dis- 
tributed, and hence a dar must be formed of the materials 
carried into deeper water, while its distance from the shore 
will depend on the weakness or strength of the stream, and 
its shape be modified by the currents of the passing tides. 

The banks of rivers invite the settlement of a population, 
from the superior fertility of the soil in the neighbourhood, 
the accompanying shelter, and the supply of water for personal 
and domestic purposes. Hence the early peopling of the banks 
of rivers. 

The mouths of rivers were first selected as harbours by the 
neighbouring population, being in some measure ready-made, 
contiguous to the most fertile spots, and sufficiently convenient 
for all the ordinary purposes of a local and limited trade. But, 
in an expanded state of maritime enterprize, they exhibit de- 
fects of no ordinary magnitude, such indeed as would justify 
us in considering a river as a nuisance rather than a benefit 
to a harbour.* 

The bars of sand or shingle, to which we have referred, pro- 
duce shallow water at the entrance, and prevent the shipping 
from passing and repassing, with equal facility, at all times of 
the tide. The river, too, in the state of flood, passes out to 


* The opinion here expressed receives a practical illustration from the 
harbour of Leith, originally selected, from being the mouth of the water of 
Leith. Its inconveniences for modern traffic led to the erection of the 
Newhayen Pier; then the Chain-Pier; and, lastly, to the magnificent har- 
bour of Granton,—excellent, because without a river, and destined at no 
distant period to become the Port of Edinburgh. 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVIII.—APRIL 1843. x 


310 Dr Fleming on the Expediency of forming Harbours 


sea with a velocity which few commanders of vessels, for ob- 
vious reasons, care to take advantage of even when the current 
is in their favour ; and when the current is in opposition, it pre- 
vents vessels from entering the harbour in states of weather 
when property and life are in jeopardy. 

In the range of coast which we have at present chiefly in 
view, viz., from the Moray Frith to the Frith of Forth, there 
is not a single harbour which can be taken at all times of tide. 
Some have no obstacles, such as bars or river-floods, charac- 
ters which destroy the value of Aberdeen, Montrose, and Dun- 
dee, as harbours of refuge. But, in the absence of these evils, 
the remaining harbours become dry, or nearly so, at low water ; 
and, consequently, can only be approached towards high wa- 
ter. In such circumstances are the tide-harbours of Peter- 
head, Stonehaven, Aberbrothick, and St Andrews. 

Should a sailing vessel be overtaken by an easterly gale, 
when off the intermediate part of the coast, between Fifeness 
and Kinnaird’s Head, her situation would be dangerous in the 
extreme. In but few cases could the tide harbours and those 
having bars, or under the influence of floods, be approached 
with any prospect of safety. She must either stand out to 
sea or bear away, if practicable, for Cromarty Bay or the Frith 
of Forth. If her course be northward, she has to dread the 
possibility of being unable to weather Kinnaird’s Head, as the 
turning point of the Moray Frith ; or if she steer for the south, 
she has Fifeness as the turning point of the Forth to weather. 
Should a failure at either of these points take place, very little 
chance would be left of saving either life or property.* 

When we consider the vast amount of shipping, at all sea- 
sons of the year, frequenting the coast referred to, and keep- 
ing in view, that in its whole extent of upwards of a hundred 
miles there is not a single harbour of refuge, the expediency 
of directing public attention to so great a defect, must at once 
be obvious. Besides, it deserves to be kept in view, that, in 


* Even steamers are not exempt from the evil above referred to. The 
London Steamer, which last week should have delivered her goods and 
passengers at Aberdeen on Tuesday morning (February 21st), was obliged 
by the easterly gale to seek for shelter in the Frith of Forth, and could not 
enter her port until Friday morning (February 24th.) 


of Refuge on the East Coast of Scotland. dll 


this locality, vessels are exposed to ‘“‘ encountering a sea and 
tide (to use an expression of a committee appointed by the In- 
corporation of Traders in Leith, relative to the expediency of 
erecting a light-house on the Bell-Rock), surpassed in few 
places on the globe.”* The truth here stated is too fully cor- 
roborated by the shipwrecks which ever and anon are occur- 
ring on the portion of the coast referred to, whereby a con- 
siderable amount of life and property is annually sacrificed, 
which the existence of suitable harbours of refuge might great- 
ly reduce. 

It is true, that the erection of light-houses on the different 
parts of the coast under consideration, from their sites being ju- 
diciously selected, and all their arrangements satisfactorily re- 
gulated, has furnished to the shipping an important amount 
of security. But, in its character, this security is essentially 
different from that which a harbour of refuge would afford, 
The former merely enables the mariner to ascertain his posi- 
tion or his danger, the latter receives him into safety. Se- 
parately, each has its excellencies, but when conjoined, then 
only is the maximum of protection furnished to the seaman. 

The questions respecting the suitable positions, forms, and 
materials of the harbours of refuge, cannot, in the present 
state of our information, be expected to receive a satisfactory 
reply, We take it for granted that the object in view can 
only be accomplished by means of a breakwater, protecting a 
bay or convenient portion of the coast from the fury of the 
waves, and permitting vessels to ride at anchor therein, with- 
out strain on their cables, and in comparatively still water. 
It may also be assumed that the materials for the construction 
of the breakwater must be séones. Logs of timber, it is true, 
have been proposed as suitable materials for the construction 
of breakwaters, and their claims on this score have met in some 
quarters with considerable favour. But although White’s Break- 
water, and all its subsequent modifications, may be advanta- 
geously employed for a few months, to shelter bathing ground, 
or protect a fishing-station ; yet the perishable character of the 
timber, in sea-water, must not be forgotten, when the import- 


* Steyenson’s Account of the Bell-Rock Light-house, p. 96. 


312 Dr Fleming ox the Expediency of forming Harbours 


enee of the permanency and stability of a breakwater are 
duly considered. The little crustacean, termed Limnoria 
écrebrans, which feeds on timber in the sea, and propagates 
with amazing rapidity, would prove a foe to breakwaters of 
such materials, and render their maintenance troublesome, 
precarious, and expensive. Stones, therefore, must be em- 
ployed as the material in the construction of the breakwater ; 
and fortunately blocks of sufficient magnitude and durability 
are not wanting at various places of the coast. 

The best positions for harbours of refuge could be ascer- 
tained, with the greatest certainty, by an examination of those 
mariners who have been accustomed to navigate the coast, 
and who are, in consequence, familiarly acquainted with the 
dangerous winds, the se¢s of the tides, and the depths of water. 

Towards the turning point of the Moray Frith, a situation 
occurs in many respects excellent for the formation of a har- 
bour of refuge, viz. Sandford Bay, bounded on the north by 
Peterhead, and on the south by Buchanness. Here, by means 
of a breakwater, this Bay, which possesses excellent anchor- 
age ground, with sufficient depth of water, and affords in its 
present state a great amount of protection against westerly 
eales, could be made a haven of security equally convenient both 
for size and proximity to the ship-stores of Peterhead. Ma- 
terials well adapted for the construction of a breakwater are 
abundant in the neighbourhood, and the lighthouse on the 
south side of the bay at Buchanness, would furnish satisfactory 
directions to the mariner running to it for shelter. There are 
here no shifting sands to contend against, although an objec- 
tion may be urged against the locality, as too near the turning 
point into the Moray Frith. 

The Bay of Aberdeen offers apparently but few conve- 
niences for the construction of a harbour of refuge. The quan- 
tity of shifting sand ranging along the coast from Slains on 
the north, to Girdleness on the south side, would form obstacles 
which, probably, no arrangement of walls could prevent from 
accumulating injuriously. 

The Bay of Nigg, immediately to the south of Aberdeen 
bay, seems to possess several advantages. It is not incom- 
moded with moveable sands, has abundant materials for the 


of Refuge on the East Coast of Scotland. 313 


construction of the breakwater in the immediate neighbour- 
hood, and possesses a lighthouse on its northern ness. Be- 
sides, vessels finding shelter in this locality could readily ob- 


tain from Aberdeen a supply of stores, or be taken to the har- 


bour by the steam-tug, to receive the necessary repairs. But 
it may be added, that the bay itself is rather limited, and the 
depth of water, perhaps, not altogether suitable for vessels of 
great draught. 

The forms of the bays of Stonehaven, Bervie, and Mon- 
trose, do not seem peculiarly adapted for the purpose in view. 
Lunan Bay, on the other hand, may lay claim to some consi- 
deration. In westerly gales, its south side affords anchorage 
and shelter for small craft ; but when the wind is easterly, it 
is exposed to a heavy sea, and its sandy beach has been the 
grave of many seamen. 

If now we pass over Aberbrothick, which does not hold out 
any advantages, the coast exhibits nothing but moveable sand 
onwards to St Andrews. Here a rocky coast commences, ex- 
tending to Fifeness, and might probably furnish in some spot 
a site for a harbour. But in such a locality the harbour 
would be close to the turning point into the Frith of Forth, 
and might be speedily injured by shifting sands. 

There would be little difficulty, even in the absence of a 
survey executed for the specific object, in making a tolerably 
close approximation to the best sites for harbours of refuge, 
if the sea-charts were constructed as they ought to be. But, 
alas! those in use, at present, are not fitted to convey the re- 
quisite information respecting the depth of water, or the pre- 
vailing currents, and can scarcely be considered adequate for 
the ordinary purposes of navigation ; nor have we a near pros- 
pect of getting our condition bettered. True it is, that suit- 
able materials for the purpose are known to exist; but these 
are withheld from the public, and will probably continue to 
be so, unless the public voice demands their production. A 
Government survey of the east coast of Scotland has been in 
progress during the extended period of the last score of years. 
This survey is understood to have been completed northwards 
to the Pentland Frith. The instruments furnished have been 
of the best construction, and entrusted to individuals qualified 


314 Dr Fleming on the Expediency of forming Harbours 


to use them with success; and I have been informed by com- 
petent judges, that the observations and drawings which have 
been produced, possess uncommon merit. Yet have the Lords 
Commissioners of the Admiralty hitherto kept the produce of 
so much expense and labour in their repositories, regardless 
alike of the interests of the shipowners and of science. Like 
other public boards, in the absence of a little pressure from 
without on the subject, they have become inactive ; while a 
share of the reproach ought probably to attach to the cor- 
porations of the shipping ports of the east of Scotland, who 
have witnessed the survey proceeding, and have failed to en- 
quire after the results. Let the magistrates of the burghs and 
sea-ports interested, bestir themselves, and accurate trust- 
worthy charts would soon be accessible to the mariner, an 
additional protection furnished to life and property, and the 
limits of physical geography greatly extended. 

Having referred to the inactivity of the Lords Commission- 
ers of the Admiralty, in not providing accurate charts for the 
east coast of Scotland, even after excellent materials have 
been procured, | shall close this communication by a few re- 
marks on the “time of high water on the full and change 
of the moon,” at different places on the said coast, as given 
in the Nautical Almanack for the year 1843, p. 556. 

As the Zetland Islands are in some degree without the limits 
to which the preceding remarks apply, we shall merely ob- 
serve that the time of high water at Scalloway (introduced 
into the Almanack for the first time in 1841) is made to agree 
with Balta in Unst, nearly thirty miles to the north of it, both 
being marked 9" 45". When the direction of the flood-tide 
is considered, the more westerly position of Scalloway will not 
explain the coincidence in apparent time. But how shail 
we account for the entries relating to “ Brassa Sound,” and 
‘«‘ Lerwick harbour,” the former having its high water assigned 
at 10" the latter 10" 30"! How few who have paid any at- 
tention to the harbours of the coast, are ignorant that “ Brassa 
Sound” is ‘* Lerwick Harbour,” and that the two names deno- 
minate the same commodious haven ! 

In approaching nearer the scene to which our remarks have 
a more immediate reference, the ‘‘ Orkney Isles” have a place 


of Refuge on the East Coast of Scotland. 315 


in the tide-table, the time of high water being 10" 30™ and 
then, strange to observe, “ Cairston’” and “ Stromness” in the 
“Orkneys” have each their time of tide set down at 9”. 

The time of high water of the “‘ Pentland Frith” is stated 
at 108 30", while “ Duncansby Head,” the prominent easter- 
ly shoulder of the Frith, has its time of high water set down 
at 8" 15". 

Passing southwards we find “ Peterhead’ inserted for the 
first time in the Almanack in 1839, having its time of high 
water 0" 45™, while “ Buchanness” is recorded, as of old, at 
12™. A difference of 45™ in the time of tide between two 
places not a couple of miles apart, and the one situate farthest 
to the north, whence the flood-tide proceeds, receiving it later, 
may well excite some degree of surprise. 

The port of Aberdeen has evidently attracted considerable 
notice. In 1839 the time of high water was changed from 
its ancient period of 0® 45™ to 1" 12™, and in 1841 reduced 
by 1™, and now appears as 1h 11™. 

Proceeding southwards along the coast, we find by the 
table the time of high water stated as the same for ‘“‘ Mon- 
trose” and “Tay Bar,” viz. 1" 45™. The distance between 
the two places, in the direction of the flood-tide, being about 
eighteen miles, and the latter being, in time, behind, the for- 
mer less than one minute, we should have here, on the sup- 
position that the entries in the table are correct, a velocity of 
tidal wave at this part of the coast, greater than any known 
tidal velocity on the globe, and about thirty-six times greater 
than its ordinary velocity in the German Ocean in the neigh- 
bourhood, which is stated by good authority to be about thirty 
miles an hour, although there is an authority which fixes its 
rate at sixty miles. 

High water at ‘“‘ Dundee” is stated at 2" 22™, or 37™ later 
than “ Tay Bar.” Taking into account the westerly position 
of Dundee, the difference will be nearly 38". If we consider 
the distance between the two places as little more than a 
dozen of miles, we shall here have an example of retardation, 
compared with the former acceleration of the tidal-wave, of 
truly unlooked for extent, even keeping in view the influence 
of depth of bottom. 

High water at “ Leith” is likewise stated as 37™ later than 


316 Dr Fleming on the Expediency of forming Harbours, &c. 


at “ Tay Bar; now the total difference in time from the po-~ 
sition of Leith would not reach 39™, while the distance is 
about forty miles. This would make the velocity of the tidal- 
wave from “ Tay Bar’ to Leith, compared with its velocity 
from ‘* Tay Bar’’ to “ Dundee,” nearly as three to one, and 
the former more than double its ordinary velocity in the Ger- 
man Ocean. 

As all the Establishments of the Ports, in the table, are set 
down to apparent time, and the actual times of high water when 
the moon passes the meridian at the same time as the sun, it is 
probablethat, inthe reduction, errors may have been introduced 
rather than corrected, from the state of the data, and that the 
angular distance of the moon from the sun at the times of obser- 
vation, may have been overlooked. But some of the anomalies 
which have been pointed out, in all probability arise from the 
different standards employed for determining high water, 
known to be in use. Thus we have the time of high water 
marked by one observer, when the tide-wave has reached its 
highest eevation, by another when s/ack tide occurs, and by a 
third when the reverse current begins to prevail. There is no- 
thing, however, in the table to indicate the employment of a 
common standard. In illustration of the influence which a 
variable standard may exercise on the éime of tide, I may re- 
fer to that excellent hydrographer, Mackenzie, who, in refer- 
ence to the Pentland Frith, says, ‘“ On the shore of Swona, it 
flows till half-past nine on the east side, and till ten on the 
west side, on the days of new and full moon. -In the middle 
of the Pentland Frith it is s¢é/ or slack water, on the change 
days at half-past eleven, but the tide does not turn till 
twelve.” 

Now, whatever be the cause of the anomalies thus apparent 
in the tide-table of the Nautical Almanack, it is surely of im- 
portance, for the credit of such a national work, that the en- 
tries which it contains should be accurate and intelligible, or 
that no tide-table of doubtful character should have a place 
there. 

I should be sorry if these remarks on the charts and tide- 
table of the east coast of Scotland, even although not re- 
motely connected with the object in view, led the mind of the 
reader away from contemplating the necessity of establishing 


Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond: 317 


Harzours or Rervcr. This is, indeed, a subject which the 
shipping interest, and the friends of humanity, are equally 
bound to bring under the notice and favourable consideration 
of the British public, and it will be to me a source of pure en- 
joyment if the preceding remarks tend in any degree to the 
accomplishment of an end in so many respects desirable. 


Joun Fiemina. 


Kine’s CoLLeGE, ABERDEEN, 
March 2. 1843. 


eS ae te 


On the Formation of the Diamond. By Dr Atexanvrr 
Perzuotpr, of Dresden. 


Notwithstanding the great diversity of opinion expressed 
by authors regarding the mode of formation of the diamond, 
yet all the different views entertained may be included under 
two principal divisions, viz., those which suppose that it is the 
direct product of the action of heat on carbonic acid or car- 
_ bon, and others which support the idea of its being the result 
of the slow decomposition of plants. It may not be out of place 
to give a brief account of the most important of these views, 
previous to communicating my own observations. 

While Leonhard* asks, if we may not believe that the origin 
of diamonds is to be ascribed to carbonaceous sublimations 
from the interior of the earth, a question which must, on che- 
mical grounds, be answered decidedly in the negative, because 
carbon is not in the slightest degree volatile ; Parrott regards 
diamonds as products of volcanic action, as the result of the 
operation of the heat on small fragments of carbon. Parrot 
was first of all led to this view, by his minute examination 


a. a 


* Leonhard’s Populirische Vorlesungen, vol. iii. p. 498. 

Tt Parrot’s Notice sur les diamans de POural, in the Mémoires de V Academie 
Impériale des Sciences de St Pétersbourg. Série dividme. Sciences Mathe- 
matiques, tom. i., p. 32. He says, “Diamonds are the products of yol- 
canic action exercised on small portions of carbon, or on a substance com- 
posed of much carbon and very little hydrogen.” See also Leonhard’s Jahr- 
buch, 1838, p. 541, where portions of Parrot’s Memoir are published. 


318 Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 


of Russian diamonds, in the course of which he came to the 
opinion, that the only way of explaining certain structural 
phenomena, such as cracks and flaws in the interior, and a 
sealy appearance on the external surface, combined with black 
structureless included portions of matter supposed to be car- 
bon, was to assume that a strong red heat had fused the car- 
bon, and that, in consequence of subsequent rapid cooling, the 
cracks in the interior, and, owing to the separation of indi- 
vidual pieces from the outer surface, the scaly structure, were 
produced.* The black masses recognisable in the interior are 
consequently imperfectly fused, condensed, or crystallized car- 
bon. Now, although it cannot be denied that, as regards the 
Russian diamonds, there is some probability for the supposed 
mode of formation, because geognostical investigations have 
proved the vicinity of dolomite, a rock whose origin is gene- 
rally believed to be connected with volcanic action, and have 
shewn the probability of the diamonds having been transported 
by water, from their original matrix in that substance, to their 
present situation, not to take into consideration the cireum- 
stance that, according to my own investigations, no well-found- 
ed objection can be made to the possibility of a fusion (softening, 
liquefaction) of vegetable carbon under certain circumstances ; 
yet, nevertheless, much may be urged in opposition to Parrot’s 
view. First of all, no signs of volcanic activity are to be met 
with in the diamond districts of other countries, although, in 
the diamonds produced by them, the same cracks, flaws, and 
other peculiarities of structure are equally observable ; hence, 
a different mode of origin must, at all events, be assigned to 
the non-Russian diamonds. Secondly, no diamonds have been 
found actually embedded in the dolomite of the Adolphskoi 
valley. Thirdly, the presence of internal flaws and cracks, 
and of the scaly structure of the exterior, by no means neces- 
sarily involves the assumption of great heat and subsequent 
rapid cooling in the formation of diamonds ; and we may more 


* See Petzholdt’s Erdkunde (Geologic). Leipsic, 1840, p. 189; Petzholdt, 
de Calamitis et Lithanthracibus. Dresdae et Lipsiae, 1841, p. 31; and Petz- 
holdt, iiber Kulamiten und Steinkohlenbildung. Dresden and Leipsic, 1841, 
p. 27. 


Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 3819 


naturally ascribe the cracks, &c., to the blows received during 
the transport of so hard and brittle a substance as diamond, 
and the external scaling off is solely owing to imperfect crys- 
tallization, for the instances of it I have seen have always been 
in the modified crystalline forms of the diamond (to which all 
the Russian specimens examined by Parrot belong), and never 
in the simple octahedrons. 

Gobel’s* view of the origin of the diamond is, it is true, 
supported by chemistry, in so far that carbon can be obtained 
from carbonic acid at a high temperature, by means of the 
action of reducing substances, such as magnesium, calcium, 
aluminium, silicium, or iron, and a direct experiment of mine 
regarding the power of iron to reduce carbonic acid is also 
in its favour;t but the geognostical relations in which diamonds 
are found, by no means confirm this opinion ; for we either 
find no phenomena whatever connected with the occurrence 
of the diamond, which indicate so high a temperature as would 
be requisite for the decomposition of carbonic acid, or where 
such present themselves, as in the case of the dolomite of the 
Ural, diamonds have not actually been found in the rock. We 
have not taken the fact into consideration, that when carbon 
is separated from its combinations, as from carbonic acid, it is 
always obtained in the form of a black powder.t 

Lastly, the opinion expressed by Hausmann§ must not be 
passed over in silence, as it is the view entertained by so com- 
petent a judge. According to him, electricity has operated 
in the formation of diamonds, and that by lightning decom- 
posing carbonic acid ; and the argument for this is, that, ac- 
cording to the assertion of the oldest diamond seekers, fulgu- 
rites or lightning tubes are most frequently met with where 
the diamonds are most numerous. Though we should assent 
to the possibility of such a decomposition under certain cir- 
cumstances, yet we cannot regard as at all admissible, the 

Ee ee <4 i ee Re 
* Englehardt’s Lagerstatte der Diamanten, &c.; the chemical portion of 
that essay was edited by Gobel, and an extract from it is published in Pog- 
gendorff’s Annalen, 1830, vol. xx., p. 539. 
t See Petzholdt’s Erdkunde (Geologie), p. 133. 


¢ See Erdmann’s Chemie, 1840, p- 133. 
§ Ersch and Gruber, Allgemeine Encyclopédie, article “ Diamant.” 


320 = Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 


formation of the crystal from the separated carbon during the 
short continuance of the electrical action of lightning. The 
formation of a crystal undoubtedly requires infinitely more 
time than could be afforded during a flash of lightning, and 
there is not a single instance known of a body crystallizing 
suddenly during the continuance of an electric spark. 

With regard to the series of opinions according to which 
the diamond is of vegetable origin, it seems proper to place at 
their head that of Newton, because, so far as Iam aware, it is 
the oldest, and is at the same time extremely acute. From 
the great refractive power of the diamond, he concluded it to 
be a coagulated fatty or unctuous body,* and this idea was 
started at a time when nothing was known of the chemical 
constitution, or as to the combustibility of the diamond. This, 
then, was the first hint of its vegetable origin. Jamesont 
spoke more decidedly on the vegetable origin of the diamond ; 
for he expressed the opinion, that it must have been separat- 
ed, as a form of pure carbon, from the sap of some plant, just 
as silica, in the form of tabasheer, is deposited in the joints of 
the bamboo and other plants. He adduced, as another proof of 
his opinion, the remarkable hardness of some woods, as, for 
example, the Metrosideros vera and others, which he ascribed 
to carbon approaching the condition of the diamond. Lastly, 
Brewster adhered to the hypothesis of the vegetable origin of 
the diamond, and thought he was enabled to conclude, from 
its polarising properties,{ that it must at one period have been 
in a soft or pasty condition, but in no degree a product of fire. 
He further asserted that the former softness of the diamond 
must have approached most nearly that of hardened gum, and 
that, like amber, the diamond must have had its origin in the 
vegetable kingdom, and been the result of decomposition. The 


* Murray’s Memoir on the Diamond, p. 13; and Froriep’s Notizen, vol, 
xvi. No. 22, March 1827. 

+ Jameson’s Speculations in regard to the Formation of Opal, Woodstone, 
and Diamond, in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, vol. 
iy. p. 556, and translated in Froriep’s Notizen, vol. xvi, No. 22. 

+ Quarterly Journal of Science, Oct. 1820, Froriep’s Notizen, vol. xvi. 
No, 22. Philosophical Magazine, 3d Series, vol. vii. p. 249. Poggendorff, 
vol, xxxvi. p. 564. Leonhard’s Jahrbuch der Mineralogie, 1834, p. 225. 


Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 321 


crystalline structure of diamonds does not militate against this 
conclusion ; for honeystone is regularly crystallized, although 
it is undoubtedly of vegetable derivation, as is proved not only 
by its chemical composition, but also by its mode of occur- 
rence. 

Lastly, we now arrive at our own view of the formation of 
the diamond, and it coincides completely with that of New- 
ton, Jameson, and Brewster; but we base it neither on its 
strong refractive power, nor on the great hardness which the 
carbon has acquired in the diamond, nor on its polarising pro- 
perties, for we are supported by entirely different considera- 
tions. We believe that, according to the present state of our 
knowledge, the diamond is a product of the newest geological 
period, resulting from the slow decomposition of a vegetable 
substance. Let us now shortly adduce the proofs of this 
opinion. 

That the diamond must be a product of the youngest geolo- 
gical epoch, of the so-called historical epoch* in a geological 
Sense, appears from the fact, that hitherto it has only been 
met with in stony deposits, which decidedly belong to the 
youngest formations, as 1 have more fully stated in another 
place. Its primary repositories, that is to say the places where 
it was formed, cannot be very different nor very remote from 
its secondary repositories, that is, from those places where we 
now meet with it; and all the mineral bodies which we are 
in the habit of regarding as the more or less constant asso- 
ciates of the diamond in diamond sands, are merely accidental, 
if I may so express myself. There is not the slightest reason 
for assuming that the formation of the gold or platina, &e., 
stands in any nearer connection with the diamond, for platina 
and gold are found in many localities without diamonds. These 
bodies were eitheratthe locality when the diamond was formed, 
or they were transported along with that substance by water. 
And although it cannot be denied in regard to some of the 
other ingredients of the diamond-sand, such as some of the 
minerals belonging to the quartz genus, viz., quartz, calcedony, 
and hornstone, and also brown ironstone, that they were formed 


CURR DRS Tyrese was ices oa = ee 


* Petzholdt’s Erdkunde (Geologic), p. 87, 


322 = Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 


contemporaneously (in a geological sense) with the diamond ; 
yet this circumstance by no means tends to support the idea 
of any sort of connection between their formation and that of 
the diamond, because the recent formation of these bodies can 
be observed every where, and where no diamonds are to be 
met with. The association of all these substances, which we 
have termed accidental, is merely caused by the geognostical 
constitution of the district through which the river-course of 
the present day extends, by the nature of that course itself, 
by specific gravity, and by many other circumstances having 
not the smallest concern with the formation of the diamond. 
The strongest proof, however, of the recent origin of the dia- 
mond, is its occurrence in the loose rolled matter in which 
and with which it was formed, combined with the want of sue- 
cess that has hitherto attended the search for the diamond 
embedded in those rocks, regarding which it is so easy, on the 
other hand, to prove that from them all the other rolled bodies 
had their origin. We leave entirely aside the question, whe- 
ther the prevalent popular belief in the East Indies and Brazil, 
that diamonds are still produced,* be an instinctive percep- 
tion of the truth, or a deceptive notion. 

Further, the diamond must have been formed in the moist 
way from a liquid, because otherwise it would have presented 
none of the included splinters of quartz of which I have 
spoken in another place,t and of which some even exhibit 
the vegetable cellular texture. 

Lastly, from all that we know, the material from which the 
diamond was formed, by the separation of crystalline carbon, 
could only have been a substance rich in carbon and hydrogen, 
such as, owing to the requisite chemical properties, can only 
be looked for in the vegetable kingdom ; and we are forced to 
consider the diamond as produced from this substance, con- 
sisting of carbon and hydrogen, by means of decomposition. 
The determination of the nature of this process is solely a 
chemical matter; and Liebig, who has undeniably rendered 
the greatest service to our knowledge of the decomposition of 


* See Leonhard’s Populiire Vorlesungen iiber Geologie, vol. iil. p. 497. 
+ Vide Jameson’s Journal for January 1848, p. 187. 


Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 323 


organic bodies, makes the following remarks :*—‘ If we sup- 
pose decay to proceed in a liquid, which contains both carbon 
and hydrogen, then a compound containing still more carbon 
must be formed, in a manner similar to the production of the 
crystalline colourless naphthalin, from a gaseous compound of 
carbon and hydrogen. And if the compound thus formed were 
itself to undergo further decay, the final result must be the 
separation of carbon ina crystalline form. Science can point 
to no process capable of accounting for the origin and forma- 
tion of diamonds, except the process of decay. Diamonds 
cannot be produced by the action of fire, for a high tempera- 
ture, and the presence of oxygen gas, would call into play 
their combustibility. But there is the greatest reason to be- 
lieve that they are formed in the humid way, that is, in a 
liquid ; and the process of decay is the only cause to which 
their formation can with probability be ascribed.” 

As yet we are ignorant of the nature of the vegetable sub- 
stance, rich in carburetted hydrogen, by whose decomposition 
the diamond was formed, and as to what were the particular 
conditions necessary for the appearance of crystalline carbon. 
This only we know, however, that the whole process was an 
extremely slow one, and that it could not in any way be has- 
tened by an increased temperature, for in that case the carbon 
could not have crystallized, but must, on the contrary, have 
been separated in the form of a black powder. 

The conclusion deduced by Newton from certain optical 
properties of the diamond, viz., that it has been produced 
from an oily body, is very beautifully confirmed by the newest 
and most accurate investigations of chemistry, for, according 
to them, the so-termed oily bodies are proved to be the richest 
in carburetted hydrogen ; and chemistry, which can alone 
explain the decompositions of bodies, and their formation from 
their elements, just requires for the formation of the diamond 
the decomposition of a substance rich in carburetted hydrogen. 
There are two different phenomena connected with the above 


* Liebig’s Organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Phy- 
siologie. Braunschweig, 1840, p. 285 ; and Playfair’s Translation, p. 143. 


824 Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 


explanation of the origin of the diamond, which cannot be 
left unnoticed, as they are well calculated to place the truth 
of our assertions in a clearer point of view. As I have already 
stated elsewhere, diamonds not unfrequently exhibit at their 
surface blackish spots, which disappear on the application 
of heat ;* and, moreover, they very frequently present in 
their interior perfectly black, amorphous bodies, which cannot 
be considered as any thing else but uncrystallized carbon,— 
a fact observed in the course of Parrot’s investigations, as well 
as my own. This phenomenon can only be explained by as- 
suming a somewhat accelerated decay of the matter containing 
carbon and hydrogen ; in the course of which the carbon has 
been produced in the form of a black powder, instead of being 
separated in a crystalline state. On the other hand, I have on 
several occasions had an opportunity of convincing myself of 
the tendency of carbon to crystallize, when the combustion 
(the accelerated decayt) of a substance rich in carbon and 
hydrogen is retarded. Thus, on the wicks of badly burning 
tallow candles, I have seen the well-known accumulations of 
carbonaceous matter (soot), which have generally globular or 
semi-globular forms, assume distinctly an octahedral shape ; 
and I believe that this appearance has long been observed by 
others, for it is only by the resemblance of an octahedron 
to the envelope of a letter that I can explain the popular say- 
ing, of there being a letter in the wick of a candle. I have 
even preserved, for some time, one of these tolerably well- 
defined octahedrons, and exhibited it to my class ; but it was 
at last broken, and it then appeared that the fragments were 
harder than the ordinary soot, although they could still be 
easily bruised between the fingers. 

Lastly, let me add a few words regarding the experiments 
made in recent times on the production of artificial diamonds, 
for I believe that I may say, without exaggeration, that, since 
it was discovered that the diamond consists of pure carbon, 


* See Parrot, Wotice sur les Diamans, p. 30 and 31. 

+ That combustion is only a rapid decay, and decay only a slow combus- 
tion, is known to all chemists. Above all, see Liebig’s remarks on this 
subject in the second part of his Organic Chemistry. 


ae | 


Dr Petzholdt on the Formation of the Diamond. 325 


there is hardly any chemist ‘who has not performed more or 
less extensive experiments on the subject. That the results 
of such investigations have been published by but few chemists, 
is no proof that few experiments have been made, for human 
nature and vanity prefer silence te publicity, where investiga- 
tions have failed, and hopes have been disappointed. 

All the experiments to form artificial diamonds may be re- 
ferred to two methods, viz. the attempt to fuse carbon, and the 
endeavour to separate carbon in a crystalline state from a 
highly carbonaceous compound, by means of decomposition. 
It need hardly be remarked that all the trials have hitherto been 
invain. The experiments made with the first view have been 
rendered unsuccessful by the infusibility of carbon, and the others 
proceeding on the second idea have always resulted in the pro- 
duction of carbon in the form of a black substance.* Lastly, 
if any one should be of opinion that, by the assistance of a 
constantly operating electrical stream, highly carbonaceous 
bodies might be decomposed so slowly that carbon might be 
separated in a crystalline condition, that is, in the form of 
diamond, just as copper and the other metals have been re- 
cently obtained, in a crystalline state, from solutions, by Jacobi’s 
method, such an expectation will prove to be a vain one; for, 
on the one hand, the substances most suited to galvanic de- 
composition are non-conductors of electricity, as, for example, 
sulphuret of carbon, oil of turpentine, copaiva balsam, &c. ; 
and on the other, if we should be successful in separating, 
from any compound, crystalline carbon on the conducting wire, 
yet, according to theory, at the very moment when even the 
most delicate covering of crystalline carbon should be deposit- 
ed, all further action on the decomposing liquid would be inter- 
rupted, for the matter of diamond itself is known to be a non- 
conductor of electricity.t 


* A pretty extensive collection of the experiments on this subject, to- 
gether with the references, is to be found in Ersch and Gruber’s Allgemeine 
Encyclopidie der Kiinste und Wissenchaften, under the article Diamant. See 
also in Gmelin’s Handbuch der Theoretischen Chemie, vol. i. the chapter on Car- 
bon. 

t From Petzholdt’s Beitrige zur Naturgeschichte des Diamantes, 1842, 


VOL. XXXIV, NO. LXVIII.—-APRIL 1843. ¥ 


( 326 ) 


An Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. By 
Baron Von Humsoxpr. 


Ar the meeting of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, on 18th 
July 1842, a memoir by M. de Humboldt was read, of which 
we think it necessary to give asomewhat lengthened account. 
It is entitled “ An attempt at determining the mean height 
of Continents.” 

« Among the numerical elements on which the progress of 
physical geography appears more particularly to depend, there 
is one which no attempt has been hitherto made to determine. 
The notion which seemed to prevail, that it was impossible 
to come to such a determination, has perhaps been the prin- 
cipal cause of the subject being neglected. However, the ex- 
tension of our orographical knowledge, as well as the great- 
er accuracy of the maps which represent large portions of 
country, determined me, says M. de Humboldt, to undertake, 
some years ago, a work of great labour, and in appearance 
barren in results, the object of which is the knowledge of the 
mean height of continents, and the determination of the mean 
height of the centre of gravity of their volume. Yn sucha case 
as this, as with many others, such as the dimensions of the 
globe, the probable distance of the fixed stars, the mean tem- 
perature of the poles of the earth, the thickness of the atmo- 
spheric stratum above the level of the sea, or the enumeration 
of the general population of the globe, we arrive at limited 
numbers, between which the results must fall. In like man- 
ner, it is by the perfect knowledge of the geometrical and 
hypsometrical surface of a country, of France, for example, 
that we may thus be led, by analogy, to extend the conclu- 
sions toa great part of Europe and America, and are en- 
abled to establish numerical data, which have recently been 
completed in a very satisfactory manner in regard to central 
and western Asia. 

“ It was likewise necessary to collect, with the greatest care, 
astronomical determinations of the height of places, in order 
to establish, to about 300 or 400 metres of absolute height, 
the limits between the acclivities of the mountains and the 
edges of the valleys. I long since demonstrated the possibi- 


Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 827 


lity of such a determination of limits, and, from the comparison 
which depends on it, I have deduced the extent of the surface 
of the plains, and the horizontal and flat portions of moun- 
tains, in my geognostical researches on South America ; a por- 
tion of the globe in regard to which the length of the im- 
mense wall which forms the Cordillera of the Andes, and of 
the elevated masses of Parima and Brazil, was so incorrectly 
limited and circumscribed on all maps. In fact, there is a 
general tendency in all graphic representations to give the 
mountains a greater degree of breadth than they really pos- 
sess, and even in the flat portions to confound plateaux of va- 
rious kinds with each other.” 

M. de Humboldt published, in 1825, two memoirs inserted 
in the Memoires dé 1’ Académie des Sciences of Paris, on the 
mean height of continents, and an estimate of the volume 
of the elevated ridges of mountains, compared with the 
extent of the surface of the lower regions. An assertion of 
Laplace in the Mécanique Céleste (vol. y., book xi. chap. i. 
page 13), gave rise to these researches. This great geo- 
meter had established in principle, that the agreement ob- 
served between the results of experiments made with the pen- 
dulum and the compression of the earth, deduced as well 
from the trigonometrical measurement of the degrees of the 
meridian as from the inequality of the moon, furnished a 
proof * that the surface of the terrestrial spheroid would 
be nearly that of equilibrium, if that surface became fluid. 
Hence, and from the consideration that the sea leaves vast 
continents uncovered, we conclude that it cannot be of great 
depth, and that its mean depth is of the same order as the 
mean height of the continents and islands above its level, 
a height which does not exceed 1000 metres” (or 3073 
Parisian feet, that is to say, only 463 feet less than the sum- 
mit of the Brocken, according to M. Gauss, or a little more 
than the most elevated mountains of Thuringia). Laplace 
further adds, “ This height is, then, a small fraction of the 
excess of the radius of the equator over that of the pole, an 
excess which exceeds 20,000 métres. Just as high moun- 
tains cover some parts of continents, so there may be great 
cavities in the bed of the sea; but it is natural to suppose 


528 Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 


that their depth is less than the elevation of high mountains, 
as the deposits from the waves, and the remains of marine 
animals, must have tended, in the lapse of time, to fill up these 
great cavities.” 

Considering the profound and extensive knowledge which 
the author of the Mécanique Céleste possessed in the highest 
degree, an assertion of this nature was the more striking, as 
he could not be ignorant that the most*elevated plateau of 
France, that from which the extinct volcanoes of Auvergne 
have risen, does not rise, according to Ramond, to more than 
1044 feet, and that the great Iberian plateau is not, according 
{o my own measurements, more than 2100 feet above the level 
of the sea. Laplace has therefore fixed the upper limit at 
1000 metres, merely because he has considered the extent and 
the mass of the elevations of mountains to be much greater than 
they really are, inasmuch as he has confounded the height of 
the insulated peaks or culminating points with the mean height 
of the mountain ridges; he has admitted much too low a 
number for the depth of seas, because, in his time, data could 
not be found on the subject, and he has thence inferred the 
proportion of the extent of the surface (in square miles) in re- 
gard to all continents, to the extent of the projection of the 
surfaces covered by mountains. 

A very exact calculation has shewn that the mass of the 
chain of the Andes, in South America, from where it leaves the 
whole portion of the eastern plains of the pampas and forests, 
regions whose surface is one-third larger than that of Europe, 
does not rise above 486 feet. M. de Humboldt hence con- 
cludes, ‘‘ That the mean height of continental lands depends 
much less on those chains or longitudinal ridges of little 
breadth which traverse continents, and on their culminating 
points or domes, which attract common observation, than on 
the general configuration of the different orders of plateaux and 
their ascending series, and on those gently undulating plains 
with alternating slopes, which have an influence, by their mass 
and extent, on the position of a mean surface, that is to say, on 
the height of a plain placed in such a manner that the sum of 
its positive ordinates shall be equal to the sum of its negative 
ordinates.” 


Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 529 


The comparison which Laplace has instituted in the pas- 
sage quoted from the Mécanique Céleste between the depth of 
the sea and the height of continents, recalls a passage of Plu- 
tarch, in the 15th chapter of his Life of Amilius Paulus (ed. 
Reiskii, vol. ii. page 276),—a passage the more remarkable, as 
it makes us acquainted with an opinion which generally pre- 
vailed among the philosophers of the Alexandrian school. 
After quoting an inscription found on Mount Olympus, and 
giving the result of the measurement of its height by Xenago- 
ras, Plutarch adds, “‘ But geometricians (probably those of 
Alexandria) believe that there is no mountain higher, and no 
sea deeper, than ten stadia’ We can entertain no doubt about 
the exactness of the measurement made by Xenagoras ; but it 
is striking to observe, that the philosophers of this school esta- 
blished in the structure of the earth a perfect equality be- 
tween the heights or positive and negative ordinates. Here 
the maximum of the heights and depths is alone taken into 
account, and not the mean height,—a consideration which 
rarely presented itself to the mind of the ancient philosophers, 
and which, for variable magnitudes, was applied in a useful 
manner to astronomy by the Arabs. Even in the Metereologius 
of Cleomedes (i. 10), we meet with an assertion similar to that 
of Plutarch ; while in the Me/eorolegicis of the philosopher of 
Stagira (Arist. Met. ii. 2), the only point considered is the in- 
fluence of the inclination of the bottom of the sea, from east 
to west, on its currents. 

When we try to determine the mean height of the elevation 
of continents above the present level of the seas, it means 
that the object is to find the centre of gravity of the volume 
of these continents above that level,—an investigation very dif- 
ferent from that which consists in searching for the centre of 
gravity of the volume of the continental mass, or the centre of 
gravity of the masses, seeing that the portion which rises above 
the sea, in the crust of the globe, is by no means of the same 
density, as has-been demonstrated both by geognosy and ex- 
periments with the pendulum. The mode of simple calculation 
is as follows :—Each chain of mountains is considered as a tri- 
angular prism placed horizontally. The mean height of the 
defiles or passes, which determine the mean height of the crest 


330 Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 


of the mountains, is the height of the ridge of the prism ver- 
tically above the surface, which constitutes the base of the 
chain. The plateaux are calculated as straight prisms, in or- 
der to establish their solidity. 

For the purpose of giving an example, taken from Europe, 
of this kind of calculation, M. de Humboldt states, that the 
surface of France contains 10,087 square geographical miles. 
According to M. Charpentier, the Pyrenees cover 430 of these 
square miles ; and, although the mean height of the summits 
of the Pyrenees rises to 7500 feet, M. de Humboldt makes a 
reduction upon it, on account of the erosions produced on the 
prism supposed to be lying horizontally, and which have tended 
specially to diminish the size of the deep transverse valleys. 
The effect of the Pyrenees on the whole of France is not more 
than 35 metres or 108 feet ; that is to say, it is to that extent 
that the normal surface of the entire plain of France would be 
increased, and the elevation of that surface by the comparison 
of a great number of very accurate measurements at places 
towards the centre (such as Bourges, Chartres, Nevers, Tours, 
&c.) has been found to be 480 feet. This calculation, which 
M. de Humboldt has made along with M. Elie de Beaumont, 
furnishes the following general result, in measures thus given 
by the author :— 

Toises. 
1. Effect of the Pyrenees, . 18 
2. The French Alps, the Jura, and the Vosges, a few 
toises more than the Pyrenees ; common effect, 20 
3. The plateaux of Limousin, Auvergne, the Cevennes, 
Aveyron, Forez, Moryant, Cote d’Or; common ef- 
fect, nearly equal to that of the Pyrenees, 18 


Now, as the normal height of the plain of France is at 
its maximum about : : . ; 80 


——e 


It follows that the mean height of France does not ex- 5 
ceed ; b : , : - 186 toises, 
or 816 feet. 


The Baltic, Sarmatian, and Russian plains are separated 
from those of the north of Asia only by the meridian chain 
of the Oural. It is for this reason that Herodotus, who was 
acquainted with the connection of the southern extremity of 


Fe ey 


a ee ae 


Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 331 


the Oural in the country of the Issidones, called the whole of 
Europe to the north of the Altai Mountains, Asia. In the 
neighbouring region of the Baltic plains, near the shores of 
the Baltic Sea, there are partial elevated masses which deserve 
particular attention. To the west of Dantzic, between that 
town and Butow, at the point where the shore of the sea ad- 
vances much to the north, there are many villages situated at a 
height of 400 feet ; the Thurmberg, moreover, the measure- 
ment of which has given rise to many hypsometrical contro- 
versies, rises, according to the trigonometrical observations 
of Major Baeyer, to 1024 feet, which is perhaps the greatest 
elevation to be found between the Harz and Oural. It is sur- 
prising that, according to the measurements made by M. 
Struve of the culminating point of Livonia, the Munamaggi, 
this mountain rises only 4 toises higher than the Thurmberg 
of Pomerania ; while, on the other hand, according to Captain 
Albrecht’s chart, the greatest depth of the Baltic Sea, between 
Gothland and Windau, is not more than 167 toises, a mea- 
surement almost identical with that of the Thurmberg. 

The flat countries exclusively European, the normal height 
of which cannot be estimated at more than 60 toises, occupy, 
according to exact measurements, a surface nine times that 
of France. The extraordinary extent of this low region is 
the cause of the mean continental height of all Europe, over 
an extent of 17,000 square geographical miles, being 30 toises 
below the result we have found for France. As tothe rest, 
not to occupy more time with numbers, M. de Humboldt adds, 
that an important consideration in the study of the general 
phenomena of geology is, that the elevated masses, over ex- 
tensive countries, in the form of plateaux, produce an entirely 
different effect on the elevation of the centre of gravity of 
the volume from that of chains of mountains, when they have 
the same importance in breadth and in height. While the 
Pyrenees produce scarcely the effect of a single toise on the 
whole of Europe, the system of the Alps, which cover a 
surface almost quadruple that of the Pyrenees, has the effect 
of 34 toises ; the Iberian peninsula, with its compact massive 
plateau of 300 toises, produces the effect of 12 toises. The 
plateau just named, therefore, has an effect on the whole of 


332 Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 


Europe four times more considerable than the system of the 
Alps. This result of calculations is the more satisfactory 
as it appears to be deduced without reference to any pre- 
vious hypothesis. 

We have recently acquired many new ideas respecting the 
configuration of Asia. The effect of the elevated colossal 
masses of the southern portion is found to be weakened, since 
one-third of the whole continent of Asia, a portion of Siberia, 
whichalone exceeds by a third the entire surface of Europe, does 
not reach a normal height of 40 toises. This is, likewise, 
the height of Orenbourg, on the northern shore of the Cas- 
pian Sea. Tobolsk does not attain the half of this height, 
and Casan, which is five times more distant from the shore of 
the Iey Sea than Berlin is from the Baltic, is scarcely half 
the height of the last mentioned city. In Upper Irtysch, be- 
tween Buktormensy and Lake Saysan, at a point nearer the 
Indian than the Icy Ocean, M. de Humboldt has found that 
the plains only reached a height of about 800 feet ; this, how- 
ever, has been called the plateau of Central Asia, and is not 
half the height of the streets of the city of Munich above the 
sea-level. The celebrated plateau between Lake Baikal and 
the Wall of China (the stony desert of Gobi and Cha-mo), 
which the Russian academicians, MM. Bunge and Fuss, have 
measured with the barometer, has a mean height of only 660 
toises, which is nearly the same as that of the Miiggelsberg at 
the summit of the Brocken. There is, moreover, in the centre 
of this plateau, at the point where Ergi is situated (lat. 45° 31’) 
a cauldron-shaped depression, the bottom of which descends 
to 400 toises, that is to say, the height of Madrid. ‘“ This de- 
pression,” says M. Bunge, in a memoir not yet published, 
“is covered with Halophytes and species of the genus Arundo, 
and, according to the tradition-of the Mongolians who ac- 
companied us, it was formerly a great inland sea.” The 
two extremities of this ancient inland sea are bounded by 
steep rocks, just like an ordinary sea, in the neighbourhood of 
Olonbaischan and Zukeldakan. 

The surface of Gobi, in its masses of uniform elevation, and 
from the south-west to north-west, is twice as large as that 
of all Germany, and will raise the centre of gravity of Asia 


at 


Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 333 


20 toises ; while the Himalaya and the Houwen-lun, which is 
a. prolongation of the Hindoo-Kho, with the plateaux of Thibet, 
which connect the Himalaya with the Kouen-lun, will only pro- 
duce an effect of 56 toises. In the examination of the consi- 
derable relief between the plains of the Indus and the de- 
pressed plateau of Tarim, which, on leaving Kaschgar, in- 
clines to the east towards Lake Lop, it is necessary to exa- 
mine with more care the point near the meridian of Kaylasa, 
and the two sacred lakes of Manasa and Ravana-Brada, on 
leaving which the Himalaya no longer runs from east to west 
parallel with the Kouen-lun, but takes the direction from 
south-east to north-west,and reunites at the projecting ridges of 
Tsun-ling. The altitudes of the numerous passes of Bamian, 
as far as the meridian of Tschamalari (24,400 feet), by which 
Turner reached the Thibetian plateau of H’Lassa, are likewise 
known for an extent of 21° of longitude. The greater part 
of them present a very uniform height of 14,000 English feet, 
or 2200 toises, a height which is not of rare occurrence in the 
passes of the chain of the Andes. The great route which M. 
de Humboldt followed from Quito, on his way to Cuenca, 
was, for example, at Assuay (Ladera de Cadlud), and without 
snow, of the height of 2428 toises, that is to say, 1400 feet 
higher than this pass of the Himalaya. The passes, as has 
been stated, give the mean height of mountains. 

In a memoir on the relations between elevated summits or 
culminating points, and the height of mountain chains, M. 
de Humboldt has demonstrated that the chain of the Pyre- 
nees, calculated from twenty-three passes, was 50 toises high- 
er than the mean chain of the Alps, although the culminating 
points of the Pyrenees and the Alps were in the proportion of 
1ltol1;%. As the insulated passes of the Himalaya, for ex- 
ample, the Niti-Gate, by which-we penetrate into the plain 
of the Cashmere goats, rise to the height of 2629 toises, M. 
de Humboldt has not admitted for the height of the Himalayan 
chain 14,000 English feet, but he proposes to fix it, although 
perhaps the elevation may be still too considerable, at 15,500. 
feet, or 2432 toises. The plateau of the three Thibets of 
Iscardo, Ladak, and WLassa, is a prominence between two 
chains which unite with each other (the Himalaya and the 


334 Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 


Kouen-Lun). Mr Vigne’s travels in Baltistan, which have just 
appeared, the journal of the brothers Gerard, published by 
Lloyd, as well as the recent investigations undertaken in India 
respecting the relative height of perpetual snow on the Indian 
and Thibetian declivities of the Himalaya, have demonstrated 
that the mean height of the Thibetian plateaux has hitherto 
been greatly exaggerated. In his work entitled “ Central 
Asia,” of which only a few pages of the third volume have 
been yet printed, and which will be accompanied by a hypso- 
metrical map of Asia from the Phasis, as far as the gulf of 
Petcheli, and from the common embouchures of the Ob and 
the Irtysch to the parallel of Delhi, M. de Humboldt thinks 
that he has demonstrated, by bringing together a multitude 
of facts, that the prominence between the Himalaya and the 
Kouen-Lun (chains which form the southern and northern 
limits of Thibet), does not rise above the mean height of 1800 
toises, and that it is, consequently, 200 toises lower than the 
plateau of Lake Titicaca. 

The hypsometrical configuration of the Asiatic continent 
is perhaps still more remarkable for its plains and depres- 
sions, than for its colossal heights. This continent is distin- 
guished by two principal characteristic features; 1st, by the 
long series of meridian chains, which, with parallel axes, 
but alternating with each other (having perhaps been pro- 
jected comme des filons) extend from Lake Comorin, opposite 
Ceylon, to the shores of the Icy Sea, in a uniform direction 
from south-south-east to north-north-west, under the name of 
Ghates, the Soliman chain, Paralasa, Bolor, and Oural. This 
alternating situation of auriferous meridian chains (Vigne has 
recently visited, on the eastern declivity of Bolos, in the valley 
of Basha, in Baltistan, the auriferous sands mined, according 
to the Thibetians, by marmots, and, according to Herodotus, 
by large ants) reveals to us this law, that none of the meridian 
chains just named, between 64° and 75° of longitude, extend 
themselves upon the adjoining ones, either towards the east 
or the west, and that each of these longitudinal elevations does 
not begin to shew its extent, until a point is reached where 
the preceding has completely disappeared. 2d, Another cha- 
racteristic trait in the configuration of Asia, and which has’ 


Attempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 385 


not been sufficiently observed, is the continuity of a consider- 
able elevation, east and west, between 35° and 362° of lati- 
tude, from Takhialoudag, in ancient Lycia, as far as the Chinese 
province of Houpih, an elevation thrice intersected by meridian 
chains (Zagros, in Western Persia, Bolos, in Affghanistan, and 
the chain of Assam, in the valley of Dzangho) from the west 
to the east of this chain, from the parallel of Dicearchus, which 
is at the same time that of Rhodes, Taurus, Elbrouz, Hindou- 
Kho, and Kouen-Lun or A-Neoutha. Inthe third book of the 
geography of Eratosthenés, we find the first germ of the no- 
tion of a chain of mountains (Strabo, xv. p. 689, Cas.) run- 
ning in a continuous manner, and dividing Asia into two 
parts. Dicearchus perceived the connection between the 
Taurus of Asia Minor and the snow-covered mountains of 
Asia, which had acquired so much celebrity among the Greeks 
by the false accounts of those who had accompanied the 
Macedonians. Importance was assigned to the parallel of 
Rhodes, and to the direction of this endless chain of moun- 
tains. The chlamyde of Asia ought to be found further on under 
this parallel (Strabo, xi. p. 519), and perhaps, says Strabo, a 
little more to the east there may be another continent. The 
Taurus and the plateaux of Asia Minor disclosed for the first 
time to the Greek philosophers the influence of height on tem- 
perature. ‘ Even in the southern latitudes,”’ says the great 
geographer of Amasis, (Strabo, ii. p. 73) when the climate of 
the northern coasts of Cappadocia is compared with that of the 
plains of Argaios, situated 3000 stadia further south, the 
mountains and all the elevated lands are cold, even when 
these lands consist of plains.” Strabo is the only one among 
Greek authors who has made use of the word ogomdsa or 
mountain plain. 

According to the final result of the whole of M. de Hum- 
boldt’s investigations, the maximum assigned by Laplace for 
the mean height of continents is too considerable by two-thirds. 
He found the following numerical elements for the three 
quarters of the world which have been the object of his cal- 
culations (Africa not yet presenting a sufficient number of 
data to be included). 


336 Altempt to determine the mean height of Continents. 


Europe, 105 toises (205 metres). 
North America, 117 ... (228 ... ). 
South America, 177... (845 ... ). 
Asia, 180) Jif(S84 2! ta. 

For the whole of the new continent we have 146 toises 
(285 metres), and for the height of the centre of gravity of the 
volume of all the continental masses (Africa excepted) above 
the level of the present seas, 157.8 toises or 307 metres. 

Von Hoff, who has measured with extreme accuracy 1076 
different points, the greater part of them in the mountainous 
portion of Thuringia, over an extent of 224 square geographical 
miles, estimates that there are about five heights for each 
square mile, but that these heights are unequally scattered. 
M. de Humboldt has asked Von Hoff, always for the purpose 
of verifying Laplace’s hypothesis respecting the mass of con- 
tinents, to calculate the mean height of the hypsometrical 
measurements which he has made. This philosopher has found 
it to be 166 toises, that is to say, 8 toises more than the result 
at which M. de Humboldt had arrived. We ought thence to 
conclude, that, since a very mountainous country of Thuringia 
was measured, the number, 157 toises, or 942 feet, is a limit 
rather too high than too low. 

In the certainty in which we now are respecting the. pro- 
gressive and partial rising of Sweden (one of the most im- 
portant facts in physical geography, for a knowledge of which 
we are indebted to M. de Buch), we may suppose that the 
centre of gravity will not always continue the same. At the 
same time, considering the smallness of the masses which are 
raised and the weakness of the subterranean forces in action, 
it may be presumed, regarding such variations, that they will 
in a great measure compensate each other, and that the posi- 
tion of the centre of gravity above the ocean will not be much 
changed ; but a new circumstance, which appears to result 
from the numerical calculations of this hypsometrical labour, 
is, that the smallest heights in our hemisphere belong to the 
continental masses of the north. Thus Europe has furnished 
105 toises, North America 117 toises. The prominent cha- 
racter of Asia between 28° and 40° of latitude compensates 
the subtractive effect of the lower portions of Siberia. Asia 


on aan I lag 


Notice of the Great Explosion at Dover. 337 


and South America give 180 and 177 toises. We thus read, 
so to speak, in these numbers, in what portions of the surface 
of our globe vulcanism, that is to say, the reaction of the 
interior on the exterior, has been felt with greatest intensity 
in the ancient soulévements. (L’Institut, 5th Jan. 1843 p. 4.) 


Notice of the Great Explosion at Dover. Contained in a 
Letter to the Earl of Carucarr, by Captain Sruarr, 7th 
Royal Fusiliers. Communicated by Lorp Greenock. 


Dover, 26th January 1843. 

My Dear Lorpv,—<An operation in engineering was success- 
fully performed near Dover to-day, which, from its magnitude 
and novelty, must be a subject of deep interest to every person 
acquainted in the least degree with practical science. It was 
the removal of an enormous mass of the cliff facing the sea, 
which formed an obstruction to the line of railroad. To give 
you a distinct idea of its position, it may be necessary to in- 
form you, that a portion of the cliff which was penetrated by 
the tunnel made through Shakspeare’s Cliff gave way about 
two years ago. About fifty yards of the tunnel were carried 
away, and a clear space was so formed for the line of railroad, 
with the exception of a projecting point, which, prior to the 
slip alluded to, was the extremity of the part of the cliff pierced 
by the tunnel, and to remove which was the object of the ope- 
ration in question. Mr Cubitt is the engineer, under whose 
management it took place. The expense of clearing it away 
by the tedious process of manual labour, would have exceeded 
L.12,000, and this consideration, as well as the time that 
would have been lost, induced him to try the bold experiment 
of blowing it away with gunpowder. It cannot be denied, 
that there was apparent danger in the undertaking, for the 
weight of the mass to be removed was estimated at 2,000,000 
tons, and the quantity of powder used was more than eight 
tons, or 18,000 Ibs. 12,000 Ibs. was the quantity used in 
blowing up the fortifications of Bhurtpore, and this, I believe, 
was the greatest explosion that ever (previously) took place 
for any single specific object. I had several opportunities of 


338 Notice of the Great Explosion at Doves. 


seeing the preparations for this grand event. The front of 
the projection was about 100 yards wide; this front was 
pierced with a tunnel about six feet in height, and three in 
breadth ; three shafts equidistant from each other and from 
the entrances to the tunnel, were sunk to the depth of seven- 
teen feet, and galleries were run, one from each shaft, paral- 
lel with each other, and at right angles with the line of the 
tunnel. These galleries varied in length, the longest having 
been 26 feet, the shortest 12 feet, and, at their extremities, 
chambers were excavated in a parallel direction with the tun- 
nel. The following rude sketch may give a clearer idea of it. 


1. The Tunnel. 2, The Shafts. 3, The Galleries, 4, The Chambers. 


In the chambers, the powder was deposited in three nearly 
equal quantities; it was done up in 50 lb. bags, and the pro- 
portion in each chamber was contained in a wooden case 
nearly as large as the chamber itself. Ignition was commu- 
nicated by means of a voltaic battery. Conductors 1000 feet 
in length were passed over the cliff, one to each chamber, and 
the electric fluid was communicated in a shed built for the 
purpose on the top of the cliff about fifty yards from the edge. 
The explosion was conducted by Lieutenant Hutchinson, R. E., 
who, you may recollect, was engaged under General Paisley, 
in blowing up the wreck of the Royal George. Two o’clock 
p.m. of this day, the tide being then at its lowest ebb, was 
fixed on for the explosion to take place. The arrangements 
were the best that could be made to preserve order, and as far 
as possible prevent danger. A space was kept clear by a cor- 
don of the artillery, and the following programme was issued : 


Signals, January 26. 1843. 


1st, Fifteen minutes before firing, all the signal flags will be hoisted. 

2d, Five minutes before firing, one gun will be fired, and all the flags 
will be hauled down. 

3d, One minute before firing, two guns will be fired, and all the flags 
(except that on the point which is to be blasted) will be hoisted 
again. 


‘ey 


wie meee PLL CAEL DRILL DATS OE ee al 


Notice of the Great Explosion at Dover. 339 


These signals were given exactly at the specified time, and 
when the expected moment arrived, a deep subterranean 
sound was heard, a violent commotion was seen at the base 
of the cliff, and the whole mass slid majestically down, form- 
ing an immense debris at the bottom. The success of the 
undertaking equalled the most sanguine hopes, and exceeded 
the expectations of all. It was a splendid triumph of skill, 
and reflects the highest credit on Mr Hutchinson and Mr 
Cubitt. 


Sir John Herschel also gives an account of this Explosion in 
the following letter, addressed to the Editor of the Athenzeum :-— 


Having witnessed the great explosion at Dover, on Thursday the 26th, 
from the summit of the cliff next adjoining it to the southward, and from 
the nearest point to which any access was permitted, I would gladly 
place on record, in your valuable journal, some features of its magnifi- 
cent operation, which struck me at the time as extremely remarkable, 
and which have not, I think, been adequately placed before the public in 
any account that I have seen, These features are, the singular and al- 
most total absence of all those tumultuous and noisy manifestations of 
power which might naturally be expected to accompany the explosion of 
so enormous a quantity (19,000 lb.) of gunpowder, and which formed, I 
have no doubt, the chief attraction of many who came from great distances 
to witness it,—viz. noise, smoke, earthquake, and fragments hurled to vast 
distances through the air. 

Of the noise accompanying the immediate explosion, I can only de- 
scribe it as a low murmur, lasting hardly more than half a second, and so 
faint, that had a companion at my elbow been speaking in an ordinary 
tone of voice, I doubt not it would have passed unheeded. Nor was the 
fall of the cliff (nearly 400 feet in height, and of which no less than 
400,000 cubic yards were, within an interval of time hardly exceeding ten 
seconds, distributed over the beach, on an area of 18 acres, covered to an 
average depth of 14 feet, and in many parts from 30 to 50) accompanied 
with any considerable noise, certainly with none which attracted my own 
attention, or that of several others similarly stationed, with whom I after- 
wards compared notes. A pretty fresh breeze from the south-west might 
be regarded as influential in wafting it away, were it not that the fall took 
place under the lee of the cliff on whose edge we were stationed. 

The entire absence of smoke was another and not less remarkable fea- 
ture of the phenomenon. Much dust, indeed, curled out at the borders of 
the vast rolling and undulating mass, which spread itself like a semi-fluid 
body, thinning out in its progress ; but this subsided instantly ; and of true 
smoke there was absolutely not a vestige. Every part of the surface was 


340 Notice of the Great Explosion at Dover. 


immediately and clearly seen—the prostrate* flagstaff (speedily re-erected 
in the place of its fall)—the broken turf which a few seconds before had 
been quietly growing at the summit of the cliff, and every other detail of 
that extensive field of ruin, were seen immediately in all their distinct- 
ness. Full in the midst of what appeared the highest part of the expand- 
ing mass, while yet in rapid motion, my attention was attracted by a tu- 
multuous and somewhat upward-swelling motion of the earth, whence I 
fully expected to’see burst forth a volume of pitchy smoke,{and from which 
my present impression is, that gas, purified from carbonaceous matter in 
passing through innumerable fissures of cold and damp material, was stili in 
progress of escape ; but, whether so or not, the remark made at the mo- 
ment is sufficient to prove the absence of any impediment to distinct vi- 
sion. 

As regards the amount of tremor perceived, I must confess having 
speculated with some little anxiety on the probable stability of the abrupt 
and precipitous ridge on which I stood; and might, therefore, have 
somewhat underrated the exceedingly trifling movement which actually 
reached that point, and which I think I have felt surpassed by a heavy 
waggon passing along a paved street. The impression, slight as it was, 
was single and brief, and must have originated with the first shock of the 
powder, and not from the subsequent and prolonged rush of the ruins, 
which I can positively say communieated no perceptible tremor whatever. 

T have not heard of a single scattered fragment, flying out as a projectile, 
in any direction ; and altogether the whole phenomenon was totally un- 
like any thing which, according to ordinary ideas, could have been sup- 
posed to arise from the action of gunpowder. Strange as it may seem, 
this contrast between the actual and the expected effects, gave to the 
whole scene a character rather of sublime composure than of headlong 
violence, of gracefwl ease than of struggling effort. How quietly, in short, 
the gigantic power employed performed its work may be gathered from 
the fact, that the operators themselves who discharged the batteries were 
not aware that they had taken effect, but thought the whole affair a fail- 
ure, until re-assured by the shout which hailed its success. 

The remarkable absence of noise and tremor which characterized this 
operation is explained by the structure of chalk as a material, and by the 
rifty state of the cliff as a body. Of all substances, perhaps, chalk is the 
worst adapted for conveying sound, and the best for deadening the vibra- 
tion propagated through it by a heavy blow. The initial hammer-like im- 
pulse of the newly-created gas on the walls of the chambers of the mines 
(of which it must be recollected there were three, simultaneously explo- 
ded) was doubtless thus deadened by traversing at least 75 feet of chalk, 
even in the shortest direction, or line of least resistance ; and this must 
have taken place before the mass could have been sensibly moved from 


* Tt has been stated, that the flagstaff continued erect, but this (if I can credit 
the distinct evidence of my own senses) is incorrect. 


pew 


On the Introduction of Granite into Scotland. 341 


its seat by the expansive force generated, which, however vast, proved 
incapable (as, indeed, it was expressly provided it should be) to commu- 
nicate to its enormous load any greater velocity than barely sufficient to 
rift and bulge it outwards, leaving gravity to do the rest. Nothing can 
place in a more signal light the exactness of calculation which (basing it- 
self on a remarkably simple rule, the result of long practical experience) 
could enable the eminent engineer (Mr Cubitt), by whom the whole ar- 
rangements are understood to have been made, so completely to task to 
its utmost every pound of powder employed, as to exhaust its whole effort 
in useful work—leaving no superfluous power to be wasted in the produc- 
tion of useless uproar or mischievous dispersion, and thus saving at a blow 
not less than L.7,000 to the railway company.—I have the honour to be, 
&e. J. F. W. Herscwet. 


Collingwood, Jan, 31, 1843. 


On the Introduction into Scotland of Granite, for Ornamental 
Purposes, by Messrs Macdonald and Leslie of Aberdeen. 
By Professor Traruz, F.R.S.E., M.W.S., &c.* Communi- 
cated by the Author. 


The first idea of employing the refractory, but enduring, 
material, granite, in sculpture appears to be due to the ancient 
Egyptians. Those who have enjoyed opportunities of exa- 
mining their colossal buildings have acknowledged the preci- 
sion, and even delicacy, of the figures and ornaments, with 
which that ingenious people contrived to enrich their archi- 
tecture. Specimens of their sculpture in granite, which have 
for 3000 years resisted the action of the elements, and the 
yet more destructive influence of barbarous invaders, still 
astonish us by the high polish of their surfaces, and the deli- 
cate finish of their details. Even a visit to the Egyptian Sa- 
loon of the British Museum, will prove that in accuracy of mus- 
cular delineation, and in the communication of absolute fleshi- 
ness to the lips and features of some of the figures there pre- 
served, the ancient Egyptians evinced a high perfection in 
the art of sculpture, in a material of the most imperishable 
kind, on which few succeeding artists have ventured to em- 
ploy the chisel. 


* Read to the Wernerian Society 18th March 1842. 
VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVIII.— APRIL 18438. Z 


342 = Dr Traill on the Introduction into Scotland of . 


In our own times, the fabrication of slabs, pedestals, and 
vases, in hard porphyries, and in granite, has been carried to 
great perfection in Sweden. The quarries of Blyberg at Elfda- 
len, for many years, have furnished materials for Swedish inge- 
nuityandskill. The elegantforms and high finish of their works 


in those refractory materials have contributed greatly to the, 


splendour of the Swedish Capital, and are known and admired 
over Europe. Yet, though our own mountains yield no less beau- 
tiful and durable materials, it is surprising how long we have re- 
mained without any attempt to apply them to the purposes of or- 
namental art. It is true, that, for more than half a century, 
Aberdeen has exhibited a city chiefly built of blocks of hewn 
granite ; that more lately, this same material has been employ- 
ed in the construction of Waterloo Bridge in London, and in 
a few other works; and that Cornish granite appears in the 
pedestals of a few statues in some of our towns. But the 
idea of giving a polish, equal to that of ancient Egypt, to our 
granite in works of considerable size, of introducing this splen- 
did material as a domestic ornament in our halls and saloons, 
and as lasting memorials of departed worth in our cemeteries, is 


undoubtedly due to two citizens of Aberdeen, Messrs Macpo-- 


natp and Lrstiz, who carry on extensive works in that town ; 
where the grey granite of Aberdeen, and the rich red granite 
of Peterhead, are cut into an endless variety of ornamental 
articles, which receive the highest polish. 


A late visit to their establishment convinced me, that these. 


gentlemen have reduced to practice the difficult problem of 
giving any required form to so stubborn a material as granite, 
and of communicating to its surface an exquisite polish, which 
shew it to be well suited for domestic ornament, and as a su- 
perb decoration for the abodes of rank and opulence. The 
rich warm tint of the Peterhead granite, in particular, will 
harmonize better with the gilded ornaments and gorgeous 
hangings of a modern gallery or superb saloon, either as tables 
or as pedestals for works of art, than furniture made of the 
most costly woods, or even than the snowy marble of Car- 
rara. 


For monumental work, this enduring material possesses ad- . 


vantages over the best marble. In our climate, the effects of 


Granite for Ornamental Purposes. 343 


rain, sudden. frosts, and succeeding thaws are soon perceptible 
on Carrara marble, or any other kind exposed freely to the 
weather. Marble thus soon loses its glossy surface, it con- 
tracts greenish stains from the vegetation of minute Lyss?, and 
inscriptions, in a few years, from these causes, become ille- 
gible. The:polished granite of Aberdeenshire retains its po- 
lish most perfectly under all atmospheric changes, does not 
contract any stain from vegetation ; and, unless wantonly 
mutilated, will transmit the inscription engraven on it to dis- 
tant ages. The sharpness of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, 
carved ina very similar rock 3000 years ago, at this day, proves 
the durability of granite carving. A beautiful cenotaph of 
red granite, from the works of Messrs Macdonald and Leslie, 
has been exposed to all the vicissitudes of our changeable cli- 
mate, for six or seven years, in the church-yard of Falkirk, 
and appears in the full lustre of its original polish, as if it 
were erected yesterday. 

‘Fine specimens of granite monuments by the same artists 
may be seen in the noble new cemetery at Glasgow, which are 
chaste in design, beautiful in execution, and seem calculated to 
bid defiance to every destroying influence, except wilful injury. 

On visiting the establishment of Messrs Macdonald and 
Leslie at Aberdeen, I saw several finished specimens, and 
many works of this material in progress, as I was conducted 
through the different departments, by the intelligent, and most 
respectable head of this interesting and new employment of na- 
tional art and industry. 

- The grey granite isof a close grain, and contains more mica 
than the red. Itis brought from quarries on the Dee, a short 
way above Aberdeen. The red granite is of a larger grain, 
abounding in felspar and in quartz, intermingled with small 
specks of mica, and bears astrong resemblance to the syenitic 
rock, of which the finest ancient Egyptian monuments are fa- 
bricated. This comes from the vicinity of Peterhead, and is 
brought byseato theworks. Both aresusceptible of afine polish, 
which they retain unimpaired bythe weather. Blocks of almost 
any size may be obtained free of flaws or imperfections. In 
the sawing room, several blocks were then under the machines, 
which are moved, by a14-horse power steam-engine. I observed 
one block, 10 feet long, cutting into 6 or 8slabs. The saws 


344 Dr Traill on the Introduction into Scotland of 


are, ag usual in such works, of soft iron-plates, secured in a 
frame; and operate on the stone by means of quartz-sand and 
water, applied as in slicing marble. No emery is requisite in 
these operations, the particles of siliceous sand being sufficient 
to cut the quartz, the hardest material in the granite. Fre- 
quently 14 saws are used in a single frame ; and occasionally 
they have had as many as 18 employed at once on a single 
block of stone. The progress of the work, of course, is slow ; 
it requiring a whole day to cut a groove two-thirds of an inch 
in depth in the granite. The slabs, when cut, are polished by 
moving one over the other, by appropriate machinery ; siliceous 
sand being first interposed, and then emery of various degrees 
of fineness, until the requisite degree of lustre is obtained. 

The first dressing of the granite blocks into parallelopipeds, 
cylindrical masses or other curved forms, is performed by 
hand-picks, with short handles, and heads about 4 pounds in 
weight ; which the workmen, from long habit, wield with sur- 
prising accuracy. The surfaces are then reduced to a regular 
form by means of well tempered chisels, urged by iron mallets ; 
the chisels require a very particular temper, which must be 
neither very hard nor very soft, else they would either lose 
their edge by chipping, or fail to cut the stone. I observed 
that they frequently require sharpening in the more delicate 
kinds of work. The chisel is held by the workman very ob- 
liquely to the surface of the stone, and he separates very small 
particles at a time. 

I have already described the polishing of plane surfaces. 
Circular forms, such as sfe/e, frusta of columns, as pedestals 
for busts, vases, and the like, are fixed in well-contrived 
lathes, and are whirled round by machinery, while the sand 
and emery are applied to their surfaces by means of thick 
plates or bars of iron, previously forged to their various cur- 
vatures, when they are not cylindrical. 

I saw a large vase, about 4 feet in diameter, prepared by 
the chisel for the process of polishing. Its graceful curves 
were beautifully and accurately cut by the chisel; the iron 
bars, 1 or 13 inch in thickness, neatly forged to its various 
curves, lay beside it ready to be applied, when it was fixed in 
the lathe. 

In the warerooms were many finished articles of great 


a 


—_ 


as I eh. Rey et 9S 
’ 


, ae 


Granite for Ornamental Purposes. 345 


beauty and elegance, such as well executed pedestals for busts 
or vases, of red and grey granite ; chimney pieces of the same 
material, numerous slabs, tables and seats for halls, and beau- 
tiful vases, in a considerable variety of forms, rivalling those 
of classic Italy in shape, mural tablets for monuments, and 
some altar-formed tombs of magnificent size. These last 
were made to order. Some of the chimney-pieces are intend- 


‘ed for the Earl of Lauderdale’s residence, Thirlstane Castle, 


and some of the slabs for Sir Robert Peel, &c. &e. 

I was surprised at the neatness of the /edéering on all the 
monuments ; and saw the men at work. The monument is first 
finished in other respects: the letters are carefully traced with 
a dark or light crayon, according to the colour of the stone, and 
the workman traces the outline of the letter on the stone by 
light strokes of a fine-edged chisel, held nearly vertically ; 
deepens the lines by a succession of similar blows, while the 
chisel is held very obliquely, removing the stone in the state 
of powder, so as to avoid chipping. Roman capitals are thus 
easily formed ; but I saw old English, or German letters, with 
a superfluity of curved lines, carved on the granite with equal 
precision. 

But the most remarkable work which I saw in this estab- 
lishment was, the neatly finished statue of the late Duke of 
Gordon, intended to be erected in one of the streets of Aber- 
deen. It is 11 fect high, of a single block of granite. This 
statue was modelled by Mr Thomas Campbell, the sculptor ; 
and has been transferred from the model to the granite by 
Messrs Macdonald and Leslie. Two men were at work on 
the drapery, at the period of my visit. They worked with 
fine chisels, held very obliquely, and urged on by iron mallets 
of two or three pounds in weight. The attitude of this statue 
is simple, and the features are said to be very like the original. 
This, which may be considered as the first specimen of a Bri- 
tish statue of a single block of granite, in emulation of the 
durable monuments of ancient Egypt, is a memorial by the 
County to the late noble and gallant Officer; and, when erected, 
will be a distinguished ornament to Aberdeen. 

Another great public work, executed by the same artists, is ” 
already erected in that town. In 1842, the splendid public 


346 = On the Introduction of Granite into Scotland. 


markets of Aberdeen, excelled by none in Europe in elegance, 
were first opened. The great saloon, containing the fruit and 
vegetable market, a magnificent hall 300 feet in length by 
100 feet in breadth, has within it a noble fountain of highily 
polished Peterhead granite. An octagonal basin, constructed 
of polished blocks, stands about one-third the length of the 
hall from the southern extremity. From the centre of this 
basin, rises a shaft 10 feet high, supporting two circular cups 
or shallow vases, one placed over the other. The lowermost 
is formed out of a single block, 7 feet 3 inches in diameter ; 
and the upper has about half that width. A constant-jet: of 
water rises from the centre of the upper cup, flows over its 
edges into the lower vase, which also overflows, in a thin sheet 
of limpid water, into the basin below ; whence water is drawn 
for all the purposes of the market. I have seen no fountain 
in Britain so fine as this. It resembles in form, and surpas- 
ses in material; the finest fountains I saw in Spain: yet it 
was erected by Messrs Macdonald and Leslie for L.200. 

The same artists are at this moment engaged in executing 
a similar fountain for Lord Prudhoe, which, I understand, will 
cost about L.200. 

Indeed, considering the difficulty of working so hard a ma- 
terial, I was surprised at the moderation of their prices, for 
articles produced at their interesting establishment. 

For instance :— 

1. A hall-table slab of polished granite, measuring 4 feet 
long by 213 inches wide, costs L.4, 15s. 

It may be stated, that slabs may be furnished, of any re- 
quired size, for from 12s. to 14s. for each square foot. of sur- 
face. 

2. Pedestals for busts, square or columnar, with plinth, and 
an ovolo when columnar, of the usual size, for L.10. 

3. Mural monumental tablets, with vase, trusses, &c., from 
L.6 to L.9, according to the size. 

4. Mural tablets, with base, cornice, and gee tet 2) top, 
from L.10 to L.12. 

Lettering, of the usual size, is charged 4s. ‘6d. per dozen of 
letters. 

5. An elegant Tazea-formed vase, of classic shape, 4 feet 


Researches on the Anatomy of the Chimpanzee. 347 


9 inches in diameter, and standing 2 feet 9 inches high on a 
beautiful pedestal, costs L.40. 

6. They have also executed columns of granite for halls 
and vestibules, at prices equally reasonable, in proportion to 
the size and style of decoration. But of all the purposes to 
which they have hitherto applied the granite, it seems espe- 
cially suitable for monuments of every kind, both from the 
beauty of the highly polished material, and its imperishable 
nature under all vicissitudes of the weather. 

The extent and perfection to which these gentlemen have 
carried the working of this very refractory but beautiful stone, 
may be considered as forming an era in British art ; and re- 
quire only to be more generally known, to be appreciated and 
encouraged by public taste and munificence. 


13 GLovucesteR Prace, Epinspures, March 18, 1843. 


Researches on the Comparative Anatomy of the Chimpanzee. 
By M. Vrouix.* 


If, in the natural sciences, the study of facts ought to serve 
as the basis of general views and as the means of appreciating 
natural phenomena taken as a whole, the investigations un- 
dertaken with the view of throwing light upon some particu- 
lar points of science, and supporting in some way or other a 
special object, deserve more than ordinary attention. The 
physical sciences geology and botany, present us with nume- 
rous examples of these monographs, many of which have been 
the means of acquiring the highest reputation to their authors, 
Zoology, and, in particular, Comparative Anatomy, are less 
rich in works of this description ; it is therefore a duty to no- 
tice particularly works which, like M. Vrolik’s Researches on 
the Comparative Anatomy of the Chimpanzee, combine a profound 
study of the subject with new views and ingenious specula- 
tions ; the more especially when, in addition to these recom- 
mendations, the mode of execution, the form, and the plates, 


* The valuable work noticed above is entitled, Recherches d’Anatomie 
Comparée sur le Chimpansé. Par W. Vrourxk, Chevalier de l’Ordre Mili- 
taire de Guillaume, Membre de la Premiére Classe de 1’Institut Royal des 
Pays-Bas. 1 vol. fol. avec 7 Planches. Amsterdam, 1841. 


348 M. Vrolik’s Researches on the Comparative 


are such as to render it worthy of a place by the side of the 
most remarkable works of the class to which it belongs. 

M. Vrolik enters into no details either respecting the ex- 
ternal characters or natural history of the Chimpanzee. Sup- 
posing these to be sufficiently known, he devotes himself to 
the anatomical examination of this animal, which is rendered 
singularly interesting by its great resemblance to man. Avail- 
ing himself of the advantages supplied by the fine anatomical 
collections of Holland, both public and private, as well as 
those offered by the Zoological Garden of Amsterdam placed 
under his direction, he has added anatomical observations on 
many other species of monkeys, compared their organization 
with that of other quadrupeds, and contrasted it with that of 
man, in such a manner, that the work we now introduce to 
the notice of our readers almost amounts to a treatise on the 
comparative anatomy of the quadrumana, and a pretty com- 
plete essay on the comparative myology of the Mammifera. 

A work of this nature, whose merits depend chiefly on the 
number and exactitude of its details, cannot easily be sub- 
jected to analysis. A few quotations of general interest will 
render it best known, and will, we doubt not, excite the desire 
of studying, in the work itself, the very peculiar organization 
of the large quadrumanous animal in question. The seven 
beautiful lithographic plates which accompany the descrip- 
tions, render them, besides, much more intelligible. 

After long and interesting details respecting the osteology 
and myology of the Chimpanzee, as well as the comparison of 
the organs of motion among different species of monkeys and 
other mammifera—between these and the corresponding parts 
of man—the following are the general considerations arrived 
at by the Amsterdam Professor :-— 

“Tn short, it appears proved that the muscles of the ante- 
rior extremities become simplified in proportion as animals re- 
cede from the human form. Their number and disposition 
are modified according to the functions for which these ante- 
rior extremities are adapted. In man they are not intended 
to support the body. In him they are attached in such a 
manner, from the top of the head to the heel, that there is no 
part of the individual to which they cannot reach. By the 


— DOME GOSS BE eet. * 


Anatomy of the Chimpanzee. 349 


nature of this attachment, and by all the peculiarities of their 
structure, we perceive that they are given to him as instru- 
ments adapted either for pushing away from him, seizing, or 
embracing objects, and, in particular, as organs of touch. It 
is to the hand, in particular, that the duty of fulfilling these 
offices is assigned. Every thing concurs, in man, to render it 


_an organ of the greatest perfection, and in this respect no ani- 


mal can rival him. Let us observe, accordingly, that it is for 
the purpose of executing these different functions that the 
palm is enlarged, radiating, and terminating in fingers, each 
phalange of which has its proper motor; that the thumb has 
a different direction from the other fingers, is not placed on 
the same line with them, but can be opposed to each of them ; 
that the hand not only exercises a movement of extension and 
flexure, but can be turned forwards and backwards, by a me- 
chanism peculiar to the wrist; that the articulation of the 
shoulder is formed in such a manner that the movenrents of 
the humerus, and consequently all the upper extremity, be- 
come as extensive as possible; that the muscular sides of the 
palm are so disposed, that the hand can form the palm into a 
hollow. All these arrangements are found in the greatest 
perfection in man, and the first result of them is, that he has 
the power of seizing an object with only one hand, while the 
other mammifera, whose fore-feet have some resemblance to 
the upper extremities in man, cannot hold objects but by 
using both hands. To this monkeys are the only exception. 
In tham the fore-foot resembles the human hand, although it 
is Way inferior to the latter. The palm is longer, and not so 
broad ; the fingers are more elongated, and less insulated in 
their movements; the thumb is placed farther backwards, and, 
in its direction, less opposed to the fingers. Among them, ° 
consequently, the hand becomes less an organ of touch and 
prehension, than a means of aiding them in their movements 
while climbing trees. This imperfection is seen in its greatest 
degree among the sapajous and sajous. This is perhaps the 
reason why they are possessed of an accessory organ of mo- 
tion, formed by the prehensile tail. In the ourang-outang, cn 
the contrary, and still more in the Chimpanzee, the hand 
makes a much yearer approach to that of man. Although 


350 M. Vrolik’s Researches on the Comparative 


pretty perfect in the ourang-outang, it exhibits in that animal 
a disproportionate length ; but in the Chimpanzee the fingers 
are shorter, the thumb better formed, and the palm of the hand 
broader. I cannot determine whether the palm of the Chim- 
panzee can form a hollow, like that of man, but I have often 
satisfied myself that that of the ourang-outang is incapable of 
doing so. When the ourang-outang of our Zoological Garden 
makes use of his hand, whether it be to seize on any object, or 
in any of the artificial movements he is caused to execute, he 
does it with a certain degree of awkwardness, which demon- 
strates his inferiority in this respect as compared with man. 
The last director of our menagerie amused himself by making 
it dine at his table ; but although it had learned to imitate all 
the movements of a civilized man, to present its empty plate, 
hold out its glass, and eat with a spoon, it sufficiently shewed 
that its hand would not allow it to attain the dexterity of man. 
For example, in taking a plate or any other object, it never 
held its hand extended and open, as a man does, but closed 
the hand, bending the fingers very much. This mode of curving 
the fingers was extremely familiar to it. I never recollect of 
seeing its fingers completely extended. All this shews us that 
the hand of the ourang-outang is well adapted to grasp the 
branches of a tree; that in this respect it is an organ of mo- 
tion of great perfection, and in every respect appropriate to 
the animal’s mode of life, but that, in all other respects, it is 
inferior to that of man. I remarked the same thing in the 
ash-coloured gibbons of our menagerie. This inferior degree 
of aptitude in the hand of animals to serve all the purposes 
which it fulfils in man, is owing to the disproportionate length 
of the fingers, and, in particular, the inferior perfection and 
the situation of the thumb. By the disposition of its muscles 
the thumb of monkeys is not made for that variety and great 
freedom of motion peculiar to man. Certainly that of the 
Chimpanzee approaches nearest the human thumb, and yet the 
great flexor muscle is sometimes wanting, and the smaller 
abductor and antagonist of the thumb are much less developed 
than in man. In the other monkeys, the great abductor and 
small extensor of the thumb are confounded, in so much that 
there appears there, as in all the other muscles of the anterior 


Anatomy of the Chimpanzee. 351 


extremities, a great tendency to become simplified. In man 
they are undoubtedly most complicated ; in him also the move- 
ments they perform are most varied.” 

After the description and detailed comparison of the poste- 
rior extremities of the Chimpanzee and other Mammifera, we 
find the following considerations respecting these organs. 

“‘ By this comparative description of the myology of the 
posterior extremities, I think I have demonstrated that their 
muscles become simplified in animals in proportion as we re- 
cede from their perfection in man. And if we consider atten- 
tively what is peculiar and distinctive in the organization of 
these posterior extremities, we cannot doubt for a moment that 
they are destined to support and move the body. It is for this 
reason that the arrangement of their muscles is entirely dif- 
ferent from that we have observed in the anterior extremities. 
For while we see the force of flexion prevail over that of ex- 
tension in the anterior extremities, we witness, on the con- 
trary, that of extension prevail over flexion in the posterior 
extremities. It is particularly in man that this fact is shewn 
in the most conspicuous manner. We have only to compare 
the development of the extensor muscles of the leg with that 
of the flexor muscles, to be convinced of this, or, if we wish a 
proof more conclusive still, we have but to examine the mus- 
eles of the leg. It is principally to the great strength of all 
these extensor muscles that man owes the power of holding 
himself erect and walking on two feet. We again find it, for 
that same reason, in animals whose trunk is straight, and 
whose movements are principally made with the hinder feet ; 
the examples of the kangaroo and sloth prove this. I do 
not add the example of the monkeys, because there is none 
of them that can hold itself upright and walk without any 
other support than the hinder feet. They are all quadrupeds, 
with this modification, that the four feet are but ill fitted to 
support and move the body on a horizontal plane, but rather 
for making it ascend a vertical plane. The movement they 
perform in the act of grasping is their true attribute. We have. 
only to notice the manner in which they grasp the bars of their 
cage to be assured of: this. Their feet are modified for the 
purpose quite in a peculiar manner, as I have fully stated in 


352 On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. 


the osteological part of this work. And it is for the same 
reason that their muscles have the special character which I 
have assigned them in this chapter.’ 

On the subject of the laryngeal pouches, the existence of 
which M. Vrolik has shewn in many species of monkey, he 
brings forward a new opinion as to their use. He supposes 
that these pouches “ are organs fitted for facilitating motion. 
Their situation among the muscles of the neck, the prolonga- 
tions which they often form in the arm-pits, their increase in 
size with age, appear to me so many proofs,’’ he says, “ that 
they are reservoirs of air, made for the purpose of dimi- 
nishing the specific gravity of the upper part of the body, and 
consequently to facilitate the act of grasping, in the same 
manner as reservoirs of air in birds favour flight.” * 


———— 


On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. By Gustav Prter 
Brom, Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Dron- 
theim, &e. 

The Laplanders are originally a Nomadic race, supported 
by rein-deer, and their principal branch still follows the same 
mode of life. Poverty, however, has forced many Laplanders 
to quit their native haunts in the mountains, and to descend 
to the Norwegian coasts, or to the plains of Lapland, to seek 
for the means of living. Thus two kinds have sprung up in 
Norway: the Sea-Laps, who live on the coasts, and are 
occupied with fishing, and the Boe-Laps, who have settled 
in the valleys, have brought small tracts of land into cultiva- 
tion, and support themselves by agriculture and the rearing of 
cattle, combined partly with the rearing of rein-deer. The 
Laplanders who have withdrawn to Lapland may again be 
divided into two kinds; the /orest-Laps, who keep rein- 
deer, but take them along with themselves only within a cer- 
tain region, and who at the same time are hunters; and 
the Fisher-Laps, who have established themselves on the 
shores of the great rivers and lakes of Lapland, and are 
engaged in the taking of fish. The best shots are among the 
Forest-Laplanders, who furnish the yearly markets of Vitangi 


* From Bibliotheque Universelie de Geneve, No, 83, p. 170. 


On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. 353 


and Kengis with a large quantity of game, which is carried to 
Stockholm by way of Torneo. 

The rein-deer is the support of the Laplanders, and the ob- 
ject of their pride ; in it consist their wealth and their hap- 
piness. Whoever is the possessor of many hundred rein-deer, 
has attained the highest pinnacle of good fortune; but he 
never on this account alters his mode of living in the slightest 
degree, or increases his enjoyments, except, perhaps, as re- 
gards the quantity of brandy he consumes. Besides the rein- 
deer, the whole wealth of the Laplander consists of few ar- 
ticles of clothing, his tents for living in and for keeping his 
stores, a few wooden stakes with which he forms a kind of fold, 
into which the rein-deer are driven when they are to be 
milked, a few bed-covers made of rein-deer skins, a copper 
vessel in which his food is cooked, a few wooden dishes, and 
his provisions, consisting of rein-deer-cheese and milk, which 
latter he preserves for the winter in rein-deer stomachs. 
When he alters his abode, the whole of this splendour is placed 
on the pack-rein-deer, and conveyed to the new place of re- 
sidence, 

The rein-deer is the most important possession of the Lap- 
landers, for it supplies them both with nourishment and cloth- 
ing. The Laplander spends his superfluous money chiefly on 
the increase of his herd; and it is only when that is suffi- 
ciently large, that he begins to think of collecting silver and 
burying it ; but he never dreams of procuring greater personal 
comforts, for their value is unknown to him. 

The Laplander lives in a tent of a circular conical shape, 
provided with an opening above for the escape of the smoke. 
The tent is made of coarse woollen cloth, sometimes also of 
rein-deer skins, and the richer individuals construct their ha- 
bitations with a double covering. The door consists of a curtain 
of the same material, The internal arrangement of the tent 
is just as simple ; in the middle there are a few stones which 
form a sort of fire-place, and at the sides round about, twigs 
of birch are strewed, and rein-deer skins spread over them, 
so as to forma sofa during the day, and a bed at night. The 
dogs also partake of this place of repose. The dishes and 
kettles lie scattered about in the tent, and above are suspended 


304 On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. 


the rein-deer stomachs filled with milk, which are completely 
blackened by the smoke. It is to be expected that cleanliness 
should not exist in such miserable dwellings, but the Lapland- 
ers have in fact no idea of it. A few of the race, who pasture 
their rein-deer on the coasts every summer, have built earthen 
huts in the form of tents; but these have no advantage’ 
over their usual abodes. 

_ It is only in autumn that the DeeiaRen kills his rein-deer, 
for it is only at that season that they are fat, and their flesh 
palatable. . In spring the rein-deer has much to endure from 
the so-called rein-deer fly,—an insect which penetrates into the 
skin of the animal, and deposits its eggs, from which larvee 
are produced. The animal is thus so much tormented, that 
it becomes lean in summer, and the skin is of no value so long 
as the larva exist in it. The insects produce larger or smaller. 
tumours on the backs and sides of the rein-deer, and the poor 
animals fall on their knees, on occasion of the slightest touch, 
in order to escape the pain. The female produces its young 
in the month of March, and from that time it is milked, by 
some of the Laplanders once, and by others twice a-day. The 
milking of the rein-deer-is one of the most interesting scenes 
in the whole economy of the Laplanders. 

Towards evening the rein-deer are driven from the moun- 
tains-to the tents. Their arrival is first announced by the: 
barking of the dogs, who run round the herd, to keep the ani- 
mals together. Soon the whole herd is descried, forming a 
closely packed mass, which moves along like a grey cloud. 
As the animals approach nearer; the horns become a promi- 
nent object, resembling a moving leafless forest, and very va- 
rious in their form and size. The fawns push through among the 
full-grown animals, and we at last hear a crackling noise, pro- 
duced by the movement of their legs, and resembling the 
sound of burning fir-trees, or rather that of electric sparks. 
Here and there is heard a sound somewhat like the grunting 
of swine. Near the tents there is a circular enclosure, pro- 
vided with two openings or doors. When the rein-deer ap- 
proach it, they press closely together in order to enter, and 
one sees only the moving mass and the projecting horns. 
Should a deer or a fawn remain behind, or take a wrong path, 


On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. 355 


a dog immediately pursues it, and the deserter is soon seen 
running back to the herd at full pace, followed by the dog. 
The animals now stand closely packed together within the 
fence, and are so tame that a stranger even can touch them 
without trouble or danger. In the centre of the enclosure 
there is a small erection to which the animal is strongly bound 
during the milking, in order that it may not become unruly, 
and upset both the milk and the milker. The milking is per- 
formed by men, women, and children ; but the task of bring- 
ing the animals to the milking place belongs exclusively to a 
particular man, and is accomplished in the following man- 
ner :— 

This individual is accurately acquainted with every animal, 
even in a herd of several hundred, and knows if it is a male 
or female, and if it is milked or not. He goes with a noose 
in his hand, and throws it so dexterously over the horns of 
the animal he’ wishes to secure, that he never fails in his aim, 
even at a distance of fifteen or twenty yards, and when many 
other individuals are standing between him and his object. 
So soon as the noose is fastened round the horns, the animal 
is dragged to the milking-place, and there securely tied ; ano- 
ther animal is afterwards taken in the same way, and so till 
all have been milked. The skill of the Laplanders in the use 
of this noose can only be compared to that of the savages of 
Africa, or the bull-takers in Brazil. 

But little attention is paid to cleanliness in the milking, and 
indeed generally in the economy of the Laplanders. During 
the summer, loose hairs fall abundantly into the milk, and 
these are but partially removed by sieves. The milk not used 
is poured into rein-deer stomachs and suspended in the tent. 
The rein-deer understands how to keep back the milk ; and, 
in order to prevent her doing so, the Laplander often strikes 
her repeatedly with his fist, and thus much additional hair 
drops intothe milk. But little milk is obtained ; it is, however, 
as rich as cream, and the taste is by no means disagreeable, re- 
sembling that of the ewe. An exceedingly palatable cheese 
is prepared from it, which is used medicinally as a certain 
cure of boils produced by frost. 

An important animal in the economy of the Laplanders is 


306 On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. 


the dog, and every Laplander has a number proportionate to 
that of his rein-deer, amounting to twelve or more. These 
dogs protect the rein-deer from wild animals, gives a signal 
when these approach, keep the herd together, so that they 
may not become scattered, and thus lose themselves in the 
mountains, and go in search of them when the latter occurs. 
They drive the deer by their barking, but when that is not 
sufficient, they bite their legs. In order to prevent injury be- 
ing thus inflicted, the canine teeth are extracted when the 
dogs are young. It is rather a natural instinct than a regular 
training which teaches the dogs their duty. They have a na- 
tural inclination to the rein-deer, and so soon as the latter are 
in motion, are ready to follow. The dogs are divided into 
two sections, of which the one accompanies the herd, and the 
other remains in the tents. As soon as the rein-deer return 
from their pasture to the tents, the dogs which have been re- 
posing start up and enter upon their duties, and those which 
are thus relieved lie down quietly in the tents. 

The Lapland dog is not large, has long hair, a sharp snout, 
a long-haired tail, and erect ears; it has no claims to beauty. 

The domestic rein-deer are not always of a grey colont; like 
the wild, but vary in this respect like al! domesticated animals. 
Although the prevailing colour is grey, there are rein-deer of 
a white colour with blue spots. For the most part they have 
white markings on the head and feet, by means of which they 
are recognized by the Laplanders, and by which the possessor 
can not only distinguish his own from strangers, but even 
every single animal in his herd. 

Males only are used as beasts of burden, and chiefly those 
which are castrated, as they are the strongest. The female 
is too tender for such work. The rein-deer is most valuable 
for dragging, for its power of carrying is not great, and while 
its progress when loaded is slow, the burden must also be 
small. On the other hand, when the snow is in a good state, 
it drags large loads with great rapidity. As is well known, 
travelling in Lapland in winter is only performed by means 
of rein-deer, and is accomplished at a very quick pace. The 
horse is useless at this season, because there are no made roads, 
and no places for repose or feeding. Such accommodations 


: 
: 
’ 
: 


On the Rein- Deer of the Laplanders. 357 


are not required for the rein-deer ; for it runs on the untrodden 
snow, and when unyoked from the sledge, it scratches the 
snow with its feet and refreshes itself with the moss, which 
it is always able to discover on the mountains. 

The knowledge of locality is just as remarkable among the 
Laplanders, as their power of recognising their rein-deer, and 
arises from the same cause, viz., from the development of their 
senses and perception, which is promoted by the necessity that 
exists among them, as among all people in their natural state, 
for relying on themselves for extrication from difficulties. A1- 
though the Alps of Lapland, and more especially the plains, 
offer but few objects which can fix attention, there is no ex- 
ample of a Laplander losing himself on a journey; if he has 
once travelled over a tract, it becomes known to him for his 
whole life. Fog alone, or drifting snow, can lead him into 
error ; but he takes good care not to travel in such weather, 
and his meteorological knowledge enables him to foresee when 
anything of the kind is to be dreaded. His acuteness of vision 
allows him to desery objects at very great distances, and thus 
to pilot himself. His eyes, however, become weakened at an 
early period, owing to the smoke in his tent, and partly to 
the dazzling whiteness of the snow. When a Laplander is 
caught, during a journey by night ora storm, he throws his 
kaftan over his head, lies down on the snow, and covers him- 
self with it, waiting patiently for a more favourable opportu- 
nity of prosecuting his journey. 

The mode of living of the Laplanders is simple in the highest 
degree, especially in summer ; for at that season they are sup- 
ported almost exclusively on rein-deer milk, and a kind of sor- 
rel, which they find in abundance in the mountain valleys, and 
cook along with milk in an uncoated copper vessel, without, 
on that account, suffering bad effects in the stomach. Fish 
are very welcome to the Laplanders, but are a dainty which 
they do not often enjoy, as the Alpine Laplander occupies 
himself but little with fishing. A favourite kind of food is 
the stalk of the Angelica archangelica, here named slécke, 
which the Laplander eats raw, after removing the outer fibres. 
This plant is alsomuch eaten by the Northmen, and is consi- 
dered as a good preservative against scurvy. 

you. XXXIV. NO. LXViIt.—AaPRIL 1849. 2a 


358 On the Rein-Deer of the Laplanders. 


Meal is not used in summer ; but in winter, the Laplander 
exchanges his rein-deer flesh for meal in the markets and 
coast districts; and he then eats the flesh, or the preserved 
milk, cooked with meal, or a kind of soup made of rein-deer 
blood and meal. His food in winter is very nourishing, and 
it is thus that he is able to endure the hardships and severe 
weather with which he has to contend. 

Many travellers, and among them Brooke,* have asserted, 
that the Laplanders proceed yearly with their rein-deer to the 
coasts of Norway, and that it is a matter of necessity that the 
animals should drink sea-water every year ; but this is not the 
case. The wandering of the Laplanders is by no means re- 
gular, and many rein-deer—nay, the greater number—have 
never tasted sea-water. It entirely depends on the locality, 
whether the Laplander goes to the sea-coast or not, and whe- 
ther this takes place in summer or winter. In the districts 
Namdalen and Senjen, whose coasts are surrounded by islands 
having high cliffs, the Laplander drives his rein-deer to the 
coasts, and thence takes them to the islands in order to pro- 
cure food for them. This transport presents an interesting 
spectacle. The Laplander attaches one or several rein-deer 
to his little boat by means of a rope, which is secured round 
the horns. He then rows across the sound, which is often 
more than an English mile broad ; and the rest of the animals 
having been driven into the sea, swim after their leaders to 
the opposite coast. In other localities, the Laplander goes to 
the coast in the winter season, when the snow is too deep on 
the mountains, and he again quits it in April or May. In a 
valley, an English mile or two from the town of Tromsée, a 
Laplander remains till the beginning of August, with 700 
rein-deer. It is evident, from what has now been said, that 
no particular natural impulse takes the rein-deer at fixed 
seasons to the sea; on the other hand, it is an undoubted 
fact, that the rein-deer will not remain longer than about the 
end of August in the coast regions and in the Norwegian pas- 
tures—nay, that if the Laplander does not hasten, before the 
20th August, towards the mountains, his herd will desert him, 
and proceed on their journey to the plains of Lapland. 


* For a portion of Brooke’s Account of the Rein-Deer, see Jameson’s 
Journal, yol, iii., p. 30. 


—— 


a ee ere 


aienietan 


Connection of the Physiognomy of a Country, &c. 359 


The wanderings of the Laplanders generally take place in 
the following order: In winter, they remain partly in the vast 
moorish tracts, partly in the forests of Lapland ; and in spring, 
the torment caused to the rein-deer by gnats and rein-deer 
flies, forces them to remove to the Norwegian confines, where 
these insect-enemies are less troublesome, and where the ani- 
mals may enjoy the snow. Some Laplanders proceed to the val- 
leys, and to the islands near the coast, In autumn, they re- 
turn to the Lapland plains. In some districts, they spend the 
winter in the Norwegian Alpine valleys ; but so soon as the 
snow drives them away, they seek the coasts, until the spring 
again renders the Alps passable. The Laplander always 
pitches his tent in the neighbourhood of a forest, in order to 
obtain fuel; while in summer, the presence of a river ora 
spring, is a necessary condition in the choice of a residence— 
melted snow supplying the necessary water in winter. 

The fondness of the Laplanders for silver money is well 
known, and it is only those who have intercourse with the in- 
habitants of the coasts who take paper money. It is asserted, 
that they are still in the habit of burying their money in the 
mountains, which is easily understood, when we consider, on 
the one hand, their timidity and mistrust; and on the other, 
that it must be extremely difficult for them to carry articles 
of value about with them during their constant wanderings. 
The natural consequence is, ‘that considerable sums are lost 
among the mountains, as death frequently surprises the Lap- 
lander before it is possible for him to reveal to his relations 
the spot where the treasure is buried ; and as it is not possible 
to indicate it without being actually at the locality—a cireum- 
stance which does not often occur.* 


I. Connection of the Physiognomy of a Country, with the Cha- 
racter of its Inhabitants —I. Belgium.—IT. Holland.— ITI. 
Midnight Scene on the Ocean.—IV. A Scene in Norway. 


I. Belgium. 


Mr Trollope indulges in much censure of the manners and morals of the 
Belgians, arid commits the customary blunder of English travellers, in im- 


* From Blom’s Kénigqreich Norwegen statistisch beschrieben. 1843. 


360 Connection of the Physioqnomy of a Country, 


puting the extortions of tradesmen to the character of the people. The 
Belgians have always appeared to us remarkable for stolidity and plod- 
ding industry, without much refinement of mind or feeling, or, on the 
other hand, any extreme stupidity or coarseness. They are, in our judg- 
ment, a race deficient in marked features of character, rather than ob- 
noxious to the imputation of any prominent vice. Without pretensions 
to high virtues, they are generally exempt from characteristic crimes. 
Whether there is any natural connection between scenery and character, 
we will not undertake to pronounce ; but a striking analogy prevails be- 
tween the productive flatness of the land and the utilitarian mind and capa- 
city of the inhabitants. It is no uncommon thing, especially in Flanders, 
to see four miles of road with a strip of pavement in the middle, anda 
ditch on each side straight before you, and a dead level right and left as 
far as the eye can reach. The land, if it be in summer, is blooming with 
bean blossoms, or gilded with the rich and ripening corn ; and very agri- 
culturally interesting it doubtlessly is, to see so much goodly produce and 
evidence of fertility ; but where the land is a dead flat, and roads and 
trees run in perfectly straight lines, it is tiresome work to travel there, 
and very soporific. To be sure, one does occasionally see a church at 
the end of an interminable looking road. You watch it (for it forms a 
pleasing variety in the landscape), gradually developing itself, as you jog 
nearer and nearer to it, till at length its form, then its shape, its colour, its 
weathercock, and its cherubed waterspouts, one by one appear; and at 
last the grim countenances of the weather-beaten saints scowl out of 
their niches at you as you pass; you then make a slight turn, and another 
long flat line opens upon you. The lives of the Flemish women are, 
at any rate, akin to the intense sameness and monotony of scenery ; 
and Mr Trollope’s description is not very wide of the truth. A Flemish 
wife rises in the morning and drinks her coffee, dresses the children and 
herself, sends the former to school, and goes to market, where the entire 
mental exertion of her life centres; and something faintly approaching 
energy and animation is observable as she higgles in succession with the 
poultry woman, the fruit and vegetable women, the butcher, and the egg 
merchant. If she be of the easy class, her servant follows and baskets 
the purchases as the mistress makes them. When completed, she repairs 
forthwith home ; or if she has no servant, with basket on her arm, goes 
to church and says her prayers, The personal superintendence of the 
preparations for dinner occupy her till noon, when the husband returns ; 
and that great event of the day haying been achieved, and the children, 
if any, been again dispatched to school, the knitting-needles are plied in- 
cessantly till evening, enlivened by a cup of coffee at about four o’clock. 
When the husband returns, occasionally in summer half an hour’s walk 
is indulged in, or they visit a garden, where the husband smokes and the 
wife not unfrequently knits. Supper is served at seven, the children are 
sent to bed, and the wife, after another batch of knitting, follows at nine 
or ten o'clock, having performed her functions much after the fashion of 
the clock, by whose mechanism her own moyemeats are regulated. A 


with the Character of its Inhabitants. 361 


more mindless set of women it is difficult to find. Their virtues consist 
in docility, evenness of temper, and domesticity.—Atheneum, No. 779, 
p. 848. 


II. Holland. 


Holland, the land of cheese and butter, is, to my eye, no unpicturesque, 
uninteresting country. Flat it is ; but it is so geometrically only, and in 
no other sense. Spires, church-towers ; bright farm-houscs, their windows 
glancing in the sun ; long rows of willow-trees, their bluish foliage ruffling 
up white in the breeze; grassy embankments of a tender vivid green, partly 
hiding the meadows behind, and crowded with glittering gaudily-painted 
gigs and stool waggons, loaded with rosy-cheeked laughing country;girls, 
decked out in ribbons of many more colours than the rainbow, all a-stream- 
ing in the wind; these are objects which strike the eye of the traveller 
from seaward, and form a gay front view of Holland, as he sails, or steams 
along its coasts, and up its rivers. On the shore, the long continuity of 
horizontal lines of country in the background, each line rising behind the 
other to a distant, level, unbroken horizon, gives the impression of vast- 
ness and of novelty. Holland can boast of nothing sublime; but for 
picturesque grounds, for close, compact, snug home scenery, with every 
thing in harmony, and stamped with one peculiar character, Holland is 
a cabinet picture, in which nature and art join to produce one impression, 
one homogeneous effect. The Dutch cottage, with its glistening brick- 
walls, white painted wood-work and rails, and its massive roof of thatch, 
with the stork clappering to her young on her old-established nest on the 
top of the gable, is admirably in place and keeping, just where it is, at 
the turn of the canal, shut in by a screen of willow-trees, or tall reeds, 
from seeing or being seen, beyond the sunny height of the still calm water, 
in which its every tint and part is brightly repeated. Then the peculiar 
character of every article of the household furniture, which the Duteh- 
built house-mother is scouring on the green before the door so indus- 
triously ; the Dutch character is impressed on every thing Dutch, and 
intuitively recognised, like the Jewish or Gipsey countenance, wherever 
it is met with; the people, their dwellings, and all in or about them, 
their very movements in accordance with this style or character, and all 
bearing its impress strongly—make this Holland, to my eye, no dull un- 
impressive land. There is a soul in all you see; the strongly marked 
character about every thing Dutch pleases intellectually, as much as 
beauty of form itself,—what else is the charm so universally felt, requiring 
so little to be acquired, of the paintings of the Dutch school? The objects 
or scenes painted are neither graceful, nor beautiful, nor sublime ; but 
they are Dutch. They have a strongly marked mind and character im- 
pressed on them, and expressed by them, and every accompaniment in 
the picture has the same, and harmonizes with all around it. The Hol- 
lander has a decided taste for the romantic ; great amateurs ure the Myn- 


362 Connection of the Physiognomy of a Country, 


heers of the rural. Every Dutchman above the necessity of working to- 
day for the bread of to-morrow, has his garden-house (Buyteplaats) in 
the suburbs of his town (for the Dutch population live very much in 
town surrounded by wet ditches), and repairs to it on Saturday evening 
with his family, to ruralize until Monday over his pipe of tobacco. Dirk 
Hatterick, we are told, did so—it is the main extravagance of the Dutch 
middle-class man, and it is often an expensive one. This garden-house 
is a wooden box gaily painted, of eight or ten feet square; its name, 
** My Delight,” or ** Rural Felicity,” or ‘ Sweet Solitude,” stuck up in 
gilt tin letters on the front ; and situated usually at the end of a narrow 
slip of ground, enclosed on three sides with well-trimmed hedges and 
slimy ditches, and overhanging the canal, which forms the boundary of 
the garden-plot on its fourth side. The slip of land is laid out in flower- 
beds, all the flowers in one bed being generally of one kind and colour ; 
and the brilliancy of these large masses of flowers, the white and green 
paint work, and the gilding about the garden-houses, and a row of those 
glittering fairy summer lodges, shining in the sun, upon the side of the 
wide canal, and swimming in human brilliancy in the midst of plots and 
parterres of splendid flowers, and with the accompaniments of gaily dressed 
ladies at the windows, swiftly passing pleasure-boats with bright burnished 
sides below, and a whole city population, afloat or on foot, enjoying them- 
selves in their holiday clothes, form, in truth, a summer evening scene 
which one dwells upon with much delight. I pity the taste which can 
stop to enquire if all this human enjoyment be in good taste or bad taste, 
vulgar or refined. I stuff my pipe, hire a boatman to row me in his 
schuytje up the canal to a tea-garden, and pass the evening as Dutchly 
and happily as my fellow-man.—Laing’s Notes of a Traveller. 


Ill. A Midnight Scene on the Ocean. 


One more of the beautiful and poetical pictures which Professor Steffens 
paints with so vivid yet so soft a touch—once more let us rock our ima- 
ginations on the bosom of the deep, before we go back to the world of 
men and things. We know of few attempts in prose or verse to describe 
the undescribable, the awful majesty, and the profound, mysterious at- 
traction of the ocean, equal to the following. Our author was good- 
naturedly invited by a party of six fishermen to accompany them on an 
expedition to a sand-bank, at a distance of six or seven Norwegian miles 
from shore, where they were to pass the night. They sailed in a serene 
and beautiful morning: the wind afterwards rose, and the sea was 
agitated.* 

«The night I passed there I shall never forget. As twilight closed 
around us on the tossing waves, we became more and more silent ; the 
masts were lowered ; thie fishermen were contented with their day’s work, 
and I now threw out my net once more ; the kind-hearted fellows pressed 


ee ee ae 


* British and Foreign Review. 


with the Character of its Inhabitants. 363 


round me with friendly curiosity as I emptied my rich booty into the 
tub, and began to examine it. I had to give a popular lecture on the 
new and rare productions I had caught. Meanwhile, though the sun had 
sunk below the horizon, the bright evening red remained visible the 
whole night in the far west, and played on the waves around us — now 
gleaming, and then vanishing like a soft lightning. The oars lay still ; 
the boat, left to itself, rocked on the waves ; the conversation fell into 
monosyllables ; my companions sung a hymn ; I heard the murmur of 
their prayers, and then each, folding himself in his cloak, lay down to 
sleep: they slept the deep sleep of tired men. The billows dashed against 
the boat, and the night-air closed over our heads ; the consciousness that 
a fathomless abyss might at any moment swallow up our small bark kept 
me awake, and the power of the wondrous ocean—Solitude took posses- 
sion of me. It was as if I belonged to the deep whose inhabitants I had 
disturbed with my daring curiosity. The dim horizon of my precarious 
future—a thousand pictures of the past, appeared and vanished again. 
Neither sorrow nor joy could assume a distinct form ; all feelings blunted 
each other—sll images rocked like the boat, and melted into each other 
like the waves: it was a feeling such as I never experienced before or 
since. In the twilight, I could not discern the distant shore ; and here 
I learned the deep, unfathomable might with which Nature rules the 
soul—here, as in no other situation. By degrees all images became 
dimmer and more shadowy—the rocking motion of my thoughts more 
tranquil, gentle, and calm; the plashing of the waves sounded like a 
lullaby, and I sank, like my comrades, into a deep sleep.” —Steffens, in 
his “ Was ich erlebte.” 


IV. A Scene in Norway. 


“In one of these wanderings, I remember,” says Steffens, “ to have 
spent the night in a valley so entirely shut in on all sides by naked, 
abrupt, precipitous rocks, that the sun was only visible a few hours in 
the middle of the day. A hut of unusual neatness stood in this valley ; 
the grass was fresh, green, and luxuriant, from constant moisture ; oats 
and barley were growing in sheltered spots ; a few cows were feeding in 
the little meadow: everything breathed repose and comfort. The inha- 
bitants of this peaceful nook—a hale, active old man, with a white beard, 
a good-natured old woman, a married son, with his wife and children— 
were so cordial, so delighted at the rare event of a visit from a young 
traveller, that I determined. after seeing the early setting of the sun, to 
stay for its late rising. 

“The old people had not left their valley for years ; the young woman 
haa seldom been as far as the shore of the island. The son alone some- 
times made journeys of business as far as Bergen ; but these were by no 
means frequent, and their peaceful lives flowed on in the most complete 
seclusion. The incident made an indelible impression on my memory ; 
because I never had so near a view of the riches of an apparent uniformity 


364 Meteorological Tables. 


of life—of the completely enclosed tranquil fountain of a simple existence, 
cut off from all turbid and stormy waters, as here. Both father and son 
had been seamen in their youth. They had seen the world ; knew France, 
Spain, and the ports of the Mediterranean, as sailors know them ; they 
had carried back into their lonely valley a general picture of the relations 
of the external world; but the old man had lived here very long, and 
even the son for more than ten years. The events that then convulsed 
the world lay at an immense distance. Intervals, whether of time or 
space, appeared to have lost their significancy ; and even the events of 
their own country and neighbourhood were as strange to them, and 
seemed as entirely severed from their own existence, as the events of the 
most distant lands. And yet these remote things were as vividly present 
to their simple minds, and affected their transparent souls as deeply, as 
if they belonged to their own most intimate being. As the infant stretches 
out its hands to grasp the most distant object as if it were to close it, so 
did their warm guiltless hearts embrace the remotest events as if they 
regarded themselves. They asked me a thousand questions. The whole 
existence and mind of these people was of such a limpid clearness, that 
I knew in a moment what incidents to relate, and how to describe them. 
Never had I a more attentive audience—never did I hear sounder judg- 
ments. The time passed with extreme rapidity in this soft physical and 
mental twilight, and yet, when I left the hut, I felt as if I quitted a long- 
accustomed home.” —Steffens, in his ‘ Was ich erlebte.” 


Meteorological Tables for 1842. 
East sIpE oF ScoTLAND. 


Mr R. D. Pauvt’s Table. 


Merrroro.ocicaL Taste, kept at Edinburgh, in North Latitude 55° 57’ 20”. 


Mean Temperature b TO. 
a: oe Six’s Ati a 7d e 
1842, | _——____________—_|Rain.| Snow. | Hail.| Days 
Barom. | Ther. | Barom. | Ther. | Max. | Min. | Mean. Pair, 
Jan, 3 see » ane 45° 20° |33.40°| 4 12 4) 17 
Feb. 33 <s 29.62) tea 52 22 |38.89 | 10 3 5 | 17 
March nes a33 29.506 mere 59 2 43.23 | 22 6 4 8 
April eee see 380,026 ee 68 33 | 47.84 5 ] La 2 
May 29.691 |52.89°| 29.705 |51.00°|} 67 40 |53.52 | 19 Lt 12 
June 29.855 | 56.20 | 29.817 | 51.50 76 45 |58.04 | 16 wath BS 
July 29.748 | 56.93 | 29.753 | 58.96 77 46 |57.88 | 14 atte 1} 17 
August 29,802 | 59.25 29.833 | 58.16 73 43 |59.88 | 14 wee coat aa 
Sept. 29.729 | 54.33 | 29.744 | 53.60 69 4] | 54.81 | 18 ee {3182 
October | 29.780 | 45.38 | 29.770 | 44.41 60 28 |45.41 8 2 OR 
Nov. 29.543 | 39.83 | 29.574 | 39.20 55 27 =| 39.63 | 13 3 2)! 16 
Dec. 29.€83 |44.00 | 29.700 | 45,03 55 28 |44.30 | 22 1 Deford 1 
Average} 29.728 |51.10°| 29.781 | 50.20°| 63.00°) 33.58°| 48.06° | 165 28 22 1187 
| 


Meteorological Tables. 365 


ANNUAL RESULTS. 


MORNING, 
BAROMETER, THERMOMETER, 
: OBSERVATIONS. Winn. | . OBSERVATIONS. WInp. 
Highest, 7th January, 30.38, NW. | Highest, 10th August, 66°, NW. 
Lowest, 25th November, 28.65, _E. Lowest, 6th January, 20°, NE. 
- EVENING. 
Highest, 8th October, 30.37, NW. | Highest, 13th June, 70°, N. 
Lowest, 22d October, 28.62, W. | Lowest, 23d November, 29°, W. 


ExtreME CoL~p AND Heat By S1x’s THERMOMETER. 


Coldest, 6th January, ° : 2 - Wind NE. . - 20° 
Hottest, 23d July, . 3 . Do. NW. fe S 7° 
Mean temperature of the year 1842, ‘ >. ete : ; : .  48.06° 


WEATHER. Days. WIND. TIMES, 


Fair, . F : 2 187 N.and NE... - - “AT 
Rain, &. . . ° 178 E. and SE. e . a 72 
S. and SW. s ~ - 96 
365 W.and NW. . . 3 140 


Barometer during the first four months of the year taken at noon, and the mean 
height for that time is 29.850 inch. 

The aurora borealis was observed but six times during the year, viz., on the 
1st and 15th February, 3d and 12th April, 18th July, and 26th October. 


METEOROLOGICAL TABLE, 


Extracted from the Register kept at Kinfauns Castle, 56° 23’ 30” N. 1. 


Mean Temperature by | Depth No. oF Dars 
Six’s Thermometer. | ofRain| Rain 


Ther. 
32.48 33.35 i 18 
387.25 39.28 V7 
89.32 41.48 17 
42.26 44.70 ade ne 36 
i 48.19 51.38 4 7 
29.804 : - 55.46 55.86 A 19 
29.789 : 29. 56.22 56.58 h 20 
29.842 .829 | 58.03 60,19 : 26 
29.741 : Ns 50.40 54.16 4 20 
29.766 H a 39,38 y 43.70 Or 27 
29.582 K 37.53 39.96 A 1S 
29.635 2 ls 359.87 42,74 H 14 


44,69°| 64,16°| 30.50°| 46.94° | 23, 243 


366 Meteorological Tables. 


ANNUAL RESULTS, 


MORNING. 
BAROMETER. THERMOMETER, 
OBSERVATIONS. WIND. OBSERVATIONS. WIND. 

Highest, 7th January, 30.41, N. | Highest, 13th August, 64°, Wi. 

Lowest, 23d October, 28.56, N. | Lowest, 15th January, 23°, E 
EVENING. 

Highest, 7th January, 30.40, N. | Highest, 31st July, 65°, N. 

Lowest, 22d October, 28.56, W. | Lowest, 15th January, 24°, E. 


Extreme Coup anp Heat By S1x’s THERMOMETER. 


Coldest, 16th January, .........ccscsccceesescceseeesevereeees Winds Er ccrdcsreesen Lon 
Hottest) ASth Au puaby asisjeed: Wepcde- dee ssueds il. eddeseasdse Do: <<a LEAR 80° 
Mean Temperature of the year 1842, ...........:eeeseeeeeee ene 46.94° 
WEATHER, Days. WIND. TIMES. 
IBGIT: Gancareddeseuscecseceseusicene’s 243 INS BG IN Ble rete estes empieiiose he stra 45 
RainsiGces haniceerGhicks sdanrelines 122 ye HATEGW STB, ceeieateteictacteisieis aise sise 125 
— BG BIW seer oine cies soisnes eee 99 
365 Wigand NWois ireoxcnecssccenaciee 96 

365 


The amount of rain last year at Kinfauns Castle was 31.10 inches ; whereas 
during 1842, but 23.10 inches fell: the difference being 8.00 inches. During 
1839, a great quantity of rain fell, but was succeeded by a very dry year; but the 
quantity of rain, even then, was greater than during 1842. The mean tempera- 
ture of 1841, by the Kinfauns Register, was 45.88 ; 1842 warmer by 1,06°. 


ResvLts or A METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL, KEPT AT HARRABY, NEAR CARLISLE, 
BY JOSEPH ATKINSON, In 1842. 


BAROMETER. WIND. 
Mean height at 9 A.M. a NoumBer oF Days. 
Mean height TS 5. ee 29.821 14 22 , 321 W 36 
Mean height of both............... 29.826 Bs A pe NR ee ee 


NNE4} ESE.3} SSW. 24} WNW.12} 
NE. 36} SE. 40} SW. 703 NW....163 
ENE.6: SSE.23 WSW.20} NNW. 12 


Highest a.m. on the 8th Oct, ...30.509 
Lowest A.m. on the 25th Nov....28.659 
Highest p.m. on the 9th April...30.563 


Lowest p.m. on the 23d Oct. ...28.465 Days. 

Total Hasterlys jcc aistennaceeee as 1504 

THERMOMETER. Total, Westerly scrcsatsseaunesaetesss 2144 
Mean of Maximum ..............- 53.5 Cale » esceindstie de sesess sedeeeede toes 81 
Mean of Minimum ............... 43.5 Moderate: éaccosy case sectaeanestes 209 
edn Uf DAG d-s2.derccaee cee 48.5 BRGOQZE odicssctscccss ree Ueber cde 38 


Highest, on the 18th August ...81.3 Strong Breeze ..... sssesesccsveresees 26 


Lowest, on the 21st October ...14,8 SHOLMAY isscs secede: odes dvegeaeaets.. . UL 
RAIN, WEATHER. 
Total quarttiby 3.....csheiviss..vees FSIS | Cleat, Mis seh. doe Res gecsees teas << 47 
Average quantity for the same | 35 954 Sun shore Out... ....ccsdecsedscedeons 319 
month for seven years ...... . CLOUGY .-ccccccscccecserscovsscevsceece 132 
Number of days on which rain 186 Rain; 171; Snow, 15 = 2.02.60 186 
1) SR Sic ae nc eCBr LCE TOs <...-< dusdeereeswusceesencss ames 58 
Average number of days for| 4, Thunder ........ Wercicn contrac coctaacs 8 
BOVEN) VORES! cy evsebernviaaccn me cade See iraqorueecs eet ee 16 


: 
; 
: 
. 


( 867 ) 


Alford Meteorological Table for 1842. By Dr Farqunarson, LL.D., 
F.R.S.E. 


Mean Results of the Thermometer, and the quantity of Rain, for 1842, 
at Alford—about Lat. 57°13 N.; 420 feet above the level of the sea, and 26 
miles inland from the Sea at Aberdeen. Also, the number of fair days, and 


_ of days on which Rain or Snow fell, more or less. 


The Thermometer was registered at 83h., a.m., and 8h., p.m.; and the 
daily extremes, at the latter hour. 


—— _— ; 

) oO oo hats 

Morn. | Even. a = Month.| Month. | Inches. 
lowest. 


32.48 | 33.71| 33.09 | 33.4 
35.39 | 37.14| 36.26 | 37.88 
39.74| 40.35 | 40.045] 40.53 
43,53| 45.06| 44.28 | 45.8 
51.06| 51.25) 51.155] 51.19 
56.7 |56.75 | 55.49 
56.25|56.3 | 55.77 
60. | 59.87 | 59.59 
53.13 | 53.13 | 53.58 
43.8 |43.46 | 43.93 
38.1 [38.05 | 38.46 
43.87 | 43.25 | 43.91 


46.61| 46.3 | 46.62 


Mean 
of 
Year. 
Mean Temperature of ten years, .............+ 45°172 
Mean Rain in eight years,.............sccesseree 36.793 Inches. 


The year, as a whole, has been unusually delightful, without any of the 
extremes of heat or cold. The crop has been about an average one in grain, 
and safely got in; but the fodder somewhat deficient, owing chiefly to the 
drought of April, May, and the first part of June. The hay, owing to the 
same cause, was very light, and in some cases the potatoes failed to spring. 
After some wintry and rainy weather in November, December became a dry 
and pleasant month, and all the autumnal labours of the field were put into 
great forwardness. 


Meteorological Tables. 


368 


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Meteorological Table for 1848. 
Kept at Rutland Square, Edinburgh, by Mr R. D. Pavt. 


Tasre I.—Janvary. 


Ther, 
Min, 


= 
i] 
i 


Meteors. | 


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Aurora B, 


33.80 | 36.67 


RESULTS. 
BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. 
Highest, . : : 30.21 Highest, . ; a 61° 
Lowest, . : > 28.23 Lowest, . = 5 23° 


er een ee 


Mean, : 5 29.380 Mean, : j >) eGE7 


WINDS. 
W.7; N.W.7; N.4; N.E.0; E.0; S.E. 2; 8.1; S.W. 10. 


Memoranpa.—January 1.2. fine. 3. Cloudy ; windy p.m. ; thermo- 
meter 4 p.m. 87°, 5. Windy p.m. 6. Morning hazy. 7%. Stormy at in- 
tervals, during day, with rain and sleet; snow 7 px. 3 night stormy. 
8. Heavy snow ; windy. 9. Snow am. 3 heavy gale after 1 p.m.; snow 


Meteorological Tables. 371 


again, during night. 10. Fine. 11. Fine; hazy; large lunar halo 
half-past 7 p.m. 12. Hazy; a colourless ring round the sun all day; 8 
P.M. ground thickly covered with hoar frost ; barometer commenced to 
sink 11 p.m., the wind at the same time rose from §.E., and an hour or 
two afterwards, increased to the most violent storm, probably ever re- 
collected, and, at the same time, considering the short time it lasted, was 
productive of immense loss both of life and property. 18. Seven a.m. 
stormy, snow occasionally during day, but calm; sleet 10 p.m. 14. 15. 
Frosty. 16. Barometer rose yery rapidly during last night, followed by 
athaw. 17.18.19. Cloudy. 20. Cloudy ; thermometer at 5 p.m, 39°. 
21. Fine; thermometer 6 p.m. 82°, but by 10 o'clock p.m. had risen to 
88°; night cloudy. 22. Cloudy. 23. Cloudy; stormy at 8 p.m, 24. 
Windy ; rain 9pm. 25. Windy; night stormy. 26. Ditto; tempera- 
ture; 11 p.m. 47°. 27. 28. Stormy. 29, The same; barometer again 
began to sink at 9 p.m.; wind much higher, with heavy and constant 
rain. 80.31. Stormy; nights of both days especially so. 

In London the storm of the 18th January last was severely felt. About 
three o’clock a.m. a sharp wind sprang up from south, southwest, and 
shortly before four o’clock a heavy rain began, which continued until 
daybreak. About nine o’clock there was a heavy fall of hail; and as 
the forenoon advanced, the wind increased in violence, until between 
twelve and one o’clock, it blew a perfect hurricane from the southwest, 
which lasted for nearly an hour. 

Liverpool, Jan. 14.—During the whole of yesterday the falling of the 
barometer gave unerring symptoms of the approach of a severe storm. 
The gale increased as the night advanced, and from twelve until five this 
morning, a hurricane raged, hardly less fierce, but fortunately less de- 
structive as regards life and property, than the memorable one of the 7th 
January 1839. At noon, on the 14th, barometer at 28.80, having fallen 
from 28.85, at which point it stood at 9 a.m. 

The great and long-continued depression of the barometer, during this 
month, came to acrisis on the 16th instant. In the morning, it again 
began to sink after a sudden rise the night before, the wind having veered 
to north. In the evening of the 16th instant, the barometer was again 
below 29 inches, and towards midnight the wind went to 8.W., when 
the frost went entirely off, the temperature of the atmosphere becoming 
extremely mild, without frost even by night ; but to make up for this, 
constant gales and rain prevailed, until the morning of the 2d February, 
when the frost returned, accompanied by snow from N.W. The de- 
pression of the barometer on the 18th was very extensive, the storm not 
only extending throughout the kingdom, but also on the Continent, 
where it was, in many parts, more destructive than in Britain. 


372 - Meteorological Tables. 


TasieE IJ].—Fersrvary. 


Ther. | Ther. | Ther. Barom. Therm. Bar. 


... 23.] 38 35 36 29.49 36 29.52 
... 24.) 39 35 37 29.60 38 29.65 
... 25.] 38 33 35 29.65 36 29.62 
... 26.] 36 3 34 29.57 34 29.38 
A TEI P SS 31 33 29.18 33 29.09 
.. 28.] 36 27 31 29.22 2 29.49 


Oy eats bo tt 


F 
| 1843. | Max. | Min. | Med. |} p.8 a.m|}p.8 a.m.|8 p.m.|8 P.a1.| Rain.| Hail.) . | Wind.) Meteors, 
‘ rop.1.| 42 | 32 |37 | 2938 | 39° {29.18 W. 
; .. 2133 |30 |31 | 2908 | 32 29.11 N.W. 
3/32 119 | 25 28.39 | 30 29,13 N.W. 
84-5 $29 of 81 99.53 | 32 29 81 N. 
reas. (oo. or 29.80 | 31 29 87 N. 
f ... 6/35 |33 | 30 29.93 |" 22 29.96 N.E. 
f .. 7| 38° 37, |.3 30.10. | 38 30.15 N.E. 
Ps.) 83°.) 36" 37 30.10 | 38 30.05 N.E. 
i? gls6 {30 |33 | 3008.| 36 — |30.11 N.E. 
t ... 10] 36)- 4°34 °'] 35 30.09 33 30.08 N.E, 
i “"4:}38 |36 |37 | 3010 | 36 30.10 NE. 
} ... 12.) 40° “]'s 36 30.11 | 38 30.08 E. 
"13,135. | 25 | 80 29.93 | 33 29.73 W. 
“l14.[ 98 |16 | 22 29.69 | 97 29.89 N. 
")45.| 97 | 18 > } 22 29.41 | 24 29.17 Ww. 
| eekG.| 28 19 23 29.13 23 29.27 N. 
17.132 | 21 | 26 29.19 | 93 29.59 N. 
98/534 29 )1:31 29.61 | 25 29.60 N E, 
a9./37 | 32’ | 34 2960 | 30 29.50 
F *' 90.138 135 | 36 29.41 | 36 29 39 
| “lou}37 | 35 | 36 29.39 | 35 29.41 A 
|... 92.)89 | 34 | 36 29.41 | 37 29.40 . 
| 


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| Means, 35.53} 29.53] 32.21] 29.605 | 32.30 | 29.608/32.39 | 11 


RESULTS. 
BAROMETER. THERMOMETER. 
Highest, . x : 30.15 Highest, . : , 42° 
Lowest, 2 3 ° 28.89 Lowest, . Cc 5 16° 
Mean, - 3 3 29.606 Mean, : 3 4 32.21 
WINDS. 


W.3; N.W.2; N.5; N.E.8; E.9;8E.1; 8.0; S.W. 0. 


Memoranva.— Meteor.—Shortly after eight o’clock, on the evening of 
the 5th, a brilliant meteor passed over a considerable part of the north 
of the county of Nottingham. Its course was from N.W., and in its 
direct path it went a little to the east of Grove, near Retford. Its colour 
was a dark red, and its velocity not less than 50 or 60 miles in a minute. 
—WNottingham Journal. 

Tar Late Gates.—Feb. 18.—During the last six weeks, the sacrifice 
of life and property at sea has been without parallel in the history of our 
mercantile affairs. Upon reference to Lloyd’s books, it appears that the 
total number of vessels wrecked during the storm of the 13th January, 
was 180, and the number of persons lost, 453. On the coast of England 
154 vessels, and 190 lives. On the coast of Sectland, 17, and 80 lives. 
On the coast of Ireland 5, and 104 lives, and on the coast of France 4 
vessels, and 100 lives. The value of the vessels and cargoes have been 
roughly estimated at L.585,000, viz. vesscls at L.405,000, and cargoes at 
1L.180,000. 


373 


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28 


VOL. XXXIV. NO. Lxyrii.—aprit 1845. 


(. 874) 


Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 
(Continued from last Number, p. 176.) 


1842, December 5.—Sir T. Maxpoveart Brissane, Bart., 
President, in the Chair. 


1. On the Construction of a New Music Hall. By Sir George 
S. Mackenzie, Bart. 


December 19.—The Right Honourable Lord Greenock, Vice- 
President, in the Chair. 


1. Letter on Terrestrial Magnetism, addressed to the Secre- 
tary. By Professor Hansteen of Christiania. 


2. Notice of the occurrence in Scotland of the Tetrao medius, 
shewing that supposed species to be a hybrid. By James 
Wilson, Esq. 


There exists in several northern continental countries a peculiar 
kind of grouse, called by foreign naturalists Tetrao medius, on ac- 
count of its exhibiting, as it were, a combination of the characters of 
the wood-grouse or capercailzie on the one hand, and of the black- 
cock on the other. It is never found except in countries inhabited 
by the two species last named; and as it presents a union of their 
characters, several naturalists have inferred that it is not itself a 
distinct kind, but a hybrid, resulting from the casual intercourse of 
the other two. But most naturalists have maintained that it is a 
distinct species, chiefly upon the principle, that, in the wild state, 
birds of different species do not intermingle sexually with each other. 
Mr Wilson, however, having discovered that, in certain districts of 
Scotland into which Lord Breadalbane has lately introduced the 
capercailzie, and in which the black-cock previously existed in abund- 
ance, this so-called intermediate grouse has also now made its appear- 
ance, he draws the conclusion, that it is not a distinct species, but a 
hybrid or mule. ‘It had not been previously known in Scotland, 
at least in our times,—it has not been introduced by any one from 
abroad,—and yet here we now find it in the very districts inhabited 
by the other two.” Mr Wilsou exhibited a specimen recently killed 
on the estate of Dunira, and shewed its entire agreement with the 
foreign T. medius, by comparing it with a specimen from Norway. 


3. On the Coloration of the Blood. By the late Daniel Ellis, 
Esq., F.R.S.E. Communicated by Dr Christison- 


On the Growth of the Salmon. 375 


1843, January 9.—Dr Axszrcromsie, Vice-President, in 
the Chair. 
1. On the Growth of the Salmon. By Mr Andrew Young, In- 
vershin, Sutherlandshire. Communicated by James Wilson, 
Esq. 

Mr Young has here taken up the subject of the salmon’s growth 
where it was necessarily left off by Mr Shaw. So far as the 
earliest or fresh-water state of the fish is concerned, he entirely 
agrees with the observer just named. He then states the various 
opinions which prevail regarding the more or less rapid growth of 
smolts and grilse, and shews by tabular lists (the result of frequently 
repeated experiments), that the increase in their dimensions is ex- 
traordinary so soon as they descend into the salt water. So far back 
as the months of April and May 1837, he marked a number of de- 
scending smolts, by making a peculiar perforation in the caudal fin, 
by means of small nipping irons constructed for the purpose. He 
re-captured a considerable number of them ascending the rivers as 
grilse, in the course of the ensuing months of June and July, and 
weighing several pounds each, more or less according to the differ- 
ence in the length of their sojourn in the sea. Again, in April and 
May of 1842, he marked a number of descending smolts, by clipping 
off the little adipose fin uponthe back. In June and July he caught 
several of them returning up the river, and bearing his peculiar 
mark,—the adipose fin being absent. Two of these specimens were 
exhibited to the Society. One marked in April, and re-captured on 
the 25th of July, weighed 7 lb.; the other, marked in May and re-~ 
eaptured on the 30th July, weighed 34 lb. As the season advances 
grilse increase in size, those being the largest which abide the longest 
in the sea. They spawn in the rivers after their first ascent, and 
before they have become adult salmon. 

Mr Young also described various experiments instituted with the 
view of shewing the transition of grilse into salmon. He marked 
many small grilse after they had spawned in winter, and were about 
to re-descend into the sea, He re-captured them in the course of 
the ensuing summer as finely-formed salmon, ranging in weight from 
9 to 14 1b., the difference still depending on the length of their 
sojourn in the sea. He has tried these experiments for many sea- 
sons, but never twice with the same mark. A specimen marked as 
a grilse of 4 lb. in January 1842, and re-captured as a salmon of 
9 lb. in July, was exhibited to the Society. It bore a peculiarly 
twisted piece of copper wire in the upper lobe of the caudal fin. 


376. Proceedings of the Royal Society. 


Those marked and re-taken in 1841 were marked with brass wire 
in the dorsal fin. With these and other precautions Mr Young 
avoided the possibility of any mistake as to the lapse of time. Both 
evilse and salmon return uniformly to their native streams ; at least 
it very rarely happens that a fish bearing a particular mark is found 
except in the river where it was so marked. Salmon in the perfect 
state as to form and aspect, also increase rapidly in their dimensions 
on again reaching the sea. A spawned salmon weighing 12 Ib. was 
~ marked on the 4th of March, and was re-captured on its return from 
the sea on the 10th of July, weighing 18 1b. Mr Young is of 
opinion that salmon rather diminish than increase in size during 
their sojourn in rivers; and he illustrates this and other points of his 
subject by numerous experiments and observations. 


2. On the Geology of Roxburghshire. By David Milne, Esq. 


Mr Milne divided his paper into two parts; the first comprehending 
a description of the leading geological features of the district ; the 
second containing the inferences of a cosmological character, which 
the facts related in the first part seemed to warrant. 

In describing the geology of Roxburghshire, Mr Milne referred, 
jirst, to the stratified rocks; secondly, to the igneous rocks ; and, 
thirdly, to the superficial, or (as they have been sometimes termed) 
the diluvial deposits. 

The stratified rocks were stated to consist of the following series, 
beginning with the oldest, viz.—greywacke, old red sandstone, and 
the coal measures. As to the long-disputed question regarding the 
existence of the new-red sandstone formation in this county, Mr 
Milne, whilst not wishing to affirm absolutely the non-existence of 
any strata whatever belonging to this epoch, referred to the older for- 
mation the great mass of the red sandstones abounding in the dis- 
trict, adding that he had himself seen none which necessarily be- 
longed to a later epoch. 

It was stated that no fossils had been found in the greywacke 
strata, but that in the old red sandstone formation, scales and bones 
of the Holoptychius had been found embedded both in the red and 
the white coloured strata. 

The igneous rocks consist of all the varieties of felspars, basalts, 
and greenstones, known in other parts of Scotland, the first men- 
tioned of these being the oldest. All these rocks occur in the form 
of dykes, as well as hills, of which the Eildons and Cheviots are the 
highest and most extensive. 


On the Geolegy of Roxburghshire. ByWs 


The superficial deposits consist, beginning with the oldest, of the 
boulder clay, well known in the Lothians,—of sand and gravels,—and 
of great blocks or rounded fragments of rocks, all strewed over the 
surface. It was mentioned, that, whilst the boulder clay was depo- 
sited in tumultuous waters (presenting no signs of stratification), the 
sands and gravels being for the most part stratified, have been depo- 
sited by waters not in violent action. The greater number of boul- 
ders-in Liddesdale consist of grey granite, very similar to that of 
Criffel, situated between thirty and forty miles to the westward. 

In part 2d, the author observed, that the greywacke formation, 
presenting as they do enormous foldings, in consequence of which the 
formation is traversed by ridges and valleys, all running east and 
west by compass, must have been acted on here, as throughout the 
rest of this part of the island, by a force or system of forces, which 
acted in a particular direction; and that as hardly any igneous rocks 
whatever occur, within the limits of this formation, it seemed that 
the greywacke strata had not been elevated and folded together by 
igneous action, but more probably in consequence of changes in tlic 
form of the earth’s nucleus, as suggested by Elie de Beaumont. 

The elevation of the greywacke ranges was followed by eruptions 
of felspathic and a few greenstone rocks, which took place chiefly on 
the outskirts of that formation; and from the sediment afforded by 
the wearing down of these rocks, still at the bottom of a sea, the stra- 
tified rocks surrounding and partly covering these older rocks were 
formed. As the heaviest sediment would be deposited first, the sand- 
stones filled with oxide of iron, and now constituting the principal 
beds of the old red sandstone formation, would girdle the hills of 
greywacke and older felspathic rocks ; whilst the strata of white sand- 
stone, shales, and limestones, being composed of lighter sediment, 
would be carried farther, and become members of the coal measures 
situated in Liddesdale, Northumberland, and Berwickshire. 

The formation of the whinstone dykes, one of which was described 
as running in a NW. direction, for about twenty-four miles, was 
ascribed by the author to the irruption of igneous matter into fissures 
previously formed in the earth’s crust. 

The beds of gravel and sand, as well as the boulders, the author 
thought might all be explained on the supposition, that the district 
had been covered by the waters of the ocean, when they were depo- 
sited. He adduced facts and arguments for the purpose of shewing 
that certainly none of these deposits could have been formed by gla- 
cial action, and that probably submarine currents, or great waves, 
such as are known to have been produced by submarine cruptions, 
would be sufficient to account for all the phenomena. 


378 Proceedings of the Royal Society. 


8. On the Property of Transmitting Light, possessed by 
Charcoal and Plumbago, in fine plates and particles: 
By John Davy, M.D., &c. 


The charcoal of the pith of the elder consists of plates of extra- 
ordinary thinness. It was in examining this charcoal, that the 
author first observed the property which is the subject of his paper. 
He detected it by means of the microscope, using a high magnifying 
power. By analogy, he was led to infer that the power of transmit- 
ting light must belong to charcoal in general, in all its varieties, 
when reduced to the state of fine powder or filaments,—an influence 
which he found confirmed by experiment in a number of different 
instances, as the charcoal of the pith of the sycamore, of the pith of 
the rush, the fibre of cotton, flax, &c. He also found it to belong to 
lamp-black, to cork in very fine powder, to anthracite, and plumbago. 

The light transmitted he found to vary in its hues, from almost 
white, as in the instance of the thinnest plates of the charcoal of the 
pith of the elder, to brown and red of various shades, in the instances 
of lamp-black, anthracite, and plumbago. 

He considers the property of translucency belonging to charcoal 
and plumbago, in their finely divided state, as favourable to the 
opinion now commonly received, that these substances and diamond 
owe their marked peculiarities not to difference of chemical mixture, 
but of mechanical structure. Incidentally, he notices the specific 
gravities of these substances,—stating, as the result of his own ex- 
periments, that the specific gravity of charcoal, cork, and anthracite, 
is about 1.5; and that of plumbago about the same, making allow- 
ance for the ferruginous and earthy matter with which the carbon in 
this mineral is mixed. 

In conclusion, he offers the conjecture, that the coloured tints of 
vapour and fluids in which carbon is suspended, may be connected 
with the translucency of this substance, and that other bodies, hither- 
to considered opaque, may be found capable of transmitting light, 
when examined in a manner similar to that which he has employed. 


January 23.—The Very Reverend Principal Lrz, V.P., in 
the Chair. 


1. Chemical Observations on the Flowers of the Camellia 
Japonica, Magnolia grandiflora, and Chrysanthemum 
Leucanthemum; and on three proximate principles 
which they contain. Part I. By Dr Hope. 


Proceedings of the Wernerian Society. 379 


2. On the Law of Visible Position in Single and Binocular 
Vision, and on the Representation of Solid Figures, by 
the union of two dissimilar plane figures on the Retin. 
By Sir David Brewster, K.-H. Part I. 


Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History Society. 
~ (Continued from last No., p. 177.) 
December 10. 1842.—Professor Jameson, President, in the Chair. 


Mr Torrie read Mr Henry Goodsir’s account of two new genera 
of Crustacea, found by him in the Firth of Forth, and to which he 
has given the names of Bodotria and Alauna (published in the last 
No. of this Journal, p. 119); also Dr Traill’s description of a new 
species of Serpent from Demerara, which he has named Elaps 
Jamesoni (published in the last No. of this Journal, p. 53). There 
was exhibited a very fine specimen of the Squalus vulpes, or Fox- 
Shark, 13 feet long, taken in Largo Bay in August last. 


January 28. 1843.—The Right Honourable Lord Grzryock, V.P., 
in the Chair. 


Dr Neill read a notice regarding the ventriloquistic song of a red- 
breast, contained in a letter addressed to him by James Heriot, Esq. 
of Ramornie. Dr Hamilton read a paper communicated to the So- , 
ciety, entitled, The Ancient Chronology of the World, and its ap- 
plication to Geology and the Natural History of Man. 


February 25.—Sir Wiiu1am Newsteeine, V.P. in the Chair. 


Mr Torrie read Dr Mathie Hamilton’s observations on the Llama, 
Alpaca, Vicuna, and Guanaco of Peru (published in the present No. 
of this Journal, p. 285). Mr John Goodsir read a paper by his 
brother, Henry D. G. Goodsir, Esq., surgeon, describing the Maidre, 
or vast accumulation of minute marine animals which precedes the 
appearance of a herring shoal, as observed off the Isle of May; and 
detailing the characters of a new species of Cetochilus. ‘ Mr Torrie 
read Dr Mathie Hamilton’s remarks on the production, &c. of the 
Guano of commerce. 


March 18.—Professor JamEson, President, in the Chair. 


Mr Torrie read an account of the great explosion at Dover, by 
Captain Stuart, communicated by Lord Greenock (published in this 
‘No. of Journal, p. 387). Dr Traill read his paper on the introduc- 


380 Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology. 


tion into Scotland of granite for ornamental purposes by Messrs 
Macdonald and Leslie, Aberdeen (published in this No. p. 341). 
Mr Torrie read a communication on the habits and structure of the 
Tinamus Guianensis by Dr Frazer, late of Demerara. Various 
Meteorological Tables were laid on the table. 


SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 
METEOROLOGY. 


1. Variation of Temperature during the Russian Expedition 
to Khiva.—It has been stated to the Academy of Sciences by a 
Russian officer who had accompanied the army to Khiva, that dur- 
ing the expedition, the thermometer fell to — 43°C. (— 48°.4 
Fahr.) ; that for more than three months the mean temperature was 
between — 17° and — 18° (+ 1°.4 and — 0.4 F.); and that dur- 
ing their return, in the month of June 1840, the thermometer rose 
to + 46° C. (+ 114°.8 F.) Thus, in the course of a few months, 
the troops were exposed to a variation of 89 degrees Centigrade, or 
160 degrees Fahrenheit. . 

2. On the Movement and Structure of the Mer de Glace of Cha- 
mounit.—On the 27th February 1843, Professor Forbes read a me- 
moir before the Royal Society of Edinburgh “ On the Motion of the 
Mer de Glace of Chamouni.”’ 

The author detailed in this paper the methods of observation by 
which he was enabled to ascertain the daily and even hourly motion 
of different parts of the glacier. 

The following are some of the principal results :— 

I. In the particular case of the Mer de Glace, the motion of us 
higher parts of the glacier are on the whole slower than those of its 
lower portion, but the motion of the middle region is slower than 
either. 

The following table, the result of observations at a series of ascend- 
ing stations, will authorize this conclusion. 


Velocity. 
Lower part, ........ss0e00e { ee 
Middle do., ........0.2+06+ 0.479 
BLIP Her Os, cscncs sapees 0.674 


II. The Glacier du Géant moves faster than the Glacier de Lechaud 
in the proportion of 7 to 6. 
III. The centre of the glacier moves faster than the sides. When 


Scientific Intelligence—Meteoroloay. 331 


two glaciers unite, they act as a single one in this respect, just as 
two united rivers would do. 

The author measured the velocities at different places in the 
breadth of the glacier, and it was found to increase towards the centre. 
The following are the numerical results, assuming the motion of the 
ice near the edge as the standard or the unit of reference, 

Side. Centre. 
1.000 1.332 1.356 1.367 

IV. The difference of motion of the centre and sides of the gla- 
cier varies (1) with the season of the year, and (2) at different parts 
of the length of the glacier. 

1. From the observations made, the author concludes, that ‘the 
variation of velocity diminished as the season advanced ; and that it 
was proportional to the absolute velocity of the glacier at the same 
time.” 

2. The variation of the velocity with the breadth of the glacier is 
least considerable in the higher parts of the glacier, or near its 
origin. 

V. The motion of the glacier generally varies with the season of 
the year and the state of the thermometer. 

Perhaps the most critical consideration of any for the various 
theories of glacier motion is the influence of external temperature 
upon the velocity. It is shewn in this paper, by a direct numerical 
comparison, and by projected curves, that in nearly every instance 
the velocity of the glacier, during any period of days, has a refe- 
rence to the temperature of the same period. If the thermometer 
fell, the glacier advanced slower, and vice versa. It is not, how- 
ever, to be inferred that at the same external temperature the velo- 
city will always be the same; only at any season, the change will 
always be in the same direction, and governed by the thermometer, 
though not always the same in amount. 

The author also deduced from various indirect considerations, that 
it is very improbable that the glacier stands still in winter. On the 
‘contrary, he supposes that though its velocity is less than in summer, 
it still bears a considerable proportion to it. 

On the 20th March 1843, Professor Forbes read a memoir to the 
Royal Society of Edinburgh, on the structure of glaciers and the 
cause of their motion. 

With reference to his former paper of the 27th February, the 
author stated that he had received a most satisfactory confirmation 
of his opinion respecting the motion of glaciers in winter. From 


382 Scientific Intelligence— Meteorology. 


observations made by his direction on the Mer de Glace of Cham- 
ouni, and in which he places entire confidence, it appears that the 
ice moved no less than 76 feet between the 12th December 1842 
and 17th February 1843, or at the rate of 134 inches, per diem, 
whilst its mean motion during the summer was 174 inches. 

The author then explained the manner in which he conceives the 
conoidal structure of glaciers to be due to the varying velocity of 
different points of their section producing discontinuity by minute 
fissures, which are infiltrated and ultimately frozen. He had before 
satisfied himself that the forms of these surfaces are such as the mo- 
tion of the particles of a viscid fiuid, obstructed by the sides and bot- 
tom of the canal in which it moves, would engender. But to make 
this more palpable, he has endeavoured to imitate the motion of a 
glacier, by causing a plastic fluid of different colours to mould itself 
by the action of gravity in an inclined bed, and he has thus succeed- 
ed in reproducing the forms of the structural surfaces of glaciers so 
precisely that they cannot be distinguished from the curves which he 
had drawn as representing the actual phenomena.—See Edinburgh 
Philosophical Journal, Oct. 1842, pages 346, 347.* 

Professor Forbes recapitulated the proofs that the glacier moves 
as a plastic mass, the friction of whose parts is less than their fric- 
tion upon the surface over which they tend to slide ; and he bases his 
theory upon three classes of facts, which he considers that he has 
demonstrated. 1. That the glacier moves like a stream, fastest at 
the centre. 2. That its velocity is immediately governed by the 
external temperature and the state of infiltration of the ice by water 
at the time. 3. That the forms which its veined structure assumes 
are those due to the movement of a semi-solid mass in the manner 
supposed. 

3. Climate of Malta.—Many of the remarks which have been 
made on the Jonian Islands, in relation to climate and seasons, are 
necessarily applicable to Malta. Situated farther south, its mean 
annual temperature is higher ; its surface being less elevated, its 
highest hills not exceeding 600 feet; and being farther removed 
from lofty mountains, and surrounded by a greater expanse of sea, 
its temperature during the greater part of the year is more equable ; 
and lastly, being nearer to the coast of Africa, it is more liable to 
be invaded by hot winds, and in summer to experience excessive de- 
grees of heat. 


* Our readers are requested to correct a typographical error at line 6, p. 352, 
vol. xxxiii, viz., for annular rings, read annual rings.—EpiIt. 


Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology. 383 


As regards temperature, in considering the climate of Malta, it is 
necessary to distinguish between the town and the country, the cir- 
cumstances of the two being in many respects peculiar, and occa- 
sioning a marked difference in the results of the thermometrical ob- 
servations. The town of Valetta, by its massive buildings and com- 
paratively narrow streets, is well fitted to equalize temperature. The 
country, on the contrary, being almost entirely destitute of wood, its 
surface rocky, its soil scanty, is better adapted to radiate heat. This 
distinction is commonly neglected, and, in consequence, the observa- 
tions which have been made in the city have been applied to the 
whole island; and an exaggerated idea has been formed of the 
equability of the temperature of Malta, and especially during the 
heats of summer.* 

4. Ignis Fatuus (Will-with-a-Wisp, Jack-with-a-Lantern, 
Spunkie) observed near Bologna.—In the Annali di Fisica, &c. 
(vol. iii. p. 36), there is an interesting notice respecting this phe- 
nomenon by Dr Quirino Barillic Filepauti, from which we think it 
proper to make the following extract :— 

** The painter Onofrio Zanotti assured me, that one evening, as 
he was walking with some one in the street Lungo-Reno, he saw, 
near the house of Professor Santini, globes of fire, in the form of 
flames, issuing from between the paving-stones of the street, and 
even among his feet. They rose upwards and disappeared ; he even 
felt their heat when they passed nearhim. According to the infor- 
mation I have collected from many individuals, I have ascertained 
that St Elmo's fire is often seen in the neighbourhood of the town, 


* Mountains and valleys, the former considerably below the region of perpetual 
snow, the latter moderately open and exposed to sunshine, appear to have an effect 
in equalizing temperature somewhat similar to that of massive buildings in towns 
and narrow streets. In travelling on the continent late in autumn, and in the 
depth of winter, in passing from a low plain country, as from France into Savoy, 
or from Lower into Upper Austria, I have been struck with surprise at the mild- 
ness of the air of the mountain valleys compared with the cold experienced in the 
lower and open country. But, on reflection, is not the difference such as might 
be expected, considering the causes in operation which have an effect on atmos- 
pherie temperature, and especially those connected with the radiation of heat ? 
The damp mountain forests, in absorbing and giving out heat, may act like moun- 
tain lakes and streams. The rocks on the mountain sides, besides absorbing and 
giving out heat, must throw back heat which they receive from the valleys, In 
the economy of nature, the circumstances alluded to seem to be a beautiful provi- 
sion for softening the severity of winter, and rendering habitable regions which 
the imagination is disposed to conceive the seat of storms and inclemency during 
the winter season.— Dr Dary on the Ionian Islands and Malta, vol. i. p. 257. 


384 Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology. 


and I have learned in what places it appears most frequently, I 
have therefore gone in the evening, sometimes to one place, sometimes 
to another, and continued my observations for many days, both 
during a clear and cloudy sky. I took up my station chiefly at the 
entrance to the cemetery, because I was assured that it was there in 
particular where it appeared, although, in fact, I did not notice one 
at this point. These researches were undertaken in the autumn, 
when, according to the general opinion, this luminous phenomenon 
shews itself more frequently than at any other season, perhaps on 
account of the rapid changes of the atmospheric pressure, which 
allow the gases enclosed in the earth to escape more easily, by fa- 
vouring their natural elasticity. 

I perceived only three of these lights, but on different nights. The 
first was one of those which issue from the ground, rise to a certain 
height, and then suddenly become extinguished. I can say nothing 
more respecting these than that they rise rapidly in a vertical line 
to a height of three or four metres, and then become extinct with a 
slight detonation. The second moved in a horizontal direction, and 
I could not long follow it. The wind carried it to the banks of the 
river Idice, where it disappeared. With regard to the third, which 
afforded me the opportunity of making the experiments I wished, I 
must enter into more circumstantial details. 

A place fruitful of ignes fatui is the parish of San-Donino, parti- 
cularly in the neighbourhood of the small church of Ascension, about 
two miles from Bologna, and especially quite close to a pool, ina 
rivulet where, three years ago, three sacrificial vessels of fine Roman 
workmanship were found. On many successive nights I have re- 
paired to this spot, but in vain. However, one evening in October, 
which was succeeded by an aurora borealis and rain, I entered the 
house of a peasant on the field where the pool occurs. Shortly after, 
I opened the window, which overlooks the place where the phenome- 
non most commonly shews itself. About 11 o'clock I saw the light 
appear which I was desirous to observe; and I instantly seized the 
stick which I always kept ready for the purpose, and which had some 
flax attached to its extremity, and speedily repaired to the spot indi- 
cated. When Iwas not more than about twenty feet from the light, 
I stopped a moment to observe it. It had the form and colour of an 
ordinary flame, with a slight discharge of smoke, Its thickness was 
about a decimetre ; and it was moving slowly in a direction from 
south to north. When I approached nearer it changed its direction, 
retired from me, and began to rise upwards. I hurried forward with 


Scientific Intelligence.—Geology. 385 


my stick, and thrust it into the flame, which kindled the flax. Soon 
after, the Jack-o’-lantern became extinct at a height of about two or 
three feet above the stature of a man. It soon after reappeared of 
smaller size (for I was led to believe that it was the same), on an- 
other pool placed at a little distance. I ran immediately towards it, 
but in vain, as it vanished in a few seconds. I saw no others that 
night. The remains of the flax had not that garlick-like smell pe- 
culiar to phosphorus, but a faint peculiar odour which I cannot de- 
fine, and which appeared to me to be rather of a sulphureous and am- 
moniacal nature.* 


GEOLOGY. 


5. Geological Chronometer.—The Atheneum gives an abstract of a 
paper, read by Mr Lyell to the Geological Society, which affords some 
data for guessing at the period when the Mastodon lived, the gigan- 
tic quadruped whose bones are found in the soil in various parts of 
North America. Near Goat Island, which is close to the Falls of 
Niagara, and at the Whirlpool, which is four miles further down, 
Mr Lyell found a fluviatile deposit, 40 feet thick at the latter locality, 
consisting of beds of sand, and containing many recent shells, with 
remains of the Mastodon. When the deposit was formed by the 
river, its waters must have been 300 feet higher than at present. 
It follows, that the deep channel from the Whirlpool to Goat’s 
Island was then uncut, and that the Falls were below the Whirlpool. 
Hence, it appears, that since the bones of the Mastodon were depo- 
sited in these beds, the Falls have receded (according to maps in our 
possession) four miles, and possibly much more, for when the depo- 
sit was formed, the Falls may have been, not at the Whirlpool, but 
some miles below it. According to an estimate made some years 
ago, the Falls recede (by undermining the rock) about a yard per 
annum, but Mr Lyell assigns a foot as the more probable amount ; 
and as they have receded in this case four miles, or 20,000 feet, we 
may infer that 20,000 years have elapsed since the bones were de- 
posited in the fluviatile sediment, and since the animal lived. If the 
estimated rate of recession is accurate, the time cannot be less than 
this, but it may be more. The result, though wanting precision, is 
not without its value; and there is little doubt that by the aid of 
such natural Chronometers as N iagara Falls, and other means, we 
shall by and by be able to measure by centuries geological periods of 


ity big da aati Weighed seongne | ood Vdd of atae 
-* LInstitut, No, 471, 5th January 1843, p. 8. 


386 = Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy and. Geology. 


the length of which at present we can form no distinct conception. 
Mr Lyell also describes ** the boulder formation on the borders of 
Lakes Erie and Ontario, and in the valley of St Lawrence, as far 
down as Quebec. Marine shells were observed in this drift, in se- 
veral localities at Montreal, attaining a height probably exceeding 
500 feet above the level of the sea. Similar shells were found as 
far south as the western and eastern shores of Lake Champlain. 
They are all northern species, and imply a former colder climate. 
Rocks in contact with the drift are smoothed and furrowed, as be- 
neath the drift in Northern Europe.’’—Scotsman. 

6. Gold Mines in Ireland.—The origin of the discovery of gold 
(in the county of Wicklow) is variously told. Tradition attributes it 
to a schoolmaster, who, in consequence of his perpetually wandering 
about the adjacent streams, was considered by his neighbours to be 
insane. He grew gradually rich, however; but at length the secret 
of his wealth became known, and a similar madness seized the whole 
population for many miles round the place where Nature had depo- 
sited her treasure. It does not appear that gold was found in any 
quantity until the autumn of 1796, when ‘a man crossing a brook 
found a piece in the stream, weighing about half an ounce.” The 
circumstance was noised abroad, and almost every river, stream, and 
rivulet, for miles round the spot, was thronged by eager searchers 
after wealth ; the news ran like wildfire through every district of the 
country. Young and old, of both sexes, from the bed-ridden to the 
babe that could scarcely crawl, were to be seen raking the gravel in 
the waters, or pulling away the clay from the hill sides, washing it, 
and peering into it for the ‘* sparkles of golden splendour.” Their 
search was not unsuccessful : during the period which elapsed between 
its commencement and the occupation of the place by troops stationed 
there by Government—less than two months—it is conjectured that 
2500 ounces of gold were collected by the peasantry, principally 
from the mud and sand of Ballinavalley Stream, and disposed of for 
about L.10,000.—Mrs S. C. Hall’s « Ireland.” 


MINERALOGY, 


7. Large mass of Native Gold found in the Oural Mountains. 
—Humboldt lately transmitted to the Academy of Sciences of Paris, 
a notice by M. de Koscharoff, an officer of the Russian Mines, re- 
garding a mass of gold of large size, recently found-in the Oural. 
The largest mass of native gold, which had previously been found 


Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy and Geology. 387 


in the Oural Mountains, weighed about 10 kilogrammes (24 Rus- 
sian pounds and 69 zolotnies = 10.117 kil.), or upwards of 22 Ib. 
English ;* and it is that of which there is a plaster model in the 
Muszum of Natural History at Paris. On the 7th November last, 
however, there was found in the same mountains a mass of native 
gold, weighing more than three times as much, viz. 36.026 kil. (2 
pouds, 7 Russian pounds, and 92 “zolotnies) = about 80 pounds 
English. The mines of Zarevo-Nicolaefsy and of Zarevo-Alexan- 
drofsy, situated in the alluvial auriferous deposits of Miass, on the 
Asiatic side of the southern portion of the Oural, have already af- 
forded more than 6500 kilogrammes of gold. It was in this allu- 
vium that, in 1836, the large mass of 10 kil., and several others, 
of from 4 to 63 kil. were found at a depth of a few centimetres} 
under the surface. Subsequently to the year 1837, the mines of 
Nicolaefsy and of Alexandrofsy seeming exhausted, new explorations 
were made in the neighbourhood, and especially along the river 
Tachnou-Targanna. Great success attended the search for gold in 
that marshy plain, and the whole valley had been searched except 
that part of it occupied by the building in which the washing ope- 
rations were carried on. In 1842 it was resolved to remove the 
houses, whereupon sands were met with of immense richness, and 
lastly there was discovered under the very corner of a building, and 
at a depth of three yards, the enormous mass of gold weighing 36 
kilogrammes, This mass is already placed in the collection of the 
Corps des Mines at St Petersburgh, According to the information 
given by M. de Humboldt, in the third volume of his Examen critique 
de la Géographie du nouveau Continent, the mass of gold found in the 
Oural in 1826 was inferior in weight to that discovered in 1502 in 
the alluvium of the Island of Haiti, and inferior also to that found in 
1821 in the United States, in the county of Cavarras, and described 
by M. Zoehler, a pupil of the Freyberg School of Mines. The mass 
found at Miass, fifteen years ago, weighs 10.117 kil. ; that of Ca- 
varras 12.600 kil.; that of Haiti 14 to 15 kil.; but the mass of 
gold found in November 1842 in beds of alluvium reposing on dio- 
rite is more than twice the weight of the largest of these, as it 
weighs no less than 36 kilogrammes. Such has been the prodi- 
gious increase of the quantity of gold obtained by washing in Rus- 
Sia, and especially in Siberia, to the east of the southern chain of 


a ee ee eer 


* A French kilogramme = 2.20548 Ib. avoirdupois,—Enpir. 
tT A centimetre = 0.393708 inches.—Epir. 


388 Scientific Intelligence— Miscellaneous. 


the Oural, that, according to very accurate data, the total produce 
during the year 1842 amounted to 16,000 kilogrammes (970 pouds 
= 15,988 kil.) = upwards of 35,000 1b. English, of which Siberia 
alone, to the east of the Oural, furnished more than 7800 kil. (479 
pouds = 7846 kil.).—L’ Institut, No. 472. 

8. Fahlerz containing Mercury, from Hungary. — Professor 
Zeuschner procured this remarkable Fahlerz during his geognostical 
tour in Hungary, and wished it to be analyzed, on account of its con- 
taining mercury. It occurs at Kotterbach, in the vicinity of Iglo, and 
is very probably the same compact Fahlerz, containing mercury, from 
Poratsch, in Upper Hungary, which Klaproth analysed. The ore is 
only found in a massive state, and is frequently interspersed with cop- 
per pyrites, from which the portions destined for analysis were carefully 
purified. Hy. Scheidthauer performed the following three analyses 
of the ore in the laboratory of Professor H. Rose, but it was only in 
one of them that all the component parts were determined, In the 
second analysis, from particular causes, the whole amount of mercury 
could not be obtained; and in the third the sulphur alone was de- 
termined :—~ 


1. 1 IIl, 
Sand or grains of quartz, . a 2.73 1,82 1.87 
Antimony, - = 5 . 18.48 18.50 
Arsenic, : - : ; 3.98 4.10 
Tron, A ° 4 . 3 4.90 5.05 
Zinc, : : 2 ; - 1.01 1.02 
Copper, . : . . . 83.90 35.87 
Mercury, : . . ° 7.52 Si =e 
Sulphur, ° . ° . 23.34 3.70 23.90 
Silver and lead, ¢ A -. traces. 

97.86 


—Poggendorf’s Annalen, 1843, No. 1, p. 161. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


9. Egyptian Bronze.—Egyptian bronze consists of copper and 
tin, and occasionally a small proportion of silver, For large 
tools, it was probably a mixture of the two former metals only, | 
This alloy, when first cast, would be extremely brittle and hard, 
but may have been tempered, as the Chinese now temper their 
pbronzo articles, viz. by plunging them repeatedly into cold water 
whilst at a red heat. To this operation, perhaps, Homer alludes 
in his simile of an armourer’s forge, though it has been adduced 
to prove the use of iron ; but the metal does not, at the later period 


of the Trojan war, seem to have been in general use. It even 


Scientific Intelligence— Miscellaneous. 389° 


then seems to have been viewed as one of the precious metals, as 
Achilles proposed a ball of iron as one of the prizes to be awarded 

to the victor of the games instituted in honour of Patroclus ;—offer- - 
ings of iron implements were also made to the gods, 

With regard to the early use of bronze in preference to iron, we 
cannot forbear transcribing some remarks from Robertson’s History 
of North America :—* Gold, silver, and copper, are found, in their 
perfect state, in the clefts of rocks, in the sides of mountains, or the 
channels of rivers. They were accordingly first known and first ap- 
plied to use. But iron, the most serviceable of all metals, and to 
which man is most indebted, is never discovered in its perfect form ; 
its gross and stubborn ore must feel twice the force of fire, and go ' 
through two laborious processes before it becomes fit for use. Man 
was long acquainted with other metals before he acquired the art of 
fabricating iron,”’ 

Several small articles of iron have been found in Egyptian tombs ; 
but though acquainted with it, they do not appear to have applied 
it to any practically useful purpose. 

In the British Museum are several chisels, saws, and other tools 
of bronze; and the author has a fish-hook of the same material, 
found in a tomb, and also several pins of the latest modern improve- 
ment, namely, with solid heads. A small bronze knife, found at 
Thebes, was highly elastic, and the edge, after being buried at least 
2000 years, so perfect, that it was used for a penknife for several 
months after its exhumation.—The London Journal and Repertory 
of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, No. exxv. No. 296. 

10. On the Production of the Guano of Commerce.—The Moro 
of Arica is situated close to the town, on the south, and is a bold pro- 
montory projecting towards the sea, its base being washed by the surf 
of the Pacific Ocean, and its summit being about 600 feet above it. 
This Moro presents a precipice nearly perpendicular, with numerous 
cliffs or ledges, which during ages have been occupied by myriads of 
sea-fowl, called Garza by the Spaniards, but better known by the Peru- 
vian name, Guano,—a term which is also used by the Indians for 
the dung of these birds. The front of the Moro of Arica is a most 
conspicuous and important object to mariners, who wish to call 
there ; for when vessels coming from the south, or windward, as it 
is there called, are allowed by those on board to pass the port, the 
space gone over in a few hours may be such as to require several — 

VOL. XXXIV. NO. LXVIII.—aprRit 1843. | 2c 


390° Scientific Intelligence— Miscellaneous. 


days to beat up again to the roadstead. But in consequence of 
Guanos nestling on the face of the Moro, it has a white appearance, 
from the accumulation of their droppings, which, when recent and 
dry, as it always is in that locality, is of a grey-white colour, and 
serves both as a beacon to the navigator who approaches the place, 
and also as a magnificent object, when seen under the rays of the set- 
ting sun, The dung of the guano has been used for manure by 
the Peruvians, from time immemorial, and is highly prized by them, 
on account of its fertilizing properties, which are very great. I 
have seen some of these inoffensive beings, who had come several 
hundred miles, having traversed ravines and tracks over all but 
impassable mountains, each one with his donkey or llama, for a 
quintal of guano, with which he had to march back again, trudging 
on foot, and often rejoicing over his odorous cargo. The guanos 
were still to be seen in vast numbers on the Moro of Arica, during 
my first residence there in 1826, but not in such abundance as 
they were a few years prior to that period; for during the war for 
independence, Arica was several times attacked, both by sea and 
land, when the cannonading had the effect of scaring the guanos 
from their haunts on the Moro. Since 1826, Arica has been much 
frequented by foreigners, some of whom often fired at, and other- 
wise annoyed these birds, which now have all but totally abandoned 
that part of the Peruvian coast. The guanos have hitherto existed 
on the coast of the Peru, in numbers which would appear incredi- 
ble, except to those persons who have seen them. The greatest 
mass of guanos I ever saw was in 1836, at the Chincha Isles, 
which are only barren ‘rocks in the Pacific Ocean, off Pisco, and 
about 100 miles south from Callio. I saw the birds through a 
glass from on board a vessel under easy sail, when the rock appeared 
to be a living mass; for the guanos seemed to be contending among 
themselves for a resting-place. They live on fish, and are expert 
fishers, for which they are beautifully formed by nature. The bill 
is three or four inches long, according to the age or size of the bird, 
and it is about one inch broad at the extremity, much curved, and 
altogether well adapted for hooking up the food, which rarely 
escapes. The quantity of guano manure accumulated on the Peru- 
vian coast must have been very great, and may be estimated thus : 
Allowing the average number of these birds to be one million, which 
I consider is much within bounds, and that each guano has one 


a ho) ae 


Soientifie Intelligence— Miscellaneous. 391 


ounce droppings per day, we shall have not less than above thirty tons; 
and deducting one-half of the above supposed quantity, for evapo- 
ration,an d other casualties, there will still be above fifteen tons of 
this valuable substance produced every day- From what has been 
observed as to the habits and numbers of the guano, their frequent- 
ing promontories, declivities, and insulated rocks, it follows, that 
their excrements in certain localities must have accumulated to 
such an extent, as might induce those persons who may not have con- 
sidered the subject, to expect that the guano is to be had in un- 
limited quantity ; but for obvious reasons, that must be a fallacious 
expectation.—_ Communicated by Dr Mathie Hamilton, late of Peru. 

11, Visit of Columbus to Iceland, in 1477, and his Conversations 
there with learned men.—Karl Wilhelmi, in his recently published 
work on the Northmen, has the following curious passage regarding 
Columbus :—* The most remarkable, and the most peculiar state 
founded by the Northmen, was that in Iceland, as well on account 
of the particular northern mode of life which was there freely de- 
veloped to its fullest extent, and which preserved, unimpaired for cen- 
turies, its laws, language, eloquence, music, and poetry, as of the dis- 
covery of America, which was made from that country five hundred 
years before Columbus. That immortal Genoese himself sailed from 
England, in a ship from Bristol, in the year 1477, and visited the 
island of Iceland, where he was confirmed in his conviction of the 
existence of land in the West, by the conversations he carried on in 
the Latin language, with the Icelandic priests, and other learned 
men.” * In regard to this subject, Washington Irving, in his Life 
of Columbus, vol. i. p. 69, says,—<‘* While the design of attempting 
the discovery in the West was maturing in the mind of Columbus, 
he made a voyage to the north of Europe. Of this we have no 
other memorial than the following passage, extracted by his son 
from one of his letters :—* In the year 1477, in February, I navi- 
gated one hundred leagues beyond Thule, the southern part. of which 
is seventy-three degrees distant from the Equator, and not sixty- 
three, as some pretend; neither is it situated within the line which 
includes the west of Ptolemy, but is much more westerly. The 


* Island, Hvitramannaland, Gréntand, und Vinland, oder der Norrmdnner Leben 
auf Island und Grénland, und deren Fahrten nach Amerika schon tiber 500 Jahre 
vor Columbus. Heidelberg, 1842. 


392 Scientific Intelligence—Miscellaneous. 


English, principally those of Bristol, go with their merchandize to 
this island, which is as large as England. When I was there the 
sea was not frozen, and the tides were so great, as to rise and fall 
twenty six fathoms.’* The island thus mentioned as Thule, is 
generally supposed to have been Iceland, which is far to the west of 
the Ultima Thule of the ancients, as laid down in the map of 
Ptolemy. Nothingmore is known of this voyage, in which we dis- 
cern indications of that ardent and impatient desire to break away 
from the limits of the Old World, and launch into the unknown 
regions of the ocean.”’ 

12. Ethnological Society.—We are happy to announce the forma- 
tion in London of a society, which promises much for an important 
but hitherto much neglected branch of knowledge, The following 
was communicated to us by the Secretary :— 

“It is submitted, that among the numerous Literary and Scien- 
tific Societies established in the British Metropolis, one is still want- 
ing to complete the circle of Scientific Institutions, whose sole ob- 
ject should be the promotion and diffusion of the most important 
and interesting branch of knowledge, that of man, viz. ETHNOLOGY. 

—< That a new and useful Society might therefore be formed, 
under the name of ‘ The Ethnological Society.’ 

—* That the interest excited -by this department of science is 
increasingly felt ;—that its advantages are of the first importance 
to mankind in general, and paramount to the welfare of a mari- 
time nation like Great Britain, with its numerous and extensive 
Colonies and Foreign Possessions. 

—* That although there is a great amount of Ethnological in- 
formation existing in Great Britain, yet it is so scattered and dis- 
persed, either in large books that are not generally accessible, or in 
the bureaux of the public departments, or in the possession of pri- 
vate individuals, as to be nearly unavailable to the public. 

«The objects, then, of such a Society as is now suggested would 
be— 

“1, To collect, register, and digest, and to print for the use of the 
members and the public at large, ina cheap form, and at certain 
intervals, such new, interesting and useful facts as the Society may 
haye in its possession, and may from time to time acquire. 


* Hist. del Almirante, c. 4. 


The Great Comet. 393 


«2. To accumulate gradually a Museum illustrative of the varic- 
ties of mankind, and of the arts of uncivilized life—a Library of 
the best books on Ethnology—a selection of the best Voyages and 
Travels—a complete collection of Dictionaries and Grammars bear- 
ing upon the subject—as well as all such documents and materials 
as may convey the best information to persons intending to visit 
Foreign Countries: it being of the greatest utility to those who are 
about to travel, to be aware of what has been already done, and 
what is still wanting, in the countries which they may intend to 
visit. 

«3. To render pecuniary assistance, when the funds will permit, 
to such Travellers as may require it, in order to facilitate this parti- 
cular branch of their research. 

“ 4. To correspond with similar Societies that may be established 
in different parts of the world, with Foreign Individuals engaged in 
Ethnological pursuits, and with the most intelligent British residents 
in the various remote Settlements of the Empire.” 


THE GREAT COMET. 
To the Editor of the Times. 


Timss, March 21. 1843. 

Sir,—I wish to direct the attention of your astronomical readers 
to the fact, which I think hardly admits of a doubt, of a comet of 
enormous magnitude being in the course of its progress through our 
system, and at present not far from its perihelion. Its tail, for such 
I cannot doubt it to be, was conspicuously visible, both last night 
and the night before as a vivid luminous streak, commencing close 
beneath the stars kappa and lambda (« and A) Leporis, and thence 
stretching obliquely westwards and downwards between gamma and 
delta (y and 6) Eridani, till lost in the vapours of the horizon... The 
direction of it, prolonged on a celestial globe, passes precisely 
through the place of the sun in the ecliptic at the present time,—a 
circumstance which appears conclusive as to its cometic nature. 

As the portion of the tail, actually visible on F riday evening, was 
fully 30 degrees in length, and the head must have been beneath 
the horizon, which would add at least 26 degrees to the length, it is 


394 New Publications. 


evident that if really a comet, it is one of first-rate magnitude; and 
if it be not one, it is some phenomenon beyond the earth's atmo- 
sphere of a nature even yet more remarkable. 


I have the honour to be, Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
J. F. W. Herscuet. 
Couuinewoopn, March 19th. 
P.S. Had there been any post last night, this communication 
would have been made a day earlier. 


8 p.m., March 19.—The tail of the comet, for such it must now 
assuredly be, is again visible, though much obscured by haze, and 
holding very nearly the same position ! 


NEW PUBLICATIONS. 


The following publications have been received :— 


1. Essai sur les Glaciers et sur le terrain Erratique du Basin du 
Rhone, par Jean de Charpentier. One volume 8vo, pp. 863. With 
Maps and Plates. 1841. From the Author, This valuable work is already 
well known in Britain, through the medium of this Journal and the writings 
of our geologists. 

2. The Year-Book of Facts in Science and Art, exhibiting the most 
important discoveries and improvements of the past year. 12mo pp. 
283. With numerous Engravings. London, Tilt and Bogue. 1843. 
From the Publisher. 

3. Travels in New Zealand ; with Contributions to the Geography, 
Geology, Botany, and Natural History of that country ; by Ernest 
Dieffenbach, M.D., late Naturalist to the New Zealand Company. In 
Two volumes 8vo. London, John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1843, 
From John Murray, Esq., Albemarle Street, London. To those who wish 
to becomé acquainted with this interesting country in a statistical, commercial, 
and natural-historical point of view, we particularly recommend this valuable 


work. 


ae 


New Publications, 395 


_ 4, Explication de la Carte Geologique de la France redigée sous la 
direction de M. Brochant de Villiers, Inspecteur-General des Mines. 
Par M.M. Dufrenoy et Elie de Beaumont, Ingenieurs en chef des mines. 
Publié in 1841 ; par ordre de M. Teste, ministre des travaux publics, 
Tome Premiere. Quarto, pp. 825. With a large coloured Geological 
Map of France, and numerous illustrative cuts. Paris. Imprimerie Royal. 
1841. From the Authors. This jirst volume of a national work, which may 
be termed the Geognosy of France, is rich in important facts and generali- 
zations. 

5. Geological Report on Londonderry, and parts of Tyrone and Fer- 
managh; by J. E. Portlock, F.R.S., &c. &c., Captain of the Royal En- 
gineers conducting the Geological Branch of the Ordnance Survey of 
Ireland. One Volume 8vo. pp. 784. With a Geological Map, and nu- 
merous tinted Geological Sections. Dublin, Hodges and Smith, College 
Green; London, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. 1843. From 
the Board of Ordnance. 

6. Rapport sur un Memoire de M. A. Bravais relatif aux Lignes d’An- 
cien niveau de la mer dans le Finmark. Commissaires, M.M. Biot, &c., 
Elie de Beaumont rapporteur. 2to. From the Author. 

7. The American Journal of Science and Arts ; conducted by Professor 
Silliman and Benjamin Silliman jun. Up to January 1843. From the 


Editors. 
8. Annalen der Physik und Chemie. Herausgegeben zu Berlin, Von 


J.C. Poggendorf. Received up to No. I. 1843. From the Editor. 

9. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal ; edited by the Secretary. 
From the Editors. 

10. Bibliotheque Universelle de Genéve. Received up to No.84. 18th 
January 1843. 

11. Interment and Disinterment ; or a further Exposition of the Prac- 
tices pursued in the Metropolitan places of Sepulture, and the Results as 
affecting the Health of the Living ; by G. A. Walker, Surgeon, London. 
Longman and Company. 1843. From the Author. 

12. Explanation of Gravity, or the Great Power causing Gravitation, 
Form, and Motion. Glasgow. From the Author. 

13. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 
From the Academy. : 

14. Physical, Chemical, and Geological Researches on the Internal 
Heat of the Globe ; by Gustav Bischof, L.L.D., Professor of Chemistry 
and Technology in the University of Bonn. 8vo. pp. 315. Longman, 
Orme, Brown, Green and Longman, London. This excellent volume, the 
standard work on the subjects enumerated on the title page, will be found 
equally acceptable to the geologist and natural philosopher. No geological library 
ought to be without i. 

15. Vollstandiges Handbuch der Mineralogie ; von August Breithaupt. 
Second Volume, 8vo. pp. 406. Dresden and Leipzig. 1841. From the 


396 New Publications. 


Author, An original and valuable work, We much regret the delay in pub- 
lishing the remaining volwnes. 

16. Rapport sur les Poissons Fossiles et l’Osteologie du Genre Brochet 
ou Esox ; par L. Agassiz. Neuchatel 1842. 2to. From the Author. 

17. Recit d’une Course faite aux Glaciers en Hiver ; par M.M. Agas- 
siz et E. Desor. 1842. From the Authors. 

18. Remarques sur deux Points de la Theorie des Glaciers; par M. 
Elie de Beaumont. 1842. From the Author, 

19. Description of an extinct Lacertine Reptile, Rhynchosaurus Arti- 
ceps (Owen) ; by Richard Owen, F.R.S., G.S., &c. Hunterian Professor 
in the Royal College of Surgeons. 1848. From the Author. 

20. Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscow. An- 
née, 1842. N. iii. Moscow, 1842. From the Societe Imperiale des Natu- 
ralistes dz Moscow. 8vo. 

21. Apercu General de la Structure Geologique des Alpes; par M. 
Studer. Mars, 1842. From the Author. 

22. Elements of Electro-Metallurgy ; by Alfred Smee, Esq., F.R.S. 
No. viii., which completes the work. From the Author. 

23. The Climate of the South of Devon, and its Influence upon Health. 
With a Geological Map ; by Thomas Shapter, M.D. Small 8vo. John 
Churchill, London. From the Author, In preparing this interesting little 
volume, our former pupil, Dr Shapter, has hadin view to illustrate the Medi- 
cal Topography of the South of Devon, in a manner similar to that in which 
Dr Forbes has treated of the Land’s-End, end Drs Carrick and Symonds ‘of 
Bristol and Clifton. The author has bestowed much pains in deducing the 
averages of climate from the best registers to which he had access, and in the 
preparation of his Tables of the Statistics of Life and Disease. The Geology 
of South Devon forms a useful chapter of the work. 

24. L’Institut, Journal Universel des Sciences. Paris. Received up 
to March 2d. 1848. From the Editor. 

25. Bibliotheque Zoologique et Paleontologique. Folio. Neuchatel ; 
par L'Agassiz. From the Author. 

26. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France, up to November 
1842. From the Society. 

27. Comptes Rendus des Séances de I’ Académie des Sciences, Up 
to the end of 1842. From the Academy. 


— 
G2 
Ze) 
“I 

~~ 


List of Patents for Inventions granted for Scotland from 23d 
December 1842 to 22d March 1843, inclusive. 


1. To Rosert Wiuson, manager at the works of Messrs Nasmyths, 
Gaskell, & Co., Patricroft, near Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, 
engineer, “ certain improvements in the construction of locomotive and 
other steam engines.””—27th December 1842, 


2. To Gasriet HippotyTe Moreau of Leicester Square, in the county 
of Middlesex, gentleman, “ certain improvements in propelling vessels.” 
—27th December 1842, 


3. To James Morris of Cateaton Street, in the city of London, mer- 
chant, being a communication from abroad, “improvements in locomotive 
and other steam engines.”—27th December 1842. 


4, To Henry Samuer Rusu of Sloane Street, in the county of Middie- 
sex, mechanic, “improvements in apparatus for containing matches for 
obtaining instantaneous light.”—29th December 1842. . 


5. To Joun Ranpv of Howland Street, Fitzroy Square, in the county 
of Middlesex, artist, “improvements in making and closing metallic col- 
lapsable vessels,’—29th December 1842. 


6. To Henry Beaumont Lerson of Greenwich, in the county of Kent, 
doctor of medicine, “ improvements in the art of depositing and manufac- 
turing metals and metal articles by electro-galvanic agency, and in the 
apparatus connected therewith.”—30th December 1842. 


7. To Roserr Locan of Blackheath, in the county of Kent, Esquire, 
«improvements in obtaining and preparing the fibres and other products 
of the cocoa nut, and its husks.’”’—9th January 1843. 


8. To Cuartes Hancock of Grosvenor Place, in the county of Middle- 
sex, artist, “certain improvements in printing cotton, silk, woollen, and 
other fabrics.’”—11th January 1843. 


9. To James Garpner of Banbury, in the county of Oxford, ironmonger, 
“improvements in cutting hay, straw, and other vegetable matters for the 
food of animals.”—11th January 1843. 


10. To Joun SterHen Bourtier of Sherborn Street, Blandford Square, 
in the county of Middlesex, engineer, being a communication from abroad, 
“certain improvements in machinery used in printing calicoes, silks; 
paper-hangings, and other fabrics.” —12th January 1843, 


398 List of Patents. 


11. To Witton Grorcr Turner of Gateshead, in the county of 
Durham, doctor in philosophy, “improvements in the manufacture of 
alum.”—12th January 1843, 


12. To Wirt1am Woop of Holborn, in the county of Middlesex, ear- 
pet-manufacturer, “ anew mode of weaving, carpeting, and other figured 
fabrics.” —13th January 1843. 


13. To Marruew Greeson of Toxteth Park, Liverpool, in the county 
of Lancaster, Esquire, being a communication from abroad, “ an invention 
or improvement applicable to the sawing or cutting of veneers,”—16th 
January 1843. 


14. To Samuet Hatt of Basford, in the county of Nottingham, civil 
engineer, ‘‘ improvements in the combustion of fuel and smoke.”—18th 
January 1843. 


15. To JoserpH Braman of Smethwick, in the parish of Harborne, in 
the county of Stafford, iron-master, “ an improvement in the manufacture 
of malleable iron,”’—18th January 1843. 


16. To AtexanpER Jounston of Hillhouse, in the county of Edin- 
burgh, Esquire, “ improvements on carriages, which may also be applied 
to ships, boats,.and other purposes where locomotion is required.”’—20th 
January 1843. 


17 To Joun Tuomas Burrs of Smithfield Bars, in the city of London, 
gentleman, being a communication from abroad, * improvements in coyer- 
ing and stopping necks of bottles and other vessels.”—23d January 1843. 


18. To THomas THomrson of Coventry, in the county of Warwick, 
weaver and machinist, “ certain improvements in weaving figured fabrics.” 
23d January 1843. 


19. To Junttan Epwarp Dissrowe Ropcers of Upper Eburvy Street, 
in the county of Middlesex, chemist, ‘‘ certain improvements in the se- 
paration of sulphur from various mineral substances.”—25th January 
1843. 


20. To Grorce Brengamin Tuorneycrort of Wolverhampton, iron- 
master, “‘ improvements in furnaces used for the manufacture of iron and 
in the mode of manufacturing iron,”—Ist February 1843. 


21. To James BoypEeut Junior of Oak Farm Works, near Dudley, in 
the county of Stafford, iron-master, “improyements in the manufacture of 
metals for edge-tools.”—I1st February 1843. 


22. To James Cuark, power-loom cloth manufacturer in Glasgow, “an 
improved mode of manufacturing certain descriptions of cloths,”—2d 
February 1843. 


23, To TAvERNER JOHN Miter of- Mill-Bank Street, Westminster, 


List of Patents. 899 


oil-merchant, “ improvements in apparatus for supporting a person in bed 
_ or when reclining.”—13th February 1843. 


a 

24. To Samuet Kirk of Stalybridge, in the county of Lancaster, cotton- 
spinner, “certain improvements in machinery, or apparatus for preparing 
‘cotton and other fibrous substances for spinning.”—13th February 1843. 


25. To CuarLes Tuatcuer of Midsomer Norton, in the county of So- 
merset, brewer, and Tuomas Tuatcuer, of Kilmersdon, in the said county, 
builder, “certain improvements in drags or breaks to be applied to the 
wheels of carriages generally.”—22d February 1843. 


26. To Joun Crate of Stanhope Street, in the county of Middlesex, 
gentleman, being a communication from abroad, “ certain improvements 
in machines or apparatus for weighing.” —28th February 1843. 


27. To Epwarp Betz of the College of Civil Engineers, Putney, in the 
county of Surrey, Professor of Practical Mechanics, “ improvements in ap- 
plying heat in the manufacture of artificial fuel, which improvements are 
applicable to the preparation of asphalte, and for other purposes.”—2d 
March 1843. 


28. To Grorce Bett of the city of Dublin, in that part of the United 
Kingdom called Ireland, merchant, “ certain improved machines which fa- 
cilitate the drying of malt, corn, and seeds ; also the bolting, dressing, and 
separating of flour, meal, and all other substances requiring to be sifted.” 
—2d March 1843. 


29. To James Buttoveu of Blackburn, in the county of Lancaster, 
overlooker, “certain improvements in the construction of looms for weay- 
ing, and also in possession of certain improvements in the same which 
have been a communication from abroad.”—4th March 1843, 


30. To Jonn Tuomas Berts of Smithfield Bars, in the county of Middle- 
sex, gentleman, being a communication from abroad, “ improvements 
in the manufacture of metal covers for bottles, and certain other vessels, 
and in the manufacture of sheet-metal for such purposes.” —7th March 
1843. 


31. To Jutes LE JEuns of North Place, Regent’s Park, in the county 
of Middlesex, engineer, “ improvements in accelerating combustion, which 
improvements may be applied in place of the blowing machines now in 
use.”—7th March 1843. 


32. To Toomas Howarp of Hyde, in the county of Cheshire, manu- 
facturer, “ certain improvements in machinery for preparing and spinning 
cotton, wool, flax, silk, and similar fibrous materials,”—11th March 1843. 

33. To Cuartes Payne of South Lambeth, in the county of Surrey, 
chemist, “improvements in preserving vegetable matters when metallic 
and earthy solutions are employed.”—13th March 1843. 


400 List of Patents. 


34. To Witi1am Lonomatp of Plymouth, accountant, “ improvements | 
in treating ores and other minerals, and in obtaining various products ’ 
therefrom, certain parts of which improvements are applicable to the ma- : 
nufacture of alkali.”—13th March 1843. 

35. To WiotrAm Barxer of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, 
mill-wright, “certain improvements in the construction of metallic pis- | 
tons.”—16th March 1843. 

36. To JosrrpH Wuitwortn of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, 
engineer, “ certain improvements in machinery, or apparatus for cleaning 
oads, and which machinery is also applicable to other similar purposes.” 
—22d March 1843. 


( 401 ) 


INDEX. 


Alford, in Aberdeenshire, meteorological observations made there, 
by Dr Farquharson, 159 and 367. 

Alps of Dauphiné, observations on, 165. 

Amphodelite, account of, 181. ; 

Anderson, Dr Thomas, his analysis of caporcianite and phakolite, 21. 

Andesine, analysis of, 181. 

Ants, ancient fable of, producing gold, 190. 

Applegarth Manse, in Dumfriesshire, meteorological observations 
made there, by Dr Dunbar, 161 and 368. 

Arquerite, analysis of, 181. 


Beaches, raised, near St Andrews, described by R. Chambers, Esq., 
298. 

Beaumont, Elie de, remarks on two points in the theory of glaciers, 
110. 

—, on the slopes of the upper limit of the erratic zone, and 
on their comparison with the slopes of glaciers and of river 
courses, 115. 

, on the former low pe apersturs of European winters, 177. 

Bamlite, analysis of,-182. 

Blom, Gustav Peter, member of the Royall Academy of Sciences of 
Drontheim, on the rein-deer of Lapland, 352. 

Bradford, M., on the history and origin of the red race, 155. 

Bromide of silver in Mexico, 182. 

Bromide of silver in Chili, 182. 

Bronze, Egyptian, 388. 


Calstron-baryte, account of, 183. 

Calcareous rocks pierced by helices, 186. 

Chalk fossils, account of, by M. Ehrenberg, 256. 

Chambers, R., Esq., F.R.S.E., on raised beaches in the neighbour- 
hood of St Andrews, 298. 

Chimpanzee, account of, by M. Vrolik, 347. 

Chinese, their natural historical writings noticed, 153. 


402 Index. 


Christison, Dr, on the Assam and Chinese tea-plants, 176—on the 
action of water on lead, 163. 

Climate of Malta, 382. 

Columbus, his visit to Iceland in the year 1477, 391. 

Comet, great, notice of, 393. rae 

Coral islands, account of, by Messrs Darwin and Maclaren, 33, 47. 

Craigie, William, meteorological register in Canada, 373. 


Daubeny, Professor, his biography of Decandolle, 197. 
Davy, Dr John, on the property of transmitting light possessed by’ 
_. charcoal and plumbago, 378 ; and on the climate of Malta, 382, 

Dead Sea, its depression below the level of the Mediterranean, 178. 

Decandolle, Professor, his biography, 197, 

Diamond, on the residuum of its combustion, 187—on its formation, 
317. | 

Diorama, a portable one, described by George Tait, Esq., 275. 

Doyere, M., his experiments on the revivification of animals of the 
types Tardigrada and Rotifera, 25. 


Karthquakes, notices of, especially as they occur in Scotland, by 
David Milne, Esq., F.R.S.E., 85—earthquakes in British In- 
dia, by Lieut. R. B. Smith, Bengal Engineers, 107. 

Ehrenberg, Professor, on the fossils of the chalk-formation, 256. 

Elaps Jamesoni, a new species of serpent, described by Dr Traill, 
53. 

Ethnological Society of London, its formation, 392, 

Euclase, its discovery in Connecticut, North America, 183, 

Explosion, great, at Dover, described, 337, 


Fahlerz containing mercury, from Hungary, 388, 

Farquharson, Dr, his meteorological table for 1842, 159. 

Fleming, John, D.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy, King’s Col- 
lege, Aberdeen, on the expediency of forming harbours of re- 
fuge on the east coast of Scotland, between the Moray Firth 
and the Firth of Forth, 306. 

Flint, contains potash and lime, 180. 

Flowers, on the preservation of, 191, 

Forbes, Professor, his fourth letter to Professor Jameson on the 
glacier theory, 1. 

historical’ remarks on the first discovery of the real 

structure of glaciers, 133. 


Index. 403 


Forbes, Professor, on the effect of snow in apparently increasing the 
force of solar radiation, 170. 

—— on the movement and structure of the Mer de Glace 
of Chamouni, 380. 


Galbraith, Wm., A.M., on the English are of the meridian, 263. 

Geokronite, new locality of, 183, 

Geological chronometer, 385. 

Glaciers, on the structure, formation, and movement of, by Dr James 
Stark, 171—on the glacier theory, 1; and the discovery of 
the structure of glaciers, by Professor Forbes, 133—on some 
phenomena of glaciers, by Sir John Herschel, 14. 

Gold-mines in Ireland, 386. 

Gold, large mass found in the Ourals, 386, ve " \\ 4 

Granite, its cutting and polishing, as effected at Abdtdeen, by Messrs 
Macdonald and Leslie, described, 341. 

Greenockite, account of, 183. 


Grooved and polished surfaces at the contact of ancient secondary 
strata, by Professor Rogers, 178. 
Guano of commerce, Dr Mathie Hamilton’s account of it, 389. 


Hamilton, Mathie, M.D., on the Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and 
Vicuna, 285. 

Harbours of refuge on the east coast of Scotland, by John Fleming, 
D.D., 306. 

Helices pierce calcareous rocks, 186. 

Herschel, new comet discovered by, 393. 

Holy Land, heights of mountains in, determined barometrically, Lig 
M. Russegger, 179. 

Humbvldt, Baron, on the heights of continents, 326. 

his Fragmens Asiatiques, announced, 179. 


Ignis F'atuus observed near Bologna, 383. 
Isinglass, Indian, remarks on, 189. 


Khiva, variation of temperature during Russian expedition to, 380. 


Lapis Lazuli, nature of its blue colour, 183. 
Llama, Alpaca, Guanaco, and Vicuna, described by Dr Mathie 
Hamilton, 285. 


Mer de Glace of Chamouni, Professor Forbes on its movement and 
structure, 380. 

Meteorological Tables, 161, 364. 

Milne, David, Esq. F.R,S,E., on Earthquakes, 85. 


io 
Le 2 
404 Tiidex, 


Milne, David, Esq., F.R.S.E,, on the geology of Roxburghshire, 376. 


Patents, list of, 194, 397. 

Paul, R. D., his meteorological tables, 364, 370. 

Pennine, its chemical composition, 184. 

Petzholdt, Alexander, Dr, on the formation of the diamond of, 317. 

Physiognomy of a country as connected with the character of its in- 
habitants, 359. 

Platina in the auriferous sand of the Rhone, 184. 

Publications, New, 192, 394, 


Rein-deer of Lapland, account of, by Gustav Peter Blom, 352. 

Royal Society, Proceedings of, 163, 374. 

Russegger, M., on heights of mountains, determined by the barometer, 
in the Holy Land, 179. 

Russell, J. Scott, Esq., F.R.S.E., his description of a marine sali- 
nometer, 278. : 


Salinometer, marine, for the purpose of indicating the density of 
brine in the boilers of marine steam-engines, with two plates, 
by John Scott Russell, Esq., F.R.S.E., 278. 

Sang, Edward, Esq., his observations on a method of registering the 
force actually transmitted through a driving-belt, 261. 

Scientific Intelligence, 177, 380. 

Steffens, Professor, midnight scene on the ocean, and scene in Nor- 
way, 362, 363. ; 


Traill, T. S., Professor, the sale of his collection of minerals an- 
nounced, 180. - 

———— on the establishment at Aberdeen for the cutting and po- 
lishing of the granites of Peterhead and Aberdeen, 341. 

Turf or Peat, on the transformations produced in it by the essence of 
turpentine, 190. 

Villarsite, account of, 184. 

Vrolik, M., his remarks on the comparative anatomy of the Chim- 

; panzee, 347. 


Wernerian Society, Proceedings of, 176, 379. 
Wilson, James, Esq., on the Tetrao Medius, 374. 


Xenolite, account of, 185. 


Young. Mr A., on the growth of the salmon, 375. 


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