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THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.
aie . 4 7
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4
ee
THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,
EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE
PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE
SCIENCES AND THE A
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 Cornwall, and
of the Cambridge Philosophical Society ; of the Antiquarian, Wernerian Natural History, Royal Medical, Royal
Physieal, 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 Mechanical Arts ; of the Geological
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.
APRIL 1853 . .... OCTOBER 1853.
WOT EY.
TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY.
EDINBURGH :
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. .
LONGMAN BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON.
1853.
FDINBORGHU
PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANT, OLD FISHMARKET.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Art. I. Biography of the celebrated Geologist, Baron Leopold
von Buch. By M. Noaceratn, . : 1
II. On Pendulum Observations. By ALEX. GERARD,
Esq., Aberdeen. Comminieated by the Author, . 14
Til, Synopsis of Meteorological Observations made at the
Observatory, Whitehaven, Cumberland, in the year
1852. By Joun Frercuer Miter, Esq., F.R.S.,
F.R.A.S., Assoc. Inst. C.E., &c. Communicated
by the Author, P ; 3 yore: aeg
IV. The Rain-Gauge ; the most efficient Form, Size, and
Position. Deduced from Experiments with many
Gauges, during several years. By Mr James
Straton, Aberdeen. Communicated by the Author.
(With a Plate), on 36
V. The Royal Observatory of Scotland, é . 49
VI. Facts respecting the Laws which regulate the Distri-
bution of Rivers, and the Principal Watersheds of
the Earth, By Witi1am Ruin, Esq. Communi-
cated by the Author, . : ; . 56
CONTENTS.
VII. On the Discovery of a Frog in New Zealand. By
Artuur Saunpers T'nomson, M.D., Surgeon 58th
Regiment. Communicated by the Author for the
Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,
PAGE
66
VIII. On the Mollusca of the British Seas. By Professor .
EDWARD ForsBgEs,
IX. An Account of the Fish River Bush, South Africa ;
with a Description of the Quadrupeds that inhabit
it. By Mr W. Brack, Staff Assistant-Surgeon.
Communicated by the Author,
X. Singular Irridescent Phenomenon seen on Windermere
Lake, October 24,1851. By J. F. Mitter, Esq.
Communicated by the Author,
XI. On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals, (Continued
from vol. liv., p. 323),
XII. On the Eyeless Animals of the Mammoth Cave of
Kentucky. (Read before the Royal Physical Society,
on exhibiting Specimens of the Animals.) By
Ropert CuamBers, F.R.S.E. Communicated by
the Author,
XIII. Analyses of Fossil Bones of Nebraska,
XIV. Note on the Eruption of Mauna Loa. By Jamzs D.
Dana. Communicated by the Author,
XV. Description of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky,
XVI. On the Annual Variation of the Atmospheric Pres-
sure in different parts of the Globe. By Prof. H.
W. Dove, Communicated by Colonel Sabine,
69
72
83
85
107
109
111
119
123
CONTENTS.
XVII. On the Determination of Copper and Nickel in quan-
titative analysis. By Davin Forzzs, F'.G.S., Ass.
Inst. C.E., Espedalen, Norway. Communicated by
the Author, fe
XVIII. On the Origin of Slaty Cleavage. By Henry Cuir-
| ton Sorsy, F.G.S. Communicated by the Author,
XIX. On the Determination of the Figure and Diwmcusiens
of the Globe. By Colonel Sazinz,
XX. On the Distribution of Heat at the Surface of the
Sun. By Professor Szccut,
XXI. On the Mean Density of the Superficial Crust of the
. Earth By M. Prana,
XXII. Lieutenant Mavry’s Plan for Improving Navigation ;
- with Remarks on the Advantages arising from the
Pursuit of Abstract Science. Extracted from Lord
Wrottesley’s Speech in the House of Lords, on 26th
April 1853,
XXIII. Observations on the Arctic Relief Expeditions, By
AvuGustus PETERMANN, Esq.,
XXIV. A Description of Lunar Volcanoes. By Professor
SEccHI,
XXV. Livineston’s Researches in South Africa,
XXVI. On the Crystalline Form of the Globe. By M. pz
HAvs.Lap,
XXVII. On the Classification of Mammalia. By CHar es
GiraRD, of Washington,
il
PAGE
131
137
148
150
152
154
161
164
165
167
iv CONTENTS.
XXVIII. On the Reproduction of the Toad and Frog without
the intermediate stage of Tadpole. By Epwarp
JosePH Lowe, Esq., : :
XXIX. Screntiric INTELLIGENCE :—
ASTRONOMY.
1. Relation between the Spots on the Sun and Mag-
netic Needle. 2. On the Periodic Return of the
Solar Spots. 3. Lunar Atmospheric Tide,
METEOROLOGY.
4. Evaporation and Condensation. 5. The Amount
of Oxygen in the World,
MINERALOGY.
6. Wohler on the Passive State of Meteoric Iron.
7. Crystallisation of Glass. 8. On Diopside and
Molybdate of Lead, Furnace Products. 9. For-
mation of Arragonite, Calc-spar, Brochantite,
and Malachite. 10. On the Artificial Formation
of Malachite, . : : 188,
BOTANY.
11, The Effect of very Low Temperature on Vege-
tation. 12. Sleep of Plants in the Arctic
Regions,
ZOOLOGY.
13. Professor Agassiz on the Colour of Animals,
14. The Tsetse, or Zimb, of South Africa,
ERRATUM.
PAGE
184
186
189
191
192
For the formula on p. 379, line 11, vol. liv., substitute the fol-
lowing :—
pan Te (ae) /D
50
CONTENTS. |
PAGE
Art. I, Indications of Glacial Action in North Wales. By
Sir Watter C. Trevetyan. In a Letter ad-
dressed to Professor JAMESON, eas eae
II. On the Mammalia of the Fish River Bush, South
Africa, with notices of their Habits. By Mr
Wiiu1am Brack, Staff Assistant-Surgeon. Com-
municated by the Author, 3 : : on) LPS
III. On the discovery of some Fossil Reptilian Remains
and a Land-Shell in the interior of an erect Fossil-
Tree in the Coal Measures" of Nova Scotia; with
remarks on the origin of Coal-fields, and the time
required for their formation. By Sir C. LYE xt,
F.R.S., > : : : ; ; . 215
IV. Some Observations on Fish, in relation to Diet. By
Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Lond. & Edin., In-
spector-General of Army Hospitals, &c. Com-
municated by the Author, : : . 226
1. Nutritive power of Fish, . ; 225
2. Peculiar Qualities of Fish as Articles of Diet, 228
V. On the Identity of Structure of Plants and Animals.
By Tuomas H. Huxtzy, Esq., F.R.S. Read be-
fore the Royal Institution, ; . 234
li CONTENTS.
PAGE
Art. VI. On Changes of Level in the Pacific Ocean. By J.
D. Dawa, Esq... . ; : : : . 240
Evidences of Elevation, . : ; : : 240
Evidences of Subsidence, : . % F 240
Probable evidence of Subsidence now in progress, 24]
-Subsidences indicated by atolls and barrier reefs, 949
Klevations of Modern Eras in the Pacific, ° 958
VII. On Some New Points in British Geology. By Pro-
fessor Epwarp Forses, President of the Geologi-
cal Society. Communicated by the Author, . 263
VIII. On the question whether Temperature determines the
distribution of Marine Species of Animals in depth.
By James D. Dana, Esq., ; ; : sn eO YL
IX. On the identity of a Colouring Matter present in
Animals with the Chlorophyle. By M. Max.
Scuuutze of Greifswald, : : ; a Tt
X. On the Classification of Rocks. By M. Dumont, . 272
XI. Causes of Phosphorescence, ; PAs. ine . 274
XII. Dr Dauseny and Professor Bunsen of Heidelberg on
Volcanoes, . : ' ; ; , 7-46
XIII. On the Discovery and Analysis of a Medicinal Mineral
Water at Helwan, near Cairo. (In a Letter to
Professor JAMESON, from Leonarp Horner, Esq., |
F.R.S.L. & E., and F.G.8.), . . 284
XIV. The Transition from Animals to Plants, : . .290
XV. A few Remarks on Currents in the Arctic Seas. By
P. C. SutHertanp, M.D., : ‘ « (¢292,
XVI. Recent Researches of Professor Acassiz, : . 296
CONTENTS. lil
: PAGE
Art. XVII. Onthe Paleohydrography and Orography of the
Earth’s Surface, or the probable position of Waters
and Continents, as well as the probable Depths of
Seas, and the absolute Heights of the Continents
and their Mountain-Chains during the different geo-
logical periods. By M. Amr Bovr’. Communi-
cated by the Author,. . zi ; . 298
XVIII. On Animal and Vegetable Fibre, as originally
composed of Twin Spiral Filaments, in which every
other structure has its origin :*a Note shewing the
confirmation by Agardh, in 1852, of Observations
recorded in the Philosophical Transactions for 1842.
By Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.S.E. Communi.
cated by the Author, . : 3 er: yf
XIX. On the Penetration of Spermatozoa into the Interior
of the Ovum : a Note, shewing this to have been
recorded as an Established Fact, in the Philosophi-
cal Transactions for 1843. By Martin Barry,
-M.D., F.R.S.E, (Read before the Royal Society
of London, March 17, 1853). Communicated by
the Author, . : : 2 ee 2
XX. Researches in Embryology: a Note supplementary to
Papers published in the Philosophical Transactions
for 1838, 1839, and 1840, shewing the confirma-
tion of the principal facts there recorded, and point-
ing out a correspondence between certain Structures
connected with the Mammiferous Ovum and other
Ova. By Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.S., F.R.S.E.
Communicated by the Author, : : beter
XXI. On the Colour of Hair. By Dr Auten Dauzetn.
Communicated by the Author, : : . o29
iv CONTENTS.
PAGE
Art. XXII. Some Account of the Proteus anguinus. By J.C.
Daron Junior, M.D.,~ . : ; : ope
XXIII. Researches on Granite. By A. DELEssE, . 341
XXIV. On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. (Con-
tinued from vol. lv. p. 106), 3 . 346
XXV. Anniversary Address to the Ethnological Society,
London. By Sir Bensamin C. Bropiez, Bart. 352
XXVI. Screntiric INTELLIGENCE :-—
MINERALOGY.
Lo ative Metallic Iron. 2. Glauberite from South
Peru; by M. Ulex. 3. Structure of Agate; by
Theodore Giimbel. 4. Scleretinite a new fossil
resin; by J. W. Mallet. 5. Pseudomorphous
Crystals of Chloride of Sodium; by G. Ware-
ing Omerod, M.A., F.G.8S. 6. Smyth on Pseudo-
morphous Crystals of Chloride of Sodium. 7.
Matlockite ; by C. Rammelsberg, . - §858-3862
GEOLOGY.
8. On the Structural Characters of Rocks; by Dr
Fleming : Flawed Structure—Columnar Struc-
ture—Cone Structure. 9. Almaden Mine,
California, . : . . , - 363, 364
METEOROLOGY.
10. An Account of Meteorological Observations in
four Balloon Ascents made under the direction
of the. Kew Observatory Committee of the
British Association; by John Welsh, Esq. 11.
Influence of Light upon the Colour of the
Prawn. 12. Coralline Light, 13. Aurora Bo-
realis, ; . 4 : - 365-368
ZOOLOGY.
14. The Structure and Economy of Tethea, and
- an undescribed species from the Spitzbergen
Seas; by Professor Goodsir. 15. Hungarian
Nightingale. 16, M. Quatrefages’ Method for
destroying Insects, . - 368, 370
BOTANY.
17. Experimental Researches on Vegetation; by
M. George Ville, . : - 3870-372
MISCELLANEOUS,
18. On Extinguishing Fires by Steam, ; 372
THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.
Biography of the celebrated Geologist, Baron Leopold von
Buch. By M. NoGGErRatTH.
HvmMsBo_pt, in his Cosmos, after giving a general descrip-
tion of volcanoes, proceeds as follows :—“* This description is
based partly on my own observations, but as a general outline
it is founded upon the labours of my very old friend, Leopold
von Buch, the greatest geologist of our age, who was the first
to recognise the intimate connection of volcanic phenomena,
and their mutual interdependence in regard to their effects
and relations in space.” It was scarcely possible for a man
of science to have received a higher tribute, from the most
competent of sources; and it is a tribute which has been
ratified by the general consent of naturalists of every nation.
Leopold von Buch is no more. In science, no doubt, he
will continue to live until the labours of the last of its present
Coryphezi have been utterly forgotten; but the progress of
science, by means of his labours, has ceased. The world-
republic of science has to bewail his loss, no less than Prussia,
of whom it was not one of the lesser glories to have given
birth to such a son. On the 4th of March 1853, after a very
few days’ illness, he died at Berlin, in the 79th year of his
age.
_ Aman of such value, both for contemporaries and for pos-
terity, will doubtless soon find a competent biographer. In this
VOL. LY. NO. CIX.—JULY 1853. A
2 Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch.
respect it is not in my power to follow him through the inter-
esting details of his copiously varied life. I had, indeed, as
a cultivator of his favourite science, the good fortune of
enjoying his personal and friendly intercourse, and of making
some geological journeys along with him; but still I am defi-
cient in much information that would be requisite to enable
me to present a complete sketch of his life. Penetrated,
however, by a feeling of profound and affectionate regard for
his memory, I will endeavour to present a very slight sketch
of his eminent scientific merits, adding a few words of a
more personal character.
Buch, descended of a noble family, which can count not a
few eminent literati and statesmen amongst its members, was
born on the 25th of April 1774, at the family seat of Stolpe,
in the Uckermark, to which his remains have just been trans-
ported. Of his education in childhood and early youth I
know nothing, and am therefore unable to say whether his
inclination for the natural sciences was an inborn tendency,
or whether it was developed by the aid of some impulse from
without. At an early period of his life he was a student in
the Prussian department of mines. In this technical career
he never sought to attain any rank of importance, for pure
science was his goddess from the very first; but not unfre-
quently, at a later period of his life, if he happened to be
asked for his title, he used jestingly to term himself, ‘ Royal
Prussian Student of Mines” —(KGniglich preussischer Berg-
Eléve). |
In the years 1790 and 1791 we find him at the Mining
Academy of Freiberg. Here he had A. von Humboldt for a
fellow-student. Buch was the older pupil at Freiberg, and
though Humboldt was by several years his senior, they had
been youthful friends at an earlier date ; they had together
studied botany, which both of them cultivated with lively
interest, and it is possible that Buch’s residence at Freiberg
may have been one of the motives which drew Humboldt
thither. The two young students found a third friend
of like tastes and pursuits with themselves in Johann Karl
Freiesleben, well known afterwards by his works on Mine-
ralogy and Geology, who died as Captain of Mines at Freiberg
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch. 3
in 1846. The intimate friendship which arose amongst the
three was terminated only by death.
In Freiberg flourished the then novel science of Mine-
ralogy and Geognosy, which was taught in the most lively
and animating manner by its genial founder, A. G. Werner,
and it was in his school that the great masters grew up,
who, in their services to the progress of the science, overtop
perhaps those of the founder himself. In the period of a
single lifetime it was impossible for Werner, notwithstand-
ing his immortal greatness, to complete on all hands the
structure of an experimental science ; and our high appreci-
ation of the merits of his pupils can nowise be regarded as
detracting from the recognition of his own comprehensive
labours. Unfortunately, the sphere of Werner’s own per-
sonal inquiries, owing to the circumstances of his life, was
confined to far too narrow a spot of the earth’s surface ; it
scarcely extended beyond the limits of Saxony ; and this was
in a great measure the cause of those imperfections which
clove to his science to the last. It became the business of
his scholars to test the new doctrine upon other domains,
and, in conformity with results, to eliminate what was un-
tenable, to assign their fitting place to new discoveries, and
to draw conclusions for the history of the earth’s formation,
which could not rest on the old foundation. Throughout a
long lifetime this vocation was fulfilled by Buch, faithfully,
and with the most speculative of minds.
We first find him opening his inquiries in the highly
interesting, but then little known, mountainous districts of
Silesia. Their fruit is exhibited in a small publication which
appeared in the year 1797, entitled ‘‘ Versuch einer mine-
ralogischen Beschreibung von Landeck.” The future perfect
master of cbservation is, in this work, as clear to be recog-
nised as the closeness and perspicuity of which all his writ-
ings may serve as patterns. Above the doctrines of Werner,
however, even where they have since been proved to be
untenable, Buch did not yet venture to place himself. Basalt
was to him, in conformity with the too neptunistic views of
his master, still a rock of aqueous formation. For the rejec-
tion of such a deeply-rooted dogma, more striking proofs
A 2
4 Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch.
were no doubt requisite than the observer could meet with
on the soil of Silesia. Hence, along with much that is excel-
lent, we perceive this tendency to swear in verba magistri in
his “ Versuch einer geognostischen Beschreibung von Schle-
sien,” which shortly afterwards appeared, along with a, for the
time, exceedingly advanced geognostical map of that country.
If, in this work, it is still the waves which have formed
the gneiss and the mica slate, and which could deposit them
only in certain places and in certain directions,on the other
hand, everything lying without the range of these theoretical
views is expressed with such definiteness and perspicuity,
that it can, with the utmost facility, be brought into harmony
with the better theory which we have now attained ; and this
is assuredly an excellent proof of the correctness, fidelity,
and impartiality of the observation.
In the year 1797, Buch met his friend and fellow-student
Humboldt at Salzburg and they soon formed a plan for
pursuing their observations in common. ‘The two friends
wandered about for a considerable time amongst the Salzburg
Alps and in Styria, and then passed the winter together in
Salzburg, where their stay was marked by the meteorological
and eudiometrical inquiries instituted by Humboldt. In
spring Buch proceeded alone over the Alps into Italy, and
respecting all his inquiries he gave to the public the most
valuable reports, which enriched science with new facts, filled
up blanks, and eliminated much that was untenable. Basaltic
rocks, with leucite and augite (pyroxene) in the mountains of
Albano, hitherto regarded by the school of Werner as
neptunistic formations, were recognised by him as lava,
though he still did not venture to remove the genesis of the
German basalts from the position which the then recognised
dogma had assigned to them. But the general turning-point
in his views with regard to the formation of basalt was
already astir within him, as appears from more than one
passage of a letter which, about this time, he wrote to von
Moll, and which has already been printed. Complaining that
he had not yet been able to get to Naples, he proceeds, “I
endeavour to make the best of matters where I am (in Rome),
and wander about over the country. But every day I feel
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch. a)
more and more acutely that it is only half observations which
Iam making. Iam perplexed with the contradictions into
which Nature seems here to fall with herself, and even my
very bodily health suffers under the mortifying feeling of
being obliged to confess in the end that one does not know
what one ought to believe,—frequently does not know if it be
even admissible to believe one’s very eyes.” Again, “I
assure you that Nature contradicts herself much more than I
here seem to do.” (He had been speaking of the neptunic
origin of basalt.) ‘ Make the finest and surest observa-
tions, and then go a few miles farther on, and you will find
occasion, upon grounds just as certain, to maintain the very
opposite of your former conclusion. You see that, in sucha
mess, it is somewhat venturesome to publish observations
that are still so imperfectly established. It is possible that
they may be altered in a day; but two days of Vesuvius
would bring all this to a point.” These lines afford likewise
an interesting proof of the strict scientific conscientiousness
of their author.
Buch arrived for the first time at Naples on the 19th of
February 1799: he studied Vesuvius with the most careful
attention, as might have been expected from his longing
desire to visit the volcano. He was present again, along
with Humboldt and Gay-Lussac, at the eruption of 12th
August 1805. To these two visits we are indebted for Buch’s
excellent and lively descriptions of the phenomena of the vol-
cano, and especially for the first attempt to explain the re-
lations of these phenomena,—an attempt which has since,
after more extensive experience, merely received more exact
definitions upon some individual points (nur einzelene nahere
Feststellungen erfahren). The whole description is a model
of that lively, accurately descriptive, and, at the same time,
picturesque and eloquent style by which the writings of the
deceased were in general so eminently distinguished.
In the year 1802 he visited the south of France, the re-
markable volcanic district of Auvergne, the great counter-
part of our volcanic Kifel. Amongst various other impor-
tant matters, he was the first to determine the notion of the
rock termed by him trap-porphyry, or (as forming the Puy
de Dome) Domite,—-a rock to which Hauy afterwards gave
6 Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch.
the name of trachyte. Upon a view of the basalts which
here, at the foot of the trachytic cone, break out in distinct
lava streams, the notion of the volcanic origin of the basalt
of this district ripened with him into conviction; but this
view he did not yet venture to extend to the German basalts.
The faithful disciple and reverer of Werner had no light
struggle to undergo before adopting so extensive an altera-
tion on his creed; but by degrees he assumed the volcanic
origin of basalt in its most universal acceptation. The re-
sults of his extensive observations, with the valuable conclu-
sions which he drew from them, were given to the world
in his “ Geognostischen Beobachtungen auf Reisen durch
Deutchsland und Italien, 2 Bande 1802 and 1809.”’
Buch now turned his steps to Scandinavia, through which
he travelled during two full years,—from July 1806 to Oc-
tober 1808 : he penetrated to the extreme northern point of
Europe: in the North Cape, upon the island of Mager-Oe,
he made, in rapid succession, the greatest discoveries in re-
gard to the structure of the earth’s crust; and we can only
regret that, within the limits at our disposal, it is impossible
to follow his steps. Climatology and the Geography of
Plants obtained the most valuable additions ; and he was the
first to develop and settle the very important fact, which
afterwards received the most perfect confirmation, that Swe-
den, from Frederickshall to Abo, or perhaps till towards
Petersburgh, was in the course of a very slow but continuous .
elevation above the level of the sea. The whole treasure of
those contributions to science is contained in the “ Reise
durch Norwegen und Lappland, 2 Bande, Berlin, 1810. *
After this, his German fatherland formed the principal
object of his wanderings and investigations ; but it was es-
pecially to the gigantic Alps (which he also subsequently tra-
velled over and studied in every direction) that he devoted
his valuable leisure.
The grand phenomena of the volcanic reaction of the inte-
rior of the earth upon its surface in the Canary Islands, the
* An English translation of this valuable work was published in London,
with numerous annotations and illustrations, by Professor Jameson of Edin-
burgh.
a ae -
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch. 7
mighty peak of Teneriffe, the volcanic islands of Gran Cana-
ria, Palma, and Longerate, presented powerful attractions to
his mind. Accompanied by the Norwegian botanist Chris-
tian Smith (who afterwards met with an untimely death in
the unfortunate English expedition to Congo), he set. sail
from England for the volcanic group, and in the end of April
1815 landed in Madeira, from whence they gradually visited
the other islands. The agencies—present and in progress—
of the voleanoes were discovered and exhibited in the clear-
est manner. Never before had the relief forms of the vol-
canoes been so perfectly made out and placed in harmony
with their genesis, and the description was illustrated by
most excellent maps, such as had never before been seen,—
monuments at once of the industry of the quick and faithful
eye, and of the accurate hand of the illustrious geologist:
In the valuable work “ Physicalische Beschreibung der Cana-
rischen Inseln, Berlin, 1825, mit Atlas.” Buch went far be-
yond the immediate results of his voyage. _ With his happy
gift of combination, and supported by a perfect knowledge of
what had previously been observed by others, he shewed that
all the numberless islands lying scattered over the broad
ocean, had, like the Canary Islands, in a peculiar manner,
Separately emerged from the sea as “islands of upheaval”
with their “ crater of upheaval” in the centre ; and he shewed
the significant intimate connection of the volcanoes at the
earth’s surface in the direction of long crevices existing in
its crust. Farther proofs of those, and of other cognate views,
were given in two important treatises which appeared at a
subsequent period, namely, ‘‘ Ueberden Zusammenhang der
basaltischen Inseln und iiber Erhebungs-Krater’ and “Ueber-
die Natur der Vulkanischen Erscheinungen auf den Canaris-
chen Inseln und ihre Verbindung mit anderen Vulkanen der
Erdoberfliche.”
On his return from this important voyage, Buch visited the
remarkable basaltic Hebrides on the coast of Scotland, and
the Giant’s Causeway of Antrim in Ireland.
After this he resumed his inquiries in Germany. The pa-
rallel direction of all the chains of the Alps which had al-
ready attracted the attention of Saussure, formed the subject
of his genetic inquiries, and the results which he attained be-
8 Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch.
long unquestionably to his most important and successful
labours. They present to our convictions the doctrine that
the ancient. seas have not rolled away over the mountain
chains [dass die alten meere nicht iiber die berg ketten weg-
gegangen sind], but that the mountain chains have been up-
heaved into the atmosphere, bursting through the series of
strata in long lines,—fissures, and that these upheavals have
taken place at different geological epochs. A great deal
more, and of much importance, attached itself to the establish-
ment of these views, upon which undoubtedly rests the most
considerable progress that has been made by modern geology.
The eminent French geologist, Elie de Beaumont, has made
a general and most successful application of this doctrine,
which he has also contributed to perfect in a manner that
deserves the most ample recognition. Buch had sketched
in large and distinct traits which must be at once compre-
hended and recognised in their truthfulness by everybody.
Those surprising new facts, with the important conclusions
drawn from them, are accompanied by an excellent geologi-
cal map and remarkable profile drawings, described in a
series of treatises which may be found collected in Leon-
hard’s ‘‘ Taschenbuch der Mineralogie” for 1824.
To the same epoch of Buch’s labours belong, amongst
others, his studies and inquiries with regard to the filling up
of amygdaloids by subsequent infiltration into the vesicu-
lar cavities of melaphyres. I refer to these with the more
pleasure, because I have myself, within the last few years,
succeeded in confirming to demonstration in every respect the
correctness of the master’s theory, by numerous proofs, found
principally in my own neighbourhood, which I have given in
detail in two printed treatises.
Another of Buch’s essential services was his collection of
materials for the first geognostic map of all Germany, which
in 1824 was published in 42 sheets by Simon Schropp in
Berlin. For the time in which it appeared, the map was of
great value. Of course, it will gradually be surpassed in
completeness and exactness by the continuous and more per-
fect observations of more recent works of the sort which
have either appeared already or may be expected to appear
in future. The Prussian government, preceded in that re-
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch. 9
_ Spect by those of regal Saxony and Austria, have, from a
sense of its great utility and importance, taken into their
hands the geognostic delineation of their respective terri-
tories. The impulse and pattern proceeded from the labours
of Buch.
In my chronological dates of Buch’s labours hitherto, I
have chiefly followed the account given by the late Fr. Hoff-
mann, in his ‘“‘ Geschichte der Geognosie,”’ 1838. In many
respects, my own very limited opinion was able essentially
to coincide with it ; and for a great deal that I cannot compre-
hend in this sketch, I would refer those who may be desirous
of learning more about Buch’s works, to the excellent publi-
cation of Hoffmann. But even in it we find nothing like a
perfect catalogue of his numerous monographs and papers.
His works of this sort, included in the Transactions of the
Berlin Academy alone, would fill several thick volumes, not
to speak of what have appeared in various other periodicals,
in the shape of articles or correspondence. ~But in all these
prevails the same comprehensive and combining spirit, inter-
rogating nature, giving happy interpretations to her answers,
and exhibiting all the precision required by the exact sci-
ences.
The study and progress of paleontology, by means of
which modern geology has made such considerable progress,
was at once comprehended by Buch, in all those relations by
which alone it could preserve its real value. It was not
merely the form and anatomy of the plants and animals of a _
former world which he endeavoured to determine by distinct
and immutable characters ; but he was deeply sensible how
important it was to apprehend the continuous metamorphoses
of these formations, through all the periods of the earth’s
development, to determine the limits relative to time and
space, and especially to the successive deposits | Uebereinan-
derlagerungen| in the earth’s crust, for the different forms
of genus and species. The notion and term of ‘“ Pilot shells”
(Leitmuscheln), which, as being easy to be recognised and
determined, everywhere facilitate geognostic inquiry, were
introduced by him, and found of very great advantage to
science. So early as 1806 he had, almost prophetically, in a
10 Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch.
printed discourse “ On the Progress of Forms in Nature”
(Ueber das Fortschreiten der Bildungen in der Natur), pre-
pared the direction on which paleontology has now entered.
In the same spirit are composed his treatise on the Ammon-
ites, which is especially distinguished by its acuteness ; and,
monographs on the Terebratule, Delthyris or Spirifer, and his
Orthis, Productus, Leptzne, &c., &e. In intimate connection
with these paleontological essays, stand others on the dis-
tribution of definite formations over the surface of the earth,
namely, of the Jura formation, the chalk, and the brown
coal. The first-mentioned of these treatises is probably the
last which was ever read by the deceased in the Berlin Aca-
demy (December 16, 1852); in its deeply pondered and com-
bining contents it affords a striking testimony of how fresh
and versatile his mind had continued down to the very latest
period of his life. In his treatise on the brown coal formation
there is opened to the paleontologist a new field of observa-
tion and determination in the nervures of fossil leaves; a
branch of inquiry which, even in the study of living plants
has, in its finer shades, been but too much neglected, and the
culture of which offers every hope of a copious harvest.
Buch’s comprehensive knowledge and labours extended
far beyond the narrow limits of the science of terra firma.
He was a learned physicist in the largest meaning of the
word. Weare indebted to him for much information regard-
ing the atmosphere; we need only refer to his admirable
treatise upon hail, regarding the temperature of springs, Wc.,
&e., and his inquiries and publications on the hii ke of
plants, are of the highest merit and interest.
I am not able to enumerate the whole of his various
travels. He visited Scandinavia a second time; and in the
latter years of his life he was always glad of an excuse for
paying a visit to Switzerland. In the summer of 1852 he
also again visited Auvergne.
He also exercised a benignant influence on the diffusion of
science, by attending the ambulatory meetings of naturalists
in Germany and abroad, especially in Switzerland, Italy,
and England. He was present at the Werner festival, which
was celebrated with great pomp at Freiberg in 1850, the
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch. deb
oldest living pupil of the Mining Academy, and, as may easily
be supposed, he met with the most marked attention. Where-
ever he went he was sure to become the nucleus of an indus-
trious group of givers and takers in the domain of Natural
History. For the last few years Bonn has had the good
fortune to see him almost every summer within her walls,
engaged for a longer or shorter period in intimate intercourse
with some of his fellow naturalists ; with von Dechen, the
now deceased Goldfuss, G. Bischof, F. Romer, O. Weber,
and others, a circle from which the writer of this notice did
not remain excluded. And such was the nature of his inter-
course at other places likewise, which he used to stop at in
the course of his pilgrimages. The latter used to compre-
hend not merely investigations in the field, but likewise per-
sonal intercourse with the initiated, who lived in the neigh-
hood of the scenes he visited. He took an active part at the
meetings of the scientific societies of Berlin.
From what we have said it is obvious that the deceased was
a veryindustriousand active member of the Berlin Academy of
Sciences. The French Institute had done him the honour to
name him an Associé Etranger, of which, as our readers are
aware, thestatutes allow only eight to be elected. Itisimpossible
for me to enumerate the other academies and learned bodies at
home and abroad of which he was a member; they are cer-
tainly very numerous. He never set them forth on a title-
page. For the same reason I can only state, in regard to the
orders with which he may have been invested, that he was a
Knight of the Civil Class of the Order pour le Mérite, and of
the First Class of the Order of the Rother Adler. He was a
Royal Chamberlain of Prussia, and his merits were peel
highly recognised by his sovereign.
It is no easy task to represent the personal qualities of a
distinguished man, especially when, as was the case with the
subject of this memoir, he possessed a number of peculiarities
which place him in an anomalous relation to the common
herd of God’s creatures. In the present case, however, there
is less necessity for dilating, because the great majority of
those who will take an interest in these lines are likely to have
seen the deceased once, at least, in the course of his manifold
12 Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch.
peregrinations. He is also known in his externals by the
excellent likeness which has been so widely diffused, taken
from the very successful portrait executed at the command —
of the king, by our meritorious Rhenish artist, Professor
Vegas. There he sits upon a block of granite, spiritually
rendered, but characteristic and true to the life ; he is resting
from his journeyings amongst the mountains, with his miner’s
crook in his hand, his broad shirt-frill not very nicely plaited,
and one of the tails of his black dress-coat negligently inserted
betwixt his body and his seat. The portrait is a pendant to
that of Humboldt.
Buch was of middle size ; his make might be described as
tolerably strong. His features were distinctly marked, and
he had a Roman nose. The expression of his countenance
was commonly somewhat stiff, little versatile, denoting the
deep earnest thinker; but withal, there would not unfre-
quently play over it a smile, which, in its turn, betrayed no
common degree of mildness and friendliness. Another form
of his physiognomy, the satirical or sarcastic, could also on
occasions be displayed, and harmonised with the pungent
wit of which he could be prodigal upon proper occasions. The
sharpness of his eye seemed mitigated by the glasses which
he constantly wore ; but this organ had a most extraordinary
capacity for the minute distinction of the smallest objects.
His complexion was deeply tanned by sun.
His dress waS commonly neither neat nor well preserved,
though he was fond of elegance in his apartments. This is
also exhibited in the instructive plates with which his works
were, for most part, illustrated. Upon his journeys he gene-
rally wore, even in summer, a black dress-cuat and great-
coat, both well provided with pockets for holding his maps,
note-book, hammer, and other indispensables. He always
went in shoes and silk stockings. His gait was unsteady,
and nobody that saw him moving along, with his head bent
forward over his chest, would have dreamt that this was the
man who had spent the greater part of his life in travelling
about upon foot. When obliged to travel in a carriage or on
a railway he was most unhappy.
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch. 13
He possessed a certain nervous irritability of temperament
which, in his intercourse with others, and particularly when
on his journeys, sometimes gave rise to somewhat odd scenes
and situations ; but the inborn good nature of his character
always brought him off in triumph. He had a strict sense
of justice, and in this respect he would not tolerate the
slightest violation. But not on this point alone but on every
other, he was an extremely fine-feeling man, however little
this may have been betrayed by his external appearance.
Incompleteness or frivolity in the treatment of science was
his aversion. His memory was exceedingly ready and re-
tentive.
He was never married, but he rather enjoyed conversation
with talented women. He never kept a male domestic. A
staid elderly woman had the care of his household. When
he quitted Berlin it was seldom that any mortal knew to what
point of the compass he had turned his face, or when he might
be expected back again. He was just the same man upon a
i journey ; he arrived unexpected, visited his friends, but none
of them ever discovered when he meant to be off again.
He possessed a sufficient amount of worldly goods, not
only for the supply of all his own wants, but also to bring
considerable sacrifices to science and to general benevolence.
He was always ready with his assistance to struggling youth-
ful talent, and never withheld scientific recognition where it
was due.
The departed will now have attained a survey of those
mysteries in the structure and origin of the earth, which even
his clear-seeing spirit could not compass during its abode
upon its surface. This enlivening hope I dedicate to the
_ memory of the departed illustrious naturalist and the beloved
friend. Blessed be the remembrance of the man whose
name (to use the expression of Snethlage at his interment)
is venerated as far as civilisation has extended its empire, and
whose death will create a pang in Germany, in Europe, and
beyond the waves of the ocean.
14
On Pendulum Observations. By ALEXANDER GERARD, Esq.,
Aberdeen.
GORDON’S HOSPITAL,
Aberdeen, 20th April 1853,
Str,—Having read in the last number of the Edinburgh
New Philosophical Journal an account of Observations on the
Pendulum in Bunker’s Hill Monument, and an article respect-
ing the Ordnance Survey, I take the liberty of sending you a
description of an apparatus erected by me upwards of two
years ago, which exhibited the phenomena since observed in
America.
On the 12th of January 1851, a pendulum was suspended
in the following manner :—The ring B was fixed near the
the top of the west wall of a room. WN
Into this was hooked a copper wire:
which was brought down over the
end of abeam, CD. This beam was
built of four pieces of deal, in the
form of a rectangular spout (with
a view of obviating the effects of ¢
hygrometrical changes), and rest-
ed against the wall on a pivot at D. fe
A block of granite, weighing about W
one cwt., was attached to the end of the wire. As the ring
at B projected a little over the point D, the apparatus was
in the condition of a gate swung upon a post not quite ver-
tical. When set a-vibrating, it was seen to perform one oscil-
lation in about 15 seconds, which shewed that it had the same
amount of deflexibility as a pendulum hung freely from the
height of 630 feet. The position of the weight was noted
on a table placed near to the outer end of the beam; and,
if not at rest (which it seldom was), it was either steadied
by the hand, or the middle of the small vibration was taken.
It was observed to be subject to a daily variation, hanging
farthest south about 8 or 9 in the morning, and farthest _
north about 3 in the afternoon. After its movements had
been watched for some weeks, the apparatus was dismount-
ed, and fixed on the north wall of the room. The weight
would thus obviously be free to move in the east and west
Alex. Gerard, Esq., on Pendulum Observations. 15
direction. Its position now was farthest west about 11 A.M.,
and farthest east about 7 P.M., so that 3 P.M. might be con-
sidered the culminating point.
The space passed over was not very accurately noted, but
was greatest on days of bright sunshine, being on one occa-
sion as much as } inch.
The room where the experiment was conducted was on
the first floor of a strong granite building, and separated
from the front by a large apartment and a passage. The sun
at that season of the year never shone upon it, and the changes
took place irrespective of the temperature of the room.
While engaged in these observations, I happened to read
in a newspaper an imperfect account of M. Foucault’s experi-
ment, and erroneously identified it with my own. Under
this impression, I communicated the results of my observa-
tions to Professor Airy, suggesting one or other of the two
following explanations; either—1st, That, by unequal ex-
pansion, the position of the building is in some very small
degree altered by the heat of the sun; or, 2d, That the solar
rays produce some very minute change on the direction of
gravity. The learned Professor, after a short time, favoured
me with his reply, to the effect that, in his opinion, there
could not be a change in the direction of gravity to the ex-
tent indicated, as this would be inconsistent with the steadi-
ness of the zenith point in the best instruments.
Considering the Astronomer Royal as the most competent
judge in this matter, I abandoned the idea of the possibility
of such a change ; and the subject had almost dropped from
my mind, when my attention was recalled to it by the perusal
of your last number. The American Professor joins with
our illustrious countryman in ascribing the phenomena to un-
equal expansion. Yet, with all deference to so high autho-
rity, I would venture to suggest the query, Whether the
suspected change of gravity may not lurk as a residuum in
some of the small corrections usually made on astronomical
observations, and whether the same change may not be the
cause of the difficulty experienced in determining latitudes
with great precision in the Trigonometrical Survey ?
With respect to the Bunkers’ Hill experiment, it is difficult
16 = Alex. Gerard. Esq., on Pendulwm Observations.
to conceive that the sudden shower should have produced so
great an effect in a few minutes, if acting merely by con-
tracting the side of the tower exposed to it, on account of
granite being a very slow conductor of heat; but, upon the
hypothesis of the effect being due to a modifying influence
over the whole adjoining region to windward, that difficulty
is removed. And with regard to my own apparatus, so
strongly sheltered from the direct action of the sun, and placed
not twenty feet from the ground, the same difficulty occurs.
It is of course impossible to find a building entirely free
from unequal expansion, or from tremor, occasioned by wind
or other causes; but the experiment might be brought to a
decisive test by hanging a pendulum down the shaft of a very
deep mine which was not being wrought at the time, or by
floating a powerful telescope upon mercury, after the man-
ner of the horizontal collimator, and directing it in succession
to four equidistant marks placed in the four cardinal points.
The apparent position of the marks with respect to the hori-
zontal wires of the telescope might be altered by unequal
refraction at different hours of the day, but being equally
distant from the observer, they would by this cause be all
affected equally. If, therefore, the horizontal wires should
continue to cut the marks at the same points, or at corre-
sponding points, at all hours of the day, it would be obvious
that no change had taken place in the level of the mercury; |
whereas, if the intersections did not correspond, a change of
level, and consequently of the plumb-line, proportioned to the
discordance, would be equally manifest.
The satisfactory trial of the experiment, in either of these
methods, would imply a command of time, ground, and as-
sistants, beyond the reach of most private individuals, but, if
undertaken by Her Majesty’s Government, might be con-
ducted at comparatively little expense by the machinery
already in operation in the Trigonometrical Survey.
Should this communication appear to you of sufficient im-
portance, the insertion of it in your Journal may be instru-
mental in securing a settlement of the question in the above
indicated or some other decisive manner: I have the honour
to be, &e. ALEXR. GERARD.
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Hygrometers.
| 3 P.M. Weight of} Required | Degree of
be our in| for satura-| Humidity,
1852. ubic | tion of a | (complete
Dry Wet Roe i Foot of wie ¥ ats ah aa
Bulb. | Bulb. | point. {Dew Pomt
~ + , 2 Grains. | Grains.
January 42°95 41°36; 39°43 3°52 3:02 0-39 0:886
February || 43°03} 40°79| 38-16 4°87 2°88 0°53 "846
March 46°67 | 42°37 | 37-67 9:00 2°81 1:02 ‘733
April 54°28 | 47°04] 39°68 | 14°60 3°05 1°84 *619
May 57°07 | 52°39 | 49-13 7:94 4:10 1:24 ‘768
| June 61°69 | 56°53| 52°86 8°83 4°62 1:58 ‘746
July 70°46 | 63°80) 60°46 | 10-00 5°84 2°28 ‘721
August 66°66 | 61°59; 58-54 8°12 5°54 1°69 ‘768
September] 60°60| 55°50! 51:93 8°67 4°48 1:50 *750
October 51°36 | 47°85| 44°35 701 3°51 0°95 788
November || 46°72 | 44°47| 42°03 4°69 3°28 0°55 "855
December || 46°42| 45°05| 43°56 2°86 8°45 0°36 905
1852, 53.99 | 49°89 | 46°48 7°51 3°88 1:16 0°782
1851, 52°36 | 48°77 | 45°74 6°62 3°07 1:76
1850, 52°35 | 48°46 | 45°17 7°18
1849, 52°00| 48°21} 44°91 7:09 3°61 1:10
1848, 51°93 | 48°23] 44°98 6°95
1847, 51°94 44°12 7°82
Terrestrial Radiation.
MEAN NocruRNAL
ABSOLUTE MINIMA.|| ToypeRATURE. || DERRESTRIAL RADIATION.
1852. Six’s Ther- On ee haa or Ther-
mometer, mometer,
4 feet Wool, 4 feet Wool, Max. Min. | Mean.
above the | ,0™ above the| _,°™
Ground. | Tass || Ground. | Grass.
January, . 31°5 21°2 39°43 | 32°84 13: 2-0 6°59
February, 26°5 9 37°07 | 28°47 || 17:5 | 15 8:60
March, 25°5 88 36°95 | 26°25 19: 4°5 | 10°70
April, 32°5 15: 40°63 | 26°83 19: 15 | 13°80
May, . 36° 21°5 44°87 | 36°20 iz: 1:0 8°67
June, . 43° 32°5 51:13 | 42°88 16° 4:0 8°25
July, . 52: 42°5 58°72 | 53°24 12°5 1:0 5:48
August, 50: 36° 54:93 | 48°03 17s 1:0 6:90
September, . 40° 23°5 50°70 | 42:15 || 16:5 | 3:0 8:55
October,. . 34°5 22°5 43°58 | 34°50 14: 3:0 9°08
November, . 26:5 16° 42°02 | 36:14 10°5 0:0 5°88
December, . 32: Zi 42°42 | 36°43 11:5 0°0 5:99
= | aE a gehnepesiteiedictalaicimees! [ae
1852, ‘ 35°8 22°4 45°20 | 36°99 15°3 1:9 8:20
1851, : 35°1 23°3 44:39 | 36°86 16°3 18 7°53
1850, , 33°5 20°8 44°07 | 36°26 15:2 1:0 7°80
1849, : 33°7 18°8 44°15 | 35°05 18:4 2:2 9:09
1848, ; 32°5 20:2 43°79 | 35-73 15°9 1:9 8°06
1847, i> B87 20°5 43°50 | 35°95 15:1 y fa | 7°45
1846, 36:1 23°1 45°75 | 38°30 14°6 14 7°45
19
Meteorology of Whitehaven.
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B2
20 J. . Miller, Esq., on the
Remarks.
The past year is distinguished by several marked peculiarities and
anomalous characteristics, of which the most prominent are,—the
very large amount of rain, and its very unequal distribution over the
different seasons,—the enormous and unprecedented fall in the two
first and two last months, and the protracted drought of ten weeks
in the spring,—the longest, though not the most severe, which has
occurred within the memory of the existing generation, in the North-
ern Counties. The year is further remarkable for its high tempera-
ture, the large amount of surface evaporation, the great heat of July
and August (especially of July, the mean temperature of which ex-
ceeded that of any other month on record)—the great quantity of
free electricity in the air in these months, as manifested by the un-
usual number and almost tropical severity of the thunder storms,—
for the small number of frosty nights and the entire absence of snow,
—and, lastly, for the violent gales of wind which prevailed during
the last week in December, particularly on the morning of Christ-
mas day, when the tempest or hurricane exceeded in violence any
storm which has visited the north of England since the memorable
7th of January 1839.
The abnormal conditions of climate presented by the year 1852,
are so numerous and varied, that they seem worthy of something
more than a mere passing notice. I therefore proceed to discuss
these irregularities in the order in which they have just been enu-
merated. As regards the Lake District generally, the year 1852
exhibits by much the largest quantity of rain which has been re-
corded in any annual period since the experiments were commenced
in 1844, though the falls at Wastdale Head and Seathwaite were
exceeded in 1848, by 5°74 and 4:15 inches, respectively. At the
coast, the depth in 1852 was exceeded in only three of the last
twenty years,—viz., in 1835, 1836, and 1841, in which the at-
mospheric precipitation was 54:13, 58:97, and 55°97 inches, re-
spectively.* It may be observed, that the fall of rain in 1852 has
been relatively much greater in the Westmoreland than in the Cum- ~
berland portion of the Lake District. At Troutbeck, the depth ex-
ceeds the average of the eight preceding years by more than one
half; at Kendal, by nearly one-half; and, at Ambleside, by more
eee ee
* The most extraordinary relative fall of rain in England, in 1852, occurred
at North Shields,—58-21 inches, the average being only 20°37 inches. In §
months previous to June 1852, the total quantity of rain measured was 7‘94
inches; and in the last 7 months of the year, the fall was 52°41 inches ;—viz.,
in June, 7°52 inches, in July, 5°71 inches, in August, 6°92 inches, in September,
8°65 inches, in October, 7°82 inches, in November, 9°91 inches, and in Decem-
ber, 5°88 inches.
Meteorology of Whitehaven. 21
than one-third ; while, in Cumberland, the surplus varies from one-
third, at Keswick and Bassenthwaite, to one-tenth of the mean an-
nual quantity, at Langdale and Seathwaite. At Stonethwaite,
within two miles of Seathwaite, the excess is fully one-fifth ; and at,
Buttermere and Gatesgarth, about an equal distance apart in the
same line of valley, it is one-fourth and one-sixth of the mean annual
fall in the preceding eight years.
In January and February, the fall at Seathwaite was 47°70 inches,
and in November and December, it amounted to 50°30 inches, so
that, of 156-74 inches of water precipitated at the head of Borrow-
dale in 1852, exactly 98 inches descended in four months ;—whilst
68°74 inches were distributed over the remaining eight months of
the year. The largest quantity of rain measured in 24 hours was
5°74 inches, at Stonethwaite in Borrowdale, which fell between the
mornings of the 11th and 12th of December ;—the depth on the
11th and 12th (for 48 consecutive hours) was 9:11 inches.
The dry weather set in on the 18th of February, and continued
till the morning of the 28th of April—exactly ten weeks. During
this period, there were a few slight showers, amounting, at White-
haven, to 0°318 inch, and, at Seathwaite, to 0-98 inch, quantities
not unfrequently yielded by a smart shower of an hour’s duration. —
From all I can learn, this appears to have been the most protracted
drought which has occurred in the present century, though, from its
commencing very early in the year, its effects on vegetation were
not nearly so injurious as those consequent on the memorable drought
which prevailed in the summer of 1826.
During the 20 years (1833-1852) over which my registers extend,
there have been four remarkably dry periods, but none to compare
with the present in point of duration. The first was in 1836, when
no rain fell in the 34 days between the 30th of April and the 3d of
June. The spring of 1840 was fine and dry. I have no record for
that year, but, at Carlisle, the fall in March and April only amounted
to 0°631, or little more than half aninch. In 1844, a drought set
in on the 23d of April, and continued till the 4th of June—41
days, during which 0-262, or about a quarter of an inch of rain fell.
_ And, there was a further absence of rain between the 25th of June
and the 10th of July, in the same year.
My friend, Robert Jopson, Esq., Woodhouse, Buttermere, on the
day preceding that which terminated the drought of 1826, caused a
post to be firmly driven into the bed of Crammock Lake, on which
a well defined notch was cut, as a permanent record of the depth of
water in the Lake, at a time when it was lower than had ever been
witnessed by the oldest residents in the district. On the 4th of
June,.1844, the water was 53 inches above the notch or mark. On
the 19th of April, 1852, it was just three inches above zero, and on
the 7th of May (when 7-10ths of an inch of rain had fallen) Mr
_ Jopson writes, “‘ the mark was examined this evening, when the Lake
22 J. F. Miller, Esq., on the
was perfectly calm,—not a ripple upon it, and the water was found
to be only 3-8ths of an inch higher than in 1826; and, I have no
hesitation in saying that the present season has been far drier than
the summer of 1826, taking into consideration the time of the year,
the dry weather of 1826 taking place in June and July.”
On the 14th of June, 1824, when Derwent Lake was considered
to be unusually low, a mark was cut in the rock of “ Friar’s Crag,”
by Mr Otley, of Keswick, which he calls zero. On the 5th of July,
1826, the water was six inches below the notch, but this great de-
pression might in part be accounted for by the state of the outlet.
On the 9th of June, 1830, it was 21 inches; June the Ist, 1836,
1 inch; and June 3d, 1844, 4 inches below zero. On the 27th of
April, 1852, Derwent Lake was 22 inches below the zero mark,—
and on the 2d of February last, it was 98 inches above the same
mark. In 1826, the Lake was below zero from the 12th of June
till the 12th of July, when rain came on, but the season might be
called droughty from the 13th of April till the 12th of August—
17 weeks. Two stooks of barley were cut at Portinscale on the 30th
of June, and new oats from Underskiddaw were sold on the 5th of
August in that year. In 1844, the Lake was at or below zero
from May 16th to June 9th; and, in 1852, it was below zero from
the 9th of April till the 9th of May. Hence, while the meteorolo-.
gical records kept at Whitehaven testify that no drought of equal dura-
tion to that of 1852, has happened during the last 20 years, the
comparative depth of the water in Crummock and Derwent Lakes
affords evidence almost equally conclusive, that so long a continu-
ance of dry weather has not occurred since the memorable drought
in 1826, or within the last 26 years.
The unusually calm state of the atmosphere during the late remark-
able weather must have been striking, even to the most superficial
observer ; and, fortunate it is that this stillness prevailed. Had the
drought been accompanied by strong easterly winds, or, had it occurred
at a somewhat later period of the year, the evaporation from the
ground would have been increased to an enormous extent, and the
effects would, in all probability, have been most disastrous, both to
the vegetable and the animal kingdoms. Thus, in 1844, during
the 41 days of drought between the 28d of April and the 4th of
June, with occasional strong easterly winds, the evaporation amounted
to 7:825 inches; but, in the late dry period, which lasted 29 days
longer, the water raised by evaporation in 70 days, is only 5°979, or
barely 6 inches.
At the summit of Great Gabel, there is a vertical cavity in the
rock, which, owing to the frequent presence of clouds, the high de-
gree of humidity, and consequent feeble evaporating force at this
elevation, always contains water, except in the very driest seasons.
This ‘‘ atmospheric spring, or well,’’ as it is called, contained very
little water at the end of March, and we may assume that it was
quite dry early in April. The well was also dried up in the
Meteorology of Whitehaven. 23
spring of 1844, This ‘‘ atmospheric spring’ is highly regarded
by the simple inhabitants of the Dale, and when the ‘‘ Sappers and
Miners” engaged in the trigonometrical survey, accidentally covered
it over in 1844, a great stir was made till it was re-opened, by order
of the officers. It may not be uninteresting to note the circumstances
attending the cessation of so remarkable a drought. The night pre-
ceding its termination was sufficiently fine and clear to admit of my
obtaining an excellent set of measures of the binary Star, & Bootis,
between’ 10 and 11 o’clock ; at midnight, the sky was covered with
a very thin veil of Cirro-stratus, reflecting a large, faint, lunar halo,
which was followed by heavy rain at 7h. 30m. on the following
' morning ; and, by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, 6-10ths of an inch had
fallen. The writer may here remark, that the lunar halo is the most
certain prognostic of speedy atmospheric deposition with which he is
acquainted. A halo seen in the evening is almost invariably fol-
lowed by rain in the course of the night; and, the larger the ring,
the sooner does precipitation ensue. This long-continued drought
ended rather suddenly, with a high state of the barometer; nor was
it either preceded or succeeded by any marked fluctuations, either of
pressure or temperature.
The excessive heat which prevailed throughout the greater part
of the summer of 1852, will long be remembered. The month of
June scarcely attained to its average temperature. Hail fell in the
Lake District, on the Ist and 2d; and, on the 3d, the higher
mountains were capped with snow.
At Greenwich, July was the hottest, month in any year since 1778,
At Whitehaven, the mean of the day extreme was 71°37, and that of
the night, 58°72, the mean temperature (65°°04) exceeding the ave-
rage of the month by 4°88, and that of any other month on record
by 1°83. At Seathwaite, the mean of the maximum was 69°-17,—
of the minimum, 58°:3,—mean temperature, 63°°76 degrees.
August was also remarkably warm, (though its mean heat was 4°
less than that of July) and both months were characterised by an
extremely disturbed electrical condition of the atmosphere. I cer-
tainly never remember a summer in which there occurred such nu-
merous and awful thunder-storms. Throughout June and July, the
air seem to be charged to overflowing with electricity. On several
_ nights, electric flashes of dazzling brilliancy followed each other with
scarcely a moment’s intermission, from sunset till near sunrise ; and
many fields of the potato plant were completely blackened ina single
night,
The winter of any year which passes over without snow, must be
unusually mild. The only snow seen at Whitehaven in 1852, con- |
sisted of a few particles which fell on the 9th of January and on the
Ist of March, scarcely deserving the name of slight showers.
November and December, in addition to their excessive wetness,
were distinguished by a very high temperature, and an almost entire
absence of fresty nights, which amounted to three only. At White-
‘wee
24 J. F. Miller, Esq., on the
haven, the month of December was no less than 4°:5 above its ave-
rage mean temperature. At Greenwich, it was the mildest month
in the last 80 years,—and November was exceeded by only one
year (1818) in the same period.
The fal! of rain in December at Whitehaven, was 11-002 inches,
a greater quantity than has been gauged in any one month during
the last 20 years,—and exceeding the average by no less than 7:16
inches. Every day but one was more or less wet. On the 11th
and 12th, an extraordinary amount of rain fell over the Lake Dis-
trict, and, the consequence was, the highest floods ever known at
Keswick, Cockermouth, and other places. On the morning of the
13th, the height of Derwent Lake, and of the River Greta, was
greater than it had ever been before, in the memory of any living
individual. The water was deep on the Main Street of Keswick
for upwards of 100 yards from the bridge across the Greta, and it
completely inundated some of the houses, doing a considerable amount
of damage. In consequence of the overflowing both of the rivers Der-
went and Cocker, the principal street of Cockermouth was flooded to
the depth of 2 or 3 feet, and a salmon was seen swimming opposite
to the Globe Hotel in that town.
At the ‘* Goat,” at the outskirts of Cockermouth, the water co-
vered the mantelpieces in several of the houses, and the lives of the
inhabitants were placed in imminent peril. The railway between
Cockermouth and Workington was under water, and one of the
wooden bridges was carried away. Windermere Lake was exceed-
ingly high, and it would have been higher than on February the 9th
1831 (or seven feet above its usual level), had not the outlet been
made one or two feet deeper near Newby Bridge, for the passage of
steamers. Under these circumstances, the Lake was just three
inches lower than in February, 1831. On the 11th and 12th of
December, the quantity of rain measured at Stonethwaite, for forty-
eight hours, was 9°11 inches; at Seathwaite, 7°57 inches; and at
Cummock Lake, 6°60 inches. In five days of this month, 15:18
inches fell at Seathwaite, and 16°36 inches at Stonetliwaite.
The mean temperature of 1852, at this place, was 60155, which
is 1°31 above the climatic average. In the last 20 years, there have
been but three which have attained to a temperature of 50°,—viz.,
1834, 1846, and 1852. |
The Evaporation is 30°35 inches, exceeding the annual average
quantity by 0°519 inch, and the amount in 1851, by 5.008 inches.
The greatest depth evaporated in any single day was 0'386 inches
on the 27th of July, with a temperature of 73°:5—complement of
the dew point 9°, and a bright unclouded sky.* In the almost
tropically fine and dry year 1842, the evaporation amounted to 36°83
inches, exceeding the depth of water precipitated by 2°143 inches.
oo
* he greatest depth of water raised by evaporation in 24 hours, during the
Jl years last past, was 0°430 inch, on the 22d May, 1844.
Meteorology of Whitehaven. 25
Winds.—In 1852, the winds were distributed as under :—wN..,
17 days; NE., 77 days; E., 193 days; SE., 343 days; S., 65
days; SW., 93 days; W., 34 days; NW., 244 days; and, dead
calms, 15 days. As usual, the SW. is the prevalent wind, but the
easterly points are above the average number.
Weather, §c.—In the past year, there have been 50 perfectly
clear days; 190 wet days; 126 more or less cloudy, without rain ;
287 days on which the sun shone out more or less; 21 frosty
nights ;* 2 slight snow-showers ; and 19 days on which hail fell.
There have also been five solar and seven lunar halos, 1 parhelion,
1 lunar rainbow, 15 thunder-storms, 4 days of thunder without visi-
ble lightning, 7 days of lightning without thunder, and 10 exhibitions
of the Aurora Borealis. The days of cloudless sky in 1852, exceed
those in the memorably fine and luxuriant year 1842, by seven. In
1851, the perfectly clear days were 19; in 1850, 11; in 1849, 12;
in 1848, 18; in 1847, 16; in 1846, 27; in 1845, 21; in 1844,
30; in 1848, 31; and, in 1842, 43; the average number in the
last 11 years being twenty -five.
Atmospheric Phenomena.—Aurora Borealis.—Of the 10 ap-
pearances of aurora recorded in 1852, 3 were seen in February, 2
in April, 3 in September, 1 in N overhBery and 1 in December.
The most brilliant displays of this beautiful meteor occurred in Feb-
ruary and in September, of which the following particulars are
copied from the local register :—
nearly cloudless sky throughout the day. In the evening, there was
the most magnificent and extensive aurora which has appeared for
some years past. At 7h. 30m., occasional streamers rose up from
E. to WSW., and at 9h., two-thirds of the sky was covered with
the auroral mist and streamers, the latter converging at a point
south and east of the zenith, which, at 9 p.m., was situated about 8°
N., and a little E. of Castor. From W. to NW. the meteor was
extremely brilliant, the bases of the streamers forming an arch, the
centre or highest part of which was elevated about 25° above the
horizon. The arch formed by the bases of these streamers was fre-
quently tinted with a bright rose colour, resembling a fringe ; and,
_ below, the sky was of a deep black. From this time till past mid-
night, the aurora increased both in extent and intensity ; and, at
times, fully nine-tenths of the sky was covered by it. In the NE.,
the streamers were tinged with a deep rose colour. At 11h. 30m.,
the luminous matter was arranged round the point of convergence in
a series of elliptic segments, presenting a very striking and uncommon
phase of the phenomenon. ‘The occasional minute clouds which
* Of the 21 days, or rather nights of frost, in 1852, 3 occurred in January,
7 in February, 7 in March, 1 in April, 2 in November, and 1 in December.
26 J. F. Miller, Esq., on the
passed over the sky were black as ink, and they appeared to stand
out in relief, conveying the impression of their being at a very much
lower altitude than the aurora. The light emitted by the meteor
was very considerable, and I think moderately-sized print might have
been read by its aid. At 1 a.m., the aurora had diminished in ex-
tent, and was then altogether confined to the northern half of the
sky, but I am told it was visible till break of day.
February 21st.—On coming up street, at nine o’clock this even-
ing, there was an irregular auroral arch in the NW., and frequent
vivid flashes, resembling sheet-lightning. Before 10h., the sky was
overcast and the aurora concealed from view. On looking out, at
18h., although the sky was still covered with a thin sheet of cloud,
the flashes were extremely vivid, and were repeated every few seconds,
exactly resembling the playful horizontal sheet-lightning seen on fine
summer evenings. I never saw the magnetic flashings so bright and
frequent on any former occasion. Auroree were seen every night
between the 15th and 21st, at different places in England, during
which period the Greenwich Observatory magnets were much dis-
turbed, and the electric telegraph needles were considerably deflected.
The aurora of February 19th, was visible throughout England and
the continent of Europe, and in America.
September 20th.—Overcast, with frequent heavy showers and
gusts; afternoon, gleams; at 3h., a loud peal of thunder from the
northward ; evening, showers. At 10h. 5m. p.m., the watery cloud
then overhead partially cleared away, and disclosed a magnificent
colourless arch about the width of a rainbow, extending nearly to the
visible horizon at both extremities, which terminated in the ESE.
and WSW. astronomical points. The arch, which was of per-
fectly equal width throughout its extent, divided the heavens into
two not very unequal portions, its centre passing about 10° south of
the zenith. In about three minutes after I first saw it, the clouds
again closed in, and the phenomenon disappeared, so that I had not
sufficient time to have recourse to the altitude and azimuth instru-
ment, or even to notice its position with respect to the fixed stars,
but it was observed that its eastern portion covered the star Algol.
There was no other trace of aurora in the sky, except a slight blush-
ing in the NW.
Remarkable Meteor.—February 22nd.—Light breeze; fine and
sunny, very damp day; from 4 p.m., dense damp fog. ee he tle v ba
7
ee a
Distribution of Rivers. 65
An observant traveller in North America, [eatherstone-
haugh,* when tracing the country along the banks of the
Arkansas river, came to a deep and lonely gorge where the
main stream of that river had once flowed. In the alluvium
there he remarked alternate layers of a red ferruginous
clay, and of a whitish sand, frequently repeated. His pre-
vious experience of the tributaries of this river enabled him
thus to account satisfactorily for this appearance. He says,
‘What exceedingly interested me here were the curious
party-coloured deposits of clay and sand which had been left
by the various inundations of the river that had taken place
since this channel was abandoned. These inundations could
almost be enumerated by the thin strata they had produced.
There was a layer of red clay, then one of white sand, then
again a mixture of both, and occasionally large blotches or
masses of whitish clay, enclosed in a regular deposit of red ar-
gillaceous earth. The last deposit consisted of about an inch
of dull red argillaceous matter, most probably brought from
the country where the river Canadian flows. Appearances of
this kind are often met with in indurated rocks, where they
can only be accounted for conjecturally. This alluvial depo-
sit is, however, undoubtedly owing to the extraordinary cha-
racter of the river Arkansas, a mighty flood, which, deriving
its most remote sources from the melted snows of peaks of
the Rocky Mountains, from 10,000 to 15,000 feet high, and
holding its course among the mountain chains for at least
200 miles, pursues its way nearly 2000 miles before it joins
the Mississippi. But the sources of this stream are nume-
rous, and some of them are six or seven hundred miles apart
from west to east. The southernmost sources flow through an
ancient deposit of red argillaceous matter for several hundred
miles, which gives the red muddy character to the Canadian
and its branches. The western and northern sources bring
down mineral matter of various kinds and colours; but, to
the.east, some of the branches take their rise in the petro-
silicious country through which I had lately passed, and the
white arenaceous deposits are sufficiently indicative of their
eastern origin. The branches thus referred to being of un-
* Excursions through the Slave States of America.
VOU. LV. NO. Cl1xX.—JULY 18538. BE
66 Dr A. Thomson on the
equal length, and separated by great geographical distances,
and the melting of the snow and the rainy seasons being go-
verned by differences in their latitude and elevation, they are
consequently subject to overflow at different periods.”
Something of the same has been observed by other travel-
lers on the lower banks of the Amazon, where there is a
greater distance between the tributaries, and greater varie-
ties in the periods of flood of the various affluents,—a layer
of deep tenacious clay, alternating with various coloured sands
and gravels, being here a common occurrence.
This may so far tend to explain appearances in the dilu-
yvium of our own neighbourhood, around Edinburgh, where al-
ternations of clay, sand, and gravel, are by no means uncom-
mon. h,5th of an inch. Dr
D. further thinks that the precipitation is an ordinary rather
than an uncommon occurrence here, as is shewn by the dis-
coloration of the sheep of the country, especially after ex-
posure of many months on the higher fells. Seen on the
mountain pastures, or, when driven into the lower meadows
in the early spring, their coats are of so dark a hue, as to
resemble closely those of their fellows fed in the most smoky
precincts of our great towns; and, on examination, the
colouring matter staining the fleece is found to be similar to
that of the black film of the lakes and tarns, and, in brief, it
is essentially soot.*
J. F. MILLER.
OBSERVATORY, WHITEHAVEN,
April 1858.
On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
(Continued from page 323 of vol. liv.)
Although with regard to the majority of minerals and rocks
which present a porphyritic structure, the inference to be
drawn from the before-mentioned facts is, that the formation
of the imbedded substances has been subsequent to that of the
entire mass, and probably even to the perfect solidification of
the matrices, it is undoubtedly necessary to take a different
_ * Bdinburgh Philosophical Journal for January 1852, p. 64, and private
letter from Dr Davy.
86 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
view of the origin of conglomerates generally, and likewise
of some porphyritic masses.
The formation of ice upon ploughed land, and at the bot-
toms of rivers, appears to furnish a very instructive illustra-
tion of the mode in which conglomerates are produced.
When after long-continued rain a frost sets in, ice is rapidly
formed between the lumps of earth which are thus gradually
separated from each other. The formation of ground ice in
rivers commences in a Similar manner between the pebbles,
and in both cases a kind of conglomerate is produced in
which the cementing substance is ice. At the present time
a conglomerate is gradually forming in the bed of the
Neckar in a precisely analogous manner. The water of this
river contains carbonates of magnesia and lime in solution,
and these substances are deposited in the form of dolomite
between the pebbles, separating them from each other, and
cementing them together.
Immediately above the brown coal at Klein Augesd, near
Teflitz, there is a bed of quartz pebbles cemented together
by iron pyrites. There can be no doubt that this bed is
more recent than the underlying coal, and that the iron
pyrites is more recent than the overlying bed of clay. The
pyrites has here been formed by the reducing action of the
coal upon ferruginous solutions filtering through the clay,
and being deposited between the quartz pebbles, has gradu-
ally pushed them apart, and cemented the whole into one
mass.
In the neighbourhood of Freiberg, a sandstone is now be-
ing formed from the sandy refuse of the ore washing. This
refuse contains iron pyrites, and the oxide of iron resulting
from its decomposition cements together the siliceous par-
ticles in such a way that hand specimens of the mass cannot
be distinguished from an ordinary ferruginous sandstone.
In the alluvium of Meronitz (Bohemia), iron pyrites has
been deposited between fragments of pyrope, forming a con-
glomerate on a small scale. The cementing matter of the
pyrope is sometimes green opal, and more rarely gypsum.
Judging from the phenomena of imbedded nodules, it ap-
pears, aS Fournet has very justly remarked, that many stra-
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 87
tified rocks cannot always have possessed the same state. of
cohesion and density which they now present. Where the
geognostic characters of rocks put their sedimentary origin
beyond all question, it must not be supposed that their for-
mation consisted solely in mere mechanical deposition ; on
the contrary, it seems that in such cases chemical action has
not commenced until this has ceased. If, then, this is true
of the secondary and tertiary rocks, it is still more probable
with regard to those of more ancient date, which, there is
good reason to suppose, remained for long periods in a
softened condition.
. The conglomerates occurring in lodes, although not essen-
tially different, have been produced under somewhat modified
conditions. In this case, it is generally fragments of the ad-
joining rock which are imbedded in one or more crystallised
minerals. In the lodes near Freiberg, fragments of mica-
slate are found entirely imbedded in crystalline quartz, and
large masses of gneiss, perfectly detached from the adjoin-
ing rock, are found, especially near the roofs, covered with
the various minerals composing the lode, and arranged in
the same order as at the true saalbands. In the lodes of
Schlottwitz, near Dresden, which have suffered repeated dis-
locations, very sharp-edged fragments of band agate are
cemented together, and as it were imbedded in amethyst.
The lodes of red hematite in the upper Erzgebirge have suf-
fered similar dislocations, and fragments of this mineral are
now found imbedded in quartz.
In all these instances, it appears obvious that the imbed-
ded substances are older than the matrices, and it is proba-
ble that the same view must be adopted with regard to that
class of agates which are surrounded by a crust of porphyry
sometimes of essentially different character to the mass in
which they are imbedded. These porphyry-agate balls were
perhaps originally adventitious fragments of another rock.
Hot aqueous vapour or other gases may have removed some
of their constituents, and left the silica in a hydrated opaline
state. There are some facts which greatly favour the opi-
-nion that quartz has been formed by the contraction and
dehydration of opal. For example, in the lodes at Johann-
~
88 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
georgenstadt (Saxony), small masses of white opal occur im-
bedded in hornstone, close to somewhat larger quartz druses
in the same hornstone. These quartz druses are perfectly
closed, and sometimes covered with an exterior crust of opal,
and, when broken, are found to contain water. It is there-
fore highly probable that these agates, which differ widely
from those formed by infiltration, have been formed by the
contraction, of opal.
The occurrence in eruptive rocks of imbedded masses,
undoubtedly adventitious, and whose original condition —
may in some instances be recognised, is very frequent.
The so-called basalt jasper consists of fragments of some
foreign rock. The sandstone of the “ Blauen Kuppe” (Hesse
Cassel) is more or less altered at its contact with basalt
approximating in character to basalt jasper. The basalt jas-
per of Johanngeorgenstadt, and that near Hisenach, are more
homogeneous, but streaks resembling those of the gneiss from
which they have originated are still perceptible. At Hohen
Borkenstein (Bavaria), the fragments of basalt jasper con-
tain crystals of felsite which communicate to it a porphyritic
appearance. It is, however, very probable that the altera-
tion of rocks, consisting chiefly of silica and alumina, into
basalt jasper, has not been caused by volcanic heat alone,
but perhaps more essentially by the introduction of sub-
stances from the basalt.
These facts will sufficiently shew, that with regard to the
phenomena of adventitious admixtures no definite mode of
association can be recognised, it being entirely a matter of
chance that an eruptive rock tears away and encloses frag-
ments of those through which it penetrates, nor have these
phenomena any further connection with the present subject,
than as serving to prove that the substances imbedded in.
mixed rocks or simple minerals may be of very different
origin, and that any exterior resemblance, especially of
form, is insufficient by itself to justify the inference of a
similar mode of formation. Thus, the nodules of olivine and
basalt jasper occurring in basalt, and alike both in shape and
size, have certainly originated by very different processes.
In some rare instances the matrix of a porphyritic rock
would appear to be the most recent. Both Darwin and Credner
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 89
mention the occurrence of broken felsite crystals in granite,
and Néggerath has observed them in trachyte. In a lava at
Etna, crystals of pyroxene have been found collected together
at the under surface, as if they had sunk. However, it is
probable that these facts will not admit of any other infer-
ence than that there was some interval between the soldifica-
tion of the matrix and that of the imbedded substances. On
the other hand, there are mixtures of minerals presenting a
porphyritic appearance, of which the matrix is undoubtedly of
much later date than the minerals it contains. Quartz very
frequently contains tourmaline, sometimes in crystals, though
never perfect ones. The terminal planes at one end of the
erystal may be perfect, but the other end is always broken.
It is most frequently found in fragments, sometimes even
eurved and cracked, and the quartz is found to adhere more
strongly to the electro-negative pole of the fragments. When
there is a preponderance of tourmaline in this mixture, it is
called tourmaline rock or schorl. It often contains cassite-
rite very finely disseminated throughout its mass; and, be-
sids other localities, it occurs in Cornwall. In this mixture,
the quartz must be the more recently formed, for whenever
definite crystals of quartz and tourmaline are associated in
druses, the quartz is always implanted upon the tourmaline.
It is therefore extremely probable that this rock was formed
by a deposition of silica in an opaline condition around
tourmaline crystals, and that on its subsequent conversion
into quartz, the crystals were broken by the contraction of
the siliceous mass.
Fragments of some species of epidote occur imbedded in
quartz in a precisely similar manner. The contortions and
fractures of these fragments are sometimes very marked, as
in the magnesian epidote of St Marcel, the zoisite of the
Tyrol and Carinthia, &c. It is further probable that the
so-called epidote rock is precisely analogous in point of for-
mation to the above-mentioned tourmaline rock. Quartz,
when associated with epidote in crystals, is always implant-
ed upon it. The epidote and quartz veins in the diorite of ©
Neustadt (Saxony), of the Labyrinth Berge (Bavaria), the
druses from Arendal (Norway), Bourg d’Oisans, Pitkarand
90 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
(Russian Finland), and all other localities, without any ex-
ception, furnish evidence of the more recent formation of the
quartz.
The same remarks apply to beryl], fragments of it occurring
imbedded in quartz (America and Siberia), while it appears
of anterior formation to the quartz with which it is associated
in druses. When definite crystals of topaz and quartz are
associated together in druses, as in Siberia and Saxony, the
latter always appears as the more recently-formed mineral ;
but there is in the collection of Prince Lobkowitz a large
crystal of quartz from Capo di Villa Rica (Brazil), contain-
ing an imbedded fragment of topaz.
Near Krageroe (Norway), fragments of amphibole occur
imbedded in a reddish white felsite, which is probably peg-
matolite.
Wherever wolframite and scheelspar are associated, the
latter must be regarded as a product of the decomposition of
the former, which is always the older mineral. When they
form twins, the wolframite is never in a perfect state at the
points of contact. However, a large mass of scheelite from
Schlaggenwald (Bohemia), contains imbedded fragments of
ferro-wolframite crystals, the edges of which are somewhat
broken. This mineral has recently been met with in a simi-
lar manner in iron pyrites at Schneeberg; while, in other
places, iron pyrites appears as the more recent mineral, being
implanted upon the wolframites.
The following table comprises the most important instances
of porphyritic structure, either in simple minerals or in
those rocks which, like basalt clay-slate, appear to the naked
eye to be homogeneous. Among the sedimentary rocks are
some which, like astrite-slate, tale-slate, &c., cannot be re-
garded as such in their present state :—
I. Porpuyritic Minerats which do not occur as rocks :—
Substances imbedded.
Calcite, . : - Mica,
Apatite, . ‘ . Cryptolite.
Chlorite, . é . Garnet, scheelite,
Lepidomelan, . . Black amphibole.
Sanidine, . ; . Apatite, hauyne, nosean, nepheline, meion-
ite, melanite, zirkon, titanite, ilmenite.
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 91
Labrador, . ; . An astrite, corundum.
Lode quartz, . . Pyrophylite, iron pyrites, and a greatnum-
: ber of the metalliferous minerals oceur-
ring in lodes.
Garnet (aplome), . Scapolite (Arendal.)
Garnet (rimosus), . Ilmenite.
Agalmatolite, . . Diaspore.
Iron pyrites, . . Glassy actinolite, quartz with a fatty
lustre and in rounded crystals (Boden-
mais, Bavaria), gelbnickelkies (Dillen-
burg, Nassau).
Copper pyrites, . . Aplome, iron pyrites, tesseral pyrites,
heavy cobalt glance.
Magnetic pyrites, . Anamphibole, iron pyrites, copper pyrites.
Copper glance, . . Iron pyrites,
II. Seprmentary Rocks :—
Rock salt, . " . Glauberite, anhydrite.
Gypsum, . : . Rock salt, crystals of gypsum, tharandite,
arragonite, boracite, quartz, iron pyrites,
sulphur,
Crystalline limestone, ) Calcite, meroxene, wollastonite, couzeran-
exclusive of the in| ite, glassy actinolite, pyreneit, magnet-
tive limestones, ite, iron pyrites, heavy cobalt glance.
Compact limestone with- Cale} ij lo +
Plein Iikowiseaa }\~ 2 cite, coccolite, quartz, 1ron pyrites,
Cea sulphur.
9 °
Dolomite, . : . Dolomite, tremolite, tourmaline, corundum
(Airolo, Switzerland), iron pyrites.
Anhydrite, ‘ . Rock salt, boracite, sulphur.
Astrite* slate, . . Dolomite, breunerite, apatite, talc, glassy
actinolite and other amphiboles, pista-
cite, diopsid, garnet, beryl, several tour-
malines, titanite, magnetite, iron py-
rites, mispickel.
Dolomite, breunerite, glassy actinolite,
disthene, galenite, dichroite, and pseudo-
morpus derived from it, as fahlunite,
magnetite, iron pyrites, arsenical pyrites.
of quartz is here like-
Tale-slate—the absence ;
wise remarkable,
Hornblende slate
(quartz absent),
Clay slate, : . Amphibole altered to substances resem-
bling serpentine and alusite, generally
in the altered varieties called chiarto-
lite, iron pyrites, mispickel, leucopyrite,
gold.
; Garnet, magnetite.
_* Breithaupt applies this term to the astrite or mica, with one optical axis,
which occurs as a rock without being in all cases chlorite. The chlorite slate
is included. Quartz is usually altogether absent.
92 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
Serpentine is in all cases a product of the alteration of either eruptive
or sedimentary rocks, The minerals imbedded in it are usually pseudo-
morphous, as, for instance, phastine, which has undoubtedly originated.
from bronzite.
III. Eruprive Rocks. In these the absence of quartz and phengite is
very remarkable :—
Basalt, . : . Astrite, hauyne, sanidine, oligoclase (near
Predazzo, Tyrol), basaltic amphibole,
bronzite, augite, zirkon, corundum, oli-
vine, ilmenite, magnetic pyrites.
Phonolite, ; . Nepheline, sanidine, basaltic amphibole,
semeline, ilmenite.
Compact felsite (the) Astrite (rare), liebenerite, pegmatolite,
most frequent po | oligoclase, pistacite, quartz, iron pyrites,
phyry), . gold.
Pitchstone, d . Astrite, sanidine, quartz.
Obsidian, . i . Sanidine.
Pyroxene (augitic) lava Astrite, sodalite,leucite, sanidine, Labrador
pyroxene, olivine, hyalosiderite.
The last two rocks, which have undoubtedly been formed
at a very high temperature, are free from either amphibole
or quartz.
Although clay-slate was considered above as a relatively
homogeneous rock, it is, with the exception of that which lies
above graywacke, undoubtedly in the greater number of in-
stances, a very intimately mixed crystalline mass, probably
identical in most respects with mica-slate and gneiss, and as
such to be included among the mixed rocks.
There can be no doubt that granite is chiefly eruptive,
both on account of its geognostic position and frequent pene-
tration of schistose rocks. However, the assumption that it
has been in a state of igneous liquidity, is attended with
great difficulties, although it is true that felsite may be
formed at avery high temperature. The temperatures at
which the mineralogical constituents of granite fuse, differ
too widely to admit of the supposition that they were formed
from a melted mass. Again silica, when heated with basic
silicates, readily enters into combination, forming neutral or
acid salts ; thus the slags from iron furnaces consist of bi- or
tri-silicates, and contain uncombined silica only when there
is a great excess in proportion to the bases. The slags of
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 93
the Freiberg furnaces, formed at a much lower temperature,
consist only of neutral and basic silicates, or, if there is a
large quantity of silica, of bisilicates. It is further remark-
able that quartz is never met with in rocks which have un-
doubtedly been formed by igneous fusion. However, the
mica in granite is not only fusible at a comparatively low
temperature, but is likewise in most cases a neutral silicate.
While, then, there is little difficulty in regarding rocks,
consisting solely of silicates, as products of melted masses,
the case is very different with rocks containing both quartz
and neutral silicates. Some kind of hydrated pasty condition
is perhaps more easily conceivable with regard to them, and
at the same time their geognostic relations and transition
into gneiss, mica-slate, &c., must not be overlooked. Granite
is most frequently found to penetrate these rocks. More
rarely it forms beds conformable with mica-slate; and al-
though these are declared to be the result of injection, there
is sometimes difficulty in perceiving from whence the granite
has been derived,—as, for instance, between Penig and Wol-
kenburg (Saxony), where there is no granite in the immediate
vicinity of the mica-slate. Further, lavas and basalt contain
no quartz, and the felsites met with in them are seldom or
ever of the same species as in granite. Pegmatolite has
never been found in basalt phonolite or lava, nor sanidine or
ryacolite in gneiss. :
It must likewise be remembered, that it still remains pro-
blematical whether the rocks possessing aschistose structure
are to be considered as the most ancient. There is, indeed,
Some considerable probability that they are not of sedimen-
tary origin, for it may be supposed they were formed by the
solidification and scaling of the primitive liquid or pasty mass
of the earth at the surface, and that granite was formed more
slowly in the less agitated layers at a greater depth. Du-
rocher, however, says that it is in Scandinavia that we might
expect to find among the rocks of the greatest antiquity the
true primitive granite, which perhaps formed the original
solid surface of our planet. But gneiss is nowhere found
resting upon granite which we can venture to regard as more
ancient than itself.
94 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
The rocks in contact with granite are not in all cases dis-
turbed or penetrated by it. There can be no doubt that the
perfectly undisturbed strata surrounding the granitic mass at_
Aue, near Schneeberg, were formerly continuous. Their
place, however, is now occupied by granite. The fact, that
at the surfaces of contact of these strata with the granite,
there is a great preponderance of quartz crystals, those seated
upon the slate being remarkably large, and projecting into
the granite, as from the saalbands of a lodes, is a sufficient
proof that this change consisted, not in any actual fusion of
the rock, but merely in a softening which permitted a new che-
mical adjustment of the elements. It is not at all improbable
that the primitive mass from which this group of rocks was
formed was still liquid at some depth, and that when, from
Some cause, the gneiss was again softened or rendered pasty,
it assumed, upon after solidification, the form, not of gneiss,
but of granite; for, during this second solidification, at a
depth below the surface, the mass would have been beyond
the influence of those disturbing causes which have already
been alluded to as probably inducing the stratification of
gneiss.
All the members of this group probably resemble each
other as much in regard to the temperatures at which they
were formed as they do in date. From the analogy, in all
essential points, between granite and granulite, granite and
gneiss, granite and mica-slate, there is no ground for assum-
ing that one was of igneous and another of aqueous origin.
The differences presented by the individual rocks of this
group is but a very slight obstacle to the opinion that they
have originated from the same primitive mass, especially when
it is remembered how greatly the petrographic character of
granite or gneiss varies, even in the same mass; that the oc-
currence of certain accessory constituents is confined to par-
ticular spots ; and that they all pass into each other accord-
ing to the presence or absence of one or other of these con-
stituents.
The views entertained with regard to the sedimentary
members of the group of crystalline rocks are very different,
and even opposite. That which regards them as altered me-
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 95
tamorphic rocks, has recently gained ground, although with-
out being in itself very definite ; for, while some geologists
assume that erupted rocks originated from the agglutination,
and even fusion, of sedimentary deposits, others consider that
erupted masses have effected the metamorphism of sedimen-
tary rocks. Taking into consideration the contact phenomena
so abundantly made known by Murchison, the latter appears
to be most probable ; but it is not applicable to all kinds of
gneiss, mica, and clay-slates, which are so frequently in con-
tact with granite, syenite, &c.; and in those cases are
most probably primitive, as their mineralogical analogy with
those rocks is very close.
The accessory constituents occurring in the principal rocks
of this group are the following :—
Rocks. Accessory Constituents,
Gneiss, , Oligoclase, disthene, garnet, tourmaline, dichroite
(only in certain conditions, such as contact
with granite), rutile, allanite.
Mica-slate, ; Chlorite (associated with the usual mixture of
quartz and phengite,* forming a quite pecu-
liar kind of mica-slate (between Falkenau and
Schellenberg, Erzgebirge), amphibole, dis-
thene, garnet, tourmaline, and alusite (it is re-
markable that this mineral is almost always ac-
companied by fibriolite), staurotide, magnetite,
allanite, iron pyrites, gadolinite, gold, graphite.
According to Durocher, the occurrence of many crystallized
minerals imbedded in the gneiss and mica-slate of the Scan-
dinavian peninsula is limited to the granite and amphibole
dikes penetrating these rocks. The principal minerals con-
tained in these rocks, and apparently connected with the
phenomena of metamorphism, are amphiboles, pyroxenes,
garnets, epidotes, disthene, dichroite, tourmaline, beryl, topaz,
apatite, titanite, rutile, and graphite. He excludes gado-
linite and orthite, which are undoubtedly quite independent
of gneiss, and occur only in coarse-grained granite dikes.
Granite, . Apatite, monazite, astrite, nepheline, petalite,
_ pegmatolite (in crystals), amazonite, oligo-
* It is, however, very rare to find astrite and phengite associated in the same
rock,
96 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
clase* (perhaps always accompanied by peg-
matolite, and surrounding it in a wreathlike
manner), tetartine, labrador, spodumene, epi-
dote, disthene, garnet, zirkon, beryl, tourma-
line, topaz, chrysoberyl, titanite (when this
mineral occurs, the granite is always very
poor in mica), pyrochlor, magnetite, cassiterite,
ilmenite, spessartite, specular iron, iytteroil-
menite, mengite, columbite, tantalite (always
accompanied by the prior formed beryl), aeschy-
_ nite, orthite, gadolinite, euxenite, iron pyrites,
graphite.
The occurrence of molybdanum glance has also been re-
corded, although it probably occurs only in fissures. No kind
of rock presents such an abundance of accessory minerals as
granite. Some which, like corundum, arsenical pyrites, gold,
&e., are questionable, have not been enumerated.
Syenite.—This rock, consisting essentially of felsite-mikro-
line, pegmatolite or labrador, and black amphibole, has been
frequently confounded with gabbro and hypersthene rock,
when the amphibole was regarded as pyroxene. Syenite has
probably been formed at a somewhat lower temperature than
dolerite, diabase, nepheline rock, basalt, &c., as the formation
of amphiboles does not require so high a temperature as the
pyroxenes, with the exception of spodumene. Most of the
accessory minerals contained in syenite occur also in granite,
and these rocks are sometimes seen to pass into each other.
Besides those modes of occurrence of minerals already
spoken of, as indicating, in the greater number of instances,
some sort of segregative formation, there are others which
resemble them in this particular, although presenting differ-
ent petrographic features. Among these are the masses of a
mineral, or most frequently of several minerals, which may
be essential constituents, or accidental admixtures, of the
rock in which they are imbedded. The outlines of these
masses are not very well defined, but they are remarkable
for the perfect character of the minerals which compose
them. Some few present a considerable resemblance in one
particular,—the mineral species—occurring with masses of
primitive limestone (Kalkstécken); and, notwithstanding other
* Apparently a much more frequent mineral than was hitherto supposed.
a ee
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 97
differences, it is possible that their modes of formation were
analogous. |
It can scarcely be doubted that these minerals have crystal-
lised out from the mass of the rocks ; they have even formed
druses in which a definite succession of species may be re-
cognised. It is moreover probable that they were originally
in a viscous state, and that the drusy cavities were formed in
consequence of the contraction on cooling and crystallising.
_ These masses of minerals are in every respect connected
‘ with porphyritic rocks and those nodular masses which may
be regarded as the result of contraction. There are, how-
ever, such masses of minerals which from their magnitude
cannot be examined on all sides,—in Scandinavia for in-
stance ;—and it is a question of some difficulty whether these
are not plutonic injections.
In the schistose rocks, masses of crystallised minerals
sometimes present a similarity to beds, and perhaps many of
the deposits of minerals which are regarded as beds of small
extent are in reality the result of a segregation of chemical
constituents subsequent to the formation of the true strata.
The facts which have been observed in connection with these
masses of minerals, afford additional evidence in favour of the
view already expressed, that in the formation of rocks me-
chanical accumulation has been followed at some period by a
chemical re-adjustment of the constituent molecules, giving
rise to those physical and mineralogical characters which
they now present.
Another mode of occurrence of minerals, connected, as re-
_ gards their origin, with the porphyritic structure, is pre-
sented by the so-called divergent zones—accumulations of
minerals which are so situated as to intersect at an acute
angle the planes of stratification of the schistose rocks. Some
of the most remarkable mineral deposits of Scandinavia be-
long to this class. Their origin is obscure, but Professor
Breithaupt is of opinion that they were formerly lodes, which,
together with the rocks in which they are situated, have suf-
fered metamorphism,* thereby losing their sharp lines of de-
- marcation,—the saalbands.
* With regard to the metamorphism of rocks there appear to be good grounds
VOL. LV. NO. CIX.—JULY 1853. tM Ge
98 The Paragenetic Relations-of Minerals.
These divergent zones frequently contain the same mi-
nerals as the above-mentioned masses and the primitive
limestone. In the divergent zones of cobalt glance in very
quartzy gneiss at Skutterud (Norway), a brown phengite mica
occurs in a very characteristic manner. It is, however, less
abundant in those parts of the zone containing amphibole,
which is chiefly associated with arsenical pyrites. It is not
an improbable conjecture that these deposits of cobalt glance
were formerly lodes containing spathic iron, spies cobalt, iron
and arsenical pyrites, which in the general metamorphism
were converted into magnetite, cobalt glance, and tesseral
pyrites. A number of instances prove that in metamorphic
rocks amphibole is very abundantly associated with the more
ferruginous minerals—a circumstance to which Durocher has
specially drawn attention.*
These zones are sometimes interrupted apparently as
though the substance of the pre-existing lodes had collected
together in masses during the metamorphism. The deposits
of magnetite in Scandinavia present these characters, and at
Arendal they contain phrenite and datolite minerals, which
otherwise occur only in lodes and vesicular cavities. It is
likewise probable that the deposits of copper pyrites and
galena in Scandinavia belong to this class, as well as deposits
of pyrites, blende, and garnet, in the Upper Erzgebirge, the
Banat Servia, &c., which present great analogies to those of
Scandinavia.
for the opinion that there are two kinds, the one giving rise to the production
of definite minerals, the other consisting in an alteration, more or less complete,
of such minerals into substances which are not strictly speaking mineral species.
In the former process, although thermic agency may occupy an important place,
it is perhaps more advisable to apply to it the term plutonic, which admits of
a wider signification. The latter process, in which water appears to be a prin-
cipal agent, takes place chiefly in limestone rocks; those consisting essentially
of amphibole and felsite (dioritic), and those consisting of pyroxene and felsite
(greenstones) producing pseudomorphous hydrated silicates, among which, as re-
gards frequency, serpentine takes the first place; then follow pyrallolite, praslite,
gigantolite, aspasiolite, phastine, and all the ophitic substances. Most of the
asbestus occurring in veins in serpentine and diorite, was most probably at some
period amphibole or pyroxene.
* Etudes sur le metamorphisme des roches. Bulletin de la Societé Geol. de —
France, 2° ser., tom. iii.
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. u9
The same remark applies to the beds of brown iron ore
in the zechstone of Thuringia; which consist chiefly of altered
spathic iron—accompanied, when this was manganiferous, by
the usual varieties of wad,—tile ore, and copper pecherz, mala-
chite and copper lazure, resulting from the alteration of
copper pyrites, and even unaltered copper pyrites and fahlerz.
The only difference is, that the metamorphism in this In-
stance would have been aqueous. If this is really the case,
these Thuringian deposits would correspond with the very
frequent lode formation bearing spathic iron, heavy spar,
copper pyrites, &e.
_ The so-called primitive limestone and dolomite occurring as
true beds in the older rocks, are objects of particular interest
to the geologist, and their origin has not yet been satisfac-
torily explained. They differ from the ordinary limestones
and dolomites, in containing imbedded in their mass silicates
and aluminates, as for instance the Teufelstein (Saxony), in
which even garnets and epidotes occur. But the same kind
of white crystalline limestone, sometimes passing into gra-
nular calcite, occurs in enormous masses, generally without
any very definite outlines, and in their general characteristics
somewhat resembling lodes, as well as in smaller masses
which differ still less from true lodes. They moreover pre-
sent a remarkable abundance of imbedded minerals. Various
opinions have been entertained as to their real nature and
origin. Their analogy to lodes is in many instances indis-
putable, as for example at Wiinschendorf, Lengefeld, Boden,
Miltitz, Tharand, &c. (Saxony), at the Bergstrasse on the
right bank of the Rhine, and the Cipollino-stock at the
Kaiserstuhl (Baden), in the centre of a voleanic cone. This
perhaps applies equally to the similar masses of limestone in
Scandinavia, Finnland, the Banat, Servia, the Alps and the
Pyrenees, as well as to the red limestone of the island Tyrie.
It is indeed probable that the masses ejected from Vesuvius
are derived from such a mass of limestone. Finally, the crys-
talline limestones of North America, so rich in beautiful
minerals, must be included in the same class.
In these lode-like masses there are no layers parallel to the
saalbands, but the entire mass is granular, almost always pure
G 2
100 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
white, with the various minerals distributed irregularly
throughout. Druses are sometimes met with, and in those in-
stances definite successions of mineral species are recoy-
nisable. Sometimes relations of age may be detected in the
groups of minerals surrounded by limestone. Upon the whole,
however, it would appear as though the minerals had been
formed almost simultaneously.
It may be inferred from these circumstances, that the entire
space occupied by such a mass was at once filled with a
chaotic mixture, from which the various minerals gradually
separated. The conjecture is therefore natural that the lime
and magnesia were not erupted as carbonates, but as a caustic,
and probably pasty mass, which, acting upon the adjoining
siliceous rocks, gave rise to the formation of new silicates,
aluminates, titanites, together with such other minerals as
fluor spar, apatite, anhydrous iron ores, magnetic pyrites,
and graphite. With regard to these masses it is impossible
to assume that the formation of these minerals has taken
place by a gradual infiltration of solutions. Many of the
minerals have suffered subsequent alteration,—amphiboles,
pyroxenes, &c., have been converted into serpentine and
other ophitic substances. ;
Professor Breithaupt regards as untenable the view put
forward by Mr Dana* of the formation of these primitive
limestones from coral beds by a metamorphic action of hot
sea-water. The circumstance which appears to be most
strongly opposed to that view is, that in Europe at least the
primitive limestone occurs in rocks which are much older
than the coralline limestones. In many instances, moreover,
their eruptive origin cannot be doubted, and this cannot be
reconciled with their formation from coral beds.
Quartz occurs iu these limestones but very rarely, a circum-
stance which appears to follow naturally from the presence
of lime and magnesia with which it was capable of combining.
While the interpretation of the last two classes of pheno-
mena presented very serious difficulties, those which now come
under consideration—vesicular cavities, and the minerals they
contain—are far more intelligible.
Silliman’s Journal 844, p. 135,
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 101
The artificial substances which most resemble rocks are un-
doubtedly the slags of smelting furnaces and glasses. Many
of the former are incorrectly regarded as uncrystalline, and
those which are sub- or mono-silicates, although in large pieces
their fracture is conchoidal, almost always possess a granular
erystalline structure. The higher silicates are generally true
glasses. Both in the one and the other, vesicular cavities
occur very commonly, which are considered to have been
caused by the disengagement of gas during their formation.
Many lavas, especially those of active volcanoes, are closely
analogous to these slags and glasses, and are quite as vesi-
cular as the crystaliine slags of the Freiberg and other silver
works. Obsidian, a true natural glass, is almost always.
vesicular. ;
- In the lavas belonging to more remote, although historic
periods, minerals are now and then found, whose chemical
nature does not admit of their being regarded as original
constituents. Thus, for instance, gypsum and vivianite,
Fe O 3 Po, 8 H O, which it cannot for a moment be doubted
are relatively of very recent formation. Crystals of gyp-
sum are likewise met with in the vesicles of the slags
from the Muldner Hiitten (Freiberg). Moreover, the greater
part of those rocks in which interesting associations of mi-
nerals in vesicular cavities are met with, are eruptive rocks.
It may therefore be fairly inferred that the formation of these
cavities is owing to a disengagement of gas. These vesicular
rocks, at the same time, almost always possess a porphyri-
tic structure ; but, what is still more remarkable, they are
seldom met with in the state in which it is probable they for-
merly existed. They are frequently disintegrated, the fracture
generally dull, they present no distinctive mineralogical cha-
racters, and may have been basalt, melaphyr, trachyte, diorite,
or perhaps lava, dolorite, &c. Amygdaloids likewise are very
rarely fresh rocks. Even furnace slags are altered when not
piled up in heaps, from which the meteoric water can readily
run off. The originally sharp-cornered fragments break
down and cohere, forming in the course of time a compact
mass, which frequently does not resemble the original sub-
Stauce in any single character. The atmospheric influence
102 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
is here evident in the course of from 50 to 200 years, and
Professor Breithaupt considers that this long-continued influ-
ence may have converted many rocks into substances quite
different from what they were at their original solidification.
Generally speaking, fresh unaltered phonolite is not vesi-
cular, but only slightly porous, and scattered blocks of it are
then only superficially weathered ; vesicular phonolite, on the
contrary, is scarcely anywhere met with in a fresh state, but
is decomposed throughout. Struve shewed that the weathered
crust of phonolite had lost its potash and soda. E. G. Gmelin’s
investigation of phonolite shewed that it consisted of a zeo-
litic substance, soluble in acids, and a silicate having the
composition of felsite, insoluble in acids, and further, that in
the vesicles and veins the former was more or less wanting,
sometimes entirely so, while these vesicles and veins con-
tained natrolite, which cannot be regarded as of simultane-
ous formation with the phonolite, but has probably been
formed by the extraction of the rock by water. Walterhau-
sen states that the zeolites of Iceland generally occur in a
crumbled earthy bed of decomposed rock, and that the calcite
occurs there in the same manner.
It is probable that the vesicular cavities in rocks have not
in all instances been produced at the original formation of
the rock. Pearlstone, pitchstone, and some felsites, become
vesicular when heated.
Cavities resembling vesicles have likewise sometimes been
formed by the decomposition and removal of imbedded no-
dules,—as for instance in basalt,—by the decomposition of —
the olivine.
The substances which are contained in these vesicular ca-
vities are generally of subsequent date, and have most pro-
bably been formed by an extraction of the rock. In some
agates, this mode of production is almost obviously indicated
by the structure. The vesicular cavities containing zeolites,
heavy spar, calcite, phrenite, and copper and quartz, differ
from those containing agate, in not presenting the point of —
infiltration suo characteristic of the latter. This would ap-
pear to indicate that the substances have been introduced in
a different manner in the two cases. They could not have
—
The Paragenetie Relations of Minerals. 103
been poured into the cavities at one point, but must have
been as it were secreted into them. Where the vesicular
rocks are traversed by lodes, it is probable that mineral sub-
stances have been transferred from them into the vesicles ;
thus, at Annaberg (Saxony), metallic bismuth occurs in the
vesicles of a rock near to a lode bearing cobalt, nickel, and
bismuth minerals.
It is, moreover, probable that the segregative attraction of
homogeneous particles—which has already been alluded to in
speaking of the formation of pyrites,—may have contributed
to the formation of minerals in vesicular cavities.
The green earth so frequently met with in vesicular cavi-
ties is most likely a product of decomposition, apparently of
a mica, rich in protoxide of iron.
When aluminous and non-aluminous zeolites occur to-
gether, the latter are always the more recent. When non-
aluminous zeolites are accompanied by calcite, this is the
more recent.
Although the varieties of felsite, especially sanidine, occur
so frequently as essential constituents of amygdaloid rocks,
no kind of felsite has ever been met with in a vesicular cavity.
But the most frequent aluminous zeolites contain the consti-
tuents of felsite plus water, consequently there is great pro-
bability that they have been formed, in many instances at
least, by the decomposition of felsites. Indeed, desmin, de-
cidedly the most recent of these zeolites, has a great crystal-
lographic analogy to felsite.
Zeolites have never been found imbedded in a porphyritic
manner in any undecomposed rock, and this circumstance
agrees with the view that they have been formed by an ex-
traction of the rock by water; for in such case, the new pro-
ducts could only be deposited in the vesicles or fissures.
The definite successions of minerals in vesicular cavities
are the same as those observed upon lodes; there are, indeed,
instances of lodes and vesicular cavities occurring in the same
rock, both containing the same minerals and in the same
order of succession.
_ Among geological phenomena, those presented by lodes
are probably second to none in interest, both in a scientific
104 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
and practical point of view. As the form and origin of lode
fissures are treated of in all elementary works on Geognosy,
they may here be considered as already known.
The crystallisation of the minerals in lodes has not always
commenced from the saalbands, but, in some few instances,
from the middle of the fissure.
It is a remarkable circumstance that some lodiea have no
out-crop; and although sometimes this may be owing to a
subsequent formation of rock above them, there are instances
in which this view is inadmissible. Moreover, many lodes
which do crop out gradually increase in thickness downwards.
It is a well-known fact, that the lodes in one particular
district have a more or less parallel direction, and those which
intersect at any angle either do not correspond at all in their
contents, or less than those which are parallel.
Upon inquiring into the probable causes by which lode
fissures have been filled with minerals, it is at the outset
evident that they must have been very various. Whena lode
contains only the same series of minerals constituting the
rock traversed by it, this rock is, with few exceptions,*
the source from which the substance of the lode has been
derived,—for instance, veins of calcite in limestone. When
veins of one rock traverse another—basalt in sandstone—
they are of eruptive origin. However, these are less frequent
than those which traverse only one kind of rock, in which the
minerals of the vein or lode either do not occur at all, or only
in very small proportion.
The greater number of lodes, and those of the greatest in-
terest, occur in the older crystalline rocks, and especially in
those possessing a schistose structure, and consisting of sili-
cates, generally mixed with quartz. These anhydrous silicates
are, however, very rare in lodes themselves, while quartz is a
very frequent and abundant constituent of them.
Among the anhydrous silicates occurring in lodes bear-
ing species of the usual ores, the felsites are most rare. A
few, such as pegmatolite, oligoclase, tetartine, have here and
there been met with. On the contrary, epidotes, especially
* The occurrence of granite veins in gneiss is such an exceptional instance.
The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 105
the green varieties called pistacite, are probably more fre-
quent in lodes than in rocks. It is likewise remarkable, that
| some anhydrous silicates which occur in the form of lodes are
never met with as constituents of rocks. Among these are
axinite (strictly speaking, a silico-borate), the very rare mi-
| neral zygadite. The former has been found forming a lode,
together with an arsenical pyrites, rich in cobalt, cobalt
glance, &c., in Chili, Saxony, and Sweden.
The other anhydrous silicates occurring in lodes are,—
Some garnets, pyroxenes, amphiboles, titanites, lievrite, epi-
| dote, beryl, and topaz.
Certain hydrated silicates are more frequent; for instance,
phrenite, datolite (a silico-borate) ; most of the zeolites, many
of which occur likewise in vesicular cavities ; some micas,
and a few amorphous mineral substances.
Silico-borates certainly never occur as constituents of rocks.
Datolite is the only one which occurs in vesicular cavities,
The chief part of the mineral species which occur in lodes
comprises such as are unknown as constituents of rocks, and
they consist, moreover, of chemical elements which are not
present in rocks. These remarkable and important facts un-
questionably indicate: 1. That the minerals contained jin
_ lodes have not been formed by the extraction of the adjoining
| rock; 2. That such substances are chiefly present in veins,
| which, at the time of the formation of the rocks, were re-
| tained in the interior of the earth. We are unacquainted
| with any rocks from which it is probable that the sometimes
enormous lodes of lead, silver, copper, antimony, zinc, arse-
| nic, bismuth, cobalt, and nickel minerals, or even those of
iron or barium, and the sulphur of the sulphurets, could have
been derived by such a process of extraction by water. In-
deed, heavy spar occurs in the Erzgebirge in such frequent
| and large veins that it may constitute no inconsiderable part
| of the entire mountain range, while we are unacquainted
|with any single mineral in these rocks, which are generally
‘in an undecomposed state, containing baryta. Admitting the
hypothesis of an original chaotic admixture of the elements,
}it may be conjectured that the alkaline minerals were first
| formed, on account of the more ready oxidation of their
106 The Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
metals, while the heavier metals, existing perhaps chiefly as
sulphurets, sunk towards the centre. This opinion gains some
amount of probability, from the high specific gravity of the
earth (according to Reich, 5-45; Baily, 5°66), while the mean
specific gravity of all rocks is only 2°75. When, at subse-
quent periods, fissures were formed in the superficial parts
of the earth, they might have been filled by eruptive sulphu-
rets, &c. Most of the metalliferous minerals are or have
been in the state of sulphurets; and the old belief of miners,
that in general lodes are richer the deeper they are worked,
which has now gained considerable probability upon scienti-.
fic grounds, likewise favours the above view.
There can be no doubt that sometimes, although rarely,
the substances present in lodes have at least partly been in-
troduced from above. Instances are known in which some
of the chemical constituents of the minerals must have come
from the surface. For example, the phosphoric acid in pyro-
morphite, wavellite, kaelaite, &c. There are, however, very
serious objections to Werner’s theory, that all the substances
present in lodes were introduced from the surface.
The study of mineral lodes has led to the assumption of
four different modes of formation :—
. (A.) Congeneration.
(B.) Lateral Secretion.
(C.) Ascension ; and
(D.) Descension.
The two latter have, however, been the most frequent. It
is also probable that, in some instances, two or more of these
modes of action have gone on together.
Many lodes have, since their formation, suffered alteration
to such an extent that the substances they contain are all
products of the decomposition of the original minerals ; and
sometimes these products demand a special attention. |
B. H. PAUL.
(To be continued.)
"107
On the Eyeless Animals of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
(Read before the Royal Physical Society, on exhibiting
Specimens of the Animals.) By RoBERT CHAMBERS, Hsq.,
F.R.S.E. (Communicated by the Author.)
The Mammoth Cave of Kentucky is situated on the Green
River, an affluent of the Ohio, midway between the towns of
Louisville and Nashville. The country is here composed of
an elevated plain of the mountain limestone, resting on Devo-
nian and Silurian rocks. The rivers form trenches in the
country about 350 feet deep, and the Mammoth Cave is nearly
the same depth below the surface. It is, as is well known,
of very great extent, not less, it is said, than ten miles, and is
composed of a great flewus of galleries—“ branching, crossing,
inosculating in all directions, and at all levels,’’—all afford-
ing a dry footing, and all pervaded by perfectly sweet air.
Though it is believed that there is but one passage into the
cave, there is constantly a stream of air coming outwards
when the temperature of the outer air is above 60° Fahren-
heit, and a stream going inwards when the outer tempera-
ture is below that point, apparently a consequence of the call
for the establishment of an equilibrium between the air-con-
tents of the cave, which are invariably at 60°, and the outer
air; from which Professor B. Silliman junior draws the in-
ference that the space of the excavations must be immense.
Throughout the cave, even at the distance of several miles
from the mouth, are rivers and pools of water, which evi-
dently have some connection with the waters of the outer
_ world, as they are clear and palatable, and rise and fall with
the neighbouring rivers of the outer country, according to the
drought or wetness of the season. Mr Silliman is clearly of
opinion that the excavations are the effect of moving water,
and of no other cause.
The Mammoth Cave affords a hybernating retreat for vast
numbers of bats; but its constant inhabitants are alone en-
titled to notice. There is a rat of furry coat, bluish in the
body and white in the throat, possessed of large black eyes.
Mr Silliman caught two specimens, a male and female, and
he says of the former that he is satisfied it was entirely blind
4
108 Hyeless Animals of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
when first caught, though after being kept some time in light,
it appeared gradually to attain some power of vision. There
are also some insects, “the largest of which is a sort of
cricket, with enormously long antenne.’’ ‘“ Of spiders Dr
Tellkampf found two eyeless, small, white species, which he
calls Phalangodes armata and Anthrobia monmouthia ; flies
of the genus Anthomia, and two blind beetles, Anophthal-
mus Tellkampfi of Erickson, and Adelops hirtus.”’ There
are also some infusoria.
But the most remarkable animals peculiar to the Mam-
moth Cave are—a crustacean, Astacus pellucidus, and a —
small fish, Amblyopsis Speleus.
These are the species of which specimens are now before
the Society, having been sent to me by John Purves, Esq. of
Kinaldy, Fifeshire, who visited the Mammoth Cave during
the summer of 1850.
The signal peculiarity of these animals is their want of
fully developed organs of vision. Dr Tellkampf and Mr
Thomson, president of the National History Society of Bel-
fast, who were among the first to notice the animals of the
cave, speak of eyes in the crustacea. Agassiz, on the other
hand, asserts that this is a mistake. He says: “1 have ex-
amined several species, and satisfied myself that the peduncle
of the eye only exists, but there are no visible facets at its —
extremity, as in other craw-fish.” * These observations ap-
pear to be fully justified by the specimens now submitted to —
the Society ; for scarcely the faintest trace of an eye can be
detected in the two crustacea. M. Agassiz asserts respect- —
ing the fish, that it has not even rudimentary eyes, and
appears to want even the orbital cavity.—(Agassiz’s and |
Gould’s Principles of Zoology.) From the circumstance of —
its being viviparous, from the character of its scales, and
from the forward structure of its head, he considers it an
aberrant type of his family of Cyprimodonts. There is also,
however, a second species of fish, “not colourless like the
first,” and having external eyes, but quite blind. Mr Silli-
man, moreover, mentions an important fact, that the “larger —
eyed and coloured craw-fish which are abundant without the
* American Journal of Science, &c., vol. ix. No. 31. (Reprinted in Jameson’s.) —
.
Analyses of Fossil Bones of Nebraska. 109
cave, are also common in some seasons in the subterranean
rivers, and so also it is said the fish of the Green River are
to be found in times of flood in the rivers of the cave.”
In reply to a letter of inquiry from Professor Silliman
senior, Mr Agassiz made a few remarks on the presumable
primitive condition of the eyeless animals of the Mammoth
Cave. He says—“ This is one of the most important ques-
tions to settle in natural history, and I have several years
ago proposed a plan for investigation, which if well consi-
dered, would lead to as important results as any series of in-
vestigations which can be conceived, for it might settle once
and for ever the question, in what condition and when the ani- —
mals now living on the earth were first called into exis-
tence.” —(Silliman’s American Journal, ix., No. 51.)
Analyses of Fossil Bones of Nebraska.
The results of the chemical examinations of the bones of
some of the fossil Mammalia from the tertiary formation of the
Mauvaises Terres of Nebraska, are interesting and remark-
able, as shewing the change which they have undergone dur-
ing the long period of interment.
Part of Leg-Bone of Oreodon. Part of Scapula of Paleotherium.
| Water of absorption, ...... Te yee eR ag eS ROR a 2:50
I | as spcasedncecatooden Schepens 3-20
| off by ignition, ...... he
| Phosphoric Acid, WA eps cE 36°77 | cece te cece eeeeeete teen rectseeeenewerns 32°00
Carbonic Acid, ae G eee BE AN DLN ol asters detaimiateein cictescie cio vsiera oe aie aisle acess ipas ee isis aia 4°20
) oS F = 3:20 rtteaceeeoonsecoseeessacscsconcesgunees 3°40
es. Ca=48-93 | Combined with P,............ — 34-00
iehieay se 2.!......... ‘een Barca) S740) SAD ek BOO a = 5:35
Trace of Fe and Mn, ...... Ga a phd lara BH = 1.366
Cd gg SE A )evcnnease = O80
ae aR pds ee Sep! 4:50
OE, See swat ean opidiomen sane vada 0:70
Mg,... 0°90
MUD, ced’ oteenar's tacch veg dew, Meee ae 0:80
LINE DARA eee ce VAS rate BAPE 2°04
Fe ‘Si, TSOMUVDIG, ». Soe s esckxous 1:64
5 Si dissolved by HC], ....... 0°30
| ES 0°51
100-50 100-00
110 Analyses of Fossil Bones of Nebraska.
It is to be regretted that time did not permit me to repeat
these analyses on different varieties of specimens, and by
different methods. However, I am able to furnish another
analysis, of a compact portion of the tibia of archzotherium,
carefully freed from all extraneous matter, made with great —
care in Dr Genth’s laboratory, and under his immediate
inspection, by Dr Francis V. Greene, which has resulted
very satisfactorily, and in which the fluorine was estimated
by precipitation. .
is Water, H = 1:97 ; Organic matter, = 4°09 ; Phosphoric acid,
P = 31°19; Silicic acid, Si = 0-26; Carbonic acid, C = 2°77; Sulphuric
acid, pe 2:19; Fluorine, F = 2°46; Chlorine, Cl = 0:02; Lime,
Ca = 50°83; Magnesia (with a trace of Mn), Mg = 1:14; Baryta,
Ba = 1:10; Potash, K = 0°28; Soda, Na = 1°57; Iron and Alumina,
a trace. Total, 99°87.
These analyses are remarkable: first, in shewing the ex-
istence of a notable quantity of fluorine amounting to from
2 to 3 per cent., sufficient to etch glass very distinctly, when
the bones are treated with strong sulphuric acid, and gently
heated: second, in proving the existence of from 2 to 4 per ©
cent. of the original organic matter, and from 31 to 37 per —
cent. of the phosphate of lime in the bones of animals, which |
have been entombed in these early tertiary deposits ever
since the Alps first began to lift their heads out of the ocean,
and in which they have been enclosed the almost inconceiv-
able length of time that has elapsed during a vast geological
epoch: in which that great mountain chain of Europe has
been gradually thrusting its peaks to ten or twelve thousand
feet above the ocean ; and while the Andes of South America, |
during the same period, have attained probably even a greater
elevation. ,
Reflecting on the origin of the fluorine discovered in these —
Nebraska fossil bones, it becomes a question whether it is
an original constituent of the bones of the living animal, or —
has been introduced into their composition after death. Since
the analysis of the bones of existing animals indicates but a
mere trace of fluorine, it seems more probable that that ele-
nent has been introduced as fluoride of calcium by infiltration
J. D. Dana on the Recent Eruption of Mauna Loa. 111
during the gradual process of fossilization, after the manner
of pseudomorphism in minerals, the fluoride of calcium gra-
dually replacing the organic matter, as transformation pro-
ceeded, than that it should have been an original constituent
of the bones of the living animal. Still, the subjoined analyses
of the enclosing matrix gives no evidence whatever of the
existence of fluorine in these deposits now.
If the fluorine has really been derived from these deposits,
we are forced to the conclusion that it has all been removed
by the powers of pseudomorphism. May we not, however,
rather look to the saline waters, now common in that coun-
try, as the source of the fluorine; or perhaps, to the waters
of the lake, bay, or estuary, in which the bones may have
| lain macerating, previous to their long interment ?
_ It is worthy also of note that Greene’s analysis shews the
presence of sulphate of baryta in the compact portion of
| the bone he analysed; and Dr Genth discovered minute
erystals of sulphate of baryta in the cavities of. some of the
bones by the aid of a stronger magnifier.—(Owen’s G'eolo-
| gical Survey of Winsconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.)
Note on the Eruption of Mauna Loa. By JAmzEs D. Dana.
| (Communicated by the Author.)
The account of Mauna Loa, by Rev. Titus Coan, together
with the additional information from letters appended to this
paper, suggests a few thoughts confirmatory of views men-
| tioned in another place by the writer.
1. The eruption described, although so vast in its extent,
| commenced with no earthquake—no internal thunderings—
no premonitions whatever, that were perceptible at the base
| of the mountain. In almost all descriptions of volcanoes,
| these phenomena are set down as essential to the result,
| especially if the eruption be of much extent. Some force is
| Supposed, in one way or another, to get beneath the column
| of lava, and by sudden action to eject the lavas with violence,
| amid terrific exhibitions of voleanic power. But in the
/ majestic dome of Mauna Loa, where the lavas are carried to
112 James D. Dana on the
a height of 14,000 feet, the outbreak is quiet and noiseless ;
the mountain opens, the lavas flow. The vivid description
of Mr Coan, marked as it is with the actual terrors of the
scene, strikingly sustains these statements. For how unlike
Vesuvius in her great outbreaks is the Hawaian volcano,
when the crater, in its intensest eruption, could be approached
‘“‘ within forty or fifty yards on the windward side,” or “ with-
in two miles on the leeward,” and the traveller need retire
but to the distance of “a mile” from tne very scene of eruption
for his “‘ night vigils.”
2. The mobility of the Hawaian lavas is most remarkably
exemplified in this eruption. The fiery rock at the crater
formed literally an open boiling fountain, instead of appear-
ing in eruptive discharges through a narrow-necked funnel.
A jet of clear liquid lava shot up in ceaseless flow to a height
of 300 feet or more, and, with its surrounding jets and falling
spray, produced, as Mr Fuller says, the effect of a Gothic
structure of molten metal, with its shafts and pinnacles and
buttresses, in quick incessant change—now rising into a tall
spire 700 feet in height, now spreading into more massy forms,
and ever dazzling the sight with its brilliancy. ‘The scene of
this display, according to Mr Coan, was 5000 feet below the
summit outbreak,* and it would actually appear, as he implies,
that the hydrostatic pressure of the central column of lavas
in the mountain was the power that kept the jet in action.
Such a fountain of molten rock is majestic beyond con-
ception ; and the more wonderful, the more majestic, viewed
as the effect of simple pressure, with none of the convulsive
heavings common in other voleanoes. The terrible roar of
the crater was the sound of the ponderous mass agitated to
its depths, by the tossing and falling jets and the escape of
the imprisoned vapours; it was not enhanced even by the
occasional shocks of an earthquake.
3. Kilauea, a crater on the flanks of Mauna Loa, but
4000 feet above the sea, having its larger diameter 18,000
feet, or 35 miles, exhibited at this time no signs of sympathy
with the summit action. If ever a region had its safety-
* Seven thousand feet, or half way to the base, acoording to Mr Fuller.
Recent Eruption of Mauna Loa. 113
valve, we should say that this immense crater would be such
to Hawaii. But the lavas rise in the centre of the mountain
10,600 feet above this vast pit (or nearly 11,000 feet above
its bottom), without producing the slightest fluctuation in its
boiling lakes.
4. From the eruptions of Kilauea in 1823, 1832, and
1840, the writer, in tracing out its history, stated that the
course of changes Jeading to a new outbreak required eight
or nine years, this being the interval between the known
eruptions. The process was shewn to consist in a gradual
filling up of the great pit for 400 or 500 feet of its depth,
attended with an increased activity when at this height, and
followed by a discharge from some fissure or fissures opened
through the slopes toward the sea.
But since 1840 thirteen years have passed, and still no
eruption has been observed. The process has, however, been
essentially as indicated by the author, although under a new
modification. of its action. The crater did go on filling up at
its usual rate, so that in 1846 it had already risen to a height
of 400 feet above the level it had after the eruption of 1840.
The crater, moreover, was then in violent activity, and the
black ledge was nearly obliterated ; the bottom continued still
to rise, and an eruption was speedily expected. But instead
of an eruption, we learn that in 1848 and 1849, all was nearly
quiet. excepting a single convulsive heaving in the latter
year. The lower pit was filled with solid lavas, and the
great lake became finally the site of a solid dome or cone.
It is however altogether probable, from the retreat of the
liquid lavas and the disappearance of the fires, that a dis-
charge actually took place at the time expected, but beneath
the sea. Such a discharge occurring in the usual quiet way,
might be unperceived by the inhabitants of the island. The
outflow of lavas, however, must have been but a partial one ;
and, consequently, the bottom of Kilauea, instead of sub-
siding, as the lavas retreated, 400 feet (as commonly hap-
pens), retained its place.
Five years have now passed, and the fires, as Mr Coan
states, are again breaking out. This is a further confirmation
of our view. The process of elevation in the liquid internal
VOL. LV. NO. C1IX.—JULY 1853. y il
114 James D. Dana on the
lavas has evidently been going on, as after previous eruptions,
although out of sight, deep beneath the solid rock that forms
the bottom of Kilauea; and they have again reached a height
that enables them to be distinguished. The mode of progress
and of eruption may therefore correspond throughout with
the views presented by the author in his Exploring Expedition,
Geological Report, and American Journal, vol. ix., 347. Yet —
it is also possible that the fires of Kilauea are dying out, and
that thus the change of condition is to be explained.
Although the discharges at the summit of Mauna Loa pro-
duce no oscillations in the lavas of Kilauea, it may still be
possible that the increased activity at the summit, and the di-
minished action of the flank crater, during the past few years,
may be connected with the same changes below. These
changes may consist in some variations in the distribution
of the heat, or, more probably, in a variation of size or direc-
tion in the openings or channels that serve to sage the
water which feeds the fires.
5. If Kilanea were to become extinct in its present con-
dition, no evidence would exist of its former depth, or of the
black ledge or shelf which has been so remarkable a feature
in this crater. The present depth does not exceed 600 feet
—400 feet less than after the eruption of 1840.* Moreover,
as the precipitous rocky walls are wholly free from scoriz
and all other signs of recent fires (looking much like bluffs
of ordinary stratified rock), there is no evidence as to the
great eruptions that have taken place, and only signs of a
sort of Solfatara action, without flows of lava over the bot-
tom of the confined area. These facts bear on the conclu-
sions that might be deduced from the existing features of
extinct volcanoes.
6. Mr Coan speaks of the lavas as flowing from an orifice
in a broad stream down the mountain. It is probable that
fissures opening to the fires below were continued at intervals
along the course of the eruption, and that these afforded
accessions to the fiery flood. Such was the case in 1840, —
and the three tufa hills at Nanawale, on the sea-coast, mark
*~ The central tic of ibe crater are much more raised than the lateral, 7
ani over them the depth cannot e exceed 500 feet.
Recent Eruption of Mauna Loa. 115
the positions where these opened fissures reached the sea.
Any internal force sufficient to break through the sides of a
mountain like Mauna Loa, must necessarily produce a linear
fissure, or a series of fissures, and not a single tunnel-like
opening.
7. We have yet received no definite facts as to the angle
of slope down which the lavas descended. Yet we do know
that in this and in a former eruption the stream continued
over the declivities for thirty miles, and these declivities
have an average angle of six or seven degrees, though made
up of subordinate slopes varying probably between one and
twenty degrees, as Mr Coan mentions, when describing the
descent of the lavas in the summit eruptions of 1843. The
slopes of Mauna Loa, although the mountain is over 14,000
feet high, are therefore not too steep to receive accessions
from top to bottom, from eruptions of vast extent over its
sides. With such facts, in connection with others brought
forward by the writer, we are assuredly sustained in not ad-
mitting the universal application of the so-called elevation
theory. But in rejecting this theory, we do not go to the
opposite extreme, and adopt in its full extent the overflow
theory. The truth, as usual, lies between the two extremes,
as the writer has elsewhere urged. Both causes have acted
in the history of all volcanoes; both act from the very com-
mencement of the germ-cone. There is elevation from the
central action, from the opening and filling of fissures about
the centre, and also from the outflow of lavas. The first of
these operations may be most effective in the earlier periods
of the rising mountain ; but each continues to act till the fires
die out; and in the later periods, especially, there is often a
flattening process, arising from the spread of lavas ejected
from fissures about the base of the mountain, which extend
_the shores, and diminish the angle of slope.
8. The interval of time between the last three erup-
tions of the central crater of Mauna Loa is from nine to ten
anda half years. The jirst of these three took place in June
1832; the second in January 1843; the third in February
(1852. The recorded eruptions of Kilauea have occurred
as follows, leaving out that of 1789: the first in 1823, the
2
116 James D. Dana on the
second in 1832, the third in 1840, probably a fourth through
a submarine or subterranean vent in 1847 or 1848, and the
fires are now increasing again in activity. In 1832 there
were thus eruptions from both of these extensive craters of
Mauna Ioa.
We annex additional notes on the eruption, from different
sources. The account of the whirlwinds produced by the
crater are of much meteorological interest.
1. From a Letter of H. Kinney, dated Waiohinu, Hawaii,
April 19,1852 (published in “ The Pacific,” San Francisco,
of June 18).
The light of the volcano at night was very great—illumi-
nating the surrounding country for many miles distant, and
giving to the overhanging clouds the appearance of an im-
mense body of fire. After witnessing this for several nights,
my desire to visit it became so strong, that I resolved to make
the long and tedious journey, to take a near view of this grand
display of the Almighty’s power. Accompanied by Mr Fuller,
I set out on the lst day of March. After travelling through
woods and over wide districts of naked lava, we arrived at the
vicinity of the eruption on the forenoon of the third day. Its
deep, unearthly roar, which we began to hear early on the
day before, “ waxed louder and louder,” as we drew nearer
and nearer the action, until it resembled the roar of the
ocean’s billows when driven by the force of a hurricane against
-a rock-bound coast, or like the deafening roar of Niagara.
We first reached the deep channel, through which a wide
stream of liquid lava had flowed down the mountain, deso-
lating an area of vast extent; it had ceased to flow in this
direction, but was flowing still at a little distance, where we
gazed with delight. The main stream was still beyond,
which we could not approach, on account of the great heat ;
but at night we had a fine view of the fiery river, at no great
distance from our encampment. Though the lava gushed
out in several places like water-springs, yet the main fountain
was one of indescribable grandeur. In the midst of a form-
ing cone, with a base of 200 or 300 feet, there shot up a jet
‘Recent Eruption of Mauna Loa. 117
of clear liquid lava to the height of from 400 to 800 feet,
combining in its ascent and descent all the beauties of the
finest water fountains—jet after jet ascended in constant and
regular succession, day after day; descending, it mostly fell
back into the crater, but sometimes it fell spattering on its
sides, and flowed down, uniting with the main stream. The
outer portions cooled to a blackened mass while in the air ;
the upper and lighter portions were carried by the propelling
force to the regions of the clouds, and fell in showers over
the surrounding country.
The intense heat of the fountain and stream of lava, caused
an influx of cool air from every quarter; this created terrific
whirlwinds, which constantly stalking about, like so many
sentinels, bade defiance to the daring visitor. These were
the most dangerous of any thing about the voleano. Some-
times we were compelled to prostrate ourselves for safety.
Once we ventured within about a quarter of a mile of the
great jet ; soon one of the most terrific whirlwinds formed at
the crater, and advanced straight towards us, threatening
us with instant ruin; but fortunately for us, it spent its
force and turned to the right, leaving us to make a rapid
retreat.
We saw a similar ove whirling around the jet, and conceal-
ing it with a dense cloud of ashes, as if engaged in a furious
combat. The two contending elements presented a most
wonderful spectacle. When the strife ceased, the fountain.
appeared in constant action, as though nothing had occurred.
Clouds approaching the voleano were driven back, and set,
moving in wild confusion.
The glare of the liquid fountain was very great, even when
the sun was shining; but at night it was vastly more so,
casting the light of nearly a full moon in the shade, and
turning night into day.
2. From a Letter by Mr Fuller, dated Waiohinu, March 28.
There played a fountain of liquid fire of such dimensions
and such awful sublimity, shaking the earth with such a con-
stant and deafening roar, that no picture of the classic
realms of Pluto, drawn by Grecian or Roman hand, can give
118 J. D. Dana on the Recent Eruption of Mauna Loa.
you any adequate conception of its grandeur, A few figures
may assist your imagination in its attempts to paint the
scene. [ made the following calculations, after careful ob-
Servations during nearly twenty-four hours, from different
points within a mile of the crater, and, after deliberate dis-
cussion with Mr Kiuney and companion, with different
objects around us. Some of these calculations have been
confirmed by a somewhat accurate measurement by Mr
Lyman, of Hilo.
The diameter of the crater, which has been entirely formed
by this eruption is about 1000 feet, its height from 100 to
150 feet. One part of the crater was raised 50 feet during
our presence on the spot. The height of the column of red-
hot liquid lava, constantly sustained above the crater, varies
from 200 to 700 feet, seldom falling below 300. Its diameter
is from 100 to 300 feet, and rarely perhaps reaching 400
feet. ‘The motions of this immense jet of fire were beautiful
in the extreme, far surpassing all the possible beauties of
any water fountain which can be conceived ; constantly vary-
ing in form, in dimensions, in colour and intensity; some-
times shooting up and tapering off like a symmetrical Gothic
spire, 700 feet high; then rising in one grand mass, 300
feet in diameter, and varied on the top and sides by points
and jets, like the ornaments of Gothic architecture. The
New Yorker, who, as he gazes on the beautiful spire of
Trinity Church, can imagine its dimensions increased three-
fold, and its substance converted into red-hot lava, fn constant
agitation, may obtain a tolerable idea of one aspect of this
terrific fire fountain. But he should stand at the foot of the
Niagara Falls, or on the rocky shore of the Atlantic when
the sea is lashed by a tempest, in order to get the most
terrific element in this sublime composition of the Great
Artist. For you may easily conjecture that the dynamical
force necessary to raise 200,000 to 500,000 tons of lava at
once into the air would not be silent in its operation.
The eruption of which I have written broke out on the
morning of the 18th February, at about 3 o’clock, and con-
tinued twenty days. The crater is situated on the base of
Mauna Loa, about 35 miles from Hilo, and 25 from the old
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. 119
-erater of Kilauea. Its height above the sea is about 7000
feet. It has formed a stream, winding down the mountain
_ side, with several branches 30 or 40 miles long, from one-
fourth to two miles broad, having a depth, in some places, of
200 or 300 feet. ?
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
[We extract the following graphic account of the Mam-
moth Cave of Kentucky from Professor J. D. B. DE Bow’s
“¢ Industrial Resources; &c. of the Southern and Western
~ American States.” ]
_. In Edmonson County is that -extraordinary curiosity, the
-Mammoth Cave. It is situated midway between Louisville
-and Nashville, and is a fashionable place of resort. The
cave is approached through a romantic shade. At the en-
trance is a rush of cold air. A descent of thirty feet by stone
steps, and an advance of one hundred feet inwards, brings
the visitor to the door, in a solid stone wall which blocks up
the entrance of the cave. A narrow passage leads to the
great vestibule or antechamber, an oval hall, 200 by 150
feet, and 50 feet high. Two passages of 100 feet width
open into it, and the whole is supported without a single
column. This chamber was used by the races of yore as a
cemetery, judging from the bones of gigantic size which are
discovered. ,
‘“‘ Far up, a hundred feet above your head, you catch a
fitful glimpse of a dark gray ceiling rolling dimly away like
a cloud, and heavy buttresses, apparently bending under the
superincumbent weight, project their enormous masses from
the shadowy wall. The scene is vast, solemn, and awful.
A profound silence, gloomy, still, and breathless, reigns un-
broken by even a sigh of air, or the echo of a drop of water
falling from the roof. You can hear the throbbings of your
heart, and the mind is oppressed with a sense of vastness,
and solitude, and grandeur undescribable.” In Audubon
Avenue, leading from the hall, is a deep well of pure spring
water. It is surrounded by stalagmite columns from the
-floor to the roof. The Little Bat Room contains a pit 280
120 Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
feet deep, and is the resort of myriads of bats. The Grand
Gallery is a vast tunnel many miles long, and fifty feet high,
and as wide. At the end of the first quarter of a mile is
found the Kentucky Cliffs and the Church, 100 feet in dia-
meter, and 63 feet high. A natural pulpit and organ-loft
are not wanting. “ In this great high temple of nature, re-
ligious service has been frequently performed, and it requires
but a slight effort to make the speaker heard.” The Gothic
Avenue is reached by a flight of stairs, and is forty feet wide,
fifteen high, and two miles long. The ceiling is smooth and
white. Mummies have been discovered here, which have been
a subject of curious study to science. In the Gothic Avenue
are stalagmites, stalactites, also Louisa’s Bower and Vulcan's
Furnace. On the walls of the Register Rooms are inscribed
thousands of names. The Gothic Chapel is “ one of sur-
prising grandeur and magnificence: and when brilliantly
lighted up by the lamps, presents a scene inspiring the be-
holder with feelings of solemnity and awe.” At the foot of
the Devil’s Arm Chair is a small basin of sulphur water.
Here we have Napoleon’s Breastwork, the Elephant’s Head,
Lover’s Leap, Gatewood’s Dining Table, and the Cooling Tub
—a basin six feet wide and tnree deep of the purest water,
Napoleon's Dome, &e.
The Ball Room contains an orchestra fifteen feet high ;
near by is a row of cabins for consumptive patients, the
atmosphere being always temperate and pure. The Star
Chamber presents an optical illusion. ‘“ In looking up to
the ceiling, the spectator seems to see the firmament itself
studded with stars, and afar off a comet with bright tail.”
We pass over the Salts Rooms, Black Chambers, Fairy
Grotto, ¥c., and come to the Temple.
‘The temple is an immense vault, covering an area of two
acres, and covered by a single dome of solid rock, one hun-
dred and twenty feet high. It exceeds in size the cave of
Staffa, and rivals the celebrated vault in the grotto of Anti-
paros, which is said to be the largest in the world. In pass-
ing through, from one end to the other, the dome appears to
follow the sky, as in passing from place to place on the
eirth. In the middle of the dome there is a large mound of
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. 121
rocks rising on one side nearly to the top, very steep, and
forming what is called the mountain. When I first ascended
this mound from the cave below, I was struck with a feeling
of awe more intense and deep than any thing I had ever
- before experienced. _I could only observe the narrow circle
which was illuminated immediately around me ; above and
beyond was apparently an unlimited space, in which the ear
could not catch the slightest sound, nor the eye find an ob-
ject tofasten upon. It was filled with silence and darkness ;
and yet I knew that I was beneath the earth, and that this
space, however large it might be, was externally bounded by
solid walls. My curiosity was rather excited than gratified.
In order that I might see the whole in one connected view, I
built my fires in many places of cane, which I found scattered
among the rocks. Then, taking my stand upon the mountain, a
scene was presented of surprising magnificence. On the op-
posite side, the strata of gray limestone breaking up by steps
from the bottom, could scarcely be discerned in the distance
by the glimmering. Above was the lofty dome, closed at the
top by a smooth oval slab, beautifully defined in the outline,
from which the walls slope away on the right and left into
thick darkness. Every one has heard of the dome of the
Mosque of St Sophia, of St Peter’s, and St Paul’s; they are
never spoken of but in terms of admiration as the chief works
of architecture, and among the noblest and most stupendous
examples of what men can.can do when aided by science ;
and yet when compared with the dome of this temple, they
sink into comparative insignificance.”
The fiver Hall descends like the slope of a mountain ;
the ceiling stretches away, away before you, vast and grand
as the firmament at midnight. Proceeding a short distance,
there is on the left a steep precipice, over which you can look
down by the aid of blazing missiles upon a broad, black sheet
of water, eighty feet below, called the Dead Sea. This is an
awfully impressive place, the sights and sounds of which do
not easily pass from memory. He who has seen it, will
have it vividly brought before him by Alfieri’s description of
Filippo. Only a transient word or act gives us a short and
dubious glimmer that reveals to us the abysses of his being—
122 Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
daring, lurid, and terrific as the throat of the infernal pool.
Descending from the eminence by a ladder of about twenty
feet, we find ourselves among piles of gigantic rocks; and
one of the most picturesque sights in the world is to see a
file of men and women passing along these wild and scraggy
paths, moving slowly—slowly, that their lamps may have
time to illuminate their sky-like ceiling and gigantic walls,
disappearing behind high cliffs—sinking into ravines—their
lights shining upward through fissures in the rocks—then,
suddenly emerging from some abrupt angle, standing in the
bright gleam of their lights, relieved by the towering black
masses around them. As you pass along, you hear the roar
of invisible waterfalls; and at the foot of the slope, the
River Styx lies before you, deep and black, overarched with
rocks. Across, or rather down, these unearthly waters, the
guide can convey but four passengers at once. The lamps
are fastened to the prow, the images of which are reflected
in the dismal pool. If you are impatient of delay or eager
for new adventure, you can leave your companions lingering
about the shore, and cross the Styx by a dangerous bridge
of precipices overhead. In order to do this, you must ascend
a steep cliff and enter a cave above, over three hundred yards
long, from the egress of which you find yourself on the bank
of the river, eighty feet above its surface, commanding a view
of those in the boat, and those waiting on the shore. Seen
from the heights, the lamps in the canoe glare like fiery eye-
balls; and the passengers sitting there, so hushed and mo-
tionless, look like shadows. The scene is so strangely
funereal and spectral, that it seems as if the Greeks must
have witnessed it before they imagined Charon conveying
ghosts to the dim regions of Pluto.
The Mammoth Cave is said to be explored to the distance
of ten miles, without reaching its termination, whilst the
ageregate width of all the branches is over forty miles!
Next to Niagara, it is the wonder of nature in the Western
World, or perhaps throughout all her domains.
123
On the Annual Variation of the Atmospheric Pressure in
diferent parts of the Globe. By Professor H. W. Dove
of Berlin.* Communicated by Colonel SABINE.
The establishment of meteorological stations in distant
parts of the globe had, generally speaking, for its immediate
object, so to complete the partial knowledge we already
possessed of the phenomena over a considerable portion of its
surface, as to enable us to take a general view of their course
over the whole globe. The result of those endeavours has
even exceeded what was hoped for, as besides the informa-
tion obtained respecting regions where our knowledge was
most defective, fresh light has been thrown on those with which
we had supposed ourselves already completely acquainted.
Meteorology commenced with us by the study of Kuropean
phenomena, and its next principal extension was to pheno-
mena observed in the tropical parts of America. If what is
true of Europe were equally true of the temperate and cold
zones of the earth in all longitudes, and if tropical America
in like manner afforded a perfect example of the tropical
zone generally, it would be of little consequence where the
science of Meteorology had been first cultivated ; but this is
not the case, and a too hasty generalisation has led to the
neglect of important problems, while others less important
have been regarded as essential and placed in the foremost
rank. It was necessary that the science should be freed
from these youthful trammels, and this needful enfranchise-
_ment has been effected by the Russian and by the English
system of observations. Russia has done her part in free-
ing the meteorology of the temperate and cold zones from
impressions derived exclusively from the limited European
type; and England, which by its Indian stations had under-
taken for the torrid zone the same task of enlarging and rec-
tifying the views previously entertained, has besides, by its
African and Australian stations (Cape of Good Hope and
Hobarton), opened to us the southern hemisphere, and first
_ * From the Introduction to the 3d vol. of the Magnetical and Meteorological
Observations at Hobarton, in Van Diemen’s Island.
124 Annual Variation of Atmospheric Pressure
rendered it possible to treat of the atmosphere as a whole.
I will now endeavour to shew the importance of being en-
abled to take such general views, selecting as an example the
annual variation of the barometer.
The study of the annual barometric variation had long been
singularly neglected, while the diurnal barometric variation
had had devoted to it an attention quite disproportioned to
its subordinate interest in reference to the general move-
ments of the atmosphere. This otherwise incomprehensible
mistake is excused by the localities where nature had been
first interrogated. As the diurnal variation had manifested
itself with great distinctness and regularity in tropical
America, it naturally presented itself as an object of interest
in Europe also. The annual variation, on the other hand, is
inconsiderable, both in Europe and the tropical parts of
America; and thus, while atmospheric phenomena were
treated simply as facts of which the periodicity alone was to
be investigated, without seeking for physical causes, it was
natural that a phenomenon, in which opposite effects result-
ing trom two different causes counterbalance each other,
should altogether escape notice. It is, perhaps, more re-
markable that no surprise should have been excited when
the atmospheric pressure was not found to diminish from
winter to summer with increasing heat.
When, by the labours of Prinsep more particularly, the
phenomena of the tropical atmosphere in Hindostan became
more known, there was seen to be a great difference between
the barometric variation there and in tropical America; in-
asinuch as the Indian observations shewed a decidedly well-
marked annual variation. A new error was now fallen in-
to, and it was supposed that the phenomenon did not extend
beyond the torrid zone, and that it was an immediate conse-
quence of the periodical change of wind, 7. e. of the monsoons.
This erroneous view was cumpletely refuted when the baro-
metric relations at the Siberian stations became known ; for
it was then found that, north of the Himalaya (which in the
supposed hypothesis must have formed the limit of the phe-
nomenon), the annual barometric variation was exhibited on
a large scale, and over a region so extensive that the shores
in diferent parts of the Globe. 125
of the Icy Sea itself could hardly be assumed as its boundary.
A greatly diminished atmospheric pressure taking place in
summer over the whole continent of Asia must produce an
influx from all surrounding parts; and thus we have west
winds in Europe, north winds in the Icy Sea, east winds on
the east coasts of Asia, and south winds in India. The mon-
soon itself becomes, as we see, in this point of view, only a
secondary or subordinate phenomenon.
I have endeavoured to establish the reality of the above
phenomenon and its climatological bearings, in several
memoirs; and I must refer for the numerical values to
Poggendorff’s “ Annalen,” lviii., p. 117; Ixxvii., p. 309 ; and
to the ‘“ Berichte’’ of the Berlin Academy, 1852, p. 285.
I will here embody the results in distinct propositions, in
order to shew, in connection therewith, the importance of the
bearing of the Hobarton observations.
1. At all stations of observation in the torrid and tempe-
_ rate zones, the elasticity of the aqueous vapour contained in
the atmosphere increases with increasing temperature. In
the region of the monsoons this increase from the colder to
the warmer months is greatest near their northern limit.
Hindostan and China present in this respect the most exces-
sive climate. No differences of similar magnitude are found
in the southern hemisphere. The form of the curve of elas-
ticity of the aqueous vapour shews, however, a less decidedly
convex summit in the region of the monsoons than beyond
it, having in that region rather the character of a flattened
summit or table-land, the elasticity continuing nearly the
same throughout the period of the rainy monsoon. Near
the equator the convex curve of the northern hemisphere
becomes gradually, first flattened, and then transformed into
the concave curve of the southern hemisphere. In the
Atlantic this transition takes place in a rather more northerl y
parallel. In regard to the magnitude of the annual varia-
tion, the following rule appears generally applicable in the
torrid zone; the annual variation is considerable at all
places where equatorial currents prevail when the sun’s alti-
tude is greatest, and polar currents when the sun’s altitude
is Jeast ; and inconsiderable, wherever the direction of the
126 = Annual Variation of Atmospheric Pressure
wind is either comparatively constant throughout the year, —
or where it changes in the contrary sense to that above de- —
scribed. At the last-named class of places the rate of de-
crease in the mean annual tension of the aqueous vapour
with increasing distance from the equator is more rapid than
in the first class.
2. At all stations in Europe and Asia, the pressure of the
dry air decreases from the colder to the warmer months,
and everywhere in the temperate zone has its minimum in
the warmest month.
3. If we compare the annual variation of the pressure of
the dry air in Northern Asia and Hindostan with the varia-
tion in Australia and the Indian Ocean, we shall be satisfied
that something more takes place than a simple periodical _
exchange of the same mass of air in the direction of the
meridian, between the northern and southern hemispheres.
From the magnitude of the variation in the northern hemi-
sphere, and the extent of the region over which it prevails,
we must infer that at the time of diminished pressure a
lateral overflow probably takes place ; that it actually does
so may be considered as proved for the northern part of the
region, by the fact that at Sitka, on the north-west coast of
America, the pressure of the dry air increases from winter
to summer. Itis not probable that the overflow takes place -
exclusively to the east, it probably occurs also to the west ;
and on this supposition the small amount of the diminution
of the pressure of the dry air from winter to summer in
Europe would be caused, not solely by the moderate amount
of the difference of temperature in the hotter and colder
seasons, but also by the lateral afflux of air in the upper
regions of the atmosphere tending to compensate the pres-
sure lost by thermic expansion. As at the northern limit of
the monsoon, at Chusan and Pekin, the annual variation of
the pressure of the dry air is most considerable, while at the
northern limit of the trade-wind in the Atlantic Ocean, i. e.
at Madeira and the Azores, it is very small, it.is probable
that there is in the torrid zone also a lateral overflow in the
upper strata cf the atmosphere, from the region of the mon-
soons to that of the trades.
in different parts of the Globe. 127
4, From the combined action of the variations of the aqueous
vapour and of the dry air, we now derive immediately the
periodical variations of the whole atmospheric pressure. As
the dry air and the aqueous vapour mixed with it press in com-
mon on the barometer, so that the upborne column of mercury
consists of two parts, one borne by the dry air, the other by —
the aqueous vapour, we may well understand that as with
increasing temperature the air expands, and by reason of its
augmented volume rises higher, and at its upper portion
overflows lateraily,—while, at the same time, the increased
temperature causes increasing evaporation,and thus augments
the quantity of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere,—so it
naturally follows that the composite result in the periodical
variations of the barometric pressure should not everywhere
bear a simple and immediately obvious relation to the
periodical changes of temperature. It is only when we know
the relative preportions of the two variations which take
place in opposite directions, that we can determine whether
their joint effect will be an increase or a decrease with in-
creasing temperature,—whether in part of the period the one
variation may preponderate, and in other parts the other
variation. The following are the results which we are
enabled to derive from observation.
_5. Throughout Asia the increase in the elasticity of the
aqueous vapour with increasing heat is never sufficient to
compensate the diminished pressure of the dry air; and the
annual variation of barometric pressure is therefore every-
where represented, in accordance with the variation of the
pressure of the dry air, by a simple concave curve having its
lowest part or minimum in July. The observations in Taimyr
Land, at Iakoutsk, Udskoi, and Aiansk, shew that this is true
up to the Icy Sea on the north, and to the sea of Ochotsk on
the east. On the west a tendency towards these conditions
begins to be perceived in European Russia in the meridian
of St Petersburg, and becomes more marked as the range
of the Ural is approached. On the Caspian and in the Cau-
easus the phenomenon is already very distinctly marked ; its
limit runs south from the western shore of the Black Sea, so
that Syria, Egypt, and Abyssinia, fall within the region over
128 Annual Variation of Atmospheric Pressure
which it prevails. Towards the confines of Europe there is
almost everywhere a maximum in September or October,
the barometric pressure increasing rapidly from July to the
autumn. This maximum is followed towards the latter part
_of the autumn by a slighter inflection or secondary minimum ;
it is only beyond the Ural that the curves become uniformly
concave, with a single summer minimum and winter maxi-
mum, which character they retain throughout the rest of the
Asiatic continent, even to its eastern coast. In winter, the
absolute height of the barometer at the northern limit of the
monsoon is very great. The still considerable amount of the
annual variation at Nangasaki, and the little difference
between the curve of Manilla and that of Madras, shew that
the region in question extends beyond the eastern coast of
Asia into the Pacific Ocean; in higher latitudes, hewever,
its limits appear to be reached in Kamtschatka. As the an-
nual variation which is greater at Madras than at Manilla is
found greater at Aden than at Madras, the western limit of
the region would appear to extend far on the African side.
6. In middle and western Europe the barometric pressure
appears to decrease everywhere from the month of January
to the spring, usually attaining a minimum in April; it then
rises slowly but steadily to September, and sinks rapidly
to November, when it usually reaches a second minimum.
In summer, therefore, the whole atmospheric pressure gains
more by increased evaporation than it loses by expansion.
This over-compensation is probably, as we have seen above,
to be explained by the lateral overflow received in the upper
regions from Asia. In Sitka the whole annual curve is con-
vex, a result only found in Europe at considerable mountain
elevations, where it is a consequence of the expansion, and
extension upwards, of the whole mass of the atmosphere in
summer. :
7. The region of great annual barometric variation, on the
Asiatic side of the globe, where monsoons prevail, extends
much farther to the north in the northern hemisphere, than _
it does to the south in the southern hemisphere ; for the —
variation reaches its maximum at Pekin, while at Hobarton,
in nearly a corresponding latitude, it has already become in-
in diferent parts of the Globe. 129
considerable ; and it is generally greater in the northern
than in the corresponding southern latitudes. The exact
contrary is the case on the Atlantic side and in the region
of the Trades; for here the annual variation, though no-
. where very considerable, is decidedly greater in the southern
than in the northern hemisphere, as is shewn by the results
of observation at the Cape, Ascension, St Helena, Rio
Janeiro, and Pernambuco, compared with the West Indian
Islands and the southern parts of the United States. Hence
it follows that, if we compare places in the same latitude, |
we find but little difference between the annual variation in
the southern Atlantic and southern Indian oceans, while in
the northern hemisphere we have in the same latitude the
very large annual variation in the north part of the Indian
and in the Chinese seas, and the almost entire absence of
annual variation in the Atlantic (compare Chusan with the
Azores and Madeira). The explanation of the last-named
phenomenon, 7.¢. that of the northern hemisphere, by a
lateral overflow in the upper parts of the atmosphere, seems
so direct, that I think we may pronounce the irregular form
of the annual barometric curve in the West Indies to be a
secondary phenomenon, the primary causes of which must
be looked for on the east.
8. It is known that in the eruption of the Coseguina on the
20th of January 1835, when the isthmus of Central America
was shaken by an earthquake, not only were the volcanic
ashes carried to Kingston in Jamaica, a distance of 800
English miles in the opposite direction to the trade-wind, but
some of. the same ashes fell 700 miles to the westward, on
board the Conway, in the Pacific Ocean. We infer, therefore,
that in the higher regions of the atmosphere in the tropics
the air is not always flowing regularly from SW. to NE.,
but that this usual and regular direction is sometimes inter-
rupted by currents from east to west. I think I have
indicated the probable cause of such anomalous currents in
the above described barometric relations of the region of the
monsoons compared with that of the trades. If we suppose
‘the upper portions of the air ascending over Asia and Africa to
flow off laterally, and if this takes place suddenly, it checks the
- VOL. LY. NO. CIX.—JULY 1858. I
-
130 Annual Variation of Atmospheric Pressure.
course of the upper or counter current above the trade-wind,
and breaks into the lower current. An east wind coming
into a SW. current must necessarily occasion a rotatory
movement, turning in the opposite direction to the hands of
awatch. /, 2°20
—— 10°28 NiO
Oxide of nickel, . 0-09
Sulphuric acid, : 0-11
£22020 NiOBe
18:29
which shews a difference of only 0:02 gr. from the ob-
tained results. Again, in case of copper, |
(b) 2°24 gr. incinerated sulphuret of copper (precipitated by
a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen), afforded— 4
Copper, ; 1-760
Sulphur, —. 0:058
Oxygen, . ; 0:392
Sulphuric acid, —. P 0:030
2°240
Copper and Nickel in quantitative analysis. 135
which, upon calculation, is equivalent to—
Copper, . : ; 0:229
Sulphur, . : 0:058
0-287 Cu,S
Copper, . : t 1:537
Oxygen, . 0°387
1:924 CuO
Oxide of copper, é 0°029
Sulphuric acid, . : 0:030
0:059 CuO SO,
2°270
or an excess of :03 gr. above the quantities experimen-
tally found.*
As now the atomic equivalent of sulphur is exactly double
that of oxygen, that of the disulphuret of a metal will of
course be precisely the same as of its corresponding protoxide ;
and this fact consequently enables us at once to calculate the
amount of copper or nickel contained in a mixture of the
disulphuret and oxide, however variable the relative propor-
tions of these compounds may be, and it becomes only neces-
sary to remove the small amount of sulphuric acid present in
the incinerated sulphurets, in order to determine the amount
of the one or other metal present.
The addition of a small amount of pulverised carbonate of
ammonia to the incinerated sulphuret (as soon as cold), and
then carefully heating until all ammoniacal salts are expelled,
seems completely to effect this object, as will be seen from
the following results obtained experimentally :—
(a) 4°30 gr. metallic copper, precipitated by the electro-
type, were dissolved, precipitated by sulphuretted hydro-
gen, and treated as above with all precautions. The
mixture of CuO+Cu,S obtained, amounted to 5-37
gr., whereas by calculation it should have been 5:38 gr.
(6) 1°76 gr. same copper, similarly treated, yielded 2-21 gr.
CuO + Cu,S, whereas by calculation it should have
afforded 2:204 gr.
* The equivalents for nickel and copper employed in the preceding calcula-
_ tions have been Ni = 29°57, Cu = 31:66, 0 = 8, S= 16.
136 Determination of Copper and Nickel.
(c) 17-89 gr. of an alloy containing by calculation 49°49
per cent. copper, treated as above, yielded 11:12 gr.
Cu0+Cu,S, equivalent to 8:878 Cu or 49-62 per cent.
copper.
(d) 7-61 gr. pure metallic nickel, precipitated from its solu-
tion by hydrosulphuret of ammonium, and treated as
above, yielded 9-665 gr. NiO +Ni,S, or equivalent to
7607 gr. nickel.
(e) A solution of 4:99 gr. nickel and 3°73 gr. copper was
treated with sulphuretted hydrogen to’ separate the
copper ; the nickel afterwards thrown down by hydro-sul-
phuret of ammonium, and both determined as above, gave
6°34 gr. NiO+ Ni,S=4:98 or. metallic nickel,
and 4°70 gr. Cu0+Cu,S=3°7d er. ... copper.
_ As these results appeared extremely satisfactory, it seemed
not unlikely that this process could also be extended to
the determination of cobalt; and in consequence, 5-25 gr.
pure metallic cobalt were dissolved in nitric acid, and neu-
tralised by ammonia, then precipitated by hydrosulphuret of
ammonium. The precipitated sulphuret, after washing, in-
cineration, and ignition with carbonate of ammonia, weighed
8-98 gr., and even after being several times successively
heated with carbonate of ammonia, it weighed 8°68 gr., |
whereas by calculation it should only have yielded 6-67 gr.
The residue, which was expected to have consisted of oxide
and disulphuret, appeared quite pink, and aggregated to-
gether on each ignition, evidently containing a large amount
of sulphate of cobalt, which seemed most strongly to resist
decomposition, and therefore it does not appear probable that
this method could be employed in the determination of cobalt.
From the results obtained with copper and nickel, it may
be concluded that the process here described may safely be
used in estimating these two metals; and, in a very large
number of determinations of nickel, it has been found to
afford the most accurate and satisfactory results.
In the case of copper, however, more attention must be
paid to the details of the operation, as the protosulphuret of
copper, especially in cases where free sulphur has been pre-
Henry Clifton Sorby on the Origin of Slaty Cleavage. 137
_ cipitated along with it, is very apt to aggregate together, or
~ even fuse during the incineration (if this is not very carefully
conducted), and, consequently, is less easily acted upon by the
“air during incineration; this must be avoided, and the oxide
should also not be allowed to absorb hygrometric moisture
before or during weighing. |
It will be found most convenient to add the carbonate of
ammonia to the incinerated sulphuret in the same crucible in
which it had been ignited, or rather to cover the ignited
sulphuret with four or five times its volume of this salt, and
then by means of a small agate pestle or glass rod to break
up all grains and mix it well together by trituration, which
can be easily effected without any loss whatever, as the super-
| stratum of carbonate of ammonia effectually prevents any
| particles flying over the side of the crucible. This, with its
cover loosely placed upon it, is now very gently heated, until
nearly all ammoniacal salts are expelled ; then the heat is in-
ereased for an instant, and the whole, after cooling over sul-
phuric acid, is weighed and estimated as usual.
On the Origin of Slaty Cleavage. By HENRY CLIFTON
SorBy, F.G.S. Communicated by the Author.
For severai years I have devoted myself almost entirely to inves-
tigating the physical structure of rocks, both on a large scale, as
| seen in the field, and by preparing sections of extreme thinness,
| capable of being examined with the highest powers of the micro-
| scope. This latter subject has hitherto attracted little or no atten-
| tion, though the inspection of two or three thin sections will some-
times solve most important geological problems. Amongst other
branches of the study, I have applied this method of research to
| ascertain the origin of slaty cleavage, which, being obviously due to
| some peculiarity of structure, 1 thought might, in all probability, be
| solved by that means. The examination of thin sections of slate
| rocks with high powers, and a comparison with those of similar
| mineral composition not possessing cleavage, have led me to form a
| theory to account for their difference of structure, materially different
| from any yet propounded, and which, in my opinion, not only does
| so most satisfactorily, but also explains perfectly every fact that I
| am acquainted with, connected with the subject. To enter fully
| into the whole would require a long treatise, and I shall therefore,
on the present occasion, merely give a short outline of my general
| conclusions.
138 Henry Clifton Sorby on the
Professor Phillips and Mr Daniel Sharpe have shewn that the
organic remains found in slate rocks indicate a change of their
dimensions ; and it was their observations which first led me to
test the mechanical theory, as applied to explain the microscopi-
cal structure. Iam fully prepared to substantiate their observa-
tions, and have also ascertained a number of other facts, proving, in
an equally conclusive manner, that slate rocks have undergone a
great change in their mechanical dimensions, which change is in-
variably related to the direction and intensity of the cleavage, and
is such that the cleavage lies in the line of greatest elongation, and
in a plane perpendicular to that of greatest compression.
A most careful examination of very numerous contortions of the
beds in slate rocks, in North Wales and Devonshire, has led me to
conclude that they indicate a very considerable amount of lateral
pressure, the thickness of the contorted beds being very different in
one part to what it is in another. The accompanying figure will
illustrate my meaning, where it will be seen that the thickness of the
contorted sandy bed is about four times greater in those parts lying
in the mean directiow of cleavage than in those perpendicular to it.
Vertical section seen in the Clifs near Ilfracombe, North Devon.
Seale, 1 inch to 1 foot.
Fine-grained, dark coloured, shaly
slate; the bedding shewn by bands
aft of coarser grain and lighter colour,
which, in the upper part, are not
contorted. The cleavage is well de-
veloped, and dips about 60° to S. by
E.
| Much contorted bed of coarser-
grained light coloured sandy slate,
( ") \ with less perfect cleavage.
a
| Fine-grained slate, as at the upper —
\Ndh
part.
Origin of Slaty Cleavage. 139
The difference in thickness of the beds in different parts of the
contortions, and the doubling of the beds, which are necessarily re-
lated to one another, give rise to what may be called an axis for
each contortion ; which, from the nature of the case, must lie in the
line of greatest thickening of the beds, and therefore shews the direc-
tion of the greatest elongation of the mass of deposit, and is usually
perpendicular to that of maximum pressure. Now I find that,
though contiguous contortions may have their axes inclined at very
various angles, even within a distance of not many yards varying by
a right angle, yet the dip of the cleavage invariably agrees with
them ; that is to say, it does not pass through them dipping at a regular
angle, as would most probably be the case if it was not due to a
mechanical cause, but, in each part, coincides with the line of great-
est elongation. In the example figured, the axes of the various con-
tortions are nearly parallel; but it will be seen that the cleavage
coincides with them.
In districts where the cleavage dips at a high angle, the contor-
tions have also their axes similarly inclined ; whereas, when it is
nearly horizontal, so also are their axes.
In slaty rocks of very mixed structure,—as for instance some in
the north of Devonshire,—the greatly contorted beds are those which
have only an indistinct or imperfect cleavage, and are of such a
nature as not to have so readily undergone a change of dimensions
as beds above and below them. I have frequently seen cases where
such beds are contorted, so as to indicate a very great amountof lateral
pressure and change of dimensions, whilst the finer beds just above
and below them are most distinctly seen not to have been contorted
at all. The case figured illustrates this in a very satisfactory man-
ner. It would seem that a sandy bed had been forced into sharply
curved contortions, and its dimensions altered in different parts by
the pressure, as previously mentioned. The distance from the lower
ends of the two principal contortions was, in a direct line, nine
inches, whereas, measured in the line of the bed, it was thirty-eight ;
and therefore these two points must at first have been about that —
distance apart, but were forced towards one another, so as to be now
at a distance of only one-fourth that amount. Above and below the
contorted sandy portion, the beds of fine-grained shaly slate are
somewhat disturbed, but in a distance of a few feet ave not at all
so; the thin bands of more sandy deposit being, as usual, only
broken up into small detached portions, which appear as spots in a
section perpendicular to cleavage in the line of dip, but as bands in
its plane. This is only shewn in the upper side of the contorted
bed, but it was the same below it. Hence it appears to be proved,
as clearly as possible, that the finer beds have been squeezed to
about one fourth of their original thickness, partly no doubt by ab-
solute forcing together of their ultimate particles, but also by elon-
gation in the line of dip of cleavage; the general direction of which
140 Henry Clifton Sorby on the
is seen to be perpendicular to that of the pressure. I have observed
numerous suchlike cases, and in fact nearly all the greatly contorted
coarser-grained beds in North Devonshire present similar appear-
ances. They are, in fact, analogous to what would occur if a strip
of paper, for instance, was included in a mass of some soft plastic
material, which would readily change its dimensions. If the whole
was then compressed in the direction of the length of the strip of
paper, it would be bent and puckered up into contortions, whilst the
plastic material would readily change its dimensions, without such
being the case; and the difference in distance of the ends of the
paper, as measured in a direct line, or along it, would indicate
the change in dimensions of the plastic material.
The green spots so often seen in slate, do also most distinctly indi-
cate a similar change of dimensions. I am persuaded that they have
been concretions of a peculiar kind, formed round bodies lying in the
plane of bedding. In rocks without cleavage, such green spots are —
almost perfect spheres, or are elongated in the plane of bedding. The
facts seen in those in slate rocks, prove, I think, most clearly that
they were exactly similar before the cleavage was developed. Now,
however, they are greatly compressed in a line perpendicular to
cleavage, and somewhat elongated in the line of its dip. When
they have been originally spherical, their long axis agrees with
the dip of cleavage, both in its plane and perpendicular to it;
whereas, if they have been originally more elongated in the
line of bedding, their longer axis is inclined in such a manner
as would then occur if they had been subsequently elongated
in the direction of dip of cleavage; that is to say, it does not now
coincide with it, but deviates towards the plane of bedding. If,
however, tle stratification is perpendicular or parallel to the cleavage,
the longer axis of the spots does agree with the dip; or, if it cuts
the plane of cleavage in the line of true strike, then also, in the plane
of cleavage, the longer axis of the spots coincides with the line of dip.
On the whole, all the facts agree most perfectly with what would oc-
cur if the spots had originally been similar to those in non-cleaved
rocks, and the mass of slate had been greatly compressed in a line
perpendicular to cleavage, and somewhat elongated in the line of dip.
Many of the finer-grained slates used for roofing, contain minute
rounded grains of mica, seldom so much as yj oth of an inch in
diameter, and usually much less, which are of nearly the same
thickness as width, and not merely flakes. When these are cut
through in the thin sections used for microscopical examination, they
are seen to be composed of many laminee. When the line of lamina-
tion,—that of the crystalline cleavage of the mica,—coincides with —
the cleavage of the slate, these rounded grains retain their form unal-_
tered. Ifthe lamination is perpendicular to the cleavage, the rounded —
form still remains, but the laminz are generally not straight, being —
irregularly bent in just such a manner as if they had been com-
Origin of Slaty Cleavage. 141
pressed in the direction perpendicular to the cleavage of the slate,
Those, however, which lie with their lamination at intermediate
angles, as for instance at 30° or 40° to the cleavage of the slate, do
not retain their original form, but are broken up and extended out
in the plane of their lamination, in just such a manner as would
occur if the dimensions of the slate had been changed, as previously
mentioned. If carefully drawn with a camera lucida, these broken-
up grains can be, as it were, restored to their original form, and the
amount of change of dimensions calculated with great accuracy.
Hence, therefore, in cleaved rocks, whether we examine the
diminution in the distance between any two points lying in the line
of pressure in contorted beds, the dimensions of the beds in differ-
ent parts of contortions, the organic remains, the green spots, or the
very minute rounded grains of mica, we find most conclusive evidence
of an elongation in the line of dip of cleavage, and of a great com-
pression, invariably in a line perpendicular to the cleavage.
The relation between the compression and elongation varies in
different rocks, as would necessarily follow from their different com-
position. The examination of the spots on fine-grained, good
roofing slate furnishes the best evidence of the absolute condensation
in a direction perpendicular to cleavage. If they had originally
been spheres, and if there had been no condensation of the rock,
but only a change in its dimensions, so that, though its thickness
was reduced, it was elongated to a corresponding extent in the line
of dip of cleavage, it would necessarily follow that their area would
not be changed in the plane perpendicular to cleavage in the line of
its dip. Therefore, if, in the plane of cleavage, the length of the spot
in the line of dip bore a certain proportion to that in the line of
strike, in the piane just mentioned, the ratio of the length of the
spot, in the direction of cleavage, to that perpendicular to it, would -
be as the square of that in the former-case. Very numerous and
accurate measurements, in the very perfectly cleaved slate near
Penrhyn and Lilanberis, shew that, in the plane of cleavage, the
length of the spots in the line of dip exceeds that in the line of
strike in the proportion of 1°6:1,; whilst in the plane perpen-
dicular to cleavage, in the line of dip, their length in the line of
cleavage is six times greater than perpendicular to it. Inthe plane
perpendicular to cleavage, in the line of strike, the ratio between
the length of the spots in the line of cleavage to that perpendicular
to it, would be 6: 1:.6=3-75: 1. These results are obtained from
so many and various cases, that the effects of bedding, in such regular
spots as I chose, would be so slight as not to be of any material
consequence. If no condensation had occurred, the ratio of the axes
in the plane perpendicular to cleavage would have been as 2°56: 1,
instead of 6: 1; and hence there must have been an absolute com-
pression from 100 to about 43. From the nature of the facts, the
chances are that it is, if anything, rather too great; and hence,
142 Henry Clifton Sorby on the
probably, the true average absolute condensation in such rocks, has
been to about one-half of the original volume. This must have
resulted chiefly from the forcing of the particles more closely to-
gether, so as to fill up the spaces left between them, when only
touching each other ; and their very close packing, as seen in thin
sections, agrees well with this supposition.
These amounts of change of dimensions vary considerably in dif-
ferent cases, but they agree most perfectly with that indicated by
the contortions of the beds in their immediate vicinity, and also
most closely correspond with that deduced from the breaking up of
the rounded grains of mica.
The power most generally useful in examining slate rocks, is
about 400 linear ; but higher and lower are of course valuable for
particular purposes. It is almost indispensable to use a polarizing
microscope, and there should be such contrivances as to give a good,
bright, polarized light with high powers. The physical structure
and optical properties of the minerals found in them, are such that
they can be identified with great certainty, even when in grains less
than 554 ,th of an inch in diameter.
Some slate rocks, as for instance the pencil slate of Shap, consist
almost entirely of rounded grains and minute flakes and granules of
mica, varying from about ;3>th to ;54,5,th of an inch in diameter,
but chiefly under ;z4;5th. I do not believe that this is in the least
due to metamorphism, but has been a deposit of micaceous mud,
for the rounded grains have every character of being water-worn ;
and in the limestone of Rhiwlas near Bala, which consists almost
entirely of such grains and flakes of mica, and fragments of en-
crinites, their organic structure is as perfect, or even more so, than
in any limestone with which I am acquainted, though I have pre-
pared and examined thin sections of several hundred specimens of
every geological period ; and so much so, that any material amount
of metamorphism is wholly out of question. When deposits of
decomposed felspar have been acted on by great heat, they are, as it
were, baked into a natural porcelain, but no such grains of mica are
formed. Usually, besides mica, there is found in good roofing slate,
like that at Penrhyn, a certain proportion of decomposed felspar, a
few minute grains of quartz sand, and granules of phosphate of iron.
The red tint is produced by the presence of very numerous minute crys-
tals of peroxide of iron, and the dark by those of pyrites. From such
slate there is every gradation to those containing little or no mica,
but made up of more or less fine quartz sand, and decomposed felspar,
in very variable proportion; but these have only an imperfect
cleavage. Other slates, as is well known, contain much chlorite
and other minerals. On the present occasion I shall chiefly con-
fine myself to the consideration of such slate as has a perfect cleavage.
If a thin section of a rock not having cleavage be examined, which
has a similar mineral composition to those which, when having it,
Origin of Slaty Cleavage. 143
form good slates, it will be seen that the arrangement of the particles
is very different. For instance, the well-known Water of Ayr stone
has no cleavage, but shews more or less of bedding. It consists of
mica and a very few grains of quartz sand, imbedded in a large pro-
portion of decomposed felspar ; the peroxide of iron being collected
to certain centres, and having the characters of peroxidised pyrites.
The flakes of mica do not lie in the plane of bedding, but are in-
clined tolerably evenly at all angles, so that there is no definite line
of structural weakness, independent of that due to bedding ; which
results chiefly from alternations of layers of somewhat different com-
position, and not from the arrangement of the ultimate particles.
This is however totally different in a rock of similar composition
having cleavage. If a section be examined, cut perpendicular to
cleavage, in the line of its dip, it will be seen that though some of
the minute flakes of mica lie perpendicular to the cleavage or at high
angles to it, by far the larger part are inclined at low, so that the
majority lie within 20° on each side of it. In fact they are most
numerous nearly in the plane of cleavage, and gradually but rapidly
diminish in quantity in passing to higher angles, so that there are
twenty times as many nearly in the plane of cleavage as at 45° to it,
and very few at 90°. Where a section is examined, cut perpen-
dicular to cleavage, in the line of the strike, it is seen that the ar-
rangenient is similar, but there is not near so rapid a diminution of
the members in passing from the line of cleavage, so that there are
comparatively several times as many more inclined at about 45° to
it, than when the section is in the line of dip, and those at still
higher angles are also much more numerous. In a section in the
plane of cleavage, but few flakes are cut through so as to have a
greatly unequiaxed form ; but they are similarly arranged with re-
spect to the line of dip, though not in so marked a manner. It is
not merely the larger flakes of mica that are thus arranged, but
the whole of those unequiaxed particles which existed in the rock
before the cleavage was developed.
When a cleavage crack in the thin sections is examined, it is
clearly seen that the cleavage is due to the above described arrange-
ment of the particles, which it follows most perfectly ; not passing
straight forwards, but turning about according to the manner in
which the ultimate particles lie in every part. It therefore appears
that the fissile character of slate is due to a line of structural weak-
ness, brought about by the manner of arrangement of the ultimate,
unequiaxed particles. The natural cleavage cracks, of course, bear
the same relation to this arrangement as those so often seen in
many crystalline bodies do to that of their ultimate atoms. They
appear, in general, to have been mainly due to meteoric agencies ;
their position having been determined by the structural weakness.
In accounting, then, for so-called slaty cleavage, it is only requisite
to shew how such particles could have had their position so changed
144 Henry Clifton Sorby on the
that their arrangement should be altered from that found in rocks
not having cleavage to that in those having it; which explanation
must of course be such as would agree with every other fact con-
nected with the subject.
Now I trust I have already shewn that there is abundance of
evidence to prove that rocks having slaty cleavage have been greatly
compressed in a line perpendicular to cleavage, and elongated to a
certain extent in the line of its dip. Taking for the amount of these
changes those I have already mentioned for the slate of Penrhyn and
Llanberis, it is easy to calculate mathematically what would be the
arrangement of the unequiaxed particles in such a rock as Water of
Ayr stone, if its dimensions were so changed. Supposing that A =
the angle of inclination of the longer axis of any unequiaxed particle
to the line along which the maximum elongation would occur, and
that a = this angle after it had taken place, we should have, per-
tan Att,
pendicular to cleavage in the line of dip, tana = hea te in that
6
t
of strike tana = ie ; and, in the plane of cleavage, tana =
tan A Pade :
From these relations it necessarily follows that the particles
1-6 ©
would then be arranged in precisely such a manner as is seen to be
the case in such a rock having cleavage, the agreement being most
perfect in every particular, both in kind and amount, as seen in sec-
tions cut in each direction.
Though such calculations may be fully relied on, yet, to satisfy
myself that they were correct, I have tested them by actual experi-
ment. Having mixed some scales of oxide of iron with soft pipe-
clay, in such a manner that they would be inclined evenly in all di-
rections, like the flakes of mica in Water of Ayr stone, I changed
its dimensions artificially to a similar extent to what has occurred
‘in slate rocks. Having then dried and baked it, I rubbed it to a
perfect flat surface, in a direction perpendicular to pressure and in
the line of elongation, which would correspond to that of dip of
cleavage, and also, as it were, in its strike, and in the plane of
cleavage. ‘The particles were then seen to have become arranged in |
precisely the same manner as theory indicates that they would, and
as is the case in natural slate; so much so, that, so far as their
arrangement is concerned, a drawing of one could not be distinguished
from that of the other. Moreover, it then admitted of easy fracture
into thin flat pieces in the plane corresponding to the cleavage of
slate, whereas it could not in that perpendicular to it. Even in
clay which has but few very unequiaxed particles, a most distinct
lamination is produced by changing its dimensions, as described
above, but it would not cleave perfectly, no more than will natural
slate of similar mineral composition, and moreover one cannot ob-
tain their firm, uniform structure. j
Origin of Slaty Cleavage. 145
It is a fact well worthy of remark, that, on each side of the larger
rounded grains of mica, in the line of cleavage, in well-cleaved slates,
the particles are arranged evenly at all angles, over small trian-
gular spaces, having their bases towards the grain. This is just the
part which would be protected from change of dimensions by its pre-
sence; and this fact is therefore very good evidence of the slate having
had originally such a structure as would be changed into its present,
if its dimensions had been altered in the manner and to the extent in-
dicated by the breaking up of other rounded grains of mica seen in
the same thin section.
What I therefore contend is, that there is abundance of proof that
slate rocks have suffered such a change of dimensions, as would ne-
cessarily alter the arrangement of their ultimate particles from what
is found in rocks not having cleavage to that in those which have,
and hence develop a line of structural weakness in the direction in
which it really does occur.
Some slates have a very poor cleavage, although their mineral
composition is similar to that of such as often have a most perfect.
In these the green spots indicate a comparatively small change of
dimensions; and in others having no cleavage, the contortions and
spots shew that little or none has occurred. Whence it should ap-
pear that the perfection of cleavage depends both upon the ultimate
mineral composition, and the amount of change of dimensions of the
rock.
When slates are composed of alternating beds of different charac-
ter, thecleavage almost always does not pass straight through them,
but lies nearer to the plane of bedding in the finer-grained and more
perfectly cleaved varieties. When the cleavage cutsthe beds at a mode-
rate angle, this difference is often very considerable ; but where the bed-
ding is perpendicular or parallel to it, there is little or no variation.
When the change in mineral structure of the beds is sudden, the in-
elination of their respective cleavages is sharp and angular; but if
it be gradual, it passes from one to the other in a curve. These facts
are most easily explained by this theory. When such a mass of
rocks was compressed, certain beds would yield much more readily
_ than others, both to absolute compression and elongation. In such
contortions of coarse-grained beds interstratified with fine, as that
figured, the fact of them being so whilst the fine are not, and the
spreading-out arrangement of the cleavage planes in the finer, at the
vertices of the contortions of the coarser, as shewn in the figure,
prove that they did not admit of so much absolute compression as
the fine. In uncontorted alternating beds of such characters the
amount of elongation in the line of dip could not vary, and, there-
fore, it would necessarily follow that the more compressible would
be more compressed in the plane of bedding than the others. Hence,
the line of cleavage would lie more towards that plane in the fine
than in the coarser, the junction being angular or curved, according
VOL. LV. NO. CIX.—JULY 1858. K
146 Henry Clifton Sorby on the
as the nature of the beds changed suddenly or gradually, as is really
found to be the case.
The inequalities at the junctions of different kinds of beds, and
the peculiar wrinkling of their surface, agree perfectly with this
mechanical theory. I have examined sections cut in the plane of
bedding perpendicular to the cleavage, and find that the arrange-
ment of the particles corresponds to the wrinkles, and is just such
as would necessarily occur if there had been an irregular giving way
of the rock so as to form them.
If the direction of the cleavage be examined in the various parts
of the case figured in this memoir, I cannot conceive how they could
possibly be explained, except by such a theory as I am now advo-
cating. In the coarser- -grained sandy bed it coincides with the axes
of all. the contortions, and is in the line of greatest elongation of the
thickness of the bed, and perpendicular to the line of pressure. It
is arranged in fan-shape in all the contortions, as though they had
been squeezed together after the sandy bed had suffered as much
compression as it admitted of. The cleavage in the fine-grained beds
at some distance from the contorted one, is perpendicular to the
line of squeezing, as indicated by its puckering up, and the increase
and diminution of its thickness, in passing round the contortions ;
but when approaching their roindéd ends, though the cleavage
passes straight forward in the line of their axes, it spreads out
on each side, and curves down into the sharp-ended spaces be-
tween them, in just such a manner as would necessarily occur if the
coarser-grained bed had been less compressed than the other. It
would also follow, that the above-mentioned fan-shaped arrangement
would be of greatest amount in such beds as offered much resistance
to change of dimensions, whereas in fine-cleaved slates it would be
very small, or even not occur at all; and such is the fact observed
in the rocks themselves. It would also necessarily follow from this
theory, that the strike of the cleavage would usually coincide with
the general strike of the beds, and be parallel to the main axis of
elevation of the district, as has been found to be so commonly the
case. The dip of the cleavage planes over any extensive district
would likewise be as has been observed. The structure of the so-
called double-cleaved slate admits of most easy explanation, as do
a number of other facts connected with the subject ; and, so far as I
am aware, there are none which cannot be explained by this theory,
or by suppositions most perfectly reconcilable with it.
It may perhaps be objected that the cleavage of slate is too regular
and parallel in its range over a given district, to agree with the sup-
position of its being due to the cause I have suggested ; but I think
there is abundance of evidence to shew that such a physical change
of dimensions has really oceurred with the kind of regularity observed _
in respect to the cleavage planes. Such metamorphic schists as
those of the north-east of Anglesea, have a peculiar linear graining
Origin of Slaty Cleavage. 147
on the surface of their beds, but no true cleavage. This linear grain-
ing is due to small puckerings of the beds, and may be called “ plica-
tions of the first order.’ They are not parallel to other sets of
_ plications which have occurred after their formation. I have care-
fully examined their direction over a considerable area, and laid them
down on a map, and find that they trend parallel, or turn gradually
about, in precisely the same manner as the strike of the cleavage
planes in slate rocks. Similar facts have been often observed with
respect to larger contortions. There can be no doubt of the mecha-
nical origin of both these kinds of plications, and hence we have
evidence to shew that wide districts have been compressed laterally
in just such a manner as would produce a similar arrangement of the
strike of the cleavage planes in rocks of such a character as have
had cleavage developed, when they have suffered similar compression
under somewhat different circumstances. It has also been urged
against this theory, that if masses of rock of different kinds had been
compressed, they would not have given way uniformly. This, how-
ever, must have arisen from some misapprehension of the real ar-
rangement of the cleavage.in such rocks; for, as I have shewn, the
facts prove that they have not given way uniformly, and this very
circumstance explains many of its irregularities.
Perhaps it may be said, How is it possible that hard rocks could —
have had their dimensions changed to the extent described? To
this I would reply, If the rocks be examined, it will be seen that it
really has occurred, and I would suggest that solidity is but a com-
parative property, and that the intensity of the forces in action during
the elevation of a range of mountains, could gradually change the
dimensions of rocks ; for it is well known that many hard and brittle
substances will admit of such movements, as for instance the ice of
glaciers, and hard and brittle pitch,
I would now ask, How is it possible to reconcile all the mechani-
eal facts I have described, which are so clearly related to the clea-
vage, with the supposition of its being due to electrical action, or any
other non-mechanical cause ? If I be not greatly deceived, they all
form a most complete whole, if viewed in the light I have placed
them; whereas, so far as I can see, they are quite incomprehensible
on the latter supposition ; nor, so far as I can learn, have its most
_ zealous supporters ever given any satisfactory reason for the manner
of distribution of the cleavage planes, even assuming them to be as
regular and uniform as some authors appear to describe them. Mr
_Sharpe’s theory, of course, only differs from mine in his assuming
that the particles have been really compressed ; whereas I am per-
suaded, that in general they have only suffered a change of position.
This, however, no doubt resulted from the different method of research
T have adopted. It would however, cause me to extend this com-
munication to too great a length, to enter fully into all these questions,
or deseribe many other facts I have observed connected with the sub-
hd Ka
148 Colonel Sabine on the Determination of
ject. My object, in the present memoir, is to give a rough outline
of my observations and theories ; and though I have greatly exceeded
my proposed limits, yet I fear that many points will have been far
from clearly understood ; for to explain them all thoroughly would
require much detail and numerous illustrations.
ee Ea ane na
Colonel Sabine on the Determination of the Figure and
Dimensions of the Globe.
The determination of the figure and dimensions of the globe
which we inhabit may justly be regarded as possessing a very
high degree of scientific interest and value ; and the measure-
ments necessary for a correct knowledge thereof have long
been looked upon as proper subjects for public undertakings,
and as highly honourable to the nations which have taken
part in them. Inquiries in which I was formerly engaged,
led me fully to concur with a remark of Laplace, to the effect
that it is extremely probable that the first attempts were
* made at a period much anterior to those of which history has
preserved the record ; the relation which many measures of
the most remote antiquity have to each other and to the ter-
restrial circumference strengthens this conjecture, and seems
to indicate, not only that the earth’s circumference was known
witha great degree of accuracy at an extremely ancient period,
but that it has served as the base of a complete system of
measures, the vestiges of which have been found in Egypt
and Asia. In modern times the merit of resuming these in-
vestigations belongs to the French nation, by whom the are of
the meridian between Formentera and Dunkirk was measured
towards the close of the last century. The Trigonometrical
Survey of Great Britain, commenced in 1783, for the specific
object of connecting the Observatories of Greenwich and
Paris, was speedily expanded by the able men to whom its
direction was then confided, into an undertaking of far greater
scientific as well as topographical importance, having for its
objects, on the one hand the formation of correet maps of
Great Britain, and on the other the measurement of an are of
the meridian, having the extreme northern and southern ~
points of the Island for its terminations. A portion of this
the Figure and Dimensions of the Globe. 149
arc, amounting to 2° 50’, viz. from Dunnose in the Isle of
Wight to Clifton in Yorkshire, was published in the Phil.
Trans. in 1803. As the whole arc, extending from Dunnose
to Unst and Balta, the most northern of the Shetland Islands,
would comprise more than 10°, and as nearly half a century
had elapsed since the publication of the earlier part of the
survey, it is not surprising that some degree of impatience
should have been felt, both by those who desired the results
for scientific use, and by those who were interested for the
scientific character of the nation, that the general results of
the survey applicable to scientific purposes should at length
be given to the world. Accordingly, at the Birmingham
Meeting of the British Association in 1849, a resolution was
passed appointing a deputation to confer with the Master-
General of the Ordnance, and a similar resolution was passed
about the same time by the President and Council of the
Royal Society. On communicating with the Master-General,
it appeared that the want of special funds for the requisite
calculations formed the only obstacle, a difficulty which was
happily immediately surmounted by an application of the
President and Council of the Royal Society, to Lord John
Russell, then First Lord of the Treasury. The report of the
Council of the British Association to the General Committee
at the meeting of the last year at Ipswich, contained an offi-
cial statement from the Inspector-General of Fortifications
of the progress of the reduction and examination of the ob-
servations preparatory to the desired publication, and con-
cluded with expressing the expectation of the director of the
survey, that he ‘‘ should be able to furnish for communication
to the British Association that would probably assemble in
1852, the principal results obtainable from the geodetic
operations in Great Britain and Ireland.” By a recent letter
to my predecessor from Captain Yolland of the Royal En-
gineers, who is intrusted with the direction of the publication,
Tam enabled to have the pleasure of announcing that the
“ printing of the observations made with the zenith sector,
for the determination of the latitudes of stations between the
years 1842 and 1850, is finished, and will be presented in
time for the meeting of the British Association, and that the
150 Professor Secchi on the
calculations connected with the triangulation are rapidly ad-
vancing towards their completion.”
In the meantime, the great are of Eastern Europe has been
advancing with unexampled rapidity, and to an extent hitherto
unparalleled, Originating in topographical surveys in Esthonia
and Livonia, and commenced in 1816, the operations, both
geodesical and astronomical, have been completed between
Izmail on the Danube and Fugleness in Finnmarken, an ex-
tent of 254 meridional degrees. Next to this in extent is
the Indian are of 21° 21’ between Cape Comorin and Kaliana ;
and the third is the French arc already referred to, of 12° 22’.
It appears by a note presented to the Imperial Academy of
Sciences at St Petersburg by M. Struve, that a provisional
calculation has been made of a large part of the great arc of
Eastern Europe, and that it has been found to indicate for
the figure of the earth a greater compression than that de-
rived by Bessel in 1837 and 1841, from all the ares then at
his command,—Bessel’s compression having also been greater
than Laplace’s previous deduction. Itis naturally with great
pleasure that I perceive that the figure of the earth derived by
means of the measurement of arcs of the meridian, approxi-
mates more and more nearly, as the arcs are extended in
dimension, to the compression which I published in 1825 as
the result of a series of Pendulum Experiments, which, by
the means placed by Government at my disposal, I was en-
abled to make from the equator to within ten degrees of the
pole, thus giving to that method its greatest practicable ex-
tension.— Address to the British Association at Belfast.
On the Distribution of Heat at the Surface of the Sun.
By Professor SECCHT.
1. The heat of the solar image is at the centre almost
twice as great as at the borders. This is found to be true,
examining the diameters both in right ascension and decli-
nation. 2. The maximum of temperature did not appear to
be at the centre, but above it, in a point distant from it about
3’ of geocentric declination. Constructing graphically the
a i
4 '
stribution of Heat at the Surface of the Sun. 151
curve of the intensity of heat, taking as abscisse the parts
of the sun’s diameter, and as ordinate the intensities them-
selves, it. appears that this curve (a kind of inverted para-
bola) is not symmetrically disposed about the axis of the
ordinates, but a good deal inclined towards the upper edge.
I subjoin some numbers which represent the intensity of
heat in the parts of the diameter of the sun, taken in minutes,
+ above, and — below the centre of the image.
Positions on the diameter
of the sun in dectina } 474"96 £1132 43°00 +1°32 —10'9 —14"88
tion,
Relative intensity of heat, 57°39 88-81 10000 99°48 81:32 54:34
These are the results of eight series of experiments, none
of which is found in contradiction with the others, and their
separate numbers are very nearly the same, so that the fact
seems to me completely ascertained. It is certainly curious
that the maximum of heat corresponds with the position of
the solar equator, as visible from the earth at the epoch of
the experiment (20th, 21st, 22d March). This leads natu-
rally to the conclusion that the solar equatorial regions must
be hotter than the polar regions, as was suspected already
from the more frequent appearance of the spots there. The
conclusion seems perfectly accurate, even admitting a solar
atmosphere, since the effect of this last should be to diminish
symmetrically the radiation around the centre of the image; _
on the contrary, if the polar regions are less hot than the
equatorial, the intensity of heat should have been less in
the lower part of the image, where the south pole of the sun
was visible; and consequently, the parts having equal dis-
tance from the centre of the image, had a very different
heliographical latitude, on account of the inclination of the
solar axis to the ecliptic. From these principles only, the
non-symmetry of the curve is accounted for. If this alone
is the cause, the curve will be found symmetrical in the
months of June and December, and reversed in September,
since in the two former the equator passes through the centre
_ of the image, and in the last is below it. But it is not im-
possible that the two solar hemispheres should possess diffe-
rent temperatures, aS seems to be the case on the earth, and
is suspected in Mars. If this is the case, these researches
152 M. Plana on the Mean Density of
will throw some light on the climatology of the earth itself;
since the heat of the sun must be different, according as one
or other of its poles is turned towards the earth. Future
experiments will resolve this question. With respect to the
poles of the sun, I shall add here a conjecture on a fact re-
cently discovered by Colonel Sabine. The journal Institut
relates that this gentleman has found that the deviation of
the magnet from its mean position at the Cape of Good Hope
is found to be in opposite directions at the epochs of the two
equinoxes. Might this not be an effect of the solar magne-
tical polarity on the terrestrial magnetism. The fact deserves
to be examined, if it takes place in our hemisphere, and in
opposite directions. Coming again to the solar heat, 1 have
found that spots seemed less hot than the rest; but as only
small groups of them were visible, no singular fact or law
can be stated from these observations. I shall conclude this
account by noticing an odd historical coincidence, namely,
that these observations were made in the same room where
it is said F. Scherner, the first who used a telescope mounted
equatorially, made his observations of the sun. This room
has been this year added to the observatory.—Proceedings
of the Royal Astronomical Society, November 1852.
On the Mean Density of the Superficial Crust af the Earth.
By M. PLANA.
The researches of geometers have established, beyond
doubt, that the density of the earth increases towards the
centre. Assuming the densities of the successive strata to
increase in arithmetical progression, Laplace has investi-
gated the constant amount of increase for each successive
stratum, and has hence deduced the mean density of the ter-
restrial spheroid (Mec. Cel., tome v., liv. xi.) In his re-
searches on this subject, he supposes the density of the super-
ficial stratum (Q) to be three times the density of the sea,
considered equal to unity. He remarks that this assumption
agrees very nearly with the density of granite. His expres-
sion for the density of any stratum is,
o =(0) (1 + e — ea),
ee eee ee
© i el”
the Superficial Crust of the Earth. — 153
in which a denotes the radius of the stratum (the mean
radius of the superficial stratum being supposed equal to
unity), and ¢ the constant quantity by which the depth of
each successive stratum; 1 — a is to be multiplied conform-
ably to the assumed law of density. Admitting the ellipti-
city of the earth to be equal to 0:00326, Laplace found the
value of e to be 2°349, and hence determined the mean den-
sity to be 4°764. ‘This value differs considerably from the
results which Reich and Baily have deduced from their ex-
periments with the batance of torsion; the former having
obtained 5:44, and the latter 5-6604, for the mean density of
the terrestrial spheroid, the density of pure water being sup-
posed equal-to unity.
The remarks of Humboldt on the density of the superficial
stratum of the earth, contained in the first volume of his
Kosmos, would seem to imply that the value of this element
assumed by Laplace is erroneous. He states, that from the
nature of the rocks which constitute the superficial strata of
the solid parts of the globe, the density of continents is
hardly 2:7; and he hence infers, that the mean density of
continents and seas taken together does not amount to 1°6.
The researches of Plana, contained in the note above referred
to, serve to confirm this. conclusion. Supposing the ellipti-
city of the earth to be represented by 0-00326 (1 — 0-008479),
he has found that the mean density 5:44, and the initial den-
sity 1:6, may be satisfactorily accounted for. The ellipticity
derived either from actual measurement or from researches
on the lunar theory, cannot be regarded as sufficiently trust-
worthy to render the value here assumed inadmissible. On
the other hand, if the ellipticity be supposed equal to 0:00326,
the mean density deducible is 4°76 ; a result which is incom-
patible with the precision of the experiments made for the
purpose of determining this element.—Proceedings Astron.
Soc., Dec. 1852.
154
Lieutenant Maury’s Plan for Improving Navigation ; with
Remarks on the Advantages arising from the Pursuit of
Abstract Science. Extracted from Lord Wrottesley’s
Speech in the House of Lords, on 26th April 1853.
“Tt is time that I should now explain how these charts are
constructed and routes discovered. The whole ocean is
divided into squares the sides of which represent 5° of longi-
tude and 5° of latitude; in the midgt of these squares the
figure of a compass is drawn, with lines representing sixteen
of the compass points, the intermediate points being omitted ;
the log-books are then searched for observations of the direc-
tions of winds and of the proportion of calms in each of
these squares. In the centre of each compass so drawn are
placed two numbers, one representing the total number of
observations obtained in the square, the other the per-cent-
age of calm days. By the side of each of the lines repre-
senting the sixteen points of the compass, are written num-
bers which denote the per-centage of the winds that have
been found to blow from that quarter, and at the extremity
of each line are numbers, which shew the per-centage of
miles a ship will lose if she attempt to sail 100 miles through
that particular square, in the particular direction indicated
by the line in question. Now that number is-obtained as
follows :—
“ By the resolution of simple problems in sailing, it is
known that if the wind will not allow a ship to lie within six
points of her course, that is, if it be a head wind, she will lose
62 miles (omitting fractions) in every 100 that she sails, or, in
other words, after sailing 100 she will only have made 38 good
in the wished-for direction; in like manner, if she can sail
within four points, she loses 29 miles, and if within two points,
only eight. Having therefore the per-centage of winds that
will make such deviation from the desired course necessary,
it is easy by a common proportion to calculate the total
amount of space lost or detour (as Maury calls it) for every
given direction, for every 100 miles sailed within the square.
When a course has to be traced, therefore, all the squares
Lieut. Maury’s Plan for Improving Navigation. 155
are carefully examined, and by a very laborious system of
trial and error, the combination of squares is found which
gives the route most likely to succeed, by ascertaining those
through which the loss is a minimum. I say most likely,
for of course this is only a problem of chances, and the event
may be adverse, as in the case of insurances, but is less
likely to be so as observations are multiplied. I should ex-
plain that in performing this process, currents and calms are
taken into account, and that there are separate compasses
drawn, and separate routes traced for each of the twelve
months of the year; for though the winds are assumed to be
so far constant for individual months as to give an average
on which some reliance may be placed, when the number of
observations is sufficiently large, this is by no means the case
thoughout the whole year. When the twelve compasses have
been delineated and filled up, they are combined, by a pecu-
liar and neat arrangement of the numbers within concentric
circles, into one, and a chart of the ocean, containing these
combinations, is termed a pilot chart.
“ Lieutenant Maury is anxious to obtain at least 100 ob-
servations per month in each square, which will be more
than a million and a half for the whole ocean, and a less
number seems certainly not sufficient to give a result in
which confidence can be placed. As might be expected, in
Some squares he has obtained a great many more than this,
and in some none at all; in the square e. g. which adjoins
New York, he has obtained 4,387 observations; but there
is a large space of ocean seldom traversed by ships, that e.g.
between the southern extremities of Africa and America, in
which the squares are all blank. Now, my Lords, I think
those blank squares are a reproach to the civilisation of the
present age, and I say so on this principle, that it is our
duty not to rest satisfied till we know all that can be known
about the globe we inhabit, that can be rendered in any way
profitable to our common species; and therefore I think that
the principal maritime nations should share the labour of ex-
ploring these vacant spaces, for no doubt shorter routes
might be discovered through them, and others matters ascer-
tained, to which I shall presently allude. However, it is no
156 Lieut. Maury’s Plan for Improving Navigation.
part of Lieutenant Maury’s plan, as such, to send out survey- .
ing expeditions.
‘* Now, your Lordships will of course understand that other
things besides "the directions of the winds are contained in
these log-books, and these matters not contained in ordinary
records of this kind; but I thought it better to keep that
division quite distinct, as it is the winds that form the chief
guide in devising the new course. Hydrography is of two
kinds,—that which consists in accurate surveys of harbours
and coasts, which may be called more properly ‘ maritime
surveying,’ and that which consists in recording all the
phenomena of a scientific character which are observed at
sea, in what sailors call ‘the blue water,’ z. e. out of ordi-
nary soundings. Among these the most important, exclusive
of astronomical and meterological observations, properly so
called, are the force and set of currents, and the temperature
and depth of the water. The American masters are instructed
to immerse a thermometer in the water, and take the tem-
perature of the ocean at least once a day, and to examine, as
often as convenient, the force and set of currents, and also to
try for deep sea soundings.”
Report of the Royal Society on Lieutenant Maury’s Scheme.
‘“‘ Short as is the time that this system has been in opera-
tion, the results to which it has led have proved of very great
importance to the interests of navigation and commerce. The
routes to many of the most frequented ports in different parts
of the globe have been materially shortened, that to St
Francisco in California by nearly one-third: a system of
southwardly monsoons in the equatorial regions of the At-
lantie and on the west coast of America has been discovered ;
a vibratory motion of the trade-wind zones, and with their
belts of calms and their limits for every month of the year,
has been determined: the course, bifurcations, limits, and
other phenomena of the great Gulf-stream have been more
accurately defined, and the existence of almost equally re-
markable systems of currents in the Indian Ocean, on the
coast of China, and on the north-western coast of America and
elsewhere, has been ascertained. There are, in fact, very few
Lieut. Maury’s Plan for Improving Navigation. 157
departments of the science of meteorology and hydrography
which have not received very valuable additions ; whilst the
more accurate determination of the parts of the Pacific Ocean
where the sperm-whale is found (which are very limited in
extent), as well as the limits of the range of those of other
species, has contributed very materially to the success of the
American whale fishery, one of the most extensive and pro-
ductive of all their fields of enterprise and industry.”
Lieutenant Maury is enthusiastic in the cause. He sees the
benefits that must arise from the extension of this system of
observation, and he invites the co-operation of all maritime
nations ; but to which does he look with the most longing
eyes and the best hopes of success? Of course to the nation
of whom the poet sings—
“ Their path is on the mountain wave,
Their home is on the deep ;”—
To his brethren at this side of the Atlantic. What do the
Royal Society say on this point ?
« But it is to the government of this country that the de-
mand for co-operation, and for the interchange of observa-
tions, is most earnestly addressed by the government of the
United States ; and the President and Council of the Royal
Society express their hope that it will not be addressed in
vain. We possess in our ships of war, in our packet service,
and in our vast commercial navy, better means of making
such observations, and a greater interest in the results to
which they lead, than any other nation. For this purpose,
every ship which is under the control of the Admiralty should
be furnished with instruments properly constructed and com-
pared, and with proper instructions for using them: similar
instructions for making and recording observations, as far as
their means will allow, should be sent to every ship that
sails, with a request that the results of them be transmitted
to the Hydrographer’s Office of the Admiralty, where an
_ adequate staff of officers or others should be provided for
their prompt examination, and the publication of the im-
proved charts and sailing directions to which they would
lead. Above all, it seems desirable to establish a prompt
communication with the Hydrographer’s Office of the United
158 Lieut. Maury’s Plan for Improving Navigation.
States, so that the united labours of the two greatest naval
and commercial nations of the world may be combined, with
the least practicable delay, in promoting the interests of
navigation.”’
However, the Dutch have in this instance been beforehand
with us ; they have already adopted Maury’s plan. The ex-
penses will be really trifling in comparison to the great
results to be obtained. Some thermometers must be bought
and supplied to ships, and officers must be placed in charge
of a separate department of hydrography, whose constant
duty it will be to collate all the materials sent in, and con-
struct new charts, and that department must be placed in
communication with the hydrographical department of the
United States. But if I do not take too sanguine a view of
the matter, it really seems to me that this expenditure will
bear an almost indefinitely small ratio to the benefits likely’
to be realised to navigation alone. But this is a small part
of the total amount of advantages—the benefits that are
likely to flow from having a numerous host of observers
making meteorological observations continually night and
day, over all the parts of the globe covered with water, which
are nearly three-fourths of its surface, and which before
supplied no materials to the common stock of science, can
scarcely be over-estimated. There is no subject which is
more perplexing than the science of the weather ; the pheno-
mena are so various and so complex that at one time
philosophers despaired of eliminating any general laws ; but
the prospect is now brighter ; a vast step has been made by
‘the invention of self-registering instruments, the beautiful
applications of electricity to that object, and by the esta-
blishment of numerous magnetic observatories, at all of
which meteorological observations are made. But the sea
may be described as the spot on which all the phenomena
are in their most regular and normal state, uninterrupted
by casual causes, such as unduly heated surfaces, mountain
ranges, and so forth. ‘The sea,” says Maury, “is the field
for observing the operations of the general laws which
govern the circulation of the atmosphere. Observations on
land enable us to discover the exceptions, but from the’sea
a
On the Arctic Relief Expeditions. 159
we get the rule.’ Thus the addition of near three-fourths
of the globe to the field of meteorological observation, and
that three-fourths covered by water, will be an accession to
Science of great importance.
Observations by Augustus Petermann, Esq., on the Arctic
Relief Hapeditions.
Noble efforts have been made to rescue Sir John Franklin
and his companions. But now that nearly eight years have |
elapsed without tidings of them, even the most sanguine
must begin to feel anxiety about their safety. If, as is very
probable, they have not perished from the want of food, but
have been eking out an existence by means of certain Arctic
animals, their number must have greatly diminished, and
those who may still be alive would doubtless, from their
long confinement and severe trials, have their strength so
reduced as to be unable to extricate themselves from their
prison, or make much locomotive progress. In any efforts,
therefore, that may yet be made for their relief, time ‘should
form a chief point of consideration, as every week may cut
off some from the number yet living. It is now satisfac-
torily established that they must be looked for far beyond
the American shores,—indeed, far beyond Melville Island,—
namely, opposite the shores of Siberia, in a region extend-
ing from the land discovered by Captain Kellett to the
eightieth parallel, and from the meridian of Point Barrow
on the American side, to that of the Kolyma on the Asiatic.
This is just the region which has been, and is still, alto-
gether unprovided for in the search, except by the Assistance
and her tender under Sir Edward Belcher, who has gone up
Wellington Channel, where most probably the missing expe-
dition has preceded him. But although Sir Edward Belcher
found an unusually open season, enabling him to push his
way up that channel, it is not very likely, considering the
time that would be lost in looking for traces, that he would
overtake Franklin in less than three years, by following him
ona route which has occupied the latter six years. For it
160 On the Arctie Relief Expeditions.
must be remembered that Sir John Franklin, in 1846, was
in exactly the same position as Sir Edward Belcher now is,
if he then did get up Wellington Channel; and surely his
expedition was as effective as that of the latter, and his crew
not inferior.
While it is evident that the relief expeditions hitherto
have been too much concentrated on one side of the Arctic
regions,—in summer 1850 no less than eleven vessels were
accumulated in one spot,—it is not too much to say that the
search on the track of the missing vessels has only now com-
menced, by Sir Edward Belcher’s having sailed up Welling-
ton Channel.
The rest of the searching vessels at present in the Arctic
regions, the Investigator and Enterprise, as well as those
under Captain Kellett, are only directed to Banks Land and
Melville Island, a region probably far away from Sir John
Franklin’s position. “The fearlessness and tameness of
the animals in Melville Island,” says Lieutenant M‘Clintock,
—the best authority on this point,—“ was almost in itself a
convincing proof that our countrymen had not been there ;”
and indeed, it may be added, not anywhere within five hun-
dred miles. If Sir John Franklin had wished to retreat to
any known region on the American side, nothing could
surely have hindered him from doing so. It is well known
that sledge parties have travelled distances of nearly one
thousand miles during one winter; and Sir John Ross, after
four years’ imprisonment in the ice, and with a force of only
twenty-four men, greatly reduced by hardships and trials,
travelled at least five hundred miles, partly by land and partly
by water, from the point where he abandoned his vessel to
that where he was released.
The fact that no less than fifteen expeditions, consisting
of thirty vessels, besides the boats, had failed in their main
object, prompted me a short time back to draw attention to
a portion of the Arctic regions which has remained entirely
neglected, and to suggest a plan of search through the Spitz-
bergen Sea, that great ocean between Spitzbergen and
Novaya Zemlya. I adduced reasons to shew that that sea
would probably offer the best route, and demonstrated that
Professor Secchi’s Description of Lunar Volcanoes. 161
its exploration was a most important desideratum in a com-
‘ mercial and geographical point of view. If the searching
operations are to be based on a comprehensive and exhaus-
tive system, my scheme cannot possibly be left unconsidered
and neglected. The commercial interests of the country
likewise demand an early exploration of the region to which
I have drawn attention, and science looks eagerly forward
to the solution of one of the most interesting of geographical
problems. Moreover, when it is considered that five years’
increasing efforts from one side have hitherto proved com-
plete failures, the other side, so promising as regards an
easy and speedy access with the aid of steam, should no
longer be neglected. As yet the missing voyagers may not
all have perished, but a further delay of one or two years
may not leave one of them to tell the woeful tale of their
sufferings, and may repeat the fearful case of Sir Hugh
- Willoughby’s Expedition, where the stiff and frozen corpses
only were found on the dreary shores of the Arctic regions.
A Description of Lunar Volcanoes. By Professor SECCHI.
Professor Secchi divides the Lunar Volcanic Formations
into three classes, and he says, “ a fourth may be added,
analogous to our Plutonian Formations.
“ The first class of the lunar volcanoes possesses a dis-
tinctive character ; that the edges of the craters are almost
completely obliterated, so that their border now is a conti-
nuation of the plane ground, in which they seem excavated,
and a deep well only remains in the place of the ancient
mouth of the volcano. Instances of this kind are very fre-
quent near the south pole of the moon, and around the large
_ spot Tycho; but Tycho itself does not belong to this class. The
physiognomy of these craters nearly resembles our submarine
volcanoes of the Monti Ciminii to the north-west of Rome.
The country around the craters of Bracciano, Bolsena di
Vico, is almost flat, and the old openings of the craters are
now deep lakes, On this ground we are led to believe that
even in the moon many subaqueous volcanoes existed.
VOL. LV. NO. CIX.—JULY 1853. L
162 Professor Secchi’s Description of Lunar Volcanoes.
Another distinct character of these voleanoes of the first
class is, that they are in a line, as if they burst from the
eracks of the solid body of the crust produced by earlier
formations: this is most striking in Arzahel, Purbach, Al-
phonsus, and many others, and they seem to follow the cracks
made by the soulévement which raised Tycho, the lunar Ap-
pennines, &c. Some of the higher chains of lunar mountains
are seen visibly parallel to the alignement of the craters :
this fact also is like that which we observe on the earth; in-
deed, the large Italian volcanic chain follows the line of the
Apennines along this country.
“ The second class of lunar volcanoes are those which
have their outside edges elevated above the surrounding plain;
their form is generally regular, and not broken, as those of the
preceding class, and the ground around them is elevated in
a radiating disposition, as is visible around Tycho, Coper-
nicus, Aristotle, &c. The regularity of their forms suggests —
that the ejected matter was not disturbed by the motion of
waves, and, consequently, that they were atmospherical vol-
canoes, like those of the Monti Laziali, Albani, and Tuscu-
lani, at the south-east of Rome ; the want of breach in the
craters seems to indicate that no lava, but only scorie and.
loose matters have been ejected. The disposition of the
soil around them suggests the opinion that they are of a
comparatively later epoch, and formed after the crust of the
satellite was pretty resistant, and was capable of being ele-
vated all round by a great effort. It is singular, indeed,
that this radiation of the soil around is found proportional
to the magnitude of the central crater. The effect of this
soulevement extended sometimes to a prodigious distance,
comparable to that of the Cordilleras of the Andes on the
earth. The greater part of the craters of both the classes
now described possesses an insulated rock inside, very seldom’
appearing (at least in commonly good telescopes) perforated.
This bears great analogy with what we see in more than
one place in the ancient volcanoes of the earth, where the
erupting mouth has been stopped by a dome of trachytic
matter as bya stump. Monte Venere, near Rome, is of this
formation, and lies in the centre of an immense old crater.
a a
Professor Secchi’s Description of Lunar Volcanoes. 163
“ The third class of lunar craters is very small, and bears
a great likeness with those called by geologists adventitious
eraters, and seems to be of a very late formation, the last
efforts of the expiring voleanic force. They are irregularly
scattered through all the moon, but occur more frequently at
the borders or inside of the old demolished craters, although
not concentric with them, and seem to have been produced
after the large ones were completely closed, either by tra-
chytic ejection or by becoming lakes. These small craters
have very. seldom rocks inside, or a flat bottom; but their
cavity is conical, and does not exceed in dimension our com-
-mon yoleanoes which are yet active on the earth. From
these facts and observations it appears, that volcanic action
has gone on in the moon through.all the same stages which
it has gone and is going on in the earth, and is there, pro-
bably, completely extinguished, on account of the smaller
’ mass of the moon, which has been cooled very rapidly. This
rapidity of cooling, joined with the smaller gravity, may ac-
count for the great development of volcanism there, and
comparatively fewer Plutonian formations. But extensive
instances of this kind are not wanting; the lunar Alps, the
Apennines, the Riphex, &c., may represent thi formation,
surrounding ‘vast basins, and having modern volcanoes fol-
lowing the direction of the higher edges of their chains.
Professor Ponzi seems to think it unquestionable that water
existed at the surface of the moon; the fierce glare of the
sunshine is not able to melt the ice there, which is, probably,
at the temperature of the planetary spaces; just as the sun
at the surface of the earth is not able to melt our glaciers,
which yet possess a certainly higher temperature. Cold,
and other unknown causes, may have absorbed and fixed all
the atmosphere which anciently existed, as we see that the im-
mense atmosphere which anciently surrounded the earth has
been fixed by several chemical processes and reduced to its
actual composition; and it might be possible that this ac-
tually existing atmosphere of ours should be all solidified,
either by cold or chemical processes, if the earth arrives at
the same degree of cold which seems to have place on the
moon.”
L 2
164
Livingston's Researches in South Africa.
At a late meeting of the New York Geographical Society,
Mr Leavitt read a paper from Rev. Mr Livingston, English
missionary in South Africa. Mr L. had made two excur-
sions, in company with Capt. Oswald and another officer of the
British Army. Passing the lake Ngami and the river Zonga,
in latitude 20° south, they passed in their journey due north
across the dry bed of the Zonga. Here they found numerous
salt-pans or ponds. The Bushmen abound near the springs.
They are a merry and honest race. For three days Mr Living-
ston was without water ; travelling by night to avoid the heat.
On the fourth day they struck a rhinoceros trail, and follow-
ed it to the river Mataba, a small stream. They reached the
Chobe on the next day. This is a deep and very crooked
river. Here they found a famous old chief, Sabatoae. His
tribe is a very savage one. This old chief died while the tra-
vellers were there. ‘They then went on to the Sesheke or
Skiota, on horseback, a distance of 100 miles. This is an
immense stream; 300 to 500 yards across in the driest
season. Ten days up the river is the seat of the Barotsi, once
the most powerful tribe in that region. The river has many
tributaries and some rapids. In this region there are many
large rivers ; the country is flat, and in the rainy season is
flooded for many miles from the streams. The people here
are very black, very large, and strongly developed, but peace-
ful. They are more ingenious than the Cape people. The
Baloe tribes melt large quantities of iron, and are very good
smiths.
From an examination of the recently constructed maps of
this country, it is seen that the Zambesi (which is a very large
river emptying into the Mozambique Channel, by innumer-
able mouths, in latitude 18° and 19° south), seems to divide
into two great branches some 350 miles up; that these
branches run west, and then for several hundred miles north ;
that the branches are something like 200 miles apart, and
that the country between is a rich delta, since junction
streams constantly run from one branch to the other, thus
On the Crystalline Form of the Globe. (165
forming large islands inhabited each by a different tribe : that
700 or 800 miles from the ocean, the western branch of the
Zambesi receives the Chobe, which is also a large river, the
Ohio to this African Mississippi; that the sources of none of
these rivers are as yet known ; that south and west of the
Chobe runs the Zonga, another very large river, neither end
of which has been found, but it is supposed to empty into the
Zambesi; that one or two hundred miles further south is the
Limpopo River, also unexplored either way. It seems pro-
bable, from these documents, that there is a large and fertile
region well watered, wooded, and peopled, on the spot gene-
rally set down as the lower part of a great desert, lying
within a space bounded by longitude 20° and 35°, and lati-
tude 10° and 20°.—( American Annual of Scientific Discovery
im 1858, p. 383.)
On the Crystalline Form of the Globe. By M. DE HAUSLAB.
M. de Hauslab, in a recent publication, after discussing
the direction of mountains, and of dikes and of cleavages
among rocks, deduces some general principles with regard
to their direction, and then explains his hypothesis that the
surface of the globe presents approximately the faces of the
great octahedron. In an octahedron there are three axial
planes intersecting one another at right angles; and the po-
sitions of the circles on the earth’s surface, which he lays
down as the limits of these planes (or their intersection with
the surface), are as follows. The first circle is that of
Himalaya and Chimborazo, passing from Cape Finesterre to
the Himalaya, Borneo, eastern chain of New Holland (leaving
on its sides a parallel line in Malacca, Java, and Sumatra),
to New Zealand, thence to South America, near Chimborazo,
the chain of Caracas, the Azores to Cape Finesterre. The
second passes along the South American coast, and the north
- and south ranges of the Andes, the mountains of Mexico, the
Rocky Mountains, Behring’s Straits, the eastern Siberian
166 On the Crystalline Form of the Globe.
chains, going to the south of Lake Baikel, the Altai, Hima-
laya, the mountains of Bombay in Hindostan, a point in the
north-east of Madagascar (where the summits are 12,000
feet high), the mountains of Nieuwedfeld, 10,000 feet high,
Cape Cafires, to Brazil, the rapids of La Plata, Paraguay,
Panama, the elevated basin of Titicaca, the Andes, Illimani,
and the defile of Maranova. The third circle cuts the two
preceding at right angles, and passes by the Alps, the islands
of Corsica and Sardinia, along the basin of the Mediter-
ranean, the mountains of Fezzan, Lake Tchad, the Caffre
mountains of Nieuwedfeld, the Southern Ocean, near Ker-
guelen’s Land, the eastern or Blue Mountains of New
Holland, Straits of Behring, Spitsbergen, Scandinavia, Jut-
land, &e.
These three great circles point out the limits of the faces
of the great hypothetical octahedron. Each of the faces may
be divided into eight others by means of line of accidents of
minor importance, so as to make in all forty-eight irregular
triangles, a form of the diamond. At the intersections, M.
de Hauslab observes that there are nodes of dikes, and
along the lines, or near them, all the mountains of the globe
occur. The author gives an extended illustration of his sub-
ject, and afterwards considers the particular history of the
configuration of the earth’s surface in accordance with his
hypothesis. .
M. Boue, who adopts similar views, adds as a note, that
we should remember in this connection that the metals crys-
tallise either in the tesseral or rhombohedral system, and
that native iron, the most common constituent of meteorites,
is octahedral in its crystals.
167
On the Classification of Mammalia. By CHARLES GIRARD,
of Washington.
I. The limits of the class of Mammalia were not clearly un-
derstood by the earlier naturalists. Some groups, which in
former times were referred to other classes (as Cetacea and
Bats), have successively been brought into it. None, how-
ever, originally placed in this class have ever required re-
moval elsewhere. Thus the progressive investigations has
always increased the number of the representatives of this
class.
At the present day, we may safely say that we know all
the essential groups of the class of Mammalia, the actual
limits of which are acknowledged by every naturalist.
Indeed, we must expect many additional species and genera
which time and labour will bring to light, either in a fossil
state from various depths in the strata which constitute the
solid crust of our globe, or else from its actual surface, and
belonging to the living fauna contemporary with the human
races. Such additions are not expected to change or modify
the boundaries of the class, though they may have some im-
portance in the subdivisions and methodical arrangement of
the minor groups.
The division of the class into secondary or minor groups,
the relationship and subordination of the latter, have at-
tracted the attention of all general writers on zoology. Al-
most every one has attempted a classification in accordance
with the value attributed to one series of characters, rather
than to another.
The most ancient authors seem to have occupied them-
selves but little with zoological characters: hence the sub-
divisions which they establish among Mammalia are based
upon their mode of life, or the elements in which they live.
Next we see the subdivisons based upon external charac-
ters, the most striking being selected, such as the locomotive
members.
All this prior to the eighteenth century.
168 On the Classification of Mammalia.
Towards the end of that very century, however, compara-
tive anatomy started as a science; and at the beginning of
the nineteenth, it introduced an entirely new method of
classification. Systematic zoology underwent a metamor-
phosis.
The first half of the present century had not yet elapsed,
when another science grew up with rapid steps, claiming her
share in the question of the natural classification of the ani-
mal kingdom : we allude to embryology. The formation of
the young mammal, its genesis, its development prior to the
period when it makes its first appearance in the world, if not
entirely unveiled yet, are no longer mysterious, and their
bearing upon systematic zoology is universally felt.
Paleontological data are not less important in arriving at
a natural classification, than those derived from either com-
parative anatomy or embryology ; and indeed paleontology,
comparative anatomy, and embryology, hold an equal rank in
respect to zoology.
As investigations progress in these fields of researches,
new light is daily thrown on some obscure points, and diffi-
cult questions are thus elucidated ; but as yet, no methodical
arrangement of the class of Mammalia has been universally
adopted: there is still as much diversity of opinion, and
perhaps even more at the present time than in the two past
centuries, although, as a whole, our views on the subject have
been improved upon those of our ancestors.
II. In order to render more tangible our thoughts on the
subordination of the various groups which constitute the class
of Mammalia, we have prepared the accompanying plate,
which we shall now examine.
The orders Hdentata and Marsupialia are considered as
the trunks of the class: these two groups, we place on the
same level. They constitute the foundation, the bottom of
the class, and accordingly are the lowest of all.
gpntitX
ECCENTRIC GROUPS.
ECCENTRIC GROUPS.
|
|
Carn. Digitigrada.
Carn. Plantigrada,
Insectivora,
Rodentia
Ruminantia.
Pachydermata.
Sirenidia.
Cetacea.
NORMAL AND FULL DEVELOPMENT,
NORMAL AND FULL DEVELOPMENT.
Carnivora.
PROPHETIC & SYNTHETIC GROUPS |
Edentata Monotremata
PROPHETIC & SYNTHETIC GROUPS |
IDEAL GRADATION OF THE CLASS OF MAMMALIA. -
The trunk of Edentata sends out three diverging stems,
the Monotremata, the Hdentata proper, and the Tardi-
grada :* an herbivorous stem (Tardigrada s. Gravigrada),
* The graphic representation on a plane surface has caused the stem of Tar-
digrada to be separated from its trunk; but in bringing into contact both
edges of the plate, we would obtain a figure similar to that of Marsupialia.
Instead of a flattened surface, we want an ideal cone for both trunks.
170 On the Classification of Mammalia.
an insectivorous stem (Hdentata proper), and a carnivorous
stem (Monotremata.) The carnivorism in the trunk of Eden-
tata is of the lowest grade, and subordinated; as the carni-
vorous propensities only attack invertebrates, that is to say,
animals of a much inferior rank, comparatively very weak
and defenceless.
Above Monotremata we place Cetacea (whales and dol-
phins) ; Edentata proper, above the Jnsectivora ; and above
Tardigrada, the Sirenidia, or so-called herbivorous cetaceans,
the Pachydermata and Ruminantia.
The trunk of Marsupialia exhibits likewise three stems,
an herbivorous, an insectivorous and a carnivorous. Above
which we have, the Rodentia, containing the herbivorous
stem ; the Jnsectivora, continuing the insectivorous stem in
common with Edentata proper; and Carnivora, continuing
the carnivorous stem.
Thus above Edentata and Marsupialia, we have, on an-
other level, Cetacea, Sirenidia and Walrus, Pachydermata,
Ruminantia, Rodentia, Insectivora, and Carnivora ; that is to
say, all the normal types which represent the full develop-
ment of the class as synthetically eombined in Edentata and
Marsupialia below.
The fact that Insectivora are foreshadowed both by Eden-
tata and Marsupialia, shews that there exists a close con-
nection between the two trunks of the class. The insecti-
vorism is intermediate in rank between herbivorism and car-
nivorism ; it is of a higher grade than the former, and of a
lower than the latter. The predominating feature of the
trunk of Edentata consists in the vegetable diet, and in the
want of a complete set of teeth; the predominating feature
of the trunk of Marsupialia, on the contrary, consists in the
animal diet, and the possession of a complete set of teeth.
Accordingly there can be no doubt that Edentata are lower
in grade than Marsupialia: they are the lowest grade in
their class.
It will be obvious, also, that here Edentata rank the
lowest in grade amongst the normal groups of the class ;
still shewing that Edentata are inferior to Marsupialia, the
latter foreshadowing groups of a marked superiority.
On the Classification of Mammalia. 171
Now there are other groups which we place on still. an-
other level above the normal types, although not of an
absolute superiority. Their place can be nowhere else ; their
history must follow that of the normal types from which
they proceed : the Bradipodide (or sloths), arising from the
herbivorous stem of Edentata; the Sciwride (or squirrels),
arising from the stem of Rodentia ; the Cheiroptera (or bats),
arising from the stem of Insectivora; and the Quadrumana
(or monkeys), arising from the stem of Carnivora.
We consider these as so many shoots of the mammalian
tree, which went beyond the vital sphere of activity of the
class; in other words, deviations from the normal develop-
ment of the class.
IIL. § 1. Let us return now to some of the groups mapped
down on our chart of the ideal gradation, and state in a very
brief manner their most striking zoological features and rela-
tionships. :
To begin with Hdentata, which we concluded were the
lowest of the class: when looking at those creatures amidst
the other groups, we cannot help being strangely struck by
their singular physiognomy, and the still more astonishing
association of characters, which appear sometimes rather
borrowed from other classes, than as belonging to that of
Mammalia. We need only call to mind the water-mole
(Ornithorhyncus) of New Holland, the pangolins (Manis) of
Asia and Africa, the anteater (Myrmecophaga) and arma-
dillos (Dasypus) of South America, the aard-vark (Orcytero-
pus) of the Cape of Good Hope, and the sloths of tropical
America, which constitute the three orders Monotremata,
Edentata proper, and Tardigrada; the one as strange as the
other.
The Monotremata exhibit the lowest grade of mammalian
organization. They are ovoviviparous ; the young are with-
out uterian connection with the mother, but they are suckled
by the latter. In ‘that respect they approach nearest to birds
and reptiles; the structure of their sternum and shoulder,
also, presents a great resemblance to the same parts in
lizards and ichthyosauri. Their position at the bottom of the
172 On the Classification of Mammalia.
order of Edentata is justified by the fact that one genus
(Echidna) is completely deprived of teeth, whilst the other
(Ornithorhynchus) possesses but a few insignificant ones.
These two genera, which constitute by themselves the whole
order, may just as well constitute two families, so wide are
the differences in their general appearance and structure.
The Edentata proper constitute a group exceedingly re-
markable, composed of a few genera likewise very strange
in their characters, strange in their external features, strange
in all their relations. The differences amongst these genera
are so great that they have been made the types of as many
families by systematic writers, and we believe with great
propriety. The absence of teeth is the only character by
which they are united, although this character is not absolute,
inasmuch as grinding teeth in a very rudimentary state are
observed in some few: the front teeth or incisors—those
never exist in Edentata. Edentata moreover are provided
with strong nails or claws to the four locomotory extre-
mities.
Each of the types in Edentata, by its strange appearance,
recals to mind another order of things, another physical period
in the earth’s history, of which they are mere reminiscences.
The Tardigrada divide into two groups, one completely ex-
tinct, the remains of which are found in the tertiary deposits
of South America chiefly, the Tardigrada gravigrada, or
Megatheride ; and another exclusively composed of living
representatives, the Tardigrada bradipodida, or sloths of
Central and South America.
§ 2. The order Marsupialia is another combination into
one group of strange forms and strange characters, quite as
diversified and heterogeneous as in the Edentata, although
Marsupialia seem cast upon a more uniform external mould.
The great diversity resides in the physiognomy, and in the
structure of the teeth. 3
In Edentata, we have seen the dentition so defective, than
in several cases teeth were entirely absent. Here in Mar-
supialia the dentition is greatly developed, becomes a perma-
nent character, and requires a contrasting importance. The
incisors, it is true, are nowhere six in each jaw, which is the
oe
On the Classification of Mammalia. 178
normal number; shewing that at the outset the number was
of a subordinate value, as well as the relative signification of
the different kind of teeth. Nevertheless it can be distinctly
shewn that the three orders following, Rodentia, Insectivora,
and Carnivora, are synthetically combined and foreshadowed
in the group of Marsupialia, which, when considered zoolo-
gically in itself, cannot but strike any one as an odd group
standing isolated in the actual creation.
§ 3. The order of Cetacea, the lowest amongst the normal
groups, may be subdivided into three families. The first and
lowest, the family of Balenide, is characterised by the ab-
sence of teeth, or, if not entirely absent, they have no func-
tion. These are the toothless or edentated cetaceans, remind-
ing us of the order of Edentata proper, our second prophetic
type. The second family, that of Physeteride, exhibits well-
developed teeth on the lower jaw, and rudimentary ones on
the upper: the subdentated cetaceans of the authors.* The
third family, that of Delphinide, seems to complete the pro-
gressive series in the development of teeth; for the latter
exist here on both jaws, whence the name-of ambidentated
cetaceans. The fourth family, that of Heterodontide, in-
cludes the narwhal or predentated cetaceans, and some
other types in which the dentition is losing both its shape
and its function. The Monodon (narwhal) is closely allied
to Phocena (porpoise), whilst Hyperoodon comes nearer to
Delphinus. The other genera are deviations or reminiscences
of the other families. Heterodonts, then, must follow the
dolphins in a natural and serial classification. The order of
Cetacea begins with the whales, and closes with heterodonts ;
the real superior groups are those placed in the middle, the
Delphinide, which represent the normal cetacean type. They
_* Physeteridz, or sperm-whales, are more nearly allied to dolphins than to
whales, if we take into consideration the structure of the whole skeleton. We
might even say that Physeteride are gigantic dolphins in which the develop-
ment of teeth has stopped, and the body increased beyond all proportion.
That colossal mass which sperm-whales partake with the whales proper, is of
an incontestable inferiority, as it is unfit for graceful movements; but, on the
other hand, the material strength is developed, and the muscular power in-
creased to harmonize with the immensity of the element in which they live.
Balenidz, the lowest of the order, are likewise amongst the largest.
_
174 On the Classification of Mammalia. ;
are the smallest of the order, and possess two fresh-water
representatives, one closely allied to dolphins proper, the
second bearing some far relations to Physeteride (sperm-
whale), and to the genus Hyperoodon of the heterodonts
family.
The morphology of the teeth in Cetacea is very interest-
ing, and instructive in a philosophic point of view, when the
relationships of this order with the Edentata are well under-
stood. In the lowest type, teeth remain undeveloped ; in
the highest, they cover the whole surface of both jaws, but
are of one kind: incisors, canines, and grinding teeth are not
known amongst cetaceans. This fact alone would ascribe to
them an inferior rank amongst the normal groups of the class.
§ 4. The affinities of the so-called herbivorous cetaceans, or
Sirenide, with pachyderms, have been alluded to by several
authors. In 1834 Fred. Cuvier* wrote the following re-
markable sentence: “ The group of herbivorous cetaceans,
composed of genera intimately connected together, are related
to the pachyderms by the manati.” And farther on (page 6)
he remarks that they come nearer to pachyderms than to
cetaceans. In 1838 they were definitively removed from the
Cetacea, and actually placed amongst Pachydermata.t Upon
this point, every naturalist now agrees. Sirenide are the low-
est grade among pachyderms ; even if considered as parallel
to pachyderms, they still must rank lower in a natural classi-
fication. They are aquatic, provided only with the anterior
limbs constructed for swimming. Unlike the cetacea, they
live near the land, and may occasionally creep along a beach ;
undoubtedly representing a higher step in the class, and an
approximation towards the subaquatic Hippopotamus, which,
together with the tapir, shew intimate relation with the
manati and dugong. The Dinotherium, and other fossil re-
presentatives of the group of Sirenidia, seem to synthetise
the living genera of their groups, together with both the .
proboscidian pachyderms and the ruminants. This synthesis,
however, cannot yet be fully understood. The earth’s crust
* Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés, p. 34.
+ Owen, in Proceed. Zool. Soc., London.
On the Classification of Mammalia. 175
has not yet yielded all the data by which alone we delineate
the history of the pachyderms and allied groups from their
eradle up to our days.
Amongst the living genera, we observe the following parti-
culars: The Manati, when young, have on the lower jaw
two small incisors directed forwards and downwards, remind-
ing us of the tusks in Dinotherium. The presence of tusks,
therefore, assigns to the latter a lower position. In Halicore,
tusks exist on the upper jaw, as in the elephant, with which
the genus Rytina seems also related by its teeth, although
completely deprived of tusk of any kind.
§ 5. The position of the Walrus is between Sirenidia and
Pachydermata; they belong to the pachydermic order by
structural evidences, and bear only analogies to the seals.
They constitute a small group whose distinctive features
from Manati consist in the presence of four locomotive mem-
bers ; and from the other pachyderms, in having these four -
locomotive members adapted for aquatic habits.
§ 6. The order of Pachydermata is the least understood
of all, on the very ground that its history belongs chiefly to
the past; and since Sirenidia and Trichechidee (walrus) are
referred to the same group, it becomes difficult to determine
the relationships between the living and the extinct repre-
sentatives in order to establish a graduated series.
We are satisfied of the existence of two progressive series
in the pachydermic groups, in the foliowing way :
WITHOUT PROBOSCIS. PROBOSCIDIANS.
EQUIDA, | ELEPHANTID&,
SUID, | MASTODONTIDA,
HYRACIDA, | RYTINIDA,
RHINOCEROTIDA, HALICHORID&,
HIPPOPOTAMIDH, MANATID&, —
TRICHECHIDA, | DINOTHERIDA,
ANOPLOTHERID&,
PALHOTHERID A.
At the bottom of the order, the extinct Paleotherium and
Anoplotherium : on one side the proboscidians, and on the
176 On the Classification of Mammalia.
other the families which have no proboscis. The proboscidians
are relatively inferior to nonproboscidians, inasmuch as they
are edentata in the general sense of the word: grinding teeth
and tusks alone exist. In the nonproboscidians the dental
system acquires a great development, the greatest to: be ob-
served in the edentated trunk; but as this development is
an excessive effort, and thus brought the group beyond its
circle of activity, it had only a temporary existence, and be-
came almost extinct in the present era.
The history of pachyderms will form a contrasting episode
compared to that of Cetacea, when it shall once be written
out fully. Our hypothetical views on the subject, for fear
that they should appear too premature, we abstain from giv-
ing now.
§ 7. As to the limits of the order of Ruminantia, every
one is agreed; but not so with regard to its systematic posi-
tion. Considering its imperfect dental system, we see that
it belongs to the great division of edentated mammals. That
ruminants are inferior in rank to rodents, we derive first from
their appertaining to the edentated division, which we have
seen is inferior to the division of marsupials. Their dentition
and herbaceous diet is a second very important feature which
assigns to them a lower rank than to the rodents, which feed
chiefly on bark and fruits, a food superior to grass and leaves.
§ 8. Now the position of the order Rodentia is clearly de-
fined by what has just been said of the ruminants. Their
complete system of dentition, and the similarity in the in-
sertion of the incisors in herbivorous marsupials, are the
reasons which have guided us in this arrangement.
§ 9. The place which we assign to the order of Jnsectivora
is based upon a similar principle: the affinity of their denti-
tion and mode of life with the insectivorous marsupials and
edentata.
§ 10. Pinnipedia have always been placed below Carni- —
vora, and Carnivora have always been divided into digiti-
grada and plantigrada. We find both plantigrada and digiti-
grada synthetically indicated in Pinnipedia ; not in the strue-
ture of the locomotive members, but in the profile of the face.
§ 11. In the eccentric groups of Bradipodide, Sciuride,
—— > oe
Classijication of Mammalia. 177
Cheiroptera and Quadrumana, we observe the remarkable
fact that they assume a general external resemblance to each
other, that they become monkey-like in features and habits.
They live above the ground, in trees and in the air; they are
chiefly nocturnal, and their diet has a general tendency to be-
coming frugivorous. That Cheiroptera proceed from the in-
sectivorous stem, the Quadrumana from the carnivorous stem,
the Bradipodide from the tardigrade stem, a thorough compa-
rison of these types will convince every one.
We give now the following Mammalian System :—
I, QUADRUMANA. MURID&.
SIMIAD. Myoxina,
CEBIDA. | Dipodina.
Ricaipa | AGI win a
urina.
GALEOPITHECIDA. Spalacina.
CHIROMYIDA. Arvicolina,
: Bathyergina.
II, CARNIVORA. Saccomyina.
a. UNGUICULATA, HYSTRICIDA.
1. DIGITIGRADA. Hystricina.
FELIDZ. Dasyproctina.
HyY#ZNIDA. Echymyina.
CANIDA. Octodontina.
VIVERRID&. Chinchillina.
MUSTELLID&, Caviina.
2. PLANTIGRADA. LEPORIDA,
CERCOLEPTIDA. b. RUMINANTIA.
PROCYONIDA. CAMELEOPARDALIDA.
URSID&. CAMELIDE.
6b. PINNIPEDIA. ANTELOPIDA.
PHOCIDA. CERVIIDEA
MOSCHIDE.
III. CHEITROPTERA. atthe
onal iam c. PACHYDERMATA.
settee | HQuips. KLEPHANTID2.
b, CARNIVORA. SuIDz. MASTODONTIDE.
VESPERTILIONIDE. HYRACIDA, RYTINIDE.
VAMPYRID AI. RHINOCEROTIDH, HALICHORID,
IV. INSECTIVORA. HIPPOPOTAMIDE. MANATIDA.
wate ceo TRICHECHIDA. DINOTHERIDE.
Soto a ANOPLOTHERIDA,
TALPIDA. PALZOTHERIDS.
VI. CETACEA.
VY. HERBIVORA. HETERODONTID&,
a. RODENTIA. DELPHINID.
ScIURIDS. PHYSETERIDA.
. CASTORIDA. BALENIDA.
VOL. LV. NO. CIX.—JULY 1853. M
178 Classification of Mammalia.
VII. MARSUPIALIA. VIII. EDENTATA.
a, CARNIVORA. ) a. TARDIGRADA.
THYLACINID&. BRADIPODID&.
DIDELPHID&. / MEGATHERIDS.
DASYURIDZ. b. EDENTATA PROPER.
b. INSECTLIVORA. DASYPODIDE.
PERAMELIDZ. . ORYCTEROPODID.
c. HERBIVORA. | MYRMECOPHAGID 4.
PHALANGISTID&. | MANID&.
PHASCOLOMYID. / c. MONOTREMATA,
MACROPODID& | ECHIDNIDA.
(Halmaturide) | ORNITHORHYNCHID&.
IV. § 1. The data relating to the earliest appearance of the
class of Mammalia lead us as far back in the earth’s history
as the period of the oolite. There we find it displaying but
a small number of forms under the shape of marsupials, more
intimately allied, however, to our opossum than to any of the
Australian types. These first representatives of the class in-
habited that geographical portion of the globe now called the
British Islands.
The conclusions to which Cuvier had arrived, viz. that the
epoch of the appearance of mammals was the tertiary in the
series ; his beautiful researches, his remarkable discourses
on the revolutions of the globe, were present to the mind of
every one. Now came that fossil jaw of an opossum-like
animal, which seemed to contradict these philosophical de-
ductions. The mammalian nature of the jaw was denied by
some, exaggerated by others: its geological position in the
oolite was considered as accidental; but all attempts at
rejecting these remains from the class of mammalia have
proved unsuccessful ; time and repeated investigations have
concurred in shewing that they were true mammals, and
that they truly belonged to the oolitic period. And instead
of contradicting the formerly ascertained results, these facts
now complete the palo-history of the class, and illustrate
most beautifully the gradual introduction of the different
groups of the animal kingdom upon the surface of our globe.
For it remains true that the class of mammalia acquired a
full development during the tertiary epoch only ; the tertiary
types were preceded in the secondary epoch by these mar-
supials, and in some sort foreshadowed, predicted by them.
. ag
Classification of Mammalia. 179
The marsupials being zoologically inferior, they are geologi-
cally the first created. Their abnormal forms, the dispropor-
tions of some of their limbs, illustrate the first evolution of
the mammalian activity. Their bringing forth their young
in an imperfect state of development, and the existence of an
external pouch to protect that progeny, assign to them an in-
ferior rank. The fact that there are among them carnivorous,
insectivorous, and herbivorous types, indicates clearly that
they combine these groups of which they are the prototype
in the Creator’s thought, and their precursors in time.
As the development of the class went on, and the foresha-
dowed groups appeared as distinct and independent manifesta-
tions of the mammalian organization, the marsupialian group
was preserved within the limits of its original conception up to
our epoch, in which it stands as an odd group which reminds
us of a past order of things. In the actual fauna, Marsupialia
are an isolated type which has deceived and misled all the sys-
tematic writers; still combining characters of several other
types, if it is not understood that they are prototypic, and
the lowest, they will give rise to contests as to their position in
the system.
No facts illustrate better the immateriality of the relations
which exist between the various groups of this class: they
may foreshadow, they may prophetize, but they will continue
to exist. There are no material transformations, no material
permutations, from one group to another; for if such was the
case, those first created groups, combining those of a later
appearance, would not be found possessing the same material
attributes, the same circle of vital activity as before. On the
other hand, when the foreshadowed groups appear, they lose
their zoological importance, and accordingly are confined to a
geographical province physically lower, to remind us of their
low position in the system.
§ 2. Butif Edentata are zoologically the lowest of the class,
they should have been created the first in time, or at least be
contemporaneous with Marsupialia. As far as our present
knowledge respecting the fossil remains of mammals goes,
Edentata are not known prior to the miocene strata of the
tertiary epoch; but in those very strata, their remains are so
M 2
180 On the Classification of Mammalia.
numerous, and exhibit such a diversity of generic forms, that
we must conclude from these facts that Edentata have ac-
quired, if not the maximum of their development, at least a
large portion of it, during the first period of their creation.
This great development of Edentata, at the presumed dawn
of their existence, is in contradiction with the general law
which has presided over the development of all other groups
of the animal kingdom: each group, each natural order or
family, the history of which has been investigated in past
times, has manifestly shewn a development parallel to that
of the individual life: 1s¢, An early period,—corresponding to
that of youth,—during which the group has but a small num-
ber of representatives ; 2d, A period of full development,—
corresponding to that of the adult,—during which the group
exhibits the greatest diversity which was in its power to as-
sume; 3d, Finally, there is a period of decline,—correspond-
ing to old age and fall,—during which period the individuals
are less numerous. In the class of Mammalia there are com-
paratively few groups which have thus reached the third
period of their history, and passed away from the surface of
our earth. The majority have just attained their period of
fullest development at the beginning of the human era, and
are actually in existence upon the external surrounding crust
of our planet.
According to these facts, and satisfied that the systematic
position which we have assigned to Edentata is natural, and
in accordance with the general plan of the creation, we pre-
dict that remains of Edentata will be found in the strata be-
low the miocene; that they will be found in secondary beds
at least as low as the oolite, if not further down. If they
prove to be of a decidedly lower zoological grade than Mar-
supialia, they must have been introduced on earth before the
latter ; and if parallel with them, they must have been con-
temporaneous. In the actual era, the order of Edentata is in
its period of decline: its representatives now living are much
less numerous than the extinct ones already known.
§ 3. The Pachydermata constitute another group, whose
history chiefly belongs to past times. They are known to
have existed as early as the eocene period; the miocene is —
the period of their greatest development; they diminish in —
—
On the Classification of Mammalia. 181
number in the pliocene, and finally the living representatives
are still less numerous. So that pachydermata are in the
period of their decline, as well as the edentata.
Now as far as is known, these two groups, Pachydermata
and Edentata, are the only ones in the class of Mammalia
whose circle of activity has been exhausted in geological
ages.
The two series which we have established among pachy-
derms will have to be carefully studied geologically.
The oldest remains known of Sirenidia have been discovered
in the lowest beds of the miocene period.
The oldest remains of ruminants known, belong to the
middle strata of the miocene period.
Cetaceans are contemporaneous with the ruminants; it
being always understood that we speak of the actual state of
our knowledge.
Rodentia, which we consider the highest amongst Herbi-
vora, are foreshadowed by Marsupialia, the second synthe-
tical type. Rodentia make their first appearance at the be-
ginning of the eocene period, the first of the tertiary epoch.
And so do the Carnivora proper and Pinnipedia, parallel in
their genetical development; although zoologically speaking,
Pinnipedia are lower, and synthetise the two groups of car-
nivorous digitigrades and plantigrades.
Insectivora, which are shadowed by both Edentata and Mar-
supialia, are not known in the eocene: their remains, hitherto
found, belong to the miocene and strata above.
Quadrumana and Cheiroptera have left some of their re-
mains in the middle strata of the eocene period.
The annexed diagram is intended to sketch out the history
of the class of Mammalia, prior to the epoch of mankind.
§ 4. If we look now at the geographical distribution of
Mammalia, which is regulated by laws, we may point out
some facts of a very striking interest, and which corroborate
the foundation of our classification.
The globe and the animal kingdom were created for one an-
other ; the globe, however, was made for the kingdom, matter
being subordinate to life. During each of the geological ages,
and even during each period or era, the physical features of
the globe have assumed a peculiar character. The animal
182 On the Classification of Mammalia.
creation has likewise assumed a peculiar zoological character,
always in a direct relation with the physical characters of the
time and the special physical wants of the globe.
There are two points of view to be taken into consideration
when investigating the introduction of life upon the surface
of our globe, but these we cannot discuss at length here: we
must limit ourselves merely to the signalizing of them.
1. Life, from its first manifestation upon the globe, may
have undergone a gradual, slow, and continuous development ;
in which case a single and unique creation, passing through
divers metamorphoses to suit the wants of the globe, renew-
ing itself without the necessity of a special creation at the be-
ginning of each period, would seem the real doctrine.
2. Life, after its first introduction on earth, might have
ceased at the end of each period, and at the beginning of each
one, a new creation called forth, purposely made to suit the
physical wants of the new era. Thus numerous creations
would have succeeded each other without any material con-
nection, or any genetic relationship, but physically indepen-
dent of each other.
Both of these views have their defenders and opponents.
The choice of one or the other is of no consequence in regard
to the fact which we are now tracing, aS Soon as we can ad-
mit that at each period the animal kingdom was in a direct
relation with the physical wants of the globe.
The physical wants of our planet went on increasing with
time, both in number and importance ; and the same may be
said of animal life. The relations of these two worlds are so
intimate, that the zoological subordination of the groups will
give us the relative physical superiority of the continents
above one another ; and, vice versa, the relative physical su-
periority of the continents will point to the zoological grada-
tion of the groups composing the class of mammalia.
Now let us look at the facts. The lowest Mammalia, the
Monotremata, belong exclusively to Australia. Australia is
physically the lowest continent. Marsupialia are also limited
to the same continent.
The next in grade after Monotremata are the Edentata
proper, which belong chiefly to South America; the Manide
and Orycteropodide alone being African. South America
On the Classification of Mammalia. 183
and Africa rank above Australia ; and although Marsupialia
are placed by us above Edentata generally, the consequence
of their occurring in Australia does not contradict the as-
sumption that Australia is physically lower than Africa and
South America. The fact that the lowest among Edentata
are Australian, and the highest among Marsupialia (the Didel-
phide) are South American, is very conclusive.
The occurrence of the opossum in the southern part of the
United States clearly indicates that this continent is physi-
cally inferior to Europe and Asia.
When comparing the relative superiority of the continents
with each other, the comparison, in order to remain true,
must be made independently of the influences of man. They
must be taken at the dawn of their history, when in formation,
during the epochs which have preceded the cradle of man kind.
If America occupies a relatively low physical rank, that nation
by which it has been taken possession of, by which it has
been subdued and conquered, has changed. its destinies by ap-
plying to its elevation the power of its intellectual aptitudes.
Although some few fossil remains of Marsupialia and
Edentata occur out of the actual geographical provinces of
these groups, the greatest number are found within the limits
of the said provinces ; shewing that the order which now
prevails at the surface of our globe, takes its roots in former
ages ; that the same general laws which now prevail, have
presided over the past.
Amongst the normal groups of the class we have Cetaceans,
the lowest, all aquatic; as are likewise Sirenidia, Trichechide,
and Pinnipedia. The Pachyderms are tropical: their actual
distribution on earth is to be referred to a past order of
things, in order to be understood. The Ruminants, Rodents,
Insectivora, and Carnivora, are distributed all over the globe
in given proportions.
A general glance at the mammalian fauna of North America
strikes us by the preponderance in the number of species of the
order Rodentia. The true grass-feeders, the Ruminantia and
Pachydermata are in minority ; although the New World has
been opposed to the Old, and called the continent of vegeta-
tion, by contrast with that of animalization. The greatest
184 On the Classification of Mammalia.
Carnivora are absent from America: Carnivora are the most
numerous where ruminants are most numerous, the former
feeding chiefly upon the latter.
Each group has a part to perform in the economy of nature.
Carnivora, the most powerful in the animal creation, check
the Ruminants, the most bulky and most clumsy of the terres-
trial forms of the class, and partly the Rodents ; the Rodents,
in their turn, check the arborescent vegetation, whilst Rumi-
nants check chiefly the grass. Ruminants are constructed to
walk on the ground; whilst the organization of Rodents is
adapted either for ascending trees, or for burrowing in the
ground. Ruminants are timid, constantly in fear of becoming
the prey of others, and have for their only retreat the depths
of the forests, or the unbounded plains and deserts.
The Insectivora feed upon Articulata, and are intended
chiefly to check the never-resting class of Insects: they are
adapted to divers situations ; for the aerial element, the sur-
face of the soil, and under it, as their peculiar instinct will
lead them to feed either on flying, creeping, or burrowing
articulates. The Insectivora increase in number from the
north to the equator, as the class of Insects does.
Amongst the eccentrical types, the majority of the species
inhabit the warm zone ; a very significant fact. Cheiroptera
exist in both hemispheres, increasing in number from the arc-
tic regions to the tropics. Quadrumana are chiefly tropical ;
and soare Bradipodide. Flying squirrels belong to the tem-
perate and tropical zones.
On the Reproduction of the Toad and Frog without the in-
termediate stage of Tadpole. By EDWARD JosEPH LOWE,
Esq., F.G.S., F.R.A.S.
The following brief remarks on the Toad (Bufo vulgaris) and the
Frog (Rana temporaria) may perhaps be received with some degree
of interest, as they are, I believe, contrary to the generally received
notion of the procreation of these reptiles. Ray, and most natural-
ists, at least, consider toads and frogs as oviparous animals, yet it
is apparent that they are viviparous as well, or if they do not bring
forth their young alive, have the power of reproduction in a differ-
ent manner to the ova and subsequent tadpole.
a vow ©
a
On the Reproduction of the Toad and Frog. 185
Mr J. Higginbottom of Nottingham, who has paid great atten-
tion to this subject, has clearly proved the development of the tad-
-pole to the perfect toad in situations wholly deprived of light, as I
have through his kindness several times witnessed. My present re-
marks are intended to show that occasionally frogs and toads are
reproduced in localities where it would be impossible for the inter-
mediate stage of tadpole to have any existence.
1. Toads deposit spawn in cellars and young toads are after-
wards observed.—Last summer several masses of spawn were pro-
cured from my cellar, having been found deposited amongst decaying
potatoes, &c., and subsequently young toads were noticed. The cellar
is free from water, and at a considerable distance from any brook.
2. Young toads are observed about hot-beds.—In the kitchen-
garden at Highfield House (which is entirely walled round) young
toads have been noticed about the cucumber and melon beds. The
gardeners have been in the habit of bringing toads to these beds to
destroy the insects; these have continued amongst the warm damp
straw all summer. It is after these beds have remained three or
four months that the young ones have been noticed. Toads would
have to travel nearly half a mile to reach this garden from the brook
or lake, and also to mount a steep hill, besides taking the opportunity
of coming through the door. Toads so small are not seen in any
other part of the gardens.
3. Young toads and frogs observed in abundance at the summit
of another hill, whilst quite small_—During the past summer, espe-
cially in the month of July, very many young toads and frogs were
seen amongst the strawberry plants, apparently from a week to a
month old. These might possibly have travelled from the brook a
few hundred yards distant ; yet it is strange, that, with the excep-
tion of these beds, no young toads could be found elsewhere in the
garden. A number of full-grown toads are mostly to be seen about
these beds.
4, Young frogs dug out of the ground in the month of January.
—In digging in the garden amongst the strawberry-beds (near
where so many toads were observed last summer) in the middle of
January in the present year, a nest of about a score young frogs
were upturned. These were apparently three or four weeks old.
This ground had been previously dug in the month of August and
many strawberry plants buried; it was amongst a mass of these
plants in a state of partial decomposition that these young ones were
observed.
Dd. Young frogs are bred in cellars where there is no water for
tadpoles.—In mentioning this subject to Mr Joseph Sidebotham of
Manchester (an active botanist), he informed me that young frogs,
and in fact frogs of all sizes, were to be seen in his cellar amongst
decaying dahlia tubers. The smallest of them were only about half
the ordinary size of the young frog when newly developed from the
— Scientific Intelligence—A stronomy.
tadpole. He further stated that there was no water in the cellar,
and no means of young frogs entering, except by first coming into
the kitchen, a mode of entry, if not impossible, highly improbable.
Mr Sidebotham never found any spawn.
It seems probable from the above, that frogs are occasionally
born alive in situations where no water can be found for the spawn
to be deposited in, and that toads are either reproduced in the same
manner, or from the egg directly. The latter mode seems most
likely, owing to spawn having been found previously to the young
toads.
Mr Higginbottom tells me, the same remark on the birth of the
Triton, without the stage of tadpole, has been mentioned to him,
These are the facts; should the subject be deemed worthy of
further investigation, I shall be glad to continue observations upon
these reptiles during the present year, or to make any experiments
that may be deemed advisable—(Phil. Magazine, vol, v., No. 34,
4th Series, p. 466.)
SSS Se ee eee a
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
ASTRONOMY.
1. Relation between the Spots on the Sunand the Magnetic Needle.
—According to observations made by M. Rodolphe Wolf, director
of the Observatory at Berne, it appears that the number of spots
on the sun have their maximum and minimum at the same time
as the variations of the needle. It follows from this, that the
cause of these two changes on the sun and on the earth must be the
same; and consequently, from this discovery, it will be possible to
solve several important problems whose solution has hitherto never
been attempted.
2. On the Periodic Return of the Solar Spots.—M. Wolf, director
of the Observatory of Berne, mentions in a letter to M. Arago,
that he has recently been engaged in researches on the solar spots,
and has arrived at some interesting conclusions on the subject. By
a comparison of all the observations of the spots made from the epoch
of their discovery down to the present time, he has discovered that
the number visible upon the surface of the sun in the course of a
year, recurs at regular intervals of time. ‘I'he mean duration of the
period comprised between two maxima or minima, he finds to ~be
11:111 + 0-038 years, which, he says, agrees much better with the
variations in declination of the magnetic needle, than the correspond-
ing period of 103 years assigned by M. Lamont. He has also
ascertained that the years during which the spots have been most
numerous, have been also the driest and most fertile, agreeably to a
remark of Sir William Herschel.—( Proceedings of the Royal Astro-
nomical Society.)
3. Lunar Atmospheric Tide.—The facts derived a few years since
? Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology. 187
from the barometrical observations at St Helena, shewing the existence
of a lunar atmospheric tide, have been corroborated in the last year by
a similar conclusion drawn by Captain Elliot of the Madras Engineers,
from the barometrical observations at Singapore. The influence of
the moon’s attraction on the atmosphere, produces, as might be ex-
pected, a somewhat greater effect on the barometer at Singapore,
in lat. 1° 19’, than at St Helena, in lat. 15° 57’. The barometer
at the equator appears to stand on the average about 0,006 in.
(more precisely 0,0057, in lat. 1°19’), higher at ‘the moon’s culmina-
tions than when she is six hours dicta from the meridian.
METEOROLOGY.
4. Evaporation and Condensation.—The total quantity of dew
believed to fall in England is supposed to amount to five inches an-
nually. The average fall of rain is about twenty-five inches. Mr
Glaisher states the amount of evaporation at Greenwich to have
amounted to five feet annually for the past five years, and supposes
three feet about the mean evaporation all over the world. On this
assumption the quantity of actual moisture, raised in the shape of
vapour from the surface of the sea alone, amounts to no less
than 60,000 cubic miles annually, or nearly 164 miles per day.
According to Mr Laidlay, the evaporation at Calcutta is about
fifteen feet annually ; that between the Cape of Good Hope and Cal-
cutta averages in October and November, nearly three-quarters of an
inch daily ; betwixt 10° and 20° in the Bay of Bengal it was found
to exceed an inch daily. Supposing this to be double the average
throughout the year, we shall, instead of three, have eighteen feet of
evaporation annually ; or were this state of matters to prevail all
over the world, an amount of three hundred and sixty thousand cubic
miles of water raised in vapour from the ocean alone.—(American
Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1853, p. 371.)
5. The Amount of Oxygen in the World.—‘ Let us for an in-
stant contemplate,” says Faraday,* ‘‘ the enormous amount of oxygen
employed in the function alone of respiration, which may be con-
sidered in the light of a slow combustion. For the respiration of
human beings, it has been calculated that no less than one thousand
millions of pounds of oxygen are daily required, and double that
quantity for the respiration of animals, whilst the processes of com-
bustion and fermentation have been calculated to require one thou-
sand millions of pounds more. But at least double the whole pre-
ceding quantity, that is to say, twice four thousand millions of pounds
of oxygen, have been calculated to be necessary altogether, including
the amouut necessary in the accomplishment of the never-ceasing
functions of decay.
As stated in pounds, we can hardly create to ourselves any defi-
* Faraday’s Leétures on the Non-Metallic Klements.
188 Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy.
nite idea of this enormous amount; the aggregate is too vast, too
overpowering. It is scarcely to be grasped by our senses when re-
duced to tons, of which it corresponds with no less than 7,142,847
per day.
Amount of oxygen required daily.
Whole population, . ; . 1,000,000,000
Animals, . : 2,000,000,000
Genitvistion and Panewenntneiey 1,000,000,000
4,000,000,000
2
Oxygen required daily, = 8,000,000,000 Ib.
Tons.
7,142,857 in a day.
2,609,285,714 in a year.
260,928,571,400 in a century.
15,655,714,284,000 in 6000 years.
Whole quantity, 1,178,152,000,000,000.
Such being the daily requisition of oxygen in the economy of na-
ture, how great must be the total quantity existing in the world!
Why, between one-half and two-thirds of the crust of this globe and
its inhabitants are composed of oxygen. This will be manifested to
you most conveniently by inspecting a diagram wherein the demon-
stration is made clear.
Amount of oxygen in the world.
Principles, 4
Phos. lime, 3 > 3
Water, a
Principles, 4\,
Water, £2
Oxygen is } or 2 of the globe.
Silica, 3 ps Aa
Alumina, , 4
Lime, 2
Ocean and waters, 8
Atmosphere, L
MINERALOGY.
6. Wohler on the Passive State of Meteoric Toons —Wohler
states that he has observed the curious fact, that the greater portion
of the meteoric iron he has had an opportunity of examining, is in the
so-called passive state ; that is to say, it does not reduce the copper _
from a solution of the neutral sulphate of copper, but remains bright —
and uncoppered therein. But if touched in the solution with a piece —
2"
Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy. 189
of common iron, the reduction of the copper commences immediately
upon the meteoric iron. It also becomes active instantaneously on
the addition of a drop of acid to the solution of copper; but if the
reduced copper be filed away, the new surface is again passive. I
convinced myself by experiments on meteoric iron, which had
never been in contact with nitric acid, and nevertheless was passive,
that this state could not have been produced by the corrosion of the
surface by the acid, for the production of the Widmannstattean
figures. I thought first that this deportment might be employed as
a means of distinguishing true meteoric iron; but it soon appeared
that some undoubtedly genuine meteoric iron was not in this state.
Seven specimens, from different parts of the world, examined, were
found to be passive ; six reducing, or active, and four which do not
become coated with copper immediately, but on which the reduction
gradually commences after a longer or shorter contact with the
cupreous solution, and usually from one point, or from the margins
of the fluid. .
These peculiarities appear to have no connection, either with the
presence of nickel, or the property of forming regular figures on cor-
rosion, I also found that an artificially-prepared alloy of iron and
nickel, which on corrosion acquired a damasked surface, reduced the
copper from solution in the same manner as common iron. Whether
this state is proper to all meteoric iron on its reaching the earth,
and, as may have happened in the case of the active kinds, have
only been lost in the course of perhaps a very long period of time,
and what probable opinion can be formed of these phenomena, must
be settled by experiments and observations of a more extended
nature.—(Poggendorf’s Annalen.)
7. Crystallisation of Glass—Some interesting experiments on
this subject have been made by M. Leydolt in the course of his investi-
gations upon the crystallisation of the silicates. He had examined
agate by subjecting it to the dissolving action of fluohydric acid,
and obtained a surface with projecting crystals of quartz, that were
left untouched by the acid. On subjecting glass in the same manner,
he was surprised to see that it was far from homogeneous in its tex-
ture. All the kinds of glass examined contain more or less perfectly
distinct crystals, regular and transparent, encased in an amorphous
base. The crystals were brought out by exposing it to the vapours
of fluohydric acid, and vapour of water, and arresting it when the
crystals appear; the amorphous part is a little the most soluble in
the acid. M. Leydolt observes also, that some natural crystals pure
and transparent, and apparently homogeneous, present similar defi-
ciency in homogeneity with the glass, and he has the subject under
further examination.—(American Annual of Scientific Discovery,
18538, p. 210.)
8. On Diopside and Molybdate of Lead, Furnace Products ; by
J. Fr. L. Hausmann (Acad. Sci. Gottingen ; L’ Institut, No. 956,
90 Scientijic Intelligence—Mineralogy.
April 28, p. 131).—The crystals of diopside were from a Swedish
furnace at Gammelbo in Westmannland. They are two or three lines
long; translucent or transparent ; grayish, pearly, to greenish or red-
dish gray,
G.=3127; H.=6; composition—
Si ‘Al Me Ca Fe Mn Na Kk
54:69 1:54 15:37 23:56 008 1:66 1:94 1:15=100
corresponding to the general formula, Ri3 Si2.
The molybdate of lead was found in a reverberatory furnace at
Bleiberg in Carinthia, in crystals very much like the natural crys-
tallisations.
9. Formation of Arragonite, Calc-spar, Brochantite, and Mala-
chite.—M. Becquerel some time since shewed that calc-spar may be
obtained in primary rhombohedrons, through the slow reaction of a
solution of bicarbonate of soda, feeble in degree (2°), on lamine of
sulphate of lime or gypsum. On experimenting with a solution
marking five or six degrees, the carbonate of lime crystallised in the
trimetric system, or in other words as arragonite. It is hence not
surprising that arragonite should be found in gypseous and saliferous
deposits, like those of Spain, Salzburg, and elsewhere.
Calc-spar may also be obtained by the action of a solution of
potash marking 10°, on gypsum, the solution being contained in a
flask imperfectly closed. In this case the carbonic acid is derived
from the atmosphere.
Brochantite (subsulphate of copper) is easily obtained, looking
like native specimens, by putting a piece of porous limestone in con-
tact with a saturated solution of sulphate of copper. The Brochantite
is deposited upon the limestone in small crystalline tubercles along
with the crystals of gypsum.
Malachite (Cu C+ Cu H) may be obtained by the reaction of
coarse porous limestone on a solution of nitrate of copper, marking
12° or 15°, and when the action ceases, by plunging the mass into
a solution of an alkaline bicarbonate marking 5° or 6°. The piece of
limestone in the first case becomes covered with subacetate of copper ;
and this subacetate, in the next step, changes to malachite, or if
prolonged, to a double carbonate of copper and soda. The ‘malas
chite is in small silky globules.
10. On the Artificial Formation of Malachite; by M. Henri
Rose (Kénigl. Preuss. Akad., Oct. 1851).—When a solution of
sulphate of copper is precipitated in the cold by carbonate of soda
or potash, the precipitate is at first voluminous, and of a blue colour ;
but left for a while and then washed, it becomes more dense and of
a green colour. It has the composition of green malachite as found
in nature.
Scientific Intelligence—Botany. 191
BOTANY.
11. The Effect of very Low Temperature on Vegetation.—In
1838, I published, says M. A. de Candolle, in the Bulletin de la
Classe d’ Agriculture de Genéve (No. 120, p. 171), in an article on
the intense cold of January 1838, the following remarks. After first
alluding to the observations of Pictet and Maurice, who found the
temperature of the centre of a chestnut tree below zero, and also the
experiments of M. Ch. Coindet, who after a prolonged cold had ex-
tracted from the middle of a large tree small crystals of ice. These
trees are however not dead. I have myself, after a cold but little
intense, seen crystals of ice in the interior of the buds of several
trees which have not suffered from it. Young branches, the buds
of many trees, and the leaves of the plants of our country, are in
winter often penetrated, beyond doubt, with a cold several degrees
below zero (centigrade) ; and although the viscous liquids of the
slender tubes congeal with difficulty, it must frequently happen that
congelation takes place, without the plant or the organ perishing.
Thus cold does not kill vegetation by a mechanical action proceeding
from the congelation of the liquid, as some naturalists pretend. We
must recognise rather a physiological action, that the vitality of the
tissue is destroyed by a certain degree of cold followed by a certain
degree of heat according to the peculiar nature of each plant. The
vegetable and animal kingdom, according to this view, will act alike,
In the same manner as the gangrene that sets in after the thawing
of a frozen part causes the death of an animal tissue, so the change
or putrefaction which follows a rapid thawing will be the principal
cause of the death of the vegetable tissue. It is well known in prac-
tice how to manage the transitions of temperature to preserve the or-
gans of vegetables. Since 1838, until my connection with the Academy
of Geneva ceased, I stated in my annual lectures that cold may
act in two ways on vegetation, either physically, by the contraction
or congelation of the liquids which often does not kill them; and
physiologically, by an action upon the tissues and upon vegetable life,
which the laws of physics do not account for. The most striking
example of this last is the immediate death of hothouse plants when
exposed to a temperature of + 1 or + 2° C., which causes no con-
gelation. The action of the same degree of temperature is very
different on two allied species, and sometimes on two varieties of
___ the same species.
12. Sleep of Plants in the Arctic Regions.—Mr Seemann, the
naturalist of Kellett’s Arctic expedition, states a curious fact respecting
the condition of the vegetable world during the long day of the Arctic
summer. Although the sun never sets whilst it lasts, plants make no
mistake about the time when, if it be not night, it ought to be, but
regularly as the evening hours approach, and when a midnight sun
is several degrees above the horizon, droop their leaves and sleep
even as they do at sunset in more favoured climes. ‘‘ If man,” observes
Mr Seemann, “ should ever reach the pole and be undecided which
192 Scientific Intelligence—Zoology.
way to turn, when his compass has become sluggish, his timepiece
out of order, the plants which he may happen to meet will shew him
the way ; their sleeping leaves tell him that midnight is at hand, and
that at that time the sun is standing in the north.— (American An-
nual of Scientific Discovery, p. 231.)
ZOOLOGY.
13. Professor Agassiz on the Colour of Animals.—Professor
Agassiz is of opinion that the coloration of the lower animals living
in water, depend upon the condition, and particularly upon the depth
and transparency of the water in which they live: that the colora-
tion of the higher types of animals is intimately related to their struc-
ture; and that the change of colour which is produced by age in many
animals is connected with structural changes. Coloration is valuable
as an indication of structure ; and it is a law universally true of
vertebrated animals, that they have the colour of the back darker
than that of the sides ; and that the same system of coloration pre-
vails in all the species of a genus, partially developed in some, but
recognisable when a large number of species is examined,
14. The Tsetse, or Zimb, of South Africa.—The Tsetse is the
name given to an insect found in the interior of South Africa, The
most curious fact about this insect is, that while its sting is harm-
less to man and wild animals, it is certain destruction to horses,
cattle, sheep, dogs, or any other domesticated brute, except goats and
young calves. Several instances are known where all the cattle,
horses, and dogs, of a traveller have been swept off by it. A horse
was taken among them by a doubter; about fifty settled on him,
and immediately he began to lose flesh; in eleven days he was
dead. When an ox is bitten, at once the countenance stares, the
eyes run, he loses strength, swells under the jaw, staggers, grows
blind, and becomes emaciated, which continues sometimes for
months, when death ensues. Upon removing the skin, a great
many air-bubbles are found on the surface of the body, under the
cellular membrane. The fat is of an oily, glassy consistence, and
of a greenish-yellow colour. The heart is soft and pale, lungs and
liver diseased, and the gall-bladder unusually distended with bile.
The muscles are flabby, the blood contains very little colouring
matter, and not a pailful is found in the body. There is no such
thing as becoming accustomed to them, and the natives in the loca-
lities where they abound, are unable to raise a single domestic ani-
mal. In the same districts, elephants, buffaloes, zebras, gnus, &c.,
live unaffected by the tsetse. A dog fed on the meat of game,
lives ; one reared on milk, falls a victim to them. It is said that
game meat is possessed of a peculiar acid found but sparingly in
tame animals; perhaps this may be the antiseptic. But then why
do calves who subsist on milk escape? Sometimes an entire herd of
cattle is cut off, excepting the calves, and these follow likewise if
kept in the region for a year or two.—(American Geographical
Society.)
THE
EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.
Indications of Glacial Action in North Wales. By Sir
WALTER OC. TREVELYAN. Ina Letter addressed to Pro-
fessor JAMESON.
WALLINGTON, MoRPETH, 14th July 1853.
My DEAR S1R,—Several years ago, when in North Wales,
I made notes of several indications I observed of glacial ac-
tion; and as some of them have not, I think, been noticed by
other observers, I send you a copy of some of the notes I made
at the time (in September and October 1844), thinking that,
if you should consider them worth a place in your Journal,
they may interest some of your readers, and draw attention to
localities which would, I think, repay further examination.
On Snowdon, on the west side of the small lake at the foot
of the bold precipice of Clogwyn dur Arddu, is an enormous
moraine of large angular fragments, derived from the peak
from which it is separated by the lake; its position can only
_ be accounted for by the deep interval having been filled with
~ ice, over the surface of which the fragments of rock had fallen.
a Some of the rocks at the base of the peak above the lake, and
_ by the side of the stream by which its waters escape, have
_ been rounded and scratched by the action of ice. |
~~ In Cwm Llan, at the eastern foot of Snowdon, is a terminal
- moraine, the last probably left there by the melting glacier ;
_ it stretches across the termination of the Cwm in a semi-
circular form, and incloses several acres. The exterior slope
is about double the height of the interior, probably owing to
VOL. LV. NO. CX.— OCTOBER 1853. N
194 Indications of Glacial Action in North Wales.
the accumulation against the latter of debris brought down
by winter rains, for there is no stream running into the Cwm.
The rocks on the side of the Cwm are rounded, scratched,
and polished.
At the head of the pass of Nant Francon, near Llyn Ogwen,
on rocks on the south side of the Ogwen, are curious glacial
markings crossing each other at right angles. The deepest
groovings, and those which appear to be the most ancient
(the polish and minor scratches having disappeared), indicate,
I think, the existence of a glacier ranging down the valley
from Llyn Ogwen. These groovings are crossed by smaller
scratches and polishing, which appear to be more recent, and
to have been caused by a glacier descending from Llyn Idwal ;
which, originating at a higher elevation, may possibly have
continued to exist for some years after the disappearance of
that in Llyn Ogwen, both having previously been united in
one glacier at this point.
The marks of glacial action are very frequent about Cader
Idris. At the base of the north peak of the mountain is a
small lake nearly filled by torrent-borne debris, and in front
of it a considerable transverse moraine, and also lateral ones,
as there are also near Llyn-y-Gader, at the north-west base
of the principal height. These moraines are very extensive,
and visible at a considerable distance, as was well shewn in
Glover’s Panorama of Cader Idris, and in the engraving of
it, where they are described as ‘‘immense beds of lava.”
Great part of the moraines are quite bare, and form a very
striking scene of desolation; they are formed in parts of
enormous angular fragments, as of the wreck of a mountain.
In the neighbourhood of Barmouth I traced the marks of
glacial action and boulders to the height of about 1450 feet
above the sea. The marks indicate a glacier coming down .
the valley from Cader Idris; and from the great height at
which they appear, and the direction of the marks after they
have passed over the summit ridge, would also tend to shew
that at one period of the glacial era great part of the country —
had been covered with ice, and that it was not merely limited
to the mountain valleys.
There is hardly a valley in North Wales, as in most moun- —
pk SE
Mammalia of the Fish River Bush, South Africa. 195
tainous countries of the north of Europe, in which decided
marks of glacial action may not be observed, but I think I
have mentioned above some of the most remarkable cases.
Yours very truly,
W. C. TREVELYAN.
To Professor JAMESON.
On the Mammalia of the Fish River Bush, South Africa,
with notices of their Habits. By Mr WILLIAM Brack,
Staff Assistant-Surgeon. Communicated by the Author.
(Continued from p. 83.)
The Llephant and Rhinoceros have years ago left the re-
treats of the Fish River Bush. The present Colonel Arm-
strong recollects, when as a subaltern stationed at Fort Brown,
of passing through a herd of elephants on the Koonap Hill;
and it was the common practice for the men of the detach-
ment there in his time to hunt them on the Committee’s Flats
in the valley of the Ececa. A solitary sea-cow, or Hippopo-
tamus, here and there, still lingers in the Fish River, below
Trumpeter’s Drift, and there still remain several of them
in the Keiskamma.
The Buffalo still haunts, though in few numbers, the bushy
kloofs and sides of the hills between the Grass-Kop and Com-
mittee’s and Double Drift, and one or two have been killed
in that neighbourhood, since the last war, by some boers living
between the two posts. They are hunted with dogs, which
bring them to bay, so as to afford a good shot behind the
shoulder, or about the ear. The forehead is impenetrable,
the brain being there protected by an enormous thickness of
_ bone, forming the standing for the horns. They are exces-
Sively savage when wounded, and sometimes they evince a
cunning which will prompt them to feign death, so as to de-
lude the unwary to venture too near, when the infuriated brute
Summons up his strength, and rushes on his adversary to his
almost certain destruction.
The fawn-coloured Koodoo (Antelope Strepsiceros), with
its spiral-twisted horns,—absent in the female,—one of the
handsomest of the large bucks, may be observed in small herds
N 2
196 On the Mammalia of the
or solitary about the Fish River Rand, where they graze in the
open glade, on the summit of that range, but their refuge is
in the bushy kloofs of the Kinga. Their spoor, horse-shoe
shaped, and with the cloven mark in its axis, may often be
seen leading from thence to the banks of the Fish River on
one side, or the Koonap on the other, in search of water ;
though the gratification of this appetite does not appear to be
daily necessary in any kinds of buck. They also frequent the
country between Double Drift and the Grass-Kop, and that
eastward of the Fish River, and some have been seen up as
far as Liewfontein, on the road to Fort Beaufort. They come
out to feed in the early mornings and late evenings in the
open spaces of the bush, and also browse on particular kinds of
delicate shrubs, while their spoor may be seen covering the
ground in such spots. During the heat of the day they lie
down in the recesses and cool shade of some bushy kloof, near
where they had been feeding. In wet and cloudy weather
they are less shy, and like most bucks seem then to dislike
the shelter of the bush, it is said from the dripping of the
water through the foliage. . In such weather the sportsman
can easily follow the spoor and need not desist from his toil
during the day, as probably he may at length come upon the
animal or herd feeding. In dry weather, it is rather arduous
sport. Sometimes they may accidentally be discovered about
sunrise out feeding, and in such a case great caution must be
used in approaching them, from their acute sense of smell
and hearing. Its ear is large and lobed, and well adapted
for detecting the approach of danger, especially from wind-
ward. Various covers of small bush, hillocks, ant-heaps, &.,
may be employed to obstruct their seeing your approach ;
and some people have actually taken off their shoes and crept
on their hands and knees to get within gunshot. Should
the animal, however, get alarmed, his bound is fine, clearing
the bush to his own height, and dashing down thus by re-
peated leaps, deep into the hollows of some contiguous kloof,
whence being in a state of alarm it would be vain to follow
him. The boer proceeds to hunt him otherwise, by travers-
ing the country on horseback, till he finds a fresh spoor,
which is followed through every difficulty of ground and —
Fish River Bush, South Africa. 197
bush, at the imminent risk of the clothes of an unaccustomed
stranger being torn into shreds by the prickly thorns of the
shrubbery. When the morning’s spoor is traced, or the ani-
mal has been seen unalarmed on entering a kloof, the dogs
are fetched, and some of the hunting party enter and station
themselves about the head of the kloof, while the dogs are
led by another of the party into the bottom, and are driven
up so as to turn out the animal, which flies before them, and
passes, perhaps, within gunshot of some of the former party.
A well-known boer was accustomed in this case to follow on
the spoor alone, being stripped to the skin, and carrying
merely his bandelier round his waist, and his gun in his hand,
with his tobacco-pipe, which he lit every now and then to
observe how the wind set. Should it be with him he rested
till it took a more advantageous direction, when he carried
on the track farther through the bush. As the breaking of
a twig might be heard by the wakeful animal, or the rustle of
the thorns on his clothes, he had stripped himself naked. So
following on by cautious degrees, every now and then light-
ing his pipe and ascertaining the course of the wind, he would
at last come right upon the koodoo, lying in repose in his
cover in the bush, and have ample leisure to take a fatal aim.
The flesh forms the richest venison of any of the bucks of this
part of the colony, and what is not required for immediate
use is cut into strips, hung up and dried in the sun, forming
excellent biltung. The skin, as large and longer than an ox’s,
is cleaned and pegged out on the ground to dry in the sun, and
is afterwards used for various farm purposes by the boer, or
sold,—chiefly being useful as the best material for vorslaghts,
the lash of their great waggon whips. Its value may be about
£1 a skin, which further makes excellent leather when dressed,
&e., for shoes.
The next largest buck frequenting this bush is the powerful
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus, A. sylvatica), of a dark brown colour,
having black spiral horns with a ridge, tle number of twists
corresponding to its age. It is further recognized by half-a-
dozen white spots on the hind quarters, and one on the cheek;
a short tail, white underneath. He wants the usual lachrymal
_ sinus, like: the koodoo, the large lachrymal line of the buck’s
198 On the Mammalia of the
head here being quite flat on its aspect to the cheek. The
female has no horns, like all those of that sex of the ante-
lope kind inhabiting the Fish River Bush, and she is seldom
seen. The rump and mammary region are white. The
male and female of all the smaller bucks are distinguished in
the country as ram and ewe, while in the koodoo and other
larger ones, they are called bull and cow. Inguinal sacs
are also possessed by the male bushbuck. It frequents the
deepest and thickest kloofs and bush, and is very shy,
though extremely ferocious when wounded, and can inflict
serious wounds with its sharp-pointed horns. The Hotten-
tot or boer, knowing the habitat of any animal, as they are
generally solitary, stations himself by dawn in some little
krantze or rock under cover of a bush overlooking a kloof,
and silently awaits the buck coming out to feed at sunrise
at the edge of the bush, in the open space or glade, and per-
chance may obtain a view within gunshot. In very dry wea-
ther they come down from the higher kloofs and live in the
thick lofty bush on the banks of the river, so that the water
is nearer; and here the spot they frequent on the banks may
become known to the hunter by the frequent spoor, which is
lancet-shaped and marked with the cleft in its axis, which
he takes advantage of by stationing himself within proper
range on the opposite bank, and awaiting the buck’s time of
repairing to drink in the evenings. They may also be started
by following a morning’s fresh spoortotheir cover in the bush,
either with or without dogs; and an opportunity for a shot
may be obtained as the buck rises and bounds off, which he
does with remarkable power and speed, clearing much over
his own height. A favourite plan of hunting bucks in Lower
Albany adopted by the English farmers, where a kloof can
be found separate and surrounded by open country, is in sta-
tioning the party with their guns around it at various dis-
tances, and sending in beaters up from the bottom of the
kloof to scare the game, which rush out according to their
number from the edge of the bush, and afford fine practice.
A common plan adopted by the Hottentot in the shooting of
smaller bucks of all kinds, is in discovering an open spot of
ground which, from the spoor and quantity of fresh dung, he
Fish River Bush, South Africa. 199
judges is a favourite feeding ground, and excavating a hol-
low in a close bush within range of this with his knife, where-
in he conceals himself before sunrise with his gun, ready
on the watch for a buck displaying himself in the open glade
which he commands. These coloured people are peculiarly
expert in this stealthy kind of sport, which skill their rebel
brethren have turned to a too fatal use in the war; they other-
wise will walk cautiously over a favourable tract of bush
country, where there are clumps and open glades, and tak-
ing views every now and then from behind different shel-
ters, till they by good fortune espy in the morning or even-
ing some unwary buck out feeding on the edge of a clump,
and are almost certain to bring back one or two on such
favourable occasions. A knowledge of the habitats of the
various smaller bucks can be readily acquired by observation
of spoor and the presence of their dung—their freshness, or
otherwise, leading one to form an opinion of the proximity
of the game. During the day, when they are lying down
_ from the shelter of the sun, they may be flushed by good dogs
who understand them, when one may get a chance of a shot,
as they rush out of the bush and bound off; but this mode of
sport requires a great rapidity of aim to be very successful,
as their speed is very great.
Showery cloudy weather is the best to follow this sport; the
bucks then leave the denser, cooler kloofs, and frequent the
more open bush for the fresh grass and other green food.
The breaking of a fore leg does not prevent the entire escape
of a wounded buck, but injury to a hinder limb cripples it
much more, though not to the extent but that probably a
good dog would be required to capture him. From the na-
ture of this part of the country, it is impossible to course
them, and all common dogs cannot attain the speed of the
buck, nor are they able to clear obstacles which the latter do
by most astonishmg bounds. Next to the koodoo, perhaps,
bushbuck venison may be reckoned as palatable as any ; but
all these smaller bucks are devoid of fatty materials, and the
flesh is very dry, so that to render the meat quite acceptable,
it requires to be dressed in peculiar ways. The English far-
mers sometimes, when sport is no object, and the mere pro-
200 On the Mammalia of the
curing of the skins and flesh for sale or consumption their
aim, adopt a more wholesale method of capturing the smaller
bucks of all kinds, and one that requires no expenditure
of time. The River Bush is the most frequented resort of
these animals during dry seasons, and their resort in any fa-
vourable numbers is easily ascertained by the quantity of
spoor. Certain narrower tracts of it are bushed in after the
manner of a kraal-fence, right across from the river bank to
the outside edge of the bush, say for 80 yards, except a single
narrow opening through which the bucks must pass when
traversing the length of the bush to or fro. At this spot a
trap is set, a hole is first dug, and a long spring of bush tree
fixed in the ground close by, to the upper end of which is
tied a riem or rope, having a running noose at the lower end,
which is fixed by a small easily-loosened stick, round the mar-
gin of the hole, the spring being then bent down to its ut-
most. ‘The opening of the hole is covered by other smaller
sticks, over which are placed loose grass and rubbish to hide
its artificial appearance. The buck in passing through puts
his foot on the covering, which the pressure bruises down,
the noose is liberated, the leg caught, and up springs the
bender, and so holds the animal in spite of all his endeavours
to escape till the poacher arrives. This plan is recommended
from its not injuring the skin of the animal by any wound,
so that its market value is not lessened. The Caffres in this
country sometimes use a nearly similar method, bushing across
a space of the river bush, leaving a single opening where
a deep hole is dug, in the bottom of which is fixed an upright
sharp-pointed stake, and the opening of the hole is covered
lightly with sticks and grass. The buck, instead of being
ginned, is here staked. The skins of all these smaller bucks
are valuable, being, when prepared with the panion, made
into carosses, bed-covers, carpets, &c., for use in the colony,
and further form very fine leather stuff. Their usual selling
price in the Graham’s Town market is from one shilling to
one shilling and sixpence.
In all these smaller bucks the stomach has the four cavities
of the ruminant. The paunch contains a large quantity of
semifluid half-digested vegetable matter, the reticulated ca-
ee
Fish River Bush, South Africa. 201
vity the same, which in the maniplus, however, is quite dry,
preparatory to the chymification effected in the true stomach.
The food in the fourth cavity is similar, but more liquefied
than in the first two cavities. The cecum is large, contains no
formed feeces, and the small intestine enters into it at right
angles to its axis by a small constricted opening, situated
about three inches from the cul-de-sac extremity. The colon
is much narrower than the cecum, and at its commencement
performs two complete circular folds in a separate plane of
peritoneum, before becoming a movable free viscus in the
abdominal cavity. The spleen is not larger than a crown-
piece, flat, and lies against the left surface of the stomach.
The pancreas is also small and flat in shape. The smallness
of the former organ is probably commensurate with the large
circulation of the intestinal tube, affording sufficient amount
of portal blood for the liver, and with this circulation being
in these animals in a state of almost constant activity, and
thus affording a constant supply ; while the periodical state
of these matters in the carnivora may afford greater ground
for a larger supplementary organ to receive an unrequired
influx on the stomach and intestines, and sustain a steady sup-
ply of materials for the liver to elaborate into bile for an en-
suing period.
The Dui-Ru (Cephalophus), so called from its bounding
mode of progression, is a species of antelope, and rather nu-
merous in the Fish River Bush, where it inhabits the darker-
coloured ground covered with clumpy patches of bush. Both
its spoor and dung are peculiar from the others, and its ha-
bitats consequently become known by these means. It has
beautiful shining dun-coloured hair, short erect horns, with
three or four annulations at the base, and is marked by a
black stripe on the forehead and nose, and an S-shaped streak
beneath each eye, indicating the situation of the orifice of the
lachrymal sinus. It has a short tail, white underneath. Its
speed is very great; in fact swifter than any other kind
of the smaller bucks of the colony, which is attained by its
numerous bounds, each clearing about 30 feet of level ground.
As an object of mere sport, it has very great chances in its
favour for escape. Its skin forms good carosses, and its
202 On the Mammalia of the
capture for this object is effected by the various means above
detailed.
The Griesbuck or Griessteenbuck (Tragulus), rather smaller
than the dui-ru, takes its colonial name from the reddish-
gray coloured skin. Its horns are short, straight, and smooth,
and it possesses no tail. Inguinal sac in the male, four teats
in the female, and a lachrymal sinus, are further characteristics
of its antelope species. It inhabits a part of the bush-belt
where the ground is sandstone and clayey, and of a colour
apparently assimilated to that of the fur. It is far inferior to
the dui-ru in speed, being apparently only gifted with running.
Its skin is scarcely so valuable as that of the dui-rw.
The Steenbuck or Bleekbuck (Tragulus) is about the size
of the dui-ru, and frequents bush growing chiefly on sandy
clay ground. Its fur is of a shining reddish-yellow colour,
the belly white, and the mammary region bounded by a black
border on each side. It has two black stripes on the forehead
and one on thenose. The horns are erect, short and smooth,
and there is no tail. It partakes in a great measure of pe-
culiarities proper to the dui-ru and griesbuck. Lachrymal
sinus also is present. Its fur is less valuable than either of
the other two, from the coarse nature of the hair, and in con-
sequence little employed for carosses, but the skin makes as
good leather as the others. Its speed is intermediate be-
tween the two former, but its appearance in a natural state
is prettier than either. Pairs are generally found together,
or may be started by the dogs from bushes not far separate ;
in the totality they are not so numerous as the other two.
The exeretory orifice of the lachrymal sinus is single in
the griesbuck, and opens in a black spot beneath the eye on
the check. The buccal aspect of the lachrymal bones in this
and the dui-ru and bleekbuck is hollowed for the reception of
the black-coloured lacrymal sinus, which appears to abound in
dark pigmentary matter like sepia, but the excreted fluid when
seen is colourless. This gland has no connection with the
orbit or eye, and its excretory ducts are single in the gries-
buck and bleekbuck, but open by many pores in the S-shaped
black stripe on the cheek of the dui-ru. If any use is to be ©
assigned to it as possessed by these three species of ante-
Fish River Bush, South Africa. 203
lopes, on what grounds is it dispensed with in the bushbuck
and koodoo, which inhabit this bush-belt also? It cannot be
for any object connected with the lubrication of the eyeball,
as it is placed underneath it, so that its anatomy throws no
light apparently on its function.
The Wild Pig of the Fish River Bush (Phascocherus) 1s
seen in two varieties, the larger of a dirty white colour en-
tirely, and possessing three excessively-developed cartila-
ginous tubercles on the face on each side, two nasal, in ap-
pearance like horns, two orbital, and two buccal, which pro-
bably serve as fenders from injury to the eyes, in its progress
through the thorny dense underwood. These prominences
do not exist in the sow, which has a smaller head, but is
otherwise similar to the boar. This variety goes by the ap-
pelation of witkop amongst the Dutch farmers. The smaller
variety called rocaitkop, is of a dirty reddish-brown colour
on the body and limbs, but the hair of the head becomes
gray in the older individuals. The young of this kind
have a general brown colour, with two or three longitudinal
reddish stripes on each side extending from the head to the
tail. The nasal tuberculations seem only here to attain any
size in the male, and are entirely, as in the other variety, de-
ficient in the sow, which is also somewhat smaller than the
male, but otherwise similar in appearance. The ears in both
are erect. The distribution of the teeth in both varieties is
as follow: incisors >,canines+—-, molars ;,=30. The upper
canines rest on their sides, and, directed outwards, seem mere-
ly for the purpose of keeping the two edges of their opposites
in the lower jaw sharp by their grinding action, as their fibres
will act perpendicularly against those of the lower tusks lon-
i _ gitudinally. These animals afford excellent sport during the
_ day, when the boer hunts them with a pack containing a few
_ strong plucky dogs which have been accustomed to the sport.
_ They frequent the dense bush and thickets, seldom the River
_ Bush, and during the day may be turned out of these re-
_ treats, where they repose, by dogs knowing their scent. They
then immediately make off, and in difficult thick country give
- along chase to the pack, but in more open country are soon
_ run into, as they cannot keep up any lengthened speed, though
204 On the Mammalia of the
rapid for short distances. When they, have taken to the
dense bush the hunter waits, listening from some overlook-
ing spot to the bark of the dogs, and hearing how matters
are going on, till he becomes aware by the sound that
the pig is brought at length to bay, when he then endea-
vours to get as best he can through the bush, to the as-
sistance of his dogs, who would in a long contest most
probably lose some of their numbers. The best of the
dogs, when the pig is brought to bay, run up at once, and
fasten upon him by the ears, snout, lip, &c., the others
assisting, and thus hold him fast, and prevent him doing
much mischief, till the boer’s knife between his ribs or a
bullet puts a termination to a struggle, which, if not thus 1n-
terfered with, most likely would end in the defeat of the pack,
and death of some of the dogs. In every seizure generally
one or more dogs get wounded by the formidable tusks, and
some are killed altogether, either by the belly being ripped
up, or the vessels of the neck in front of the chest lacerated
and pierced. Hesitating dogs are liable to suffer most, as
may be inferred. By moonlight the wild pigs come out of
their retreats, especially during and after rainy weather, when
the ground is soft, to feed on the roots, bulbs, &c., which they
fancy, and large pieces of ground may sometimes be seen
ploughed up by them, after a single night’s ranging. They
may then be hunted very successfully, and sometimes shot
when discovered out alone feeding. The flesh of the young
is fair pork, but not very fat, and the skins of the older seem
the only valuable part, of which the boer makes his veld- -
schoons, or covers his saddle with. The flesh of these pigs
is most frequently allotted by the boer to feed his dogs, and is
cut off the carcase on the spot, and devoured by them raw.
Of the common Bush Tiger or Leopard (/’. Leopardus),
there are generally two kinds seen, a smaller and larger, in-
habiting the densest bush of the koppies, kloofs, and krantzes.
They are a great nuisance to the sheep-farmer of the Bush
country, preying on his flocks, and are said to be very partial
to baboons’ flesh ; some skins of the larger kind with the long
tail reach eight or ten feet long, while the smaller average
about five or four. The spoor of some attain the size of that —
ie) od
Fish River Bush, South Africa. 205
of a horse or ox’s, or larger, recognized from that of the wolf or
dog by their circularity, and the absence of claw-marks. They
are sometimes hunted with a pack of good dogs by the boers,
and when brought to bay, despatched with the roer.. Other-
wise they are caught in traps placed not far from the kraals ;
a large wolf-trap, with teeth, is set in the ground, covered
over with rubbish in a sort of small kraal of bush, at the
entrance of which it is placed, and opposite to it about two
feet, is staked a piece of fresh meat. The animal is obliged,
in order to get at this, and tear it off its fixture, to pass over
and tread upon the plate of the trap, which by the pressure
instantly loosens the spring, and the animal is caught by
the limb. The trap is not fixed firm, so that the tiger can,
if he pleases, walk off with it attached to his leg into the
cover of some neighbouring thicket or kloof, as, if not per-
mitted to do so, he would break or eat off his own limb, and
so escape entirely. The boer next morning misses the trap,
collects his dogs, and goes on the spoor, and is not long in
discovering the retreat of the exhausted tiger. Their skins
are valuable ; the larger being rated at about 30s., and the
smaller 15s. to purchasers ; and are used for carosses, and
chair and sofa covers. A few years ago, a fine young boer
met an untimely end from being attacked by one of these
ferocious creatures. He went out with his dog and gun, ac-
companied by a Caffre servant, to look after his sheep, during
the day grazing amongst the bush of the Fish River, near
the Kat River junction. The dog scented and discovered a
tiger in a neighbouring kloof, and the servant having ascer-
tained that such was the case, requested his master would
enter the bush with him, and kill the tiger. The boer de-
clined at first, telling the Caffre he could not trust him in a
fight, and knew that he would run away at a critical time.
However, the contrary assurances of the servant at length
- prevailed on the boer, and both went in to attack the tiger.
The dog having shewn them his whereabouts, though still under
some concealment from the foliage, the boer fired,and wounded
the animal, which immediately sprung out, and ere the shot
_ could be repeated, felled his antagonist, and the gun wasthrown
out of reach in the fall; the boer now cried out for his ser-
206 On the Mammalia of the
vant’s assistance, but the coward had fled. A long struggle
now ensued for life and death, the boer had got on his feet,
but the tiger kept repeatedly springing up at his throat, and
was as often shaken off by the hands. So rapid was this
action that had it not been for the timely courage of the dog
at length seizing and biting the tiger severely on the flanks,
and diverting its attention for a moment, that enabled him
to reach his gun, and despatch his enemy, the boer would
have been worried on the spot. Assistance from some pass-
ing people enabled him then to reach his home, but dread-
fully lacerated in the shoulders, arms, and scalp, and faint
from the loss of blood. Death in ten days, however, put a
period to his sufferings, which continued till then intense,
the wounds never having become healthily inflamed or sup-
purated. Other accidents of this nature have occurred in
contests with this formidable savage of the forests, and are
so generally fatal that a tiger’s bite in the country is reck-
oned poisonous, for which perhaps there may be some ground
in analogy with that of a rabid dog, and from a received
opinion that the salivary juices of carnivorous animals in a
state of passion become morbidly changed from their con-
stitution in health.
A few individuals of the Red Cuba Lynwx (Felis Lynz) are
found in similar situations to the tiger, and are caught and
destroyed by similar means, by either dogs or traps. They
are equally a nuisance to the sheep-kraals, and like the wild
cat, prey upon fowls and such domestic birds. Their fur is
reddish-yellow above, rather whitish underneath; the inguinal
regions have a few dark brown spots scattered on them. ‘The
tail is black at its extremity, and the nearly erect ears, of a
dull lead colour, are tipped with a pencil of fine hairs. Their
skins are valuable for carosses and such purposes.
The Wild Cat (Felis Serval, ¥. Cuv.) is found everywhere
in bushy country, and is very destructive to feathered game.
It sometimes attains as large a size as the small tiger, and is
of great comparative length of body, and the tail becomes
very bushy. Like all these feline animals, they are found
amongst bushy thickets, or else may be seen ensconced in
trees, awaiting to spring on their prey beneath.
Fish River Bush, South Africa. 207
Several communities of the Bavian, or Ursine Baboon (Cy-
nocephalus porcarius), are scattered over this bushy country
in different localities. Inaccessible bushy krantzes are their
favourite resort, but they may be found amongst the hills and
koppies here and there; but when alarmed they betake them-
selves to their rocky fastnesses. They are destructive in
gardens and grain fields, and become an annoyance to farm-
ers on that account. When troublesome, they are sometimes
hunted when found single ; as attacking a whole community,
except for their dispersion, would be dangerous. of resisting the
action of the waves and the weather. Originally the reverse
was doubiless true, for in the existing delta of the Mississippi
the clays, in which innumerable roots of swamp trees, such as
the deciduous cy press, ramify in all directions, are seen to with-
stand far more effectually the excavating power of the river
or of the sea at the base of the delta, than do beds of loose
sand or layers of mud not supporting trees.
This fact may explain why seams of coal have so often
escaped denudation, and have remained continuous over wide
areas, since the roots, now turned to coal, which once tra-
versed them, would enable them to resist a current of water,
whilst other members of the coal formation, when in their
original and unconsolidated state, consisting of sand and mud,
would be readily removed.
The upright trees usually inclose in their interior pillars
of sandstone or shale, or both these substances alternating,
and these do not correspond in the thickness of their layers,
or in their organic remains, with the external strata, or
those enveloping the trunks. It is clear, therefore, that the
trees were reduced while yet standing to hollow cylinders of
mere bark (now changed into coal), in which the leaves of
ferns and other plants, with fragments of stems and roots,
were drifted together with mud and sand during river inun- —
dations. The stony contents of one of these trees, nine feet
in the Coal-Measures of Nova Scotia. 217
high and twenty-two inches in diameter, on being examined
by Messrs Dawson and Lyell, yielded, besides numerous
fossil plants, some bones and teeth which they believed were
referable to a reptile ; but not being competent to decide that
osteological question, they submitted the specimens to Dr
Jeffries Wyman of Harvard University in the United States.
That eminent anatomist declared them to be allied in struc-
ture to certain perennibranchiate batrachians of the genera
Menobranchus and Menopoma, species of which now inhabit
the lakes and rivers of North America. This determination
was soon afterwards confirmed by Professor Owen of London,
who pointed out the resemblance of some of the associated
flat and sculptured bones, with the cranial plates, seen in the
skull of the Archegosaurus and Labyrinthodon.* In the same
dark-coloured rock, Dr Wyman detected a series of nine ver-
tebree, which from their form and transverse processes he re-
gards as dorsal, and believes them to have belonged to an
adult individual of a much smaller species, about six inches
long, whereas the jaws and bones before mentioned are those
of a creature probably two-and-a-half feet in length. The
microscopic structure of these small vertebree was found by
Professor Quekett to exhibit the same marked reptilian cha-
racters as that of the larger bones. |
The fossil remains in question were scattered about the in-
terior of the trunk, near its base, among fragments of wood
now converted into charcoal, which may have fallen in while
the tree was rotting away, having been afterwards cemented to-
gether by mud and sand stained black by carbonaceous matter.
Whether the reptile crept into the hollow tree while its top
was still open to the air, or whether it was washed in with mud
during a flood, or in whatever other manner it entered, must be
matter of conjecture. Footprints of two reptiles of different
sizes have been observed Dr Harding and Dr Gesner on rip-
_ ple-marked flags of the lower coal measures in Nova Scotia,
evidently made by quadrupeds walking on the beach, or out
of the water, just as the recent Menopoma is sometimes ob-
served to do. Other reptilian footprints of much larger size
had been previously noticed (as early as 1844) in the coal of
* Professors Wyman and Owen have named the reptile Dendrerpeton Aca-
dianum, Acadia being the ancient Indian name for Nova Scotia.
218: Sir C. Lyell on Fossil Reptilian Remains
Pennsylvania by Dr King; and in Europe three or four in-
stances of skeletons of the same class of animals have been
obtained, but the present is the first example of any of their
bones having been met with in America, in rocks of higher
antiquity than the trias. It is hoped, however, that other
instances will soon come to light, when the contents of up-
right trees, so abundant in Nova Scotia, have been syste-
matically explored; for in such situations the probability of
discovering ancient air-breathing creatures seems greater
than in ordinary subaqueous deposits. Nevertheless we must
not indulge too sanguine expectations on this head, when we
recollect that no fossil vertebrata of a higher grade than
fishes, nor any land-shells, have as yet been met with in the
oolitic coal-field of the James River, near Richmond, Vir-
ginia, a coal-field which has been worked extensively for
three-quarters of acentury. The coal alluded to is bitumi-
nous, and as a fuel resembles the best of the ancient coal of
Nova Scotia and Great Britain. The associated strata of
sandstone and shale contain prostrate zamites and ferns, and
erect calamites and equiseta, which last evidently remain in the
position where they grew in mud and sand. Whether the
age of these beds be oolitic, as Messrs W. B. Rogers and
Lyell have concluded, or upper triassic, as some other geo-
logists suspect, they still belong clearly to an epoch when
saurians and other reptiles flourished abundantly in Europe ;
and they therefore prove that the preservation of ancient ter-
restrial surfaces even in secondary rocks does not imply, as
we might have anticipated, conditions the most favourable
to our finding therein creatures of a higher organization
than fishes.
In breaking up the rock in which the reptilian bones were
entombed, a small fossil body resembling a land-shell of the
genus Pupa, was detected. As such it was recognized by
Dr Gould of Boston, and afterwards by M. Deshayes of Paris,
both of whom carefully examined its form and striation.
When parts of the surface were subsequently magnified 250
diameters, by Professor Quekett of the College of Surgeons,
they were seen to exhibit ridges and grooves undistinguish-
able from those belonging to the striation of living species
of land-shells. The internal tissue also of the shell displayed,
in the Coal-Measures of Nova Scotia. 219
under the microscope, the same prismatic and tubular ar-
rangements which characterize the shells of living mollusca.
Sections also of the same shewed what may be part of the
columella and spiral whorls, somewhat broken and distorted
by pressure and crystallized. The genus cannot be made
out, as the mouth is wanting. If referable to a Pupa or any
allied genus, it is the first example of a pulmoniferous mol-
lusk hitherto detected in a primary or paleozoic rock.
Sir Charles next proceeded to explain his views as to the
origin of coal-fields in general, observing that the force of
the evidence in favour of their identity in character with the
deposits of modern deltas has increased in proportion as they
have been more closely studied. They usually display a vast
thickness of stratified mud and fine sand without pebbles,
and in them are seen countless stems, leaves, and roots of
terrestrial plants, free for the most part from all intermix-
ture of marine remains, circumstances which imply the per-
sistency in the same region of a vast body of fresh water.
This water was also charged like that of a great river with
an inexhaustible supply of sediment, which had usually been
transported over alluvial plains to a considerable distance
from the higher grounds, so that all coarser particles and
gravel were left behind. On the whole, the phenomena imply
the drainage and denudation of a continent or large island,
having within it one or more ranges of mountains. The
partial intercalation of brackish water-beds at certain points
is equally consistent with the theory of a delta, the lower
parts of which are always exposed to be overflowed by the
sea even where no oscillations of level are experienced.
The purity of the coal itself, or the absence in it of earthy
particles and sand throughout areas of very great extent, is
a fact which has naturally appeared very difficult to explain,
_ if we attribute each coal-seam to a vegetation growing in
swamps, and not to the drifting of plants. It may be asked
how, during river inundations capable of sweeping away the
leaves of ferns, and the stems and roots of Sigillariz and
other trees, could the waters fail to transport some fine mud
into the swamps? One generation after another of tall trees
grew with their roots in mud, and after they had fallen pros-
220 Sir C. Lyell on Fossil Reptilian Remains
trate and had been turned into coal, were covered with layers
of mud (now turned to shale), and yet the coal itself has re-
mained unsoiled throughout these various changes. The
lecturer thinks this enigma may be solved, by attending to
what is now taking place in deltas. The dense growth of
reeds and herbage which encompasses the margins of forest-
covered swamps in the valley and delta of the Mississippi, is
such that the fluviatile waters in passing through them are
filtered and made to clear themselves entirely before they
reach the areas in which vegetable matter may accumulate
for centuries, forming coal if the climate be favourable.
There is no possibility of the least intermixture of earthy mat-
ter in such cases. Thus in the large submerged tract called —
the “Sunk Country,’ near New Madrid, forming part of the
western side of the valley of the Mississippi, erect trees have
been standing ever since the year 1811-12, killed by the great
earthquake of that date ; lacustrine and swamp plants have
been growing there in the shallows, and several rivers have
annually inundated the whole space, and yet have been un-
able to carry in any sediment within the outer boundaries of
the morass.
In the ancient coal of the South Joggins in Nova Scotia,
many of the underclays shew a network of Stigmaria roots,
of which some penetrate into or quite through older roots
which belonged to the trees of a preceding generation.
Where trunks are seen in an erect position buried in sand-
stone and shale, rooted Sigillariz or Calamites are often
observed at different heights in the enveloping strata, attest-
ing the growth of plants at several successive levels, while
the process of envelopment was going on. In other cases
there are proofs of the submergence of a forest under marine
or brackish water, the base of the trunks of the submerged
trees being covered with serpule or a species of spirorbis.
Not unfrequently seams of coal are succeeded by beds of im-
pure bituminous limestone, composed chiefly of compressed
modiole with scales and teeth of fish, these being evidently
deposits of brackish or salt water origin.
The lecturer exhibited a joint of the stem of a fresh-water
reed (Arundinaria macrosperma) covered with barnacles, —
in the Coal-Measures of Nova Scotia. 221
which he gathered at the extremity of the delta of the Mis-
sissippi or the Balize. He saw a cane-brake (as it is called
- in the country) of these tall reeds killed by salt water, and
extending over several acres, the sea having advanced over
a space where the discharge of fresh water had slackened for
.@ Season in one of the river’s mouths. If such reeds when
dead could still remain standing in the mud with barnacles
attached to them (these crustacea having been in their turn
destroyed by a return of the river to the same spot), still
more easily may we conceive large and firmly-rooted Sigil-
lariz to have continued erect for many years in the carboni-
ferous period, when the sea happened to gain on any tract of
submerged land.
Submergence under salt water may have been caused either
by a local diminution in the discharge of a river in one of its
many mouths, or more probably by subsidence, as in the case
of the erect columns of the Temple of Serapis, near Naples,
to which serpule and other marine bodies are still found ad-
hering. |
Sir Charles next entered into some speculations respecting
the probable volume of solid matter contained in the car-
boniferous formation of Nova Scotia. The data he said for
Such an estimate are as yet imperfect, but some advantage
would be gained could we but make some slight approxima-
tion to the truth. The strata at the South Joggins are
nearly three miles thick, and they are known to be also of
enormous thickness in the district of the Albion Mines near
Pictou, more than one hundred miles to the eastward. There
appears therefore little danger of erring on the side of ex-
cess, if we take half that amount or 7500 feet as the average
_ thickness of the whole of the coal measures. The area of
the coal-field, including part of New Brunswick to the west,
and Prince Edward’s Island and the Magdalen Isles to the
_ north, as well as the Cape Breton beds, together with the
- connecting strata which must have been denuded, or must
still be concealed beneath the waters of the Gulf of St
Lawrence, may comprise about 36,000 square miles, which,
with the thickness of 7500 feet before assumed, will give
__ 7,527,168,000,000,000 cubic feet (or 51,136°4 cubic miles) of
222 Sir C. Lyell on Fossil Reptilian Remains
solid matter as the volume of the rocks. Such an array of
figures conveys no distinct idea to the mind ; but is interest-
ing when we reflect that the Mississippi would take more
than two millions of years (2,033,000 years) to convey to the
Gulf of Mexico, an equal quantity of solid matter in the shape
of sediment, assuming the average discharge of water in the,
great river, to be, as calculated by Mr Forshay, 450,000 cubic
feet per second, throughout the year, and the total quantity
of mud to be, as estimated by Mr Riddell, 3,702,758,400 cubic
feet in the year.*
We may, however, if we desire to reduce to a minimum
the possible time required for such an operation (assuming
it be one of fluviatile denudation and deposition), select as
our agent a river flowing from a tropical country, such as
the Ganges, in the basin of which the fall of rain is much
heavier, and where nearly all comes down in a third part of
the year, so that the river is more turbid than if it flowed in
temperate latitudes. In reference to the Ganges, also, it
may be well to mention, that its delta presents in one re-
spect a striking parallel to the Nova Scotia coal-field, since
at Calcutta, at the depth of eight or ten feet from the surface,
buried trees and roots have been found in digging tanks, in-
dicating an ancient soil now underground; and in boring on
the same site for an artesian well to the depth of 481 feet,
other signs of ancient forest-covered lands and peaty soils
have been observed at several depths, even as far down as
300 feet and upwards below the level of the sea. As the
strata pierced through contained fresh-water remains of re-
cent species of plants and animals, they imply a subsidence
which has been going on contemporaneously with the accu-
mulation of fluviatile mud.
Captain Strachey of the Bengal Engineers has estimated
that the Ganges must discharge 43 times as much water into
the Bay of Bengal, as the same river carries past Ghazipore,
a place 500 miles above its mouth, where experiments were
made on the volume of water and proportion of mud by the
Rev. Mr Everest. It is not till after it has passed Ghazipore, —
* See Principles of Geology, 8th Ed., p, 219.
’
.
in the Coal-Measures of Nova Scotia. 223
that the great river is joined by most of its larger tributaries.
Taking the quantity of sediment at one-third less than that
assigned by Mr Everest for the Ghazipore average, the
volume of solid matter conveyed to the Bay of Bengal would
still amount to 20,000 millions of cubic feet annually. The
Ganges, therefore, might accomplish in 375,000 years the
task which it would take the Mississippi, according to the
data before laid down, upwards of two million years to
achieve.
One inducement to call attention to such calculations is the
hope of interesting engineers in making accurate measurement
of the quantity of water and mud discharged by such rivers as
the Ganges, Brahmapootra, Indus, and Mississippi, and to lead
geologists to ascertain the number of cubic feet of solid mat-
ter which ancient fluviatile formations, such as the coal-mea-
sures, with their associated marine strata, may contain. Sir
Charles anticipates that the chronological results derived from
such sources will be in harmony with the conclusions to which
botanical and zoological considerations alone might lead us,
and that the lapse of years will be found to be so vast as to
have an important bearing on our reasonings in every depart-
ment of geological science.
A question may be raised, how far the co-operation of the
sea in the deposition of the carboniferous series might ac-
celerate the process above considered. The lecturer con-
ceives that the intervention of the sea would not afford such
favourable conditions for the speedy accumulation of a large
body of sediment within a limited area, as would be obtained
by the hypothesis before stated, namely, that of a great river
entering a bay in which the waves, currents, and tides of the
ocean should exert only a moderate degree of denuding and
dispersing power.
An eminent writer, when criticising, in 1830, Sir Charles
_ Lyell’s work on the adequacy of existing causes, was at pains
_ to assure his readers, that while he questioned the soundness
of the doctrine, he by no means grudged any one the appro-
priation of as much as he pleased of that “ least valuable of
all things, past time.” But Sir Charles believes, notwith-
standing the admission so often made in the abstract of the
224 On Fossil Reptilian Remains in Nova Scotia.
indefinite extent of past time, that there is, practically speak-
ing, a rooted and perhaps unconscious reluctance on the part
of most geologists to follow out to their legitimate conse-
quences the proofs, daily increasing in number, of this im-
mensity of time. It would therefore be of no small moment
could we obtain even an approach to some positive measure of
the number of centuries which any great operation of nature,
such as the accumulation of a delta or fluviatile deposit of great
magnitude may require, inasmuch as our conceptions of the
energy of aqueous or igneous causes, or of the powers of vita-
lity in any given geological period, must depend on the quan-
tity of time assigned for their development.
Thus, for example, geologists will not deny that a vertical
subsidence of three miles took place gradually at the South
Joggins during the carboniferous epoch, the lowest beds of
the coal of Nova Scotia, like the middle and uppermost, con-
sisting of shallow-water beds. If, then, this depression was
brought about in the course of 375,000 years, it did not exceed
the rate of four feet in a century, resembling that now ex-
perienced ir certain countries where, whether the movement
be upward or downward, it is quite insensible to the inhabi-
tants, and only known by scientificinquiry. If, on the other
hand, it was brought about in two millions of years according
to the other standard before alluded to, the rate would be only
six inches in a century. But the same movement taking place
in an upward direction would be sufficient to uplift a portion
of the earth’s crust to the height of Mont Blanc, or to a ver-
tical elevation of three miles above the level of the sea. In
like manner, if a large shoal be rising, or attempting to rise, in
mid-ocean at the rate of six inches or even four feet in a hun-
dred years, the waves may grind down to mud and sand and
readily sweep away the rocks so upraised as fast as they come
within the denuding action of the waves. A mass having a
vertical thickness of three miles might thus be stripped off in
the course of ages, and inferior rocks laid bare. So in regard
to voleanic agency a certain quantity of lava is poured out
annually upon the surface, or is injected into the earth’s crust
below the surface, and great metamorphic changes resulting
Observations on Fish, in relation to Diet. 225
from subterranean heat accompany the injection. Whether
each of these effects be multiplied by 50,000, or by half a
million or by two millions of years, may entirely decide the
question whether we shall or shall not be compelled to aban-
don the doctrine of paroxysmal violence in ancient as con-
trasted with modern times. Were we hastily to take for granted
the paroxsymal intensity of the forces above alluded to, or-
ganic and inorganic, while the ordinary course of nature may of
itself afford the requisite amount of aqueous, igneous, and
vital force (if multiplied by a sufficient number of centuries),
we might find ourselves embarrassed by the possession of
twice as much mechanical force and vital energy as we require
for the purposes of geological interpretation.
—$——*
=
Some Observations on Fish, in relation to Diet. By JOHN
Davy, M.D.,F.R.S. Lond. & Edin., Inspector-General of
_ Army Hospitals, &c.* Communicated by the Author.
What are the nutritive qualities of fish, compared with
other kinds of animal food? Do different species of fish
differ materially in degree in nutritive power? Have fish,
as food, any peculiar or special properties? These are
questions, amongst many others, which may be asked, but
which, in the present state of our knowledge, I apprehend
it would be difficult to answer in a manner at all satisfac-
tory.
On the present occasion, I shall attempt little more than
an opening of the inquiry, and that directed to a few points,
chiefly those alluded to in the foregoing queries.
1. Of the Nutritive Power of Fish.
_ The proposition probably will be admitted, that the nutri-
tive power of all the ordinary articles of animal food, at
least of those composed principally of muscular fibre, or of
* Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 18th April 1853.
VOL. LV. NO. CX.—OCTOBER 1853. P .
226 Dr Davy’s Observations on Fish,
muscle and fat, to whatever class belonging, is approximately
denoted by their several specific gravities, and by the amount
of solid matter which each contains, as determined by tho-
rough drying, or the expulsion of the aqueous part at a tem-
perature such as that of boiling water, not sufficiently high
to effect any well-marked chemical change.
In the trials I have made, founded on this proposition, the
specific gravity has been ascertained in the ordinary hydro-
statical way ;—the portions subjected to trial, in the instance
of fish, have been taken from the thicker part of the back,
freed from skin and bone, composed chiefly of muscle. And
the same or similar portions have been used for the purpose
of determining their solid contents, dried in platina or glass
capsules of known weight, and exposed to the process of dry-
ing till they ceased to diminish in weight.
The trials on the other articles of diet, made for the sake
of comparison, both as regards specific gravity (excepting
the liquids), and the abstraction of the hygroscopic water, or
water capable of being dissipated by the degree of tempera-
ture mentioned, have been conducted in a similar manner.
The balance used was one of great delicacy, at home, or a
small portable one, when from home, of less delicacy, yet
turning readily with one-tenth of a grain.
The results obtained are given in the following tables. In
the first, on some different species of fish; in the second, on
some other articles of animal food.
I have thought it right, whenever it was in my power, to
notice not only the time when the fish were taken, but also
the place where they were procured,—not always so precise
as I could wish,—as both season and locality may have an
influence on their quality individually. When the place men-
tioned is inland, it must be understood that, in the instance
of sea-fish, they were from the nearest sea-port.
in relation to Diet. 227
Table I.
Speci P | Specific lig ‘
pecies of Fish. @ravit Matter | Place where got, and Time.
a per cent.
ee) hombus 1062 | 203 | March. Liverpool
MaxIMuUs, 4 ae
Brill, R. vulgaris, . 1061 20:2 October. Penzance.
James D. Dana, Esq., on
or the other, as is done by Darwin, from the fact that the
reefs are small or wholly wanting, until the possible opera-
tion of the several causes limiting their distribution has been
duly considered.
The influence of voleanoes in preventing the growth of -
zoophytes extends only so far-as the submarine action may
heat the water ; and it may therefore be confined within a few
miles of a volcanic island, or to certain parts only of its shores.
There are three epochs of changes in elevation which may
be distinguished and separately considered: 1. The subsi-
dence indicated by atolls and barrier reefs; 2. Elevations
during more recent periods, and also during the same epoch
of subsidence ; 3. Changes of level anterior to the atoll sub-
sidence, and the growth of recent corals. On this last point
we have few facts.
{. Subsidence indicated by atolls and barrier reefs.
In a survey of the ocean, the eye observing its numerous
atolls, sees in each, literally as well as poetically, a coral urn
upon a rocky island that lies buried beneath the waves.
Through the equatorial latitudes such marks of subsidence
abound, from the eastern Paumotu to the western Carolines,
a distance uf about 6000 geographical miles. In the Pau-
motu Archipelago there are about eighty of these atolls.
Going westward, a little to the north of west, they are —
found to dot the ocean at irregular intervals; and at the —
Tarawan Group the Carolines commence, which consist of
seventy or eighty atolls.
If a line be drawn from Pitcairn’s Island, the southern-
most of the Paumotus, by the Gambier Group, the north of
the Society Group, Samoa, and the Salomon Islands, to the
Pelews, it will form nearly a straight boundary trending N. *
70° W., running between the atolls on one side, and the
high islands of the Pacific on the other, the former lying to
the north of the line, and the latter to the south.
Between this boundary line and the Hawaiian Islands, an |
area nearly two thousand miles wide and six thousand long, ©
there are two hundred and four islands, of which only three
are high, exclusive of the eight Marquesas. These three
Changes of Level in the Pacific Ocean. 243
are Ualan, Banabe (Ascension or Pounypet), and Hogoleu,
all in the Caroline Archipelago. South of the same line,
within three degrees of it, there is an occasional atoll; but
beyond this distance there are none excepting the few in the
Friendly Group, and one or two in the Feejees.
If each coral island scattered over this wide area indicates
a subsidence of an island, we may believe that the subsidence
was general throughout the area. Moreover, each atoll,
could we measure the thickness of the coral constituting it,
would inform us nearly of the extent of the subsidence
where it stands; for they are actually so many registers
placed over the ocean, marking out not only the site of a
buried island, but also the depth at which it lies covered.
We have not the means of applying the evidence ; but there
are facts at hand which may give, at least, comparative
results.
a. We observe, first, that barrier reefs are, in general, evi-
dence of less subsidence than atoll reefs (xiii. 186), conse-
quently the great preponderance of the former just below the
southern boundary line of the coral island area, and farther
south the entire absence of atolls, while atolls prevail so uni-
versally north of this line, are evidence of little depression
just below the line; of less further south ; and of the greatest
amount north of the line, or over the coral area.
b. The subsidence producing an atoll, when continued, gra-
dually reduces its size, until finally it becomes so small that
the lagoon is obliterated; and consequently a prevalence of
these small islands is presumptive evidence of the greater sub-
_ sidence. We observe, in application of this principle, that
_ the coral islands about the equator, five or ten degrees south
betweenthe Paumotusand the Tarawan Islands, are the small-
est of the ocean: several of them are without lagoons, and
4 some nota mile in diameter. Atthe same time, in the Paumo-
_ tus, and among the Tarawan and Marshall Islands, there are
atolls twenty to fifty miles in length, and rarely one less than
three miles. Itis probable, therefore, that the subsidence in-
dicated was greatest at some distance north of the boundary
line, over the region of small equatorial islands between the
+ meridian of 150° W. and 180°. hed
244 James D. Dana, Esq., on
c. When, after thus reducing the size of the atoll, the sub-
sidence continues its progress, or when it is too rapid for the
growing reef, it finally sinks the coral island, which, there-
fore, disappears from the ocean. Now it is a remarkable
fact that while the islands about the equator above alluded
to indicate greater subsidence than farther south, north of
these islands, that is, between them and the Hawaiian Group,
there is a wide blank of ocean without an island, which is
near twenty degrees in breadth. This area lies betweeen
the Hawaiian, the Fanning, and the Marshall Islands, and
stretches off between the first and last of those groups, far to
the north-west.
Is it not, then, a legitimate conclusion that the subsidence
which was least to the south beyond the boundary line, and
increased northward, was still greater or more rapid over this
open area; that the subsidence which reduced the size of the
islands about the equator to mere patches of reef, was farther
continued, and caused the total disappearance of islands that
once covered this part of the ocean ?
d. That the subsidence gradually diminished south-west-
wardly from some point of greatest depression situated to the
northward and eastward, is apparent from the Feejee Group
alone. Its north-east portion, as the chart shews (see vol.
xiv.), consists of immense barriers, with barely a single point
of rock remaining of the submerged land ; while in the west
and south-west there are basaltic islands of great magnitude.
Again, along to the north side of the Vanikoro Group, the
Salomon Islands, and New Ireland, there are coral atolls,
though scarcely one to the south. 3
In view of this combination of evidence, we cannot doubt
that the subsidence increased from the south to the northward
or north-eastward, and was greatest between the Samoan
and Hawaiian Islands near the centre of the area destitute
of islands, about longitude 170° to 175° W., and 8° to 10° N.
But we may derive some additional knowledge respecting —
this area of subsidence from other facts.
Hawaiian Range-—We observe that the western islands —
in the Hawaiian Range beyond Bird Island, are coral islands,
and all indicate some participation in this subsidence. To the —
Changes of Level in the Pacific Ocean. 245
eastward in the range, Kauai and Oahu have only fringing
reefs, yet in some places these reefs are half-a-mile to three-
fourths in width. They indicate a long period since they be-
gan to grow, which is borne out by the features of Kauai
shewing a long respite from volcanic action. We conse-
quently detect proof of but little subsidence of the islands.
Moreover, there are no deep bays ; and, besides, Kauai has a
gently sloping coast plain of great extent, with a steep shore
acclivity of one to three hundred feet, all tending to prove the
smallness of the subsidence. We should therefore conclude
that these islands lie near the limits of the subsiding area,
and that the change of level was greatest at the western ex-
tremity of the range beyond Kauai.
Marquesas.—The Marquesas are remarkable for their
abrupt shores, often inaccessible cliffs, and deep bays. The
absence of gentle slopes along the shores, their angular fea-
tures, abrupt soundings close alongside the islands, and deep
indentations, all bear evidence of subsidence to some extent ;
for their features are very similar to those which Kauai, or
Tahiti, would present, if buried half its height in the sea, leav-
ing only the sharper ridges and peaks out of water. They are
situated but five degrees north of the Paumotus, where eighty
islands or more have disappeared, including one at least fifty
- miles in length. There is sufficient evidence that they par-
ticipated in the subsidence of the latter, but not to the same
extent. They are nearly destitute of coral.
Gambier or Mangareva Group.—In the southern limits
of the Paumotu Archipelago, where, in accordance with the
foregoing views, the least depression in that region should
have taken place, there are actually, as we have stated, two
high islands, Piteairn’s and Gambier’s. There is evidence,
- however,in the extensive barrier about the Gambier’s, that this
subsidence, although less than further north, was by no means
_ of small amount. On page 371, vol. xi., we have estimated
it at 1150 feet. These islands, therefore, although towards
_ the limits of the subsiding area, were still far within it. The
_ valley-bays of the Mangareva islets are of great depth, and
_ afford additional evidence of the subsidence.
Tahitian Islands.—The Tahitian Islands, along with Samoa
246 James D. Dana, Esq., on
and the Feejees, are near the northern limits of the area
pointed out. Twenty-five miles to the north of Tahiti, within
sight from its peaks, lies the coral island Tetuaroa, a register
of subsidence. Tahiti itself, by its barrier reefs, gives evi-
dence of the same kind of change; amounting, however, as we
have estimated, to a depression of but two hundred and fifty
or three hundred feet. The north-western islands of the group
lie more within the coral area, and correspondingly, they have
wider reefs and channels, and deep bays, indicating a greater
amount of subsidence.
Samoa.—The island of Upolu has extensive reefs, which
in many parts are three-fourths of a mile wide, but no inner
channel. We have estimated the subsidence at one or two
hundred feet. The volcanic land west of Apia declines with
an unbroken gradual slope of one to three degrees beneath the
sea. The absence of a low cliff is probable evidence of a de-
pression, as has been elsewhere shewn. The island of Tutuila
has abrupt shores, deep bays, and little coral. It appears
probable, therefore, that it has experienced a greater subsi-
dence than Upolu. Yet the central part of Upolu has very
similar bays on the north, which would afford apparently the
same evidence ; and it is quite possible that the facts indicate
a sinking which either preceded the ejections that now cover
the eastern and western extremities of Upolu, or accompanied
this change of level. Sovaii has small reefs, from which we
gather no certain facts bearing on this subject. Kast of
Tutuila is the coral island, Rose. it may be, therefore, that
the greatest subsidence in the group was at its eastern ex-
tremity. ,
Feejee Islands——We have already remarked upon this
group. ? ; : : None ascertained.
Ladrones, : ; ‘ . Guam, : ; : ; , 600
ove Rota, . ; 4 : : ; 600
Feis, \ ° : ‘ pone : ; j : . ‘ 90
Pelews, ; : ‘ 2 F 5 F , 0?
New Hebrides, New itsdintes Salomon Islands, ; None ascertained.
Several deductions are at once obvious :—
1. That the elevations have taken place in all parts of the
ocean.
2. That they have in some instances affected single islands,
and not those adjoining.
3. That the amount is often very unequal in adjacent
islands,
4, That in a few instances the change has been experienced
by a whole group or chain of islands. The Tarawan Group
is an instance, and the rise appears to increase from the
southernmost island to Apia, and then to diminish again to
the other extremity.
The Feejees may be an example of a rise at the west side
of a group, and possibly a subsidence on the east; while a
little farther east, the Tonga Islands constitute another ex-
tended area of elevation. We observe that while the Sa-
moan Islands afford no evidences of elevation, the Tonga
Islands on the south have been raised, and also the Fakaafo
Group, and others on the north.
We cannot, therefore, distinguish any oviaeiies that a
general rise is or has been in progress ; yet some large areas
appear to have been simultaneously affected, although the
action has often been isolated. Metia and Elizabeth Island
may have risen abruptly ; but the changes of level in the
Feejees and the Friendly Islands appear to have taken place
by a gradual action.
263
On some New Points in British Geology. By Professor
_ EpwaArpD Forpss, President of the Geological Society.
Communicated by the Author.
Not many years ago it used to be said that the geology of
England was done, and yet the best investigated localities are
constantly affording fresh discoveries. When the lecturer
last year exhibited Captain Ibbetson’s beautiful and accurate
model of Whitecliff Bay in the Isle of Wight, in illustration
of his views respecting the distribution of species in time, he
had not the slightest suspicion that this particular locality, so
often and apparently so thoroughly explored, could yield new
results and new interpretations. Nevertheless, having had
occasion, at the suggestion of Sir Henry De la Beche, to ex-
amine the tertiary strata of the Isle of Wight for the purposes
of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, this very bay of
Whitecliff proved to be a rich source of novel geological infor-
mation. Moreover, a great portion of the Isle of Wight, on
further examination, turned out to belong to a division of the
older tertiaries that had never been demonstrated to exist
within the British Islands. As a general statement of these
results and of their bearings may be more intelligible to non-
professional lovers of geology than the detailed memoirs about
to be published on the subject, Professor Forbes has taken
this opportunity of communicating them to the Members of
the Royal Institution.
The Isle of Wight is divided into two portions by a great
chalk ridge running east and west. This is the ridge of ver-
tical chalk beds. To the north of it, the country is composed
of tertiary, to the south, of older strata, as far down in the
- geological scale as the Wealden. The lower Greensand or
_ Neocomian beds occupy the greater part of the surface of the
southern division, and fresh-water tertiaries that of the north-
ern. At Alum Bay on the west, and Whitecliff Bay on the
~ east, the ends of the older tertiary strata, as they rise above
the chalk, are seen truncated and upturned, being all affected
by the movement which caused the verticality of the chalk.
These tertiaries constitute the following groups, successively
264 Professor E. Forbes on
enumerated in ascending order, the Plastic clay, the Bognor
series (equivalents of the true London clay), the Bracklesham
series, and the Barton series, upon which lie the Headon Hill
sands, and those fresh-water strata that, spreading out, form
the gently undulating country, extending from near the base
of the chalk ridge to the sea.
Owing to the section at Headon Hill, near Alum Bay, being
so clear and conspicuous, and their position being in the loftiest
tertiary hill that exhibits its internal structure in the island,
the fresh-water and fluvio-marine beds which compose that ele-
vation have long attracted attention, and have been described
by many observers, the first of whom was the late Professor
Webster. The apparent slight inclination of these beds, as
seen in the Headon section, except at the point where they are
suddenly curved in conformity with the verticality of the chalk
and the beds immediately above it, appear to have led geolo-
gists to the notion that the fluvio-marine portion of the Isle
of Wight was composed entirely of continuations of the beds
forming Headon Hill. Two observers only suspected a dis-
crepancy, viz., Mr Prestwich, who in a short communication
to the British Association at Southampton, expressed his be-
lief that Hempstead Hill, near Yarmouth, would prove to be
composed of strata higher than those of Headon; and the
Marchioness of Hastings, who, having given much time to the
search for the remains of fossil vertebratain the tertiaries of the
Isle of Wight and Hordwell, declared her conviction thatthese
remains belonged to distinct species, according as they were col-
leetedat Hordwell, Hempstead, and Ryde, and that these three
localities could not, as was usually understood, belong to the
same set of strata. The recently published monograph of the
pulmoniferous molluscs of the English eocene tertiaries, by
Mr Frederic Edwards, afforded also indications of the shells
therein so well described and figured having been wing tabs in
strata of more than one age.
A few days’ labour at the west end of the island convinced
Professor Forbes that the surmises alluded to were likely to
prove true, and that the structure of the north end of the
island had been in the main misunderstood. After four months’ —
constant work at both extremities, and along the intermediate —
some New Points in British Geology. 265
country, he succeeded in making out the true succession of
beds, with most novel and gratifying results. During this
work he was greatly aided by his colleague, Mr Bristow, and
by Mr Gibbs, an indefatigable and able collector attached to
the Geological Survey.
The fresh-water strata of Whitecliff Bay proved to be en-
tirely misinterpreted. Instead of being constituted out of the
Headon Hill strata only, more than a hundred feet thickness
of them are additional beds characterized by peculiar fossils,
and resting upon a marine stratum that overlies the Bem-
bridge limestone, the equivalent of which at Headon is a soft
concretionary calcareous marl, scarcely visible except in holes
among the grass immediately under the gravel on the sum-
mit of the hill.
The beds of the true Headon series, in fact, are all included
in the sub-vertical portion of the Whitecliff sections, and are
there present in their full thickness. They are succeeded by
peculiar strata of intermediate character, for which the name
of St Helen’s beds is proposed, and which become so im-
portant near Ryde that they constitute a valuable building
stone. The Bembridge limestone that lies above is the same
with the Binstead limestone near Ryde, out of which were pro-
cured the remains of quadrupeds of the genera Anoplothe-
rium, Paleotherium, &c., identical with those found in the
gypsiferous beds of Montmartre. The Sconce limestone near
Yarmouth is also the same, and none of these limestones are
identical with any of those conspicuous among the fluvio-
marine strata at Headon Hill, and with which they have
hitherto been confounded. They are far above them, and are
distinguished by distinct and peculiar fossils.
Almost all the country north of the chalk ridge, exclusive
of the small strip occupied by the marine eocenes, is composed
of marls higher in the series than any of the Headon Hill
beds, and hitherto wholly undistinguished, except in the
Whitecliff section, where the age and relative position had
been entirely mistaken. These are the Bembridge marls of
Professor Forbes. Above them are still higher beds pre-
__ served only in two localities, viz., at Hempstead Hill, to the
west of Yarmouth, and in the high ground at Parkhurst.
For these the name of Hempstead series is proposed. Their
266 Professor E. Forbes on
characteristic fossils are very distinct, and the highest bed of
the series is marine. These beds prove to be identical with
the Limburg or Tongrien beds of Belgium and with the Gres
de Fontainebleau series in France. We thus get a definite
horizon for comparison with the Continent, and are enabled
to shew, that instead of our English series of eocene ter-
tiaries being incomplete in its upper stages, as compared with
those of France and Belgium, it is really the most complete
section in Kurope, probably in the world. We are enabled
by it to correct the nomenclature used on the Continent, and
to prove that the so-called lower Miocene formations of
France and Germany are in true sequence with the Eocene
strata, and are linked with them both stratagraphically and
by their organic contents. We are also enabled to refer, with
great probability, the so-called Miocene tertiaries of the Medi-
terranean basin, of Spain and Portugal,—those of the well-
known Maltese type—to their true position in the series, and
to place them on a horizon with the Tongrien division of the
Eocenes. As these Maltese beds are unconformable, and evi-
dently long subsequent to the deposition of the great nummu-
litic formation, we are enabled to assign an approximate limit
tothe estimate of the latest age of that important series. From
well-marked analogies we get at a probable date even for the
Australian Tertiaries. Thus the deciphering of the true struc-
ture of a small portion of the British Islands can throw fresh
light upon the conformation of vast and far apart regions.
The peculiar undulatory contour of the surface of the fluvio-
marine portion of the Isle of Wight is due to the gentle rol-
ling of these beds in two directions, one parallel with the
strata of the chalk ridge, and the other at right angles to it.
The valleys and hills running northwards to the sea depend
upon the synclinal and anteclinal curves of the latter system of
rolls, a fact hitherto unnoticed, and the non-recognition of
which has probably been one cause of the erroneous interpre-
tation of the structure of the Isle of Wight hitherto received.
The truncations of these curves along the coast of the Solent
exhibit at intervals beautiful and much neglected sections,
well worthy of careful study. There is one of these sections
near Osborne. Her Majesty’s residence stands upon a geo-
logical formation hitherto unrecognized in Britain. Near
some New Points in British Geology. 267
West Cowes there are several fine sections along the shore.
The total thickness of unclassified strata in the Isle of Wight
is four hundred feet, if not more, and within this range are
at least two distinct sets of organic remains. The fluvio-
marine beds in all, including the Headon series, are very
nearly six-hundred feet thick.
On the question whether Temperature determines the distri-
bution of Marine Species of Animals in depth. By JAMES
D. Dana, Esq.
It is a question of much interest, how far temperature in-
fluences the range of zoological species in depth. From a
survey of the facts relating to coral zoophytes, the author ar-
rived at the conclusion that this cause is of but secondary
importance.* After determining the limiting temperature
bounding the coral-reef seas, and ascertaining the distribution
of reefs, it was easy to compare this temperature with that
of the greatest depths at which the proper reef corals occur.
This depth is about 100 feet, now the limiting temperature,
68°, is reached under the equator at a depth of 500 feet, and
under the parallel of 10° at a depth of at least 300 feet.
There must therefore be some other cause besides tempera-
ture ; and this may be amount of pressure, of light, or atmo-
spheric air dissolved in the waters.
Professor Forbes has remarked that the deep sea species
in the Aigeanh ave a boreal character ;} and Lieut. Spratt has
ascertained the temperature at different depths,t and shewn
that the deep-sea species are those which have the widest
range of distribution, most of them occurring north about the
British shores, or north of France. Yet is it true, that the
Species which occur in deep water in the AXgean are found in
Shallow waters of like temperature about the more northern
coasts? If so, Lieut. Spratt’s conclusion, that temperature
is the principal influence which governs the distribution
* Exped. Report on Zoophytes, 1846, p. 103; and on Geology, p. 97; this
tour. xii, 180.
f Report on the Augean Invertebrata, Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1843, p. 130.
} Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1848, p. 81.
268 James D. Dana, Esq., on the
of marine fauna in depth as well as in latitudinal distribution,
will stand as true. But we believe that facts do not bear out
this conclusion ; deep-sea species live in deep seas in both
regions, with but little difference in the depth to which they
extend. They are boreal in character. when of Mediterranean
origin, because they are cold-water species ; and their wide
distribution is because of the wide range of temperature for
which they are fitted, rather than their fitness to endure a
given temperature which they find at considerable depths to
the south, and near the surface to the north.
As this point is one of much importance, we have run over
the recent tables of dredging by Professor E. Forbes, in the -
A&igean and about the British Islands,* te see how far it is
borne out; and we add other results by R. Macandrew,
Ksq., at Vigo Bay, Portugal, Gibraltar, Malta, Pantellaria,
Algiers, and Tunis.+
North of | South of Malta and
Scotland ) England | Vigo Bay. | Gibraltar.| Aigean. Pantel- ag ose
Shetlands.| of Man. ;
° ° ° ° ° ° °
Corbula nucleus . . 3°80 5°50 5°25 8°20 7°80 6°50 8°35
Necera cuspidata .| 10°80 50 “20 *45t | 12°185
Thracia phaseolina . "80 3°30 ak Boss 7°30
Solen pellucidus . . 7°100 5°50 a *40 a5 Ped *B5
Psammobia ferroensis| 3°90 5°50 is “st 20°40 me 10°
Tellina donacina. . 1°80 5°40 doe Pie 7°45 oe 10°
Mactra subtruncata . 0°12 "20? 5°10 eed ar aete 6°
Lutraria elliptica . 0°10 ‘20 | Low water
Cytherea chione. . ts 10°20 ? 8 7°10 6°15
Venus ovata... . 5°100 7°50 8 6°40 29°135 6°40 6°35
Venus fasciata .. 5°90 7°50 8 8 27°40 6°50 6°35
Venus verrucosa. . pia ‘10 5 6 2°40 6°15 6°
Artemis lincta . . 0°80 5°50 Low water 6 SOP 6°15 6°8
Cardium echinatum 5°100 5°50 | Littoral Bt 7°50
Lucina flexuosa . . 3°100 5°50 *4 ae 711
Lucina spinifera , .| 10°100 | 15°302 10°12 15°25 4°30 6°40 "85
Kellia suborbicularis | 0.90 10°40 8 ea 29°45 35°50 ;
Modiolatulipa . . 10°50 5°25 "12 10°25 2°50 ae "35
Modiola barbata . . | she 2°15 ee etre 7°95 6°15 6°8
Arca tetragona . ./| 10°60 20°30 “St “30 20.80 35°50 85
Area lactea.. . 5 10°50 Baye 12°20 0°150 Sad 6°35
Pectunculusglycimeris| 5°80 5°50 8:12 “30 6°24
Joseph Hyrtl, Professor of Anatomy at the University of
Vienna, states that he has found, at the extremity of the ovi-
2
340 Dr Dalton jun. on the Proteus anguinus.
duct in the Proteus, a gland which exists elsewhere only in
the oviparous species of the naked Amphibia; so that the
Proteus is probably also oviparous. But nothing more defi-
nite has been discovered. One German observer (Von
Schreibers) endeavoured to ascertain this point by examin-
ing specimens of Proteus, taken from their caverns at every
season of the year; but, according to Herr Fitzinger, he only
succeeded in finding the ovaries unusually developed in a few
instances. H. Fitzinger himself has met with the ovaries
in a state of active development in only one instance ; and
up to the present time, according to him, neither ova nor
embryos have ever yet been discovered in the oviducts.
The female generative organs consist of two elongated
sacciform ovaries, situated at the posterior part of the abdo-
men, directly in front of the kidneys. In the specimen measur-
ing 8 inches total length, inwhich the generative organs were
in a state of quiescence, the right ovary was 0-98 of an inch
long, the left somewhat smaller. The cavity of the organs
was lined by a mucous membrane, beneath which was to be
seen the whitish, globular, nearly transparent ova, varying
in diameter from 7th of an inch downward. The oviducts
were a pair of slender and perfectly straight tubes, which,
commencing by a wide aperture at some distance anterior to
the ovaries, and running down on the outer and posterior as-
pect of those organs, opened into the cloaca, just above the
orifices of the ureters.
In another specimen, however, obtained at the Vienna
Museum, the organs were in a high state of development.
The right ovary was 1:75 inches, the left 1:64 inches long;
and they contained, together, 66 roundish opaque ova, of a
deep yellow colour, and evidently just ready to be discharged.
Their average size was a little less than th of an inch in di-
ameter. The oviducts were much larger than in the other
specimen, and exceedingly contorted, so that they must have
attained two or three times their ordinary length. None of
the ova, however, had yet, left the ovaries, so that nothing
new could be learned with regard to the question of viviparity.
—(American Journal of Science and Art, vol. xv., No. 45,
2d Series, p. 387.)
341
Researches on Granite. By A. DELESSE.*
_ [From the special study of the granitic rocks of the Vosges
Mountains, the author has made some generalizations of
great interest upon the relation of the proportion of silex,
and of the nature of the mica, to the age of the mass and to
its circumstances of crystallization, also upon the varieties of
feldspar. |
There are in the Vosges at least two types of granite, dis- |
tinguishable by their mineralogical constitution and geologi-
cal position. :
‘The first is the granite of the Ballons; it forms the sum-
mits and the central part of the ridge of the Vosges; its
greatest development is between Sainte Marie aux Mines
and Guebwiller ; it contains quartz, orthose, feldspar of the
sixth system, dark mica, and sometimes hornblende.
The quartz is hyaline, and of a gray colour; it is most
abundant in the highly crystalline varieties; those varieties
which are porphyritic and least crystalline contain little or
no quartz, the greater part of the silica having remained in
combination with a feldspathic paste.
The orthose is the preponderating mineral of this granite.
It is white or reddish-yellow ; both kinds, containing oxide
of iron, turn red by alteration ; it sometimes becomes green-
ish, and by decomposition passes into a halloysite. The or-
those is the most persistent mineral of this granite ; its crys-
tals sometimes attain a decimeter in length: the analysis
of three-specimens from different localities gave the follow-
ing result :—
sio3. | A1203. | Fe203.| CaO. | MgO. | Nao. | KO. | HO. | Sum.
Bat 64:91 | 19°16] traces 0-78! 0-65 249 11-07 | 0:30 |= 96°36
Il.| 64:66| 19°58) traces | 0°70 15:18 0°58 |=100-°00
III.| 64-00 20°55 0:68 13°49 1:28 |=100.00
The proportions given in this table differ but slightly from
each other or from previous determinations ; orthose is then
* From the Annales des Mines, vol. iii. p. 369.
342 M. A. Delesse’s Researches on Granite.
a mineral whose composition is very constant, and indepen-
dent of that of the rock in which it is produced.
The granite of the Ballons contains also a feldspar of the
sixth system ; its colour on a fresh fracture is greenish ; it
is translucent, and has a greasy lustre; its crystals shew
parallel strize, which characterize the isomorphous feldspars
of the sixth system; it becomes red by atmospheric altera-
tion, afterwards white, and the mineral passes into kaoline.
The analysis of it gave the following composition :—
Reams cs, oe o> BOERS 8
Alumina. ; . 25°26 11:807
Oxide of iron . . 0:30 0.092 | sa ois
Oxide of manganese . trace
Lime ; : MS, 95 1-412 ),
Magnesia . . . » “L80 0°517
Boda 60 Suir) GA Rete ae
Potash : 2 : 1:50 0°255
Loss by burning i / ODE
Sum : .» oo°29
It contains less of silica and of alkalies, with more of lime,
than oligoclase ; moreover, its atomic proportions of oxygen
are very nearly that of andesite. This strengthens a remark
I have made before, that all the feldspars of the sixth system
are isomorphous, and that their proportions of silica may
vary indefinitely between that of albite and that of anorthite.
This feldspar of the sixth system occurs in the most crystal-
line granite, and appears also to be especially associated with
hornblende.
The granite of the Ballons contains but one mica, of a dark
colour, with sometimes a greenish shade. Inthe polariscope , .
of Amici it shews two optic axes, forming a very small angle.
Its dominant bases are magnesia and iron: it is affected by
hydrochloric and sulphuric acids.
The accidental minerals of this granite are hornblende,
sphene, zircon.
It is very little broken or vemed. The mean composition
of some of its varieties are—
M. A. Delesse’s Researches on Granite. 343
° Ko, NaO,| Loss b
3 203 3 ? Ad
SiO8. Al? 08, | Fe? O°. CaO. M Ox \burai Sum,
——— | | | | | |
ey
A Borda 15°3 0°5 12°4 10 100
mT OOO oe 1°3 0-9
Ill. | 67°3 16*1 | 1-9 0°6 13°3 0°8 100
—_——
IV. | 64°8 20:0 ne | ad 14 100
V. | 648 21°1 0-7 “te Ser Ses
VI. | 63°3 20°2 1°8 11:8 | 2°9 100
VII, | 63°8 18°7 2:3 13°8 1:4 100
_ The loss of silica is replaced by alumina and lime. These
variations depend very much (as I have proved elsewhere,
Bull. de la Soc. Géol., 2d Sér., vol. ix., p. 464) upon the posi-
tion in the mass, the more central and elevated being the
more siliceous, and upon the nature of the rocks in junction.
The second type of granite is the granite of the Vosges. I
group under this name the varieties which have been called
common granite, leptynite, and gneiss.
Its essential minerals are quartz, orthose, feldspar of the
sixth system, two micas—a dark and a bright.
The quartz is in grayish-white grains. The orthose is the
preponderating mineral; it occurs in minute lamelle or
grains, the analysis of which gave—
Silica, . : : d ; ; 66-08
Alumina and traces of peroxide of iron, 18°70
Oxide of manganese, : j ‘ trace.
Lime, : é : ; ; ; 0:93
Magnesia, : , : : : 0°45
Soda, : 5 ; : : ; 3°77
Potaaas 5 ° 4 ; ‘ ‘ 9-11
Sum, ‘ : 99°04
The large amount of silica is no doubt due to quartz me-
chanically mixed.
Orthose and quartz are found in the most degraded varie-
ties of this granite.
* The dots indicate that the quantitative determination was not made,
344 M. A. Delesse’s Researches on Granite.
The feldspar of the sixth system is rare, and only found in
the most crystalline varieties.
The granite of the Vosges, although its grain is fine and
its mineral generally smaller than those of the porphyritic
granite, contains no feldspathic paste. Its essential charac-
ter is to contain two micas, the one dark, the other bright.
The first is identical with the mica of the Ballons. The
second is silver-white or violet-gray ; its dominant base is
potash ; it resists the action of sulphuric and hydrochloric
acids, and is altogether the same as that I have described be-
fore as occurring in the veins of pegmatite (Ann. des Mies,
Ath ser., vol. xvi., p. 100). The clear is less abundant than
the dark mica, and is lesseuniformly disseminated.
The accidental minerals are garnet, pinite, and, in the
schistose varieties, hornblende, graphite, fibrolite. Some mi-
nerals of subsequent origin are common to the two granites,
as chlorite, carbonate, and oxides of iron, heavy spar, fluor-
spar, &c.
The granite of the Vosges is very much fissured and cut
up by veins and lodes. Its density is about that of quartz,
and is less than that of the granite of the Ballons. Its ave-
rage composition may be computed from the accompanying
table: for each analysis a large mass of the stone was re-
duced to powder, and the assay taken from this.
Si0?.| Al2 03. | Fe? 03, |MnO.| CaO.}Mgo.| KO. | Na0.| 4°58 >Y| gum.
burning.
cr | | |
Voir 128)) a5 0°8 itrace| ...*| ...
ee ee
IT, \75°4 12°7 OG 2.6 eerie oh
See ey
Lit 73-8 15°8 trace| 0°9 | 0°9 7°8 0°80 |100:00
Co ees
IV: |\73°3 at 1'6 "12" a he a nies
V. 72°0| 15°33) 0°4 |trace| 0°98) 0°60; 7-70) 2:00) 0°40 | 99°50
Te68 |
VI. |70°4 16°6 0°6
VII. |70°0 17°3 UR tie ewe
VIII. |67°3 16:2 1:9 | 0°6
IX
lee-7| “.. | 18 0-9
* The dots shew that the quantitative determination was not made.
i ie
On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 345
The phenomena of the rock veins in the masses of granite
are rather complicated.
These veins appear generally to have formed at the time
of crystallization of the granite ; their great richness in quartz
favours this opinion, it being the last mineral of the rock to
remain in a fluid state.
The granite of the Vosges forms smaller eminences around
the bosses of the Ballons, and is itself covered by stratified
rocks, into which it graduates by insensible degrees. The
granite of the Ballons has evidently penetrated with violence
into the granite of the Vosges; this is well seen at Meha-
champ. In some places the junction of the two is not dis-
coverable.
Of these rocks, then, that containing the smaller propor-
tion of silica and the greater of alumina is the more recent.
The distinction of two granites in the chain of the Vosges
is not of mere local interest; the remark may be extended
to most granitic regions, of which I will only mention the
right bank of the Rhine, Normandy, Brittany, Auvergne, Ire-
land, &c.
The general application of the above observations shews
that the same geological phenomena are reproduced after
long intervals of time and in widely separated districts. It
is not then surprising that we should find in most granitic
regions two granites: the one porphyritic, and containing
but one mica; the other granular (grenu), and containing
two micas; the former being the more recent, and generally
poorer in silica.
On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
(Continued from vol. lv., page 106.)
(A.) Congeneration Lodes are those which bear only the
same kind of minerals as constitute the adjoining rock. The
most remarkable are those of granite, and some quartz veins
in mica and clay slates. It is very probable that such lodes
or veins do not differ much in date from the rocks which they
traverse. ‘They do not possess any great importance.
(B.) Lodes or Veins formed by Lateral Secretion.—The
346 On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
substances constituting the minerals contained in these lodes
have been introduced into the fissures from the adjoining rock.
Lodes which traverse different kinds of rocks are of dif-
ferent compositions in the parts adjoining those rocks. At
the Neue Hoffrung Gottes mine, near Freiberg, the lodes are
richer in ore where they traverse a very quartzy clay-slate
much impregnated with carbon, while in mica-slate they are
poorer in ore. At Konigsberg (Sweden) the largest quantity
of metallic silver is found in the lodes where they intersect
the so-called “ Fallbinder” beds, impregnated with argenti-
ferous pyrites. In the adjoining rock, close to the lodes, the
silver has been found imbedded, in the form of rhombic dode-
cahedrons. This form has probably been derived from the
deposition of the silver in cavities, from which garnets have
been removed by decomposition.
Professor Breithaupt states, that it is a general opinion
among experienced miners, and supported by his own obser-
vation, that lodes are generally richer in ore where the adjoin-
ing rock is more or less decomposed. The nature and state of
the adjoining rock are two of the most significant among the
conditions of richness of lodes. There are undoubtedly many
other circumstances of a similar kind, which are, however,
known only in mining districts.
It is dificult to perceive in what manner this secretive
formation of minerals can have taken place, except as the re-
sult of decomposition in the rocks. I+ is possible, and indeed
probable, that in some instances this secretive formation has
been preceded by an impregnation of the rocks with mineral
substances erupted or sublimed through the yet vacant fis-
sures.
Some few rocks, especially granite, contain imbedded tin
ore. The topaz rock and porphyry of Saxony both contain
tin ore, as perhaps do some kinds of gneiss and mica-slate.
The tin ore occurs in the rock in such extremely minute par-
ticles, as to be imperceptible to the eye. It is frequently
found as a strong impregnation of the rock contiguous to lodes
which are quite filled, and into which it would appear to haye
been segregated until the fissures were incapable of receiving
owe. ee Oe
On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 347
any more. This phenomenon is remarkably distinct in the
“ bandzwittern,” at Altenberg (Saxony). The pseudomor-
phous tin ore, after feldspar, from Cornwall, appears to be of
interest in connection with this fact.
Granite ought to be more generally examined for tin ore ;
for not only is it probable that many granites contain enough
of the finely-disseminated ore to be worked advantageously,
but likewise this circumstance may serve as a clue to the dis-
covery of lodes. Moreover, the presence of beryl, topaz,
wolframite, &c., should not be overlooked, as these minerals
are frequent associates of tin ore.
Professor Breithaupt is inclined to doubt the existence of
beds of tin ore. The deposits of this ore in the granite of
Zinnwald, which have been regarded as beds, certainly present
Some such appearance. But those which make but a very
small angle with the horizon are intersected by a true lode,
possessing in every respect similar characters. The loose
fragments and the masses of fractured quartz crystals, ce-
mented together by subsequently-formed quartz found in
these deposits, render it probable that they are true lodes,
which, together with the rocks, have suffered such an altera-
tion of position as to become more or less horizontal.
It has already been stated, that many minerals occur, both
imbedded in rocks and upon lodes, and they perhaps furnish
the strongest evidence of lateral secretion.
The extraction of certain constituents of the lode minerals
from the adjoining rocks would appear to have been more
easy in schistose and stratified rocks, on account of their
structure, than in the massive rocks,—granite, syenite, por-
phyry, &c. It is perhaps for this reason that lodes are more
frequent and richer in such rocks. Tin lodes are more fre-
quent in the schistose than in the massive rocks. Both gra-
nite and the older gneiss have probably originated from the
Same primitive mass, but no disseminated tin ore has ever
been found in either mica or clay slates, although it may
have been present in those instances where it occurs in lodes
in these rocks. Lodes which do not bear tin ore are still
more rare in massive rocks. However, it must not be in-
ferred from this that all tin ore has been formed by lateral
348 On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
secretion. There are, indeed, circumstances which render
it probable that it has been introduced into the fissures from
below. And again there is no reason for assuming that tin
is not one of those elements which may have remained at a
considerable depth below the surface during the formation of
the earlier rocks.
(C.) Lodes formed by Eruption.—Three different modes
of eruption must be admitted in any general theory of
these lodes: 1. The eruption of melted or at least pasty
masses ; 2. The eruption of solutions; 3. Sublimation. Lodes
which have originated in the first of these modes do not
present the peculiar banded structure observed in most
others. Springs upon lodes are by no means uncommon,
and most of the true mineral springs of any particular dis-
trict are so situated, that their origin from a lode of some
kind is very probable. The formation of lodes by sublima-
tion may sometimes be observed at the present day on vol-
canic mountains. Thus, for instance, during an eruption of
Vesuvius in 1817, a fissure of more than three feet diameter
was filled within the space of ten days with specular iron ore,
deposited from the vapour of chloride of iron evolved. The
lodes of red hematite in the Upper Erzgebirge may have ori-
ginated in a similar manner, although more slowly.
Manganese lodes are perhaps likewise deposits from super-
fluoride or chloride of manganese. Silica and the few sili-
cates may have been introduced by aqueous vapour. Bischof
is of opinion that metallic silver has originated from silver
glance by the abstraction of sulphur by steam.
The principal grounds for the ascension theory are,—l.
The minerals of lodes are chiefly such as in a chemical point
of view can only have been formed in the wet way; but, to
judge from their constituents, are neither products of surface-
water or of the extraction of the adjoining rocks. 2. Certain
minerals are not unfrequently found in druses of the lodes
covering or implanted upon the underneath surfaces of erys-
tals. Thus, for example, at Lobenstein the rhombohedrons
of spathic iron have a double covering; that on the under
surfaces being clear acicular quartz ; that on the upper sur-
faces clay, and these latter, when washed, have a less brilliant
ed
On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 349
lustre than the under ones. At Nagyag (Transylvania) me-
tallic arsenic sits only upon the lower surfaces of rose spar.
3. Lodes are generally larger and richer in ore the greater
the depth. 4. Lodes which do not crop out can only have
been derived from the earth’s interior. 5. Fragments of
rock torn from the saalbands are found above the places from
which they have been broken. 6. Sublimed substances must
have come from the interior. 7. Substances have been in-
troduced from the lodes into the adjoining rock, sometimes in
considerable masses, which appear quite foreign toit. 8. EKven
the very frequent banded structure of lodes indicates their
origin from below.
It cannot be doubted that in many instances some of the
constituents of minerals in lodes have been derived from the
surface. This is strikingly evident with regard to the phos-
phates, many of which are hydrated, and occur in the upper
parts of lodes. Pyromorphite occurs only in the upper parts
of galena lodes. Iu 1813, it was found, in working the Bei-
hilfe mine (Freiberg) close under the grass in masses of several
hundredweight. This mineral has in every instance origi-
nated from the alteration of galena. Wavellite and peganite,
both hydrated phosphates of alumina, occur close to the sur-
face in lodes in siliceous slate sandstone at Zbirow (Bohemia),
Freiberg ; the former mineral alone at Giessen, Barnstaple,
St Austle, and in Tipperary. They are not known to occur
at any great depth. At Langenstriegis, near Freiberg, the
lode was purposely followed downwards for some distance,
and the phosphates soon disappeared; while, by working
along the surface, wavellite was again found, together with
a conglomerate of siliceous slate fragments cemented toge-
ther with wavellite. Herder likewise found peganite in a soft
state, shewing that these minerals were of very recent forma-
tion. It is said that there was formerly a skin yard upon
the spot.
Turquoise or kalaite—consisting essentially of phosphate
of alumina—occurs in the East, and in Silesia and Saxony
only at the surface. Varizite likewise occurs in the same
manner. Kraurite, hydrated phosphate of iron, has been found
upon quartz and brown iron ore a few feet below the surface,
350 On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
in the “ Hoff auf mich” mine at Goritz and other places.
Uranite has been found at the surface upon narrow granite
dikes near Schneeberg ; and other minerals containing phos-
phoric acid—as kakoxen, beraunite, stilpnosiderite, sorda-
walite, and vivianite, &c.—occur in the same manner. The
same holds good with regard to the cupreous phosphates.
Taking all these circumstances together, it is hardly pos-
sible to form any other inference than that the minerals in
question, or at least the phosphoric acid they contain, origi-
nates from the surface, and in all probability from the decom-
position of organic substances.
It must not, at the same time, be forgotten that apatite—
the most frequent of the phosphatic minerals—occurs as an
original constituent of granite, syenite, nephelin rock, and
in tin lodes and primitive limestone. This phosphate cannot
be regarded as similar, in respect to its formation, to the
above-mentioned minerals, and it is also singular that they
are not found in rocks containing apatite.
It is possible that the chlorine of horn-silver has been de-
rived from the surfaces, for this mineral is found only in the
upper parts of lodes.
-
General and partial alteration of lode minerals, aud the products
resulting therefrom.
The alterations in mineral veins, although on a smaller
scale than in the rocks, are much more frequent and remark-
able. It is not from the rarer pseudomorphs that these alte-
rations mustbe inferred; whole generations of lodesubstances
have disappeared. Lodes containing heavy spar, fluorspar,
and calespar, have been entirely destroyed ; and their former
existence is indicated only by the pseudomorphic substances
bearing their form. The chemical elements of some lodes
have in part remained, but the sulphurets have been converted
into oxides, hydrated oxides, or oxysalts, &c. There are even
regenerated minerals.
There is scarcely a single lode formation which does not
present some products of alteration.
It cannot be doubted that water has in many instances
On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals. 351
stood for a long time in lodes. Its decomposition in contact
with sulphurets, especially iron pyrites, gives rise to the
formation of sulphuretted hydrogen, and hydrated or anhy-
drous peroxides of iron. Entire lodes of iron pyrites have
thus been converted into brown hematite. Copper pyrites,
and its associates, gray copper, variegated pyrites, redruthite,
_ &., have been converted into red copper, copper pechertz,
tile ore, and, when carbonic acid had access, into malachite,
copper lazure, &e.
It is not improbable that metallic silver may have been
produced from argentine, as well as from polybasite, by the
action of hot aqueous vapours.
Fragments of spathose iron in the refuse heaps of mines
are often found to have become quite brown, and entirely
converted into hydrated peroxide. The same change is shewn
to take place in lodes by the pseudomorphous peroxide in
rhombohedrons.
Partial abstraction of metal may frequently give rise to
the formation of higher sulphurets. Some of the lodes at
Freiberg not unfrequently bear pseudomorphous hepatic,
pyrites, iron pyrites, and mispickel, in the form of magnetic
pyrites, which is itself very rare in the same lodes. Analo-
gous lodes, however, at Drehbach, contain large masses of
magnetic pyrites, associated, as at other places, with galena
and calcite. Perfect crystals of magnetic pyrites, presenting
exactly the same characters as the pseudomorphs at Frei-
berg, occur in lodes of the same formation in Stranitza (‘Tran-
Sylvania). When it is remembered that in some places con-
siderable quantities of magnetic pyrites occur in lodes, it is
not at all improbable that the greater part of the iron pyrites
in the Freiberg lodes was formerly magnetic pyrites. More-
over, iron pyrites, when associated with magnetic pyrites, is
always the more recent, and this view is likewise in accord-
ance with the fact that iron pyrites occurs upon copper pyrites.
Exhalations of sulphuretted hydrogen have undoubtedly
caused a regeneration of altered minerals. The filamentous
silver is found reconverted into sulphuret of silver, and con-
taining a nucleus of this metal. Pyromorphite formed from
352 On the Paragenetic Relations of Minerals.
galena is found covered with a crust of galena, in small in-
dividuals, suchas are never found elsewhere, and more fre-
quently entirely converted into galena, while its form is re-
tained (Blaubleiertz).
The entire removal of the minerals, such as is observed at
Godpersgriin is certainly one of the most remarkable pheno-
mena known. Steatite occurs here in the form of quartz,
fluorspar, a carbonate, and a nodular mineral, perhaps kalk-
schwerspath, which formerly constituted the lode. Every
trace of silica, carbonate, &c., has disappeared, and silicate
of magnesia is found in their place. The silica of the quartz
and the magnesia of the carbonate cannot have contributed
much to the immense masses of steatite. This change has
most probably been very gradual, and may have been caused
by springs containing silica and magnesia.
There are certainly changes observable in lodes which
cannot be explained on known chemical principles. Time
appears almost without question to have exercised a most
important influence in their production; and there can be no
doubt that chemical processes are continually going on in
the mineral masses which constitute our globe, so gradual
in their action as to be imperceptible, and perhaps even un-
suspected by the chemist, but whose results are, in point of
magnitude, out of all comparison with such as he is able to
observe and set in action in his laboratory.
(To be continued in our newt.)
Anniversary Address to the Ethnological Society of London.
By Sir Bensamin C. Broptsn, Bart.
Mankind, scattered as they are over the entire surface of
the globe ; located among the perpetual snows of the Arctic
regions, and in the perpetual summer of the Equator; on
mountains and in forests ; in fertile valleys and in deserts ;_
in lands of rain and tempests; and in those which are never
or rarely blessed by descending showers—are presented to
ee 6S eee
to the Ethnological Society of London. 353
us under a vast variety of aspects, differing from each other,
not only as to their external form, but also as to their moral
qualities and intellectual capacities. The first question which
presents itself to him who is entering on that extensive field
of observation which Ethnology affords is, Do these beings,
apparently so different from each other, really belong to one
and the same family? are they descended from one-common
stock ? or are they to be considered as different genera and
species, descended from différent stocks, and: the result of
distinct and separate creations? Those to whose opinions
on the subject we may refer with the greatest confidence—
among whom I may more especially mention our own coun-
trymen, Mr Lawrence, Dr Prichard, and Dr Latham—have
come to the conclusion that the different human races are but
varieties of a single species; and without entering into all
the arguments which have been adduced by these philosophers,
I may observe that there are many facts which seem, as it
were, to lie on the surface, and: which are obvious to us all,
_ that may lead us to believe that this conclusion is well founded.
Although we justly regard the intellectual faculties as of a
higher order than those which belong to mere animal life ;
although it is as to these alone that mankind “ propius acce-
dunt ad Deos ;” yet.it. must be admitted that up to a certain
point, and within its own domain, instinct is a more unerring
guide than human reason. And what. is but instinct which
leads us at once to recognise the Esquimaux, the Negro, the
Hottentot, as belonging to the same order: of beings with
ourselves, with as little hesitation as the greyhound, the
spaniel, the mastiff, mutually recognise: each other as being
of the same kindred ?
Then be it observed, that, however different may be the
external figure, the shape of the head and limbs, there is no
real difference as to the more important parts of the system,
namely, the brain, the organs of sense, the thoracic and ab-
dominal viscera ; and the medical student is aware that he
obtains all the knowledge which he requires just as well from
the dissection of the Negro or the Lascar as from that of the
Anglo-Saxon or the Celt. Even as to the skeleton, the dif-
ference is more apparent than real: there is the same num-
VOL. LY. NO. CX.—OCTOBER 1853. Zi
854 Sir Benjamin C. Brodie’s Anniversary Address
ber, form, and arrangement of the bones; and I may add,
there is the same number, form, and arrangement of the
muscles,
Pursuing the inquiry further still, we find that the dif-
ferent sexes are mutually attracted to each other; that their
union is prolific; that the period of gestation in the female
is the same in all; and that—unlike what happens as to hy-
brid animals—instead of stopping short after one or two
generations, their offspring continues to be prolific ever after-
wards.
Nor is there any thing difficult. to understand, nor con-
trary to the analogy of what happens among other animals,
in the production of the different varieties of mankind. The
Hottentot and the Anglo-Saxon have a closer resemblance
to each other than. the mastiff and the spaniel. How dif-
ferent is the- Leicestershire from the Southdown breed of
sheep; and the English dray-horse from the thorough-bred
Arabian ! We see these changes actually going on, nay, we
actually produce them artificially among our domesticated
animals; and we see them taking place, to a certain extent,
even in our own species. The Negroes, taken from on board
the captured slave ships and transported to Jamaica, have a
different aspect from those who have been for some genera-
tions domesticated in the service of the planters. The de-
scendants of the Anglo-Saxon race transplanted, within the
last two centuries, to other regions of the globe, are already
beginning to be distinguishable from those who remain in the
parent country by their external appearance, and, even to a
greater extent, by their characters and habits. It was ob-
served to me by a gentleman who has served his country in
important official situations in Europe and on the other side
of the Atlantic occan, that if, in going from England to Italy,
he was struck with the comparative passiveness of the
Italians, on returning to England from America he found
something still more remarkable in the passiveness of the
English compared with the excitement and activity observ-
able among the citizens of the United States. If in the pre-
‘sent condition of the world, when there.is so free an inter-
course among its inhabitants, and so constant an intermixture.
ee ee a, es
v
to the Ethnological Society of London. 355
of races, such changes are to a certain extent going on, it is
easy to conceive that changes still more remarkable might
have taken place when human society was in its infancy ;
when nations were separated by impassable seas and moun-
tains; when there was nothing to interfere with the influence
of climate, food, and mode of life on the physical and moral
character ; and when repeated intermarriages among indi-
viduals of the same tribe were favourable to the transmission
of accidental peculiarities of structure to succeeding genera-
tions.
- There was aperiod when a jealousy prevailed of studies such
as those of the Geologist and Ethnologist, from a supposition
that they in some degree tended to contradict the revelations
of the earliest of our sacred volumes. The advancement of
knowledge has shewn that such jealousy was without any
just foundation ; and those who on such narrow grounds stand
aloof from the pursuits of science are now reduced to a small
and almost unnoticed minority. It is, however, satisfactory
to find that the inquiries of the Ethnologist, so far from being
opposed to, actually offer a strong confirmation of, the Mosaic
records as to the origin of mankind having been from one
parent stock, and not from different creations.
‘“‘The noblest study of mankind is man.”
So says one of our greatest moralists and poets ; and if we
estimate them according to the rule which is here laid down,
it must be admitted that inquiries into the physical, intellec-
tual, and moral character of the various human races ought
to hold a high rank among the sciences which claim the at-
tention of the philosopher.- Standing, as it were, midway be-
tween the physical and the moral sciences, Ethnology is not
less interesting to the Naturalist than to the Metaphysician ;
and not less so to the Metaphysician than to the Philologist.
To trace the influence of climate, of food, of government, and
of a multitude of other circumstances on the corporeal sys-
tem, on the intellect, the instincts, and the moral sentiments,
is the business of the Ethnologist: nor is it less in his de-
partment to trace the origin and the construction of language
generally, and the relation of different languages to each
% 2
356 Sir Benjamin C. Brodie’s Anniversary Address
other. Infused into it, Ethnology gives a more philosopi-
eal character to history ; adding to the dry and often painful
detail of political events occurring in a particular country
another serious of facts, which present to us the whole of the
human inhabitants of the globe as one large family, consti-
tuting one great system, advancing together towards the ful-
filment of one great purpose of the Creator.
But in this utilitarian. age there are, I doubt not, some
who regard Ethnology as offering matter for curious specula-
lation, but as being in no degree worthy of a place among
those sciences which admit of a direct and practical applica-
tion to the wants of society and the ordinary business of life.
It is, indeed, with some among us too much the custom to
measure things by this low standard, and to forget that what-
ever adds to our stores of knowledge, and gives us broader
views of the universe, tends to the improvement of the intel-
lect, the elevation of the moral sentiments, and thus leads to
a more complete development of those qualities by which the
human species is justly proud of being distinguished from
the inferior parts of the animal creation. The practical
genius of the English is essentially different from the
genius of the ancient Greeks; but no one can hesitate to
believe that the philosophers, the poets, the architects, the
sculptors, who form the glory of that wonderful people, are
even now exercising a most beneficial influence on the cha-
racter of mankind,.after the lapse of more than 2000 years.
Setting aside, however, these considerations, and admitting
that it affords us no assistance in the construction of steam-
engines or railways; that itis of no direct use in agriculture
or manufactures ; still it may be truly said, that, even accord-
ing to his own estimate of things, the most thorough utili-
tarian who looks beyond the present moment will find that
there is no science more worthy of cultivation than Ethno-
logy. Is there any thing more important than the duties of
a statesman? and can there be any more mischievous error
than that of applying to one variety of the human species a
mode of government which is fitted only for another ?. Yet
how often, and even in our own times,. from a want of the
necessary knowledge and foresight on the part of those to
to the Ethnological Society of London. 357
whom the affairs of nations are entrusted, has this error
been committed. Even within the narrow limits of our own
island, there are two races having each of them their pecu-
liar character. But the British empire extends over the whole
globe. It comes:in contact with the descendants of the
French in Canada; with:the Red Indians of America; with
the Negroes of Sierra Leone and Jamaica; with the Caffres
and Hottentots of South Africa; with the manly, warlike, and
intelligent inhabitants of New Zealand; with the rude Abo-
rigines of Australia; with the Malays, the Hindoos, the
Mussulmans, the Parsees, the Chinese in the East—races
differing widely from ourselves, and not:less widely from each
other. Surely much advantage would arise, and many mis-
takes might be avoided, if those who have the superinten-
dence and direction of the numerous colonies and depen-
dencies of the British crown would condescend to qualify
themselves for the task which they have undertaken by study-
ing the peculiarities of these various races, and by seeking
that information on these subjects which Ethnology affords.
This Society is yet in its infancy. But those who have
attended its meetings will bear testimony to the value of the
written communications which. have been made to it during
the present Session, and of the discussions to which these
communications have led. Seeing how much has been al-
ready accomplished, and the zeal which exists among its
members, I am, I conceive, not too sanguine in my expecta-
tions, when I anticipate that the Ethnological Society will
from year to year advance in reputation and usefulness; and
that the time is not far off when its labours, and the: objects
which it has in view, being justly appreciated by the public,
it will be ranked among the most important Scientific Insti-
tutions of the age. €
358
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
MINERALOGY.
1. Native Metallic Iron.—Dr Andrews, in an examination into
the minute structure of basalt; has found evidence of the existence of
ironin a native state. After pulverizing the rock, and separating
with a magnet the grains that were attracted by it, he subjected
these grains, which were mostly magnetic iron, to the action of an
acid solution of sulphate of copper in the field of a microscope,
This salt produces no change with the oxide, but if a trace of
pure iron be present, copper is deposited. In his trials there were
occasional deposits of copper in crystalline bunches; the largest of
which obtained was little more than oue-fiftieth of an inch in diame-
ter. He observes that with 100 grains of the rock, three or four de-
posits of copper can usually be obtained. The basalt of the Giant’s
Causeway affords this evidence of the presence of native iron, but
less so than the Slievemish basalt.
The same result would be produced, if the nickel or cobalt were
present in fine grains; but Dr Andrews considers this very impro-
bable. The same basalt afforded, on -microscopic examination,
augite, magnetic iron, pyrites, and.a colourless glassy mineral.—
(American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xv., No, 45, 2d
Series, p. 443.)
2. On Glauberite from South Peru; by M. Ulex. (Leon-
hard u. Bronn’s N. Jahrb. f. Min, u.s.w,, 1851, -p. 204; and
Woehl. u. Lieb, Ann., vol. 1xx., p. 51 et seq.)—The Brongniartin
or Glauberite occurs in crystals imbedded in nodular masses of a
substance called “ Tizza,” which the author recognised as a bo-
racic compound, According to Frankenheim the crystals, attain-
ing a size from 1 to 14 inch (German), differ from those of Brong-
niartin previously known in their. angles, but slightly however ;
the form also somewhat differs. Sometimes the crystals appear
perfect and transparent, sometimes white and laminated, the fis-
sures being occupied by the above-mentioned substance. Spec.
gray. = 2.64; hardness = 2:'5—3:0. Its behaviourin the alembic
and before the blow-pipe, is like that of the Spanish cae ofbens
An analysis gave—
Lime, . o-reaae : ‘ , 19°6
Soda, . ; : , : . 21'9
Sulphuric acid, . ‘ ; ; 55°0
Boracic acid, f ; ‘ 2 3°5
Formula; NAS + ee Ca ‘S,
The presence of borax is no doubt due to the admixture of the
Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy. 359
mineral substance in which the crystals are imbedded —( Quarterly
Journal of the Geol. Society, vol. ix., No. 35, p. 24.)
8. On the Structure of Agate ; by Theodore Giimbel. (Leon-
hard u. Bronn’s N. Jahrb. f. Min., u.s.w., 1853, pp. 152-157.)
—The curious and beautiful appearances afforded by agates: have
long made them of primary importance in mineralogical cabinets ;
but untilof late years particular attention does not seem to have been
paid to the internal structure of these bodies. Dr J. Zimmerman
is the first, of my knowledge, who observed* that the different va-
rieties of quartz—as amethyst, caleedony, carnelian, jasper—formed
the concentric layers of the nodules, :which were either hollow or
occupied with crystals.+
In the Jahrbuch of the Imperial Geological Institute of Vienna
for 1851,+ is a very interesting memoir on the interior structure of
agates by Prof. Dr Franz Leydolt, where he states that, on being
submitted to the action of fluoric acid, the amorphous portions are
dissolved before the crystalline layers or bands; and the agate
surface being thus prepared, it is made use of in printing an exact
copy of itself. The six beautiful plates accompanying the memoir
perfectly exemplify Prof. Leydolt’s views, and shew,—/jirst, that
the parts towards the outer surface consist of several spherules
variously combined, which are composed of layers of diverse cha-
racter ; secondly, that towards the centre of the nodule is a large
mass of amethystine- quartz, ‘the nucleus of the latter again being
formed of very small concentric spherules.
- In the Jahrbuch fiir Praktische Pharmazie, Sc. 1852, is a short
paper of mine on the rotatory motion of matter in the amorphous
condition, in which I have shewn, that in a sphere of blown glass
the material is not homogeneous, but consists of lamella overlying
one another at varying angles and confusedly distorted. As in
the thin pellicle of blown glass the intimate structure of the soap
bubble is as it were fixed, so I sought to make further researches by
means of experiment on molecular movement, such as canbe ob-
served in so many instances. One of the most successful experi-
ments was the use of melted stearine with which very fine graphite
had been mixed, spangles of which easily indicated the intimate
motion of the mass. By this easy experiment it appears that in
some parts there was a strong tendency to the formation of spheres,
and which existed even in the interior of the larger spheres, giving
rise to smaller spherules.—(Quarterly Journal of the Geological
Society, vol. ix., No. 35, p. 259.)
4, Scleretinite, a new Fossil Resin from the coal measures of
Wigan, England ; by J. W. Mallet.—Occurs in small drops or tears
from the size of a pea to that of a hazel nut. Brittle, with the
-* In his Taschenbuch fiir Mineralogie.
ft See also Mr Hamilton’s Paper on the Agate Quarries of Oberstein, Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soe., vol. iv., p. 215.—Transl. -
tT Vol. ii. No. 2, p. 124.
360 Scientyic Intelligence—Mineralogy.
fracture conchoidal. Translucent in thin splinters, Colour black, but
by transmitted light reddish-brown: streak cinnamon-brown, lustre
between vitreous and resinous, rather brilliant—G. = 1:136, H.=38.
Heated on platinum foil it swells up, burns hke pitch, with a
disagreeable empyreumatic smell, and a smoky flame, leaving a coal
rather difficult to burn, and finally a little gray ash. In a glass
tube, yields a yellowish-brown oily product of a nauseous empyreu-
matic odour. Insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, caustic, and car-
bonated alkalies or dilute acids ; and even strong nitric acid acts
slowly. Composition—
Carbon, Hydrogen. Oxygen. Ash.
1. 76°74 8°86 10°72 3°68
2. 77:15 9-05 10°12 3°68
Affording the ratio C10 H 7 O = carbon 77:05, hydrogen 8:99,
oxygen 10:28, ash 3°68. Taking the number of atoms of car-
bon at 40, which exist in so many resins, the formula becomes
C 40 H 28 04. Itis nearest in composition to amber, which con-
tains C40 H 32 O 4.—(American Journal of Science and Arts,
vol, xv., p. 433.)
5. On Pseudomorphous Crystals of Chloride of Sodium; by
G. Wareing Omerod, M.A., F.G.S.—In a paper read before this
Society, on lst December 1852, by Mr Strickland, on pseudomor-
phous crystals of chloride of sodium in Keuper Sandstone,* no re-
ference is made to prior observations on the same point. In my
paper ‘ On the Principal Geological Features of the Salt-field of
Cheshire,”’+ it is stated that ‘the Waterstone beds (a subdivision
of the Keuper) at Holmes Chapel have the same peculiar crystal
as those at Lymm, Preston on the Hill, and elsewhere ; ” and ina
note it is added, ‘* At this place the crystals are of silicate of prot-
oxide of iron. This seeming crystal is probably caused by the
component matter taking the places of scattered crystals of chloride
of sodium, the form of which, both in Cheshire and at Slime Road
in Gloucestershire, they have taken, exhibiting, if so, the lowest
traces of the salt.”” To Mr Crace Calvert (Honorary Professor of
Chemistry at the Royal Manchester Institution) I was indebted for
the examination of this specimen; and:to him any credit for the
discovery, as far as relates to Cheshire, is due, he having, on my
shewing him the specimens, stated his opinion that the crystals
were Pseudomorphic Chloride of Sodium. I had omitted to ask
his permission to allow me to mention his name when my paper
was read, and it was therefore not then given. This paper was
read before the Geological Society 8th March 1848, when specimens
were exhibited and a discussion took place, when Professor Buck-
land mentioned many localities in which he had observed this
pseudomorph, for which he had not hitherto been able to account.
* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. ix., p. 5. t Ibid. vol. iv., p. 273.
Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy. 361
In July 1850 the Government Reports of the Natural History
of the State of New York were sent over as a donation to the Free
Library and Museum of the borough of Salford ; and shortly after-
wards, on examining the geological division of that work, I found
that the same peculiar crystal had been observed in the district
lying to the south of Lake Ontario. In Part III., pages 102 and
103, Mr Lardner Vanuxem notices them thus :—“ Hopper-shaped
cavities, Onondaga Salt Group. These forms and cavities are of
great importance, for they were produced by common salt, no other
common soluble mineral presenting similar ones. They are found
in the gypseous shale or marl in its more solid and slaty parts.”
A drawing is given of specimens (from Bull’s Quarry, town of
Lenox, Madison county) in which the pseudomorphs resemble
those found in Cheshire and Gloucestershire which have come
under my notice.
In Part LV., page 127, Mr James Hall mentions that similar
crystals were found in Wayne and Monroe counties, but that he
had rarely observed them in Genessee or Erie counties, the most
perfect which he had seen being at Garbutt’s Mill on Allen’s Creek.
Part III. was published in 1842, and Part IV. in 1843.
In making those observations, I must not be understood as in
any way attempting to take from Mr Strickland the credit of a dis-
covery ; before he directed special notice to it, the matter was only
incidentally mentioned, and he was doubtless» quite as much un-
aware that it had been noticed before, as Professor Calvert or my-
self were. My object has been to direct attention to this matter as
_ shewing the great extent of country in which this singular crystal
is found. The observations of Mr Strickland and myself shew
that it is found in the Keuper-sandstone through a considerable
portion of Gloucestershire, and I have noticed its frequent occur-
rence in-Cheshire; Professor Phillips has found it in Worcester-
shire, and Dr Percy in Nottinghamshire. The observations of
Messrs Vanuxem and Hall shew the existence of a similar pseudo-
morph in North America, in the district to the south of Lake On-
tario, extending from Erie county through Genessee, Monroe, and
Wayne to Madison county. There, however, these crystals are
found in the Onondaga salt group, belonging to the upper Silurian
division.
6. Note on the oceurrence of similar Crystals; by W. W.
Smyth, Esq., F.G.S.—The presence of pseudomorphous crystals,
similar to the above mentioned, in several divisions of the trias, has
long attracted netice on the Continent, and has been detected at
very numerous points scattered over a large proportion of Northern
Germany. In Leonhard and Bronn’s Journal for 1847, Gutber-.
let has devoted an elaborate paper to the description and geo-
logical discussion of those more particularly which occur in beds
of variegated marls between the Bunter sandstein and the Mus-
362 Scientific Intelligence—Mineralogy.
chelkalk. They have also been described by Dr Dunker as occur-
ring in the Wealden of Germany; by Braun, in the marl-slate of
the Zechstein near Frankenberg; and by others, in the tertiaries
of Austria and of the south of France.
In all these different localities the ‘* hopper-shaped” crystals
(or cubes with hopper-shaped impressions) are the most frequent,
and are the same forms of salt which are produced by gradual
evaporation, whether in salt-pans or on a sea-shore. The materials
of which these pseudomorphs are constituted vary with the com-
position of the adjacent rocks, and are, in different localities, marly
limestone, dolomitic- marl, gypsum, quartz (more or less pure),
sandstones of many kinds, mica, and brown spar, the last two
often disposed only round the edges. In the first-mentioned paper,
and in some by Hausmann and Noéggerath on the same subject,
will be found much valuable and suggestive matter connected
with both the chemical and geological aspect of the subject.—
(Quarterly Journal: of the Geological Society, vol. ix., No. 35,
p- 187.)
7. On Matlockite ; by C. Rammelsberg. (Leonhard u. Bronn’s
N. Jahrb. f. Min. u.s.w., 18538, p. 173; Poggend. Annal.,
Ixxxv., p. 141 et seq.)\—The new mineral, Matlockite, is very
similar in external appearance to Corneous lead (murio-car-
bonate of lead, Blei-hornerz), and, together with the latter, it has
been found associated with earthy galena, at the deserted
Cromford mine, near Matlock. Both are very rare.
Compact fragments of the Murio-carbonate are transparent,
colourless or yellowish, lustrous, and pretty generally cleavable in
three directions at right angles to each other. Brooke* and Krug
von Niddat describe the crystals of this mineral. Rammelsberg
found its specific gravity to be 6°305. In powder it was in some
degree decomposed even by cold water, chlorite of lead being set
free. Its analysis is given below.
In Matlockite a single but very perfect plane of cleavage has
been observed. This mineral has been recognized as a basal chlo-
ride of lead, The specific quantity of the powder is 5°3947. Its
analysis is—
Matlockite. Blei-hornerz,
Chlorine . . 14:12 Carbonic acid . 7:99
Lead sy 68% ere Oxide of lead . 40°46
Lead . . . 41-50 4438 Chlorine”. 2 "ADOT
Oxygen . . 2°88 Lead), "S206
100-00 99°38
—(Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, vol. ix., No, 35,
p. 24.)
* Poggendort’s Annalen, xlii., p. 582.
t Zeitschrift d. Deustch. Geol. Gesellschaft, vol ii., p. 126.
Scientific Intelligence —Geology. 363
GEOLOGY.
_ 8. On the Structural Characters of Rocks ; by Dr Fleming.—
While the condition of the mineral masses in the neighbourhood
of Edinburgh furnish interesting illustrations of the structural cha-
racters of rocks, such as the columnar, the concretionary, and the
fragmentary, &c., the author proposed to confine his remarks at
present to what he denominated the FrawEp Structure.
In the ordinary language of quarriers, the flaws are termed backs,
while they are known to masons as dries, and to geologists, when
referred to, as slicken-sides. This last term, independent of its
provincial character, refers to one peculiar form of the flaw only,
and, although explicable according to the same views entertained
respecting the origin of the others, is far from being a typical form.
The law of the lapidary, in reference to crystals or gems, comes
sufficiently near in character to justify its adoption.
The Fiaw is a crack which is confined to the stratum or bed in
which it occurs, and is thus distinguished from fault or dislocation,
since these extend through several beds. It occupies all positions
in the bed, without an approach to parallelism, the flaws being
variously inclined to one another, and not extending continuously
throughout the thickness of the bed ; thus differing from the colum-
nar structure.
_ These flaws are sometimes isolated ; in other cases two unite at
angles more or less acute, and the junction edges are either sharp
or rounded. The surface of the sides of the flaw is frequently
crumpled or waved, and in the granularly-constituted beds, such
as granite, porphyry, or sandstone, is rough, while in slate-clay,
bituminous shale, and steatite, it often exhibits a specular polish.
_ The circumstance of the flaws exhibiting no approach to paral-
lelism, joined to the fact that they are not pr olonged into the in-
ferior or superior beds, nay, frequently not extending throughout
the bed containing them, furnish.a demonstration that they. were
not produced by an external force. The notion, too, is untenable,
that the polishing was produced by the faces of ie flaw sliding
backwards and forwards on one another, because their limited ex-
tent, mode of junction, and waved surfaces clearly indicate the ab-
sence of any such alternate shifting.
_ The author then stated his opinion that the flaws had been pro-
duced by shrinkage, owing to the escape of volatile matter, aided
by molecular aggregation, and that the polished surfaces were pro-
duced in comparatively soft plastic matter, like bituminous shale,
by the presence of water or gas in the cavity, so that the specular
character was the casting or impression of a liquid surface. The
empty vesicles of amygdaloid are occasionally found glossy on the
walls, or exhibiting an apparently vitrified film, while the rock it-
self is dull and earthy in fracture. The smoothness in this in-
364 Scientific Intelligence—Geology.
stance is probably produced as the casting or impress of included
vapour or gas. Sometimes the flaws in coarse materials, such as
porphyry, have a specular aspect, owing to a film of anhydrous
peroxide of iron. Illustrative examples were exhibited, and -refer-
ences made to various localities around Edinburgh, where the
whole phenomena of flawed structure were well displayed.
In proceeding to consider still farther the physiology of rocks,
Dr Fleming proposed in the second \part of his communication to
confine himself to the illustration of—
lst, The Columnar Structure.—After enumerating examples of
this structure, as occurring in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh,
in candle coal, sandstone, clay, ironstone, clinkstone, claystone,
greenstone, and basalt, he exhibited examples of similar appear-
ances in oven soles and fragments of the walls of vitrified forts.
The ordinary explanation of this structure as the result of cooling
from a state of fusion he pointed out as unsatisfactory, even in
the case of basaltic pillars, and inapplicable to similar appear-
ances as occurring in sedimentary rocks. He considered the
whole phenomena explicable as connected with one cause, viz.,
shrinkage, arising from the escape of aqueous or volatile mat-
ter.
2d, The Cone in Cone Structure-—Examples of this structure
occur in impure ferruginous limestone at Joppa, the Water of
Leith, and other places, in connection with the coal measures.
Dr Fleming referred the origin of this structure to shrinkage, con-
joined with a certain amount of molecular aggregation or erystal-
lizing influence.—(Proceedings of the Royal Society, Edinburgh.)
9, Almaden Mine, California.—The process of extracting the
metal from the ore is very simple. The ore is placed in the fur-
naces, where a gentle and regular heat is applied. As it diffuses
itself through the ore, the quicksilver contained in it sublimes, and
is afterwards condensed, and falls by its own weight, trickles down
and out at little pipes leading from the bottom of the cham-
bers of the furnace, and empties into vessels so situated as to re-
ceive it. From these pipes we saw the quicksilver falling more or
less rapidly in large drops. In one vessel there must have been
from 15 to 20 gallons of quicksilver. About 1000 flasks per
month are manufactured, each flask containing 75 pounds, making
75,000 pounds per month. The flasks are all of wrought iron.
The time occupied in filling the furnace, and extracting all the
metal from a furnace full of ore, is about one week. When this
is accomplished, the furnace is opened that the mass of rock may
be removed to make way for another batch of ore.—(American
Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xvi., No, 46, 2d Series, p. 137.)
Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology. 365
METEOROLOGY.
_ 10. An Aceount of Meteorological Observations in four Balloon
Ascents made under the direction of the Kew Observatory Committee
of the British Association; by John Welsh, Esq. Communi-
cated by Colonel Sabine, R.A., Treas. V.P.R.S., President of the
British Association, on part of the Council of the Association.
—The object contemplated by the Kew Committee in the balloon
ascents, of which an account is given in this communication, was
chiefly the investigation of the variations of temperature and
humidity due to elevation above the earth’s surface. Specimens
of the air at different heights were also obtained for analysis.
_ The instruments employed were the barometer, dry and wet
bulb hygrometer, and Regnault’s condensing hygrometer,
The barometer was a siphon, on Gay-Lussac’s construction, with-
out verniers ; the upper branch of the siphon being alone observed,
corrections having been previously determined for inequality of the
tube at different heights of the mercury.
Two pairs of dry and wet thermometers were used, one pair hav-
ing their bulbs protected from radiation by double conical shades
open at top and bottom for the circulation of the air, the surfaces
being of polished silver. The second pair were so arranged, that
by means of an “aspirator,” a current of air was made to pass
over the bulbs more rapid than.they would be exposed to by the
mere vertical motion of the balloon. The object of this arrange-
ment was to enable the thermometers to.assume with more rapidity
the temperature of the surrounding air, and also to diminish the
effect of radiation, in case the shades should not be a sufficient
protection, especially when the balloon was stationary or ris-
ing very slowly. The thermometers used were very delicate,
the bulbs being cylinders about half an inch long and not more
than th of an inch diameter. It was found on trial that when
the bulbs were heated 20° above the temperature of the air in a
room, they resumed their original reading in 40 or 45 seconds,
when moved through the air at the rate of 5 or 6 feet in a second.
It is thus probable that any error arising from want of sensibility
in the thermometers will be small, and in all likelihood not more
than may be expected from other accidental causes.
The observations were taken at short intervals during the ascent,
it having been seldomepracticable to obtain a regular series in the
descent. The intervals were generally one minute, but frequently
only 30 seconds, so that an observation was for the most part re-
corded every 200 or 300 feet. All the observations are given in
detail in the tables accompanying the paper. They are also given
in the graphical form in the curves.
The ascents took place on August 17, August 26, October 21,
and November 10, 1852, from the Vauxhall Gardens, with Mr
C. Green’s large balloon.
366 Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology.
The principal results of the observations may be briefly stated
as follows :—
Each of the four series of observations shews, that the progress
of the temperature is not regular at all heights, but that at a cer-
tain height (varying on different days) the regular diminution be-
comes arrested, and for the space of about 2000 feet the tempera-
ture remains constant or even increases by a small amount: it
afterwards resumes its downward course, continuing for the most
part to diminish regularly throughout the remainder of the height
observed. There is thus, in the curves representing the progres-
sion of temperature with height, an appearance of dislocation,
always in the same direction, but varying in amount from 7° to 12°.
In the first two series, viz. Aug. 17 and 26, this peculiar inter-
ruption of the progress of temperature is strikingly coincident with
a large and rapid fall in the-temperature of the dew-point. The
same is exhibited in a less marked manner on Nov. 10. On Oct.
21 a dense cloud existed at a height of about 3000 feet ; the tem-
perature decreased uniformly from the earth up to the lower sur-
face of the cloud, when a slight rise commenced, the rise continu-
ing through the cloud, and to about 600 feet above its upper sur-
face, when the regular descending progression was resumed, At
a short distance above the cloud the dew-point fell considerably,
but the rate of diminution of temperature does not appear to have
been affected in this instance in the same manner as in the other
series; the phenomenon so strikingly shewn in the other three
cases being perhaps modified by the existence of moisture in a
condensed or vesicular form.
It would appear on the whole that about the principal plane of
condensation heat is developed in the atmosphere, which has the
effect of raising the temperature of the higher air above what it
would have been had the rate of decrease continued uniformly from
the earth upwards.
There are several instances of a second or even a third sudden
fall in the dew-point, but any corresponding variation in the tempera-
ture is not so clearly exhibited, probably owing to the total amount
of moisture in the air being, at low temperatures, so very small
that even a considerable change in its relative amount would pro-
duce but a small thermal effect.
As the existence of the disturbance in the regular progression of
temperature now stated rendered it neccessary, in order to arrive
at any approximate value of the normal rate of diminution with
height, to make abstraction of the portion affected by the disturbing
cause, each series was divided into two sections, the first comprising
the space below the stratum in which the irregularity existed, and
the second commencing from the point where the regular diminu-
tion of temperature was resumed. It was then found that the
rate of diminution was nearly uniform within each section, but that
it was scmewhat greater in the lower than in the upper sections.
Scientific Intelligence—Meteorology. 367
"On taking a mean of both sections for each series, giving each
section a value corresponding to its extent, it is found that the
number of feet of height corresponding to a fall of one degree Fahr-
enheit is—
On August 17......... 292:0 feet:
August 26......... DIET 55
October 21......... 291°4 ,,
November 10... .. so ip Uae
The first three values being remarkably coincident, and the last
differing from them by about ;2;th of the whole.
The air collected in the ascents was analysed by Dr Miller; he
states that “‘the specimens of air do not differ in any important
amount from that at the earth at the same time, but contain a trifle
less oxygen. All of them contained a trace of carbonic acid, but
the quantity was too small for accurate measurement upon the small
amount of air collected.” —(Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London.)
11, Influence of Light upon the Colour of the Prawn.—A few
hours’ captivity changes all the colours of the prawn; all the fine
bands and stripes and spots become so pale as to be scarcely dis-
tinguishable from the general pellucid olive hue of the body. __
I cannot tell how this loss of colour is~effected, but I have
reason to think that light, the great agent in-producing colour, in
most cases is the cause. I took two specimens just dipped from
a deep pool, and equal in richness of their contrasted colours: one
of these I placed in a large glass vase of sea-water that stood on
my study table; the other in a similar vase shut up in a dark
- closet. In twenty-four hours the one that had been exposed to
the light had taken on the pale appearance just alluded to: the
one that had been in darkness had scarcely lost any of the richness
of its bands and stripes, though the general olive hue of the body
had become darker and of a brown tint. This individual, how-
. ever, assumed the appearance of the former before it had been an
hour emancipated -from its dark closet.. Without attempting to
account for the phenomenon, I would just advert to the parallel
_ exhibited by the sea-weed. The brilliant colours displayed by
many of these exist, as is well known, in the greatest perfection,
when the plants grow at considerable depths, or in the caves and
holes of the rocks, where light can but dimly penetrate.
Some of these will not grow at all in shallow water, or in a full
light, and those that can -bear such circumstances are commonly
affected by them in a very marked degree—marked by the degene-
racy of their forms, and by the loss of their brilliancy of colour.
The prawn, as I have already hinted, delights in the obscurity of
deep holes and rocky pools ; it is here alone that his fine zebra-like
colours are developed. When taken in shallow pools, he is of the
368 Scientific Intelligence—Zoology.
plain olive-yellow tint of the specimen that had spent four and
twenty hours on my table-—(A Naturalist’s Rambles on the Devon-
shire Coast, by P. H. Gorre, p. 42.)
12. Coralline Light.—The common coralline, if held to the flame
of a candle, burns with a most vivid white light. If we take a
shoot and let it dry, and then present the tips to the flame, just at
the very edge, not putting them into the fire, the ends of the shoot
will become red first, snapping and flying off with a crackling noise ;
some, however, will retain their integrity, and these will presently
become white hot, and glow with an intensity of light most beauti-
ful and dazzling, as long as they remain at the very edge of the
flame ; for the least removal of the coralline, either by pulling it
away, or by pushing it in, destroys the whiteness, It will however
return when again brought to the edge. The same tips will dis-
play the phenomenon as often as you please. I did not find the
incrusting lamina that spreads over the rock before the shoots
rise, shew the light so well as the shoots.
The brilliant light obtained by directing a stream of oxygen gas
upon a piece of lime in a state of combustion oceurred to my mind
as a parallel fact, and I experimented with other forms of the
same substance. The polypidoms of Cellularia avicularia, and of
Eucratea chelata, one of the stony plates.of Caryophyllia, and a
fragment of oyster shell, I successively placed in the flame, and
all gave out the dazzling white light exactly as the coralline had
done. The horny polypidom of a Sertularia,.on the other hand,
shrivelled to a cinder.—(A Naturalist’s Rambles on the Devonshire
Coast, by P. H. Gorre, p. 226.)
13. Aurora Borealis.—Mr W. J. M. Rankine announces, that
he has on several nights examined the light of the aurora borealis
with a Nichol’s prism, and has never detected any trace of polar-
ization. The same light reflected from the surface of a river was
polarized, shewing that his failing to detect polarization in the
direct light of the aurora.was not owing to its faintness. This fact
is adverse to the idea that: the light. of the aurora is reflected light. -
—(American Journal of Science and. Arts, vol. xvi., 2d Series,
No. 46, p. 148.)
ZOOLOGY.
9. On the Structure and Economy of Tethea, and on an unde-
scribed species from the Spitzbergen Seas ; by Professor Goodsir.—
The author, after a brief summary of the observations of Donati, M.
Edwards, Forbes, Johnston, and Huxley, on various species of
Tethea, described the structure, and deduced the probable economy
of a large species apparently undescribed, some specimens of
which he had procured from the Spitzbergen Seas,
, Scientific Intelligenee—Zoology. 369
_ The following peculiarities of form and structure were minutely
detailed and illustrated :—
lst, The turbinated form of the sponge.
2d, The partial distribution of the. rind.
3d, The minute pores of the rind, arranged in threes; a pore in
each of the angles, formed by the primary branches of the six-
radiate spicula.
4th, The water, instead of passing out by oscula, drains through
a perforated or network membrane which lines a number of irre-
gularly tortuous grooves on the surface of the attached hemi-
sphere of the sponge,—the grooves being continuous with deep
fissures, which extend into the rind, and are apparently the result
of distension from internal growth.
5th, The silicious spicula are arranged according to the type of
the skeleton in the other Tethee. Elongated, slightly bent or
twisted rod-like spicula, are combined in bundles by means of
fibrous substance, and a few boomerang-shaped spicula, laid cross-
ways. These bundles are arranged irregularly in the centre of
the sponge, so as to form a nucleus from which radiating masses
extend outwards to the rind, or beyond the surface, where the
rind is deficient. The spicula of the rind are large and six-radiate.
Their shafts are deeply and firmly inserted into the radiating
bundles. Their three primary branches are set at angles of 120°
to the shaft, and to one another, The two secondary branches at
the extremity of each primary branch are long-pointed, slightly
concave towards the centre of the sponge, and set at an angle of
90° to one another.
6th, The fleshy mass which envelopes the spicular bundles in the
interior of the sponge, consists of —1. Ordinary sponge particles ;
2. Caudate particles, probably similar to the Spermatozoa de-
scribed and figured by Mr Huxley in an Australian Tethea; 3.
Ova-like masses, the largest of which envelope a radiating arrange-
ment of anchor-like spicula; 4. Towards, and in the rind, elon-
gated. cellules, apparently fibrous and muscular, the fibrous con-
necting the spicula, and with the nucleated muscular cellules ar-
ranged transversely as figured by Donati.
7th, From the structure of Tethea, as well as from the obser-
vations of Donati and M. Edwards, this group of sponges would
appear to possess considerable contractility—(Proceedings of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh.)
15. Hungarian Nightingale.—Last autumn I brought from the
neighbourhood of Hungary, says Dr Martin Barry, a nightingale,
Sylvia Philomela. It wintered in Scotland, I will venture to say the
only one there ; and then, after two months of powerful and most
delicious song in its cage, it died.
16. M. Quatrefages’ Method for destroying Insects.—The
Termes lucifugum is well known for its ravages. It has been
VOL. LV NO. CX.—OCTOBER 1858. 2A
370 Scientific Intelligence—Bot any.
very destructive about the villages of Saintes, Tonnay-Charente,
and Rochefort. Roofs and floors are often completely riddled in
these villages by these animals so feeble in appearance ; and even
entire houses have been so destroyed in their foundations, that
they had to be abandoned or rebuilt. The danger from these de-
predations is the greater, that they work altogether out of sight,
and respect with extreme care the surface of the bodies they at-
tack. The archives of Rochelle for certain years have been com-
pletely devoured by the termites (excepting the outer surface,
which leaves no evidence of the destruction within), and of recent
years they have been inclosed in zine. At La Rochelle the inva-
sion has even extended to the arsenal and the prefecture, and the
whole village is threatened.
M. de Quatrefages has made some experiments which solve
the problem of their destruction. He has shewn that the gases
which are most energetic are chlorine and nitrous vapour, NO, ;
sulphurous acid is less active, and oxide of nitrogen, NO,, acts
only when it can be transformed into hyponitric acid, under the in-
fluence of a little oxygen. The gases have been made to act on
fragments of wood infested with the termites, and have so pene-
trated into the deeper termitic cellules that none have escaped.
As the application of gas in many cases must be inconvenient,
it is recommended to prepare the wood before employing it in con-
struction. The method hitherto employed for preserving woods
have had reference rather to protection against decay than insects.
There is an exception in the process of Bethell, which consists in
saturating the wood with a bituminous oil rich in naphthaline, a
material proceeding from the distillation of the bitumen of coal.
The cross timbers of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, pre-
pared in this way ten years since, are still untouched; and the
same is true of the timbers of part of the London and North-
Western Railway. At the port of Lowestoft, the naphthalized
tiles are wholly exempt from the attacks of insects, while wood
unprepared is more or less deeply eaten. The disastrous results
mentioned by M. de Quatrefages will not fail to call attention to
this process, which has been sometimes objected to on account of
its making the wood more combustible.-—(American Journal of
Science and Arts, vol. xvi., No. 46, p. 107, 2d Series.)
BOTANY.
17. Experimental Researches on Vegetation; by M. George
Ville. Communicated by the Earl of Rosse, P.R.S.—After stat-
ing that it has often been asked if air, and especially azote,
contributes to the nutrition of plants; and, as regards the latter,
that this question has always been answered negatively, the author
remarks, it is however known that plants do not draw all their
Scientific Intelligence—Botany. 371
azote from the soil, the crops produced every year in manured
land giving a greater proportion of azote than is contained in the
soil itself. The question which he has proposed to himself for so-
lution is, whence then comes the excess of azote which the crops
contain, and in a more general manner, the azote of plants, which
the soil has not furnished? He divides his inquiry into the three
following parts :—
First, Inquiry into and determination of the proportion of the
ammonia contained in the air of the atmosphere.
Second, Is the azote of the air absorbed by plants ?
Third, Influence on vegetation of ammonia added to the air.
- 1st, The author remarks that, since the observation of M. Théo-
dore de Saussure, that the air is mixed with ammoniacal vapours,
three attempts have been made to determine the proportion of am-
monia in the air: a million of kilogrammes of the air, according to
M. Grayer, contain 0°333 kil. A2H’; according to Mr Kemp 3880
kil. ; according to M. Frésenius, of the air of the day, 0-098 kal.,
and of night air, 0-169 kil. He states that he has shewn the
cause of these discrepancies, and proved that the quantity of am-
monia contained in the air is 22°417 grms. for a million of kilo-
grammes of the air; and that the quantity oscillates between 17:14
grms. and 29°43 grms.
2d, The author states that though the azote of the air is absorbed
by plants, the ammonia of the air contributes nothing to this ab-
sorption. Not that ammonia is not an auxiliary of vegetation,
but the air contains scarcely 0:0000000224, and in this propor-
tion its effects are inappreciable. These conclusions are founded
upon a great number of experiments in which the plants lived at
the expense of the air without deriving anything from the soil.
For the present he confines himself to laying down these two con-
clusions :—1. The azote of the air is absorbed by plants, by the
cereals, as by all others. 2. The ammonia of the atmosphere
performs no appreciable part in the life of plants, when vegetation
takes place in a limited atmosphere. After describing the ap-
paratus by means of which he carried on his experiments on the
vegetation of plants placed in a soil deprived of organic matter,
and the manner in which the experiments were conducted, he ad-
duces the results of these experiments in proof of the above con-
clusions.
3d, With reference to the influence of ammonia on vegetation, the
author states, that if ammonia be added to the air, vegetation be-
comes remarkably active. In the proportion of 4 ten-thousandths
the influence of this gas shews itself at the end of eight or ten days,
and from this time it manifests itself with a continually increasing
intensity. The leaves, which at first were of a pale-green, assume
a deeper and deeper tint, and for a time become almost black ; their
petals are long and upright, and their surface wide and shining. In
372 Scientific Intelligence—Miscellaneous.
short, when vegetation has arrived at its proper period the crop is
found far beyond that of the same plants grown in pure air; and,
weight for weight, they contain twice as much azote. Besides these
general effects there are others which are more variable, which de-
pend upon particular conditions, but which are equally worthy of
interest. In fact, by means of ammonia we can not only stimulate
vegetation, but, further, we can modify its course, delay the action
of certain functions, or enlarge the development and the modifica-
tion of certain organs. The author further remarks, that if its
use be ill-directed, it may cause accidents. Those which have oc-
curred in the course of his experiments appear to him to throw
an unexpected light upon the mechanism of the nutrition of plants.
They have at least taught him at the expense of what care am-
monia may become an auxiliary of vegetation. These experi-
ments, which were made under the same conditions as those upon
the absorption of azote, are then described, and their numerical re-
sults given,
To the conclusions already stated, the author adds that there
are periods to be selected for the employment of ammonia, during
which this gas produces different effects. If we commence its use
when several months intervene before the flowering season of the
plants, it produces no disturbance ; they follow the ordinary course
of their vegetation. If its use be commenced at the time of flower-
ing, this function is stopped or delayed. The plant covers it-
self with leaves, and if the flowering takes places all the flowers are
barren.—(Proceedings of the Royal Society of London.)
MISCELLANEOUS.
18. On Extinguishing Fires by Steam.—After the burning of the
Amazon, Henry Clay, and M. Dujardinof Lille, recalled the fact that
in 1837 it was proposed to employ steam for extinguishing fires ;
as was also mentioned by M. Fourneyron soon after the disaste? of
the Amazon, It may be added that the process proposed by M.
Dujardin has been tried with full success during a fire that occurred
in the galvano-plastic workshops of MM. Christoffe at Paris. The
fire had already made great progress, and threatened a complete
destruction of the buildings before aid could be had. At this
crisis, some one present suggested the idea of opening the valve
of the boiler which feeds the engine, and immediately the steam
penetrated through the workshops, the fire was seen to diminish,
and soon was reduced to so trifling an extent, that it was easily
mastered when aid arrived.
This fact cannot have too great publicity ; and it is especially
important that manufacturers, captains of vessels, and superinten-
dents of workshops, should be familiar with it.—( American Jour-
nal of Science and Arts.)
INDEX.
Africa, South, Mr Livingston’s researches in, 164.
_Agassiz, Professor, recent researches on fishes, by, 295.
Agate, the structure of, described, 359.
Almaden Mine, California, 364.
Animal and vegetable fibre, remarks on, 3177.
Animals, colour of, by Professor Agassiz, 192.
- Animals and plants, transition from one to the other, 290.
Arctic currents, remarks on, 292.
_ Expeditions, observations on, by Augustus Petermann, 159.
Arragonite, formation of, 190.
Aurora borealis, the light of, noticed,
Barry, Dr Martin, on animal and vegetable fibre, 317. On the
penetration of spermatozoa into the interior of the ovum, 326.
Researches in embryology, by, 327. On the Hungarian
nightingale, 369.
Biography of Baron Leopold von Buch, 1.
Black, W., Esq., the South African Fish River Bush described by,
72, 195.
Boué, M. Ami, on the paleohydrography and orography of the
earth’s surface, 298.
Brochantite, formation of, 190.
Brodie, Sir Benjamin, the Anniversary Address to the Ethnological
Society of London by, 352.
Buch, Baron Leopold von, Noggerath’s biography of, 1.
Bunsen, Professor, remarks on volcanoes, by, 276.
Cairo, a mineral water discovered near, described by Leonard Horner,
Esq., 284.
Calc spar, formation of, 190.
Cave, Mammoth, of Kentucky, description of, 119.
Chambers, Robert, Esq., on the eyeless animals of the Mammoth
Cave of Kentucky, 107.»
Cleavage, the origin of, by H. Clifton Sorby, 187.
Dalton, Dr J. C., an account of the Proteus anguinus, by, 352.
Dalzell Dr Allen, on the colour of hair, 329.
374 Index.
Dana, James D., on the eruption of Mauna Loa, 111. On the
changes of level in the Pacific Ocean, 240. On the question,
whether temperature determines the distribution of marine
species of animals in depth, 267.
Davy, Dr, observations on fish, in relation to diet, by, 225,
Daubeny, Dr, on volcanoes, 276,
Delesse, A., researches on granite, by, 341.
Diopside, furnace product, 189.
Dove, Professor H. W., on the annual variation of atmospheric
pressure in different parts of the globe, 123.
Dumont, M., on the classification of rocks, 272.
Earth, the mean density of its superficial crust, by M. Plana, 152.
Embryology, researches in, 827. -
Ethnological Society of London, anniversary address of, delivered by
Sir Benjamin Brodie, 352.
Evaporation and condensation noticed, 187.
Fish River Bush, South Africa, a description of, by Staff Assistant-
Surgeon Dr Black, 72, 195.
Fleming, Professor, on the structure of rocks, 363.
Forbes, David, Esq., on the determination of copper and nickel in
quantitative analysis, 131.
Professor Edward, on the mollusca of the British seas, 69.
On some new points in British geology, 263.
Fossil bones of Nebraska, analysis of, 109.
Frog, the discovery of, in New Zealand, by Dr Thomson, 66.
Geology, some new points in British, determined by Professor Ed-
ward Forbes, 263.
Gerard, Alexander, Esq., on pendulum observations, 14.
Glacial action in North Wales, by Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, 193.
Glass, crystallization of, 189.
Globe, crystalline form of, by M. de Hauslab, 168.
, its dimensions and figure, by Colonel Sabine, 148.
Goodsir, Professor, on the structure and economy of the Tethea, and
an undescribed species from the Spitzbergen seas, 368.
Granite, researches in, 343.
Glauberite, from South Peru, described, 358,
Giimbel, Theodore, Esq., on the structure of agate, 359.
Hair, colour of, noticed, 329.
Hauslab, M. De, on the crystalline form of the globe, 165.
Horner, Leonard, Esq., on the discovery and analysis of a medicinal
mineral water at Helwau, near Cairo, 284.
Huxley, Thomas H., Esq., on the identity of structure of plants and
animals, 234. -
Index. 375
Insects, a new method for destroying them, 369.
Iron, meteoric, Wohler on the passive state of, 188.
Iron, Native Metallic, 358.
Light, Coralline, 368.
Light, influence of, on the colour of the Prawn, 368.
Lunar atmospheric tide, 186.
Lyell, Sir Charles, on fossil reptilian remains in the coal-measures
of Nova Scotia, 215.
Malachite, formation of, 190. Artificial formation of, 190.
Mammalia, classification of, by Charles Girard, Esq., 167,
Matlockite, a new mineral species, described, 362,
Mauna Loa, James D. Dana, on the eruption of, 111.
Maury, Lieutenant, new views-on navigation improvement, 154.
Meteorological observations made at Cumberland in 1852, 17.
Miller, J. F., Meteorological observations made by, at Cumberland
in 1852, 17. On a singular irridescent phenomenon seen on
Be iek-imere lake, 838.
Minerals, paragenetic relations of, 85, 345.
Mollusca of the British seas, noticed by Professor Edward Forbes,
69.
Navigation, Lieutenant Maury’s new views of improvement in, 154.
Ocean, changes of level of, in the Pacific, by J. D. Dana, 240.
Omerod, G. Wareing, Esq., on pseudomorphous crystals of chloride
of sodium, 360.
Oxygen, amount of, in the world, 187.
Pendulum observations, by Alexander Gerard, 14. :
Petermann, Augustus, Esq., on the Arctic relief Sp nme 159.
Phosphorescence, causes of, 274.
Plana, M., Esq., on the mean density of the superficial crust of the
earth, 152.
Plants and animals, identity of their structure noticed by T. H.
Huxley, Esq., 284.
sleep of, in the Arctic regions, 191.
Pressure, atmospheric, the annual variation in different parts of the
globe, 123.
Proteus anguinus, some account of, 322.
Quatrefages, M., on a new method for destroying destructive in-
sects, 369.
Rain-gauge, different varieties of, described by Mr Straton, 36.
376 Index.
Rammelsberg, Prof. C., on matlockite, a new mineral species, 362.
Remains, fossil reptilian, found in the coal-measures of Nova Scotia,
described by Sir Charles Lyell, 215.
Rhind, William, Esq., on the laws which regulate the distribution
of rivers, 56.
Rivers, the laws which regulate the distribution of, by W. H. Rhind,
56. :
Rocks, classification of, 272.
structure of, 363.
Sabine, Colonel, on the figure and dimensions of the globe, 148.
Scleretinite, a new fossil resin, noticed, 359.
Secchi, Professor, on the distribution of heat at the surface of the
sun, 150. On lunar volcanoes, 161.
Smyth, W. W., Esq., on pseudomorphous crystals of chloride of so-
dium, 361. \ oe
Sodium, chloride, pseudomorphous crystals of,361.
Solar spots, periodic return of, 186.
Sorby, H. Clifton, Esq., on the origin of slaty cleavage, 137.
Spermatozoa, the penetration of, into the interior of the ovum, 326,
Straton, James, Esq., on the rain-gauge, 36.
Sun, distribution of heat at its surface, 150. Relation between the
spots on, and the magnetic needle, 186.
Sutherland, Dr, remarks on currents in the Arctic seas by, 292.
Steam, extinguishing of fires by, 372.:
Thomson, Dr A. S., on the discovery of a frog in New Zealand, 66.
Trevelyan, Sir Walter C., on the indications uf glacial action in
_ North Wales, 193.
Tsetse or zimb of South Africa, described, 192.
Ulex, M., on glauberite, 358.
Vegetation, experimental researches on, 370.
Ville, George, Esq., experimental researches on vegetation by, 370.
Volcanoes, lunar, a description of, by Professor Secchi, 161.
remarks on, by Dr Daubeny and Professor Bunsen, 276.
Windermere Lake, a singular irridescent phenomenon on, by Mr
Miller, 83.
Netti & Co., Printers, Edinburgh.
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