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GEOLOGY*
AND NATURAL SCIENCE,/
Vou. I. PamapeEvruia, Jury, 1831. No. 1.
PROSPECTUS.
Naturat History, at this time, engrosses a conspicuous portion
of the literature of Europe. In our own country, at no period
of its history, has a growing inclination for the study of nature
manifested itself so decidedly as at this moment. We perceive
this, in the favour with which numerous European republica-
tions are received here; in the general solicitude for an accurate
exposition of the geology of this continent, and the impatience
of our naturalists, restrained as they are from bringing forward,
fairly and intelligently, the phenomena of American nature, and
comparing them with those of trans-atlantic countries.
In Europe, naturalists form an extensive community, governed
by the pure love of the science of nature. There is not a
branch of natural knowledge that is not under investigation there,
_by men eminent in science. The study of the structure of our
_ planet, and of the causes of those frequent renewals of its ancient
surfaces; the dawnings of vegetable and animal organization,
and their subsequent progress in functionary importance through —
those ancient surfaces, to the last order of creation, where man
appears; the relation in which organized bodies have at all times
stood to each other, both in respect to structure and subsistence ;
_ and their general manifestation of the benevolence and power of
God : in all these branches of natural knowledge, the European
philosophers have deeply engaged themselves, drawing their illus-
trations indifferently from every part of their continent.
en these general contributions to science, it is pat to
"*¢
fniiinerous frictlis we have added the word Geology to our title.
Ty FS
(2)
+
RS
: - AN)
s, WATINNAL Ny
~ : Prospectus.
perceive what conspicuous blanks are yet left for America to
fill up, and especially in those important branches, American
geology and American organic remains. ‘This feeling is greatly
increased by the occasional taunts and sneers we see directed
against us, in foreign scientific works. They are aimed, it is
true, against individuals insignificant enough to elude them, and
therefore the larger body, the nation, is hit and wounded by
them. Neither is there any defence open to us. We send
abroad gigantic stories of huge antediluvian lizards, “larger
than the largest size ;” and we ourselves are kept upon the
stare at our own wonders, from Georgia to Maine, until we find
out we have been exulting over the stranded remains of a com-
mon spermaceti whale. At this present moment, a huge animal,
dug out of the Big-bone-lick, sixty feet long, and twenty-five
feet high, is parading through the columns of the European
newspapers, after making its progress through our own. ‘This
is, what every naturalist supposed it to be, also a great imposi-
tion. Within these few days, too, a piece of one of our common
coal plants, has been, with great note of preparation, conjured
into a petrified rattle-snake. All these jibes and reproaches we
ought to have been spared. There ought to have been the ready
means amongst us, together with the independence and intelli-
gence, to put down these impostures and puerilities as they arose.
‘It is for this object, as well as for the diffusion of the love of
science at home, that this monthly journal is about to be esta-
blished. Without any previous promise of patronage, it is offered
to a numerous and intelligent community, and will seek to win
its way to favour, by the industry, accuracy, and fair dealing
of its editor, and by the enlightened philosophic spirit, unac-
- quainted with pedantry, of the minds that will preside over it.
If it should fail of success, the editor will always be able to make
an honourable retreat, and not before he will have done some
good. But of this he is not afraid. Sustained by the gifted
friends who will come to his aid, both from Europe and from this
country, the proofs of which he soon hopes to submit to the
public, he enters upon the undertaking with cheerful confidence.
He sees in the now restrained talents and knowledge around him,
and in the ample domain of American nature, materials, that
only wait to be touched, to start into life: and it is upon those
_ talents he will call, and upon the public at large, to assist him
Prospectus. 3
to vindicate the natural history of America, and the reputation
of American naturalists.
_. It is proposed to issue one number of this work monthly; each
tant to consist of fifty pages, with appropriate figures and
illustrations, got up in an instructive and artist like manner.
Each number will contain a continuous Essay on Geology as
a science, treated in an elementary manner, divested of all
technicalities; so that the great principles, from which _philoso-
phical views of the arrangements and operations of nature are
drawn, may be lucidly brought forward.
The various branches of Natural History, Zoology, oe
Mineralogy, Meteorology, and the nature and forces of all physical
natural agents, will be treated of and illustrated in a familiar
and instructive manner. |
Comparative Anatomy, together with the habits and propen-
sities of animals; also the phenomena attending vegetable na-
_ ture, especially American nature, whether fossil or recent, will
be liberally discussed in the pages of this journal.
_It is the intention of the editor to insert occasional papers on
the aboriginal] antiquities of this country, and on the structure of
the Indian languages. All communications which aim at illus-
trating the physical and moral progress of our own species, will
be favourably received.
The state of trans-atlantic natural science will be reviewed
in each number. All new discoveries, and able examinations
of their bearing upon natural science, will be noticed. Chemistry
will be included as applied to all changes in nature.
Critical reviews and examinations of works on natural history
will occasionally appear. Upon all these important subjects,
approved original papers from correspondents, bearing the stamp
of good sense, will be published on convenient occasions, leaving
the writer responsible for facts and opinions.
It being intended to make this work accessible to the greatest
number of readers, with a view to the most extensive diffusion
of the knowledge of nature, it will be issued at an expense to
the public, as low as the experiment can possibly be made with
reasonable hopes of continuing the work.—The price, therefore,
for about six hundred pages annually, with at least twelve oc-
tavo plates, illustrating a great variety of objects, is limited to
$3 50 yearly.
4 } . Prospectus.
As it is indispensable to the support and continuance of this
work, that the proprietor be not exposed to the losses and delays
attending the collection of so small a sum, it will be required to
be paid on subscription, and will not be furnished without.
All scientific communications, post-paid, to be addressed, “To
. the Editor of the Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natu-
_ ral Science, Philadelphia.”
Communications on business to be oiddlnesial to “ Henry H.
Porter, proprietor of the Literary Rooms, &c. 121 Chesnut street,
Philadelphia.” |
The work will be conducted by G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Esq.
Fellow of the Geological Society of London, Member of Ahe
American Philosophical Society, &c. &c. |
Joun Marpon, Bookseller, No.30, Jewin Crescent, Jewin street,
Aldersgate, London, England, Agent.
Philadelphia, May 20th, 1831.
INTRODUCTION.
Ws are pledged in the Prospectus, to give in each number “a
continuous Essay on Geology as a science, treated in an elemen-
tary manner, divested of all technicalities: so that the great
principles, from which philosophical views of the arrangements
and operations of nature are drawn, may be lucidly brought for-
ward.”
A. series of such Essays, carried on, as we love to hope it will
be, for a long period of time to come, will comprehend particu-
lars of the highest importance, and form, at length, a work of
some magnitude. Moved, therefore, by a desire to open the most
ample field for the instruction and amusement of our readers, we
propose to begin to redeem that pledge, by drawing up an epitome
of the progress of Natural Science. But first we would re-
mark, that there are many persons who have not yet turned their
attention to Natural History, and who are still deterred from
doing it, by the apparently insurmountable difficulties presented
by the multifarious objects in nature, and the technicalities and
names, so far apart from the ordinary terms of language. Such
persons are agreeably disappointed, when they come to discover
how gentle the gradations are between each step in the order of
Introduction. — 5
nature. A nomenclature raised upon artificial systems, and
which has not for its basis the general harmony which connects
all the parts of creation, is as repulsive, as it is unprofitable; for
it disconnects the student from nature, the sole object of his pur-
suit. Such nomenclatures are becoming unpopular, natural sys-
tems are taking their place. The progress of science is uncer-
tain and unsatisfactory, when it is attempted by any other means
than practical observations of the affinities of the parts of nature.
This is the true basis of all classification. Direct agreements be-
tween any two natural objects, form a true nucleus for natural
families, which we increase by the accession of other individuals
existing under the same conditions. ‘The division of animated
nature into two great groupes, vertebral and invertebral, affords
great facilities to the student in zoology. ‘Thus, all animals hav-
ing backbones and skulls, are separated from all those without
them, and which are protected by shells, and other external
coverings. Here there is an apparent gap in the order of na-
ture. Although we can profitably avail ourselves of the advan-
tage this zoological division affords us in the study of nature,
yet it by no means authorizes us to say, that nature has here
made a jump from one scheme of structure to another, but
rather it becomes us modestly to suppose, that our own observa-
tion is at fault, and that this apparent gap will ere long be filled
up by the industry and genius of man. Liberal and active minds
rejoice most in the contemplation of difficulties of this character;
and certainly it is wiser, instead of being astounded at this spe-
cious transition, and proceeding to raise systems upon it, to take
comfort in it, as hiatus non deflendus. Each of these great
divisions contains innumerable objects, and by subdividing them,
and classing those together, which have the most marked affini-
ties for each other, we at length come to know all the individuals
in nature, by designations drawn from features, which ‘not only
separate them from the rest, but which at the same time reflect
their true place in nature; as the prismatic rays do for the
beam into which they naturally blend themselves. In this man-
ner the Conchologist, the Entomologist, the Botanist, the Miner-
alogist, acquire without effort the knowledge of several hundreds
of thousands of objects innature. We advise our readers, then,
not to be deterred by difficulties which are more apparent than
real; and not,’on this account, to avert themselves from the great
G. Introduction.
object of existence, the study of the Creator through his works.
In the conduct of this periodical, we hope to give proofs that our
intention is to make ourselves understood: to treat our subjects
in an elementary and perspicuous manner. In short, we propose
being useful to our readers, and not to occupy ourselves with
making a specious parade of attainments, far short of what it
_ becomes us to possess.
There is another, and a very numerous class of persons, that has
been deterred from entering upon the study of natural history,
by prejudices conceived against Geology, a science, which has
not at all times been fairly treated either by its friends or
enemies. Geology, in its most comprehensive sense, denotes the
history of nature ; for its various phenomena present themselves
to the consideration of the naturalist, in relation with all the
physical sciences. When geology, therefore, became obnoxious
to the suspicion, that it was hostile to revealed religion, the
study of its branches, to a certain extent, was looked upon with
distrust, as disposing the mind to scepticism, and to the belief,
that the parts of nature were independent of their Creator, be-
cause they partook of the perfection of all his works. The modern
leaders of geology, have, by their industry, learning, and pru-
dence, almost eradicated these groundless opinions.
In the by-gone days of theological zeal, when the majority of
zealots almost amounted to unanimity, every writer on geology
was supposed bound to confront all the physical phenomena with
the construction given in a not very enlightened age, to that brief
account of the origin of the world, contained in a venerable re-
cord devoted to the moral instruction of men. The Theologian
said to the Naturalist, ‘‘ You will find it recorded in the Bible,
that the world was created out of nothing, about six thousand
years ago, in the space of six days of our modern computed time ;
and that about four thousand years ago, it was overwhelmed by
a deluge of water, which destroyed all living things that did not
enter into the ark of Noah. The curious petrifactions you say
you find, are the remains of the animals and plants, which lived
from the creation to the deluge. This is what you must believe,
if you will not run the risk of peing driven from society as irre-
ligious and anti-social,”
In using the terms “ brief account of the origin of the world,”
in reference to the Mosaic account, it is the construction given to
_ Introduction. "7
a short passage in that Record, which it is mean to impugn, and
not the record itself, in the reverence of which the writer of
these pages has been educated. In the ancient patriarchal times,
men believed the sun went round the earth, in consequence of
the apparent motion of that luminary. It is stated in the Bible,
that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, when he encom-
passed Gibeon; and that “it stood still, and hasted not to go
down a whole day.” In recording events of a miraculous
character, it is evident the historian spoke in such figures only
as could be understood. Had the sacred writer said, that Joshua
had commanded the earth to stand still, he would not have been
comprehended. ‘The assertion perhaps would have been deemed
blasphemous, as contrary to God’s laws. Connected with this
natural prejudice, the force of education had given an ancient
construction to the account in Genesis of the creation of the
world, the effect of which has been to put physical and moral
truths, apparently at variance with each other. But as truth
cannot conflict with itself, we must look for the cause of this dis-
crepancy in human errors.
It is not with a view to state how utterly hopeless it is to look
for explanations of physical phenomena in pages consecrated to
moral instruction; or how equally hopeless, and reprehensible too,
it would be, to rashly look into revelation by the light of
geology, that a recurrence to this passage in Genesis, will here
be made; but rather to reconcile the theologian to a very sim-
ple construction of the passage alluded to, and which is found in
the very opening of the Bible. “In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.” Now let the rule of the theologian
be applied to this passage, and let it receive a literal construc-
tion. We here find the first notice of creation. We do not find
it stated that the heavens and the earth were created six thou-
sand years ago, or at any other definite period of past time. It
is simply said, “ In the beginning,” a term, in the contemplation
of which, the human mind is lost, amidst feelings of conscious
weakness, and inexpressible humility. What that.beginning is
coeval with, we cannot conceive; we cannot come so near to
that Being, to whom all time is but one present existence: but
we can conceive painfully, after our human mode of thinking, of
the solitary existence to which those would assign the universal
Creator during the immeasurable period that preceded the six
8 Introduction.
thousand years, at the commencement of which they choose to
suppose the heavens and the earth were first created. ‘These
words, then, cannot mean the beginning of eternity, which has
no beginning, nor are they placed there to assert that creation
had a beginning, which would be superfluous, since we cannot
conceive of an act without a beginning. Without reference,
then, to any time whatever, we must regard it as a declara-
tion, that the heavens and the earth were created, and by
God, leaving room for no inference that they existed without
a maker.
The next verse is still more explicit—“and the earth was
without form and void.” Here is a declaration that the earth
was ; that its creation had been effected, antecedently to that
period of time usually called the six days of creation. Such we
_ nay suppose to have been the geological state of the earth, void
of all living forms, at the period immediately preceding the
establishment of the present order of nature, and which is stated
to have been effected in the distribution of the six days’ work men-
tioned in Genesis. Now we find no allusion in the Bible to the
geological periods which preceded the restoration of the surface,
or to the mineral and organic evidences which we now find, un-
der such various circumstances, in the crust of the earth, and ~
‘many of which lie at vast depths from the present surface. The
inspired historian, had he been competent to the disclosure,
would probably have deemed it foreign to the moral purpose he
had in view, and would have preferred leaving such discoveries
to the restless inquiries of man, always seeking to enlarge the
_ boundaries of knowledge, and destined to construct, out of geo-
logical phenomena, one of the strongest bulwarks of natural
theology.
It is evident, that it was not a principal object in the narrative
of the Jewish cosmogony, to make such allusions, or to treat the
physical subjects spoken of with any particular accuracy. The
evenings and the mornings of the first, second, and third days are
enumerated, before the creation of the sun is mentioned; and
yet evening and morning can correspond to no portions of time, —
save those fixed by the setting and rising of the sun. It is on the
fourth day only, the creation of the sun is mentioned. From these
considerations, it may be reasonably maintained, that the ac-
count of the creation, in Genesis, concerns only the present order
-
Introduction. 9
of nature, and is by no means involved with the ancient geologi-
cal periods that precede all records. Under the influence of a
spirit of mutual candour, we see here a common ground for the
Theologian and Geologist to stand comfortably upon. One which
brings prejudice neither to religion nor science, and which ad-
mits of our mutually co-operating to eradicate entirely the an-
cient errors, that our small planet was the sole motive of universal
creation, that it is the centre of the universe, that the sun rolls
round it, and that no part of it existed more than six thousand
years ago. The greater part of this mass of error has indeed been
in modern times, isolated and extirpated, but its influence still
exists, in that most erroneous opinion which substitutes for the
creation of the earth, the renovation of its surface.
It results from this method of considering the subject, that our
planet is immeasurably more ancient, than the period assigned for
its age, by the chronological constructions that have obtained so
long, and that this immense antiquity is by no means at variance
with the account in Genesis.
We shall close this first part of the duty we have imposed upon
ourselves with these remarks. In our next number we propose
entering upon an epitome of the rise and progress of natural
science. At our opening of this great subject, we have been
anxious to point out, what, in our opinion, have hitherto constituted
material objections to the study of natural history. ‘The first ob-
jection, connected with nomenclature and technicalities, it will
be our duty to obviate; and we shall study to make our various
subjects both instructive and agreeable, by explaining nature in
such language as may befit the simplicity of her own operations.
And in relation to the other point, we have no intention, and
think we run no risk, of wounding the tenderest conscience. Our
own opinions have long gravitated to a point far short of the ex-
tremes of bigotry and scepticism. Experience has made us indif:
ferent to all theories which cannot be sustained by admitted facts,
and a steady advance from the known to the unknown.
About to be booked in the mail for a long journey with our
readers, over a country we are familiar with, we shall upon all
occasions, endeavour to communicate what we know, in an un-
pretending and friendly manner. We shall not entirely rely upon
the ducks, the geese, and the hay-stacks to be seen on the road,
for conversation. And when we part, and our readers continue
Von. L—2
10 Rhinoceroides Alleghaniensis.
their travels without us, we are not without hopes that some of
them will kindly say of us, that we were a useful and pleasant
travelling companion. Epirtor.
RHINOCEROIDES ALLEGHANIENSIS.
Extract of a letter addressed to the Rev. Dr. Buckland, Oxford, containing a de-
scription of a fossil fragment of the jaw of an extinct animal, forming a new
genus of the order Pachydermata, and provisionally named Rhinoceroides Alle-
ghaniensis.—Vide Plate I.
“In a former communication to Roderick J. Murchison, Esq.,
which was read before the Geological Society, the 2d January,
1829, | observed, that no trace of the Rhinoceros had been yet
discovered on this continent.
«“ About fourteen months ago, I was so fortunate as to come into
the possession* of a fossil having some very peculiar characters.
I communicated to some friends at the time, that I had strong
grounds to believe in the ancient existence here, of an animal ap-
proximating to the genus Rhinoceros. ‘The anomalous character
of this fossil, which consists of part of a jaw and two teeth, in fine
preservation, made me hesitate about the publication of it. After
much deliberation, I have at this time great confidence that there
is no fallacy to be apprehended, and therefore I transmit a very
excellent cast of the fossil to you, requesting you to present it, to-
gether with this communication, to the Geological Society, in my
name. The cast being a composition of wax and lime, has shrunk
in length half an inch, and otherwise in proportion. I shall, as
soon as it is finished, transmit an engraving of the fossil, having
the proper proportions.
“'The mineral composition of this fragment, gives it a very
anomalous character, and is a circumstance entitled to the par-
ticular consideration of geologists. There is nothing of the nature
of bone about it, except the form: the whole substance, the teeth
included, being constituted of an aggregate of small quartzose
particles ; and presenting the appearance, not of a gradual sub-
stitution by mineral infiltration, to osseous matter, but of a cast of
part of a jaw and teeth, formed of small quartzose grit, and giy-
* By the kindness of my friend Benjamin Wright, Esq. He received it from
Robert Fulton, Esq., who has obligingly furnished me the details of the locality
where he obtained it.
Rhinoceroides Alleghaniensis. 11
ing a semi-translucency to the teeth, which is wanting to the
more opaque jaw. ‘Ihese circumstances are somewhat imitated
in the cast.
“Tt was found about three feet from the surface, lying imme-
diately beneath the roots of an oak tree, 24 inches in diameter,
which had been blown down, and was entirely rotten. The soil
from which it was dug, was the common superficial soil, or dilu-
vium of the country, as it is represented to me. I hope to visit
the place this summer, and shall then have an opportunity of as-
certaining whether the soil is alluvial or diluvial. Being found
on the Castleman river, it may probably be the first—for I am
not yet in possession of authentic evidence, that any organic re-
-mains of terrestrial quadrupeds, have been found in this country,
in that deposit we are accustomed to call diluvium. The locality
“is in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, on Castleman’s river, about
13 miles above the village of Turkey-foot. The superficial soil
reposes on the mill-stone grit and shale, which is there superin-
cumbent on the carboniferous lime-stone. ‘There is much bitu-
minous coal in that region.
“Dr. Harlan, of this city, an experienced comparative anato-
mist, was kind enough to take the comparative dimensions be-
tween this fossil, and the corresponding jaw of a rhinoceros indi- ~
cus; a skeleton of which animal, lately imported from India, has
been admirably set up by him, in the hall of the Academy of
Natural Sciences, in this city. Those dimensions, which I now
add, have been since verified by myself.
DESCRIPTION OF A FOSSIL FRAGMENT OF A JAW, WITH TWO INCISORS.
Comparative dimensions between it and the corresponding Jaw of the
Rhinoceros Indicus, of Cuvier.
RHINOCEROS INDICUS, CUVIER. FOSSIL FRAGMENT.
Inch. 10ths. Inch. 10ths,
3 0 2 G6
Length of the right intermaxillary bone, infe-
rior border, on a level with the alveolar |
process, A gs
Length of the superior nokder: ue 4 3 1
Greatest height of intermaxillary bone, . . 2 2
Greatest thickness, 1 ars 1 3
Distance from the det cietcneill acs batureey to a: BN oe
the place of the first molar,
12 Rhinoceroides Alleghaniensis.
Inch. 10ths. Inch. 10ths
Shortest diameter in height of the superior 2 17
maxillary bone, anterior to the molars,
Length of the single incisor, . . ese 2 3
Do ai toe 2 mcisors, ee ee a 3
Height of the same, . . . 7 8
Distance from the anterior Bonita nikal
to the curve upwards, to form the anterior 6 5. 8
nares, le oe : :
Length of the culling alles of the fuerte 1 2
incisor of fossil, :
Do. she OO OE the postales do. do. 1 1
Total lend of the fossil fragment, 0°. “0 e 7 6
“find nothing in the works of Baron Cuvier, or any other na-
turalist, which indicates any knowledge of this animal in Europe ;
and it is, as far as | am apprised, the first specimen of the kind
discovered in America. Notwithstanding the affinity, which the
agreement of these comparative dimensions appears to establish
between it and the genus rhinoceros, still, the great space be-
tween the intermaxillary suture, (very distinct in the fossil,) and
the place of the first molar, being in the fossil twice as much as
in the recent R. Indicus: also the occupation by two incisors in
the fossil, of the space allotted to one incisor in the R. Indicus,
are conspicuous characters, which establish it as a new genus of
the order Pachydermata.
“T forbear to ground any argument for a great antiquity to this
fossil, from its mineral structure ; and I leave to more experienced
naturalists to determine, whether its period ought to be referred
nearer to the Palzotherium, than to the elephant; the last of
which animals, has left many remains here.
“ Unwilling to designate it by any fanciful or philonymic ap-
pellation, and thinking that by some naturalists it may be judged
to stand in the same relation to the genus rhinoceros, that the
elephant does to the mastodon, I have provisionally named it
Rhinoceroides Alleghaniensis, by which appellation I have at-
tempted to convey in the simplest terms, its con-generic relation,
and its territorial habitat. I remain, my dear sir, most faithfully |
_~yours, G. W. FEATHERSTONHAUGH.
Phaladelphia, April 3, 1881.
A., ever Niagara . G. Liable Rock, Carboniferous L 150K Perpen!
5. ;
oe
D
K.
1
L/S", Shore . H. Ridge of Dituviune BOF! above Table Rock
Opper Canada Spore. and ovenying ce.
Coa Island. I. The Rapuds on the Chertly Beds of y-?Carb,
Horse Shoe Fall J. West Brow of Goad Leland 158 Fi Llerpen.”
W072..,. Wedle |
From Coaé Istank fo Table Rock..... 1224 FP?
Schlosser Faul..... 163 F*FernenK. With of Brow 128/ PB
Gurvatiure of Horse Shoe Fial....0 2... BSW v:
ee of the Betver N. vagara from lhe oa
Last ind of Goat Istand..........
FLAT VIEW OF THE
CATARACT OF NIAGARA .
Ancient Drainage of North America, &c. 13
ON THE ANCIENT DRAINAGE OF NORTH AMERICA, AND THE
ORIGIN OF THE CATARACT OF NIAGARA.
By G. W. Featherstonhaugh.
I sHatt in this paper make some general observations upon
the ancient drainage of North America, and then apply the
operating principle to the history of the origin of the Cataract
of Niagara. )
Mr. Ure, in his new system of Geology, when discussing the
influence which streams have had upon their beds, observes,
(page 356,) “ Historical documents all concur to prove, that
streams possessing the greatest power that can be ascribed to
them, have no appreciable erosive action upon the rocks over
which they run.” If this passage were limited to the influence
they have upon the surface of their beds when covered with
water, it could not be so easily disproved ; but as it seems to in-
clude every possible mode by which streams can act upon their
beds,—and these are various ;—it deserves some consideration.
The beds of many rivers of this continent, remain dry during a
great portion of the year. The floors shrink and expand, as
the weather alternates from moist to dry. Almost all the shales
disintegrate, and indeed it may be said of all rocks laid bare,
that they gradually yield to the influence of weather. The
returning floods bear away the loosened fragments, and thus, in
long periods of time, streams come to have a powerful action over
their beds, widening their courses, and wearing their beds to
great depths. But there are other circumstances, differing from
these again, under which streams are constantly acting, and which
‘prove that they exercise a remarkable erosive influence over
their beds. ‘These will be adverted to in treating of the origin
of the cataract of Niagara.
_ There are many persons, among the great number who
annually visit this magnificent waterfall, who cannot be made
_to comprehend, that it is a reasonable matter, to suppose the
cataract, in ancient times, went over the Queenstown ridge, now
‘near six miles distant from the present falls; and an engineer*
of the state of New York, who appears to have had much expe-
rience in the surveys of that State, has published a paper in the
‘proceedings of a learned society,t in which he denies that suppo-
* Mr. Geddes. + The Albany [astitute.
14 Ancient Drainage of North America, §c.
sition, and supposes the ravine between Queenstown and the falls,
through which the river Niagara flows, to be a natural gorge. I
shall in this paper attempt to settle this question upon strict geo-
logical principles, and in a manner consistent with those obvious
features which the physical geography of the lake country
presents.
All our fresh waters are first derived from the atmosphere.
If the surface of the earth had been smooth, without any ine-
qualities, rains and floods would have abraded and torn it up.
It would have been irregularly furrowed out in the manner we
often see fields with a slight inclination. The waters would have
been constant to no channel. In the train of consequences in-
volved in such a state of things, we perceive the earth would
have been uninhabitable. But it was not ordained so: the earth
was intended to be the cheerful home of countless myriads of
animals, susceptible of benevolent pleasures. ‘The “ dry land”
was made to appear. Mountains were raised by subterranean
power, and valleys were consequently formed. Instead of some
parts of the earth being deluged with rains, and others remaining
for years without refreshing showers, we find atmospheric action
influenced by those mountains, and the rains drawn down upon
their summits and flanks, furrowing out channels down their
slopes, to unite themselves hereafter at the lowest levels, where
the navigable rivers are found, that have contributed so much
to the civilization of man. The accumulation of snow too upon
these summits, is an immediate means of the continuity of streams.
The inequalities of the earth’s surface, form one of the most
important features of the economy of nature. The face of the
earth is constituted by a series of elevations and depressions.
Where the chains of mountains are contiguous, the breadth of
the valleys is comparatively small. In many instances, such
valleys had their present terminations anciently obstructed, and
at such time contained bodies of water. It is an interesting
study for young Geologists to detect these ancient lakes, and
find out the points where the waters have been able to discharge
themselves. Where the chains of mountains lie at great dis-
tances from each other, the intervening country is to be consi-
dered as a vast valley or basin, the great rivers flowing through
the lowest levels, and their tributaries joining them from the
more elevated terraces of the basin. It is by this admirable
Ancient Drainage of North America, &c. 15
adaptation of causes, that continents are drained, so many great
purposes answered, and the whole volume of atmospheric waters
finally returned to the ocean, whence it is again drawn up into
the atmosphere, to be again and again distributed upon the earth,
for its fertilization.
In seeking the lowest levels, the great rivers frequently em-
brace in their course, depressions or basins that do not conform
to their mean breadth. These larger bodies of water, when
spreading themselves far beyond such mean breadth, are usually
called lakes. Others, from their extent, are well entitled to be
called “inland seas.” The origin of such lakes is various, and
will not be considered at this time. Of the lake of Geneva, how-
ever, which forms part of the course of the Rhone, it may be,
remarked, that there are geological considerations belonging to
it, which suggest, that in ancient periods, the vast basin in which
its waters now rest, did not exist; and that it is not improbable an
inclined solid plane existed between the Alps and the Jura. The
small lakes of St. Francois, St. Louis, &c. on the St. Lawrence, are
instances of this widening of rivers into basins. Lake Superior, and
the. great body of water constituting lake Michigan and lake
Huron, belong to the class that might be called inland seas.
In that very useful and popular volume, “ Darby’s view of
the United States,” the author has had to struggle—and not
very successfully occasionally—through some interesting branches
of a subject, he has, upon the whole, treated in an able manner.
The language he holds, at page 65, of the mountains of the
Appalachian system, being specifically and generally- distinct
from the hills, would, if not quite satisfactory, have been less
obscure, had he, before venturing on a work of such importance,
paid proper attention to a science, the value of which does not
apparently rank very high in his estimation. Considering that
his work was published in 1828, this is very surprising. In
the preface we find the following passage. ‘Geology, as it
stands in our books, being a science, (if it deserves the name of
a science,) of conjecture, I have rejected, as far as practicable,
terms that teach nothing definite.” What books are here referred
to, Mr. Darby has not stated; but this may be most truly said, that
books were extant before 1828, the study of which would have
enabled him to define, in a very precise manner, the particulars
upon which every branch of physical geography depends, and
16 Ancient Drainage of North America, &c.
especially, above all the rest, a system for mountain ranges.
No man can reason luminously about the origin of mountains, or
concerning their specific or generic character, to use Mr. Darby’s
terms, who is not a competent practical geologist. ‘This im-
portant branch of American geology, remains yet to be judi-
ciously treated of.
In this paper, the leading features only of this branch will be
adverted to. A great portion of this continent is occupied by
a central basin, the walls of which are constituted by ranges of
mountains lying at great distances from each other. Long’s
Peak, is 15,000 feet high; this is the greatest known elevation
of the Chippewayan or Rocky mountains. From thence the
country slopes eastward. The plains on its east flanks, are
about 3000 feet high, being near the medium elevation of the
Alleghany mountains, which may be considered the Eastern wall
of the basin. At the mouth of the Platte river, we have a re-
duced elevation of 680 feet above tide water, corresponding to
the elevation at Pittsburgh on the west flank of the Alleghanies.
At the mouth of the Ohio, where it joins the Mississippi, the de-
pression of the basin, is only equal to 300 feet above tide water.
The central line of drainage of this great basin, is occupied by
the Mississippi, which receives from its northern and eastern
slopes, the Wisconsan, the Illinois, the Ohio, &c. The longest
line of drainage is occupied by the Missouri, north and west
of the Mississippi, and receives from its western slope, until it
joins the Mississippi, the Muddy, the Yellow Stone, and the Platte
rivers, and afterwards the Arkansa and its tributaries, the Red
river, &c. In about 50° N. lat. another chain of high lands,*
connected with the Chippewayan mountains, begins, and runs
'N. E. between lake Winnipec, and the great Slave lake, of
which region it is the water shed. South of this chain, the mean
elevation of its table land is about 1200 feet. ‘This chain, which is
probably connected with the highlands running north of lakes
Superior, Huron, &c. may be regarded as the ancient northern
wall of the great basin now described. ‘The table land is full
of lakes, many of which have no connection with each other,
except in the rainy season, when the Assinaboin and Red river
of Hudson’s bay, which run north, are said to mingle their wa-
ters occasionally with those of St. Peters, which flow southward
* Accurate details of this region are much wanted.
Ancient Drainage of North America, &c. 17
into the Mississippi. The south-east slope of this table land,
furnishes the great eastern line of drainage of this continent.
At some remote geological period, it is evident all the parts of
this basin have been under water, which has subsequently re-
treated to the ocean; leaving behind those subordinate basins
or inland seas now called lake Superior, lake Michigan, lake
Huron, lake Erie, and lake Ontario, which are the true heads of
the line of drainage by the St. Lawrence. Lake Superior is
595 feet above tide water. Lakes Michigan and Huron, which
constitute one body of water, are 571 feet above tide water ;
whilst lake Erie is 565 feet, and lake Ontario only 231 feet.
Thus whilst in the distance between Rainy lake, and lake Su-
perior, consisting of 150 miles, we have a superficial depression
of 505 feet, in the short distance of 25 miles between lake Erie
and lake Ontario, we have a depression of 334 feet.
West of this depression, the conformity of level is such, that
part of the waters of the great eastern line of drainage before
spoken of, pass, in the rainy seasons, from their proper line, into
the tributaries that feed the Mississippi. Boats have occasionally
passed from South Michigan into the Illinois river: the differ-
ence of level between lake Huron and lake Erie may be rated
as not exceeding 10 feet.
Such are the principal lines of drainage of this continent, all
of which are well illustrated in Mr. Tanner’s recent maps. But
we are yet in want of many levels and projections of chains of
mountains, to assist us in detecting the various basins where the
waters have been held up, and the slopes and gorges by which
they have issued. The immense boulders of primitive rocks, so
profusely scattered over the face of this continent, attest alike
the partial destruction of their ancient barriers, and the violence
of the torrents which have borne them to such great distances.
There is not one of the inland lakes, all of which may be con-
sidered as subordinate basins to the great American basin before
spoken of, but furnishes the proof of a gradual subsidence of
level. The ridges south of lake Erie, and from which the lake
is now distant more than five miles, clearly attest that the lake
at some period has washed their base, and discharged its waters
into the tributaries of the Mississippi. In like manner we find
evidences of a change of level in the waters of lake Ontario, in
a aa of the ridge on the south shore, now several miles
OL. 1.—3d.
18 Ancient Drainage of North America, &c.
distant from the water; the corresponding banks of which are
found on the north side of the lake, at great distances from the
water, and extending far eastward into Canada. It was only
when the waters began to contract themselves into lower levels,
and when Ontario found an outlet by the St. Lawrence, that
its ancient banks were abandoned, and the waters of Erie began
to flow over the ridge which was continuous between Queens-
town and the opposite shore of Lewistown.
In ancient times, when the whole country was under water,
and Ontario and Erie were ona level, the cataract of Niagara
did not exist: but when the general subsidence of waters took
place, when Erie fell below the level of the Illinois, and Ontario
below the level of the Queenstown ridge, the waters of Erie
would of course take a direction to join the great eastern line of
drainage. ‘This we see they have done, and the following details
will show the exact difference of level now existing between Erie
and Ontario. It will be remembered that lake Erie is 565 feet
above the level of tide water, and lake Ontario 231 feet. Although
the levels heretofore enumerated in this paper, are to be con-
sidered as approximations made by intelligent travellers, and only
in a few instances—from the necessities of the case—the result
of accurate admeasurement; yet those hereafter to be spoken
of, are accurate admeasurements, and entitled to confidence.
Those explanatory of the cataract of Niagara and its environs,
were carefully made by Mr. George Catlin, a very ingenious ar-
tist, for the purpose of constructing a model of the falls of
Niagara upon scale, which was executed in a very admirable
manner; and from which the flat view of the cataract, appended
to this paper, was taken.
The distance from lake Erie to lake Ontario, is about 36}
miles. ‘The particulars of the fall of water in this distance, are
shown in the following table : .
Feet. Miles.
Fall from lake Erie to the rapids of the cataract
of Niagara, - - - - - - 18 23
Fall in the rapids to the edge of the cataract, - 51 4
~The Horse-shoe fall, - - - 4 - 150
From the Horse-shoe fall to Lewistown, _ - - 'ee
From Lewistown to lake Ontario - . - ae
Ancient Drainage of North America, &c. 19
The Queenstown ridge, which crosses the line of the Niagara
river about six miles south of lake Ontario, is a little to the west
of Queenstown, about 347 feet above the level of lake Ontario,
and consists of the lower limestone shale of British geologists ;
having the carboniferous limestone superincumbent upon it, and
the common diluvium or superficial soil of the country resting
upon this last. In travelling up the gorge from Queenstown to
the cataract, where the bed of the Niagara flows, this geological
arrangement is constant, and at the cataract we find the shale
80 feet thick, and the carboniferous limestone lying upon it, 70
feet thick to the edge of the cataract. Higher up the stream,
other beds of the carboniferous limestone appear, containing
seams and patches of dark-coloured chert, which have furnished
the name of Black Rock to a village at the mouth of lake Erie.
This formation constitutes the floor of that lake, and may be
said to extend through the whole western country.
At the general subsidence of the waters, before spoken of, it
is evident that when the level of Ontario fell below the summit
of the Queenstown ridge, the western waters would follow them,
seeking the great east line of drainage. Here then we find the
origin of the falls of Niagara, which would have their perpendicu-
lar height increased with the progressive subsidence of the waters
of Ontario. These waters would soon clear themselves a passage
through the superficial diluvium, and the manner in which the
whole gorge has been excavated from Queenstown, to the point
now occupied by the cataract, is attested by what we observe
going on in our own day. The loose friable shale is loosened and
washed out by the re-action of the fallen waters, and the super-
incumbent limestone losing its only support, yields to the weight
of the water, and falls into the gorge. ‘The well known Table
Rock is an instance of this. The shale has been completely
washed out from beneath it, and great portions of it have fallen,
as other parts belonging to the edge of the cataract are con-
stantly doing. It is also particularly deserving of notice, that
the limestone beds immediately above the shale, are much thinner
at the opening of the gorge, and the rock less capable of resisting
attrition, than the superior beds which are so well compacted
with the chert, and which the cataract is only now approaching.
That the greatest portion of the rock which has hitherto fallen,
has been comminuted, and washed away by the stream, as the
20 Ancient Drainage of North America, &c.
whole of the shale has been, appears not unreasonable, and may
account for the absence of a great portion of the fragments.
There is scarce a single circumstance connected with this ma-
jestic cataract, which does not assist in the explanation of its
retrocession. | |
As to the period which has elapsed since the waters first be-
gan to open the gorge, it is difficult to open a plausible ground
upon which a reasonable calculation could be made; but there
is one circumstance connected with them, which marks a differ-
ence of progress, at certain points of their retrocession. ‘The
distance from Queenstown to the falls, is between six and seven
miles by the line of the gorge, the average breadth of which on
approaching the falls, is about 1200 feet. By areference to the
plan,* it will appear, that up to the period when the waters which
fall on the American side, first divided Goat Island from the
main land, the whole force of the river Niagara, was exerted in
one volume, upon a surface of 1200 feet in extent, forming the
width of the gorge. Since that time the operative power of
the water, has spread itself over a greater surface ; for the stream
on the American side, is 1072 feet wide, and the curvature of
the great Horse Shoe fall 2376 feet wide, making a surface of
3448 feet long, being near three times the extent of the line it
previously exerted itself upon.
This diminished exertion would necessarily be attended by a
retardation in the retrocession of the cataract. There is also
another circumstance which at present adds to this cause of re-
tardation. ‘The Horse Shoe fall has reached a point, where the
limestone beds begin to thicken, and the foam of the rapids,*+
marks the presence of the terraces of cherty layers, which are
here found superincumbent, and giving additional strength and
durability to the limestone strata. I might offer as evidence of
the very prolonged projection of the waters at this point, the
deep basin in the bed of the river, immediately at the foot of
the falls, which does not occur in the narrower parts of the gorge,
and which has been hitherto unaccounted for.
It has often been proposed to mark in some well regulated
manner, the future disintegration of the bed of this cataract,
* Vide plate 2d.
t On the British side where the current is most rapid, the bed of the river is
13 feet lower than on the American side.
Diary of a Naturalist. 21
with a view to compute the period of its age.* If I have not mis-
conceived the operation of this river, it will now be seen that
the elements of this problem are too complicated and vague, to
offer any hopes of a satisfactory solution. Under the view I have
taken of it, its future retrocession will be very slow. Time, how-
ever, will last longer than the carboniferous limestone can
probably resist such influences as it has already yielded to.
When the cataract shall reach lake Erie, geology will possess
one great monument of the power of water to excavate gorges
of great length and height.
THE DIARY OF A NATURALIST.
Or Memoranda of the weather ; arrival of birds; flowering of plants, &c. for the
spring of the year 1830. Kept at the “ Bartram Botanic Garden,” on the right
bank of the river Schuylkill, below the city of Philadelphia. By John B. Carr.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL.
Dear Sir—I send you for publication “The Diary of a
Naturalist,” kept at my particular request, during the spring of
1830. If the observations are not so complete as the interest of
the subject might imply, it must be recollected that the author
seldom extended them beyond the immediate sphere of his daily
occupations—Having the most perfect reliance on the ability
and talents of Mr. Carr for pursuits of this nature, I have pe-
rused the “ Diary” with much satisfaction, and cannot doubt
that the subject which it embraces will be viewed with similar
interest by yourself and readers.—I have the honour to be most
respectfully, dc. R. Haran.
March 1. Wind, a strong north-east, with snow and rain.
Large flights of robins, (rurpus migratorius,) feeding on the red-
* Mr. Lyell, in his principles of Geology, (Vol. I. p. 181,) has,—supposing that
the disintegrating power of the volume of the Niagara river, will at all times be
equal, at every point of its course—ventured on a computation, that, at the rate
of fifty yards in forty years, lake Erie will be reached in the course of thirty
thousand years. 'That the recession of these falls is effected as Mr. Lyell supposes,
we have never doubted ; but a long and familiar acquaintance with the cataract,
has induced us to adopt the opinion we have just seen announced by the Rev.
W. D. Conybeare, (Annals of Philosophy, No. 52. April, 1831. Page 267,) that
in forming the first estimates of this computation “some partial degradation of the
strata has here been mistaken for the general retrogradation.”
22 Diary of a Naturalist.
cedar berries, (sUNIPERUS virginiana.) in the vicinity of the garden.
—A small flock of cow-birds, (eMBERIZA pecoris,) were observed
feeding in the woods, with many blue-birds, (moracitua sialis,)
which have probably been deceived by the mild weather of the
last week of February.—Spring, or winter aconite, (ERANTHIS
hyemalis, vel HELEBORUS hyemalis,) snow-drop, (GALANTHUS nivalis,)
hearts’-ease, (vioLa tricolor,) and skunk cabbage, (porHos fetida,)
in flower. In the hot-house we have a fine amaryLus in flower,
from Rio de Janeiro. ‘This afternoon two vessels sailed up the
Schuylkill, the first this season.
2. Snow has fallen all night, and this morning is three inches
deep—continuing to snow all day, and at sunset is eight or ten
inches deep—wind NE. moderate—at 8. P. M. clear and freezing.
3. Fine sleighing in the morning, but commencing to thaw in
the middle of the day—in the evening the sleighs were going
through the mud—wind NE.—at sunset clear and cold, wind SW.
4. A fine March morning; the winter wren, (moraciLua tro-
glodytes,) crested titmouse, (parus bicolor,) and black capped tit-
mouse, (PARuUS atricapillus,) are singing about the house as merry
as crickets. ‘The flowers are several inches under the snow yet
—wind NE., and freezing.
5. A fine thawing day. Wind SW.—Thermometer 54° at
3.P.M. During the morning the jay-birds, (corvus cristatus,)
kildeer plover, (cuaraprius vociferus,) and flicker, (ricus auratus,)
were observed—snow beginning to disappear.
6. Rained until noon—3 P. M. thermometer at 50°—in the
afternoon very foggy—blue-jays and large flocks of meadow
larks, (ALAUDA magza,) are flying about—wind SW.
7. Morning warm and drizzling—very foggy—blue-jays, win-
ter wrens, blue-birds, kildeers, crested titmouse, &c. about the
house. In the morning there was a shower of rain from the W.
with thunder in the distance. Lightning in the SSE.—wind
brisk from the SSW. :
8. A clear warm morning: about 10 A. M. wind changed to
NW.—weather colder—saw a flock of wild pigeons (conumBa
migratoria,) and cow-buntings. Began freezing about 5 P.M.
9. Ice this morning an inch in thickness. Clear and cool, wind
NW., moderate. In the middle of the day thawing in the sun—
crow blackbirds, (exacuua quiscala,) are seen about the house, |
very tame—freezing in the evening—wind WSW.
Diary of a Naturalist. 93
10: Fine moderate day—wind SW.—at 3 P. M. thermometer
44° in the shade. Robins are observed flying about. This morn-
ing commenced work in the garden.
11. Warm and hazy—8 A. M. thermometer 40°—wind ssw.
rather brisk—clouded at 11 o’clock with every appearance of
rain—evening foggy, wind N. and cool—large flocks of red-
winged black-birds, (srurnus predatorius,) passing to the north,
and large numbers of ducks in the Schuylkill. The snow has
not entirely disappeared, but I have observed the beautiful early
veronica in flower; (this lovely blue flower has puzzled
our botanists;) common mouse-ear chick-weed, (crRastTium vul-
gatum,) appears as if it had flowered all winter, as there are ripe
and half ripe seeds, and flowers on the same plant at present.
12. Warm and clear—wind SW.—thermometer at noon 47°.
13. Morning cloudy—thermometer 38°—at 10 A. M. cleared
up warm—wind SW., very strong.—Frost flower, (DRABA verna
vel EROPHILA vulgaris,) in bloom—wild geese, (anas canadensis,)
passing to the north—evening cloudy. 7
14. Fine spring morning—large flocks of red-winged black-
birds and crow black-birds flying toward the north—wind brisk
from NW.—thermometer at noon 48°.
15. Warm and clear, wind NW.—planted peas, potatoes, &c.
this day.
16. Cloudy and cool—wind NE.—thermometer in the morning
34°—at noon 40°—primroses, (pRIMULA vulgaris,) in flower in
the open border.
17. Rain, and strong NE. wind in the morning—SW. in the
afternoon—NW. in the evening. Rained all day—the pewits,
(muscicaPa nunciola,) have arrived.
18. Rain continues—wind SW.—about 10 A. M. shifted to
NW.—Filberts and hazlenuts, (coryxus,) in flower.
19. A fine lively morning—a little ice and frost—wind NE.—
thermometer at 10 A. M. 45°—3 P. M. 54°—wind NNW. Last
evening the spring frogs, (Rana flavi-viridis,) were heard for the
first time this season. In the evening a fine light breeze from —
the west.
20. Fine morning—wind SW.—thermometer at 9 o’clock A.M.
45°—at 3 P. M. 54°—evening 50°.— Flickers singing.
21. Drizzling in the morning—wind SW.—thermometer at 9,
3, and 5 o'clock, 53°, 60°, and 54°. Shad frogs, (rawa halecina,)
24 Diary of a Naturalist.
and leopard frogs, (Rawa palustris,) have made their appearance
——a pair of winter wrens are building their nest in one of the
green houses—song sparrows, (FRINGILLA melodia,) cheer us with
their music to-day.
22. Morning clear and warm—large flocks of wild geese flying
towards the NE.—11 A. M. distant thunder towards WSW.—
commenced raining at 4 P. Mi—cleared at sunset.
23. Last night experienced a heavy thunder storm, accom-
panied with heavy driving rain from WNW.—morning fine—
robins singing—wind NW.—afternoon blustering and cool.
24. A slight skim of ice this morning—weather clear and fine
—wind NE.
25. Fine day until evening—robins continue their song—com-
menced snowing toward evening—wind NE.
26. Rain—stormy wind from NE.—large flights of wild pigeons
flying toward the south—the whole township up in arms shooting
at them. .
27. A fine moderate day—wind SW. Henbit or archangel,
(Lamium amplexicaule,) in flower.
28. Morning clear, with a blustering wind from the NW.—
afternoon fine weather—thermometer at 3 P. M. 54°.
29. Warm and slightly hazy-—wind NE.——kingfisher (aucEpo
alcyon,) flying about—red owl, (stR1x asio,) hooting——blue-flowered
houstonia, (HousToNIA cerulea,) in flower.
30. Weather fine and warm—Claytonia Virginica, and speed-
well, (vERoNiIcA arvensis,) in flower.
31. Raining nearly all day—wind NE.—in the afternoon chang-
ed to NW. and cleared about sunset.
April 1. A fine day—wind SW.—apricots in bloom—peaches
nearly open—shad fishing has commenced in Schuylkill—-at 8
P. M. raining. |
2. Continued raining all day—martens, (HiRUNDO purpurea,)
have arrived from the south.
3. Weather fine and clear—wind SW.—Dutchman’s breeches,
(corypauis cucullaria, vel picLyTRA cucullaria,) in flower—pewits
beginning to build their nests.
4. Fine weather continues—wind SW. Colts-foot, (russttaco
ptasites,) witch hazle, (HAMMAMELIS virginica,) weeping willow,
(satix babylonica,) and cornelian cherry, (cornnus mascula,) in
flower.
Diary of a Naturalist. 25
5 & 6. Clear and warm—wind SW.
7. Clear and cool—wind N.—red-headed wood-peckers, (Picus
Alanis, are seen about the garden.
8. Clear and pleasant—wind SW.—apricots, peneben red
maple, (acer rubrum,) hazlenut, primroses, narcissus, jonquils,
&c. in flower.
9. Morning cloudy, with every appearance of rain—wind NE.
—clear at noon—ground ivy, (eLEcHoma hederacea,) and puccoon,
or Indian paint, (saneuinaria canadensis,) in flower
10. A NE. drizzling wind has continued all day.
11. A fine clear day—wind ESE. and S.—spice wood, (LAuRus
benzoin,) Lombardy poplar, (porunus dilatata,) and skunk cabbage
in flower—the little sparrows (rRinGILLA socialis,) are plenty
now.
12. Clear and warm—wind SW.
13. Fine weather continues—wind NE. Barn swallows, (at-
RUNDO americanus,)and purple martins are now plenty.
14. A cold, disagreeable day—wind NE.—afternoon showery.
15. The finest day we have enjoyed this spring—caLTHa
palustris, TRILLIUM sessile, TRILLIUM grandiflorum, JEFFERSONIA di-
phylla, ANDROMEDA calyculata, and service-tree, (PpyRUS botryapium,)
in flower.
16. Fine weather continues—wind NE.
17. Warm and pleasant—in the afternoon wind SW.
18. Warm and cloudy—wind NE.—at 10 A. M. cleared up.
19. Morning and part of the afternoon clear and fine—in the
evening cloudy, with the wind NW.
_ 20. Morning disagreeably cool, with white frost—afternoon
fine weather—hyacinths in full bloom.
21. Clear and warm—goldfinches, (rrineiuLa tristis,) have
arrived.
22. Fine weather continues—chimney birds (HiruNDo pelasgia,)
and house wren, (motacitia domestica,) have arrived—cow bunt-
ings are pairing.
23. Very warm—the plants suffer much from the prevailing
drought—wind SW.—red bud, (cErRcis canadensis,) and European
horse chestnut, (zscutus hippocastanum,) in flower—wood-robin,
(rurpus melodius,) chewink, or tohee-bunting, (HMBERIZA ery-
thropthalma,) and summer yellow-bird, (sytv1a citronella,) have
arrived.
ox, Lo
26 Diary of a Naturalist.
24. Clear and dry—wind SW. and W.
25. Very foggy and warm—wind E. and ENE. and variable.
26. A very acceptable rain which terminates the 11 days
drought. |
27. A smart frost last night—ice was formed from the con-
densed vapours of the green house—wind NW.
28. Clear and warm—wind SW.—cmrastium tenuifolium,
STELLARIA pubera, tulips, horse-chestnuts, magnolias, double-flow-
ering cherries, sweet scented shrubs, (catycantuus floridus,) and
lilac, (syrinea vulgaris,) in full bloom.
29. Morning cool and cloudy—afternoon fine and warm—wind
SW. Made a visit to New Jersey—observed the siLenE penn-
sylvanica, EUPHORBIA tpecacuanha, ARABIS lyrata, ANTIRRHINUM
canadense, HELONIAS latifolia, &c. in flower. The night-hawk,
(CAPRIMULGUS americanus,) was noticed.
30. Clear—pleasant SW. wind. The whole garden appears
animated with birds—orioles, sparrows, fly-catchers, warblers,
thrushes, humming birds, (rrocuitus colubris,) &c. are seen in
every direction.
May 1. Clear and fine—wind SW. The shad fishing recom-
menced this morning, having been suppressed since Monday,
April 26, on account of the freshet.—Birds as plenty as yester-
day—garden overrun with visiters.
2. Fine weather continues—wind SW.
8. Morning warm, with showers—afternoon steady rain—
wind SE. and NE.
4. Clear and warm—wind SW.—seeds of the white maple
(acER dasycarpum,) ripe and shedding.
5. Clear and warm-—-reed birds (eMBERIZA oryzevora, now
icTERUS agripennis,) have made their appearance—night-hawks
are observed flying about, and the whip-poor-will (caprimuneus -
vociferus,) was heard during the evening.
6. Fine and warm—removed the plants from the green house
to-day—sTELLARIA pubera, sPIREAS, and viBURNUMS in bloom.
7. Morning cool—slight frost—wind NW.
8. Clear and warm—wind SW.
9. Weather pleasant—wind NE. and SW.
10. Fine weather continues—yellow breasted chat, (carruLus
australis,) singing.
11. Warm and dry—wind SW.—night-hawks setting.
Diary of a Naturalist. 27
12. Morning cool--a few humming birds were shot to-day.
These birds are not so plenty this year, as they were last season.
13. Morning drizzling—wind NE. light—afternoon cloudy but
no rain.
_ 14. Light rain in the morning—afternoon clear.
15. Clear and warm——wind SW. ,
16. Clear and warm—rode up to the gulf mills, about 17 miles
NW. of Philadelphia, and observed some plants of ginseng, (PANAX
quinquefolia,) and Grrarpta guercifolia growing near the road.
Caught a rare species of scarabeus.
17. Morning foggy—remainder of the day clear and warm.
18—21. Warm and clear—southerly winds prevail.
22. Warm and clear—evening cloudy, with every appearance
of rain—wind SE. |
23. Cloudy—commenced raining at 2 P. M. and continued
until evening.
24. Clear and warm—occupied in preparing plants, rare
flowers, fruits, &&c. for the Horticultural exhibition, to be held by
the society in Philadelphia, on the 25th and 26th.
25. Cool and cloudy in the morning—wind NE. brisk.
26. Warm and clear.
27. Clear and warm—brought the plants home from the ex-
hibition uninjured.
28. Fine weather continues—the humming birds are building
their nests.
29. Very warm—wind SW.
30. Drizzling all day—wind ESE.
31. Clear and warm—wind SW.
June 1. Morning cloudy, and drizzling—the humming birds
have commenced incubation.
2 and 3. Clear and warm-—wind SW.
4. Rain—wind NE.
5. Clear and pleasant--a few of the periodical or 17 years
locust (cicaDa) singing.
6. Rain—wind NE.
7. Clear and warm.—Summer has commenced.
28 On Nomenclature.
ON NOMENCLATURE.
We are glad when French naturalists attack the false nom-
enclatures that spring up on this side the Atlantic. ‘This has
been done in the March number, for 1829, of the Bulletin des
Sciences Naturelles et de Geologie. No doubt they have had
some reason to amuse themselves at our expense; we are not
the less afraid on that account, of their giving us credit for some
sober views of Natural Science. With few exceptions, the
naturalists of this country appear decidedly opposed to conjec-
tural and fantastical speculations, and are averse to seeing
science trifled with, in any quarter whatever. But they cannot
shut their eyes to the innovations of some of the more conspicuous
- French writers. It is admitted that natural history is under the
deepest obligations to the labours and genius of Cuvier. Every
man in France, however, does not possess the sound judgment of
that great naturalist. Science is occasionally tricked out in that
quarter, with a frippery that disguises it.
The invention of the terms ophiolite, euphotide, phyllade, &c.
&c. as substitutes for serpentine, saussurite, slate, &c. d&c. is
likely to be a failure, as far as it concerns us on this side of the
Atlantic. We venture to predict as much for the extraordinary
nomenclature proposed in the article “'Theorie” in the 54th Vol.
of the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles: an article replete
with geological learning and acumen, but so endimanche, that
we are really ashamed to go into such company with hammers
and chissels about us. In this article, all geological phenomena
are divided into two periods. The Saturnian, comprehending
every thing that occurred before the last revolution, (???) and the
Jovian, comprehending what has occurred since. The superficial
soil, or deposits of diluvzum, as we have been in the habit of call-
ing them, we are now asked to call “ Terrains Clysmiens.” ‘The
upper fresh water, “ Terrains Epilymmiques.” 'The upper marine
“ Terrains Proteiques.” 'The London clay “ Terrains Tritoniens.”
The gravel beds of the plastic clay “ Terrains Clastiques.” ‘The
chalk “ Pelagique Cretacés.”
The old Saxon weald clay is to be again subdued by the Nor-
man French, and to be called “ Mons argile veldienne.” Kimmer-
idge clay is christened over again, and is called “marne argileuse
havrienne :” there being a handful of it at Havre, and a world of it
4
Adjudication of the Wollaston Medal. 29
in England, where it was first recognized and named. Then come
the “ Terrains Yzemiens Abyssiens,” the “ Pecilien,” the “ Psam-
mite,” the “ Hemilysiens,” the “ Agalysiens,” all of which are our
old friends in fancy ball-dresses; the Lias, the gypseus red sand-
stone, the old red, the transition limestone, and the primitive rocks.
The trap rocks are “ Terrains Typhoniens,” because the giant Ty-
phon is buried in the earth, and is constantly endeavouring to
heave up the crust!!! We give the following passage, as a spe-
cimen of this new geological language, and will endeavour to
translate it.
“1 will content myself then, with saying, that I will place in
the clastic groupe of the Tritonian Thalassic beds, the deposits com-
posed of rounded pebbles, which, by their superior position to the
cretaceous beds, cannot be placed in the clastic beds of the
pelagic deposits: and by their position below paleotherian tha-
lassic beds, cannot be associated with the gompholites of the
proterque groupe.” |
This is the solemn determination come to, in favour of some
puddingstone beds, below the London clay of Morlage and other
places. We know of nothing equal to it, out of Pinkerton’s
Petralogy ; where Sidereous, Diamictomic, Transilient, Hyponomes,
JMicronomes, and heaven knows what nomes beside, dance the
mazes.
We see where the shoe pinches. The English language,
especially in geological matters, is overshadowing the langue
universelle. Point de reméde! The English blood and tongue,
are doing wonders, physically and morally, all over the world.
What unborn millions have to succeed us here, when we shall all
be quietly stowed away in the Terrains Clysmiens! It animates us
to think what great things will be achieved here, when the love
and knowledge of nature will be diffused through this vast.
continent. G. W.F.
ADJUDICATION OF THE WOLLASTON MEDAL
TO WILLIAM SMITH.
WE were surprised to see in Dr. Brewster’s “ Edinburgh
Journal of Science,” for April 1831, some observations in article
XII. on the late adjudication of the Wollaston medal to William
Smith, which would dispose persons at a distance from England,
30 Adjudication of the Wollaston Medal.
to believe, not only that “ English science was in a degraded and
declining condition,” but that “the few rewards which genius —
can command, are not judiciously conferred.”
The late Dr. Wollaston left the Geological society £1000, and
directed the interest to be applied in “ promoting researches con-
cerning the mineral structure of the earth, or in rewarding those
by whom such researches might hereafter be made; or in such
manner as should appear to the council of the said society for
the time being, conducive to the interest of the society in par-
ticular, or the science of geology in general.” He also enjoined
the society “not to hoard the dividends parsimoniously, but to
expend them liberally, and, as far as might be, annually, in fur-
thering the objects of the trust.”
On the 18th of February, 1831, the first award of this valuable
and most honourable medal, was made to Mr. W. Smith, “in
consideration of his being a. great original discoverer in English
geology ; and especially for his having been the first in this country,
to discover and to teach the identification of strata, and to determine
their succession, by means of their embedded fossils.”
William Smith, a mineral surveyor by profession, drew up his
tabular view of the strata exhibited in the district of Bath, in
1790. Upon this he subsequently raised the great geological
truth of the regular succession of the formations. In 1815 his
geological map of England appeared. ‘This astonishing perform-
ance of an unassisted individual drew praises from all Europe.
D’Aubuisson said of him, “'That which the most distinguished
mineralogists have effected for a small portion of Germany, in
half a century, William Smith has undertaken and done for all
England.” What Newton did for our knowledge of the universe,
by announcing the law of gravity, William Smith has done for
our knowledge of the systematic structure of the crust of the
earth, by making us acquainted with the unerring language of
embedded fossils. ‘To one mind only, belongs the glory of opening
the eyes of mankind, to each of these great truths. That glory
is indivisible in its nature. No human being, whilst time and
civilization shall endure, can, from the nature of the case, ever
dispute Mr. Smith’s claims to this distinction. |
We put it to the candour of Dr. Brewster himself, a distin-
guished benefactor to science, whether, upon the first distribution
of Wollaston’s honour, it was not justly and nobly done by the _
pee |e
Adjudication of the Wollaston Medal. 3i
members of the Geological society, who owe so much to his
Jabours and genius, to draw Mr. Smith from his retirement, and
confer upon him, by common consent, what he could so justly
claim to receive; instead of practising the more calculating
policy of opening a door to it for themselves, by his exclusion.
Our private letters, from various friends present at the delivery of
- this medal, speak of the occasion as both impressive and affecting.
It was a tribute publicly paid, by some of the most enlightened
minds in Europe, to a pre-eminent leader in their science,
in his old age. ‘The act itself was, to us, a sufficient proof that
English science was not in “ a degraded and declining condition.”
Looking at the wonderful progress geology has of late years
made, and assigning their proper share of the merit of advancing
this most liberal and attractive pursuit, to the English geologists ;
we should be inclined to hold up the progress of science in Eng-
land to the admiration of the world.
We congratulate Mr. Smith most cordially upon the distinc-
tion conferred on him. Of a respectable, yet unpretending origin,
he has been raised by some generous minds, to the rank of a
prince of the order of nature. The thing has been well done. —
We know and honour the men who have done it, and many a
happy day have we geologized with the venerable and amiable
man they have delighted to honour.
In the admirable address of the Rev. Adam Sedgewick, presi-
dent of the geological society of London, on the delivery of the
Wollaston prize, after recapitulating the interesting history of
Mr. Smith’s discoveries, we find the following passage touching
the difficulty he found in attracting the public attention to his
labours. “ He suffered, as many men of genius have done before
him, in his peace and his fortune, from what, in our estimation,
constitutes his chief honour—from outstripping the men of his
own time in the progress of discovery.”
We also quote with pleasure, the following eloquent passages.
“J for one can speak with gratitude of the practical lessons I
have received from Mr. Smith: it was by tracking his footsteps,
with his maps in my hand, through Wiltshire and the neighbour-
ing counties, where he had trodden nearly thirty years before,
that I first learned the subdivisions of our oolite series, and
apprehended the meaning of those arbitrary and somewhat un-
couth terms, which we derive from him as our master, which
32 Adjudication of the Wollaston Medal.
have long become engrafted into the conventional language of
English geologists, and through their influence, in part, also
adopted by the naturalists of the continent.
“ After such a statement, gentlemen, I have a right to speak
boldly, and to demand your approbation of the council’s award.
I could almost dare to wish, that stern lover of truth, to whose
bounty we owe the “donation fund”—that dark eye, before the
glance of which all false pretensions withered, were once more
amongst us. And if it be denied us to hope, that a spirit like
that of Wollaston should often be embodied on the earth, I would
appeal to those intelligent men who form the strength and orna-
ment of this society, whether there was any place for doubt or
hesitation? Whether we were not compelled, by every motive
which the judgment can approve, and the heart can sanction, to
perform this act of filial duty, before we thought of the claims of
any other man, and to place our first honour on the brow of the
father of English geology.
“Tf, in the pride of our present strength, we were disposed to
_ forget our origin, our very speech would bewray us; for we use
the language which he taught us in the infancy of our science.
If we, by our united efforts, are chisseling the ornaments, and
slowly raising up the pinnacles of one of the temples of nature,
it was he that gave the plan, and laid the foundations, and erected
a portion of the solid walls, by the unassisted labour of his hands.
“The men who have led the way in useful discoveries, have
ever held the first place of honour in the estimation of all, who,
in aftertimes, have understood their works, or trodden in their
steps. It is upon this abiding principle that we have acted ; and
in awarding our first prize to Mr. Smith, we believe that we
have done honour to our own body, and are sanctioned by the
highest feelings which bind societies together.”
We now quote the following passage from article XIII. of the
Edinburgh Journal of Science, as furnishing the complete refuta-
tion of the general censure intended by it. “ When a philosopher,
however, carries on his inquiries by the sacrifice of a half, o1
even a third of his whole professional income, and when this loss
is increased by the purchase of expensive apparatus; the acqui-
sition of a pecuniary reward cannot be unwelcome, independent
of the honour with which it is accompanied. Upon this principle,
prizes should always be adjudged to the papa who really
deserves them, ” &e. de.
Earl of Bridgewater’s Bequest. 33
This is Mr. Smith’s case exactly; he has devoted the whole
of his fortune towards the illustration of the geology of his native
country: and this noble prize, founded by one of the ornaments
of our race, has been adjudged to him, because he, more than .
any man alive, really deserved it. F.
THE EARL OF BRIDGEWATER’S BEQUEST.
Tue unjust censure which has been lately passed upon the
Geological Society of London, for using the discretionary powers
vested in them, in awarding the first Wollaston Medal to Mr.
William Smith, will eventually lead to an inquiry into the man-
ner in which all similar trusts have been executed both in Eu-
rope and this country. We therefore present our readers with
the following very interesting statement. We ourselves consider
Mr. Davies Gilbert to have acted with great judgment upon this
occasion. Had he announced this splendid prize for the thousand
and one writers, ever ready to enter the field, and to cabal with
their friends for the preference, he would effectually have ex-
cluded the eminent persons he has appointed. They are not
men to devote their time to objects of uncertain attamment. At
present the world may be sure the important trust will be wor-
thily executed, being confided to individuals who have every mo-
tive that can urge men to distinguish themselves, comprehending
their own and their country’s reputation, and being well paid for
their labours. : EpiTor.
“Statement respecting the Legacy left by the late Earl of Bridgewater, for
rewarding the authors of works, to be published in pursuance of his Will,
and demonstrative of the Divine attributes, as manifested in the Creation.” By
Davies Gilbert, M. P. V. P. B.S.
TO THE EDITORS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE AND ANNALS.
Gentlemen,—The following short statement respecting the late
Earl of Bridgewater’s legacy of eight thousand pounds, and of the
final arrangements made in consequence of it, may possibly be
thought not unworthy of a place in your Journal.
The Rey. and Right Honourable Thomas Henry Egerton, Earl
of Bridgewater, died in the month of February, 1829, at Paris,
leaving his last will and testament, bearing date on the 25th Feb-
ruary, 1825, in which he desired and directed his trustees to lay
Vor. L—5
34 Earl of Bridgewater's Bequest.
out and invest in their own names, in some one of the public
stocks or funds of Great Britain, the sum of eight thousand pounds
sterling; the said sum, with all accruing dividends thereon, to be
held at the disposal of the President, for the time being, of the
Royal Society of London, to be transferred, paid, and applied,
according to the order and direction of the said President of the ©
Royal Society, in full, and without any diminution whatsoever,
in such proportions, and at such times, according to his direction
and judgment, and without being subject to any control or re-
sponsibility whatever, to such person or persons as the said Presi-
dent, for the time being, of the aforesaid Royal Society, should
or might nominate, or appoint, and employ. And he thereby de-
clared his will and particular request to be, that some person or
persons should be nominated and appointed by the said President,
to write, print, publish, and expose to public sale, one thousand
copies of a work on the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as
_ manifested in the Creation; illustrating such work by all reason-
able arguments; as, for instance, the variety and. formation of
God’s creatures in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ;
the effect of digestion, and thereby of conversion; the construc-
tion of the hand of man, and an infinite variety of other argu-
ments; as also, by discoveries, ancient and modern, in arts,
sciences, and the whole extent of literature. And he desired that
the profits arising from and out of the sale of the aforesaid work,
should be paid by the said President of the Royal Society, as of
right, as a further remuneration and reward, to such person or
persons as the said President of the Royal Society should so no-
minate, appoint, and employ; with a further power to advance
the sums of £300, and of £500, during the writing and printing
of the said work.
The testator appointed John Charles Clarmont, ‘Thomas Phil-
lips, and Eugene Auguste Barbier, Esquires, executors and trus-
tees of his will. And these gentlemen, on the 14th July, 1830,
invested the devised sum of £8000, in the purchase of 3 per cent.
consolidated Bank Annuities, which now stand in their names for
the above specified purposes.
The late President of the Royal Society having siebierLaaNed
from a noble Lord immediately connected with the deceased,
that his family were desirous of having the objects of the bequest
executed, proceeded as follows :-—
Earl of Bridgewater’s Bequest. | 85 |
He was fully aware of the duty imposed on him to select persons
amply qualified for discharging in an adequate manner the task
they would have to perform; and he was also impressed with the
conviction, that, however carefully a selection might be made,
several gentlemen must be omitted, possessing the requisite quali-
fications, equally, perhaps, with those who received the appoint-
ment.
For the purpose, therefore, of acquiring the most able assist-
ance, and placing the whole transaction above even the suspicion
of favouritism, or partiality, the late President was induced to re-
quest the aid of two individuals, as highly distinguished by their
abilities and by their learning, as by the eminent stations which
they hold in the hierarchy of this country, where able and in-
trepid champions have never been wanting to vindicate the na-
tural and moral attributes of the Divinity against the equally
dangerous attacks of infidelity, fanaticism, and imposture. :
The two distinguished prelates, the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Bishop of London, most readily condescended to afford
their assistance; and after much deliberation, and with the con-
currence of the noble Lord above alluded to, the work has been
placed in the hands of the following eight gentlemen.
The Rey. William Whewell, M. A. F. R. S. Fellow of Trinity
College, and Professor of Mineralogy in the University of Cam-
bridge.
The Rey. John Thomas Chalmers, Professor of Divinity at
Edinburgh.
John Kidd, Esq. M. D. F. R.S. Regius Professor of Medicine
in the University of Oxford.
The Rev. William Buckland, D. D. F. R. S. Canon of Christ
Church, and Professor of Geology in the University of Oxford.
Peter Mark Roget, Esq. M. D. Sec. R. S.
Charles Bell, Esq. F. R. 8. Surgeon.
The Rey. William Kirby, M. A. F. R. 8.
William Prout, M. D. F. R. S.
Each being pledged to take a part, as designated by re testa-
tor, most adapted to his acquirements and to his pursuits: and
thus it is confidently hoped and expected, that a work entrusted
to such individuals, will appear, as a whole, worthy of the age
and of the country about to give it birth.
36 Influence of Climate on the Fruitfulness of Plants.
INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON THE FRUITFULNESS OF PLANTS.
By a Correspondent. ,
Tue cultivated plants yield the greatest products near the
northernmost limit in which they will grow. .
I have been forcibly impressed with this fact, from observing
the productions of the various plants, which are cultivated for
food and clothing in the United States. The following instances
will go far to establish the principle, viz:
The cotton, which is a tropical plant, yields the best staple, and )
surest product, in the temperate latitudes. The southern parts
of the United States have taken the cotton market from the East
and West Indies, both as regards quantity and quality. This is
partly owing to the prevalence of insects within the tropics, but
principally to the forcing nature of a vertical sun. Such a de-
gree of heat developes the plant too rapidly—runs it into wood
and foliage, which become injuriously luxuriant ; the consequence
is, there are but few seed pods, and these covered with a thin
harsh coat of wool. The cotton wool, like the fur of animals, is,
perhaps, designed for protection; and will be thick and fine in
proportion as the climate is warm or cool. Another reason is to
be found in the providence of the Deity, who aims to preserve
races rather than individuals, and multiplies the seeds and eyes
of plants, exactly as there is danger of their being destroyed by
the severity of the climate, or other causes. When, therefore,
the cares and labours of man counteract the destructive tendency
of the climate, and guarantee their preservation, they are, of
course, more available and abundant.
The lint plants, flax, hemp, &c. are cultivated through a great
extent of latitude; but their bark, in the southern climates, is
harsh and brittle. A warm climate forces these plants so rapidly
into maturity, that the lint does not acquire either consistency or
tenacity. We must go far north in Europe, even to the Baltic, to
find these plants in perfection, and their products very merchant-
able. Ireland is rather an exception as to latitude; but the in-
fluence of the sun is so effectually counteracted there by moisture,
and exposure to the sea air, that it is always cool: hence, the
flax and potatoe arrive at such perfection in that region.
It holds equally true in the farinaceous plants. Rice is a tro-
pical plant; yet Carolina and Georgia grow the finest in the
world; heavier grained, better filled, and more merchantable,
Influence of Climate on the Fruitfulness of Plants. 87
than any imported into Europe from the Indies. The inhabitants
_ of the East Indies derive their subsistence almost exclusively from
rice; they must be supposed, therefore, to cultivate it with all
skill and care, and the best contrivances for irrigation. Such is,
' however, the forcing nature of their climate, that the plant
grows too rapidly, and dries away before the grain be properly
filled. Indian corn, or maize, if not a tropical plant, was origi- -
_ nally found near the tropics; and although it now occupies a wide
range, it produces the heaviest crops near the northern limit of
its range. In the West Indies it rises 30 feet in height ; but with
all that gigantic size, it produces only a few grains on the bot-
tom of a spungy cob, and is counted on only as rough proven-
der. In the southern part of the United States, it reaches a
height of 15 feet, and will produce 30 bushels to the acre; in the
rich lands of Kentucky and the middle states it produces 50 or 60°
bushels to the acre; but in New York and New England, agri-
cultural societies have actually awarded premiums for 150 bushels
to the acre, collected from stalks only seven feet high. The heats
of a southern sun develope the juices of this plant too quickly.
They run into culm and blade, to the neglect of the seed, and
dry away before fructification becomes complete.
-Wheat is a more certain crop in New York, the northern part
of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and in the Baltic regions of Europe,
than in the south either of Europe or America. In the north,
snows accumulate, and not only protect it from the winter colds,
but from the weavil, Hessian fly, and other insects that invade
it; and in the spring it is not forced too rapidly into head, with-
out time to mature fully, and concoct its farina.
A cold climate also aids the manufecturing of flour, preserving
it from’ acidity, and enables us to keep it long, either for a good
market, or to meet scarcities and emergencies. Oats grow in
almost every country ; but it is in northern regions only, or very
moist or elevated tracts, that they fill with farina suitable for
human sustenance. Rye, barley, buckwheat, millet, and other
culmiferous plants, might be adduced to illustrate the above prin-
ciple ; for all their habits require a more northern latitude than
is necessary to their mere growth.
The grasses are proverbially in perfection only in northern and
cool regions, although they will grow every where. It isin the ~
north alone that we raise animals from meadows, and are enabled -
38 Influence of Climate on the Fruitfulness of Plants.
to keep them fat, and in good condition, from hay and grass alone,
without grain. It is there the grasses acquire a succulence, and
consistency enough, not only to mature animals, but to make the
richest butter and cheese, that contribute so much to the tables
of the luxurious. The grasses which do, often, in the south, grow
large enough, are without richness and nutriment; in hay, they
have no substance; and when green, are too washy to fatten ani-
mals; the consequence is, most animals in those latitudes browse
from necessity, and are poor, and without size or beauty. It is
the same hot sun which forces them to a rapid fructification, be-
fore they have had time to concoct their juices. ‘The sugar cane
produces, perhaps, better where it never seeds, than in the tro-
pics; for the juices will never ripen so as to granulate, until
checked by frost or fructification. In the tropics, the cane grows
twenty months before the juices ripen; and then the culm has
contracted a woody, fibrous quality, to such a degree as to resist
the pressure of the mills, and yields but little juice, and that tc
an increased effort. In Louisiana we succeed well with the sugay
culture ; because, whilst the culm is succulent and tender, a white
frost checks the growth, ripens the juices, and in five months
gives us a culm, tender, full of juice, easy to press, and yielding
much grain of sugar. When Louisiana, therefore, acquires all
the necessary skill, she will most probably grow this article
cheaper than the West Indies.
Tobacco is a southern plant, but there it is always light and
chaffy; and although often well-flavoured, it never gains that
strong narcotic quality, (which is its only peculiar property,) un-
less you grow it as far north as Virginia. In the south, the heat
unfolds its bud or gem too soon, forces into full expansion the leaf,
and drives it to seed before the narcotic quality can be properly
elaborated. We may assert a general rule applicable to all an-
nual plants, that neither the root, nor the leaf, acquires any fur-
ther size or substance after fructification.
The tuberose, bulbous, and other roots, cultivated for human
and animal subsistence, are similarly affected by climate, and
manifest habits in corroboration of the above principle. The
Irish potatoe, although from or near the tropics, will not come to
perfection but in northern or cool countries, or in moist, insular
situations, as Ireland. It is in such climates alone, that its roots
acquire a farinaceous consistence, and have size, flavour, and
Influence of Climate on the Fruitfutness of Plants. 39
nutriment enough to support, in the eminent way in which they-
are susceptible, animal life’ In the south, a forcing sun brings
the potatoe to fructification before the roots have had time to
‘attain their proper size, or ripen into the proper qualities for
nourishment. In Ireland the plant grows slow, through a long
and cool season, giving time for its juices to be elaborated, and
properly digested; hence that fine farina and flavour which cha-
racterizes them. ‘The sweet potatoe produces larger, better fla-
voured, and more numerous roots in Carolina, where it never
flowers, than in the West Indies. In the latter place this plant
runs wild, covers the whole face of the earth with its vines, and
is so taken up in making foliage, that the root becomes neglected,
and is small and woody.—In order to have the onion in per-
fection, it must grow through two years, swelling all the time its
bulbs. In the south, however, it seeds in one year, and before it
has made much bulb. Beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, radishes,
and other roots, are equally affected by a hot sun, and scarcely
worth cultivating far to the south. They all fructify before they
have formed perfect roots, and make foliage at the expense of
their bulbs; hence they will always be articles of commerce;
the south will have to depend upon the north for them.
The sallad plants are in like manner affected by climate, and
give further proofs of our assumption. Cabbages, lettuces, endive,
cellery, spinage, plants whose leaves only are eat, to protect
their germs from cold, (through a kind of instinct,) wrap them up
in leaves, which form heads, and render many of their other parts
tender and crisp for-use. These leaves, thus protected, are not
only tender, but more nutritious, because their growth has been
slow, and their juices well digested. In the south, a relaxing sun
lays open the very buds of such plants, gives a toughness and
thinness to the leaves, and they are too unsubstantial for animal
support, because of such quick and rapid developement.
{ The delicious and pulpy fruits are, in a still more striking way,
illustrative of our principle. The peach, nectarine, plumb, ap-
ple, cherry, currant, gooseberry, apricot, and many other such
families, are not in perfection in the south. It is in Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Maryland, Jersey, and in the north of Europe, that we
enjoy them, although, originally, they came from places near the
tropics. ‘The peach of the Carolinas is full of larvae, gum, and
knots, and too stringy and forced to be juicy and flavoured. The
40 Influence of Climate on the Fruitfulness of Plants.
apple of the south is too acerb to be either eaten or preserved.
The plumbs, apricots, cherries, currants, gooseberries, &c. will
not even mature until we go far north. All the trees which
bear these delicious fruits will grow luxuriantly in the south,
make much foliage and wood, with but little pulp, and that un-
savory. ‘The kernel in the one-seeded fruit, seems to be the first
object of nature in southern climes: that becomes strong, oily, and
enlarged; and one of the peach family has so entirely neglected
the pulp, that it has only a husky matter around the kernel, as
the almond. The changeableness of the weather in the south,
in the spring season, throws plants off their guard; the frosts at-
tendant on those changes, destroy the young fruit; and it is only
one year in three that the crop hits at all. The desiccated or
dried state of these fruits enables us to enjoy them through the
year; but in the south their acidity carries them into fermenta-
-tion or decomposition before they can be divested of their aque-
ous parts. ‘The climate of the south is equally against convert-
ing them into cider, or any other fermented liquor, because the
heat forces their compressed juice so rapidly mto an active fer-
mentation, that it cannot easily be checked until it passes into
vinegar. For the same reason distillation goes on badly in hot
climates, and cannot be checked long enough at the proper point
to give much alcohol; and whether we aim to enjoy the delicious
freshness of these fruits themselves, sip the nectarin of their juices,
refresh ourselves with their fermented beverage, stimulate our
hearts with their brandies and cordials, or feast through the win-
ter upon the dried or preserved stores of their fruits, we are con-
tinually baulked by the severity of a southern climate; and for
such enjoyment must look to the north. s
The melons are always affected by too great a degree of heat,
even though their vines flourish so much in southern latitudes.
The forcing sun hurries them on to maturity before they have
attained much size, or acquired that rich saccharine and aroma-
tic flavour for which they are so much esteemed. The cante-
lope melon will rot, or have its sides baked by a hot sun, before
it is fully formed; and the water-melon is always woody, dry, and
devoid of its peculiar sweetness and richness in the south. Vines
have been known to run 100 feet, and bear no melon. It is in
Philadelphia, and its neighbourhood, and in similar latitudes, that
the markets are loaded with delicious melons of all sorts, whose
Influence of Climate on the Fruitfulness of Plants. 41
flavour so much refresh and delight us. It is there, near their
northern limit, that we cultivate them with such uniform success.
The orange, strictly a tropical plant, is more juicy, large, and
delicious, at St. Augustine, (Florida,) than at Havana; and fruit-
erers, in order to recommend an orange, will say that it is from
some place out of the tropics. In the West Indies, the pulp of
the orange is spungy, badly filled with juice, and has too much
of a forced flavour to be pleasant. The hot-house forcers of
Europe, or at Rome, anciently at first produced bad fruit; too
‘dry, too small, and without flavour; because they overacted.
They have lately found out that fact, and now the productions
of the hot houses of London, Paris, &c. astonish and delight us
with the quantity and excellence of the fruit. _ They have found
out that gradual and uniform heat is the desideratum; counter-
vailing the cold, rather than imparting much heat. Fruit thus
produced, is pronounced better than any grown in the natural
way, however perfect the climate. a
The juices of the grape are best matured for wine near the
northern limit of their growth. On the Rhine, in Hungary, the
sides of the Alps, and in other elevated or northern situations, the
_ wine is strongest, richest, and most esteemed. The French wines
_ rank before the Spanish and Italian; and in no southern country
of Europe or Africa, except Madeira, where elevation makes the
difference, is the wine in much repute. The grapes of France
are more delicious for the table than those of Spain or Madeira.
In the southern part of the United States, the excess of heat and
moisture blights the grape to such an extent, that all attempts
have failed in its cultivation. The grape vine, however, whether
wild or cultivated, grows there very luxuriantly. ‘The vinous
fermentation can also be best conducted in a climate compara-
tively cool; and all the pressing, fermenting, and distillation of
the juice of this delicate fruit, can be safer and more profitably
managed in a mild region.
The olive, and other oleaginous plants, yield more fruit, of a
richer flavour, and can be better pressed, and the oil preserved,
ina mild climate. In France the tree is healthier, and the fruit .
and oil better than in Spain or Italy; and the Barbary States
are known to import their oil from France and Italy.
Many other plants might be named, whose habits would
equally support our position. It is presumed, however, that
Vou. —6
42 Scientific Memoranda.
enough have been cited to call the attention of philosophy to this
curious subject, and enable us to give proper attention to it, in
all the practical operations of agricultural pursuit. Much time
and expense might be saved, and profits realized, if this were
more generally understood.
We have already observed, that the heat of the sun in southern
climes forces plants to a false maturity, runs them on too rapidly
to fructification, and renders dry and woody the culms, stalks, and
leaves of the plants, where these parts are used. Hence the
chaftiness of the leaf, the dryness of the culm, the lightness of the
grain, and the unsavory spungy quality of the pulp of the plants
in those latitudes. Hence the difficulty of fermenting their juices,
distilling their essences, and preserving for use the fruit, juice, or
blades of such plants. The prevalence of insects is another bar
to the productiveness of southern plants: swarms of them invade
and strip the leaves, bore the fruit, and lead to blight and de-
composition; and just in proportion as the labours of man have
rendered plants succulent, and their fruits and seeds sweet and
pleasant, do these insects multiply on them, devour their crops,
and defeat the objects of husbandry.
The labour of man too is more conservative in northern cli-
mates, because his arm is better nerved for exercise, his health
and spirits more buoyant; and instead of saying, “ go and work,”
he says, “come and work;” treads with a cheerful heart upon
his own soil, and assists in the cultivation, collection, and pre-
servation of his own productions. It is in temperate climates that
man can be most familiar with nature; it is there he has the best
opportunities of observing the guarantees which nature has for
the preservation of her animals and plants against the devasta-
tion of the elements; he sees an occasional apparent neglect of
individuals, but a constant parental care of races. In every
thing he sees the wisdom and benevolence of God. W.
SCIENTIFIC MEMORANDA.
We are indebted to our friends of the Lyceum of natural
history at New York, for the following report. We announce
for our next number a general paper on the osteological remains
of extinct animals found at Big Bone lick, in which the bones
Baie weg e
oI eins SE ea
Scientific Memoranda. 43
noticed in this report will be examined in detail. The able friend
to whose pen the scientific public will be indebted on this occa-
sion, is a perfect master of the subject, and has personally exam-
ined that remarkable Kentucky deposit. Eprror.
Report of Messrs. Cooper, J. A. Smith, and Dekay, to the Lyceum of Natural
History, on a collection of fossil bones disinterred at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky,
in September, 1830, and recently brought to this city, (New York.)—Read
May 30, 1831.
The Committee beg leave respectfully to report, that these
bones, having been landed only within a very few days, sufficient
time has not been afforded them, for the accurate determination
of every imperfect, or mutilated fragment. ‘The greater part,
however, belonging to well known animals, were immediately re-
cognized, and it is not believed that anything of much importance
will be hereafter observed. They therefore submit, this evening,
a general account of this collection, reserving, for a future occa-
sion, such further particulars as may be deemed of sufficient
interest.
The remains of the great Mastodon compose more than one
half the entire quantity of which this collection consists. Among
them is a head, which, though not entire, is in better preserva-
tion than any of this animal heretofore discovered. It enables
us to form a better idea of the figure of this important part, than
could hitherto be obtained. It is found to have the cranium
much depressed, in which it deviates remarkably from the
elephant. Both the tusks are preserved, one having been found
still in the socket, and the other lying at a short distance off.
Of other large tusks, there are besides, five that measure from
six and a half to twelve feet in length, and pire more large
fragments of others.
Six portions of upper jaws, all containing teeth.
Fifteen portions of lower jaws, twelve of which contain from
one to three grinders each.
Besides these, there are seventy-three detached molar teeth
of all sizes, some of them as large as any yet discovered.
Of the large bones of the anterior extremity, there are
five scapule, seven humeri, three ulnz, and one radius, more or
less perfect.
Of the posterior extremity, six ossa innominata, ten femora,
44 Mr. Cooper’s Denial.
and five tibiz. Some of these are almost entire; others are much
mutilated.
It is necessary to observe, that although these large bones, as
well as the detached tusks, have all been provisionally referred
to the Mastodon, yet it is not improbable that on a further com-
parison, a part may be found to belong to the fossil elephant.
The mutilated condition of some, renders it extremely difficult to
pronounce with certainty upon a slight examination.
The remains of the fossil elephant comprised in this collection,
are next in interest and number, to those of the mastodon.
The first that we shall notice, is the head of a young individual,
more complete than-any known to your committee to have been,
as yet, obtained in North America. It consists of the upper and
lower maxillary bones, with six molar teeth in good preserva-
tion. Isolated grinders of the elephant have been discovered in
the United States in numerous instances, but generally without
any portion of bone adhering to them. ‘There are also of the
elephant in this collection, several other large fragments of jaws,
and twenty separate molar teeth.
Of the horse, there are perfect teeth, and other portions, found
under circumstances that favour the belief of their being of equal
antiquity with the extinct animals whose remains are associated
with them in the collection. The teeth are remarkably large
and sound.
Of ruminating animals, there are skulls and other parts of the |
Buffalo, Bos Americanus ; of the extinct species named by Dr.
Harlan, Bos bombifrons ; and of a large species of Cervus, resem-
bling C. alces.
Finally, we have also discovered among these interesting relics,
some considerable portions of the megalonyx, whose osteology is
still so imperfectly known. The most important of these is a
right lower maxillary bone, with four teeth in the socket, and
another detached ‘tooth which appears to have come from the
upper jaw. ‘There is also a tibia of the right leg, and perhaps
some other bones which may prove to belong to the same animal.
Mr. Cooper’s Denial.—Mr. Cooper has requested us to state,
that he never expressed the opinion attributed to him in the
American Journal of Science and Arts, for April, 1831, respect-
—-
Megalonyx Laqueatus. 45
ing a fossil supposed by Mr. Eaton to be a petrified crolalus. On
the contrary, he told Mr. E., that he thought it a plant, and in
writing to Dr. Torrey shortly after, mentioned that it was a
plant of the family Lycopo diacez. It never entered into his mind
to refer it to Arundo, which belongs toa very different tribe of plants.
_. This public denial has been rendered necessary by the follow-
ing passage of Silliman’s Journal, at page 173, in the number
above alluded to.
“One of our most accurate deaoiets to the study of recent
organic relics, William Cooper, Esq. of the New York Lyceum,
has examined it. He is in doubt, but is inclined to believe it an
arundo, or some plant of that family. Eprtor.”
Megalonyx Laqueatus—Dr. Harlan read a paper, March 8,
1831, before the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia,
descriptive of the fossil bones of a new species of the megalonyx,
discovered in White cave, Kentucky.
The bones of the megalonyx Jeffersonei, were discovered in
1796, buried two or three feet beneath the surface of a cave in
Green Briar county, Virginia. Those of the megalonyx la-
queatus, now described, were found on the surface of the floor of
White cave. They consist of two claws of the fore feet; a
radius, humerus, scapula, one rib, and several fragments; the
oscalcis, tibia, a portion of the femur; four dorsal, and one lum-
bar vertebra ; a portion of a molar tooth, from the fluted appear-
ance of which the specific appellation, (laqueatus,) is derived.
Dr. Harlan has illustrated his paper with three lithographic en-
gravings.
On the same evening, Dr. Harlan read a paper descriptive of
an extinct species of fossil vegetable of the family Fucoides. This
paper, with a lithographic engraving, is published with the pre-
ceding one in the Transactions of the Academy of Natural
Sciences of Philadelphia. ‘The fossil appears to have been im-
bedded in the millstone-grit formation: is singularly beautiful,
and has been named by Dr. Harlan, “ Fucoides Alleghaniensis.”
Biennial Election of President of the Geological Society of Lon-
don.—At a meeting held at the Society’s Rooms, Somerset
house, on the 18th February, 1831, Roderick Impey Murchison,
46 Death of Captain Foster.
Esq. F. R.S., &&c. &c. &e., was elected President for the next
two years, in the place of the Rev. Adam Sedgewick, whose
term of office expired on this day.
Death of Capt. Foster, of the Chanticleer—We had the pleasure
of knowing this distinguished navigator, and can feel the extent
of the loss science has sustaimed by his premature death. He
was one of those untiring and judicious minds appointed to ac-
company Sir Edward Parry in his adventurous expeditions into
the Arctic Circle; and, had he lived, would have ranked as one
of the most distinguished individuals of this very scientific age.
At the close of the year 1827, the Royal Society’s Copley
Medal was awarded to him for his observations at Port Bowen.
In presenting the medal, the President expressed a hope, that so
distinguished a mark of the approbation of the Royal Society
_might induce the government to bring forward a man of such
bright promise as Lieut. Foster. On the very same evening he re-
ceived a letter from the Admiralty, with his brevet, appointing him
commander of the Chanticleer, with instructions to explore the
high southern latitudes, and with liberty to sail round the world,
without restraint as to time. He had been out about three years
at the time of his death. This event will occasion a great sensa-
tion amongst his numerous friends, who were looking for his re-
turn with much anxiety.
The accessions to physical knowledge, that the scientific world
will owe to the energy and genius of this lamented commander,
will be perused with a melancholy interest by all who had the
satisfaction of knowing him. Eprror.
From the Literary Gazette, April 1831.
“Jt is with much regret we learn, by letters received on
Thursday, the untimely fate of Capt. Foster, of his majesty’s ship
Chanticleer, who had been employed the last three years on a
scientific expedition, in various parts of the globe, and was about
to return to this country. Capt. F. had left his ship for the pur-
pose of making a series of rocket observations on the Isthmus of
Panama, and on his return down a small and shallow river in a
canoe, he is said to have fallen overboard, and to have been
drowned. But strong suspicions exist for believing, that this young,
gifted and meritorous officer was most treacherously murdered.”
> te oes
Bone Caves in New Holland.—New Publications. 47
Bone Caves in New Holland.—An interesting discovery has been
made of osseous breccia and caves, about 210 miles west from
Sydney. Major Mitchell, Surveyor General of New South
Wales, has transmitted specimens and drawings of them to the
Geological Society of London. The caves are in a limestone
formation, in Wellington Valley, and the bones were discovered
in an inferior chamber of one of the caves. ‘The breccia is found
in the fissures of the limestone, consisting of bones imbedded in an
ochreous cement. A few of the bones belong to the dasyurus,
the rest to the kangaroo, wombat, koala, phalangista. All the
bones, with the exception of one, which appears to belong to some
large marine quadruped, are of the present races of animals found
in New Holland.
From a consideration of all the circumstances connected with
this discovery, the following conclusions present themselves :—
Ist. ‘That the caves are of that class first brought into notice
by the Rev. Dr. Buckland.
2. That the osseous breccias of Gibraltar, Antibes, Nice, Na-
ples, Dalmatia, the island of Cerigo, &c. containing the remains of
animals of the same kind, are probably of the same age, and an
effect of the same cause, with the breccias of New Holland.
3. That this unexpected agreement strengthens the diluvial
theory consequent upon elevation from below, and is opposed to
that which attempts to account for the modification of the earth’s
surface by local causes.
4. That the present order of nature in New Holland, is of a
great antiquity, and perhaps coeval with the insular position of
the territory. Eprror.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
WE take this opportunity of stating the conduct we shall observe respecting new
publications. Any blandishments laid in our way to procure praise for works which
do not deserve it, will be thrown away upon us, as we shall never insert puffs of any
kind. ‘Tobe upon the most friendly terms with Booksellers, is our interest, as well
as our inclination; but it is to the public at large we look for efficient patronage, and
we are bound by every consideration to deal intelligently and fairly with it. On the
other hand, we shall be most happy, upon all occasions, to notice in a favourable
manner, works connected with the Study of Nature, which we have good reason to
believe are of sterling value; and in announcing the following, which are about to
appear, we cannot but express our satisfaction at such manifest evidences of the in-
creasing demand for works on the Natural Sciences. EDITOR.
IN THE PRESS.
Tue Animat Kinepom, arranged in conformity with its organization: by Baron
Cuvier, perpetual secretary to the Royal Academy of Sciences, &c. &c. &c. The
Crustacea, ARACHNIDES, and Insecta, by P. A. Latreille, Member of the Royal
Academy of Sciences, &c. &c. &c. Translated from the French, with notes and
additions, by H. M’Murtrie, M. D. &c. &c. In four volumes 8vo., with plates.
New York. G. & C. & H. Carville. :
Dr. M’Murtrie’s translation of this great work is upon the eve of being published.
We intend, in a future number, after its publication, to speak of its great merits, to
48 Notices of Publications.
which, having seen the book, we now bearawilling testimony. Thetranslator has given
evidence, in this work, to the American public, that he possesses the requisite qualifi-
cations of a scholar and a naturalist. It is printed by James Kay, jun. & Co. in their
usual beautiful manner.
NEW PERIODICAL.
Dr. Troost, and Mr. Le Sueur, now residing at Nashville, Tennessee, are about
fo commence the publication of a periodical work, in which they intend to describe
the natural productions of that state. ‘They propose to describe its Geology and
Mineralogy, and particularly its fossil organic remains; also its animals of various
classes, accompanied with coloured engravings. ‘The known qualifications of these
gentlemen, encourage us to look for very interesting contributions to natural science.
AMERICAN EDITIONS OF ENGLISH WORKS.
IN THE PRESS.
“A PRELIMINARY DIscoURSE ON THE Stupy oF Natura Puiosopny, by J. F.
W. Herschell, Esq. A.M. late Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge,” &c. &c. &c.
Carey and Lea.
We can most truly say of this work, that it is one of the noblest productions of the
human mind. On rising from the perusal of it, the first thought is always to read it
over again ; not because it is not comprehended, but because of the dignity, the beau-
ty, and the vast extent of knowledge, which the gifted author has imbued it with.
If ever there was a work capable of teaching men how to think correctly, it is this
highly philosophical production.
The “ Journau or 4 Natura.ist,” is also about to appear from the press of Carey
and Lea. In this pleasing work the author has been true throughout to his attractive
motto Bi a Plants, trees, and stones, we note;
Birds, insects, beasts, and rural things.”
Messrs. Carvilles, of New York, have in the press “ Lindley’s New Elementary
Work on the Natural Orders of Plants, with notes and additions by Professor Torrey.
Wethink this work will be popular here; we know of no book that can supply its
place with those who are desirous of obtaining a knowledge of the philosophy of
plants. Dr. Torrey’s name is a guarantee for science and fair dealing; we therefore
do not doubt that his notes and additions will add to the intrinsic value of the publi-
cation. Hitherto empirical note makers have too often been successful in bringing
important British productions into discredit here; and we know of an instance where
a celebrated English writer, cordially attached to this country, has been, by such
means, taught to dread the republication of his works in the United States, where he
was particularly solicitous to appear to advantage. We intend to keep an eye on
these parasitical scribblers, and 1f any conspicuous individual of that genus shall in
future come within the length of our Caduceus, we shall certainly give him a rap
on the knowledge-box that will “ make the empty dome resound.”
“ ORNITHOLOGICAL BioGRapHy; or an Account of the Habits of the Birds of the
United States.” By J. J. Audubon, F. R. S. E. & L. &c.—one vol. royal 8vo.
This book is a worthy companion to Mr, Audubon’s great work, the “Birds of
America,” which Cuvier has pronounced to be “‘the most magnificent monument
which has until now been raised to Ornithology.”
We shall give our readers an extract from it in our next number.
A work on Baths and Mineral Waters, by John Bell, M. D., will soon be pub-
lished at the office of the Journal of Health. It will be the object of the author to
exhibit clearly and succinctly the benefits to be derived, in the preservation of health
and the cure of disease, from the use of cold, warm, sea, and vapour baths; and to
indicate the circumstances under which the use of each, respectively, would be preju-
dicial. In the second part of the work, the author will introduce all the material
facts and experience, as far as they can be collected, respecting the most noted Mineral
Springs of the United States; and compare them with those of a similar nature in
Europe. The precautions in respect to the diet and exercise to be adopted by
invalids who have recourse to bathing and drinking mineral waters, will be laid down
with suitable precision— The work will form about 300 pages duodecimo.
From the known talents of the author, and the attention he has paid to the sub-
jects embraced in this work, we have every reason to believe it will be one of standard
merit. |
ea
. from Childs éTninans Press,
|
wv
ee
ee ee
SEAN TA EE SITE I 9 A ME NE
AE)
MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vor. I. Puitape pHa, Avcust, 1831. No. 2.
AN EPITOME OF THE PROGRESS OF NATURAL SCIENCE.*
Ir, on opening the great subject to which we are about to
draw the attention of our readers, we begin with periods scarce-
ly within the historical records of our race, it is not with a view
to enter upon any controverted points in the history of mankind,
but in order to revive some recollections of the progress of the
human mind, that our readers may pursue with us, in a more
satisfactory manner, the history of the progress of natural science,
and more especially of Geology. 7
Geological information, is very important to the study of the
antiquity of human society ; for opinions, which to a certain ex-
tent have been established, would by many be considered vague
and transitory, did not geology by its own monuments, which may
claim to be called indestructible, give substance to the traditions
of our earliest periods, and confirm the great event from which
they spring, and which we even find recorded in a volume, which
has been consecrated by the veneration of so many generations.
The exaggerated accounts of the great antiquity of the Chi-
nese and Egyptians, which at one time were put forth with so
much confidence, and which were so much at variance with
chronology, have been reduced to insignificance, by the penetra-
tion and assiduity of minds more learned and faithful than those
which preceded them. The zodiacs, painted on the walls of the
’ * It will not be expected that this rapid and imperfect sketch should contain
references to authorities. It would look pedantic to refer to ancient authorities,
when so many popular modern works are at hand, to enable the reader either to
pursue the events of these ancient periods more in detail, or to verify them. The
writer has mainly adopted the reasonings of Cuvier, and in many instances has
made them the basis of his paper.
Vor. 1.—7 | | 49
\
50 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science,
temples of Egypt, and which, it was asserted, contained proofs
of a refined cultivation of astronomical science by the Egyptians,
at periods that mock our chronologies, have been stripped of
their romance. The most authentic notices we have of the ex-
istence of astronomical knowledge, do not date beyond the eighth
century before Christ. ‘The occultation of the heavenly bodies,
we may of course expect to find recorded to some extent, by an-
cient nations sufficiently advanced in civilization, to have invent-
ed the means of transmitting the memory of great events. The
geographical situation of some of those nations was favourable
to the introduction of astronomical observation, and some secular
periods had been ascertained with sufficient precision, to have in
some manner justified the inferences which have been drawn, of
a supposed high state of astronomical knowledge. But in those
early stages of society, this could have been accomplished only
by miraculous interference, for the appropriate means of mea-
suring time and space, were not alone wanting; the applica-
tion of terrestrial mechanics to celestial motions, by such means,
was equally essential. A vicious and hypothetical system of
celestial dynamics, independent of physical laws, had, until the
period of Pythagoras, limited the astronomical knowledge of the
ancients, to observations unconnected with philosophical theory :
and indeed, it was not until the time of Bacon, that the real
foundations of natural science were laid. He first taught man-
kind how to trace nature through all her laws, in order to use —
our knowledge of her power, for the highest purposes.
We shall now proceed to speak of four great nations, of whose
existence we have historical proof fifteen hundred years before
Christ. The Indians, the Chinese, the Babylonians, and the
Egyptians. The Chinese, in whose favour such extravagant pre-
tensions were set up, appear to possess no authentic observation
of a greater antiquity, than an eclipse observed in the eighth
century before Christ. Neither does any astronomical observa-
tion nfade by the Chaldeans at Babylon, date farther back.
Thus, although we have satisfactory evidences that those people
existed as powerful and independent nations, seven hundred
years before the date of these astronomical records, yet we can-
not safely date the origin of science, before the eighth century
preceding the christian era. Having thus reduced within rea-
sonable bounds, the period of the first dawning of astronomy, the
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. oe
most obvious of the sciences, we naturally inquire how far that
period is consistent with the most ancient historical notices of the
origin of society. And here we observe a remarkable agreement
in the records of two of those nations. The Hebrew text in Gen-
esis, according to the most received chronology, giving 2349
years B. C., as the period of a great deluge which almost extir-
pated every living thing from the face of the earth, and the
Chinese records assigning the period of 2384 years B.C., to the
same event. It was about that period Confucius, their philosopher,
represents their first king Yao, as occupied in draining the wa-
ters which had ascended to the tops of the mountains. So that
if we consider this as the last period when the earth submitted —
to the mastery of the waters, we find a period of about fifteen
hundred years, to assign to the renovation of the human race,
before man became sufficiently civilized to note the occultation
of the heavenly bodies. It is to be remarked, that the earliest
notices we have of the great nations that have been mentioned,
represent them as settled on extensive plains of great fertility,
capable of affording them abundant subsistence, and intersected,
as they were, by navigable streams, of exchanging their com-
modities with distant settlements, and thus laying a foundation
for commercial habits. Such has at all times been the discrimi-
nating providence of man; congregating upon the fertile alluvial
soils of the great drainages of the country, and rejecting his sur-
plus population, upon the less productive lands of greater eleva-
tion. The Indians were thus settled on the rich plains of the
Ganges; the Babylonians on the Delta of the Euphrates; the
Egyptians along the banks of the Nile. But the elevated sandy
plains, to the flanks of which these alluvial soils extended, were
the homes of an unquiet pastoral people, whose continual irrup-
tions were fatal to the arts of peace. We find the early history
of China agitated by the invasions of the Tartar hordes ; that of
India by the Mongols; of Babylonia by the Assyrians, and of
Egypt by the people of the Shepherd Kings, from whose do-
minion she was redeemed by Sesostris. When we remember how
effectually science and literature were oppressed, by the irrup-
tion of the same barbarous nations into Europe, towards the close
of the Roman empire, we can imagine how fatal the effects of
similar movements must have been, upon the first dawnings of
social improvement. We find here a sufficient cause for the
52 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
protracted advancement of science, the influence of which will
be still more apparent, when we come to observe how steadily the
light of natural knowledge burnt, when it was removed beyond
the current of these adverse circumstances. Strong as was this
current, and unfriendly to historical accuracy, we still find the
antiquity of society asserted, in various records of a remarkable
character ; suchas the sacred books of the Hebrews; the Vedas,
or sacred books of the.Brahmins; the U King, or five books of the
Chinese; and the Institutes of Menu, the sacred volume of the
Hindoos. ‘The Indians have not, properly speaking, any histori-
cal book. The Vedas contain an exposition of the religious
philosophy of the Brahmins, written in the Sanscrit tongue, now
a dead language. It appears to have been the policy of the
Brahminical caste, to have kept back the knowledge of histori-
cal truths, and to have substituted in their place, metaphysical
speculations. In all times, the people of India seem to have sub-
mitted to that caste, as the sole depository of all knowledge,
sacred and profane. It was so in the most ancient times, and
their religion, laws, and customs, are at this day, such as Alex-
ander of Macedon found them.* Their mythology, their meta-
physics, they imparted to other nations, but the Indians never
had an advanced astronomy, nor a regular geometry.
In estimating the relative antiquity of the nations we have
spoken of, there are four circumstances worthy of attention.
1. The remarkable agreement between all the known written
languages, and the Sanscrit.
2. The great height of the Himmaleh mountains, the loftiest
on the face of the earth. Javaher in Thibet, rises to an elevation
of 25,745 feet, which is 500 feet more than Sorata, in the An-
des of Quito. Mr. Gerard found the Tartars living on the table
lands between the peaks of the Himmaleh, with their horses,
dogs, and domestic animals, at a height of near 16,000 feet.
Herds of yaks and goats browse in the still more elevated ac-
clivities, where theorists have supposed eternal snows to reign,
the limit of which was found not to be under 20,000 feet. A
legitimate inference to be drawn from these facts, is, that the
human family might have found a safe refuge here, whee the
plains of Babylon and Egypt were under water. .
3. The tenderness among those ancient people, of animal life,
* 324 years B.C. °
« \
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 53
and aversion to dead bodies, even to skins of animals, at this day:
as though their ancestors had known a period, when the very
scarcity of animal life, had made it impious in their eyes to de-
stroy it. ;
4. ‘The evidence we have that the religion of Egypt was de-
rived from Ethiopia, or upper Nubia; and that civilization
originally came into Nubia, from India.
The fanciful cosmogonies which are found in many of those
ancient records, appear to have sprung from the theologico-meta-
physical studies, common to those ancient people. In all of
them we find a surprising coincidence, as to the occurrence of a
great deluge. In the institutes of Menu, which date, according
to Sir William Jones, about nine hundred years B. C., the ac-
count of the creation of the world by an omnipotent being, is
made—in a passage bearing a close resemblance to the analogous
passage in Genesis—to occupy a period of six days; but the con-
struction given to the word day, makes it equivalent to a period
of several thousand years. ‘These coincidences show, that the
human mind, in those distant ages, and in regions so far apart,
by thus cherishing the memory of traditions with scarce a differ-
_ ence of character, has done much to give to them the weight of
historical truths; and the geological phenomena, which coincide
so remarkably with those traditions, sustain the assertion we
have before made, that geological knowledge is important to the
satisfactory study of the antiquity of human society. We are far
from seeking to reconcile the Mosaic and Hindoo narrations of
creation, by considering the days as so many secular, instead of
solar periods; the Hindoo construction is to be rejected as irra-
tional to the judgment of common sense: for whether men choose
to consider the sabbatical institution, as ordained for sanctifica-
tion, or for relaxation from labour, it has one general character in
our scriptures, about which we cannot dispute: it is a seventh
part of the whole period, and the notion of praying or preaching,
or abstaining from all kinds of labour, for a period equal to several
thousand years, is an absurd hypothesis. To rest from labour
one natural day in seven, is a convenient custom, grateful to the
physical condition of man, and sanctioned by all civilized nations.
In relation to the Egyptians, the great antiquity which was
once attributed to them, is no longer admitted. The long list of
their kings, which Eusebius, the bishop of Cesarea, has preserved
54 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
in the fragments of Manetho and. Berosus, and by means of
which it was endeavoured to strike the roots of their history so
deep into time, has been reconciled to our established chronolo-
gies. Instead of succeeding each other regularly, as it was pre-
tended they had done, it appears that Egypt was divided, as
England was in the time of the heptarchy, into independent
states, and that the series was a contemporaneous one. ‘The
sacred books of Hermes, together with all the Egyptian books,
are lost, and all that we know of the science and history of the
Egyptians, is from the Greeks: for as the Egyptians had drawn
their knowledge from India, through Ethiopia; so, the Greeks,
to whom Europe and America owe so much, derived their
knowledge from Egypt. It appears, however, that their sacred
books, which were carried in procession before the priests, treat-
ed of almost every subject they were acquainted with, except
their history. In this they resembled the Indians, as well as in
the exclusive appropriation, by the priesthood, of all learning,
sacred and profane.
In one very important particular, however, the Egyptians dif-
fered from .the Indians, and this difference was favourable to
science. The Ethiopians, from whom the Egyptians derived
their religion, whilst they retained the impression the ancient
Indian colonies had made upon them, had incorporated with this
higher stage of civilization, their ancient usages, such as were
peculiar to the hunter state, and which yet distinguish the In-
dian tribes on this continent. In what precise manner the respect
paid to animals, originated in Ethiopia, we know not; nor whether
their tribes were named, or not, after particular animals ; but it
does appear that the Egyptian priests attached a particular
animal to each divinity. ‘Thus the crocodile was consecrated to
Saturn; the cow to Ibis; the hawk to Osiris; the dog to Anubis
&c. The veneration paid to their deities, was extended to the
animals associated with them, and which were brought up in
the temples in which the deities were worshipped. Many of
the emblems of their religion were borrowed from the animal
kingdom: with such favourable opportunities of observing the
external forms and the habits of animals, a foundation for natural
history was insensibly laid. A further obligation appears too, to ~
have devolved upon them, that of embalming these animals
when they died; and as it was equally the custom to embalm
—————
Emtome of the Progress of Nutural Science. 55
human bodies after death, opportunities of observing the internal
structure of animals and men, were constantly afforded. A foun-
dation was thus laid for comparative anatomy, the which, al-
though it never arose to a science in Egypt, must still, as an art,
have been highly advanced; since the Greeks resorted to that coun-
try to study anatomy, and Galen himself went thither, for the ex-
press purpose of examining a human skeleton, imitated in bronze.*
Herodotus, when he travelled in Egypt, was told by the
Egyptian priests, that the Delta, of which lower Egypt is formed,
was the gift of the Nile. ‘That river on its annual retreat, de-
posits a layer of mud; and it results from a geological calculation
made upon these principles, that 2000 years before our era,
lower Egypt was not in existence. The pyramids themselves,
by Manetho’s account, were constructed after Sesostris had de-
livered the country from the dominion of the Shepherd kings;
neither did they exist at the time of the Exodus, as we have a
right to suppose, since they are not mentioned in the scriptures.
As the pyramids were anterior to the columnar architecture of
the Egyptians, we have thus evidence, coinciding with the geo-
logical proofs, of the low origin of the Delta of Egypt, as well as
of the comparative antiquity of the Egyptian nation.
During the dominion of the Shepherd kings, which lasted about
two hundred years, the progress of science was necessarily re-
tarded, as the priesthood was overthrown. Subsequent to the
re-establishment of the public liberties, by Sesostris, there was a
second invasion of the country by the Medes and Persians, under
Cambyses, about six hundred years before Christ; but in despite
of adverse circumstances, the prosperity of the Egyptians con-
tinued to increase, together with their progress in the arts. The
annual inundations of the Nile, introduced not only surveying, to
distinguish private property, but the digging of canals, which
. eventually led to a knowledge of hydraulics. The erection of
their obelisks on the alluvial formations, shows that their ac-
quaintance with mechanics was very extensive; and the relievos
and intaglios upon these monuments, and the precious stones
worked by them, evince a perfection in the art of stone cutting,
which has never been surpassed. Hence we infer a knowledge
of the art of tempering metals. Specimens of bronze and gold
have been found in their tombs, sometimes representing with
* 445 years B.C. nN
56 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
great fidelity the animals they were familiar with. Their forms
too, are reproduced in a very perfect manner, both in their
sculpture and paintings. More than fifty species of animals are
represented with such truth, as to be immediately recognized by
naturalists. In one painting, representing people fishing, more
than twenty species of fish, peculiar to that country, are depict-
ed with similar fidelity. Of their physical and metaphysical
theories, enough remains to convince us, that they were a most
ingenious and philosophical people. One fiction of their mytholo-
gy was raised upon the analogy nature presents, in producing
“organized animals from the egg. ‘This planet was supposed by
them to be a mundane egg, brought into life by a metaphysical
principle, after the manner of incubation. They believed also
in the successive destruction and renovation of the world, and if
we are to believe, as we reasonably may, that the Pythagorean
doctrines, as we find them sketched in Ovid’s metamorphoses,
were derived from Egypt, the Egyptians may claim to be con-
sidered as having laid the foundation of some of the most impor-
tant geological truths, which have been worked out in our own
times. In enouncing the following truths, Pythagoras is made,
by Ovid, to speak in his own person.
“ Nothing perishes in this world; things merely vary and
change their form. sk aie
“Sea has been changed into land; marine shells lie far distant
from the deep.
“ Valleys have been excavated by running water, and Hoods
have carried the ruins of hills into the sea.
‘Islands have become connected with the main land, by the
growth of Deltas, as Pharos to Egypt.
“ Peninsulas have been divided from the main land, and have be-
come islands; according to tradition, Sicily has thus been separated.
“Plains have been upheaved into hills, by the confined air
seeking vent, as at Troezen, in the Peloponessus.
“ The temperature of some springs varies at different periods
“'The waters of others are inflammable.
« Volcanic vents shift their position; there was a time when
Etna was not a burning mountain, and the time will come when
it will cease to burn: whether it be, that some caverns become
closed up, by the movements of the earth, and others opened, or
whether the fuel is exhausted.”
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. - 57.
From the enumeration of these high attainments of the Egyp-
tians, which, it appears from history, were peculiar to that peo-
ple, we may reasonably expect, that all the vestiges of philosophy,
which we find in the early history of barbarous nations, were
derived from Egypt. We shall see how true this is, in relation
to the Greeks, when we come to consider the period of their
connection with Egypt. But we must first advert to the cosmogony
of the Jewish people, preserved in so remarkable a manner, in
* the book of Genesis: a venerable monument of ancient opinions,
where the highest propositions of natural philosophy, are occa-
sionally treated in a manner surprisingly consistent with the
present received opinions of the order of nature. In conducting
our readers along the historical chain of these ancient periods,
they will be struck with the proper and natural order, assigned
to the details of that cosmogony. It is there stated, that after
the surface of the earth was prepared, and exposed to the in-
fluence of light and heat, aquatic animals were first created,
next plants, then terrestrial animals, and last of all, man, with
dominion over them all. This order of succession is consistent
with reason, and must have been narrated by a superior mind.
Had this cosmogony been an idle invention, like some of the fan-
ciful creations in the Vedas and Puranas, it is probable the order
would have had a less natural character, and perhaps the inven-
tor would have created the animals before their food. But here
we see things luminously narrated after the true order of nature,
and consistent with the most refined discoveries of geology. We
must, however, remember, that Moses, to whom these ancient
books of the Hebrews are attributed,* had been brought up by
the Egyptian priests, and had been probably instructed by them
in their arts, and their most recondite philosophy : he appears to
have been in every sense fitted for the high station Providence
had allotted to him, when he was constituted the deliverer, and
the lawgiver of his nation.
About fifteen centuries before our era, the disturbances in
Egypt caused various emigrations. Cecrops carried the mysteries
of Isis, or Ceres, into Greece, and about sixty years later, Cadmus
brought over from Phcenicia, the oriental alphabet, which was
* It will not escape the philologist, that the Hebrew words “ Ish,” a man, and
“Isha,” a woman, are contained in the names of the Egyptian deities, Osiris
and Isis.
Vor. 1—8 |
58 Tour to the Caves in Virginia.
adopted . the Greeks, and of which the letters of the Roman
alphabet, and our own, are imitations. Previous to these emi-
grations, science, which had originated during the Africo-asiatic
period of society we have briefly glanced at, had not been able
to advance beyond the sacred circle, which the priesthood had
drawn around it: the Brahminical and Kgyptian priests, were
alike the sole depositaries of all knowledge, sacred and profane.
This circle being now broken through, the human mind, released
from its trammels, soon entered upon the philosophical period of
the early stages of society, as contra-distinguished from the sacer-
dotal ae which had preceded it.
( To be continued).
TOUR TO THE CAVES IN VIRGINIA.
In a letter from Dr. Richard Harlan to the Editor.
Washington, May 28, 1831.
My pear Sir,—In answer to your request, to have some de-
tails of our tour through part of the state of Virginia, | think |
can do no better than send you a copy of my Journal; assured
that you will make full allowance for the imadvertencies oc-
casioned by the rapidity of our progress, and the very limited
time at our disposal. |
I left this city, with a friend, on the 17th inst.; the bridge
across the Potomac having been destroyed by ice during the -
winter, we were obliged to cross at Georgetown in a flat boat,
and arrived at Fairfax court-house at 9 P. M. on a dark night,
and over a very bad road. The principal hotel here, had re-
cently been destroyed by fire ; we succeeded, however, in getting
tolerable lodgings. I was awoke during the night by the Capri-
mulgus Vociferus, (Whip-poor-will,) which perched for some
time in the vicinity of my window. Thus far, this bird has ap-
peared to us, more common in Virginia and Maryland, than in
Pennsylvania : but the notes of the partridge we have not once
heard; they appear all to have perished during the severe snow
storm of last winter.*
* We are afraid this will be found to have been very generally the case. Our fa-
vourite retreat, Brandywine springs, in Delaware, was last year the paradise of
partridges ; they were abundant, and having been but little disturbed, were very
confiding. But we have neneuel sad accounts, this season, from the farmers, of
their skeletons being found under the fences.—[ Editor.
Tour to the Caves in Virgima. 59
Wednesday 18th. Started early, and arrived at Warrington,
Fauquier County, to dinner. Dr. W. of this village, presented us
with several interesting specimens of minerals and rocks, also a
fossil molar tooth of an elephant, found in this vicinity. Warrington
is situated on an elevated plain, from whence the views are very
beautiful. Nothing could be more kind than our reception here.
Thursday 19th. Left Warrington at day-break,—roads moun-
tainous, and in Pennsylvania would be considered very bad. It
* gave us pain to see so many listless, idle persons, passing their
days about the taverns. Men playing at marbles like boys, and
exceedingly prone to cursing and swearing. In Pennsylvania,
we are not happy without some useful occupation, and our peo-
ple know how to help themselves. Here the climate, and the sad
burden of negro slavery, which oppresses the white man still
more, have made him dependant upon others; and if a gate is to
be opened, or the slightest thing to be raised from the ground,
Sambo, or Governor, or Major, or Colonel, or some pseudo digni-
tary of the African stock, is called from his work to do it.
In approaching the Blue mountains, the hills appear to be
composed of the following strata; at least we crossed them in the
following succession, our route lying in a direction south of west.
1. A red sandstone: our course lay for many miles parallel to
this stratum ; in these parts of Virginia, it constitutes the surface
rock, the disintegration of which generally forms the common
soil of the country, and gives the red appearance to the newly
ploughed lands. The soil bears good grain and clover. 2. Talc-
ose rock. 3. Greenstone. 4. Slate. 5. Decomposed greenstone, or
red earth, as it is called. It is of a brick-dust colour, covered
with loose fragments of quartz, and is apparently the same
earth in which the gold is found in Carolina and Georgia. This
extreme point of the gold region displays itself here on the main
road, in the vicinity of a blacksmith’s shop, ten miles north of Cul-
pepper court house, about twenty miles in a parallel line from
the goid region of Spotsylvania. It rained during the short time
we could dedicate to this locality, in which some slight traces of
the metal were observed. We dug through several feet of this hill,
and beneath the loose quartz, we observed several veins of decom-
posed micacious rock, alternating with veins of quartz, both dip-
ping at an angle of about 65°.. The mica, in these glittering sands,
is thought to be gold dust, by a great many of the country people.
60 Tour to the Caves in Virginia.
The specimens we obtained in our researches, demonstrate
that the gold region here resembles in every important particular,
equivalent formations, both in S. America, and in Russia, on the
east side of the Ural mountains. ‘The true mineral structure of
_our gold formations, I first learned at the geological lectures you
delivered in Philadelphia, this last spring.
Much rain fell, and we were exposed to a hurricane, accom-
panied with thunder, lightning, hail, and rain. ‘The mountain
torrents on these occasions, swell the streams, and soon render
the fords impracticable. ‘The country people not being accus-
tomed to rely upon bridges, are careless in the directions they
give to travellers, and fatal accidents frequently happen. We
were upon one occasion of this kind benighted, and compelled to
take refuge in the house of a respectable widow, but she receiy-
ed us cheerfully, and entertained us after the best manner she
was able. Most of the slaves were poorly clad, whom we noticed
in the fields; some females were ploughing and oe ; they
looked’ squalid, and unhappy.
Friday 20. Arrived early in the morning at Orange court-
house, where we breakfasted. We deviated a little from our
route, in order to pay a visit to Mr. Madison, at his seat, Mont-
pelier. On presenting a letter of introduction from General P.
we were received with true Virginian hospitality, and with a
cordiality that charmed us. The farm of Montpelier is under
excellent cultivation, and repair. ‘The clover and maize crops
are thriving, but the wheat fields, like most of those we have
seen, have suffered from the fly. The mansion-house is in a fine
position, on an extensive and elevated plain, almost mountain-
locked. The distant views are very grand. The venerable
patriot, dressed in the garb of by-gone days, was an object of
great interest to us; his conversation was that of a very high
bred man, dignified and easy, and appearing to seek information,
rather than to convey it. The slaves here wore a very different
aspect, from those we had before seen. Pursuing our journey,
we arrived at Charlottesville, at 74 P. M., after a fatiguing day’s
journey of forty-five miles, over bad roads. After tea, we walked
about a mile to the university, to pay our respects to some friends ;
here we met with a very pleasant society, consisting a Diag of
the families of the professors.
Saturday, 21. Charlottesville is rather a superior place. | It
Tour to the Caves in Virginia. 61
contains good buildings, and its society is refined. Every where
we found hospitality. Desiring to make a short excursion on horse-
back, we discovered that all the Rosinantes were engaged by
the students. Our wants, however, were no sooner known than .
supplied, by the polite and voluntary offers of private gentlemen.
Immediately after breakfast we set out on a visit to Monticello,
the seat of the late Mr. Jefferson, which is built on the summit
of a high mountain, distant from Charlottesville about one mile;
but in following the directions of the various windings, to gradu-
ate the ascent, it is about three miles; two mountains nearly
join each other, the right hand one is called Carter’s moun-
tain, that on the left is MonricrELto; when about two thirds
up the mountain, we dismounted in the woods, at the family
grave yard, enclosed by an ill-built stone wall, where lies, in
obscure repose, the neglected remains of the patriot and philoso-
pher; there are also the graves of several of the family. The
whole scenery around this lonely spot, presents a gloomy and a
melancholy aspect. We were informed that Mr. Jefferson re-
quested on his death bed, (or left a note to that effect,) that all
appearance of pageantry, and useless ceremony and display,
should be scrupulously dispensed with, on the occasion of his fu-
neral. He further requested, that no other memorial should be
erected to his memory, than a plain, granite column, with a
simple inscription, signifying his having been the author of the
declaration of independence—founder of the Virginia University,
&c. It appears to most strangers who visit this spot, the most
unpardonable neglect, that this last request should not have been
immediately attended to. We were informed at Charlottesville,
that the mechanics in the vicinity, had offered to complete the
work gratuitously, but as yet nothing has been effected, not-
withstanding five years have elapsed since the death of Mr. J.
The whole establishment of Monticello is rapidly verging toward
ruin, and this splendid building, which originally cost, as we
were informed, upwards of 50,000 dollars, has actually been of-
fered for sale, together with 1,100 acres of land, for the trifling sum
of $11,000. In the hall there still stands a column of verdantique,
surmounted by a marble bust of Mr. Jefferson by Ceracchi.
From the summit of this isolated eminence, the views are in-
imitably grand and imposing ; the village to the north-west ap-
pears at the very foot of the mountain, and the university, which
62 ‘our to the Caves in Vi urginia.
lies about one mile further west, is also plainly distinguishable ;
the views in these directions are then closed by the Blue moun-
tains, forming a pleasing back ground to the picture: towards
the east and south, the horizon is extended to an immense distance,
and the eye is at length tired with tracing the faint outlines of
the tops of receding hills and mountains. ‘Towards the south, in
Bedford county, Va., are observable two pyramids, at least
eighty miles distant ; they are known as “ Otter’s Peaks.”
On our return to Charlottesville, we again visited the univer-
sity. ‘The numerous buildings attached to it, are constructed of
different orders of architecture, which, whilst they serve as
useful specimens of the arts, give variety and interest to the
scene. The library, situated in the Rotunda, is constructed on
a large scale, and already contains many very rare and valuable
works, in the various departments of literature and science, prin-
cipally selected by Mr. Jefferson. ‘The cabinet contains but few
objects in Natural History of much interest, with the exception
of a finely preserved head of the Argali, or “ Bic-Horn,” from
the Rocky mountains, brought by Lewis and Clark; also some
bones of the Mastodon. The lower jaws of two of these have
the remains of the inferior tusks, which characterize several
species of this genus; they are precisely similar to those describ-
ed from an individual skull in possession of Mr. Peale of N. York,
and which has been erroneously supposed to have belonged to a
distinct genus of extinct fossil quadrupeds. __
At 4 P. M. we took leave of our kind friends, and pursued
our way to Wyer’s Cave, by the road to Port Republic, and slept
the same night at Coxe’s, a good tavern sixteen miles from Char-
lottesville, close to the Blue mountain.
Sunday, 22. Recommenced our journey at 7 A. M. and soon
reached the base of the Blue mountains, at Rock-fish Gap, and
gained the summit on foot, hammer in hand. The eastern slope
of this mountain at the above named Gap, developes the follow-
ing rocks. Red sandstone ; green-stone; old red sandstone ; slate
rock; and granite ; some of these rocks run into each other, and
occasion many peculiar varieties.
A fine clear view of the Alleghany mountains, is presented
from the summit of this ridge. We arrived at Wanesborough
at 10 A.M. ‘This place is situated on the south branch of the
Shenandoah, at the head of navigation, three miles distant from
Tour to the Caves in Virginia. 63
the Caves—it was settled by soldiers of the revolution, who re-
ceived the farms as bounty lands.
Monday, 23. After an early repast, we proceeded to Wyer’s
Cave, situate on the south branch of the Shenandoah, approach-
ed by a road of difficult access; there is an iron forge a little
below, and a tavern within eight hundred yards of the spot, kept
by Mr. Bryant, who rents the farm on which the caves are
found. ‘The three slaves whom we had hired at Port Deposit,
had preceded us, and awaited us at the entrance of the caves,
furnished with tools for digging; the principal object of our visit
being to ascertain if the caves contained fossil bones. The fre-
quent descriptions I had read of this cave, had prepared me on
the present occasion, to experience disappointment. The en-
trance is difficult of access, and dirty—the floors are constantly
interrupted by precipitous risings and depressions, and by large
broken masses of the limestone in which the caves occur. In
some of the chambers, the floors are loaded with wet tenacious
clay, and the stalactites are for the most part discoloured by the
water which percolates the rock from the red sandstone above.
We made the slaves dig in two places in the lowest part of
two chambers the most likely to contain fossils. The floor is for
the most part destitute of stalagmite, but abounds in many places
with loose fragments; occasionally, indeed, with large rocks fall-
en from above. In the first chamber, which is sunk considerably
beneath the adjacent rooms, the labourers dug five feet deep, at
first through a clay soil, which became moister below, intermix-
ed with numerous fragments of stalactite; they did not reach
the bottom rock here. The next digging occurred at the extreme
end of the first left branch of the cave, and after excavating
three feet deep, they came to solid rock. We now ascended lad-
ders, and crawled and scrambled through several chambers, most
of which presented such a monotonous aspect, that we grew fa-
tigued, and proposed to our guide to return. The original or
natural entrance, consists of a mere fissure in the rock, of a size
only sufficient for the passage of a fox; a circumstance which
diminishes the chance of finding fossil bones. It was to Mr.
Wyers following a ground-hog (Arctomys Monax) to a hole in this
hill, that the discovery of the cave was owing, in February 1806.
The disturbed and confused appearance of the interior of the
cave, as well as of the huge masses of mountain rock which are
64 Tour to the Caves in Virginia.
found on the surface, can only be accounted for, by supposing
powerful subterranean disturbances. On our return we visited
Mapison’s cave, about two hundred yards nearer the hotel. Un-
like the other, this cave has no artificial door at its entrance, to
prevent the ingress of strangers; the “old cave” as it is now
called, being considered as beneath notice, since the discovery of
the new one. The entrance of both is more than one hundred
feet above the level of the river; the ascent to either is very
precipitous. The entrance to Madison’s cave is capacious, the
surface of the floor is less rugged, and is also, for the most part,
destitute of stalagmite ; salt petre has been obtained from the
earth taken from the floor of this cave. From the appearance
of things we thought that the occurrence of fossil bones in this
locality not improbable, and we set our labourers to digging in
two of the lowest positions of the two first chambers. In the
deepest room, the floor consists of clay—then at three feet depth,
of red earth, or decomposed red sandstone, one foot in thickness,
which lies on the original floor of the cave, resembling a com-
pact red sandstone. Whilst the digging was going on, we follow-
ed our guide along a narrow high gallery, by a continuous descent
of some hundred feet, until further progress was interrupted by
a body of crystal water, which is said to be of immeasurable
depth, and beyond which no one has yet explored; some terri-
ble tale of silent suction existing in this water, has become preva-
lent in this neighbourhood, and effectually paralizes the efforts
of the exploring Homo troglodytes.
Our researches continued actively for five hours, when we re
turned to the hotel, fatigued, covered with mud, and disappoint-
ed in our expectations of obtaining fossil relics. We dined at 2
P. M. and immediately continued our journey, and after a ride
of fourteen miles arrived at Harrisonburg, via Port Republic,
over a road indescribably bad. The weather has been so cool
since our arrival in these mountainous regions, especially subse-
quent to the thunder storm, which we encountered north of
Charlottesville, that fires are kindled at all the hotels at which. we
halt, and cloaks are an agreeable appendage during the day.
Contrary to theory, the season is less advanced on the south-west
limestone region of these mountains, or what is known as the
great valley of Virginia, than it is on the more northern exposure ;
the leaves on many of the trees have been destroyed by the frost —
Tour to the Caves in Virginta. 65
of the 12th inst. At Harrisonburg, formerly called Rocktown,
there resides a French family, emigrants from Strasburg, on the
Rhine, who settled here three years ago, with the intention of
cultivating the grape vine. ‘Their vineyard has been totally
destroyed the present season, by the recent severe frost, just at
the moment they expected to reap the fruits of their labours.
The sudden vicissitudes of temperature to which this elevated
situation, as we are informed, is constantly liable, will at all
times render it unfriendly to the cultivation of the vine.
We left this village at half past 7 A. M., and after a ride of
ten miles, arrived at the “ Big spring,” which should rather be
called a river, so large is the body of water which rises suddenly
from the foot of a limestone hill, and continues in a stream of
some yards in breadth, and half a foot deep, with force sufficient
to turn two large mills immediately below: this stream of water
is exceeamgly cool, and does not contain any fish; it is artesian,
or ever flowing, and is always very pure, excepting, as a Dutch
girl informed me, “just before it was going to rain,” when, she
said, it became turbid. It has only ceased to flow once, in the
memory of the’ oldest settlers, when it remained dry three days,
to the great terror of the farmers who hold mill seats immediate-
ly on it.
This stream is situate on the main valley route, Rockingham
county, about five miles west of the Massonetto mountain, which
ridge is parallel to the Blue mountains, and nearly fifty miles
long. Continuing our route, three miles from the “ Big spring,”
ona line with the mountain, we halted to dine at an inn, kept
by Mr. T. K. Fuller, an emigrant from the State of New York,
who says he has resided in Virginia nine years, and detests the sla-
very system, seeing that the Dunkards who reside in this vicinity,
and who abjure slavery, possess farms in every respect superior
to those of their neighbours. Mr. F. possesses a taste for natural
curiosities, and has his bar room filled with what, in your geo-
logical lectures, you styled “ n. x’s.’ Mr. Fuller appeared con-
cerned, to think that people will have it that he knows something
of the science of mineralogy, of chemistry, &c. &c. but he fre-
quently repeated, “it is all a mistake ; itis all natural.”
We left this station, after having made an arrangement with
Mr. F. for exchange of N. K’s, on our return to Philadelphia—
he possessed some fine specimens of Ammonites, and a Trilobite,
Vor. 1.—9
66 Tour to the Caves in Virgima.
from the Massonetto ridge, in the vicinity, which, under the
names of “ fossil toad, and fossil snake,” he hugged to his bosom
with parental fondness ; no reasonable sum would induce him to
part with them; he at length consented to exchange them
for “ sea-shells, corals, &c. or any queer thing that comes from
the great ocean.” Having passed through New-Market, and
crossed the north branch of the Shenandoah, at 7 P. M. halted
for the night at Pitman’s. We have travelled the whole day
over roads cut or worn through limestone, uncovered by soil, and
in the worst condition; the limestone is quite black, of the varie-
ty called Hydraulic, from the water cement which is made of it.
This formation continues nearly the whole length of the Masso-
netto ridge, and has evidently been subjected to violent disturbing
powers from below, and subsequently, water worn on its surface :
the strata are occasionally a foot or two thick, and dip towards
the mountain, SE. to the NE., at an angle of 45°; at other times
the strata emerge vertically—again they appear in large irregular
masses, sometimes almost comminuted, and frequently resem-
bling slate so strikingly, as to be mistaken for it until more close- .
ly inspected, hammer in hand. In one place they form a narrow
pass, over which the public road lies, and which is known here
by the name of “the narrows :” it is about twenty feet wide,
and displays a perpendicular precipice on each side, nearly eighty
feet high, with a small river on either side, unconnected at this
place. This “ narrow passage’ is four miles south of Woodstock,
ten miles north of Mount Jackson. On the great valley road,
there is another remarkable display of this curious hydraulic
limestone rock ; this is a denuded hill, through part. of which the
public road passes ; on the very summit of which there is yet a
small sprinkle of red diluvium—but all the slope is naked, and the
faces of the projecting strata are water-worn and smooth. The
roots of pine trees, which once occupied this slope, are still seen
wedged in the crevices of the rock; this denudation was oc-
casioned, as the neighbours assured us, “by the bursting of a
cloud,” whose awful consequences they witnessed, to their great
loss and terror.
I could refer their account to no natural phenomenon, unless
it be to the bursting of a water spout. The disturbed strata of
this limestone, are here well contrasted with it in its natural
state. Arrived at Winchester, at 7 P. M.
New Metal, provisionally called Vanadium. 67
Thursday 26. After breakfast set out for Harper’s Ferry, dis-
tant thirty miles; passed through, and dined at Charleston;
much rain had lately fallen in this vicinity, and the roads, bad at
best, are almost impassable ; two miles per hour we found to be
rapid travelling, in their present state. ‘The black lime rock con-
tinued almost to Harper’s Ferry. The view at this gap sudden-
ly burst open before us in all its glory, as we gained the summit
of a hill about a mile distant, and richly repaid us for all our fa-
*tigue and toil. The rocks which overhang the river, are com-
posed of green slate, somewhat talcose, which disintegrates rather
fast in exposed situations, and masses are continually falling.
This slate rests on a fine-grained, solid granite, very appropriate
for the great rail road, which is to pass here.
Friday 27. We left this enchanting scenery about 10 A. M.
lodged the same evening at Leesburg, and arrived at Washing-
ton at 1 P. M. on Saturday 28th, one of the hottest days expe-
rienced the present season. The last four miles previous to
entering Georgetown, the road leads along the Potomac canal,
through gneiss and granite rocks: higher up the river, it is said
that anthracite has been discovered.
NEW METAL, PROVISIONALLY CALLED VANADIUM.
Extract of a Letter from M. Berzelius to M. Dulong, read before the Academy
of Natural Sciences at Paris, Feb. 7, 1831.
- “M, Sefstrém, director of the school of mines at Fahlun, whilst
engaged in examining a variety of iron remarkable for its ex-
treme softness, observed the presence of a subStance, the proper-
ties of which differed from those of all other known bodies; but
its quantity was so small as would have rendered it tedious and
expensive to collect sufficient for an examination of its properties.
This iron was from the mine of Taberg in Smoland; the ore
merely contained traces of the substance. Finding that the pig
iron contained far more of this principle than the wrought iron,
M. Sefstrém thought that the scoria formed during the conversion:
of the pig iron into wrought metal, might be a more abundant
source—a conjecture confirmed by experience; so that sufficient
having| been procured, he went to Mr. Berzelius during the Christ-
mas holidays, to complete its examination. For the present the
substance is called Vanadium, after a Scandinavian divinity.
68 New Metal, provisionally called Vanadium.
“ Vanadium combines with oxygen to form an oxide and an
acid. The acid is red, pulverulent, fusible, and. on solidifying,
becomes crystalline. It is slightly soluble in water, reddens lit-
mus, and forms yellow neutral salts, and orange bisalts. Its com-
binations with acids or bases, have the peculiar property of sud-
denly losing their colour—they resume it only on becoming solid
again, and being then re-dissolved, preserve their colour. ‘This
phenomenon appears to have some analogy with the two states
of phosphoric acid and of phosphates.
“ Hydrogen at a white heat, reduces vanadic acid, leaving a
coherent mass, having a feeble metallic lustre, and being a good
conductor of electricity, but it is not certain that the reduction is
complete. Vanadium, thus obtained, does not combine with sul-
phur when heated to redness, in its vapour. ‘The oxide of Vana-
dium is brown, or nearly black, and dissolves readily in acids.
The salts are of a deep brown colour ; but, by the addition of a
little nitric acid, effervesce, and become of a fine blue colour.
_ “Vanadic acid, combined with another acid, is reduced by
sulphuretted hydrogen, and even by nitrous acid, to that blue
matter which appears to be a compound of Vanadic acid with
the oxide of Vanadium, analogous to those compounds formed by
Tungsten, Molybdenum, Iridium, and Osmium. ‘The oxide and
acid of this. metal together produce other combinations, green,
yellow, and red, all soluble in water.
“ When the oxide of Vanadium is produced in the humid way,
it is soluble both in water and alkalies. The presence of a salt
renders it insoluble, and upon this effect may be founded a pro-
cess for its preparation. | 3
“The Vanadates, when dissolved in water, are decomposed by
sulphuretted hydrogen, and converted into sulfa salts, of a fire
red colour.
“The chloride of Vanadium is a very volatile, colourless liquid,
producing thick red fumes in the air. The fluoride is sometimes
colourless, sometimes red, but always fixed. Before the blow-
pipe Vanadium colours fluxes of a fine green colour, in that re-
spect resembling chrome.”*
* On the 28th of February, M. Humboldt stated that the same metal had been
discovered in Mexico, by M. Del Rio, in a brown lead ore from Zimapan; who
had named it Erythronium, but was induced to suppose it not a simple substance,
but an impure chrome: upon a re-analysis of the ore of Zimapan, it is found the
metals are identical.
New Metal, provisionally called Vanadium. 69
Our attention having been attracted to the preceding letter,
we naturally sought to be informed from our venerable and es-
teemed friend, Professor del Rio, why the merit of a discovery
made by him, and announced in 1804, in his translation of Karsten,
should be transferred to another chemist, for detecting the same
metal in iron, in 1830. We subjoin his answer, not less remark-
able for his analytical skill in chemistry, than for his good sense
and modesty.
We should under any circumstances expect objections to be
made to the term Vanadium, derived from an ancient Scandina-
vian Deity. We dislike the introduction of such puerilities into
science. Far better would be the term Zimapanium, since it
was first found in the brown lead ore of Zimapan. But upon this
occasion, that the complete measure of justice may be done to an
eminent and deserving philosopher, we venture to express a hope
that in place of the provisional name Vanadium, the more com-
_ pendious one of Riom or Rionium, may be substituted.
It is very clear that Del Rio was first induced by Humboldt, to
doubt of his own discovery, and, subsequently, when M. Desco-
tils—who was familiar with Vauquelin’s discovery of the metallic
nature of chrome, and whose pupil indeed we believe he was,—
threw his weight into the scale of Humboldt, M. Del Rio
diffidently forbore to press his own better opinions, against those
of the Europeans, whom he supposed possessed of superior op-
portunities of ene than himself, and likely to unite against
_ hin. | EpiTor.
TRANSLATION OF A LETTER FROM PROFESSOR DEL RIO.
Philadelphia, July 13, 1831.
Sir,—-I have always been of opinion that it is of greater im-
_ portance to science, that the world should concern itself more
with the discoveries that are made, than with those who make
them ; and | experienced a lively satisfaction in learning through
Professor Jameson’s Journal, that Mr. Wohler had found Vana-
dium in the brown lead ore of Zimapan. I entertained the opinion,
twenty-nine years ago, that it contained a new metal, which, at
the time, I called Pancrome, on account of its producing the three
fundamental colours, blue, yellow, and red. Subsequently |
named it, Erithrome, having observed a very curious phenomenon
connected with it. The colourless salts} e. g. the Vanadiate of
70 New Metal, provisionally called Vanadium.
ammonia in slender acicular crystals, takes the finest crimson
red, as soon as.a small drop of concentrated nitric acid is placed
on it. The same thing takes place with those of potash, soda
and lime. Those of barytes, as far as J remember, not having
with me my notes, became by the same method, at first, yellow,
and afterwards red. I found also, as may be seen in my trans-
lation of the mineralogical tables of Karsten, published at Mex-
ico in 1804, that the acid was fusible into an opaque and brown
mass, with very fine stars on the surface, which had a semi-metallic
lustre. I perceived that the acid was not red itself, except when
distilled to dryness, with nitric acid, or when the acicular crystals
of Vanadiate of ammonia, were put under the muffle. I found
also, that the acid did not precipitate the nitric solutions of silver,
of mercury and of lead, of a red, but of a yellow colour.
I communicated my experiments to Baron Humboldt, when he
arrived in Mexico, and he stated to me, that my metal had the
strongest resemblance to chrome, especially on account of the fine
emerald green it takes when under the blow-pipe: which occa-
sioned me to observe both in my,translation of Karsten, in the
year 1804, and in the nineteenth number of the Annals of Natu-
ral Sciences, which were then published at Madrid, under the
direction of the celebrated Cavanilles, that I supposed it to be a
sub-chromate of lead. M. Descotils, a vear afterwards, ex-
pressed the same opinion. I confess, however, I could not sup-
press my astonishment, that no one took any notice of what I
believed to be a blue oxide, nor of the beautiful phenomenon of
the colouring of the salts red, by nitric acid, or by heat. Iam
content, however, with having always sustained that the brown
ore of lead was not a phosphate, believing it identical with the
brown lead of Schemnitz in clans and of tole in Brit-
tany.
You will please, Sir, to give these abseealaoa a vlc im your
Journal, if you deem them worthy of insertion there. , Its estab-
lishment is a source of great satisfaction to all those eho know
how well you deserve the reputation you have acquired.
I remain, Sir,
Your affectionate Friend.
A. DEL RIO.
TO MR. FEATHERSTONHAUGH.
*
Experiment with Flowers, _ 71
EXPERIMENT WITH FLOWERS.
Ir the lobelia fulgens, which is of a pure blood-red, is viewed
by the light of an alcohol lamp, with a little salt added to the
wick, it becomes absolute black, which is not the case when ob-
served by solar, or chemical light. The scarlet geranium too,
naturally reflects a compound of red and yellow, but when seen
by the spirit lamp, with salt, appears yellow. Purple colours
under like circumstances appear blue. Ifa candle is put on one
side of the lobelia, and a spirit lamp on the other, one half ap-
pears black, and the other, red. The explanation of this beautiful
experiment is suggested by the study of the nature of reflecting
bodies, and of light. Coloured bodies are so formed, as to reflect
rays and combinations of rays, peculiar to them in their natural
state. Hence, red flowers reflect the red ray which they obtain
from light. But the light of a spirit lamp gives out—as may be
proved by a prism—no red ray, and hence the lobelia, when ob-
served by this light, has no red ray to reflect, and appears black.
The geranium receives no red ray, and appears yellow. The
purple receives no red ray, and appears blue. ‘Those unac-
quainted with the properties of bodies and of light, are generally
contented to believe that the natural colour of an object belongs
to it inherently, as much as its form does. But this is not so.
Whatever the reflecting structure of bodies may ultimately de-
pend upon, they must be in connection with light before they
can reflect; and as it is remarked, in a work that will perhaps
bear reading oftener than any other that modern times have pro-
duced, “ Preliminary Discourse on the study of Natural Philoso-
phy, by John Frederick William Herschell,” &c. &c. “ when the
differently coloured prismatic rays are thrown, in a dark room,
in succession, upon any object, whatever be the colour we are in
the habit of calling its own, it will appear of the particular hue
of the light which falls upon it. A: yellow paper, for instance,
will appear scarlet when illuminated by red rays, yellow when
by yellow, green by green, and biue by blue rays; its own (so
called) proper colour not in the least degree mixing with that it so
ehibits.”
Perhaps at some future day, light may be so managed, as to
admit of bodies reflecting particular colours, without adding the
expense of dying or painting to them. Epitor. |
72 Anthracite Coal Applied to Generute Steam Power.
ANTHRACITE COAL APPLIED TO GENERATE STEAM POWER.
Tue Editor had the satisfaction, a short time ago, to direct the
public attention, to the simple means adopted by Mr. John Price
Wetherill, of this city, to remedy the defect inherent in this Coal,
viz: the want of hydrogen. The Editor is informed by that
gentleman, that a great many persons were induced, in conse-
quence, to visit his White Lead Works, and to adopt his improve-
ment. ‘The non-bituminous coals of this state, which are now
universally called anthracite, vary somewhat in their qualities.
Some are more easily ignited than others, have a portion of sul-
phur in them, and leave a greater residuum; but they may be
generally designated as hydrates of carbon, the purest containing
upwards of ninety parts of carbon, water, and a siliceous earthy
residuum, which we understand from some of the master masons
here, sets mortar better than any siliceous matter they have hith-
erto used. The small quantity of hydrogen given out by this
coal, is insufficient, or has been hitherto thought so, to produce
the proper degree of flame wanted to generate steam. Hence,
its application to generate steam power, has been almost despaired
of, and hence, also, the insignificance of its value for this purpose,
when compared ,with bituminous coal. There have been at-
-tempts in many quarters to remedy this great defect, and which
have been attended with more or less success. We have ma-
terials on hand for showing with how much energy, persons at a
great distance from each other, have been exerting their inge-
nuity in this direction. The details of a conflict of this kind,
between art and nature, would not be uninteresting ; indeed, what
concerns us more nearly than the history of the gradual ascendency
of mind over matter, and the steady progress of man’s dominion
over nature. Upon the present occasion, we shall confine our-
selves, with one exception, to a brief relation of the manner in
which, from the simplest beginnings, Mr. Wetherill’s discovery
grew into importance. .
In January, 1825, Messrs. Jonah and George Thompson, of
this city, completed, for their Phoenix Nail Works, on French
Creek, a steam engine for anthracite coal. We understand this
was the first successful application of this fuel to the generation
of steam. This was accomplished by a sub-division of the fur-
Anthracite Coal Applied to General Steam Power. 13
naces, and other mechanical arrangements. The necessity of
increasing the flame, induced them to try many experiments.
The introduction of steam was resorted to, and succeeded toa
great extent. These experiments were made in July, 1829.
The history of Mr. Wetherill’s improvement is remarkable for
its simplicity. In the early part of 1829, to obviate the incon-
venience arising from the dust when the cinders were riddled,
water was thrown on them, and the cinders being very hot, the
water was decomposed, and the effete residuum of the coal gave
out more flame than the anthracite when first ignited. Mr.
Wetherill, who is a good practical Chemist, and who, like every
body else, had often witnessed the effect resulting from water
thrown upon fire, without attending much to it, saw now what
a useful application could be made of it. Accordingly, when the
flame is low in his bed of coal, he, by means of a small pipe
connected with his boiler, which is led under the grate of his
furnace, passes a stream of steam into the hot coals, which is
decomposed, and the hydrogen, when it reaches the top, be-
comes a powerful flame, that can be regulated by the quantity
of steam admitted. When the cock of the pipe is stopped, the
flame dies away, when it is turned, it revives.
Considering it probable, that this method of producing the in-
flammable principle, will effectually cure the inherent deficiency
of non-bituminous coals for the generation of steam power, we
regard it as leading to ulterior consequences of primary import-
ance to the coal interest, and the useful arts. We especially
look to steam navigation, as likely to derive immediate profit from
it. There is no known fuel of which vessels can carry so great
a burden, as of anthracite coal. One of the great objections to
marine steam navigation will be thus overcome. We encourage
the hope, therefore, that marine steam navigation, which, from
various causes is slow in establishing itself, will, ere long, be uni-
versally successful, and that the steady velocities of rail-road
communication, may be transferred, in a great extent, to navi-
gation. Ere this takes place, we think it probable, a revolution
will be effected in the forms of vessels, and that the perpendicular
‘sides of ships, necessary to give room to the machinery of masts
and sails, will be abandoned for improved constructions, consistent
with perfect safety, and peculiarly fitted for steam navigation.
Vessels as they are now constructed, present perpendicular sides
Vou. L—10.
74 Megalonyx Laqueatus.
to the assaults of the waves, or a definite resistance, to an in-
definite power of attack. We had an opportunity three years
ago, of inspecting the break-water, at Plymouth, in England.
Its massive perpendicular walls, promised to defy the violence of
storms, but they soon gave way: nor was it until outward slopes,
or inclined planes were constructed, that the power of the waves
was defied. We can conceive of vessels of vast burden, fitted
for oceanic navigation, with abundance of room for freight and
fuel, where the decks shall be covered in with a perfect water-
shed, like the roof of a house, and the machinery be placed be-
low. Such vessels might be made perfectly tight against stormy
weather, and admit of every comfort in fine weather.
We have ventured upon these reflections, merely to draw the
public attention still more to the great value of the non-bituminous
coals of the State of Pennsylvania. Epiror.
DESCRIPTION OF THE JAWS, TEETH, AND CLAVICLE OF —
THE MEGALONYX LAQUEATUS.
By Richard Harlan, M. D. |
WE are indebted to our friend Dr. Harlan, for the following
valuable paper. Knowing the deep interest which is taken in
the fossil osteological remains of this continent, and especially
by the naturalists of Europe, we have deferred other matters for
the present, and have caused drawings and engravings to be
made of the bones described «in this paper. ‘They are entirely
new, these being the first jaws, and teeth, and clavicle of this
extinct animal, hitherto found. In order to give our readers, at
home and abroad, the most’ perfect satisfaction in our power,
respecting these interesting remains, we have, with the permis-
sion of our valuable correspondent, Dr. Harlan, added to our
plate, the isolated tooth of the M. Laqueatus, first described by ©
him in his paper, read March 8th, 1831, before the Academy of
Natural Science of Philadelphia. — Eprror.
“ Desirous of examining the fossil bones, now in New York, in
the possession of Mr. Graves, I proceeded there with my friend,
Mr. Norris. Amongst others, I found a bone, which I had not
seen before, and which is the first that has been described of this
animal. I presume it to have been the clavicle of a Megalonyx —
Megalonyx Laqueatus. 13
laqueatus, lately described by me, as portions of this part of the
skeleton of this species, were found at the same time and place.
The individual, of which the remains now described, were a part,
was older and larger than the one discovered at White Cave, Ken.
«This clavicle* belonged to the left side, is long, flattened, and
slender, curved somewhat like the human clavicle. The sternal
extremity is thickened and hemispherical, where it forms the ar-
ticulating surface: the scapular extremity is compressed, and fur-
nished on the inner, or inferior surface, with strong tubercles for
the attachment of ligaments. ‘The anterior, or superior aspect
of the sternal extremity,:is marked by an arterial groove. ‘The
length of the clavicle is seventeen inches, the greatest circum-
ference, four inches; the breadth one inch and eight-tenths ; the
greatest thickness, one inch.
“The fragmentt I am now about to describe, is a portion of
the dexter lower jaw of the Megalonyx, containing four molar
teeth; three of the crowns of these teeth are perfect, that of the
anterior one is imperfect. These teeth differ considerably from
each other in shape, and increase in size from the front, the
fourth and posterior tooth being double the size of the first, and
more compressed laterally: it is also vertically concave on its
external aspect, and vertically convex on its internal aspect ;
the interior, or mesial surface is strongly fluted, and it has a
deep longitudinal furrow on the dermal aspect, in which respect
it differs from the tooth of the M. Laqueatus, previously described
by me, of which the dermal aspect is uniform, but to which, in
all other respects, it has a close resemblance. I suppose it there-
fore, probable, that this last may have belonged to the upper
jaw. The three anterior molars, differ in shape, and markings:
_ they are vertically grooved, or fluted, on their interior and pos-
terior aspects, a transverse section presenting an irregular cube.
The length of the crown of the posterior molar is two inches ;
the breadth about five-tenths of an inch: the length of the tooth
is three inches and six-tenths. The diameter of the penultimate
molar is eight-tenths by seven-tenths of an inch. The length of
this fragment of the jaw bone is eight inches and four-tenths ; the
ion three inches and six-tenths: the length of the space oc-
bi Figure 7, plate 3. + Plate 3, fig. 1, is a flat view of the Jaw, looky
down. Fig. 2, the interior aspect. Fig. 3, the exterior aspect.
t No. 4, is the fluted surface; No. 6, the external, or dermal surface; and No. 4
6, the crown of that tooth.
76 Absence of Deserts in the Umted States.
cupied by the alveolar sockets, five inches and eight-tenths. The
crown of the tooth presents no protuberances, but resembles that
of the sloth; the roots are hollow.
“There is also in Mr. Graves’ collection, a tibia, nearly perfect,
from the right leg: the segment of a flattened sphere, on which
the ,external condyle of the femur moves, is rather more de-
pressed, than in the specimen from White Cave. Other marks
and peculiarities are observable on this bone, not found on that
of the Megalonyx of White Cave, but they are probably due to
a difference in the age of the individuals.* |
“Of the remains of Mastodons in this collection, I shall only
notice the recomposed cranium of an animal, not yet adult, but
which appears nearly perfect. The tusks are of an enormous size,
and there exists a very deep cavity immediately anterior and below
the aperture for the anterior nares, for the lodgment or origin of
the large muscles which moved the trunk. This cranium does not
appear to differ specifically from that of a specimen in Peale’s
museum, New York, and which gave occasion to the too hasty
proposal of a new genus, under the designation ‘ 'Tetracaulodon,’
or ‘four tusked;’ a name which would be more appropriately
applied to the wild boar, the Hippopotamus, and many oher
quadrupeds which are furnished with four tusks.
R. HARLAN.
THE UNITED STATES ARE EXEMPT FROM DESERTS, AND
ALL THE EVILS CONSEQUENT THEREON.
Tue physical conformation of North America, precludes all
possibility of deserts, or extended wastes. Those arid regions re-
sult from a want of moisture, and attach to those extended
plains in the neighbourhood of the tropics, too vast and dispro-
portioned for the quantity of rain that nature has assigned to
them. They drink, and are still dry. The clouds of heaven
float over them ih vain. , Like Pharaoh’s kine, they devour all,
but change not their miserable condition.
* From these very lucid details, it is evident that if persons in possession of iso-
lated osteological remains of this character, would submit them to the inspection
of an experienced comparative anatomist, we should soon be in a situation to re-
construct this, and many other extinct sieidail of this continent. We invite gen-'
tlemen to correspond with us on this interesting subject; a rude drawing will be
sufficient to:enable us, if required, to apprise them of the intrinsic value of the
objects represented.—[ Editor]
ee
Absence of Deserts in the United States. 17
~ What are those physical phenomena that have insured us
‘against all the ills of deserts? Geography tells us, that when-
ever a continent or country is expanded, more than a few
hundred miles, in the equatorial regions, with a surface compara-
tively low and flat, it will become a desert. This is the result
of the natural inability to be supplied with moisture. Most of
Africa ; the middle and southern regions of Asia; and even Hin-
dostan, where mountains do not prevail, have become sterile and
desert. The face of nature in those countries, is deformed; and
vast chasms are created in those regions, where the vegetable
and animal kingdoms are unable to flourish.
New Holland owes its moisture to its insular situation: the
peninsular form preserves fertility in Spain, Italy, Greece, and
Asia-minor: back-bone mountains save Hindostan from entire
barrenness ; and the vicinage of some sea, or mountain elevation
renders those parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe, which the great
deserts do not reach, the fit abodes of man. In Central Africa,
and Asia, and the coasts of the Red sea and Indian ocean, no
mountains exist, to collect from the atmosphere stores of moisture,
and spread them over those thirsty plains, to fertilize and clothe
them with verdure. No commanding Cordilleras overlooking
their plains, catch upon their long slopes the vapours of heaven,
and preserve, upon their cloud-capped summits, reservoirs of
eternal snow, with which to irrigate the plains that meet their
base. It requires, then, a mountain range; the vicinage of some
sea, or ocean, or a high, temperate latitude, to insure freshness
_ to extended plains, and impart to them a fertility, proper for the
‘comforts and wants of man. 3
- Let us examine our own continent, and learn the causes that
have guaranteed to us, this exemption from deserts. Within the
tropics and their neighbourhood, N. America is narrowed into a
strip: it has all the advantages of an insular position, and drinks
the moisture of two oceans. This is not all: the Cordilleras tra-
verse the whole space, rising upon the Mexican table, to an ele-
vation of 11,000 feet, and commanding the neighbouring seas.
All winds, but more especially the heavily laden trades, pour
forth their vapours upon this happy region, and clothe its long
‘slopes and rich plains, with all the luxuriance of vegetation.
These friendly mountains, after upheaving the tropical parts of
our continent to the regions of eternal verdure, bear aloft their
it
78 | Absence of Deserts in the United States.
wide spread arms, (the Chippewayan and Alleghany ranges) as
far as it is necessary to counteract the heats of a southern sun,
and impart fertility to the great valley of the Mississippi, which
seems especially consigned to their fostering care. But when
elevations become no longer essential to the certainty of moisture
and vegetation, they sink into the great plains of Canada, and
disappear. How wise is this arrangement! For if these moun-
tains had carried their characteristic elevation far north, they
would have chilled with their eternal snows, all the northern por-
tion of our country, and rendered it barren, not from drought and
deserts, but what is equally to be deprecated, the blights of in-
tolerable cold. ‘These friendly ranges of mountains, are thus the _
everlasting guarantees of our country’s fertility. The Alleghany
range derives its moistnre from the Atlantic, and waters not only
all the States that intervene between it and that ocean, but the
States and districts that rest upon its western base, and con-
tributes its full part to the great plains of Mississippi and Missouri.
The Rocky, or Chippewayan range, draws heavily from the Pa-
cific ocean, and abundantly waters not only that slope, but the
extended plains which meet its eastern base. The narrow slopes
of the two ranges of mountains which border the two oceans, are
easily and very naturally irrigated from those oceans; and their
slopes pointing inwards from the oceans, and the plains imme- |
diately in contact with them, draw moisture from the numerous
founts and reservoirs of the mountains themselves. The great
valley of the Mississippi, however, is too extensive, and too im-
portant-to the rising population of this country, to be left to any
uncertain supply of moisture. The sources of the mountains
with which it is enfiladed, might prove to be inadequate, and
certainly would, if all depended on them. Other guarantees are
found; and powerful aids provided in the case. That great val-
ley opens itself without. barrier, on the southern end, to the trade
winds, which become deflected by the Mexican coast, enter it,
fraught with all the moisture of the gulf, and deposit on this re-
gion, a supply, literally inexhaustible, because those winds them-
selves are perpetual. Lest the mountain supply and trades both,
might not reach the northern end of this great plain, nature has
thrown there the largest reservoirs, or accumulations of fresh
water in the world. The great and numerous lakes of Canada,
over which the winds pass, and from which clouds charge them-
|
|
|
|
|
{
Absence of Deserts in the United States 79
selves with vapour, insure a never failing supply of water to all
that portion of the plain which lies contiguous. Thus every
thing is provided, and nothing left to chance. Elevation, moun-
tains, contiguous oceans, and internal reservoirs, all co-operate to
insure to the territory of the United States a constant supply of
moisture. The native fertility of the soil is therefore great, and
yields to the wants of man with certainty and abundance. This
supply of moisture is well tempered, and rarely pours forth in
excess. In some countries, particularly in the north of Europe,
in England and Ireland, the crops oftener fail from excess of
moisture, than a deficiency. The grain blights in the field, or
moulds and rots in the granary, and acquires a musty smell and
flavour, which takes away its merchantable character, and dis-
qualifies it for the fine breads. Our seasons, fortunately, are just
moist enough to give perfection to vegetable growth, without in-
juring it by excess: just regular enough to exempt us from all
the labour of artificial irrigation, and leave the air dry and elas-
tic enough to enable us to preserve all our vegetable productions.
Happy country! where the elements hold so steady a balance ;
where rains prevail to mature, not to injure vegetation; where
the sun shines to ripen, and not to parch up verdure ; and where
a Clear, elastic air gives spring to the animal frame, and vigour
to all nature.
_ Where deserts exist, they not only preclude vegetation, and
consequently population in the districts where they prevail, but
exert a baneful influence upon all the neighbouring regions that
are inhabitable. They absorb the moisture from them, and ren-
der vegetation very uncertain. The heats that steam from the
deserts, enfeeble and stint all that has life and growth in the
adjoining districts. Siroc winds prevail, collect the deleterious
matter, heated and active, from their parched surface, sweep the
neighbouring countries, carry languor, disease and blight in their
train, and convert all that is green into a brown desert. Hordes
of locusts seem by nature, associated with the deserts; rise in
clouds, warp upon their winds, and like a deadly blast, couch
upon the adjacent countries, and destroy all that is verdant. It
results, therefore, that deserts not only mar the habitable globe
to the extent that they prevail, but inflict upon the adjoining
countries, all the evils of famine, uncertainty, and disease ; thus
limiting the numbers, the comforts, and the power of man.
80 Absence of Deserts in the United States.
We will now briefly note the effect of deserts upon the human
figure, upon population, industry, the arts, morals, and liberty.
The human form in connection with deserts, is without its wonted
symmetry—thin, dry, and emaciated; and the complexion dark
swarthy. Man seems formed there to drift with the sands, to
move his light and elastic frame with all the quickness that un-
certainty might require, but possesses not the muscular power
necessary to effective labour. The Africans, Arabians, Tartars,
Bedouins, and others, are swarthy, dark, and devoid of all the
symmetry of which the race is susceptible, and strikingly illus-
trate our position.
In such countries population is sparse, and the few who draw
a scanty support from the stinted and uncertain vegetation, are
unfixed in their habits, and wanderers. They realize nothing,
improve not their condition, are actuated by the sudden impulses
of want, or the emergency occasioned by the irregularities of the
elements around them.
When the seasons and ,climate of the country in which man
lives are uncertain; when no human effort can control them, and
no art or foresight render labour available, he partakes of all the -
irregularity of the seasons; becomes as wild as nature herself;
puts himself afloat with the elements, and is in his turn a devas-
tator.
If industry exists not, and human labour be unavailable, none
of those improvements which change the condition of our race,
and give to us character and comfort, have any existence.
Without surplus production, there can be no commercial ex-
changes; a limit is thus placed to social improvement, and
a barrier erected against civilization. Man, under such a
state of things, cannot multiply his race, because his supply of
food is limited; nor create wealth, because his labour is unpro-
ductive and without stimulus; nor make valuable improvements
in the arts, comforts, and intercourse of society, because he has
neither the means nor the necessary numbers; nor can he polish
and refine himself, because his state of society is essentially wild
and violent.
Morality, is there, nothing beyond those simple virtues which
are connected with self-preservation; that rude hospitality, the
necessity of which, dire suffering has felt; and that reckless bra-
very which has been prompted by despair. High and honourable
——
Absence of Deserts in the United States. 81
feelings, sterling integrity, truth, and that habitual propriety that
discharges all the duties of man to his fellows; are unpractised,
and comport not with such an uncertain state. The religion of
the inhabitants of the desert, is wild and superstitious, because it
has no moral guarantee. The imagination creates the punitive
power that makes brown the desert, that waves with the sands,
and spreads around famine and devastation. It is invoked to de-
stroy, and worshipped from fear. ‘The ways of God to man are
not justified, as in that fabric of good order, intelligence, and vir-
tue, which is reared under more favourable circumstances.
Liberty, in such countries, is the freedom of the desert, as
unfixed as its votaries, and as wild as nature herself. Man’s
safety there, is not the guarantee of the laws, but the strength
of his own arm, or the ease with which he can escape. He
governs himself by circumstances, not by any principles of justice,
or legislative enactments.. Government has reared no permanent
altar in such countries; it moves in wild democracy with the
wanderings of man; and accommodates itself to all his irregu-
larities. We see, therefore, that our race, in such countries as
are connected with the deserts, is scant and of uncouth form;
their virtues wild and rudely primitive, their labour unavailable,
wealth and improvements have no place, the arts and elegances
of life have no existence, commerce no basis, liberty and religion
no temples but the desert, and no guarantees but a wild and
irregular nature.
In the United States it is widely different. Weare exempted
from deserts and all their concomitant evils. An almost uninter-
rupted fertility spreads through our extensive land, with scarcely a
mountain crag to break its continuity. Equally secure from an
injurious excess of moisture, we lean with confidence upon our
seasons; we understand our climate, we appreciate the produc-
tiveness of our soil, and feel that we have all the guarantees
which nature can give against want and famine; all the certainty
of property in the avails of our labour, every stimulus to exer-
tion and industry, and the most perfect assurance to us and our
posterity, of moral and physical enjoyment. Where nature her-
self is regular, the population full of intelligence, the arts well
established, and plenty throughout the land, good order and good
taste will prevail. Liberty, with just government, is the natural
consequence of such a condition of things. Already hasit taken
Vou, L—11
82 Eaton’s Geology.
deep root. Every right is regarded, and every interest protected.
The broad shield of the law coversall. Famine, and unavoidable
disasters, drive man to despair; he looks to the present moment
only, because the future is wrapped in doubt; he runs all chanées,
and neglects all system, and the providence necessary for accu-
mulation and comfort. Under the mighty guarantees that we
have named, we may expect great perfection in our race, a maxi-
mum population, a productive industry, a moral condition, a
high degree of intellectual developement, the greatest advance-
ment in the arts, commercial prosperity, all the refinements of
society, and a government of laws which will reach and guard
all. :
All these blessings are in store for this nation, if the people are
true to themselves. Nothing can impede the happiness and glory
of this people, if they can only be led by a wise and general
system of education, to reject the insidious pretensions of artful
and selfish men, and to lean voluntarily upon the wise and just
for the administration of their affairs, and the preservation of
their institutions. W.
EATON’S GEOLOGY.
Communication from the writer of the article “ Geology,” in the North American
Review, for April, 1831.
Tue writer of the article “Geology,” in the number of the
North American Review, is not surprised to learn that Professor
Amos Eaton, and his friends, have winced under the merited cas-
tigation he received. That they should have put his defence
upon his “ having contributed to awaken the spirit of inquiry on
geological subjects in this country,” was to be expected, and is
admitted to be true to a certain extent. Mr. Eaton has done for
geology, pretty much what the bellman does for a lost child; he
has set people looking for it. In a passage in the preface to his
geological text-book,—the work reviewed in the article above
alluded to—he gives us at once a clue to his own capacity in
this line, and for the moving causes which have brought one of
his defenders forward, in a somewhat unexpected manner. ‘This
is the passage : “Geology is a progressive science; and he, who
has any respect for his future reputation, should be exceedingly —
| eeceeiam
Eaton’s Geology. i 83
cautious about committing himself on matters of fact or specula-
tion. I confess, that I have, most egregiously, violated this rule;
but there are peculiar circumstances in my case, arising from
my being ‘a hireling drudge’ to the most munificent patron of this
science, which will palliate, at least, if not justify.” This pas-
sage in the original is italicised, and pointed, exactly as it is here
printed. It would be a difficult matter to produce from the an-
nals of literature, a more extravagant instance of self degrada
tion, than this passage unblushingly exhibits.
Mr. Eaton has discreetly remained silent under this infliction,
which, as it is stated in the article, fell upon him from a reluc-
tant hand, “ actuated solely by regard for the interests of science,
and not taking pleasure in wantonly exposing Mr. Eaton, or any
other individual.” But Mr. Eaton’s friends have not been equally
discreet: his “munificent patron”*—who is only once referred
to in the article, and then under the designation of “a generous
individual”—is brought forward in an offensive attitude; and in
a note referred to by a postscript of the Editor, appended to the
July number of “The American Journal of Science and Arts,” is
made to take up a position which neither covers his allies, nor
protects himself. General Van Renselaer’s note, to be sure, is
flanked, right and left, by the postscriptum of Professor Silliman ;
but the Professor’s demonstrations, although flattering to an in-
experienced eye, seldom in the field, look plaguily like going over
tothe enemy. The Professor is an amiable and a peaceful man,
one who has a proper horror of the “charge”—a movement so
pregnant with excitement to men with a belligerent turn—and
who knows that a scientific bayonet would not come doubly
blest, the pleasure, in such cases, being altogether monopolized by
the giver. When the Professor, however, says, that the appear-
ance of General Van Renselaer’s note, is “less an act of courtesy
than of justice,” he means, no doubt, to inspire General Van R.
with the belief, that he entirely concurs with that gentleman
in his opinions, as they are found in the following passage of his
note.
“It is to be regretted that the author of the review, whose
professed object was to advance the science, did not examine
professor Faton’s views with a little better spirit, and point out
* General Van Renselaer.
84 Eaton’s Geology.
and correct the supposed errors. Let any serious mistakes be
pointed out, and fairly proved,” &c. &c. 7 |
As the critic in the N. A. R. finds himself thus publicly re-
proved and challenged, before the bar of the public, by indi-
viduals who, in the language of legal practice, have chosen to
change the venue, from the North American Review of Boston,
to the American Journal of New Haven: he, to secure to his
cause, the utmost attainable fair dealing in the case, chooses the
Monthly Journal of Geology, of Philadelphia, as quite appropriate
to the conduct of a controversy originating in geological matters.
- Before the writer shows how completely he stands justified
with the public, in relation to the manner in which he reviewed
Mr. Eaton’s geological text-book, he desires first to show what
sort of provocation General Van Renselaer and professor Silliman
have received from him; that the nature of their motives may
be surmised, if possible, for the attack to which this communica-
tion is an answer. ‘The only allusion in the article to the former
of these two gentlemen, is contained in the following passage, at
page 482, of the N. A. Review.
“ We have read his [Eaton’s} works, and continue to witness,
with surprise, his pertinacious adherence to an arrangement of
rocks, and a nomenclature, entirely at variance with nature and
perspicuity. If Mr. Eaton had, in a modest, unpretending man-
ner, brought the geological facts he had from time to time col-
lected in the State of New York, into the general stock of prac-
tical information, he would have deserved and received unquali-
fied praise. But presuming upon the supposed ignorance of his
readers, he has preferred to set himself up for a genius. In this
he has most lamentably failed; has greatly injured a cause he
seems to be zealous in, and has abused the rare opportunities he
has had of doing good, through the favour of the generous in-
dividual who has been his patron.’’*
In relation to the second of these gentlemen, the only passage
where his name is mentioned, or where he is alluded to in any
part of the article, is the following :
“We notice, however, with pleasure, an increasing attention
to the study of natural history, in our principal colleges ; and we
are particularly happy in rendering justice to the persevering
* General Van Renselaer.
of
Eaton’s Geology. 85
zeal and talents of Professor Silliman. Considering the many
difficulties he has had to contend with, and the vigour with which
he has kept the flag of science flying for so many years, we can
say, with all our hearts, that we believe he will be as gratefully
remembered hereafter for his public zeal, as he is now cherished
for his private worth.” If the writer has made palpable mis-
takes in any of the passages of that article, he knows where to
lay his finger upon them.
The manner of General Van Renselaer’s attack, is, as has
been stated, unexpected. Either that gentleman has become an
admirer of, the casuistical tricks of hacknied disputants, or, what
is more probable, he has never read Mr. Eaton’s geological text-
book, nor the review of it. Had he done so, he could not have
_ descended to an affected candour, and have seriously proposed,
that the writer should have examined “ professor HKaton’s views
with a little better spirit, and point out and correct the supposed
errors.” Had he read those pages, he would have seen that this
had been most justly and rigorously done, and that in no instance |
had the writer given into the base practice of attempting to in-
jure Mr. Eaton’s reputation by inuendo; but that in almost every
instance, the reprehended passages were quoted at full length,
or referred to. It would be as well for that gentleman too, to
know that Mr. Eaton in his preface to this very work, says, “ J
wa the favour of the most rigorous criticism on this book, small as it
s.” Severe as the article may appear, the terms “most rigorous”
ve no means belong to it, as could be most easily shown, if it
should become indispensably necessary to recast it.
Under all the circumstances of the case, it cannot but be felt as
a very difficult task, to satisfy General Van Renselaer, that he
has taken a wrong view of this matter. In his note, he candidly
says, “I am not a geologist myself.” Now none but a geologist
can be made to comprehend how futile Mr. Eaton’s labours have
been. What is to be done? Why do men complain of refuta-
tions not satisfying them, when they won’t read them? Mr. Ea-
ton seems to be satisfied; like good old Dogberry, finding there is
no remedy, he is willing to be written down without making any
fuss about it. Notwithstanding what General Van R. says of “ the
assurances of many of our distinguished scientific men,” it may be
asserted without fear of contradiction, that there is not an unbias-
sed geologist in this country,—and it is a matter of considerable
86 | Eaton’s Geology.
importance in the question—who does not know that Mr. Eaton’s
efforts have been a failure ; and that it is so considered, both at —
home and abroad. That Mr. Eaton may have shown zeal in the
service of his employer, has not been denied; and that he has
made us acquainted with the localities of many rocks, is true:
but this, as a branch of geology, is a merit of the lowest order,
and more than counterbalanced by the gross errors of his ‘ar-
rangements, and the nonsensical rhapsodies of his nomenclature.
These have been repeatedly exposed in Europe, and the proofs
of this were given, in the article complained of. . Let any one
compare his “ Synopsis of North American Rocks and Detritus,”
in Silliman’s Journal, Vol. XIV. page 145, with the tabular view
of De la Beche, the approved result of the labours of the first
geologists of the age—let them see the confusion he has introduced
into the order of rocks, and the effrontery with which he has
placed rocks in his American Synopsis, which neither he, nor any
other individual ever saw on this continent, as in the case of his
“lias :” the creation of three graywackes—his making basalt
superincumbent to his third graywacke, when he does not even
pretend he ever saw it there; and that silly division of the su-
perficial soil, into six formations, with Greek terminations; let
all this nonsense be seen and understood, and not one word more
will ever be said about Mr. Eaton’s geology. |
But leaving this scientific method of treating the subject, the
attention of General Van Renselaer is asked to the following il-
lustration. Geology, as far as the order of succession of rocks is
concerned, resembles our alphabet, the letters of which follow
each other in a definite order. A—taking the column in the de-
scending order,—being always at the top, where the superficial
diluvium is usually found, and Z being always at the bottom,
where granite and the primitive rocks are always found. The
intermediate letters are also immovable as to the order of suc-
cession, M always preceding N, and S never preceding R: so it
is with the intermediate rocks. Now the order and forms of our
letters, are derived from those of the Roman alphabet—those
from the Greek, and these last from the Phoenician and Hebrew;
so that every letter in our alphabet is a simple or compound copy
of a Hebrew letter, as every rock on this continent has its equiva-
lent.in Europe, both as to mineral structure, and place in the
series. An individual is now to be supposed, who has heard of
| | beac
Eaton’s Geology. : 87
this affinity of languages, but who is ignorant of the Hebrew.
He must be endowed with impudence, to pretend to teach it,
and credulous people must be found to employ him. Let him
possess a Hebrew bible, without an arranged alphabet. In his
attempt to make out the order of the alphabet, such an indi-
vidual, relymg upon approximating resemblances, and ignorant.
of the elementary principles of graphic language, will proceed
altogether by guess, and where the resemblances are doubtful,
will make frequent mistakes—placing n, before m, §, before R,
&c. &c., and knowing there are twenty-four letters in the Eng-
lish tongue, and ignorant that there are not so many by one-third,
in the older languages, he will think the varying forms of the
same letter, are different letters, and will swell the number of
the letters of the oriental alphabet, to that of his vernacular
tongue. This Mr. Eaton has done for geology. Unacquainted
with the European types, except through the most deceptive of
all things, hand specimens; and thinking all the rocks in Europe
were probably to be found in the State of New York, he has not
only put rocks out of their place in the series, but has swelled
his imaginary column by introducing the lias, in a country where
_ the whole oolitic system is wanting; and this, where there was
not the least approximation, either in mineral structure, or or-
ganic remains. It is greatly to be regretted it is so, but this is
the truth. When it is considered that Mr. Eaton boasts of having
taught such a defective system—to say nothing of his universally
rejected nomenclature—to seyen thousand pupils, it is by no
means a harsh thing to say of him, that “he has injured a cause
he seems to be zealous in, and has abused the rare opportunities
he has had of doing good.” But these glaring demerits, though
eften the subject of conversation among scientific men, were
indulgently overlooked ; it was hoped experience would have
its usual effect. ‘This was a vain hope; the appearance of
“the geological text-book,” made further forbearance almost.
criminal. | q
As this answer to the attack upon Mr. Eaton’s reviewer, will
probably be looked into, by those who would seem not to have
read the article in the N. A. Review, or to have seen its refer-
ences in vain, the writer of the article “ Geology” reluctantly,
and in his own defence, once more cites a few passages, from the
Review, and the “ Geological Text-book.”
88 Eaion’s Geology.
“] beg the favour of the most rigorous criticism upon this book,
small as it is.—Preface.
“Should these observations ever fall under his notice, it may be
well that he should remember this invitation.”—Review.
“If the earth was washed and the rocks left clean, they (ge-
ologists) would not disagree in regard to rocks.”-—Preface.
“For ourselves, we can only say, that were the earth washed |
as clean as a penny, we should be very much tempted to take
up our hammer and chisel, and try what we could find within its
rocks: for, although Mr. Eaton may not know it, it is a funda-
mental principle of the science, to identify rocks by their organic
remains, rather than by their mineral characters, which are very
fallible guides.” —Review.
“To stimulate men of science to the work of examination, and
of criticism, I will state, that I intend to publish considerable in
scientific journals ; also, a full system upon this plan.” —Preface.
“We love variety, and a full system, after the empty one be- |
fore us, will be an agreeable change.”— Review.
“ Mr. Eaton has a habit of making confessions, which are not
to his credit, and of which we do not see the motive. He says,
“J may be accused of fickleness on account of the changes which
appear in every successive book I publish; I confess, this is the
ninth time | have published a geological nomenclature, and that —
I made changes in each, of more or less importance.” Again,
“the various deposits of detritus had not been thoroughly studied
by any American, when I published my last nomenclature. I —
believe I have made a few changes in that department, which
will finally obtain.” “On this head, we must venture to differ
from him in opinion. We greatly doubt whether any of his
opinions will obtain.” —Review.
“ The following passage is remarkable for its novel orthography,
and also for its tone in regard to one of the most learned and
philosophic men of the age, to whose labours Geology has been
indebted in the highest degree.” We allude to Henry de la ©
Beche.
“With all defference to the hich character of La Bache, as an
experienced teacher, I may say, that his numerous sub-divisions,
if adopted, will ruin the science.”
“We would suggest to Mr. Eaton, that Mr. de la Beche’s sub-
divisions, are the result of a careful examination of all the geo-
Eaton’s Geology. 89
logical beds, effected by the joint labours of the most enlightened
geologists of Kurope. The establishment of the series in this de-
tailed manner, is' the perfection of human industry and science,
and is the true philosophical key to the mineral and organic
structure of the earth. And here we have an experienced teacher,
who does not know how to spell his native tongue, and whose
geological information is limited to a few rocks in the State of
New-York, stating, that Mr. de la Beche will ruin the science, for
no other reason, that we can imagine, but to exclude from public
notice, every work upon the subject, except his own.”—Reviewer.
“ The only geological fact in this work, which is absolutely new
to us, is contained in the following passage.
“He, (Werner,) closed his long life in the full splendour of his
scientific glory, in the same year (1817) in which we begun to
make our humble efforts in the application of his views to Ameri-
can earth.”
_ s Werner was singularly happy in two things; one, that he did
not outlive his reputation; the other, that he died before Mr.
Eaton applied his views to American earth.” vo FS \J ry eee ere his & *y Y ia
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insidious form, it has become necessary to notice so unexpected.a fora e from |
on the part of the committee. ‘That the members of the Franklin Institute may under-
ee oes
sively known, and to insert a paper with appropriate plans concerning it, ae first
tute, if the Monthly American Journal, were also to draw upon that br of na
science for support. We told him without hesitation, that our respect for the foun
and supporters of the Franklin Institute was unfeigned, that we should bo ta Seth asiO
give it our entire and unequivocal support; and that, if it was the wish of the society
avail itself of Mr. W’s invention, we would cheerfully withdraw our paper, and release
Mr. W. from his agreement with us. We accordingly called upon Mr. Wetherill the
same day, explained to him what had passed, and requested him to transfer his drawings
to the use of the Franklin Institute. We regret having done so—we have, from generous
motives, been the cause of their being withheld from the public, and _ ave received but a
sorry return for our kindness. Our good wishes, however, for the success f the Franklin
Institute are not abated ; and whilst we are surprised at the authorized publication of what
was intended to injure us, we would by no means revenge upon the interests of a valuable |
society, the act of one of the most insignificant of their members. We know how difficult
it is fora numerous society to prevent an intriguing, pharisaical individual from committing
them occasionally. ai ae
As to Dr. Isaac Hays’ statement, as found at page 7, we have only room to sa , We shall
hereafter show it is a deliberate falsehood from the beginning to the end. “We have been
strongly solicited to expose the previous moral obliquities of that mendacious little indivi-
dual, and we have hitherto withheld our hand. But all consideration for him is now at
an end. _ We cannot be silent when low contrivances, aiming] to bring us into discredit,
and to impair our usefulness, are resorted to, for no purpose but to bring into notice a
parasite who lives by dishonouring the labours of others.
te I,
The promised paper on Big bone lick, has, for reasons beyond our controul, been delayed
until the next number.
It is very true, as our correspondent G. observes, that we were in possession of his paper
in season for our first number. Our answer is, that when papers equally meritorious come
into our possession at the same time, the editor must claim the Psbhsay = of selection, and
that his preference may be governed by considerations, it would be quite inexpedient to »
enter into with every correspondent. It is of importance that the contents of the Journal
_ should be various. -
The three interesting papers on the origin of the Indian languages of this continent are
under consideration.
We hope soon to have an interview with the distinguished naturalist, who has favoured
us with a paper on “ the domestic animals of the Indians of this continent.”
ie editor‘will transmit a note to Rusticus, if he will leave his address at the Literary
orms.
The plate of this number, representing fragments of the jaw and teeth of the Mega-
lonyx laqueatus, should have been numbered III. : :
Pr In a few copies of this number, the asterisk on page 55 is misplaced. It refers to the,
period of Herodotus, in the line below where it stands.
‘
“LLG OTA I” ee OE AIO 99 DITUIED "OL 9U07ZLE peas: [UIUOLIMAOTT OR
‘ ek:
“Fs 4p 9 7 é
| THE
- MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF .
: GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vor. I. PHILADELPHIA, SEPTEMBER 1831. No. 3.
AN EPITOME OF THE PROGRESS OF NATURAL SCIENCE.
(Continued from page 58.)
Tue philosophical period, when human opinions were first re-
leased from the bondage of theocratical power, began among the
Greeks; a curious and active race, whose geographical situation
| apad contributed much to form their character, and deriving their
origin, in a great measure, from the nations connected with the
Euxine, or Black sea. The Pelasgi are supposed to have pene-
trated into Greece from India, at the earliest periods: the archi-
tectural remains, called Cyclopean walls, were of their day.
In the time of Pausanias,* it was known that those walls were
anterior to the arrival of the Egyptian colonies. ‘The situation,
however, and maritime habits of the Greeks, had enabled them
to hold communication with the Phcenicians, Babylonians, and
other nations, long before the arrival of Cecrops.t The chiefs
who led these first colonies from Egypt, were not priests, but
rather bold adventurers, like the Normans; and although they
brought over the external form of their religion, yet it appears
the meaning concealed under their emblems, was not spread
amongst the people where they colonized.
Now the mythological forms in Egypt, and those generally ob-
taining in the east, were only the emblematic expression of a sys-
tem of general philosophy, confined to the priesthood: hence
science necessarily became stationary, since no one, without in-
curring the charge of irreligion, would venture to entertain any
opinions, which did not emanate from sources that were admitted
*A, D. 175. +B. C. 1550.
Vou. —I13 97
98 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
to be divine. But the Egyptians having exported, as it were,
the clerk without the parson, religion and science happily be-
came separated, and the Greeks were left free, at the planting
of knowledge in their country, to adopt their own philosophical
opinions. ‘The benign influence of that freedom was soon felt;
it led to the establishment of a school of philosophy, and of the
arts, that will be honoured and admired to the latest generations.
Of the influence of this philosophy, we are living monuments ;
for the revival of letters in Europe, was nothing but the revival
of that philosophy; and but for this fortunate disenthralment of
the human mind, from the tyranny of the sacerdotal caste, in-
stead of the inimitable manly beauty of the Apollo, and the grace-
ful proportions of the Venus, together with the countless treasures
of sculptured excellence, that received all but life from the hands
of Phidias and Praxiteles, we should probably have received no-
thing from Greece, but metaphysical monsters—gods with quad-
ruple heads, and a hundred hands—goddesses with the heads of
the inferior animals. Of all the nations of Greece, the Hellenes
were the earliest civilized; and although the religion of the
country partook strongly of the Indian and Egyptian origin—un-
der the influence of Orpheus, at once a priest and a poet—yet
the Hellenes at length introduced the worship of Apollo, the cul-
tivation of the arts, and gave their name to the whole country.
We shall pass by the period of the Trojan war, and the evidences
contained in the writings of Hesiod and Homer,* of the great
progress the Greeks had made in the arts, in order to come at
once to the brilliant period of the schools of philosophy.
The family of the Asclepiade had begun to cultivate science
with practical views, as far back as the thirteenth century be-
fore Christ. This was properly the ancient medical school of
Greece, and the temples of Aisculapius—a name bearing a strong
affinity to that of the family—were served with priests out of this
family. The Ionian schools, founded by Thales of Miletus, about
600 B. C.,were spread chiefly amongst the continental Greeks of
Asia Minor, and partook of an Egyptian origin; for when Psam-
meticus called in the Greeks to his aid,t Thales, Pythagoras, and
other philosophers, passed over to receive instruction from the
priests of Egypt. | 3 .
Pythagoras flourished about 550 years B. C.: after finishing
* B.C. 900. +B. C. 600. 9
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 99
many arduous journeys in the east, undertaken through the pure
love of philosophy, he retired to Crotona, in Italy. As Thales, the
chief of the Ionian school, devoted all his attention to the discov-
ery of a first principle, independently of experiments by way of
induction, so Pythagoras endeavoured to discover the same prin-
ciple in the power of numbers. Pythagoras is deemed to have
preceded, to a certain extent, Copernicus, in the received opinions
respecting planetary motions.
Herodotus, Xenophon, Hippocrates, Ctesias, and other philoso-
phers who flourished about these times, were contributors to
natural science. Herodotus, the earliest prose writer among the
Greeks, had travelled extensively in the east, and in Egypt.. He
described the crocodile, and other animals of that country, with
much accuracy. Xenophon was born thirty-nine years later than
Socrates, and was one of his pupils. He was at once a soldier, a
statesman, and a naturalist; was the declared enemy of the my-
thology of the Greeks, and taught a system of pure idealism, in-
cluding all things in the divinity. In the Cynegetics, which is a
treatise on hunting, he treats of the different races of dogs, and
of the various kinds of game pursued by hunters: the retreats |
of wild beasts, their stratagems to elude pursuit, and their means
of defence, are there described. It is in this work we learn that
lions, panthers, jackals, and other species of wild beasts now
found in hot climates only, were the inhabitants of Macedonia ;
an interesting zoological fact, bearing upon the speculations of
some modern naturalists. Hippocrates and Ctesias belonged to
the caste of the Asclepiades. In the pathological knowledge of
diseases, in diagnostics, and in medical treatment, the first has
acquired a great reputation, to which his fanciful and very de-
ficient mode of considering anatomy and physiology, have not
contributed. Ctesias was made a prisoner on the memorable ex-
pedition of the ten thousand, and resided, in the quality of
physician, seventeen years at the Persian court. In an account
of India, which he borrows from the Persian writers, he mentions
the elephant, an animal at that time unknown to the Greeks.
His work, however, is full of absurd stories; he describes em-
blematic animals as real ones, and the fabulous stories of the
flying griffin, the unicorn, &c. &c., are probably due to him.
Leucippus, the founder of the atomistic school, taught that
every thing was matter and motion: he was a pure materialist,
100 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
and acknowledged nothing but atoms, and a vacuum to move in.
Figure and motion, and the arrangement of his atoms, produced,
according to this philosopher, all the properties of bodies, colour,
consistence, heat, cold, &c. '
Democritus of Abdera,* a disciple of entail was a com-
parative anatomist, for he endeavoured to deduce the habits of
animals from the differences he had observed in their organiza-
tion. On the conquest of Asia-Minor by Xerxes,f the principal
philosophers of these various sects, who had brought forward, in
turns, all the metaphysical views known to ourselves, established
themselves at Athens, in central Greece; when Anaxagoras, the
father of the Socratic school, finally taught the reasonable doc- |
trine, that mind and matter were separate principles, and cul-
tivated more extensively the deduction of the rationale of things
from practical observation.
Socrates was the true reformer of Grecian philosophy: he
sought to reduce physics to common sense and observation, and
metaphysics to logical reasoning. He endeavoured to overthrow
the miserable sophistry that had sprung out of the Eleatic school,
and it is to him we owe the elaboration of the thought of Anax-
agoras, that an intelligent principle has arranged the world. If
the universe, he reasoned, be the work of an intelligent mind, it
must be so disposed as to concur to an intelligent end. From this
great thought results the important natural truth which geology
establishes, that organized beings are connected by necessary re-
lations, and that a perfect organized body must contain in itself, all
the conditions proper to the performance of the part assigned to i.
Socrates declared his regret, at not being sufficiently conversant —
with natural history, to demonstrate this truth as extensively as
it might be done. This great and virtuous man was a cotempo-
rary of Pericles, Alcibiades, Xenophon, and Hippocrates, and died
a victim to the intolerance of his cnnmlesi and the splendour of
his character, B. C. 399.
Plato, the youngest of the disciples of Socrates, after the death
of his master, went to Egypt, and studied under the priests. He —
afterwards received instruction in the Pythagorean schools, es-
tablished in Lower Italy : having before his travels in Egypt, ex-
ercised himself in dialectics, with Euclid—who had been himself
a pupil of Socrates—he now, fraught with knowledge, returned
* Flourished B. C. 400. +B. C. 480.
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 101
to Athens, and opened the celebrated academic school, the influ- |
ence of which has been so powerful. We pass over his meta-
physical speculations, to his opinions which are more particular-
ly connected with natural history. Many of these are based
upon the traditions of geological revolutions, similar to those re-
flected to us from every people. In one of his dialogues, he sup-
poses Solon to have been told by a priest of Sais, in lower Egypt,
that Sais had been founded 10,000 years before; that subse-
quently, all the monuments of men, save those in Egypt, had been
destroyed by numerous deluges. That these inundations were
historically true, may be admitted, but it is a glaring inconsisten-
cy to except from their influence, a low, alluvial territory, that
would have been one of the first countries submerged. The dis-
appearance of the island of Atalantis, is another story, founded
in like manner, perhaps, upon an ancient geological convulsion,
but the details of which are due to the exuberant fancy of this
philosopher. In the same dialogue, is a curious approximation
to the modern science of chrystallography, derived by him from
the Pythagorean school, which, as we before adverted to, sought
the remote principle of all things in the power of numbers: for
it is stated that the four elements, air, earth, fire, and ‘water, owe
their separate properties to their primitive form; the primitive
chrystal being pyramidal in fire, cubical in earth, octohedral in .
water, and icosihedral in air: lending himself to a fanciful cos-
mogonico-generalization, he asserts that each of these solid primi-
tive forms resolves itself into tetrahedrons, so that the universe is
ultimately composed of triangular pyramids. His physiological
system, which evinces some acquaintance with anatomy, does
not merit much attention, and his zoology is altogether fanciful.
Adopting the metempsychosis of Pythagoras, he asserts that tri-
‘fling and unjust men, at their first transformation, are changed
into women ; the most depraved men are transformed into fishes.
According to this system, the affinity which exists between ani-
mals of different classes, is attributable to each retaining some-
thing of its former state. However fancifully physiological and
zoological subjects were treated by Plato—sometimes perhaps to
veil doctrines it was not safe to divulge openly—there may never-
theless be discerned in his writings, the outlines of those three
principles of motion, which in our own times have been called
organic life, animal life, and intellectual life.
102 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
Such schools, and such men, which entered upon the discus-
sion of every branch of knowledge, could not fail to plant its
seeds deep in some powerful mind, and to the great benefit of
mankind, if such a mind was free to exert itself, untrammelled
by the superstition and jealousy which had cramped the intellec-
tual labours of Socrates and Plato.
Accordingly, after the death of this last philosopher, in the
348th year B. C., in the eighty-first year of his age, Aristotle the
Stagyrite, his disciple and successor, appeared upon the scene—
an individual, if we are to value men for the variety of their
attainments, and their disinterested devotion to the improvement
of their fellow creatures, who may claim to receive the highest
meed of praise so great a benefactor can receive at our hands.
He was fortunate in the period in which he lived, having been
brought up at the Macedonian court, a cotemporary with Philip,
who subsequently appointed him tutor to his son, Alexander the
Great. It was his good fortune to inspire his royal pupil with a
love for natural science. It appears that he caused to be trans-
mitted to Aristotle the most remarkable productions of the coun-
tries he subdued; so that although the conquests of Alexander
were not, in their effects, permanent victories for his family, yet
each of them was a real enlargement of the empire of know-
ledge. Pliny states that more than a thousand persons were placed
at the disposition of the philosopher, to assist him in collecting
the materials of his history of animals, beside an almost unlimit-
ed command ‘of money. At his school, the lyceum, he attended
in the mornings with his disciples, to examine his specimens, and
in the afternoon he expounded the higher branches of his philo-
sophy. Diogenes Laertius has preserved the title of two hundred
and sixty works of this extraordinary man, most of which are
lost. ‘They appear to have embraced almost the whole range
of human knowledge. Logic, rhetoric, poetry, morals, politics,
metaphysics, general physics, meteorology, mineralogy, and the
history of animals. On all these subjects, he lays down no rules,
but those deduced from observed facts. It may be truly said of
him, that he gave to all the sciences the right method of ad-
vancement; and that in the natural sciences especially, he col-
lected more facts, and deduced more general laws, than all his
successors have done, up to the period of that great naturalist of
our own times, Cuvier. Many of his principles in general physics,
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 103 _
as well as in some other branches, have indeed been found false
and imperfect, but they were the general expression of the facts
he had observed, his intelligence being only limited by his oppor-
tunities. His history of animals is a surprising work ; it is impos-
sible to think of this monument of his industry and genius, without
offering the greatest tribute of admiration to his memory, by
admitting, that whether in his classification of animals, or in his
immense number of facts and general propositions, he has almost
anticipated all that we owe to modern investigation. We re-
luctantly forbear to enter upon the tempting details within our
reach; but to show that his aphorisms are not founded upon
& priori assumptions, and that they are the bold results of
practical observation, we shall lay a few of them before our
readers.
He observes, that all animals, without exception, are furnished
with a mouth, and that they possess the sense of touch: these
two characters, he considers the only ones that are indispensable:
but all animals, he states, of whatever species, differ from another
species, in the presence or absence of some other character, com-
mon to animals.
All land animals, he observes, have locomotion, but many
water animals have not.
Winged insects which have stings in the head, never have
more than two wings; but those which have stings in the pos-
terior part, have four wings. He divides animals into those which
have red blood, and those which have not, and forms his groupes
in a very natural manner. His class of insects is divided into
those having wings, and those without wings. This is the dis-
tinction adopted by Linneus, and prevails at this day. He gives
the definition of a genus, by adducing solipeda, or simple hoofed
animals. This genus is distinct from all others, and includes
those animals only which have a simple hoof, such as the horse,
ass, dc. &&c. Although the Greeks had only become acquainted
with the elephant in his own time, he had studied it with his
usual accuracy. Experience has shown, that even Buffon has
always erred, when he has ventured to contradict this great
naturalist, although he lived at a distance of more than two
thousand years from the period of Aristotle. His knowledge of
fishes appears to have been greater than we possess at the pre-
sent day. Of their habits, their mode of generation, their food,
104 Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians.
their emigration, their diseases, he speaks with the greatest de-
tail and accuracy.
After the death of this great naturalist, 322 years B. C., Theo-
phrastus was the most celebrated of the philosophers of the Ly-
ceum. He was in botany, what Aristotle had been in zoology:
but Greece being now subdued by the Macedonians, and the Ro-
man power having gradually interfered with the independence
of all free states, science began to decline: nor can the efforts of
Pliny the naturalist, be considered a revival of natural science;
feeble as those efforts were, they were soon lost in the prostration of
all independent action, under the despotism of the Roman emperors.
After the death of Augustus, flatterers and panders of the basest
kind alone flourished, with few exceptions. ‘The Roman people, at
length, unaccustomed to great examples of virtue and knowledge,
lost all reverence for them; and before the final overthrow of
the empire, by the descendants of those pastoral tribes who had so
frequently interrupted the first dawnings of science, the Romans
did not know where the dependencies were situated, of which they
were the nominal masters. So surely does it happen, that when
men, from whatever causes, are permitted to administer the gov-
ernment of a people, with reference solely to their own gratifi-
cations, that the public mind, having no bright examples to
impel it forward, ebbs, and exposes a vast and unproductive
barren. Such was the result long before the fall of the Roman
empire.
( To be continued.)
ANTIQUITIES AND LANGUAGES OF THE MEXICAN INDIANS.
Tue writer of the following communication, a distinguished
Mexican gentleman, is entitled to the cordial acknowledgements
of the Editor, for this interesting paper, and flatters himself it is
only the first of a series, that will reflect great light upon both
the antiquities and languages of the aboriginal nations of this
continent. |
There are strong reasons for supposing that the ancient Indian’
monuments which are found so widely diffused over the territory
of the U. States, derived their origin from a people, skilled in
arts to which the natives here, who have been known to our
race, have always been strangers. We have no evidence, that ~
Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians. 105
the modern races of red men, have ever, with slight exceptions,
passed beyond the hunter state. There are instances of stone
hatchets being found in tumuli, in the State of New York, made
after the Mexican manner, and of a material peculiar to Mexico.
This points to a connexion between the ancient nations of Mexico,
and the people who constructed the monuments that are found,
even in the northern parts of the territory of the U. States. We
now want architectural comparisons, between the monuments in
the U. States, and those found in the southern parts of America.
In this point of view, the present communication of our intelli-
gent correspondent, may prove extremely valuable.
Epitor.
No. 1. Pauace or Mictta.
Sir,—We cannot but regret that the conquerors of Mexico
have destroyed, with a barbarism ignominious even for the fif-
teenth century, the most remarkable edifices and monuments
of the various nations which inhabited that extensive portion of
the American continent. The Bishop Zumarrdga caused the
_ precious annals of the Mexican Indians to be burnt, and destroy-
ed what had escaped the fury of the conquerors. The conduct
of these last, formed a contrast with that pursued by their coun-
trymen in the Peninsula, in relation to the celebrated palace of
Alhambra, and other monuments of the Arabians. Zumarraga
and the first monks who arrived at Mexico, preferred the exam-
ple set by the inquisitor Tormequada, to that of the monks of
the congregation of St; Mauro, in whose convents the sciences
found a refuge, and where the treasures of Grecian literature
were preserved.
Thus, few monuments of Mexican antiquities have remained,
except those capable of resisting the ravages of time; those im-
mense masses, which the nations, asif by instinct, have construct-
ed, as memorials of their existence to future ages.
The writings and paintings which were saved from the confla-
grations of Zumarrdga, were but few, and consequently, the
notices we possess, respecting nations so far advanced in civiliza-
tion, are scarce, and deserve to be cherished.
The investigations which you propose to insert in your Journal,
touching the antiquities and languages of the aboriginal Indians,
deserve much attention, and I have thought myself bound to
communicate to you some information which I possess, respecting
Vou. I.—14
106 Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians.
the Indians of my own country: happy to assist in ii
your laudable intentions. ,
One of the few monuments of the first Hebi which are still
preserved in Mexico, is the palace of Mictla, distant twenty
miles from the city of Oaxaca, in 17° 20' N. lat. Mictla, in the |
Mexican tongue, signifies hell; and the Zapotecas who inhabited
that country, called it Liobaa, which means, a place “ devoted
to repose.” ‘The monarchs of Zapoteca, dwelt at Mictla. They
were feudatories of the emperors of Mexico, and paid tribute to
them in those coloured feathers, of which great use was made
for their standards, as well as by the dignitaries of the empire,
and their priests. ‘The High Priest of the Zapotecas inhabited
the palace of Mictla. Mictla, according to the relation of the
few persons who have visited that great catacomb, was an im-
mense cave, which the industry of the Zapotecans converted into
a subterranean palace. It consists of four compartments, above
and below, with an extensive square in the centre. ‘The edifice
is supported by means of columns of porphyry of one entire piece,
eight feet in diameter, and five Spanish varas (about fifteen feet)
in height. They are after the Grecian taste, without pedestals,
and perfectly smooth. ‘They support the roof, which consists of
slabs, two varas in length, one in breadth, and one-half in thick-
ness. The slabs, which are about equal in dimensions, are not
united by any kind of cement.
The form of the edifice is that of a ducal crown, the superior
part having a greater circumference than the inferior. It must
be confessed, that in this respect the civil architecture of the
Zapotecans is entirely original. In the walls, the cement is as
hard as stone. The surface of the walls is covered with mosaics
of white stone, derived perhaps from the fine quarries of white -
marble which are found in the territory of Oaxaca. The pieces
of mosaic, are not united by any cement; they are admirably
executed, and form branches. It is remarkable that without the
use or knowledge of iron,* the Mexican Indians could quarry,
form, and polish marble, flint, and the hardest stones, _ | :
The entrances—very spacious—were made of three stones of
equal size, of an entire piece, and of the same thickness as the
wall. Each of the compartments or saloons, served as a temple:
and sepulchre, to the kings and nobility.
* Mexican tools of copper have been found.
Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians. 107
. The chief priest performed the functions belonging to the wor-
ship of the idols, upon a large slab, raised in the hall, appropriat-
ed to’these deities. He was clothed in a white garment of cotton,
resembling the surplices used by Catholic priests, with another
above it, adorned with figures of birds and other animals: he
bore a sort of mitre on his head, and a buskin on his legs, studded
with pieces of gold. The worship in that temple, or royal chapel,
consisted of profound genuflexions, and offerings of incense, fur-
nished by the odoriferous gums, which abound in the woods of
Oaxaca. This was the place destined to the sacrifice of human
victims, whose hearts were offered to the idols, whilst the bodies
were cast into the cave, through a door, closed by a slab, which
is yet preserved. Prayers, penitence, and fasting, were also per-
formed in the same place, when any favour was sought, or any
evil deprecated from their deities: The chief priests enjoyed
the privilege of a sepulchre in one of the compartments.
- The kings of Teozapotlan were carried to the sepulchre, in
their richest garments, feathers, and jewels, and with exquisite
collars of gold; a shield was placed in the left hand, and the
spear which they used in war, in the right. At the funeral, dis-
cordant and lugubrious instruments were played upon, and amidst
lamentations, the life and achievements of the deceased were
ome
Their kings, their great chiefs, in the same manner as the vic-
tims sacrificed at the temple, were thrown into the cave, and
even some, whilst living, voluntarily threw themselves there, be-
lieving it led to the mansions of eternal felicity. "The Zapotecas
also had their elysian fields: hope and fear have given birth to
the same dogma in America and in Egypt.
The Zapotecans believed that the cave was three hundred
leagues deep; and in fact there does exist a very great cavity,
which has been formed by some cause. I am disposed to believe
that riches are buried there, whose resurrection would console
the arts. It is to be hoped that the enlightened government of
Mexico will cause it to be ascertained whether in Mictla we
do not possess a new Pompeii or Herculaneum.
One of the superior compartments was the palace of the Za-
potecan pontiff’ In it was his throne, covered with the skins of
tigers, and rich carpets of the coloured feathers of birds. The.
other halls, even that of ia King, were lower than that of the
108 On the Acclimating Principle of Planis.
high priest. It was, no doubt, a theocratical government: the
sacerdotal order was as much respected as the divinity ; it was
hereditary ; and although the priests were not married, yet at
certain solemnities they had intercourse with the other sex, and
the fruits of this commerce were destined to the service of their
religion.
There was a distinct compartment for the priests of an inferior
order, one to receive the king in, and another for the nobility.
When they were assembled at the palace, all, of whatever rank
and dignity, were under the authority of the pontiff All the
floors were covered with mats, upon which they slept; no bed
being raised higher for any person whatever.
The Zapotecans were warlike, and had made great progress
in the art of fortification. Their last king, Cosijopii was as pru-
dent in his rule, as his father Cosifoeza had been valiant. The
Mexicans endeavoured more than once to subdue the Zapote-
cans, but were always repulsed. Even at this day, the war-like
spirit of their ancestors is yet preserved, in the miserable remains
of this nation. ‘The Indians of the whole State of Oaxaca are
industrious, well mannered and patient. |
It is to be regretted that Mictla has not been visited By some
one competent to appreciate and describe those rare objects
which vulgar eyes assign no value to. | remain, sir, your most
obedient servant, A. Mexican.
ON THE ACCLIMATING PRINCIPLE OF PLANTS.
Ir is nature’s plan, that nothing should remain fixed and sta-
tionary. She exists by motion, and manifests herself through —
endless changes: even death and decomposition are her pioneers,
to prepare the way for life and existence. The very rocks and
minerals, (unorganised matter,) are changed by the action of the
elements, form new affinities, and yield to the circumstances of
moisture and heat, with which they may be surrounded. Ani-
mals exhibit still more changes; they possess powers of develope-
ment, and the means of continuation of kind. Endowed with lo-
comotion, they can change their climate and habitation: with a
natural pliancy of constitution, they can accommodate themselves
to the quality of their food, and character of the country upon
which they may be thrown, and appear beautiful or deformed
On the Acclimating Principle of Plants. 109
accordingly as they may be acted on by circumstances. Many
of them can bear the most violent contrasts of heat and cold, and
adapt themselves to many climates.
Vegetables too, are organized, have their growth and decay,
and the powers of reproduction. Beyond this we allow them but
few capacities; no locomotive powers, none of the sensibilities
common to animals, nor that pliancy which can accommodate
itself to circumstances. They are the fixtures of nature, with
but little latitude in which to flourish, and but little diversity of
soil from which to derive nutriment. The object of this paper
is to enlarge their sphere, and to show that they possess more
power to change their climates, and capacity to bear the con-
trasts of heat and cold, than we have generally ascribed to them;
to illustrate it with many instances where they have actually
adapted their growth and habits to a great extent of country,
and diversity of latitude, and to urge agriculturists to make
more efforts to vary their culture.
Plants have directly no locomotive powers, but indirectly they
have in a great degree the faculty of changing their places, and,
consequently, their climate. The embryo germ wrapped in a
kernel, or seed, is virtually a plant, ready to germinate when
thrown upon its parent earth, and affected with heat and mois-
ture. Itisina most portable shape, and can be transported
with ease to an unlimited distance. Nature in many instances
superadds to seeds, wings, down, feathers, and chaff, by which
they become buoyant, and are carried by the winds of heaven,
by the storms that sweep the forest, and by the streams, and cur-
rents of rivers, and the ocean, to an immense distance, and
through many degrees of latitude! They become finally deposit-
ed in some genial soil, and at one remove, or through a succes-
sion, they occupy extensive regions. Nature manifests her great
care of the embryo, by coating some of her. seeds with shells,
which protect them from the attacks of insects, and the action
of the elements ; others have bitter, narcotic, or poisonous quali-
ties, which forbid animals eating them; and many are filled with
oily, or resinous matter, which resists for ages, and even centu-
ries, the action of the elements, unless acted upon by the proper
degree of heat and moisture. By such qualities they endure, and
await a suitable time and conveyance to their destined place, in
order to extend and vary their families.
110 On the Acclimating Principle of Plants.
Birds also convey the seeds of plants in their crops over a wide
extent, before they become triturated and digested; and when
these winged carriers die, or decay, fromr accident or age, the
seeds are deposited, and take root in some distant land. Animals
also convey them in their stomachs to a considerable distance,
and pass them uninjured by the powers of digestion.
Man, more provident than all, to whom plants are necessary,
whose support, whose comforts, and whose pleasures connect him
with them, carries their choice seeds, slips, and scions, far and
wide. His interests foster their growth, his attentions enrich
their products, and his skill and science preserve their existence,
and adapt them to their new condition. In an improved com-
munity, man’s wants multiply: he has occasion for the more varied
and rich fruits; more abundant and luxurious clothing, and fur-
niture of vegetable growth; odours to regale his senses, vegeta-
ble flavours to pamper his appetites, and all the medicinal plants
to heal his various diseases, and invigorate his shattered constitu. :
tion. He attaches himself to agriculture and horticulture: plants
become his companions; he carries a creative resource into those
departments, and by his attentions, forms new varieties and ex-
cellences, unknown to the wild state of vegetable existence.
Such are the means nature has provided for the propagation and
extension of plants; such are the indirect locomotive powers they
possess. We must no longer, therefore, consider vegetables such
mert and sluggish beings.
We will now treat plants as having a kind of locomotive exist-
ence. We know that they are very perfectly organized, have sen-
sibility, and sexual intercourse. We know that they have lungs,
by which they breathe, and are connected with the air. We
know by abundant experience, how easily they are affected
by the elements, by heat and cold, moisture and drought. We
know how radically soil affects their productiveness, how imme-
diately they are stinted or stimulated by the nature of the ex-
traneous circumstances with which they are surrounded. Beings
therefore, that have such perfect organization, that although
they are fixed in their places, are deeply changed by every
shower, and every breeze, and every stroke of the cultivater—
beings, so necessary to the wants, and very existence of animat-
ed nature—should possess, in a high degree, the faculty of chang-
ing their climate, and of accommodating themselves to circum-
On the Acclimating Principle of Plants. . 11
stances, and the strong contrasts.of seasons. Nature else would
be wanting in her usual loresight. and in her adaptation of one
thing to another.
If an animal is carried by accident, or its own wanderings, to
a country or climate that is not congenial to its nature, it can
and does make use of its locomotive powers, to regain one that
is more suitable to it. This happens every day. ‘Thousands of
birds and fish, and other animals, migrate regularly, to avoid
even the different seasons of the same year, and could not, with
all their versatility of constitution, exist without it We may
infer, then, that plants, which, after having rooted themselves,
cannot migrate at all, should be endowed with faculties to bear
all the changes of the seasons, and even of climate, in the same
dull place of their existence. They are so endowed, and can often
bear more changes, and support more disasters of storms and
ravages of insects, than animals; and often continue to flourish
under violent and sudden changes.
Human care, and the providences of nature, have given to
many plants a great extent of climate and latitude, an enlarged
. growth, and an increased and improved product. Let us bring
together such instances as are within the knowledge of all, and
which ought to stimulate our cultivators to greater efforts.
The valley of the Euphrates was doubtless the native region
of all those fine and delicious fruits which enrich our orchards,
and enter so largely into the luxury of living. We thence de-
rived all the succulent and nutritious vegetables that go so far to
support life; and even the farinaceous grains appertain to the
same region. The cereal productions began in that same valley
to be the staff of life.
Our corn, our fruit, our vegetables, our roots, and oil, have all
travelled with man from Mesopotamia up to latitude 60°, and
even farther, in favourable situations. "The cares of man have
made up for the want of climate, and his cultivation atoned for
this alienation from their native spot. The Scandinavians of
Europe, the Canadians of North America, and the Samoides of
Asia, are now enjoying plants which care and cultivation have
naturalized in their bleak climes. Melons and peaches, with
many of the more tender plants and fruits, once almost tropical,
have reached the 45th degree of latitude in perfection, and are
found even in. 50°.. Rice has travelled from the tropics to 36°,
tS On the Acclimating Principle of Plants.
and that of N. Carolina now promises to be better than that of
more southern countries. ‘The grape has reached 50°, and pro-
duces good wine and fruit in Hungary and Germany. The
orange, lemon, and sugar-cane, strictly tropical, grow well in
Florida, and up to 314°, in Louisiana, and the fruit of the former
much larger and better than under the equator.
Annual plants grown for roots, and vegetables, and grain, go
still farther north in proportion, than the trees and shrubs, be-
cause their whole growth is matured in one summer; and we
know that the developement of vegetation is much quicker when
spring does open in countries far to the north, than in the tropics.
In Lapland and on Hudson’s Bay, the full leaf is unfolded in one
or two weeks, when spring begins, although it requires six or
eight weeks in the south. Nature makes up in despatch for the
want of length in her seasons, and this enables us to cultivate
the annual plants very far to the north, in full perfection. The
beans, pumpkins, potatoes, peas, cabbages, lettuce, celery, beets,
turnips, and thousands of others, seem to disregard climate, and
grow in any region or latitude where man plants and cherishes
them. The fig is becoming common in France; the banana, pine-
apple, and many other plants, have crossed the line of the tro-
pics, and thousands of the plants valuable for food, clothing, and
medicine, and such as are cultivated for their beauty, fragrance,
or timber, are extending their climates, and promise much com-
fort and resource to man. Plants lately introduced, whose cul-
tivation has not run through many ages or years, have acquired
but little latitude in their growth, and show but little capacity
to bear various climates, because time has not yet habituated
them to such changes, and human cares have not imparted to
them new habits and new powers.
Nothing can be effected by suddenness in acclimating plants ;
too quick a transition would shock them; it must be a very gra-.
dual process, embracing many years, and many removals. The
complete success that has attended the plants first named, the
earliest companions of man, proves this. Inthe more recent
plants success is exactly in proportion to the length of time that
a plant has been in a train of experimental culture.
The most striking method of testing the effect of climate on
plants, is to carry suddenly back to the south, such as have been.
extended far, and become habituated to a northern climate.
Colonel George Croghan, on his passage down the Ohio, -
1765, stopped at Big-bone Lick, and is the first white man who is
known to have visited it. His description of the place as it ap-
_ peared at that time, will be found in another part of this memoir.
General William H. Harrison of Ohio, was there, and obtained
many bones in 1795 ; and the French general Collaud, as nearly
as I can ascertain, about the same period.
* Dr. Goforth of Cincinnati, was the next. He made large ex-
cavations, and found a great quantity of bones, which was about
the year 1804; the precise date I have not been able to learn.
He was succeeded by General Clark, the distinguished travel-
ler, who was there in 1806.
~The Western Museum Society of Cincinnati, have caused
various examinations to be made for bones, and many more have
been carried away by travellers and others, within the last twen-
ty-five years. ‘
The author, in company with Mr. I. Cozzens, made a journey ©
to Big-bone Lick in the summer of 1828. We caused several ex-
cavations to be made, and collected every thing that seemed
likely to add to our stock of information concerning the place.
After all these various explorations, Mr. Benjamin Finnell,
who resides here, and had previously made considerable discove-
160 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
ries of bones, undertook another, so recently as the month of Sep-
tember, 1830. It proved one of the most successful that has ever
been made. al
His example encouraged Mr. William Bullock, now ee of
Kentucky, to undertake another search immediately after. Mr.
Bullock likewise obtained a rich and valuable collection; since
which all further operations have been forbidden by Freaeent
proprietors of the land.
These various collections will be more particularly maticeds as
well as the materials now existing will enable me, when treating
of the animals to which the bones respectively belong. But it is
much to be regretted, that the intelligent men who have enjoyed
the opportunities, have generally omitted to furnish such descrip-
tions as would now be useful for our purpose. We possess no satis-
factory account of what was discovered previous to the visit of
General Clark; and of those, even, which he obtained, no suffi-
cient description has yet been published. A small part is describ-
ed by Cuvier in his great work; and a few have also been:made
known by Dr. Wistar. ‘The remainder is still preserved in this
country, and it is to be hoped we shall not be allowed to remain
long ignorant of what it consists.
Extinct animals found here, and quantity of remains 4d each
species.
The remains dun at Big-bone Lick, belong partly to animals
whose species is now extinct, and partly to others, still numerous
within the United States territory. Our present i inquiries relating
principally to the former, the other will not be especially men-
tioned, except in the case of some which have been included
among the cotemporaries of those more ancient quadrupeds. Of
these the mastodon being the most extraordinary, and that which :
furnishes the greater portion, by far, of these remains, first de-
serves our attention. ,
1. Great Mastopon. (JMastodon maximus,* Cuvier.) |
Such is the quantity of bones and teeth of this species of mas-
todon, that has been disinterred at Big-bone Lick, that although
it is the most common of American fossil quadrupeds, and has_
been found in almost every part of the United States, yet all
* M. Cuvier having finally adopted this name, we shall make use of it, instead of
__ that formerly given, M. giganteum. Wide Oss. Foss. ed. 3. ch. v. e 527, Ae ae
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 161
that have been discovered elsewhere, would not, united, equal
the number obtained at this single locality.
Longueil and Croghan each took but five or six teeth and
bones, being as much as their means of transportation at that
time permitted.
General Harrison, as he informed several members of the Ly-
ceum of Natural History, when in New York, about three years
ago, procured as many as filled thirteen hogsheads, which were
sent up the Ohio to Pittsburg; after which he never heard what
became of them. General Collard, about the same time, obtain-
ed twenty-four pieces.
It is not to be presumed that these bones all belonged to the
great mastodon ; but I am induced to mention them here, on ac-
count of the probability that a majority of them did. In all the —
collections of bones made here, of which any precise account has
been given, these always constitute the great mass. And this,
unfortunately, is as much as is now known of all that was re-
moved previous to the exploration made by Dr. Goforth.
Concerning this, our information is likewise very scanty. He
states that he got of mastodons’ teeth alone,* weighing from
twelve to twenty pounds, “ as many as a wagon and four horses
could draw,” besides which were many large tusks and bones, no
doubt principally belonging to the same animal. A large part
of this collection passed into the hands of Mr. William Bullock,
so well known for the services he has rendered to natural history.
Mr. Bullock, now residing in this country, | applied to him for
information concerning them, when he favoured me with the
following reply, dated Nov. 24, 1828.
“Tn regard to the fossil bones of which you request informa-
tion, it is about twenty years since I purchased of ‘Thomas Ashe,
twelve cases of bones, which I afterwards discovered were col-
lected by Dr. Goforth, a few years previous to the time I bought
them. According to Ashe’s account, who was present when many
of them were collected, they were found several feet below the
surface, and under the stratum of graminivorous bones, which
you must have observed on the bank of the small river that
passes near the spring.
“Thad about twenty back teeth, exclusive of perhaps eight
b See his letter to Mr. Jefferson, published in Cramer’s Ohio Navigator, 8th ed. pp.
.) °
ro. L—2]
162 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
or ten in different jaws, and about ten tusks, among which were
those of three different animals. ‘The greatest part of these
bones is now in the museum of the college of surgeons in London.
A beautiful specimen of the fore part of the head, with all the
delicate nasal bones entire, is in the possession of professor Mon-
roe, of Edinburgh; and the late Dr. Blake, an eminent dentist of
Dublin, had from me a very interesting collection of teeth in
various stages of growth and decomposition.”
It will be perceived that the quantity here mentioned by Mr.
Bullock is small, in comparison with that which Goforth,—of whose
correctness there is no reason to doubt,—states to have been ob-
tained by him. A great part of his collection, therefore, still re-
mains to be accounted for.
The next considerable collection known to have been made
here, was by General Clarke, at the instance of Mr. Jefferson.
The bones were brought to Washington in 1807, where they were
seen by Dr. S. L. Mitchill,* who published a brief notice of them
in the eleventh volume of the Medical Repository. ‘They were
divided by Mr. Jefferson, according to Dr. Wistar, who selected
them, between the American Philosophical Society, and the
French Institute. Dr. Mitchill says, there were three parcels
made, of which Mr. Jefferson reserved one for himself. However
this may be, there are now very few fgsil bones preserved at
Charlottesville, and it is doubtful whether these are from Big-
bone Lick. ;
Those sent to France are described by Cuvier. They consist
of an upper and two under jaws with teeth, five detached teeth,
a radius, tibia, and several bones of the feet.
The cabinet of the American Philosophical Society, contains
of the mastodon, two or three portions of the cranium, one of
them comprising a large part of the alveolar process of a tusk,
fourteen or fifteen mutilated jaw bones, upper and under, con-
taining teeth, and from animals of various ages, besides large
tusks, and pieces of fossil ivory, in considerable quantity, several
‘vertebrae, and a few bones of the feet. The origin of all these
is not certainly known at present; but, though some may have
been derived from other localities, it is most probable that the
* Whilst sending this sheet to the press, the Editor has received information of the
death of this amiable and most eccentric individual. For forty years he has been a
conspicuous friend to natural science, and for a great portion of that time he kept ths
flag of science waving in this country, when he ‘almost stood alone,
Notices of Big-bone Lack. 163
majority consist of those discovered at Big-bone Lick, by General
_ Clarke. |
The western museum of Cincinnati, and Letton’s museum in
the same city, contain many relics of the mastodon, nearly all
from Big-bone lick. ‘Together there are not less than one hun-
dred pieces, more than half being grinders, of three and more
pairs of points. There is, however, in the latter museum, a lower
jaw, which is remarkable for having both branches tolerably
complete, though the teeth are wanting.
My researches at Big-bone Lick, procured me about seventy
pieces, of which the most considerable were as follows:
Two large, and numerous small fragments of tusks, presumed
of mastodon.
A small left lower jaw, with one molar tooth, of four points ;
being the anterior milk molar. This is from a very young
individual, probably the youngest yet discovered, the first
milk molar being scarcely at all worn.* | obtained likewise
several other interesting portions, including teeth and bones,
apparently all belonging to this small head.
Four other large portions of lower jaws, all different, but with
out teeth. |
Thirty tolerably perfect separate molar teeth, besides large
fragments of others.+
Seven vertebra, mutilated, and several portions of ribs.
Two portions of scapule.
_ *The Tetracaulodon of the late justly lamented Dr. Godman, appears to me, after
acareful examination of his specimen, to be another young individual, also of the com-
mon mastodon, but older than mine, the anterior milk molars having begun to fall,
after having been used until they were worn down. I have stated my reasons for this
opinion, ina paper on the dentary system of the mastodon, which I read to the Lyceum
of Natural History, in April, 1830. It appears, however, from recent observations,
that the lower tusks, which I suppose all of the species to have possessed in their
youth, were in some instances permanent during the advanced age of the animal. But
whether this was a sexual characteristic, or merely on individual case of anomaly, of
which I have seen other curious examples, J cannot recognize more than one species
of mastodon, among the great quantity of their remains found in the United States,
which have come under my observation, those just alluded to, included.
We are happy to find that Mr. Cooper, who has given this subject so careful an ex-
amination, and who’has had such rare opportunities of studying the dentition of these
animals, agrees with us so thoroughly in the opinion we have always expressed on
this subject. Vide Monthly American Journal of Geology, &c. Vol. I. N p 3, p. 141.
; DITOR.
_t Among these I include one similar to the tooth, also from Big-bone Lick, described
by Dr. Harlan, as having belonged to an extinct species of tapir. That it is a young
mastodon’s tooth, is evident, I think, fromthe milk teeth still remaining in the head on
which the supposed genus tetracaulodon is founded, as well as from the small jaw
above described. %.
164 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
Four humeri, much mutilated, three of them from the left
side.
Upper extremity of ulna.
Five carpal, two metacarpal, and one phalangial bone of fore
foot.
Large fragment of os innominatum.
Another, comprising the acetabulum.
Lower extremity of left femur.
Patella, tibia, epiphyses, gone.
Calcaneum. :
Besides numerous fragments, not requiring especial notice,
but like the rest, indicating, by their shattered condition, the
violence they were exposed to, before their final deposition
at this spot. Some appear to have been a little rubbed, but
the broken edges are generally sharp, and the surfaces un-
scratched. /
The bones discovered by Mr. Finnell, in September, 1830,
form one of the most interesting series belonging to the mastodon,
that has probably ever been assembled. Having taken notes of
these, while exhibited in New York this summer, I am enabled
to give the following descriptive catalogue, in which I have in-
cluded such anatomical, and other observations, as appeared to
be new or interesting. ‘The first will naturally be
A head, more entire than any previously discovered here or
eisewhere. It is still, however, too imperfect to enable me
to complete the description of this important part, and it is
especially to be regretted, that so much is wanting around
the exterior opening of the nostrils, that we can derive no
aid from it, in endeavouring to determine with certainty,
from the structure of this part, whether or not the mastodon
was furnished with a trunk. But enough remains to show,
_ that it differed materially from the elephant’s in form. It
in fact bears more resemblance, in some respects, though to-
tally different in others, to that of the rhinoceros, particu-
larly in the nearly vertical elevation of the occiput, giving —
the skull the general form of a pyramid, of which the oc-
ciput is the base, and the alveolar processes the summit,
there being a gradual and pretty regular slope from be-
tween these, nearly to the edge of the occiput. It is,
however, much broader and flatter on the top, than in
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 165
either of these animals.* The following are the principal ,
dimensions.}
Feet. In.
From the occiput to the end of the alveolar,
from which a partis broken off, . . . 8
Breadth over the orbits, . ani ou 1
Girth lengthwise, DEER ARI OI
Girth at the occiput, . é webby be doe
Girth of the two alveoles of fish at their pi 2S
From the outside of the right anterior molar, to
the outside of the left, . : 1, 24.
From the outside of the right Eee to ine left, 9s.
One tusk was found fixed in the socket, and the fellow lying
near it. They are quite round, slender, and very uniform
in diameter throughout, as far as they remain, the ends of
both being broken off. The anterior molars being gone,
and the posterior, which have four pairs of points, being
worn by use, show that the animal was quite adult; though
from its small size, and the slenderness of the tusks, it was
probably a female. ‘The curve of the tusks forms nearly a
semicircle. The longer one measures six feet six. inches,
with a diameter of five inches.
A large single tusk, which, when first found, was quite entire,
though brittle from decay. It is very round, tapers gradu-
ally to the point, measures in length nine feet two inches,
and in circumference at the root, twenty-three and a half
inches. It is remarkable for its slightly sigmoid curve.
Eighteen pieces of tusks, from one and a half, to five feet long.
These furnish some curious examples of dentition, from va-
_Tious causes. Some appear to have been worn at the point by
use, during the life time of the animal, and still retain a high
polish. One or two are laterally abraded, in such a manner
as to present a perfect section.
A left upper jaw, with part of the socket of a tusk and one
grinder.
at
ne
' * This “ flatness of the cranium” was first observed by Messrs. Mitchill and 'Town-
send. See their account of the mastodon found at Chester, May 1817, in Mitchill’s
Cuvier, App. p. 379.
7 Owing to the artificial state in which this head is at present exhibited, it is no
lenger’ possible to trace the sutures, or describe the separate bones. The general
form is nearly all that can be safely described. _ For the same reason, no figure is now
given.
166 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
Left upper jaw, with part of socket of tusk, and two molars.
Right upper jaw, with one molar, and an empty socket.
Right upper jaw, with one molar, from a young individual.
Left upper jaw, with one molar, still younger.
Right upper jaw, with one molar, no empty socket, the enamel
whitish. |
Right and left lower maxillary bones, each with the posterior
molar, which is a little worn, perhaps belonging to one jaw.
Chin of a young individual, with a short truncated beak, in
which are the vestiges of sockets of caducous incisors,.
(similar to the tetracaulodon of Godman.) Part of the right
branch remains, with a portion of the root of the anterior
right molar.
Two other chins with remains of sockets of anterior molars.
Left lower maxillary, with the posterior molar, and an empty
socket, and part of the chin.
Right and left lower maxillary bones, forming part of the same
jaw. ‘The right is tolerably perfect, and contains the pe-
nultimate and posterior molars, with the sockets of one or
two others. The left consists only of the, posterior half of
the jaw, with the posterior molar, which in both is still
partly buried in the ascending branch, showing that the in-
. dividual was not perfectly adult.
Left lower maxillary bone of large size, with one molar, and
an empty socket.
_ Left lower maxillary of a young individual, with two molars
of six points, and a germ, also of six points, but entirely
buried in the bone, which is fractured in such a manner,
as to expose the germ. From this piece we learn how
many molars with six points, the mastodon possessed. From >
young jaws formerly discovered, it was already known that
there were two of four points; and-the adult and aged spe-
cimens make it evident that there was but one of eight or
ten points, on each side, above and below. ‘This gives six on
each side, or twenty-four in all, as the total number of mo-
lars. 'They were not, however, all in action at the same
time. Probably not more than two at once, were in use at
any one period of the animal’s life, and finally, none but the
posterior molar, with four or five pairs of points, and an: ir-
regular heel remained in the jaw.
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 167
Left lower maxillary, with one molar of six points, and an
empty socket before and behind it.
Right lower maxillary, also with one molar, and two empty
ets ;
Right lower maxillary, with only the large posterior molar re-
maining, and much worn, the sockets of the others atic
terated: evidently an aged individual.
Right lower maxillary, with the posterior molar, enamel
whitish. The enamel is generally, it must be observed, very
dark coloured, and sometimes black.
Left lower maxillary, with two molars of six points, posterior
half of the jaw wanting. A young individual.*
Seventy-two molar teeth, presenting examples of nearly all the
changes they undergo, from the state of a mere germ, of
which the mastoid points alone remain, to that of an old
and worn out tooth, in which the roots are completely os-
‘sified, and remain uninjured; while the crowns are worn
down in such a manner, as to leave the bony substance of
the tooth bare of enamel, which merely forms a border
round the crown.
Of these molar teeth there are of the various kinds,
One with two pairs of points, and an odd shoulder, representing
a fifth point, or possibly an indistinct pair.
Thirty-nine, with three pairs of points.
Fourteen, with four pairs of points, and an odd one. Of
these ten belong to the upper jaw, and four, I think, to the
lower.
Fifteen with five pairs of points, and an odd one, or heel.—
‘These are all lower jaw teeth, the posterior molar.
Two with four pairs, and three small knobs in a row, besides
a heel, and laterai tubercular knobs, and
One with five pairs of points, and two knobs, too irregularly
placed to form a pair. These three last are also lower pos-
_ terior molars.
Five atlas bones, with thirty-one other vertebre, cervical, dor-
sal and lumbar. A separate spinal process, though incom-
plete, is twenty inches long ; most of them are very much
* Of the fifteen portions of lower jaws here enumerated, the posterior molar remain-
ed in eight. In two of these this tooth had four pairs of points, and an odd point or
heel, besides ; in the six others, there were five pairs of points, with from one to three
inregular knobs.
168 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
mutilated, and a part may not, improbably belong to the
elephant.
Fifteen ribs, more or less broken.
Large sacrum, with portions of ossa innominata attached.
Two portions of other sacra.
Five scapule, mutilated. Four retain the condyle.
Seven humeri, all mutilated, and very imperfect. One wants
the epiphyses, being from a young and small animal. Ano-
ther consists merely of the condyles, others are no more than
the shaft of the bone, with both ends broken off.
Three ulne, of various sizes.
A radius, lower end broken off.
Fourteen or fifteen small bones of the fore feet, among which
two cuneiform, and other carpal, and several metacarpal.
A very large and nearly entire os innominatum.
Two others, less entire, and appearing to belong together.
Three others, consisting of little more than the acetabulum,
with the thyroid foramen.
A femur, nearly entire, thirty-eight inches long.
Four others, more mutilated, some of ne size ‘than the pre-
ceding. :
Five other considerable portions of the same bone.
A patella.
Very large tibia, twenty-nine inches long:
_ Three others, smaller.
Another, of a young individual, the epiphyses wanting.
Two astragali.
Four calcanea.
Immediately after Mr. Finnell discontinued, on procuring —
the bones just described, Mr. Bullock commenced digging near —
the same spot. He obtained many mastodon bones, as well as
others; but as his collection has never been examined by any
anatomist, I have not the means of ascertaining which, or how
many there were, belonging to this animal. His letters to Mr.
Featherstonhaugh mention, among others, “the ruins of a very
large head, showing the interior structure in a very beautiful
manner, with a large portion of the top of the skull.”
II. Fossa, Exerwant. (Elephas primigenius. Blumenbach.) —
Grinders belonging to a species of elephant, which, in the
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 169
opinion of M. Cuvier, do not differ essentially from those of the
fossil Siberian, have always formed part of the collections made
at Big-bone Lick. Until recently, they had always been found
detached, and in small numbers.
It has been also stated that the elephant’s teeth fcighid here,
were in a great state of decomposition; from which circumstance,
and the absence of bones, it has been argued that they were of
greater antiquity than the mastodon. But the facts are quite
otherwise, as will presently appear.
Remains of elephants, there can be no doubt, formed part of
those carried away from this place by General Harrison, and
those who preceded him. But what portions, and how many,
whether teeth or bones, or both, cannot now be determined.
Turner, in 1797, indicated the teeth as different from those of
the mastodon, though he did not know what animal they were
from. ‘
Goforth states, that he got many teeth of elephants, “some
weighing 12lbs.” besides tusks, that he supposed were elephants’
which is very probable.
Governor Clark brought away several elephants’ teeth. Three
were sent to France, and most of the remainder are preserved in
the cabinet of the American Philosophical Society. But they
were all detached molars without any bone, except the lower
jaw bones of a young individual mentioned by Wistar, which
miscarried on their way from Washington to Philadelphia, and
do not appear to have been. ever recovered.
Many elephants’ teeth, from Big-bone Lick, are shown in the
public museum at Cincinnati. ‘They are likewise separate teeth.
Among the teeth that I procured there in the year 1828, were
four of elephant, all remarkably sound, and as free from decay
as any teeth of mastodon | have ever seen, from Big-bone Lick
or elsewhere. Indeed one of them, which was accidentally broke
in getting, appears so fresh and sound within, that if I had not
seen it taken out of the muddy stream myself, I might have been
tempted to suspect some deception, like that mentioned by Cu-
vier, when a dealer tried to impose upon him by incrusting an
African elephants’ tooth with marl. Another is an anterior milk
molar, like that seen in the head of the Asiatic elephant, figured
by Cuvier, pl IV.f 5h. |
Among the remains disinterred in 1830, was an unusually
Vou. 1.—22
179 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
large proportion belonging to the fossil elephant. In the Fimnell
collection, I observed the following. BuiAs
‘Two very large tusks, forming a pair. The longer, though
part of the large end is broken off, still measures 11 feet 105
inches in length, and 22 inches in circumference. What
remains of the other, measures 8 feet 10 inches, the small
end being wanting. Both these are very much curved up-
ward, and a little outward, so as almost to form a complete
circle. It is chiefly this peculiar curve, which is so com-
monly observed in the fossil elephant’s tusks found in Eu-
rope and Siberia, that induces me to refer this pair to the
elephant, of which several large heads, as will presently he
seen, were found near where they lay.
Right upper maxillary bone of a large individual, with a lange
and perfect molar, and part of one side of the great socket
of atusk. The tusks just described may not improbably
have belonged to this head; as well as the two next men-
tioned pieces.
Left upper maxillary, with a large molar tooth.
Large molar, with portions of left lower maxillary.
The greater part of the head of a young individual, comprising
the jaws, both upper and under, with parts of the skull.
The ascending branch is wanting from the left lower jaw,
and is broken offin the right, but is preserved. In the upper
jaws are two small molars which had been in use, and the
same number below, besides a large germ buried in the right
branch, which must have been concealed by the gum.
Twenty separate molar teeth, nearly all entire and undecayed.
An atlas, somewhat mutilated and rubbed, as if by rolling.
This is the only bone in the collection that I could determine
to my satisfaction to belong to the Elephant. The more perfect |
large bones of the extremities appeared to be all mastodon’s.
The shafts of bones, without articulating surfaces, as well as the
vertebrae, which are much broken, may have been in part ele-
phant. My opportunities for comparison were not sufficient to
enable me to determine this.
The collection formed at the same time, and in the same spot
almost, by Mr. Bullock, is likewise very rich in remains of the
elephant. In a letter to Mr. Featherstonhaugh, he states, that
he commenced digging immediately after Mr. Finnell discon-
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 171
tinued, “and on the third day came to a very fine entire (or
nearly so,) head of what I’suppose to be the Siberian elephant,
four feet long, having all the teeth and one tusk in it. It is the
finest fossil I have ever seen, and the only one known except that
at St. Petersburgh. |
Mreatonyx. Jefferson. Cuvier.
It was not until recently that any discovery of remains of this
animal was known to have been made, besides those dug out of
a cave in Virginia, about thirty-five years ago, and described by
Mr. Jefferson, in the American Philosophical Transactions.* From
the description given by Goforth, of the bones he found at Big-
hone Lick, afterwards carried to England, there was reason to
suspect, that among them there was some belonging to the
megalonyx. But Mr. Bullock states, that there were none among
those which came into his possession. ‘The great claw mention-
ed in Ashe’s account, he says, in a letter to Mr. Featherston-
haugh, was no more than a scapula of some animal, filed down
to this shape.. Until my journey to Ohio, in 1828, I had no posi-
tive information of the megalonyx having been found, except in
the one instance, above referred to.
Messrs. Drake and Mansfield, in their “ Description of Cincin-
nati, in 1826,” mention “ bones of the megalonyx,” preserved in
the Western museum, in that city. Some of these I saw there,
and was informed that they had been obtained by Mr. J. D. Clif-
ford, from the White cave, in Kentucky. Besides these, I found in
the same museum, a large humerus of megalonyx, discovered at
Big-bone Lick, during one of the searches made there, by order,
of the proprietors. _
Mr. Cozzens and myself found also a metacarpal bone at the
same place, no doubt belonging to the megalonyx. This bone,
with all those in the Cincinnati collection, have been described
* Although caverns are extremely numerous in the limestone region of the United
States, and have been often explored in search of nitrous earth, well authenticated in-
stances of fossil bones found in them, are very rare. The following paragraph is ex-
tracted from “A description of Big-bone Cave, in White county, Tennessee, by D.
T.. Maddox, Esq. Aug. 17, 1813,” contained in an almanac published in the western
country.
“My guide now informed me, that in this apartment had been found bones of a re-
markable size and figure. He said, they had dug up the talon of a lion, thirteen
inches long, the hoof of an elephant, the ribs of the mammoth, and the skull of a giant ;
but that they were all destroyed.” » |
The “ talon of a lion,” here mentioned,'may have been an ungueal phalanx, or even
a claw, of a megalonyx.
172 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
and figured by Dr. Harlan, in the Journal of the — of
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
T'wo additional instances of the occurrence of these remains
were thus determined.
Among those found by Mr. Finnell in 1830, are the following
portions of the skeleton of a megalonyx.
A right lower maxillary bone, with four molar teeth.* One of
these, the anterior molar, is broken in the middle, and the
upper half lost. The bone itself is so much mutilated, that
barely enough remains to retain the teeth together, show-
ing the violent action it was exposed to, before being
buried. :
A detached molar tooth in very good preservation, It differs:
from all the four in the above described jaw, but not so
much but that we may easily believe it to be from the up-
per jaw of the same animal.
A clavicle, probably of the same.
A tibia, of the right side.
In Mr. Bullock’s letter to Mr. Featherstonhaugh, already
quoted, he gives a sketch of a bone, of which he obtained four
similar, during his late search. ‘They are evidently the ungueal
phalanges of a megalonyx.
In the description of the megalonyx by Dr. Harkin above re-
ferred to, he has pointed out some differences in the teeth and
bones discovered in the United States, which he considers as in-
dicating two species of this genus. But the scanty materials we
up to this time possess, do not, in my opinion, authorise us to de-
cide upon specific characters. With respect to the teeth in
particular, it is evidently fallacious to rely too much upon slight
differences in them, inasmuch as we now see in the jaw lately
discovered, that no two of the four are precisely alike, and the
first and fourth, are, in fact, as dissimilar in the outline of their
crowns, as possible. .
Remains of the megalonyx have also been found in South
America. 'They were brought from Brazil, and placed in the
collection of Munich, by the travellers, Martins and Spix. A.
late writer,t in the Annals of Philosophy, is therefore incorrect,
in saying that they have occurred only between the parallels of
* Vide Pl. 3, Vol. I. No. 2, Monthly American Journal of Geology, &..
t Vid. Ferussac Bull. May 1829, p. 275.
Notices of Big-bone Lack. 173
30° and 40° N. lat.* From an account recently published by
Dr. Wagner, it appears that the Brazilian megalonyx was like
many of the remains hitherto discovered in North America, also
found in a cave.
Bos Bomprrrons. Harlan.
This extinct species, peculiar, so far as is yet known, to this
country, was first distinguished, and its characters pointed out, by
the late Dr. Wistar of Philadelphia,t in a paper read to the
American Philosophical Society, accompanied with a good
figure, in 1817 or 1818. |
Cuvier, as late as the third edition of his great work, makes no
mention of it, although, unlike the three fossil species enumerated
by him, it has the advantage of being so well distinguished from
all the living species as to be in no danger of being confounded
with any of them. Dr. Harlan first assigned it a place in the
system under the expressive name of Bos bombifrons.]
The head described by Wistar was obtained at Big-bone Lick
~ by governor Clark, and is preserved in the Philosophical Society’s
Cabinet.
In the Finnell collection, | found a second head of this species,
much in the same state as that figured by Dr. Wistar, or if any
thing, rather less complete. Placed by the side of an analogous
specimen of the buffalo, in the same collection, the differences
were strikingly obvious.
These two heads are the only remains that have been iden-
tified as belonging to this species. Dr. Harlan, however, men-
tions fossil teeth from Big-bone Lick that he thinks most pro-
bably belonged to the same.
Bos Patuasu. Dekay.
This species is now first introduced among those whose remains
occur at Big-bone Lick.. During my stay there in 1828, a mu-
tilated skull, with part of the core of one horn attached, was
found in one of the streams near the great spring, where it had
been used as a stepping stone, and brought to me. It is now de-
posited in. the Lyceum of Natural History.
A skull similar to this, which was thrown up by an earthquake
near New Madrid on the Mississippi, in the year 1812, forms the
* Vid. Ann. Phil. for June 1831, p. 418.
+ Vid. Amer. Phil. Trans. vol. 1. new series, p. 375. /
$ Fauna Amer. e 271.
174 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
subject of a paper in the annals of the Lyceum, by my friend Dr.
Dekay. On the supposition that it belonged to the same species
with some Siberian heads described by Pallas and Ozcrets-
koosky, he proposes to call it Bos Pallasii. ‘Their strong resem-
blance to the musk ox is admitted by Cuvier and Pallas, and it
is equally apparent in the American specimens, of which I have
seen a third, from Ohio, besides the two above mentioned. If
they should finally prove to be identical with the Bos moschatus
it would be rendered doubtful, whether they ought properly to
be enumerated among the companions of the extinct races,
whose remains are deposited at Big-bone Lick.
Kentucky appears to have been for ages the chosen habitation
of many species of the bovine family. Besides the buffaloes, that
within half a century abounded in that fertile country, we find
at Big-bone the remains of two other species, while a fourth is
proved to have formerly inhabited the same neighbourhood: the
remarkable skull, a portion of which is preserved by the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, was found within ten miles. It is the —
Bos latifrons of Dr. Harlan, which Cuvier compares with the
aurochs, Bos urus, of the old continent.
Cervus Americanus. Harlan.
In the paper which we have several times had occasion to
refer to, Dr. Wistar describes an imperfect skull of: a species of
Cervus, which he found among those brought from Big-bone Lick
by general Clarke. -A careful comparison of it with the two
great species of this genus that now inhabit the United States,
led him to conclude that it came from an animal different from
both these, and larger than either. Dr. Harlan has also describ-
ed it in his Fauna, with the name of Cervus americanus.
Among the smaller bones discovered in 1830 at Big-bone Lick,
and since exhibited in this city; are several belonging to one or
more species of deer. The greater part, I have no doubt, are
recent bones, but among them isa skull so similar to that figured
by Dr. Wistar, and, though very large, so different from that of
either the moose or elk, that I did not hesitate to refer it to the
extinct species. It is not more complete than Dr. Wistar’s spe-
cimen, and bears the appearance of having been rolled. ‘These
are the only instances of the occurrence of this fossil with which
I am acquainted. |
| To be Continued. |
Communication, &c. 175
COMMUNICATION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE GEOLOGI-
CAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, AND OTHER NATURALISTS.
Tue editor lays before his readers, with a just pride and entire
satisfaction, the following communication, from the President of
the Geological Society of London, and other distinguished Natu-
ralists.
London, June 18, 1831.
~ My Dear Sir,—We, your undersigned friends in England, are
happy to learn that you propose to establish a new periodical
work in the United States, which, in embracing all subjects con-
nected with the natural history of America, is to be specially de-
voted to the accumulation of geological facts and phenomena.
Knowing your zeal and ability, we have great hopes that a
work so directed, will meet with every encouragement in your
country, and we are certain that it cannot but be of service to
the cause of science in general. .
We shall at all times be desirous of aiding you with any com-
munications in our power, and we subscribe ourselves,
Yours very faithfully,
Roperick Impry Murcuison, President of the Geologi-
cal Society of London.
Davies GitBert, Vice President Royal Society.
W. D. Convsearr, F.R.S. F. G. S8.'&e.
A. Seperwicx, F. R. 8. F.G. 5. &ec. Fellow of Trin-
ity College, Cambridge. |
Wa. Bucxiawp, D. D. F.R.S. &c. &c. Christ Church
College, Oxford.
GerorcE Betias Greenoven, F.R.S. &c. &e.
Cuares Stokes, F. R. S. &c. &e.
P. S—I cannot refrain in particular on my own part, from
expressing the desire which I feel for the appearance of the pro-
posed publication, as likely to conduce, in the most important
points, to the effective progress of geology; to ascertain in detail
the suite of formations, and the series of organic remains distin-
guishing them in a new continent, so widely separated from the
old, and embracing such a range of various climate: so to com- »
pare the phenomena with those of Europe, has ever appeared to
me the most material desideratum in geology; for we may be
sure that any analogies which are common to localities geogra-
176 Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians.
phically so distant, and placed under physical conditions so dis-
tinct, are, in truth, analogies belonging generally to the whole
globe; and thus we shall obtain data adequate for the founda:
tion of a general geological theory.
Well acquainted with the attention you have paid to the for-
mations on this side the Atlantic, I am convinced that the execu-
tion of this task, cannot fall into more competent hands.
W. D. Conyprare.
To G. W. Fraruerstonuavuen, Esq.
Philadelphia.
ANTIQUITIES AND LANGUAGES OF THE MEXICAN INDIANS.
No. 2.—Mythology of the Mexicans.
Ir appears to be beyond controversy, that the gods of the Pa-
gan mythology were cradled in Egypt. Inachus and Cecrops
introduced the Egyptian divinities into Greece, and from Greece
they passed to Rome, the mistress of the universe, and the slave
of the deities worshipped by the people they had subdued. It is
worthy of notice, that Moses, the legislator of the Jewish people,
emigrated from Egypt to Palestine, where temples and cere-
monies were established, to which some have altogether attri-
buted an Egyptian origin.
Of all the opinions which hitherto-have been declared on the
subject of the first peopling of our American continent, one which
appears the most reasonable, and which is contained within the
limits of probability, is that which supposes the Asiatics to have
been the first inhabitants of the new world. As it is not my in-
tention to enter upon a question of this nature at present, I shall
not allude to the reasons which have induced me to consider this
as a well founded opinion, and shall confine myself to treating of
ithe similarity which exists between the Egyptian and Mexican
divinities.
If Dupuy and Volney had been acquainted with the mythology
of the ancient Mexicans, their investigations respecting Egyptian
physiognomy, would have received some aid from that of the
Mexican deities. Fortunately, we have reached the age of ana-
lysis and comparison, when truth is divested of its shackles, and
when conclusions established by the eyes of reason, are most ac-
credited.
Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians. 177
The aborigines of Mexico, believed in a supreme being, to
whom they gave the name of Teotl; a term not far removed
from the Greek word Theos, the name in that tongue for God.
To express the essence of the divinity, the Mexicans used the
term Ipalnemoani, “he who exists through himself;” and also,
Tloquenahuaque, “he who possesses every thing in himself.”
What difference is there between these ideas, and those which
the Hebrews expressed by the word Jehovah? None! Let it be
remembered that the cradle of Moses floated upon the waters
of the Nile. |
The Mexicans gave to the god of water, the name of Tlaloc,
and the domain of the Mexican Neptune, they called Tlalocan.
In Mictla, of which I treated in my former letter, the god Mict-
lanteucili was adored, and the goddess Mictlancihualt. Mictla,
signifies hell. ‘These were the Pluto and Proserpine of the an
potecan Indians.
The tradition of a Ce in which perished a great portion
of the human race, is familiar to the Mexicans, who gave to the
man who saved himself and his family in a canoe, the name of
Teocipactli, and to his wife that of Tochiquetzal. ‘The mountain
upon which they landed was called Colhuacan: the name of this
Mexican Ararat, is yet preserved in a village not far from Mex-
ico. They had a tradition, that the language which had been
lost in the deluge, had been taught to the survivors by a dove.
Ometeuciliis the Jupiter Stator of the Mexicans; and Omecihuail,
stands in the place of the Venus, of the Pagan mythology.
The sun was adored under the name of Tonatiuwh, and the
moon, by that of Meztl. These were the appeliations of the
pyramids, dedicated to them in the neighbourhood of Teotihwacan.
The pyramids and the town still exist, and were visited by Hum-
boldt:, they were the sepulchres of the Aztecan monarchs. It
is impossible to think of the worship to which they were devoted,
the uses to which they were put, and especially to their archi-
tecture, without recalling to mind the pyramids of Egypt. Be-
sides the pyramids, there were many other sepulchres in Teoti-
‘juacan. The dead were deposited there, seated with the symbols
of their office, and with the emblems of their dignity. The con-
querors found many riches in those cemetries. Cortez, in one of
his letters, says, that his soldiers found in one of these sepulchres
two hundred and forty ounces of gold. The Mexicans were not
Vor. L—23
178 Antiquities and Languages of the Mexican Indians.
acquainted with the art of preparing mummies: those of the Pe-
ruvians are well known in the United States.
The god Quetzalcoatl, was worshipped as the god of saan air,
throughout the Mexican empire, and his laws declared on the
mountain Tzatzipec, the mountain of clamours; the voice of: his
high priest was supposed to be heard at a distance of three hun-
dred miles. The Mexican olus was likewise their Saturn. They
had their golden age, which they called Teojihwitl, or “the
divine year.” The same Quetzatcoatl was the. vulcan of the
Indians of Cholula, to whom he taught the art of smelting.
Centeotl, the goddess of maiz, whom the Mexicans also called
Tonacayohua, “she who feeds us,” and protects the fields like
Ceres. ‘To her they consecrated the first fruits.
Huitzilopochtli, or Mejitli, [the j pronounced as kJ from
whence Mexico took its name, was the god of war, the Mars of
the Mexicans.
Tacateucth, the god who conducts, was the tutelary ae
of commerce, the Aztecan Mercury.
Tezcatzoncatl, the god of wine, was not less a favourite with the.
Mexicans, than Bacchus was with the Egyptians. In the city of
Mexico alone, were four hundred priests dedicated to his service.
Mijcoatl, the goddess of the chase, had, like Diana, her tem-
ples, as well as her Endymion, named Anumuitl. |
Coatlicué, or Coatlanlona, protected the gardens; the dealer
in flowers celebrated. the feast of this Flora of the Aztecans, in
the spring of the year, in a temple called Topico.
Tzapotlatenan, the goddess of medicine, was the Mexican Apollo,
though of a different sex. Besides their Venus the mother of the
gods, they had their Venus impudica, and their Venus pronuba ;
the name of the first was Macuiljochiquetzalli. Teopitoton, smaller
gods, were the penates, of which they had both noble and ple-
bian. The Mexicans acknowledged as deities, the inventors of
all the arts, and of useful acquirements. Polytheism was so fer-
tile amongst the Mexicans, that it produced a goddess for the
protection of ancient females, named Slamateuchtli. Not the
deities alone, but the temples, the feasts, the priesthood, and
every thing connected with the worship, has a remarkable
affinity with Egypt.
The history of the aborigines of America, is yet involwasi in
obscurity; perhaps this may be pierced in an age, when histori-
Metamorphosis of Crabs. 179
cal facts are sought by many, with as much avidity as gold was
looked for in the fifteenth century.
I offer these notices and reflections for the consideration of
those who are occupied in the important investigation of the
origin and progress of the civilization of mankind. In another
letter, I propose to speak of the extraordinary remains of Pa-
fenque, the Palmira of Mexico. I have the honour to remain,
sir, with the most unfeigned respect, A Mexican.
ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE YOUNG OF THE
COMMON CRAB.
Extract from the Letter of a correspondent, dated London, June 18th, 1831.
« Tue prodigious accession of new objects in natural history,
especially from the animal kingdom, has placed great tempta-
tions in the way, both of young and old naturalists. Like those
orators who contend for victory, and not for truth, there are too
many individuals who are indifferent to the means by which they
acquire their trophies. To have brought forward a new genus
or a new species, and then cry, ‘ exegi monumentum,’ if even
the immortality does not promise a longer life than ‘ green peas,’
has not been beneath the ambition of some minds, who can see in
classification and nomenclature, the great end of all knowledge.
Science, which has been somewhat fatigued by naturalists of
this class, is now recovering from the dead weight they had be-
come to it; but, like the tail of the tadpole, in its progress to
maturity, they are becoming gradually absorbed. The voice of
experience is at length listened to; we are already indifferent
to conclusions, come they from what quarter they may, which
are not obviously deduced from facts; and any man who pre-
tends to belong to the multitudinous host of naturalists, which has
sprung up in Europe,—as under the protection of Minerva, men
were formerly produced from teeth, sown by Cadmus, in Beeotia,—
must be very cautious—if he means to survive—how he skirmishes
on his ownaccount. These reflections, which grow out of the past
and passing conduct of natural history with us here, may not be
inapplicable to the United States, where a great deal of good sense,
has to contend with inexperience, and no doubt with sciolism,
That natural history should flourish with you, in the United
States, is smeerely to be desired; an additional bond will thus
180 Metamorphosis of Crabs.
unite two countries, where a common language can best express
the progress of the general mind. There is much solicitude here,
on the subject of the geology of your country; and you must per-
ceive by the increase of natural history literature, how welcome
every new fact will be to us, in any of its branches, from your
side of the water. The appearance of your Journal, will, of course,
be hailed here by all, and will be indulgently judged by your
numerous friends. We are aware how arduous a task you have
undertaken, and that but few, at present, will find leisure to as-
sist you. But if you adopt a popular course, you will acquire
the confidence of those able to strengthen you, and after a few
months there will be no lack of useful correspondents and friends
to your undertaking. This has been the career of all the pe-
riodicals of this country, which are distinguished for intelligence.
In a country like America, abounding with objects of natural
history, the opportunities for indulging in neology, are very great :
it is the vice of science. Your conchologists will tire of it, by and
by, as others have done, and molluscous architecture,—a_ subor-
‘dinate branch,—will become simplified and intelligible. They
will be glad, as others have been, to condense their tedious lists,
-and shut them up into some prominent point, like those nice lit-
tle nests of boxes we see sometimes. ‘This is already going on
in more important branches, and will be extensively done, ere
long, in others. Mr. Thompson, author of the ‘ Zoological Re-
searches and Illustrations in Natural History,’ is carrying reform
into the crustacee, and is showing that many of this class under-.
go changes, as they advance to maturity, quite as curious as those
of insects. He has succeeded in hatching the eggs of the com-
mon crab, and the young, instead of being like their papa and
mamma, turn out to be the zoéa, which had been raised to the
rank of a genus of the modern’systems by Bosc, who discovered
it in the ocean. When we shall be able to extend this tadpoli-
zation to the rest of the decapodous crustacea, a great, reforma-
tion will be effected in the rotten boroughs of natural history.
Mr. Thompson remarks of the metamorphosis of the young crabs,
that at the tender period, before any change, they are ‘essen-
tially and purely natatory animals, and, no doubt, possessed of
corresponding habits, swimming about freely, and without inter-
mission, in search of appropriate food. In their perfect state,
the greater number can no longer avail themselves of the power
Force of Vapour. 181
of swimming, but are furnished with pincers and feet, almost
solely adapted to crawling, so that they are now under the ne-
cessity of confining their excursions in pursuit of prey, within
more narrow limits. This curious piece of economy, explains
what has ever appeared paradoxical to naturalists, viz. the an-
nual peregrinations of the land crabs to the sea side; which,
although acknowledged to be true, by several competent ob-
servers, could never before be satisfactorily accounted for.”
FORCE OF VAPOUR.
Sir,—By publishing the following extract from Professor Silli-
man’s Elements of Chemistry, and the subjoined notes, you will
oblige : A Supscriper.
Ir is stated in Professor Sillman’s Elements of Chemistry, pp.
87, 88, and 105, Vol. I. that “The force of vapour formed at the
boiling point, is the same in all fluids, and just equals the pres-
sure of the atmosphere, that is, thirty ches of mercury : this
law appears to be fully established.
“It was also stated, in the same connexion, that the force of
vapour is the same for every fluid, at an equal number of degrees
above and below its boiling point. Both these laws were origin-
ally given on the authority of Mr. Dalton, which was sustained
by that of other eminent philosophers. Dr. Turner, in the second
edition of his chemistry, (third Amer. p. 61,) says, ‘The force of
vapour from all liquids is the same, at equal distances above or
below the several temperatures at which they boil in the open
air. ‘Thus, steam at 200° F., has the same elasticity as the va-
pour of ether at 85°; the boiling point of the former being 212°,
and of the latter, 97°: Biot and Amédé Berthollet (Biot Traité de
Ph. I. 282) have found that this law applies exactly to many
other liquids ; but some experiments on the oil of turpentine and
petroleum, would lead to the conclusion that it was not universal.’
Dr. Thompson (on heat and electricity, p. 222,) states, that by
subsequent experiments, the second law of Mr. Dalton has not
been found to hold good, and that it has been relinquished by its
author. At the time when my statement of those laws was writ-
ten and printed, neither the second English edition of Dr. Turner
had appeared, nor the work of Dr. Thompson, nor the eleventh
182 Walsh’s Notices of Brazil.
edition of Henry,* im which the correction of the law is’ thus
stated : |
“< The force of vapour from different leven varies at the same
temperature,’t and ‘ the variation of the force of vapour, from all li-
quids, is the same, for the same variation of temperature, reckoning —
from vapour of any given force ;’ thus, measuring the force of all
liquids at the boiling point, by thirty inches of mercury, it is
found, that by losing 30° of heat from 212°, the vapour of water
loses half its force, and so the vapour of any other liquid, loses
half its force, by losing 30° of heat below its boiling point; and
so on for any other increment or decrement of heat ;{ this has
been experimentally established by Mr. Dalton.”—[II. Vol. Ad-
denda, p. 42.]
* Biot, in his Précis Elémentaire de Physique I. 265, a work published about six
years before “the second English edition of Dr. Turner had appeared, or the work
of Dr. Thompson, or the eleventh edition of Henry,” has the following paragraph
relative to this supposed law of Dalton:
“Les expériences que fit M. Dalton sur l’alcool, ’ammoniac, et Ia dissolution de
muriate de ch aux, lui parurent confirmer également la loi précédente. 'Toutefois, je
dois prevenir que des observations postérieures, faites par divers physiciens, ont dé-
truit Pidée de généraltié, et de rigueur qu'il lui avait attribuée. Le docteur Ure, de
Glascow, a publié a ce sujet des recherches dont la précision parait ne guére laisser
de doute, et un jeune et habile mer francais, M. Despretz, a 6té conduit par un
autre vole aux memes consequences.” a
+ Thus, if water, alcohol, and ether, be exposed to the temperature of 220°, the
elasticities will be respectively 34.2, 80,2, 240, in inches of mercury.—True, but why
does Mr. Silliman associate this fact with the law in question, as if it joel a part
of the latter, and thus make Dr. Henry appear to confound things so essentially dis-
tinct ?—Because the doctor happened to place them on the same page ?
+ Will Mr. Silliman inform us, in what respect the law thus corrected differs from
that originally announced by Dalton? ? and if he admits, as we presume he will, that
it differs in no respect, will he also inform us, whether he is speaking seriotisly or
jocosely, when he first lamely apologizes for admitting into his first volume, an_wn-
correct law, and the next moment repeats identically the same law, with the assur-
ance that it is a modification of the former? If Mr. Silliman should be disposed
to treat the matter seriously, we advise him to examine again the eleventh edition
of his Henry ; he will find that far from admitting the inaccuracy of the original law
of Dalton, Henry does not even notice the fact of its truth having been disputed,
ca '
WALSHE’S NOTICES OF BRAZIL.
We have selected the following extracts from that very
amusing and instructive work, « owns of Brazil, by the Rev.
R.*Watsn.”
“In Brazil, all journeys are suspended at the Ave Maria, that is, the ves-
pers to the Virgin, that commence after sunset. Instead of a curfew, this
4 )
Walsh’s Notices of Brazil. 183
period is announced in the country by a very simple and beautiful circum- -
stance. A large beetle (Pelidnota testacea) with silver wings, then issues
forth, and announces the hour of vespers, by winding his solemn and sono- |
rous horn. The Brazilians consider that there is something sacred in this
coincidence; that the insect is the herald of the Virgin, sent to announce
the time of her prayer; and it is for that reason constantly called Escara-
velho d’Ave Maria, or the Ave Maria beetle. On the hill of Santa Theresa,
I have heard it of an evening, humming round the convent, and joming its
harmonious bass to the sweet chant of the nuns within, at their evening ser-
vice.” —Vol. ii. ch. 2.
“The first place where gold was found, was at Riberao, a small stream
which falls into the Rio das Mortes, and here they built an Arayal, or vil-
lage, called Antonio, near the spot where S. José was afterwards erected.
“The vicinity of this river every where attests the extensive search for
gold formerly pursued here, as it was for a length of time considered one of
the richest parts of Brazil, from the profusion of-precious metal found on its
surface. All the banks of the stream are furrowed out in the most extraordi-
nary manner, so as to be altogether unaccountable to one unacquainted with
the cause. The whole of the vegetable mould was washed away, and
nothing remained but a red earth, cut into square channels, like troughs,
with a ‘narrow ridge interposed between them. Above was conducted a head
stream of water, let down through these troughs, which were all on an incli-
ned plane. The lighter parts of the clay were washed away, and the gold
remained behind. When this has been collected by a process I will here-
after describe, that which remains behind is called pizarao. It is an inert
caput mortuum of stubborn sterility, which no process can afterwards endow
with the principles of fertility; so that, in washing out the gold, all the
riches of the soil, were literally exhausted, and nothing left but a barren
and utterly useless surface.
“The whole of the soil with which the soil is impregnated, is supposed to
originate in the metalliferous ridges of rock which intersect the country.
Here, in its matrix, the metal reposes; but the rains falling in impetuous
torrents on their summits, and penetrating through their interior recesses,
agai ooze from their sides, carrying with them all the lighter parts of the
precious metal, as they pass through the veins, and finally deposit them in the
soil below, through which they percolate. !
_ “As the great auriferous repertory of the country now stood before me, I
was curious to explore it ; so we prepared to ascend the ridge. The gene-
ral face of it was quite perpendicular, and we could no more attempt to
climb the part opposite to us, than Dover Cliff; but about three miles to the
N. E. of the town, the ridge dips, and leaves a depression considerably lower
than the rest, which is accessible. After winding in a zig zag direction up
the rocky face, we at lenoth emerged on the summit, and here we saw in
perfection the totally new feature. of the Brazilian landscape, which we
before had contemplated at a distance. In all our journeys from Rio, for
more than two hundred miles, we had scarcely seen a stone peeping through
the soil. Here we stood upon an immense ridge of rocks, utterly denuded
hoth of wood and ‘grass, stretching their bare and rugged arms in all direc-
tions over the country, and forming a prospect strongly contrasted with any
we had yet contemplated. This ridgy region, I was told, ramified through
the country to an immense extent in a westerly direction, till it was lost in
the mato grosso, or vast forests, which extend nearly to the Andes; and these
are the great metallic repositories, from whence the whole subjacent soil
of the Minas Geriies is impregnated with gold.
sf The summit of the ridge was by far the most wild and solitary we had
seen in Brazil. It was generally composed of white sand, strewed with no-
dules of very bright and almost transparent quartz, from the decomposition
184, Walsh’s Notices of Brazit.
of which the sand seemed to be formed. Piled up in great disorder were
mounds of mica, slate, and large masses of different strata were lying over
each other, in an angle considerably inclined, as if they had slipped down
in succession from some more elevated place. ‘Towards S. José, the face
_of the ridge was a perpendicular precipice, five or six hundred feet high, for
-
twelve or fourteen miles; on the other side it descended in a more gradual
slope, like a shed from a wall.
“The formation of this serra is generally of mica slate, and a modification
of clay, talc, and chlorite slate. There is no granite yet discovered here; but
a league and a half on the western side are extensive tracts of it. The
beta, or vein, is generally quartz, in which is found gold variously mixed with
iron stone, magnetic and titaneous iron, ochre, tellurium, and pyrites, con-
taining gold and silver. The serra extends about twelve miles from east
to west.”
“We had every day, almost, a thunder storm, and the repercussion from |
the face of the ridge was so loud, sharp, and distinct, that it seemed as if the
hard stone was hit and broken by a number of sledges striking upon it; and
certainly if this symptom be any indication of metallic veins, it no where
exists so strong as in the serra of S. José.”
“‘For a long time, the only gold in the country was extracted from the
clay, through which the rains from this ridge had filtered, leaving behind all
the particles of the metal which they carried down. The first mmes im
the province were pits, called cata, opened by the workmen till they
came to the cascalho, or gravel, below. ‘This was broken up with pick-axes,
and the contents brought to the river and washed. ‘They were therefore —
opened as near the banks as possible, and were generally called taboleiros,
from the flat tabular surface over them. ‘These primitive workings are °
every where to be seen, and have given names to places, as Catas Altas.
“The next improvement was to conduct a stream of water to ground
known to be impregnated with the metal, and so wash it out on the spot, and
these were called lavras; they are seen in abundance on the banks of: the
Rio das Mortes. !
“'The third and last was pursuing the metal into the rock itself, and this
they attempted by opening superficial trenchments, on the most horizontal
surfaces, and pushing them on where they found any indication of gold.
This they call talho alberto, or the open cut; and several of these remain
in the serra towards S. Joao del Rey, about ten or twelve feet deep, ramify-
ing in different directions, like the ravines of mountain torrents, which they
resemble at first sight; but this, however, also failed, as the Brazilians had
neither skill nor capital to proceed deeper, from the clumsiness and deficiency
of their operations.” |
“The mines of Potosi were discovered by a Spaniard, who, in ascending
the mountain, seized a bush to assist him; and this giving way, he found the
root embossed with particles of silver. A similar circumstance is told of
gold in this province. The first Paulistas pulled up tufts of grass im the
same manner, and found numerous particles of gold entangled in the roots;
and the first washings in search of the metal were from the roots of the herb-
age at the base of the hills.
“‘When a quantity of this impure mixture (grains of gold and esmeril)
was thus collected, it was laid in the batea, (a bowl,) and here it was dexter-
ously moved from side to side, ina constant ablution of fresh water, till the
esmeril (oxide of iron) also passed off, and the heavier gold dust remained
alone in the point of the cone. The whole of this was ‘finally deposited in’
a large copper skillet, placed over a fire on the spot, and stirred till the water
evaporated, and nothing remained but dry gold dust, in general of exceed-
ingly minute particles, but frequently appearing in small globules, some as
|
Walsh’s Notices of Brazil. 185
jarge as a grain of small shot. In this state a magnet was passed through
it, to which the particles of iron still mixed with the gold, adhered; and
this was continued till the whole was abstracted.
“ Sometimes a more scientific process is resorted to. The mixture of dust
is put into a bow], and two ounces of mercury added to two pounds of gold
and oxyde. ‘This mass is worked by the hands, into a dough, when the
mercury takes up the gold only, which is merely entangled, but not amalga-
mated, with it. Jt is then put. into a cloth, and a portion of the mercury
squeezed out; the remainder is set in a brass vessel, over a fire, and covered
with green leaves, which are removed as they become parched. They ex-
hibit small globules of the sublimed mercury on the surface. What remains
in the vessel is pure gold, changed in colour to a dull white.”
“Our way next morning lay along the edge of one of the most extensive
and richest lavras in the country, and from which the place derived its name
of dourado or golden. Immediately outside the village is a very large and
deep ravine, extending to a considerable distance, and exposing its bowels
stained with bright red ochre. ‘This is excavated in soft sand stone, of the
consistence of hard clay, and is strongly impregnated with gold, which
accumulates in caldeiros, or pits like caldrons. Large masses of gold are
sometimes found in these caldeiros. They are indicated by fibres ramifying
through the matrix in which they lie; and when pursued from different direc-
tions, they terminate in a common nucleus. A lump was found about thirty
years ago in this place, which weighed forty pounds.”—Vol. 2. ch. 5.
“A large topaz mine, of which our host was the proprietor, lay about a
mile from the zancho, and the next morning we visited it. The regions through
which we had passed, were generally clay mountains, or granite ridges; we
had now entered a new formation, a soft schist of talk, clay, or mica slate,
which every where presented its lamellated edges in the ridges, just above
the soil. In some places it was hard and solid, as building slate; in others,
it was soft and friable, and in various states of decomposition. About fifty
years ago, in pushing a road through one of these soft schistic knolls, which
stood in their way, they were astonished to see several crystals of topaz
tumble out of the soft mass. On this discovery they began to search, and
they have now found and opened three large mines in the neighbourhood,
within a circle of ten or twelve miles. The mine of Capao do lana, is an
ammense circular quarry, the shape of a hollow inverted cone, whose upper
circumference is a mile or more. The sloping sides are composed of talk,
or mica slate, either green, grey, or blue, and in a state of such decomposi-
tion, as to be quite soft, hardly retaining any of its lamellated structure.
This is called the corpo da formacao, or the substance in which the topaz
veins are formed. ‘These veins are a white medullary mass, called massa
branca, resembling soft chalk, though not calcareous, but is supposed to be
some modification of mica. It forms cords as thick as an arm or leg, running
for several yards, and ramifying into various smaller branches. This massa
branca, is the matrix in which the topaz is imbedded, like a nodule of flint in
a lump of chalk.
“Here a number of negroes, with rude knives like peices of iron hoop,
were scarifying the ground. When they cut across a white vein, it imme-
diately became visible,and they pursued it, dislodging the topazes which were
bedded inside, and handing them to an overseer with a bag.”——Vol. i. ch. 7.
“Tn the course of my journey I passed over six different surfaces, strikingly
distinguished from each other in their aspect, formation, and productions.
The first was the Beiramar, the rich plain which extended from the edge of
the sea, to the base of the great serra, generally about sixty miles in breadth.
This is, with some exceptions, a flat surface, with an alluvial or sandy soil,
Vor. T.—24
186 Notes on Illinois.
exceedingly fertile, covéred with fazendas, (farms,) and generally well culti-
vated.
“The next diversity of country was the Serra Acima, the great ridges of
clay covered with immense forests of timber. A considerable part of these
seem to consist of mounds of earth without any admixture of rock. We
saw, in some places, deep sections of the hills, where either a part had
fallen away, or it had been cut down. They presented perpendicular faces
of earth, some of them near a hundred feet deep, into which the roots of lofty
trees had penetrated to an incredible depth, almost realizing the poet’s descrip-
tion, that they had extended as far below, as the branches above the surface
of the soil. In many of these vast heaps of clay, we could not detect a stone
as large as a boy’s marble. !
“The next variety of surface presented to us was the rocky serras, which
rose like huge walls from the surface of the plains, bearing in their bosoms
the metalliferous veins, and impregnating all the soil at their bases with the
particles of precious ore washed down them. . The features of this region
were very extraordinary, and had no kind of affinity with the former two.
The summits of these naked stony ridges were often surmounted by fantas-
tic protuberances, which the inhabitants imagined had human resemblances.
One was called Ita Columi, or the child of stone; and another, Serra da Cava,
from its likeness toan enormous visage. rom this stony Arabia, we entered
into the mato or thicket ; low eminences; covered over with copse and brush-
wood, frequently interspersed with ferns and brambles, resembling similar
soil and aspect, in the middle regions of Kurope.
Finally, we passed between bristly pikes, and conical mountains of bare
granite, ascending to the sky, with well defined forms, and smooth taper
surfaces, not having the most distant resemblance to any other objects we
had passed.”—Vol. 2. ch. 12.
We hope soon to lay a very interesting account before our readers of the
now celebrated gold region, in the southern parts of the United States. —
With some irrelevant exceptions, the Rev'd. Mr. Walsh’s able account of
the gold country in Brazil, would be an exact mineralogical description of
some of the veins in North Carolina. We were exceedingly struck with
this resemblance.—Ep1ror.
ee
NOTES ON ILLINOIS.
Our readers, we think, cannot but be pleased with the extract
we are about to present them with, from the Illmois Monthly
Magazine, for July, 1831. A work so much devoted to the
natural history, the manners, customs, and literature of ‘ the far
west,’ carries an intrinsic value with it, that will soon be gene-
rally appreciated. It speaks volumes for the intelligence of the
inhabitants of the western states, that a work so truly American,
and so meritoriously conducted, should have appeared amongst
them.—Eb. |
WILD ANIMALS. {
The buffaloe has entirely left us. Before the country was settled, our
immense prairies afforded pasturage to large herds of this animal, and the
traces of therm are still remaining, in the “ buffaloe paths” which are to be
seen in several parts of the state. These are well beaten tracks, leading
! Notes on fllinors. 187
wenerally from the prairies in the interior of the state, to the margins of the
large rivers; showing the course of their migrations as they changed their
pastures periodically, from the low marshy alluvion, to the dry upland plains.
Tn the heat of summer they would be driven from the latter by prairie flies,
in the autumn they would be expelled from the former by the musquitoes;
in the spring the grass of the plains would afford abundant pasturage, while
the herds could enjoy the warmth of the sun, and snuff the breeze that
sweeps so freely over them; in the winter the rich cane of the river banks,
which is an evergreen, would furnish food, while the low grounds, thickly
covered with brush and forest, would afford protection from the bleak winds.
I know few subjects more interesting than the migration of wild animals, con-
necting, as it does, the singular displays of brute instinct, with a wonderful
exhibition of the various supplies which nature has provided for the support
of animal life, under an endless variety of circumstances. These paths are
narrow, and remarkably direct, showing that the animals travelled in single
file through the woods, and pursued the most direct course to their places of
destination. ;
Deer are more abundant than at the first settlement of the country. They
increase, to a certain extent, with the population. The reason of this
appears to be, that they find protection in the neighbourhood of man, from
the beasts of prey that assail them in the wilderness, and from whose attacks
their young, particularly, can with difficulty escape. They suffer most from
the wolves, who hunt in packs like hounds, and who seldom give up the
chase until a deer is taken. We have often sat, on a moonlight summer
_ night, at the door of a log cabin on one of our prairies, and‘heard the wolves
in full chase of a deer, yelling very nearly in the same manner as a pack of
hounds. Sometimes the cry would be heard at a great distance over the
plain ; then it would die away, and again be distinguished at a nearer point,
and in another direction—now the full cry would burst upon us from a
neighbouring thicket, and we could almost hear the sobs of the exhausted
deer; and again it would be borne away and lost in distance. We have
passed nearly whole nights in listening to such sounds; and once we saw a
deer dash through the yard, and immediately past the door at which we sate,
followed by his audacious pursuers, who were but a few yards in his rear.
Immense numbers of deer are killed every year by our hunters, who take
them for their hams and skins alone, throwing away the rest of the carcass.
Venison hams and hides are important articles of export. The former are
purchased from the hunters at 25 cents a pair, the latter at 20 cents a
pound. In our villages we purchase, for our tables, the saddle of venison
with the hams attached, for 37: cents, which would be something like one
cent a pound.
There are several ways of hunting deer, all of which are equally simple.
Most generally the hunter proceeds to the woods on horseback, in the day
time, selecting particularly certain hours, which are thought to be most
favourable. It is said that during the seasons when the pastures are green,
this animal rises from his lair, precisely at the rising of the moon, whether
in the day or night; and I suppose the fact to be so, because such is the
testimony of experienced hunters. If it be true, it is certainly a curious
display of animal instinct. This hour therefore is always kept in view by
the hunter, as he rides slowly through the forest, with his rifle on his
shoulder, while his keen eye penetrates the surrounding shades. On
beholding a deer the hunter slides from his horse, and while the deer is
observing the latter, creeps upon him, keeping the largest trees between
himself and the object of pursuit, until he gets near enough to fire. An
expert woodsman seldom fails to hit his game. It is extremely dangerous
to approach a wounded deer. Timid and harmless as this animal is at other
times, he no sooner finds himself deprived ef the power of flight than he
{88 Notes ‘on Illindis.
becomes furious, and rushes upon his enemy, making desperate plunges with
his sharp horns, and striking and trampling violently with his fore legs,
which being extremely muscular, and armed with sharp hoofs, are capable of
inflicting very severe wounds. Aware of this circumstance, the hunter
approaches him with caution, and either secures his prey by a second shot,
where the first has been but partially successful, or, as is more frequently
the case, causes his dog to’ seize the wounded animal, while he watches
his own opportunity to stab him with his hunting knife. Sometimes where
a noble buck is the victim, and the hunter is impatient or inexperienced,
terrible conflicts ensue on such occasions.
Another mode, is to watch at night, in the neighbourhood of the salt licks.
These are spots where the earth is impregnated with saline particles, or
where the salt water oozes through the soil. Deer and other grazing animals
frequent such places, and remain for hours licking the earth. The hunter
secretes himself here, either in the thick top of a tree, or most generally in
a screen erected for the purpose, and artfully concealed like a masked
battery, with logs or green boughs. This practice is pursued only in the
summer, or early in the autumn, in cloudless nights, when the moon shines
brilliantly, and objects may be readily discovered. At the rising of the
moon or shortly after, the deer having risen from their beds, approach the
lick. Such places are generally denuded of timber, but surrounded by it;
and as the animal is abqut to emerge from the shade into the clear moon-
light, he stops, looks cautiously around, and snuffs the air. Then he advances
a few steps, and stops again, smells the ground, or raises his expanded
nostrils, as if he “ snuffed the approach of danger in every tainted breeze.”
The hunter sits motionless, and almost breathless, waiting until the animal
shall eet within rifle shot, and until its position in relation to the hunter, and
the light, shall be favourable, when he fires with an unerring aim. A few
deer only can be thus taken in one night, and after a few nights these timor-
ous animals are driven from the haunts which are thus disturbed.
' Another practice is called driving, and is only practised in those parts of
the country where.thie kind of game is scarce, and where hunting is pursued
asan amusement. A large party is made up, and the hunters ride forth with
their dogs. ‘The hunting ground is selected, and as it is pretty well known
what tracks are usually taken by the deer when started, an individual is
placed at each of those passes, to intercept the retreating animal, The
scene of action being thus, in some measure, surrounded, small parties
advance with the dogs from different directions, and the startled deer, in flying,
most generally pass some of the persons who are concealed, and who fire at
them as they pass.
The elk, has disappeared. A few have been seen in late years, and some taken;
but it is not known that any remain at this time, within the limits of the-state.
The bear isseldom scen. This animal inhabits those parts of the country
that are thickly wooded, and delights particularly in cane brakes, where it
feeds in the winter on the tender shoots of the young cane. The meat is
tender and finely flavoured, and is esteemed a great delicacy.
Wolves are very numerous in every part of the state. There are two
kinds: the common, or black wolf, and the prairie wolf. The former is a
large fierce animal, and very destructive to sheep, pigs, calves, poultry, and
even young colts. They hunt in large packs, and after using every strata-
gem to circumvent their prey, attack it with remarkable ferocity. Like the
‘Indian, they always endeavour to surprise their victim, and strike the mortal
blow without exposing themselves to danger. They seldom attack man,
except when asleep or wounded. The largest animals, when wounded,
entangled, or otherwise disabled, become their prey, but in general they
only attack such as are Incapable of resistance. They have been known to
lie in wait upon the bank of a stream which the buffaloes were in the habit
Notes on Lilinois. 189
of crossing, and when one of those unwieldy animals was so unfortunate as
to sink in the mire, spring suddenly upon it, and worry it to death, while
thus disabled from resistance. ‘Their most common prey is the deer, which
they hunt recularly ; but all defenceless animals are alike acceptable to
' their ravenous appetites. When tempted by hunger they approach the farm
houses in the night, and snatch their prey from under the very eye of the
farmer ; and when the latter is absent with his dogs, the wolf is sometimes
seen by the females lurking about in mid-day, as if aware of the unprotected
state of the family. Our heroic females have sometimes shot them under
such circumstances.
The smell of burning assafcetida has a remarkable effect upon this animal.
If a fire be made in the woods, and a portion of this drug thrown into it, so
as to saturate the atmosphere with the odour, the wolves, if any are within
reach of the scent, immediately assemble around, howlmg in the most
mournful manner; and such is the remarkable fascination under which they
seem to labour, that they will often suffer themselves to be shot down rather
than quit the spot.
Of the very few instances of their attacking human beings, of which we
have heard, the following may serve to give some idea of their habits. In
very early times, a negro man was passing in the night, in the lower part of
Kentucky, from one settlement to another. The distance was several miles,
and the country over which he travelled entirely unsettled. [n the morning .
his carcass was found entirely stripped of flesh. Near it lay his axe, covered
with blood, and all around the bushes were beaten down, the ground trodden,
and the number of foot tracks so great, as to show that the unfortunate victim
had fought long and manfully. On pursuing his track it appeared that the
wolves had pursued him for a considerable distance, he had often turned upon
them and driven them back. Several times they had attacked him, and been
repelled, as appeared by the blood and tracks. He had killed some of them,
before the final onset, and in the last conflict had destroyed several. His
axe was his only weapon. !
On another occasion, many years ago, a negro man, was going through
the woods, with no companion but his fiddle, when he discovered that a pack
of wolves were on his track. 'They pursued very cautiously, but a few of
them would sometimes dash up, and growl, as if impatient for their prey,
and then fall back again. As he had several miles to go, he became much
alarmed. He sometimes stopped, shouted, drove back his pursuers, and then
proceeded. The animals became more and more audacious, and would
probably have attacked him, had he not arrived at a deserted cabin, which
stood by the way side. Into this he rushed for shelter, and without waiting
to shut the door, climbed up and seated himself on the rafters. The wolves
dashed in after him, and becoming quite furious, howled,, and leaped, and
endeavoured with every expression of rage to get to him. The moon was
now shining brightly, and Cuff being able to see his enemies, and satisfied
of his own safety, began to act on the offensive. Finding the cabin full of
them, he crawled down to the top of the door, which he shut and fastened.
‘Then removing some of the loose boards from the roof, scattered them with
a tremendous clatter upon such of his foes as remained outside, who soon
scampered off, while those in the house began to crouch with fear. He had
now a large number of prisoners to stand guard over, until morning; and
drawing forth his fiddle, he very good naturedly played for them all night,
very much, as he supposed, to their edification and amusement, for like all
genuine lovers of music, he imagined that it had power to soften the heart,
even of a wolf. On the ensuing day, some of the neighbours assembled and
destroyed the captives, with great rejoicings.
‘I'he prairie wolf, is a smaller species, which takes its name from its habit
of residing entirely upon the open plains. Even when hunted with dogs, it
190 Notes on Elinois.
will make circuit after circuit, round the prairie, carefully avoiding the
forest, or only dashing into it occasionally when hard pressed, and then
returning to the plain. In size and appearance, this animal is midway
between the wolf and the fox, and in colour it resembles the latter, being of
avery light red. It preys upon poultry, rabbits, young pigs, calves, &c. The
most friendly relations subsist between this animal and the common wolf, and
they constantly hunt in packs together. Nothing is more common than to
see a large bla¢k wolf, in company with several prairie wolves. [am well
satisfied.that the latter i8 the jackal of Asia.
Several years ago an agricultural society, which was established at the
seat of government, offered a large premium to the person who should kill
the greatest number of wolves in one year. The legislature at the same
time offered a bounty for each wolf scalp that should be taken. The conse-
quence was, that the expenditure for wolf scalps became so great, as to render
it necessary to repeal the law. These animals, although still numerous, and
troublesome to the farmer, are greatly decreased in number, and are no longer
dangerous toman. We know of no instances in late years, of a human being
having been attacked by them. os
We have the fox, in some places in great numbers; though generally
speaking, I think the animal is scarce. It will undoubtedly increase with
the population. ;
The panther and wild-cat are found in our forests. Our open country is
not, however, well suited to their shy habits, and they are less frequently
seen than in some of the neighbouring states.
The beaver and otter, were once numerous, but are now seldom seen
except on our frontiers.
The gopher,* is, as we suppose, a non descript. The name does not occur
in books of natural history, nor do we find any animal of a corresponding
description. ‘The only account that we have seen of it, is in “ Long’s Second
Expedition.” Ina residence in this state of eleven years, we have never
seen one, nor have we ever conversed with a person who has seen one—we
mean, who has seen one near enough to examine it, and to be certain that it
was not something else. That such an animal exists is doubtless; but they
are very shy and their numbers small. They burrow in the earth, and are
supposed to throw up those hillocks which are seen in such vast abundance
over our prairies. This is to some extent a mistake, for we know that many
of these little mounds are thrown up by craw-fish, and by ants.
The polecat is very destructive to our poultry.
The raccoon and opossum are very numerous, and extremely trouble-
some to the farmer, as they not only attack his poultry, but plunder his
cornfields. 'They are hunted by boys, and large numbers of them destroyed.
The skins of the raccoons pay well for the trouble of taking them, as the
fur is in demand.
Rabbits are very abundant, and in some places extremely destructive to the
young orchards, and to garden vegetables. Wee
We have the large grey squirrel, and the ground squirrel.
There are no rats, except along the large rivers, where they have landed
from the boats.
* The writer of this interesting article, appears not to be aware that the Gopher
has already been described. It belongs to the class Mammalia, order Rodentia. It
was formerly included in the genus Mus, of Linnezus, but Rafinesque has given it
the elegant name of ‘Geomys.’ It is the ‘ Pseudostoma’- of Say, and the Mus Bur-
sarius of Shaw. There is but one species yet known, the Geomys Bursarius, or Earth
Rat with Pouches. It is the size of a rat, of a reddish grey colour, has deep cheek
pouches, which open externally, enlarging the sides of the head and neck. When it
was first figured in the Transactions of the Linnean Society, and in Shaw, vol. 2,
part 1, these pouches were represented turned inside out, as though it had a bag on
each side of the head.—Ep.
ae : Scientific Memoranda. 191
SCIENTIFIC MEMORANDA.
Herds of frozen Elephants, Rhinoceros, &c. &c.—In No. VII. of
“ Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou,”
there is a letter from M. Hedenstrom, to whom the Russian
government had intrusted an expedition for the purpose of trac-
ing geometrically the coasts of the Icy sea, from Lena to Colyma,
and of making a description of the isles of the north. He was
three years in these remarkable countries, and discovered a new
Island, which he named New Siberia, because its general appear-
ance is much more savage than that of the old Siberia. In the
unchangeable icy crusts of these countries there were found
buried thousands of the mammout, (commonly called mammoth,)
rhinoceros, buffaloe, and other antediluvian animals. New Siberia
is indeed a country full of wonders, but which naturalists can
only admire, for it is impossible to study nature there. The
ground, frozen and hard as the rock, cannot be dug into; and
the summer is too short for the necessary researches.
Mag. of Nat. His. May, 1831, page 253.
Voice of Fishes—It appears that fishes, like many diffident
young persons, “don’t sing, but will try to do their best.” In
Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History, it is stated by a Mr.
Thompson, that “some tench, which I caught in ponds, made a
croaking like a frog, for a full half hour, whilst in the basket at
my shoulder.” Mr. Murray also observes, “ when the herring is
just caught in the net, and brought into the boat, it utters a shrill
cry like the mouse; and I have often heard the long continued
‘granting’ or croaking, of the gurnard, after being freed from
the hook.”
Easy method of destroying Insects, intended for cabinet specimens.—
Put a quantity of sal. volatile, or common smelling salts, into
a wide mouthed bottle; the insects will die soon after being intro-
duced into it. For the larger moths, it is recommended, first to
make a solution of crystallized oxalic acid with a little water;
then holding the moth gently on the under side, between the
wings, with the finger and thumb of your left hand, dip a sharp
pointed quill, without a split, in the solution, run it into the in- |
sect between the first pair of legs, and after one or two applica-
tions, the moth will be dead.
192 To Readers and Correspondents.
Elevation of the Morea.—A paper by M. Boblaye, on the geolo-
gy of the Morea and Egina, offers proofs of the country having
been upraised, not by degrees, but by intervals, so sudden, that
¢he land abandoned by the sea, is now in distinct irregular ter-
races.—Acad. des Sciences.
A new Skeleton of the Megatherium.—A perfect skeleton of this
rare animal, exceeding in size the splendid specimen preserved
in the cabinet of Natural History, in Madrid, has been lately
discovered, one hundred and twenty-six miles south of Buenos
Ayres. This remarkable specimen of antediluvian* zoology, is
now in the possession of Woodbine Parish, Esq. Consul General
at Buenos Ayres, who intends to bring it with him to Europe.—
Jameson’s Ed. N. P. Journal.
Geology of India.—Dr. Turnbull Christie, has been appointed
to examine the geology of the presidency of Madras. He visits
Egypt and Syria on his way, accompanied by an artist to make
designs of the various objects in natural history; and carries
with him the proper instruments to examine meteorological, and
hydrographical phenomena.—TIbid.
* We want the evidence of its being antediluvian.—Ep,
TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS. .
WE have received the various communications of ‘ Crito.’ ‘ R.’ ‘A Marylander. ‘A
student in Geology.’ There are also some papers lying on our table without any signature
or reference whatever. Our correspondents would find a convenience in affixing some
designation to their papers. “We wish them to understand, that when it is not expedient
to publish a paper, we are desirous of transmitting it to the writer without delay.—Of
a paper thus circumstanced, we desire to observe, that we are sensible of the friendly
intentions of the writer, that it is well and forcibly written, and has amused us exceed-
ingly ; but we must decline the publication of it, at any rate at present. Having taken
our full satisfaction, we have not the least desire of returning to a disagreeable subject.
We hope henceforward to be permitted to pursue our path in cheerfulness and peace,
and shall hold the communication of an unknown friend subject to his instructions. .
To ‘a student in geology,’ we desire to say, that we have not forgotten our pledge to
give ‘in each number a continuous essay on geology as a science.’ By recurring to page
4, of our first number, he will perceive what our intentions are ; and that we have been
constantly engaged in the execution of them. The ‘Epitome of the Progress of Natural
Science,’ will terminate with the number for November; the rise of the physical sciences
and of geology will be then treated of: We shall hereafter come forward, hammer in
hand, and endeavour to explain in a transparent manner, the true principles of geology
and the general philosophy of natural science. We hope that the earnest we shall give
of our sincere desire to advance the knowledge of American geology, will induce many
to come to our aid. The developement of the geology of this vast continent, can only
be effected by the labours of concurring observers. Whenever they are submitted to
us, our correspondents may feel assured, that upon all occasions, they shall not only re-
ceive the most ample credit for their contributions, but the assistance of our deliberate
judgment. We propose ere long to return to this subject, with a view of pointing out
the most expedient manner of effecting so desirable an end.
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THE
MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vo. I. Puitapeteuia, Novemper, 1831. No. 5.
AN EPITOME OF THE PROGRESS OF NATURAL SCIENCE.
(Continued from page 158.)
We have seen how barren history is of every thing relating to
natural science, during the long period under consideration in
our last number, when the causes were in operation which ne-
cessarily retarded every branch of physical science. The revival
of these pursuits, not only required the indispensable guarantees
of social security, but that they should be preceded by some ad-
vances in literature. ‘Towards the end of the dark ages, all the
languages of Europe were in a state of change. Languages may
be compared to plants, many of which, if not segregated and cul-
tivated by themselves, will mingle and give birth to varieties ; by
cultivation again, any of those varieties may be made perma-
nent, and brought, as flowers and fruits frequently are, to a state
of high perfection. All languages, in the eye of philosophy, are
generically the same, since the sounds proceeding from the machi- —
nery of the human voice, and all their combinations, are results
mechanically produced by a common cause; and the differences
observable in uncultivated languages, spoken by people at great
geographical distances from each other, may, to a great extent,
be considered as modifications, effected by the difference of cli-
mate, and often suggested by the uses to which the various ob-
jects, found in different parts, are put by human beings. Every
physical act differing from another, will necessarily be expressed
in a peculiar manner, and it is only under great extensions of
society, that any one language at length becomes generally intel-
ligible. Under this view, it cannot be proved that languages are
Vor. L—25 193 ,
194 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
' specifically different, unless it can be shown, in the particular
case, that the whole machinery of the human voice, is specifically
and mechanically different from that which distinguishes the
human race. It is in this sense that all languages have an af-
finity for each other, whilst that affinity, at the same time, by
no means either proves or disproves the unity of the human race,
any further than comparative anatomy is concerned. ‘There, it
is true, we find proofs of unity of design, with occasional modifi-
‘cations of structure. Hence philologists, in examining remote lan-
guages, have occasionally found affinities in the speech of barba-
rous people, with those oriental tongues, which are supposed by
many to be the first languages spoken, even in cases where there
are no grounds to suppose any ancient connection of the races.
Thus affinities have been found in the languages of the Red men
of this continent, with the ancient Hebrew. It is true, however,
that language materially enables us to trace the connection of
races: the modern English tongue can be shown both by etymo-
logy, and by records, to have for its basis the Anglo Saxon tongue;
this last, the Teutonic, which again may be referred to the Celto-
Scythian. Without entering at present into the origin of the
Celts, they may be considered, as far as the languages of Chris-
tendom are concerned, as a primitive people, who issued upon
Europe from the western parts of Asia, and pushed on by succes-
sive colonies, soon spread themselves to the extreme borders of
the Mediterranean, and northward, to the Baltic ocean, including
the islands on the coast. At remote periods new adventurers from
Africa and Greece, mingled themselves with these first people,
and distinct nations and people grew up amongst them. It was
probably in this manner the ancient Latin people arose from an
admixture of the old Celtic stock, with adventurers from Greece
and Phenicia. When a cultivated race subdues a barbarous one,
it usually occurs that the language and its forms, of the first, is
imposed upon the last; whilst a barbarous people, when it pre-
vails against a civilized nation, cannot substitute its own tongue,
although by mingling itself with, it can effectually corrupt and
destroy the other. This took place when the Celts were subse-
quently subdued in every part of Europe by the Roman arms,
when the Latin tongue prevailed over the Celtic, in Gaul and
Spain; whilst, when the Roman empire was finally subdued by
the Goths, the Roman tongue became subsequently a dead lan
ot
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 195
guage, and new dialects arose out of the mixture of the barba-
rous with the civilized. Such was the origin of the Italian, the
Spanish, and French languages. Muratori, in his antiquities of
Italy, informs us, that as early as the end of the twelfth century,
when Godfred, patriarch of Aquileia, pronounced a homily in the
Latin tongue, the bishop of Padua, explained it to the people in
the lingua volgare, or dialect spoken by the mass of the people,
meaning the nascent Italian. ‘This, as Tiraboschi, in his History
of Italian Literature, observes, probably was spoken long before’
it was written, as the learned would disdain to write in a dialect
only spoken by the vulgar.
But the Italian tongue had already been preceded by the Pro-
venc¢al, a language in which modern poetry, at the dawning of
letters in Europe, first appeared. It was then, that poetry pro-
duced its usual effect: from the moment of its cultivation, the
darkness of the barbarous ages began to disperse; under its in-
fluence men began again to draw together, as the beasts are said
to have assembled, charmed by the lyre of Orpheus. We must
go back one step in history, to glance at the very interesting cir-
cumstances under which the Provencal poetry arose, and from a
source too much overlooked in the history of the revival of
learning.
The empire of the Arabs is dated from the Hegira, or flight
of Mahomet, A. D.. 622. An empire of this vast extent, and
which, within the period of a century from its origin, compre-
hended Egypt, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Africa, and the greater
part of Spain, depended for its existence upon the fanaticism
and military spirit, which had inspired the arms of Caled and
Amrou. These impulses being wanting, the causes of the dis-
memberment of this great empire began to operate. Luxury,
the schism of Ali and Omar, factions, the civil wars between the
followers of these chiefs, and the excommunications of the caliphs
of Bagdad, Cairo, and Cordova, fulminated against each other
like those of the popes and anti-popes of Rome, present another
historical picture of the instability of empires founded by the sword.
But in the comparatively short duration of the dominion of the
caliphs, the zeal which had led this hot-blooded race to conquest,
had, as has been stated at page 156, been directed to the culti-
vation of the learning of antiquity; and their extraordinary at-
tainments were destined to have a powerful and leading influ-
196 Himitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
ence upon the revival of letters in Christendom. The house of
Abbas, which reigned at Bagdad in the eighth century, produced
three illustrious protectors of arts and letters, the caliphs Abou
Djafar Manzour, more familiarly called Almanzor; Haroun al
Raschid, celebrated in that attractive work, The Arabian Nights;
and his son Abdallah Mamoun, or Almamon, conspicuous above
the rest as a benefactor to science, and whose name deserves to
be transmitted to the lastest posterity. The favourite pursuit of
this caliph, who flourished in the early part of the ninth century, —
was astronomy: numerous observatories were constructed during
his reign, in which the measure of a degree of the meridian was
taken. Bagdad, the seat of his government, was renowned for
its cultivation of the sciences; camels entered its gates loaded
with manuscripts, which the munificence of the caliph had col-
lected, and all those productions which were calculated to en-
large the minds of his subjects, were selected and translated into
Arabian. Their knowledge of the works of Plato and Aristotle,
had been derived from the Greeks, and one of the conditions of
the peace, which Almamon imposed upon the Greek emperor
Michael the III., was a tribute of works in the Greek tongue.
Every branch of knowledge was protected by this sovereign of
the Saracens—astronomy, poetry, classics, medicine, and chem-
istry—he even caused books to be drawn up on the utility of ani-
mals, and to be illustrated with figures of beasts, birds, and fishes.
The poetry of the Arabians began at a very early period,
favoured by the lively minds, and fertile imaginations, of that
free and roving people. There is a collection extant of their old
national songs, with remarks upon the manners of the ancient
Arabs, entitled Aghany; made by Aboul Faradge Ali, a native
of Ispahan, who died A. D. 966.2 Such was the estimation in
which poetry was held, that Mahomet himself was flattered by one
of the chapters of the Koran, being judged worthy to be suspend-
_ ed in the temple of Mecca, with seven celebrated poems, that had
received that honour. Colleges and schools soon arose in every
quarter. Under the Fatimite caliphs, Egypt presented a spec-
tacle it had not known since the days of the Ptolemies ; and Fez
and Morocco, now plunged in the darkest ignorance, rivalled
Egypt in the cultivation of letters. But in no part of the world
do the attainments of the Arabians shine with greater lustre than
in Spain. Cordova, Grenada, Valencia, Seville, abounded in
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 197
seminaries of learning. Whilst the rest of Kurope was compara-
tively consigned to the most debasing darkness, the Arabians in
Spain had thrown open no less than seventy libraries to the pub-
lic, enriched with all the knowledge they had so successfully cul-
tivated. This concentration of light beamed in vain for the
greater part of Christendom, whose slumbering intellect, was
wrapt up in the contemplation of theological subtleties. Yet did
the light at length penetrate that dark period; many are the
useful inventions we owe to the Arabians, such as cotton and
linen paper, as substitutes for the Egyptian papyrus; arithmeti-
cal figures, the construction of observatories, of which Europe still
retains a model in the famous tower of Seville, in Spain, To
them we owe also the process of distillation, and of many ana-
lytical branches of chemistry. The use of gunpowder was known
to the Moors in the 13th century, masses of stone and iron balls
being projected with it, in their wars with the Spaniards. It
was near the middle of the fourteenth century before this inven-
tion was practised in France. To the Arabians also, have been
attributed the knowledge of the mariner’s compass, and the pen-
dulum as a measure of time, before they were used by the Eu-
ropeans. They were likewise the conservators of the works of
Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Euclid, Ptolemy, and other luminaries of
ancient times; to them, revived Europe was first indebted for
the knowledge of the writings of these eminent men. All these
writings have truly a constituent place in Arabic literature ; for
the versions of the Arabians, having been principally made
through the Syriac, and in a paraphrastic form, were not itera,
as the Latin translations made from the Greek.
They were also exceedingly devoted to music, and amatory
poetry. It was thus the exaggerated metaphor of Arabian poet-
ry passed into the Spanish, and which long infected the poetry
of that nation. This style is still observed in the east; and al-
though the Orientals have no conception of eloquence not based
upon exaggeration, still they have too much good sense to under-
stand it otherwise than figuratively. The French physician Ber-
nier, in his description of the states of the great Mogul, relates
the following characteristic anecdote. An Indian poet laureat,
addressing a celebrated prince, used the following inflated lan-
guage. “No sooner dost thou press the sides of thy rapid cour-
ser, than the earth trembles; it is agitated, and the eight ele-
198 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
phants, those huge pillars of the globe, bend beneath so noble a
weight.” Bernier, who was present, whispered in the ear of
the prince, “ Your majesty must generously abstain from riding
on horseback, or your poor subjects will suffer too much from
these earthquakes.” “It is on that account,” replied he, enter-
ing into the joke, “ that I usually travel in a palanquin.”
It was in the year 1085, A. D., that Alfonso, the 4th king of
Castile, with the aid of many French knights, recovered Toledo
from the dominion of the Moors. ‘The inhabitants having sub-,
mitted to the Spaniards, their gay manners, their customs, their
music, their poetry, their colleges, all became familiarly known
to the conquerors. From this period may be dated the origin of
Spanish letters, and of the ‘Troubadour poetry, which contains
no traces of Greek or Latin origin, but in its peculiar style is al-
together Arabian. ‘The Provencaux, inhabiting a climate that
favoured these oriental manners, soon gave way to the influence
of them; to such an extent had they adopted the free manners
of the Moors, that they almost realized the romantic stories con-
tained in the Arabian Tales. To do extravagant things in the
name of the tender passion, was a true passport tofame. The
Abbé Millot, amongst many other anecdotes, relates the following.
“Richard of Barbesieu, guilty of infidelity to his mistress, and un-
able to obtain pardon, retired to the forests, where he built a hut,
from which he declared he never would issue, until his mistress
had received him into favour. At the end of two years, his com-
panions waited upon the offended lady, when she consented to
re-instate him in her graces, upon condition that a hundred
knights with a hundred dames, ‘S’aimant d’amour,’ should pre-
sent themselves before her, with their hands joined, and on their
bended knees should entreat her to pardon him. This was lit-
erally performed at the lady’s castle, and at the conclusion of
this solemn extravagance, she pronounced the pardon of Barbe-
sieu. Manners like these, held up, as they then were, to the imi-
tation of the best classes of society, could never have arisen out
of the ferocious, anarchical, and polemical spirit, which, in Eu-
rope, preceded this period; and are entirely to be attributed to
the mercurial and lively habits of the Saracens, of which the
Arabian Nights furnish a more extended picture.
In the early poetry of the Troubadours, we perceive strong
traces of the imitation of Arabian verse, and the model of the
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 199
original form of many of the branches of modern poetry, espe-
cially of the amatory verse of Petrarch. At their most brilliant
period, the Troubadours frequented all the courts of Europe ; and
the inhabitants of Italy, whose barbarous language was just pass-
ing into the vocal flexibility which now distinguishes it, subse-
quently imitated the poetic art taught them by the Troubadours,
and afterwards formed the Italian language, principally in their
poetical exercises, which soon extinguished the language which
had served them as a model; for as the French, Spanish, and
Italian tongues, arose nearly at the same time, as far as concerns.
their poetry, the Provencal tongue became thus neglected, and
the delirious glory of the Troubadours, which only lasted two
centuries, passed away. Nothing more effectually contributed
to this, than the establishment of the inquisition at the beginning
of the 13th century, which covered their country, especially, with
blood and carnage.
Italian poetry first arose in Sicily, towards the end of the 12th
century. This island, which had been occupied by the Greeks,
the Saracens, and the Normans, and to which the 'Troubadours
had very much resorted, had, at an early period, produced some
attempts at poetry, and F'rederic the II, born A. D. 1202, grand-
son of Frederic Barbarossa, to whom the sovereignty of Naples
and Sicily belonged, was one of the first poets who wrote in the
Sicilian dialect. ‘This monarch, remarkable for his attainments
and spirit, which brought him into constant struggles with the
Papal power, was the protector of all liberal pursuits, and his
court was much resorted to by men who had distinguished them-
selves in the arts of peace. Natural history was one of his fa-
vourite studies. He wrote a treatise on hunting with birds, ‘ De
arte venandi cum avibus,’ in the which he not only describes land
and water birds, their food and habits, but also their structure,
the mechanism of their wings, and their modes of offence and
defence. There is an amatory ode of jhis, in which are many
words in a state of transition from the Latin to the Italian, such
as, eo, abbreviated from the pronoun ego, and now become io ;
meo, from meus, now become mio. From this and other contem-
poraneous productions, it is evident the Italian had assumed its
great outlines, and that it was in general use; for poets, espe-
cially amatory ones, are not in the habit of expressing their feel-
ings, in a tongue which is not familiar to. their cotemporaries.
200 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
But it was poetry that first gave life to the vulgar dialect of the
people, and led to the cultivation of the new Italian tongue,
which soon left the degenerate Latin to the pedantry of theolo-
gians and jurists. Nevertheless this poetry, at its origin, was at’
best but a feeble mass of amatory expressions, without natural
feeling, and never directed to high achievements, or to the de-
scription of those interesting objects with which Italian nature
abounds. The Italians, at the dawning of their written language,
_ sang of pains they never felt, and in quaint conceits, which
sprang from the head and not from the heart, celebrated the
power of mistresses that never inspired them with real tender-
ness. ‘This habit of exaggeration seized hold of every thing:
hyperbolical flattery stood in the place of honest commendation ;
the motives of human action being travestied, history became
falsified, and men, instead of reasoning from facts to unerring re-
sults, still continued the dupes of puerile conceits, and undefined
words. Still the beauty and softness of their language, compen-
sated to the Italians for the insubstantiality of their literature,
by favouring the developement of their musical powers.
But a poet, who has had no superior, soon arose amongst them,
and took away this reproach. Although Sicily gave the signal
for the new literature, the Italian cities, Florence, Bologna, Pa-
dua, Naples, &c., quickly followed it. Letters and the arts first
began to revive in Florence towards the end of the 13th century,
where a republican form of government was established, and
where judicial astrology was in great credit.
-Dante—a familiar abbreviation of Durante, his baptismal
name—was born at Florence, A. D. 1265. One of the best edu-
cated and most distinguished youths of the city, he, at the age of
twenty-five, lost his mistress Beatrice, whom he had loved from his
boy-hood. Ina collection of his earliest poetry, made by himself
soon after her death, in1290, and which he called Vita Nuova, are
found all the interesting circumstances of their early loves; but
towards the end, finding that the effort had fallen short of the ex-
pression of his deep and wounded feelings, he says, “ If God.shall
continue my days, I hope to say things of her, which have never
been said of woman before.”* It was to this purpose he conse-
crated his great poem the Divina Commedia, a production that — |
ranks him with the most illustrious poets that have written in
* Spero di dire di lei, quello che mai non fu detto d’alcund.
‘
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. — 201
any language. Dante, who had already raised Italian poetry
from its feebleness, but who, in compositions which have barely
survived him, had sought reputation through the Latin language;
now reached the heights of fame, through one of the dialects of
the vulgar tongue of Italy, whilst it was yet unformed, and with
which he has invested with so much force, grace, and truth,
every thing that is horrible and every thing that is beautiful.
His factious countrymen the Florentines, after razing his house
to the ground, confiscating his property, and leaving him to
die, A. D. 1321, under a foreign government, instituted in 1373
a professorship at the expense of the state, to lecture upon, and
expound this, poem.
In one particular, the Divina Carine dts gives Dante prece-
dence over all poets, for it is the apotheosis of the woman he so.
deeply loved; every part of it bears testimony that it was she
who inspired him, and that she was present to his imagination
from the beginning to the end of his sublime production. It is
impossible to read all the evidences of his attachment to Beatrice,
which began at the very early age of nine years, without being
deeply affected with the tenderness and truth of which so great
a mind was capable, and which honour human nature so much.
The ruin which had fallen upon the fortunes of Dante, was a
consequence of the factions which, at this time, raged in every
independent state of Italy. The independence of the northern
cities, was, in many instances, only the prelude to civil wars.
Their liberties were generally intrusted to some principal citizen,
and who having tasted the sweets of power, often sought to per-
petuate the possession of them. Thus every ‘city nourished two
factions, which, ranging themselves, subsequently, in the interests
of the German emperors and the popes, took the designations of
Ghibellines and Guelphs, from two rival German houses, the
_ popes being the protectors of these last. |
This rivalry amongst the cities, which was fostered by the un-
settled limitations of territory, was highly favourable to the useful
and ornamental arts, through the ostentatious manner in which
it sought to exhibit itself. Each city strove to outdo the other in
the extent and magnificence of its public buildings; the citizens,
too, partook of this spirit of emulation, and vied with each other
in the grandeur of their palaces. At this moment nothing strikes
the traveller in Italy more than the unusual number of extensive
Vor. 1—26
{
202 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
edifices in Florence, Genoa, and other cities, standing in *majes-
tic amplitude,’ and whose harmony of proportion and ornament,
as the late lord Byron has most panels expressed it, “affect
the mind, as if it were inaudible music.” 'These palaces were so
many castles in.the midst of a city; for the factions which’ so
often divided the cities, raged frequently from the opposite sides
of the streets; and many of their edifices, as their exterior denotes,
were constructed for purposes of defence. Nor has the 13th cen-
tury its architecture alone to boast of, it being still more illus-
trious for the revival of painting under Giotto and Cimabue, both
of them celebrated by Dante. These artists have left produc-
tions, which, notwithstanding the general hardness of outline pe-
culiar to the art at this period, breathe the genius and grace of
that great school of painting, of which they were the founders.
Although the power of the Italian princes, had been raised at
the expence of many of the privileges of the people, still their
authority was beneficently exercised in favour of letters and the
arts. The Visconti at Milan, the Carrara at Padua, the Gonzaga
at Mantua, and the family of Este at Ferrara, were all patrons
of merit. ‘To their courts, eminent men—banished by the turbu-
lence of the times from their own country, or travelling from vo-
luntary motives,—resorted; and there they were entertained in
the most hospitable and munificent manner. Men of letters were
especially honoured, and the most important embassies frequently
entrusted to them. Such was the court of Verona, under the
great Cane della Scala, the patron of Dante, in his exile. Yet
honoured as he was, there was a bitterness in his dependent state,
that his lofty mind revolted at. “You do not know,” he wrote
to a friend, “how hard it is to eat another man’s bread.” It
was this invincible feeling, that dissolved the connection between
him and the princes of the house of Scala. His pride never
abandoned him, and his growing dissatisfaction ended, perhaps,
by indisposing. them against him. “ What is the reason,” said
one of them, before a pumber of his courtiers, to him, “ that
many people prefer the stupidest buffoon about the court, to
yourself, who have so much genius and wisdom?” Dante proudly
replied, “ that ought not to surprise you, who know that friend-
ships are the result. of mutual sympathies, and greneene of cha- a
racter.” lk
The great poem of Dante, had poop rauch h infuence in
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 203
reviving the taste for classical literature. In the universities
and colleges of Padua, Bologna, and other cities, where the seven
arts, as they are still called, were taught, to the exclusion of
that literature ; the Greek and Roman writers were compara-
tively unknown; but the Divina Commedia, of which Virgil,
the model of Dante, is one of the principal characters, necessarily
awakened the public attention to the writings of the Roman
poet; and thus the classics, which had been so long overlooked,
at the middle of the 14th century, were sought after with the
greatest avidity, and by no one more than Petrarch, to whom
Italian literature and learning owe so much. Such was the
state of ignorance in one of the most celebrated universities, Bo-
logna, that, as it is related in one of the familiar letters of Pe-
trarch, one of the professors writing to him on the subject of the
ancient writers, supposed Plato and Cicero to have been poets;
had never heard of Nevius and Plautus, and believed that Ennius
and Statius, who lived two hundred and seventy years apart,
were cotemporaries. |
Having brought this epitome down to the 14th century, when
literature was once more cherished, and the seeds of learning
securely planted in various countries,—until that greatest of all
discoveries, the art of printing, effected in the next century, had
placed a barrier against the future obscuration of the general in-
tellect—we shall, in our next number, take up the History and
Progress of Geology and Comparative Anatomy. In the mean
time we conclude this imperfect sketch, with the following sum-
mary of the leading features of the long period we have been
reviewing, as far as they concern the progress of human intellect,
_ from the first dawnings of civilization.
1. It has been shown that the only satisfactory channel, whereby
we can trace the progress of authentic antiquity, is through the
Greeks, with whom science sprung up, consequent upon their
intercourse with Egypt.
2. That this intercourse was nearly cotemporary with the laid
of Moses, the Hebrew lawgiver, who was brought up from his
infancy by. the Egyptian priests, and instructed by them in
their knowledge.
8. That the first philosophical period known to us, arose about
fifteen centuries before the Christian era, when the Egyptians
first carried their letters—the type of our own alphabet—into
204 Eypitome of the Progress of Natural Scidnble
Greece; and that the leading cause of the cultivation of the
philosophical arts, was the freedom of opinion, which the —
Greeks—not controlled by the theocracy of perio able
to indulge in.
4. That this freedom of opinion produced an extraordinary ie
velopement of human powers, seeing that the names of Homer,
Pythagoras, Eschylus, Pindar, Zeuxis, Sophocles, Plato, Eu-
ripides, Phidias, Aristotle, Demosthenes, and others, are ac-
counted the most illustrious of the human family, at this day.
5. That the military power of the Romans, ended by extinguish-
ing their freedom, and brought about the ruin of letters and
the arts; that anarchy, having left to men no motive of action,
but individual preservation, all love of country became extinct;
and Rome, once the mistress of the world, fell, without dignity,
_ before hordes of undisciplined barbarians.
6. That notwithstanding the learning of the ancients had nearly
become a victim to the fanaticism of the early professors of
christianity, still we are indebted to the monasteries for the
preservation—in the darkest days of Europe—for what we
now possess of it.
7. 'That we are greatly indebted to the Mahometans—a people
whose name has been a reproach in the ears of christians—for
_ the revival of human learning.
8. That nations, like individuals, are weak in proportion as they
are ignorant, and that their memories are most honoured,
when they have advanced the arts and sciences. ,
9. That when nations give themselves up to obscure dogmas, and
speculative reasonings ; ; when they reason from the unknown
to the known, nature 1 is a sealed book, and God is unseen of
them.
Lastly, We know from our own experience, that the ‘neat
arts most minister to the enjoyment of men, when nature and
nature’s laws, are most studied by them; and that in that
study there is more exquisite enjoyment than in any other oc-
cupation, seeing that the human mind is exceedingly elevated,
in the contemplation of the power, and wisdom, of the Author
of creation. :
To these conclusions we should add with regret, if the dawn
of a better state of things were not rising, that at a period when
the most arbitrary scien in Europe is cultivating astronomy
Notices of Big-bone Lick: 205
owith the most brilliant success, there is not a single Public Observa-
tory in the United States of America : and whilst geology and other
branches of natural history, are eherished and taught in every
public institution, devoted to education, in Europe; there is
not, as far as we are informed—with one exception—an officiating
professor of these attractive and useful branches of knowledge,
in any of the universities or colleges of this country.
( To be continued.)
NOTICES OF BIG-BONE LICK,
Including the various explorations that have been made there, the animals to which
the remains belong, and the quantity that has been found of each; with a particu-
~ lar account of the great collection of bones discovered in September, 1830. By
Wiu.iam Cooper, member of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York,
of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Zoological Society of
London, &c.
(Continued from page 174.)
Tue six species of animals, of whose remains the preceding
catalogue has been given, comprise all of those, found at Big-bone
Lick, that in my judgment have a well established claim to be
considered fossil, either as being now extinct, entirely, or under
the same latitudes, or because they are found associated with the
extinct species. |
_ How many individuals there must have been, to have furnish-
ed these remafns, is an inquiry, not only curious in itself, but
which bears upon some speculations regarding the phenomena of
their accumulation. Although it can no longer be precisely de-
termined, some approximation may still be made. With this
view, I have attempted an estimate from the following data :
The total number of grinders possessed by the mastodon from
infancy to old age, as I have elsewhere shown, was twenty-four ;
of which there were sixteen with three or more pairs of points.
The greatest number of those existing together in the head,
and, though not in use, sufficiently ossified to be preserved fossil,
was twelve.
The number existing and in use at the maturity of the species,
was eight.
_ At last in old age there remained but four, as in the Ele-
phant. |
Supposing each individual to have been of mature age, neither
206 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
very old, nor very young, (though examples of both have cocur-
red here, and may balance each other,) the fair average number
of grinders to be allowed him, is, therefore, eight. |
The whole number of teeth in the Finnell collection with not
less than three pairs of points, is, including those in the jaws
ninety-four ; which, with twenty-six similar, brought by me from
- the same’place, makes one hundred and twenty. This, divided
by eight, gives fifteen as the least number of individuals that
could have furnished the teeth, contained in these two collections
alone.
To these are to be added, all that have been removed by
Harrison, Goforth, Clarke, Bullock, the citizens of Cincinnati, and
very many others; besides some, that, it is to be presumed, still re-
main in the bed.* If six or seven times the number are allowed
for all these, it would certainly not exceed the probability. In
fact I should be more inclined to say ten or twenty times as many ;
and were big-Bone Lick on the top of a mountain, we might be
tempted to think, that the whole race had retreated hither, to
escape some general inundation.
The number of individual elephants, might be cick tebe in
the same manner. ‘They appear to have been to the mastodon,
about as one to five. The smaller quadrupeds are probably
fewer than might have been obtained, if more care had been
used to collect and preserve them. In the following table, which
is intended chiefly to show the proportions the several species ©
appear to bear to each other, I have put down no more of these,
than are known to have been found.
SPECIES. NO. OF INDIVIDUALS.
Mastodon maximus, 100
HKlephas primigenius, | 20
Megalonyx Jeffersoni, 1
~ Bos bombifrons : he
— Pallasiu, |
Cervus americanus, 2
It is true that the remains of several other animals besides
those just enumerated, occur abundantly at Big-bone Lick; and
* Mr. Bullock, however, who has been at much pains and expense to determine
this, is of opinion “ that all the strata near the Salt Lick of Big Bone, that contain
animal remains have been examined.” See letter to Mr. Featherstonhaugh.
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 207
Ihave myself, collected the bones of three or four more at this _
place ; the horse, the bear, the buffalo, and two or three species
_ of deer, have been recorded among the fossil animals. But none
of these appear to me to merit that epithet in the geological
sense of the word. )
Except the first, they are all animals indigenous to the country,
and there would be nothing surprising in finding their bones near
the surface, or even, sometimes, at the depth of several feet, when
it is recollected how often the ground has been disturbed by re-
peated diggings. Bear’s bones from this locality, I have never
seen, nor indeed of any carnivorous animal, which I consider a
remarkable circumstance. Antlers, jaws, and other remains of
Cervus canadensis, C. virginianus, C. alces, and perhaps C. taran-
dus, are not very rare. I think I have observed among the col-
lections made at Big-bone Lick, traces of each of these. But
they bear no proportion to those of the buffalo, whose bones are
dispersed through the alluvial soil, or strewn over the surface in
great abundance. ‘The buffalo in modern times, as perhaps the
mastodon in past ages, seems to have nearly monopolized this
favourite haunt to himself. With the horse, the case is different,.
inasmuch as this animal is generally believed not to have been an
aboriginal inhabitant of this continent.* But it isnot at all necessa- |
ry tosuppose that he was so, to account for the simple circumstance
of finding a few of his bones at this place. Within a few yards of
the spot where the excavations of last September were made, are
the vestiges of a fort, and several wells, the work of the first
settlers of Kentucky, about forty or fifty years ago. They doubt-
less brought horses with them, some of ‘which may have died
here, and their bones might easily have become more or less
covered with earth in a place where wells were dug, and the
ground tilled, as it has been here, for many years past. Nothing
in regard to this point can be argued from the state of preserva-
- tion of any remains found at Big-bone Lick. I have now before
me a tooth of a megalonyx found here, apparently as sound and
_ fresh as any of the recent horse or buffalo.
If any well identified remains of the horse had been found as-
sociated in the same bed, with those of the extinct animals, in .
_ spots well known not to have been previously disturbed, we could
not refuse to-admit their equal antiquity with the rest. ButIdo
* Our author will find many individuals, entertaining a different opinion —Ed.
208 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
not think that this point has been sufficiently made out. I's saw
nothing in support of it myself, nor have I met with any person
who could answer for such a fact, from his own careful observation.
In the case of those recently exhibited in this city, one of the pro- —
prietors who assisted in disinterring them, acknowledged to me,
that the horses’ bones were generally near the surface, although
part of a skull was found at the depth of twelve or fifteen feet;
but that they were all separated from the great bones, which
lay at the depth of twenty two feet, and in a different kind of soil.
Mr. Bullock, it is true, states that “the bones of the horse were
found at various depths, from five to twenty feet, indiscriminately
with the other bones.”
When the report printed in the first number of this Journal
was presented to the Lyceum of New York, I was inclined to a
different opinion, having been led to suppose that all the bones
and teeth exhibited as fossil, had been found lying. promiscuously
together. But finding, upon stricter inquiry, that this was not the
case, and that part at least of those belonging to the horse were
undoubtedly recent, I consider it best to wait for more certain
evidence before admitting the existence of an ancient race of .
this genus upon our continent. It is not a new thing, however,
to hear of fossil remains of horses in this country. The first printed.
notice of them, as far as 1am aware, is contained in Mitchill’s
“Catalogue of Organic Remains,” pp. 7 and 8. They consist of |
a vertebra and several teeth found in New Jersey. In the col-
lection of the Lyceum are likewise others, represented as fossil,
from other American localities, but I know not upon what eyi-
dence.
On the Position of the Organic Remains at Big-bone Lick.
Nearly in the centre of the valley in which the great bone
licks are situated, as may be seen by the map,*' is a fountain,
called by the inhabitants the Gum Spring. — It is the most copi-
ous, and the most distinguished for the peculiar properties of its
waters of all that the valley contains. Opposite to this is a small
island, formed by the division of one of the two principal branches
of Big-bone creek, at its north-east point, one arm passing by the
great spring, where it unites with the other branch, while the
main body continues round the south side of the island, at the
* See pl. 5, vol. I. No. 4, Monthly sie a of Geology, &e. ig
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 209
south-west point of which they all unite their waters to form Big-
bone creek.
The fossil bones have all been found on the east and south-
east sides of the Gum Spring, either along the western branch
of the creek, about the point opposite the spring, or on the island ;
but always, except in a very few instances, within fifty or sixty
yards of this spring. Within so small an area has been gathered
the extraordinary quantity of which [ have endeavoured to con-
vey some idea in the preceding pages. Many excavations have
been made in other parts of the valley, some in search of bones
and others for salt water. At what is called the Big Lick, where
a number of lime springs form a small miry spot like that at the
Gum Spring, and about one hundred and fifty yards from it, a
well has even been dug, and the soil examined to the depth of
twenty-five or thirty feet, without any bones being met with.
Yet here there would be the greatest probability of finding them —
if any where besides the spot described.
It appears from various accounts, that at the period of the first
settlement of the country the great bones were either lying on
the surface of the ground, or so near it as to be obtained with very
little labour. It is even said that they were so numerous on the sur-
face about fifty years ago, that a person might walk over the lick
by stepping from one to another, without touching the ground.
Croghan gives the following short description of this place as
he found it about twenty years previous to the occupation of the
country by the whites. It is extracted from his manuscript
journal of a voyage down the Ohio, now in the possession of Mr.
Featherstonhaugh.
“ 30th, (May 1765.) We passed the great Miami river about
30 miles from the little river of that name, and in the evening
arrived at the place where the elephants’ bones are found, where
we encamped, intending to take a view of the place next morn-
ing. ‘This day we came about 70 miles.
“31st. Early in the morning we went to the great lick where
these bones are only found, about four miles from the river on
the south-east side. In our way we passed through a fine tim-
bered clear wood. We came toa road which the buffaloes have
beaten, spacious enough for two wagons to go abreast, and lead-
ing straight into the lick. It appears that there are vast quan-
tities of these bones lying five or six feet under ground, which we
Von. 1.—27
210 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
discovered in the bank at the edge of the lick. We found here
two tusks above six feet long, we carried one, with some other
bones, to our boats and set off. This day we proceeded down the
river about 80 miles.”
According to General Collaud, as quoted by Cuvier, the bones
lay about four feet deep. General Harrison and Governor
Clarke have never given any inte on this head that I am
aware of.
Goforth relates, “ we dug through several layers of small bones
in a stiff blue clay, such as deer, elk, buffalo and bear, in great
numbers, many much broken, below which was a stratum of
gravel and salt water, in which we found the large bones, some
nearly eleven feet deep in the ground, though they were also
found on the surface.”
So recently as the summer of 1828, when I visted this place,
bones of the larger animals were still to be found close to the sur-
face, or in the bed of the stream near the great spring. Some
of these, it was evident, had been previously disturbed, and there-
fore no longer occupied their ancient position. But some teeth
which I obtained were so large and so finely preserved, that they
certainly would not have been left if they had been sooner dis-
covered. These lay in a very low place, within less than two
feet of the surface, and near the edge of the stream on the east of
the Gum Spring.
The bones discovered in 1830, by Messrs. F'innell and Bullock,
were found under somewhat different circumstances from those
just described. The following particulars, gathered from one of
the proprietors who was present at their disinterment, and cor-
roborated by the letters of Mr. Bullock, may be relied on.
They were procured on the north side of the island, a little
east of the great spring, and about fifty or sixty yards from it.
The pit or well, originally dug by Mr. Finnell, was nine feet
wide and about twenty-five deep. Mr. Bullock, thinking Mr.
Finnell had not thoroughly examined it, afterwards re-opened
and enlarged it in width and depth, and found many bones; all,
however, on the same level, and none deeper. The great bones
were first met with at the depth of twenty-two feet, lying in a
bed of about three feet in thickness. The two great heads of
mastodon, and the large elephants’ head found by Mr. Bullock,
were lying near together. Below them, were three of the large
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 211
tusks, and intermingled with all these a large quantity of teeth
and bones, of various animals. “'They altogether formed,” says
Mr. Bullock, “a heterogeneous mass, lying horizontally, mixed
with angular and waterworn pieces of limestone of various sizes,
which contain marine shells, and rounded specimens of quartzose
and other pebbles, as well as fragments of cane, small, unknown
to me, and also fragments of broken fresh-water shells, much re-
sembling those now living in the neighbourhood.” I have been
moreover informed, that immediately beneath the great bones,
the workmen came to a bed of stiff blue clay, in which, except at
its surface, no bones were found. This agrees with my own obser-
vations and all the accounts [ have heard, except Goforth’s, ac-
cording to whom, the great bones were partly found beneath the
blue clay. Isaw, it is true, the entire skeleton of a buffalo, with
part of two others, dug out of the blue clay, where it is found im-
mediately at the surface. But there were no remains of the ex-
tinct animals, either with these or under the clay, which I saw
penetrated down to a dry stony layer of a kind of marl. The
buffaloes appeared to have sunk or been trampled into the ely
while ae? from the effects of rain or floods.
The great inequality of the ground near the spring, is the
principal cause why some were dhliad to dig twenty-two feet
before finding bones of the large species, while others met with
them at eleven, four, two feet, or even less. The surface of the
island, for example, is much higher than that of the point, on the
north of it; and this, than the bed of the stream; so that by digging
two feet in one place, we would reach the same level that we
would by digging twenty feet, not many yards further off.
The position of the bones, fossil and recent, such as | have de-
termined it from the comparison of the foregoing accounts, with
my own observations made at the place, shall be now described.
The substratum of the neighbouring country, is a limestone,
abounding in organic remains. ‘This appears at the surface on
the sides and tops of the hills, and along the banks of the great
rivers. From it must have been derived the fragments mention-
ed in Mr. Bullock’s account, as found accompanying the great
bones. But at this lick, the valley is filled up to the depth of not
less, generally, than thirty feet, with unconsolidated beds of earth
of various kinds. The uppermost of these consists of a light yel-
low clay, which, apparently, is no more than the soil brought
212 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
down from the higher grounds, by rains and land floods. In
this yellow earth are found, along the water courses, at various
depths, the bones of buffaloes and other modern animals, many
broken, but often quite entire.
Beneath this alluvial bed, is another thinner layer of a differ-
ent kind of soil, presenting much of the character of a sediment,
from a marsh or river. It is more gravelly, darker colored, softer,
and contains remains of reedy plants, smaller than the cane
so abundant in some parts of Kentucky, and shells of fresh water
mollusca. It appears to be, in short, what is meant by diluvium,
as distinguished from the alluvium, which forms the bed above
it.* In this layer, resting upon, and sometimes partially im-
bedded in a stratum of blue clay of a very compact and tena-
cious kind, are deposited the bones of the extinct species. Origi-
nally near the surface, they have been gradually covered by the
accumulation of alluvial matter above them.
The depth of this alluvium is, however, variable. In some places
it is very thin, and in others is liable to be entirely washed away
by the inundations which are common here at some seasons of
the year. When this takes place, the blue clay is left bare, and
the bones exposed on the surface. It is in such situations, and
along the banks and bed of the streams, that they have been
found nearly or quite uncovered. ‘The Gum Spring, as may be
seen by the map, is in the lowest part of the valley, near where
the torrents from the surrounding hills meet, before they find a
common outlet. 'The eastern branch of the stream, a few years
ago, forced itself a new channel on the north side, of what there-
by became the island, and united with the western, opposite the
spring, instead of their former confluence at the south-western
point. In this new channel I found several finely preserved teeth
and bones of the extinct animals.
The side of the island which forms the south bank of the
stream, opposite the spring, is steep, and much elevated above
the surface on the other side, the yellow alluvial soil having ac-
cumulated to a great height. Consequently, the bones which
were found here in 1830, were deeply buried, as has been de-
* The difference between it and the upper layer is so obvious, even to the work-
men, who have been employed in digging here, that they have, with propriety, de-
nominated it, the “bone soil ;” and this distinction is recognised whenever they meet
with it, even in places where it does not contain bones.
WNVotices of Big-bone Lick. 213
scribed, but were, notwithstanding, on a level with those pre-
viously obtained in the low grounds to the north of them.
On the Theory of Big-bone Lick.
It is natural, at the first view, to suppose that the herds of ele-
phants and mastodons were attracted hither by the salt, which
they probably found as agreeable a condiment as the modern
herbivorous animals; and that, like many of these, they died at
the spot where their remains have been discovered. Such is the
opinion of the present inhabitants, as well as of most persons who —
visit the place; the sound condition of the bones, being naturally -
attributed to the antiseptic properties of the water of the adja-
cent springs. ‘There can be no doubt of the conservative quality
of these; and it is highly probable that without it, the bones would
scarcely have remained till now so free from decay as we find
them. But they might easily have been preserved, at least for
a considerable period, like those of which so many instances have
occurred both in Europe and America, without this aid. More-
over, it may be well doubted whether these salt springs formerly
existed here. Bones are not always found at salt licks, even in
Kentucky. There have been other instances besides this; but
the exceptions are, [ believe, much more numerous. In New
York I have never heard of fossil bones being discovered at
Onondaga, or any other of the numerous salines of this state;
although not at too great a distance from the Wallkill, where
these relics abound, to have been beyond the range of the same
animals.* :
At the same time, however, I can readily admit, that they in-
habited the neighbouring country, and that a few, perhaps, were
at the spot, or dispersed through the surrounding woods and
marshes, when the catastrophe occurred, which seems to have
extinguished their race.
Some of the appearances which the bones exhibit, have been
alluded to in the course of our previous descriptions; very few,
indeed, if any, even of the smallest, were found without some
mark of their having been subjected to violent action. Unlike
those of which so many have been discovered in New York and
* Part of an elephant’s tooth, preserved in the Museum of the Albany Institute,
and said to have been found somewhere along the line of the Erie canal, 1s the only
instance within my knowledge of fossil remains of these animals from that part of our
state.
214 Notices of Big-bone Lick.
New Jersey, where the animals seem to have perished quietly
on the spot where their remains are found, the parts belonging
to each individual lying near each other, and sometimes entire
skeletons without a bone displaced,* the frames of those found at
Big-bone Lick, seem rather to have been torn asunder, and in-
termixed in the most promiscuous disorder, before they were per-
mitted to find here a place of rest. It is rare to meet with a
single bone of the large animals, or of those smaller ones, that
accompany them, that is not more or less bruised or broken. Of
all the under jaws brought from this place, I have seen but one,
in which at least one side was not wanting ; and in this the teeth
were all gone. This cannot be ascribed to brittleness from de-
cay ; for, as is well known, the bones found here are remarkably
hard and solid. Still they are much less entire than those found
in the state of New York, whose texture is generally impaired
by decomposition. Some of those, which I collected at Big-bone
Lick, have their cancelli entirely filled with stony matter, by
which their weight and hardness are much increased. But
generally, they look like fresh bones; and the fact of their retain-
ing gelatine, which I have verified, is well known.
Mr. Bullock says, in his account of those discovered last year,
which were too deeply buried to leave room to suspect that they
had been ever before disturbed, since they were brought to the spot
where he found them, “ many of the bones are much waterworn
and broken; scarcely any that are not so, more or less. Some
large fragments of the tusks of the elephant are worn quite flat
and smooth, as if they had lain half buried in a water course, and
worn down by the action from above.” In fact, the mere cir-
cumstance of finding so large a number of detached teeth as has
been often found, lying together within a small compass, is alone
sufficient to prove that the owners did not perish where these
lie. In that case, the teeth would have remained in the respec-
tive heads, and have, consequently, occupied a much larger space.
The teeth of buffaioes, which there is every reason to believe
died from time to time at or near the spot, are never met with
in heads separated from the bones, as is the case with those of
the elephant and mastodon.
It has been attempted to account fos the heaping up of the
bones and teeth found last autumn, which it is said formed a sort
* See Annals, Lyceum of N. Y. vol. 1. p. 143:
Notices of Big-bone Lick. 215
of pyramid, with tiree great tusks encircling its bine and sur-
mounted by the great head discovered by Mr. Finnell, by ascrib-
ing it to the aborigines, who, it was supposed, may have amused
themselves by piling them up in this manner. In that case, it
must have been done in some very remote age, to allow time for
two distinct beds of soil to have accumulated over them to the
height of twenty-five feet, and in a place where these operations
are carried on upon so small a scale. But some allowance must
be made for the effects of the imagination in those who thought
they saw such appearances of order in this ancient charnel house,
which, if it really existed, it would be difficult to verify under
such circumstances.
Similar heaps of fossil bones of elephants and other extinct
animals, have been discovered, in several parts of Kurope, though
it has not been pretended, that they were brought together in
this manner. Indeed the human race has been supposed, not to
have inhabited the same countries at the epoch of the deposition
of these bones. One instance occurred at Selburg, near Canstadt
on the Necker, in 1816, where was discovered “a group of thir-
teen tusks and some molar teeth, of elephants, heaped close upon
each other, as if they had been packed artificially.”* ~ Another
was at Thiede in Brunswick, in the same year, where a congeries
of tusks, teeth, and bones, belonging to the elephant, rhinoceros,
horse, ox, and stag, was found in a heap, of ten feet square.
There were no less than eleven tusks of elephants, some being of
the largest size ever discovered. ‘The appearances they present-
ed, as described by Dr. Buckland, were altogether so strikingly
similar to those observed in the pit dug at Big-bone Lick, that
it is no more than reasonable to ascribe them to the same cause.
But, at the same time, that we find so much reason to suppose
that the great bones, as well as those of the other extinct species,
have been brought hither, since the death of the animals, and
probably by the agency of water, it does not seem probable that
they have been transported from.a very great distance. Most
of the appearances they afford, seem to indicate sudden and
violent, but not long continued action. Even the thickest and
strongest bones are found, broken short off into several truncheons,
but the edges and ‘icles of the fractures are commonly sharp,
and not rounded, as much rotting would have made them. The
* Buckland Relig. Diluv. p. 180.
216 Notices of Big-bone Lick. )
grinders are found entire, with broken, but undecayed portions of
bone entangled between their roots. Such as appear rubbed, or
waterworn, may be those that have been washed out of their
ancient bed, in modern times, or may have been the remains of
individuals that died before the general destruction. The later-
ally worn tusks, already described, perhaps belonged to some of
these ; and this abrasion may have been slowly effected, before
the comminution of the others took place, and by different
means. If, during some general inundation, a whirlpool had
formed in this valley, from which, after much violent collision,
these bones were deposited, the heads, teeth, and tusks, and other
hard and heavy parts settling down together, where is now the
great spring, many of the remarkable circumstances we have
noted, would be explained. Dr. Buckland, in endeavouring to
account for the similar accumulations of various teeth, and bones
found in Germany, says “ they were most probably drifted together
_ by eddies, in the diluvian waters.”* I had not observed this pass-
age, when I was led to account in the same manner, for the pile
at Big-bone Lick; which I mention, merely to show how natu-
rally this idea suggests itself.
I do not venture to say any thing with renapil to the period at
which this event may be supposed to have taken place. The |
natural phenomena do not furnish data sufficient to enable us to
fix upon this with any degree of precision. I will merely ob-
serve, that it must be referred as far back as we can conceive it
possible for animal substances to be preserved under the circum-
stances described.
- Enough has been established, however, to authorize us to con-
clude, that the region which borders the Ohio was.formerly in-
habited by different animals from those which have peopled it
from the earliest times of which we possess any account.
Two of these, the mastodon and megalonyx, belonged to ge-
nera now unknown, but having much affinity to some that still
inhabit the torrid zone. The former, though allied to the ele-
phants, was materially different in the teeth and some other par-
ticulars, indicating a considerable difference in habits. ‘The other
was allied to the sloths, and their co-ordinate genera, but was
greatly superior in size to any species now living. :
Buckland p. 181.
Description of Vespertilio Auduboni. S17
_A third belonged toa very natural genus, of which two spe-
cies exist in the warm regions of the old continent; but this was
specifically different from both, and, as regards America, the ge-
nus even is entirely extinct.
- There were likewise others which belong to the same genera
with some now naturally inhabitants of the same region. ‘These
are two species of bos, and one of cervus.
There is no evidence of any animals of the carnivorous order
having accompanied them.
They appear to have perished by the agency of water, which,
after transporting their remains a moderate distance, deposited
them in a mass where they have since been found.
They were succeeded, after an interval, by the species which
now inhabit the country.
DESCRIPTION OF VESPERTILIO AUDUBONI, A NEW SPECIES
OF BAT.
By Ricuarp Haran, M. D.
Or the numerous creatures which attract our admiration, or
excite our fears, the greater part display their appetites, or de-
velope their instincts, during the day time only; especially—
with few exceptions—all those remarkable for beauty of plumage,
and vocal melody. Predacious animals are chiefly distinguished
for their nocturnal habits; and ideas of rapine, terror and blood,
are ever associated with the tiger, the hyena, and the wolf.
Among the feathered tribes, the owl and the bat, also companions
of darkness, are shunned by many, as horrible objects, and full
of ill-omen. Haunted castles, ruined battlements, and noisome
caverns, are the chosen abodes of these nocturnal marauders,
and it is to such associations that these animals are indebted for
the unamiable character they have obtained. The prejudices
conceived against that portion of these animals, with which we
are familiar, are founded entirely upon these their habits; for
small quadrupeds, reptiles and fish, constitute the food of the first,
whilst insects and fruit suffice for the other. It is at the close of
the day, when the hum of nature is beginning to subside, that
the patient bat steals from his dark retreat, and spreads his
leathery wings in search of his food.
Vo. L.—28
218 Description of Vespertilio Auduboni.
The new species of this little flying quadruped, which we are
now about to notice, belongs to a very large and respectable
family. In the days of Linnzus, they all—from their appear-
ance at twilight—went by the family name of Vespertilio. 'They
further belong to the order Carnivora, their teeth being con-
structed for masticating flesh; though some—and in this they re-
semble ourselves—are also fond of fruit. In one important point,
the whole race has a common character, in their organ of flight.
The bones of the fingers are extremely elongated, and united by
a membrane, which is continued down the side of the body; and
extending on the leg as far as the tarsus, also unites the legs and
tail. Agreeing so universally in this particular, they form a
very natural family, under the appropriate term, Cheiroptera,
constructed from two Greek words, signifying hand and wing.
The vespertilio are again divided into Genera and Species,—
divisions which are grounded on certain peculiarities of dental
structure, and various developements of the brachial, digital, and
interfemoral appendages, with other modifications of the organs
of progression. These genera include species which are dis-
covered in every habitable part of the globe, of various magni-
tudes, from the size of a half grown cat, to that of a half grown
mouse. §
Of this numerous family only three genera, of modern authors,
inhabit the United States, viz. Ruinopoma, VEsPERTILIO, and
Tapruozous. Seven species, exclusive of the present, are all that
have been hitherto discovered in North America.
The following concise notice of the species, at present known
to inhabit the United States, is offered by way of comparison :
Genus.—Ruinopoma.—Superior incisors, separate from each
other ; nose, long, surmounted by a membrane; tail, long, en-
veloped at base.
Species Ist. R. Caroliniensis, (Geoffroy, or Vespertilio of Linneus.)
Is recognized by its brown pelage, and long and thick tail; it is
two inches in length, of which the tail occupies more than one
inch; the inferior half of the tail, free of the mterfemoral
membrane.—Inhabits South Carolina, according to Geoffroy.
Genus.—Vespertitio—(Linn. Cuv. Geoff:)—Dental formula, va-
rious; superior incisors generally separated into pairs; nose
and lower lip, simple ; wing membranes, extensive.
Description of Vespertilio Auduboni. 219
Species 2d. V. Caroliniensis—Geoff. Ann. du. Mus. d’Hist. Nat.
tom. 8, pl. 47.
This species is of a chesnut brown colour above, and yellowish
_beneath—the ears are simple, oblong, and of the size of the
head, with their exterior surface sparsely hairy ; auriculum
cordiform ; extreme point of the tail free. Inhabits the vi-
cinity of Charleston, 8. C.
Species 3d. V. Noveboracensis.—Penn. Synop. p. 367, Linn.
Vulgo, New York Bat.
Characterized by its short and rounded ears.—Nose, short and
pointed; pelage, brown above, pale beneath; a white spot at
the base of the wings; tail, wholly enveloped in the inter-
femoral membrane ; total length, tail inclusive, two inches five
tenths; spread of the wings, ten inches. Inhabit New York
and neighbouring states. A living specimen lately presented
to us, taken near Camden, New Jersey.
Species 4th. V. Pruinosus, Say.—Vide Long’s Exp. to the
Rocky Mountains, Vol. 1, p. 167.
Mr. T. Say who noticed this species, when on the exploring ex-
pedition under Lieut. Col. (then Major) 8. H. Long, has thus
distinguished it :—ears broad, not so long as the head, hairy on
their external side, more than half their length; auriculum, ob-
tuse at tip, andarcuated ; pelage, hairy above, ferruginous about
the sacrum, dull yellowish white on the throat: interfemoral
membrane covered with fur; length, nearly four inches and a
half. Inhabits the western states, and western Pennsylvania.
Species 5th. V. Arquatus, Say.—Long’s Exp. ut supra.
Head, large; ears, rather shorter, with the posterior edge ob-
tusely emarginated ; auriculum arcuated ; interfemoral mem-
brane naked, including the tail to one half the penultimate
joint ; total length, five inches ; expansion of wings, thirteen in-
ches. Inhabits the western states.
Species 6th. V. Subulatus, Say.—Long’s Exp. Vol. 2, p. 65.
"This species is the nearest allied to the Vespertilio Caroliniensis,
of Geoffroy, from which, however, it differs in colour, form of,
the auriculum, and in other particulars. Mr. Say observed it in
the distant territories. A specimen was subsequently presented
to the Academy of Natural Science, from the White moun-
tains, New Hampshire.
220 Description of Vespertilio Auduboni.
Genus.—T arnozovus——(Geoff.)—Without incisor teeth in the
upper jaw. Nose, simple; upper lip, very thick; ears, mod-
erate. 2 |
Species 7th. 7. Rufus. Figuredin Wilson’s Ornithology, Vol. vi.
Red Bat of Pennsylvania.
With this little animal we are all familiar. The city and its vi-
cinity abound in them. The body is of a reddish cream co-
lour ; membranes of a dusky red; auricule slender, rounded at
the extremity, and situated internally. ‘Total length four in-
ches; spread of the wings twelve inches.
Like other vespertilio, they enjoy the crepusculum, and are
fond of insects, which they seize on the wing. ‘The female has
been known to manifest the strongest maternal affection ; a young
lad having caught two young bats of this species, was in the act
of bearing them off to the Philadelphia Museum, at mid-day ;—
being watched by the mother, she followed him through the
streets, fluttering round him, and eventually settled on his bosom,
preferring captivity, to freedom with the loss of her progeny.
Species 8th.— Vespertitio Auduboni.—Pl. 6.
We propose to dedicate this new species, to our valuable friend,
the justly celebrated naturalist J. J. Aupugon, as a small tribute
of respect to his eminent talents, and the highly important services
he has rendered science. The drawing which accompanies this
paper, is from his inimitable pencil. |
This species was first observed, during the summer of 1829,
when an individual female flew into the apartment of the late
Dr. Hammersly, then one of the resident physicians of the Penn-
sylvania hospital : on the subsequent evening a male individual, of
the same species, was also taken in the same manner. In August
1830, a very fine specimen was brought to the Academy of
Natural Sciences, and Mr. Audubon informs me that the species
has very recently been observed in New York.
Natural characters of the species—General colour black, sprinkled
with gray above and beneath; ears black and naked ; auricu-
lum, short and broad or obtusely triangular ; interfemoral mem-
brane, sparsely hairy ; last joint of the tail free: two incisors,
with notched crowns, on each side of the canine teeth of the
upper jaw, with a broad intervening space without teeth.
Habit of Climbing of the Rattle-snuke. 221
Dimensions—Total length 3 inches 7 tenths; tail 1.7; length of
ear 0.5 breadth of ear 0.4; length of leg 1.7; spread of wings
10.7. inhabit Pennsylvania and New York, and probably the
southern states—Cab. of Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad.
HABIT OF CLIMBING OF THE RATTLE-SNAKE,
Extract of a letter, from Cov. Asxrt, of the U. S. Topographical Engineers, to
Dr, Haran, of Philadelphia.
[ wave, within a few days, had,the pleasure of conversing with
your friend, the distinguished ornithologist, Mr. John James Au-
dubon, a gentleman whose fame and enterprise, seem at present
to occupy the anxious solicitude of both Kurope and America ;
each of which countries appears to rival the other, by distinguish-
ing him with academic honours. Andif our country cannot claim
the merit of having taken the lead in this honourable struggle, it
can at least claim that of hailing Mr. Audubon as a citizen, and
a native, and of furnishing him with those objects which appear
so early to have attracted his attention and study ; and upon which
his glowing and unrivalled pencil has bestowed so enduring a life.
His enthusiasm in the pursuit of his favourite study, has led
him to plan a new expedition into the hitherto unexplored
regions of our continent; and his object in visiting our city, was
to obtain letters of hospitality and protection, to all our frontier
establishments. It gives me great pleasure to say, that he has
met with the most kind and patronising reception ; and that all
the high functionaries of our government, animated by that
zeal in favour of the sciences which distinguishes intelligent
minds, have readily, and with pleasure, afforded to him the
letters and papers of protection which he required.
He gratified us with a view of the truly splendid illustrations
of American birds, which compose his first volume of plates, and
left us yesterday morning, in order to prosecute his hazardous and
interesting enterprise. |
His plan is first to examine the peninsula of Florida ; then the
regions west of the Mississippi, Mexico, and, if possible, to pene-
trate into California. He also contemplates crossing the Rocky
mountains, and pursuing the Columbia river to its mouth, and
222 Habit of Climbing of the Ratile-snake.
thinks that he will be absent from us about two years. He is full of
the most interesting anecdotes of the habits of animals, the-result
of his personal observations, when alone and in the wilderness,
where undisturbed nature is found in all her grandeur, simplicity,
and originality. I urged him to give these to the public, in the
course of his publications: he said that he probably might, but
that city naturalists were so unused to observing the habits of
animals, where alone they could be observed to advantage, that
he must yet wait, till some other adventurer had witnessed simi-
lar scenes. But how few are there, who, to the necessary enter-
prise, add qualifications requisite for such pursuits, and how long
may we not, therefore, wait for such corroboration. I hope he
will yet abandon this feeling of delicacy, and in his concluding
volume, enrich our knowledge of animals by the many interest-
ing facts of their habits, which he has on record. With so intel-
ligent a mind, controlled by sound judgment and great moral and
physical courage, it appears to me an injustice to our own un-
derstanding, to doubt the anecdotes which he relates of his own
observation. I would as soon think of doubting the existence of
the new birds he delineates, because he has not done what was
impossible for him to do under the circumstances in which ‘he
was placed—preserved their skins, and A fii them in our
museums.
Now, I have been informed, that some of our learned city
gentlemen, have doubted the truth of his representation of the
rattle-snake attacking a mocking-bird’s nest, from an opinion that
the rattle- snake does not climb. An opinion, by the way, more
common in our cities, than with the hunters in the wilds, in
which this reptile is generally found. |
But as I am possessed of some facts on this subject, which
prove that the rattle-snake does climb, I will, in justice to Mr.
Audubon, relate them to you. :
Ist. When Lieut. Swift of our army, was engaged on a survey
in Florida, in 1826; his attention was suddenly called to a group
of his men, within about 100 feet from where he stood. They
had just killed a snake, which the men assured him, they had
seen seize a grey-squirrel on the limb of a tree, about fifteen feet
from the ground, and fall to the earth with it. When Lieut.
Swift had arrived at the place, the snake was already killed,
and much mangled. He did not examine it for the rattles, —
Habit of Climbing of the Rattle-snake. 223
but his Florida hunters, who are as familiar with the appearance
of the rattle-snake, as we are with that of the chicken, told him,
that it was a rattle-snake.
2d. General Jessup, the Quarter-Master General of our army,
assured me in conversation a day or two since, that he had seen
the rattle-snake upon bushes, and particularly stated one case, in
which he had seen a snake of that kind up a papaw* tree. He
also added, that in one of his excursions in the woods of the west,
he had actually witnessed a scene similar to that represented by
Mr. Audubon, of birds defending their nests against a snake. But
he does not recollect whether in this instance, it was a rattle-
snake or not.
3d. General Gibson, the Commissary General of our army, has
also assured me that he has seen the rattle-snake upon bushes,
and upon the top rail of fences. He likewise stated a case in
which he saw a rattle-snake in the fork of a tree, about eight
feet from the ground, coiled and at rest. The tree stood by it-
self, and the diameter of its trunk was upwards of one foot. He
knocked the snake out of the fork and killed it.
I could cite many other cases, but I prefer limiting myself to
these, as I am personally acquainted with the gentlemen named,
and received the stories from their own mouths.
Now after these facts, I cannot suppose that any reasonable
man will doubt, the ability of the rattle-snake to climb. Both
generals Jessup and Gibson are well acquainted with this snake,
are good observers, and fond of the woods. The latter particu-
larly so, being now one of our most expert sportsmen, and has
been during his life, stationed in almost every state of our union.
~ He is also particularly attentive to the habits of the animals,
which in the course of his amusement, he seeks either to obtain
or to avoid. I have been often delighted with his anecdotes on
these subjects, and have more than once made the reflection, of
how much information might be obtained by the naturalist if he
would consult the intelligent and observing sportsman. In fact,
if the naturalist does not, at times, make the dog his companion,
and the woods his home, there are many of the works of nature
which will be to him as a sealed book.
Washington, Oct. 21, 1831.
* Porcella Triloba,—Ep.
224 Meteorological Observations.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Kept at Wilmington, Del., by Henry Gibbons, M. D. with Prefatory Remarks,
MeETEoroLoey, is a branch of science, which, hitherto, in this
country, has not received its proper share of attention. It is
true, that many observations on temperature, and the incidents
of the weather, are daily made and published; but the task of
the observer mostly ends with the mere collection of those facts.
In this, as in other departments of Natural Science, facts are
principally useful as they lead to inferences—to principles. We
should not only gather them with industry and precision, but we
should arrange and compare them, so as to exhibit, as nearly as
possible, their relation to each other, and draw from them every
corollary which is consistent with sound reasoning. For exam-
ple, I find, by examining the register of the weather, so as to
ascertain the relation between electrical phenomena and the
weight of the atmosphere, that a thundergust seldom occurs, un-
less the barometer has sunk below a certain point. I also dis-
cover, that an aurora borealis is mostly followed, within a week,
by easterly winds, and very frequently by a storm from the same
-quarter. I further observe, that this phenomenon was exhibited
thirteen times in the summer and autumn of 1830, but only five
times in the corresponding seasons of the present year. From
this, I infer that the frequent or rarer appearance of the northern
lights, may possibly furnish some index of the severity or mildness
of the subsequent winter.—Were the considerations I have pre-
sented, carefully kept in view, the science of meteorology might
become extremely useful, in its application to the foretelling of |
atmospheric changes.
So far as J have had an opportunity of examining, the greater
part of the tables of temperature, contained in the public jour-
nals of the United States, at least of the middle states, are more
or less deficient or erroneous, owing to an improper situation of
the thermometer, from which the observations are taken, the
improper time of making the: observations, or some other cause.
Very generally, these tables exhibit an annual temperature,
several degrees higher than the correct average. The ther-
mometer is probably suspended where there is not a free circu-
lation of air, or in a place exposed to the reflected rays of the
sun. Hence we often find in the newspapers accounts of tem-
_ Meteorological Observations. 995
perature exceeding 100° of Fahrenheit; whereas, the real temper-
ature of the climate of the northern and middle states, seldom, if
_ ever, reaches 98°. Iixperience has shown that the mean temper-
ature of the day, is very nearly ascertained by taking the mean
“of two observations, the one. made at sun-rise, which is the cool-
- est period, and the other at noon, or rather an hour or two after,
‘which is the warmest period. This plan will be adopted in find-
ing the monthly mean given in the following tables, or monthly
“summaries. The observation taken in the evening, will, there-
-fore, not be used in estimating the general average.
In regard to the winds, I have deviated from the common
practice of classing them merely according to their direction,
choosing rather to arrange them with reference to their general
character. ‘The first class, called Northerly, comprises such winds
-as flow from between the W. N. W., and N. N. E. points of the
horizon, including those two points. They have always the same
-general character, being dry, and. in the winter, cold. The
second class, Hasterly, embraces those which set in from N. E. to :
$.S. Evinclusive, which are damp, and often rainy and attended
with storms. The other class, Southerly, consists of southerly and
westerly winds, always warm, and in the summer dry, but ac-
companied with rain in the winter.
The number of clear days in a month, does not always repre-
sent the proportion of clear weather in the same time; for many
_ of the days not entirely clear, may have been partially so.
Hence I have added the proportion of clear weather in each month,
an which, such days as were partly clear have been regarded.—
The remaining parts of the summary will explain themselves.
In order to commence with the beginning of a season, the
month of June is first given, although the “ Journal of Geology,”
é&c. was not commenced until the next month. The sixth num-
ber of the Jgurnal will contain three summaries, concluding with
‘October, and each succeeding number will contain the summary
for the second month preceding its publication. At the close of
the iain a yearly summary will be furnished.
Meteorological Summary, for June, 1831.
_ Average at sun-rise, Thermom. 64°.20 Barom. 29.89 inches.
“. at mid-day, 9°67 29.84 «
om « at10P.M. 68°.60 29.84
var L—29
226 Meteorological Observations.
Monthly average, Thermom. '71°.93 | Barom. 29.86 inches.
Maximum, 88°. 30.10 «
Minimum, 7 29.67 «6
Range, 41°. 43 «
Warmest day, (2nd) 79°. Coldest day, (24th) 57°.
Proportion of clear weather, 17 days.
a of cloudy «“ 13 «
Whole days clear, 14 «
Days on which rain fell, Tie
Depth of rain, 2 inches.
Northerly winds prevailed, 6 days.
Easterly * f6 LO 8
Southerly, (S. to W.) 14 «
An aurora, on the 10th, followed by changeable weather, and
easterly winds; a dry month; very warm at the commencement,
then cool, warm again in the middle, and again cool in the lat-
ter part; winds light and variable; clouds electrified in the lat-
ter half of the month; no easterly storms.
Meteorological Summary, for July, 1831.
- Average at sun-rise, Thermom. 67°.13 Barom. 29.89 inches. |
- at mid-day, 80°.35 29.85 > \*
fs at 10 P. M. 69°.58 29.84 «
Monthly average, 13°.74 29,870. f6is
Maximum, 87°. +; SORT ie
Minimum, or. 29,53),
Range, 34°, 64
Warmest day, (23d) 80°3. Coldest day, (11th) 61°.
Proportion of clear weather, 20 days.
4 of cloudy <“ ; 1d) oe
_ Whole days clear, 16 «
Days on which rain fell, 1S tht
Depth of rain, _ 12.07 inches.
Northerly winds prevailed, 9 days.
_ Easterly 6 53 6 «
Southerly, (8. to W.) LG 4%
Auroras on the 4th, 5th, and 10th, followed by variable wea-
ther, and that on the 10th by easterly winds. A very brilliant
one was seen in Massachusetts, on the 31st, but was not visible
at Wilmington. A very wet month; rains heavy; nine inches
Obituary. . BOY
fell on the first nine days; three inches fell on the ninth, in less
than an hour, producing almost a deluge, and causing a higher
fresh in the Brandywine than had been for twenty-five years,
except the ice freshet of 1822; much grain injured by the con-
tinued damp weather. The first half of the month mostly cool,
the remainder warm, though not hot weather. Winds generally
light, and very changeable. Electrical clouds and thunder storms
frequent; clouds nearly all electric. No easterly storms.
OBITUARY.
Ws intended before this to have paid a passing tribute to the
departed worth we are now about to commemorate, and to have
given a more extended and biographical notice, in two of the in-
stances; but we have not, even at this moment, received the de-
tails requisite for our purpose. ‘The recent decease of two well
known friends to natural history, has reminded us of a duty, that
we now, imperfectly, but most sincerely, perform.
The late Zaccurevus Coxtins, one of the Vice Presidents of the
American philosophical society, was born in Philadelphia, August
26, 1764. He was a member of the society of Friends, and mar-
ried January 30,1794. Mr. Collins’s devotion to the general ad-
vancement of science, and especially to those important branches,
botany, and mineralogy,—in which he was a conspicuous pro-
ficient,—was a leading cause of the diffusion of that love of natu-
ral science, which distinguishes his native city. He has, for this
reason, always possessed the sincere and respectful attachment
of all those who have cultivated natural history. But as a citi-
zen, his claims to the public affection and confidence, rested upon a
broader basis: for he took an interest in every thing that affect-
_ ed the welfare of our species, and was an active and a generous
philanthropist. As an evidence of the universal estimation in
which he was held, and of the honourable tenor of his life, we
notice the following, from among the various benevolent and
learned societies of which he was a One: and the period
when he became their associate.
Pennsylvania society for promoting the abolition of slavery, October 1792.
Society for the institution and support of First day or Sunday arhopls,
March 1795.
A life contributor to the Pennsylvania Hospital, March 1795.
228 Obituary.
A life contributor to the Philadelphia Dispensary, December 1802.
American Philosophical Society, July 1804.
Humane Society of E Philadelphia, July 1805.
Philadelphia Society for promoting Agriculture, May 1805.
Pennsylvania Academy cf Fine Arts, May 1809.
Academy of Natural Sciences, (Vice President at his death,) March 1815.
Honorary Member of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York, July 1817.
Honorary Member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, June 1829.
Chosen President of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Novem-
ber 1828.
He died in Philadelphia, ie 12th 1831, of paralysis.
SamueL Laruam Mrrcnt, M. D. was, in every sense of
the word, one of the most untiring friends that ever Natural His-
tory possessed in any country. We understand that his friend
Dr. Ackerly, the depositary of his valuable papers, is preparing
a biography of him, at the request of the Lyceum of Natural
History of New York, of which he was the first President. His
writings have been so various, and he has enriched with his
papers so many periodicals, that at present we shall make no par-
ticular reference, except to his well known memoir, on the New
York fishes. We know of no American scientific name that has
been more extensively and advantageously diffused, both abroad
and at home, than the name of Mitchill. We sincerely offer this
slight tribute to his memory ; ; it is due to the worth of one whom
we knew well, and of whom it is impossible to think, without a
lively remembrance of his truly amiable and benevolent charac-
ter. He died on the 7th of September, at the city of New York,
in the 68th year of his age.
Soromon W. Conran, was a learned and much respected mem-
ber of the Society of Friends; he was Professor of Botany in the
University of Pennsylvania, a member of the American Philoso-
phical Society, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phi-
ladelphia. He died on the 8th October, 1831, of phthysis pul-
monalis, in the fifty-second year of his age.
Nicwoxtas Cotuin, D. D., Rector of the Swedish Churches in
Pennsylvania, came to America about the year 1771. This
venerable pastor mformed one of our friends sometime ago, that
before he left his native country, Sweden, he was a pupil of
Scienirfic and General Memoranda. 229
Linneus; and that, on taking leave of him to embark for America,
that illustrious naturalist fell on his neck, and kissing him, bade
him not to forget the great cause of Natural History, in that ex-
tensive field to which he was bound. He also stated, that he
had, at various times, sent to Sweden, nearly all the American
forest trees that promised to stand the climate, and that immense
numbers of them now flourished there. Dr. Collin, in 1793, pub-
lished some opinions on the subject of Yellow Fever, which were
' opposed to those of the late Dr. Rush. He was proud of his at-
tainments as a linguist, and was a man of much worth and learn-
ing. We do not know what his age was at his decease, but it
must have been very advanced, as he had reached manhood be-
fore he left Sweden, and had resided here sixty years. He died
in Philadelphia, October 8th, 1831
SCIENTIFIC AND GENERAL MEMORANDA.
Audubon’s Hxpedition to California, the Rocky Mountains, &c.—
We are authorized to state, that information of the progress of
Mr. Aududon will be given, from time to time, to the scientific
world, in the pages of this Journal.
We are gratified in being able to state, that he was oe
in the most cordial manner, at Washington, and that the distin-
guished gentlemen in authority there, have given him such let-
ters to the military posts on the frontiers, as will assure him the
aid and protection his personal safety may require. We antici-
pate the most interesting reconnoisances, both geological and
zoological, from this enterprising naturalist, who is accompanied )
by Mr. Lehman, as an assistant draftsman, and by an assistant
collector, who came with him from Europe. In a recent letter
from Virginia, he says, “'The weather is pretty cool, and the
land birds all gone south: I intend to push for the Floridas, to
overtake the fellows ere they cross the Gulf.”—Editor.
Volcano in the Mediterranean.—A letter from the Commander -
of H. B. M. sloop of war Rapid dated Malta, July 22, con-
tains the following :—“On the 18th of July, 1831, at 4 P. M.,
the town of Marsala bearing, by compass, E. half N. nine miles,
I observed from on board his Majesty’s sloop Rapid, under my
230 Scientific and General Memoranda.
command, a high irregular column of very white smoke or steam,
bearing S. by E. I steered for it, and continued to do so till 8,
15, P. M., when, having gone about thirty miles by the reckon-
ing, I saw flashes of brilliant light mingled with the smoke,
which was still distinctly visible by the light of the moon.
«In a few minutes the whole column became black and larger;
almost immediately afterwards several successive eruptions of
lurid fire rose up amidst the smoke; they subsided, and the co-
lumn then became gradually white again. As we seemed to near
it fast, I shortened sail and hove to till day-light, that I might
ascertain its exact position. During the night the changes from
white to black with flashes, and the eruption of fire, continued at
irregular intervals, varying from half an hour to an hour. At —
day-light, | again steered towards it, and about 5 A. M., when
the smoke had for a moment cleared away at the base, I saw
a small hillock of a dark colour a few feet above the sea. ‘This
was soon hidden again, and was only visible through the smoke,
at the intervals between the more violent eruptions.
The volcano was in a constant state of activity, and appeared
to be discharging dust and stones with vast volumes of steam.
At 7, 30, the rushing noise of the eruptions was heard. At nine,
being distant from it about two miles, and the water being much
discoloured with dark objects at the surface, in various places, I
hove to and went in a boat to sound round and examine. [rowed —
towards it, keeping on the weather side and sounding, but got no
bottom till within twenty yards of the western side, where I had
eighteen fathoms soft bottom; this was the only sounding obtain-
ed, except from the brig, one mile true north from the centre of
the island, where the depth was one hundred and thirty fathoms
soft dark brown mud.
The crater (for it was now parriee that such was its form,)
seemed to be composed of fine cinders and mud of a dark brown
colour. Within it was to be seen, in the intervals between the
eruptions, a mixture of muddy water, steam, and cinders dashing
up and down, and occasionally running into the sea over the
edge of the crater; which I found, on rowing round, to be broken
down to the level of the sea, on the W. 8. W. side, for the space
of ten or twelve yards. Here I obtained a better view of the
' interior, which appeared to be filled with muddy water, violently.
agitated, from which showers of hot stones or cinders were con-
Scientific and General Memoranda. 231.
stantly shooting up a few yards, and falling into it again; but the
great quantities of steam that penibeanity rose from it, prevented
my seeing the whole crater.
“A considerable stream of ics water flowed outward
through the opening, and mingled with that of the sea, caused
the discoloration that had been observed before. I could not ap-
proach near enough to observe its temperature, but that of the
sea, within ten or twelve yards of it, was only one degree higher
than the average, and to leeward of the island, in the direction
of the current (which ran to the eastward) no difference could |
be perceived, even when the water was* most discoloured; how-
__ ever, as a ‘mirage’ played above, near its source, it was probably
hot there. ‘The dark objects on the surface of the sea proved to
be patches of small floating cinders. The island, or crater, ap-
peared to be seventy or eighty yards in its external diameter,
and the lip, as thin as it could be, consistent with its height,
which might be twenty feet above the sea in the highest, and
six feet in the lowest part, leaving the rest for the diameter of
the area within. These details could only be observed in the
intervals between the great eruptions, some of which I witnessed
from the boat.—No words can describe their sublime grandeur :
their progress was generally as follows:—After the volcano had
emitted for some time its usual quantities of white steam, sudden-
ly the whole aperture was filled with an enormous mass of hot
cinders and dust, rushing upwards to the height of some hundred
feet, with a loud roaring noise, then falling into the sea on all
sides with a still louder noise, arising, in part, perhaps, from the
formation of prodigious quantities of steam, which instantly took
place. This steam was at first of a brown colour, having embo-
died a great deal of dust; as it rose gradually, recovered its pure
white colour, depositing the dust in the shape of a shower of
muddy rain.— While this was being accomplished, renewed erup-
tions of hot cinders and dust were quickly succeeding each other,
while forked lightning, accompanied by rattling thunder, darted
about in all directions, within the column, now darkened with
dust and greatly increased in volume, and distorted by sudden
gusts and whirlwinds. ‘The latter were most frequent on the lee
sides, where they often made imperfect water spouts of curious
shapes. On one occasion, some of the steam reached the boat ;
it smelt a little of sulphur, and the mud it left, became a gritty
282 Scientific and General Memoranda.
sparkling dark brown powder when dry. None of the stones or
_ cinders thrown out, appeared more than half a foot in diameter,
and most of them, much smaller.
“From the time when the volcano was first seen, till fis I
left it, the barometer did not fall or rise; the sympiesometer un-
derwent frequent, but not important changes, and the tempera-
ture of the sea did not bespeak,any unusual influence.
“ After sunset, on the 18th, soundings were tried for every hour, |
to the average depth of eighty fathoms—no bottom. The wind
was N. W., the weather serene.
“On the forenoon of the 19th, with the eontee of the volcano
bearing’ by compass, 8. by W. 3 W. one mile distant, good sights,
for the chronometer gave the long. 12 deg. 41, E.; and at noon,
on the same day, when it bore W. by N. 4 N. by compass, the
meridian altitude of the sun gave the latitude 37 deg. 7 min. 30°
sec. N.; an amplitude of the sun, the same morning, gave the
variation of 14 point westerly. It is worthy of remark, that on
the 28th of June last, at 9, 30, P. M., when passing near the
same spot, in company with the Britannia, several shocks of an
earthquake were felt in both ships. (Signed) 3
“C, H. Swiveurne, Commander.” .
we i
Discovery of Rionium (Vanadium) in Scotland.—In the Journal
of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, for August, 1831, it is
stated, “ Mr. James T. W. Johnston, has discovered Vanadium in
Scotland, in a mineral from Wanlockhead, resembling in ap-
pearance, an arseniate of lead; and it is a remarkable circum-
stance, that this new substance has been discovered by three dif-
ferent persons—Professor Del Rio, Professor Seftstrom, and Mr.
Johnston—in three different countries, Mexico, Sweden, and
Scotland, nearly at the same time, and without any knowledge, on
the part of one, of what the others had done.”
By referring to page sixty-nine of our Journal, in the August
number, it will be seen that Professor Del Rio discovered this
“mineral about twenty-nine years before it attracted the attention
of any Europen mineralogist; and that he consented to withdraw
the name he had given to it, out of deference to the opinions of
Messrs. Humboldt and Descotils. All, however, admit it now to
have been a new mineral; but so long a period has passed over,
since Professor Del Rio made the discovery, that his particular
Scientific und General Memoranda. 233
merit in the matter is quite obscured, and seems in danger of be-
ing forgotten. We were glad to see the following passage in Dr.
Brewster’s Journal for July, 1831, from the pen of Mr. J. T. W.
Johnston. ‘It is time that the northern fashion of naming metals
after the barbarous deities of their forefathers, should be explod-
ed.” We have before expressed the same sentiment, and trust
that the claim of Professor Del Rio, being now made good, it
will be excused on our part—since the signal must be set from
some quarter—that we have, upon this occasion, taken the lead
in giving it thé appropriate name of Rionium.—Ep.
Supposed Tides of the North American Lakes—In Silliman’s
Journal, for July, 1831, is a very satisfactory paper by Major
Henry Whiting, U.S. army, on this subject, with a “ table of ob-
servations on the rise and fall of the lake at Green Bay, made
by Gov. Cass, in 1828.” The extensive circulation of that Jour-
nal, diminishes our regret at not having room for its insertion.
This table, where the day of the month, the time of the day, the
course of the wind, the strength of the wind, and height of the
water, have distinct columns, and which commences July 15,
1828, and ends August 29th, comprehends one hundred and
éighty observations. In this paper, planetary influences are
stated to have no observable appreciable effect, on the alleged
changes of elevation in the waters of these lakes, whether pe-
riodical or irregular; the which are probably connected with the
causes alluded to, towards the end of Gov. Cass’s letter. We refer
our readers, interested in the subject, to this valuable paper.
Petrified Forest—The following remarkable account, in a let-
ter from G. H. Crossman, to Lieut. B. Walker, both of the U. S.
army, is taken from the Ilinois Magazine.
Jefferson Barracks, May 1, 18380.
Dear Sir,—It affords me much pleasure to comply with your
request, with regard to the “ Petrified Forest.”
You ask for a “memoir” on the subject, but you must be satis-
fied with the following attempt to give you merely the “ facts”
as they came within my own observation, without venturing a
single speculation beyond the effects produced. I wish rather
to leave the subject in abler hands than mine; and if I can aid,
in any way, to solve the problem, by a statement of simple facts,
Vou. 1—30
234 Scientific and General Memoranda.
(well known, however, to most of the officers attached to the
Yellow Stone expedition,) I shall feel more than compensated for
any time I shall devote to the subject.
The enclosed specimen was broken off from one of the many
large stumps and limbs of trees, found near Yellow Stone River,
and brought away by some one of the officers attached to the
Yellow Stone expedition in 1815.
The most remarkable facts, perhaps, with regard to these pe-
trifactions, of what was once a forest of thick timber, are their
location and abundance. For a distance of twenty or thirty
miles, over an open high prairie, upon the west bank of the Mis-
souri river, and a few miles below its junction with the Yellow
Stone, near latitude 48°, these remains are more abundant.
The topography of this section of the country is hilly, and
much broken into deep ravines and hollows. On the sides and
summits of the hills, at an elevation of several hundred feet (esti-
mated three hundred) above the present level of the river, and
an estimated height (for we have no instruments) of some thou-
sand feet above the ocean, the earth’s face is literally covered
with stumps, roots, and limbs of petrified trees; presenting the
appearance of a “ Petrified Forest,” broken and thrown down
by some powerful convulsion of nature, and scattered in all di-
rections in innumerable fragments.
Some of the trees appear to have broken off, in falling, close to
their root; while others stand at an elevation of some feet above
the surface. Many of the stumps are of a large size; 1 measur-
ed one of them, in company with Surgeon Gale of the United
States army, and found it to be upwards of fifteen feet in cir-
cumference.
The following is a description of the Mexican Pyramids, allud-
ed to at page 177 of our last number.—Ep.
Pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico.—At a recent meeting of
the London Geographical Society, a communication was read
from lieut. Glennie, descriptive of these interesting memorials.
The village of Teotihuacan is in lat. 19 deg. 43 min., N. and in
long. 98 deg. 51 min. W.: the variation of the needle being 9 deg.
49 min. E. The village is elevated 7,492 feet above the level
of the sea. The pyramids are distant about a mile and a half
from it: the largest is '727 feet square at its base, and 221 feet
Scientific and General Memoranda. 235
high, with two of its sides parallel to the meridian. A rampart
of about thirty feet in height surrounds this pyramid, at the dis-
tance of 350 feet from its base, on the north side of which are
the remains of a flight of steps, with a road leading from them in
a northerly direction, covered with a white cement. The re-
mains of steps were also found on the pyramids, which were
covered with the same sort of white cement, as well as broad
terraces extending across the sides.
The number of pyramids surrounding the large one, was esti-
mated by Mr. Glennie at above two hundred, varying in their
dimensions. ‘They are all constructed with volcanic stones, and
plaster from the adjacent soil, all coated with white cement,
and the ground between their bases seems formerly to have been
occupied as streets, being also covered with the same sort of ce-
ment. One of the smaller pyramids was covered with a kind of
broken pottery, ornamented with curious figures and devices;
and in the neighbourhood of these edifices abundance of small
figures were found, such as heads, arms, legs, &&c. moulded in
clay, and hardened by fire.
“ Remarkable conduct of a Horse-—Mr. Israel Abrahams, in the
vicinity of this town, has a horse that will of his owa accord,
' pump a sufficiency of water for all the other horses on the farm.
We have witnessed him, when turned loose into the barn-yard,
go directly to the pump, take the handle between his teeth, and
throw the water with as much force, and almost as much regu-
larity, as a man would, until he would pump enough for his com-
panions and himself, when he would drink, and deliberately re-
tire. No pains were ever taken, or means used, to learn hima
business which proves a great accommodation to himself, and re-
lieves his owner of considerable labor.”—Centreville (Ind.) Times.
Destruction of Weeds in Garden Watks, &c.—Take 100|bs. of
water, 20|bs. of quick lime, and 2lbs. of flour of sulphur ; boil them
in an iron vessel, and after it is settled, draw the clear part off. |
When diluted as may be required, and paved and other walks well
sprinkled with the preparation, no weeds, it is stated, will appear
for many years.—Recueil Ind.
Protection of Firemen.—The Marchese Origo, of Rome, has de-
236 Scientific and General Memoranda.
vised a cheap and effective mode of protecting firemen. Their
articles of dress are dipped in a solution of alumine and sulphate
of lime ; and when dry, are saturated with soap water. F're-
men thus equipped have remained a quarter of an hour, exposed
to an intense heat, without being in the least injured. ‘These
dresses do not cost more than ten dollars each. Flames may be
extinguished also, by playing on them with a common engine,
with a solution of sulphate of alumine, and common clay.
New Method of Multiplying Dahlias——Some dahlias belonging
to M. Jacquemin, having been injured by the wind, in the first
days of June, and some branches broken off, he placed them in
the ground, in hopes of developing the flower. ‘This did not take
place; the vegetation languished, but the plants appeared good,
and being carefully taken up, were found furnished with tuber-
cles. Hence a new means of multiplying these flowers, and the
illustration of a curious physiological fact.—Jour. Roy. Inst.
Smell of Paint Removed.—The offensive smell of oil cloths, var-
nishes, and paints, are said to be removed by chloric ee
in a Close room.
Remedy against Flies—The odour of the oil of laurel is not
disagreeable, and the stalls of butchers rubbed with it, are said
not to be frequented with flies. The frames of glasses and pic-
tures might be preserved in this way.
Want of Forethought in the Lower Animals.—The Barbary ape,
(Macacus Sylvanus, Lac®.) which, though a native of Africa, has
established a colony on the Rock of Gibraltar. Here it is occa-
sionally so cold in winter, that these poor apes are fain to huddle
about any chance fire that may be lighted out of doors and left
burning ; but though they are seen sitting close to the dying em-
bers, they have never been known to a hee chip of fuel to
continue the fire.—Scoti. Intell. Phala. iv.
Snakes in the Water—Extract of a letter from a correspon-
dent :—“ I will relate to you a curious fact, about the water- —
snake, told to me by General G. He said, that fishing one day
m a small stream for trout, he observed a water-snake lying on
Scientific and General Memoranda. 237
a bush over the stream, under which some chubs were swimming.
He watched the snake, and saw it fall or plunge into the water
from the bush, and seize a chub.”
We have a still more curious story on this subject. A friend,
who resides where he has constant opportunities of making ob-
servations, states that he one day observed a snake in the midst ofa
schoole of these small fish; and that assoon as he had seized one,
he directed his course to the land, and having, by a jerk, thrown
the fish there, he returned and repeated the operation several
times.— Eb.
Maternal Tenderness in a Sparrow.—A sparrow, which had
built her nest on the thatch-roof of a house, was observed to con-
tinue her regular visits long after the time when the young birds
had taken their flight. ‘This unusual circumstance continued
throughout the year ;.and in the winter, a gentleman who had
all along observed her, determined on investigating its cause. He
therefore mounted a ladder, and found one of the young ones de-
tained a prisoner, by means of a string of worsted, which formed
part of the nest, having become accidentally twisted round its
leg. Being thus incapacitated from procuring its own subsistence,
it had been fed and sustained by the continued exertions of ‘its
mother.—Raleigh Register.
Mexican domestic Bees. (Melipona Beechet.)—Some curious anec-
dotes are related by the possessors as to the manners of these
bees, one of which deserves to be recorded. ‘They assert, that
at the entrance of each hive a sentinel is placed to watch the
outgoings and incomings of his fellows, and that this sentinel is re-
lieved at the expiration of twenty-four hours, when another
assumes his post and duties, for the same period. At all timesa
single bee was seen occupying the hole leading to the nest, who,
on the approach of another, withdrew himself within a small
cavity apparently made for this purpose, on the left hand side of
the aperture, and thus allowed the passage of the individual en-
tering or quittmg the hive, the sentinel constantly resuming his
station immediately after the passage had been effected. Many
attempts were made to mark him, by introducing a pencil tipped
with paint; but he constantly eluded the aim taken. With the
paint thus attempted to be applied to the bee, the margin of the
a
. 4
bik:
ee
see
238 Scientific and General Memoranda.
opening was soiled, and the sentinel, as soon as he was free from
the annoyance he suffered from the thrusts repeatedly made at
his body, approached the foreign substance to taste it, and evi- —
dently disliking the material, he withdrew into the hive. A troop
of bees was soon observed to advance, towards the place, each
individual bearing a small particle of wax, or of propolis, in his
mandibles, which he deposited in his turn upon the soiled part of
the wood. The little labourers then returned to the hive, and
repeated the operation until a small pile rose above the blemish-
ed part, and consequently relieved the inhabitants from the an-
noyance.— eechey’s Voyage.
On preventing the Discharge of a Bullet from a Gun by the finger.—
At the sitting of the Helvetic Society of Natural Sciences of
the 20th July 1830. A letter was read from Dr. Flachin of Yver-
dun, relative to an experiment before mentioned to the society,
in which the ball was prevented from leaving the bottom of a
musket when the gunpowder was fired, simply by putting the
ramrod upon the ball, and the end of the finger upon the ramrod.
He supposes the effect may be explained by the circumstance,
that near the charge, the ball has a very small velocity compared
to that impressed upon it by the expansive force of the gases of
the fired gunpowder, when exerted during the whole of the time
in which it is passing along the barrel. It.is well known that the
effect thus accumulated is the reason why long pieces carry fur-
ther than short ones, and why the breath of a man, which can-
not exert a pressure of more than a quarter of an atmosphere,
may, by means of a tube, throw a ball to the distance of sixty
steps. The experiment requires great care, especially as to the
strength of the piece, which is liable to burst in the performance
of the experiment.—Journal of Royal Institution.
Penetrativeness of Fluids.—Dr. J. K. Mitchell’s paper on this
subject, is republished in the number for August 1831, of “the -
Journal of the Royal Institution of Great Britain,” with the fol-
lowing observation: “The generality and importance of this
paper is such, that we think it quite impossible to convey an idea
of it by an abstract, and feel ourselves bound to bring it before
our English readers at full length.”
Mr. R. C. Taylor’s Fossils. 239
Modes of obtaining the Skeletons of small Animals.—Ants, if ani-
mals are put into their hill, will leave their skeletons in a fine state
of preparation. 'T'o obtain the skeletons of small fishes, tadpoles
are very serviceable. Take a jar of pondwater, with a few of
these future frogs, both large and small, and suspend the fish in
the water by the head and tail, with threads, fastened at a point
above. The smaller Tadpoles will effectually clean the bones,
in places inaccessible to the larger ones.
MR. R. C. TAYLOR’S FOSSILS.
WE recommend in the strongest manner to tlie public, the valuable cabi-
net now offered for sale. Dr. Harlan, of Philadelphia, is authorised to dis-
pose of it for the proprietor.—Ep.
A concise abstract of the contents of a Cabinet of British Organic Re-
mains, more particularly of Tertiary Fossil Shells; designed to illustrate the
principal English Geological Formations, and selected from their respective
localities, during a period of twenty-five years, by Richard C. Taylor, Fellow
of the Geological Society of London, and Associate Fellow of the Society of
Civil Engineers of London.
The greater portion of these specimens are fixed, upon the improved plan,
on blocks, covered with tinted paper. Labels, attached to the foot of each
block, exhibit the:generic and specific name of each shell, arranged according
to Sowerby’s Mineral Conchology, and referring to the tables or figures in
that work: further, these labels describe the locality, the formation, and in
many instances, the separate portions or known subdivisions of each forma-
tion characterised by peculiar fossils.
In Geological arrangement, the collection commences with English Dilu-
vium, so called, and proceeds downwards, by sections, from the most recent
deposit to the oldest, which contains organic remains. It is by no means
meant to convey that the suit is entire. Far otherwise. Nor is there yet
formed a complete series, although several have reached more than ten times
the magnitude of the one in question.
Strictly speaking, it illustrates the principal English formations, examined
by, and best known to the collector: yet is sufficiently ample to form a valu-
able standard for comparing, and, perhaps, identifying contemporaneous de-
posits, in points so remote from each other as England and America; and is
probably the most authentic and complete series that has yet been introduced
into the United States.
In conchological classification the Univalves, the Bivalves, and Compound
Shells are separated in distinct drawers, and reference to any individual or
species is further facilitated under this arrangement, by an alphabetical no-
menclature. :
On the whole, it may be asserted, that the extreme beauty and accuracy
displayed in this arrangement, constitute the principal value of the Cabinet.
This collection has benefited by the repeated examinations of English Pro-
fessors and naturalists of celebrity, who kindly afforded their aid in case of
uncertainty. It comprises also a small illustrative series of recent shells and
zoophites, collected for comparison, together with a few of the most remark-
able French and Italian Tertiary Fossils. These foreign and recent shells
were named under the kind inspection of Mr. J. D. C.“Sowerby.
The entire collection comprises about five thousand specimens, of which
240
Mr. R. C. Taylor’s Fossils. :
about four thousand five hundred are fossils. ‘Some of the more fragile ter-
tiary shells were injured during the voyage, but the greater part of these are
replaced by duplicates brought over for that purpose. As a piece of orna-
mental furniture, this cabinet is calculated to form a splendid addition even
to the drawing-room of the man of taste.
It is constructed of beautiful carv-
ed wood, French polished, in three principal divisions; contains eighty-three
drawers; each having external indices, and blocks and trays made to fit ac-
curately within; besides possessing the unusual advantage of glass covers to
most of the drawers.
The proprietor was strongly urged by his scientific friends, both American
and English, to introduce this collection into the United States. It is chiefly
in consideration of the great risk attending its removal to. his present resi-
dence, west of the Alleghenies, that, after a year’s deliberation, he has de-
termined to offer it for sale in Philadelphia, whose scientific citizens stand
pre-eminent in their attachment to Geological investigation:
Y;
&
Drawe
1 Diluvium. Shells and Zoophites,
2 Diluvium. Shells in sandstone,
3 Diluvium. Eschinites and Ammonites,
4 Italian Diluvium. Pectens,
5 French Diluvium. Univaives,
6 French Diluvium. Bivalves,
7 Upper fresh-water, Isle of Wight, mixed
L Shells, }
8 Upper Marine formation, Isle of Wight,
mixed,
9 Lower fresh water, I. of Wight, mixed,
10 Lower fresh-water, Hordwell Clift, Uni-
valves,
11 Lower fresh-water, Hordwell Cliff, Bi-
valves,
12 Crag of Suffolk, Zoophites,
13 Crag of Suffolk, Sponges,
14 Crag of Suffolk, Sponges,
15 Crag of Suffolk, Animal Remains and
Echinites, ‘
16 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Univalves,
17 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Univalves,
18 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Univalves,
19 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Univalves,
20 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Univalves,
21 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Bivalves,
22 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Bivalves,
23 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Bivalves,
24 Crag of Suffolk, Shells, Bivalves,
25 Sheppy Clay, Vegetables and Fruits,
26 Sheppy Clay, Testacea in casts,
27 Sheppy Clay, Crustacea and Fishes,
28 London Clay, Testacea, Univalves,
29 London Clay, Testacea, Univalves,
30 London Clay, Testacea, Univalves,
31 London Clay, Testacea, Univalves,
32 London Clay, Testacea, Bivalves,
,33 London Clay, Testacea, Bivalves,
34 London Clay, Testacea, Bivalves,
35 Plastic Clay, I. of Wight, &c. Testacea,
36 Plastic Clay, Woolwich beds, Testacea,
37 Plastic Clay,
38 Upper Chalk, Trimingham in Norfolk,
mixed,
39 Upper Chalk, Norwich, mixed,
40 Lower Chalk, W. Norfolk, mixed,
41 Fire-stone and Upper Green-sand, Wilt-
shire, oi Ay
42 Upper Green-sand of Wiltshire,
43 Upper Green-sand, Blackdown and Hil-
down, Casts,
Aiphabe-
tical Ord.
150
A to€ 125
CtoM 70
MtoN 80
OtoT 90
TtoV 20
AtoM 150
MtoO 90
PtoS 85
StoV 130
195
Brought over
44 Upper Green-sand, Blackdown
and Hildown,
45 Gault of Falkestone,
46 Upper Ferruginous Sands cf
Kent, &c.
47
48 Weald Clay, Isle of Wight, and
Weald of Kent,
49 Lower Ferruginous Sands, Hast-
ings,
50 Lower Ferruginous Sands, Isle
of Wight, é&c.
51 Farringdon Sands. Sponges,
55 Pisolite of Malton,
56 Calcareous Grit of Yorkshire,
57
58 Oxford Clay, Bedfordshire,
59 Cornbrash, Midland Counties,
60
61
62
63 Recent Corallines & Zoophites,
64 Shells resembling recent Ma-
rine, 350 feet above the
sea, in Lancashire,
65 Great Oolite, Midland Co’s.,
66 Great Oolite, Coteswald Hills,
67 Inferior Oolites, Cotesw. Hills,
68 Recent shells, named by Mr-
Sowerby,
69 Recent Shells, Marine,
70 Recent Shells, Land and Fresh-
water,
71 Magnesian Limestone (and
American,)
72 Lias, Gloucestershire, &c.
73 Alden Shale, Whitby,
74 Coal measures, Various,
75 Coal measures, South Wales,
76 Mountain Limestone, Derby-
shire and Wales,
77 Mountain Limestone, High
Peake and Ebton,
78 Mountain and Coal Measures,
79 Mountain, Dudley, &c.
80 Transition Limestone,
81 Sundry specimens,
.
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THE
MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vo. I. PuitapELpuia, Decemper, 1831. No. 6.
AN EPITOME OF THE PROGRESS OF NATURAL SCIENCE.
(Concluded from page 158.)
_ Avruoveu the nature of the universe began at an early period
to attract the attention of philosophic minds, and individuals from
time 1o time appeared, to advance the knowledge of the laws
which govern the motions of the earth, as well as of its geometrical
relations; yet it was reserved for the nineteenth century to pro-
duce a school of learned, acute, and disinterested men, incessantly
directing the energy of their minds to the study of the structure
and the ancient history of this globe. The universities of Oxford
and Cambridge, which, during the past ages, had nurtured so
many of those great minds which have enlarged the boundaries of
physical science, have been the first to cherish geology. At the
first of these Roger Bacon, in the thirteenth century, might, per-
haps, but for the influence* of the scholastic bigotry of the day,
have left a renown behind him, only second to that of the immortal
+The following anecdote was related to us at Oxford, in 1827, by a venerable clergy-
man, who had been connected with the university about sixty years:
“When Blackstone prepared to deliver his law lectures, he too was considered an
innovator, and was made to feel, in various ways, the influence of the established
opinions. In an introductory lecture of his, which unfortunately has not been published,
he turned the tables very successfully upon his opponents, by the following sally :—‘ In
those scholastic days, when the inquisitive and original mind of Roger Bacon was di-
rected to the investigation of the laws of nature, the theological animus conspired
against him, and he was accused of holding communion with evil spirits. Upon a
particular occasion, when he intended to exhibit some curious experiments to a few
select friends, the secret having got out, the whole town and all the colleges of this
university, were in an uproar. Priests, and fellows, and students, were seen flying
about in every direction, with their gowns streaming behind them, and screaming out,
‘No conjurer, no conjurer!’) The cry of no conjurer resounded from hall to hall,
Vou. [.—31 241
é
242 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
Newton. The important contributions which Professors Buck-
land and Sedgewick have made to this, the most attractive sci-
ence of modern times, can never be forgotten by those who com-
memorate its early history, and the great and beneficial impulse
which it has received from that school, of which they are among
the chief ornaments. But that we may the more intelligently
bring that early history before our readers, we shall, in con-
formity with the plan hitherto pursued, rapidly notice the suc-
cessive steps, by which the study of physical science has been
promoted from the earliest times; by which means the true cau-
ses of the retardment and advance of a branch of knowledge,
will more conspicuously and profitably appear; which, as has
been remarked by Mr. Lyell, stands in that relation to the phy-
sical sciences, which general history does to the moral.
In the early pages of this Epitome, we have adverted to the
ancient cosmogonies, and to the rise of philosophy in Greece.
Pythagoras, who flourished near five hundred years B. C., appears
to have had very just ideas of the true theory of the solar system ;
he even proved that the earth was not an extended plane, but
that it had a curvature. The elementary principles of geome-
try, from the necessity of the case, became known to men in
the infancy of society, and Pythagoras is the most celebrated of
the ancient geometricians; but the geometrical analysis, or the
art of finding unknown quantities, by their relation to quantities
that are known, became familiar to the Greeks at a later day.
Although mathematics did not begin to flourish in Greece until
philosophy and the arts had reached their height, yet geometry
was well known there, before the period of those great mathe-
maticians Euclid and Archimedes, who flourished about the
third century B.C. Amongst the great astronomers of that time
was Aristarchus, who taught the true solar theory ; and Hippar-
~ chus, who flourished about one hundred and forty-two years B.C.,
was so familiar with the heavens, that he undertook the enumera-
tion of the stars. ‘The ancients were familiar with the mechanical
powers, sufficiently to have used them ona great scale, yet until
from cell tocell. At a later day Galileo was condemned by men, whose names are
now only remembered as parts of the rubbish upon which the pedestal of his fame is
raised. And in our own times there are men who seek to raise the cry of ‘No con-
jurer’ against me. I tell you, you will soon find out, these good people are no con-
jurers themselves.” |
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 243
the period of Archimedes, the principles and Jaws of mechanics
were not laid down. His treatise on Equilibria contains an ex-
position of these principles. He demonstrates that masses have
a common point of pressure, the centre of gravity; and shows
how that centre may be found in all bodies. It was he that laid
the foundation of all the inventions, which have constituted the
triumph of mechanics: the machines by which he caused so pro-
tracteda defence of Syracuse against the Romans, seem, evenin our
day, to belong to the romance of mechanical history. When we
reflect upon the causes which retard or advance knowledge, we
cannot but trace the one either to an abasementof the public mind,
or the other to the influence of general education, which pre-
pares the public mind to receive and cherish its seeds. Had Ar-
chimedes lived in an intelligent age, the principles of his great
discoveries, which concerned both solid and fluid bodies, would
have received a more extensive application long ere our own
times, and in many things we should have been anticipated by
our ancestors; but although a few continued to walk in the light
of his great mind, the science of statics became, as it were, sta-
tionary after his death. The same observation may be made also,
in relation to the genius of Pythagoras, especially in that branch
of pneumatics which relates to the theory of sound, and to which
he was the first to apply the rules of arithmetical and geometri-
cal science. ‘The doctrine of musical chords, and their analysis
into vibrations of equa! and unequal spaces of time; his transfer
of this harmonic scale to the motions of the heavenly bodies,
which, by a grandeur of thought belonging only to a genius of
the highest order, he supposed to produce sounds of the most in-
conceivable harmony, by impinging on the ether through which
they moved, evince how much knowledge and enjoyment man-
kind has been deprived of, by the protracted inquiries into these
the true principles of the theory of musical science.
There are two natural agents, which, from time immemorial,
have interfered with the industry and the social existence of
man. Of the deluges which have at repeated intervals partially
overwhelmed the surface of the earth, we have abundant evi-
dence in practical geology, as well as in the traditions of all na-
tions; and although similar traditions of the destructive effects
of volcanic power, have been less powerfully impressed upon suc-
ceeding generations, on account of its less extensive operation,
244 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
still we have in geology the most conclusive evidence of the crust
of the earth having been penetrated, in every country, by the
most surprising masses of mineral matter in the state of igneous
fusion. Devastations of this character are less fatal to life
than aqueous deluges, which afford less time for escape, and are
not’ so easily forgotten as those which do not sweep away whole
generations. It is not wonderful that we know s0 little of the
effects produced by volcanoes in ancient times, or of the periods
when they prevailed, since even the eruptions of Skapta Jokul,
in Iceland, in 1783, are only known to the curious. Yet we are
told, that those Icelandic lavas, spread into broad lakes of fire,
sometimes from twelve to fifteen miles wide, and one hundred
feet deep.
That this planet has at all times been subject to scourgings
both from water and fire, is most true. The ancients believed
in alternate catastrophes of this kind. The Egyptians, especially,
considered them to be punitive and purifying visitations from
the gods ; an opinion adopted by the Stoics. The cataclysm, or
deluge, swept away all organized bodies; and the ecpyrosis, or
conflagration, consumed the globe itself. This doctrine has even
been continued by the founders of our holy religion, who have -
taught that the Noachic deluge was inflicted upon the world, on
account of the sins of man, and that the next punitive visitation
is to be from fire. ‘These opinions acquired greater force among
the ancients by the observations they could not avoid making of
fossil marine remains, buried at great elevations and distances
from the ocean. Various conjectures were offered to account
for this class of phenomena. The celebrated geographer, Strabo,
whose extensive travels had brought the geological phenomena
of many countries under his notice, and especially those attendant
upon earthquakes, was the first to assert the reasonable opinion,
which obtains in our day, that islands, as well as continents and
seas, are sometimes elevated from below, and sometimes de-
pressed. This is one of the many instances of a great mind hay-
ing put mankind upon the right track in vain. Strabo died in the
year 25 of our era, and eighteen hundred years had elapsed be-
fore this announcement of subterranean dynamics was generally
recognized by geologists. In vain too, had the true solar theory
been taught by Aristarchus, in the third century before Christ ;
near eighteen centuries elapsed before it was revived by Coperni-
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 245
cus. During the greater part of this period, and at a time when
classical literature was falling into decay, the Ptolemaic system
arose, which was universally received. Ptolemy flourished about
one hundred and forty years after Christ, and made his system
accord with external appearances, supposing the earth to be the
immoveable centre, and the sun and planets to revolve round it.
This deceptive theory, which coincided with the figurative lan-
guage used in the old Testament, was received as of divine au-
thority ; until Galileo, in the seventeenth century, finally over-
threw it, in despite of the persecutions of the inquisition and the
power of the church.
- Until the period when the Saracens began to cultivate letters,
scarce any further progress was made in natural science, if we
except the labours of Galen as an anatomist, who died A. D. 193.
They were much addicted to the study of the virtues of plants,
and their physicians Al Rasi, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Rosch, have been
held in honour by the Europeans under the names of Razes,
Avicenna, and Averroes; but they added nothing to the know-
ledge of anatomy ; for the prejudices which the Koran had created
against dissection were powerful, as it denounced as unclean all
who touched the corpse of any dead animal. The Saracens
were, however, well acquainted with the writings of Galen, and
there is sufficient evidence that it is through their channel the
Europeans first returned to the study of anatomy ; for many of the
technical terms used upon its revival in Europe, are derived from
the Arabic tongue; such as JVucha, the nape of the neck; Meri,
the diaphragm ; Sumach, the umbilical region ; Myrach, the abdo-
men; Siphaz, the peritoneum; and Zirbus, the omentum. ‘These
terms were retained by Mondino de Luzzi, his pupil Achillini, and
the other European anatomists, until the revival of learning led to
thestudy of the ancient Greek writers. ‘Their passion for astronomy
was favourable to the cultivation of arithmetic and algebra, their
knowledge of which, they derived, according to Playfair, from
India. ‘The monk Gerbert, afterwards pope Sylvester 2d, had
studied with the Saracens in Spain, and introduced the knowledge
of algebra into christian Europe, towards the latter end of the
tenth century. In mechanical science they were great pro-
ficients. As early as A. D. 799, Haroun Alraschid sent a mag-
nificent Clepsydra, or water-clock, to the Emperor Charlemagne,
of a remarkable construction. Chemistry, as an analytical branch
246 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
of experimental philosophy, owes its origin to the Arabians:
the transmutation of base metals into gold, and the composition of
a medicine that could confer immortality, were favourite pursuits
of this ingenious and romantic people.
When the rays of Arabian science were reflected upon Eu-
rope, ingenious and learned men began to arise there. Among
the most eminent is Roger Bacon, an Englishman, born A. D.
1214. He was a man of universal knowledge, and being a great
alchemist, he was charged by the bigotry of his cotemporaries
with being a necromancer. Hada mind like friar Bacon’s been
left untrammelled, and experimental philosophy been encouraged
instead of repressed, the greatest progress might have been made
m physical science ; but the general ignorance was too great, and
the influence of the scholastic school too powerful. We cannot
help contrasting here the attainments of Bacon as we have spo-
ken of them, with those of the celebrated Thomas Aquinas, born
A. I). 1224, the glory of the scholastics and theologians, known
by the name of “the angelical doctor.” In metaphysical and
speculative discussions he was without a rival; but as to phy-
sical experiments, he denounced them, upon all occasions, as the
result of necromancy. An amusing anecdote is related of this
holy man, who after his death was beatified. Being induced
to go and see a curious automaton figure, which uttered sounds,
as if in reply to questions put to it; this far famed and holy
champion of the church, fell into a prodigious fright, and rage,
and lifting up his staff broke it in pieces, rejoicing that he had
overcome the devil. |
The Italians were among the first to- cultivate those sciences
which the Saracens had given to Europe. Bologna became a
great medical school. In 1315, Mondino de Luzzi conducted dis-
sections there, and became a celebrated anatomist. He followed
Galen implicitly, and used the Arabic terms. Luzzi only used
human subjects, a mode of illustration against which strong, pre-
judices were entertained. His book was the text book of the
anatomical schools for a century.
The influence of the scholastic school began now to decline.
Remarkable chiefly for speculative absurdities, discussed in an
unintelligible language, and for a corrupted theology defended
by the misunderstood logic and metaphysics of the ancients; the
practice of demonstrating truth by facts; which was now be-
Epitome of the Progress of Ne atural Science. 247
coming more general, was in the end fatal to it. The school-
men sought, not for truth, but for victory, by an ingenious and
verbose sophistry, the great accomplishment of the day, and
which was called dialectic skill. It was by such means christian-
ity became corrupted, and an acrimonious spirit generated,
which has been felt to our day. But the time was approaching
when the ecclesiastical domination was to be put on the defensive;
great minds were arising. Occam and Richard of Swinehead, at
Oxford, and above all, Wickliffe, who, by his translation of the
scriptures, gave a death blow to the scholastic system.
The fifteenth century abounds in great men and great events.
The learned Greeks, whom the fortune of war had driven from
their own country, had contributed greatly to break down the
bigotry of the times, by giving Latin versions of ancient Greek
works. ‘The love of literature was revived, and correct criti-
cism was substituted for false logic. Men began to think, and
to study the ancient tongues, and thus the first step was taken
towards a reformation in religion, by enabling men to read the
scriptures in the original languages. Erasmus, Luther, and Me-
lancthon arose, lights that could not be obscured. Erasmus did
much, by the keenness of his satire, to subvert the sophistry of
the schoolmen ; his wit was excellent, his erudition great, and
his industry untiring; though he continued a papist, no one con-
tributed more by his conversation and writings to reclaim man-
kind from the delusions and ignorance of the monks, among whom
he had passed a great part of his youth. About 1440 the
art of printing was first made known to Europe; this art, as we
see by the printed books of that period, was almost perfected as
soon as discovered. ‘T’his was also the age of Cosmo de Medici,
of the celebrated Regio Montanus, and of Copernicus. This last
philosopher, who was born A. D. 1472, began to doubt the Pto-
lemaic System about 1507. His work “ Astronomia Instaurata,”
in which the true solar system is given, was not published, from
excess of caution, until 1543. It was dedicated to the pope, and
he died, perhaps fortunately, the day the first printed copy was
delivered to him. This theory, however, the Cardinal Nicholas
de Cusa had in vain attempted to revive about 1445, A. D.
The prejudices against using human subjects still continued in
Italy, and Berenger of Carpi, a professor of surgery of the uni-
versity of Bologna, delivered, in 1502, a private course of lec-
248 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
tures over the body of a pig. He afterwards devoted himself
to anatomy, and became very celebrated. In France the same
prejudices existed, and Gonthier, in whose school Vesalius, Eus-
tachius, Fallopius,—and probably Michael Servetus of famous
memory, the original discoverer of the circulation of the blood,
and the victim of the brutal bigotry of the Calvinists—studied,
taught the elements of the science, principally by dissection
of the lower animals. But the successful individuals in animal
anatomy, were Rondelet of Montpelier, and Bélon of Mans. The
first had studied with Gonthier. He published at Lyons, in 1554,
a natural history of fishes in eighteen books, in which both the
zoological and zootomical characters of these animals are given. °
In this book, written in the infancy of zoology, he includes all
the inhabitants of the waters, whether fish, cetacea and amphi-
bious mammalia, chelonia, (turtles,) mollusca or crustacea ; whilst
at the same time he draws a line between those which breathe
by gills, and those which breathe by lungs. This work is dis-
tinguished for the detail, as well as the ability with which he pur-
sues his physiological inquiriesx—This great animal anatomist
died in 1566. nbs
His cotemporary Belon of Mans, also wrote a natural history,
“des Estranges Poissons Marins,” distinguished for the minuteness
of his anatomical and physiological observations. But his work
“ L’Histoire de la Nature des Oyseaux,” published at Paris in
1555, illustrated with spirited wood cuts, is exceedingly curious,
and replete with observations of a truly original character, for
ornithological anatomy became for the first time a science in his
hands. He was a great enthusiast, and had travelled in Greece,
Arabia, India, and Egypt, devoting himself to natural history.
In his quaint manner, he says,* ‘No animal ever fell into my
hands, that I did not dissect it, as soon as it was in my power.
Whence it came that I have examined the internal parts of two
hundred different species of birds. It is not strange, therefore,
if I am able to describe the bones of birds, and to figure them so
accurately.”
* “ One ne tumba animal entre nos mains, veu qu’il fut en notre puissance, duquel
n’ayons fait anatomie. Dequoy est advenu qu’ayons regardé les intericures parties de
deux cents diverses especes d’oyseaux. L’on ne doit done trouver estrange si nous des
crivons maintenant les os'des oyseaux, et les portrayons si exactment.”—L’ Histoire de
la Nature des Oyseaux. A Paris 1555. Liv. 1. chap. xii.
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 249
The sixteenth century was, above all, distinguished by the re-
formation of religion. Luther had declared that neither religion
or philosophy could be reformed, until the scholastic system, and
the metaphysical theology of the schools, were utterly abolished ;
and he lived to witness the greatest triumph of which man ever
was the hero. He died A. D. 1546, fifteen years before the birth
of the celebrated Lord Bacon, as great a reformer in intellectual
philosophy, as Luther had been in religion. This great philoso-
pher taught that the qualities of bodies became known only by
experiment, and that the way to arrive at truth, is to proceed
step by step from what we know, till we arrive at results go-
verned by principles of universal application; thus seeking the
unknown by aid of the known. Strong as he was in experimental
philosophy, and prophetic as his enlightened views were respect-
ing future examinations of the powers of nature, yet it is as a
profound logician Lord Bacon stands unrivalled. No man ever
saw more distinctly how truth was to be found, nor pursued it
more steadily. His great mind disdained to occupy itself with
the relations of words with themselves, but applied its powers to —
the philosophical relation between words and things. About the
same time, also, Galileo was born. His “ Dialogues of the System
of the World,” made public about A. D. 1613, were received by
men of science—and this was the age of Bacon, Kepler, Napier,
&c.—with enthusiasm. ‘They produced the final overthrow of
the false system then taught, although he was twice thrown into
the dungeons of the inquisition, and his book publicly burnt. Pro-
fessor Scarpellini informed Mr. Lyell, at Rome, that the edicts
against Galileo and the Copernican system, were finally PaaS
in 1818, at the instance of Pius 7th.
During this progress in the higher branches of physical sci-
ence, the fossil organic remains found in almost every quarter,
were too curious a phenomenon to escape the attention of inquir-
ing minds. Some excavation made at Verona, in Italy, in 1517,
for the purpose of repairing the.city, had drawn the public atten-
tion to certain petrifactions which abound there. The easiest
way, and indeed the safest, to account for their being found bu-
ried beneath the surface, was by referring them to the action of
the Noachian deluge, and was, of course, adopted by the major-
ity. Some, however, referred them to a “ plastic force,” which
could give organic forms to stones. Fracastoro boldly declared
Vou. [.—32
250 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
his opinion, that the fossil shells had not only belonged to living
animals, but that the Noachic deluge had no agency in bringing
them there. Fallopio, a professor of anatomy at Padua, even
taught that some Elephants’ tusks, dug up at Puglia, were earthy ~
concretions. Mercati, who, in 1574, published some figures of
fossils preserved in the museum of the Vatican, declared that they
owed their forms to the influence of the heavenly bodies. In |
1580, Palissy, a French writer, “On. the origin of springs from
rain water,” was the first, according to Fontenelle, to declare in
Paris, that organic remains had once been vitalized. The Ita-
lians, however, in the 17th century, continued to lead in geolo-
gical inquiries, and Colonna and Steno, although they conceded
the position of fossil remains to be owing to the Noachic deluge,
contended for their previous existence. In like manner, the
interesting work of Scilla, a Sicilian painter, on the fossils of
Calabria, published in 1670, with engravings, is a mixture
of sound opinions, restrained by what he thought due to popu-
lar prejudice. Quirini, in a work on fossil testacea, in 1676,
contended that the deluge could not have brought fossils into the
situation in which some of them were found, and was the first to
doubt its universality. In England, in 1677, Dr. Plot, in his
“ Natural History of Oxfordshire,” attributed fossils to the ‘ plas-
tic virtue’ before spoken of. Lister, the conchologist, in 1678,
thought them either “terriginous,” or irises extinct
animals.
Robert Hooke, M. D. in his “ Discourse of Horthiaabeh's writ-
ten in 1688, expresses many opinions, which obtain at this time.
Speaking of organic remains found at great elevations, hesays, they
might have been raised there by those earthquakes “ which have
turned plains into mountains,” &c., &c. ; he therefore was opposed
to the hypothesis which accounted for fossils by the deluge. Ray,
an able naturalist, and cotemporary with Hooke, placed a bar-
rier in the way of his own vigorous mind, and of his sound views
of physical science, by conceding to the prevailing theological
opinions. Another cotemporary, Woodward, who by found-
ing a chair at Cambridge—now filled by the Rev. Adam Sedge-
a Maa indirectly a claim to be considered a benefactor to
geological science, entertained the most extravagant notions of the
flood, teaching that the whole solid fabric of the globe had been
dissolved in it, and that the strata were the result of the general
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 251
deposition. Burnet, towards the close of the seventeenth century,
produced a romance under the title of “'The Sacred Theory of
the Earth, and of all the general changes which it hath already
undergone, or is to undergo, till the consummation of all things.”
This work, which was so highly praised by some of his cotempo-
raries, is a mere extravagant and theoretical fallacy ; but such
was the prejudice of the theologians of that day, that those who
in geological matters did not acknowledge the agency of the
Noachic deluge in every thing, were exposed to the imputation
of infidelity. Whiston followed Burnet in his adherence to the
general interpretation of the scripture account of the deluge,
which he supposed to have been occasioned by the near approach
of a comet. Even the great Newton did not escape these fana-
tics; for Hutchinson, in 1724, published his “ Moses’s Principia,” in
which he insisted that the Scriptures contained a perfect system
of natural philosophy, and for which reason he and his followers
objected to the theory of gravitation. Leibnitz, who claimed to
be the inventor of the differential calculus, ten years after Newton
had discovered the method of fluxions, so important to the preci-
sion necessary in carrying on astronomical calculations, published
his Protogzea, in 1680. He supposed the planet to have originally
been a burning mass, and that it had been cooling ever since the
creation, and that the oceans were formed by the vapours which
had condensed during that cooling. ‘This hypothesis of this great
mathematician was partially adopted by Buffon, De Luc, and
others. Buffon’s Natural History appeared in 1740. The hy-
pothetical reasonings of this eloquent writer gave offence, and at
the instance of the faculty of the Sorbonne, he retracted all his
opinions which were deemed to be in opposition to the-Mosaic ac-
count. ‘Towards the middle of the eighteenth century, Italy pro-
duced many writers who ‘speculated on fossils, Vallisneri, Moro,
and ‘Targioni. A Carmelite friar named Generelli, is distin-
guished for his judicious opinions at this time. For a spirited
sketch of the progress of geological inquiry, in Italy, at this pe-
riod, we refer our readers to Mr. Lyell’s “ Principles of Geology,”
an eloquent modern work, in the possession of every naturalist.
The Italians were greatly excited to this study, by the fossils in
the sub-appenine formations, which lie cn the flanks of the older
rocks, and by the vast quantities of remains of extinct quad-
rupeds found in the plains of their country, and which some wri-
252 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
ters referred to the period of the ancient Romans and of Hanni-
bal, as Mr. Rankin, in his extravagant writings, pretends still to
think. |
The order of superposition of beds, began now to be understood.
Ardusino ‘and Lehman, in 1759, both recognized the distinction
between primary, secondary, and tertiary rocks. In 1760, the
Rev. John Michell, Woodwardian professor at Cambridge, wrote
an admirable essay in the Philosophical 'Transactions, on the cause
and phenomena of Earthquakes, suggested by the great earth-
quake at Lisbon, five years before. In 1762, Fuchsel, a physi-
cian of Rudelstadt, in Germany, published his “ Historia Terre
et Maris.” He was a practical geologist, and is the first who
described the Muschelkalk, a bed peculiar to Germany, in Eu-
rope, but which we have some reason to think has its equivalent
here. The name of this excellent observer has been but recently
brought forward.* The classification made by Werner, and pub-
lished 1787, appears to be far short of the progress already made
by Fuschel. Raspe, in 1763, in an able work, called the atten-
tion of naturalists to the new Islands that from time to time had
appeared, urging them to study nature “in the act of parturi-
tion.” In 1766, Brander published his Fossilia Hantoniensia,
with excellent figures of the tertiary shells. In 1780, Soldani
produced some able papers, on the comparative position of un-
disturbed fossils, with that of recent Testacea and Zoophytes. He
also first observed that the beds of the Parisian basin were alter-
nate deposits of marine and fresh water strata.
About this time Pallas, a distinguished Russian naturalist, an-
nounced the order of superposition of the lower beds in the Sile-
sian chains, which was further illustrated by the observations of
the celebrated Saussure in the Alps: he aided greatly in reducing
to a regular study, the specification of beds, and the grouping of
them into formations. Hitherto, geological phenomena had been
considered rather as curious subjects for discussion, than as hay-
ing a bearing upon each other of a high philosophical character.
Important steps had been taken towards opening the considera-
tion of the structure of the planet, in a way worthy of so lofty a
subject; but the effort having been made in an insulated and de-
tached manner, had not concentrated toa point. It was reserved
for the celebrated German mineralogist, Werner, to draw the
* See M. Keferstein’s Memoir, Journal de Geologie, Oct. 1830, p. 191.
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science. 253
altoid of mankind to the subject, by one of those splendid
generalizations, which, being apparently founded on observation,
was for a long time implicitly received. }
Werner, in 1775, was appointed Professor of Mineralogy, in
the school of Mines, at Freyberg in Saxony. Familiar with the
regular succession of rocks, as well by the labours of his prede-
cessors, as by his own observations, he had—without being ori-
ginal in his views in relation to superposition—the great merit
of pointing out the application of particular phenomena, to the
purposes of mining. An eloquent enthusiast, and skilled in min-
eralogy, he soon raised up a brilliant school, to which men of
genius resorted from distant countries. His opinions were received
as oracular, and disseminated over Europe. ‘To the school of
Werner we owe some of the most distinguished mineralogists. It
is probable that the success he met with as a mineralogist, was
the principal cause of his failure as a geologist, for his illustrations
were drawn from Freyberg and its immediate vicinity. He
therefore imagined a system which had scarce any other basis
than the limited phenomena around him, and with an amount of
observation, that in these days would scarce exceed the personal
investigations due to an ordinary memoir in the geological trans-
actions, declared—what the united labours of the most gifted and
practical geologists of the present day, have not ventured to do—
the law of the structure of the planet. He taught that the uni-
versal crust of the earth was formed of beds successively pre-
cipitated from a common menstruum, in the which he included
the whole class of intrusive rocks, now universally recognized to
be of igneous origin. Nothing has been more fatal to his repu-
tation, in Germany, as a geologist, than the manner in which he
overlooked the igneous nature of the rocks in his own vicinity,
where porphyry—which he included in his ‘primitive rocks—not
only sends from below its jets and dikes through the secondary
rocks, but overlies the strata of the coal formation in mass. His
flétz rocks too, which he represented as universally horizontal, are,
even in the Hartz mountains—close to his type—very highly in-
clined ; so that his partizans found themselves either obliged to
renounce his system, or to contend for the possibility of entire
formations being at the same time horizontal and perpendicular.
This too, when Arduino, Desmaretz, Collini, Faujas, and especially
his countryman Raspe, all of whom preceded him, had fully shown
254 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
the agreement of trap rocks with volcanic products. Werner,
therefore, who could not be ignorant of these facts, availing him-
self of his influence, preferred, as it would seem, to sustain an
hypothesis based upon his own inventive imagination, to the truths
which nature taught,-and which had been very ably brought
forward. This substitution of his hypothesis had for a long pe-
riod, the effect of suppressing the truth, and of retarding the ad-
vancement of geological knowledge.
‘Whilst in Europe the influence of Werner’s geological theory
has entirely passed away, it is due to the memory of that great
mineralogist to say, that the progress in mineralogical knowledge is
to be attributed to the school he formed; and that the very awa-
kening which geological science has received, arose from the
boldness of his hypothesis, the enthusiasm with which it was
maintained by him and his disciples, and the inquiries it provoked.
Those who obstinately explained all phenomena by the doc-
trine of aqueous precipitates, soon received the designation of Nep-
tunists, in opposition to that of Vulcanists, which was given to the
other side, and of whom Hutton, the cotemporary of Werner, was
the most conspicuous member. He was a man of unwearied ac-
tivity and application, who examined for himself, and who sought
to account for all geological phenomena by the reasonable action
of known natural agents. In 1788, he published his “ Theory of
the Earth.” He presents the earth to us asa pure self-acting
machine, operating eternal degradations and renewals. Conti-
nents worn down by external circumstances, their ruins. carried
by streams into the oceans, there consolidated by subterranean
heat and pressure, to be again raised up by subterranean
power. Satisfied that trap rocks were of igneous origin, and
finding that the phenomena of veins and dykes belonging to it,
were common to the granite, he came to the conclusion, that the
primary rocks were not formed from aqueous deposites, but from
mineral matter in a state of igneous fusion. ‘To this opinion, the
geological theory has been for some time steadily tending: but
that part of his doctrine which implies that all the changes
which have taken place in the globe, have been the result of
causes co-efficient with all time, and that the energy of subter-
ranean power, as far as the whole globe is concerned, has at all
times been uniform, is deemed insufficient by the greater portion
of accredited geologists; who neither admit the inconceivable
Epitome of the Progress of Natural Sorente. 255
immensity of time involved in the theory, nor the uniformity of
action alluded to; seeing that the proofs are co-extensive with
investigations made in the most distant parts of the globe, that
until the period of the lower secondary rocks, the evidences of an
immeasurable and peculiar subterranean power, form the most
obvious of all the geological phenomena; and from which we
may, in conjunction with other important branches, infer the fu-
ture establishment of a geological theory of a progressive charac-
ter, rather than one of uniform mutations.
For a long time the opinions of Hutton were injurious to the
advancement of sound geological knowledge ; for though he was
much nearer the truth than his Wernerian adversaries, still,
inferences were raised, which gave occasion to the imputa-
tion of atheistical tendency, and thus ‘an alliance was formed
between the Wernerians and the theologico-geologists, who
were less concerned for the safety of science, than for the Mosaic
account of the creation and the Noachic deluge; and thus, with
many, geology was brought into disrepute. But the controver-
sies and illiberalities to which these conflicting opinions gave rise,
are now happily buried, never to be revived, as long as the spirit
which now prevails, of reasoning from facts alone, shall have au-
thority in science. |
About the time that Hutton’s published opinions were bring-
ing their attacks upon him, a young man named William Smith,
born in 1769, a native of Churchill, in Oxfordshire, who followed
the profession of a mineral and land surveyor, was, unaided, si-
lently laying down the foundations of true geological knowledge.
Fossils had been the playthings of his childhood, and when at a
mature age he recognized them imbedded in the rocks he was
traversing, they received more than ordinary attention from him.
He not only learned to distinguish them wherever he found them,
but the rocks in which they were imbedded, however remotely
they might be situated; for he found that particular fossils were
peculiar to rocks that obsefved an uniform succession to each
other as to superposition. ‘These discoveries led him to examine
with more attention than had hitherto been done, the range and
extent of the successive deposites, with their general line of dip.
In this manner he proceeded from step to step, until he had ex-
amined extensive territorial surfaces, and had satisfied himself
that the order of succession of the rocks was never inverted,
256 Epitome of the Progress of Natural Science.
and that the true way to identify them was by theur imbedded fossils.
Thus did an unaided, and unpretending individual, arrive, by his
own sagacity, and laborious investigations, at the great funda-
mental truths of the geological structure of the planet, in a much
clearer manner than all the older geologists, Werner included.
His «'Tabular View of the British Strata,’ was published in 1790;
and in 1815 he published his great Geological Map of England,
which drew from D’Aubisson, one of Werner’s most celebrated
pupils, the following distinguished tribute of admiration—* that
what many celebrated mineralogists had accomplished for a small
part of Germany in the course of half a century, had been Eri by
a single individual for the whole of England.”*
The intemperance with which the controversies between the
Neptunists and Vulcanists had been carried on, at length fatigued
all parties, and a re-action took place, of the most beneficial cha-
racter: a spirit of caution .grew up, which rejected hypothesis
of every kind. The lovers of nature began, as it were, by com-
mon consent, to atone to her for the neglect she had received
by the past indulgence in so much speculative imagination. Men
began now to collect facts with great activity and scrupulous-
ness. The Geological Society of London, was established in
1807, for the purpose of multiplying and recording those facts.
Its success has been complete ; it has rescued geology from every
unfriendly prejudice, and has raised up a school of eminent men,
who, by their disinterested and active labours, have made Geo-
logy the most attractive and popular of all the sciences. In 1830,
the French naturalists, many of whose names we shall have oc-
casion to mention hereafter with all praise, perceiving the use-
fulness of the Geological Society of London, and the influence
which it was acquiring in Europe, established one in Paris, un-
der the title of “ Societé Geologique de France.”
In this hasty sketch we have not ventured to speak of the la-
bours of Cuvier, and of the extent gf the obligations which na-
tural history is under to him. Those labours are too extensive, -
too minute, and of too universal a character ; his opinions too re-
markable for the judgment and sagacity of their author, to per-
mit any other expression of his merits, than that he is to this age
what Aristotle was to his own. |
We wish, in concluding this epitome, we could say that the
* See July number, page 29.
Journal of Col. Croghan. 257
impulse which practical geology once received in this country
‘from William Maclure had been continued. We look with con-
fidence to the future.
THE JOURNAL OF COL. CROGHAN.
Arter the peace of 1763, Col. Croghan was sent by the British
government to explore the country adjacent to the Ohio river,
and to conciliate the Indian nations, who had hitherto acted with
the French. As the Editor possesses the original journal kept
during this interesting expedition, he has thought it would be
gratifying to his readers to transfer it to his pages. ‘The present
inhabitants of that fertile territory, will no doubt be pleased with
this document, which describes so minutely, their now highly cul-
tivated and populous country, when it knew no dominion but
that of the Indians, and the fera natura of the forests, and waters.
The list of the tribes of Indians in the northern parts of North
America is both curious and valuable. Col. Croghan was, per-
haps, the first European, or even white man, who personally visit-
ed Big-bone Lick, now become an object of so much interest to
naturalists, and which is here noticed.
The Editor will esteem himself much obliged to any of his
readers, who will favour him with documents of a similar cha-
racter, and which have not yet been published. Ep.
May 15th, 1765. I set off from Fort Pitt with two batteaux,
and encamped at Chartier’s Island, in the Ohio, three miles be-
low Fort Pitt.
16th. Being joined by the deputies of the Senecas, Shawnesse,
and Delawares, that were to accompany me, we set off at 7 o’clock
in the morning, and at 10 o’clock arrived at the Log’s Town,
an old settlement of the Shawnesse, about seventeen miles
from Fort Pitt, where we put ashore, and viewed the remains of
that village, which was situated on a high bank, on the south
side of the Ohio river, a fine fertile country round it.’ At 11
o’clock we re-embarkedand proceeded down the Ohio to the mouth
of Big Beaver Creek, about ten miles below the Log’s Town :
- this creek empties itself between two fine rich bottoms, a mile
wide on each side from the banks of the river to the highlands.
Vou. 1.—33 \
258 Journal of Col. Croghan.
About a mile below the mouth of Beaver Creek we passed an old
settlement of the Delawares, where the French, in 1756, built a
town for that nation. On the north side of the river some of the
stone chimneys are yet remaining; here the highlands come
close to the banks, and continue so for about five miles. After
which we passed several spacious bottoms on each side of the
river, and came to Little Beaver Creek, about fifteen miles be-
low Big Beaver Creek. A number of small rivulets fall into'the
river on each side. From thence we sailed to Yellow creek,
being about fifteen miles from the last mentioned creek; here
and there the hills come close to the banks of the river on
each side, but where there are bottoms, they are very large, and
well watered ; numbers of small rivulets running through them,
falling into the Ohio on both sides. We encamped on the river
bank, and find a great part of the trees in the bottoms are coy-
ered with grape vines. This day we passed by eleven islands,
one of which being about seven miles long. For the most part
of the way we made this day, the banks of the river are high and
steep. The course of the Ohio from Fort Pitt to the mouth of
Beaver Creek inclines to the north-west ; from thence to the two
creeks partly due west.
17th. At 6 o’clock in the morning we embarked, and were de-
lighted with the prospect of a fine open country on each side of
the river as we passed down. We came toa place called the
Two Creeks, about fifteen miles from Yellow Creek, where we
put to shore; here the Senecas have a village on a high bank,
on the north side of the river ; the chief of this village offered me
his service to go with me to the Illinois, which I could not refuse
for fear of giving him offence, although I had a sufficient number
of deputies with me already. From thence we proceeded down
the river, passed many large, rich, and fine bottoms; the high-
lands being at a considerable distance from the river banks, till
we came to the Buffalo Creek, being about ten miles below the
Seneca village ; and from Buffalo Creek we proceeded down the
river to Fat Meat Creek, about thirty miles. ‘The face of the
country appears much like what we met with before ; large, rich, —
and well watered bottoms, then succeeded by the hills pinching
close on the river; these bottoms, on the north side, appear rather
low, and consequently subject to inundations, in the spring of the
year, when there never fails to be high freshes in the Ohio, ow- |
Journal of Col. Croghan. 259
ing to the melting of the snows. This day we passed by ten fine
islands, though the greatest part of them are small. ‘They lay
much higher out of the water than the mainland, and of course
less subject to be flooded by the freshes. At night we encamped
near an Indian village. The general course of the river from the
Two Creeks to Fat Meat Creek inclines to the south-west.
18th. At 6 o’clock, A. M. we set off in our batteaux; the
country on both sides of the river appears delightful; the hills
are several miles from the river banks, and consequently the
bottoms large; the soil, timber, and banks of the river, much like
those we have before described ; about fifty miles below the Fat
Meat Creek, we enter the long reach, where the river runs a
straight course for twenty miles, and makes a delightful prospect;
the banks continue high; the country on both sides, level, rich,
and well watered. At the lower end of the reach we encamped.
This day we passed nine islands, some of which are large, and
lay high out of the water.
- 19th. We decamped at six in the morning, and sailed toa place
called the Three Islands, being about fifteen miles from our last
encampment ; here the highlands come close to the river banks,
and the bottoms for the most part—till we come to the Mus-
kingum (or Elk) river—are but narrow: this river empties itself
into the Ohio about fifteen miles below the Three Islands; the
banks of the river continue steep, and the country is level for
several miles back from the river. The course of the river from
Fat Meat Creek to Elk River, is about south-west and by south.
We proceeded down the river about fifteen miles, to the mouth
of Little Conhawa River, with little or no alteration in the face
of the country ; here we encamped in a fine rich bottom, after
having passed fourteen islands, some of them large, and mostly
lying high out of the water. Here buffaloes, bears, turkeys, with
all other kinds of wild game are extremely plenty. A good hunter,
without much fatigue to himself, could here supply daily one
hundred men with meat. The course of the Ohio, from Elk River
to Little Conhawa, is about south.
20th. At six in the morning we embarked in our boats, and
proceeded down to the mouth of Hochocken or Bottle River,
where we were obliged to encamp, having a strong head wind
against us. We made but twenty miles this day, and passed by
five very fine islands; the country the whole way being rich
260 Journal of Col. Croghan.
and level, with high and steep banks to the rivers. From here
I despatched an Indian to the Plains of Scioto, with a letter to the
French traders from the Illinois residing there, amongst the
Shawnesse, requiring them to come and join me at the mouth of
Scioto, in order to proceed with me to their own country, and
take the oaths of allegiance to his Britannic Majesty, as they were
now become his subjects, and had no right to trade there with-
out license. At the same time, I sent messages to the Shawnesse
Indians to oblige the French to come to me in case of refusal.
21st. We embarked at half past 8 o’clock in the morning, and.
sailed to a place called the Big Bend, about thirty-five miles
below Bottle River. The course of the Ohio, from Little Con-
hawa River to Big Bend, is about south-west by south. ‘The
country hereabouts abounds with buffaloe, bears, deer, and all
sorts of wild game, in such plenty, that we killed out of our boats
as much as we wanted. We proceeded down the river to the
Buffalo Bottom, about ten miles from the beginning of the Big
Bend, where we encamped. The country on both sides of the
river, much the same as we passed the day before. This
day we passed nine islands, all lying high out of the water.
22d. At half an hour past 5 o’clock, set off and sailed to a
place, called the Alum Hill, so called from the great quantity of
that mineral found there by the Indians; this place lays about
ten miles from Buffalo Bottom ; thence we sailed to the mouth of °
Great Conhawa River, being ten miles from the Alum Hill. The
course of the river, from the Great Bend to this place, is mostly
west ; from hence we proceeded down to Little Guyondott River,
where we encamped, about thirty miles from Great Conhawa ;
the country still fine and level ; the banks of the river high, with
abundance of creeks and rivulets falling into it. This day we
passed six fine islands. In the evening one of our Indians dis-
covered three Cherokees near our encampment, which obliged
our Indians to keep out a good guard the first part of the night.
Our party being pretty strong, I imagine the Cherokees were.
afraid to attack us, and so ran off. :
23d. Decamped about five in the morning, and arrived at Big
Guyondott, twenty miles from our last encampment: the country
as of yesterday ; from hence we proceeded down to Sandy River, :
being twenty miles further ; thence to the mouth of Scioto, about
forty miles from the last mentioned river. The general course
Journal of Col. Croghan. 261
of the river, from Great Conhawa to this place, inclines to the
south-west. The soil rich, the country level, and the banks of
the river high. 'The soil on the banks of Scioto, for a vast dis-
tance up the country, is prodigious rich, the bottoms very wide,
and in the spring of the year, many of them are flooded, so that
the river appears to be two or three miles wide. Bears, deer,
turkeys, and most sorts of wild game, are very plenty on the
banks of this river. On the Ohio, just below the mouth of Scioto,
ona high bank, near forty feet, formerly stood the Shawnesse
town, called the Lower Town, which was all carried away, ex-
cept three or four houses, by a great flood in the Scioto. I was
in the town at the time, though the banks of the Ohio were so
high, the water was nine feet on the top, which obliged the whole
town to take to their canoes, and move with their effects to the
hills. ‘The Shawnesse afterwards built their town on the opposite
side of the river, which, during the French war, they abandoned,
for fear of the Virginians, and removed to the plains on Scioto.
The Ohio is about one hundred yards wider here than at Fort
Pitt, which is but a small augmentation, considering the great
number of rivers and creeks, that fall into it during the course
of four hundred and twenty miles; and as it deepens but very
little, I imagine the waters sink, though there is no visible
appearance of it. In general all the lands on the Scioto River,
as well as the bottoms on Ohio, are too rich for any thing but
hemp, flax, or Indian corn.
24th, 25th, and 26th. Stayed at the mouth of Scioto, waiting
for the Shawnesse and French traders, who arrived here on the
evening of the 26th, in consequence of the message I sent them
from Hochocken, or Bottle Creek.
27th. The Indians requested me to stay thie day, which I could
not refuse.
28th. We set off: passing down the Ohio, rc country on ath.
sides the river level; the banks continue high. This day we
came sixty miles; passed no islands. The river being wider and
deeper, we drove all night.
29th. We came to the little Miame River, having proceeded
sixty miles last night.
30th. We passed the great Miame River, about thirty miles _
from the little river of that name, and in the evening arrived at the
place where the elephants’ bones are found, where we encamped, in-
262 Journal of Col. Croghan.
tending to take a view of the place next morning. This day we
came about seventy miles. ‘The country on both sides level, and
rich bottoms well watered.
31st. Karly in the morning we went to the great Lick, siiiiad those
bones are only found, about four miles from the river, on the south-east
side. In our way we passed through a fine timbered clear wood ; we
came into a large road which the buffaloes have beaten, spacious
enough for two wagons to go abreast, and leading straight into the
fick. It appears that there are vast quantities of these bones
lying five or six feet under ground, which we discovered in the
bank, at the edge of the Lick. We found here two tusks above
six feet long ; we carried one, with some other bones, to our boats,
and set off. ‘This day we proceeded down the river about eighty
miles, through a country much the same as already described,
since we passed the Scioto. In this day’s journey we passed the
mouth of the River Kentucky, or Holsten’s River.
June 1st. We arrived within a mile of the Falls of Ohio, where
we encamped, after coming about fifty miles this day.
2d. Early in the morning we embarked, and passed the Falls.
The river being very low we were obliged to lighten our boats,
and pass on the north side of a little island, which lays in the
middle of the river. In general, what is called the Fall here, is
no more than rapids; and in the least fresh, a batteau of any
size may come and go on each side without any risk. This day
we proceeded sixty miles, in the course of which we passed
Pidgeon River. The country pretty high on each side of the
River Ohio.
3d. In the iil of this day’s course, we passed high lands ;
about midday we came to a fine, flat, and level country, called
by the Indians the Low Lands; no hills tobe seen. We came
about eighty miles this day, and encamped.
_ 4th. We came to a place called the Five Islands ; these islands
are very long, .and succeed one another in a chain; the country
still flat and level, the soil exceedingly rich, and well watered.
The high lands are at least fifty miles from the banks of the Ohio.
In this day’s course we passed about ninety miles, the current
being very strong.
5th. Having passed the Five Islands, we came toa place called
the Ow! River. Came about forty miles this day. The country
the same as yesterday. .
Journal of Col. Croghan. 263
- 6th. We arrived at the mouth of the Ouabache, where we
found a breast-work erected, supposed to be done by the Indians.
The mouth of this river is about two hundred yards wide, and in
its course runs through one of the finest countries in the world,
the lands being exceedingly rich, and well watered; here hemp
might be raised in immense quantities. All the bottoms, and al-
most the whole country abounds with great plenty of the white and
red mulberry tree. ‘These trees are to be found in great plenty,
in all places between the mouth of Scioto and the Ouabache:
the soil of the latter affords this tree in plenty as far as Ouicato-
‘hon, and some few on the Miame River. Several large fine
islands lie in the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Ouabache, the
banks of which are high, and consequently free from inundations ;
hence we proceeded down the river about six miles to encamp,
as I judged some Indians were sent to way-lay us, and came toa
place called the Old Shawnesse Village, some of that nation hav-
ing formerly lived there. In this day’s proceedings we came
about seventy-six miles. ‘The general course of the river, from
Scioto to this place, is south-west.
7th. We stayed here, and despatched two Indians to the IIli-
nois by land, with letters to Lord Frazer, an English officer, who
had been sent there from Fort Pitt, and Monsieur St. Ange, the
French commanding officer at Fort Chartres, and some speeches
to the Indians there, letting them know of my arrival here ; that
peace was made between us and the Six Nations, Delawares,
and Shawnesse, and of my having a number of deputies of those
nations along with me, to conclude matters with them also on my
arrival there. This day one of my men went into the woods and
lost himself.
8th. At day-break we were attacked by a party of Indians,
consisting of eighty warriors of the Kiccapoos and Musquattimes,
who killed two of my men and three Indians, wounded myself
and all the rest of my party, except two white men and one In-
dian; then made myself and all the white men prisoners, plun-
dering us of every thing we had. A deputy of the Shawnesse
who was shot through the thigh, having concealed himself in the
woods for a few minutes after he was wounded—not knowing
but they were southern Indians, who are always at war with the
northward Indians—after discovering what nation they were,
came up to them and made a very bold speech, telling them that
264 Journal of Col. Croghan.
the whole northward Indians would join in taking revenge for the
insult and murder of their people; this alarmed those savages
very much, who began excusing themselves, saying their fathers,
the French, had spirited them up, telling them that the Indians
were coming with a body of southern Indians to take their country
from them, and enslave them; that it was this that induced them
to commit this outrage. After dividing the plunder, (they left
great part of the heaviest effects behind, not being able to carry
them,) they set off with us to their village at Ouattonon, in a great
hurry, being in dread of a pursuit from a large party of Indians
they suspected were coming after me. Our course was through
a thick woody country, crossing a great many swamps, morasses,
and beaver ponds. We travelled this day about forty-two miles.
9th. An hour before day we set out on our march; passed
through thick woods, some high lands, and small savannahs, badly
watered. ‘Travelled this day about thirty miles.
10th. We set out very early in the morning, and marched
through a high country, extremely well timbered, for three hours ;
then came to a branch of the Ouabache, which we crossed. ‘The
remainder of this day we travelled through fine rich bottoms,
overgrown with reeds, which’make the best pasture in the world, ©
the young reeds being preferable to sheaf oats. Here is great
plenty of wild game of all kinds. Came this day about twenty-
eight, or thirty miles.
11th. At day-break we set off, making our way through a thin
woodland, interspersed with savannahs. I suffered extremely by
reason of the excessive heat of the weather, and scarcity of wa-
ter; the little springs and runs being dried up. Travelled this
day about thirty miles.
12th. We passed through some large savannahs and clear
woods; in the afternoon we came to the Ouabache; then marched
along it through a prodigious rich bottom, overgrown with reeds
and wild hemp; all this bottom is well watered, and an exceeding
fine hunting ground. Came this day about thirty miles. —
18th. About an hour before day we set out; travelled through
such bottoms as of yesterday, and through some large meadows,
where no trees, for several miles together, are to be seen. Buf-
faloes, deer, and bears are here in great plenty. We travelled
about twenty-six miles this day.
14th. The country we travelled through this day, appears the
Journal of Col. Croghan. 265
same as described yesterday, excepting this afternoon’s journey
through wood land, to cut off a bend of the river. Came about
twenty-seven miles this day. |
15th. We set out very early, and about one o’clock came to
the Ouabache, within six or seven miles of Port Vincent. On my
arrival there, I found a village of about eighty or ninety French
families settled on the east side of this river, being one.of the
finest situations that can be found. The country is level and
clear, and the soil very rich, producing wheat and tobacco. I
think the latter preferable to that of Maryland or Virginia. The
French inhabitants hereabouts, are an idle, lazy people, a parcel
of renegadoes from Canada, and are much worse than the Indians.
They took a secret pleasure at our misfortunes, and the moment
we arrived, they came to the Indians, exchanging trifles for their
valuable plunder. As the savages took from me a considerable
quantity of gold and silver in specie, the French traders extorted
ten half johannes from them for one pound of vermilion. Here
is likewise an Indian village of the Pyankeshaws, who were much
displeased with the party that took me, telling them that “ our and
your chiefs are gone to make peace, and you have begun a war,
for which our women and children will have reason to cry.”
From this post the Indians permitted me to write to the Com-
mander, at Fort Chartres, but would not suffer me to write to
any body else, (this | apprehend was a precaution of the French,
lest their villany should be perceived too soon,) although the In-
dians had given me permission to write to Sir William Johnson
and Fort Pitt on our march, before we arrived at this place. But
immediately after our arrival they had a private council with
the French, in which the Jndians urged, (as they afterwards in-
formed me,) that as the French had engaged them in so bad an
affair, which was likely to bring a war on their nation, they now
expected a proof of their promise and assistance. ‘Then delivered
the French a scalp and part of the plunder, and wanted to
deliver some presents to the Pyankeshaws; but they refused
to accept of any, and declared they would not be concerned in
the affair. “This last information I got from the Pyankeshaws, as
I had been well acquainted with them several years before this
time.
Port Vincent is a place of great consequence for trade, being
a fine hunting country all along the Ouabache, and too far for
Vou. L—34
266 Journal of Col. Croghan.
the Indians, which reside hereabouts, to go either to ~ Illinois,
or elsewhere, to fetch their necessaries.
16th. We were obliged to stay here to get some little apparel
made up for us, and to buy some horses for our journey to Oui-
catonon, promising payment at Detroit, for we could not pro-
cure horses from the French for hire; though we were greatly
fatigued, and our spirits much exhausted in our late march, they
would lend us no assistance. |
17th. At midday we set out; travelling the first five miles
through a fine thick wood, We travelled eighteen miles this day,
and encamped in a large, beautiful, well watered meadow.
18th and 19th. We travelled through a prodigious largemeadow,
called the Pyankeshaw’s Hunting Ground: here is no wood to be
seen, and the country appears like an ocean; the ground is ex-
ceedingly rich, and partly overgrown with wild hemp; the land,
well watered, and full of buffaloe, deer, bears, and all kinds of
wild game.
20th and 21st. We passed through some very large meadows
part of which belong to the Pyankeshaws on Vermilion River ;
the country and soil much the same as that we travelled over
for these three days past ; wild hemp grows here in abundance ;
the game very plenty : at any time, in half an hour we could kill
as much as we wanted. |
22d. We passed through part of the same meadow as men-
tioned yesterday ; then came toa high woodland, and arrived at
Vermilion River, so called froma fine red earth found here by
the Indians, with which they paint themselves. About half a mile
from the place where we crossed this river, there is a village of
Pyankeshaws, distinguished by the addition of the name of the
river. We then travelled about three hours, through a clear high
woody country, but a deep and rich soil; then came toa meadow,
where we encamped.
23d. Early in the morning we set out through a fine meadow,
then some clear woods ; in the afternoon came into a very large
bottom on the Ouabache, within six miles of Ouicatanon; here
I met several chiefs of the Kicapoos and Musquattimes, who spoke
to their young men who had taken us, and reprimanded them
severely for what they had done to me, after which they re-
turned with us to their village, and delivered us al to their
chiefs.
Journal of Col. Croghan. 267
' The distance from Port Vincent to Ouicatanon is two hundred
and ten miles. This place is situated on the Ouabache. About
fourteen French families are living in the fort, which stands on
the north side of the river. The Kicapoos and Musquattimes,
whose warriors had taken us, live nigh the fort, on the same side
of the river, where they have two villages; and the Ouicatonons
have a village on the south side of the river. At our arrival at
this post, several of the Wawcottonans, (or Ouicatonans) with
whom I had been formerly acquainted, came to visit me, and
seemed greatly concerned at what had happened. ‘They went
immediately to the Kiccapoos and Musquatimes, and charged
them to take the greatest care of us, till their chiefs should ar-
rive from the Illinois, where they were gone to meet me some time
ago, and who were entirely ignorant of this affair, and said the
French had spirited up this party to goand strike us.
The French have a very great influence over these Indians, and
never fail in telling them many lies to the prejudice of his Ma-
jesty’s interest, by making the English nation odious and hateful
to them. I had the greatest difficulties in removing these pre-
judices. As these Indians are a weak, foolish, and credulous peo-
ple, they are easily imposed on by a designing people, who have
led them hitherto as they pleased. The French told them that
as the southern Indians had for two years past made war on them,
it must have been at the instigation of the English, who are a bad
people. However I have been fortunate enough to remove their
prejudice, and, in a great measure, their suspicions against the
‘English. ‘The country hereabouts is exceedingly pleasant, being
open and clear for many miles; the soil very rich and well wa-
tered ; all plants have a quick vegetation, and the climate very
temperate through the winter. This post has always been a very
considerable trading place. The great plenty of furs taken in
this country, induced the French to establish this post, which was
the first on the Ouabache, and by a very advantageous trade
they have been richly recompensed for their labour.
On the south side of the Ouabache runs a high bank, in which
are several fine coal mines, and behind this bank, is a very large
meadow, clear for several miles. It is surprising what false infor-
mation we have had respecting this country : some mention these
spacious and beautiful meadows as large and barren savannahs. I
apprehend it has been the artifice of the French to keep us igno-
2 Journal of Col. Croghan.
rant of the country. These meadows bear fine wild grass, and wild
hemp ten or twelve feet high, which, if properly manufactured,
would prove as good, and answer all the purposes of the hemp
we cultivate.
July 25th. We set out from this place (atter settling all mat-
ters happily with the natives) for the Miames, and travelled the
whole way through a fine, rich bottom, overgrown with wild
hemp, alongside the Ouabache, till we came to Kel River, where
we arrived the 27th. About six miles up this river is a small
village of the T'wightwee, situated on a very delightful spot of
ground on the bank of the river. The Eel river heads near St.
Joseph’s, andruns nearly parallel to the Miames, and at some few
miles distance from it, through a fine, pleasant country, and after
a course of about one hundred and eighty miles empties itself
into the Ouabache.
28th, 29th, 30th and 31st. We travelled still along side the
Eel River, passing through fine clear woods, and some good mea-
dows, though not so large as those we passed some days before.
The country is more overgrown with woods, the soil is sufficiently
rich, and well watered with springs.
August 1st. We arrived at the carrying place between the Ri-
ver Miames and the Ouabache, which is about nine miles long
in dry seasons, but not above half that length in freshes. The
head of the Ouabache is about forty miles from this place, and
after a course of about seven hundred and sixty miles from the
head spring, through one of the finest countries in the world, it —
empties itself into the Ohio. The navigation from hence to Oui-
catanon, is very difficult in low water, on account of many ra-
pids and rifts; but in freshes, which generally happen in the sprin
and fall, batteaux or canoes will pass, without difficulty, from’
here to Ouicatanon in three days, which is about two hundred
and forty miles, and by land about two hundred and ten miles.
From Ouicatanon to Port Vincent, and thence to the Ohio, bat-
teaux and canoes may go at any season of the year. Through-
out the whole course of the Ouabache the banks are pretty high,
and in the river are a great many islands. Many shrubs and
trees are found here unknown to us.
Within a mile of the Twightwee village, I was met by the
chiefs of that nation, who received us very kindly. The most
part of these Indians knew me, and conducted me to their village,
Journal of Col. Croghan. 269
where they immediately hoisted an English flag that I had for-
merly given them at Fort Pitt. The next day they held a coun-
cil, after which they gave me up all the English prisoners they
had, then made several speeches, in all which they expressed the
great pleasure it gave them, to see the unhappy differences
which embroiled the several] nations in a war with their brethren,
the English, were now so near a happy conclusion, and that peace
was established in their country.
The Twightwee village is situated on both sides of a river,
called St. Joseph’s. This river, where it falls into the Miame
river, about a quarter of a mile from this place, is one hundred
yards wide, on the east side of which stands a stockade fort,
somewhat ruinous.
The Indian village consists of about forty or fifty cabins, be-
sides nine or ten French houses, a runaway colony from Detroit,
during the late Indian war ; they were concerned in it, and being
afraidof punishment, came to this post, where ever since they have
spirited up the Indians against the English. All the French re-
siding here are a lazy, indolent people, fond of breeding mischief,
and spiriting up the Indians against the English, and should by
no means be suffered to remain here. ‘The country is pleasant,
the soil rich and well watered. After several conferences with
these Indians and their delivering me up all the English prison-
ers they had,
On the 6th of August we set out for Detroit, down the Mi-
ames river ina canoe. This river heads about ten miles from
hence. The river is not navigable till you come to the place
where the river St. Joseph joins it, and makes a considerable large
stream, nevertheless we found a great deal of difficulty in getting
our canoe over shoals, as the waters at this season were very
low. The banks of the river are high, and the country over-
grown with lofty timber of various kinds; the land is level, and
the woods clear. About ninety miles from the Miames or
Twightwee, we came to where a large river, that heads in a
large lick, falls into the Miame river; this they call the Forks.
The Ottawas claim this country, and hunt here, where game is
very plenty. From hence we proceeded to the Ottawa village.
This nation formerly lived at Detroit, but is now settled here,
on account of the richness of the country, where game is always
to be found in plenty. Here we were obliged to get out of our
270 Journal of Col. Croghan.
canoes, and drag them eighteen miles, on account of the rifts
which interrupt the navigation. At the end of these rifts, we
came toa village of the Wyondotts, who received us very kindly ;
and from thence we proceeded to the mouth of this river, where
it falls into Lake Erie. From the Miames to the lake is com-
puted one hundred and eighty miles, and from the entrance of
the river into the lake to Detroit, is sixty miles; that is, forty-
two miles upon the lake, and eighteen miles up the Detroit ri-
ver to the garrison of that name. ‘The land on the lake side
is low and flat. We passed several large rivers and bays, and
on the 16th of August, in the afternoon, we arrived at Detroit
river. The country here is much higher than on the lake side ;
the river is about nine hundred yards wide, and the current runs
very strong. There are several fine and large islands in this river,
one of which is nine miles long; its banks high, and the soil very
good.
17th. In the morning we arrived at the fort, which is a large
stockade, inclosing about eighty houses, it stands close on the
north side of the river, on a high bank, commands a very plea-
sant prospect for nine miles above; and nine miles below the
fort; the country is thick settled with French, their plantations
are generally laid out about three or four acres in breadth on
the river, and eighty acres in depth; the soil is good, producing
plenty of grain. All the people here are generally poor wretches,
and consist of three or four hundred French families, a lazy, idle
people, depending chiefly on the savages for their subsistence ;
though the land, with little labour, produces plenty of grain,
they scarcely raise as much as will supply their wants, in imi-
tation of the Indians, whose manners and customs they have en-
tirely adopted, and cannot subsist without them. The men, wo-
men, and children speak the Indian tongue perfectly well. In
the last Indian war the most part of the French were concerned
in it, (although the whole settlement had taken the oath of al-
legiance to his Britannic Majesty) they have, therefore, great
reason to be thankful to the English clemency in not bringing
them to deserved punishment. Before the late Indian war there
resided three nations of Indians at this place: the Putawatimes,
whose village was on the west side of the river, about one mile
below the fort; the Ottawas, on the east side, about three miles
above the fort; and the Wyondotts, whose village lays on the
‘
List of Tribes of Indians. 271
east side, about two miles below the fort. The former two na-—
tions have removed to a considerable distance, and the latter
still remain where they were, and are remarkable for their good
sense and hospitality. They have a particular attachment to the
Roman Catholic religion, the French, by their priests, having
taken uncommon pains to instruct them.
During my stay here, I held frequent conferences with the dif-
ferent nations of Indians assembled at this place, with whom |,
settled matters to their general satisfaction.
September 26th. Set out from Detroit for Niagara; passed
Lake Erie along the north shore in a birch canoe, and arrived
the 8th of October at Niagara. The navigation of the lake is
dangerous for batteaux or canoes, by reason the lake is’ very
shallow for a considerable distance from the shore. The bank, for
several miles, high and steep, and affords a harbour for a single
batteau. The lands in general, between Detroit and Niagara,
are high, and the soil good, with several fine rivers falling into
the lake. The distance from Detroit to Niagara is computed
three hundred miles.
A Inst of the different Nations and Tribes of Indians in the Northern Dis-
trict of North America, with the number of their fighting Men.
Names of the Tribes. | Nos. Their Dwelling Ground. Their Hunting Ground.
Mohocks, a .......{160 Mohock River. Between that and Lake
George. :
Oneidas, 6 ........./300 |East side of Oneida Lake, and on the|In the country where
head waters of the east branch of| they live.
Susquehannah.
Tuscaroras, 6 ......|200 |Between the Oneidas and Onan-|Between Oneida Lake
dagoes. and Lake Ontario.
Onandagoes, 6 ...../260 |Near the Onandago Lake. BetweenOnandago lake
and mouth of Seneca
River, near Oswego.
Cayugas;6 ........./200 /On two small Lakes, called the Ca-|Where they reside.
yuagas, on the north branch of Sus-
quehannah.
Senecas, 6 ....-....|1000 |Seneca Country, on the waters of|Their chief hunting
Susquehannah, the waters of Lake} country thereabouts.
Ontario, and on the heads of Ohio
River.
Aughquagas,c .....{150 |East branch of Susquehannah River,| Where they live.
{ and on Aughquaga.
Nanticokes, c ......|100 ) |Utsanango, Chaghmett, Oswego, and Do.
Mohickons, c ......{100 on the east branch of Susque-
Conoys, ¢ ..........2| 30 hannah.
Monsays,c .....-..|150 {At Diahogo, and other villages up Do.
Sapoones,c ........] 30 the north branch of Susque-
Delawares,c....... 150 hannah.
a These are the oldest Tribe of the Confederacy of the Six Nations.
6 Connected with New York, part of the Confederacy with New York.
c Connected with, and depending on the Five Nations.
272 | List of Tribes of Indians.
Names of the Tribes., Nos. Their Dwelling Ground. Their Hunting Ground.
Delawares, d ...... 600 {Between the Ohio and Lake Erie, on/Where they live.
the branches of Beaver Creek,
Muskingum, and Guyehugo.
Shawnesse, d ....../300 {On Scioto, & branch of Muskingum, Do.
Mohickone,d ......|300 {In Villages near Sandusky. On the head banks, of
Coghnawages,d .... , Scioto.
Twightwees,e .....|250 |Miame River, near Fort Miame. On the ground where
Wayoughtanies, f . ./300 _ they reside.
Pyankeshas, f.... .. {300 On the branches of Ouabache, near|Between Ouitanon and
Shockays, f ......../200 Fort Ouitanon. the Miames.
Huskhuskeys, g ....|300 2 |Near the French Settlements, in the
Illinois, g ........ ./300 Illinois Country. ;
Wayondotts, A ...../250 ) |Near Fort Detroit. About Lake Erie.
Ortavwas, hs... 7212 1}400¢
Putawatimes,h ..../150
Chipawas, i 999 _ [On Saganna Creek, which empties Thereabouts.
Ottawas, 7 “Sis into Lake Huron.
Chipawas, 7 .......|400 2 |Near Michilimachinac. | {On the north side of
Ottawas, j ........./250 ' | Lake Huron... —
Chipawas,* k....../400 |Near the entrance of Lake Supe-|Thereabouts.
rior, and not far from Fort St. Ma-
rys.
Chepawas, k Near Fort LaBay on the Lake Michi-|Their hunting ground
Mynonamies, k .. (000 gan. is thereabouts.
Shockeys, k
Putawatimes, k.... ./150 2 |Near Fort St. Joseph’s. Thereabouts.
Ottawas,k .........{150
Kicapoos, J On Lake Michigan and between it]Where they respective-
Outtagamies, / ,| and the Mississippi. ly reside.
Musquatans / Arg:
Miscotins, / 4000
Outtamacks, /
Musquakeys, /
Oswegatches,h ..../100 |Settled at Swagatchy in Canada, on|Thereabouts.
' the River St. Lawrence.
Connesedagoes, i 309 [Near Montreal.
Coghnewagoes, k
Orondocks, k .......|100 Settled near Trois Riviers.
Abonakies, & ......./150
Alagonkins, k ....../100
La Suil,t ..2....../10,000
South-west of Lake Superior
d Dependent on the Six Nations, and connected with “Pennsylvania.
e Connected with Pennsylvania.
f Connected with the Twightwees. |
g These two Nations the English had never any trade, or connection with.
hk Connected formerly with the French. *
i" 2 Connected with the Indians about Detroit, and dependent on the commanding of-
cer.
‘ j Always connected with the French.
-k Connected with the French.
i Never connected in any trade or otherwise with the English.
*There are several villages of Chapawas settled along the bank of Lake Superior, but
as I have no knowledge of that country, cannot ascertain their numbers.
t These are a nation of Indians settled south-west of Lake Superior, called by the French
La Sue; who, by the best account that I could ever get from the French and Indians,
are computed ten thousand fighting men. They spread over a large tract of country, and
have forty odd villages; in which country are several other tribes of Indians, who are
tributaries to the Lasues, none of whom, except a very few, have ever known the use
of fire-arms; as yet but two villages. I suppose the French don’t choose to risk a trade
-among such a powerful body of people, at so vast a distance.
Geological Notices of Barbary. 273
GEOLOGICAL NOTICES OF BARBARY.
Abstract of M. Rozrer’s Geological Notices of Barbary, originally published in
the “Journal de Geologie,” for September, December, 1830, and January 1831.
- Our object being to lay before our readers that kind of trans-
atlantic information which is most curious in itself, and which is
the least likely to be within their reach, we have thought they
would be pleased with an account of the geology of that part of
Barbary which the conquest of Algiers by the French, has made
known. M.- Rozet is a distinguished geologist, and is one of the
joint editors, with M. A. Boue, and Jobert, of the “Journal de
Geologie.” The French government, which omits.no opportu-
nity to cherish science, when it sent the expedition to Africa,
gave M. Rozet an appointment as Geographical Engineer, that
every advantage might be taken of the expedition, in favour of
geological science. M. Rozet has sent some very interesting me-
moirs on this subject to France, from the three first of which we
have made the following abstracts, and have accompanied them
- with M. Rozet’s sections. ; Ep. -
M. Rozet, after saying that the French army landed 14th June,
1830, states, that “ Algiers is built on a talcose schist, like that
on the French coast at Toulon, and is traversed in its mass by
veins of white quartz; that it passes in the upper part into mica
schist ; contains beds of white feldspar, subordinate masses of grey
sub-lamellar, stratified lime stone, more than 100 metres thick,
(828 feet .English)—the strata thin, and separated by partings
of talcose or micaceous schist, beautiful pyrites of copper in the
mass. Near the suburbs of Babaloued there are some beds of
white marble, worked for public buildings. This schistose groupe
exceeds 500 metres in thickness (1640 feet.) The strata are
irregular, and dip to the south, at an angle of from 20° to 45°.
The mountains are 400 metres (1312 feet) above the level of
the sea. (Mt. Banjareah.) The tops of these hills are rounded,
and their sides very steep. They are separated from each other
by deep valleys, through which small rivulets flow. The in-
habited part of the country presents a magnificent vegetation ; fo-
rests of orange, fig, and olive trees, separated by majestic palm
trees, and tall hedges of the agave or aloe. This schistose for-
mation is well developed around Algiers; at the east it rises to
the summit of Mount Banjareah, and stretches along the coast
Vou. [.—35
274 Geological Notices of Barbary.
at least as far as Cape Corinna. The fort of Twenty-four hours,
- and a!l the buildings of the mole, stand upon the grey limestone.
About the mole .the .beds dip to the east. The gneiss forms a
somewhat narrow belt. stretching from east to west. It leaves the
sea-shore in front of fort Babazoum, passes to the emperor’s castle,
and the mountains which command that fortress, and is lost to the
south under the tertiary deposits. M.Rozet remarks, that this gneiss
which has all the characters of a primitive rock, reposes upon talcose
schists, which appear to belong to the transition; but that the veins of
mica schist passing through the gneiss, prove this last to be the old-
est rock, although it covers the talcose schists which pass into mica
slate. We leave the French geologists to reconcile this unconforma-
ble condition of gneiss to the modern opinions concerning transition.
The gneiss dips_to the south, under the tertiary, a calcaire
grossier, (London clay), or a grés calcaire, (calcareous sandstone,)
passing into a pudding stone, resembling the calcaire moellon of
Montpelier. These calcareous beds, like the gneiss, on which they
repose, dip to the south. ‘They pass occasionally into compact .
limestone, (at Staoueli) containing limnea and helices, together
with marine shells. In other places, M. Rozet found large flat
oysters, and large pectens, resembling those which characterize
the beds in Provence. The tertiary abounds along the coast,
from the Swedish consulate to El Aratch, with well preserved
pectens, large oysters, and some terebratule. ‘The tertiary is
covered with diluvial soil, but in no part had fossil bones of quad-
rupeds been found. ‘The tertiary formation is thought to cover
a surface of country of twenty square leagues. The table lands,
the plains, and the bottoms of the valleys, are covered with dilu-
vial soil, resembling that of France. The superficial part is
formed of a red or yellowish marl; beneath it isa mass of mar] and
rolled pebbles, all derived from the neigbhouring mountains. On
the narrow plain to the east and west of Algiers, the diluvial soil
is more than ten metres (32 feet) thick, with some boulders. M.
Rozet finds a strong analogy between the geological phenomena
of the opposite coasts of the Mediterranean.
Geological Notice of the country traversed by the French army, in
the expedition of Media.
To punish the Bey of Titery for his treason, General Clausel
resolved to seek him out in the middle of the Atlas. The army
Geological Notices of Barbary. | 275
left Algiers the 17th November, traversing the tertiary hills be-
fore mentioned, on its way to the plain of Metidjah,* and direct-
ing its route towards the south-west, on the road to Bleidab. The
plain was covered throughout with diluvial soil, lying in undis-
turbed horizontal layers, about 132 feet thick, but in the bed
of the Chieffa, at the foot of the Atlas, it was about 33 feet thick.
The Metidjah is almost uninhabited, and nearly uncultivated,
except where it joins the Atlas; there the town of Bleidah is
charmingly situated, and almost surrounded with magnificent gar-
dens of orange trees. ‘The chain of the little Atlas is here at its
greatest elevation. rising to more than 1200 metres, (3937 feet ;)
the valleys are deep and narrow, and the mountains covered with
woods. ‘These mountains are formed of the same rocks as those
of Banjareah, near Algiers, with the strata dipping to the south:
they present the same aspect as far west as the great farm of
Huche de l’Aga; here the aspect of the mountains changes, they
lower rapidly to the west, the planes have a less inclination, the
vegetation is not as fine, and a change in the soil is announced.
The first rock that occurred on the Atlas was a greyish black
limestone, of a conehoidal fracture, passing into a marly and
schistose limestone, and alternately with schistose marls, in the
manner of the lias. The general inclination of the beds is to the
south, at an angle varying from 10 to 40°, for the hills and ta-
bles, and which in the great escarpements rose to 70°. The stra-
tification is often disturbed, but no volcanic rocks. This forma-
tion is poor in fossils, some broken pectens and ostrea, but no
gryphea, ammonites, or belemnites. The schistose marls contain
small bivalves, (possidonia) which in Europe are characteristic
of the lias. An hour before arriving at the Col de Temiah,t+
which is on the dividing water line, the mass is almost altogether
marly, the limestone becoming subordinate. The Col de Temiah
has been hollowed out of these marls; the general dip is to the
south. ‘The strata south of the Col are cut by veins, almost ver-
tical, of carbonated iron, and laminar sulphated barytes, mixed
with grey copper, malachite, and a little blue carbonate. These
veins are exposed about eighty metres, (262 feet) and the copper
might be worked to advantage. Calcareous and schistose marls,
and the laminar barytes, occur in like manner in Provence, Bur-
gundy, and Ardennes, and M. Rozet considers them true equiva-
*- PI. 73. Fig: 2. } Pl. 7. Fig. 2, continued.
276 Geological Notices of Ba bary.
lents. This formation constitutes mountains 1100 metres (3609
feet) above the level of the sea, with few escarpments, although
a talus is generally to be observed. The timber is oak and cork.
There are no fruit trees in the Atlas, and the olive is only found as
far as Media. After passing the Col de Temiah, the road is ex-
tremely difficult, with scarce room for two to pass abreast; and
after a march of an hour and a half, the army came to the foot
of the chain, upon a small narrow table land, perfectly smooth.
A new change in the beds appeared here, the hills were closed
in by the sub-appenine formation. At the foot of the chain, the
hills which abut upon the lias, are entirely composed of an ar-
gillaceous blueish marl, not schistose like that of the north; about
100 metres thick, (828 feet) and no appearance of stratification.
It contains gypsum, which furnishes plaster for the buildings at Me-
dia, Pectens, Pectunculi; and an immense quantity of that murex,
which is characteristic of the calcareous moellon of Provence, is
found in a yellow ferruginous sand stone, alternating with ferrugi-
nous sand, at the upper part of the hills. As far as Media, three
leagues south-east from the Atlas, and a league further to the
south, M. Rozet found the tertiary formation occurring in like
manner. The town of Media* occupies the summit of a hill, situa-
ted upon the north flank of a great valley, which runs nearly
from east to west. Section No. 2, terminates at this valley, and
No. 3, made about three miles east of it, traverses the same val-
ley, and shows the details of the sub-atlantic tertiary. This for-
mation constitutes hills and small mountains, some of which are
1000 metres, or 3280 feet above the level of the sea, and is en-
tirely identical with that of those hills, which, stretching along
the coast from Cape Matifon to Cherchel, border the plain of Me-
tidjah to the north; so that this tertiary has been deposited on
each slope of the little Atlas, but not in the interior of the chain.
M. Rozet concludes this interesting paper, by showing that the
beds of the lias being highly inclined, and the tertiary deposits |
abutting horizontally against them, the chain of the little Atlas
was necessarily raised before the deposit of these last.
In a subsequent paper, M. Rozet further shows that to the
north of Metidjah, the hills which extend from Cape Matifou to _
beyond Kubber Romerh, are formed of sub-atlantic tertiary, of
the same character as that south of the little Atlas. Blue marl,
* Pl. 7, Fig. 3.
Geological Notices of Barbary. 77
te
covered by sandstone, (grés) alternating with sand, the sandstones
containing the same shells with the calcaire moellon of Pro-
vence. He had found belemnites in the supposed lias. He con-
cludes by stating that the groupe of talcose schists is the inferior
floor of the provinces of Algiers and Titery; that the tertiaries ’
have been deposited posterior to the elevation of the schists, and
that certain trachytic porphyrys, near the ancient Rustonium,
about six leagues from Algiers, did not make their appearance
until after the deposit of the tertiaries.”
Our geological readers will be struck with the importance of
the remarkable agreement of the entire formations, of the oppo-
site coasts of the Mediterranean, as well as with the equivalent
tertiariés south of the little Atlas; all of which facts occasion
many curious reflections concerning the ancient geological state
of that part of the world.
In concluding this abstract, we would point to the especial
interest which these notices of M.Rozet will in fature create, when
it is known that the principal geological circumstances which he
-has so clearly made out on the coast, and in the interior of the
province of Algiers, are, with the exception of the Atlas chain,
repeated on our Atlantic coast; where we have the primary
rocks stretching from New York to Florida, with occasional de-
posits of blue marl, covered with sandstone and ferruginous sand,
as at Mullica Hall, Tinton Falls near Long Branch in New Jer-
sey, and many other places, the secondary character of these is
well made out by belemnites, crocodiles, saurians, &c.—and they
are again superimposed by acknowledged tertiaries,in New Jersey,
Delaware, and especially in Maryland and further south, to the
total exclusionof the great calcareous deposits connectedwith coal,
and the numerous beds of the oolitic series and chalk formation.
We hope, ere long, to be in a situation to enter systematically
upon the geology of this country; but we perceive more and
more forcibly the necessity of raising up a school, and of rallying
practical geologists here, before we can look for such contribu-
tions and aid, as the important task before us demands.
278 Bones in Caves, &c.
BONES IN CAVES, &c.
Extract of a letter from the Rey. Dr. Bucxxanp to the Editor, dated Aug. 23, 1831.
_ “T wave, not long since, had in my custody a fine meteoric
stone about four pounds weight, that fell in Oxfordshire at
Launton, near Bicester, in the spring of 1830 ; it is the property
of Dr. Lee of Aylesbury. An account of it has been published in
Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History for March last. Since
that time a piece of it has been examined by Farraday, and
found to contain chromium, as usual. ['This was doubted. ]
“My expedition to Llandilo was in consequence of a report I
received from W. Long Wrey, Esq., who resides at Llandebie,
near Llandilo, stating that he had found a cave containing hu-
man bones mixed with those of other animals. This is the cave
mentioned in my Reliquiz,* and on my arrival I found, as I had
expected, that the bones are of two distinct zras. First, at the
top, and enveloped in stalagmite, were the human remains—pro-
bably of Celtic inhabitants that. used this cave as a place of
sepulture. Second, between the stalagmite, in diluvial sand and:
mud, the bones of bears, elks, and smaller deer, in the usual
state of cave bones, just like those at Torquay. Isaw none that
had been gnawed, and too few of them had been collected to
enable me to say whether it was a den or pitfall; and the deposit
was so buried. under the rubbish of the lime burners, that it was
impossible to examine further, until the lime burning ceases,
which will be in the autumn, when Mr. Wrey will again pro-
ceed to search. The whole of the rock that covered over the
spot in which these human skeletons lay, has been removed.
“ ] have just received intelligence of the ‘arrival in London of
five cases of bones for me, from the cave at Wellington valley,
collected by Mr. Henderson, (a surgeon) for Col. Dumaresque,
who has forwarded them to me. I have not yet seen them, but
am anxious to compare them with those sent to the Geological
Shane by Major Mitchell: the abstract published in the pro-
* « The other case occurred in 1810, at Llandebie, in Caermarthenshire, where a
square cave was suddenly broken into, in working a quarry of solid mountain lime-
stone, on the north border of the great coal basin. In this cave lay about a dozen hu-
man skeletons in two rows, at right angles to each other. The passage leading to
this cave had been entirely closed up with stones for the purpose of concealment, and
its mouth was completely grown over with grass.—Reliquie Diluviane, 2d ed. p. 166.
Bones in Caves, &c. 279
ceedings of the Geological Society, gives the whole sum and sub-
stance of the paper which he sent to the society, in which no the-
ory is offered to explain their origin. In the account published in
Jameson’s Journal,* it was stated to be a cave like Kirkdale, of
accumulation by the agency of beastsof prey. I donot concur in
this opinion ; there were no gnawed bones in the whole collection,
and the mass was not collected in a horizontal cave, but ina
great fissure, into which I conceive the animals have tumbled during
successive generations. ‘The position of the bones in the vertical
fissure shows it never could have been a den; they lie in heaps
amid angular blocks fallen from the sides of the fissure,and mixed
with stalagmite, and red earthy incrustations, forming a cement,
such as rains and trickling water may bave introduced. There
is no sign of violent igneous action, no rolled pebbles, no frag-
ments of any distant rock, and in one case several bones of a
carpus, adhering together by stalagmite: these have clearly been
submitted to no violent agitation by water; but as the exact
circumstances in which this specimen was found are not men-
tioned, it is possible this carpus may be derived from one of the
most recently introduced animals. I have no doubt the fissure
has thus been supplied with bones by animals falling into it, as
in the Mediterranean fissures. There is no evidence to show
that there is in it any accumulation of diluvium. Mr. Pentland
is positive that the large bone found high up near the top of the
- deposit, is the bone of an elephant; and Mr. Clift is equally posi-
tive as to the tusk fixed in the anterior part of the jaw of a du-
gong. These are strange bed-fellows for kangaroos, wombats,
and the genus omne of present inhabitants of New Holland. The
place of the elephant’s bone is known from the fact of a rope
' having been tied to it, to let down the persons who were descend-
* In the account given to Dr. Jameson by Dr: Lang of Sydney, and which was
published in the ed. N. Phil. Jour. for March, 1831, the bones are stated to have
been found “in a third chamber, generally broken, some strewed on the floor of the
cave, §-c.” From the various accounts published on this subject, we also fell into the
opinion that this was a den which was not a stranger to a diluvial action of great ex-
tent. If these repositories of bones of the present races of animals found in New
Holland, are, as Dr. Buckland supposes, extensive fissures, into which these bones.
have accidentally come, we have yet, thanks to the elephant and the dugong, two
pretty good bones to gnaw. In Mr. Clift’s report, that which Mr. Pentland—who
studied with Cuvier—supposes to have belonged to an elephant, is said to bear a great
resemblance to the radius of a hippopotamus.
280 Scientific Meetings.
ing toa lower part of the fissure where bones were most abun~
dant. There are also in one part of the cavity, transverse plates
of stalagmite enveloping bones, and separated by a thin parting
of red earth, which shows the process of accumulation to have
been gradual, in this part at least. There is also at the geolo-—
gical society a large dentata, sent from New Holland, from near
Sidney, and said to have been found, not in a cave, but near the
surface of the land. It is about the size of the dentata of a rhino-
ceros, but is not exactly like that animal’s vertebra : it remains
yet to be identified.
a
SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS.
Meeting of the. Cultivators of Natural Science and Medicine, at Hamburgh, -
in September, 1830.
In the April number, for 1831, of Dr. Brewster’s valuable work,
the Edinburgh Journal of Science, is a very interesting and lively
account, by Mr. Johnston,of the meeting of naturalists at Ham-
burgh, in September, 1830. These German conventions of
learned men, who cultivate the natural sciences, owe their origin
to Professor Oken of Munich, a distinguished naturalist and au-
thor, and Editor of the Isis, a monthly periodical, commenced at
Jena, in 1817, and devoted to literature and science. It was in
the Isis that Oken first proposed these annual meetings of natu-
ralists; but it was a time when the German courts kept a sur-
veillance over periodical literature, and the proposition coming
from him, was not sufficiently favoured. By the introduction of
some political articles into his Journal, he had formerly given of-
fence, his Professor’s chair of natural history at Jena was taken
from him, and the Isis forbidden to be published in Weimar. In.
1827, however, the King of Bavaria presented him with a chair
in the university of Munich, where he is now Professor of Physi-
ology. The first meeting took place at Leipsic, in 1822. It con-
sisted of about a dozen strangers, and twenty inhabitants. In
1823 they met in greater force at Halle. In 1824 at Wurtzburg.
The accession this year both in numbers and talent was marked;
and from this time credit seems to have been given to them for
the real objects they had in view, wkich were not only to pro-
mote a friendly personal intercourse among men of science, but
| Scientific Meetings. 281
to draw public pttacdign to science, and to excite governmenis
to examine into the condition of their scientific institutions, and
to seek for men of science competent to fill the chairs of public
instruction. At Frankfort, in 1825, they were most honourably
received. The inhabitants of this town, which has no university,
vied with each other in the hospitable attentions they paid to
their distinguished visitors. At Dresden, in 1826, they had also
a very friendly reception. In 1827, Munich received them, but
we shall give Mr. Johnston’s words.
« The sixth meeting, in 1827, was held at Munich, the seat of a flourishing
university, opened only the preceding year under the favouring auspices of
Louis Maximilian of Bavaria. 'This city also deserves well of the society,
and the attentions of the king was such as it had not hitherto experienced.
Besides genera] attention to the comfort and accommodation of the whole
body, particular attentions were paid to the individual members; and each
person, during the period of his stay, had an invitation to dine at least once
in the palace. They now began to reckon their number by hundreds; and
the amount and variety of subjects brought forward at their public meetings
‘ having increased beyond expectation, it was found necessary to break them-
selves up into sections, of which the botanists, an amiable and enthusiastic
race of men, first set the example. Thus time was gained; men of like
tastes and pursuits brought more frequently and more closely together; and
every one spared the infliction of dissertations and discussions upon the
thousand and one subjects in which he felt no earthly interest: for, though
all cultivators of natural science rejoice in the advancement, and admire those
who successfully cultivate any one department, yet each one has his own fa-
vourite branch or branches, beyond which he has little anxiety to roam, and
unconnected with which, discussions, however learned, are often only tire-
some. It was a judicious plan, then, to make the separation into sections, and
thus to permit the shell and fly men to discuss the mysteries of their several
ologies, without scandalizing the more grave and weighty pursuits of medi-
cine and oryctognosy. ‘This practice, begun at Munich, assumed a more ex-
tended and definite form at Berlin, and was finally arranged and consolidated
at Heidelberg.”
- But the most splendid meeting was at Berlin in 1828. The
number of strangers from Germany and the northern countries
amounted to two hundred and sixty-nine, for whom lodgings were
provided in good and convenient situations, gratis. Humboldt
presided, and the king and the royal family graced, with their
presence, some of the entertainments given to them. The dis-
tinguished reception the meeting received in this scientific capi-
‘tal, raised the Deutscher Naturforscher Weropnetaleng to the
Vor. L—36
282 Scientific Meetings.
highest credit. In 1829, the beautiful and romantic city of
Heidelberg received the convention, and in 1830, Hamburgh.
“Tt has now become a matter of debate among the cities of Germany, which .
shall have the honour of receiving the society at their anniversary. ‘To have
the smallest chance, the city desirous of the honour must either be repre-
sented by a deputation of members attending the meeting, or must otherwise
express to the society through its president, its desires, its claims, and the
efforts it will make for general accommodation.” |
It seems that some of the worthy Burgomasters of Hamburgh,
and a great many more of their constituents, did not comprehend
very clearly what all these queer mortals calling themselves JVa-
turforscher, or investigators of nature, wanted in their old town.
Nobody could make out that they desired to buy any thing, and
not one of them had been seen with any thing that was worth buy-
ing; and as buying and selling constituted, in their eyes, the great
ends of existence, they took it for granted that the presence of these
gifted individuals, would be of no great advantage to them, espe-
cially, seeing it was generally understood they were to be fed at
the public expense.
“You might hear the matter discussed over a shipping list, or a newspaper,
in the Boursen Hall; over a sample of coffee, probably on the exchange, or
a beef steak in a restaurateurs. ‘So many men come together to see one
another, come so far merely to look at one another—nonsense !’ And then,
said another, as he took up the thread of the affair, ‘They say we are to feed
them ; but if the Senate spend our money in that way, the town will be about
their ears. When you orI goa travelling on our affairs to a strange place,
nobody will think of treating us, and why should we treat these Naturforscher,
as they call themselves?’ But the judicious and thinking men, though they
did not pretend to understand all the objects of the meeting, thought, gen-
erally, that these strangers, being once within the walls, it would be for their
own credit to use them well for a few days, when they would soon be off
again.” |
And extremely well they were treated, as Mr. Johnston has
abundantly shown.
The most distinguished members present upon this occasion,
were Berzelius of Stockholm. Pfaff and Wiedeman from Kiel.
This last is a celebrated accoucheur, and performed the Cesarean
operation twice upon the same individual. He and Pfaffare the
pride of the university of Kiel. The last is a profound naturalist,
has an extremely lively mind, with a somewhat liberal inclination
in politics. sis ireeh
S cientific Meetings. : 283
- * Travelling in Prussia some years ago, when secret societies were the
erder of the day, and the German governments in great alarm, he talked, as
usual, more freely and boldly than was encouraged in that country. The
Prussian government was offended, and Pfaff having got safe home, the
Prussian ambassador at Copenhagen was charged to make a remonstrance on
the subject; but the king paid no attention, and his ministers, therefore,
could give the ambassador no satisfaction. Determined on pushing the af-
fair, the ambassador had an audience of the king, and signified that the
Prussian government expected Pfaff should be punished. ‘ Oh,’ said the
king, ‘ Pfaff is my very good friend, he has only been alittle distract ; he has”
fancied he was in his own country, where he might say any thing.’ A ter-
rible satire, coming as it did from the most absolute monarch in Europe.”
Amongst the others were Lichtenstein and Encke from Berlin,
with the celebrated Oersted from Copenhagen. Professor Fischer
of the Botanic Garden of St. Petersburg, and Fischer the Zoolo-
gist and President of the Academy of Sciences of Moscow, not
the vegetable, but the animal Fischer, as he wittily told Mr. John-
ston when presented. Struve, eminent in astronomy, from Dor-
pat; Oken from Munich; Dr. Schmeisser of Hamburgh, lecturer
on chemistry, and an old friend and pupil of the celebrated Dr.
Black, was prevented from attending the meeting by ill health,
but Mr. Johnston has preserved some of his lively sayings, and
amongst the rest the following pun of Blumenbach.
* And he told [Schmeisser] with much glee, how, when the method had be-
come newly known, he formed a quantity of artifical spermaceti from some
half decayed muscles by means of nitric acid, and making it into candles,
sent some of them to Blumenbach, with the notice that they were prepared
_ from the legs of a man, who in his life time had done no good, and how Blu-
menbach punningly replied to him, ‘ Mortui lucent qui in vita obscuri fu-
erunt.” :
There were only two or three individuals from England, and
America was represented ,by Dr. Jamieson of Baltimore. The
NVaturforchers dined in public ; from five hundred to six hundred
individuals assembled, including the wives and sisters of members.
Notwithstanding the presence of the ladies, it seems the noise and
confusion, the running about, and the scrambling for places, were
perfectly intolerable. An attempt however was made to drown
the noise by the introduction of music, vocal and instrumental,
which in some degree succeeded.
The opening of the session commenced on the 18th September,
by the delivery of an inaugural discourse from the President
Bartels. The secretary then read the laws of the society. From
284 Scientific Meetings.
these it appears, every person, without election, is a member,
who has written upon natural science or medicine: that a ma-
jority of voices decide every thing; that the place of meeting
shall be variable, and be determined at each anniversary for the
ensuing year. One of the laws is, that the society shall form no
collections, and, except its records, possess no property. _What-
ever is laid before them, shall be again withdrawn by its owner.
Another is, that the expenses of the meeting shall be defrayed
by the contributions of the members present. :
These preliminaries being gone through, Professor Struve de-
livered a long oration on the history, importance, and present
state of astronomy. After magnifying astronomy beyond all con-
ceivable studies, he decided that Germany, of all the countries of
Europe, held the highest rank in this branch, Russia next, then
England and Italy, and France last of all. The discourse is
thought to have savoured of self-adulation, and not to have been
well received. When the business of the first public sitting
was closed, the members retired to form themselves into sections
and to choose their presidents. |
These sections, or committees, appear to have proceeded |
smoothly, with the following exception :
“ On reading his report of the proceedings of the zoological section, Pro- |
fessor Luckart took occasion to animadvert, ina few ill natured words, on the
appointment of Englishmen to preside in that section. ‘It is the first time,’
said he, ‘that a foreigner, who did not understand the language, has been
appointed to preside at a meeting of German naturalists.’ »
This was felt to be bad taste, and worse feeling, by all pre-
sent; for this section had agreed to name a daily president,
and in this way Mr. Gray, and Dr. Traill, had each been honoured —
with the chair. A Dr. Siemers, who followed him, by his judi-
cious conduct made amends for this breach of good manners.
The hours not devoted to science, were most agreeably filled
up by parties of pleasure to the neighbouring gardens, to the ~
island of Heiligoland, to the theatres, and to evening re-unions
of a very agreeable kind, amongst the most distinguished natura-
lists. On the 25th, the last day of the convention, the whole
affair was finished off by a splendid ball, at which all the beauty
of Hamburgh assisted.
We have been exceedingly pleased with every part of Mr.
Johnston’s narrative of this interesting meeting, with one excep- —
Scientific Meetings. 285
tion, where, in ranging himself on the liberal side of the question,
he does not appear with his accustomed liberality. It is where
he attributes to the governments of the German States, an im-
proper control over these interesting meetings, whilst it is evident
to every one, that they are especially encouraged and protected
by the very governments he hints at. ‘The insinuations too, that
Prince Metternicht discourages them, contrary to the wish of the
Emperor, appear to be brought forward merely to support a bad
pun, ‘a la milady Morgan,’ upon the Prince’s name.— II est
comme un Roi ce Mitternacht,” said a Halle man to me.
We do not presume to express any opinion upon the manner
in which Prince Metternicht may discharge his duty to his sove-
reign, but we are not ignorant of Germany, and do not believe a
word of the allegation brought—we believe without considera-
tion,—against this distinguished personage, who is one of the best
informed men in Europe, and whose taste and attainments in
natural science, have, we venture to predict, insured all honour
and protection to the Naturforscher, in their past session, which
was to take place at Vienna in September last, under the very
eye of the Prince. A valued friend of ours, whose name is at
this time pre-eminently conspicuous in Europe in geological
science, in a letter from Vienna, says, “ I met Prince Metternich
at dinner, at Lord Cowley’s, and had a tete a tete with him on geolo-
gy: L found him quite au courant, and certainly a most accomplished
and universal man.” Such testimony as this, which accords with
what we have otherwise heard of this great statesman, makes us
_ turn a deaf ear to such ill founded suspicions of his being un-
_ friendly to the cause of natural history. With this single excep-
tion, we repeat, that we have been highly pleased with Mr.
Johnston’s narrative, which has, in no small degree, made us de-
sirous of receiving the earliest intelligence of the meeting at
Vienna. :
That a society of this kind, constituted by delegates from all
the branches of science, should be imitated in other countries,
was to be expected, and especially in England. Annual meet-
ings of this nature, unless attended by eminent men, would sink
into insignificance, and Germany is too extensive a country, its
principal cities too far separated from each other, to admit of the
most eminent men annually leaving their homes and pursuits,
upon a visit to a distant country. It is probable, that ere long,
286 Scientific Meetings.
Germany, England, Scandinavia, Italy and France will each
have their separate conventions; and if they are held at con-
venient seasons, a few individuals, ardent in the pursuit of know-
ledge, and blessed with leisure and wealth, may visit them all,
and thus get annually a panoramic view of the progress of uni-
versal philosophical theory. If an abstract of the proceedings
of such meetings were published, after the manner of the pro-
ceedings of the Geological Society of London, this indeed would
be a highly intellectual age.
We shall hope soon to lay before our readers an account of '
the “ Proposed general Scientific Meeting at York.” The fol-
lowing circular was forwarded to us some time ago.
Proposed general Scientific Meeting at York, England, to be held
September 26, 1831.
A strone desire having been expressed that a meeting of friends of science
should take place annually, in some central town in England, with the view
of promoting unrestrained communication of scientific opinions and discove-
ries; notice is hereby given, that a committee of the principal scientific so-
cieties of London, Edinburgh, &c., have fixed on the city of York as a most
desirable place for the first meeting ;—to commence on Monday, the 26th of
September, a period of the year which has been ascertained to be most con-
venient for the parties interested, and the meeting to be continued during as
many days as may be deemed expedient. } ay
Any friends of science in Great Britain, or in any other parts of Europe,
who may wish to attend this meeting, are requested to-send a letter (post
paid) to the Secretary of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, York, in or-
der that adequate preparation and accommodation may be secured. It is pro-.
posed that the visitors shall assemble in the Museum and apartments of the
Yorkshire Philosophical Society, to receive memoirs and communications,
and that they shall dine together daily.
Persons arriving in York on the 26th of September, are requested to apply
to the Porter of the Museum for information as to the hours and places of
meeting. i
Foreigners who may honour this meeting with their presence, will find
every accommodation prepared for them.
London, May 25, 1831,
This meeting, which we believe was originally proposed by Dr.
Brewster, will probably be attended by many of the leading men
of Great Britain. Our private letters inform us, that Babbage,
Murchison, Greenough, Conybeare, Daubeny, Brewster, Jameson,
anda mp of eminent persons, had intimated their intention of
Meteorological Observations. 287
being present. We have no doubt it will produce the most bene-
ficial effects to science, smoothing the asperities of rivalry, and
creating a personal bond between individuals, who have the
loftiest objects in view. Under the direction of great minds, the
influence of such institutions will be universally felt, and thus,
ere long, it will be acknowledged, that to study nature and na-
ture’s laws, constitutes not only the most elevated, but the most
pied of occupations. Ep.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS,
Kept at Wilmington, Delaware, by Henry Gibbons, M. D.
Summary ror Aveust 18381.
Therm. Barom.
Average at sun-rise, 67°.23 in. 29.92 | Proportion of clear weather, days 18
Average at mid-day, 78°.68 29.91 | Proportion of cloudy, 13
Average at 10 P.M. 69°.74 29.91 | Whole days clear, 13
Monthly average, 72°.95 29.915 | Days on which rain fell, 8
Maximum, 85°.50 30.15 | Depth of rain, inches 11.9
Minimum, 52° 29.68 | Northerly wind prevailed, days 8
Range, 33°.00 47 | Easterly, aia
Warmest day (17th,) 80°. eee (S. to W.) . 13
Coldest day ‘(2oth,) 609.50
Auroras, none. ‘That observed in Massachusetts, (noticed in the last number, )
on the 3lst. ult. was followed by unsettled weather, and a severe easterly
storm ina week. A very wet month; rains heavy; nearly six inches fell
on the 8th and 9th. The early part of the month cool ; the remainder warm,
except the few last days. Winds generally light and variable. But few
electric clouds. A severe easterly storm on the 7th and 8th. A peculiar
haziness in the atmosphere during this month, and the last, which will be
noticed hereafter.
Summary ror Srpremserr 1831.
Therm. Barom.
Average at sun-rise, 58°.03 in. 29.85
Proportion of clear weather, days 16
Average at mid-day, 70°.90 29.88 4
Proportion of cloudy,
Average at 10 P.M. 60°.386 29.82 | Whole days clear, 12
Monthly Average, 64°.46 29.84 | Days on which rain fell, 10
Maximum, 83°. 30.04 | Quantity of rain, inches 7.25
Minimum, 44°, 29.44 | Northerly winds pevailed, days 11
Range, 39°. .60 | Easterly, 7
Warmest day,(11th,)77°. Southerly, (S. to W.) 12
Coldest days (17th
and 30th) 55°.
Auroras, none. A wet month; rains frequent but not very heavy. Ge-
nerally cool; only a few warm days. Winds not so light nor so changeable
as in the summer months. Electric clouds more frequent than in August.
Four easterly storms, two of them light, and one not accompanied with rain.
A partial white frost on the 30th.
288 7 Scientific Memoranda.
Summary For Ocroser 1831.
Therm. Barom.
Average at sun-rise, 48°.81 in. 29.87 | Proportion of clear weather days 23
Average at mid-day, 62°.43 29.84 | Proportion of cloudy, 8
Average at 10 P.M, 51°.74 29.84 | Whole days clear, _ 19
Monthly average, 55°.65 29.855 | Days on which rain fell, ‘8
Maximum, io". 30.18 | Quantity of rain, inches 8
Minimum, 36°. 29.39 | Northerly winds prevailed, days 12
Range, 39°. .79 | Easterly, 6
Warmest day (8rd,) 67°.50 Southerly, (S.to W.) | 13
Coldest day (28th,) 44°.
An aurora, on the 29th, followed in two days by a transient easterlystorm,
and subsequently by northerly winds. Several heavy rains this month; six
inches fell on the 8th, 9th, and 10th. T’emperature moderate and season-
able ; the middle portion of the month delightful. Winds tolerably constant ;
during the first week, and also in the last week, stormy. A few electric
clouds in the first week. One slight easterly storm, following the aurora ;
also a violent storm from north, with heavy rain, of 36 hours duration, on the
9th, and 10th. Several partial frosts, and one pretty general one, with ice
in places, on the 29th; but the tomato (Solanum Lycopersicon) and other
garden vegetables which are considered sensitive to frost, appear very little
injured yet. The haziness of the atmosphere, observed during the summer,
continued through this month. The sky was scarcely ever clear of it.
Account of an ancient Body, found in a Bog in Ireland.—The body of a
man, in a bog ten anda half feet deep, was found about nine feet below the
surface. The abdomen was collapsed, but it, in all other respects, bore the
appearance of recent death. The face was that of a youth of fine features,
with hair long and black, loosely hanging over the shoulders. — The dress,
which was tight, and reached to the elbows and knees, was composed of the
skin of an animal, probably the moose deer, laced with thongs, and having
the hair inwards. There were no weapons, but a long staff or pole was laid
on each side the body. Varro derives the Sagum of the Romans from the
Sac, or skin dress of the Gauls and Britons, which probably was tight, and
not flowing, from the nature of the material. The Suevi according to Ta-
citus bore flowing hair, and the staffs were familiar to the Silures, according
to the same author. From the depth at which it was found, an immense pe-
riod of time must have passed to admit of nine feet of vegetable matter having
grown over the body, and all the circumstances concur to make it probable
that the body was of a very remote period ; for before the arrival of the Eng-
lish, the Irish wore, for the most part, ill made garments, made from their
black sheep.—Abstract of a paper in Edin. N. Phil. Jour. June 1881.
Collection of Natural History from India.—M. Delamare Picot has brought
from India, into France, an extraordinary collection, for a private individual,
of objects in natural history, and of Indian antiquities. Fifty three species
of Mammifera, among which the Rhinoceros Javanus, found hitherto in Java
only, and which the Jardin des Plantes did not possess.
Pros. R. A. S. of Paris. -
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THE
MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vou. I. PuivapEeruias, January, 1832. No. 7.
GEOLOGY. No.1—ON THE CRUST OF THE EARTH.
Havine in the preceding numbers given our readers a rapid
sketch of the rise and progress of science, and of the causes
which have affected that progress at various periods of society,
we trust that the lesson to be derived from it may be deemed
useful to this young and prosperous country; the citizens of
which have, for one of their most important duties, to act under
the belief, “that nations, like individuals, are weak in proportion
as they are ignorant ; and that the memories of both are most ho-
noured, when they have advanced the arts and sciences.”
We now commence the first number of the promised Essays
on Geology, and shall endeavour to redeem the pledge given in
our prospectus, “ to treat the subject in an elementary manner,
divested of all unexplained technicalities; so that the great
principles, from which philosophical views of the arrangements
and operations of nature are drawn, may be lucidly brought
forward.”
We enter upon this duty with a desire to make our labours
instructive and amusing to all, and aware that we shall have to
attend to the wants of two classes of readers, the initiated, and
those who have even the elements of our science to acquire.
We shall have to throw ourselves upon the indulgence of the
first, the members of which must bear with us for awhile, if we
seek the simplest, and the surest means of accomplishing the
object we have in view—the general diffusion of the study
of nature. They will remember the time when they were,
as well as ourselves, ignorant of elementary principles, and will
Vot. 1.—37 289
— 290 Geology.—On the Crust of the. Earth.
patiently accompany us in the—to ourselves—not most grateful ©
task, of going over, as it were, the horn-book of geology. - This
task, however, we cheerfully enter upon, and shall persevere in
it, urged by the general advantage we hope to accomplish.—
Having no fancies of our own to cherish, no theory to support
which is not raised upon principles of universal application, no
duty to perform but that of placing facts in an intelligent man-
ner before our readers, we shall hope that by the accumulation
of one simple fact upon another, and by the connexion of results
satisfactorily deduced from those admitted facts, we may raise
such accumulated evidences from nature, that their concentrated
light will at length beam with splendour upon the higher phe-
nomena of our science; and that our earth, which to some, per- -
haps, appears an incongruous assemblage of inexplicable diffi-
culties, and the study of it a hopeless and repelling pursuit, may
at length be recognized as a temple of nature, not less remark-
able for the magnitude of its dimensions, than for the order, the
design, and harmony of its parts; and these manifesting a con-
stant physical adaptation to the loftiest moral ends. We trust
that the subject, treated as we here propose, unincumbered
with any speculative views, will be acceptable to all, and
that our more learned readers, whilst elementary principles are
engaging our attention, will find some compensation in the higher
branches of geology of other parts of our Journal.
Geology,—which is derived from two Greek words, meaning the
science of the earth,—in its most comprehensive sense, means the
study of nature, and of all natural objects; whether those recent
ones belonging to the present order of nature, or those fossil ones,
belonging to more remote periods; and which are supposed to
have preceded the creation of man, because no vestige.of the
existence of our race has been found co-eval with them. And
since all the forms in nature present themselves to us, either in
organic or inorganic bodies,—meaning bodies which have the
faculty of continuing their kinds, and those which have not ;—
it is evident that geology stands in relation with all the physical
sciences, and that the geologist who is diligent and faithful in
the practical line of his pursuit, must necessarily become ac-
quainted with mineralogy, zoology, and botany; since the first
comprehends all inorganic bodies, and the two last all organic
bodies. By many the term geology is understood in a more
re
Geology.—On the Crust of the Earth. 291
limited sense, comprehending only the mineral structure of rocks,
their relative position, and the fossils embedded in them. Al-
though the naturalists who have restricted their investigations
to these branches, have added to the general stock of informa-
tion, yet in such hands the study could not rise to the dignity of
a science. ‘The origin of mountains and valleys, the changes of
the bed of the ocean, the action of rivers and nature of volcanoes,
and the highly liberal study of comparative anatomy, were all
excluded by this narrow field of observation, and with them all
the high philosophical views of the harmony of nature, by the
aid of which Geology may claim to be considered as a study
which leads to the knowledge of all natural science. Such is the
definition we would give to our favourite pursuit.
In this Essay we propose to speak of that superficial part of
the globe which is called the crust, and which has been vari-
ously exposed to our observation either by the action of natural
agents, or by human labour. It is from the geological pheno-
mena. thus disclosed, that we become acquainted with the rela-
tion in which Geology stands to all the physical sciences. Let
us first begin with the surface upon which we stand, and let us
suppose an individual whose mind has never been awakened to
this subject, contemplating, for the first time, the nature of that
surface, the sublime height of the mountains, the profound val-
leys, the extensive plains without hills or vales, the oceans, lakes
and rivers, and the thousand irregular beauties which give so
much grace to the face of nature. Yet would this superficial
aspect perhaps awaken no further idea with him, than that the
earth was a homogeneous mass of rocks and clays and sands, as-
sembled without order and design. But at the sea shore, where
the rocks have been worn down to mural escarpments, he will
perceive the beach to be covered with shingles or pebbles, tri-
turated against each other, and thus divested of the angular
form they had, when first broken off from the parent mass,
where they once were, as geologists say, in situ, or in, place.
These will at once remind him of the rounded pebbles of a simi-
Jar character found on the dry land, almost universally, and far
above the level of the sea; in many instances thousands of feet
above the marine level. The moment he begins to think of the
cause which could have produced this agreement betwixt
pebbles found in such dissimilar situations, he enters upon the
2.) a Geology.—On the Crust of the Earth.
study of Geology.. This is one of its first and most important
lessons, and the solution to the inquiry will be found to be the
key to similar phenomena, in situations still more extraordinary.
To trace these rounded pebbles to their native rocks—and on
the dry lands they are sometimes found, hundreds of miles from
their parent beds—they must be compared with other pebbles,
which are generally to be found strewed through countries, to
the original masses. Here a slight knowledge of mineralogy,
one of the branches of geology, is necessary. ‘The next question
the young geologist asks himself is, whether the whole substance
of the planet is one solid mass of rocks resembling those he finds
near the surface. If he has hitherto observed no mineral differ-
ence in the rocks he has examined, and if the territory under
examination furnishes several members of the geological series
of beds superimposed upon each other, he will find some indica-
tions of the presence of those members either in the mural es-
carpments on the sea coast, in the ravines inland which have been
worn by the action of rivers, in valleys or depressions, or in
‘the fissures which have been caused by any natural agents. In
such situations he will often find the mineral structure of the
rocks corresponding on the opposite sides, where the continuity
of the surface has been interrupted, the same beds presenting
themselves on each side. When he is fully satisfied that there
are various mineral beds lying beneath the arable soil on the
surface containing rolled pebbles, he will be still more anxious
to learn the nature of all the beds -lying beneath those he has
examined. And thus it is by travelling and practical investigation,
and by books and the conversation of learned men, that the
young geologist at length comes to the knowledge, that the earth
is not a mass of rocks and clays and sands, accumulated without _
order and design; but that a portion of the superficial part of the
planet, now called the crust, is composed of a series of rocks,
clays and sands, differing from each other in very material cir-
cumstances, and of which the respective members are, at very
great geographical distances, found in a constant relation to each
other, in the general geological series of beds. This geological
series has been described with great fidelity, and will be the
subject of our next Essay. -
By the crust of the earth, we understand that portion of it of
which we have a practical knowledge. There are certain rocks
Geology.—On the Crust of the Earth: 293
at the bottom of the geological series, which have obtained the
name of granite, from the granular form of their constituent mi-
-nerals. The class of rocks to which granite belongs, has, for dis-
tinction’s sake, been called primitive: this designation was given
in the infancy of geology. It was conceived because no rocks
had been discovered beneath granite, that it was the most an-
cient mineral portion of the earth, and hence it got the hypo-
thetical name of primitive. ‘To steer as clear as possible of hy-
pothesis, we shall not use that term, but speak of those rocks as
Primary, in relation to their position in the geological series in
the ascending order; that is, counting from the granite to the
arable soil at the surface, or the diluvium, as this also has been
hypothetically called, though perhaps with better cause. Of the
depths to which this granite extends we know nothing; it is true,
we know from inspection, that in many situations the volcanic
lavas come through the granite, and of course may infer that
they exist in a state of fusion beneath the granite, or—which is
a reasonable conclusion derived from the affinity of their consti-
tuent parts—that they are granite in a state of igneous fusion,
and that consequently there must be vast cavities in the planet.
inferior to the crust.
The existence of volcanic action through every part of the
known world, either by the eruptions of active volcanos, or by
earthquakes, ts an assurance that there must be vast cavities in
the globe, where igneous action is fiercely at work, and of which
these volcanoes are the safety valves. Of their extent, some
opinion can be formed from the great distances at which parti-
cular earthquakes have been felt. That of Lisbon, in 1755, not
only affected the lakes and springs in every part of Europe, but
was sensibly felt in North America. That of New Madrid, in
1811, shook the valley of the Mississippi for several hundred
miles. Such disturbances are to be considered as the effect of
the resistance which the solid parts of the crust of the earth op-
pose to the expansive power striving in those profound cavities.
We at length apply this force to many phenomena of our science, ~
and thus comprehend what would otherwise be incomprehensi-
ble: it is thus we come to understand how the tops of the high-
est mountains, and the bottoms of the lowest valleys, are formed
of the same primary rocks; for when we observe some of. the
stratified beds which lie much higher up in the series than the gra-
294 Geology.—On the Crust of the Earth.
nite, reposing at high inclinations upon the flanks of the granite
mountains, with accompanying marks of violent dislocation, the
truth flashes upon us, and we perceive that these mountains
have once existed at lower levels, and that they have been
forced up through the superincumbent beds, by the expansive
power for ever struggling in the interior of the globe. It is thus
we become acquainted with the existence of a power capable
of the mightiest mechanical exertions. If earthquakes in our
own time rend the earth, dislocate its solid: parts, and ingulph
portions of it in the chasms they produce, it may have been so
co-eval with the existence of the planet. If the volcano of
Skapta Jokul in Iceland, could, in 1783, pour out streams of lava,
sufficiently hot and voluminous, not only to melt down the an-
cient lavas, but to more than fill the gorge of a river two hun-
dred feet wide, and six hundred feet deep, damming up the
streams and inundating the whole country, so may it have been
in ancient geological times. If in 1822, the coast of Chili was
raised to the height of five feet, for one hundred miles, by a sin-
gle volcanic paroxysm, we can conceive of continents and moun-
tain chains being raised to their present elevation, by repeated
shocks in ancient times. In the account of the recent rising of
the volcano of Hotham Island in the Mediterranean sea, it will
be observed that the interval between the eruptions, was uni-
form between one hour and a quarter and one hour and a half,
and that the eruptions were followed by an evident increase in the
size of the island. ‘The details of this rare spectacle are highly
valuable; they will be seized upon with great avidity by geolo-
gists, many of whom, we have no doubt, will consider the pheno-
menon as an epitome of those ancient parturitions of the ocean,
geology is sb pregnant with. Finally, if at the present day,
springs peculiar to volcanic countries, deposit silex, bitumen,
lime, and other substances, so it may always have been. And
indeed we have the physical assertions of these probabilities, in
the disturbed state of the lower stratified rocks, the extent of the
trap formations, the elevation of Italy, the Alps, and many other
regions, and the ancient beds of quarts, pitchstone, primary lime-
stone and oolites, which last approach so near to the modern
travertinos of Italy. Wherever volcanic waters are, there we
find-calcareous and other mineral substances, and under circum-
stances encouraging the opinion, that they have at all times de-
Geology.—On the Crust of the Earth. 295
rived their origin from the interior and unsearchable parts of
the globe.
To some who have never reflected upon this subject, it may
appear startling to hear, that continents and chains of mountains
have been raised from the interior parts of the earth by the force
of subterranean expansive power; but every effect is propor-.
tionate to its cause, and where the first is definite and the last
immeasurable, we must submit to the reasonableness of the pro-
position, remembering always, that although human power
dwindles into insignificance, when applied in imagination to dis-
turb-a mineral mass like the crust of the earth, which has a
thickness of between seven and eight miles attributed to it; yet
that the semi-diameter of the earth exceeds more than five hun-
dred times the space occupied by that crust; and that it is de-
monstrable that a gaseous pressure may be generated in such a
radius, to which the known mineral mass could make no resist-
ance. In reasoning therefore upon these high matters, we must
not measure unknown forces by our own feeble powers, but by
the effects they are capable of producing; and must treat of the
causes and of the effects of this high planetary character, in
relation to the proportion in which they stand to each other.
Mr. De la Beche, in his Sections and Views illustrative of geo-
logical phenomena, has an admirable Plate on this subject, which
will do much towards reconciling the most incredulous to the
views we have offered. We have made this plate somewhat
more elementary, in accordance with our plan. *A. Fig. 1,
is the radius of the earth, from which at B. a line is set off at
100 miles from the level of the sea. A. Fig. 2. represents the
same radius multiplied 10 times. B. is a line at 100 miles
from the level of the sea. C. a line eight miles from the tops of
the highest mountains. D. the level of the sea. LE. the height
of the Himalaya and Andes. F. the Alps.
The crust of the earth has been often likened to the propor-
tion which the varnish on a cabinet globe bears to the mass it
encloses, but this Diagram appeals more strongly to the imagi-
nation. It is evident that the pneumatic forces which may be
generated in this radius, are capable of producing inequalities
upon the earth’s surface, that would, to use the language of
Shakspeare, “ make Ossa like a wart,” even if they had their
* Vide Pl. 8.
296 On the Causes which retard Geological Knowledge.
seat within the line B, extending itself at a depth of one hundred
miles from the level of the sea. Mr. De la Beche ridicules the
“ stupendous mountains” and “ tremendous dislocations” of some
writers; and in truth, when we consider this Diagram, we are
not only apt to hold mountains, and earthquakes, and fissures
very cheap, but to wonder how it is that we are permitted to
keep possession so quietly. Our readers, however, will not take
alarm at our A’s and B’s and C’s; they know that there isa
power both wise and benevolent that controls the fearful agents
appointed to work his will. These, whilst they beautifully dis-
pose the surface of the earth for our benefit and enjoyment, re-
member the voice, “ thus far and no farther.” With great con-
fidence, therefore, we may all say with the psalmist, “'Therefore
will we not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the
hills be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters rage
and swell, and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the
same.”
Norr.—Lest it should be supposed that some of the language
of this Essay has been borrowed, without acknowledgment, from
geological writings heretofore published, where the name of the
writer may not have been affixed; the Editor requests those
who may observe any coincidence of this kind, to believe, that
he never quotes from a previous publication without acknow-
ledgment, except where he has been the unknown author.
a
ON THE CAUSES WHICH RETARD GEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE.
(From a correspondent, dated London, October 12, 1831.)
“I take great pleasure in speaking encouragingly to you, of
the success of your Journal in England. I am sure you will be
satisfied with the various commendations it has received. ‘The
review of your first number, in the Philosophical Magazine for
this month, is conclusive as to its reception here; and | think
your numbers for August and September sustain well the praises
which it has amply given to that for July. American geology
has been in such a state of confusion, and we have been so much
in the dark about it, that we are very much gratified in the
prospect before us, of having the geological facts of your country
brought intelligently out ; and J know that this feeling is partaken
J
On the ees which retard Geological Knowledge. 297
by many of the leading continental geologists. | also know that
the tone of the “ Introduction” in your first number, has given
particular satisfaction here. Your friendly critic in the Philoso-
phical Magazine has but done you justice on that subject. You
have certainly taken the correct philosophical view of the man-
ner in which geologists should treat that—with inexperienced
minds—too attractive branch of our science, and have hap-
pily freed both your Journal and the subject from the appre-
hensions which would enable prejudice to raise up an unfriendly
spirit against them. In truth, the material origin of this planet
is by no means a proper topic for geological writers, and you
‘may observe, that all writers, who—as they thought—have been
laying a great deal of strength out upon it, are now entirely dis-
regarded, and are indeed classed among the weakest of those —
writers who have entered the lists. See the inventions and
’ opinions of Burnet, Whiston, Buffon, De Luc, and many others,
whose names have at different periods greatly influenced science :
we look back with surprise, mingled with pity, upon the effusions
of ‘great minds like theirs, which aspired to instruct mankind in
some of the loftiest branches of physical science, whilst yet un-
| conscious of its elements.
“Tt has been an axiom in education for a long viericds that it is
of the very nature of truth, that we should be led to it by practi-
cal induction; yet how much is that axiom disregarded, to the
detriment of science, and to the bringing of names—otherwise
meritorious—into disrepute. It is lamentable to see how men
erect altars, from time to time, as if to immolate themselves upon.
Men who knew little or nothing of practical geology, have written
on the subject as if for the express purpose of deterring others
from the pursuit of it; they have cherished the false idea that
‘modern geology and true religion do not accord with each other.
, Some of them have affectedly assumed a tone of piety, merely to
entrap their readers ; and, indeed, as you say, if the modern
leaders i in geology had not, by their learning, industry and pru-
dence, succeeded in eradicating these groundless opinions, the
science would have been very much retarded with us. In like
manner on your side of the Atlantic, in order to prevent the few
from misleading the million, you will find it necessary to assail all
wild and affected speculations, whether religious or irreligious,
and to tell your readers what is not geology, before a steady at-
— Vor, .I.—38
298 On the Causes which retard Geological Knowledge.
tention can be drawn to the facts upon which a knowledge of
the science can be raised. In Europe there are sufficient sound
geologists to check all affectations in the science. This is not the
case in countries where the science has not been actively pur-
sued, nor can it be supposed there is the same check upon the
propagation of errors in the United States: hence the teachers
of geology there have a great responsibility upon their hands,
and it is certain that the progress of geological knowledge will
be commensurately slow in America, if, to the discarded theories
and prejudices of Europe, others of native growth are superadded.
I do not ‘know that any information I could send you from this
side of the water, would be as valuable as the result of the ex-
perience of this country in the study of geology, and which you
can apply, if you choose, with the same success to the present
state of that science with you, that you do all the other instruc-
tive lessons you derive from Europe, which is at present a great
experimental school for America.
“The re-publication in your country of the third edition of
Bakewell’s ‘ Introduction to Geology,’ was some evidence of a
strong taste for that science, for the author of that work is an
experienced practical observer ; and the one hundred and twenty
pages of matter appended to it by the American editor, himself
a professor of geology, induced the friends of science here to ex-
pect a summary of American phenomena, to contrast with those
European ones Mr. Bakewell has brought forward with so much
ability. In this we have been greatly disappointed. This volu-
minous Appendix, which has both Preface, Introductory Views,
and an Index, and which professes to be an outline of the Philo-
sophy of Geology, is not only barren of practical instruction, but
has by no means steered clear of those conceits and fancies, which
have rendered the labours of so many writers utterly useless.
This is greatly to be regretted, coming from a public teacher,
who has it in his power to bias the minds of so many ingenuous
youths. It is by no means with unkind intentions to the writer,
that I enter upon a brief analysis of some parts of this appendix.
“Page 7. ‘ Are the discoveries of geology consistent with the
_ history contained in the book of Genesis ? |
“« Respecting the deluge, there can be but one opinion, and that
opinion has ‘been already stated ; geology pth confirms the scrip-
ture history of that event.’
On the Causes which retard Geological Knowledge. 299
«There is doubtless more difficulty as to the earlier periods ;
but the writer, after studying the subject for many years, has
formed the opinion, that the geological facts are not only consis-
tent with sacred history, but sas their tendency i is to illustrate
and confirm it.’
“The sum total of the meaning of these passages is, that the sedi-
mentary deposit found so extensively upon the present surface,
was deposited there by the Noachic deluge recorded in the
scriptures; for there are no other discoveries in geology, that
have any reference to any thing contained in the book of Gene-
sis. And when he says, “ there can be but one opinion,” and a
confirmative one, that geology fully confirms the scripture his-
tory of that event, he either speaks unadvisedly, or without in-
formation ; for the leading names in geology with us in Europe,
have been for some time divided on that point. Lyell, Murchison,
Sedgewick, (a clergyman, and professor too, at Cambridge,)
Scrope, Fitton, and many others, distinguished Fellows of the
Royal Society of London, have declared they do not believe
geology confirms the scripture history of the deluge. To these may
be added the distinguished names of Blainville, Jeffroy, Demarest,
&c. &c. from the continental geologists. Not one of these phi-
losophers has ventured to impugn the scripture account of a
great deluge, but they do declare, that their laborious investiga-
tions have led them to the opinion, that the sedimentary matter
ascribed by some geologists to the Noachic flood, has been de-.
posited by partial and Jocal inundations, arising from causes still -
_ in action, and which have been immemorially degrading old sur-
faces, and producing new ones. They see no evidence of one
universal inundation of the earth, in practical geology, and few
men have seen more than themselves. ‘The antagonist names
of others who hold modified opinions on this subject, are also of
great weight ; for if any men deserve the confidence of the scien-
tific world, it is Buckland, Greenough, Conybeare, De la Beche,
Warburton, in England; Cuvier, Brogniart, Cordier, Elie de
Beaumont, &c. in France. Thus we see, that although there
may be only one opinion in Yale college on this point, yet out of
it, the scientific world is divided into two great parties. ‘There
are other passages in this appendix, of a similar nature, and even
more censurable. i
“Page 25. ‘Indeed, it is generally agreed, that judging from
300 On the Causes which retard Geological Knowledge.
the appearances of things, we must conclude, that the earth was
originally, and for a long time, submerged ; and that its crust, at
least, has been in a soft and impressible state, if not partially, or
wholly in solution.’
“Geology declares, that the original, or at least early state of —
the surface of the planet, was that of a watery abyss; and the.
book of Genesis, in the concise account which is there exhibited
of the origin of things, reveals the same fact, as well as the re-
cession of the waters, by which the dry land was made to
appear.’
_ “©The most important fundamental rocks of our globe are com-
posed, in general, of crystalline materials, bearing every appearance
of having been deposited from a state of prevailing repose,’ &c.
“« We may therefore take it for granted, that the aqueous abyss
preceded the habitable condition of the earth, and we are at
liberty to reason ne its probenle constitution and possible ef-
fects.’
“ After all which suppositions taken for granted, follows a full
analysis of this said aqueous abyss; containing all the chemical
agents, the sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, phosphoric, fluoric and car-
bonic acids; the alkalies, potassa, soda, lithia; the metallic ox- -
ides: carbon, and other combustibles: oxygen, chlorine, iodine, in
short, every thing a chemist could possess in his laboratory,—for
it is there the author must have learnt to concoct aqueous
abysses—all acting with intense energy, “ as they came from the |
hand of the Creator.” Solutions, decompositions, precipitations,
&c. &c. With such a fermentation as this strange mess must
have made, it is impossible to conceive how it could be got quiet
enough to assume that state of “ prevailing repose,” necessary to
the production of his crystalline rocks, his garnets, his tourma-
lines, his beryls, as they are found in all their beauty at Haddam,
Connecticut. ‘That any geologist ever discovered a spoonful of
such a concoction, is not to be believed. The Dead sea is pure
compared with it. Not a syllable is mentioned of it in the Bible,
and thus we are obliged to.submit to the conclusion, that it never
existed out of the chemical imagination of the writer, who very
innocently believes, as we may gather from the following passage,
that no one can possibly disagree with him on this subject.
“ Page 27. ‘For while decisive facts declare it to the mere
philosopher, revelation unfolds it to the believer, and both con-
Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge. 301
‘spire to establish the truth in the minds of that large and re-
spectable class of individuals, who combine both these characters
in one.’ : : ;
“Tn the present state of geological knowledge, it is impossible
to read the passages I have cited, without animadverting upon
the extraordinary delusion they betray. Much as we agree with
the professor in his reverence for the scriptures, we have long
come to the opinion, on this side of the water, that it is the ham-
mer and not_the bible we are to take up when we would enter
upon the study of geology ; besides, all Europe is now on the side’
of the igneous origin of the inferior rocks, and nothing can be
more superfluous than such an extravagant chemico-aqueous
abyss.
«f make these strictures with reluctance; the acknowledged
. friend to science they concern, must break through the web he is
weaving around himself and others, if he would not obscure his
reputation by indulging in empiricisms unworthy of the age.”
ON THE CAUSES WHICH RETARD THE ADVANCEMENT OF
ZOOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE.
Critical Notice of “ Synopsis Reptilium, or Short Description of the Species
of Reptiles—By Joun Enwarp Gray, F.R.S. F.G. 8S. &c.—Part .—
Caraenracta. London, 1831.”
Tue higher branches of mathematics, politics, and metaphy-
sics, for many years occupied the vigorous intellect of the British
nation, whilst natural science was comparatively neglected.—
For some time, however, its various branches have excited great
interest, and their importance is now duly appreciated and ac-
knowledged, in many departments vying with the most forward
nations, and in Geology, absolutely taking the lead.
In the work before us we have a very neatly printed octavo
of eighty pages, constituting one, of the many attempts of English
naturalists to classify and arrange a very interesting department
of zoology; but one which has been characterized by great
confusion, and which yet requires much labour and research to
make the system complete. To us it appears that the great
fault of most of the writers on zoological nomenclature since the
days of Linnzus, consists in a laboured effort at a display of
!
302 Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge.
learning in coining useless new names of objects, already long
described, and well known to naturalists. The changing of
names, and adding to the already confused state of the synony-
ma; the elevating varieties into species, and cutting up the spe-
cies into numerous sections, families and genera, on the most tri-
fling distinction, or on no distinction whatever. The study of
natural history is thus rendered as dry and uninteresting as a
Greek vocabulary, and the interest of the object absolutely lost
in the learned pleonasm in which it is buried. Thus it will con-
tinue to be until there arises a powerful reformer, some modern
Linneus or youthful Aristotle, to make’ a clear sweep of this
Augean stable, who, guided by nature alone, and governed by
that admirable simplicity so forcibly displayed in all her opera-
tions, will present the world with a system at once comprehen-
sive and intelligible. In the words of one of the purest writers,
“Tf IT was to form a system, it would be that of simplicity; it should
pervade all works of imagination, all inquiries of science, all per-
formances of the chisel and pencil, all behaviour, and all dress.
_ Carry this idea even to the most awful height, what is simplicity
but truth, the great basis of virtue and religion? Simplicity is
the child of nature; the love of it seems implanted in us by Provi-
dence ; yet all the labour of erring mortals is to depart from this
great and open road, and to return to it when they have seen —
the fallacy of winding paths and doubtful mazes.”—Jonwson.
The recently formed genera, Kinixys, Pyxis, Kinosternoh, Ster-.
notherus, Hydrospis, &c. will be considered of no avail in such a
system, seeing that they consist in unimportant variations in co-
lour, and slight modifications of the form of the shell, which pro-
duce no difference of consequence either in the habits or general |
organization of the animals themselves; and constitute, in fact,
mere varieties of species, in some instances not characteristic of
any peculiar genus; and in one instance at least, the character
absolutely becomes obliterated by age.
This work is principally characterized by such learned dis-
plays in nomenclature, and too frequently at the expense of ac-
-curate knowledge of the subject discussed.
Had one half the talent, labour, and observation, which the
author has displayed in this little treatise, been applied to detect.
the true habits of the animals, as displayed in the woods, the
fields, the rivers and the seas; or had he directed his observa-
Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge. 303
- tions to their internal organization as unfolded by zootomy, he
would have added greatly to the cumulative mass of solid in-
formation, and would have spared himself much unproductive
labour. cee : .
We have, nevertheless, perused the treatise with both profit
and satisfaction; it not only shows considerable research, but
convinces us of the increasing taste for similar pursuits in Eng-
land.
With these preliminary observations we propose to note a
few of the inaccuracies and oversights which are but too evident
to the practical herpetologist. ‘There is occasionally displayed
a looseness of style, which might have been dispensed with in a
work strictly scientific; speaking of the class reptilia, he says,
“ the young are like the mother.” Now we have raised numbers
of these little creatures in our own garden, and can assure Mr.
G. that the young not unfrequently betray a strong likeness t
the father! ‘The characters which distinguish some of his ge-
nera, are in reality no distinction whatever; thus his genus
“ Chelys,” at page 7, is designated by marks equally applicable
to the very different genus 'T'rionyx.
He sometimes founds specific distinctions, on slight difference
in colour, or some insignificant markings: see for example his
Emys decupata, compared with E. serrata; whilst in other in-
stances, species, perfectly well characterized by recent authors,
are confounded in the synonyma: thus 'Testupo elephantopus, is
quoted as synonymous with T. indica—the former differing in
the number and form of the marginal plates, in the presence of
a nuchal plate, and in the totally different direction of the poste-
rior marginal plates—not to mention other peculiarities observ-
able in the head and integuments. We consider these species to |
be as-distinct in organization, as they are distant in their habits.
After having stated that the marginal plates of tortoises re-
present analogically the costal cartilages of mammalia; Mr. G.
remarks, “ the testudo areolata (Thunb.) is apt to vary in the
number of dorsal and marginal plates,” which is to admit a vari-
ation in the number of ribs and of their cartilages; a difference
of this nature, we think, rather points to specific distinction ;
- much more so, indeed, than the “ sculpture of its shields, and pe-
culiar scaling of the animal.” Vide page 13.
The Testudo pusilla, (Linn.) Mr. Gray describes for the
304 Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge.
eighth time, under almost as many names, and has given a tole-
rable good figure; he here calls it Cumrsiva angulata, having
previously described it as 'T. Bellii: vide Gray, spic. zool. t: 3.— —
If the synonyma he quotes are to be depended on, then the real
Linnzan name of the species must be retained, bearing i in mind
always, that the genus Cumrsiva of Merrem, is only the old
genus T'msrupo, with the sternal plate slightly capeiperee nig
riorly, and would include T. polyphemus of Bartram.
_ Concerning the genus “ Kinrxys” of Bell, it may be Fendekol,
that, if the peculiarity noticed in the back-plate of the species
of this genus be not only accidental, as Baron Cuvier states it to
be, it can serve only to distinguish a variety common to two or
more species of testudo: and the genus “ Pyxts” of Bell, also ap-
pears to us as representing a variety of the genus CisrupA, 0 or
common box tortoise.
The very natural genus Cistuna, first established by that sen-
sible and. classical naturalist, Mr. Fleming, (Vide Philos. of
Zool.) and adopted by Mr. Say two years subsequently, (Vide
Jour. A. N.S. vol. iv.) Mr. Gray places in the family EMYDA‘,
and represents these animals “ as living in ponds and ditches,
only taking their food while in the water,” and thinks he has
observed 36 species, 18 of which come from America; (vide p. 17.)
The cistuda clausa, or common “ bow turtle” of North America,’
possesses none of the habits above enumerated, but is in every
respect a “ land tortoise,” which is the name by which this ani-
mal universally goes by in this country; and Mr. Say remarks,
very judiciously, (vide Long’s Ist Exped.) that he examined this
species as it came under his observation throughout the country,
from the shores of the Delaware to the base of the Rocky
Mountains, and could detect only a single species, presenting
‘many varieties in colour and markings. In like manner, the
Testupo trifasciata of Bell, or Cistuda trifasciata, Nee cig a a
variety of Cistuda clausa of other authors.
Mr. G. is most fruitful in synonyma: the land-tortoise of Eu-
rope, so familiarly known, is dignified by ten titles, not doubting
but that it possesses legitimate claims to all of them. 3
The genus Emys of Gray, only differs from the other species
of this genus, as adopted by other authors—and from which this
_ is taken—in having the back and breast-plates united by solid
(not osseous) symphysis; the habits and general organization be-
Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge. 305
ing similar, they naturally arrange themselves under one genus,
but admit of being divided into two sections.
Mr. Say had confounded the Testudo scabra of Linn., which
inhabits South America, with a kindred species existing in New
Jersey, in the vicinity of Philadelphia. This species was subse-
quently described as distinct by Major Le Conte, under the name
of Emys inscripta. Mr. Gray has unnecessarily increased the
synonyma by adding the specific appellation of “ speciosa” to this
tortoise. (Vide p. 26.)
The Emys concentrica, or centrata, is the only tortoise vulgarly
called Terrapin in our country; it has been so long and so high-
ly esteemed as a luxurious article of diet with us, as to have oc-
casioned the almost total extinction of the species in the vicinity
of Philadelphia; but the Emys serrata, or red-bellied terrapin,—
E. rubriventris of Le Conte, is beginning to appear in our market
to replace it in some degree; the former have been sold for six
dollars a dozen, and are brought from a distance of more than a
hundred miles: we have seen a black-spotted variety of this
species from South Carolina.
The Emys vittata of Gray, is very probably the young of the
E. concinna of Le Conte.—Vide Cuv. Regne Anim.
E. decussata, i. rugosa, and E. scripta, of Gray, are mere vari-
eties of E. serrata, (Daudin,) which is very common in our middle
and southern states.
The E. Lesueuri, (Gray,) has been more descriptively named
E. geographica by Lesueur himself; writers cannot too scrupu-
lously avoid adding to the already plethoric list of synonyma.
E. Belli, E. Kinosternoides, and E. Annulifera, of Gray, do not
appear as yet specifically identified. Vide pp. 31, 32.
In two of our fresh water tortoises, viz. E. odorata and E. pen-
sylvamca, the anterior and posterior lobes of the sternum, are
frequently united to the middle lobe by a cartilaginous suture
only, admitting of slight motion; a peculiarity which was thought
sufficiently important by Spix, on which to construct a new ge-
nus, under the name of KinostERNon, an arrangement adopted
by Bell and Gray, although it is admitted that these sutures are
liable to become obliterated by age; under which circumstance,
an old individual of E. odorata was pronounced a distinct species
by Daudin and Merrem, and named “ Glutinata !”
The fourth genus, Cuetypra, of Schweiger, also constructed
Vou. .—39
306 Causes which retard Zoological Knowledge.
on the old genus Emys, possesses stronger claims to distinction,
though we at the same time prefer the more classic name “ CuE-
LonurA,” of Dr. Fleming, for this genus: it consists, according
to Mr. Gray, of only a single species, vulgarly called alligator-
tortoise, or “ snapping-tortoise,” of the middle states, and known
to the African slaves of the southern states by the name of
“ couta,” probably from some fancied resemblance to an animal
of their own country. We have, however, seen the shells of three
other distinct species of this genus; one from our northern lakes,
one from South America, and another from oriental India, from
the river Silet, a branch of the Burrempootra.
The family “ Trionycuip#,” includes a very interesting group
of fresh water tortoises: two or three species having been re-
cently observed with more than three claws; the genus trionyx,
will not, as heretofore, include all the species—Mr. Gray’s re-
marks on the species of this genus would be more useful, had he
stated the dimensions, in his descriptions of animals varying in
size, from a few inches, to a foot, and more.
The remarks of our author on the sea tortoises, (family cHELo-
NIADG,) are not without interest ; his first genus, spHarers, of
Merrem, has been better named “cortupo,” by Fleming.—Vide
Philosophy of Zoology.—These animals attain to a great size oc-
casionally on our coasts, as noble specimens preserved in our mu-
seums abundantly testify. An individual now in the New York
museum, purchased by the proprietor for $500, was thrown on
the coast of Long Island, in a recent N. E. gale, and weighed
1400lbs. Mr. Gray gives as the habitat of this species, “in mare
Mediterraneo.”
In the second order,—or EMyDOSAURI, of Blainville, are ar-
ranged all the living crocodiles and alligators. We think the
denomination of crocopiLint, applied by Oppel to this group, pre-
ferable on many accounts. Alluding to the general characters
of this group, Mr. Gray repeats the exploded error, relative to a
very important point in their anatomy: viz. “ the heart is three
celled,” &c.—Vid. p. 55.—This oversight is the less excusable in
Mr. G. inasmuch as he quotes the book, in which correct infor-
mation is contained relative to this subject.
The habits which our author attributes to the animals of this
group, will not apply in any respect to our alligator, which feeds
chiefly on live fish. (Vid. Bartram’s Travels, et passim.) We re-
«
On a New extinct Fossil Vegetable. 307
commend the author of this synopsis to peruse carefully the
Journal of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia, and
promise him much useful information on the anatomy and clas-
sification of reptilia.
For the habits of crocodilus acutus, (Cuv.) Mr. G. quotes, er-
roneously, Bartram and Descourtilz, whose observations refer to
c. lucius (Cuv.) only, which in this synopsis adds another to the
interminable list of names, and figures as alligator mississiprensis!!
When will closet writers learn to copy that beautiful simplicity
which we observe displayed by nature, in all her operations 1—
In the Journal of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadel-
phia, Mr. G. may obtain more interesting materials concerning
the fossil crocodiles.
The third and last order of this treatise. or ENALIOSAURI of
Conybeare, consists of fossil extinct genera and species, and are
more particularly interesting to the geologist and comparative
anatomist ; but as they constitute a new order of reptilia, are
very properly treated of in a general synopsis: in this, as in al-
most every other instance in the volume before us, Mr. G. has
failed to do justice to American writers; the new genera and
species which they have added to this order, are not even noticed.
—Is this to be attributed to ignorance, ill nature. or criminal in-
difference towards his collaborators? RoBi Fe
ON A NEW EXTINCT FOSSIL VEGETABLE OF THE
FAMILY FUCOIDES.
By Ricaarp Hartan, M. D. Philadelphia, Dec. 6th, 1831.
Natural order, ALGQi.—Linneus. Family, Fucornes.—Stern-
burg and Brongniart. AxeacitEs, Schlotheim. Section, Cra-
poryTEs.— Harlan.
F. Brongmartii.—Fronde elongata, sub-quadrangularis, cana-
liculata, transverse rugosa ; ramulis inequalis, sparsis, remotis,
compressis, rugatis, recurvis, nudis. ;
Place in the series—Compact sand-stone, subjacent to the coal
formation: occurring in slabs from one to three inches in thick-
ness, the upper surface being tinged ferruginous.
Locality—Western part of the state of New York: the fossil
is also stated to abound on the Welland canal, Canada.
»
308 On the Constituents of Primary Rocks.
This fossil fucus is readily recognized as a species allied to the
F. alleghaniensis, which I recently described in the Journal of the
Academy of Natural Science, vol. vi. from which it differs prin-
cipally in the elongation and uniformity of the stem, its sub-quad-
rangular form, in general, and in being more compressed and
elevated on the surface of the stone. The branches of the pre-
sent species are less fastigiated, and more remote from each other:
inno instance are the tops of the branches exposed to view in
the specimens which have come under my cognizance. The
largest stem is one third less in its greatest visible diameter in
the present species, and they intercept, cross, or run into each
other in various directions, so as occasionally to assume an ap-
pearance not unlike the asterias.
I have seen a very perfect specimen of this fossil, from the vi-
cinity of Lockport, N. Y. in the possession of W. R. Johnson, Esq. ;
and Mr. Peale’s museum of N. York possesses a very large slab
of these fossils. I am indebted to the politeness of P. A. Brown,
Esq., for the opportunity of describing this species, who obtained
it in the state of New York, during a geological excursion last
summer. Specimens in the cabinet of the Academy of Natural
Science, cabinet of Mr. P. A. Brown, &c.
In consideration of the great obligation under which Dr.
Brongniart has placed all admirers of oryctology, by the publica-
tion of his invaluable “ Vegetaux fossiles,” | have taken the liberty
to designate this species by his name.
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE CONSTITUENTS OF
PRIMARY ROCKS.
We have on this continent a very extensive geological limit,
constituted of primary rocks and their subordinates. It consti-
tutes an inflected line, commencing in the north, and passing
southwardly from the indented shores of Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, to the city of
New York, of which it forms the base. Thus far, this limit is
bounded by the ocean, and has for its general mineralogical cha-
racter, the rocks commonly called granite and gneiss. There
are many varieties of these two rocks, occasioned by the varying
proportions in which their respective constituents are found
together. Granite has for its constituents, felspar, quartz, and
On the Constituents of Primary Rocks. 309
mica, and in general, granites are distinguished by having a much
greater proportion of felspar than of either of the other two
minerals. Sometimes the felspar is formed into well defined
crystals, either white or red, it is then called a porphyritic
granite. ‘The quartz of such rocks is usually of a glassy lustre,
and in very irregular shaped grains. The mica is disseminated
in it, in small blackish or silvery scales. Granite rocks of this
character, although they pass gradually into gneiss, differ re-
markably from it in one particular, all granite being massive.
When the predominating mineral of the granite, felspar, de-
creases very much, and the mica greatly increases, and its innu-
merable plates become formed into well defined parallel layers,
then granite losing its massive structure, splits in the direction of
the mica, and becomes a true gneiss, recognizable by the eye
by the parallel lines it externally bears. Students in geology
will also observe, that the granite we have been describing, is
always found subjacent to the gneiss, and indeed, from no other
rock being found inferior to it, granite is considered as the basis
of all the primary rocks; and gneiss, from the constancy with
which it is found reposing upon the granite, is considered the next
in order of succession. When the principal constituent parts of
gneiss, quartz and mica, are finely combined together, and have
a yellowish or greenish lustre, then they form a rock which splits
into tables easily, and is called mica slate. Sometimes the plates
of mica in this rock are larger, and then they form a mica slate.
of a coarser character. Mica slate is the third rock in the order
of succession. ‘There are other rocks in this marine part of the
geological limit, occasionally found subordinate to the three
members of the primary rocks we have enumerated; these are
principally the hornblende, serpentine, and that calcareous for-
mation usually called primitive marble. As the gneiss, which is
the base of the city of New York, re-appears across the Sound
on Long Island, so the serpentine, which is found massive at Ho-
boken, on the Jersey shore, re-appears on the east side of the
river not far from the city of New York.
At Philadelphia, we find this line of primary rocks inflecting
inwards from the coast. Near the public Water-works, a well
defined gneiss—not different from that at the city of New York—
is quarried extensively for foundations of houses. Associated with
this, is the Hornblende, which appears close to the Water-works,
310 On the Constituents of Primary Rocks.
and stretching to the south and west, fronts the Delaware river,
as far as Wilmington, in the State of Delaware; whence it can
be traced inland, in the neighbourhood of Baltimore, and much
farther into the southern states. The varieties of these horn-
blende rocks are very great; and as it is of these the Delaware
Breakwater is now constructing, we have thought it due to the
communication which Major Bender has favoured us with, to ac-
company his table of specific gravities, with some remarks on the
mineral nature of these rocks. Having personally visited most
of the localities mentioned in this table, we have had occasion to
observe how generally the erroneous designation of trap, is given
to some of the varieties of hornblende rocks, and as some of our
correspondents have also requested information from us on this
subject, we have thought to render a service to our readers by
entering into such details of the primary rocks, as may enable
them to judge with success for themselves, of the proper names
to give those varieties which fall under their observation. We
have spoken of felspar as forming the principal mineral in granite,
with quartz and mica; when it is compounded with the mineral
called hornblende, it constitutes that class of rocks of which we
have spoken as extending from Philadelphia to Wilmington.
Hornblende, called by the French, amphibole, is heavier than
quartz or felspar, and when scratched, gives a light green streak.
It contains a great proportion of magnesia, which felspar has
not; and when the quantity of magnesia is increased, it passes
into serpentine. The Germans call these combinations of felspar
and hornblende, griinstein, or greenstone, especially when they
have a granitic structure. When hornblende forms the princi-
pal part of such rocks, they take a greenish black colour. When
it is combined in lamellar grains with felspar, it is called sienite.
In some instances, as at Quarryville, on the Delaware, near
Wilmington, the felspar is in beautiful resplendent lamellar crys-
tals, of an oval form, and of a lightish red colour. This in the
common language of mineralogy may be called a porphyrytic
greenstone.
We have remarked, that the erroneous designation of trap has
been given to these hornblende rocks; and this, no doubt, has
grown out of there being an intimate combination, in some in-
stances, of hornblende and felspar. ‘This is also the case with
the rocks which have received the generic name of trap, from
On the Constituents of Primary Rocks. 311
their dividing into prismatic forms, and forming steps or stairs.
(Trappa, in the Swedish tongue, means a stair.) Cabinet speci-
mens of these respective rocks, sometimes resemble each other
so closely, that they would puzzle a good practical geologist to
decide whether they did not belong to the same class of rocks.
There is also another mineral, augite, which combines with fel-
spar in the same manner that hornblende does, and which is dif-
ficult to distinguish from it. The dark black basalts, which
geologists are now agreed, have the same origin as the true trap,
are composed of felspar and augite, finely combined, with some-
times grains of the mineral called olivine, and black oxide of iron.
However these greenstones may resemble in their constituent
particles, the traps—now universally admitted to have had an
origin of the same nature with lava, of modern times—an expe-
rienced geologist can at once decide when he observes them
aperto campo. Nothing can be more dissimilar with the massive
hornblende rocks, fronting the Delaware river,—and undoubtedly
associated with the primary rocks,—than the true trap on the
Hudson river, at the Palisades, that at Hartford and New Haven,
in Connecticut, and that at the Passaic falls, New Jersey, all
of which overlie secondary rocks. ‘To call the hornblende rocks
then, of which we have been speaking, trap, is to confound very
important geological distinctions. ‘The various combinations of
felspar and hornblende, and felspar and augite, have produced
the rocks called greenstone, sienite, trap, and basalt; together
with all the varieties which a change in the proportion of con-
stituents occasions, such as are clinkstone, pitchstone, amygdaloid,
and other porphyries.
To these rocks formed of hornblende and felspar, the French
have given the name of diabase; and to those basaltic compounds,
into which augite enters, they have given the name of dolerite.
We know of no name more appropriate to the rocks we have
been considering than hornblende rocks, because hornblende is
chiefly found combined with felspar, when associated with the
primary rocks; whilst augite is more peculiar to rocks of ac-
knowledged volcanic origin, although hornblende is also found in
them. ‘I'he term diabase, is applicable to any rock having a
double base, and we, therefore, prefer a name that expresses at
once the mineral to which the rock owes its distinctive character.
We trust that this subject will receive proper attention from
312 Specific Gravity of Rocks.
Messrs. Conybeare and Sedgewick, in the continuation of that
admirable work, The Geology of England and Wales, of which
the first volume has already given so much distinction to the
name of Mr. Conybeare. Since the history of the primary rocks
can receive no assistance from organic remains, we have nothing
left to determine with accuracy the character of those rocks but
their constituent minerals. And as the English language on this
continent and in Europe, is destined to be spoken by the most
important family of civilized society, we trust those gentlemen
will give appropriate scientific names cognate to the English
tongue. We despair of a universal nomenclature, and the sooner
we have a well considered one, accommodated to our own over-
spreading language, the better.
We now proceed to give the table of specific gravities of the
rocks used in constructing the Delaware Breakwater, for which,
together with the preliminary information, we are indebted to
that intelligent officer, Major Benprer, of the United States
Army.— Eprtor.
SPECIFIC GRAVITIES OF THE ROCKS USED IN THE CONSTRUC-
TION OF THE DELAWARE BREAKWATER.
Communicated by Major Gzorce Benper, United States Army.
“The two straight insulated stone dikes which form the work,
are constructing on a clayey anchorage ground, in a depth of
water from twenty-seven to thirty-four feet below the lowest
spring tides. The principal one is to be twelve hundred yards in
length, measuring from a point five hundred yards distant from
the line of twenty-four foot water, near the extreme point of
Cape Henlopen, and running in a W. N. W. direction from said
point. . At the distance of three hundred and fifty yards from the
westernmost end of this, the other has also been commenced, and
is to run W. by §. five hundred yards. ‘These dikes, or islets of
stone, are both to have a height of five and one third feet above
the highest springtides, with a breadth at bottom of one hundred
and sixty-seven feet, and at top twenty-two feet. The inner
slope is made to assume an angle of forty-five degrees, while the
outer has one hundred and six feet base to thirty-nine altitude,
and being covered with blocks of stone weighing from three to
five tons, and upwards, from six feet below low water, to the
summit, is such as experience has shown that the sea will break
Specific Gravity of Rocks. , 313
upon,.without disturbing the materials. ‘These dikes will in no
part be more than about one mile distant from the shore, and
when completed, will afford a shelter from the waves over seven
tenths of a square mile, having a depth of water of eighteen feet -
at lowest springtides. That portion of the compass from E. to W.
round by the south, is protected by the formation of the shore.
The whole work will constitute an aggregate mass of about
nine hundred thousand cubic yards of stone, the largest portion
of which is to be in pieces exceeding a ton weight each, and
although a smaller work than those of either Cherburg or Ply-
mouth, yet from the comparatively great distance from whence
the material is obtained, it is one of necessarily slow execution.
The country for many miles around being a sandy alluvion,
the contractors for supplying the stone commenced with bringing
it from the Palisade rocks on the Hudson river; but the tedious-
ness of the navigation, which consumed upon an average, ten
days for each trip, retarded the first season’s operations very
much. Since then, the largest portion has been obtained from
quarries on the Delaware, between Wilmington and Crum creek,
a mile or two above Chester. Upwards of two hundred and
seventy-nine thousand tons have been already deposited, of which
eighty-one thousand were from the Hudson, and one hundred
and ninety-eight thousand from the Delaware, and the same
having been principally used in forming the upper end of the
first mentioned dike, it has afforded a shelter which was used by
the pilots, and by vessels engaged in the work, for protection
against the N. and N. E. gales, during the last two or three
months of the late working season.
Specific Gravities of the Rocks.
1 From Christiana Creek below Wilmington, 3,020 3-4 genie
reenstone.
2 “ Brandywine, below the lowest mills, 2,990 1-2 do.
3 Quarryville, north of road to Wilmington, 2,668 do.
hibies do. near the river, south do. 2,980 do.
5 “ Naaman’s Creek, south do. 2,688 do.
Bes do. north, do. 2,680 1-2 do.
7 “ Vicinity of Marcus Hook, north, do. 2,751 1-2 do.
nis, OA do. do. do. do . 2,618 do.
9 “ Young’s Quarry, Chester creek, do. do 2,700 » Gneiss.
10 “~ Clark’s do. do. do. 2,764 1-2 do.
11“ Hennis’ do. do. do. 2,649 do.
Vou. 1.—40
314 New Volcano of Hotham Island.
12 From Hennis’ Q. on Chester creek, n. Wilm. ro. 2,752 3-4 - Gneiss:.
13°“ Worral’s do. do. do. 2,672 do.
14 “ Smith’s do” “do, da. 7. Zot pile.»
15 “ Murray’s on Ridley Creek, do. do. 2,713 1-4 do.
PG Buarkls do. do. do. 2,700 do.
17 “ Shoemaker’s do. do. do. 2,713 1-4 do.
18.7. Clyde's do. do. do. 2664 do.
19 “ Mlvaine’s dos: ido. dow ihADcaue Sei aaa oF
reenstone.
AD iio 6 do. do. do. do, 2,726 Gneiss.
Mikey: $ do. do. south do. 2,654 1-2 do
22 © Churchman’s do. do. do. 2,638 1-2 _ do.
23 © J. L. Crosby’s do. north do. 2,664 do.
24°C do. dé. *' do." do. 2,618 do.
25 “ R. P. Crosby’s do. do. do. 2,649 © do.
26 © Leiper’s Crum Creek, south do. 2,649 do.
27 «Hills do do.’ do. |
spacious, for the contrary reason ; and where all the varied forms
have grown out of the indispensable wants, the abilities and
taste of the inhabitants, whether these have been acquired in
America, Europe, or in China. Decorticated beaks would not be
wanting ; yet Chesnut and Arch streets—those Miami’s of houses
—would furnish abundant exceptions; and then as to cornutus,
horns, as long as chimneys were standing, would not be wanting,
long or short. In regard to the unio cornutus, it fares no better
in the hands of Messrs. Short and Eaton, than unio cariosus.
They remark on this shell, to which they have assigned pro-
fessor Rafinesque’s original name of unio torulosus: “all pos-
sible varieties of this heteramorphous shell were found in the
Ohio: the unio foliutus of Hildreth, which Mr. Lea thinks nothing
more than a variety of the unio cornutus of Barnes, was found,
and among our numerous specimens of this variety, not one had
hardly the rudiment of a horn.”
Here we have horned shells without horns, as we before hod
carious shells perfectly sound. What would be said of the want
of sense of cattle breeders, if they were to talk of long horned
cattle with no horns, and Durham short horns with long horns.
These practical men know that the Durham short horn, and the
Bakewell breed of sheep, both of which, externally, differ from
all other animals of the same races, are artificial varieties pro-
duced by particular treatment ; but that if the circumstances to
which the varieties were owing, no longer influenced them, the
varieties would disappear. We have seen that the same shell
can differ greatly in its shape; that it is sound in one. river, and
carious in another. What the particular causes of such carious-
ness are, we know not at present ; but we do know that mollusca
repair their own shells when injured, and may infer that the
degree of intelligence requisite for that act, may govern the
young mollusca in modifying the primary form of its shell, ac-
cording to the exigences of the circumstances which surround —
it; and that when it is much varied, it is but evidence of what
the animal is capable of doing for conservative purposes. 9)»
When conchologists study the animals more, and the shells
less, or rather when they consider the animals themselves as'the
proper objects of study, every accession to our knowledge of this
branch, can be carried to the general account of natural history,
to the honour of the discoverer. Writers who contend for priority
ey Memos Lae?
«
Meteorological Observations. 377
“in naming shells, even when they succeed in establishing their
“claims, will acquire no lasting reputation, unless they show they
have studied the animals too. We mean no offence in our re-
marks to any one. Several of the most conspicuous conchologists
of this country, Say, Barnes, Lea, and others, have made import-
ant remarks on the structure and habits of the mollusca; but at
present the general pursuit appears to be after the shadow,
rather than the substance; and we regret it both for the sake of
zoology and for the sake of our conchologists.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS,
Made at Wilmington, Delaware, by Henry Gibbons, M.D.
Summary ror Drecemser, 1831.
Therm. Barom. | Proportion of clear weather, days 18
Average at sun-rise, 19°.39 27.29.83 | Proportion of cloudy, » 13
“Average at mid- day, 289.94 29.76 Whole days clear, 12
Average at 11 o’clock, Days on which rain fell, 1
P. M. 20°.77 29.77 Days on which snow fell, 8
Monthly average, 24°.16 29.795) Quantity of rain, in. 2
Maximum, 21st, 41°. 30.20 | Depth of snow, 6.75
Minimum, 16th, Ur. 29.23 | Of water,* 2.10
Range, ~ 41°, 97 | Northerly winds prevailed, days 16
Warmest day, oath, 304°. Easterly, 6
Coldest day, 16th, 64°. Southerly, (S. to W.) HG
Auroras, none. The month rather dry: snows frequent, but not deep;
rain fell only once, and then in very small quantity. ‘Temperature ‘uni-
formly cold; much below the usual standard for this month. The thermome-
ter was above the freezing point at sun-rise on one day only, and at noon
on nine days. (See the review of the year.) Winds occasionally high, and
mostly unsteady, flowing from no one quarter of the compass so long as two
successive days, except on two occasions. No electrified clouds. Four easterly
storms, three of them with snow, the other dry ; none of them severe.
Coneral Review of the Weather for the year 1831.
Tur last month of 1830 was mild, and the weather continued
open till the 9th of January, 1831, when winter set in with a
storm of sleet and snow, from N. E. This was followed by the
memorable snow-storm which commenced on the evening of the
14th, and terminated at noon on the 16th, after a duration of
42 hours, exceeding in violence any thing that had before oc-
* Nine inches of ight snow are equivalent to one inch of water; the propor-
‘tion, however, varies with the character of the snow.
Vou. 1.—48
378 Meteorological Observations.
curred within the memory of the oldest inhabitants. The snow
was excessively drifted; its average depth being about two feet.
The storm extended beyond the Alleghanies, but was there un-
attended with wind; so that the snow fell calmly to the depth of
near three feet. After much severe cold, and several other storms
of snow and rain, the winter quietly broke up towards the latter
end of February. ‘The navigation of the Christiana creek, and
of the Delaware river, near Philadelphia, was closed, or ren-
dered impracticable by ice, from the 12th of January, to the
3d of March—a period of seven weeks.
The spring of 1831 was rather forward, and BE ee mild.
In the second week of April, however, several severe frosts oc-
curred, which injured much of the earlier fruit, then in bloom.
A good deal of rain fell in March and April; but in May, there
was only one rain of consequence, and that one not very heavy.
The month of May was, of course, very dry, so as to injure mate-
rially some of the crops. ‘The few last days were unseasonably hot.
After the middle of June, the summer of 1831 was remarkable
for damp weather, and excessive rains, which extended over a
great part of the United States. ‘The grass crops had been in-
jured by drought; and now the crops of grain were very much
damaged by wet. So moist was the atmosphere, that the “ dry-
goods,” of store-keepers, became mouldy on the shelves, in many
instances. 'T'wo feet of rain fell in July and August.. There was
no hot weather, though it was often oppressive, on account of
the moisture which loaded the atmosphere. In the third week
of August, a dense haze obscured the sky, imparting a peculiar
colour to the sun and moon—a yellowish green tinge. From the
beginning of July to the termination of the year, the air was
scarcely clear of a haziness for an hour at a time. It appeared to
have aclose connexion with the tendency to produce clouds, which
was observed at the same time to exist in the erial laboratory
of nature. Doubtless its cause must be referred to the precipita-
tion of vapour. The ruddy haze of Indian summer is a phenome-
non very analagous; but when we consider the vast quantity of
vegetable exhalations which must result, at this season, from the
decomposition of plants, and the desiccation of the foliage of the
immense American forests, we cannot but grant to the effluvia
of decaying vegetation, some agency in the formation of the haze
of our autumnal sky. © ih
Meteorological Observations. 379
*- The temperature of the autumn months was seasonable. In
September and October, much rain fell; but not so much in
November. On the whole, the fall of 1831 may be considered
very pleasant. Not a single severe frost occurred till after the
middle of November; but winter then set in, without any pre-
liminary steps, at least one month earlier than usual.
_ The year 1831 exhibits several calamitous events in the his-
tory of the weather. The unrivalled snow-storm of January, ren-
dered the roads, for a time, impassable. ‘The drought of May,
(which, however, was not very extensively felt,) excited the rea-
sonable apprehension of the husbandman; whilst the subsequent
torrents of rain were still more injurious. Finally, the sudden
‘onset of winter, for which many were unprepared, put a period
to the navigation of the rivers, and gave. rise to much suffering
among the crews of vessels on the coast.
~The month of December, 1831, will hold a conspicuous place
in the annals of meteorology, and will require more particular no-
tice, in connexion with the winter of which it forms a part. 1
will take the liberty of remarking in this place, that the meteoro-
logical year ought to consist of four successive seasons, commencing
with December, or with March. According to the Julian calen-
dar, the year which begins with January, comprises only three
entire seasons, and portions of two winters.
For the present, it will suffice to say, that the thermometer has
never before sunk to zero, in this month, since the commence-
“ment of the 19th century—that the December of 1818 was the
only one which equalled it in its average degree of cold since
1807, and perhaps for a longer period—that during the same
term of 24 years, there was not so much snow in any one De-
cember, nor so small a quantity of rain. Before the termination
of the month, the ‘old fashioned” winter was a topic of general
remark ; and it was discovered by many savans, that the “ goose’s
bone” predicted a hard winter ! |
In the following table, the mean given for each month is the
average of two series of observations; the one taken at sun-rise,
and the other at noon, or a little after. The yearly temperature
of 51°, is at least one degree below the average standard of this
latitude, which may be ascribed almost entirely to the cold of
the last month of the year. In one column is given the number
of days in each month, on which high winds occurred, which
380 Meteorological Observations. .
will be found to bear some relation to the range of the barome-
ter. In the column of easterly storms, are included those which
were unaccompanied with rain, amounting to about one third
of the whole number. The column of electrified clouds indicates
the number of days on which electrical phenomena occurred, to
any considerable extent. In some remarks, published in the 5th
No. of this Journal, the manner of obtaining the results in most
of the remaining columns, is explained. For the sake of compari-
son, the summary for the year 1830 has been added.
Electrified clouds | 777 AO’ ATOAAS
Auroras. fe TSS oh my 4
Easterly storms: [ORR TROSMA Ts ES
ae % |High winds. | TSAR SSAA ATERN
<
OOS OO MS HNO OO cao .@
S A {Southerly winds. | ite apes tala lra oc iiae oc}
Easterly winds, “|/0?2> 1S) © Oi tee eee ee
2 I OS BS PO a GR Ro oO sr)
3 Northerly winds | 77 ry MeNe ee lee
19 19 Orons ~ ¢
8 eegeseseusse & :
o Do. of water. rOQMHRARARHrKOMA Co =
ne mr z=) Lr)
~~ m
eI aoe BE hs
S S Do. of snow. [ROASSSSOSOSONS BR S
= ODroenena f- So
RS : _ |BRSBSSESRRSERS 4S
= Quantity of rain | AMABAA Aw Sg
3 es Sane
if ic dtidysenon | Se Ses eee oo
oD No. of days rain. iia FoF Robi) oe
=) HAOor-anTOMRNoOoON |
a ar) gi Whole days clear | MRA RRA SAAS ie
@ “4
et a FIG DOs Homie BSS re CO ia aes aia a OS a S
S cloudy do.
- : 2 16
ne S Proportion of | SRQSxS5eaesRag a 3
~ a clear weather i
S Te DHR-HHrSODSOR So
= = Range. joMSaHtSVenaa & S
ee em! : esol. Mca
SS ____ 8 ____
. sHt~ =O OHH OD SD ne) [e2)
a a ui |eoeaseecsces zx &
& 1nimum. SBAAARAGBADDD OD G
S ~ . ARRAS RRRRRAR 2 A]
ESS fl
~s r DmoS cy lend
o 3 | eee geceeaed 6 6
hy het ARES he rae Se So} ge tes
S Peale Dery si ERRSRARSSABR RS
é elec ae Pore r) i¢.2) QN
QS Mean EereCeEELec =
SAOAGaS BBGGAaAGS a &
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Scientific and General Memoranda. 38]
POPNEES) Sh) te)
_ ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA.
Officers for the Year 1832, elected 27th Dec. 1831.
_ President, William McClure.
_ Vice Presidents, George Ord, William Hembel.
Corresponding Secretary, S. G. Morton, M. D.
Recording Secretary, T. McEuen, M. D.
Treasurer, G. W. Carpenter.
Librarian, C. Pickering, M. D.
Curators, J. P. Wetherill, T. McEKuen, M. D., S. G. Morton, M. D.,
C. A. Poulson.
Auditors, C. Hedelius, W. Morris, Jr., P. B. Goddard.
Publication Commiitee, 8. G. Morton, M. D., C. Pickering, M. D., T.
McEuen, M. D., C. A. Poulson.
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.
Officers for the Year 1832, elected January 6, 1832
President, P. S. Duponceau.
Vice Presidents, N. Chapman, J. Hopkinson, Geo. Ord.
Secretaries, F. Bache, C. C. Biddle, J. Kane, W. H. Keating
Counsellors, W. Rawle, W. Hembel, R. Hare, M. D., C. D. Meigs, M. D.,
J. Mease.
Curators, J. P. Wetherill, R. Griffith, J. Lea.
Treasurer, J. Vaughan.
SCIENTIFIC AND GENERAL MEMORANDA.
Limestone. Caves in Schoharie, State of New York.—Some of
those extensive and irregular cavities, which are so conspicuous
in the carboniferous limestone of the United States, and of a few
of which—situated in the Helderberg hills, near Albany—de-
scriptions have been given, have been lately explored in the con-
tinuation of the same chain, near the village of Schoharie. Mr.
John Gebhard, with some enterprising mineralogical friends,
visited, in September last, one of those interesting natural phe-
nomena. Mr. Hubbard was let down one, a perpendicular fissure,
about ten feet long, and six feet broad, a distance of about seven-
ty-five feet, where the descent declined to the south, and where
_he awaited the arrival of Mr. Branch. They followed this new
direction at an angle of about sixty degrees, for about fifty-five
feet, when the descent became again perpendicular, for fifteen
feet. Overcoming this, and resuming the preceding direction for
382 Scientific ana General Memoranda.
about thirty feet, they reached the bottom, where they found a
stream of limpid water, running south. Whilst pursuing the course
of this stream, they visited a spacious apartment, about twenty
feet broad, and more than a hundred feet high. In this room they
found the skeleton of an animal, believed to be a fox, which, per-
haps, having fallen through in some part, had died for hunger. The
stream led to a body of water, which, having no means of ex-
ploring, they returned upon their steps, and rejoined their friends.
In October, Mr. Gebhard, Mr. Bonny, and Dr. Foster, having
constructed a boat, contrived to get it afloat upon this subter-
ranean lake, and with other friends, having manned the boat,
navigated the lake for three hundred feet, through various passa-
ges, in one of which the water was thirty feet deep, and transpa-
rent to the bottom. At a shelving ascent on the right shore of the
lake, the water appeared to be lost by an invisible drainage.
They were here rewarded by the discovery of a very magnifi-
cent apartment, the description of which we shall borrow from an
account ofthe adventure, drawn up, we presume, by one of the
party, and which a friend has forwarded to us in a number of
the Troy Céntinel.
‘‘ Advancing up the shelving ascent, about twenty feet, they entered an
aperture in the rock, directly in front, of about the size of an ordinary en-
trance to a house, where a scene, grand beyond description, burst upon the
view. They advanced through this opening into a vast amphitheatre, hitherto
untrod by mortal foot, which, from its perfectly regular and circular form,
obtained at once the name ofthe rotunda. Upon giving this apartment a par-
ticular examination, after the first feelings of surprise had subsided, they
found it about one hundred feet in diameter, and apparently more than a
hundred feet in height, regular in its form, the floor descending on all sides,
gradually, to the centre, and forming a spacious gallery around its whole
circumference, and enclosed above by a horizontal roof. ‘The vast size of
this apartment, the magnificence of-the gigantic walls, and fretted roof, both
entirely encrusted with transparent crystals, which sent back the biaze of
the torches in a thousand different dyes, at once satisfied the beholders, that
they had penetrated into the very temple, in these hitherto unexplored realms.”
After freighting their little bark with a rich cargo of minera-
logical curiosities, they returned to the upper world, poss aiid
with the success of their voyage.
Zoological Weather Glass“ At Schwitzingen, in the post-
house, we witnessed, for the first time, what we have since seen
: Scientific and General Memoranda. 383
frequently—an amusing application of zoological knowledge, for _
the purpose of prognosticating the weather. Two frogs, of the
species rana arborea, are kept in a glass jar, about 18 inches in
height, and six inches in diameter, with the depth of three or
four inches of water at the bottom, and a small ladder reaching
to the top of the jar. On the approach of dry weather, the frogs
mount the ladder ; but when wet weather is expected, they de-
scend into the water. ‘These animals are of a bright green, and in
their wild state, climb the trees in search of insects, and make a
peculiar singing noise before rain. In the jar, they get no other
food than now and then a fly, one of which, we were assured,
_ would serve a frog for a week, though it will eat from six to
_ twelve ina day if it can get them. In catching the flies put alive
into the jars, the frogs display great adroitness.”—Mr. Loudon.
Attachments between Animals.—Mrs. Bowditch relates, in the
Mag. of Nat. History, that when: she was in Paris, there were
two remarkable fine ostriches, male’ and female, at the Jardin
du Roi, and that one of them died in great agony, after swallow-
ing a broken piece of glass. From the moment his companion
was taken from him, the male bird had no rest; he appeared to
be incessantly searching for something, and daily wasted away.
He was moved from the spot, in the hope he would forget his
grief; he was even allowed more liberty, but nought availed ;
and he literally pined himself to death. Upon another occasion,
she states, that a curious expedient was resorted to, to prevent
a similar catastrophe. A gentleman had, for some years, possessed
two cranes, (ardea pavonina;) one of them died, and the sur-
vivor became disconsolate. He was apparently following his
companion, when his owner introduced a large looking glass into
the aviary. The bird no sooner beheld his reflected image, than
he fancied she for whom he mourned had been restored to him; he
placed himself close to the mirror, plumed his feathers, and showed
every sign of happiness. The scheme answered completely ; the
crane recovered his health and spirits, passed almost all his time
_ before the looking glass, and lived many years after. ‘These are
curious instances of the strength of the social principle in birds.
Presentiment in a Goose-—The following anecdote is from the
. Mag. of Nat. History. “ An old goose, that had been sitting upon
384 Scientific and General Memoranda.
her eggs for two weeks, in a farmer’s kitchen, was perceiy ed, an
a sudden, to be taken violently ill. She soon after left the nest, a
and repaired to an out house where there was a young goose of
the first year ; this she brought with her into the kitchen. The
young one immediately scrambled into the old one’s nest, sat,
hatched, and afterwards brought up the brood. The old goose,
as soon as the young one had taken her place, sat down by the
side of the nest and shortly after died.” The young goose had ~
never been in the habit of entering the kitchen before, and the ©
person who relates the transaction, received the account the
same day it occurred, from his sister, who witnessed it.
Delta of Oroonoko and Maragnon.—M. Gutmuths states the in-
crease of the mud, which is encroaching on the sea, on the
Guiana coast, is aided by the tangled roots of the Rhizophora
Mangle, which extend to the very edge of the waves, and even
under the water. The sea is muddy along the shore, 200 geo-
graphical miles in length, by 10 in breadth, whilst at the same
time the rivers are limpid. The Maragnon no doubt contributes
a great portion of the aliuvial matter; it has a course of 1350
miles, a great depth, and a breadth of 50 miles at its mouth; and
during the freshes occasioned by the rainy season, and the melt-
ing of the snow upon the Andes, it exhibits the inundations of
an immense sea of water, charged with earthy detritus and ve-
getable remains. The current is then so strong, that it is per-
ceptible at sixty miles from the coast; and this, being opposed
by the usual current of the Atlantic, from east to west, gives
origin to vast banks of sand towards the shores of Brazil, on the
north-west of Guiana. One of the circumstances which contribute
so powerfully to this effect, is the pororoca, or high flux, which
occurs at the mouth of the Maragnon, three days before every
new and every full moon. It arrives in two hours at the beach,
in mountainous waves, of 12 to 15 feet high. The sea is then
driven more violently towards the north-west, and, along the
coast of Guiana, forms very strong currents towards Esequibo
and the gulf of Paria, becoming still stronger as they approach
the Amazon river. The pororoca destroys the shores entirely,
between Fort Macapa and Cape North; and, if there were no
rocks, the beach would be still more dismantled, and the mouth
of the Maragnon turned altogether to the north.— Mag. Nat. Hist.
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Coal Bank - 500 . below Old Coal Bank near Daler Bituminous Coal & Irregular deposites of Argillaccous Iron Ore. é Soa
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900
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SHCTION of the NAIAMGOHANY BR.
TDM, and of a portion of the COM STRATA tn the viciniy of the MOSHAN NON VAL
Surveyed by RC Taylor, GS.
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THE
“MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vou. L. PuitapE pura, Aprit, 1832. No. 10.
SECTION OF THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAIN, AND MOSHANNON
VALLEY, IN CENTRE COUNTY, PENN.
By Rrewanrp C. Tayzor, F. G. S. and Associate Fellow of the Institution of
iii Civil Engineers of London.
hd Philipsburg, Centre Co. Penn. March 15, 1882.
Deak “Sir,—You ask for some information relative to the
geology of this neighbourhood, and I lose no time in complying |
with your request. I believe I cannot do better than furnish
you with the accompanying section, which I feel some satisfac-
tion in doing, because its details result from a series of careful '
observations, made during last summer, whilst pursuing an ex-
ploring survey, to determine a rail-way route. I have preferred
introducing*a number of details into the section, rather than
transfer them into a lengthened explanatory memoir. Until the
investigation of the country bordering on the Alleghany chain
be more extensively entered upon, | propose to occupy but a
brief space in your Journal, with the requisite explanatory
references.
My section illustrates only a very Saiall portion of the central |
bituminous coal field of Pennsylvania ; but it occurs in an inter-
esting quarter, and it is well to make a beginning, where the
area is so vast, and so little known to men of science. The di-
rection of our course is north and south, exhibiting profiles of a
part of the Moshannon valley, its creek, and some of its tribu-
taries ; and then crossing the Alleghany ridge or mountain, at
the lowest depression we have been able to ascertain in this di-
rection, we descend by Emigh’s gap, and by the ravine and run
Vor. 1.—55 433
434 Section of the Alleghany Mountain, &c.
or rivulet called Emigh’s, to Bald Eagle valley, and Little Bald
Eagle creek. The levels have not been taken of this creek, and
of the little Juniata, into which it falls, as far as the junction
with the Pennsylvania canal, near Huntington; consequently,
until those data be obtained, we cannot fix the precise elevation
of the Alleghany ridge, with reference to that canal, and the
sea. C om
Returning to Bald Eagle valley, at the southern extremity of
our section, we will retrace, more in detail, the route I have —
rapidly sketched. Here we are deep enough to touch the limits
of the mountain limestone, although the intervening Bald Eagle
ridge separates us from the main body of that formation. Its
course is S.W. parallel with the Alleghany chain, and its pre- —
vailing dip is E. or 8. E. ‘This inclination is inconsiderable at
the distance of ten or fifteen miles from the outcrop, and at
twenty miles from the Alleghany, I have observed its beds to be
nearly horizontal. At the foot of the Bald Eagle, or Muncy ridge,
they curve up to an angle as high as 60° to 75°, and cecasion-
ally may be noticed almost vertical, resting upon their edges.
Ascending the ravine, by Emigh’s run, from little Bald Eagle
_ereek, we arrive, in succession, at a variety of. sandstone beds,
upon which repose the coal measures, unless we view the entire
series, as comprehended in the carboniferous formation. These
lower beds may be estimated at about thirteen hundred feet, in
their aggregate thickness. ‘They are numerous, and as variable
in structure, colour, and density, as rocks of this class generally
are. Many of them contain casts of producta, spirifers, and
unios; but the prevailing indication of fossils,4s simply the hol-
low cavities formerly occupied by these shells. One of the most
prominent of the lower beds, is a red, laminated, slightly mica-
ceous sandstone, with subordinate seams of red clay and shale,
which, after rains, give a red tinge to the surface waters, like
those in the red sandstone districts of England. Their inclina-
tion is toward the W. and S. W. On some of the subordinate
ridges, parallel with the Alleghany chain, and on that side
nearest the limestone, the angle or dip of the slaty beds is some-
times as great as 60° to the west ; that is, at right angles to the
main ridge, and exactly contrary to the prevailing dip of the
limestone.
Hereafter we hope to illustrate with greater precision, aisle
Section of the Alleghany Mountain, Sc. 435
tion of those vast disturbed masses, which constitute the singularly
uniform ridges, and long straight valleys of central Pennsylvania,
east of the Alleghanies; a subject on which the attention of a
geologist would be fitly employed; which heretofore has re-
mained unnoticed, and which involves some extremely inter-
esting and extensive examples of displacement.
The progress of such an investigation is as slow as laborious,
and the geologist contends with many natural difficulties. These
will ever be found in a country like that under consideration,
where the surface is obscured with a dense ‘forest vegetation ;
where the operations of man have scarcely commenced; where
neither artificial excavations, nor natural sections, nor exposed
escarpments, relieve the monotony of the mountain side, or the
gloomy ravine; and where those elevated valleys, ramifying
amidst the intricacies of the mountain chains, have continued
from remote ages, and in all probability, for ages will remain,
an impenetrable wilderness, and an impracticable labyrinth.
On account, therefore, of these impediments to ordinary and
individual examination, it is especially desirable, that geological
observations, made under the advantageous circumstances at-
tending public surveys, by engineers, and what is still better, of
the completion of the works committed to their charge, and con-
ducted at their leisure, should be faithfully recorded. This can
be advantageously effected by communications with Geological
Societies in the separate states, like that now coming into exis-
tence in Pennsylvania: but better still, upon the principle sug-
gested at page 130 of your Journal, if conducted under the
auspices of the government, as a branch of duty strictly in con-
nexion with the engineer department. In this respect, your
remarks are well deserving attention from the parties to whom
they have reference; from those whose professional operations
place them in situations so particularly favourable to scientific
_ research, and more especially from the department whose pro-
vince it is to direct their movements.
_ Reverting to our section, from which I have wandered, it
will be obvious, that on approaching the summit of the Alle-
ghany ridge, after intersecting the lower series to which |
have referred, and estimated at upwards of 1300 feet in
thickness, we arrive at a conglomerate rock or pudding-stone,
composed of white quartz pebbles, set in a coarse grit. This bed
436 Section of the Alleghany Mountain, &c.
is fifty to one hundred feet thick. Large displaced fragments
cover the surface, and have even been transported several miles
in abundance, to the bottom of Bald Eagle valley, many hun-
dred feet below. We occasionally see this breccia disintegrated,
its pebbles occurring loosely, in the form of gravel, mm extensive
beds. In its compact state, this rock is sought for the purpose |
of fire or hearth-stone, for the neighbouring iron works. ‘The
position occupied by the conglomerate, is sometimes conspicuous,
in its lofty site, at the distance of several miles; and in those
cases, it appears as a bare and steep ledge, on the eastern slope
of the Alleghany mountain; pursuing its course parallel with the
summit, and commonly from one hundred to three hundred feet
below the crest. In winter, when all other parts of the moun-
tain are enveloped in snow, this dark ledge of gritstone is singu-
larly discernible, forming the most striking exception to the
general remark I have previously made. Its presence is no
less distinguished by the change in vegetation, above the limits
of this parallel. From the valleys, (which are occupied by
hemlocks, white pines, and other dark evergreens,) white oaks,
and some other deciduous trees, ascend upwards, to the base of
the conglomerate, and are then succeeded by red, or pitch pines,
whose dark foliage, and stunted forms, arise amidst a thick
brushwood of chestnuts, forming those wild and worthless tracks,
called barrens.* These upper strata consist of sand and beds
of soft, white, porous, sandstone. ‘The aggregate thickness of
the beds above the limestone, up to this point, can scarcely be
less than 1600 or 1800 feet. This estimate, of course, must be
received as an approximation, the accuracy of which, is mate-
rially influenced by the inclination of the lower members of the
series. |
Descending from the sterile region above the conglomerate,
we now perceive, in the sandstone which succeed, innumerable
proofs that we have entered the limits of the great central coal-
field. The first vein of bituminous coal is here discovered at an
elevation, only one hundred and fifty feet below the crest of the
* Tt may be observed, that, in these mountainous regions, the season of winter and snow
is, in some respects, particularly favourable to the display of its broader and most charac-
teristic geological features, which are commonly obscured, at other times, by a luxuriant
forest vegetation. At no time or place have I seen geological changes more distinctly
indicated, or more influential on the character of the scenery, when viewed from great
distances. ;
Section of the Alleghany Mountain, &c. 437
ridge we have just crossed. At present no coal has been ex-
tracted from this vein. Sixty feet lower, at Dale’s farm, is a
second, and larger vein, consisting of three seams, and comprising
nine feet altogether, having two partings, of three inches each.
The upper seam only, four feet thick, has hitherto been worked.
At thirty-nine feet lower, is another large vein: and at least
six other veins of coal occur, in descending to the level of the Mo-
shannon creek, at Hoffman’s dam. This is 324 feet further down,
and at this point in our section, we have arrived at 575 feet be-
low the Alleghany ridge, at its lowest part. ‘These coal seams,
and the subjacent strata of sandstone and fire clay, so far as we
have been able to extend our observations, appear, with tole-
rable uniformity, to decline at a small angle towards the north,
or rather the north-west.
It would be irksome to proceed with the details. Our profile
exhibits the intersection of several other coal veins; but how
many of them are distinct from those we have previously noticed,
cannot readily be determined, as they have not all been proved
or worked; and moreover, there is an obvious change of incli-
nation. Those near Philipsburg, at the Beaver dam and
neighbouring collieries, or coal banks, as they are locally term-
ed, dip to the S. and 8. W., to meet the more elevated beds
and strata we have before mentioned, which incline to the
N. and N.W. Some other veins, more to the northward than
our section exhibits, crop out with a similar inclination to
the 8. W. along the banks of the Moshannon, extending toward
its junction with the west branch of the Susquehanna. This
inclination seldom forms a greater angle than“one or two
degrees, and affords great facilities for obtaming the coal.
Fifteen miles westward of Philipsburg, and further within
the interior of the basin, the coal veins incline to the E.
and N.E., that is, toward the Alleghany chain, its apparent
boundary.
Faults, if any occur, are rarely observable, within such a vast
unexplored area. There is probably one of several feet, on or
near the Beaver dams, as shown by the letters A and B on the
_ section, the vein being the same at both points.
In regard to quality, there are variations in these veins, as I
believe occurs in all coal basins; but here all are bituminous.
The coal which is chiefly raised near Philipsburg, is in conside-
438 — Brown Lead Ore of Zimapan.
rable repute, and is conveyed, in some quantity, over ‘the: Alle-
ghany mountain, to the iron works, eastward.
Fossils are not very abundant in the coal measures. Impres-
sions of flags and reeds may be noticed in all the sandstones,
even almost up to the western summit of the ridge; and ferns
occur in the shales near the coal veins. Hollow cavities, for-
merly occupied with producta, and a few other species of co-
temporary fossils, are occasionally to be seen in every part of
the sandstone series, within the coal field.
THE BROWN LEAD ORE OF ZIMAPAN.
Communication from Professor Det Rio, on his discovery of a New Metal
in the brown Lead Ore of Zimapan.
I should not again have brought forward my analysis of the
brown lead ore of Zimapan, which now rather redolet antiquita-
tem, if the interest excited about the metal, called by some che-
mists in Europe, Vanadium,—after, as it is said, some Scandina-
vian mythological personage,—had not induced one of my friends
to ask me to translate the passage concerning my analysis, from
my Spanish translation of the mineralogical tables of Kersten,
printed at Mexico in 1804, and which passage I here subjoin. _
“ Having distilled half an ounce of the brown lead ore three or four times
with diluted sulphuric acid, and washed the residuum every time, I got a
green solution, which, being saturated with excess of ammonia, gave, ina —
few days, crystalline crusts formed by needles on the surface of the liquid, or
stars, composed of very acute pyramids, on the sides of the ‘cup. These
white crystals being washed with some water and dried in the air, became a
most beautiful scarlet red as soon as they were touched by a single drop of
an acid somewhat concentrated. When diluted, they became at first yellow,
and afterwards red. These acids* dissolved thein without decomposition.
I experienced the same with potash, soda, and lime, excepting that the
rhombohedrons of potash only became yellow. The excess of ammonia be-
ing saturated with nitric acid, and concentrating it somewhat by evaporation,
I got square prisms, pointed, with four faces upon the edges, of a pretty aurora
red, the taste of which was pungent and metallic. ‘The same was done with
soda, and I got squares of a red colour, and oblique sided ones with potash,
and of a yellow colour.
“ Having put in a porcelain test below the muffle, 17.75 grains of the
* As far as I remember they were the sulphuric and nitric.—.4. D. Rio.
eT < SNer e
Brown Lead Ore of Zimapan. 439
needles formed by ammonia, they became a most beautiful red without losing
their form, and they melted afterwards into an opaque mass, between liver-
brown and lead grey, with very fine stars on the surface, of a semi-metallic
lustre, its weight 11.75 gr. I put it into the forge in a small crucible
with charcoal, for an hour and a half; the mass became only black with
charcoal, and the increase of weight was 1.25 gr. I put it into a small re-
tort with nitric acid, red vapours were formed at last, and the matter was
red. J repeated the same twice, and I augmented the fire in the end, to
disengage all the nitric acid: on pouring some water on it, it became emul-
sive or milky. The emulsion being cleared off at length, it did not redden
the tincture of radish, though it precipitated, with a yellow colour, the solutions
of nitrate of silver, mercury and lead: it precipitated also prussiate of lime
of an emerald green, and tincture of gallsof a blackish green. The olive
green sediment became immediately red with some nitric acid, and the
yellow solution with zinc and iron gave a green oxide.
“ By the blow pipe the glass became grass green. I could not amalga-
~mate with mercury its combination with ammonia. [Other experiments
which I made at the time were not inserted in my translation. ]
“The proportion then of the constituent parts of the brown lead ore, are
80.72 of yellow oxide of lead, and 14.80 of the new substance, the rest be-
ing a little arsenic, oxide of iron, and muriatic acid.
“ Presuming that it was a new substance, I called it Pancrome, on ac- .
count of the universality of the colours of the oxides, solutions, salts, and
precipitates: and afterwards Eritrone, on account of its singular property of
forming with the alkalies and the earths, salts which became red at the
- fire, and with acids; but being informed that the chrome gives by evapora-
tion red and yellow salts, I believe that the brown lead ore is a yellow oxide
of chrome, combined with an excess of yellow oxide of lead.”
Slight deviations sometimes occasion great inconveniences.
If the justly celebrated Baron Humboldt, to whom, when in
Mexico in 1803, I gave a French copy of the preceding ex-
periments, had thought them worthy of publication, they would
have excited, doubtless, the curiosity of European chemists, and
of Descotils himself, who had more knowledge than myself
of the properties of chrome; so that thirty years would not
have elapsed before the new metal was acknowledged. Hum-
boldt, apparently, did not think so; because, as I have said
somewhere else, European monopolists have not always ap-
peared solicitous to sustain the merit of discoveries effected in
the Americas.
I am quite astonished to hear that Kersten has analysed the
brown lead ore of Poullaouen and found it to be phosphate of lead.
I determined that of Zimapan to be brown lead ore, only by its
external characters, which were entirely identical with those
440 Brown Lead Ore of Zimapan.
of the lead ore of Poullaouen in Brittany, and of Hodristsch in
Hungary; so that if this last is a phosphate also, we must con-
clude that they are the opposite of the isomerous bodies. Who
can rely now on crystals being the basis of a mineralogical sys- .
tem ? A. Dru Rio.
REMARKS.
We venture, for the third time, to call upon European che-
mists to do justice to Professor Del Rio, whose just claims, up
‘to the present moment, have been remarkably overlooked. That
the nature of those claims may not be misapprehended, we shall
briefly state them, confining our observations strictly to the facts
which have occurred. We feel it necessary to do so, since we
perceive that the merit of Professor Del Rio’s discovery of the
new metal in question, is becoming more and more obscured, by
the slight weight which has been attached to it by names of
great eminence, and especially by the powerful name of Berze-
lus. ‘The evidence of this is very abundant, but we shall go no
further on the present occasion than to the pages of Dr. Brewster,
and to those of the Philosophical Magazine and Annals of Phi-
losophy, on the new metal, called Vanadium, in Europe.
In the July number for 1831, of the EdinburghVJournal of
Science, Mr. James F. W. Johnson has the following passage :
“Tt isa remarkable circumstance, and illustrative at once of the wide
diffusion of chemical knowledge, and of the progress of scientific chemistry,
that the new metal Vanadium has been discovered in three different coun-
tries nearly at the same time, and without any communication between the
several individuals by whom it has been observed and detected. First in
order of time, Professor Del Rio, of the school of Mines of Mexico, detected
a new metallic substance in the brown lead ore of Zimapan, to which, pro-
bably from its forming red salts, he gave the name of Erythronium. Mis re-
sults were not published however, M. Collet Descotils, to whom specimens
were transmitted, having pronounced it to be an impure chromium. Mean-
time Professor Sefstrom, of the School of Mines at Fahlun in Sweden, de-
tected in an ore of Iron, a simple metallic body, which he named Vanadium,
and of which he announced some of the properties about the end of the past
year. The metal of Del Rio, it now appears, is the same with that of
Sefstrom.”
We take the following passage from the Philosophical Maga-
zine for November, 1831:
“On Vanadium. By M. Berzelius. Vanadium was discovered in the
year 1830 by Sefstrém, in a Swedish iron, remarkable for its ductility, ob-
tained from the iron mine of Jaberg, not far from Jonkoping in Sweden.
ee
Brown Lead Ore of Zimapan. 44]
The name of this meta! is derived from that of Vanadis, a Scandinavian divin- —
ity. It is not yet known under what form, or in what state of combination,
vanadium occurs in the ore of Jaberg. It is also found in Mexico, in a lead
mine at Zimapan. Del Rio, who analysed it in 1801, announced the dis-
covery of a new metal in it, which he called Erythronium; but the same
mineral having soon afterwards been analysed by Collet Descotils, he as-
serted that Erythronium was merely impure chromium. Del Rio himself
adopted the opinion of the French chemist, and considered the mineral as a
subchromate of lead; thus the metal, so near being discovered, remained
thirty years unknown to chemists. Since the discovery of Vanadium by
Seftstrom, Wohler has ascertained that the mineral of Zimapan contains
vanadic and not chromic acid.”
Our readers will observe, that in both these passages Del
Rio’s prior discovery of the new metal is admitted. Yet Ber-
zelius, who says expressly, “ Del Rio, who analysed this mineral in
1801, announced the discovery of a new metal in it,” most incon-
sistently asserts that “ Vanadium was discovered, in the year 1830,
by Sefstrom.” Mr. Johnston, who no doubt is disposed to be just,
appears to have written without proper information respecting
the history of this metal; for he says, that it “ has been dis-
covered in three different countries nearly at the same time ;”
and further on, speaking of Del Rio’s discovery, he says “his
results were not published.”” Words have very absorbent powers,
and time and space will have very little chance with them, if
“nearly at the same time” can shut up, like an opera glass, all the
interval between 1801 and 1830. As to the non-publication of
Del Rio’s results, we refer Mr. Johnston to this eminent chemist’s
translation of Kersten’s Mineralogical Tables, p. 61, printed
at Mexico, 1804, where he will find the original of the passage ©
of which Professor Del Rio has sent us an English translation,
with the preceding communication.
We proceed now to state why Del Rio was induced to assent
to the opinion of Descotils, and apparently to abandon his dis-
covery.
He had, as Berzelius truly says, made the discovery of this
new metal, previous to the arrival of Humboldt in Mexico, in
1803. They had been fellow students together at Freyberg,
in Saxony, at the great school of Werner, where some of the
most celebrated analysts acquired the first rudiments of minera-
logical knowledge. Humboldt’s arrival in Mexico was preceded
by the brilliant reputation he had acquired. He was considered, —
Vor. L—56
442 Brown Lead Ore of Zimapan.
to use very plain words, to be up to every thing, and to be quite
au fait, respecting the experiments of Vauquelin and Descotils,
concerning the metallic nature and properties of chrome. He
found Del Rio far removed from Europe, almost without any
kindred minds to assist or encourage him, diffident as his charac-
ter always has been, and disposed, by many _prepossessions, to
pay much deference to the opinions of Humboldt. To him Del Rio
communicated his discovery, and gave him a copy in the French
language, of his experiments, as they were subsequently pub-
lished in his translation of Kersten. Humboldt, however, in-
formed him that chrome gave by evaporation, red and yellow
salts, and induced him to suppose that the phenomena he had
observed, were due to the action of chromic acid. Confiding in
the superior information of his friend, he accordingly, with
great modesty, forbore to press his own opinions; and in 1804,
in his translation of Kersten, submitted that it should be thought
a sub-chromate of lead. Descotils himself, sometime after, ex-
pressed the same opinion ; a circumstance which took from Del
Rio every inducement to revive the subject, which remained
buried in error, until Sefstrém discovered the same substance,
in 1830, in iron, in Sweden. Mr. Johnston discovered it in
Scotland, in the winter of the same year. In the meantime, sub-
sequent to Sefstrém’s discovery, Wohler re-examined the brown
lead ore of Zimapan, and found that it was not a sub-chromate,
but that it contained a new metal; that Del Rio had been per-
fectly right from the first, and that Sefstrom had merely repro-
duced in 1830, what Del Rio had discovered in 1801.
Now we would contend, that under these circumstances, any
man who attempts to wrest this trophy from Del Rio, is alto-
gether unjust, and that he alone is entitled to wear it. In mat-
ters of this kind, the motto “ qui meruit, ferat,” is of universal
application. It certainly cannot be asserted by European
chemists, that Del Rio is not entitled to the honours of his own
discovery, because he has not done all he might have done, to
vindicate his own claim to them. The fair way of considering,
the matter, is, that his discovery would never have been dis-
puted, if Baron Humboldt, coming to America as a sort of legate
in partibus, on the part of European science, had not misled
him, whose only fault has been a diffidence in his own superior
attainments. Baron Humboldt, of whom we always wish to
Brown Lead Ore of Zivapan. 443
speak with the respect due to so distinguished a philosopher, has
not, as the case now stands, been just to his friend Del Rio; and
it is evident that more is felt on this subject, than has been ex- |
pressed. Why did not Baron Humboldt publish the analysis,
of which he received a copy from Del Rio, in 1804? Certainly
it was not given to him to suppress; and he must have known
that the Spanish translation of Kersten was made for Mexico,
and not for Kurope, where, perhaps, there are very few copies.
At any rate, it appears not to be common, since Mr. Johnston
has not seen it. We think the chemists of the present day, must
see that Del Rio was a very able analyst at that time, and had
Humboldt published it, or transmitted it to Europe, it could not,
as Del Rio states, have failed to excite the curiosity of those who
have paid particular attention to the combinations of chrome:
they would have examined it with attention, and the result
* would have been, long ago, a universal acknowledgment of the
new metal, and of Del Rio, as the discoverer of it. We wish
that Baron Humboldt, when he stated in Paris, in February
1831, the principal facts in the history of this metal, as they
have been stated in the passages we have given from Berzelius
and Mr. Johnston, had also stated the reasons which had induced
Del Rio to suppose it not a new substance, but an impure
chrome. He had an excellent opportunity to do so, which, if he
had availed himself of, we should probably not have felt our-
selves called upon to dissuade European chemists from naming a
new metal,—not discovered by themselves, but by a Mexican,—
after a ridiculous Scandinavian deity that never had any real ex-
istence. If the progress in knowledge is of the right kind, if there
is nothing deceptive in the extraordinary and very active demon-
strations in the pursuit of science in Europe, then those whom it
concerns to give proofs that they have learnt how to stand up vo-
luntarily for truth and justice, will be just, upon this occasion, to.
America; and will, as we hope, and have before suggested, restore
Del Rio to his rights, by calling the metal discovered by him
Rionium; a name which, we think, Mr. Johnston will agree with
us, will be found quite as manageable as vanadium.
We have every disposition to defer to the learned chemists
and mineralogists of Europe, and gratefully and eagerly receive
the numerous contributions which science is constantly owing to
them. We believe that the tree of knowledge flourishes most,
444 | Atomic Weight of Mercury.
where the love of justice is strong: various as are the blossoms
of that tree, they produce but one fruit, truth; which is to justice,
what the pericarp of the cherimoyer among the anonacez, is to
its seed. If we would have truth, we must plant justice. Had
Del Rio been in Europe, this matter would have been properly
arranged long ago. The smallest innovation there, upon a pre-
emption right in the metacarp of even a coleopteral, will set a
whole Versammlung in arms, and produce a hundred pages of
sur-rejoinders, at least. Let it be an additional motive to those
to whom we now appeal for justice, that, as the face of nature
seems to smile, when the setting sun breaks through a troubled
sky, so it would cheer the declining days—which are not sunny
ones—of the venerable Del Rio, to learn that men have done that
justice to his name, which fortune has never done to his merits.
ATOMIC WEIGHT OF MERCURY.
Mr. Editor,—Your correspondent, A. B. H. will find a solu-
tion of his inquiries, respecting the atomic weight of mercury, in
a recent work of Dr. Thompson’s, viz. “‘ Chemistry of Inorganic
Bodies.” As the book has but just come from the author’s hands,
and probably will not be reprinted in this country, it may be
worth while to extract such parts of it as relate to the matter
in question. It ought to be premised, that as Dr. T. adopts oxy-
~ gen for his unit, his atomic numbers must be multiplied by eight,
to reduce them toa hydrogen basis.
“In many cases it is not easy to fix upon the true number
denoting the atomic weight of a body. We can always
infer, that the weight of one body that enters into combination
with another, either denotes the atomic weight of the body, or
at least a multiple, or sub-multiple of that weight ; but, in some
cases, it may be very difficult to determine which of the three.
Thus, for example, we have two compounds of mercury and
oxygen, the constituents of which by weight are as follows :—
Black oxide, Merc. 25 + 1 Oxy.
Red oxide, c 25. st
“We might consider the atoms of mercury to be 25. On
that supposition, the black oxide would be a compound of 1
atom mercury plus 1 atom oxygen; and the red oxide of 1 atom
mercury plus 2 atoms oxygen.
Atomic Weight of Mercury. 445
«But we might also consider the atom of mercury as only
12.5 or the half of 25. In that case, the red oxide would be a
compound of one atom of mercury and one atom of oxygen, and
the black oxide of two atoms of mercury, and one atom of oxy-
gen. There is nothing in these compounds that can determine
which of these views is the right one. Both oxides are capable
of combining with acids, and of forming salts. ‘The red oxide
is the most permanent and intimate combination, but the black
is always first formed when we attempt to combine mercury
with oxygen. In such cases as this we are left to conjecture or
analogy to assist us in deciding what number should be taken
to denote the true atomic weight of the body. We see that
the atom of mercury weighs either 25, or the half of 25, but
which of the two, it might, in the present state of our knowledge,
be impossible to determine. In such a case, we may be allowed
to refer to analogy, to enable us to decide the point. It was
first observed by Dulong and Petit, that when the atomic weight
of a body is multiplied into its specific heat, the product is a
constant quantity. And I have shown, in my treatise on Heat,
that this product is always 0.876. Therefore, if we divide .3876
by the number denoting the specific heat of mercury, the quo-
tient should be the atomic weight of that body. But the spe-
cific heat of mercury is .03 and .3876 + .03 = 12.52. This
circumstance furnishes a reason for considering the true atomic
weight of mercury to be 12.5.”—Vol. 1, p. 9.
“The specific gravity of the vapour of mercury, as deter-
mined by Dumas, is 6.976. From this determination, which
must be very near the truth, it follows as a consequence, that
the atomic weight of mercury is 12.5. For the atomic weight
of a gaseous body multiplied by .5555, is equal to the specific
gravity in the gaseous state. Now 12.5 x .5555 = 6.9747
a number which almost coincides with that found by Dumas.”—
Vol. 1, p. 612.
“T have shown (Ann. of Phil. 2d series, ii. 126,) by experi-
ments which I consider as decisive, that the real atomic weight
of mercury is 12.5.”—Vol. 1, p. 615.
if the arguments* advanced by Mr. Allinson, are added to
Which are briefly these: the protoxide of mercury is decomposed more readily
than the deutoxide ; the protochloride ihan the deutochloride, &c : these facts contravene
the universal law, that compounds (of elements) consisting of one atom of each con-
stituent are less easily decomposed than those consisting of one and two. Hence, there
is a strong probability that what is called the deutoxide is, in reality, the protoxide, &c.
446 | Arvicola Nuttalli. —
those above given, there can be no reasonable doubt left but
that the true atomic weight of mercury is 100; (hydrogen basis ;)
and although these would not of themselves be sufficient to es-
tablish this fact, yet Mr. A. is fairly entitled to the credit of
having shown that to be highly probable, which Dr. Thompson’s
investigations have rendered certain—Very respectfully, yours,
New York, February 38th, 1832.
ARVICOLA NUTTALLI
Description of a new species of quadruped of the genus ARvicota, of
Lacepede, or Hypupaus, of Illiger.—By R. Haran, M. D.
Arvicoua JVuttalli—F awn-coloured above, whitish beneath; ears
long and hairy; toes sparsely hairy; tail nearly the length of
the body. :
Dimensions.—Length of the body three inches, of the tail, two
and a half inches.
Habitat.—Southern States.
Description.—Crowns of the molars similar in the arrangement
of the enamel to those of the type of the genus, as represented
by F’. Cuvier—* Dents des mammiferes;” but the roots are
mostly cleft into four prongs: the inner surface of the inferior
incisors, grooved longitudinally ; ears very large, hairy within
and without; legs small and weak, sparsely hairy; fore feet
with four toes, armed with hooked nails; thumb rudimentary,
with a flat nail; hind feet with five toes, armed with hooked
nails, all with sparse hairs extending to the roots of the nails;
a callous tubercle at the inferior base of each finger, and two
others on the wrist; tail long, cylindrical, and sparsely hairy ;
eyes large, black, and prominent. General colour of the
body above, plumbeous, each hair being tipped with brown-
ish yellow, presenting a fawn-coloured surface; beneath
white. Whiskers composed of very long, fine, black and white
hairs. |
Like the musk-rat, (Onparra, Lacep. or Freer, Cuv.) this
quadruped differs from the arvicola principally in the possession
of roots to the molar teeth; but for the existence of these roots,
M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal. 447
in the former, M. F. Cuvier remarks, that he would consider
the genus as merely forming a third division of arvicola: we
doubt if the existence of a single character of this nature, should
indicate even a specific distinction.
The specimen under consideration is a young male, just
full grown; in colour it displays a striking resemblance to the
GeERBILLUS canadensis; it was recently taken in Virginia, by
Mr. Nuttall, (the eminent botanist,) in the vicinity of Norfolk,
near the river shore, and was one of several he discovered
under the bark of a hollow tree, where they had built a fine
nest.
M’MURTRIE’S TRANSLATION OF THE “REGNE ANIMAL.”
Si,—That a translation should be undertaken and published
in the United States, of so elaborate a work as Cuvier’s Regne
Animal, at a time, too, when the English language, at its head
quarters, is acquiring another, from the united labours of Mr.
Griffith and his co-adjutors, argues a great deal for the apparent
advances we are making in the study of natural history. It was
a spirited undertaking on the part of the publishers, and deserves
success. I confess, I had supposed the limited number of per-
sons amongst us who might wish to possess an English transla-
tion of the Regne Animal, was far short of the encouragement
such a work requires: in this I find I was mistaken; for whether
the translation has been executed well or ill, the appearance of
the work is sufficient evidence of the confidence of the publishers
in the demand for it. The remarks I am about to make, have
not been suggested by the habit of critical severity, nor by hos-
tile feelings to any one. ! hope to show that it is the love of
science which guides my pen, as well as a desire to vindicate
the literary reputation of the country. It will be doing some-
thing towards that, if one American corrects the errors into
which another has fallen.
I also wish to show the publishers of this country, how much
it is their interest, when they are about to publish translations
of foreign scientific works, to employ competent persons. It is
a wretched economy, both for publishers and purchasers, to have
any thing to do with translations, merely because they can be
procured at a cheap rate; any man capable of giving a correct
448 M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal.
version of a scientific work, extending to 2000 pages, deserves
to be well paid for his labour; for knowledge of that various
kind, is procured by long application and much expense.
The first duty of a translator is, to give the meaning of his author ;
and to do this, he must thoroughly understand the suas of which his
author treats.
Let us see how Dr. M’Murtrie’s translation relist to this
rule.—Vol. I. page 18, of preface to the first edition, we have,—
“Jn the mammalia I have brought back the solipedes to the
Pachydermata, and have divided the latter into families upon a
new plan; the ruminantia I have placed after the quadrupeds, ~
and the sea cow near the cetacea.” Here the camel, the deer,
the goat, the sheep, the ox, all these important ruminating ani-
mals being placed ater the quadrupeds, of course are not in-
cluded in them. What is then to become of them—are they to
be considered as annihilated, by the readers of this translation ¢
Cuvier says, “ Dans la classe des mammiféres, j’ ai ramené les soli-
pedes aux pachydermes; j’ ai divise ceux-ci en familles d’ aprés
de nouvelles vues ; j’ ai rejeté les ruminants a la fin des quadru-
pedes, j’ ai place le lamantin prés des cetacés.” Now previous
writers had placed the sea-cow, (manatus, or lamantin,) morse,
&c. among the quadrupeds; but as the sea-cow, &c. although
warm-blooded animals, and chewing the cud, possess but two
extremities in the form of anterior fins, Cuvier very properly
separated them from the ruminating quadrupeds, and placed
them at the head of the whales, to form the first division, or the
cetacea herbivora. Dr. M’Murtrie would have spared some
confusion to the young student in zoology, if he had said, “1
have rejected the ruminants, which were at the end of the quad-
rupeds, and have approximated the sea-cow to the cetacea.”
At page 12, line 28, we have, “ Vegetables derive their nou-
rishment from the sun, and from the circumfluent atmosphere in
the form of water, &c.” Cuvier says, “ Le sol et ?atmosphére
presentent aux vegetaux, pour leur nutrition, de l’ eau, d&c.” It
does not appear to have occurred to this naturalist, that the soil,
which is the obvious meaning of the word sol, has any thing to
do with the nourishment of plants. Griffith, in his translation
of this passage, makes precisely the same mistake. _ If it will be
any comfort to Dr. M’Murtrie, I can truly tell him, that my copy
of Griffith is scored with worse blunders than this: I will instance
M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal. 449
one of them. Cuvier, at page 15, of his introduction,* says,
« Tous les étres organisés produisent leur semblables; autrement
la mort étant une suite necessairé de la vie, leurs especes ne
pourroient subsister ;’—which he has rendered, “ All organized
beings produce their like, otherwise death would be a necessary con-
sequence of life, and the species must become extinct ;’—than which,
nothing can be more absurd. The true version is, “All organized
beings produce their like ; if it were not so, death, being a neces-
sary consequence of life, their species would become extinct.’ Dr.
M’Murtrie’s translation consists but of four volumes, and is
to be preferred, on this account; for there 1s no end to
the production of the other, which has already reached the
thirty-first number, and upwards of 6000 pages. This work
will eventually be swelled out to forty numbers, containing
at least 8000 pages, and will ‘cost the subscribers, in this
country, one hundred and thirty dollars. But this cannot.
be fairly called a translation of Cuvier ; the supplements and
notes of the translator and his coadjutors, have increased the bulk
of the work beyond all expectation, and have turned Griffith’s
version of the Regne Animal, into a job of an indecent length,
and an exorbitant expense, for which the work by no means
compensates in its intrinsic value; the translation being fre-
quently very carelessly and blunderingly executed; the original
matter often very erroneous; and the engravings, many of which
are beautifully executed, especially those of the genus cervus
and felis, being superfluously expensive; many genera not having
a single species given, whilst in other instances, numerous figures
are given of the same species. The errors in the supplementary
matter are not only numerous, but often brought forward ex
cathedra, as if they were the ne plus ultra of observation in the
anatomy, physiology, and habits of animals. At page 32, Reptilia,
part 1, he says “ poisonous snakes are harmless to their own
kind,” which is inconsistent with observation ; for the poison of
the rattle snake is not only fatal to its kind, but to itself, when
accidentally self-wounded. At page 40, he says, the intestines of-
the tadpole are “ destined to digest vegetable nutriment ;” when
we know the tadpole feeds on animal food; for there is no better
method of cleaning the skeletons of small animals, than by em-
_ ploying tadpoles.+ But it is useless further to multiply instances;
” * Regne Animal, Vol. I. Paris 8vo. 1829. + Vide p. 239, Month. Am. Jour. of Geol.
Vou. 57 :
450 M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal.
they are any thing but creditable to the persons engaged in the
work. |
_ But to return to Dr. M’Murtrie, who, in the very next page
to his blunder about the sun, has the, following passage :—
“The relations of vegetables and animals to the surrounding
atmosphere, are therefore in an inverse ratio—the former reject
water and carbonic acid, while the latter produce them.” As
there is not a tyro in the elementary lessons of chemistry, who
will not be puzzled at this singular statement, which may rea-/
sonably discourage any one from looking any further into this
translation, I feel called upon, by a sense of what is due to Cu-
vier, and to the reputation of this country for more correct
knowledge, to expose what seems to have grown out of pure ig-
norance, both of the language and the subject. Cuvier, in a
beautiful passage, is treating of the mutual action of the vege-
table and animal systems, for the preservation of each. He states,
that the soil and the atmosphere, present to plants for their
nourishment, water, and air; thatthe first is composed of oxygen
and hydrogen, the second of oxygen, azote, and carbonic acid,
which itself is a combination of oxygen and carbon: that plants
select from all these, hydrogen and carbon, for their own com-
position, and reject the superfluous oxygen, by the aid of light.
That animals, besides these elements, devour organized bodies,
of which hydrogen and carbon form the principal parts; thus,
whilst animals retain azote, they reject the superfluous hydro-
-gen and carbon, by means of respiration ; and this is accomplished
in the following manner. The oxygen of the atmosphere com- |
bines with the superfluous hydrogen and the carbon of their
blood, becoming in the first instance water, in the second car-
bonic acid.” He then proceeds to say, “that the relations of
vegetables and animals with the atmosphere are inverse; the
first decomposing (defont) water and carbonic acid, the second
reproducing them.” Dr. M’Murtrie has ignorantly reversed the
whole arrangement of nature, by stating that vegetables reject
water.
Cuvier had stated that medullary matter appeared to the eye
like a soft boiled pulpy substance, (de bouillie molle) where
nothing but globules infinitely small could be discovered. Dr.
M’Murtrie, at page 14, says, “it appears like a sort of soft bowil-
lie, consisting of excessively small globules.” This is not English.
M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal. 451
‘The word bouillie, it is true, has made a sort of lodgment with
us, as a representative of boiled beef; but we hardly think his
readers will be much edified by learning that the molecules of
the spinal marrow resemble excessively small pieces of boiled beef.
To translate “infiniment petits,” by “excessively small,” is to
throw away the whole philosophic force of the passage.
At page 31, is another instance of unfaithful translation, and
want of knowledge in the physiology of invertebrated animals.
Of these he says, “the muscles are merely attached to the skin,
which constitutes a. soft contractile envelope, in which, in many
species, are formed stony plates, called shells, whose position and
production are analogous to those of the mucous body.” Cuvier
says, “ les muscles sont attachés seulement a la peau, qui forme
une enveloppe molle, contractile en divers sens, dans laquelle s’ en-
gendrent, en beaucoup d’ especes, des plaques pierreuses, ap-
peleés coquilles, dont la position et la production sont analogues
a celles du corps muqueux.”” A competent translator would have
translated the phrase “contractile en divers sens;” for these
lights and shades of great masters, are sacred in the eyes of men
of science; and a physiologist would have said, “ are analogous
to those of the rete mucosum,” the position of which, between
the epidermis and cutis vera, is clearly expressed by Cuvier.
As a specimen of errors attributable to sheer carelessness, we
have, at page 49, the following strange assertion, under the head
of “physical and moral developement of man,” and which has
hitherto been supposed only applicable to that eccentric sect of
the bimana, called Shaking Quakers. Speaking of the external
marks of puberty in young persons, Dr. M’Murtrie says,—for
Cuvier does not say so—“ and neither sex, (very rarely at least,)
is productive, before, or after that manifestation.”
At page 143, speaking of the rat, mus rattus of Linneus, we
have, “ of which no mention is made by the ancients, and which
appears to have entered Europe in the middle century.” Cuvier
says, “dans le moyen age,” “in the middle ages.” In the name
of old Chronos, what does the middle century mean ?
Few persons in this country have seen the giraffe, and books
must be relied upon, of course, for a general knowledge of the
structure of this interesting animal. Dr. M’Murtrie, at page 186,
Vol. I, in treating of the horny prominences on the heads of many
of the ruminants, says, “In others, the prominences are only
452 M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal.
covered witha hairy skin, continuous with that of the head; nor
do the prominences fall, those of the giraffe excepted.” Cuvier says,
“Ja seule giraffe en a de telles,” “ the giraffe alone has such pro- —
minences:” i. e. with a hairy skin, and which never fall. Here
the translator has stated precisely the reverse of what his author
Says.
Whatever opinion Dr. M’Murtrie may entertain of his own
qualifications as a translator for such a work as Cuvier’s Regne
Animal, I will do him the justice to suppose, he would not deem
any other individual capable of so important an undertaking,
who could commit the errors I. have animadverted upon. It
would be deemed a bold thing of any man now living, in a trans-
lation of Cuvier’s work, to make important changes in the no-
menclature, to suppress it in some instances, and to frequently
impute to this great naturalist, “this is a mistake.” - Dr. M’Mur-
trie has felt confidence enough in himself to do all these things.
There are, it is true, a few blemishes in Cuvier’s work, as there
are spots in the sun; but the important ones have, for some rea-
son or other, escaped the vigilance of his translator. Speaking
of the suricats, (ryzena Iliger,) Cuvier says, at page 158, 8yo.
edition, 1829, Vol. I, “ they are distinguished from the mangousts
and from all the carnivorous animals which have hitherto been
spoken of, because they have only four toes to each foot,” forgetting
‘that he had just before, at page 154, said, “the hyena may be
placed after the dogs, as a fourth sub-genus, distinguished by
the number of its toes, which is four to every foot.” ‘This error
we find translated, without remark from Dr. M’Murtrie.
The third order of the mammalia, is called by Cuvier carnas-
siers, from their being addicted to flesh. This order was formerly
called carnivora; but as some animals are merely addicted to-
flesh, whilst others are voracious after flesh, Cuvier has trans-
ferred the term carnivora to these last. Dr. M’Murtrie has sub-
stituted carnaria for carnassiers, without giving his reasons, and
without apparently considering, whether there is any essential
difference between the meaning of the two words, carnaria and
carniyora, It was the duty of such a translator to have left.
matters as he found them. In other instances this translator
has totally omitted important terms, apparently because he could
not make them bend to his classical powers; this is a source of.
serious inconvenience to his readers, who are thus obliged to:re-
M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal. 453
fer to the original text, to know what species are under consi-
deration: thus, at page 292, not knowing what to make of “les
mesanges,” (titmouse or tom-tit,) he has omitted it altogether,
although in the original it stands at the head of several of the —
species, whose descriptions follow; and indeed, when he comes
to translate those descriptions, we find the following references :
“la M. a téte bleue. Le M. huppé. Le M. a longue queue ;”
‘whilst it is impossible for students to know what the letter M
refers to, because the generic term mesanges is entirely omitted.
At page 373, is another monstrous blunder: speaking of the
family cultirostres, he says, “we subdivide it into three tribes;
the cranes, the true herons, and the swans.” And he then proceeds
to describe the grus, or crane; the cancroma, or herons, and—
the swans of course—no, he describes the ciconia, or storks; and
without perceiving his previous error: this, too, from a Latinist,
who draws distinctions between carnaria and carnivora. We
must remark, here, that if the translator had- understood the
French or Latin languages, he never would have translated ci-
cognes, (ciconia, storks,) into swans; and if he had had but a
sprinkling of knowledge of the subject, he would have known
that swans belong to the great duck genus, (anas L.) which his
author has placed in the family lamellirostres, and not in that
of cultirostres.
At the end of the first volume, we find an “ Appendix, by the
American Editor,” of which much cannot be said in favour: it
is very imperfect, and fails, in numerous cases, to establish spe-
cific distinctions. The worst feature of this appendix is the re-
iteration of species previously described under different names,
and by naturalists, whose labours have been, in other instances,
overlooked or neglected. The vespertilio lucifugus, of Le Conte,
is the v. subulatus of Say. See Long’s Expedition to the Rocky
Mountains, Vol. II. p. 62. The v. noctivagans of the same natu-
ralist, is not sufficiently characterized, and its habitat not men-
tioned. The plecotus macrotis of L. C. is most probably the
megalotis of Rafinesque. The mycteris noveboracensis, is quoted
as figured in Wils. Orn. vi. pl. 4; and the translator adds,
“whence it has been quoted by M. Cuvier as the taphizous.”
I venture to assert that this may be classed among the nume-
rous inconsiderate insinuations of this work, and that Cuvier is
entirely correct in this reference of the taphizous from Wilson.
454 M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal.
At paragraph vi., the two wolves described by Say, in Long’s
_ Expedition, canis latrans, and c. nubilus, are stated to be probably
varieties of c. lupus. A visit to the Philadelphia museum, where
individuals of these two species are preserved, would have satis-
fied him of Mr. Say’s correctness. Indeed, c. nubilus resembles
c. lycaon, more than c. lupus.
The catalogue of the “ mammalia and birds of the United
States,” which closes the first volume, is exceedingly defective,
and exhibits an almost entire ignorance of the labours of Ameri-
can naturalists. The genus sorex is mentioned, with the fol-
lowing note: “We have many species of this genus in the
U. States, but not one that has yet been properly determined.”
And at page 88, there is a note on this subject, signed Am. Ed.
which has a very learned appearance. Who’'the friend behind
the curtain is, I do not pretend to say ; but it has occasionally
been drawn up high enough to show, at least, the legs of
a friend. Whether intentionally or not, Mr. Say is treated
with great injustice. More complete descriptions of an animal
have never been given, than those we owe to him of the sorer
parvus, and sorex brevicaudus, for which I refer to Long’s Ex-
pedition, Vol. I. pp. 163, 164. Traits of this kind deserve ani-
madversion. It is not to be endured, that the labours of so
distinguished a traveller as Col. Long, and of so able a naturalist
as Mr. Say, should be obscured in this unjustifiable manner. Of
the illiberal slights which other American naturalists have re-
ceived upon this occasion, I forbear at present to speak.
The translator has not thought proper, at the end of his first
volume, to give a list of errata: this he ought to have done,
since they are numerous enough, and occasionally affect the
‘meaning of his author; the typographical errors, too, are suffi-
ciently obvious to catch the eye of a rapid reader. At page 29,
honogeneous for homogeneous,—p. 69, siamiri for saimiri,—p. 72,
every for very,—p. 80, shaved for shaped,—p. 111, colour on the
eye, for to the eye,—p. 113, black for back,—p. 126, black for
back,—p. 139, watered for waved,—p. 142, poessig for poeppig,—
p- 238, morhpnus for morphnus,—p. 258, tanaers for tangara,—p.
277, meura for menura,—p. 297, maugeur for mangeur,—p. 331,
birds passage for birds of passage,—p. 347, larger for longer,—p. 392,
roges for rouges,—p. 402, beak for neck,—p. 405, when for where.
I shall not pursue, at present, these remarks into the subse-
M’ Murtrie’s Translation of the Regne Animal. 455
quent volumes. If the publishers are men of sense, they will be
obliged to me for enabling them to render a future edition of
their work more deserving the patronage of the public. It has
had its share of puffing in the newspapers, and it is now the
turn of purchasers of the work, of which I am one, to speak of
it as they have found it. I have taken the trouble to do so, out
of pure regard for the reputation of the country; nor should I
have drawn up these observations, if I had not believed, from
the independent and correct course you have hitherto pursued
in your Journal, that I might reasonably expect them to be in-
serted in it. I consider your Journal as a scientific periodical,
not infected by the spirit of puffing and quackery, and indepen-
dently and intelligently standing up for the true interests of
science, and the scientific reputation of the country. I regret
that I am not able to give this honest praise to Mr. Silliman’s
American Journal of Science and Arts, which certainly, upon
this occasion, has not deserved it; having voluntarily lowered
itself to the level of common puffers, by announcing Dr. M’Mur-
trie’s translation in the most eulogistic terms, “as very faithful
and able.” I perceive that the publishers of Dr. M’Murtrie’s
work, have appended to their advertisements this recommenda-
tory certificate of Professor Silliman. The principal effect of
this wretched puff, will be to strengthen the increasing want of
confidence in its author. In one sense, it may serve the pur-
poses of the publisher ; for the public, puzzled by such different
accounts of the work, may purchase, and in order to judge for
itself, may read the work. J wish it may occur also to Professor
Silliman, to look into the work; as I cannot but infer, he has
never read a line in it. I give you his passage.
“Dr. M’Murtrie is entitled to the thanks of the cultivators of natural his-
tory, for his very faithful and able translation of this most perfect system of
zoology. The publication of the present work, we are confident, will form -
an era in this country.”—Szlliman’s Journal, Vol. XXI, p. 3&8.
Taking it for granted that you will examine into the truth of
my averments, I place it with cheerful confidence in your hands,
reserving my remarks upon the subsequent volumes, which are
by no means without merit, for a future occasion.
A SvupscriBEr.
_ We have had the preceding communication sometime in our
possession, and publish it with reluctance, although we have:
456 Audubon.
verified, by personal examination, the accuracy of “ A Subscri-
ber,” in relation to the errors and omissions it adverts to.
Much praise is due to those through whose enterprise this trans-
lation has been undertaken; and every naturalist is aware, that
a translation of the Regne Animal is a very arduous undertaking ;
one that could scarce be completed without some deficiencies.
[t appears to us, to have been sent to the press with too much
haste, and that if the translator had required of some intelligent
friend, to revise it before it was printed, he would have been
spared these remarks, which will perhaps give him pain. The
greater portion of the work is well done, and bears testimony
both to the intelligence and industry of the translator. We feel
exceedingly, that we cannot accord to it all the praise, we had
hoped it would deserve at our hands; but justice must be done,
and we shall never shrink at the performance of any act, by
which the cause of science may be substantially advanced. We
think that the remarks of “ A Subscriber” will be permanently
beneficial, both to the public, and to the parties themselves.
Eprror. |
AUDUBON,
Author of “ THE BIRDS OF AMERICA,” and “ORNITHOLOGICAL BIOGRAPHY.”
Joun James Aupuson, of French descent, was born in the State
of Louisiana :—but as no words can tell his early history so elo-
quently as his own, we shall proceed to select such’ passages
from the “ Introductory Address,” to his Ornithological Biogra-
phy, as cannot fail to excite in our readers, a deep interest for
the writer of this most interesting, but too short auto-biographical
sketch. After calling himself an’“ American woodsman,” he
proceeds :
“T received life and light in the New World. When had hardly yet
learned to walk, and to articulate those first words always so endearing to
parents, the productions of Nature that lay spread all around, were constantly
pointed out tome. They soon became my playmates; and before my ideas
were sufficiently formed to enable me to estimate the difference between the
azure tints of the sky, and the emerald hue of the bright foliage, I felt that
an intimacy with them, not consisting of friendship merely, but bordering on
phrenzy, must accompany my steps through life ;—and now, more than ever,
am I persuaded of the power of those early impressions. They laid such
—
‘
\
Audubon. 457
hold upon me, that, when removed from the woods, the prairies, and the
brooks, or shut up from the view of the wide Atlantic, I experienced none of
those pleasures most congenial to my mind. None but aerial companions
suited my fancy. No roof seemed so secure to me as that formed of the
dense foilage under which the feathered tribes were seen to resort, or the
caves and fissures of the massy rocks to which the dark winged Cormorant
and the Curlew retired to rest, or to protect themselves from the fury of the
_tempest. My father generally accompanied my steps, procured birds and
flowers for me with great eagerness,—pointed out the elegant movements of
the former, the beauty and softness of their plumage, the manifestations of
their pleasure or sense of danger,—and the always perfect forms and splendid
attire of the latter. My valued preceptor would then speak of the departure
and return of birds with the seasons, and would describe their haunts, and,
more wonderful than all, their change of livery; thus exciting me to study
them, and to raise my mind towards their great Creator.
“A vivid pleasure shone upon those days of my early youth, attended with
a calmness of feeling, that seldom failed to rivet my attention for hours,
whilst I gazed in ecstacy upon the pearly and shining eggs, as they lay m-
bedded in the softest down, or among dried leaves and twigs, or were ex-
posed upon the burning. sand or weather-beaten rock of our Atlantic shores.
I was taught to look upon them as flowers yet in the bud. I watched their
opening, to see how Nature had provided each different species with eyes,
either open at birth, or closed for some time after; to trace the slow progress
_of the young birds toward perfection, or admire the celerity with which some
of them, while yet unfledged, removed themselves from danger to security.
“J grew up, and my wishes grew with my form. ‘These wishes were for
the entire possession of all that I saw. I was fervently desirous of becoming
acquainted with nature. For many years, however, I was sadly disappoint-
ed, and for ever, doubtless, must I have desires that cannot be gratified.
The moment a bird was dead, however beautiful it had been when in life, the
pleasure arising from the possession of it became blunted; and although the
greatest care was bestowed on endeavours to preserve the appearance of
nature, I looked upon its vesture as more than sullied, as requiring constant
attention and repeated mendings, while, after all, it could no longer be said
to be fresh from the hands of its Maker. I wished to possess all the produc-
tions of nature, but I wished life with them. This was impossible. Then
what was to be done? I turned to my father, and made known’ to him my
disappointment and anxiety. He produced a book of Illustrations. A new
life ran in my veins. I turned over the leaves with avidity; and although
what I saw was not what I longed for, it gave me a desire to copy Nature.
To Nature I went, and tried to imitate her, as in the days of my childhood I
had tried to raise myself from the ground and stand erect, before Time had
imparted the vigour necessary for the success of such an undertaking.
“How sorely disappointed did I feel, for many years, when I saw that my
productions were worse than those which I ventured (perhaps in silence) to
regard as bad, in the book given me by my father! My pencil gave birth to
a family of cripples. So maimed were most of them, that they resembled
‘Vor. L—58
-
458 . Audubon.
‘the mangled corpses on the field of battle, compared with the integrity of
living men. These difficulties and disappointments irritated me, but never
for a moment destroyed the desire of obtaining perfect representations of na-
ture. The worse my drawings were, the more beautiful did I see the origi-
nals. To have been torn from the study would have been as death to me.
My time was entirely occupied with it. I produced hundreds of these rude
sketches annually; and for a long time, at my request, they made bonfires on
the anniversaries of my birth-day.”
As the bent of such inclinations could not be mistaken, he was
sent to France, when very young, and applied himself with great
patience and industry to drawing. But at the age of seventeen,
when he returned to his native country, although he was familiar
with those rudiments of the higher branches of the art, heads
and noses of giants and horses; and although the celebrated
David had guided his hand, he cast them all aside at the sight
of his native woods, and with great ardour commenced that un-
rivalled collection of drawings, “ The Birds of America,” which
Cuvier has pronounced “ the most magnificent monument which has
hitherto been raised to ornithology.”
“Tn Pennsylvania, a beautiful state, almost central on the line of our At-
lantic shores, my father, in his desire of proving my friend through life, gave
me what Americans call a beautiful ‘ plantation,’ refreshed during the summer
heats by the waters of the Schuylkill river, and traversed by a creek called
Perkioming. Its fine woodlands, its extensive fields, its hills crowned with
evergreens, offered many subjects to my pencil. It was there that I com-
menced my simple and agreeable studies, with as little concern about the
future as if the world had been made forme. My rambles invariably com-
menced at break of day ; and to return wet with dew, and bearing a feathered
prize, was, and ever will be, the highest enjoyment for which I have been
fitted.
“ Yet think not, reader, that the enthusiasm which I felt for my favourite
pursuits was a barrier opposed to the admission of gentler sentiments. Na-
ture, which had turned my young mind towards the bird and the flower, soon
proved her influence upon my heart.”
He married; passed twenty years of his life in vain commer-
cial attempts to become rich, “after the ways of men,” and after
many unhappy struggles with the opinions of his friends, and ir-
ritated at the restraint they sought to impose upon his inclinations,
he broke away from them all, and gave himself up to, his own
favourite pursuits. Unknown, without fortune, and in opposition
to the wishes of his friends, he abandoned every thing for nature;
led by that irresistible passion, which, at a ripened age, and in
possession of those advantages which usually bind men to society,
=\
Sludubon. 459
has again drawn him into'the unfrequented wilds of the remote
shores of his native America. In April, 1824, he visited Phila-
delphia, which gave him an opportunity of exhibiting his draw-
ings, and forming a few valuable acquaintances. Dr. Mease pre-
sented him to Charles Lucien Bonaparte, one of the most learned
ornithologists of the present day, and to whom the world owes
the splendid continuation of Wilson’s ornithology. By this gen-
tleman he was greatly encouraged to persevere in his pursuits,
with a view to future independence and eminence; and after
exploring the State of New York, in “ the wildest solitudes of
the pathless and gloomy forests,” he after an absence of eighteen
months, returned to his family, then in Louisiana, and “ explored
every portion of the vast woods around.”
But his port folio, at length,—after having been destroyed, as
he relates at page 13,—became full; and remembering the en-
couragement he had received from his friend, Charles L. Bona-
parte, his somewhat ambitious mind was turned to Europe,
as the only country where his labours would be cherished.
“America being my country, and the principal pleasures of my life having
been obtained there, I prepared to leave it, with deep sorrow, after in vain
trying to publish my Illustrations in the United States. In Philadelphia,
Witson’s principal engraver,,amongst others, gave it as his opinion to my
_ friends, that my drawings could never be engraved. In New York, other
difficulties presented themsely es, which determined me to carry my collec-
tions to Europe.
* As I approached the coast of England, and for the first time beheld her
fertile shores, the despondency of my spirits became very great. I knew not
an individual in the country ; and although I was the bearer of letters from
American friends, and statesmen of great eminence, my situation appeared
precarious in the extreme. I imagined that every individual whom I was
about to meet, might be possessed of talents superior to those of any on our
side of the Atlantic! Indeed, as I for the first time walked in the streets of
Liverpool, my heart nearly failed me, for not a glance of sympathy did I
meet in my wanderings, for two days. To the woods I could not betake
myself, for there were none near.
“But how soon did all around me assume a different aspect! How fresh
is the recollection of the change! The very first letter which I tendered
procured me a world of friends. The Rarusonss, the Roscozs, the Trax,
the Cuorteys, the Meturs, and others, took me by the hand; and so kind
and beneficent, nay, so generously kind, have they all been towards me, that
I can never cancel the obligation. My drawings were publicly exhibited,
and publicly praised. Joy swelled my heart. The first difficulty was sur-
mounted. Honours which, on application being made through my friends,
Philadelphia had refused, Liverpool freely accorded.
460 Audubon.
We knew Audubon in London, being on a visit there, as well
as himself, and know how much his feelings were wounded, by
the refusal alluded to, of the social honours of Philadelphia.
This slight is by no means to be imputed to his countrymen at
large, to whom he was comparatively unknown. The transac-
tion grew out of the spirit of jealousy, which is always illiberal,
and the frequent parent of misrepresentation and calumny. Some
of the friends of Wilson did not view, with the most cordial spirit,
those evidences of transcendent merit, which others willingly
accorded to Audubon’s drawings; then arose the spirit of party,
and with it malevolence. A few small minds, who knew little
or nothing of nature, and who had officiously intruded themselves
into this matter, endeavoured to make up for their want of
knowledge on the subject, by excess of bad zeal. Opinions were
industriously circulated, that Audubon had, in many instances,
attempted to impose upon the credulity of the world, by invent-
ing stories which had no foundation in truth, because they were
- contrary to the known habits of the animals they concerned; as
if.the habits of the animals of this vast continent, could possibly
be known to any other class of men, but that adventurous one,
which, like Audubon, had passed their whole lives in observing’
them; and because he had executed a drawing of mimitable
force and beauty, of “mocking birds defending their nest from a
rattlesnake,”—a picture which cannot be contemplated without
the liveliest emotions, and of which one of the best judges in
Europe, Mr. Swainson, in an elegant encomium, has said, “ every
part of the story is told with exquisite feeling ;” they selected
this to exercise their detraction upon; and concluding, because
_ the books of systematic naturalists, had not mentioned this habit
of the rattlesnake of climbing up bushes, that it was a fair pre-
sumption the animal did not and could not climb; they indus-
triously circulated a report, that he had imposed a deliberate
lie upon the world, and that no doubt he had done so.im many
other instances. ‘Thus overwhelmed with calumny, and absent,
his friends,—and he had a few, both true and steady,—had the
mortification to witness the temporary success of this bad com-
bination, and see the name of this great naturalist, that would
do honour to any so¢iety, rejected, and in a scornful manner.
It is painful to allude to this circumstance, which is somewhat
notorious; but that the shame, which belongs to a very few, may
Audubon. 3 461
‘not be imputed to all, we have here given a true history of a
conspiracy, got up to utterly break down and ruin the reputa-
tion of one of the most remarkable men America ever produced:
a man, whom the Royal Society of London, nearly all the dis-
tinguished societies of Great Britain, and many others in France,
have subsequently lavished their highest honours upon. We
have the satisfaction to add, that previous to his return to his
native country, in September last, atonement was made to him
for this persecution. 'The American Philosophical Society, at a
full meeting of its most respectable members, disregarding the
calumnies yet assiduously circulated by a few, elected him an
associate, and subscribed for a copy of his magnificent work ;
and the society from whence he had formerly been rejected, paid
him the same tribute of respect.
This Journal has always been prompt to repel unfriendly im-
putations directed against Audubon ; his claims to public confi-
dence were vindicated in our September number.* There is a
communication from Col. Abert, of the U. 8. Topographical en-
gineers, where the most conclusive evidence is given from officers
of high rank in the U. S. service, that the rattlesnake has those
habits of climbing, and has been seen by others, in the situation
depicted by Audubon.t These gentlemen have been able to
offer their testimony of his fidelity to nature, because they too
have had rare opportunities of observing the habits of animals,
in the distant and unfrequented territories of our country.
The remainder of the introductory address, from which we
have made our quotations, is devoted to an account of the cor-
dial manner with which he was received in Liverpool and Edin-
burgh, of the grateful attentions paid to him by some of their
most distinguished inhabitants, of which a list is given. No
sooner was his great merit perceived, than he was spontaneously
and gratuitously enrolled a member of their first societies. Au-
dubon was now about to enter upon the fruition of those antici-
pations which so long had borne him up; and encouraged from
every quarter, he opened an exhibition of his drawings. We ex-
tract the following from Blackwood,{ a periodical which has
- been eloquent in the commendation of Audubon.
“Soon after his arrival in Edinburgh, where he soon found many friends,
*See Month. Am. Jour. of Geology, Sept. 1831, p. 138. +t Do. Nov. 1831, p. 221.
tSee Blackwood’s Edinburgh Mag. July 1831, p. 14.
462 ~ Audubon.
he opened his exhibition. Four hundred drawings,—paintings in water co-
lours—of about two thousand birds, covered the walls of the institution hall,
in the royal society buildings, and the effect was hike magic. 'The spectator
imagined himself in the forest. All were of the size of life, from the wren
and the humming bird, to the wild turkey and the bird of Washington. But
what signified the mere size? The colours were all of life too—bright as
when borne in beaming beauty through the woods. There, too, were their
attitudes and postures, infinite as they are assumed by the restless creatures,
in motion or rest, in their glee and their gambols, their loves and their wars,
singing, or caressing, or brooding, or preying, or tearing one another into
pieces. ‘The trees too, on which they sat or sported, all true to nature, in
hole, branch, spray, and leaf; the flowering shrubs, and the ground flowers,
the weeds, and the very grass, all American—so too the atmosphere and the
skies—all transatlantic. ’T'was a wild and poetical vision of the heartof the
new world, inhabited as yet almost wholly by the lovely or noble creatures,
‘that own not man’s dominion.’ ”
We know not in what more expressive language, we could
have sought to do justice to the magic drawings of Audubon,
than that of the quotation we have just made.
The complete success of this exhibition, decided Audubon
upon the great undertaking he has, in part, most admirably ac-
complished; that of engraving these magnificent drawings. We
should not do justice to them, if we were to omit the paypal |
passage in the introductory address :—
“ Merely to say, that each object of my illustrations is of the size of nature,
were too vague—for to many it might only convey the idea that they are so,
more or less, according as the eye of the delineator may have been more or
less correct in measurement simply obtained through that medium; and: of
avoiding error in this respect I am particularly desirous. Not only is every
object, as a whole, of the natural size, but also every portion of each object.
The compass aided me in its delineation, regulated and corrected each part,
even to the very fore-shortening which now and then may be seen in the
figures. The bill, the feet, the legs, the claws, the very feathers as they
project one beyond another, have been accurately measured. The birds,
almost all of them, were killed by myself, after I had examined their motions
and habits, as much as the case admitted, and were regularly drawn on or
near the spot where I procured them. The positions may, perhaps, in some
instances, appear outre ; but such supposed exaggerations can afford subject
of criticism only to persons unacquainted with the feathered tribes; for, be-
lieve me, nothing can be more transient or varied than the attitudes or posi-
tions of birds. The Heron, when warming itself in the sun, will sometimes
drop its wings several inches, as if they were dislocated ; the Swan may often
be seen floating with one foot extended from the body ; and some Pigeons,
you well know, turn quite over, when playing in the air. The flowers,
plants, or portions of trees which are attached to the principal objects, have
Audubon. 463
been chosen from amongst those in the vicinity cf which the birds were
found, and are not, as some persona have thought, the trees or plants upon
which they always feed or perch.”
Taking it for granted, that the salrbadee which this great
work has begun to receive in this country, will soon be so much
extended, as to enrich every considerable town in the United
States with at least one copy,—for what town or neighbour-
hood is there, which does not possess patriotic, wealthy, and
liberal friends to the arts, who can unite in a subscription for
this purpose ‘—we shall not repeat the encomiums it so well de-
serves: we imagine there are few of our readers, who will not
be able to have access to this unrivalled work; to those, how-
ever, who hitherto have not had an opportunity of seeing it, we
shall state-—what they may already have conceived, knowing
the objects described to be as large as life-—that the first volume,
already published, containing one hundred plates, is truly a gi-
gantic volume. We saw a copy of it, recently, bound in calf,
brought by Mr. Audubon from England, which weighed forty-
five pounds. The pages are three feet three inches long, and
two feet two inches broad. Each number, the price of which
is two guineas, or about ten dollars, contains five plates: one
hundred and twenty-four plates have already been published,
of which one hundred form the first volume: the others will ap-
pear gradually ; so that the total amount of the cost of this un-
rivalled work, is progressively paid, and in small sums. The
intention is, to publish at least five numbers annually. To each
volume of plates, consisting of twenty numbers, is annexed a de-
scriptive and narrative volume of “Ornithological Biography.”*
This book, which was first published in London, has been re-
printed in Philadelphia, and is perhaps the handsomest octavo
ever got up in America. But this is its slightest merit; it is in
the contents we find what is truly inimitable. Every thing there
is communicated in an earnest and simple manner, sometimes |
with a vivid eloquence and beauty that is touching. There is
not one of the one hundred descriptions contained in this volume,
where evidences of this may not be found. We open the book
at random at page 96, at the head, “ Bewick’s Wren.”
“The bird represented under the name of Bewick’s Wren, I shot on the
19th October, 1821, about five miles from St. Francisville, in the state of
t Ornithological Biography, Royal 8vo. p. 506. Philadelphia, Judah Dobson.
464 Audubon.
Louisiana. It was standing, as nearly as can be represented, in the position
in which you now see it, and upon the prostrate trunk of a tree, not far from
' afence. My drawing of it was made on the spot,” &c.
And again, at page 91, “ The Carolina Turtle Dove.”
“T have tried, kind reader, to give you a faithful representation of two as
gentle pairs of Turtles as ever cooed their loves in the green woods. I have
placed them on a branch of Stuartia, which you see ornamented with a pro-
fusion of white blossoms, emblematic of purity and chastity.
_ “Took at the female, as she assiduously sits on her eggs, embosomed
among the thick foliage, receiving food from the bill of her mate, and listen-
ing with delight to his assurances of devoted affection. Nothing is wanting
to render the moment as happy as could be desired by any couple on a similar
occasion.
**On the branch above, a love scene is just commencing. The female,
still coy and undetermined, seems doubtful of the truth of her lover, and
virgiti-like resolves to put his sincerity to the test, by delaying the gratifica-
tion of his wishes. She has reached the extremity of the branch, her wings
and tail are already opening, and she will fly off to some more sequestered
spot, where, if her lover should follow her with the same assiduous devotion,
they will doubtless become as blessed as the pair beneath them.
“The Dove announces the approach of spring. Nay, she does more :—
she forces us to forget the chilling blasts of winter, by the soft and melan-
choly sound of her cooing. Her heart is already so warmed and so swelled
by the ardour of her passion, that it feels as ready to expand as the buds on
the trees are, under the genial influence of returning heat.”
But to do perfect justice to his genius, we must, at the same
time, see the beautiful drawing where these turtle doves are
represented; then, indeed, we perceive that nature has not spo- -
ken to him in vain, and that he can express the feelings she has
inspired him with, with great force.
Even the dear little house-wren, he has given us a most
pleasing and minute account of. What can be more amusing,
' cheerful, and ridiculous, at the same time, than. the family pic-
ture of plate 83, where the nest is in an old hat, stuck on a
_ twig, the male beginning his song on the edge of the hat, and
the anxious mother arriving with a fine fat spider, which. one
of the pets is squeezing himself through a hole to get at: and
then this family history is followed up, so as to give us a direct
interest in all the wren family, wherever we may meet them.
“When the young issue from the nest, it is interesting to see them follow
the parents amongst the currant bushes in the gardens, like so many mice,
hopping from twig to twig, throwing their tails upwards, and putting their
Audubon. . 465
bodies into a hundred different positions, all studied from the parents, whilst
the latter are heard scolding, even without cause, but as if to prevent the ap-
proach of enemies, so anxious are they for the safety of their progeny.” See
page 428.
In some remarks on Audubon’s works, contained in the Edin-
burgh New Philosophical Journal, for April 1831, it is said:
“It is not enough to say, that our author has invented a new style in the
representation of natural objects; for so true are his pictures, that he who
has once seen and examined them, can never again look with pleasure on
the finest productions of other artists. To paint like Audubon, will henceforth
mean, to represent Nature as she is. The birds are represented such as Na-
ture created them, of their full dimensions, glowing in all the beauty of their
unsullied plumage, and presenting the forms, attitudes, and motions peculiar
to the species. In no case do they appear before us in the stiff and formal
attitudes in which we find them in other works, perched upon an unmeaning
stump or stone. On the contrary, they are seen in all imaginable positions,
pursuing their usual avocations. The fore-shortenings and varieties of atti-
tude which induce painters generally to present side views only, seem to
have been accounted as nothing out of the ordinary course of drawing ; with
so much delicacy, grace, and vigour, have the most difficult positions been |
managed. A peculiar charm is given to these representations, by the cir-
cumstances that the trees, plants, and flowers of the districts in which they
occur, are all represented, generally with surprising accuracy, and always
with great taste. The flowing festoons of climbing shrubs and creepers,
hung with broad leaves, garlands of flowers, and clustered berries, the lichen-
crusted branches of the forest trees, and the decayed stumps on which the
woodpeckers seek their food, are in themselves objects of admiration.”
This is just praise, and many are the British periodicals in
which we find language of this kind. The same may be said
with great truth, of his biographical descriptions: in them he
does not appear as the dry, systematic naturalist, the manufac-
turer of the barbarous Latin jargon, after the manner of the old
school, but as the delightful historian of those birds, of which he
is the unrivalled painter. In his descriptions, we find the per-
suasive power of a mind, which has not been moulded in the
conventional forms of society, but taught by its own unrestrained
experience, acquired in nature’s most retired solitudes, where
she was sought, and wooed, and won. For proofs of this, we
refer our readers to page 372, where the wood-thrush is de-
scribed with a train of eloquent thought, that does him honour
as aman anda writer. But we think that it isin his account
of the mocking-bird, at page 108, that the power and happy
gracefulness of his language are most. conspicuous.
Vor. I.—59
466 Aludubon.
“It is where the great magnolia shoots up its majestic trunk, crowned
with evergreen leaves, and decorated with a thousand beautiful flowers, that
perfume the air around; where the forests and fields are adorned with blos-
soms of every hue; where the golden orange ornaments the gardens and
groves; where bignonias of various kinds interlace their climbing stems
around the white-flowered Stuartia, and mounting still higher, cover the
summits of the lofty trees around, accompanied with innumerable vines, that
here and there festoon the dense foliage of the magnificent woods, lending to
the vernal breeze a slight portion of the perfume of their clustered flowers;
where a genial warmth seldom forsakes the ano a where berries and
fruits of all hs caged are met with at every step.”
This is the eloquent introduction to one of the most fascinating
descriptions of the bird himself, his courtship, his song, and the
thousand cares between the construction of the nest, and the
fledging of their young.
We trust we have said enough to inspire those of our re
who have not read this charming book, with a desire to acquire
it: and to it we refer them for the noble descriptions of the lar-
ger birds. The bird of Washington, the stately hawk, the black
warrior, (falco Harlani,) called after his tried friend, Dr. Harlan,
the wild turkey, and its other various contents. But besides these
attractions, it contains the most interesting narratives of his ad-
ventures, and local descriptions, judiciously interspersed through
the work, to the number of twenty. They are as follows: the Olio,
the great pine swamp, the prairie, the regulators, improvements in the
navigation of the Mississippi, a flood, Meadville, the cougar, the earth-
quake, the hurricane, Kentucky sports, the traveller and the pole-cat,
deer hunting, Niagara, hospitality in the woods, the original painter,
Louisville in Kentucky, the eccentric naturalist, Scipio and the bear,
and Col. Boon. These narratives are many of them so powerful,
that we rise from the repeated reading of them, almost as fami-
liar with the subject, as if we had been the companions of Mr.
Audubon in his romantic adventures.
Audubon is now in Florida, leading the soleil s Mies he is
so partial to; from thence he will either ascend the Mississippi,
or strike into the unfrequented wilds of Texas. It is his inten-
tion to penetrate, if possible, into California, to whose natural
history we are almost entire strangers. He is furnished with
all the protection the American and British governments could
afford him, having the most powerful recommendations to all
the posts on the distant frontiers. We shall continue, whenever
Audubon. sl 467
—
we are able to do so, to give information of his progress and ad-
ventures. May our opportunities be frequent and fortunate,
until we can greet him again on our Atlantic shore. We most
sincerely hope, that the life of this adventurous and accomplished
naturalist will be spared. He has already done enough to se-
cure a lasting renown; but such is his unextinguishable spirit,
that when his great work, the “ Birds of America,” is all en--
graved, it is only to be the precursor of a still greater; a gallery
executed in oil, as.large as life, of all the subjects of his masterly
drawings. ‘This gallery is already in progress. What a splen-
did acquisition for the congress of the United States of America!
Ere we leave, for a while, this attractive subject, we desire
to say one word more on the encouragement this magnificent
work has received in the native country of its gifted author. On
the arrival of Audubon in the United States, in September last,
we believe he had only six subscribers, including the national
dibrary at Washington. Since that period, the number, we un-
derstand, has increased to twenty-four. Of these, we believe,
five are received in literary and scientific societies. ‘Two copies
have been ordered by the legislature of the State of Louisiana,
and one by the legislature of 8. Carolina. Philadelphia possesses
four copies, Baltimore three, Boston, we believe, one. \Vew York,
we think, at least we have heard so, one. There is one sub-
scriber in Kentucky; Charleston in 8. Carolina, possesses three
copies. Where Audubon is known, he is sure to make friends,
and we have conceived a high idea of the intelligence and libe-
rality to be found in the State of Georgia, from the fact, that in
a town with so limited a population as Savannah, he has no
less than seven subscribers. All these, which do not consti-
tute one fifth of the patronage Audubon deserves from the
United States, will greatly increase the opportunities which
individuals will have, of seeing this magnificent work. ‘There
is but one obstacle to its perfect success, and that consists in
the duties the work is subjected to, on arriving in this country.
Those who have the spirit to appreciate and acquire it, de-
serve every praise, knowing as they do, that foreigners have
the privilege of possessing the works of their gifted countryman,
at a much less expense than they do themselves. We intend no
allusion to either tariff or anti-tariff opinions; under any
Jaws, exceptions should be made in favour of works of ac-
468 British Association for the Advancement of Science.
knowledged genius of the first order; and we think this duty
will be a reflection upon every succeeding congress, as it is upon
the present one, until the “ Birds of America” are permitted to
come in without duty, and free as the animated beings of which
they are the beauteous resemblances. We think, also, that
every department of the government ought to subscribe for a
copy of this truly national work; and we hope, ere long, to learn
that every legislature in the union will follow the examples set
by Louisiana and 8. Carolina.
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.
In our December number, for 1831, we gave an account of
the meeting at Hamburgh, in Germany, of the Cultivators of
Natural Science and Medicine, and expressed our intention to lay
before our readers an account of a proposed scientific meeting
of a similar character, to be held at York, in England, in Sep-
tember 1831. |
This we should have done before the present time, but for
the temporary suspension of our journal, and the confusion at-
tendant upon so unexpected a circumstance. _
We are indebted to one of our best friends, who was a con-
spicuous member of that great scientific meeting, as it has been
properly called, for a very interesting account of it, together
with numerous papers relating to its proceedings. Added to
these, we have Mr. Johnston’s. excellent paper in the January
number of Brewster, and the notice of its proceedings in the
Philosophical Magazine. From all these sources we propose to
condense an account, that we are sure will be acceptable to our
readers.
This first attempt to establish what is, in fact, a scientific
parliament, with locomotive powers, free to range where it may
please, and authorized to convene annually in one of the cities
of Great Britain, has eminently succeeded, although some pains
had been taken to create doubts as to its usefulness. Many
things, however, conspired in its favour. It had originally been
proposed by Dr. Brewster, and many of the best names in Eng-
land had cordially assented to the project. The place of meet-
ing too, was well calculated to induce the members of the as-
British Association for the Advancement of Science. 469
sociation to pursue their object con amore. The ancient city of
York was a Roman station of importance ; many interesting re-
mains of the Roman period in England are extant there at this day.
Upon’the skirts of the city, and near to the mouldering remains
of the ancient Roman walls, are the truly venerable ruins of a
Christian temple, which, perhaps, yield the palm in extent more
than in beauty, to that fine character, which ‘Time, who puts the
true finish to cathedral architecture, exhibits more beautifully
and profusely in England than in any other country. On this
interesting spot of ground, which slopes down to the river Ouse,
and which is pregnant with such fine remembrances, the York-
shire Philosophical Society have constructed an admirable and
most convenient building, of classic and elegant proportions, and
have placed it between the Roman and cathedral ruins of which
we have spoken.
That the most intellectual men in Great Britain could meet
at such a place, and upon such an occasion, without being in-
fluenced by these associations, could not be; and a week was
passed there, consecrated to the interests of science, in the most
harmonious and profitable manner. A few of the most dis-
tinguished scientific men were not able to attend. The pre-
sence of Buckland, Herschell, Sedgewick, Babbage, Airy, and a
few other celebrated persons, would have completed an assem-
blage strong in the names of Dalton, Brewster, Murchison,
Witham, Scoresby, Smith, Daubeny, Vernon Harcourt, Green-
ough, and a host of intellectual men, of established reputation.
It added greatly to the interest of the meeting, that several men
of rank assisted at the deliberations, and evinced a strong de-
sire to forward the great object of the association. The Arch-
bishop of York paid a marked attention to the members, at-
tended the meetings, and enrolled his name on the list. Lords
Milton, Morpeth, Dundas, Sir George Cayley, Sir Thomas
Brisbane, Sir Philip Egerton, Sir C. Ibbetson, Mr. Justice
Parke, Mr. Archdeacon Wrangham, all eminent patrons of sci-
ence, became members of the association.
The first assemblage was on the evening of the 26th Sep-
tember, 1831. The ladies and gentlemen of the city and neigh- -
bourhood attended in great numbers, for the purpose of giving
a cordial welcome to the scientific strangers. During that
evening Mr. Phillips, the able secretary of the Yorkshire society,
470 British Association for the Advancement of Science.
and nephew to Mr. Smith, the father of English geology, de-
livered a lecture on some of the geological phenomena of York-
shire. The next day the first regular meeting was held, to
form the association ; about three hundred and fifty persons en-
rolled their names. Lord Milton, who is the eldest son to Earl
Fitzwilliam, was placed in the chair. The Rev. .Vernon Har-
court, Vice President of the Yorkshire society, delivered an
able address, which was ordered to be printed. At 5 P. M. they
dined together, and in the evening re-assembled, when Mr. Abra-
hams, of Sheffield, delivered a lecture on magnetism, illustrated
by curious experiments. On the 28th, a paper by Dr. Brewster
was read, on the progress of mineralogy and on the crystallo-
graphic system of Mohs. On account of the great number of
mineral structures discovered by the agency of polarized light,
he proposes a “ composite system,” where the crystalline forms
which cannot be taken into any of the received systems, may be
classed. To this succeeded the reading of a valuable paper on
the philosophical character of Priestley, by Dr. Henry of Man-
chester. In the evening Mr. Potter, of Manchester, exhibited
his improvement on the reflecting microscope of Newton. Dr.
Brewster also communicated an account of the theory and ‘con-
struction of a lithoscope, to characterize precious stones, by the
colours reflected from their surfaces.
On the 29th, the organization of the association was .com-
pleted. , Lord Milton was chosen the first president by acclama-
tion. Oxford was fixed upon as the place of the next meeting,
and Dr. Buckland was unanimously chosen President elect. Dr.
Brewster, of the University of Cambridge, and Professor Whewell,
were also unanimously chosen Vice Presidents elect; and Dr.
Daubeny of Oxford, Secretary. Mr. Dalton read a paper “ on the
quantity of food, and insensible perspiration.” He afterwards sta-
ted, that it contained a series of experiments made upon himself
forty years ago, relating to the weight of food taken, and the _
secretions, insensible perspiration, and other animal products.
He pointed out the utility of such inquiries to physicians. This
important paper is to be published in the transactions of the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.. Mr. Potter
then read a paper, the object of which was to point out objec-
tions to Fresnel’s Theory of Light, deduced from certain experi-
ments on light reflected from metallic surfaces both simple and
British Association for the Advancement of Science. 471
compound. Sir George Cayley remarked that the difficulties on ~
this subject were connected with the speculations on the identity
between heat and light.
An interesting discussion now arose on the reading of a paper
by Mr. William Hutton of Newcastle, on the great “ Whin Sill,”
or trap dyke of the northern counties of England. This related
to the geological age of the intrusive rocks connected with the
whin, (a provincial name for trap.) Mr. Hutton had explored
and examined this dyke through a line of one hundred miles be-
tween the confines of Northumberland and Yorkshire: he ex-
hibited a section where beds of limestone and shale were super-
incumbent to it, inferring thence, that these last were posterior to
the trap, which he considered to be the overflowing of ancient
volcanic action. Mr. Murchison, the President of the Geological
Society of London, entertained a different opinion as to the re-
lative age of these rocks. He had personally examined the dis-
trict. He considered Mr. Hutton’s paper to be a very able one;
it was true that the basaltic matter was found in beds between
the strata alluded to; but he had reason to believe there was
a connection between the whin dykes of Durham, and those
stratified beds, which he considered to be intrusive, and that
they had been injected laterally not only into the carboniferous
limestone, but into later rocks. He thought it important that
further examinations should be made in relationto the general
connection of all this basaltic matter. He was entirely of
opinion that all this matter had been laterally injected since
the deposit of the rocks which enclosed it. [This is also the
opinion of Professor Sedgewick, who has made a profound study of
these phenomena. We propose in the plate to our neat number to give
a figure from Mr. M’Culloch’s Western Islands, of the manner in
which the trap is found in Trotternish, “alge anjected, between the
strata of sandstone. |
Mr. Johnston now read a paper upon the metal provisionally
called vanadium, and exhibited some beautiful crystals formed
by gradual cooling. We trust that this gentleman will be in-
duced, by our present number, to do perfect justice to this sub-
ject.
Mr. Witham, of eastinstork next gave a very interesting ~
sketch of the fossil flora. Nothing could happen more fortu-
nately for the cause of fossil botany,—which is so much in-
472 British Association for the Advancement of Science.
debted to M. Adolphe Brogniart,—than the application of Mr.
_ Witham’s ingenious method of detecting the structure of fossil
vegetables ; we think it will, ere long, be generally applied to
all doubtful fossil substances.
Mr. Phillips concluded the morning with a paper from Dr.
Henry, on the roasting of the copper ore of Anglesea. ‘The ore,
when roasted, gives lumps, which contain from thirty to’ fifty
per cent. of copper; these are picked out and then smelted.
The Archbishop of York was present during a part of these pro-
ceedings. In the evening the Rev. Mr. Scoresby delivered toa
very numerous assemblage of ladies and gentlemen, the result of
his experiments on the law of magnetic induction : the magnetic
force diminishes with the square of the distance ; and he has in-
vented a method of applying the magnetic influence to the ad-
measurement of rocks and solid substances in situations where
these are not, by known methods, measureable. ‘The applica-
tion of this curious branch will probably become of great value
im mining operations. Many rocks occasion a sensible deviation
of the needle, and it is probable that when we are better’ ac-
quainted with the magnetic intensity of the various rocks, we
shall be able to measure their thickness. Mr. Scoresby has
found that he can, by his own magnets, cause an ‘angular devia-
tion of the needle, from a distance of sixty feet, through the
most solid substances.
On the morning of Friday the 30th, Dr. Brewster communi-
cated an interesting paper on the structure of the crystalline lens in
the eyes of fishes. 'The various arrangements of this structure,.
adapted to the wants of these animals, through their. extensive |
distribution in the waters of the globe, are extremely instructive
and curious. To this communication succeeded a very lively
geological discussion, in relation to certain marine shells, of ex~
isting shells of mollusca, found in gravel pits about Preston in
Lancashire, and which, it appears, are elevated three hundred
feet above the level of the sea. There is a communication on
this subject at p. 170, Vol. III. of the Magazine of Natural His-
tory, from the Rev. Mr. Gilbertson, who had collected’ these
shells as early as 1829. Mr. R.C. Taylor also has two notes
following the same communication. The country appears to be
covered with a marl, and, according to the observation of Mr.
Murchison, the sands, marls, and gravels, have no deposit super-
British Association for the Advancement of Science. 473
incumbent to them, save some blocks of Cumbrian: origin, and
which alone may be referred to what is called a diluvian origin.
These shells are the Buccinum undatum, Purpura lapillus, Triton
macula, Murex erinaceus, Fusus bamffus, and Turritella terebra, of
Fleming. Turbo littorius, and terebra, Cardium echinatum, Mactra
solida, Dentalium striatum, &c. &c. and Mr. R.C. Taylor has re-
marked, that their appearance is fresher, and more like recent
marine shells found on the beach, than even those of the Suffolk
Crag, which has hitherto been considered the most recent de-
posit. Many of them were embedded in, and filled with marl,
as if it had always been their natural bed.
_ Mr. Murchison having made York one of the points of a very
extensive geological excursion, had just examined the north-
western coast of Lancashire. His account of this interesting
district was listened to with great interest. ‘The inference he
drew, was, that the beds, containing these quasi recent shells, do
not belong to the class called by some geologists diluvial, although
the deposits have an analogous appearance, but that they have
been raised from the bottom of the sea, to their present elevation,
almost within historical times; at any rate, subsequent to the
appearance of the same marine mollusca, which now inhabit the
Irish channel. This is a branch of geology in which Mr. Mur-
chison is pre-eminently skilled, and his opinions on the subject
are entitled to great consideration. ‘These conclusions will
probably be found applicable to other parts of the coast, and
perhaps to many parts of Yorkshire. We are of opinion that
Mr. Phillips, when he publishes another edition of his excellent
work, will find it expedient to modify his diluvial opinions. Facts
of a like nature have been observed in Sicily by Mr. Lyell, and
recently by Dr. Turnbull Christie. This gentleman has ob-
served upon the flanks of Mount Grifone,—an elevated mountain
of dolomitic limestone,—the following subdivision of the deposit,
which once would have been called diluvial. We use the de-
‘scending order.
Blocks of limestone.
Bone breccia, with cave bones.
Pebbles and sands, with existing shells.
Upper sub-appenine, with many existing shells.
The inference set up is, that the bone breccia has been washed
down anciently into the sea, and that all the beds have subse-
Vor. 1—60
474 British Association for the Advancement of Science.
- quently been raised. To these facts we would add, that in
many parts of this country, the same circumstances, no doubt,
occur along the Atlantic border. In Alabama, gravel beds of a
similar character, are found near fort Clairborne, now about
seventy miles from the sea, and elevated, we suppose, about
sixty feet from its level. We shall hereafter return to this
branch of American geology.
Dr. Daubeny next brought up the interesting ndhigaaih of hot
springs, their connexion with volcanic action, the occurrence of
azote in them, and the method of detecting it. Some of Dr.
Daubeny’s opinions were controverted: it was urged, that how-
ever satisfactorily particular phenomena might seem to be con-
structed from one cause, yet that different causes produce in
our laboratories the same phenomena, which might be the case
in the great laboratory of nature. ‘This subject engaged both
geologists and chemists in an animated conversation.— The mem-
bers of the association were entertained this day, by his Grace
the Archbishop, in the most cordial and hospitable manner, at
the ancient archiepiscopal palace of Bishopthorpe. In the even-
ing, the party returned to the Institution, where Mr. Potter
communicated an account of the analogy of electricity in the
Torricellian vacuum, to the aurora borealis. Dr. Warwick ex-
hibited the method of Professor Moll, for making a temporary
magnet of soft iron, by magnetic action. Dr. Daubeny exhi-
bited a sphere of wire gauze, which, when dipped in water,
filled; and on being lifted out, retained the fluid. When shaken,
the water flowed from the pores. The phenomenon was ex-
plained by the principle of capillary attraction.
On Saturday, a valuable memoir was read by Mr. Dalton, on
“ The Specific gravity of the Human Body.” ‘This is to appear in
the Manchester Transactions. Mr. Dalton supposes the pores
of the body to be filled with air, which, together with the air in
the lungs, sustains us against the pressure of the atmosphere,
leaving the solid parts free to use their functions. Mr. Scoresby
related some facts connected with oceanic pressure on wounded
whales: they sometimes descend a mile, but return exhausted,
and blowing out blood, the pressure forcing a portion of it out
of the vessels into the lungs. Mr. Allan, of Edinburgh, described
a large aquamarine, brought from Brazil by Don Pedro. Mr. —
Rebinne explained, aided by his drawings, a contrivance for ex-
British Association for the Advancement of Science. 475
pelling elastic fluids from his fine linseed oil barometer. Dr.
Brewster exhibited alum and rock salt prisms, excelling the
finest glass prisms. This adaptation of cheap substances to such
a purpose, produced some explanation as to Dr. Brewster’s views
of the heating rays of Herschell, supposed to be most numerous
an the dark part of the spectrum, where he found the tempera-_
ture highest. Dr. Brewster is of opinion, that there are no rays
of heat unaccompanied by light.—Colouring matters also were
treated upon. [t was argued, that where a mixture of bodies
has changed the colour of both or either, it is not that the ene
has penetrated into the other, so as to impart its colour to it,
-but that the union of the two has taken place in such a manner,
‘as to produce an arrangement of the particles, which causes the
light to be reflected m a particular way.—Mr. Forbes then read
an elaborate paper, on the horary oscillations of the barometer.
‘The morning closed by a communication from Sir James South
to Dr. Brewster; he had lately observed one of the satellites of
Jupiter, which were generally supposed to disappear, when with-
im the disc of the planet, to appear as a black spot on its surface.
He was desirous of having this anomaly accounted for.
. In the evening, Dr. Daubeny explained some experiments of
the Rev. Mr. Taylor, of York, with a view to increase the inten-
sity of gas light, without increasing the consumption of gas. The
Rev. Mr. V. Harcourt also explained the principle of a new
lamp, invented by him, for the purpose of economising light, by
the use of cheaper oils. An able memoir by Brewster, was then
read, “ On a New Analysis of Solar Light.” ‘The last paper read,
was a translation of a memoir, by Professor Gazzeri, of Florence,
“On a method of rendering visible the traces of erased writing.”
- This consisted mainly in the application of heat. Dr. Brewster
mentioned, that the legends of worn out coins and medals, when
placed on hot iron, would evolve in like manner. He had been
much surprised, at first reading on such a medal, in letters in
flame, the legend, “ Benedictum sit nomen De.”
Lord Morpeth now addressed the meeting, and moved thanks
to Dr. Brewster; when the unbounded one ee had subsided
which his eloquent speech produced,
Mr. Murchison, on the part of Dr. Brewster and his other scientific friends,
begged leave to return thanks for the high honour done to the contributors
of.scientifie memoirs, and for the kind assistance and valuable aid which had
476 «British Association for the Advancement of Science.
been received from the residents of York and the neighbourhood, in the pro-
motion of the objects of this meeting. He explained the motives which first
induced the original promoters of the meeting to select the city of York for
their first assembly. T’o this city, as the cradle of the association, they
should ever look back with gratitude; and whether they met hereafter on
the banks of the Isis, the Cam, or the Forth; to this spot, and to this beauti-
ful building, they would still fondly revert, and haii with delight the period
at which, in their gyration, they should return to this the point of their first
attraction. Mr. Murchison concluded by warmly eulogizing the kind re-
ception and hospitality which the strangers had experienced from the Arch- .
bishop, and from all classes of the inhabitants of the city and neighbourhood.
He concluded, amidst loud applause, with a motion of thanks, as follows :—
“That the cultivators of science here assembled, do return their most grate-
fal thanks to His Grace the Archbishop of York, the Patron, and to the
officers and members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, for the very
liberal manner in which, by the use of their Halls and Museum, and by their ©
obliging and unwearied efforts to provide every accommodation and comfort
to the visitors, they have so essentially contributed to the success and pros-
perity of this association.”
The motion was seconded by Dr. Brewster. Mr. Dalton also rese to
express his entire concurrence in Mr. Murchison’s observations.
The Rev. W. V. Harcourt said, it was quite unnecessary, from the feelings
which he knew to pervade the breasts of all, both scientific strangers and
residents, to put to the vote of the meeting either of the proposals so elo-
quently brought forward. In the long period of its existence, the ancient
city of York had never greater reason to be proud than of the genius and
talent it contained within its walls at this moment, and of the honour it had
obtained of being the birth-place of an AssociaTion destined (he firmly be-
lieved) greatly to enlarge the boundaries of science. After speaking with
much depth of feeling of the grateful recollections which this meeting would
furnish, of the valued friendships which it had been the occasion of forming,
and of the pleasing anticipation of future meetings, when the infant asso-
“ciation should be more matured and adequate to its lofty aims, Mr. Harcourt
concluded by declaring the meeting adjourned to Oxford.
Tea and coffee were then served to the visitors, and the company separated,
highly delighted with the intellectual and social treat which ints had enjoyed
throughout the week.— York Courant.
The nature of this association will be more fully understood
by reference to Dr. Brewster’s Number for Jan. 1832, to which
we refer our readers; we shall, however, publish the preface to
the first report of the association, which has subsequently ap-
peared. We take it from the Philosophical Magazine, for March,
1832, page 225.
In giving to the public a Report of the Peadiainds of the British Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science, it has been considered an important
British Association for the Advancement of Science. 477 -
object to add to the account of the past meeting a distinct view of what is to
be expected from the next, and to announce the result of the applications
which have been made to individuals, requesting them, in the name of the
Association, to undertake the reports and researches recommended by its
committees in different branches of science.
The success of these applications will appear from the following state-
ment.
Reports.—1. The Rev. George Peacock has undertaken to present to the
next meeting, a report on the recent progress of Mathematical Analysis, in
reference particularly to the differential and integral calculus.
2. Professor Airy has undertaken a report on the state and progress of
Astronomical Science, in reference particularly to Physical Astronomy.
3. J. W. Lubbock, Esq. has consented to furnish such information respect-
ing the data and desiderata for calculating the time and height of high-
water as he may be able to offer.
4, James D. Forbes, Esq. has undertaken to present a report on the pre-
sent state of Meteorological Science.
©. Dr. Brewster has undertaken a report on the progiggs of Optical
Science.
6. The Rev. Robert Willis has undertaken a report on the state of our
knowledge concerning the Phenomena of Sound, in reference especially to
the additions recently made to it.
7. The Rev. Professor Powell has undertaken a saci report respecting
the Phenomena of Heat.
8. The Rey. Professor Cumming has undertaken a report on the recent
progress of Chemical Science, especially in foreign countries.
10. The Rev. Professor Whewell has undertaken a report on the state
and progress of Mineralogical Science.
11. Robert Stevenson, Esq. has undertaken the report recommended by
the Geological and Geographical Committee, on the waste and extension of
the land on the east coast of Britain, and on the question of the permanence
of the relative level of the sea and land.
12. Professor Lindley has undertaken to give an account of the principal
questions recently settled, or still agitated, in the Philosophy of Botany.
Researches.—There is reason to hope that the earnest wish expressed by
the Mathematical and Physical Committee, that a register of the thermome-
ter, during every hour of the day and night, should be kept at some station
in the south of England, will be realized at Plymouth under the superin-
tendence of Mr. Harvey, with the enlightened concurrence of those who
' have the power of enabling him to render this public service to science.
The law of the decrease of temperature with increasing elevations in the
atmosphere, will be illustrated by a continuation of experiments with bal-
loons by the Earl of Minto. e
The secretaries of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society have commenced
the observations recommended, on the comparative quantities of rain falling
on the top of York Minster and near its base; and the society has formed a
Meteorological Committee, by whose labours other researches, which have
_ 478 British Association for the Advancement of Science.
been recommended in that branch of science, may be expected to be ad-
vanced. , |
. ‘The observations on the intensity of Terrestrial Magnetism, proposed by
the Mathematical and Physical committee, have been undertaken by Dr.
Traill; and the Royal Society of Edinburgh have lent for his use their
Standard Needle, constructed under the superintendence of Professor Han-
steen.
A summary of the observations which Mr. Henwood is making on the
electro-magnetic condition of metalliferous veins will be presented to the
meeting; and it is probable that the suggestion of the committee may be
followed, in regard to the extension of these experiments to veins which
traverse horizontal and dissimilar strata.
There is reason to expect that the objects contemplated by the Chemical
Committee, in recommending a revision of some of the primary data of
chemistry, will derive light from the labours of Dr. Prout and Professor
Turner, in addition to those of the eminent philosopher from whom the re-
commendations originated.
Professor Daubeny and Mr. Johnston have undertaken the analytical! re-
searches respectively entrusted to them; and specimens of iron in different
stages of its manufacture have been transmitted to the latter gentleman
from the principal iron works in Yorkshire.
In Geology, the inquiry respecting parallelism in the lines of disturbance
of the British strata will receive, it is hoped, the joint consideration of the
Rev. Wm. Conybeare and the Rev. Professor Sedgwick.
In Botany, the comprehensive inquiry proposed by the committee will be
illustrated by contributions which Professor Henslow proposes to add to the
Flora Cantabrigiensis, and by a systematic catalogue of the native plants of
the county of York, which the sub-curator of the Yorkshire Philosophical
Society is preparing for the press.
Lastly, in Zoological research, for which no provision was made at the
late meeting, the officers of the Association have received from Dr. Knox
the promise of a memoir on the natural history of the Salmon.
We cannot conclude this paper, without expressing our un-
qualified admiration, not only of the motives which have induced
so many eminent men to establish this truly scientific association,
but of the manner in which they have proceeded to execute
their intentions. There was, at first, some jealousy and some
opposition, but we hear little of either at present. As far as we
are informed, nearly all the leading men of science, at the uni-
versities of Oxford and Cambridge, have enrolled their names
in the list of members. We suppose that by this time, the most
distinguished men in the metropolis, will have followed their ex-
ample. We understand that several who did not assist at the
York meeting, including that eminent chemist, Prout, have
British Association for the Advancement of Science. 479
already sent in their adhesion. In June next, the association
convenes at Oxford. There never was such an assemblage of
men convened in so magnificent a city before. We shall en-
deavour to give our readers a faithful account of what it is our
misfortune, not to be able to be a personal spectator of.
Thus will this great association be annually employed, visiting
the principal cities of Great Britain, in, to use the eloquent lan-
guage of Mr. Johnston,*
Gathering into its stores the genius and information of every district,
awakening men, wherever it bends its footsteps, to the dignity and import-
ance of science, and scattering into every corner, as it passes through the
land, some new seeds of valuable discovery, and which, duly fostered, may
ripen into a harvest of resources hitherto not known, and therefore unde-
veloped,—an institution, which, limited to no science, can comprehend, with-
in its ample bounds, the votaries of every branch of knowledge, ready each,
and willing to eliminate, by the conjoint researches of all, those complicated
mysteries of nature which the most ardent philosophers are ever meeting
within their single and isolated investigations, and which even the united
efforts of all the cultivators of any one department could never have re-
vealed.
There has been a great deal said about the march of intellect,
which has almost become a bye-word, because of the misdirec-
tion which some have sought to give to those powers of reasoning
which all men, more or less, possess. This will always be the
case, where the knowledge of words, rather than that of things,
receives an intellectual consideration, due only to that kind of
knowledge, which is inseparable from a sound judgment. Amidst
all the extravagances of this siecle de mouvement—we use the
term on account of the appropriateness of the language, and not
from an inclination to write French for English readers—we see
an ultimate regenerating principle for society, in the increasing
inclination for the study of nature. All her phenomena are
produced by invariable laws, and such are the plastic powers of
the human mind, that the habit of considering the relations of
physical things, is gradually adopted by us, for the consideration
of moral things; and as we find out that we cannot imitate na-
ture, but by the application of her unchanging ways, so neither
can we follow up the moral laws of the Author of nature, but
by the aid of his immutable principles of truth and justice. We
think that the love and study of nature, will eventually subdue
* Brewster, Jan. 1832, p. 1.
480 Meteorological Table.
the disposition among men, to be estranged from her. If men
are ever intended to be just to each other, the consummation of
that great purpose will be produced in this way. Our gratitude
then, is pre-eminently due to men who devote their highest
powers to this lofty end.
This sentiment appears to be growing up in Great Britain.
The propriety of representing, in a reformed parliament, the
intelligence, as well as the property and ignorance of the country,
is a subject which has received some discussion there; and it is
said that the ministers have even admitted the necessity of it.
We do not see why the presidents of a few learned societies,
might not, ex officio, have seats in parliament, with the privi-
lege of speaking, if not of voting. We feel quite sure that the
president of the Geological Society of London, would be more
useful there, representing the saurians of the lias, than Mr.
Hunt, representing the mammalia of Preston in Lancashire.
al
o METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
Made at Wilmington, Delaware, by Henry Gibbons, M. D.
Summary ror Frsrvary, 1832.
; Therm. Barom.| Proportion of clear weather, days 9
Average at sun-rise, 30°.14 i. 29.90} Proportion of cloudy, 20
Average at mid-day, 38°.45 29.86| Whole days clear, 5
Average at 11 o’clock, Days on which snow and hail fell, 5
P. M. 32°.93 29.86| Days on which rain fell, 8
Monthly average, 34°.295 29.885| Depth of snow, in. 4
Maximum, 19th, 62°. 24th, 30.38} Depth of rain, 5.10
Mimimum, 24th, 12°, 20th, 29.45} Quantity of water, 5.60
Range, 50°. .93] Northerly winds prevailed, days 12
Warmest day, 19th, 55°. Easterly, 8
Coldest day, 24th, 15° Southerly, (S. to W.) 9
No Auroras.—Clouds electrified, once.—Rains, frequent,
though light; and several small snows.—Winds moderate, and
rather changeable-—Two easterly storms, both attended with
hail, sleet, and rain; also a partial one, with some snow, the
wind changing in a short time to south. The weather of this
month was very disagreeable, being a succession of transitions
from warm to cold, with frequent rain and snow. The temper-
ature was at no time cold enough to impede the navigation by
forming ice. On three days only was the mercury so low as 20°,
viz. on the 21st, 22d, and 24th.
vied
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Ge tes
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ME lll!
THE
MONTHLY AMERICAN JOURNAL
OF
GEOLOGY
AND NATURAL SCIENCE.
Vot. I. . Puitape puis, May, 1832. No. 11.
ON MINERAL AND METALLIC VEINS.
In fulfilment of the promise made in our March number, we
proceed to the investigation of this very curious branch of ge-
ology. Our readers will soon perceive the importance of a
knowledge of it, in a country possessing such vast metallic re-
sources as North America, where indications of them are ap-
pearing in such various quarters, and at a period when the ideas
entertained respecting their extent and origin are still undefined
and obscure, except with those few persons who have made a
particular study of the subject.
It is a very admirable proof of benevolent intentions on the
- part of the Creator, that iron, without the use of which man
could scarcely have achieved his own civilization, is the most
abundant of all the metals, and is found, more or less, in all the
rocks. Copper and lead are sometimes abundantly found in the
strata adjacent to the coal beds, [tabular view, page 388,] but
the metals have their principal seat in the primary rocks. They
are found disseminated either in extensive masses, or in veins
which traverse mineral masses.
In our paper on the Crust of the Earth, page 289, we spoke of
the expansive power by which it was continually agitated, the
disturbed state of the lower stratified rocks, and the numerous
_ displacements which constitute so many ancient geological pe-
riods. Such a power could not be in operation, without producing
extensive fissures, of a character analogous to that we find pre-
sented by the numerous veins which traverse the lower parts of
the crust of the earth. This has been the probable origin of all
Vou. I.—61 48]
482 . On Mineral and Metallic Veins.
important veins, and it can lead to no injurious consequences, if,
with the exception of a few cases of contraction and consequent
separation of masses, we admit this origin. It would not be
equally safe, if, considering veins to be ancient fissures, we were
‘to come, with some geologists, to the conclusion, that all those
containing metallic matter, have been filled by injection from
below, when the fissures were produced. ‘This would be to im-
pede the progress of knowledge, since we can suppose other
modes by which metallic substances can be produced in veins.
If all veins had their origin from below, miners might form cal-
culations upon penetrating to depths, the which, if they could
be reached, would perhaps be delusive, whilst the effort would
be rumous. That many metallic deposits have come from be-
low, is perhaps demonstrable; whilst it is equally demonstrable,
that metals are formed by other processes, analogous to those
upon which the formation of saline crystals depends. Mines
which have been closed, on account of inundation, for two cen-
turies, have, on re-opening, exhibited the curious spectacle of
native silver coating the wooden supports which had been left
there. If metals, then, grow, as it were, under our own eyes, we
cannot limit the extent to which nature may be productive, when
we reflect that the periods of tine which preceded human know-
ledge are immeasurable, and during which, her processes were
always in action. It is perhaps, then, more reasonable to ‘sup-
pose, that the mineral and metallic contents of veins and cavi-
ties have been brought into their places by the agency of more
than one cause.
Veins may have either mineral or metallic matter, or both, in
them. They are found vertical, inclined, horizontal ; often run-
ning in parallel courses, as if they had a cotemporaneous origin,
and intersecting each other in such various ways, as to leave no
doubt, that many of the intersected ones have been formed prior
to those by which they are intersected. It is upon this last fact
an opinion has been founded, that metals are of different ages.
The principal veins in the English mines run nearly east and
west. ‘This is especially the case with the tin veins, or lodes,
in Cornwall, as well as the lodes containing copper. ‘The veins
which run nearly north and south, are not as metalliferous as
- the others, which are intersected by them. Many of these,
called flucan in Cornwall, are filled with clay. Clay is some-
On Mineral and Metallic Veins. 483
times found in the copper veins, and as other metallic veins
which deviate from the E. and W. course, contain increasing
quantities of clay, and the flucan veins which run N. and S. are
filled with clay, an opinion has obtained with many, that tin and
copper are older metals than the rest, and that tin, for these
reasons, and on account of its being found in granite, is the oldest
of all the metals. If this priority of age in metals were true, it
would bea fair subject for adventure in countries where tin has
not yet been found—and that is the case in the U. 8.—to work
through a bad copper mine in order to convert it into a good tin
one. With our present information, we do not see any positive
proofs of priority of age in metals, especially from their presence
in particular formations. When a vein is continuous through
primary and secondary rocks, it is evident that these last had
been deposited before the vein had penetrated the first. It is
true, tin has not been found in secondary rocks; it is found,
however, in slate, and therefore the circumstance of its being
found in granite is not to be adduced as a proof of its priority
of age; for the cases of its limitation to the granite may be ac-
counted for, by supposing that the power which produced the
fissure, only operated upon the granite. If metallic veins, in their
origin, are analogous to trap dykes, or veins, then we see no limita- '
tion to the extent of tin veins, but in the nature of heey
. power which produced them, and in the absehce of se-
condaty rocks, to be affected by it. In the case of the great Cleve-
land dyke, we find the trap penetrating even through the coal
beds ; but tin, we believe, has not yet been found in rocks actually
subjacent to the secondary rocks. We think this a sufficient
reason why tin is usually found limited to granite and slate.
_ Pleased as we always are at seeing a new direction given
to inquiries of this nature, yet we have thought that super-
fluous pains have been taken by European writers, to turn
opinions from the igneous origin of metallic veins. ‘The ancient
Wernerian notion, that minerals and metals settled into fis-
sures, from aqueous solution, has no friends among enlightened
geologists of the present day: how their contents got exclusively
into fissures, at great distances from each other, having a very
irregular inclination, sometimes extremely dilated, then con-
tracted into a very small space, and afterwards dilated again,
resembling a number of blown bladders, connected by a long
484 On Mineral and Metallic Veins.
wire; how they became alternately barren and productive, and
why their contents are always found in these fissures, and never
on the general surface, where, under such an origin we might ~
have expected to find them, no man has yet ventured to say.
As to the theory of the igneous origin of the contents of many
metallic veins, we see much to recommend in it, and we should
have been surprised at the assertion of Mr. McCulloch, in his
late work called a System of Geology,* that “ the argument from
the analogy of trap and granite veins is one of those superficial
resemblances, consisting in words, rather than ideas, which it is
painful to find in the writings of those who have been philoso-
phers in other things,” if we had not reason to suppose, from a
rapid perusal we have now for the first time had an opportunity
of giving that work, that the author was really and truly de-
mented, run a muck, we may say, and at war with good sense, -
decency, and honesty, when he wrote it. We shall take an early
opportunity of making good what we say.—That the contents
of veins have been brought into their places by the agency of
more than one cause, is very probable; but we know of no
agency that recommends itself so plausibly as that of the igneous
theory, for the origin of all compact metallic masses. We refer
for striking instances of this, to the compact iron ore of Danne-
mora, ip, Sweden, which is one hundred and eighty feet thick,
and to those extraordinary, and hitherto little known mag és"
crystalline iron, found in immense fissures, in the primary rocks
of Franklin county, New York, and in some parts of New
Jersey, all of which clearly indicate a subterranean and igneous
origin. If masses of pure metallic iron can be thus produced
from below, we know not why metals should not be brought, in
like manner, into smaller fissures, or veins. Gold and silver are
occasionally found in porphyry and sienite, which are volcanic
rocks. Native copper is found in trap and porphyry. Lead
and zinc have also been found init. ‘The elvan courses of Corn-
wall are porphyritic felspar, in which tin is diffused. It is true
that earthy minerals are sometimes found associated with me-
tallic masses having this origin; but infiltration takes place in
all rocks, and especially in vesicular traps and amygdaloids.
Those botroidal chalcedonies found in the copper lodes of Corn-
wall, are the produce of infiltration, from silicum in solution,
Vol. I. p. 391,
On Mineral and Metallic Veins. 485
Quartz also, in many instances; and we can witness the growth
of calcareous spar as it gradually accretes from the roofs of cal-
careous caverns. We cannot imitate the forms, it is true, of
many of the crystallized substances from mineral solutions ; but
it is because we are unable to conduct experiments which, per-
haps, require thousands of ages of uninterrupted process.
It may be considered as giving weight to the igneous theory,
that with few exceptions, the metals are found in the inferior
rocks. In the immense deposits that lie above the coal beds
we find, with the exception of ores of iron and a little copper
slate, no segregation of metals into veins or masses resembling those
in the inferior rocks. We find oxydes of iron in indurated masses,
and in the state of bog ore, but these are clearly a rifaccimento
from metals produced originally from the more ancient beds.
Perhaps, also, it is not true that all the metallic substances
which have been brought into fissures from below, have arrived
there in a molten state. Many of the substances found in them
are capable of solution in hydrogen gas. Silver will deposit it-
self on substances suspended from the roofs of mines. Acicular
crystals of lead are often found adhering to the walls of mines
that have been closed a long time. The formation of saline
matter on walls, and the spontaneous production of nitre on
limestone, show that we are not yet acquainted with the princi-
ples upon which this branch of crystallization depends. We had
occasion personally to observe, whilst on a visit to Mount St.
Michael’s in Cornwall, that on the sides of some masses of granite
that had been separated from the rock for a great period of time,
but which had evidently never been the wall of a fissure or vein,
that amidst a profusion of small crystals of quartz, several hun-
dreds of small white topazes were apparently forming. We
were struck with the circumstance, and Sir John St. Aubyn
kindly permitted us to bring some specimens away, together with |
any mineral substances we thought worthy our attention. The
rocks there contain very curious minerals, but they are all con-
tained, as the fine blue crystals of apatite are, in small veins.
The topazes, on the contrary, were spread indiscriminately over
the surface of immense fragments of granite, anciently separated
from the mountain mass. - oe
It would also appear as if some crystallized substances are the
effect of a chemico-electric action between the wall, to which
486 | On Mineral and Metallic Veins. |
they are attached, and the atmosphere, which standing in the
relation of galvanic plates, decompose and re-compound the
gaseous bodies which surround them. When glass is interposed
between the wall and the atmosphere, the production of salt
soon ceases. We cannot say that salt is suspended in the at-
mosphere, for dry frosty weather is favourable to the quick
production of nitre. When a wall is coated with paint, cnpasaili
zation still forms upon the paint.
Amidst the curious phenomena which metalliferous and other
veins present, is the fact that their contents are modified on en-
tering a different rock. ‘The walls of veins change also with
the change of beds. At Welhope, the walls are sulphate of
barytes in passing through the sandstone, but on entering the
limestone, they change to carbonate of barytes in balls, with a
radiated diverging structure. It has been observed also that
when mineral beds of a different character are so shifted that
their faces are opposed to each other, that part of the veins is
impoverished. This could hardly be, under the Werne-
rian theory, and may be more plausibly attributed to electric
action. Veins usually have a sheath or case diffe:ing from the
rocks they intersect. This mineral matter is sometimes mixed
up with the metal contained in the vein; the sheath or case is
called the walls of the vein, or gangue, or matrix. It is gener-
ally of a slaty structure, and in cases of igneous origin, may
have been produced by cooling; the metal concentrating by
affinity, and the slaty mineral remaining at the sides. At Cas-
tleton in Derbyshire, the vein of fluor spar, has a wall of cawk,
or sulphate of barytes; the vein dilates into cavities, and again
contracts into a small space, containing nothing but the cawk,
which serves as a clue to the miner to conduct him to another
repository of the fluor spar. Blende, a sulphuret of zinc, is oc-
casionally abundant in Cornwall, in the upper part of veins that,
lower down, become rich in copper. ‘Tin also is found near the
surface, with rich copper lying below. But in the mine of
Cook’s kitchen, after working first through tin, and then through
copper to the depth of eleven hundred feet, tin is again found,
and is still worked there to the depth of near thirteen hundred
feet. The same vein at Dalcoath mine is sometimes contracted
to six inches, and sometimes spread out to forty feet.
Trusting that we have said enough to draw the attention of
On Mineral and Metallic Veins. 487
our readers to this interesting branch of geology, we must refer
them to scientific works for further details, having a great deal
to suggest on the direction of veins, and their intersection and
consequent shifting, as well as to illustrate them under these cir-
cumstances, as they present themselves to miners, by some figures. »
' As a system of veins maintaining a general parallelism, is of-
_ ten intersected by another set apparently belonging to another
system, it is to be inferred that the veins thus intersected and
divided, preceded those which intersect them, as to time. It is
also to be observed, that mineral veins are all either vertical or
highly inclined, and that their lowest portions are generally
the thickest; it is true that some appear to be horizontal, a
fact which appears opposed to the inference that their source 1s
from below, and which has induced many, who perceived the
impossibility of their being produced by aqueous deposits, to sup-
pose that they were all the results of crystallization. Hori-
‘zontal veins, however, have, in such numerous cases, been dis-
covered to be mere ramifications of larger ones that are either
vertical or highly inclined, that those whose horizontal direction
cannot be traced to them, may nevertheless be referred for their
origin to an inferior source; and there can be no reasonable
doubt that it would be found to be so, if their roots could be
laid bare, which in many cases can only be by deep excavations ;
and the deeper we go, the less we find of this horizontality.
We shall stop to illustrate this subject by referring our: rea-
ders to fig. 1, of plate xiii. where there is a very instructive
view of a system of trap veins intruding into sandstone, on the
east coast of Trotternish in the Isle of Sky in Scotland. Trap, it
is true, occurs in such vast masses, and forms occasionally rocky
districts of such great extent, that it may be thought by some
not to be a proper subject for the illustration of what are strictly
mineral veins. The consideration of trap rocks, it is true, be-
longs to a different branch of the subject, but we consider that
no truth is more universally acknowledged in geology, than that
volcanic lavas, ancient traps, with other intrusive rocks, and
many of the veins of which we are now treating, are all the re-
sult of the expansive power which is eternally striving in the
central parts of the earth, and that the phenomena of mineral
veins may be truly illustrated by trap veins.
In this interesting section of Trotternish, which is taken from
488 On Mineral and Metallic Veins.
McCulloch’s Western Islands, it will be observed, that the hori-
zontal trap veins represent the handle and triple prongs of a
fork; and that if all that part of the section to the left, from
where the handle is joined to the prongs, had been disintegrated
and worn away in the lapse of time, leaving the part to the
right representing the prongs; or if the same part of the section
had been so covered up with other mineral matter, as to defy
examination, the part exposed would have constituted a very
puzzling case of horizontal trap veins; but we can here trace
the prongs to the handle, and the handle to a huge vertical
dyke of trap that has its undoubted origin from below: there
is also a smaller vertical shaft rising in the handle, and three
ramifications which the handle appears to have given out.
Figure 2, plate xiii. is a section of Loch Eyshort, also in the
Isle of Sky. Here the trap, for a great extent, like the palisa-
does on the Hudson river, the rocks near New Haven, and those
' at the Passaic in New Jersey, spreads in extensive masses over
the surface of the ground; and according to the old Wernerian
Opinions, was deposited from aqueous solutions. In this section,
however, we have a satisfactory view of the origin of this trap,
which every locality does not give; for we see the roots of the
trap, and have.no room left for doubt that its origin is from be-
low. Fig. 3, plate xiii. is another instructive section, represent-
ing the intrusion of a vein. Here we perceive how the expan-
sive force from below, has raised the strata on each side; and
how the fissure or vein which divides the two masses, contains
various fragments of them, embedded near its edges. These
jets of trap which have been thrown. up from below, have ob-
tained the name of dykes in England, and are, in some instances,
remarkable for their great extent, and for the number of beds
which they intersect. The celebrated Cleveland Dyke, of which
we have spoken at page 343, (see April No.) extends about a hun-
dred miles in the northern counties of England. At Preston
quarry on the Tees, it comes up through the new red sandstone;
at a quarry at Langburgh it cuts through the Lias, and at Bo-
lam quarry, it not only comes up through the coal measures,
but overflows the surface, as is represented by fig. 4, plate xiii.
We have shown, at page 311, the perfect agreement between —
the mineral constituents of modern lava, trap, and greenstone,
_one of the primary rocks; with such a strong indication of their.
~ On Mineral and Metallic Veins. ee 489
common origin, we need not be surprised at finding any of the
primary rocks in the character of intrusive rocks, among those
which lie above them in the geological series. Granite, fre-
quently occurs intrusively. Masses of granite are often found
intersected by veins of granite differing from them somewhat in
their constituent parts. Gneiss and the slates lying above it are
in like manner intersected by veins of granite. Figures 5 and 6,
plate xiii. represent the granite traversing gneiss in the Vallée _
de Vallorsine in Switzerland. In various parts of the world
streams of lava have been poured out from beneath the granite ;
the ancient volcanoes of Central France rest upon a granite
plain sixteen hundred feet above the level of the river Allier,
and their lavas, which have flowed since the valleys were formed
into which they have run, pass into the state of compact basait.
Among other proofs of a common origin for all these intrusive
rocks, whether lavas or traps, is that shown by Mr. McCulloch
of a trap vein traversing granite, in the Isle of eth as de-
scribed in fig. 7, plate xiii.
Where an evident displacement of rocks is obsebvable, it
eenerally occurs that some evidence of the cause is not very far
off. In fig. 3, we see the strata displaced and raised, and infer
that the displacement has been occasioned by an expansive
subterranean force, of which the dividing trap vein is the evi-
dence, the fissure in which it is contained being a sort of safety
valve. At fig. 8, plate xiii. we have another instance of this
subterranean force. ‘The striped laminz of the gneiss rock, and
their continuation interrupted, that part lying to the left being
raised above the part to the right. The fissure occasioned by
this displacement, or shifting, is, in this instance, filled with a vein
of granite. ‘This occurs in Coll, one of the western islands. Fig
9, from Fudia, is still more instructive: the laminz of the gneiss
are here shifted as in fig. 8. A vein of granite which had in-
tersected the gneiss, appears to have been in its turn shifted, by
the subsequent intersection of a vein of quartz. On the other
side of this mass of gneiss, ‘another vein of granite intersects it,
and is in its turn intersected by a vein of trap. From all these
appearances, we may suppose that the veins of granite, and
perhaps the trap vein, had penetrated the gneiss, perhaps before
it had taken its indurated state, and that, at some epoch after
every thing had become hard, the shifting took place, and the
Voi. L—62
490 _ On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, &c.
vein of quartz filled the fissure occasioned by it.. It is by apply-
ing reasoning of this kind to veniferous rocks, that we come at
length to apprehend clearly that there are many systems of
veins, and that some are posterior to others. — .——-
This branch of geology may become of the greatest importance —
in mining operations, and practical miners have always, more or
less, been guided by the indications belonging to it. All the
valuable metals with which we are acquainted, are connected
with rocks having veniferous systems: gold and silver may be
said to be uniformly contained within veins, or enlarged masses
which derive their origin from below. It will probably become
the general opinion ere long, that metalliferous masses have the
same origin; and although bog ore of iron, and many other de-
posits of iron ore, may be considered as oxides more or less in- —
durated, and brought into their present places by aqueous de-
posit, yet they are oxides from masses which hada subterranean
origin. There are many ancient ferruginous sand formations,
which were once, no doubt, in the state of recent bog ore, just
as many conglomerates were once in the state of gravel. _
We intend to resume this subject when we give an account
of the gold region in the southern states. The phenomena we
have been treating of will be applicable to the appearances
which miners there are now becoming familiar with.
ON THE MODUS OPERANDI OF PHOSPHORUS ON THE
; LIVING SYSTEM
By J. R. Coxz, M, D. Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy, in the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania.
Dear Sir,—The perusal of an interesting paper in your Journal
for March, by Dr. Harlan, of “ Experiments with Phosphorus on
a Cat,” has induced me to offer you some observations respecting
the modus operandi of phosphorus, on the living system; and
which, should you deem them deserving of notice, are altogether
at your disposal. ‘They are, to a certain extent, the outlines of
my lectures on this subject, which I have, for the last three or
four years, delivered to my class. I think the total insufficiency
of the explanations hitherto given of the action of this extraor-
dinary substance, both as a remedial and as a noxious agent,
has been a principal cause of its depreciation, by rendering
On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, §c. 491
practitioners fearful of its employment; when, if that action be
fully comprehended, it will probably be found to be one of the
most powerful and most prompt of all our stimulating remedies.
Without supposing the ideas I shall advance upon this subject
are entirely correct, or even absolutely novel; I nevertheless
consider them deserving of attention ; since, if properly matured
by the experience of others, they will unquestionably present to
the hand of the physician, one of the most energetic remedies
that has ever been employed.
1 commence my remarks, by denying in toto, the poisonous
properties that have been ascribed to phosphorus, by every wri-
ter on the subject, whether given on his own, or the authority
_ of others. It is probably sufficiently known, that it has been
chiefly administered as a powerful stimulant or tonic, by those
physicians who have employed it, in certain chronic diseases ;
epilepsy, palsy, chorea, &c. and in various adynamic and ataxic
fevers. The danger of its administration has been properly
dwelt upon; and various supposed improved formule have been
proposed, for its safer internal use ; and yet, none of these circum-
stances appear to have led to a proper appreciation of its modus
operandi, or of what is demanded, to render it safe and efficacious.
Not intending this as a medical communication, in its strict
and proper acceptation, I shall say nothing of the diseases in
which it has been recommended and employed: nor shall I med-
dle with its chemical history, further than is requisite to render
intelligible and probable, that theory of its operation, which, to
me, appears the only one capable of being sustained, pote by ar-
eer and fact.
It is well known that phosphorus is considered as a simple
body. ‘To us, it is so, since it has never been decomposed. If
this is so far correct, we have the analogy of almost every other
so called simple body, of its being, like them, inactive and inope-
rative; until, by the chemical affinities existing between it and
other agents, a change ensues in its character, which gives it a
dangerous and destructive power, that it was not previously pos-
sessed of.
The co-operation of two other agents is essentially requisite
to produce this change ; neither, singly, is sufficient; nor even
both united, unless favoured by existing circumstances. These
agents are caloric and oxygen. Caloric alone, will fuse or melt
Vor. L—63
492 On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, &c,
the phosphorus, but effectuates no change of property: and oxy-
gen, at a temperature less than 50°, scarcely evinces any dispo-
sition to combine with it. Thus, phosphorus may be melted under
water, at about the 120th degree of Fahrenheit’s thermometer,
and in that state and situation may be safely handled, because
the accession of oxygen is prevented; but should the hand that
held it, be raised above the surface of the water, at that tem-
perature, each one knows what would instantly ensue; a rapid
and vivid combustion, together with the contemporaneous for-
mation of phosphoric acid.
Here, then, we perceive the train of events that gives to see
phorus, both its remedial, and its noxious character. Chemical
in its action altogether, it depends on the accession of com-
bustion, to give it activity. ‘This combustion is, however, of a
twofold description ; one slow and feeble, with but slight disen-
gagement of caloric and light, and productive of phosphorous acid;
the other is rapid, as above mentioned, and phosphoric acid is the.
result therefrom. In the former case, a lambent, phosphorescent
flame, may be presumed to stimulate the living fibres, without
destroying them. In the latter, whether on the surface of the
body, or in the cavity of the stomach, a burn of no trifling cha-
racter ensues ; for it is augmented in its violence, by the affu-
sion or infiltration of the acid formed. The extent of the lesion
will depend, of course, on the amount of the respective agents
in their combination; but it must, whether large or small, be
greatly modified from its character of a common burn, by the
presence of the powerful acid produced by the combustion;
which cannot but give it a different character, from that pro-
duced by caloric alone. As the extent of injury will therefore
depend greatly on the amount of phosphorus inflamed, and of
acid produced thereby, so that amount must also depend on the
temperature, and on the quantum of oxygen present. The ani-
mal temperature being that of 98°, may be presumed to be
partially augmented, by the motion of the stomach; and if com-
bustion once ensues, it must unavoidably continue until the
oxygen is fully expended. But, however small the burn, can.
this exquisitely sensible organ be wounded in the slightest degree,
without deeply feeling its influence, and extending that influence
to every part, through the agency of its numerous nervous fibril-
le? And will not that be greatly augmented by the irritation
On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, §c. 493
of the acid formed? No poison, however, exists: every symp-
tom, and the circumstances of the death ensuing, together with
the post mortem appearances, all more obviously indicate the re-
sult of fire, than of any substance to which the appellation of
poison can be strictly given.
If, then, when given as a medicine, how does it act? Un-
questionably in a similar manner, although inferior in degree.
The amount is small; the division of the phosphorus itself so.
minute, that it may, by its diffusion over the whole interior of
the stomach, instead of being concentrated in one spot, be con-
ceived of, as acting the part of a mild but extensive rubifacient,
and thereby promoting that beneficial influence, that we might
reasonably anticipate, from an appropriate and judicious admin-
istration. ‘That it has occasionally proved fatal, even in small
doses, cannot be denied: but without a full knowledge of exist-
ing circumstances, we must be unable to afford an explanation
of the fact. If in a solid form, although small in amount, it
might have ignited, and have produced all the effects resulting
from a burn. Gastritis, and its results, increased by the acid
formed, would probably be excited; whilst the more obvious
effects of fire could only be appreciated, by a larger amount.
Let us advert now, to the case recorded by Dr. Harlan.
Eleven grains were given to a cat at 10 A. M. of Tuesday,
which seem to have caused but trifling uneasiness for several
hours: nor did death ensue until Friday at one o’clock, or more
than three days after its administration. ‘The mucous coat of
the stomach was generally inflamed, particularly about the great
curvature, and pyloric portion, which displayed numerous holes,
or abrasions, some of them much larger than the pieces of phos-
phorus swallowed. ‘'T'wo or three spots were sphacelated, the
mucous coat near the pylorus softened in its structure, and _ this
coat was also highly inflamed, and preternaturally softened
throughout the duodenum ; the same appearances extended the
whole length of the intestinal canal. No remains of the phos-
phorus were found, the doctor supposing it to have been dissolved
by the gastric juice ; but which, I think, can scarcely have been
the case, since Orfila found it to be insoluble in albumen, gela-
tine, milk, or bile, at the common ordinary temperature.
~The above results, are the primary effects of the phosphorus
on the stomach and intestines; the symptoms subsequently en-
494 On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, §c.
suing, were of a secondary character, arising out of the gastric
and intestinal injury, and need not be pursued at present; since
_ they are not to be anticipated from the prudent and judicious
employment of the article, when administered as a remedy.
The experiments of Orfila, related in the first volume of his
Toxicology, very nearly agree in their results, with those of the
experiments described by Dr. Harlan. I shall notice but one or
two of them, previously remarking, that Orfila appears to ascribe
the injury of the stomach, rather to the acid formed, than to the
preceding combustion: for he says, that “it gives rise to these
symptoms, by combining with the oxygen of the air contained in
the alimentary canal, and gives birth to phosphorous, and _ pro-
bably to phosphoric acid, in such manner, that the corrosion depends
upon the action of these acids ;” and that “whenever it is introduced
in cylinders, phosphorous acid is constantly formed, which cor-
rodes the portions of the membranes with which it comes in contact ;
and that hence, the inflammation ought to be greatest, where the
greatest possible quantity of phosphorous acid is formed ;” that
is, in the stomach and superior intestines, where the greatest
amount of oxygen exists.
That he should ascribe so much to the acid, surprises me;
seeing, that when speaking of the action of phosphoric acid
itself (p. 369) upon the animal economy, he tells us, that when
a_few grains of phosphoric acid, dissolved in a very small quantity
of water, are injected into the veins, the blood becomes coagu-
lated, and the animal dies in the course of one or two minutes ;
but that if the acid be weakened, it does not produce any incon-
venience: and that introduced into the stomach, it destroys life
at the end of a variable space of time, according to tts concentra-
tion and dose. In the experiment connected with this, he accord-
ingly gave to a small dog, thirty grains of phosphoric acid, ina
drachm of water; which, after some considerable suffering,
caused his death, but not until after twenty-three hours. On
dissection, the mucous membrane of the stomach, and the inte-
rior of the duodenum, were found of a deep red. It does not, how-
ever, appear, that any evidence existed of the destruction of those.
coats, as he invariably found, on giving the phosphorus itself.
Now, if thirty grains of acid produced results so slow, and com-
paratively trifling, it is unreasonable to suppose, that the amount |
of acid from one or two grains of phosphorus taken, could be
On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, &c. 495
productive of the fatal issue, sometimes following its adminis-
tration. ,
In one of his experiments, he gave a small dog, one hundred
and forty grains of phosphorus, divided into fourteen small cylin-
ders; the animal having eaten nothing for thirty hours. He
seems not to have suffered very greatly, and did not die until
after twenty-one hours.
On dissection, the mucous membrane of the stomach was
strongly inflamed, and covered with a stringy and flaky matter,
easily detached. The muscular coat was of a bright red through
a part of its extent. ‘The mucous membrane of the duodenum,
jejunum, and first half of the ileon, of a purple red colour, and
covered by a thick fluid as black as ink. No phosphorus ap-
peared in any of the parts above named; but the lower half of
the ileon exhibited ten nodes at variable distances, containing ten
cylinders of phosphorus of a reddish colour, and ninety-four grains
in weight ;—diffusing a tolerably copious smoke on opening the
intestine: the mucous membrane corresponding to the places
where they were found, were much less red than the parts already
passed through. Three other nodes were found at the inferior
portion of the colon, containing three small cylinders weighing
twenty-six grains, and the muscular membrane here was still
less red than of the ileon; the fourteenth cylinder was found
in the rectum, weighing seven grains, and the internal coats
were in a natural state. Thirteen grains then, of phosphorus, of ©
one hundred and forty grains, had been removed, or disappeared,
which is about the eleventh part; in which we find a curious
coincidence with the experiment of Dr. Harlan. Of eleven
grains, employed by him, the whole had disappeared, and inflam-
mation extended even further than in the experiments of Orfila ;
' we may reasonably suppose, therefore, that had more been
given, at least two grains more might have disappeared; which
being the amount that Orfila mentions as lost in his case, may —
possibly give us, pretty nearly, the quantum that, under common
circumstances, might be converted into phosphorous, or phospho-
ric acid, by the oxygen it might meet with. Now, if this be the
case, it would require but a little calculation to enable any one
to previously decompose or drive out the atmospheric oxygen
from the stomach and intestines; and then, thirteen or one
hundred and thirty grains might be swallowed with impunity,
496 On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, &c.
It is only the first step that is hazardous, ce n’est que le premier pas
qui coute.
In another experiment of Orfila, he gave a middling sized dog
one drachm of phosphorus, cut into eight pieces. He suffered
but little, and did not die until the third day. He had fed
heartily two hours before the phosphorus was administered. In
this case, the mucous membrane of the stomach was of a purple red
throughout; that of the duodenum and jejunum likewise exceedingly
red; and but little alteration in the other intestines. The cylin-
ders of phosphorus, reduced in bulk, were found in the colon and
rectum. In this case we obviously perceive the influence of a
full stomach in restraining the action of the phosphorus upon
its coats, especially as administered in the massive state. This
is confirmed by a subsequent observation of Orfila, who tells us,
that frequently the phosphorus had not acted on the texture of
the stomach several hours after its ingestion. I gave, says he, to an
animal a very great quantity of food, and immediately after, two
drachms of phosphorus, cut into twenty small cylinders. At the
expiration of eight hours, he had suffered no inconvenience. I
opened him, and found the phosphorus enveloped in the food, the
texture of the stomach exhibiting not the smallest trace of injury.
Now, when much divided, it is more likely to come in contact
with the stomach, and produce injury, if oxygen is present. Thus
when he gave twenty-four grains dissolved (quere, if completely
so) in three drachms of olive oil, toa small but strong dog, ex-
cessive suffering followed, even in one minute, and he died in
horrible tortures in four hours and a half. The stomach was
empty, perforated with three holes in its cardiac extremity. Two
of them as broad as a shilling, the other ten lines in diameter: —
the mucous membrane that was not thus perforated, was re-
duced to a stringy pulp; and the muscular coat presented large
ulcerations.
The tenor of all the observations, both of Dr. Harlan and of
Orfila, is conclusive, I apprehend, in negativing the idea of
phosphorus acting as a poison. And they equally prove its in-
noxious character, when oxygen is wanting to maintain its
combustion, even at the temperature of nearly 100° The
safety of phosphoric acid is established (in proper amount) by
the experiments of Orfila, as well as by its administration, per se,
by many persons, remedially—And hence, the disastrous, as.
On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, §c. 497
well as beneficial influence of phosphorus, must, 1 imagine, be
explained on principles very different from those that have been
usually adopted.
Although Orfila has not remarked the influence of phosphorus
on the urinary organs, yet it has been noticed by Dr. Harlan,
and by other writers. It is probable, that as the kidneys are
the common emunctory of saline matter from the system, that
the phosphoric acid formed, is absorbed by the lacteals, and be-
ing conveyed into the blood, is immediately secreted and carried
off with the urine, stimulating, by its presence, the kidneys
to increased action, and thus giving rise to its greater dis-
charge. , |
That Mr. Chaubert has any antidote to the poisonous influence
of phosphorus, I cannot believe; because, I think I have suf- —
- ficiently proved that it possesses no such character. If then, no
mountebank slight of hand should actually deceive the senses, it
would follow, that any measure adopted by him must be one that
precludes the co-existence of those agencies in the stomach, to.
which I have adverted; and without which co-existence, phos-
phorus is altogether harmless. Let us then try to point out a
few particulars, by which such co-operation may be prevented: _
perhaps others may suggest themselves to my readers.
1. By copiously filling the stomach with food, previously to
swallowing the phosphorus, which is thereby enveloped; and,
at the same time, but a very minute portion of any oxygen pre-
sent can come in contact with it—the chances, therefore, of
even the lowest degree of combustion taking place, are very
trifling ; the phosphorus passing on, and is discharged, without
‘coming in contact with the parietes of the viscera. |
2. By previously swallowing some carbonat of magnesia, or of
potash, or soda; and washing down the phosphorus with some
weak acidulated drink, as of sulphuric acid, or even acetic acid;
which, coming in contact with the carbonat, produces an evolu-
tion of carbonic acid gas, in which phosphorus cannot burn. It |
may indeed happen, that in the slow or rapid combustion that
_ might ensue, the evolution, or formation of the phosphorous, or
phosphoric acid, would supply the place of the before-mentioned
acids—and acting on the carbonat, equally evolve the carbo-
nic acid gas, by which the combustion might be suspended, and _
_ further danger prevented :—the compound formed, subserving
Vor. L—63 7
498 On the Modus Operandi of Phosphorus, §c.
the purpose of expediting the phosphorus and other oo
through the alimentary canal.
3. Even largely filling the stomach with simple wit must
be adequate to prevent combustion; for any oxygen present
would seek the higher part of the cavity of this viscus, whilst
the phosphorus would as certainly fall to the lower part. By
this simple measure alone, of largely drinking, Mr. Le Roy pre-
vented the injury he would have otherwise probably received
from three grains of phosphorus, which he took at once.
4. Phosphorus has the power of decomposing some metallic —
salts, as sulphat, or nitrat of copper, &c. and of causing a per-
fect precipitate of metallic copper to invest it, and hermetically
seal it from the action of the air, if any should be present. If
then, a weak solution of either of these salts, or perhaps
of others, should be previously swallowed, and vomiting not
produced thereby, the phosphorus would soon be invested with
a sheathing of copper, altogether harmless to the stomach.
Now, whether any of these, or similar measures be adopted,
they will all be found to act by simply restraining, or preventing
the agencies of chemical affinity ; but in no wise acting as an-
tidotes, in the proper meaning of the word. It must be obvious
to every one conversant with the laws of chemistry, that the
danger of phosphorus on the animal economy, can alone be ob-
viated by such measures as are capable of pees cn
laws from taking’ place in the stomach.
The best mode of administering phosphorus, as a viii eats
agent, must then, apparently, be that in which all hazard of a
vivid combustion might be prevented, and yet the stimulating
agency of caloric be extensively diffused im a small compass.
This seems best accomplished by the ethereal solution of phos-
phorus, of eight grains to the ounce, or one grain to the drachm.
The dose of six to ten drops of this solution will thus convey into
the stomach from the tenth to the sixth part of a grain of phos-
phorus; to every part of which the ether evaporating, conveys.
an infinitely small proportion of this active substance, which,
like a diffusible stimulant, or rubefacient, is prompt in its effect,
whilst it is free from danger. No actual combustion ensues ; it
rather resembles the genial warmth of a gentle flame; whilst
the injurious effects of an absolute burn, accompanied necessarily
with local destruction, is prevented; and the acid produced,
Observations on the Anatomy of the Sloth. 499
whether phosphorous or phosphoric, is probably, under such
circumstances, itself a beneficial tonic to the system in all such
cases as it may be judged proper to employ it.
These views, if correct, may probably lead to the renewed
employment of a remedy, which was at one time enthusiastically
extolled, but soon fell into discredit. Its danger, under correct
views of its action, can scarcely be dreaded; and, at all events,
it seems proper to establish the real character it ought to main-
tain, which can only be effected by accurate and adequate ex-
perience. And should these views even be found erroneous,
they may possibly lead to others more correct, and which
must necessarily subserve the interests of science and of hu-
manity.—I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant
Joun Repman Coxe.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE ANATOMY OF THE SLOTH ;
' (Brapyrus tridactylus, Linn.) by R. Haran, M. D.
I nave been indebted to the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, for the long desired opportunity of making a dis-
section of this most curious animal. The specimen was preserved
in spirits, and was sent along with many other interesting quad-
rupeds, by Dr. Hering, from South America. The specimen is
one of the common variety of the Bradypus tridactylus of Lin-
neus, and proved to be pregnant with a fcetus, nearly matured.
For the knowledge which we already possess of the anatomy of
this animal, we are principally indebted to the observations of
Daubenton and Cuvier ;—my own dissection has resulted in the
discovery of several additional facts, as well as the detection of
some errors. |
_ As regards the habits of this animal, in a state of nature, the
accounts of travellers are at variance with each other, and the
subject still remains obscured in fable. The Sloth has generally
been described as one of the most miserable, helpless, and de-
jected of beings, the effect of a physical organization altogether
extraordinary and imperfect. A recent English traveller, how-
‘ever, Mr. Waterton, who has observed these animals in a state
of nature, represents them as sufficiently active in their proper
element, on trees, and asserts that they pass from bough to bough,
and from tree to tree, with a rapidity which soon enables them
500 Observations on the Anatomy of the Sloth. —
to lose themselves in the depths of the forests. However this
may be, there can exist little doubt but that most of the errors
in the description of their habits, and the false inferences drawn
from what appears at first view a vicious organization, are to
be attributed to the erroneous notions which prevail, relative to
the true position of this animal in the scheme of nature, and the
part which it was intended to perform.
Considered as a creature destined to pass nine tenths of its
existence on the trees of the deep-foliaged and endless forests
of the tropical climates, where it lives, breeds, moves, and has
its being; we venture to assert, that no other animal is so per-
fectly adapted, by its peculiar organization, to such a mode of
life. But, on the other hand, viewed as a quadruped, formed
for progression on the ground, or on'a flat surface, it must be
confessed, that the construction of its osseous frame, presents us
with an anomaly in nature unequalled; an enigma insusceptible
of solution; a machine, monstrous in all its proportions, without —
apparent form, utility or intention. But of such an anomaly,
the whole creation does not furnish us with a single example to
interrupt that series of animated beings, where so much beauty
and order of arrangement are displayed, from the “ worm that
revels in the dead man’s socket,” to the “ lord of the lion heart
and eagle eye.” All are equally perfected, and wonderfully
adapted to fulfil the purposes of their existence.
To commence with the skeleton of the individual before us, it
is necessary to premise, that though it was nearly full grown, all
the parts are not completely ossified; hence it may be inferred,
that such portions as are completely solid in this subject, will al-
ways be found so in all adult individuals, and some other portions
that are here cartilaginous, would have become ossified by age.
Referring to Baron Cuvier’s description of the several skeletons
_ of the Sloth which he has examined, it will be perceived that the
same species differed among themselves in several important
particulars. One of his specimens possessed 16 ribs, of which 7
are false. Another, a younger subject, possessed 14 ribs, of
which 5 are false: (vid. Ossem. Foss. vol. v. pt. Lp. 81.) Our
specimen possesses 15 ribs, 6 of which are false. The Baron
represents the Az with 3 lumbar vertebra: ours possesses 4: the
former has 11 caudal vertebra: the latter 10: the former 6 false
vertebra ef the sacrum: the latter 5.
Observations on the Anatomy of the Sioth. 501
_ These discrepancies will appear more evident, being placed
ina tabular form. In the first column we have arranged Cu-
vier’s adult specimen, in the second our own.
Cuvier.
Cervical vertebra 9 9
Dorsal a why) VEG
Lumbar 3 4
Sacral 1 FONG 5
Caudal 11 10
45 43
The transverse processes of the first caudal vertebra, are
elongated, and flattened or depressed, and are united to the
os ischium by cartilaginous suture, which tends very much to
enlarge the capacity of the pelvis, the outlet of which is dispro-
portionably large: the posterior, or sacral region, presents a
very broad, nearly flat, and solid surface, for the pregnant ute-
tus to rest upon, as well as to accommodate the enormous rec-
tum, in the usua! position of the animal; that is, suspended from
the lower surface of the limbs of trees, the back towards the
earth: by this form of the pelvis, the cotyloid cavities, and con-
sequently the thigh bones are widely separated, rendering an
approximation of the knees difficult; an arrangement, which
though exceedingly inconvenient to a quadruped walking on
the ground, is, at the same time, an admirable structure for an
animal always embracing a trunk, limb, or some foreign body,
between his thighs. The ossa pubis are separated more than an
inch, by an intervening cartilage in the present instance, which
was ossified in Cuvier’s specimen; whilst the sacro-ischiatic
ligaments, uniting the sacrum to the ischium at the suture be-
tween the tuber ischii and transverse processes of the first cau-
dal vertebra, are already ossified.. The sternum is composed
of nine distinct pieces; its nine cartilages are all ossified, and
united to the true ribs and sternum by cartilaginous suture: the —
ninth cervical vertebra supported at the extremity of the trans-
verse process, an osseous rudiment of a rib, to which it is joined
by cartilage: the unusually long neck of this animal, was ex-
ceedingly flexible, particularly so in the anterior direction, form-
ing very readily a complete circle, with the snout resting on the
ninth vertebra. This long and flexible neck, bending in every
502 Observations on the Anatomy of the Sloth.
direction, must’ offer considerable conveniences to an animal
which feeds on the leaves of trees in its immediate vicinity, and
would also enable the animal to direct his visual organs to any:
position, without changing that of its body.
But the most remarkable peculiarity in the skeleton of this
species, and which alone distinguishes it from that of all others, —
and admirably adapts it for its characteristic mode of locomo-
tion, i is to be observed. in ‘the form, structure, and articulation
of its posterior extremities. We have already alluded to the
widely separated state of the thighs at the acetabulum, which
enables it the more readily to embrace any foreign object; the
knee-joint is large, strong, and flexible ; the femur is long, stout,
and depressed, with a considerable concavity on its inner edge;
the bones of the legs are both convex externally,,all admitting
of the attachment of powerful muscles, and the joints, though
supplied with firm ligaments, are unusually flexible. Baron
Cuvier has already dwelt with great interest, on the very extra-
ordinary and unique manner in which the foot is articulated
with the tibia and fibula ; the astragalus, in addition to the pul-
ley-like surface, by which it moves on the end of the tibia, pre-
sents, on its exterior and upper surface, a deep conical pit, which
receives a corresponding projecting bone of the inferior head of
the fibula, admitting the greatest latitude of rotatory motion,
together with the usual ginglymus motion of the ankle, at the
same time rendering dislocation impossible; but the powerful
lateral ligaments prevent lateral motion at this joint ; this, how-
ever, is more than compensated, by the unusual degree of mo-
tion existing between the calcis and astragalus, or rather of the
latter on the former bone; producing a rocking motion from side
to side, two distinct transverse pulley-like surfaces on the infe-
rior aspect of the astragalus, being received into two correspond-
ing cavities in the upper surface of the calcis, and to render the
"joint more secure, the anterior articulating surface of the astra-
galus, presents a deep conical pit which receives a pyramidal
process, projecting from the usual articulating surface of the
cuboid bone: a complication of structure, attended with equally
complicated motions, witnessed in no other quadruped, and ut-
terly useless and inconvenient to an animal moving on a plane
surface ; yet admirably adapted to the habits of the Sloth, as it
enables the animal, in any. position of the body, to apply the
Observations on the Anatomy of the Stoth. 503
soles of its feet to the sides, or even opposite surface of the limb
or trunk of the tree, on which it is climbing ; its long claws and
powerful muscles harmonizing with this arrangement, enable
this animal to remain thus suspended, for hours and days with-
out fatigue, and even to sleep, in a position so awkward and
painful to other animals. wl
_ The organs of mastication, the peculiar construction of the
shoulder, with many other interesting details, have been already
fully commented upon by Cuvier, in his “ Ossemens fossiles :” in
the present instance, the rudimentary clavicles and coraco-
acromion pieces were cartilaginous.. We have only further to
remark, as entering into the composition of the knee joint, the
existence of a large sesamoid bone at the exterior portion of the
head of the fibula; and that, in two crania which we possess of
this animal, all the canine teeth are worn on their posterior
surfaces. |
The size of this species has-been variously estimated, at from
14 to 28 inches in length; the skeleton of our specimen is 22
inches in a straight line from the tip of the snout to the ex-
tremity of the tail.
The following represent the measurements in detail :—
Inches. Tenths.
Length of the Head,
2 6 ,
Neck, 4 6
Body, 9 0
Sacrum, 2 4.
~ Tail, 3 4.
22 00
Length of the arm 7 inches 2 tenths: length of the fore arm 6
mches: length of the hand, including the wrist, 5 inches: great-
est circumference of the body 13 inches.
The crowns of the molars appear peculiarly adapted to the
mastication of leaves. The fetus in utero possessed the same
number of teeth, similarly arranged, and with the exception of
being more conical towards the crown, presented perfect
miniatures of those of the adult animal; and from the state of
their developement, no doubt can exist of the capacity of these
animals to masticate from the period of their birth. The fetus —
was clothed with a profusion of hair, marked in every respect
504 Observations on the Anatomy of the Sloth.
like that of the adult; the eyes appeared to be perfectly deye-
loped: compared with other animals, the foetus was unusually
large; yet its protrusion is easily effected by means of the ex-
tremely large outlet of the pelvis, and the peculiar structure of
the generative organs. The uterus is musculo-membranous, and
contains two distinct lobulated placenta, one on either side of
the fundus, receiving an equal number of branches from the
umbilical vessels. |
The reproductive organs of this animal are singularly anoma-
lous. Vagina ab recto sejuncta est, ambo tamen uno ore aperi-
ad untur, sphinctere communi circumdato ; in ipso cujus introitu,
inferiorem spiraculi partem apparent nymphe bene patefactee,
et clitoris triangularis foliaceaque. Circiter mensuram uncize
intra vaginam, meatus urinarius se aperit. Inter vaginam et
os sacrum latum, rectum ingens positum est, impletum induratis
feecibus, similibus excrementis ovis.
The Sloths, then, have been erroneously represented as pos-
sessing a cloaca like that of birds, inasmuch as there does not
occur any mixture of the contents of the bladder and rectum,
as is the case in true cloace. The vagina and rectum, or
cloaca, are distinct from each other; there being no large in-
testines, properly so called, the rectum performs the functions
of the coecum. Although the animal is strictly phytivorous, the
bowels resemble those of the carnivora, being small and short;
the inferior portions are somewhat succulated, like the colon;
but the feeces do not assume their characteristic form, until they
have reached the rectum. The stomach consists of a large
paunch, in no way furnished with compartments like that of the
ruminantia, as is asserted by Buffon, who also errs in attributing
ruminating faculties to these animals; but this organ presents a
structure differing from that of any other animal with which we
are familiar, being furnished with numerous long, conical cul-
de-sacs, some of which are divided longitudinally into two com-
partments; these, in the present instance, were filled with mas-
ticated leaves, of a pulpy consistence. The liver is small, with-
out a gall bladder, or any unusual enlargements of the ductus
communis. The kidneys are rather small and conglobate: the
urinary bladder is very large. The heart was very small, and
contracted by the spirits, as were all the blood vessels. The
account given by Mr. Carlisle, of the peculiar distribution of the
Observations on the Anatomy of the Sloth. 505
humeral and femoral arteries in these animals, (vid. Philos.
Trans. Lond. 1800,) had excited our curiosity, and prepared us .
for disappointment; for after the most careful examination of
the arteries, we were unable to detect any resemblance to this
rete mirabile structure, which was thought to explain the cause
of the tardigrade movements of the Sloths; after considerable
difficulty in distinguishing the nerves from the arteries, (the ac-
tion of the spirits had rendered them similar in appearance,) we
only succeeded in detecting and passing probes into the cavities
of the humeral profundal, and the radial, ulnar, and interosseal
branches at the elbow; but as the present specimen had been
preserved in spirits, and Mr. Carlisle injected the arteries of his
specimen, we are not authorized to question the observations
of so accurate an observer, from the results of a single dissection.
We wish, however, to direct the attention of comparative anato-
mists who may possess an opportunity, to a re-examination of
this arterial arrangement.
It will be apparent, from what we have said, that the term
Tardigrade, derived from the extreme slowness of this animal,
does not express its principal character; that the peculiar or-
ganization of the Bradypus, and its prodigiously compressed and
crooked nails, cause its locomotion upon the surface of the
ground, to be very slow, is true; but if one animal existing un-
der this negative condition, is to be called Tardigrade, we con-
ceive that all animals under like restraint, and not belonging to
the Edentata, may, with equal propriety, be put among the
Tardigrades.
The mud-fish of the genus Hydrargira of Lacepede, are often,
by the retreat of the tide, left on the shore. These animals have
the faculty of springing up and changing their place; they will
thus advance over a considerable space, until they gain the
water, which is their proper element. In like manner, the
Bradypus, by an imperfect motion when on the surface, gains
the trees where it lives, feeds, and sleeps. It rarely leaves the
tree it ison until it has stripped it of every leaf, so painful is
the effort to change its situation, by dragging itself on its elbows
from one tree to another when they stand far apart. ‘The nails of
this animal, when at rest, are always bent towards the palm of
the hand; and it is thus it sleeps, grasping the branches, and
suspended with its back towards the ground. We think the
Vou. L—64
506 Ancient Vitrified Beacon Stations.
term Pendentia would be even more appropriate than Tardi-
grade, for these mammalia.
ANCIENT VITRIFIED BEACON STATIONS.
To the Editor of the Monthly American Journal of Geology.
Sim,—Your readers, perhaps, are aware that there are m
Scotland certain stations of an irregularly round or elliptical
form, in somewhat elevated situations, surrounded by one or
more stone walls, or ramparts, rudely put together, and without
any regular masonry. These walls are constructed of fragments
of primary rocks, granite, gneiss, mica-slate, and other felt-
spathic rocks. About half a century ago, these stations attracted
a great deal of attention, from its being observed that the
greater number of them had these walls partially, or altogether
vitrified, or slagged together into a coherent mass, evidently
by the action of fire. Many theories were brought forward
to account for this unusual appearance. By some, the vitrifica-
tion of these walls was attributed to volcanic agency, and the
area which they surrounded was considered asa crater. Mr.
Pennant, the naturalist, and other eminent persons, maintained
this opinion. This, however, gave way to another, brought for-
ward by Mr. Williams, a mineral surveyor, in 1777, who sup-
posed them to have been ancient forts, or defences, and that the
vitrification of the walls had been artificially produced, by lay-
ing the mineral materials upon beds of fuel, and firing it. Dr.
Maculloch defended this theory in the Transactions of the Geo-
logical Society of London. In 1787, lord Woodhouselee proposed
a new theory, in the Transactions of the Royal Soiciety of Edin-
burgh. He supposed these stations to have had a superstructure
of wood built upon these walls, and that the vitrification was
produced by the destruction of the timber by fire.
_ Amore reasonable supposition than any of these was subse-
quently brought forward in that valuable work, the Statistical
account of Scotland, a work of which too much cannot be said
in praise, or of its public spirited and venerable projector, Sir
John Sinclair, Bart. This was the opinion, that the vitrification
of these walls was owing to the action of beacon fires, and that
these stations were not ancient forts, but beacon sites, “ gene-
Ancient Vitrified Beacon Stations. 507
rally situated on lofty insulated hills, in such a chain of mutual
connection as to allow telegraphic communications to be con-
veyed from one station to another, at a considerable distance.”
The fused state of some of these walls had brought them within
the province of geology at one time ; but it is now perfectly clear
that the consideration of these stations belongs purely to arche-
ology, and any person who still entertains doubts on that sub-
ject, has only to read Dr. Hibbert’s papers, contained in the
October number for 1831, of Dr. Brewster’s Journal; especially
the letter to Dr. Brewster, entitled, “ Notice of the discovery of
very extensive vitrified remains at Elsness, in the Island of San-
day, Orkney,” to be entirely convinced of this fact. This notice
of a very interesting subject will be concluded by citing the fol-
lowing passages from the letter alluded to.
“ Such is the general history of the vitrified cairns of Orkney, which may serve
to set at rest, I trust for ever, two questions which have been agitated for more
than half acentury. The first is—To what uses or observances is the effect of
vitrification attributable? While the second is,—To what people is the effect at-
tributable ? In a tone of confidence, therefore, we are now entitled to reply,—That
vitrification was merely incidental to the fires which were kindled upon beacon
stations; and that the people who, in every country which they occupied or colo-
nized, organized systems of beacon stations, were of Scandinavian origin.”
The letter concludes with the following summary.
“ First: That the vitrified sites of Orkney not being characterized, as in Scotland,
by the presence of stone ramparts, but simply by small cairns, upon which the
fuel for beacon fires had been placed, incontestibly show, that a beacon station was
not of necessity a place of strength or defence.
“ Secondly: That such of the ancient Duns, or strengths of Scotland proper,
m which vitrification is found to be an occasional occurrence, belong to the oldest
fortified sites in the country, and are referable to some of its oldest inhabitants,
probably to the Picts, who are supposed to be of German origin.
“ Thirdly: That these ancient Duns, not originally vitrified, indicate, by their
construction and extent, that they were used by a people who had already passed
from the hunting to the pastoral state; as they evidently comprehend in their de-
sign, the protection of cattle, with that of human defence.
“ Fourthly: That from the tenth to the fourteenth century, a considerable part
of Scotland was overrun by the Scandinavians, under the various names of North- ©
men and Danes, who reciprocally became themselves liable to invasions from other
piratical tribes of the same northern origin as themselves, and were therefore in-
duced to institute systems of beacon fires, in imitation of those with which they
had been familiar in Norway.
“ Fifthly: That as in most instances the ancient fortresses or duns of the oldest
historical period of Scotland, were continued to be used as the gathering places
of clans or tribes, the same were most conveniently selected as the sites of beacon
508 Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal.
fires; the ramparts of loose stones, which characterize such fortified sites, serving
the additional purpose of cairns on which such fuel was placed.
“ And sixthly: That the intensity of fusion exhibited on the vitrified sites, is
no less referable to the forest trees which, on such occurrences, extravagantly
blazed, than to the incessant hostile invasions which caused beacon fires to be
lighted. But while I state these, my present conclusions, (for it is possible I may
yet make some little modification in them,) I would not renounce the idea, that
other public occasions, as, for instance, the annual lighting up of the fire of the
belting, might have assisted, though in a subordinate degree, towards producing
the vitrified effects, which continue to be the astonishment of all who are con-
versant with their extent.
“ But I must now conclude, as I have already exceeded the limits which I had —
at first assigned to it. The interest which continental geologists have begun to
take in the varied effects of ignition which these vitrified sites display, has natu-
rally made them curious regarding their mysterious history; which circumstance
is the only apology I can offer for making your Journal, on this occasion, a me-
dium of pure antiquarian inquiry. In some future number, I hope to render you
acquainted with the mineralogical observations of M. Von Leonhard, on the speci-
mens examined by him from the vitrified sites of Scotland.” rr.
RAFINESQUE’S ATLANTIC JOURNAL.
Enumeration and Account of some remarkable natural objects of the
Cabinet of Professor Rafinesque, in Philadelphia ; being Animals,
Shells, Plants, and Fossils, collected by him in North America,
between 1816 and 1831. Philadelphia, November, 1831.
Atlantic Journal, or Friend of Knowledge; a Cyclopedic Journal
and Review ef Universal Science and Knowledge; Historical,
Natural, and Medical Arts and Sciences : Industry, Agriculture,
Education, and every kind of useful Knowledge. With numerous
figures. Editor, C.S. Rarinesque. ©
We had occasion, in our February number, to animadvert
upon the injustice Professor Rafinesque had received, in relation
to the bivalve shells of the river Ohio: we were led to this purely
from a desire to strengthen the interests of natural science, by
vindicating the claims of its votaries to fair dealing, and without
any reference whatever to personal sympathies and antipathies.
We again take up the pen in behalf of the interests of natural
science, though we do not believe that upon the present occasion
our remarks will divert Mr. Rafinesque as much as they will
our general readers. In some branches of natural history, the
active labours of this natural, historical, medical, and universal
—
Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal. 509
person, have been usefully applied, and have been praised; and if
he had not been so paradoxical, and so off from the perpendicular
in his writings, his authority, in matters of natural history, would
have had some weight. We have observed with regret, for a
long time past, that the European naturalists have not given that
credit to the professor, which, from the necessity of the case, and
from courtesy, they always extend to those of their brethren
whose respectability and veracity is undoubted. We have ob-
served that nobis out of the professor’s mint was not current ; but
we never thought the magical letters Raf. would find their par
value so soon.
The two productions, whose titles we have placed at the
head of our remarks, satisfactorily explain why this is so. The
most malignant enemy could not have injured the professor as
much as they inevitably must do; nothing but a rash pre-
sumption of a general ignorance, that would dishonour us all,
and of the public inability to discover the worthlessness of such
a farrago as he has now let loose upon us, could have encouraged
him to produce, what is entirely beneath the dignity of criticism.
Nevertheless, the reputation of the country abroad, and the
satisfaction of the lovers of sound learning at home, require our
-. mterference, and we think this a fit occasion to enter upon
that part of the duties alluded to in our prospectus, “to put
down impostures and puerilities as they arise.”
Let us first examine the “ Enumeration,’ &c. where, in his
‘Article 1, Fossil Remains of Quadrupeds,” he has brought
such strange names, strange things, and strange language
together, that we are quite sure he has every thing to learn
concerning geology and fossil remains.
And first, we have No. 1, Mazama Salinaria, of Rafinesque.
A new genus, upon the authority of nothing but a piece of horn,
five inches long, found in an old saline of the Indians, in Ken-
tucky. ‘The description concludes, “ it belongs to the latest geo-
logical age of fossil animals.” 'The professor says it approximates
to his genus Mazama, which yet exists in South America. What
he means by the “latest geological age of fossil animals,” we
are utterly at a loss to comprehend under all these circum-
stances.
Next comes Panallodon Tumularium of Raf. which owes its
existence to a jaw bone, six inches long, found in a Solar tem-
510 Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal.
ple [!!!] in Kentucky. He thinks this akin to mazama, which
was somewhat similar to the antelopes, but having teeth, “ more
like some carnivorous animals, but no canine tooth,” “ latest geo-
logical age, later than No. 1, period of the Mastodons.” We were
just told that Mazama Salinaria belonged to the “latest geolo-
logical age,” but panallodon it seems belongs to an age later
than the latest. Whether the words “ period of the mastodons”
refer to the mazamaic or panallodontic period, we are left to
guess. Hitherto we have been exceedingly puzzled to assign a
geological period for the existence of the mastodon ; but it is now
settled, that the mastodontic period was contemporaneous with that
of a bit of horn five inches long, or with carnivorous antelopes. Here
is a stride in the history of extinct fossil animals !
After this we have No. 3, Taurus gigas, of Rafinesque, a
“ beautiful and perfect tooth of a bull,” which, a few lines af-
terwards, is stated, “ must have belonged to a very large ox.”
This animal, we are told, was of the “age of the mastodons.”
Here is a bull genus, established upon the strength of what no
doubt is a recent buffalo’s tooth, with which the western country
abounds. ‘There is something worse than puerility in this. Ra-
finesque knew that the genus bos was established for the receipt
of all kinds of bovine remains, and that Dr. Harlan’s species of
bos latifrons was universally received, and to which his bovine
tooth, if properly fossil, should have been referred. Rafinesque,
who has bitterly complained of others for trespassing upon his
grounds, shows here the budding forth of the same talent in him-
self, to more exquisite proofs of which we shall by and by come.
Among the fishes we have No. 6, JVephrosteon; but we shall
cite the description, as a specimen of the Professor’s style.
- “No. 6, Nephrosteon, Raf. Very singular fossil bone of a fish from the diluvial
regions of Louisiana. Jt must have been the head-plate of a huge fish twenty
feet long or more, but I know of none with similar shields. It is a fine perfect
flat bone, yellowish white, solid, hard and heavy, rounded, with a reniform base,
eight inches broad and six and a half long; half an inch thick ; edge entire, thick ;
surface above nearly smooth, with an areolar depression round the centre, which
has several unequal chinks. Lower surface entirely covered with vermicular an-
astomosed elevations, forming irregular pits and prominences. Js it the bony shield
of the head of megasaurus ? or some other fossil reptile ?”
Before we give Mr. Rafinesque an answer to his question, we
must tell him that it is inexcusable in one, who pretends to write
on geological matters, to commit so great a blunder as to call
Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal. 511
the alluvial soil of Louisiana “ diluvial;” and that he has been un-
lucky in not sticking to his first guess, that the bone belonged to
a huge fish ; if he had had the slightest knowledge of compara-
tive anatomy, he would have seen, at first inspection, that: this
bone formed no part of the head of any animal, but was simply,
what we venture to assure him it is, the Ephyphysis of the
vertebra of the existing spermaceti whale, and which is of very
common occurrence in the great whales’ burying ground, of
Louisiana.
This nephrosteontic affair is a pretty good specimen of what
the Professor can do in the way of geology and comparative
anatomy. One of the most insignificant osseous parts of a whale,
and which only belongs to it whilst very young, is hocussed into
the representative of a new genus of extinct animals, which, in
one line, “must have been the head plate of a huge fish,” and
in the next produces the interrogation, “is it the bony shield of
the head of megasaurus, or some other huge fossil reptile?” A
buffaloe’s tooth sits in his scientific parliament for Taurus gigas ;
and as to Mazama Salinaria, and Panallodon Tumularium, their
most conspicuous character is, that one of them belongs to a
geological period “ later than the latest,” though by the context
it is impossible to find out which of the two enjoys that inestima-
ble advantage.
As to the Atlantic Journal, we despair of doing justice to its
various merits ; it is a perfect museum of curiosities, and those
who desire cheap amusement—for it only costs twenty-five
cents—cannot do better than purchase it. Lest, however, it
should prove too great a mystification to those who may feel
disposed to purchase it upon our recommendation, we must tell
the truth—for we have read it—and fairly state, that it belongs
to the days of Dr. Katterfelto of famous memory, rather than to
the present times, as a few extracts we are about to give will
show. These we take from the cover of the book, where there
are no fewer than twenty advertisements. Having never
heard of this Atlantic Journal, we were not a little surprised to
see, that the first number had already acquired so valuable an
advertising custom. Upon examining them, we found them all,
without a single exception, drawn up by the Professor himself,
and trumpeting forth his own praises and opinions, with as expe-
rienced and firm a blast as ever was in the service of the best pa-
512 Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal.
tent blacking. Of this work the professor says in his introduction,
“It will be of a strikingly novel character, and must be left to
speak for itself; to deserve, by its own intrinsic value and merit,
the patronage which it claims from all the friends of knowledge,
education, and learning.” We shall now treat the friends of
knowledge, education, and learning, with the promised extracts.
“This Journal will be sent to several distinguished individuals.’”—* All those
who shall keep it, will be put on the subscription list, and they are requested to
pay the account to our agents, of which a list shall be given in our second num-
ber: unless they subscribe for the whole first volume, and remit us direct two
dollars.”
Hence we infer that the “ distinguished individuals” who have
been thus favoured, will be made to pay ove dollar, unless they
prefer the accommodating alternative of paying two.
One of his advertisements on the cover is addressed to “ Euro-
pean readers,” and announces that he has appointed three
agents in London, and fowr in Paris: then comes an advertise-
ment for a paper-maker, one for a printer, and another for a pub-
lisher. ‘The following is a fine specimen of the encouragement he
has to.offer to them:—
“'WantTep.—Two travelling agents to procure subscriptions, sell books, and
collect money. None need apply but such as can give undoubted security. Ap-
ply at the office of the Atlantic Journal.”
But the following advertisement settles for ever the genus to
which Professor Rafinesque belongs :
“ Mepicax Sreciric ror THE Consumprion.—A safe and efficient remedy for
this fatal disease, has been discovered by an eminent Botanist and Pulmist of
Philadelphia, Professor of Medical Botany, &c. It has effected several wonderful
cures, and already cured or relieved seven hundred persons from Boston to New.
Orleans. Jt is a mild, fragrant and palatable remedy, purely vegetable, which.
some patients become quite fond of; it is calculated for this disease only, but sus-
ceptible of many preparations and modifications to suit (and apply to) all the va-
rious cases. It is called the PULMEL; with it are prepared a Syrup for common
use, and a Balsam for inhalation. A Pamphlet on the Pulmel is given gratis. A
work called the Pulmist, or Art to Cure the Consumption, has been published as a
guide. Dr. RAFINESQUE, the proprietor, practices exclusively as a Pulmist in .
diseases of the lungs, and is very successful. He sends ample consultations on
specific cases to any part of the United States, and has thus cured many at a dis-
tance. Consultation alone $10, with the work and all the Pulmel needful for a
complete cure $25, will be sent any where on demand, and a remittance.”
Of the contents of this work, and of the pity they will excite
in all, and indignation in many—pity, for himself, and indigna- —
tion at this wanton attempt to disgrace the cause of knowledge,
Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal 513
we shall merely say, that of zoology there is nothing which has
not been published before. The geological portion shows an en¢
tire ignorance of even the outlines of the science. The tabular
view of the American generic languages, and original nations, is
drawn from that insane mass called The Annals of Kentucky.
The article entitled The Atlantic Nations of: America, is upon a
par with it. He gives tables of words of different languages, to
show their affinity, where not the slightest analogy between the
words can be traced by any effort of philological refinement. It
is enough to unsettle a weak mind to examine the crazy asser-
tions he is constantly making, and which he puts forth with the
greatest confidence.
The professor’s “ History of China before the Flood,” is a mor-
ceau every way worthy of himself. His facts and reasonings
are in perfect harmony with the figures and perspective on the
old porcelain of the celestial empire, these last standing in the
same relation to nature that the first do to history. We give
the following inimitable extract from page 25 of the Atlantic
Journal. From the four concluding words, we suspect it forms
part of an edict which the Son of Heaven has addressed to the
professor.
“ The state of mankind before the flood of Ynti (or Noah, which agrees in time
with the seventy computation) is represented as happy. China, called Tien-hia
or Celestial Region, (universe) was ruled by benevolent monarchs, who took no-
thing and gave much; all the world submitted to their virtues and good laws. They
wore no crown, but long hair; never made war and put no one to death. Har-
mony even reigned between men and animals; men lived on roots, fruits and cattle ;
they did not follow hunting, property was in common, and universal concord pre-
vailed. They did not therefore deserve the punishment of total destruction by a
flood. .
“ This interesting and important part of the early history of mankind, is not yet
inserted in the would-be universal histories of the western Barbarians, as the Chi-
nese call us. Our compilers for ages appear intent on destroying the little
remnant of ancient historical knowledge as yet extant. Let it be revived !”
We think we can now perceive the reason why Mr. Rafines-
que’s authority as a naturalist has been hitherto considered so
unsatisfactory. ‘Those who accuse others of encroaching upon
their rights, are especially bound to act with uprightness them-
selves. Mr. Rafinesque will admit, that if, upon a previous oc-
casion, we were not slow to vindicate his claims to justice, we
ought to be equally prompt in asserting the rights of men of
Vor. L—65
514 i Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal.
known intelligence, and who are eminent for their disinterested
labours in the cause of natural science.
At page 20 of the Atlantic Journal, is the following passage,
in a letter which he states to have written to Baron Cuvier.
“Isend you, as you request, the figure, deseriptidn, and a specimen of my
Trinectes Scabra, a new genus of fish near to Achirus found in the river Schuyl-
kill; it has only three fins, dorsal, anal and caudal. Also the description and
figure of a large and beautiful new cat-fish from the river Tennessee, discovered in
1823, Pimelodus lutescens: it was three feet long, excellent to eat, of an olivaceous
yellow colour, belly white, jaws equal, eyes round, tail forked, first dorsal falciform,
second dorsal nearly as large as the anal.”
By what means Mr. Rafinesque was enabled to send the figure,
description, and specimen of this fish to France, may be learnt
from the communication to us, which appears below as a note.*
It will be observed that he has not even mentioned the name of
Dr. Harlan, to whom alone he was indebted for the knowledge
of the existence of this fish. His conduct is of a piece with what
we find at page 28, speaking of the caves in Kentucky :—
* PHrLADELPHIA, March 28, 1832.
Dear Sir,—tIn that strange production, the Atlantic Journal, edited by Mr. Rafinesque,
he states that the Megalonyx laqueatus, described by me in March 1831, in the Journal
of the Academy of Natural Sciences, was previously named by him Aulaxodon speleum.
It is difficult to make such a man responsible for any thing he does. I feel it necessary,
however, to explain what his conduct has been towards me in this, and in another
instance, that the public may understand what is due to him.
When I was engaged in the examination of the fossil bones alluded to, a had al-
ready placed the species in Mr. Jefferson’s genus megalonyx, Mr. Rafinesque called upon
me, and asked a great many questions concerning their nature and locality: he ac-
knowledged himself utterly ignorant of them, and was evidently unapprized of the
characteristic difference between the genus megatherium and megalonyx. These bones
were personally collected by the late Mr. Clifford; and when they were purchased from
his collection, the labels, stating that fact, were attached to them. Yet Mr. R., without
giving any authority for it, states they were found in another place.
During the summer of 1830, I obtained from Mr. Carr, proprietor of Bartram’s. botanic
garden, several species of fresh water fishes, among which was a specimen of Flounder
[Pleuronectes] never before noticed as an inhabitant of the Schuylkill. Mr. R. called
upon me one day, and as he was generally supposed to have some knowledge of ichthy-
ology, I showed it to him. He asked permission to take it home that he might examine
it at leisure. Since that time I have never seen the specimen, nor been able to get any
account of it from him, that I could rely on. It appears, however, at page 20 of the
Atlantic Journal, that he sent it to Baron Cuvier previous to March, 1831, as a new
genus Trinectes Scabra, without mentioning the fact to me, or mentioning my name in
the communication. Twas, as I yet am, disposed to think this fish a new species of the
genus Achirus of Lacep. or of Soles, totally deprived of pectorals, but a new genus it
Gertainly isnot. Mr. Ranfinesque appears determined to gratify his appetite for notoriety
by unusual means, and altogether inconsistent with the respect due to the property of
others. It is a course that will bring its own punishment with it. I remain, dear sir,
yours very sincerely, a : RICIIARD TIARLAN.
gaa Lene
Rafinesque’s Atlantic Journal. a.
“The principal fossil bones found in them, and come to my
knowledge, belonged to— :
“1. The Megatherium, or an animal very near it.
« 2. My Aulaxodon speleum, since called Megalonyx laqueatus,
by Harlan.”
Now, in relation to this, we state, that there never was any
bone resembling that of a Megatherium found in those caves;
and as to the Megalonyx, the genus was so named by that emi-
nent lover of natural history, Thomas Jefferson. ‘The new spe-
cies, M. Laqueatus, was first published by Dr. Harlan in March,
1831;* the bones of this animal were shown by him to this Doc-
tor Rafinesque, who had never seen them before; yet he who
complains of being wronged by others, not only attempts to sup-
plant the species of Harlan and the genus of Jefferson, but in-
sinuates that the first-named of these two gentlemen had endea-
voured to supplant him. We wish Mr. Rafinesque to under-
stand, that when any pseudo scientific publication is published
here, calculated to mislead at home, and to. discredit the
country abroad, we shall proceed to unbombast it as soon as
- our leisure permits. He may cry mercy, and plead past ser-
vices; but it won’t do. One of our objects in relation to the geo-
logy and natural history of this country, is to endeavour to
clear up all the old crudities that have brought natural science
into a fog here; and if it. were only to spare ourselves future
trouble, we must cut up by the roots all the new-born nonsense
that threatens to darken the subject still further.
Henceforward, we.trust, Mr., or Doctor, or Professor Rafines-
que—who it seems must be doing—when he finds queer things,
such as Mazamas, Panallodons, and Nephrosteons, which he does
not know what to make of, will do what men of sense do, show
them to those who do; and not publish them—without figures
too, in language that no naturalist can understand, and which
was only endured in the bygone days, when all were ignorant
alike, if when it was the custom to hold omne ignotum pro
magnificho.
* See Month. Am. Journal of Geology, Vol. 1, p. 45.
516 Onerations to Find Water in the Desert.
ACCOUNT OF OPERATIONS TO FIND WATER IN THE DESERT
BETWEEN CAIRO AND SUEZ.
From the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.
WE have been favoured with an interesting account of some
successful attempts, made with great energy and* perseverance,
by Mr. Samuel Briggs, of Alexandria, to find water in the Desert,
between Suez and Cairo. This is not only an important discoy-
ery for the natives of the country, but will also prodigiously fa-
cilitate the intercourse with India by steam.
The first experiments were made in the valley of Kesche,
where the workmen bored, in one instance, to the depth of one
hundred and sixty feet, through a fine sandstone, mixed with
clay, without finding any humidity ; and in another place to the
depth of fifty feet, principally through a rock composed of frag-
ments of silex and jasper, where they met with a hard rock
which broke the instruments, and the attempt was consequently
relinquished on that spot. The operations were transferred to
the valley of Candelli. Here water has been found in a clayey
stratum, at the depth of only thirteen feet, where a well is al-
ready established, to which the Arabs come for their daily sup-
ply. Above the clay is a bed of calcareous sandstone, five feet
thick, through which the water filters; and in the stratum of
clay three lateral galleries have been ingeniously struck to the.
extent of twelve or fourteen feet, which not only serve to collect '
the water,.but, together with a further continuation of the well,
to the total depth of twenty-one fect, form a reservoir of one
thousand two hundred cubic feet of water. ‘The whole is to be
lined with stone and mortar, which will render it a work of per-
fect art; and what is most important is, that the water be-
ing found so near the surface, neither the labour of camels nor
of machinery wiil be required to draw it.
Two other wells have been commenced in the same valley,
with the same prospect of success. It is believed ok. as the -
spot is only an hour, or an hour and a half’s journey from the
great chain of mountains which stretches across the Desert from
the Nile to the Red Sea, the waters have there their source.
This enterprise has been projected by, and carried into exe-
cution at, the sole expense of Mr. Briggs. He has in his employ
an able mineralogist, Mr. Albert Gensberg (a Swiss, we believe,)
eee Poem —
Geological Society of Pennsylvania. 517
who is still continuing his researches, and is confident of finding
water, and establishing wells, at other parts of the route. The
practical artificers are two Englishmen, named Hancock and
Wood. The villages, where men and animals will not only be
supplied with water, but with all other necessaries in their pain-
ful journeyings; and the names of the projector and executor,
of this work will be remembered with gratitude by all future
travellers in this hitherto sterile desert.
Above all, it is hoped that the enlightened ruler of Egypt will
appreciate the merits of Mr. Briggs, whose success will facili-
tate the commerce and promote the prosperity of that country.
To the above may be also subjoined the following extract of
a letter, dated, Alexandria, June 138, 1831, from Mr. Briggs
himself, to the Earl of Munster, who has communicated it to the
Royal Geographical Society :—
“My attempts to discover water in the Tesert between Cairo
and Suez have been crowned with success; and I hope all fu-
ture travellers to and from India will feel the benefit of it, as
well as the pilgrims to Mecca. ‘
“T have had two English borers at work during a year anda
half, at my expense ; fh I mean to persevere till [ have found water
also on the other line of communication, known to you, between
Cosseir and Thebes, or Kenne.
“Ibrahim Pasha gives me every assistance in guards, tools,
masons, &c., whenever sweet water is found; but the Hadgi
know it is to the English they are indebted for this boon.”
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Abstract of their proceedings, April 14th, 1832, Limur. Cot.
Lone in the chair —
A paper on the geology of the Alleghany Mountains, by R. C.
Taylor, Esq. was read by Mr. Featherstonhaugh.*
Peter A. Browne, Esq. read a paper on the rocks found in the
vicinity of Philadelphia—These rocks are primary ; no granite
* This paper, together with a section of the Moshannon Valley, were published
in the last number of this Journal.
518 Geological Society of Pennsylvania.
has been found, except in boulders and veins of other rocks.
This rock is the general but not continuous Atlantic boundary
of the United States. When Ashton street, in Philadelphia,
was regulated, a boulder of granite, weighing several tons, was
found in the gravel. The felspar was flesh-coloured, sp. gr. 2.727.
Where it is found in veins, the felspar is white, and the sp. gr.
2.701. ‘The river boulders vary in their constituents more than
the inland ones. Mr. B. has found Porphyry with helyotrope
among the first. The gneiss at Fairmount water-works con-
tains white beryls, and schorl in granite veins, sp. gr. 2.620.
The gneiss re-appears at the falls of Schuylkill, five miles from
Philadelphia. The State Penitentiary, in Coates street, is built
of this rock: it contains, in granite veins, green beryls, phos-
phate of lime, scapolite, &c. In some places the gneiss is en-
tirely disintegrated, lying in extensive loose sandy beds. Mica
slate is quarried near Lemon hill, and in Broad street; it is
well displayed at the mill-dam upon old Fourth street, sp. gr.
2.038 to 2.712. This rock contains granite ves with white
beryls,. and hexagonal crystals of mica. The beryls, when first
detached,. are soft and friable, but become gradually harder.
Near Bartram’s garden, the mica slate is found in disintegrated
and sandy beds. At Chesnut hill, the mica slate is nearly verti-
cal. From Manayunk to the Plymouth dam, it becomes com-
pact, and contains beryls, zeolite, cyanite, schorl, phosphate of
lime, &c. The first hornblende rocks which appear near Phila-
delphia, are near Fairmount water-works; but further.north,
they may be traced from the Delaware to the west bank of the
Schuylkill. They appear on the Delaware about a mile beyond
the village of Frankford, at the forks of the Bristol and Bustleton
turnpikes, and near Second street road. At Manayunk they
pass into hornblende slate. Actinolite is found subordinate to
this formation. Mr. B. succeeded in detaching a specimen of a
very tough compact hornblende, on Second street road, near
Frankford creek, and on examining it a few days afterwards,
found the fractured surface spangled over with crystals of acty-
nolite, similar to others he had observed on the exterior of the
rock. At Streaper’s hill, on the Ridge turnpike road, the horn-
blende rocks again appear. Ina ravine at the side of the road,
about 11 miles from Philadelphia, large boulders of hornblende
are lying on clay slate; others are found on the surface further
Geological Society of Pennsylvania. 519
to the north-east. Proceeding up the Schuylkill from Mana-
yunk, the mica slate, near the soap-stone quarries, gradually
passes into talcose rocks, confusedly piled upon each other. Ser-
pentine, steatite, talc, chlorite, and other mineral substances,
are here subordinate to this formation. The steatite (soap-
stone) contains oxide of iron and tremolite. The chlorite slate
contains octahedral iron.
A communication was read from a Committee of the Cabinet of
Science of Bradford County, consisting of Messrs. Henry Wells, El-
lis Lewis, Isaac Cooley, Bissel Chubbuk, and William Russell.
There is in Bradford county inexhaustible quantities of bitu-
minous coal and iron. Indications of copper have also been dis-
covered. Major Long, of that county, has detected gold and sil-
ver in particular rocks. The gold is found disseminated ina
bed of hornstone. Limestone with marine shells is also found in
this county : when prepared in the kiln, it is of a grey ash co-
lour. A coarse-grained silicious sandstone is found on the wa-
ters of the Towanda creek, well adapted for mill-stones. The
only coal-mines now open and worked in this county, are on the
waters of the Towanda creek, a few miles south-west of the
borough of Towanda. The coal is excellent, and is extensively
used by the inhabitants in preference to wood. In the winter
season, it is sent in sleds to Ithaca, Newtown, &c. The veins
of coal are from three to seven feet thick, and are found a few
feet from the surface. The coal-field is extensive, rests upon a
general bed of sandstone, and the strata alternate with slate.
The coal on the waters of Towanda is supposed to be part of a
continuous deposit extending to the coal-mines of Blossburg in
Tioga, and those of Lycoming in Lycoming county. The To-
wanda creek is navigable for the descent of rafts a considera-
ble distance above the coal-mines, which are situated about
twelve miles from the north branch of the Susquehanna river.
Coal is also found in abundance about six miles from the borough
of Towanda. Iron is found in the neighbourhood of the coal-
mines, and in other parts of the county. No fossil coal plants
have yet been found: it is supposed they are not so abundant
in the bituminous coal-ficlds as they have hitherto been found to
be in the non-bituminous ones. There are several salt springs
520 Geological Society of Pennsylvania.
in the county, and a salt manufacturing company is established
in Susquehanna county, at a salt spring on the dividing line
with Bradford county. No rock salt has been found, neither
have any wells been yet dug in this last county for brine. At
Rome, eight miles north-east of Towanda, is a fine mineral
spring, impregnated with sulphur, iron, &c. Inflammable gas
rises in large bubbles from the bottom. ‘The medicinal proper-
ties of this spring have been found very efficacious in cutaneous
diseases. No natural caves have as yet been discovered in this
county, nor any osteological remains, except an elephant’s tooth.
An exploring expedition, for the purpose of making geological
examinations of the most interesting parts of the county of Brad-
ford, is now preparing ; it is intended to communicate the re-
sults to the Geological Society of Pennsylvania.
A communication on the geology of Wayne county, Pennsylva-
nia, accompanied with a map and section, from Jacob P. Davis,
Esq. and dated Bethany, Pennsylvania, was read. The follow-
ing is an extract from it :—
“ The principal features of the county of Wayne are, a contin-
uous upland, occupying by far the largest portion of surface, the
long narrow valleys by which this upland is indented, and a few
incidental eminences to which the distinction of mountains is ap-
plied. The general average elevation of the upland is estimated
at about thirteen hundred feet above tide water.
“‘ Moosic mountain, near the western line of the country, rises
above the upland about six hundred feet; having a total eleva-
tion at Rix’s Gap, on the route of the Rail road, of nineteen hun-
dred and ten feet above tide water. The term “gap,” as ap-
plied to the passes of this mountain, does not signify a cleft or
opening; the top of the mountain being continuous: it merely
signifies a convenient slope. Beyond the northern extremity of
the Moosic rises Mount Arrarat, which is about the same height
as the Moosic. Besides these there are a few eminences of but
minor note.
“ The upland, with its appurtenant valleys, appears to afoul
the most interesting variety, the features of which are particu-
larly defined by the course of the waters. All the larger
streams have their sources at or near the summit of the upland,
increasing in their passage by the confluent springs and rivulets ; ;
Geological Society of Pennsylvania. 521
the upland affords a hollow for the waters which enlarges
as the waters advance, until at length the acclivities gradu-
ally assume a mountain aspect. The greater part of these
inequalities, however, present no serious obstacle to agricultural
operations. ‘The slopes are generally gradual, and with some
exceptions near the larger streams, every part is susceptible of
cultivation.
“ Delaware river bounds the north-eastern side of the county.
It receives from Wayne county, besides the Lackawaxen river,
the waters of the northern end of the county, and much of the
eastern waters. There is much ailuvial bottom land along the
margin of the river; the upland acclivity is lofty, bold, and some-
times precipitous. The greater part of the river shore in Man-
chester township, from the mouth of Great Equinunk creek,
downwards, is bound by lofty perpendicular rock, from the
water’s edge, which effectually interrupts a direct land commu-
nication along the river for that distance.
“ Lackawaxen river flows through the middle of the county,
in a deep valley, which no where exceeds half a mile in breadth.
It unites the waters of the greater part of the county, which it
discharges into the Delaware river. The bottom of this valley
is, for the most part, an alluvial flat of fertile quality. The
principal branches of this river are, the Dyberry, which it re-
ceives from the north, flowing through a valley similar to the
Lackawaxen valley; the west Branch, which is considered the
principal branch of this river, flows through a similar valley, and
unites its waters with the Dyberry, near Honesdale, forming to-
gether the true Lackawaxen river. ‘The Middle creek enters
the Lackawaxen near the south-eastern line of the county. It
is a stream of considerable magnitude, but its channel is rocky
and its course very rapid. The Wallenpaupac creek, on the
county line, is a considerable branch of the Lackawaxen, and
has much alluvial flat extending almost its whole length. It
has a high cataract near its mouth. For the last fifteen miles
the creek, after a previous rapid course, flows in a sinuous chan-
nel, with scarcely any sensible motion. Arrived at the head of
the falls, the bed of the creek appears suddenly depressed, and
forms a chasm, into which the water pours down a depth of near
seventy feet, and then rushing along in a deep rocky channel, is.
precipitated over three successive cataracts within a distance of
Vox. L.—66 ;
522 Geological Society of Pennsylvania.
a mile and a half to the mouth of the creek ; producing a total
fall in that distance of a hundred and fifty-six feet. The width
of the creek above the falls is eighty-three feet: the scite of the
upper fall is improved by two saw mills and a grist mill, a short
distance above which a wooden bridge connects the route of the —
Milford and Owego turnpike.
‘Geological inquiries, in this county are restricted within a
small space. ‘The far greater part of the county is covered by
its native forest, and has been but very little, if at all, regarded
by geological science. ‘The productions of the soil, where cul-
tivated, yielding an ample remuneration to industry, no excava-
tion has been made in search of minerals, and few for any other
purposes. Our inquiries are therefore directed to the occasional
uncovered rock, and the remains detached by their decomposi-
tion, and these, for the most part, only enable us to generalize a
few facts. | Lia ge
“The geological formation of Wayne county is transition. Its
stratified rocks consist of brown argillaceous slate, graywacke,
graywacke slate, and an impure limestone. ‘The Moosic moun-
tain is composed of conglomerate or pudding stone, resting on
graywacke, and containing beds of amygdaloid. An outlayer of
conglomerate is also seen in Mount Pleasant, near Centreville,
the upper surface of which just projects above the soil. A bed
of clay slate occurs near the mouth of Cawley brook, in Dyberry —
township, interposed between strata of graywacke slate. This
rock also occurs in beds on the western side of Moosic mountain,
above Belmont coal mine. :
The brown slate appears to be the transition clay slate, or
argillite of geologists. It readily splits into thin plates, which
exhibit glimmering scales, probably mica. Its colour is usually
brown, by oxide of iron; it is, however, sometimes of a grayish
colour. The clay slate is a variety of argillite. It is of a fine
texture: its fracture is rather splintery than slaty, and exhibits
a glossy lustre. Its colour is a smoke gray, or clay colour. It
is used for whet-stones, for which it is very well adapted.
“The conglomerate is composed of silicious pebbles of various
forms, but generally rounded, united by a cement. It is fre-
quently employed for mill stones, and is said to be nearly equal
in quality to the burr. It contains veins of sulphuret of iron,
feldspar and quartz.
Va Se ‘ = : -
ae
Geological Society of Pennsylvania. 523
“The limestone is of a coarse texture, and uneven fracture,
and sometimes slaty. It is fusible at a white heat into a black
glass, which denotes the presence of much silicious matter.
“The strata of brown slate and graywacke slate most fre-
quently alternate, and are of considerable thickness and extent,
declining from the horizon at an angle of thirty degrees or
more, and dipping generally towards the north-west. It is fre-
quently the case that the several strata form successive ridges,
facing the south-east, which seem to rise behind each other like
steps to the summit of the upland. In such cases the strata are
from ten to a hundred feet in thickness; principally of gray-
wacke slate and brown slate, alternating with occasional small
strata of graywacke and limestone.
“In the vicinity of the Belmont coal mine, on the western side
of Moosic mountain, is found, an argillaceous oxide of iron, some-
times called clay iron stone, in nodules and masses of various
forms, imbedded in shale. Some of the nodules exhibit only a shell
filled with a dark bluish liquid, of the consistence of paint; or
with a compact substance of the same colour, but always capa-
ble of being cut with a knife. A specimen of this ore yielded
33 per cent of metalliciron. This mine isnot worked. The dis-
trict is yet covered by its native forest. Sulphuret of iron is also
found in the shale at this place.
« T am not acquainted with the existence of any other minerals
in this county than such as I have noted. There can be no
doubt, however, that many will be discovered when the country
becomes more improved, and its forests cleared off. ‘To such a
conjecture the properties of the soil and the nature of the forma-
tion afford many indications. The anthracite region approaches
the western side of the county, but does not extend into it. There
are neither salt nor salt springs known in this county ; the only
mineral springs known are chalybeate, on the western slope of
Moosic mountain, near Belmont mine, and near Big Beech pond,
in the southern part of Damascus township.”
Mr. Featherstonhaugh presented, on the part of Lieut.Co!. Long,
an original coloured sketch, showing the blue ridge, and the ad-
jacent country, from the Susquehanna river to the Mississippi
river. ;
524 Meteorological Observations. —
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, |
Made at Wilmington, Delaware, by Henry Gibbons, M. D.
Summary ror Marcu, 1882.
Therm. Barom.) Proportion of clear weather, days 21
Average at sun-rise, 34°.81 in. 29.87) Proportion of cloudy, 10
Average at mid-day, 49°.42 29.83| Whole days clear, _ 14
Average at 11 o’clock, Days on which snow fell, 1
P. M. 38°.23 29:84| Days on which rain fell, 7
Monthly average, 42°.115 29.85| Depth of snow, at
Maximum, 12th, 67°. 1st, 30.30] Depth of rain, 2.55
Minimun, 18th, 12°, 12th, 29.37] Quantity of water, 2.80
Range, . 55°. .93| Northerly winds prevailed, days 11
Warmest day, 12th, 60°.55 Easterly, 5
Coldest day, 18th, 18° Southerly, (S. to W.) 15
An aurora, on the evening of the 27th, followed by easterly
winds. Clouds electrified twice; a heavy thundergust on the
12th. Winds not very variable; but- blustering and frequently
high, supporting the character of March. ‘Two transient, m-
complete, easterly storms. The weather of this month was re-
markable for its sudden transitions from warm to cold. The
temperature of the thirteen first days was pleasant and uniform,
averaging about 53° at noon. A severe thunderstorm took place
on the 12th, which was not followed immediately by much de-
crease of temperature. But a N. W. wind set in the next day,
and the thermometer fell from 57° (at 2 p. m.) to 35° (at 11 p. m.).
The next morning it stood at 20°. During this and the eight suc-
cessive days, the mean temperature at noon was 394°. A change
still more remarkable took place on the 17th, when the mercury
fell from 47°, to 17°, between the hours of 2 and 11 p. m., during
a violent snow-storm from N. West. On the morning of the
18th, it was at 12°, a degree of cold extremely unusual at this
late period. The weeping willow had put forth its leaves, and
the blossoms of the Lombardy and Athenian poplar were out.
The leaves of the one, and the blossoms of the other, were com-
pletely destroyed, and the buds of the willow were so effectually
killed, that the tree continued without any trace of vegetation
till after the middle of April, when it put forth a new set of buds.
The fruit of the peach-tree was killed by the same frost, in the
unexpanded bud, so that few, comparatively, of the blossoms,
subsequently opened. |
.
ee Se ee ae ee ee
Scientific and General Memoranda. 525
SCIENTIFIC AND GENERAL MEMORANDA.
Tyrian Purple Dye—The shells from which the celebrated
purple dye of the ancients was extracted, named by Pliny, the
Murex and Buccinum, have given occasion to disputes among
modern naturalists as to the species meant. M. Lesson, upon
comparing the mollusca now found in the Mediterranean, with
Pliny’s description, is of opinion the Buccinum is the lanthina.
It is a pelagian shell, and extremely numerous. It sustains itself
on the surface of the sea by air vesicles, which Pliny calls a glu-
tinous wax; and as soon as it is taken out of the water, there
escapes from it a very pure and very brilliant violet rose colour.
Each shell contains an ounce of this in the dorsal vessel. By
means of alkalies this colour is changed to green. The Janthina
abounds equally in the Atlantic as in the Mediterranean; and
at certain seasons the beaches of St. Helena and Ascension are
entirely covered with them. From experiments made with this
colouring matter, it appears to be a valuable reactive, turning
red when treated with acids, and blue with alkalies. Oxalate
of ammonia gives a deep blue precipitate, and nitrate of silver a
prttey ash blue for painting in water colours.
Mode in which the common Frog takes its food—The Rev. Mr.
Bree in a communication to the conductor of the Magazine of
Natural History, states,—“ The friend to whom | am indebted
for having first called my attention to this amusing exhibition,
was himself introduced to it by mere accident. He happened
to be re-potting some green house plants, and meeting with a
moderate sized worm among the roots of one them, he carelessly
threw it aside into a damp corner near the green house. Almost
immediately a frog issued from his lurking place hard by, com-
menced his attack upon the worm, and soon dispatched it. An-
other worm was thrown to him, which he treated in the same
manner. But the amusing part of the business is to watch the
manner in which the frog first notices his prey; and this I can
compare to nothing so aptly as to what, indeed, it very much
resembles, a pointer dog setting his game: he makes, in short, |
a dead set at it; oftentimes, too (if the relative position of the
two animals so require it,) with a slight bend or inclination, more
or less, of the forepart of the body to one side, just as we often
526 Scientific and General Memoranda.
see a pointer turn suddenly, when the game is one side of him,
and has approached very near before he has perceived it. After
a pause of some seconds or more, the frog makes-a dart at the
worm, endeavouring to seize it with his mouth; in this attempt _
he frequently fails more than once; and generally waits fora
short interval, acting the pointer, as it were, between each at-
tack. Having succeeded at last in getting the worm into his
mouth, if it be a large one, he is unable to swallow it immediate-_
ly and all at once; and the portion of the worm which yet re-
mains unswallowed, and extends out of the mouth of its destroy-
er, of course wreaths about, and struggles with a tortuous mo-
tion. With much, but somewhat grotesque dexterity, the frog
then employs his two fore feet, shoving, and bandying the worm,
first with one, and then with the other, in order to keep it as
nearly as may be in the centre of his mouth, till the whole is
swallowed. Any of your readers who are fond of marking the
actions and habits of animals are strongly recommended to.+.,
the experiment. They have only to find a frog, taking care not to
alarm him more than need be, and throw down a worm near him,
and they will be pretty sure to be gratified by the sight of what I
have endeavoured, however imperfectly, to describe. Iought to
add that, to be successful, the experiment should be made in the
summer, say June or July; as I am informed, (but do not vouch
for the fact,) that, except for a few months in the summer, the
frog is wholly abstemious.”
Bi-valve Mouse Traps.—A person at Plymouth, having placed :
some oysters in a cupboard, was surprised at finding, in the
morning, a mouse caught by the tail, by the sudden collapsing of -
the shell. About forty years since, at Ashburton, at the house
of Mrs. Allridge, known by the name of the New Inn, a dish of
oysters was laid in the cellar; a large one soon expanded its
Valves, and two mice bounced upon the “ living luxury,” and
were at once crushed between the valves. The oyster, with
. the two mice dangling from its shell, was for a long time ex-
hibited as a curiosity. Carew, in his history of Cornwall, tells
_ of anoyster that closed on three mice. An appropriate instance
_ is also epigrammatically recorded in the Greek anthology.
“A
Scientific and General Memoranda. 527
A Geological Manual, by Henry T. De la Beche, F.R. S. F. GS.
&c. &c.—We have received the second edition, corrected and
enlarged, of this very instructive work. The lists of organic
remains have been corrected, and additions made to them, as
well as to the body of the work.
On the Means by which certain Animals ascend the Vertical Sur-
faces of highly polished Bodies—Mr. Blackwall has read a paper
before the Linnean Society of London, showing that insects ef-
fect their progress upon the vertical sides of smooth objects, by
the agency of an adhesive secretion, emitted by the instruments
they employ in climbing, and which proceeds from the*fimbri-
cated under surface of the dilated extremities of the toes.
Services rendered to Natural History, by E. W. A. Drummond
Hay, Esq.—This gentleman, who is British resident consul at
i) Sean v3 a ogi am ele
aES TEA ECE) HQ Waar
part of this beautiful work has just appeared, and is fully equal
_ to the preceding ones. It contains the stellerides, encrimites, and
serpulites, with some additional species of corals. It contains
twenty-five splendid lithographs, and eighty pages of letter-press.
The learned author has paid much attention to synonymes, and
has done a great deal towards clearing up the confusion they
have created.
Birds of Hurope-—Mr. Gould, author of “ Illustrations in Orni-
thology, from the Himalay mountains, is about to publish a new
work on the birds of Europe, the first part to appear on the
~~ Petrefacta Museit Bonensis, by I’rofessor Goldfuss—Vhe third ~~~
eR aos
Ast of June, 1832; it is to be published pater until
528 Scientific and General Menpreet
pleted. Each quarterly number is to contain twenty plates, :
perial folio; fifteen of which are to be descriptive of British —
birds, and five of birds of the European continent.. Price to
subscribers of each part, paid on delivery, three pounds sterling.
A Manual of the Land and Fresh-water Shells of the British
Islands, with coloured Plates of every Species—This is the title of a
a work lately published by Dr. Turton, author of the Concho- ay.
logical Dictionary. Collectors of land and fresh-water shells ,
will receive great assistance from this beautiful and accurate
volume, in the arrangement of their shells. It is to be regret-
ted, however, that it tends to continue the delusion about these
testaceous coverings, as if their beauty and scarcity were the
‘main objects of the study; and not the structure, faculties, — .
habits of the animals that lived in them. yee
A MEER) Ov gE aig
= OS Geen Te Tee Oe
‘See © Soe BE ge
aieiey i of a Reef in the Piste —A danhorend shots |
~ discovered in the Pacific ocean, ‘among the Caroline Isle
N. E. extremity of which is in latitude 7° 36 N. and long
tude 155° 18’ E. It was found to lie ina N. E. and S. W.di-
rection, and is so extensive, that the whole of it could notbe
seen from the N. E. extremity. It is about fourteen milesma —
W. S. W. direction from Island Bordelaise, discovered in 1826. :
The discovery is due to the ship Larkins, W. Campbell, master ; ,
and, as here given, is extracted from her log, bearing date 23d ;
; emery» 1830.—Jour. Pegjels Geo. Soc. of London, 1g a
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301 3826
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