Presented to the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY

by tfze

ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
LIBRARY

1980

THE

SCIENTIFIC READER

AND

PRACTICAL ELOCUTIONIST :

CONTAIN'ING

ORIGINAL READINGS IN THE SCIENCES;

A NEW eOLLECTION OF
MODERN POETRY, ORATIONS, AND DRAMATIC SCENES

ACCOMPANIED BY AN

INTRODUCTION . TO THE PRACTICE OF ELOCUTION, &c. ;
A SERIES OF QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION IN THE SCIENCES

TOGETHER WITH

A COPIOUS VOCABULARY OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS.
INTENDED AS A COMPANION TO THE "RHETORICAL SPEAKKR."

BY R. T. LINNINGTON,

ACTHOB OF
THE " RHETORICAL SPRAKKR," " COMPENDIUM OP ASTRON'O.M V," &C.

LONDON :

SOUTER AND LAW, 131 FLEET STREET.
1844.

I 4-

LONDON :
PRINTED BY C. F. HODGSON, 1 GOUCH SQUARE, FLEET STREET.

PREFACE.

THE chief design of the writer, in compiling the present
work, was to supply a School Book at a low price, which
might contain a series of Readings on Scientific subjects,
as well as a selection of Poetry calculated for Elocution-
ary Exercises.

It had been for a considerable time a subject of regret
amongst the scholastic profession, that while Scientific and
Literary Societies were so universal, and afforded adults
such opportunities for acquiring information, there was
no school book of cheap price, \s hose object was to initiate
the more juvenile part of society into the science of Na-
tural Philosophy. The " SCIENTIFIC READER," it is pre-
sumed, will form this desideratum; so that while the pupil i?
acquiring a correct method of reading, he will at the same
time become acquainted with the principal facts and
general phenomena of Philosophical Science.

The writer begs to acknowledge, that in drawing up the
Scientific Readings, he has availed himself of assistance
wherever he could obtain it : his principal aim has been
to condense as much information in as few words as pos-
sible, and in language which cannot but be understood.

The QUESTIONS for EXAMINATION, which are numerous,
and comprise the chief facts contained in the " READINGS,"

IV PREFACE.

are in accordance with the Catechetical system which has
been so long and so successfully practised.

The VOCABULARY of SCIENTIFIC TERMS, it is hoped, will
be found of considerable utility, as it is both copious and
comprehensive.

Under the head of Elocution, the youthful tyro will
receive advice for the management of his voice and
general deportment, in reading and speaking, together
with an anatomical description of the organs of speech.

The POETICAL PART contains a new collection of the
choicest poetry ; Dramatic Scenes, Orations, &c., and
those pieces which are more directly intended for Recita-
tion, have notes and directions to guide the pupil in their
delivery.

In conclusion, the writer begs to observe, that although
he is aware that the " SCIENTIFIC READER" must, in the
Elocutionary and Poetic department, yield the palm to
the " RHETORICAL SPEAKER," yet he trusts that it will
not be either an unworthy or an unprofitable Companion
to its elder brother.

The present Edition has been carefully revised, and
has received a considerable accession of fresh matter.
The article GEOLOGY has been entirely rewritten; and
a new subject, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, has been intro-
duced. The VOCABULARY of Scientific Terms has also
been much enlarged.

8, Upper Fountain Place, City Road ; and
Mare Street, Hackney.

CONTENTS.

ELOCUTION.

Page

Of the Advantages of Omtory 1

Of Articulation and Pronunciation, with an Anatomical Descrip-
tion of the Organs of Speech ....... 2

Rules and Directions in Reading and Speaking . . 6

SCIENTIFIC READINGS.

ATTRACTION — Attraction defined — Different Kinds of attraction
— Gravitation, particular and general — Law of falling bodies —
Electric, Galvanic, and Magnetic attractions — Attraction of Co-
hesion— Capillary attraction — Chemical affinity, Simple and
Compound, &c. . . . . . . . . .11

CALORIC, HEAT. FIRE — Definition and properties of Fire — Con-
ductors of Caloric — Expansive power of Caloric in different sub-
stances— Caloric divided into two kinds, Free and Latent — Sun
the chief cause or source of Caloric — Affinity of different Co-
lours for Caloric — Condensation of Solar Heat by Mirrors and
Lenses — Caloric produced by Combustion, Percussion, Friction,
Chemical Mixtures, Electricity, &c . . . . .15

COMBUSTION — Simple and Compound Combustibles — Supporters
of Combustion — Theory of Combustion — Result of Combustion
— Combustion simply decomposition — Sir Richard Phillips's
Theory of Combustion — Different states of Combustion . . 20

LIGHT — Action of Light on the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms
— Nature of Light — Its Velocity — Direction — Refraction Re-
flection— The Eye described — Vision explained — Colours, &c. 25

COLD — Effects of Cold — How produced artificially — Fatal Results
from exposure to extreme cold, &c. . . . . .33

PNEUMATICS — Air a compound body — Figure, Height, Weight,
Pressure, &c. of the Atmosphere — Ah- the supporter of Animal
and Vegetable Life — Expansion and condensation of Air Re-
fractive and reflective power — The Air- Pump — Air-Gun Con-
densing Syringe — Barometer, &c. explained . . . .35

VI CONTENTS.

Page

WATER — A compound body — Different states of Water — Water
universally diffused — Salt Water — Snow- Water — Rain-Water —
River- Water — Spring- Water —Expansive power of Steam —
Theory of boiling, &c. &c 41

HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS — Hydrostatics and Hydraulics
denned — Pressure of Fluids and peculiar properties — Specific
gravity of bodies —Motion of Water in Pipes — Sucking Pump —
Forcing Pump — Siphon — Jets, &c. . . . . . .45

ACOUSTICS — Sound denned and explained — Air chief conductor of

Sound Intensity of Sound depending on the density of the

media — Cause of the vibrations of a sounding body — Velocity
of sound— Conductors of sound— Echo — Speaking and Hearing
Trumpets — Invisible Girl, &c. . . . • • -49

METEOROLOGY — Constituent parts of the Atmosphere — Evapora-
tion Rain— Fog or Mist — Dew— Snow %- Hail — Coronse, or

Haloes— Parhelia, or Mock Suns— Fiery Meteors — Aeroliths —
Aurora- Borealis — Ignis Fatuus, or Jack-with-a- Lantern — Wind
— Meteorological Instruments, &c 53

ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM— Origin of Electricity— Electrics

Conductors, or Non-Electrics — Mode of exciting Electricity

Electric Machine and Apparatus described — Electric Bat-
tery— Electrophorus— Electrometer— Electricity identified with
Lightning— Paratonneres, or Conductors — Electric Fish — Gal-
vanism, or Voltaic Electricity— Voltaic Pile described— Galvanic
Excitement of the Body, &o. &c 58

MECHANICAL POWERS — Origin and advantage of Mechanical
Powers — The different kinds of Levers — Wheel and Axle—
pulley — Inclined Plane — Wedge and Screw, each explained,
with the principle of its action . . ... . -66

GASEOUS BODIES — Nature of Gaseous Bodies— Component parts
of Atmospheric Air— Oxygen — Nitrogen, and Carbonic Acid
Gas— Peculiar properties of each — How obtained for Experi-
ment, &c.— Component parts of Water— Oxygen and Hydrogen
—Properties of Hydrogen. &c. &c.— Carburetted Hydrogen-
Sulphuretted Hydrogen— Phosphuretted Hydrogen — Chlorine —
Nitrous Oxide, or Laughing Gas — Their properties — How ob-
tained for experiment, &c

GEOLOGY Introduction — Primary Series of Rocks — Divided into

Crystalline and Sedimentary— Crystalline considered — Volcanic

Action Sedimentary Rocks — Transitive Series — Divided into

Cambrian and Silurian— Organic Remains in Transitive Series

Secondary Series — Names and Subdivisions of Secondary

gerjes Each Group in Secondary Series considered — Organic

Remains in Secondary Series — Tertiary Series— Names and
Subdivisions— Eocene — Meiocene — Pleiocene — Organic Re-
mains in Tertiary Series — Diluvial and Alluvial Deposits—
The London and Hampshire Basins — Conclusion .

CONTENTS. Vl

Page

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY— Earth's Rotatory and Orbicular Mo-
tions and Zones— Latitude, Longitude, and Ellipticity — Divi-
sion into Land and Water — Elevation of Surface— Highlands
and Lowlands — Islands — Springs and Rivers — The Ocean,
Tides, Currents, &c. — Changes on the Earth's Surface — Climate
or Temperature 96

Questions on the Scientific Readings ^ 1 ®

Vocabulary of Scientific Terms 136

POETRY.
Of the object and effect of Poetry 149

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Pa?e Page

Happiness . . . Heber 151 Infancy . . Montgomery 174
What is Life . . . Clare 152 1 The Parting Spirit . Anon. 1/5
The Spirit's Prayer D. Moore 153 What is Prayer Montgomery 1/6
Sea-side Thoughts . Barton 155 Religious Heroism . Anon. 177
The Ship at Sea .Malcolm 155 The Exile . Rev. T. Dale 178
My Native Land . Anan. 157 The Woodman . . Anon. 180
My Birth-day . Malcolm 157 Forget Me Not . . E. F. 181
The Fate of Tyranny Mason 158 j My Native Spot Lord Dover 182
Heavenly Minstrel Edmtslon 161 j The Pen .... Crofy 183

Love Southey 162 Disappointment. Kirke lylute 184

Lessons of Wisdom . Pollok 162 } Farewell to Life

The Seasons . . . Ryan 164 , From the German of Korner 1S5

Hope at Death . . Campbell 165 | A Mother's Wish

My long last Home E. S. L. 167 . Mrs. C. B. Wilson 1S6

Childe Harold's Farewell to Pauper Orphans Mary Hovcett 187

England .... Byron 168 Man Wattell 188

The Polish Mother . Anon. 169 The Omnipresence of God

The Dying Boy . . Anon. 170 jfngg 190

The Universal Prayer The superior beauty of the

R. Montgomery 172 Eye .... 'A. jr. L. 191
The Dove .... Moore 173 The Polish Children . Anon. 191

DRAMATIC SCENES.

The Trial of the Macedonian

Princes . . . Young 193
Scene from the Iron Chest

Caiman 203

The Banishment of Catiline

Crvly 209

Cato's Senate . . Addison 214

Vlll

CONTENTS.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

Page

Speech of Lord Chatham
against employing the In-
dians in the American War 221
Tell in Prison . . Anon. 224

Wallace Smirke 226

General Wolfe to his army

before Quebec . . Aikin 228
The British Warrior Queen's
address to the Romans . 229

Page
Alexander's address to his

Soldiers 231

Hamilcar's Soliloquy Croly 232
The Downfall of Poland

Campbell 234
Brutus over the dead body of

Lucretia . . . Payne 235
Duncan's Warning . Aikin 237
The Shipwreck . . .. . .238

COMIC PIECES.

The Miser's Will . . . .242

The Wallet 245

The Horse and the Wolf . . 246
Blind Man's Buff . . 248

The Farmer's Wife and the

Gascon 251

The Cur and the Mastiff . .254
The Pasha and the Dervise . 255

THE

SCIENTIFIC READER,

ELOCUTION.

OF THE ADVANTAGES OF ORATORY.

OF the various arts cultivated by man, there is none
more fascinating, nor possibly more useful to its pos-
sessor, than the capability of clothing his ideas iu
elegant and forcible language, and giving utterance
to them in a graceful and effective manner. If we
refer to the period when Athens was a popular govern-
ment, we shall perceive that the course of public affairs
was, in a great measure, directed by the orators, and the
same was the case in Rome under the Consuls. The
more eminent of these obtained the highest degree of
honour, and their works and fame will be preserved to
the end of time. The Grecian and Roman youth
thought no labour too hard, no application too great,
to become masters of this divine art, by which they
might be enabled to possess unlimited sway over the
passions of the multitude, and ultimately wield the
destinies of the world. And why should not the
British youth equal the youth of Greece and Rome ?
They are not inferior in talent, and have superior
opportunities ; and although they may not attain that
pre-eminence in the State that the orators of old
attained, yet in every station of life eloquence will be
found to produce the greatest advantages.

B

OF ARTICULATION

To excel as an orator, it is not only necessary to be a
perfect master of language, but to possess a fluency of
utterance, and an elegant and forcible delivery with
suitable action and gesture. It is true tbat some per-
sons are peculiarly gifted with a flow of language ; also
that some have powers better calculated for speaking
than others, their voices are more flexible, powerful,
and harmonious ; yet when it is recollected what De-
mosthenes effected with every physical disadvantage,
no one need despair of becoming, by care and diligence,
if not an eminent speaker, at least a respectable one.

It is not the province of the present work, to give
rules for composition, or precepts for obtaining a fluency
of elegant language ; but to offer the juvenile speaker
such directions as may lead to the attainment of a
graceful and appropriate delivery, witheut which, the
finest and most nervous language will be tame and
unimpressive.

OF ARTICULATION AND PRONUNCIATION J WITH AN
ANATOMICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ORGANS OF
SPEECH.

Good reading and speaking very particularly depend
upon a just and clear articulation.* Articulation and
Pronunciation, although sometimes confounded, are, to
a considerable extent, dissimilar. Articulation is the
linking together of the elementary sounds, so as to form
them into syllables and words. Pronunciation refers to
the vocal sound produced ; and is either correct or in-
correct, according as it conforms with, or deviates from,
that which is considered the true standard. Unless the
organs of speech are perfect, a person cannot articulate
well : if his tongue is too large or too small, if his lips
are too thick or too thin, if his teeth are too closely set
or too few in number, his articulation will not be
perfect. Before entering more particularly into the

* The power of articulation constitutes the chief difference between
men and brutes ; the latter, being unable to articulate, can only utter
indistinct sounds.

AND PRONUNCIATION.

subject of articulation, it may not be uninstructive to
the youthful reader to consider briefly the nature of the
voice and the different organs of speech.

Sound is generally attributed to the undulations of
the air caused by some tremulous body ; these undula-
tions being received into the ear, are conveyed by the
auditory nerve to the brain. The lungs, which are two
spungy and vascular organs situated in the lateral part
of the thorax or chest, are the principal cause both of
respiration and of the voice. When we make an inspira-
tion, or draw our breath, they become distended, and by
their natural inclination to contract, they expel the air
through the windpipe. As soon as this expulsion or
expiration, as it is called, is completed, the air again
rushes in, and is again expelled as before. The upper
end of the windpipe is called the larynx, the superior
opening of which, called the glottis, is the chief instru-
ment in producing the voice. There are a great many
muscles attached to the larynx, and their use is to move
that organ either upwards or downwards, backwards or
forwards. The size of the larynx varies according to
age and sex ; it is small in children and women, greater
in young men, and still larger in adults. By means of
the contractile power of the glottis, through the agency
of the muscles, when the breath is forced through it, it
causes a vibration so as to produce sound.

The intensity of the voice, like that of other sounds,
depends on the extent of the vibrations ; and the more
voluminous the larynx is, the more considerable will be
those vibrations. A strong person, therefore, with a
capacious larynx, has generally a powerful voice.
Children and women, whose larynxes are comparatively
small, have a weaker voice. The sounds which the
human larynx is capable of producing are very nu-
merous, but how they are produced is not exactly
known. The larynx is raised in forming acute sounds,
and lowered in forming grave sounds ; the vocal tube
being shortened in the first case, and lengthened in the
second. In breathing or whispering no sound is pro-
duced, because the opening is too wide, and the vocal
chord too relaxed. The expression of the voice, its
B 2

4 OF ARTICULATION

intensity and tone, thus receive their various modifica-
tions by means of the larynx.

As there are two passages which communicate with
the mouth, the oesophagus, or canal which leads to the
stomach, and the larynx, or windpipe ; and as the
.esophagus is beyond the larynx, the food, in passing to
the stomach, must necessarily pass over the windpipe :
to prevent it from falling into it, there is a small valve
called the epiglottis, which, in the action of swallowing,
lies flat over the upper part of the larynx ; and should
the smallest crumb or drop insinuate itself under the
epiglottis, it produces a kind of convulsive irritation
and coughing in order to expel it, for were it to go down
the larynx the result might be suffocation and death.
After the breath has passed through the glottis, the
harmony and modulation of the voice will depend prin-
cipally on the tongue, the palate, the teeth, and the
nostrils.

Of all the members the tongue is the most active, and
by its surprising flexibility can accommodate itself to
any position ; it can contract or extend, be applied to
the teeth or the palate, or assume any shape necessary
for articulation. If the tongue be too large, the speech
will be thick and indistinct. The palate, or roof of the
mouth, collects and reverberates the voice, which is
deep and sonorous in proportion to the size of its arch.
By the teeth the breath is collected and retarded, and
they, in conjunction, with the tongue and lips, give
utterance to some of the consonants. The nostrils are
also of much use in producing a pleasing and clear
sound. If they are obstructed, the voice assumes a
thick and disagreeable twang.

As it must be evident that no person can read or
speak even moderately well without a clear and perfect
articulation, the greatest care should be taken that chil-
dren do not in their early infancy acquire faulty habits ;
for when confirmed, it will be scarcely possible to
eradicate them.

In reading, every syllable, and almost every letter, in
the word should be uttered distinctly, without mutter-
ing or suppressing any of the sounds.

AND PRONUNCIATION. .»

Distinctness of expression will depend on the force of
utterance, combined with a proper elevation of the
voice, and moderation in the speed of pronouncing. The
voice resembles a musical instrument, the key-note of
which may be altered according to the inclination of the
speaker. A tune may be played in a high key, although
the volume of sound may be small : a tune may also be
played in a low key, while the volume of sound is large.
Just so it is with the voice ; the strength of sound does
not depend on the key of the voice, but on the force of
the expulsion of the breath. A speaker should there-
fore be particularly careful to adapt his voice to the size
of the room in which he is speaking, and not to give it
either too great a degree of elevation or depression, which
would cause it to be wearisome and painful to himself
and his auditors.

Due moderation in the rate of utterance is also of the
utmost consequence in regard to the distinctness of de-
livery. Although a monotonous drawl is of all things
most disagreeable, yet speakers in general err in being
too rapid in their delivery rather than in being too slow.

Some persons, from a defect in the vocal organs, are
unable to articulate distinctly, but the number of these
is few ; indistinctness of utterance being more gene-
rally occasioned through early neglect. The chief im-
pediment to articulation is stuttering. This is a most
disagreeable habit, and difficult to cure, although in
most instances a cure might be effected by care on the
part of the stutterer. When a hesitation occurs, the
speaker should stop entirely, and again commence a new
effort. He should use the greatest degree of delibera-
tion in ordinary discourse ; and should inspire himself
with confidence and self-command, for stuttering very
generally proceeds from nervous irritability. He
should also practise for a considerable time the vowel
sounds, and then the different powers of the consonants,
both singly, and in combination with the vowels ; thus,
by attention and resolute determination to overcome the
habit, he will most probably succeed.

Another preventive to articulation is a habit of lisp-
ing, sometimes acquired through affectation. The lisper

6 RULES AND DIRECTIONS

generally gives the sound of th for that of 5 ; this
may be easily cured by a little attention to the position
of the vocal organs in speaking.

There are certain other habits which are great ene-
mies to articulation, as hissing, speaking through the
nose, keeping the jaws too close, &c., all of which are
generally caused through want of attention in early
childhood, but which it is far from impossible to era-
dicate.

A faulty pronunciation likewise evinces neglect in
early education. The mode of expression used by the
polite and well-educated should be observed and strictly
followed ; and whenever a young person is doubtful as
to the correct pronunciation of a word, recourse should
be immediately had to a pronouncing dictionary. As
speaking is a mechanical art, imitation and practice will
always effect a correct Articulation and Pronunciation,
provided there be no natural defect in the structure of
the organs of speech.

RULES AND DIRECTIONS IN READING AND SPEAKING.

Although a speaker may articulate well and pronounce
correctly, yet, without energy, grace, and pathos, he will
have the appearance of a living statue ; and though he
may not absolutely disgust, he will be very far from
giving pleasure, or exciting admiration.

One of the chief requisites for energetic delivery is a
strong and flexible voice ; and this, if not natural, may
to a certain extent be acquired by cultivation. The de-
gree of strength of the voice depends on many causes,
one of which is the texture of the larynx. If the vocal
chords do not possess sufficient tension, the voice will
be weak ; while on the contrary, if they are firm and
elastic, ceteris paribus, the voice will be powerful. Per-
sons that are asthmatic, or have any obstruction in the
action of the lungs, have naturally a weak voice ; but as
the strength of the muscles of the body may be in-
creased by exercise, so may the strength of the voice.

In public speaking and reading, but more particularly
the former, an energetic mode must be cultivated. The

IN READING AND SPEAKING. 7

speaker must be animated, and must exert himself so as
to convince his hearers that he is in earnest in what he
says. A listless, languid, heavy manner, cannot, under
any circumstances, render effective the most nervous
language and the most exalted sentiment. A graceful
delivery does not by any means imply an affected minc-
ing utterance, but, on the contrary, an openness and
roundness of delivery. "While full liberty should be
given to the motion of the jaws, a pompous and mouth-
ing manner should be particularly avoided. Many per-
sons err in this respect ; when reading they use a tone
different from what they do in conversation ; they in-
crease the number of accents and emphases, thinking
that they thus increase the importance of the subject.

As in every word, except monosyllables, there is one
syllable, and sometimes more, that receives a stronger
percussion of the voice than the rest, which is called the
accented syllable ; so in every sentence there is one word
at least, and sometimes more, that requires a particular
stress of the voice, called the emphasis. The emphatic
words must be those whose object is to express the
chief design of the speaker ; and the placing the empha-
sis on the proper word is not only necessary for a grace-
ful and correct delivery, but the sense of the sentence
often depends on it. The learner should avoid multi-
plying unnecessary emphatic words, and placing the
emphasis on trifling monosyllables. A common error,
particularly in reading, is a continued uniformity of tone,
without emphasis or cadence. During the whole of any
discourse, there never occurs a sentence which should be
uttered in the same tone of voice. In common conver-
sation nature dictates a mode of expression varied ac-
cording to the subject ; the same should be the case in
reading and speaking.

As a proper emphasis is of so much consequence, the
follow ing directions require the particular attention of
the student.

First. Words that are in opposition, so as to form a
contrast or antithesis, require such an emphasis as may
clearly mark the contrast.

Secondly. In a climax, or gradual increase of sense,

RULES AND DIRECTIONS

there should be an increase of emphasis, and at the same
time a gradual elevation of voice.

Thirdly. When the sense of the sentence admits a
gradual swell of the voice, it should be concluded with a
graceful and easy cadence ; although the voice should
not by any means uniformly fall at the close of a sen-
tence, for the contrary sometimes takes place, but this
depends on the sense.

Another requisite for graceful delivery* is a proper
attention to the pauses. The punctuation of a sentence
does not, in impassioned language, moderate the time of
rest, or suspension of utterance, in the delivery of such
sentence j this depends on the sense, and with a proper
tone of voice has the effect of emphasis. A pause pre-
pares the ear for what is about to follow, and the length
of the pause must depend on the degree of importance
to be attached to the subject.

Force of argument, harmony and elegance of language,
and gracefulness of delivery, however excellent, are
ineffective without that which has been termed the heart
and soul of eloquence — pathos.

Every animal gives expression to its feelings by ap-
propriate tones. The hen, when the hawk is in sight,
expresses her terror, and calls together her brood by a
particular cluck. How different is the tone of the dog
when he fawns on his master, to what it is when he gives
notice of an intruder. In like manner, every animal
expresses its various sensations, its apprehensions of
danger, Imnger, pleasure, pain, &c., in distinct and dif-
ferent tones. Man, in common conversation, gives an
appropriate utterance to his feelings ; if elated, he as-
sumes an expression of joy; if depressed, of sorrow. It
is then most natural and most proper, that when, in
reading or speaking, we use the language of joy or sor-

* " I tell you truly and sincerely, that I shall judge of your parts by
your speaking gracefully or ungracefully. If you have parts, you will
never be at rest till you have brought yourself to a habit of speaking
most gracefully ; for I aver that is in your power. Take care to open
your teeth when you speak ; to articulate every word distinctly ; and
beg of any friend you speak to, to remind and stop you, if ever you
fall into a rapid and unintelligible mutter." — Lord Chesterfield.

IX READING AND SPEAKING. I)

row, or of any other passion, to accompany such pas-
sion by a corresponding tone of voice and gesture. The
tones of the passions are uniformly the same to every
sex and people, and they cannot be expressed in any
other way than by the voice. It is they which give a
force and spirit to whatever we utter. How powerfully
are we acted on by the earnest and pathetic delivery of
a moving discourse ; our feelings become roused, and
like chords in unison respond to their kindred sound.
A speaker will only affect his hearers in proportion as
he is affected himself. He must, therefore, not only be
a perfect master of the sense of his subject, but he must
enter into the spirit of it ; for no one can properly and
thoroughly convey another's ideas unless he considers
them his own. If he really feel what he utters, the
tones of the voice and expression of countenance will
obey such feeling.

The effect resulting from the delivery of any impas-
sioned subject, not only depends on the tone of the voice,
but also on the easy and graceful manner of the speaker :
a few observations are, therefore, here made relative
thereto, which are intended for the more juvenile reader.

On the delivery of any impassioned piece, the speaker
should stand perfectly erect, his weight inclining on his
right foot, which should be a little in advance ; and if the
subject be of a solemn or dignified nature, his right
hand should be extended, witbTthe palm inclining up-
wards, the left hand remaining gracefully by his side.
Any particular emphasis should be marked by a corres-
ponding stroke of the hand, and at the conclusion of
every sentence, at the last emphatic word the hand
should be allowed to fall.

The expression of any passion will require also a cor-
responding action and manner. Joy demands a buoy-
ancy of manner, with an animated action ; Sorrow, on
the contrary, requires a downcast look, with a plaintive
utterance, interrupted occasionally by sighs and tears.
Love is expressed by a most beautiful serenity of coun-
tenance, and liveliness of manner ; while Anger clenches
the fist, and strains the muscles as if they were about
to burst. But he that can identify himself with his

10 DIRECTIONS IN READING AND SPEAKING.

subject, and follow the dictates of his own feelings in a
judicious and well regulated manner, will not require set
rules either for delivery or action, which are at best but
inefficient ; he will have nature herself for his guide,
and under her direction he will not err.*

* For a more full and copious detail of the expression of the pas-
sions, and of the art of elocution generally, the reader is referred to the
" Rhetorical Speaker."

SCIENTIFIC READINGS.

ATTRACTION.

Attraction defined — Different kinds of attraction — Gravitation, particular and
general — Law of Calling bodies — Electric, Galvanic, and Magnetic attractions
—Attraction of Cohesion— Capillary attraction— Chemical affinity, simple
and compound, &c.

ATTRACTION is a term used to denote that principle
by which bodies have a mutual tendency to approach
each other. Attraction may be divided into t\vo kinds :
that which extends to sensible distances, and affects
bodies in the mass, as the attraction of gravitation, elec-
tric and magnetic attractions ; and that which exists be-
tween the particles of bodies, as the attraction of cohesion
and chemical attraction.

The attraction of gravitation is again divided into
particular and general gravitation. Particular gravita-
tion, or gravity, is that which respects the action of the
earth on different bodies. All bodies, by virtue of this
principle, appear to have a tendency towards a point in
or near the centre of the earth, which point is necessarily
fixed, otherwise its changing its position, in ever so tri-
fling a degree, would cause the land to be overflowed by
the ocean on that side of the globe to -which it might
approach. The force of gravity is found to be nearly
equal at all places equidistant from the earth ; it also
affects all bodies in a like degree, the resistance of the
air alone preventing bodies of a loose structure from
falling with the same velocity as bodies of a more dense
and compact nature. The power of gravity is greatest

12 ATTRACTION.

at the earth's surface, whence it decreases both upwards
and downwards, but not in a like ratio ; it decreases up-
wards in proportion to the square of the distance from
the centre of the earth, while it decreases downwards in a
direct ratio of the distance from the earth's centre. Thus
a body at the distance of one semidiameter of the earth
above its surface, or at a double distance from the earth's
centre, will be acted on by a force of only one quarter
of what it would at the surface ; while a body at half
the distance of the earth's semidiameter from its centre
will be acted on by a force of one half of what it would
on the surface.*

General or Universal gravitation is that which relates
to the attraction of the sun, moon, and planets, and
other heavenly bodies, and by which they are preserved
in their orbits. According to the Newtonian theory,
the action of the sun upon the earth produces its centri-
petal force, and prevents it from flying off in a tangent
to its orbit ; while at the same time the earth produces
a similar action on the sun. The earth also acts in a
like manner towards the moon, and retains her in her
orbit, while itself gravitates towards the moon. Thus
all the secondaries gravitate towards their primaries,
and the primaries towards their secondaries, and this
in a degree proportioned to their mass combined with
the squares of their distances. This action and reaction
of the heavenly bodies have been found, by observations
on the double stars, to extend to the most remote re-
gions of the heavens.

* It has been found by experiment that the quantity of descent of
a falling body, is in proportion to the square of the time ; thus a body
will fall 16 feet during one second, 64 feet during two seconds, 144
feet during three seconds, and so on in proportion. The quantity of
descent during each second increases according to the ratio of the odd
numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, &c. ; thus it will be 16 feet during the 1st second,
4S feet during the 2d second, 80 feet during the 3d second, and 112
feet during the 4th second. A body will take the same time in travel-
ling over a curve as it would in making a perpendicular descent ; thus
a ball propelled from a cannon planted on an eminence, will strike
the ground, if level, at the same moment it would have done if drop-
ped from the cannon's mouth.

ATTRACTION. 13

Electricity has the property of causing bodies to pos-
sess an attractive influence. If a glass ruler, or stick of
sealing wax, be rubbed with any soft warm substance, as
flannel, fur, or woollen cloth, it becomes excited, and on
being presented to any light body, as pith, paper, fccc., it
will cause it to fly towards it.

Galvanism is of a similar nature to electricity, but its
influence is exerted rather in the way of decomposition.
The cause both of electric and galvanic action has not
yet been satisfactorily determined by philosophers.

Magnetic attraction is also of a similar character to
electric attraction ; indeed, electricity, galvanism, and
magnetism, seem very intimately connected. The at-
tractive power of the magnet was known to the ancients,
although they were not aware that a needle, or thin piece
of iron, rubbed with it, would give it the property, when
suspended, of pointing towards the poles. The magnet,
aided by galvanic action, has been recently found to
possess enormous power ; that in the Adelaide Gallery
has been made to support a weight of more than 400 Ibs.

The second kind of attraction is that which exists be-
tween the particles of bodies, as the attraction of Cohe-
sion, and Chemical attraction, or affinity. When the
force of attraction operates on atoms of the same spe-
cies, it is called the attraction of cohesion, or of aggre-
gation ; and when on atoms of different substances, it
is called chemical attraction, or affinity.

By Cohesion is meant that power by which the atoms
of bodies are united together, of which there are dif-
ferent degrees. The atoms of a stone cohere more firmly
than those of jelly, and the atoms of jelly more than
those of water, and the atoms of water more than those
of air. The cause of this has been reasonably attri-
buted to the shape of the atoms ; those that cohere most
firmly being as it were of a dove-tailed shape, so as to
render the mass compact and firm. The spherical shape
of drops of water, as also of particles of quicksilver, has
been attributed to this kind of attraction. The chief
antagonist to the attraction of cohesion is heat.

The ascent of water or other liquid in small tubes,

14 ATTRACTION.

called Capillary* attraction, has been considered by some
a species of the attraction of cohesion. Thus, if a glass
tube of very small bore, open at both ends, be immersed
in a vessel of water, the water will be found to rise higher
than its natural level. If a piece of sugar or salt be
placed upon a drop or two of water, the water will, by
virtue of this attraction, continue to rise in the sugar or
salt until it be entirely wet. Also the ascent of water to
the branches of trees by means of their roots, is attri-
buted to this kind of action.

Chemical attraction, or affinity, is that principle on
which the various operations of chemistry depend. The
art of chemistry exerts itself to destroy the cohesion of
bodies, and to form other substances by means of new
attractions. Most bodies combine only in certain pro-
portions, and with certain other bodies ; and when com-
bined they acquire new properties, and cannot be sepa-
rated by mechanical means. There are 'two kinds of
chemical attraction, simple and compound attraction.

Simple attraction, or affinity, is when two substances
unite together in consequence of their mutual affinity ;
thus, spirits of wine will dissolve camphor, and hold it in
solution, and the solution will be perfectly clear until
some other substance be added for which it has a greater
affinity than it has for the camphor ; water is such sub-
stance, a little of which being poured into the solution,
the spirits of wine will leave the camphor to unite with
the water, and the camphor will fall down in flakes.

Compound affinity is when two compound substances
decompose each other, and produce two or more new
compounds. If a solution of muriate of baryta be mixed
with a solution of sulphate of soda, the sulphuric acid
of the sulphate of soda, by attracting the baryta of the
muriate of baryta, will form a sulphate of baryta, while

* Sir Richard Phillips ascribes that which is generally called Ca-
pillary attraction to the pressure intercepted by the intervening sides
of the immersed solid, and which is relatively increased on the inter-
cepted side ; and that it is this important principle of intercepted
pressure which occasions a plurab-line to incline towards a moun-
tain, and boats to congregate about a ship, and small corks about a
bung.

CALORIC, HEAT, FIRE. 15

the soda, by attracting the muriatic acid, will form mu-
riate of soda.

There is, possibly, not a single operation in chemistry
that is not dependent on affinity ; and although the wis-
dorn and power of God may afford a more sublime and
grander display in the harmony and arrangement of the
heavenly bodies, yet they are not less visible nor less
wonderful in the more minute parts of the creation.

CALORIC, HEAT, FIRE.

Definition and properties of Fire — Conductors of Caloric— Expansive power
of Caloric in different substances — Caloric divided into two kinds, Free
and Latent — Sun the chief cause or source of Caloric — Affinity of different
Colours for Caloric — Condensation of Solar Heat by Mirrors and Lenses —
Caloric produced by Combustion, Percussion, Friction, Chemical Mixtures,
Electricity, &c.

OF all the blessings mankind enjoy, those derived from
the agency of fire may be truly considered to hold the
first place. Were it not for fire, man would not have
arrived at a state of civilization ; manufactures could not
have existed, nor could the arts have been cultivated ;
and instead of enjoying as \ve do the various comforts,
luxuries, and elegancies of life, we should have been, in
our habits and conduct, scarcely removed above the
brute creation.

Fire used to be considered a real substance, but that
doctrine is now exploded : the more philosophical and
correct opinion is. that it is the result of a high degree
of excitement of the atoms of the heated body. Heat is
properly the sensation produced by the agency of caloric ;
the term caloric being now used to express the cause of
heat, whether caloric be a distinct substance, or whether
it be a peculiar motion of the particles of bodies.

Fire is found to penetrate all bodies, even the hardest,
which forms a peculiar feature of its character. It is
also particularly disposed to form an equilibrium, so that
a heated body will continue to give out streams of caloric
until it has acquired the temperature of the atmosphere
or of any body with which it may be in contact. Thus,
if we touch a body hotter than our hand, a portion of

16 CALORIC, HEAT, FIRE.

caloric will pass from the body to our hand, and this
will produce the sensation of heat : but if we touch a
body colder than our hand, the contrary will take place ;
the caloric will be abstracted from our hand, and we
shall experience the sensation of cold. Some bodies are
found to transmit caloric more easily than others ; they
are thence called conductors of caloric : some do not
transmit it at all, or in a very trifling degree, and these
are called non-conductors of caloric. The best conductors
are the metals ; the worst conductors are fur and caout-
chouc. Air is also a bad conductor, and so is water.

One of the principal effects of caloric is expansion ; and
this is evident in all kinds of bodies, whether solid or
fluid, but varying in degree. Thus, as it regards solid
bodies, lead is more expansible than iron, and iron than
platina. In order to show the expansion of metals, let a
round piece of iron, which has been made to fit a ring
exactly when cold, be heated, and it will be found so in-
creased in bulk as to be too large to pass through the
ring. The expansion of fluids is prettily shewn by filling
a Florence flask with cold water to about the middle of
the neck, and suspending it over a lamp ; as it grows
hot it will be found to expand gradually, so as nearly to
flow over the neck of the flask. The principle of the
thermometer depends on the expansive power of caloric ;
in proportion as the temperature increases, the quick-
silver or alcohol,* whichever it may contain, expands in
proportion. Water in becoming frozen forms somewhat
an exception to the above ; for when it is cooled to a
temperature of about 40° it begins to expand, and con-
tinues to do so until it becomes solidified into ice.f The
wisdom of this contrivance it strikingly evident ; for if
water followed the general law, and when frozen became
of less bulk, and consequently of a greater relative
weight, it would sink to the bottom as it was formed on
the surface, and in the course of time the ocean, to a
considerable extent, in the higher latitudes, as well as the

* In the higher latitudes thermometers containing coloured alcohol
are used, as in intense cold the quicksilver may become frozen,
f When water is frozen, the crystals form at an angle of 60".

CALORIC, HEAT. FIRE. 17

ponds and rivers, would become a solid mass. The ex-
pansive power of water, when converted into vapour or
steam, is tremendously great.* It appears that solidity
is the natural state of bodies ; that when solids acquire a
certain degree of caloric or atomicf motion, they become
fluids or gases ; and that fluids, by an increased degree
of atomic motion, become vapour.

Caloric is popularly divided into two kinds, free caloric,
and latent or combined caloric. By/ree caloric is meant
caloric in a separate state, or, if attached to another sub-
stance, not chemically combined with it. Latent caloric
is that which is chemically combined with any substance
so as to make a part of it.

The chief source or cause of caloric is the sun ; but
the rays of the sun seem only to produce heat when they
meet with an opaque substance, not when they pass
through a transparent one, as glass, water, <s:c.

Colours have a striking difference in their affinity for
caloric ; it has been found by experiment that black has
the greatest degree of aifinity, then blue, next brown,
white having the least : the black absorbs the rays of
light, while the white reflects them. Although black has
this particular affinity for heat, it radiates it, or distri-
butes it to surrounding bodies sooner than any other
colour ; thus, a blackened vessel will become heated if
placed over a fire sooner than a bright one ; but when
removed from the fire it will not retain its heat so long.
If the surface of a metallic vessel be scratched or roughed,
the radiation will be increased, and this is attributed to
the exciting atoms which cause the heat having more
points for distributing it to surrounding bodies.

Various experiments have been made in order to show
the powerful effects of the sun's rays when condensed or
multiplied. Archimedes appears to have been the first

* Steam at 590° is said to have the force of one hundred atmospheres,
or in other words, to press at the rate of 1500 Ibs. on a square inch.

t It is supposed that the cause which produces the sensation of
heat consists in the peculiar motion or vibration of the particles or
atoms of bodies. According as this motion is more or less rapid, &
higher or lower temperature is produced.

18 CALORIC, HEAT, FIRE.

who attempted this with any success; he so multiplied the
sun's heat by means of mirrors, as to set fire to the Roman
fleet at Syracuse. As one plane mirror, for instance,
reflects a certain portion of the sun's heat, so two, or three,
or any other number, will proportionally increase it if
directed to the same object. Leonard Digges, who lived
in the reign of Elizabeth, asserts, that by a combination
of mirrors he fired bodies half a mile distant. Buffon,
by a combination of forty plain glass mirrors, of six
inches by fight, set on fire a tarred beach plank sixty-six
feet distant ; and with a combination of one hundred
and sixty-eight, he performed the same at the distance
of two hundred feet. He is said to have melted all the
metals at thirty or forty feet. Concave mirrors con-
centrate or condense the sun's heat by reflection into a
focus, and the effect is increased in proportion as the
surface of the mirror exceeds that of the focus. A con-
cave mirror of four feet in diameter, made of a mixture
of copper and tin, melted a sixpence in less than eight
seconds, and a half-penny in twenty seconds. Convex
lenses, also, by concentrating the sun's heat into a focus,
increase the heat in a similar proportion to concave mir-
rors. One of the largest and most powerful lenses of
this nature was made some years since by a Mr. Parker,
of Fleet-street ; it was formed of flint glass, and when
fixed in its frame exposed a clear surface of two feet
eight inches and a half in diameter ; its weight was 212 Ibs ;
its focal length six feet eight inches, and the diameter of
the focus one inch : a second lens was used to receive the
focus of the first, which reduced it to half an inch. By
these lenses the sun's rays were condensed in the ratio
of four thousand two hundred and twenty-five to one, and
the effects produced were astonishing. Iron, when ex-
posed to the focus, melted in a moment ; slates, tiles,
&c., became red hot, and vitrified instantly ; and wood,
acted on under water, became burnt to a coal. Mr.
Parker had the curiosity to try what the sensation of
burning at the focus was, and having passed his finger
through it, he described it to be like that of a cut with
a lancet.

Caloric is also produced by combustion, through the

CALORIC, HEAT, FIRE. 19

oxygen of the atmosphere becoming decomposed, and
evolving or setting it at liberty. It may be observed,
that oxygen owes its gaseous state to the caloric which
it contains, and in the process of combustion the oxygen
combines with the base of the body consumed and forms
an oxide, while the caloric escapes. The strongest heat
produced by combustion is that by means of the com-
bination of the oxygen and hydrogen gases,* a small
stream of which ignited, and made to fall on watch-
spring or even platina wire, will make it to melt like
wax.

Percussion and friction are well-known mechanical
means of producing caloric. A blacksmith will, by ham-
mering a piece of iron, very soon make it sufficiently hot
to light a match. The heat produced is attributed to
the compression of the particles of the body forcing out
a portion of its latent caloric. In strong percussions
the first blow produces the greatest degree of heat, which
gradually decreases until it is exhausted; it will not
again produce heat until it has been exposed to the fire,
or has had some means of imbibing free caloric ; when
this is effected, the caloric will continue in a latent state
until it is again acted upon. In the collision of the flint
and steel, so much caloric is disengaged that the metallic
particles struck off are actually melted ; this is evident
from the pear-like form that such particles assume.
Friction is considered a continued series of percussions,
and the heat sometimes arising therefrom is very great.
Forests have been known to be fired by the friction of
the branches of the trees ; and coaches have been burnt
by the friction of the wheels. Most savage nations pro-
duce fire by the friction of two pieces of wood. Count
Romford, by boring cannon under water, so heated
it by the friction that he made it boil, and actually boiled
in it a piece of beef.

Caloric is also sometimes produced by chemical mixture,
although not always ; for in some instances chemical
mixture produces cold. It may, however, be taken as a
general rule, that when substances become more con-

* S"e article Gaseous Bodies.

20 COMBUSTION.

densed by mixture heat is evolved ; and when they be-
come more expanded cold is produced. If one ounce of
sulphuric acid be mixed with four ounces of cold water,
a degree of heat greater than that of boiling water will
be produced ; but if the mixture be measured, it will be
found, for the above reason, not to amount to so much
as five ounces. Bodies, in changing from a liquid to a
solid form, always evolve heat. In slaking lime, or in
mixing plaster of Paris, a considerable degree of latent
caloric is evolved, from the water changing its fluid for
a solid state. Water, in becoming ice, gives out its la-
tent caloric, and that so freely as to render the progress
of freezing comparatively slow.

Electricity will also produce caloric ; but the most in-
tense heat known has been obtained from galvanism.
By means of the galvanic battery of the Royal Institu-
tion the most powerful and surprising effects have been
produced. To say nothing of the metals, quartz, the
sapphire, magnesia, fragments of the diamond, charcoal,
plumbago, &c., seem to evaporate and disappear rapidly
under its influence. The most insoluble compounds,
the most compact substances with which we are ac-
quainted, are by its means decomposed and resolved
into their simplest forms.

COMBUSTION.

Simple and Compouud Combustibles — Supporters of Combustion — Theory of
Combustion — Result of Combustion — Combustion simply Decomposition —
Sir Richard Phillips's Theory "of Combustion— Different states of Combus-
tion, &c.

COMBUSTION is that evolution of heat and light which
accompanies certain chemical combinations and decom-
positions. Until late years the nature of combustion
was not at all understood ; and even at present it can
not be said to be perfectly known.

All bodies may be divided into two kinds, combustibles
and incombustiblcs. Combustible bodies are again di-
vided into simple and compound. Simple combustibles are
those which cannot be decomposed ; they are hydrogen,
(the base of water), carbon (the base of charcoal), sul-

COMBUSTION. 21

phur,* phosphorus, t boron, J and the metals ; of these
hydrogen and carbon are the principal. Compound
combustibles are those which are formed by the union
of two or more simple combustibles. A candle is a
compound combustible, and so is coal, being composed
of hydrogen and carbon.

There are also certain substances called supporters of
combustion, which are not in themselves combustible,
but whose presence is necessary for the act of combus-
tion : the chief of these is oxygen ; chlorines and iodine [|
are also supporters of combustion, but unlike oxygen,
they are not supporters of life. Combustion is a play
of affinities between the combustible^f body and the sup-
porter of combustion ; the combustible body has a
stronger affinity for the supporter of combustion than

* Sulphur is the only simple combustible which nature offers pure
and in abundance. It is found in the earth, and also in depositions
on the surface of the earth, but most plentifully in the neighbourhood
of volcanoes. It is also found in combination with most of the metals.
It is said that 15,000 tons have been imported annually for the pur-
pose of making gunpowder and sulphuric acid.

f Phosphorus abounds in the mineral, vegetable, aud animal king-
doms. In the mineral kingdom it is found in combination with lead
and iron, and more particularly with calcareous earths. In Spain there
are whole mountains composed of lime, combined with this substance.
The vegetable kingdom abounds with it, but it is principally found in
plants that grow in marshy places. It is also found in wheat, seeds,
potatoes, &c. In the animal kingdom almost every part of the body
contains it ; but it chiefly abounds in the bones, and it is this which
gives them firmness. It is also found in milk ; whence may be seen
the wisdom and arrangement of Providence, that this and bread should
form the first food of an infant, the phosphate of lime they contain
being indispensable in forming and strengthening the osseous parts of
the body.

; Boron is a dark-coloured powder, and the base of various salts
called borates. The sub-borate of soda, commonly called borax, is a
useful ingredient in the fusion of metals.

i For the nature of Chlorine, see the article Gaseous Bodies.

|| Iodine is a simple substance procured from sea-weed, and was
first discovered in 1S12. It is of a dark grey colour, and metallic
lustre ; it melts and evaporates at a low heat, and its vapour is of a
beautiful violet-colour.

^ A combustible body will not burn if dipped in a solution of phos-
phate of lime, or of muriate, sulphate, or phosphate of ammonia, with
boras ; the alkaline substances preventing the hydrogen combining
with the oxygen.

22 COMBUSTION.

the supporter has for caloric, which keeps it in a gaseous
state ; it therefore unites with the ignited body, and
allows the caloric to escape. The rapidity of combustion
is also found to be in proportion to the quantity of its
supporter; this is evident from a common culinary fire,
which increases in intensity in proportion to the supply
of air it receives.

In combustion in common air the oxygen is always
consumed ; and the weight of the products of every
combustion is equal to the weight of the body before
combustion, together with that of the oxygen consumed;
so that instead of a body being destroyed or burnt away,
as it was formerly termed, it is found to increase in
weight, and that in some instances to an almost incon-
ceivable amount. One ounce of phosphorus, for instance,
if properly burnt, will produce very nearly two ounces
of phosphoric acid ; and 10D Ibs. of metallic lead, when
made into red lead, which it is by being caused to im-
bibe oxygen through the medium of a reverberatory fur-
nace, will weigh 1 12 Ibs.

It used to be thought that the light evolved during
combustion came from the oxygen ; but it has been
latterly supposed to come from the combustible body,
as the colour of the light depends in all cases on the
nature of the body. The combustible body is, accord-
ing to this theory, said to afford light and the base,
oxygen gas, oxygen and caloric ; the oxygen will then, in
combustion, unite with the base, and generally form an
oxide, and the caloric of the oxygen will unite with the
light and form fire and light. Although the product of
combustion is generally an oxide, it is not always so ;
sometimes it is an acid, as phosphorus and sulphur, when
burnt in oxygen gas or atmospheric air, produce phospho-
ric and sulphurous acid. The product of potassium*

* Potassium is considered a metal, and is the lightest known, being
lighter than water. It does not exist naturally in a metallic state, but
is formed by voltaic action on an hydrate of potash. It is of a per-
fectly white colour, and has the brilliancy of silver, but through its
affinity for oxygen, which is greater than that of any other known
body, it cannot be exposed an instant to the atmosphere without be-
ing oxidized. If a small piece be laid upon water, it will attract the

COMBUSTION. 23

and sodium* when burnt is an alkali ; but alkalies are
now considered metallic oxides.

The nature of combustion will be rendered further
intelligible by simply considering the burning of a com-
mon candle. In lighting a candle, which must be done
by the application of flame, a small portion of the wick
is first decomposed or "burnt, the tallow becomes gra-
dually melted, ascends the wick by capillary attraction,
is decomposed, and exhibits itself in flame. The com-
ponent parts of tallow are hydrogen and carbon ; the
hydrogen unites with a portion of the oxygen, and forms
water, which is carried off in vapour ; and the carbon,
when the combustion is perfect, unites with another
portion of the oxygen, and is carried off in a gaseous
state. In common tallow candles the top of the wick is
always black, from the flame preventing the air from
oxidizing it, and forms a support, if the candle be not
snuffed, for an accumulation of carbon, which is pro-
duced through the imperfect combustion. la wax
candles, and also in Palmer's patent metallic-wicked
candles, the wick is made so as to lean aside out of the
flame ; the combustion is then complete, and the
wick neither collects soot, nor requires to be snuffed. t

oxygen of the water with such rapidity as to decompose it and ignite
the hydrogen. This is a very interesting experiment, as the potassium
swims about on the surface of the water, apparently burning with a
beautiful bright flame. Potassium is the basis of potash, the vegetable
alkali, which latter is properly an oxide of potassium, and together
with its salts is of much use in the arts, medicine. 6cc. Potash is
formed from the ashes of burnt wood by lixiviation ; it is also pre-
pared in wine countries from the wine lees.

* Sodium is also considered a metal, and although heavier than
potash it is lighter than water. It has a great affinity for oxygen, and
will decompose water, yet not with that violence as to produce flame.
Sodium is the base of the mineral alkali Soda, which, like potash, to-
gether with its salts, is very much used in the arts, medicine, &c.
The two alkalies potash and soda, particularly the latter, are indis-
pensable to the soap-maker, the glass-maker, and the dyer. Soda is
obtained from sea-weed, and also from salt, which is a chloride of
sodium ; it is also found in great plenty combined with various sub-
stances.

f It" a common candle be inclined more than 30° from a perpendi-
cular, it \vill not require to be snuffed.

24 COMBUSTION.

The argand lamp is so constructed that the combustion
is complete, and consequently it does not smoke. This
is effected by the wick being of a circular shape, and so
contrived that a constant supply of air is admitted to
every part of it, which affords sufficient heat to burn
the smoke as it is formed.

Sir Richard Phillips explains the theory of combus-
tion in the following manner :* — " Combustion," he ob-
serves, " is a case of decomposition and recomposition,
and the intermediate effects or accidents are heat and
light. A combustible body contains hydrogen and
carbon. The air in which the combustion takes place
consists of oxygen and nitrogen ; and if a definite bulk
of air is employed, the oxygen disappears, and may be
found in the products of the combustion. To under-
stand the process it is necessary to affix a precise idea
to gas, which, in a word, is atoms in intense orbit mo-
tions resulting from primary force in right lines, .and
the reaction of other atoms in the space. Oxygen then
consists of such atoms, and of course if they are fixed,
they transfer their momenta to bodies fixing them: if
to atoms of hydrogen, they condense as water, with
heat to surrounding bodies ; and if to carbon, they form
carbonic acid, with heat to surrounding bodies. Com-
bustion begins by applying heat or excitement, as lighted
paper, or a taper, to the combustible. This melts the
tallow, and raises into gas the latent hydrogen in excite-
ment, that is, in orbits too large for the space ; and a
vacuum is created, which the oxygen fills with eight
times the force, becoming fixed by the hydrogen both
in atoms of water, and by the carbon in carbonic acid.
The oxygen is thus fixed, and the air so far decom-
posed, but the friction at the wick raises an intense
local heat, which, unable otherwise to escape, acts on
the atoms of air, and creates in them a general propul-
sion, which we call light, the heat being the concentrated
motion at the spot."

Inflammation, Ignition, and Detonation or Explosion,
are terms used to express the different states of com-

* See " A Million of Facts," by Sir R. Phillips.

LIGHT. 25

bustion. Inflammation is when the combustion takes
place while the combustible is in an aeriform state, as
the flame of a candle. Ignition is when the combustible
remains in a solid state, as charcoal. Detonation, or
Explosion, is caused by the combustible being suddenly
converted into a gaseous state, and thereby giving a
violent impulse to the surrounding air.

LIGHT.

Action of Light on the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms — Nature of Light — Its
Velocity— Direction — Refraction — Reflection— ITie Eye described— Vision
explained — Colours, &c.

LIGHT consists either of small particles emanating
from a luminous body, or it is an excitement produced
by undulations or vibrations of a highly elastic medium,
filling all space. Although the sun is the chief fountain
or cause of light, it is produced in various ways inde-
pendent of that luminary. Combustion produces light,*
and so does the friction of various substances ; it is also
emitted from phosphori of different kinds.

Light is one of the most useful agents in nature, and
one that particularly affects the animal and vegetable
kingdoms. The action of light on vegetables causes
them to give out oxygen gas, by which means the air
becomes purified, and the vital principle restored, which
had been vitiated by respiration or other ways. Vege-
tables depend on light for their colour : if a vegetable
grow in the dark it will be white and sickly, or etiolated,
as it is termed. Gardeners blanch certain vegetables by
depriving them of light ; and such parts of vegetables as
are shaded from the light, as the hearts of lettuces, of
cabbages, &c., are generally white. Vegetables in tro-
pical regions flourish in a manner far superior to what
they do with us ; and discous vegetables, as the sun-
flower, always turn towards the sun.

* A piece of lime of the size of a pea, acted on by an ignited stream
of the mixed gases, oxygen and hydrogen, will produce a light equal
to 120 wax candles, and with a reflector will cast a shadow ten miles
distant. The most intense lighti^that produced by galvanism in an
exhausted receiver.

c

LIGHT.

The colour of the animal creation, as well as of the
vegetable, depends on light. In the polar regions, ani-
mals and birds are generally white, while they become
more variegated as they approach the tropics. The inner
feathers of birds, to which the air has no access, are
generally white, and so are their bellies. The bellies of
fish are white for the same reason. Man deprived of
light soon droops, becomes sallow, dropsical, and dies.

If light consists of particles of matter — but this, not-
withstanding the opinion of Sir Isaac Newton, is far
from being generally entertained — they must be most
minute, else, from the rapidity of their motion, they
would seriously affect the sight. They, however, do not
cause the slightest pain to the eye ; nor when condensed
by the most powerful burning glass, and thrown on the
most delicate balance, do they affect it, although they
would travel at the rate of nearly twelve millions of miles
in a minute. In illustration of the smallness of the par-
ticles of light, supposing light to be a material body, if a
candle be lighted, and so placed that no object shall ob-
struct its rays, they will be diffused over a space of more
than two miles in every direction, before the candle is
apparently diminished in the slightest degree.

In reference to the velocity of light, it was thought for
a long period that light was propagated instantaneously ;
but from observations by Roemur on the eclipses of Ju-
piter's satellites, which regularly undergo occultations at
stated periods, it was found that they were visible about
sixteen minutes earlier when the earth was in that part
of its orbit nearest Jupiter, than when in the opposite
part ; showing that light is about sixteen minutes in pass-
ing across the diameter of the earth's orbit, a distance
of nearly 190 millions of miles. Circumstances of daily
occurrence tend to illustrate the velocity of light. The
flash of a gun is seen for a considerable time (if the dis-
tance is at all remote) before the report is heard ; as also
the lightning's flash before the thunder.

The rays of light always proceed in straight lines, ex-
cept when they pass obliquely through media of different
densities. Those rays of light from the sun that fall per-
pendicularly on the atmosphere, pass in a straight line to

LIGHT. 27

the earth, while those that fall obliquely undergo Refrac-
tion, or are bent as it were downwards out of their direct
course. It is this refractive power of the atmosphere
that causes twilight, and so gradually introduces in the
morning the light of the sun, which, were it not for this,
would blaze suddenly out from the thickest gloom; and
at night, instead of quitting us so gradually and gently,
would leave us all at once enveloped in darkness.
Through the same cause the heavenly bodies appear
higher in the heavens than they really are, and that in
proportion to their proximity to the horizon ; and when
near the edge of the horizon, they appear above it, when
they are in reality below it ; so that when the lower
limb of the sun or moon apparently just touches the
horizon, although the whole body appears above it, it is
in reality below it, as the upper limb is at that instant
just beginning to touch the horizon. Rays of light be-
come refracted in passing obliquely through water, glass,
or any other diaphanous or transparent body, as well as
through the atmosphere ; and in passing from a rare to a
denser medium, as from air into water, they are refracted
towards a perpendicular to the surface ; while on the con-
trary, in passing from a dense into a rarer medium, they
are refracted farther/ro/n a perpendicular. If a stone be
thrown obliquely into the water, when it strikes the water
it will begin to fall more perpendicularly towards the bot-
tom ; just so is the direction of light in passing into water.
The refractive nature of water may be seen by putting a
stick partly into it, and observing the apparent change of
the line of direction of the stick, both in and out of it :
at the surface of the water it will appear broken. It is
on the principle of the refractive power of light that the
science of Dioptrics depends ; which is one of the most
useful and pleasing sciences, for by its means the most
remote objects are brought fully into our view, and the
most minute are so magnified as to show every part of
them distinctly.

When rays of light fall on an opaque body, through
which they cannot pass, they either become absorbed by
the body, or are reflected back again. It is by means of
Reflection that bodies are rendered visible. Every body

c 2

28 LIGHT.

reflects particles of light, or vibrations, from every point
of its surface, which move in straight lines and in all di-
rections, and which by their action on the eye cause the
body to be seen. The quantity of the rays of light re-
flected depends upon the nature of the body, the state
and colour of the surface, and the angle of incidence.
Under all these circumstances, the angle of reflection is
equal to the angle of incidence. Of the various bodies
which reflect light, metals possess this property in the
greatest degree, and the lightest colours reflect the most.
The difference in the two extremes, white and black, are
rendered evident by laying a slip of white cloth, and
another of black, on the snow in the sunshine ; the black
will be found to sink soon into the snow, by absorbing
the light, and with it the heat ; while the white piece
will retain its place on the surface of the snow. While the
science of Dioptrics depends on the refraction of light, and
explains the construction of telescopes, microscopes, &c.,
that of Catoptrics depends on the reflection of light, and
explains its laws and. properties as reflected from mirrors
or specula of all kinds, whether plain, concave, or convex.

It has been already observed that bodies are seen by
the reflection of the rays of light from their surfaces ; but
the contrivance by which the idea of the body seen is
conveyed to the mind, so as to form a correct judgment
of it, is at once most wonderful and most effective. The
Eye is the instrument for this purpose, and it is composed
of such parts as best to answer the object for which it is
designed.

Vision, or sight, is performed by rays of light reflected
from the body seen passing through the humours of the
eye, and painting the object on the retina at the back of
the eye, whence it is conveyed by the optic nerve to the
brain. The eye must for this purpose necessarily be of
a convex figure, and of such a degree of convexity as the
refractive powers of the several humours demand for
forming the image at the given focal distance. The ex-
ternal part of the eye-ball is called the cornea, or horny
coat,from its resemblance to a piece of transparent horn.
Immediately behind this coat, there is a fine, clear hu-
mour, which from its similarity to water, is called the

LIGHT. TOf

aqueous humour. In this there is a membrane called the
ttvea, with a hole in the middle, termed the pupil, of a
muscular texture, for altering the dimensions of the hole
so as to regulate the quantity of light to he admitted.
Behind this membrane is a substance of considerable
consistency, and formed like a lens, called from its trans-
parency the crystalline humour ; this is contained in a
fine tunic, called the choroides, and by means of a set of
muscles may be moved a little nearer to the bottom of
the eye, or further from it, to alter the focal distance, as
necessity may require. The remaining part of the eye is fill-
ed with a jelly-like substance called the vitreous humour;
and at the back is the retina, which is an expansion of the
optic nerve, on which every thing that is seen is painted,
and conveyed by means of the optic nerve to the brain.
The delineation of objects on the retina is prettily de-
monstrated by taking a bullock's eye quite fresh, and,
having stripped off the skin and the fat from the back
part until only the thin membrane behind remains,
placing it before any object, and the picture of the ob-
ject will appear on the membrane, which is the retina —
or the membrane may be taken away, and a piece of
white paper substituted in its stead ; the object will then
appear on the paper, but in either case it will be inverted
in the same manner as it would have been had the animal
been alive. As the object seen is always painted in an
inverted position on the retina, it very probably becomes
again reverted as it ascends the optic nerve. It is most
wonderful that a prospect of many miles in extent, diver-
sified with hill and dale, houses and fields, men and ani-
mals, can be painted on so small a space as the retina of
the eye. It may be observed, that the magnitude of the
object seen, depends on the angle subtended by the ob-
ject ; consequently, were it not for the judgment, we
should not have any correct idea of the relative size of
bodies. As the angles under which bodies are seen in-
crease and decrease in a direct ratio, according to the
distance, a man fifty yards distant is depicted on the
retina twice* as large as a man one hundred yards dis-

* It would be probably more correct to say four times, as he will
appear twice as high, and twice as broad. _

30 LIGHT.

tant ; and were it not for the judgment, the nearer might
be supposed to be a man, and the more distant a little boy.

As only a very small part of an object can be seen dis-
tinctly at once, the eye is forced to turn itself successively
to the different parts it is desirous of viewing. When an
object is seen with both eyes, the axes of both eyes are
directed to the object, and meet there j and the optic
nerves are so formed, that the correspondent parts of
each eye lead to the same spot in the brain, and produce
but one sensation. If the axes of both eyes be not di-
rected to the same object, the object will appear double,
as the pictures do not fall on similar parts of the retina
in both eyes. This may be perceived by holding the
finger before any object, a lighted candle for instance,
and by looking steadfastly at the object there will seem to
be two fingers, and by looking at the finger the object
will appear double. The smallest visual angle is about
half a minute of a degree, and at a medium not less than
two minutes. To most eyes, the nearest distance for dis-
tinct vision is seven or eight inches.

The external shape of the eye is found to affect the
sight. The eyes of some persons are naturally too con-
vex; some acquire too great a convexity of the eye by
close reading, which alters the shape of the crystalline
humour j the image then becomes formed too soon, from
the rays meeting in a focus before they reach the retina,
unless the object be brought near the eye, in which case
the image will be cast farther back. Shortsighted per-
sons, therefore, use concave glasses to view objects at a dis-
tance, which diverge or spread the rays, and render the
vision distinct. The eyes of persons in the wane of life
generally become less and less convex, the image will
not then be formed soon enough on the retina ; convex
glasses will therefore be used, by which means the rays
of light are converged, and the image is clearly delineated.

According to Sir I. Newton, Light is not a body of a
homogeneous nature, but consists of rays of different
kinds or colours,* each of which, in passing from one
I

* Colour is considered a property inherent in light, by which it ex-
cites different vibrations in the optic nerve, which being conveyed to
the brain affect the mind with different sensations. According to Sir

LIGHT. 31

medium to another, differs in refrangibility. A ray of
light is found to contain seven colours, red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, and violet: these are called primary
colours, but these seven are reduceable to three, red,
blue, and yellow. If a hole be made in a shutter in a
darkened room, and a ray of light be made to pass
through a prism held obliquely, and received on a screen
at a proper distance, the ray will be found to be divided
into the seven primary colours just named ; and if the
image of the rays (called a spectrum) be divided into
360 equal parts, the red will be found to occupy 45 of
these parts, the orange 27, the yellow 4S, the green 60,
the blue 60, the indigo 40, and the violet 80. The rain-
bow, which is formed by the refraction and reflection of
the rays of the sun in drops of falling rain, most beauti-
fully exhibits the natural separation of the colours of
Light.

Of the seven primary colours, the red is the least re-
frangible, and the violet the most refrangible. The
strength of the red rays is visible on a hazy morning ;
the other rays being unable to penetrate the mist, the sun
appears of a deep crimson colour. When all the rays
are equally refrangible, light is said to be homogeneous ;
and when some rays are more refrangible than others, it
is said to be heterogeneous. The colours of homogeneous
light are not altered by refraction, and anything viewed
in homogeneous light will appear of the colour of the
rays which fall upon it. Red lead or yellow ochre, for
instance, in a homogeneous green light will appear green,
and so would any other substance.

The colours of bodies are said to arise from their dis-
position to reflect one sort of rays and to absorb the
others j thus a red substance absorbs all the rays but the
red, which it reflects. The whiteness of bodies arises from
their reflecting all the rays of light promiscuously, and
the blackness of bodies from their absorbing all the rays
of light thrown on them. That white is a compound of
all the primary colours, is prettily shown by painting on

R. Phillips, different colours are different perceptible effects on the
optic nerves by the different forces or action of the rays, the red being
the most forcible, and the violet the least.

32 COLD.

a circular board the seven colours in the proportion in
which they are on the spectrum, and by whirling the
board round with great velocity, the whole will be so
blended together as to appear of a white colour, which
will be more or less perfect as the colours are more or
less perfectly laid on.

COLD.

Effect! of Cold— How produced artificially— Fatal results from exposure to
extreme Cold, &c.

COLD is that sensation which accompanies a transition
of the fine vessels of the human body from an expanded
to a contracted state. As heat is said to be caused by a
particular motion of the particles of a hot body, so cold
is its opposite, or the absence of such motion. Although
contraction is the general result of cold, yet some bodies,
under peculiar circumstances, expand as they cool : thus
iron expands by heat, yet when melted it is found to ex-
pand in cooling. Water expands as it is heated, and con-
tracts as it cools ; yet just before it begins to freeze, it
gradually expands again. The expansive force of water
is most astonishing ; it is capable of rending rocks, or of
bursting asunder very thick shells of metal. It has been
found by experiment, that the expansive power of a
spherule of water of one inch in diameter, in freezing, is
capable of overcoming a resistance of 27,000lbs.

Cold may be produced artificially, although it cannot
be made to increase itself as heat will do. The greatest
degree of cold that has been produced artificially has
been eighty degrees below zero or O on Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer. Even snow and common salt mixed will sink
a thermometer from the freezing point to zero ; and if a
little water be poured on a table in a warm room near a
fire, and the vessel containing the mixture be put on it,
it will become in a very little time completely frozen to
the table.

The effects of extreme cold are very surprising : rivers
and lakes become frozen several feet deep : metallic sub-
stances blister the skin like red-hot iron : the air, when

COLD.

drawn in by breathing, hurts the lungs and excites a
cough : even the effects of fire, in a great measure, seem
to cease ; and it has been observed, that though metals
are kept for a considerable time before a strong fire, they
•will freeze water when thrown upon them. When the
French mathematicians wintered at Tornea, in Lapland,
the external air, when suddenly admitted into their
rooms, converted the moisture of the internal air into
flakes of snow. The same circumstance occurred to our
hardy seamen under Captain Parry when wintering in
the Frozen Ocean.

Extreme cold often proves fatal in those countries
where the winters are very severe ; thus 700O Swedes
perished at once, in the year 1*19, in attempting to pass
the Dofrafield mountains to attack Drontheim. But it
is not necessary that the cold, in order to destroy hu-
man life, should be so very intense ; it is only requisite
to be a little below thirty-two degrees of Fahrenheit, or
the freezing point, accompanied with snow or hail from
which shelter cannot be obtained. The snow which falls
upon the clothes, or the uncovered parts of the body,
melts, and by a continual evaporation carries off the ani-
mal heat to such a degree, that a sufficient quantity is
not left for the support of life. In these cases the person
first feels himself extremely chilled and uneasy ; he be-
comes listless, unwilling to walk, or to use exercise to
keep himself warm ; and at last feels drowsy, sits down
to refresh himself with sleep, but awakes no more.

A striking illustration of the effect of cold is related
by Captain Cook in an occurrence during a botanical ex-
cursion of Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander among
the hills of Terra del Fuego. The party, consisting of
eleven persons, were overtaken by darkness during ex-
treme cold} and Dr. Solander, who had more than once
crossed the Dofrafield mountains, well knew that extreme
cold, especially when united with fatigue, produces a"
torpor and sleepiness that are almost irresistible ; he
therefore conjured the company to keep in motion, at
whatever pains it might cost them: "Whoever sits
down," said he, " will sleep ; and whoever sleeps will
wake no more." Being thus admonished, they set for-
c 3

34 COLD.

ward ; but while they were still upon the naked rock,
the cold became suddenly so intense as to produce the
effect they had so much dreaded. Dr. Solanderwas himself
the first who found the inclination, against which he had
warned the others, irresistible, and insisted upon being
suffered to lie down. Mr. Banks entreated and remon-
strated in vain ; he lay down upon the ground, although
it was covered with snow, and it was with great difficulty
that his friend kept him from sleeping. Richmond also,
one of the black servants, began to linger, having suf-
fered from the cold in the same manner as the Doctor.
Mr. Banks, therefore, sent five of the company forward
to get a fire ready at the first convenient place they
could find, and himself, with three others, remained with
the Doctor and Richmond, whom, partly by persuasion
and partly by force, they made to proceed ; but when
they had gone some distance, they both declared they
could go no farther. "When Richmond was told that if
he did not go on he would in a short time be frozen to
death, he answered that he wished to lie down and die. The
Doctor was desirous of taking some sleep before he pro-
ceeded farther, although he had before told the company
that to sleep was to perish. Mr. Banks and the rest
found it impossible to carry them ; and there being no
remedy, they were both suffered to sit down, and they
almost instantly fell into a profound sleep. Soon after,
some of the people who had been sent forward returned
with the welcome news that a fire was kindled about
a quarter of a mile further on the way. Mr. Banks
then endeavoured to wake Dr. Solander, and happily
succeeded ; but though he had not slept Jive minutes he
had almost lost the use of his limbs, and the muscles
were so shrunk that his shoes fell from his feet ; he con-
sented to go forwards with such assistance as could be
given him, but no attempts to relieve poor Richmond
.were successful. He, together with another black left
with him, died. Several others began to lose their sen-
sibility, having been exposed to the cold and snow for
nearly an hour and a half, but the fire recovered them.

PNEUMATICS. 35

PNEUMATICS.

Air a compound body— Figure, Height, Weight, Pressure, &c. of the Atmosphere
— Air the supporter of animal and vegetable life — Expansion and condensation
of Air— Refractive and Reflective power — The Air-Pump — Air-Gun — Con-
densing Syringe — Barometer, &c. explained.

THIS science treats of the weight, pressure, elasticity,
and other phenomena of that invisible fluid that sur-
rounds our globe. It used to be supposed that the at-
mosphere consisted only of two distinct substances ; air,
and water in a state of vapour. But it is now known
that atmospheric air is a compound of two distinct gases,*
oxygen, and nitrogen or azote, in proportion of about
twenty-two parts of the former, to seventy-eight parts
of the latter ; it also contains about one part in one thou-
sand of carbonic acid gas, and one part in seventy of
aqueous vapour. There is also in the atmosphere hy-
drogen* formed from the decomposition of water, and
other gases, together with particles of different kinds of
bodies constantly floating in it.

The figure of the atmosphere, if the earth were at rest,
would be spherical ; but as the earth is in motion, as also
because of the action of the sun heating and expanding
the parts about the equatorial regions, it assumes that
of a flattened spheroid.

The extreme height of the atmosphere may be nearly
fifty miles, but at this distance from the earth it must be
exceedingly rare ; so much so as to have no sensible effect
on the rays of light as to refraction or reflection ; for at
the height of two miles, it is seldom sufficiently dense to
support the clouds, although an aeronaut has ascended
as high as/our miles and a third. It has been calculated
that at the height of three miles and a half the air is
only one-half of the density of what it is on the surface of
the earth ; at seven miles it is one-fourth, at fourteen miles
one-sixteenth, and so on decreasing in density in a qua-
druple ratio, while the distance increases in a duplicate
ratio, so that at the height of forty-nine miles it will be

* See the article Gaseous Bodies.

36

PNEUMATICS.

more than 16,000 times rarer than at the earth's surface.
At the tops of high mountains, through the rarity of the
air, a most violent oppression is felt at the chest, some-
times attended with spitting of blood, and with blood
gushing from the ears and nose : the external air being
unable to counterbalance the internal pressure.

That the air has weight, was granted by the ancients ;
but it has been proved beyond a doubt by the air-pump,
which is a modern invention, and also by the barometer,
and the exact quantity of its weight has been ascertained.
Because the atmosphere will balance in an hermetically
sealed tube a column of quicksilver of about thirty inches
in height, as also it will sustain in a sucking pump a
column of water of about thirty-two or thirty-three feet
high, it follows that the weight or pressure of the atmos-
phere is equal to a column of quicksilver or water of the
above height and of a like base, and this is found to be
in the proportion of fifteen pounds nearly on every
square inch of surface,* or of one ton on every square
foot ; whence it has been computed that the whole weight
of the atmosphere is equal to a globe of lead of sixty
miles in diameter.

Air, like other fluids, presses in all directions, both per-
pendicularly, laterally, and upwards. The upward pres-
sure of the air may be shown as follows. Fill a wine-
glass with water, and place over it a piece of writing-
paper ; if the paper be pressed firmly over the glass by
the palm of the hand and the glass be inverted, the water
will still remain suspended in the glass by the pressure
of the atmosphere, although the hand be removed.

Air is the support of animal and vegetable life, but if
it be closely pent up for a considerable time it will be-
come vitiated by being deprived of its vivifying principle.
Any means whereby the oxygen or pure part of the air
is destroyed, must tend to render it unfit for respiration ;
whence it is highly unwholesome to sleep, or to remain
shut up, in a newly plastered or whitewashed room, from
the lime imbibing the oxygen. When it is considered
that a man consumes or fixes more than a cubic foot of

* A Cubic foot of air weighs very nearly one ounce and a quarter,
and its specific gravity compared with water is as 800 to one.

PNEUMATICS. 37

oxygeii in an hour, and consequently destroys the vital
principle of five times that quantity, the necessity of
proper ventilation will be perceived in order to procure
a constant and fresh supply. Air is sometimes rendered
very deleterious by vapours escaping from the earth. In
Campania the air is impregnated with sulphur, and it has
also been found to contain arsenic, and millions of fishes
are said to be destroyed by it. At a certain part of
Sweden, noted for its copper-mines, the air is so affected
by the exhalations as to tarnish the silver in the pocket.

Air becomes expanded by heat and condensed by cold,
in the proportion, according to Laplace, of one four-
hundred and fiftieth for every degree of Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer. To this property may be attributed those cur-
rents of air called winds : the heat of the sun expanding
the air, and causing it to become lighter, it consequently
ascends, while the circumambient air rushes in to supply
its place. The following experiments will show the effect
of heat in rarefying the air : Hold a bladder partly filled
with air to the fire, and the air will become so expanded
by the heat as to burst the bladder with a considerable
report. Again, take a wine glass and hold it over a piece
of lighted paper for about a second, then suddenly clap
it firm upon the palm of the hand, the glass will remain
tightly fixed on the hand from the inner pressure being
diminished through the rarefaction of the air, and the
flesh will be pressed into the glass by means of the op-
posite pressure. Fire-balloons are made on the principle
of the rarefaction of the air by heat. A piece of sponge,
soaked either in turpentine or in spirits of wine, is sus-
pended by means of a wire at the bottom of the balloon,
which when ignited so rarefies the air within the balloon
as to cause it to ascend. The first balloons were thus
made. M. Montgolfier, a Frenchman, in the year 17<S3,
made one of canvass, seventy-four feet high and forty-
eight in diameter, weighing in the whole 100O pounds ;
and notwithstanding it was of this immense weight, it
was filled in ten minutes with rarefied air, when its power
of ascension was equal to more than six hundred weight.

Air has a refractive and reflective power. By its power
of refraction the rays of light are bent out of their direct
course, as in the case of the twilight j by which means

38 PNEUMATICS.

darkness comes on slowly and gradually, instead of ra-
pidly and at once. The reflective power of the atmos-
phere has also its benefits, for without this quality the
appearance of things would be much altered. We should
most probably be only able to see that side of anything
on which the sun shone, which would be attended with
the greatest inconvenience. We should also have a most
sudden transition from daylight to darkness, on the rising
and setting of the sun. The light of the sun itself would
be also too fierce for our comfort, if our eyes were di-
rected towards it ; while at that part of the heavens op-
posite to the sun it would be dark and dismal, and the
planets and stars would be visible if there were no clouds
to prevent it.

The principal instruments used to exhibit the weight,
elasticity, and other phenomena of the atmosphere, are
the Air-Pump, the Air-Gun, the Condensing Syringe, and
the Barometer ; a brief description of which is here an-
nexed.

The AiR-PuMP is more properly a machine than an
instrument ; and is so constructed as to exhaust the air
out of a proper receiver, or rather to rarefy it, and the
principle of its action depends on the elasticity of the
air. The air-pump was first invented by Otto Guericke,
of Magdeburg, in the middle of the seventeenth century.
A single-barrelled air-pump consists of a plate of brass,
having a small hole in its centre, and connected by a
tube to a cylindrical barrel, in which a piston with a
proper valve is made to work, similar to a common suck-
ing-pump. If a receiver be placed on the brass plate,
and rendered air-light, by raising the piston a quantity
of air will be exhausted from the receiver, when the re-
maining air will, by means of its elasticity, become rare-
fied, and occupy the whole of the receiver : by repeatedly
working the piston upwards and downwards, the air will
become proportionately rarefied, when, by a series of in-
teresting experiments, the nature and properties of the
air are beautifully exemplified. The single-barrelled air-
pump is the most simple of its kind. Air-pumps are
now generally made with double barrels to work with a
winch, but the principle is the same.

When the air is exhausted — or more properly, consi-

PNEUMATICS. 39

derably rarefied — the receiver will remain so fixed by
means of the downward pressure of the atmosphere as
to render it almost impossible to be removed without re-
admitting the air. The downward pressure is also shown
by putting a piece of wet bladder over the top of an open
receiver, and on exhausting the receiver, the bladder will
be pressed violently down so as ultimately to burst.
If a thin phial hermetically sealed be placed within the
receiver, and the air exhausted from the receiver, the air
within the phial, by means of its expansive force, will
burst the phial. If a cup of water, just below the boil-
ing point, be placed within the receiver,and the air rare-
fied, it will begin to boil, and the violence of the ebulli-
tion will be in proportion to the rarefaction of the air.
On this principle it is that water will boil sooner on the
tops of high mountains, than it will in the valleys ; as
also that it will take longer to boil at the bottom of a
deep mine, than on the earth's surface. The mean boil-
ing point at the surface of the earth is 21C2 degrees ; of
Fahrenheit ; on the top of a mountain, where the weight
of the air is diminished one-tenth, it is 207 degrees, while
at the bottom of a deep mine it is 1Z14 degrees. The
weight of bodies is found by the air-pump not to depend
on the nature of the body, but on the resistance of the
air ; thus a piece of metal and a feather will fall with
equal rapidity in an exhausted receiver.

There are various other phenomena exhibited by means
of the air-pump, which it is impossible here to particu-
larize fully. Thus in an exhausted receiver a bell will not
sound, a siphon will not run, vegetation stops, and ani-
mals in general in a very short time die. The glow-worm
loses its light in proportion as the air is exhausted ; gun-
powderand sulphurwill not burn; smoke descends instead
of ascending, together with many other interesting results.

The AiR-Gux is an instrument for propelling bullets
by condensed air. Air-guns are constructed in various
ways ; the more common one is made like a fowling-piece,
having under the lock a round steel tube with a small
moveable pin in the inside, which is pushed out when the
trigger is pulled ; to this tube a hollow copper ball, hav-
ing a suitable valve, is made to screw, being perfectly

40 PNEUMATICS.

air-tight. The copper ball being charged with condensed
air, by means of a condensing syringe, and screwed on ;
by pulling the trigger, the valve in the ball is struck with
the pin, when a quantity of air rushes into the barrel of
the gun, and forcibly acts on the bullet, sending it to a
very considerable distance. As only a portion of the air es-
capes from the ball, the gun may be loaded and discharged
several times successively without recharging the ball.
It is said that air condensed but ten times will discharge
a ball with a velocity equal to gunpowder. The writer of
this article has propelled a ball through an inch deal for
several times successively with the original charge. Air-
canes are on the same principle as air-guns ; they are
made to resemble walking-sticks, and unscrew in the
middle, the upper part forming a chamber for the con-
densed air, which, when charged, is again screwed on to
the other part, when it may be loaded, cocked,and fired.

The CONDENSING SYRINGE consists of a solid piston
moving in a tube which must, of course, be perfectly air-
tight : when the syringe is screwed on to the ball, and
the piston forced up, the air which was in the tube is
propelled into the ball, and retained there by a valve.
The piston is then drawn down, and creates a vacuum
in the tube, until it arrives at a certain part where there
is a hole, through which the air rushes and fills the tube,
which is again forced into the ball : this action is re-
peated until the ball is sufficiently charged. By the con-
densation of the air, a very considerable degree of heat is
generated. Tinder and fungus may be lighted in a proper
condenser, by the sudden stroke of the air.

The BAROMETER, a well-known instrument for exhibit-
ing the approaching change of the weather, which has been
already referred to, requires a slight explanation. In its
most simple form, it is a tube of glass, of about 30 inches
long, hermetically sealed at one end, filled with quick-
silver, and inverted into a vessel of the same metal, when
the quicksilver in the tube will descend until it arrives
at from between 28 to 31 inches above that in the vessel,
according to the state of the atmosphere. If the quick-
silver in the tube falls or becomes low, it indicates rain ;
if it rises, it indicates fine weather. The principle, which

WATER. 41

has been already alluded to, is, that a column of air, of
the whole height of the atmosphere, will balance a column
of quicksilver of from 28 to 31 inches, according to the
state of the air. When the atmosphere is loaded with
aqueous vapour, it becomes lighter, aqueous vapour be-
ing considerably lighter than atmospheric air ; conse-
quently it will not balance so large a quantity of quick-
silver, and the quicksilver of course sinks. When the
aqueous vapour is condensed into rain, and yields its
place to the common atmospheric air, the quicksilver
again rises. Barometers are made in different ways, but
the principle is invariably the same. Barometers are
used to ascertain the height of mountains or other ele-
vated situations, the mercury sinking one-tenth of an inch
at about every hundred feet of ascent.

WATER.

Water a compound body — Different states of water — Water universally diffused
—Salt-water — Snow-water — Rain-water — River-water — Spring-water — Ex-
pansive power of water converted into steam— Theory of boiling, &c. 4c.

WATER is a clear colourless liquid, and if pure, is
without either taste or smell. It used to be imagined
by the ancients that water was an element or simple body;
but it is now well known to be a compound of two gases,
oxygen and hydrogen, in the proportion of about So parts
of the former to 15 of the latter by weight.*

Water exists in four distinct states : in Ice, Water,
Vapour, and in combination with other bodies. Ice is the
simplest state of water, it being water deprived of the
greatest portion of its caloric. When water receives an
excess of caloric, it becomes vapour or steam.

Water is most universally diffused, for there is scarcely
any body in nature that does not contain it : wherever
there is matter there appears to be water. Hartshorn
kept^/y years, so as to be as dry and hard as any metal,
and even capable of producing sparks like steel when
struck with a flint, will, if distilled, produce one-eighth of

* Water contains air holding a larger quantity of oxygen than atmos-
pheric air ; fishes breathe this air, which if deprived of they die.

42 WATER.

its weight of water ; and bones that have been dried for
twenty-five years have produced one-half of their weight
of water. The hardest stones ground and distilled dis-
cover a portion of water ; and it has been said that even
fire itself is not without it.

The grand reservoir of water is the Ocean : this covers
nearly three-fifths of the earth's surface, and extends to
an unfathomable depth. The most striking property of
sea- water is its saltness, the cause of which philosophers
have endeavoured to account for in various ways. Dr.
Halley supposed that the sea was originally fresh, and
that its saltness proceeded from the salts of the earth
conveyed into it by rivers. Others have supposed that
there are vast rocks of salt at the bottom of the sea,
whence it derives its saltness ; and this is rendered more
plausible from the numerous and extensive salt-mines
known to exist in different parts of the earth. Others,
again, have supposed that the sea was created salt to
keep it from putrefaction ; but it appears to be kept from
putrefaction by the agitation of the winds and tides, for
stagnant salt-water will in time become corrupt. Al-
though the sea is universally salt, yet it is salter within
the tropics than at the arctic regions ; this is accounted
for by the quantity of snow, and the large rivers, that
fall into the northern seas ; to which may be added, that
evaporation is infinitely less in those seas than between
the tropics, consequently a proportionately less quantity
of fresh water is" carried off.

Of the various kinds of water, Snow- water, when col-
lected clean, is the purest. .Ram-water may be considered
the purest distilled water, but in its passage through the
air, it becomes impregnated with putrescent matter,
which, while it renders it superior to any other for fer-
tilizing the earth, renders it inferior to spring and river
water for various purposes. The manner in which rain-
water is generally obtained, viz., from gutters placed un-
der the roofs of houses, adds to its impurity, and renders
it in a short time quite putrid.

/foyer-water is next in. purity to rain-water, particularly
where it runs over a clean, stony bottom, and is superior
to it for domestic purposes. River-waters putrefy sooner

WATER. 43

than spring-waters, but they soon throw off their hetero-
geneous matter, and become sweet, and purer than before,
and continue so for a long time. On this account it is
that the Thames water is generally preferred for long
voyages.

Spring-water is impregnated with a portion of neutral
salts, which makes it hard ; it is also occasionally im-
pregnated with iron. It is, however, preferred as a be-
verage, for its coolness and pleasantness, though it is less
wholesome than good river-water. Springs are formed
by the intervention of clay and sand strata, the former
holding water, and the latter allowing it a free passage ;
so that no water is found, in digging wells, until clay is
penetrated. Springs of fresh water are found to exist
even under the sea. It is said that thirty have been dis-
covered under the sea on the south of the Persian Gulf.
St. Winifred's Well, in Flintshire, is said to throw up 120
tons of water in a minute, and to turn eleven mills in the
space of about a mile and a half. There are hot springs
in various parts of the world, of which the Great Geyser,
in Iceland, is the most remarkable. The chief hot-springs
in England are those of Bath and Bristol : the hot baths
of Bath are as high as 115° of Fahrenheit.

The specific gravity of water is constantly changing
with the temperature of the atmosphere. At a mean rate,
it is 820 times heavier than air ; so that a cubic foot of
water will weigh 100O ounces avoirdupois — very nearly.

Water is of a very volatile nature, and soon raised to
vapour. If exposed to the action of the fire in an open
vessel, it would entirely go off in vapour, and conse-
quently occupy a space infinitely greater than it did be-
fore.* The expansive force which water acquires when
converted into steam is greater than that of gunpowder :f
thus a pound of water,converted into steam, may be made
to displace or raise a greater weight than a pound of
gunpowder would. It is to this principle that the mighty

* According to Count Rumford, steam at 212° is 3000 times rarer
than water ; but with a great heat, it may be made to occupy more
than 10,000 times the space of water.

f This is strikingly evident in Perkins's steam-gun, which will dis-
charge seventy halls in four seconds.

44 WATER.

power of the steam-engine* is indebted ; and volcanic
eruptions and earthquakes are supposed to be often
caused by water meeting with subterraneous fires, and
being suddenly converted into steam. It is through the
expansive power of steam that that well-known motion
called boiling is caused. The theory of heating and boil-
ing is as follows : — When a vessel of cold water, for in-
stance, is placed over the fire, that layer of water nearest
the fire will become heated first, and will consequently,
through its expansion, acquire a specific gravity different
from that of the mass : the heated portion will ascend,
and its place will be occupied by another portion, and
thus the whole mass will be brought successively into
contact with the heated bottom of the vessel, and con-
tinue to have its temperature increased until the caloric
or heat generates vapour so rapidly and violently that
it rushes up and causes the boiling. So that, in this
operation, there is a constant circulation of the water
about the vessel; that which was nearest the bottom, be-
ing converted into vapour, ascends, giving way to that
which was immediately above it. The degree of heat to
produce boiling depends on the weight or pressure of
the atmosphere. When the barometer is at 29 inches,
water boils at about 1ZIO°. When the barometer is at
31 inches, the boiling point is rather more than 215°.
It is not through the conductive power of water that its
temperature so soon becomes raised ; water being so bad
a conductor of heat, that a portion of water, in a glass
tube containing ice, may be made to boil without even
melting the ice.

Water is the most penetrative of all bodies, and the
most difficult to confine ; passing through leather, and
even bladders, which will confine air. It used to be sup-
posed that water is incompressible : from recent experi-
ments, it is found that water may be compressed, but
not to any considerable extent.

* Some steam-engines are sufficiently powerful to raise a weight
equal to forty millions of pounds one foot,and that with a single bushel
of coals.

HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS. 45

HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS.

Hydrostatics and Hydraulics defined — Pressure of Fluids, and peculiar properties
— Specific gravity of Bodies— Motion of water in pipes— Sucking Pump —
Forcing Pump — Siphon — Jets, 4cc.

HYDROSTATICS is that science which treats of the na-
ture, gravity, and equilibrium of fluids, and of the
weighing of bodies therein. Hydraulics treats of the
force and velocity of fluids in motion.

Fluids are those bodies which possess a perfect free-
dom of motion, and whose parts yield to any impression.
They are divided into elastic and non-elastic. Air, vapour,
and gases, are elastic, as their volume may be diminished
by pressure. Mercury, water, &c. are non-elastic or
incompressible, except to an inconsiderable amount.*

It is peculiar to fluids, that they do not press only in
a perpendicular direction, like solids, but upwards,
laterally, and in every direction. The sides of canals
are on this account sometimes blown up, as it is termed ;
the water, by gradually washing away the earth, in time
forms a kind of hollow, the pressure becomes too great
for the bank to withstand, and it is forced up and falls
into the canal.

The pressure of fluids is not according to their bulk,
but according to their perpendicular height, combined
with the area of the base. If two vessels be filled with
water or any other fluid, the one of a cylindrical and
the other of a conical shape, provided the bases and
perpendicular heights are equal, the perpendicular pres-
sure of the liquid will be equal : should it happen that
their contents become frozen, then the pressure on the
bottom of the cylindrical vessel will be three times as
great as that on the bottom of the conical vessel, the
volume of a cylinder being equal to three times that of
a cone of the same base and height. If a long tube of
only half an inch in diameter be inserted into a large
cask of water and made air-tight, by pouring water into

* Perkins is said to have compressed water one-twelfth with 2000
atmospheres.

46 HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS.

the tube the pressure will hecome so astonishingly great
as to rend the cask asunder, as if with gunpowder. The
pressure, notwithstanding the smallness of the diameter
of the tube, being equal to a body of water of the height
of the pipe, whose base is equal to the base of the cask.
Bramah's press is made on this principle ; and a column
of water of half an inch in diameter is made to produce
a pressure of several hundreds of tons. Various amus-
ing experiments have been invented to exemplify this
peculiar property of fluids, which are detailed in most
works expressly on this science.

If a body swims in a fluid, it is known to displace as
much of that fluid as is equal to its weight ; if it sink or
be immersed in a fluid, it will displace as much as is
equal to its bulk ; if it be suspended in a fluid, it will
lose as much of what it weighed in air as is equal in
weight to its bulk of the fluid. On this latter axiom
depends that which is termed the Specific Gravity of
bodies, or the relative weight of equal bulks of different
bodies. Bodies are generally compared with water, and
their specific gravity is usually found by weighing them
in water. If a cubic inch, or cubic foot, for instance, of
any body, be twice the weight of a cubic inch or cubic
foot of water, its specific gravity is said to be two, or
twice that of water ; and this is found by weighing the
body first in air, in the common way, and then in water,*
and dividing the weight in air, by the loss of weight in
water. Thus, if a guinea be found to weigh 129 grains
in air, and on its being suspended in water it weighs 7i
grains lighter, it shows that a quantity of water of equal
bulk with the guinea weighs 7-^ grains : 129 being divided
by 7^-, the quotient will be 18 nearly, which is its Specific
Gravity. If a body be lighter than water, as wood, cork,
&c., it is first weighed in air, and then it is attached to
some heavier body that will cause it to sink in the water,
the weight of which body has been counterbalanced in
the opposite scale ; these being immersed together will

* This is done by the Hydrostatic Balance, an instrument like a
common balance, only one of the scales has a hook underneath to
suspend a body so as to let it dip into a glass of water.

HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS. 4*

cause the balance to rise ; then, by observing the loss of
weight, and proceeding as before, the specific gravity
may be obtained. Fragments of diamonds, &c., are put
into a glass bucket, and suspended from the scale. For
finding the specific gravity of fluids, a solid glass bubble
is used.

From the near connexion between Hydrostatics and
Hydraulics, many writers have considered them one sci-
ence; yet it appears more systematic to treat of them
separately, and to rank under the head of Hydraulics
whatever is effected by the motion of water, as mills,
pumps, fountains, &c.

One of the first principles of the science of Hydraulics
is, that fluids rise to their own level ; and thus they may
be conveyed over hills and valleys, by means of pipes,
to any height not greater than the level whence they
flow. With this property the ancients were unacquainted,
or they would not have formed those immense aqueducts,
the remains of which still exist in many places. If the
ancients wanted to convey water from one hill to another,
they often connected the hills by archways, and con-
trived that the water should flow over them ; while we
should effect the same by simply laying down a pipe or
series of pipes. A very great part of London is supplied
with water by pipes from the reservoir at Pentonville.
Jets, or fountains, are on this principle ; the water, by
endeavouring to rise to its level, spouts out in the
pleasing manner often witnessed. It will not rise quite
as high as its source, from its being impeded by the
resistance of the air, and the friction at the opening of
the pipe.

If it be required to raise water above its level, it is
done either with a common Sucking Pump, by removing
the atmospheric pressure, or by the Forcing Pump. A
column of air of the height of the atmosphere of any
base, will counterbalance a column of water of the same
base, and of about 3<2 or 33 feet high; the weight of
each being alike. On this principle it is that the suck-
ing pump acts ; the air is exhausted from the bore of
the pump by means of a piston, acting in a manner
similar to a syringe ; the water rises, and passing through

48 HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS.

a valve in the piston which will allow it to go through
but not to return, it is thus made to issue from the spout
of the pump.

In the Forcing Pump, the water is made to rise in a
manner similar to what it does in the sucking pump,
and by means of a fixed valve it is also prevented from
returning ; but the piston being solid, unlike that of the
sucking pump, by the action of the piston the water is
forced through a tube contrived for that purpose, and
may be thus thrown to a very considerable height. It is
by means of a forcing pump, worked by a steam-engine,
that the water is raised from the New River into the
reservoir at Pentonville, above named. Fire-engines are
on the principle of the Forcing Pump.

There is a small hydraulic instrument called a Siphon,
which requires to be noticed ; it is merely a bent tube,
having one leg shorter than the other: its chief use is for
drawing off liquors from one vessel to another. The
shorter leg is immersed in the liquor to be drawn off, and
by exhausting the air from the tube, which, if small, may
be done by the breath, the liquor will then rise in the
tube, and flow through the longer leg ; or the tube may
be filled with the liquor, and immersed in the vessel with
both ends stopped, on removing the stoppage the liquor
will flow off as before. The principle on which the Siphon
acts is as follows : When the tube is exhausted of air,
the pressure of the atmosphere forces the liquor up the
shorter pipe, and as the upward atmospheric pressure
on the outside is somewhat less than that on the liquor,
it flows down, and will continue to do so until the vessel
is emptied. If the legs of the Siphon, were equal, or if
the longer leg were immersed in the liquor, the upward
pressure of the atmosphere would prevent the liquor
from flowing down the tube, by overcoming the perpen-
dicular pressure.

ACOUSTICS. 49

ACOUSTICS.

Sound defined and explained — Air chief conductor of Sound — Intensity of Sound
depending on the density of the media— Cause of the vibrations of a sounding
body— Velocity of Sound— Conductors of Sound— Echo— Speaking and Hear-
ing TVumpets— Invisible Girl, &c.

THIS science treats of the nature, laws, and pheno-
mena of sound. Sound has been denned as a sensation
of the mind communicated by the ear, or it is the effect
of some external collision of bodies which produces a tre-
mulous motion or vibration, and which is communicated
to the mind by means of the ear. It is generally under-
stood that the surrounding air or atmosphere is the me-
dium of sound : but air is not the sole conductor of sound ;
fluids in general, and solids of all kinds, will transmit it,
though not to a like extent.*

That air is the chief conductor cannot but be acknow-
ledged ; and that without that or some other fluid, as a
medium, no sound would be heard, is evident from the
fact of a bell rung under an exhausted receiver being
inaudible, and becoming gradually audible as the air is
admitted.

The intensity of sound is found to be in proportion to
the density of the air; so that it has been ascertained by
experiment that sound can be heard half as far again in
carbonic acid gas as in common atmospheric air, while
in hydrogen gas it can scarcely be heard at all. On the
tops of high mountains the voice is considerably less
audible than in valleys; as also the report of a gun is
much less in strength and more acute in tone.

Sound appears to be communicated to the air in cir-
cular undulations, similar to the small waves produced
on the surface of water when a stone is thrown into it ;
and this is evident to the ear in the tones of a church-
bell while its sounds are dying away.

When a sonorous body is struck it becomes in a state

* It has been supposed that there is some subtle fluid, probably of
n electrical nature, in the composition of bodies whose office is to
transmit sound ; and that bodies transmit sound in proportion to the
quantity of this fluid contained in them.

D

50 ACOUSTICS.

of vibration, which is communicated to the air ; and Euler
was of opinion that no sound making fewer vibrations
than 30 in a second, or more than 7520, is distinguish-
able by the human ear ; the former being the most grave,
and the latter the most acute tone that can be possibly
sounded. The vibrations of a sounding body depend on
its elasticity, and are governed by certain laws : if a
musical string be divided into two parts, the sound of
each half will be an octave of the whole string.

The ear is evidently the most direct instrument for
the reception of sound in order to convey it to the brain,
which it does by means of the auditory nerve ; yet the
palate, teeth, and nostrils lend their assistance; so that
the deaf may often be made to hear by holding one end
of a piece of metal between their teeth while the other
end is in contact with the mouth of the speaker.

Sound travels in air at the rate of 114-2 feet in a se-
cond, or 13 miles in a minute ; and the softest whisper
is transmitted as rapidly as the loudest thunder. From
a knowledge of the rate of velocity of sound, the distance
of a ship at sea, or of a thunder-cloud, may be easily
ascertained. If the report of a gun be heard half a mi-
nute after the flash* is seen, the object will be about six
miles and a half distant, and so in proportion : the same
holds good in regard to the distance of a thunder-cloud.
As the pulse of a full grown man in health beats seconds
nearly, the number of pulsations multiplied into 1 142
feet, will give the distance pretty accurately.

The best conductor of sound is water. On a still night,
a conversation may be heard at a very great distance
over water. The fire of the English, on landing at Egypt
some years since, was heard more than 130 miles at sea ;
and it has been asserted that every word of a sermon was
distinctly heard two miles distant over water. The in-
fluence that water has in propagating sound, is evident
from the difference caused by a canal of water laid some
years ago under the pit floor of the theatre of Argentine,
at Rome, the voice having been since heard distinctly at
the remotest part of the theatre, where it was before

* Light travels so rapidly, that at the distance of a few miles it may
be said to be instantaneous.

ACOUSTICS. 51

scarcely distinguishable. Sound is said to travel in water
at the rate of nearly 50OO feet in a second ; and a bell
sounded under water may be heard at a very considerable
distance : it does not produce a tone, but a noise like
the clashing of knives.

Stone is, next to water, the best conductor of sound.
Brick is nearly as good a conductor : a soft whisper has
been conveyed by a garden-wall, so as to be distinctly
heard at the distance of 200 feet. Wood is also a good
conductor ; and its vibratory nature renders it pecu-
liarly fit for musical instruments, as well as for the
lining of theatres, &c.

Sound, like light, may be collected into one point as a
focus, and will be more audible there than at any other
point. In buildings of an elliptical shape, a whisper in
one of the foci may be distinctly heard in the other focus.
The concert-rooms at Edinburgh are of an elliptical
shape, and are so contrived that the musicians sit in one
focus of the ellipse, and the audience in the other. A
person speaking in the lowest tone, in the whispering-
gallery of St. Paul's, is distinctly heard on the opposite
side : also a person in one of the recesses of Westminster
Bridge readily hears another person speaking on the op-
posite side.

When sound strikes any object, and is reflected back,
it forms an Echo. Caverns, mountains, and buildings
are favourable to this reverberation ; but unless a person
stands more than 60 feet from the reflecting object, he
will not be able to hear the echo of his own voice dis-
tinctly. The echo is in some situations repeated several
times successively. Near Milan there is an echo that
returns the sound of a pistol more than 50 times. An
echo in Woodstock Park returns 17 syllables in the day-
time, when the air is brisk, and 20 in the nieht-time.
The air at night being denser, the vibrations become
slower, and a repetition of more syllables is heard.

For the purpose of the augmentation of sound, an in-
strument called a Speaking-trumpet has been invented, by
means of which the sound is reflected from the sides of
the tube, and prevented from spreading in the open air :
it is much used at sea for hailing vessels at a distance.
D 2

52 ACOUSTICS.

Hearing-trumpets collect and condense the sound, and
thus convey it to the ear.

Many amusing experiments and exhibitions have been
at various times shown, depending on the peculiar nature
of this branch of natural philosophy. The most striking
of these was that termed the Invisible Girl, and which,
in the beginning of the present century, was exhibited
at different parts of England with considerable eclat.
As a description of this lady may not be uninteresting to
the youthful reader, it is attempted ; although, being
given quite from memory, after a period of more than
30 years, it is feared that it may be, in some respects,
defective. On entering the exhibition-room, the specta-
tor saw an instrument having the appearance of four
brass trumpets, at right angles, communicating with a
brass globe in the centre, about ten inches or more in
diameter. This was suspended by small cords or ribbons
from four small pillars about one inch in diameter, with
a cross- rail near the top and bottom, standing unsteadily
in the centre of the room. The exhibiter directed the
attention of the spectators to the brass globe, represent-
ing to them that, the lady was in the inside of it, and that,
by addressing her in any one of several languages, she
would return an answer. Various questions were put in
English, French, and Italian, to each of which an answer

O *

was heard from the trumpets, in a weak, feminine voice,
issuing apparently from the globe in the centre -T and as
there was no visible communication between the globe
and any other thing whatever, it was at the time a source
of surprise how the voice was conveyed there. It subse-
quently appeared that a communication was made by a
pipe in an adjoining apartment, in which was a female
properly instructed ; the pipe being passed under the
floor, and up one of the pillars, its orifice was placed di-
rectly opposite one of the trumpets, and the voice was
thus conveyed backwards and forwards between the lady
and her visiters.

METEOROLOGY.

METEOROLOGY.

Constituent parts of the Atmosphere— Evaporation— Rain— Fog or Mist— Dew
—Snow— Hail— Coronse, or Haloes— Parhelia, or Mock-suns— Fiery Meteors
— Aeroliths— Aurora Borealis— Ignis Fatuus, or Jack with a Lantern— Wind
— Meteorological Instruments, &c.

METEOROLOGY is that part of Natural Philosophy which
explains the various phenomena of the atmosphere, as
the clouds, rain, hail, dew, &c.

The Atmosphere is a vast body of air surrounding the
earth, and extending to about 45 miles above its surface.
It has been found when decomposed, as was observed
under the article Pneumatics, to consist of two gases,
oxygen and azote, containing at the same time about
one part in seventy of Aqueous Vapour independent ot
other substances. One cubic foot of air near the sarface
of the earth is found to weigh about one ounce and a quarter,
being about 800 times lighter than water.

A certain process called Evaporation is continually
going on, which supplies the air with aqueous vapour,
ultimately to form rain, dew, &c. It is calculated that
five thousand millions of tuns of water are carried off
from the Mediterranean Sea alone in a summer's day, and
that twenty millions of tuns are carried off the Thames
in the same time ; also that one hundred thousand cubic
miles of water are by this process annually taken up by
the atmosphere, the greatest part of which, when it has
arrived at a certain height, being condensed into clouds.

As it is through the agency of caloric that water be-
comes suspended in the air, it is natural to expect that
when the caloric is by any means abstracted, a conden-
sation will take place, and that the aqueous particles
will form drops. Something more than the mere parting
with the caloric, is now thought necessary for the pro-
duction of rain ; and as it is known that electricity is
carried off the earth by evaporation, it is generally un-
derstood that rain is in great measure an electrical phe-
nomenon ; so that when the clouds part with their elec-
tricity, which they may do in various ways, the result is
a conversion of the aqueous vapour into drops of water,

54 METEOROLOGY.

which the atmosphere being incapable of supporting,
falls in .Ram.

Under the idea that Rain is caused by the disturbance
of the electricity of the clouds, Sir Richard Phillips, many
years ago, published a plan for fertilizing barren districts
by erecting metallic rods on elevated spots, thus arrest-
ing the clouds and producing rain. It is well known that
more rain falls in mountainous countries than in plains ;
it is also surmised that the leaves of vegetables, particu-
larly of trees, have a tendency to attract the electricity
of the atmosphere, from the fact that woody countries re-
ceive most rain. Sir Richard attributes the sterility of
certain countries to the cutting down of trees, and con-
ceives that to this may be ascribed the present sterility
of the once fertile but now desert regions of Syria,
Chaldea, and Barbary ; and he ascribes the oases of the
desert to the circumstance of a few trees having been
accidentally suffered to grow in them.

In our own country, as well as in others, most rain
falls in places near the sea-coast, so that while the mean
annual depth of rain at London is 23 inches, it is some-
what more than twice as much near the western coast.
A greater quantity of rain falls in most countries during
the summer months, than during the winter months, and
the mean annual quantity is greatest at or near the
equator, and diminishes towards the poles. In Grenada
the annual depth of rain has been found to be 126 inches,
when in England* it was 32 inches, and at Petersburg
16 inches.

The whole of the vapours which are exhaled from the
surface of the earth are not formed into clouds : some-
times, through an imperfect condensation, they remain
suspended in the form of Fog or Mist ; sometimes, through
the coolness of the air, a more perfect condensation takes
place, and they fall in Dew.

Dews are found to be more copious in clear than in
cloudy weather, also in spring than in any other season,
there being then more vapour than at any other time.

* It is calculated that from 300 to 400 tuns of rain fall annually
on an average on every acre in England.

METEOROLOGY. 55

It is also necessary for the deposition of dew, that the
temperature of the body on which it may be formed
should be below that of the atmosphere ; the vapour in
contact thus becomes condensed, and the aqueous par-
ticles settle thereupon. Egypt and many other countries
very much abound with dews, for the air is too hot in
the day-time to constipate the vapours into clouds ; it,
therefore, never rains, but the nights being remarkably
cold, the vapours are condensed in Dews.

If the temperature of the air be low, the vapours will
sometimes become frozen before they are formed into
drops ; their specific gravity is then greater than that of
the air, and they descend in Snow.

If the vapours are united into drops, and become frozen
in falling, they are called Hail.* As Hail is often found
to accompany thunder and lightning, it is considered an
electrical phenomenon. Showers of hailstones of extra-
ordinary magnitude have occasionally taken place, more
particularly on the Continent, which have carried with
them death and devastation to an incredible amount. A
most violent storm of hail fell on the army of Edward
III., near Chartres, in France, when the hailstones were
so large that they killed 6000 of his horses, and 1000
of his best troops. At Antwerp, in Holland, in 1776,
hailstones fell as large as hens' eggs, and weighed three
quarters of a pound ; horses were killed, and the fruits
of the earth destroyed. In France, in 1785, one hundred
and thirty-one villages and farms were laid waste by a
dreadful storm of this nature. 4 In order to prevent the
destruction occasioned by hail-storms, which often de-
stroy the vintage in the south of France, an instrument
called a paragrele has been invented, by means of which
the electricity of the atmosphere is said to be disturbed,
and hail- storms rendered less severe.

Sometimes a luminous circle appears round the body
of the sun and moon, this is called a Corona or Halo,
and is attributed to the refraction of the rays of light in
passing through the vesicate of a thin vapour.

* Hailstones are said to fall with a rapidity of at least 60 feet in
a second.

56 METEOROLOGY.

These Coronae are sometimes accompanied by Parhelia
or Mock-suns, which latter are formed by the reflection
of the sunbeams, in a cloud appropriately situated for
that purpose. The Mock-suns appear of a bright white,
and of the same size as the true sun ; when many of
them appear together, some of them are brighter than
others. They are sometimes tinged with the colours of
the rainbow, and often appear to have one or more fiery
tails. These phenomena have been repeatedly observed
in North America, where they have remained visible for
several hours. They have made their appearance in
England, but their visits are very rare and uncommon.
According to our old chroniclers Jive suns were seen at
once in the year 346 ; three also were seen in 812 ; three
in 953, and Jive in 1233. Lilly mentions three seen in
1644, and three in 1648. Of late years they have not
been seen in England at all. A similar phenomenon
sometimes attends the moon ; this is called a Paraselene.

Fiery meteors of a very wonderful and striking ap-
pearance often visit our atmosphere, but their origin is
unknown.* A meteor appeared in 1783, which, from
its having been seen nearly at the same instant over the
whole of Europe, was calculated to be more than 10O
miles high, and as large as Great Britain. A meteor as
large as the moon appeared in the western counties of
England in 1832 ; its light for a short time was intense.
Luminous clouds are often seen, but their origin is un-
known ; one in Java, in 1772, destroyed a district twenty
miles round, and killed 2000 persons.

A meteor like a falling star, sometimes appears darting
rapidly through the air ; this is -supposed to be an elec-
trical phenomenon, as it takes place when the air is in a
state of electric excitement.

Stones called deroliths sometimes fall from the at-
mosphere, concerning which there are various opinions,

* Myriads of Meteors have appeared within these few years at
stated periods, viz. on the 12th and 13th of November, which have
illuminated the heavens for hours ; sometimes apparently of the size
of Venus, Jupiter, and even of the full moon ; these are not only
visible to particular places, but have been seen nearly over the whole
of America and Europe, and also on the Red Sea.

METEOROLOGY. r>/

although it seems not improbable that they are impelled
from the lunar volcanoes. There are records of more
than 30O instances of Aeroliths of all sizes, from a few
ounces to some hundreds of pounds weight, falling in
different parts of the earth. They strike the earth
obliquely with a great force, penetrating it to a consi-
derable depth. An Aerolith of fifty-six pounds weight
fell in Yorkshire in 1795. Immense masses of iron of
a meteoric nature have been found in different parts of
the earth ; from a portion of a mass which was found
near the Cape of Good Hope, a sword was some years
since manufactured and presented to Alexander, the late
Emperor of Russia, by Mr. Sowerby, a gentleman then
well known in the scientific world, but since deceased.

One of the most beautiful meteoric appearances is the
Aurora Borealis, which, though rarely seen in our lati-
tude, is a constant visitor of the Arctic regions : some-
times covering the whole heavens, and eclipsing by its
splendour the stars and planets. The Aurora Borealis
is often accompanied with a rustling snapping noise, and
its appearance has been described as terrifically grand.
There have been various opinions relative to the cause
of this phenomenon, but it is generally ascribed to the
combustion of inflammable air by means of electricity ;
although, from recent observations of the polar voyagers,
it appears to be in some way connected with the mag-
netism of the earth.

The Ignis Futuus, or Jack with a Lantern, is a meteor
that is often seen in marshy places, and is supposed to
be of the nature of phosphuretted hydrogen gas. This
meteor is never seen on hills or other elevated places,
because they do not sufficiently abound with moisture
to produce this gas.

When the air is put into motion through any cause, it
becomes Wind. The principal cause of Wind is the
rarefaction of the air through heat ; the rarefied air
ascending, the unrarefied rushes in to supply its place.
Evaporation is another cause of Wind, by producing an
increase of volume in the atmosphere ; and Rain is con-
sidered a third cause. Although the Wind in our climate
is considered very changeable and uncertain, yet even in
D 5

58 ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM.

England there is a degree of regularity, for the easterly
wind usually prevails from about the Vernal Equinox to
somewhat beyond the Summer Solstice, and then the
westerly wind prevails for the remainder of the year.
This is of course subject to exceptions. Within the
tropics a very great regularity in the wind prevails ; it
blows at various places, for six months in one direction,
and six months in the opposite direction, throughout the
year. The velocity of the wind varies from one mile in
an hour to 100 miles ; from a scarcely perceptible breath
to a terrific hurricane.

A most exceedingly rapid and impetuous wind moving
in a spiral manner, called a Whirlwind, sometimes takes
place. This usually occurs after very hot weather, and
in the warmer climates, and has by some been attributed
to a stream of elastic matter rushing violently out of the
earth. Whirlwinds and Water-spouts most probably
arise from the like cause, which is intimately connected
with Electricity.

The following are the principal instruments \ised in
Meteorology. The Anemometer, which measures the force
of the wind ; the Atmometer, — the quantity of water
evaporated in a given time 5 the Barometer, — the weight,
or pressure of the air; the Cyanometer, — the intensity
of the blue colour in the atmosphere j the Drosometer, —
the quantity of dew that falls ; the Eudiometer, — the
pureness of the air ; the Hygrometer, — the humidity of
the air ; the Ombrometer, — the quantity of rain that falls ;
and the Thermometer, — the temperature of the air.

ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM.

Origin of Electricity — Electrics— Conductors or Non-electrics — Mode of exciting
Electricity — Electric Machine and Apparatus described — Electric Battery —
Electrophorus— Electrometer— Electricity identified with Lightning— Para-
tonneres or Conductors — Electric Fish — Galvanism or Voltaic Electricity —
Voltaic Pile described — Galvanic Excitement of the Body, &c. &c.

THE origin of the science of Electricity may be traced
to Thales the Milesian, who flourished about COO years
before the Christian era, and was particularly celebrated
for his improvements in the different sciences. He first

ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM. 58

discovered the attractive power of amber ; and as the
Greek name for amber is electron, this science thence
obtained the name of Electricity.

Although it was soon discovered that other substances
besides amber possess an attractive power, yet so little
attention was paid to the subject, that it was not until
the last century that electricity could be deemed a science.

From its having been found that only certain sub-
stances could be excited- so as to produce electric effects,
these substances were called electrics ; and as those sub-
stances which cannot be excited have the property of
transmitting the electric excitement, they received the
name of conductors ; so that conductors are non-electrics,
and electrics are non-conductors.*

The principal electrics are glass, resinous substances,
silk, hair, feathers, baked wood, and atmospheric air.
The principal conductors are the metals and fluids, living
animals and vegetables, most of the earths and stones.

The usual mode of exciting electricity is by friction.
The process of heating will sometimes produce electricity,
but heating may be considered a species of friction.

It may be naturally asked, what is electricity? In
reply, no satisfactory answer can be given. By some it
is considered a fluid sui generis ; by others a peculiar
affection of the surfaces of bodies. Electricity is identi-
fied with lightning, but it is only from the results pro-
duced by it that its existence is known. f

As the effects of electricity appeared to differ by the
excitement of different substances — of glass and sealing-
wax, for instance — some philosophers imagined that
there were two different kinds of electricity, and these
they distinguished by the terms vitreous and resinous.
Others supposed there to be but one kind of electricity,
the difference in the effects being caused by the substance
excited possessing more or less than its natural share.

* Although all bodies are considered to belong to one or other of
these classes, there are none that are either perfect conductors or per-
fect electrics ; also many conductors may be made to be electrics, and
many electrics to be conductors.

t Sir Richard Phillips imagines electricity to be an affection of the
air, or medium intervening between the surfaces of bodies.

60 ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM.

The former they called positive electricity, the latter
negative. If a glass tube or ruler be excited by friction,
it will attract light bodies, as pith or feathers ; also if a
stick of sealing-wax be similarly excited, it will attract in
a similar manner. Here different causes conspire to
produce the like effects. According to the former theory,
which is known by the name of the theory of Du Fay,
although the two fluids exist in bodies in a state of inti-
mate union, yet, when separated, they become repulsive
with regard to themselves, and attractive of each other.
Thus the friction of the glass tube will separate the fluids,
and the vitreous electricity will attach itself to the glass,
which becomes attractive in order to restore the equili-
brium j or rather the vitreous electricity of the glass attracts
the resinous of the body, and at the same time carries the
body with it. According to the latter, which is called
the Franklinian theory, and which assumes that there
is but one kind of fluid, and that all bodies continue in
an electrified state as long as they retain a natural share
of it ; but, when the equilibrium is disturbed, as when
the electric is excited by friction, the electricity becomes
conveyed either from the rubber to the electric, or from
the electric to the rubber, according to the peculiar na-
ture of the electric employed. In the former case, the
electric is said to have a positive excitement, and will
attract light bodies in order to throw off its superabund-
ance of electricity ; in the latter it is said to have a negative
excitement, and will attract for the purpose of obtaining
its natural share. Philosophers of the present day still
continue divided as to the nature of electricity, and its
mode of action, some following the theory of Du Fay,
and some that of Franklin.

Although writers on this subject generally state that
there are two kinds of electricity, yet it appears that
either kind may in some instances be produced from the
same body, by varying the nature of the rubber. Thus
sealing-wax excited by fur becomes negatively electrified ;
but excited by tinfoil, it will be positively electrified.

To exhibit the most striking and important phenomena
of electricity, it is necessary to have an extensive appa-
ratus, which, in a work like the present, it is impossible

ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM. 61

to describe minutely. The principal article of the elec-
trical apparatus is that which is usually called the Elec-
trical Machine. A brief description of that used at the
present day is here subjoined.

An Electric Machine consists of a glass cylinder or
plate, turned by a winch, and so contrived, that as it is
made to revolve, it rubs against a cushion, by which
means the glass is excited. An instrument called the
prime conductor, generally made of metal, and without
points or corners in itself, but having a piece of iron, of
several points, inserted at one end (points attracting the
fluid much more readily than knobs), and the whole be-
ing insulated by means of a glass stand, is placed very
near the cylinder or plate, and attracts the electricity to
itself as it is excited. On presenting a knob of brass,
the knuckle, or any other round conductor, to the prime
conductor, at the distance of about an inch, a spark will
issue, accompanied with a snapping noise ; if a point be
presented, the electricity will be abstracted silently, and
the point will in the dark have the appearance of a star.
A glass jar, coated on both sides with tinfoil to within
about two inches of its top, called the Leyden Jar, is con-
nected to the prime conductor by means of a chain com-
municating with a wire or chain which passes to the
bottom of the jar. The use of the Leyden jar is to col-
lect the fluid which is conducted into it through the prime
conductor, as it is excited by the friction of the cylinder.
A jar charged in this manner has a redundancy of the
fluid in the inside ;* then if a knuckle or any other round
conductor not insulated be presented to the tinfoil coating
on the outside, and a knuckle of the other hand, or any
other un-insulated conductor be presented to the knob of
the wire at the top of the jar which communicates with the
tinfoil coating in the inside, a sudden contraction of the
muscles, called a shock, will be experienced, accompanied
with a flash of light. The cause of the shock is the sud-
den rush of the electricity from the inside to the outside
of the jar, in order to obtain its equilibrium. Jf the jar

* According to the Franklinian theory, electrics always contain an
equal quantity of this fluid ; so that there can be no surcharge on one
side without a proportional decrease on the other.

62. ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM.

had been discharged by points, instead of knobs, there
would have been no shock; as the rush would not have
been so sudden. If a jar be held to the negative conductor,
or that part of the machine to which the cushion is
usually attached, the conductor being insulated, by turn-
ing the winch, the electricity will be abstracted from the
jar, and it will then be said to be charged negatively ;
when, by applying the knuckle as before, a similar shocfc:
will be experienced by the electric fluid rushing from the
outside to the inside of the jar. Sometimes a number of
jars are connected, called a battery, a shock from which,
well charged, has been made to kill a large dog. There
are numerous amusing and instructive experiments
which may be performed by an electrical machine* and
proper apparatus, which are described in works that
treat expressly on this science.

The Electropliorus, an instrument invented by M. Volta,
of Coma, in Italy, must not be passed by without notice.
This instrument consists of two circular plates, one of
which is made either of glass coated with sealingwax, or
it is a composition of resinous substances without glass,
but it must neither have points nor projections of any
kind. The other plate may be of brass, or even tin,
or it may be a common board of about a quarter of an
inch thick, coated with tinfoil, having a glass handle in
the centre. The first-named plate must be well rubbed
either with new flannel quite warm, or with prepared fur,
or it may be well beaten with a fox's tail, it will then be-
come negatively electrified ; place the other plate upon it,

* A very cheap and simple apparatus, capable of giving a consi-
derable shock, may be made as follows : — Take a six or eight ounce
phial, and having filled it about two-thirds with brass filings or turnings,
fix into it a cork, having a brass wire, with a knob at the end, inserted
in it, taking care that the extremity of the wire, or a small chain
attached to it, may reach the filings. Then procure a satin ribbon of
about a yard in length, and varnish it well on both sides ; also a piece
of prepared fur, so contrived as to fasten round the finger and thumb
of the left hand ; when, by drawing the ribbon through the finger and
thumb, it will become excited, and by placing the phial in such a
position that the knob may be touched by the ribbon, while made to
pass through the fingers, the electricity will be conveyed to the phial,
which, after the operation has been repeated eight or ten times, will
be sufficiently charged.

ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM. 63

using the glass handle, and touch the outside of the plate
with the finger, then if the outside plate be raised by
the handle, it will be found to be electrified, but with a
contrary electricity to the other, and will give a spark to
the knuckle, or any other conductor presented to it. By
replacing the plate, touching it with the finger, and rais-
ing it by the handle, as before, it will be again electrified,
and by this means a small coated phial may be charged.
The same phenomenon may be exhibited repeatedly
without any fresh excitement of the electric plate : when
the electric has been well excited, it has been known to
continue so for several weeks. Its action is said to be
caused through the principle of an excited electric re-
pelling the electricity of another body, and giving it a
contrary electricity. Thus the outside plate being
touched by a conductor when in contact with the under
plate which is negatively electrified, it acquires an addi-
tional quantity from the conductor ; but if it were in
contact with a plate electrified positively, it would part
with its electricity to the conductor.

The quantity of electricity in any body is measured by
an instrument called an Electrometer. This may consist
of a pair of pith-balls or pieces of gold-leaf suspended
by a thread, and by diverging or collapsing, it will indi-
cate the degree and quality of the excited body.

It has been already stated that electricity is of the
same nature as lightning. Franklin was the first who
proved this ; for by means of a kite he drew the electric
fluid from the clouds, and found it by experiment to
produce the like results. In speaking cf lightning, it may
be observed that instruments called Paratonneres or Con-
ductors are used for the purpose of preventing the dread-
ful effects sometimes produced by this most destructive
element on ships and buildings.

A conductor, when used to protect a building, generally
consists of a copper rod, pointed with iron at the top,
and so fixed that its extremity may be at some distance
above the highest point of the edifice, and connected
by a wire with the ground at some distance from its
foundation, \vhen, in the event of a storm of lightning,
the fluid will probably (if within its range) be attracted

64 ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM.

by the point, and conveyed to the ground, without any
mischievous effects.

Electricity has been used as a medical agent, and with
very beneficial results, its effect being to rouse into action
any dormant condition of the muscles.

There are certain fishes that have the property of giv-
ing electrical shocks ; these are the torpedo, the gymnotus
electricus, and the silurus electricus. The shock given by
the gymnotus electricus, or electrical eel, is particularly
violent ; fishes are killed by it instantly, and occasionally
much larger and more powerful animals.

An Italian professor of philosophy, named Galvani,
accidentally discovered, at the latter end of the last
century, that the action of electricity on the limbs of a
frog caused them to contract. As this action took place
in a cold-blooded animal, it was called by Galvani animal
electricity, he considering it a property of living matter,
and imagining that these contractions were caused by
something in the nerves and muscles of the animal.
Soon after he discovered that a similar effect might be
produced without any visible electrical agent, but by
the mere action of metallic substances of different kinds.
Volta, another eminent Italian professor at the beginning
of the present century, applied himself to the investiga-
tion of this subject ; but instead of supposing that the
electricity belonged to the animal, he attributed it to the
metals, and therefore concluded that by increasing their
number he should in like proportion increase their effect.
He therefore repeated the experiments of Galvani, and
found that when two pieces of metal of different kinds
were placed in different parts of an animal, and these
metals were brought into contact, or were connected by
a metallic arc, contraction ensued, and that as often as
the contact between them took place. He also found
that the best metals for the purpose were zinc and
silver, and that the effect was increased in proportion
to the number of pairs used, each pair being separated
by means of moistened cloth. A series of plates of this
nature is called the Voltaic Pile, and by its means various
chemical discoveries have been made ; in honour, there-
fore, of Volta, this science has received the name of

ELECTRICITY AND GALVANISM. 65

Voltaic Electricity, and the term Galvanism is confined to
that part of the subject which relates to animal motion.

A Voltaic pile, capable of giving a pretty smart shock,
may be made as follows : — Procure 30 or 40 pieces of
copper of the size of a penny piece, a penny piece will
do, (copper has been found to answer the purpose nearly
as well as silver), as many pieces of zinc of the same
size, and as many pieces of cloth or leather, rather less
in diameter than the metallic plates. Having soaked the
cloth or leather in a sohition of sal ammoniac, and
squeezed them out, erect the pile in the following order :
first, a piece of zinc, on this a piece of copper, and again
on this a piece of the moistened cloth ; continue to do
this until the pile is completed, and then by touching
the top and bottom of the pile with moistened fingers,
a shock will be perceived, and will be repeated as often
as the fingers are applied. By connecting several of
these piles by wires, taking care that each pile com-
mences with the contrary metal to that with which the
other is terminated, the effect will be proportionately
increased ; water may be decomposed, and other che-
mical truths developed.

An improvement in the Voltaic pile was made by an
Englishman named Cniickshanks, \vho soldered together
the zinc and copper plates, and cemented them into
grooves in a mahogany trough. The cells between the
metals he filled with a mixture of some mineral acid and
water.* This arrangement was found not only much
more convenient, but it also increased the intensity of
the shock. A combination of these troughs, called a
Galvanic battery, has been found to produce the most
astonishing effects, burning and reducing to vapour the
firmest and most compact bodies in nature. The cause
of this action is attributed to the metals being of differ-
ent electricities ; thus zinc is said to possess a positite
electricity, and silver and copper a negative electricity.

There are various experiments in order to produce a
Galvanic excitement of the human body ; for instance,

* A weak mixture of nitric and sulphuric acid and water is now
generally used for this purpose.

66

MECHANICAL POWERS.

if a plate of silver, as a halfcrown, be placed upon the
tongue, and a plate of zinc, of about the same size, be
placed under the tongue, on bringing the edges of the
metals into contact, a sharp and singular taste will be
experienced. If the zinc be placed beneath the tongue,
and the silver between the lips and gums, near the eye-
tooth, and the two metals be brought into contact, a
distinct flash of light will be visible.*

Various facts in common life are explained by Galvan-
ism. The superior flavour of porter when drunk from a
pewter pot has been attributed to this action, the pewter
being a mixture of two different metals ; as also snuff
having a different flavour when taken from a tin box in
which part of the iron has become exposed, from that
which it has when in contact with tin alone.

Electricity and Voltaism are probably the most inte-
resting of all the sciences, from the numerous and
splendid experiments which may be performed by their
means, as also from their intimate connexion with the
various operations of nature ; t yet* notwithstanding
the most unwearied investigations of men of the high-
est science and talent, much yet remains undiscovered
and unknown.

MECHANICAL POWERS.

Origin and advantage of Mechanical Powers— The different kinds of Levers-
Wheel and Axle— Pulley— Inclined Plane— Wedge and Screw, each explained,
with the principle of its action — Examples, &c. &c.

THE Mechanical Powers are engines used for raising
great weights, moving heavy bodies, &c., without the aid

* This is caused by the irritation of the optic nerve, in a manner
similar to that produced by a blow on the eye.

f At the meeting of the British Association, held a few years since
at Bristol, Mr. Crosse, of Broomfield, Somerset, stated that he had
kept the Voltaic power in force for twelve months by water alone. He
had obtained water from a crystallized cave, and by the action of the
Voltaic Battery he had produced from that water numerous rhomboidal
crystals resembling those of the cave. He had also obtained carbon-
ates of copper, phosphate of soda, and 20 or 30 other specimens ; and
imagined that diamond itself might be produced by Voltaic action.

MECHANICAL POWERS. 67

of which many stupendous erections, as massive statues,
lofty buildings, and various similar works of art, could
not have been effected. Man, in the early stage of
society, may be supposed to have soon discovered his
weakness, and to have directed his attention to the
attainment of artificial aid. It is natural to suppose that
the Lever would be the first power of which he availed
himself, as it is the most simple, and it is also that on
which all the other mechanical powers depend.

The Mechanical Powers are six in number; viz., the
Lever, the Wheel and Axle, the Pulley, the Inclined
Plane, the H'edge, and the Screw : in the various com-
binations of these, all machines exist.

The Lever is chiefly used to raise heavy weights to
small heights, as a handspike or crow, and is divided
into three kinds. A lever of the first kind, is when the
weight to be raised is at one end and the power at the
other, and the fulcrum, or prop, is between the two.
Thus, if a man be required to raise or remove a heavy
log of wood, he will thrust a handspike, or any similar
instrument, under the wood, and by placing another
piece of wood or stone as a fulcrum under the handspike,
and pressing down at the further end, he will probably
effect his purpose. If the log to be raised be Jive
hundred weight, and he can press with the force of one
hundred weight, he will be able to raise it by placing a
lever sir feet long over a fulcrum at one foot from the
weight to be raised, and pressing with the above-named
weight at the other end. For, as the distance of the
iceight from the fulcrum is to the distance from the ful-
crum to the power, so is the force applied to the effect
produced.

It is a general rule in mechanics that what is gained
in power is lost in time ; so in the above there will be a
gain of power in proportion of Jive to one, but then the
hand of the operator will go over a space^u'e times that
of the log. The steelyard, used in weighing hay, meat,
and other things, is a lever of this kind. Pincers, snuff-
ers, scissors, &c., are also compound levers of this kind,
the joint round which they move being the fulcrum.

A Lever of the second kind is when the fulcrum is at

68 MECHANICAL POWERS.

one end, the power at the other end, and the weight to
be raised between the two. This is exemplified by a man
drawing a plug ; he thrusts the end of the handspike
through the ring, and resting it on the ground, he ele-
vates the end he holds, and thus draws the plug. The
advantage gained is in the same proportion as in the
former lever. Cutting-knives used by patten-makers,
doors, oars of a boat, the rudder of a vessel, &c., are
levers of this kind. A pair of bellows is a compound
lever of the second kind. This lever shows how two
men carrying a weight on a pole, as brewers' men do a
cask, or chairmen a sedan-chair, may bear an unequal
proportion of the weight. If the weight be exactly in
the middle of the two, each will support an equal share of
the burden ; but if it be nearer the one than the other,
he to whom it is nearest will have the heaviest weight,
and that in inverse proportion to his distance from it,
as compared with that of the other man.

The third kind of lever is when the power is between
the fulcrum and the weight. A ladder raised by a man
against a wall is a lerer of this kind, and so is the human
arm, and the limbs of animals generally. In this kind
of lever there is a loss of power in proportion to the dis-
tance between the power and the fulcrum, compared with
the distance between the power and the weight. The
muscles of the human arm for this reason exert a force
of one hundred pounds to raise a weight of ten pounds,
the distance from the acting muscles to the elbow being
about one-tenth of the distance from the muscles to the
hand. The disadvantage is here made up by the com-
pactness and convenience of the motion, the muscles
being sufficiently powerful to produce the effect required.

The Wheel and Axle consist of a wheel fixed to the
end of an axle, so that they both turn round together.
This power is sometimes named the perpetual lever, it
being in reality a lever on whose arms the power and
weight may always act perpendicularly, although the
lever turns round its fulcrum. Cranes are of this nature;
church-bells are moved by the wheel and axle, as also
are the helms of ships. The advantage gained is as the
diameter or circumference of the wheel is to the diameter

MECHANICAL POWERS. 69

or circumference of the axle : thus, if the diameter of
the axle be one foot, and that of the wheel be ten feet, a
man with a force of one hundred weight will be able to
raise ten hundred weight.

The Pulley is a small wheel turning on an axis with
a rope passing over it. In a singleyfaed pulley there is
no advantage except convenience ; for, as the weight is
at one end of the rope and the power at the other, a
person will be able to use only his weight in raising a
body, and not his strength. As no advantage is ob-
tained, this cannot be correctly said to be a mechanical
power. In a single moveable pulley the advantage is as
tu-o to one. In a system of pulleys the advantage is found
by multiplying the number of moveable pulleys by two.

The Inclined Plane is usually made by a plank laid
aslope, by means of which a heavy body may be easily
raised or lowered. The advantage obtained in the in-
clined plane is as the length of the plane is to its height :
thus, if a person who can use a force of one hundred
weight has to raise a weight of ten hundred weight one
foot, he can effect it by means of a plank ten feet long,
but the body will have to travel over ten times the space.
A body moving down an inclined plane acquires the same
velocity as in falling perpendicularly through the height
of the plane, and its rate of moving is in proportion to
the square of the time : thus, it moves/our times as far
in two seconds as in one. The Chisel, the Adze, and
similar instruments, are referred to this power.

The fl'edge may be considered a double inclined plane,
and is useful in cleaving blocks of wood and stone. The
advantage gained by the wedge is as the thickness of
the back is to the length of the two sides. The \\edge
possesses a great superiority over the other mechanical
powers, as it is capable of being impelled by percussion,
so that by the simple blow of a heavy mallet an immense
resistance may be overcome. To the wedge may be
referred the Axe, the Spade, Knives, Needles, and all
sorts of instruments which begin from edges or points,
and become gradually thicker as they lengthen. Birds
flying are of a wedge-like shape, and so are Fish swim-
ming, for the purpose of cleaving their respective ele-

70 MECHANICAL POWERS.

ments. The ancients occasionally drew up their armies
in the shape of a wedge, in order to break the line of
their opponents.

The Screw is a kind of inclined plane wound round a
cylinder, the power of which is increased by a handle or
lever. The uses to which the screw is applied are various;
bodies are pressed together by it, as with the common
table cloth and napkin press, the bookbinder's press, &c.
The screw is also sometimes used to raise the parts of a
building that may have settled or sunk, through the
foundation giving way ; and if the material be sufficiently
strong, one man with a good leverage may raise an im-
mense weight. The power gained by the screw is as the
circumference made by the moving power is to the dis-
tance between the threads of the screw : thus, if the
distance between the threads of the screw be half an
inch, and the lever used be three feet, the circumference
made by the moving power will be eighteen feet, or '216
inches. The advantage obtained will then be as 216 are
to one-half, or as 432 to one, so that a man who can push
with the force of a hundred weight may produce a power
(setting friction aside) nearly equal to 22 tons.

In the screw and the wedge there is a very great fric-
tion to overcome, independent of the weight, sometimes
as much as nearly amounts to the weight raised ; but
then the friction is of use to retain the weight and the
machine in their places after the power is removed. If
machines could be made without friction, the least de-
gree of power beyond that which balances the weight,
would be sufficient, to raise it.

In the lever, the friction is very little, as also in the
wheel and axle; in pulleys it is very considerable, and in
the inclined plane, wedge, and screw, it is very great. In
machines in general one-fourth, and sometimes one-third,
is allowed for friction. Mr. Wyatt considers one-fourth
lost in a steam-engine by friction. In pulleys, friction
may be reduced one-half by grease. The least friction
is produced when polished iron moves on brass.

The mechanical arts are of the greatest importance to
mankind, and the extent to which machinery has been
carried is truly wonderful. It is by a skilful combination

GASEOUS BODIES. 71

of the mechanical powers that such astonishing effects
are produced, as are witnessed in the manufactory of
different articles, and which have raised England so
much above other nations. At Stroud, in Gloucester-
shire, there is a machine which will make 19 millions of
pins in a week. Brunei's block machine will make 1420
blocks in a day ; and his saw-mill at Chatham, with the
assistance of 10 or 12 persons, will perform the labour
of 50 saw-pits : it takes the timber from the vessels, and
delivers the sawn planks to the stacks. At Weovil, near
Portsmouth, eight men and two boys will manufacture in
one hour and a half, by means of machinery, ninety hun-
dred-weight of biscuits. The advantage obtained in
spinning, weaving, &c., are equally wonderful and ef-
fective.

GASEOUS BODIES.

Nature of Gaseous Bodies—Component parts of Atmospheric Air — Oxygen —
Nitrogen and Carbonic Acid Gas — Peculiar properties of each — How obtained
for experiment, Sec. — Component parts of Water— Oxygen and Hydrogen —

• Properties of Hydrogen, &c. &c. — Carburetted Hydrogen— Sulphuretted Hy-
drogen— Phosphuretted Hydrogen — Chlorine — Nitrous Oxide, or Laughinsr
Gas — Their properties — How obtained for experiment, &c.

A GASEOUS body is an elastic, transparent, and per-
manently aeriform fluid. All gases are said, chemically,
to be a compound of solid matter and caloric -, the caloric
by its repulsive action separating the particles of the
solid, and giving it a gaseous form. The difference be-
tween gas, and vapour or steam, consists in the former
constantly retaining its aeriform state, while the latter
will return to a fluid or solid state when the caloric is
abstracted. The affinity between the caloric and the
base of the gas is so intense, as to resist any means of
separating them, and the gas is consequently rendered
perfectly aeriform.* As the kinds of gases are so nu-
merous, it is intended here to notice the most important
of this class of bodies, of which those that enter into the

* This is to be understood in a general sense, as many of the gases
have been condensed to a liquid state.

72 GASEOUS BODIES.

composition of atmospheric air and water claim the chief
consideration.

The atmosphere, as has been already observed,* is a
mixture of three gases, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic
acid gas.

Oxygen takes its name from a Greek word, and"literally
means a generator of acidity, from the fact of acids being
generally a combination of oxygen with a base. Oxy-
gen gas is an invisible fluid, without taste or colour, and
capable of expansion and compression, similar to at-
mospheric air. It is a supporter of life and light ; for it
has been found, by experiment, that an animal will die,
and light will become extinguished, when the atmosphere
is deprived of its oxygen ; even fruit will not ripen in an
atmosphere deprived of oxygen. In the process of respi-
ration the oxygen, as it passes through the lungs, com-
bines with the blood, which it changes from a purple to
a red colour, and renders it a stimulus to the action of
the heart and arteries, and is the cause of animal heat.
Oxygen combines with all combustible bodies, disengag-
ing at the same time its caloric, and producing a strong
light and flame. It also combines with metals, which
act of combination is called oxidizement; the oxide,
therefore, or rust of any metal, is the metal combined
with oxygen, and it may be observed that the greatest
number, if not all such combinations, with the exception
of the oxide of iron, are highly poisonous. The specific
gravity of oxygen is somewhat greater than that of at-
mospheric air.

Oxygen maybe obtained for experiment in many ways ;
the more general way is from the black oxide of manga-
nese. The manganese is powdered coarsely, and put
into an iron or stone retort, and heated to redness, when
the gas will come off, and may be collected over water in
a gasometer or other receiver. If the magnanese be
mixed with sulphuric acid until it becomes a thin paste,
the heat of a lamp will be sufficient to disengage it. It
may be also obtained in a very pure state from the
chlorate of potash. Vegetables are found to give out

* See article Pneumatics,

GASEOUS BODIES. 73

oxygen gas in the day-time, undoubtedly a design of
Providence to renovate the atmosphere, and form a sup-
ply for that fixed by respiration and combustion. Oxygen
never exists in a separate state, it is always in a gaseous
form, or in combination with other substances.

Nitrogen gas, or Azote, will neither support flame nor
animal life. It has neither taste nor smell, and its specific
gravity is somewhat less than that of atmospheric air. It
may be obtained from atmospheric air, by abstracting
its oxygen, which may be effected by burning phosphorus
in a jar, inverted over water ; the oxygen will unite with
the phosphorus and form phosphoric acid, while the
nitrogen will remain. If an equal quantity of iron filings
and sulphur be made into a paste with water, and put
into a vessel over water, as on the stand of a pneumatic
trough, and ajar of common air be inverted over it, in
a day or two the mixture will hava imbibed the oxygen,
which may be seen by the water rising in the jar, when
the remainder will be nitrogen. It may be also obtained
from the lean of meat, particularly beef, by pouring over
it, in a retort, very diluted nitric acid : the heat of a
lamp will disengage the gas, which may be collected over
water. Nitrogen, like oxygen, is never in a separate state,
but always in combination : it combines with hydrogen,
and forms ammonia ; it combines with oxygen in various
proportions, and forms different acids, as nitric acid,
&c. ; it also enters into several other combinations.

Carbonic add gas, similar to nitrogen, will neither
support life nor flame ; if attempted to be but slightly
breathed, it produces so violent a constriction of the
glottis as to threaten suffocation ; it is called choke-damp
by miners, who are frequently suffocated by it. Its
' specific gravity is considerably greater than that of at-
mospheric air, it consequently occupies the lower part of
caverns and mines. The Grotto del Cano, a cavern in
the kingdom of Naples, has been celebrated for ages for
a stratum of this gas covering its bottom ; so that if a
dog, or any animal which holds its head down, enters
the cavern, it becomes suffocated, while a man will not
feel it. In consequence of its weight it may be poured
out of one vessel into another ; so that if a taper be placed

74 GASEOUS BODIES.

at the bottom of a deep vessel, and a small quantity of
this gas be poured upon it, it will become extinguished,
although from the transparency of the gas the eye will
not perceive it. This gas is given out in large quantities
during the process of fermentation ; the bubbles which
are thrown up from beer recently brewed contain this
gas. In several instances, men that have been employed
to clean out large vats in breweries, when emptied of
their contents, have been suffocated, by entering them
without having taken the proper precaution. It is usual
to let down a candle, when, if the candle burns, it is
considered respirable ; the same precaution is generally
taken before descending a well, which, if carried through
a chalky soil, is very likely to be charged with carbonic
acid gas. Champagne and cider owe their sparkling
qualities to this gas, and so do all fermented liquors.
Bottled porter contains it in large quantities. Water
contains a small quantity of it naturally, but by means
of a forcing pump it may be made to absorb two or three
times its bulk. Soda-water is water impregnated with
it, and that very grateful beverage, ginger-beer, is in-
debted to it for its briskness and pleasant taste. Carbonic
acid gas is considered to possess much utility in pro-
moting vegetation. It is probably decomposed by the
organs of plants, and its base furnishes the carbon which
they retain while they give out the oxygen. Carbonic
acid gas abounds in the mineral world : chalk, or car-
bonate of lime, marble, spars, and other calcareous
substances, contain nearly one -half of their weight of it.
It may be extricated from either of these bodies by heat,
heat being the grand antagonist to affinities of all kinds.
In the process of making lime, for instance, the carbonic
acid gas is driven off from the limestone (carbonate of
lime) in the kiln, leaving the lime uncombined. Carbonic
acid gas may be best obtained for experiment from car-
bonate of ammonia, by putting a small quantity of it
into a glass retort, and applying the heat of a lamp ; the
carbonate of ammonia then becomes decomposed, the
water imbibes the ammonia,* and allows the carbonic
acid gas to escape.

* This is called the Volatile alkali, and exists, when uncombined,

GASEOUS BODIES. 75

It may be observed that while oxygen is in many in-
stances so beneficial to the lungs and revivifying, and in
combination is so injurious to the stomach and system ;
carbonic acid gas produces death, if attempted to be
breathed, while some of its compounds, as the carbon-
ates of potash, of magnesia, of ammonia, &c., are occa-
sionally most beneficial to the system.

This gas * very strongly resists putrefaction, so that
meat has been kept in it for years without becoming
even tainted.

Water is a compound of Oxygen and Hydrogen, con-
sisting of about 85 parts by weight of the former, and
15 of the latter, or of about one part by measure of the
former, and two parts of the latter.

Hydrogen, like oxygen, takes its name from a Greek
word, and implies a generator of water ; it is only known
in a gaseous form, or in combination with other bodies.
Hydrogen, when in an aerial state, or hydrogen gas, is
the lightest of all known substances, being fourteen times
lighter than common air. From its extreme buoyancy,
aeronauts formerly used it to fill their balloons ; but from
the facility with which coal-gas is obtained, the latter is
now generally used, though not so buoyant.

Hydrogen gas will not support life, as animals, when
obliged to breathe in it, die almost instantaneously ; nei-
ther will it support flame, as a burning body is instantly
extinguished when immersed in it, but when in contact

in a state of gas. Ammoniacal gas is of a very volatile natare, has an
extremely pungent smell, and will neither support life nor flame.
When combined with water, for which it has a great affinity, it forms
liquid ammonia, and in this state it is used in our manufactories, and
in medicine. Animal and vegetable substances in a state of putre-
faction give out this gas ; it may be procured by the distillation of
bones, and also from the gas-works. Ammonia forms various com-
binations ; it combines with muriatic acid gas, and forms muriate of
ammonia or sal ammoniac, a substance much employed by dyers,
braziers, and others, as well as in medicine. It was from this sub-
stance— sal ammoniac— being dug out of the earth near the temple of
Jupiter Ammon, that it received its name.

* Charcoal also, which has carbon for its base, is noted for its
antiseptive properties. For this reason vessels are charred which are
intended to contain water in sea voyages. Meat, also, slightly tainted,
.»ay, by the application of charcoal, be almost instantly made sweet,
E 2

76 GASEOUS BODIES.

with atmospheric air or oxygen, it is highly inflammable.
A mixture of two parts by measure of hydrogen with one
part of oxygen will explode most violently if ignited, and
a small jet of it in a state of ignition produces a most
powerful heat,* causing steel and platinum to melt in-
stantly like wax. A jet of this gas, ignited on lime,
produces that intense light called Drummond's Signal
Light, and is that by which objects seen in the bxy-hy-
drogen microscope are illuminated.

Hydrogen gas is frequently found combined with car-
bon in mines and coal-pits, and is by the miners called
fire-damp. It sometimes generates very suddenly, when,
on the introduction of a light, an explosion takes place,
producing the most fatal effects. Sir Humphry Davy, in
order to prevent the dreadful results above alluded to,
invented some years since a lamp called a safety -lamp,
which miners may use without risk. The safety-lamp
is a lamp surrounded with fine wire gauze, and is so
formed through the fact that flame will not pass through
small apertures in metallic substances. A stream of
hydrogen gas from a small orifice made to fall upon a
piece of spongy platinum will render the platinum red
hot, and ignite the gas.

Hydrogen gas is easily obtained for experiment by
pouring a mixture of one part of sulphuric acid with four
or Jive parts of water, over iron filings, or, what is much
better, over granulated zinc in a retort ; by the action
of the acid the water becomes decomposed, the oxygen
unites with the metal and forms an oxide, while the hy-
drogen escapes. This gas, in combination with carbon,
similar to the Jire-damp above named, may be obtained
in great abundance in the summer time from ditches or
other stagnant water, by inverting a vessel filled with
water, and stirring up the bottom of the ditch with a
stick, when large bubbles will rise, which may be caught
in the vessel.

Hydrogen is abundantly distributed in nature, form-

* A jet of oxygen gas, made to pass through the flame of a spirit
lamp, will produce nearly the same effect ; alcohol being almost pure
hydrogen.

GASEOUS BODIES. 77

ing one of the ingredients of all oils, fat, bitumen, tec.,
while carbon forms the other. Hydrogen gas unites
with several other substances, forming compounds, as
carburetted hydrogen,* sulphuretted hydrogen, f phos-
phuretted hydrogen 4 and others, being severally carbon ,
sulphur, and phosphorus, in union with hydrogen gas.

There are one or two other gases, which it is intended
to notice, on account of their peculiar nature and strik-
ing qualities.

The first of these is Chlorine, which takes its name
from its colour — a greenish yellow. It possesses the pe-
culiar property of supporting combustion, while it will
not support life. If attempted to be respired, it produces
a sense of strangulation, with a violent coughing and
spitting of blood, yet in contagious diseases, as the
typhus fever, cholera, &c., fumigations of this gas§ will
destroy the contagion, and very generally preserve
health. "Water readily combines with chlorine, and ac-
quires the property of discharging the colours of printed
linens and muslins. If any of the metals in powder or
leaves, as antimony, Dutch metal, gold-leaf, &c., be
thrown into a vessel filled with this gas, they will in-
stantly ignite.

Chlorine is made for experiment as follows : — Mis

• Common coal gas is carbnretted hydrogen gas, and its brilliancy
is produced by the carbon. It may be made in a pure way by mixing
one part of alcohol or spirits of wine with_/o«r parts of sulphuric acid,
and subjecting the mixture to the heat of a lamp in a glass retort.
This is also called the Olefiant gas.

t It is sulphuretted hydrogen gas which escapes from drains, and
is of a very poisonous nature, even when much diluted with atmos-
pheric air. A dog would die speedily in an atmosphere containing
one part in 800 of this gas, and a horse in an atmosphere containing
one part in 250.

J Phosphuretted hydrogen gas is the most combustible body
known ; it ignites spontaneously in atmospheric air. It may be made
by putting some small bits of phosphorus into a small glass retort, and
pouring over it some liquor potassa. The heat of a lamp should be
applied, and the beak of the retort ^be immersed in a vessel of very
warm water. It will soon generate, and each bubble will ignite with
a sudden flash at the instant of its extrication.

^ Chloride of lime is now generally used for this purpose ; a table-
spoonful is dissolved in a glass of water, and sprinkled about the
room.

78 GEOLOGY.

three parts of common salt with one part of black oxide
of manganese, and having introduced the mixture into a
glass retort, pour upon it two parts of sulphuric acid, and
apply the heat of a lamp, the gas will come off abun-
dantly, and must be collected by means of the pneumatic
trough. Great care should be taken that it does not es-
cape in a room, as a comparatively small quantity will
produce a violent irritation of the lungs. It combines
•with certain salts and metals, and its combinations are
termed chlorates and chlorides.

Nitrous oxide gas is the last intended to be noticed,
and is a compound of oxygen and nitrogen. It supports
combustion better than common air, and maybe respir-
ed. But the effects produced by inhaling it, constitutes
its chief peculiarity. The most pleasurable sensations
are the general results, producing immoderate fits of
laughter, whence it has obtained the name of laughing
gas. The excitement in some persons is so great as to
produce violent muscular motion, and an inclination to
leap and run. Unlike excitements in general, it does
not appear to leave any unpleasant feeling after the ex-
citement has subsided. This gas is obtained from
crystals of nitrate of ammonia, by submitting them to
the heat of a lamp in a glass retort.

GEOLOGY.

Introduction— Primary Series of Rocks — Divided into Crystalline and Sediraen-
,. tary — Crystalline Considered — Volcanic Action — Sedimentary Rocks — Tran-
sitive Series — Divided into Cambrian and Silurian— Organic Remains in
Transitive Series — Secondary Series— Names and Subdivisions of Secondary
Series_ Each Group in Secondary Series considered — Organic Remains in
Secondary Series — Tertiary Series — Names and Subdivisions — Kocene —
Meiocene — Pleiocene — Organic Remains in Tertiary Series— Diluvial and
Alluvial Deposits — The London and Hampshire Basins — Conclusion.

GEOLOGY is that science which treats of the structure
of the earth, and of the substances of which it is com-
posed.

The earth is a spherical body whose diameter is
nearly 8000 miles, and consequently its radius, or the

GEOLOGY. 79

distance from its surface to its centre, almost 4OOO
milc;s ; but of this no greater depth than somewhat
more than half a mile has beeu actually investigated,
nor more than ten miles can be at all speculated
upon ; consequently it is the very external part, or mere
crust of the earth, with which we are at all acquainted.

The Scripture informs us, that " in the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth," but when that
beginning was we know not.

The creation of the earth has been referred as to
time, to the creation of man, which may have been
nearly 60OO years since ; but the geologist, from various
observations, is led to conclude that the earth must
have existed for ages antecedent to that period.

In order to explain the various changes that the earth
has undergone, various theories have been adduced ;
but as they, for the most part, appear chimerical and
absurd, they will be here passed over. An opinion of
"VVhiston, however, deserves notice, as it has been some-
what strengthened by recent experiments. He sup-
posed that the earth was originally a comet, and that
its nucleus, or internal part, was still in a state of in-
candescence, from its having retained a great portion
of the heat which it wras supposed to have acquired
through its proximity to the sun.

That the earth had originally a cometic form has been
argued and supported by philosophers of the present day;
and it is known, by experience, that the lower we
descend into the earth the warmer it is, the heat in-
creasing, below a certain depth, according to Professor
Phillips, one degree in about every 60 feet, so that in
some deep mines the heat is so oppressive, that the
miner, although very thinly clad, can with difficulty
pursue his labours.*

Assuming that the materials which compose the
lower rocks were once in a fluid state — and there is

* The Bath and Bristol, and other mineral waters, as also the
waters from the Artesian Wells in France, afford a presumptive proof
of the internal heat of the earth.

SO GEOLOGY.

much evidence to render this more than probable — this
fluidity was apparently caused by intense heat. The
consolidation of this fluid might have been produced
by the radiation of heat from its surface, the result of
which might be a crystallization, and formation of a
shell of granitic rocks round a nucleus of melted matter
of a heavier nature than granite.

In viewing a vertical section of the earth's crust, it
will be perceived that the materials of which it is com-
posed are not thrown together confusedly, but are
arranged in a most beautiful order, generally forming
layers or strata, surrounding the globe like the coats of
an onion, yet not perfectly horizontal, the lower ones
particularly having such an inclination that they all
occasionally appear on the surface.

The ingredients which compose the various strata are
found to differ both in their nature and manner of for-
mation ; for while some are of a crystalline, or vnstrati-
fied character, others are sedimentary or stratified. In
the newer rocks the remains of animals and plants are
found in a fossil state, while in the older rocks there
are no such remains. Geologists, therefore, have availed
themselves of these circumstances to form a division
of the earth's strata ; that series of rocks which did not
contain organic remains they called Primary, and those
which did contain organic remains they called Secondary;
each of these being again variously subdivided. They,
however, differ in this respect, some making three
divisions, and some more, even six and seven. In this
treatise there are assumed to be four divisions, the Pri-
mary, the Transitive, the Secondary, and the Tertiary.

PRIMARY ROCKS.

The lower, or primary rocks, are divided into the vn-
straiified and the stratified. The former, from their crystal-
line character, and appearance of having been acted upon
by intense heat, are termed Igneous or Plutonic rocks ;
the latter, from their being a deposition from water, are
termed Aqueous, or Sedimentary.

GEOLOGY. 81

PRIMARY SERIES.

Crystalline, or Unstratijied.

Granite.

Greenstone.

Basalt.

Porphyry.

Amygdaloid.

Lava.

Pumice.

Sedimentary, or Stratified.

Gneiss.

Mica Slate, or Schist.

Clay-Slate.

Chlorite Slate.

Quartz Rock.

Primary Marble, or

Limestone

Of the Crystalline or Unstratijied Rocks.

GRANITE. This rock not only forms, as it were, the
floor or foundation for the various superincumbent strata,
but, by its disintegration, it has furnished materials
for various other rocks. Granite is universally diffused,
many of the highest mountains in the different quarters
of the globe being composed wholly, or in part, of this
mineral. There is a granitic mountain near the Cape of
Good Hope, '100 feet high, and half a mile in circum-
ference, consisting of a single block of granite. Veins
of granite are sometimes found to pass upward, through
other strata, to a very considerable extent. As granite
was apparently formed by the action of heat, it is sup-
posed that, in many cases, it was in a state of fusion
subsequent to the deposition of several posterior forma-
tions, so that it has been injected into fissures and open-
ings by some expansive force.

Granite is evidently not a simple substance, but is
composed of various substances, intimately mixed and
cohering firmly together : these substances are generally
quartz, felspar, and mica ; and sometimes hornblende.
It occasionally consists of only two substances ; of
quartz and felspar, or of felspar and hornblende. The
quartz may be distinguished by its glassy appearance ;
the felspar is smooth, and of somewhat a different
colour from quartz ; the mica is brilliant and sparkling ;
and the hornblende dark.

Granite has been much used for architectural pur-
poses both by the ancients and the moderns 3 and, from

GEOLOGY.

its hardness, forms an excellent material for street
paving and mending roads.

Various precious minerals have been found in granite,
as the topaz, the beryl, the emerald, the garnet, &c. ; it
is also rich in veins of different metals.

GREENSTONE. Greenstone is the chief of a family
called Trap rocks, from Trappa, the Swedish for a flight
of steps, they presenting some such appearance.

All the Trap rocks, as Greenstone, Basalt, &c., as also
Porphyry, Amygdaloid, Lava, and Pumice, are supposed to
be of volcanic origin, and to have been once in a state of
fusion, so that, similar to lava, when it becomes solidified
it ends in a steep slope. Greenstone is composed of
felspar and hornblende, and, as may be imagined from
its name, is of a dark green or greyish colour. It is
found in England and Scotland, and in most parts of
the Continent, as well as in America. It is often used
for mending roads, and the late Mr. M'Adam preferred
it for that purpose to any other material.

BASALT. This rock is of a dark green or blackish
colour, and is composed of hornblende with crystals of
augite. It is very generally of a columnar form, although
sometimes found in tabular masses. Edinburgh is built
on rocks of columnar basalt. The Giant's Causeway, in
the North of Ireland, and Fingal's Cave, in Staffa, are
composed of a magnificent range of basaltic columns.
The columnar structure is attributed to its having been
cooled under immense pressure, and contracting in a
manner similar to starch when first manufactured.
CLINKSTONE or PHONOLITE, GLADSTONE, and TRA-
CHYTE, are nearly allied to basalt, as they pass one into
the other. Clinkstone is so called from a peculiar ring-
ing noise it makes when struck ; it is of a greenish or
greyish colour, having a tendency to divide into slabs
and columns. Cliystone is an earthy stone resembling
indurated clay, and Trachyte* receives its name from its
roughness. The composition of trachyte is different
from that of basalt j trachyte being a felspathic rock,
while basalt is an augitic rock.

PORPHYRY, AMYGDALOID, LAVA, and PUMICE, are
of igneous or volcanic origin.

* T(«£u; rough.

GEOLOGY. S3

PORPHYRY is a rock in which crystals of one or more
minerals are diffused through a compact or earthy base.
The crystals are generally of felspar, augite, or olivine ;
and the nature of the base gives the name to the por-
phyry. If the base be greenstone, claystone, or pitch-
stone, it is called greenstone porphyry, claystone porphyry,
and so forth.

AMYGDALOID. This rock is so called from the word
amygdala, an almond, and comprises any rock which con-
tains round or almond-shape nodules of some mineral.
The porous cavities in this rock were most probably
formed through the expansion of vapour or gas when in
a state of fusion, which cavities, being filled up with a
solution of mineral substances afterwards became conso-
lidated.

LAVA is a substance of a porous nature, which flows
from volcanoes in action, and is a composition of various
substances, as basalt, trachyte, &c. ; and PUMICE is of
a similar character, but much lighter, being fibrous and
spongy, through the expansion of gases by means of
heat.

As the rocks just named are produced through Vol-
canic action, it may not be irrelevant to consider briefly
the cause and results of this most pOtent agency. The
presumed cause of VOLCANIC ACTION has beenvariously
conjectured by philosophers ; but a very probable cause
is often the oxidization of the basis of alkaline matter
through the access of water ; the water becoming de-
composed and liberating its hydrogen, which, by its
inflammable and elastic nature, might be sufficiently
powerful to rend asunder the solid earth, were it not
for these natural vents — Volcanoes.

Previous to a volcanic eruption, smoke appears from
the mountain, a rumbling of the earth is heard, earth-
quakes are felt (earthquakes being produced from the
same cause as Volcanic action), and presently an explo-
sion takes place, with an ejection of ashes and sand,
followed by a stream of melted lava. This action is not
entirely confined to mountains, but will sometimes take
place in the sea, which, by upheaving the superincum-
bent mass, sometimes forms islands. Nearly half of the
islands are of volcanic origin, as the Azores, the Canary
Islands, and others.

84 GEOLOGY.

There are said to be 220 active volcanoes, of which
89 are in islands. 'In Europe there are hut Jour great
volcanoes. Asia has very few. The Continent of Africa
has none, although there are several in its islands. In
South America they are very numerous : in the range
of the Andes there are not fewer than 86.

The cones and craters of extinct volcanoes still re-
main visible in various parts of the world, which, from
their appearance, may have been inactive for thousands
of years.

Etna, the largest volcano in Europe, is about 6000
feet high, its cone ninety miles in circumference, its
crater is a quarter of a mile high, the mouth of the
crater is one mile in diameter, and it has about eighty
minor cones. Thirty-one great eruptions of this moun-
tain have occurred within the period of history, and
stones of an immense size have been hurled to an incre-
dible height and distance : small stones have fallen at
the distance of one hundred miles. The first eruption
of this mountain on record is mentioned by a Greek
historian as having taken place 480 years before Christ.

Vesuvius is next in magnitude to Etna, and is of great
antiquity. It was in an inactive state for nearly 500
years until 1631, &nd its crater is said to have been
1000 paces in descent, and a mile and a half in diameter,
and was rich in wood and herbage : but since that time
it has had, every ten years, most destructive eruptions.
In the year 79, a tremendous eruption took place, which
destroyed and completely overwhelmed the cities of
Herculaneum and Pompeii.

When the gases generated cannot escape, uplifting of
the earth, or earthquakes, must be the natural result.

Of the Sedimentary or Stratified Rocks.

GNEISS is of the same character, and composed of
the same materials, as granite ; the only difference is,
that one is stratified and the other is not. Gneiss is
rich in metallic veins, almost all the metals being found
in it ; particularly tin, copper, silver, and lead. It forms
extensive ranges in Norway, Sweden, Saxony, the Alps,
the Pyrenees, and in North and South America.

MICA SLATE, or SCHIST, is composed of quartz and

GEOLOGY. 85

mica, with a small portion of felspar ; and, like gneiss,
is very extensively diffused : it is of a laminar structure,
and splits into parallel layers. This rock is also rich in
metals, but they are found rather in beds and masses
than in veins.

CLAY SLATE is composed of indurated clay, with
particles of quartz and mica. Beds of this slate are
sometimes many hundred feet in thickness. Clay
slate forms extensive mountain ranges in many parts of
the globe, and the soil which is formed from its decom-
position is of a fertile nature. Wales furnishes a very
large quantity of clay slate for roofing and for writing
slates. Hones are clay slates with an an admixture of
quartz.

CHLORITE SLATE is composed of quartz and chlorite,
a mineral of a greenish colour. It contains mica, gar-
net, &c.

QUARTZ ROCK is either pure quartz, or quartz mixed
with felspar. It forms extensive strata in the Western
islands, and is most probably universally diffused.

PRIMARY MARBLE, or LIMESTONE. This rock is
pure carbonate of lime ; and often contains crystals of
mica, quartz, felspar, &c. Its colour varies from pure
•white to a yellowish grey. This limestone comprises
some of the finest marble used in sculpture.

The Rocks that have been already noticed are called
Primary, because they are supposed to have been the
first formed, and from which the other superincumbent
strata were produced. As no organic remains have
been discovered in the primary rocks, it has been in-
ferred that neither vegetable nor animal life had been
then called into being; that the world was then but in
an incipient state, and that thousands and tens of thou-
sands of years must have rolled on before it became a
suitable habitation for man.

TRANSITIVE SERIES.

The Transitive Series is divided into two groups, the
CAMBRIAN, and the SILURIAN.

The Cambrian group is so called from Cambria, the
ancient name of Wales, because this formation is

86 GEOLOGY.

strikingly exhibited there. It consists of greywacke,
greywacke slates, shales, and limestones. Anthracite
is formed in this system. Minerals are very numerous
in Transitive rocks. Fuci, corals, and shells, are the
principal organic remains found in this group.

The Silurian group, so named from a tribe of ancient
Britons who inhabited that part of Wales where these
formations are found, consists of flags, sandstones, and
limestones, some of which are many hundreds of feet in
thickness.

The Transitive rocks are sometimes called the Lower
Secondary — they are a marine formation.

Numerous organic remains have been found in the
Silurian system, particularly of radiated animals, but
they are found to differ from any known species now in
existence. The Radiata* are the lowest of the animal
world, and apparently the first that were formed ; and
as we proceed we find that almost every successive for-
mation produces animals of a more perfect nature.

A peculiar kind of radiated animal, called the Kncri-
nite, t is found in this system. It is composed of a
column with many joints, supporting a body of the
shape of a cup, which contains its stomach. From this
cup proceed arms or branches furnished with fingers
for the purpose of seizing its prey, and conveying it to
its stomach . Petrified portions of this body are often
found in marble, which is thence called encrinitic
marble.

SECONDARY SERIES.

Names. Subdivisions.

Old Red Sandstone, orDe- J Conglomerates and
vonian group \ Limestones.

Carboniferous or Moun- j Alternating Sandstones
tain Limestone | and Limestones.

* The Radiata are so called from their organs radiating as it were
from a common centre. The star-fish, the echinus, coral, sponge,
and all those which are called Zoophytes, belong to this branch.

f From xpiw, a lily, as it resembles that flower.

GEOLOGY. 87

Coal Strata, locally ascertained.

T. ("Clavs and Sandstone,

Maarnesian Limestone, or \ A -.»

< Gvpseous Marl, and

Zecbstem i •%«• i ci *

( Marl Slate.

New Red Sandstone, or ( Variegated Clays and Sand-

Poikilitic group \ stones.

Lias Shale and Lias Limestone.

( Portland Oolite, Kimme-
3 ridSe Cla^ Coralline

• ••••••••••••••••••••••• ^ f~ 1.. /-i l /-i *A

J Oolite, Calcareous Grit,
(. Sand, and Oxford Clay.

Weald f Weald Clay, Hastings

\ Sands, & Purbeck Beds.

Green Sand Green Sand and Gault.

r, ,, ( Upper and Lower Chalk,

" I Chalk Marl.

THE OLD RED SANDSTONE is the lowermost of the
secondary series, which, although it principally consists
of sandstone, yet it comprises in various localities marls
and limestones. Conglomerates, or pudding stones, belong
to this stratum : they consist of pebbles conglutinated
together with some mineral substance. The red colour
is given to this sandstone by the oxide of iron which it
contains. The Old Red Sandstone is occasionally seen
from Wales to the North of Scotland ; in Herefordshire,
Worcestershire, and neighbourhood ; and it is of im-
mense thickness, being sometimes not less than 10,OOO
feet. There are very few fossils in marls and sand-
stones, where the oxide of iron prevails.

MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE is of a grey crystalline cha-
racter, and contains marine shells and corals. This
stratum is in some places nearly 3,000 feet thick. Moun-
tain limestone forms common lime, perfectly white ;
the animal and vegetable matter which rendered it dark

O

being destroyed by the process of burning.

COAL. — The coal measures are the most useful pro-
ductions of the globe, and abound in the northern and
western parts of England. The depth of the strata is
said to be, in some instances, from 4,000 to 5,OOO feet,
containing numerous beds or seams of coal from half an

88 GEOLOGY.

inch to 30 feet thick. Coals are evidently of vegetable
origin : leaves and stems of plants, and sometimes trunks
and branches of trees, are found in coal fields, partially
converted to coal. Whole forests may have been, in
certain instances, overturned by some extraordinary
action ; and the mass, by being pressed by a vast super-
incumbent weight, and exposed to a high temperature,
may have produced this most useful fuel. In many in-
stances, coal fields may have been formed from vast
masses of vegetable matter carried down into estuaries
and seas, with soil, and sand, and clay, and have become
arranged as we find them. The Mississippi, the Oroo-
noka, and other large rivers, carry annually into the
ocean immense masses of vegetable matter, which are
forming deposits to a vast extent.

As we know that a very great part of England, as
well as the continent, was at one time underwater, those
very parts where the coal fields are might have been so,
and have been subsequently upheaved from the sea, or
they might have become dry land, by the seas retiring.
Under any circumstances, an immensity of time must
have been required to form this group.

Providence has made a most wise arrangement in
regard to the coal strata, by causing rich beds of iron
ore to be contiguous to the coal beds and mountain lime-
stone, which latter is used as a flux for smelting the
iron.* After the deposition of these strata, and before
the superjacent rocks were formed, great derangement
took place by some violent internal action, producing
what the miners call /aw/ft, so that the seam of coal will
suddenly terminate by the other part being either sunk
down, or raised up, which, in some instances, amounts
to as much as 3,000 or even 4,000 feet.

MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE. — This rock is so called,
from the quantity of Magnesia that enters into its com-

* Dr. Buckland, in reference to this, observes: " The important uses
of coal and iron in administering to the supply of our daily wants,
give to every individual amongst us, in almost every moment of our
lives, a personal concern, of which but lew are conscious, in the geolo-
gical events of those very distant eras. We are all brought into im-
mediate connection with the vegetation that clothed the ancient earth,
before one half of its actual surface had yet been formed. The trees

GEOLOGY. 89

position. It is of a yellowish white colour, contains but
few organic remains, and is in some places 30O feet
thick.

THE NEW RED SANDSTONE consists of red and white
sandstones, clays, marls, &c., containing grains of quartz,
mica, &c., all conglutinated together. Messrs. Cony-
beare and Buckland gave to this series the term
Poikilitic, or variegated, from its exhibiting spots of
different colours in a red base. The New Red Sand-
stone generally occupies a low country, and is found
largely in the central counties of England. These strata
are, in some instances, 1,OOO feet thick. The organic
remains in this group are fishes of a race quite extinct,
and saurians, or animals of the lizard kind.

In Cheshire, and other parts of England, salt mines
and salt springs are found to occur in this group. The
salt mines in Cheshire consist of two beds, and are of
very considerable extent. Salt mines are worked in
Wieliczca in Poland, at the depth of 750 feet. These
mines have been so excavated, and are of such an extent,
as to contain a whole village, with horses, &c. &c. ; and
what is very remarkable, there are in these salt mines

of the principal forests have not, like modern trees, undergone decay,
yielding back their elements to the soil and atmosphere by which
they had been nourished ; but treasured up in subterraneous store-
houses, have been transformed into enduring beds of coal, which, in
these later ages, have become to man the sources of heat, and light,
and wealth. My fire now burns with fuel, and my lamp is shining
with the light of gas, derived from coal, which has been buried for
countless ages in the deep and dark recesses of the earth. We pre-
pare our food, and maintain our forges and furnaces, and the power
of our steam-engines, with the remains of plants of ancient forms and
extinct species, which were swept from the earth ere the formation of
the transition strata was completed. Our instruments of cutlery, the
tools of our mechanics, and the countless machines which we con-
struct by the infinitely varied applications of iron, are derived from
ore for the most part coeval with, or more ancient.than, the fuel by
the aid of which we reduce it to its metallic state, and apply it to in-
numerable uses in the economy of hnman life. Thus, from the wreck
of forests that waved upon the surface of the primeval lands, and from
ferruginous mud that was lodged at the bottom of the primeval waters,
we derive our chief supplies of coal and iron, those two fundamental
elements of art and industry, which contribute more than any other
mineral production of the earth, to increase the riches, and multiply
the comforts, and ameliorate the condition of mankind."

90 GEOLOGY.

springs of fresh water. In Spain there are salt hills
some hundreds of feet high. In Peru, salt is found
9,000 feet above the level of the sea.

LIAS. This is a provincial name, and is given to this
group from its lying in layers. It is a marine formation,
and consists of argillaceous limestone, marl, and clay.
It extends from Whitby to Lyme Regis, in Somerset-
shire. These strata are said to be, in some places, 1000
feet thick. Various organic remains are found in these
strata, of which the Ammonite, the Gryphite, and the
Belemnite, are the most remarkable.

In these strata are found the remains of that for-
midable animal, the Ichthyosaurus, which has nothing
resembling it in the present day. It had the head of
a lizard, with the teeth of a crocodile ; and was, in some
respects, like the porpoise. The expansion of its jaws
was tremendous : its eye was larger than a man's head,
and some Ichthyosauri exceeded 30 feet in length. It was
a marine animal. The Plesiosanrus was another animal
of asimilar kind, found in these strata. Its neck was of an
enormous length, like the body of a serpent, while its
trunk and tail had the proportions of an ordinary
quadruped. It had no feet, but paddles, like a whale,
and its long neck would have allowed it to breathe in
the air, while its body was concealed in the water ; or
have permitted it to seize on winged animals as it swam
along on the surface of a lake or sea. The remains of
animals of the crocodile kind are found in this forma-
tion, but, terrible as they are at the present day, they
sink into insignificance when compared with those of
the ancient world.

OOLITE, or JURA LIMESTONE. The term Oolite is de-
rived from the Greek word oov, an egg, and is so applied
because many of the formations resemble, when examined
minutely, the roe of a fish. The Oolite is a marine for-
mation, and consists oflimestone, with beds of clay and
sandstone. Oolitic rocks are quarried near Bath, and
the stone is used for building. Coral rag, an oolitic for-
mation, is found near Oxford; and Portland stone,
also an oolitic formation, is found in the Isle of
Portland. These strata are about 1^00 feet thick.
There are various fossil plants and radiated animals

GEOLOGY. 91

found in this group. The Echinus, or Sea hedge-hog, is
very abundant ; as are also Ammonites.

Sauroid fishes are also numerous in this formation,
and among the reptiles, the MEGALOSAURUS, or GIANT
LIZARD, is the most remarkable. This was an enormous
carnivorous animal, 4O or 50 feet long and 1<2 feet high,
and formed for inhabiting the land. The PTERODACTYLE
is also found in this group. This animal had the head
of a bird, the wings of a bat, and its body and tail like
those of the Mammalia. Its eyes were of an enormous
size, so as to enable it to fly by niglit. Its size varied
from that of a snipe to that of a cormorant. It appears
to have been able to live either on the earth, in the air,
or in the water. Dr. Buckland observes, " With flocks
of such like creatures flying in the air, and shoals of no
less monstrous Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri swarming in
the ocean, and gigantic crocodiles and tortoises crawling
on the shores of the primeval lakes and rivers, the air,
sea, and land must have been strangely tenanted in
those early periods of our infant world."

WEALDEN BEDS. The Wealden is a freshwater for-
mation or deposit, and, very singularly, lies between two
marine formations. This formation takes its name from
the TTeulds of Kent, where it particularly occurs, and
extends over a vast tract of the southern part of Eng-
land, and is from 800 to 900 feet thick. Its subdivisions
are Weald clay, including beds of sand and shelly lime-
stone ; Hastings sand, in which occur clay and calcareous
grits ; and Purbe(k beds, consisting of limestone and
marl. Between the inferior division of the Wealden
and the Portland stone, or upper member of the Oolite,
in Portland, there intervenes a layer of dark matter
from 12 to 18 inches thick, evidently an ancient vege-
table soil. Trunks of trees silicified, and remains
of plants, are buried in this Dirt-bed, as it is called.

The Iguanodon, a reptile of a most gigantic size, has
been found in a fossil state in these beds. This animal is
said to have been from 50 to 80 or 90 feet in length.
The Iguanodon was a herbivorous animal, and resembled
the modern Iguana in having a horn on its nose.

GREENSAND. The Greensand, according to some geo-
logists, forms a part of the Cretaceous group, and consists

92 GEOLOGY.

of sand and sandy marl, with concretions of limestone,
&c. The green sand is of a ferruginous nature, and con-
sists chiefly of silicate of iron. The depths of these
strata amounts to nearly 500 feet.

CHALK. This is the uppermost of the Secondary se-
ries, and is 600 feet or more in depth. The chalk is
evidently a marine deposit, and was formed when Eu-
rope was covered with water ; and although it extends
over a considerable portion of the Continent, and is of
such exceeding thickness, it is, to a very considerable
amount, made up t)f animal matter; such as testacea,
echini, corals, &c. The time which must have been taken
for this deposit must have been immense, composed, as
it principally is, of countless millions of shells of once
living beings. The white coating of flints, found in the
chalk, is composed of the shells of infusoria. Life was
in these early times so universal, that it is difficult to
say what had been and what had not been organic mat-
ter. Tripoli, a well known polishing material, has been
found to be composed entirely of myriads of skeletons of
microscopic animalia. It is difficult to convey an idea
of the minuteness of these animalcula, but in the Tripoli
of Bilin, in Bohemia, it has been calculated that there
were 187,000,000 in a single grain.

Various species of fossil fish, and gigantic reptiles,
are found in this formation ; but there is one species
peculiar to this group, the Mosasaurus. This animal was
between 30 and 40 feet long, its head was four feet in
length, and it had four large paddles like those of the
whale.

TERTIARY SERIES.

Names. . Subdivisions:

t Plastic Clay, London Clay,

T-, ) Hampshire Freshwater

Eocene < c

\ formation,

\^ Bagshot Sands.

.... . $ English Clay when not re-

' £ ferred to the Pleiocene.

C Newer Pleiocene,
Pleiocene ;•' Older Pleiocene.

GEOLOGY. 93

This series exhibits the remains of animal and vege-
table life approaching progressively to those of the
present day. It would seem, from the alternate depo-
sition of marine and freshwater strata in the Secondary
Series, that the earth was then, at least in various places,
alternately covered by the sea and by freshwater. But
this is particularly evident in those immense basins of
rocks discovered by later geologists, the principal of
which are the Paris basin, the London basin, and the Isle
of Wight basin. First there is a marine deposit, then
there is a freshwater stratum ; again there is another
marine deposit, and fourthly, another freshwater stra-
tum : and over these an alluvial soiL

The EOCENE* FORMATION is so called from its ap-
pearing to be the commencement of a new order of
things. Fossils of testacea, which were then called into
existence, have continued to inhabit the ocean until the
present time. It is supposed that great alteration must
have taken place in the temperature of the earth's sur-
face since that period and the present time, as many of
the testacea which were then found on the British
shores, are now only found within the Tropics.

The Plastic Clay and London Clay are marine forma-
tions. The London Clay is so called because London
stands as it were upon it. These clays pass into marl,
and are covered with gravel, and are 50O or 600 feet or
more in thickness. The Hampshire freshwater formation,
consists chiefly of marls. The Bagshot Sands are a
marine deposit.

The MEIOCENE FORMATION! does not exist in Eng-
land, unless the English Crag is referred to it. Lignite, J
a kind of imperfect coal, is found, in Germany in this
formation.

* Eocene, from sw;, the break of day, and XXM; new.

f Meiocene, from pen* less, and xao:,- new ; in opposition to the
ext formation.

f Wood has been found in Languedoc partly converted to jet.
Trees have also been found converted to jet, and so entire as to mark
their species. A petrified forest has been discovered under the banks
of the Tiber. Forests of standing trees have been found in Yorkshire
and in Ireland imbedded in stone. Trees have been found in Lapland
and Siberia, converted into iron ore and carbonate of copper.

94 GEOLOGY.

The PLEIOCENE FORMATION* is subdivided into the
older and newer Pleiocene. The older Pleiocene comprises
the Crag formation when not referred to the Meiocene.
This crag is of two kinds, the Red and the Coralline,
and is a marine formation. These crags are composed of
sand and marl and comminuted shells, and sometimes
are used as a building stone. The Newer Pleiocene
consists of strata of sand, clay, and marl. Deposits of
this nature are found in Cornwall.

In this series are found the remains of numerous
animals ; of some whose species are extinct, and of others
which are still in existence. Of the extinct kind, the
.Dinotherium is the largest. This monster was from 15 to
18 feet in length, and 12 feet high, and its lower jaw was
four feet long. It had two tusks of immense size. The
use of these tusks was probably to dig up roots and
herbage. It chiefly inhabited freshwater lakes and
rivers. The Megatherium was another remarkable ani-
mal, somewhat allied to the sloth or ant-eater. Its
body was 12 feet long, and 8 feet high, its feet were a
yard long, "with gigantic claws. It had a tremendous
tail, so that with a single blow it would possibly have
killed a lion or a tiger of the present day. It fed on
vegetable productions.

The Mammoth, a species of elephant, has been found,
14 feet long, and 9 feet and a half high, with tusks 9
feet long. Remains of this animal have been discovered
in various parts of Europe, also in America, but they are
no where so abundant as in the northern part of Asia.
In an island in the north of Russia, the tusks of this
animal have been found in such abundance, and so
perfect, that, for more than a century, they have proved
a valuable article of traffic. They are used for making
ivory goods.

Of the Diluvial and Alluvial Deposits.

Over the uppermost of the Tertiary strata, there are de-
posits consisting of gravel, sand and clay formed from the

* Pleiocene, from »Xi;<u» greater or more, and x«<»of new.

GEOLOGY. 95

materials of decomposed rocks. These are termed Di-
luvial and Alluvial, and are sometimes indifferently used,
but the Diluvial are more properly those which indicate
a remote origin, and the Alluvial a more recent forma-
tion. These deposits are sometimes as much as 20 or 30
feet in depth. Over these lies the soil which is com-
posed of sand mixed with decayed animal and vegetable
matter.

In order to form the various depositions an immensity
of time must have been required; thousands and tens
of thousands of years must have passed by while these
stupendous changes were being effected. Whether these
repeated submersions were caused by the sinking and
upheaving of the land, or whether they were the result
of astronomical causes,* the length of time employed
must have been immense. Changes are still going on
on the Earth's surface, slow, it is true, but continuous.
When the Earth had become in a proper state for the
reception of a more noble inhabitant, Man was created.

Having thus traced the Earth from the most remote pe-
riods to the present time, it may be observed, in conclu-
sion, that of all the sciences there is none more interesting
than Geology, and, as an eminent writer observes, in
vastness of extent, and sublimity of character, it yields
only to Astronomy.

• Sir R. Phillips ascribes the different formations to deposits caused
by the overflowing of the sea through the change of the line of Apsides,
and argues that to whatever hemisphere the sun may bein/ieri/ie/ion, the
centrifugal force will be greater there, and cause a greater elevation of
the waters of the ocean. As the perihelion is now very nearly south,
the waters of the southern hemisphere are more elevated than those of
the northern, and consequently there is proportionately less land ; and
this will continue to be the case until the perihelion comes round to
the northern hemisphere, when the land in that hemisphere will become
to a considerable extent submerged. As the line of Apsides takes about
21,000 years to perform a revolution through the ecliptic, Sir Richard
calculates that 600,000 years would be required for the formation of the
Transitive, Secondary, and Tertiary formations : an immensity of time;
but it must be remembered that with the Almighty a thousand years
are as one day.

96 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Earth's Rotatory and Orbicular Motions and Zones— Latitude, Longitude, and
Ellipticity— Division into Land and Water — Elevation of Surface— Highlands
and Lowlands— Islands— Springs and Rivers— The Ocean, Tides, Currents, &c.
—Changes on the Earth's Surface— Climate or Temperature.

OF THE EARTH'S ROTATORY AND ORBICULAR MOTIONS AND ZONES.

THE earth is, as has been already observed, a pla-
netary body, of a spherical shape ; and forms one of a
system of bodies called the Solar System.

The Solar System comprises seven Primary, and
eighteen Secondary Planets, together with the four Aster-
oids. The primary planets revolve round the Sun, as
their centre of motion, in the following order ; Mercury,
Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Georgium
Sidus. The Asteroids also revolve round the Sun;
they are situated between the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter, and are named Vesta, Juno, Ceres, and Pallas.
Of the Secondary Planets or Moons, the Earth has one,
Jupiter four, Saturn seven, and Georgium Sidus sir, all of
which revolve round their Primaries, and accompany
them in their orbits round the Sun.

The Earth is situated at the distance of about 93
millions of miles from the Sun, and its motion, as well as
that of the other planets, is two-fold, orbicular and rota-
tory. By its rotatory motion, or its revolution on its
axis, is produced the succession of day and night, while
its orbicular motion, combined with a deviation of its
axis from a perpendicular to its orbit (which devia-
tion is always uniform) produces the various seasons
of the year, at once so necessary and delightful.

From the nature of the orbicular motion of the
earth, it follows that some parts of its surface will
receive a greater degree of heat than other parts, which
circumstance has induced Geographers to divide it into
Zones, so that there are considered to \jejive zones — one
Torrid, two Frigid and two Temperate : they receiving
their names from their localities as it regards the Sun,
and the degree of heat experienced. The zone which
includes that part of the earth in which the Sun in the

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 97

course of the year is vertical, is called the Torrid zone ;
those parts below whose horizon the sun remains for a
certain space of time without setting or going below it,
are called the Frigid zones ; while the remaining parts, or
those contained between each of the frigid zones, and
the torrid zone, are called the Temperate zones.

OF THE LATITUDE, LONGITUDE AND ELLIPTICITY.

In order to mark any particular part or spot of the
Earth's surface, geographers have imagined it to be di-
vided by or surrounded with various circles. From the
extremities of the Earth's axis, called the Poles, an in-
definite number of semicircles are supposed to extend,
which are termed Meridians, and form the nearest
distance between the two Poles. Equidistant from the
Poles, and at right angles with the Meridians, there is an
imaginary circle surrounding the Earth, called the Equa-
tor from its apparently dividing the Earth into two
equal parts or hemispheres. Parallel with the Equator
there is supposed to be an indefinite number of circles
extending to the Poles by means of which, together with,
the Meridians, any particular spot may be designated.

All circles are supposed to be divided into 360
parts called degrees, and each degree into sixty minutes ;
every Meridian therefore from the Equator to the Poles,
which is a quarter of a circle, will be divided into ninety
degrees commencing from the Equator : so that what-
ever distance any place may be in degrees either
Northward or Southward from the Equator, it is said to
have that number of degrees of North or South Latitude.

The Equator is also divided into 360 degrees j but
these are reckoned from a certain Meridian called the
first Meridian, 180 degrees each way; which first Me-
ridian, as it is an arbitrary assumption, is generally con-
sidered by mathematicians as passing through the
capital, or rather the Observatory of their own country :
thus the first Meridian of Great Britain is supposed to
pass through the Royal Observatory of Greenwich ; the
first meridian of France, to pass through the Observa-
tory of Paris, &c. The number of degrees that the

98 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Meridian of any place is distant from the first Meridian,
is said to be the Longitude of that place ; and is either
East or West, according to its direction, and may amount
to 180 degrees, the greatest Longitude that any place
can have.

The being able to note the exact situation of any
place, is of the greatest use, in a general point of view j
but to the mariner who is excluded from the sight of
every thing but sea and sky, and can have no local mark
by which he may be directed to avoid rocks and whirl-
pools, &c., its utility is incalculable.

The Latitude of any place may be ascertained in
various ways, but the most simple is from the sun's
meridian altitude, or height above the horizon at noon.
At the Equator, from which circle the Latitude is
reckoned, the Poles are in the horizon, while the Celestial
Equator passes through the Zenith ; but in proceeding
either northward or southward, the Pole will become
proportionately elevated, which elevation will be equal
to the Latitude of the place, or to the complement of the
altitude of the Celestial Equator, or Equinoctial. To find
the degree of Latitude, it is only necessary to ascertain
the height of the Celestial Equator, and to subtract
it from ninety degrees, the remainder will be the
Latitude.*

To ascertain the Longitude mathematically, is
attended with considerable difficulty, and requires much
astronomical observation and laborious calculation.
The most easy and mechanical mode is by the chrono-
meter, a time-piece of a particularly correct nature, and
so constructed as not be affected by a change of tem-
perature. As the Earth performs a rotation on its
axis in twenty-four hours ; and as the Equator, or any
circle of Latitude, is supposed to be divided into 360

* By adding the Sun's declination to the degree of altitude when of
afc'Arename, and subtracting it when of an uw//£<?,name, the complement of
the Latitude will be obtained ; which must be subtracted from 90
degrees, to give the Latitude ; and this will be always of a different
name or kind to the altitude. Should the sum of the Sun's declina-
tion and altitude exceed 90 degrees, 90 must be subtracted from it, the
remainder will be the Latitude, and will be of the same name as the
declination and altitude.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 99

degrees ; it follows that fifteen degrees on the Equa-
tor will pass by any Celestial Meridian in one hour ; con-
sequently any place that is fifteen degrees eastward or
westward of a given place, will vary one hour in time,
and so in proportion. If the chronometer be regulated
for any particular meridian, it will always give the
time at that meridian ; then, by ascertaining the exact
time under any other meridian, which may be easily
done, the difference between the two, reduced to de-
grees, &c. will give the difference of Longitude between
the places. Thus, if the sun be observed to be on the
meridian of any place when it is eleven o'clock by the
chronometer, the difference of Longitude will be fifteen
degrees, and to the eastward; if on the meridian when it
is one o'clock, it will be fifteen degrees to the westward.

Although it was long known that the earth was of a
spherical shape, yet its precise degree of ellipticity re-
mained undetermined, as also its magnitude. The ablest
mathematicians of which Europe could boast, particu-
larly during the last hundred years, have been directing
their attention to this subject, and as yet have been
unable to solve this problem as accurately as desired.

The figure of the Earth is, however, known to be an ob-
late spheroid compressed towards the Poles; its equato-
rial diameter, as determined by M. Laplace, being 7924
miles, and its polar axis 7898 miles, while its circum-
ference is rather more than 24,OOO miles.

DIVISION INTO LAND AND WATER ELEVATION OF

SURFACE — HIGHLANDS AND LOWLANDS.

On considering the nature of the surface of the Earth,
its division into land and water will be the first circum-
stance that will attract the attention.

The land consists of two continents, together with
innumerable islands ; the continents being separated by
those vast bodies of water, the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. It might be imagined that there was a time
when the whole land formed one immense mass, and
that some internal and most potent agency produced a
tremendous disruption, which separated it into conti-
nents, while the smaller pieces formed islands.

100 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

If the Earth be supposed to be divided by the Equator
so as to form two hemispheres, the quantity of land in
the northern hemisphere will be more than three times
that in the southern hemisphere ; which circumstance
induced the early mathematicians to imagine that there
must be a counterbalancing continent towards the South
Pole, but this is far from probable to be the fact. The
whole surface of the land, as compared with the surface
of the water, is said to be in the ratio of three to ten, or
somewhat more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface is
covered with water.

The elevation of the Earth's surface evidently varies
in degree; it is therefore divided into high lands and low-
lands. In Europe there are too high-lands and one low-
land. One of the high-lands rises in Norway, and extends
with a little interruption, to the Ural Mountains j the
other traverses Spain and Portugal, and includes a great
part of France, Germany and Italy, and apart of Turkey,
terminating at the Black Sea. America comprises the
largest extent of elevated land on the globe. An im-
mense range of mountains runs almost uninterruptedly
from Berring's Straits to the most southerly part of
South America. Another ridge, called the Alleghany
and Apalachian mountains, runs nearly parallel with the
Stony Mountains to the west of the United States, to
which those of Brazil seem to correspond. Thus
America may be said to have two high-lands and three
low-lands. Asia is also traversed by mountains in a
similar manner, so as to form a like division. In Africa
thisdivision cannot be so defined, from its central re-
gionsbeing so little known.

The high-lands consist either of mountains, as the Alps,
the Andes, &c. j or of extensive tracts of level country
called plateaux, as the plains of Mexico and Peru. The
interior of Asia also forms an extensive plateau. The
low-lands are divided into vales and plains. These plains
are sometimes called Steppes in Europe and Asia ; Savan-
nahs in North America ; and Pampas in South America.

ISLANDS.

Islands may have been formed in various ways.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 101

Many, as hasbeen elsewhere observed, have been evidently
the result of volcanic action. It is said that nearly half
of the islands are indebted for their origin to this most
potent agency. In the time of Seneca, an island called
Therasea suddenly emerged from the ^gean Sea. Pliny
mentions thirteen as having appeared at the same time.
But to confine ourselves to later times : in 175T eighteen
small islands suddenly appeared near the Azores, but
they at length disappeared. In 1811, a volcanic moun-
tain rose out of the sea near St. Michael's, one of the
Azores. In 1814, an island of this nature arose among
the Aleutian Islands. In 1831, an island suddenly made
its appearance near the Lipari Islands, in the Mediterra-
nean, when an English vessel was accidentally in sight :
the commander of the vessel, Lieut. Graham, landed
and took possesion of it in the name of his Britannic
Majesty, but after a few months it entirely disappeared.
Numerous islands are the work of the Coral insect;
while some are formed by the action of water, separating
a portion of land from the main hind. Great Britain
may have been thus formed. Islands are also
often formed by sand banks in the mouths of rivers.
Some of those formed at the mouth of the Ganges, of
which there are many, are more than thirty miles in cir-
cumference.

^SPRINGS AND RIVERS.

Springs and rivers constitute a peculiar feature of the
Earth's surface. Springs derive their origin from the
condensation of aqueous vapour, which, entering the
ground in the form of rain or mist, continues to sink
until it has arrived at some rock impermeable to water,
when it finds means to gush out sometimes in a very
considerable stream. The cavernous parts of mountains
will occasionally become reservoirs for the collection of
water, which, flowing out of their sides, will form the
source of rivers. The largest rivers of Europe, Asia, and
America, take their rise in the higher mountains. Thus
the Danube, the Rhine, and the Rhone take their rise
from the Alps ; the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brah-
mapootra, from the Himalayan mountains j and the

1O2 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

Mississippi and Missouri, from the Rocky or Stony
mountains.

A peculiar phenomenon attending tropical rivers, is
that they are subject to a periodical overflowing of their
banks. It used to be supposed that the Nile was the
only river that was affected in this way; but it is now
well known that all the great rivers within the Tropics
experience this overflow, although not with the same re-
gularity and to the same extent as the Nile.

These inundations are caused by the rains which
fall at stated periods, and which are of a particularly
violent nature. The overflowing of the Nile is caused
by the rains that flow from the mountains of Abyssinia.

It sometimes happens that a river is impeded in its
progress ; the result is the formation of a lake, the extent
of which will depend on the nature of the surface of the
land. Sometimes the water surmounts the impediment,
and flows on towards the sea ; and sometimes there is
no visible outlet, as in the Caspian Sea, and the Sea of
Aral, which, although they receive the waters of several
large rivers, have no apparent communication with any
open sea. In the latter case, the excess of water is most
probably evaporated.

OF THE OCEAN, TIDES, CURRENTS, &C.

The OCEAN forms the largest mass of waters on our
globe. Although the extent of surface of the Ocean may
be pretty correctly ascertained, its depth can be only a
matter of conjecture. Some have supposed that a great
part of the body of the globe consists of water ; but from
the Earth's average density being well known to be 5£
times that of water, such cannot be the fact.

The most striking quality of sea water is its saltness ;
and that taken from the surface has, in addition to its
saltness, a bitter taste.* A considerable variation ap-
pears to take place in regard to the saltness of the Ocean
from the action of currents, tides, &c., as well as from

* This is attributed to the decomposition of animal and vegetable
matter ; for water taken from a certain distance below the surface, has
the taste of a solution of salt in water.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 103

its immediate locality. The waters of the Tropical regions
are generally salter than those towards the Poles ; but,
during the monsoons on the coast of Malabar, the water
becomes so fresh as to be almost drinkable. In some
places the water is salter at the ebb of the tide than at
the flow; in others, the contrary takes place. These
phenomena are, however, but rare. The saltness in-
creases the density, and consequently the buoyancy of
salt water compared with river water, and this renders
it advantageous for the purpose of navigation.*

The temperature of the water on the surface is much
the same as that of the atmosphere, but it has been
found to decrease as the depth increases. At the depth
of 3SO fathoms near the Equator the temperature was
found to be only about 45° of Fahrenheit, when at the
surface it was 80°.

The chief phenomenon attending the sea is its Tides.
The advantage of the tides is too apparent to require
noting. The water, by its constant movement, is pre-
vented from becoming putrid ; and vessels, by means of
the rise of the tide, are enabled to enter rivers and har-
bours, and land their freight much more conveniently
than otherwise they would be able to do.

The ancients had no correct idea of the cause of the
tides, but the moderns know that they are caused by
the combined action of the sun and moon.

Independent of the solar and lunar action, there is
another cause which produces a motion of the water in
various parts. This motion is called a current. The
principal current is that within the TrDpics, and its di-
rection is contrary to that of the rotation of the Earth,
viz., from East to West. A general current also flows
from the Poles towards the Equator, which is caused by
the increased evaporation in the Torrid Zone.

It is the business of navigators to ascertain the nature
and drifts of the various currents, and to take advantage
of them.

Whirlpools are occasionally met with in the ocean.
These are sometimes caused by the congruence of oppo-

* Some years since a vessel heavily laden, after having crossed the
Atlantic in safety, sank when it entered the Thames.

104 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

site currents ; sometimes their cause is inexplicable. The
Maelstroom of Norway is a very celebrated whirlpool.*

OF THE CHANGES ON THE EARTH'S SURFACE.

That a change has taken place on the earth, and is
continuing to do so, is most strikingly evident. The in-
road made by the sea on the land cannot but be noticed
even by a casual walker on the sea side. But a more
powerful agent has been engaged in this work than the
mere action of the waves, and this may probably to
a certain extent be fire. By the industry of geologists
it has been ascertained that the greater part of Europe
was at one time underneath the surface of the water.
Indeed the whole of the Northern hemisphere is said to
have resembled a great ocean interspersed with islands.
The whole of Italy and Sicily was at one time under-
neath the water, as also a large portion of Spain, France,
Germany, Russia, England, and other countries. The
Apennines have been raised from 1 ,000 to "2,000 feet ;
the Alps from 2,000 to 4,000 ; and the Pyrenees have
acquired the whole of their altitudes since the origin of
some of the secondary strata.f Some geologists ima-
gine that this rising of the land is still progressing in
certain places. The depth of the Baltic J and Black Sea
has been found to decrease gradually, as also that of the
North Sea or German Ocean, which is supposed by some
to be produced by the upheaving of the bottom.

Volcanic action has been very effective in altering the
face of the Earth. It has been already observed, that
nearly half of the islands are of volcanic origin ; and
since the middle of the last century, six mountains, of

* At certain times, particularly in stormy weather, it is dangerous to
venture within five or six miles of the Maelstroom, as vessels have often
been absorbed by it. Whales have frequently come within the range
of its vortex, and have been carried down into it. Trees have been
purposely sent down the vortex, and after a considerable time they
have risen again, shattered and crushed as if they had been dashed
against the rocks.

f See Lyell's Geology.

j The Baltic sea is said to decrease in depth at the rate of one foot
in 25 years.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 105

which one was 160O feet high, have been thrown up by
volcanoes in Mexico.

The action of the sea has evidently effected much in
the work of change ; it is slow in its operations,
but still it is constant. If we consider the alteration
made on the coast of England by this action, we shall
find it far from inconsiderable. In Yorkshire the sea
has for centuries been encroaching on the land, and
causing towns and islands to disappear.* Ravenspur
was, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, so con-
siderable a port, that the English Barons sailed from it
to invade Scotland ; it has long since been devoured by
the waters of the ocean. In Norfolk, towns have disap-
peared : as much as seventeen yards were swept away
on its coast between the year 1S24 and 1S29. The site
of the ancient Cromer is now in the German Ocean, the
inhabitants having been gradually driven inland. In
Suffolk the sea also continues to encroach. The Recul-
vers, on the Kentish coast, were, about 30O years ago, one
mile inland from the sea ; they are now close to the edge
of the cliff, and are preserved from being undermined
and washed away by artificial means. From the Recul-
vers to the North Foreland, the annual waste of land is
very considerable. All Sussex has been encroached on
by the sea. In the time of Elizabeth, Brighton was
under the cliffs. In 1665 there still remained more than
100 tenements, although many had been destroyed ;
at the commencement of the eighteenth century these
were all swept away, and not a vestige of them
remained. Generally throughout the whole of the
South of England, there has been a gradual loss Of
land. There was, no doubt, a time when England was a
Peninsula ; but, by the constant action of the sea, it ulti-
mately became severed from the Continent at the Straits
of Dover. It is conjectured that the Mediterranean Sea
was once a great lake, but through some cause the sea
rushed in, caused Deucalion's flood, separated Sicily
from Italy, and formed various islands. In Holland the

* The rate of encroachment in some parts of this county, it is said,
amounts to four yards annually.

F 5

106 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

sea has made great inroads, sweeping away villages and
covering immense tracts of land. The city of Calicut
in the East Indies has been quite overflowed by the sea,
and ships sail over the place where it once stood.

Large rivers produce a considerable alteration in the
surface of the land, sometimes sweeping away islands at
their mouths, and sometimes forming new ones. The
soil that is carried into the Gulf of Mexico by the
various rivers that flow into it, is so immense, that it is
far from impossible but that at some future time it may
become innavigable, and ultimately be filled up. It is
calculated that 250 millions of tons of matter are annu-
ally carried down the river Ganges. The Yellow Sea is
said to be rapidly filling up with mud and soil. The land
on which Alexandria is built, was not formed 3000 years
ago 5 and the cities of Damietta and Rosetta, which less
than 1000 years ago were close to the shore, are now
two leagues inland. The arms of the Rhone have, in the
course of 1800 years, increased three leagues in length,
and great additions of land have been made to the west
of that river; and numerous places, which less than 1000
years ago were situated close to the sea, are now some
leagues inland.

The Lagunes* of Venice are apparently filling up, so
that that city will ere long be connected with the main-
land. Ravenna was, eighteen centuries ago, situated
amongst the lagunes, but it is now a league inland. f

Downs or hillocks of sand, thrown up by the sea,
produce a certain alteration in the Earth's surface. In
some places they overwhelm even forests and villages.
On the Western coast of France these downs are proceed-
ing at a fearful rate, at some places from sixty to seventy
feet yearly. On the coast of Scotland, on the Hebrides,
and various other places, their effect is very evi-
dent. By the sands of the Desert, a great part of
Egypt has been inundated, and cities and villages
destroyed.

* The Lagunes are lakes or marshes in which that city is situated.
They communicate with the sea, and there are about fifty islands in
them.

f See Cuvier's and Lyell's Treatises.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 107

In addition to these, there are other causes of a minor
import, which it will be unnecessary to enter into, as the
action of the rain on mountains, the melting of snows,
&c. which have a tendency to alter the Earth's surface,
and produce a level. Landslips will occasionally take
place, by which means a tract of land will suddenly
gink into the earth, as if one of its pillars had given
way ; but these occurrences are, providentially, rare.

OF THE CLIMATE OR TEMPERATURE.

The general climate or temperature principally depends
on two causes, viz., the distance of the place from the
Equator, and its elevation above the surface of the sea.
There are other causes which may tend to alter the tem-
perature, but these are the principal.

Those parts of the globe which lie within the Tropics,
from their having the sun vertical twice a-year, and its
receding at no time to a very great distance from their
zenith, must necessarily be most favourably situated for
the reception of his rays ; while in proportion as any
place is distant from the Equator, the Sun's rays will fall
obliquely, aud such place will receive proportionately a
smaller portion of them. Another cause for increased
heat within the Tropics is the Sun's being below the hori-
zon for so short a time, never much more than 12 hours ;
while in the Temperate Zones during the winter half year,
the Sun is absent for a time varying from between 12 and
13 hours to 24 hours ; and in the Frigid Zones he keeps
below the horizon from 24 hours to six months, in pro-
portion to the distance of the place from the Arctic
Circle. Geographers have, therefore, arbitrarily divided
each hemisphere into 30 different degrees of temperature,
called climates, each climate comprising a zone parallel
with the Equator, and of an extent depending on the
length of the longest day. Thus at the Equator, where
the day is uniformly 12 hours long, ihejirst climate is said
to commence, and to extend to that parallel where the
length of the longest day is 12 hours and a half, when
the second climate begins, and continues to where the
longest day is 13 hours : half an hour in the length
of the longest day thus forming a new climate. This

108 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

mode of reckoning is continued to the Polar Circles
where the longest day is -24 hours, and is consequently
considered to be in the 24th climate. Between the Polar
Circles and the Poles the reckoning is carried on by
months ; so that those places which are contained between
the Polar Circles, and that parallel where the sun keeps
above the horizon for one month, will be in the 25th
climate, for two months in the 26th climate ; and so on
to the Poles, which will be in the 30th climate.

The other principal cause for alteration in the tempe-
rature is the height of the place above the level of the
sea ; even in the Torrid Zone elevated lands have their
temperature lowered in proportion to such elevation.
An elevation of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet will render the
temperature as mild as that of the Temperate Zones :
Mexico has nearly such elevation, and Quito somewhat
greater, both of which are remarkable for the mildness
of their temperature. In Asia also the elevated tro-
pical lands have a temperature particularly mild and sa-
lubrious.

Independent of the causes already named, mountains
have a surprising effect on the temperature of a country,
occasionally acting as barriers to the hot winds of one
country and the cold winds of another. Siberia, for
instance, being exposed to the piercing winds from the
Frozen Ocean, and shut out by the Altaian mountains
from the warm winds of the southern regions, has a
much lower temperature than under other circum-
stances it might have. At Naples the Tramontanes, as
they are called, coming from the frozen regions of
the Alps and Apennines, are intensely cold ; while
the Siroccos, or southern winds, are as excessively hot.
Even in our own country, the mildness of the tempe-
rature at many parts of the southern coast is well known,
being shielded by hills from the northerly and easterly
winds.

The cultivation of a country, and the nature of its
soil, have also an effect on the temperature. Forests
and profuse vegetation of all kinds imbibe the sun's
rays without reflecting them, and consequently lower
the temperature, which is one reason why those parts of
North America that lie within the same parallel as Eng-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 109

land are so much colder ; but these, as the land becomes
cleared, will have their temperature raised. The im-
mense deserts of Africa and Asia can, from their nature,
imbibe but little of the sun's rays, which causes the air
to become intensely hot. The sea likewise has an effect
on the temperature ; the water cools the atmosphere by
absorbing the caloric, and this it is that renders islands
less hot than the main land.

The effects of the climate both on the animal and
vegetable world are particularly striking. "Within the
Polar Circles scarcely any other vegetables are seen than
mosses and lichens, while in the Torrid Zone vegetation is
most profuse. In the higher latitudes domestic animals
become stunted in their growth, until they ultimately
disappear. The Torrid Zone, on the contrary, produces
animals of the most gigantic and of the most powerful
and savage nature ; the air, the earth, and the water
here all teem with life; and the number of animals of every
kind, of birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, and vegetable
productions, is excessive, beyond our imagination. The
Temperate Zone preserves a happy medium between the
scarcity of the Frigid Zone and the superabundance of
the Torrid, and produces everything necessary for the
wants and comforts of man.

While different kinds of animals and vegetables are
confined to certain climates, and are with difficulty made
to exist by art, except by a peculiar temperature, man
alone is unconfined, and can exist in the frozen regions
of the North, or in the scorching deserts of the South.
The inhabitants of the Frigid Zones differ from those
of the Torrid Zone, and both from Europeans, in their
physical and mental qualities ; but this cannot be sup-
posed to be through any original difference in their na-
ture, as undoubtedly all mankind sprang from one head,
but from difference of climate and incultivation of mind.
Thus as mankind of every clime become more and more
enlightened, and their mental faculties expanded, and
particularly as they become sensible to the truths of
Christianity, so will their characters become elevated,
and their habits and modes of living improved. We
ourselves were originally a savage people, and are now
pre-eminent in science, literature, and religion.

QUESTIONS ON THE

QUESTIONS

ON

THE SCIENTIFIC READINGS

ATTRACTION.

1. What is meant by Attraction ?

2. Into how many kinds may attraction be divided,
and explain them ?

3. How many kinds of attraction of gravitation are
there, and what are they ?

4. At what part of the earth is the power of Gravity
the greatest ?

5. What prevents bodies of a loose structure from
falling with the same velocity as bodies of a denser
nature ?

6. In what ratio does the power of gravity increase
and decrease ?

7. What is that kind of gravitation by which the hea-
venly bodies are retained in their orbits ?

8. In what proportionate degree do the Primary
planets act upon their Secondaries ?

9. What is the rate of descent of a falling body, near
the earth's surface ?

10. Through what principle is it that a glass ruler, or
a stick of sealingwax, when rubbed, will attract light
bodies ?

11. By what power is it that the atoms of bodies
cohere ?

SCIENTIFIC READIXGS. Ill

12. Were the ancients acquainted with magnetic at-
traction ?

13. Why or through what principle does water ascend
to the branches of trees by means of their roots ?

14. To what cause is the cohesion of bodies attri-
buted ?

15. What is the opinion of Sir Richard Phillips in
regard to capillary attraction ?

16'. What is the chief antagonist to cohesion.

17. What kind of attraction is that when the force
acts on atoms of the same species ?

18. When the force of attraction acts on atoms of
different substances, what is it then termed ?

19. To what is the spherical shape of drops of quick-
silver attributed ?

20. How many kinds of chemical attractions are there?

21. How do bodies generally combine ?

22. When a chemical combination has been effected,
can the bodies combined be separated by mechanical
means ?

23. What is simple and what compound affinity, and
give an example of each?

24. What is the chief principle of action in chemical
combinations?

25. How far will a body fall near the earth's surface
during the space of five seconds, of seven seconds, and of
ten seconds ?

26. What will be the quantity of descent of a body
during the third second, the sixth second, and the ninth
second of its fall ?

27. How long would a body take to fall through a
space of 5OO feet, of 1000 feet, and of 1500 feet?

CALORIC, HEAT, FIRE.

28. WThat would have been the state of man without
fire?

29. Is fire a real substance ?

30. What is Fire?

112 QUESTIONS ON THE

31. What is Heat?

32. What is meant by the term Caloric ?

33. What effect do we produce on a heated body by
touching it, and what on a cold body ?

34 . By what term are those bodies distinguished which
transmit caloric readily ?

35. Which are the best and which the worst conduc-
tors of caloric ?

36. Why does the quicksilver or alcohol rise in the
Thermometer in hot weather ?

37. What do the thermometers contain which are used
in the higher latitudes ?

38. What is the natural state of bodies ?

39. What is meant by atomic motion ?

40. Does water, when converted into ice, take up more
or less space than when in its fluid state ?

41. At what angle do the crystals of frozen water
form?

42. When water is converted into steam, what strik-
ing power does it acquire?

43. What is the chief source or cause of caloric?

44. Into how many kinds is caloric divided, which are
they, and explain them ?

45. Which colour radiates heat most ?

46. Which colour absorbs the rays of light, and which
reflects them most ?

47. What would be the effect produced on a vessel
scratched, as it regards the radiation of heat ?

48. What is it said that the cause which produces the
sensation of heat resembles ?

4Q. What is the shape of those mirrors used to con-
centrate the sun's heat ?

50. What eifect has a convex lens on the sun's heat ?

51. What is the difference between a lens and a

mirror

52. By what means did Archimedes set fire to the
Roman fleet?

53. In what ratio were the sun's rays condensed by
Mr. Parker's burning-glass ?

54. What person, in the reign of Elizabeth, ignited
bodies by a combination of plane mirrors ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 113

55. Describe Buffon's combination of plane mirrors,
and the effect produced ?

56. What was the effect produced by Mr. Parker's
burning-glass :

57. What are the various means by which caloric is
produced ?

58. How is caloric produced by combustion ?

59. By what means is the strongest heat produced by
combustion ?

60. How is heat produced by Percussion; how by
Friction ?

61. Explain how fire is produced by the collison of
the flint and steel ?

62. To what does oxygen owe its gaseous state ?

63. How do savages procure fire?

64. What is the general rule for the production of
heat by chemical mixture ?

65. If two ounces of sulphuric acid be mixed with
eight ounces of cold water, what will be the quantity of
the mixture ?

66. Why is heat evolved in slaking lime ?

67- By what means has the strongest heat known been
produced ; and what has been the effect resulting there-
from ?

68. With what force will steam, at 590°, press on a
space of two inches square, of three inches, and of four
inches square ?

69. If a mirror of four feet in diameter produce a focus
of half an inch in diameter, in what ratio will the heat be
increased ?

70. If a convex lens of one foot in diameter produce
a focus of a quarter of an inch in diameter, in what ratio
will the sun's rays be condensed ?

COMBUSTION.

71. Define Combustion.

Which are simple, and which compound combus-
tibles ?

114 QUESTIONS ON THE

73. Which is the only simple combustible that nature
offers pure and in abundance ?

74. What substance is that which so much abounds
in the different kingdoms of nature }

75. What quantity of sulphur has been imported annu-
ally, for the purpose of making gunpowder and sulphuric
acid?

7t>. With what metals is sulphur found in combina-
tion ?

77- Why are milk and bread so necessary for the first
food of an infant :

78. With what metals is phosphorus found in combi-
nation ?

79. In what part of the animal kingdom does phos-
phorus chiefly abound ?

80. What is the chief use of the sub-borate of soda ?

81. What is the nature of Iodine, when was it first
discovered, and how is it procured ?

82. Is wood a simple or compound combustible ?

83. Which are the supporters of combustion ?

84. Are supporters of combustion always supporters
of life ?

85. On what does the rapidity of combustion depend ?

86. What is the philosophical effect produced on a fire
by blowing ?

87. Do the products of any combustion increase or
decrease in weight ?

88. What would be the weight of a fother of lead when
converted into red lead ?

89. Whence does the light come during combustion ?

90. Is the product of combustion always an oxide ?

91. If potassium or sodium be burnt, what will be its
product 1

92. What metal is that which has such affinity for
oxygen, as to decompose water so rapidly as to ignite the
hydrogen 1

93. How is Potassium formed, and what are its pecu-
liar qualities ?

94. Has Sodium any peculiar affinity for oxygen ?

95. How is soda obtained, and what are its uses ?

96. Give the theory of burning a common candle.

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 115

97- Why is the top of the wick in common candles
black when burning ?

98. What angle of inclination must a candle have so
as not to require snuffing ":

99. What is Sir Richard Phillips's theory of Combus-
tion ?

100. Define Inflammation, Ignition, and Detonation or
Explosion.

LIGHT.

101. What is Light?

102. What is the effect of the action of light on vege-
tables ?

103. WThy are the hearts of lettuces and other vegeta-
bles white, as also the bellies of fishes, and the inner
feathers of birds, &c. }

104. What was the opinion of Sir Isaac Newton in
regard to the nature of light ?

105. What effect has the sun's rays when condensed
and thrown on a delicate balance ?

106. In what direction do the rays of light proceed ?

107. Which rays of light from the sun that fall on
our atmosphere undergo refraction, those that fall per-
pendicularly, or those that fall obliquely ?

108. Required the velocity of light.

109. Through what cause is it that the heavenly bodies
appear higher in the heavens than they actually are ?

1 10. What is meant by a diaphanous body ?

111. On what does the science of dioptrics depend?

112. When a ray of light passes from a dense into a
rarer medium, how, or in what direction is it refracted ?

113. In what direction is a ray of light refracted, when
it passes from a rare into a denser medium ?

114. When a ray of light falls upon a body and it does
not become absorbed, what is the result ?

115. What kind of bodies reflect light most ?

116. On what does the quantity of reflected light de-
pend ?

117. To what is the angle of reflection always equal :

118. Which colour absorbs, and which reflects light
the most ?

116 QUESTIONS ON THE

119. What is that science termed which explains the
doctrine of reflected light ?

120. How are bodies seen ?

121. What is meant by Vision ?

122. Of what shape must the eye necessarily be?

123. What is that membrane of the eye termed on
which objects seen become painted ?

124. Which are the humours of the eye, and explain
them?

125. By what contrivance is the idea of the images
of bodies seen conveyed to the brain ?

126. If the object seen be delineated in an inverted
position on the retina of the eye, how is it that it ap-
pears to us in its natural position ?

127. As the object seen is painted on the retina of
each eye, how is it that it does not appear double ?

128. Of what particular shape are the eyes of such
persons as are near-sighted, and what kind of glass
must they use to rectify their vision ?

129. How does age generally affect the shape of the
eye?

130. Which are the seven primary colours ?

131. How is the idea of colour produced in our
minds ?

132. What is meant by the Spectrum ?

133. How does Sir Richard Phillips explain colour?

134. If the spectrum be divided into 360 parts, what
are the proportional parts of each colour ?

135. The seven primary colours are reduceable to
three ; which are those three ?

136. Which colour is most refrangible, and which
least refrangible ?

137- What is understood by homogeneous, and what by
heterogeneous light ?

138. Why does the sun appear of a red colour on a
hazy morning ?

138. From what does the whiteness and from what
does the blackness of bodies arise ?

139. What space of time would a ray of light take to
travel from the sun to each planet individually ; Mer-

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 117

cury being 37 millions of miles distant, Venus 69 mil-
lions, the Earth 95 millions, Mars 144 millions, Jupiter
494 millions, Saturn 906 millions, and Georgium Sidus
1820 millions r

COLD.

140. What is Cold ?

141. What effect has cold on bodies in general ?

142. What is the highest degree of cold that has been
produced artificially ?

143. What simple mixture will cause the thermometer
to sink suddenly from the freezing point to Zero ?

144. In extreme cold, what is the consequence when
the external air is suddenly admitted into a sitting-
room ?

145. What is the usual effect of extreme cold on the
system ?

146. Under what circumstances, and when was it, that
70OO Swedes perished through extreme cold ?

147- Relate the occurrence which took place at Terra
del Fuego, during a botanical excursion of Sir Joseph
Banks and others.

PNEUMATICS.

148. On what does the science of Pneumatics treat ?

149. What are the component parts of the atmo-
sphere ?

150. What figure does the atmosphere assume, through
the motion of the earth and the action of the sun ?

151. Is there any gas in the atmosphere, independent
of its constituents, oxygen and azote ?

152. What is the height of the atmosphere ?

153. What is the whole weight of the atmosphere ?

154. What is the greatest height that an aeronaut has
ascended ?

155. How does air press ?

156. What is, generally speaking, the greatest height
of the clouds ?

157. At what rate does the density of the atmosphere
decrease ?

QUESTIONS ON THE

158. What effect is produced on the system at the
tops of mountains, through the extreme rarity of the
air?

159. At what rate, on every square inch of surface,
does the air press ?

160. Why will not the quicksilver rise higher than
about 31 inches in the barometer ?

161. Within what height from the earth do the sun's
rays, in passing through the atmosphere, begin to suffer
refraction ?

162. Describe an easy experiment, showing the up-
ward pressure of the air ?

163. What quantity of oxygen, or the pure part of
air, does a man consume in an hour ?

164. W7hy is it unwholesome to remain shut up in a
newly plastered or whitewashed room ?

165. Where is it that the air is so affected by exha-
lations of a coppery nature, as to tarnish the silver in
the pocket ?

166. What is the effect of heat on air ?

167. What is the cause of Wind ?

1 68. Describe an experiment, calculated to show the
effect of heat in rarefying the air.

169. On what principle are fire-balloons made ?

170. What would be the result if the air had no re-
flective power ?

171. What is the cause of twilight?

172. Describe Montgolfier's balloon.

173. What are the principal instruments used to show
the various phenomena of the atmosphere ?

174. Why will water boil sooner on the top of a high
mountain than in a valley ?

175. Where will water boil soonest, or with a less
degree of heat, and why — at the bottom of a deep mine,
or on the earth's surface ?

176. What is the use of the Air-pump ; and by whom
was it invented, and when ?

177- When a vessel has been partially exhausted by
means of the Air-pump, through what principle is it that
the remaining air fills the whole of the vessel ?

178. On what does the weight of bodies depend ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 119

179. Will vegetation proceed in an exhausted receiver?

180. What effect is produced by the condensation of
air ?

181. Describe the Condensing Syringe.

182. On what principle does the Air-gun depend ?

183. Why does the quicksilver fall in a Barometer
when it is about to rain ?

184. Describe the Barometer, and explain the prin-
ciple.

185. For what other purpose is a Barometer nsed be-
sides that of ascertaining the probable change of the
weather ?

*185. Required the density of the air at twenty-eight
miles above the earth's surface.

186. Required the pressure of the atmosphere on six
square inches of surface.

187. Required the weight of the atmosphere in tons.

188. If the atmosphere of Mars be twice as dense as
that of the earth and reckoned as high, what will be
its weight, supposing the diameter of Mars to be 400O
miles ?

189. What difference would there be in the height of
the quicksilver in a barometer at the top of the highest
mountain in the world, to what it would be at the bot-
tom of the mountain ?

WATER.

190. In what different states does water exist ?

191. What is Steam or Vapour ?

192. What is the simplest state of water ?

193. Is ice heavier or lighter than water ?

194. What are the component parts of water ?

195. What \tas the opinion of the ancients respecting:
water ?

196. Give proofs of the universality of water.
197- Which is the purest kind of water?

198. What are the opinions of philosophers relative to
the sea's acquiring its saltness ?

120 QUESTIONS ON THE

199. What part of the earth's surface does the ocean
cover ?

200. Is there any air in water ?

201. What part of the ocean is the saltest, and why ?

202. What causes the impurity of rain water ?

203. Why is the Thames water preferred for long
voyages ?

204. Which putrefies soonest, spring water or river
water ?

205. What causes the hardness of spring water?

206. Where have springs of fresh water been disco-
vered in the sea ?

207. Which is most capable of being confined, water
or air ?

20S; What is the boiling point of water when the ba-
rometer is at 29 inches, and when at 31 inches, and what
is the cause of the difference ?

209. Where are the chief hot springs ?

210. What is the mean specific gravity of water?

2 11. What causes the specific gravity of water to
vary?

212. To what cause may Earthquakes and Volcanic
eruptions be often assigned ?

213. Which may be made to displace the greater
weight, a pound of gunpowder, or a pound of water ?

214. What causes that motion of water called boiling ?

215. Give an example of the surprising power of steam-
engines..

216. How much rarer than water is steam at 212° ?

21 7. Explain the theory of boiling.

218. How many balls in a day of 16 hours would
Perkins's steam-gun discharge, if it could continue with
the same rapidity that it does in the first four seconds
of its action ?

219. Required the weight of a tun of water.

220. Required the weight of a cube of three feet of
water.

221. What quantity of water might be thrown up by
St. Winifred's Well in a day of 24 hours ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 121

HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRAULICS.

222. Define Hydrostatics and Hydraulics.

223. How are fluids divided?

224. How do fluids press ?

225. How much greater will be the pressure of a body
of water of a cylindrical shape than of a body of a co-
nical shape, provided their bases are equal ?

*224. Give an example of the astonishing effect that
might be produced by the perpendicular pressure of a
small body of water.

*225. What causes the sides of canals to be sometimes
blown up ?

•226. What is meant by Specific Gravity ?

227- In reference to what other body is the specific
gravity of bodies given ?

228. If a body sink in a fluid, what quantity of the
fluid will it displace ?

22Q. If a body swim in a fluid, what quantity of the
fluid will it displace?

230. What is the name of that instrument by which
the specific gravity of bodies is ascertained ?

23 1 . How is the specific gravity of a body that stcims
in water ascertained ?

232. How is the specific gravity of a body that sinks
in water ascertained ?

233. Had the ancients a knowledge of Hydraulics ?

234. How did the ancients convey water from the top
of a hill, or other elevated place, to the top of another
hill?

*235. To what science does the construction of mills
belong ?

236. Why cannot water be raised in a sucking pump
beyond a certain limited height ?

23?. Describe the Sucking Pump.

238. Describe the Forcing Pump.

239. Is the height limited to which water may be
thrown by a forcing pump ?

240. Describe the Siphon.

241 . Why must the siphon be exhausted of air before
it will act ?

122 QUESTIONS ON THE

242. Why will not the siphon act, when the longer leg
is immersed in the liquor that is to be drawn off?

243. On what principle are Fire Engines ?

244. If a body weigh 74 grains in air, and 68 in
water, what will be its specific gravity ?

<2'J5. If a body weigh 136 grains in air, and 120 in
water, what will be its specific gravity ?

*245. If a tube of one inch bore, and 30 feet high, be
inserted into a cask of water, whose base is one foot in
diameter, what will be the pressure if the tube be filled
with water ?

246. If it were possible that the quicksilver could
rise in a barometer to 40 inches, of what height would
be the column of water that might be counterbalanced
by it in a pump ?

ACOUSTICS.

247 . Of what does Acoustics treat ?

248. Is air the sole transmitter of sound ?

249. Define Sound.

250. On what does the intensity of sound depend ?

251. What difference is there in the intensity of sound,
conveyed by hydrogen gas, and by carbonic acid gas ?

252. What is the name of that nerve which conveys
sound to the brain ?

253. Is the ear the only means by which sound may
be conveyed to the brain ?

254. iVhat effect has the state of the atmosphere in
regard to sound ?

255. Required the number of vibrations in a second,
to produce the most acute and the most grave sound ?

256. Which travels quickest, the human voice, or the.
report of a cannon?

257- At what rate per second does sound travel ?

258. How may the distance of a thunder-storm be cal-
culated r

259. Give an example of the conducting power of
water ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 123

260. At what rate does sound travel in water ?

261. In what do sound and light resemble each other ?

262. Which is the best conductor of sound, brick or
stone ?

263. What is an Echo ?

264. Why can a person in the whispering-gallery of
St. Paul's, hear another distinctly, if he speak in a
whisper on the opposite side ?

265. Why are the repetitions of an echo more nume-
rous in the night-time than in the day ?

266. Describe the Speaking Trumpet.
267- Describe the Invisible Girl.

268. Required the distance of a thunder- cloud, if a
space of thirty seconds intervene between the lightning
and the thunder.

269. Heard the report of a gun from a ship at sea,
when just twelve seconds before, the flash was seen ; re-
quired the distance of the ship.

270. What space of time will intervene between the
flash and report of apiece ofordnancefifteenmiles distant?

2/1. If I hear the echo of my voice from a building just
eight seconds after I speak, at what distance will the
building be from me ?

METEOROLOGY.

272. What is Meteorology?

273. How high does the atmosphere extend ?

271. What is the average quantity of aqueous vapour
contained in the atmosphere r

275. How much lighter than water is the atmosphere ?

276. Through what means is it that water is sus-
pended in the atmosphere?

277. What quantity of water is supposed to be taken
up annually by the atmosphere ?

278. What quantity is carried off by evaporation from
the Thames in a summer's day, and what quantity from
the Mediterranean in the same time ?

279. What is the cause of Rain ?

280. What was Sir Richard Phillips's plan for fertili-
zing barren lands ?

G 2

124 OUESTIONS ON THE

281. To what does Sir Richard Phillips attribute the
sterility of certain countries that have been once fruitful ?

282. Does most rain fall in mountainous countries or
in plains ?

283. To what are those fertile spots called Oases, in
deserts, ascribed ?

284. What are Fogs, and how are they produced ?

285. What is Dew, and how is it produced ?

286. In what part of England does the greatest quan-
tity of rain fall ?

287. Required the annual depth of rain at London.

288. In what part of the year does least rain fall ?

289. At what part of the world, or within what lati-
tudes, does the greatest quantity of rain fall ?

290. Are dews more copious in cloudy weather or in
clear weather ?

291. What is Snow ?

292. What is Hail ?

293. What are Coronae, or Halos ?

294. What are Parhelia ?

295. What instrument has been invented and used
for the purpose of diverting hail stones ?

296. What quantity of rain falls on an average
annually in England ?

297. At what rate of descent do hailstones fall ?

298. Relate some instances of extraordinary hail-
storms.

299. To what cause is a Halo or Corona attributed ?

300. How are Parhelia or Mock-suns produced ?

301. -What are Paraselenae ?

302. Relate some instances of the appearance of mock-
suns in England.

303. What are Aeroliths ?

304. Are fiery Meteors ever seen in England ?

305. Relate an instance of the fatal effects of a lumi-
nous cloud at Java.

306. Have aeroliths ever fallen in England ?

307. Has there ever been an instance of the manufac-
ture of meteoric iron ?

308. Are aeroliths of common or uncommon occur-
rence ?

309. Describe the Aurora Borealis.

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 125

310. Describe the Ignis Fatuus, or Jack-with-a-
lantern.

311. What is the cause of Wind ?

312. Is there any general regularity with regard to
the direction of the wind at any part of the earth ?

313. Is there any regularity in England with regard
to the direction of the wind ?

314. To what is the Ignis Fatuus attributed ?

315. At what rate does a hurricane travel ?

316. What is the name of that instrument by which
the force or velocity of the wind is estimated ?

317- How does evaporation produce wind ?

318. Required the name of that instrument by which
the quantity of desv is measured.

319. Required the name of the instrument which
measures the purity of the air.

320. What is the use of the Hygrometer ?

321. Are whirlwinds common in temperate climates ?

322. What is the Cyanometer?

323. Required the quantity of water in tuns, annually
taken up by the process of evaporation.

324. Required the weight of the water evaporated in
a summer's day from the Mediterranean.

325. What would be the height of a cylindrical vessel
of 40 feet in diameter, capable of containing all the
water that may be evaporated from the Thames in a
summer's day ?

326. How many tuns of water fall annually, on an
average, on a farm of 350 acres ; and what would be
the diameter of a globular vessel capable of containing it ?

ELECTRICITY.

327. To whom may the origin of Electricity be
traced r

328. Why is this science termed Electricity ?

329. What substances are Electrics, and why are they
so termed?

126 QUESTIONS ON THE

330. At what time might Electricity have been first
properly deemed a science ?

331. Why are certain substances termed Conductors,
and which are they ?

332. Is it possible that any electric may be made to
become a conductor ?

333. What is the usual mode of exciting electricity ?

334. Are the following substances Electrics or Con-
ductors—glass, brass, silk, air, baked wood, water, and
sealing-wax ?

335. What is Electricity ?

336. What is the opinion of Sir Richard Phillips in
regard to Electricity ?

337. What is meant by positive, and what by negative
electricity ?

338. Explain the difference between vitreous and re-
sinous electricity.

339. Explain the theory of Du Fay, and show in what
it differs from the Franklinian theory.

340. Is it possible that different kinds of electricity
may be produced from the same body ?

341 . What kind of electricity is produced from the
excitement of sealing-wax by fur ; and what if the seal-
ing-wax be excited by tinfoil ?

342. What is the principle article in an electrical appa-
ratus, and describe it ?

343. Describe the Leyden Jar.

344. According to the Franklinian theory, what differ-
ence is there in the quantity of electricity that a jar may
contain, when charged, and when not charged ?

345. By what means is an electric jar discharged,
and what is the result ?

346. What causes that peculiar sensation called an
electric shock ?

347. Why would a person not receive a shock, if he
were to discharge a jar by means of points ?

348. What is meant by an electrical battery, and what
may be the result produced from one strongly charged ?

349. If a jar be charged negatively, why will it give a
shock in a manner similar to what it would if charged
positively ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 127

350. What is an Electrophorus, and explain the mode
of exciting it ?

351. Why are points so generally to be avoided in
electrical apparatus ?

352. What is an Electrometer ?

353. Who was it that first identified electricity with
lightning ?

354. What are Paratonneres, and what is expected
from their use ?

355. On what principle does the action of the Elec-
trophorus depend ?

356. What are Conductors, and explain the principle
of their action ?

35? • There are certain fishes that are capable of giving
electrical shocks ; required their names, and designate
that which is the most powerful.

358. When may electricity be employed as a medical
agent ?

3c 9. Required the accepted difference between Gal-
vanism and Voltaism.

360. By what means did Galvani first discover that
action which received the name Galvanism ?

361. Who was Galvani, and who Volta ?

362. Which are the best metals for producing Voltaic
action ?

363. Describe a Voltaic pile, and the manner in
which it should be erected.

364. Who first invented the Galvanic trough ?

365. What is the best mixture to produce Voltaic
action ?

366. Describe a galvanic battery and the effects capa-
ble of being produced by it.

367. If a piece of zinc be placed under the tongue, and
a piece of silver between the lips and gums near the eye-
tooth, and the two metals be brought into contact, a flash
will be perceived ; required the cause of the flash ?

368. There are certain facts of common occurrence
referred to Galvanism, relate them.

369. May the nature of Electricity and Galvanism be
said to be thoroughly understood I

128 QUESTIONS ON THE

MECHANICAL POWERS.

370. How many mechanical powers are there, and
name them?

371 . What was the cause that originated the invention
of mechanical powers ?

372. Which was the first mechanical power invented ?
. 3/3. How many kinds of Levers are there ?

374. What is meant by the fulcrum in leverage ?

375. Explain the different kinds of levers, and their
action ?

376. What is the proportional gain in levers of the
first and second kinds?

377. In which kind of lever is It that there is a loss of
power, and why is it used ?

378. If there be a gain in power, what loss is it that
there is then necessarily incurred r

379. To what kind of lever are the following articles
referred ; the hammer in drawing a nail, a pair of scis-
sors, the rudder of a vessel, pincers, a steel-yard, a door,
and the oars of a boat ?

380. Describe the Wheel and Axle, and to what other
power may this be referred ?

381. Required the advantages gained in the wheel and
axle.

382. To what uses are the wheel and axle applied?

383. Describe the Pulley.

384. What advantage is gained in a single fixed pulley ?

385. Required the advantage gained in a single move-
able pulley.

386. Required the advantage gained in a series of
moveable pulleys.

387. To which of the mechanical powers is the adze
referred ?

388. Which mechanical power is that which offers the
greatest advantages, and why ?

38Q. Describe the Inclined Plane.

390. If two inclined planes are placed flat together,
what other mechanical power will it make ?

391. What advantage is obtained from the inclined
plane ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 129

392. Describe the wedge, and the advantage obtained
from it.

393. Which of the other mechanical powers does the
screw resemble ?

394. What is on an average allowed for friction?

395. What bodies produce the least friction?

396. Required the advantage obtained from the screw.
397- The ancients used to form their armies into the

shape of one of the mechanical powers, required which,
and why ?

398. To which of the mechanical powers are needles,
knives, and spades referred ?

399. What degree of velocity will a body acquire in
descending an inclined plane ?

400. Of what use is friction in machines ?

401. If the length of a wedge be two feet, and the
breadth or thickness be six inches, what will be the ad-
vantage obtained ?

402. If the distance from the fulcrum to the moving
power in the human arm (a lever of the third kind) be
one inch and a half, what will be the actual weight sus-
tained by holding a body of Jive pounds weight in the
hand with the arm extended, the length of the arm, from
the elbow to the hand, being 18 inches ?

403. If a man can exert the force of one hundred
weight on an inclined plane, what weight will he be able
to raise, if the length of the plane be to its height as
twelve to three ?

404. If the distance between the threads of a screw be
one eighth of an inch, and the radius formed by the
lever be three feet, what power of compression may a
person effect, who can use the force of one hundred
weight, deducting one-third for friction ?

405. In a lever twelve feet long, if the distance be-
tween the fulcrum and the weight to be raised be one
foot, what power will be sufficient to raise three quar-
ters of a ton ?

406. If a man has to raise a weight of 10 tons one
foot, with what length of inclined plane will he be able
to effect it by using a force of 160 Ibs. ?

G5

130 QUESTIONS ON THE

407. If the diameter of the moon be 2180 miles, and
her density four-fifths of that of the earth, while the
density of the earth is five-and-a-half times that of
water, what would be the length of a lever capable of
raising her, if inserted quite through her axis, and the
fulcrum be 1 100 miles distant from her centre, provided
a person could advantageously use a force of 2 cwt. :
also how long, under the above circumstances, would it
take to raise the moon one inch, if the moving power
were to travel at the rate of 50 miles an hour ?

408. If the breadth of the back of a wedge be 6 inches,
what must be its length to counterpoise a weight of 10
tons, provided that a force of 1O cwt. be given to it?

409. If the arm of a windlass be 18 inches, and the
diameter of the axis be four inches, what force will be
sufficient to raise a weight of 12 cwt. provided -that
there be but one coil of rope ?*

410. If the diameter of the axis of a crane be eight
inches, and the circumference made by the moving
power be 10 feet, what weight will a man be able to
raise that can exert advantageously the force of 150 Ibs. ?

411. If the distance between the threads of a screw
be a quarter of an inch, and a man can use the force of
1 cwt., what must be the length of the lever which forms
the radius of the circle of the moving power to raise a
weight of 20 tons ?

GASEOUS BODIES.

412. Define a gaseous body, and explain the difference
between it and vapour.

413. By what means is it that certain bodies assume
a gaseous form ?

414. Have any of the gases been at any time con-
densed into a liquid state 1

415. Required the name of that gas which is the
chief supporter of life and light.

* In raising a body by a wheel and axis, or windlass or other similar
power, if the rope after having coiled once over the axis be reverted
again over itself, as under certain circumstances it sometimes is two
or three times, it is necessary that nearly twice the thickness of the
rope should be added to the axis at every fresh coil.

SCIENTIFIC READINGS.

131

416. What may be the result of the combination of
oxygen with a combustible body ?

417. What is the product of the combination of oxygen
with a metal ?

418. What would be the consequence if the oxygen
•were abstracted from the atmosphere ?

419. Is there any exception to the general poisonous
nature of the oxides of metals ?

4C20. How may oxygen be obtained for experiment ?

421. What is the meaning of the word oxygen ?

422. Does oxygen ever exist in a solid state r

423. Why does not the atmosphere become so dete-
riorated through a constant loss of oxygen, as to be in-
capable of supporting respiration ?

424. What is the other principal constituent of the
atmosphere ?

425. Does Nitrogen ever exist in a solid state, and to
what is it indebted for its fluidity 1

426. What are the properties of Azote or Nitrogen ?

427. How may nitrogen be obtained ?

428. Does nitrogen combine with any other body ?

429. What does the combination of nitrogen and hy-
drogen produce ?

430. What other gas besides oxygen and nitrogen
enters into the composition of atmospheric air ?

431. Required the properties of Carbonic acid gas.

432. What is the name that miners give to carbonic
acid gas ?

433. Describe the Grotto del Cano.

434. What domestic operations produce carbonic acid
gas?

435. To what do Champagne and bottled Cider owe
their sparkling qualities ?

436. Of what use is Carbonic acid gas in vegetation?

437. Which gas has the greatest specific gravity?

438. How may carbonic acid gas be procured?

439. Required the process of making lime.

440. What substance is peculiarly noted for its anti-
septive properties ?

441. What gas do animal and vegetable substances
give out when in a state of putrefaction ?

132 QUESTIONS ON THE

442. What combination forms Sal Ammoniac?

443. What are the constituent parts of water and
their relative proportions ?

444. What is the meaning of the word Hydrogen ?

445. What is the specific gravity of hydrogen gas ?

446. Will hydrogen gas support life ?

447. Is hydrogen gas inflammable, and will it support
flame?

448. How is Drummond's Signal Light produced ?

449. Required the principle and use of the safety
lamp.

450. Required the effect produced by a stream of
hydrogen gas made to fall on a piece of spongy pla-
tinum.

451. What kind of gas is that used for the purpose of
lighting the streets, shops, &c. ?

452. What are the constituent parts of oils and fat ?

453. How may Hydrogen gas be obtained for experi-
ment ?

454. What gas is that which escapes from drains ?

455. What is the chemical name for that which is com-
monly called Laughing gas, and how may it be obtained?

456. What is Olefiant gas, and how may it be ob-
tained ?

456. What are the peculiar properties of Phosphuretted
hydrogen gas, and how may it be made ?

457. Whence does Chlorine obtain its name ?

458. Will chlorine support life and flame ?

459. What will be the result if metal in powder or
leaves, as gold leaf, be thrown into chlorine gas ?

460. What is the use of chlorine gas in the arts, and
how may it be obtained ?

GEOLOGY.

461. Define Geology.

462. What depth of the earth's surface has been in-
vestigated ?

463. Is it generally understood by Geologists that the
earth was formed at the creation of man, or that it had
a prior existence ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. 133

465. What was Whiston's opinion relative to the
formation of the earth .'

466. What difference as to temperature is experienced
at the bottom of a deep mine ?

467. If the earth \vas originally in a fluid state, how
may its consolidation have heen effected?

468. How are the various strata of the earth arranged
and divided ?

469. Give a description of the Primary rocks, and
repeat the series.

470. Describe the nature, supposed origin, and other
qualities of each individual rock of the primary series.

471. Which are the Trap rocks, and whence do they
receive the name ?

47"2. Which rock takes its name from its roughness ;
which from its sounding noise when struck ; and which
from its containing almond-shape nodules of some
mineral •

473. Which rock is celebrated for its beautiful colum-
nar structure ?

474. Required the cause and result of Volcanic action.

475. How many active volcanoes are there, and how
are they situated :

476. Describe ^Etna and Vesuvius, with their action,
and the results thereof.

477- Which rocks are particularly rich in metallic
veins ?

478. Why are the Primary Rucks so called?

479. Is animal and vegetable We supposed to have
had au exis tence when the Primary rocks formed the
floor of the world ?

480. How is the Transitive series divided, and describe
each group, and whence it takes its name ?

481. What remains of animal and vegetable life are
found in the Transitive series ?

482. Describe the Eadiata, and that particular one
the Encrinite.

483. Give the names of the Secondary series, and de-
scribe each individual formation.

484. Required the depths of the Coal strata, and how
they are supposed to have been formed.

134 QUESTIONS ON THE

485. What are faults in coal mines ?

486. Describe the salt mines of Poland.

487- Describe the Plesiosaurus, the Ichthyosaurus,
the Megalosaurus, and the Iguanodon.

488. What fossil remains are formed in the Chalk
formation ?

48Q. Give the names of the Tertiary series, and their
derivations.

490. Describe the Megatherium, the Dinotherium, and
the Mammoth.

491. What are those deposits above the Tertiary
strata ?

492. Name the different basins, and the arrangement of
the strata.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

493. Of what is the solar system composed ?

494. What is the distance of the earth from the sun ?

495. Required the number of Zones, their extent,
and how they are formed.

496. What are the Meridians, and what is the first
meridian ?

497. What is the Equator, and how is it divided ?

498. What is the Latitude, and what the Longitude of
a place, and their use, and how formed ?

499. Explain how the longitude may be ascertained
by the chronometer.

500. What is the proportion of land and water on the
Earth's surface, and how much more land is there in
the Northern hemisphere than in the Southern ?

501 . Describe the division of the Earth into High
lands and Low lands.

502. Describe the origin of Islands.

503. Give examples of the sudden rise of islands from
the sea.

504. Explain the origin of Springs and Rivers.

505. What causes the overflowing of Tropical rivers ?

506. At what part of the globe is sea water so fresh
as to be almost drinkable ?

SCIENTIFIC READINGS. /* 135

507. What rivers take their rise from the Alps, what
from the Himalayan, and what from the Stony moun-
tains ?

508. How are Lakes sometimes formed ?

509. Where is the temperature of the ocean the lowest,
on its surface, or some fathoms below it ?

510. What are the causes of Currents?

511. What are the causes of the change which has
taken place on the Earth's surface ?

512. What change has taken place on the coast of
England ?

513. What is the present situation of Calicut ?

514. Cite examples of the land having gained on the
the sea.

515. What quantity of matter is on an average annu-
ally carried down the Ganges ?

516. What has been the effect of Downs of sand
thrown up by the sea ?

517. How many Climates are there, and how are they
formed ?

518. What effect has the elevation of a place on the
temperature ?

519. What is the height of Quito and of Mexico above
the level of the sea, and the consequence of such ele-
vation ?

520. What effect have mountains on the temperature,
and give examples ?

5 '21. What are the Tramontanes, and what the Siroccos ?

522. What effect has the cultivation of a country on
its temperature ?

523. What effect has the sea on the temperature, and
why are islands less hot than the main lands ?

524. What effect has climate on the animal and vege-
table world ?

136 VOCABULARY OF

VOCABULARY

OP

SCIENTIFIC TERMS.

Absorption, a sucking up ; a term in Chemistry, used when a gas loses
its properties by combination ; thus, if muriatic acid gas be intro-
duced into water, it is absorbed, and muriatic acid is formed.

Accelerated Motion, or Acceleration, is that which receives fresh acces-
sions of velocity : this particularly refers to the falling of heavy
bodies towards the centre of the earth through Gravitation.

Achromatic, a term applied to Telescopes contrived to remedy aber-
rations and colours. These were first invented by Mr. John
Dolland.

Acidimetry, the measuring of the power or strength of acids.

Acids, are those substances which produce a sour taste, probably
caused by the shape of their particles. Acids are known by their
changing vegetable blue colours, as syrup of violets, into red.
They unite with earths, alkalies, &c., and form numerous salts.

Acoustics, the doctrine of hearing and sound. See page 49.

Adhesion, a species of union that takes place between the surfaces of
bodies : this must not be confounded with Cohesion. Adhesion
implies an union to a certain point between two substances either
of similar or dissimilar kinds ; Cohesion that which retains the
component particles of the same mass.

JEdipile, a hollow tube of metal with a long pipe, formerly used to
show the elasticity and force of water converted into steam. If this
instrument be filled with water, and exposed to a pretty strong heat,
the water will issue from the pipe, in the form of vapour, with pro-
digious violence. The well-known Jack of Hilton is an Jiolipile ;
as also Fluster, a celebrated German idol : the latter being filled with
water, and set over a fire, would apparently become covered with
perspiration, which was considered as a miracle by the ignorant.

Aerolit/is, certain stones which occasionally fall from the atmosphere.
See page 56.

Aerology, the science of the air as to its properties.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 137

Aerostation, the art of ballooning or navigating in the air.

Affinity, an inclination which certain bodies have to combine chemi-
cally. See page 14.

Agate, a species of transparent quartz.

Air-gun, an instrument to propel bullets by means of the air. See
page 39.

Air-pump, a pneumatic machine for exhausting the air. See page 38.

Ajutage, a sort of tube used in water-works for jets d'eau.

Albumen, one of the radical parts of animal substances. It exists in
its most perfect state in the white of eggs, and in the serum of the
blood ; it also abounds in milk, and to this it is chiefly indebted for
its nutritious qualities.

Alcohol, highly rectified spirits of wine. It constitutes the basis of
all spirituous liquors, and in this country it is procured from wheat,
barley, molasses, &c. ; in the wine countries it is obtained from
wine, whence the term spirits of wine. Alcohol is used as a solvent
of resinous substances and essential oils ; it is also used in thermo-
meters for measuring extreme degrees of cold, as it will not freeze.
Tinctures of various substances are extracted by means of diluted
alcohol.

Alembic, a vessel used in Chemistry for distillation.

Alkalies, peculiar substances which have a caustic taste, and a strong
tendency to combine with acids, and thus form various salts. They
change the blue juices of vegetables to a green, and the yellow to a
brown.

Alloy, a combination of two or more metals ; thus brass is an alloy of
copper and zinc.

Alluvial, " Deposition," soil formed by the destruction of mountains
through the agency of water.

Aluminum, the metallic base of Alumina or common clay.

Alum, a well-known mineral salt, of an acid taste, generally prepared
artificially from Alum-slate, though sometimes it is produced natu-
rally. Alum is of very great use in the arts. By its means the
colours are fixed in dying ; in tanning it is used to restore the cohe-
sion of the skins which had been impaired by the action of the
lime ; bakers use it to whiten their bread ; vintners to fine down
their wines ; in the dairy it assists in the separation of the butter,
and fishermen often use it to dry their fish. In medicine as a
styptic and tonic it is particularly valuable. There is scarcely any
substance so generally useful and" so plentiful as Alum.

Amalgam, a combination of mercury with another metal.

Amethyst, a transparent gem of a purple colour.

Ammonia, the volatile alkali. See page 74.

Ammonite, a fossil shell of a spiral shape. It takes its name from
Jupiter Ammon. whose statues were represented with rams' horns.
It is from the smallest size to three feet in diameter.

Amygdaloid, a compound mineral composed of spar, green earth, &c,,
imbedded in green stone, or in wacke.

Analysis, the resolution of a substance into its component parts.

Anemometer, an instrument for measuring the force of the wind. For
Meteorological instruments, see page 58.

138 VOCABULARY OF

Antimony, a brittle metal of a white colour. It is used in combi-
nation with other metals for printers' types, and for specula for
telescopes.
Apparatus, a term applied to the different parts of machinery used in

philosophical experiments, chemical utensils, &c.
Aquafortis, another term for " Nitric Acid."

Aqua-regia, or " Nitro -muriatic acid," a mixture of nitric and mu-
riatic acid, in the proportion of tivo parts of the former to one of
the latter : this alone will dissolve gold.

Arbor Diana, or Silver-tree, Diana being the symbolical name given
by ancient alchymists to silver. Form a solution of silver by dis-
solving a piece of silver, as a sixpence, in nitric acid. Dilute this
very considerably, and pour it into a small decanter or phial with a
flat bottom. Into this pour an ounce or two or more of mercury ;
the silver will in the course of a few days, if kept quiet, become
precipitated on the mercury, and form a beautiful arborescence.
Arbor Plumbi, or Lead-tree. This is an arborescence of lead somewhat
similar to the above, and is thus made. Fasten a piece of zinc to
one end of a spiral-shaped wire, and let the other end of the wire
be thrust through a cork. Form a solution of sugar of lead in
spring water and filter it ; fill a phial or decanter with the solution,
and immerse into it the zinc ; in a few days the lead will be preci-
pitated on the zinc, and arboresce in a very beautiful manner.
Areometry, the science of measuring the density and gravity of fluids.
Arsenic, a metal usually found in combination with sulphur ; when
reduced to a metallic state it is of a brilliant colour, and at the same
time the most brittle and the softest of metals. It is extremely
poisonous.

Asbestus, a mineral celebrated for its resisting fire. It is of a fibrous

nature, and has been spun into cloth. This cloth when soiled may

be restored to its primitive whiteness by being thrown into a clear

fire.

Asphaltum, a kind of bitumen or pitchy substance, found in various

parts of the earth.

Atmometer, an instrument contrived for measuring the quantity of ex-
halation in a given time.

Atmosphere, that invisible fluid that surrounds our earth. It received
its name from the Greeks, in consequence of the vapours which are
continually mixing with it. See page 35.
Atomic Motion, a supposed rapid motion of the atoms of bodies which

produces heat.
Attraction, a term used to imply that power by which all bodies have a

mutual tendency towards each other. See page 1 1 .
Aurora Borealis, a meteor sometimes seen in the northern part of the

heavens. See page 57.

Aurum Fulminans, a dangerous fulminating powder made of gold.
Azote, the atmospheric air deprived of its oxygen. It was first disco-
vered in 1772, by Dr. Rutherford, of Edinburgh, and its properties
ascertained by Priestly and Cavendish. See page 73.
Balloon, a term applied to a chemical receiver of a spherical shape,
also to a well known body used for aerostation.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 139

Baiium, a recently discovered metal, the base of Barytes.

Barometer, an instrument for ascertaining the weight of the atmos-
phere. See page 40.

Barytes, an earth usually found in combination with an acid, as the
Sulphate and Carbonate of Barytes. It received its name from its
weight, being the heaviest of all the earths. It is a violent poison.

Basaltes, a kind of stone of a very ponderous nature found in large
masses. The Giant's Causeway in Ireland is a range of basaltic
columns.

Base, a chemical term applied to denote the earth, the alkali or the
metal which is combined with an acid to form a salt.

Battery, " Electrical and Galvanic." See pages 62 and 65.

Belemnite, a kind of fossil, vulgarly called a thunderbolt.

Beryl, a gem of a pale yellow, green, or blue colour, sometimes called
Aquamarine.

Bismuth, a metal of a white reddish colour, rather hard, but neither
malleable nor ductile. A preparation of it is occasionally used in
cosmetics.

Blende, an ore of zinc.

Boiling, — Theory explained, page 44.

Bolognian Stone, a stone of a phosphoric nature, first discovered near
Bologna in Italy.

Boracic-acitl, a recently discovered substance formed from borax.
When burnt with alcohol, it communicates a green colour to the
flame.

Brass, & well known artificial metal made of zinc and copper.

Bronze, a compound of copper, tin, and sometimes zinc. This com-
pound is specifically heavier than either of the metals separately.
From its not being so liable to become oxidized as pure copper, it
is used for statues, cannon, and other works exposed to the air.

Calamine, an ore of zinc used in making brass.

Calcareous, a term applied to earths or combinations of lime with
carbonic acid gas, as chalk, which is a carbonate of lime, marble, &c.

Calcium, the metallic base, of lime.

Caloric, the supposed matter of heat or atomic motion. See page 15.

Calorimeter, an instrument for ascertaining the quantity of heat disen-
gaged from any body during combustion.

Calx, a metal combined with oxygen through combustion.

Camera Lucida, a contrivance to make the image of any thing to
appear in a darkened room.

Camera Obscura, an optical machine by which the images of external
objects are received through a double convex glass, and exhibited on
a white ground placed within the machine.

Caoutchouc, Indian-rubber, a gum exuding from various trees and
plants in South America.

Capillary, a term applied to a species of " Attraction." See page 14.

Carbon, the base of wood, coal, &c. See page 15.

Carbonates, Salts formed by the combination of carbonic acid gas
with any base.

Carbonic Acid Gas, the heaviest of the gases. See page 73.

Carbuncle, a stone of the ruby kind, of a blood-red colour.

140 VOCABULARY OF

Carburets, a combination of Carbon with a base.

Catacouslics, the science of reflected sounds or echoes. See page 51.

Catoptrics, the science of reflected vision. See page 28.

Centre of Gravity, that point of a body about which all its various

parts exactly balance each other.

Cerium, a recently discovered metal of which little is known.
Chalcedony, a kind of quartz.

Chromium, a newly discovered metal, white, brittle, and of low spe-
cific gravity ; it is noted for' the beautiful colour it gives to other
bodies when in combination with them.
Chlorine, a peculiar kind of suffocating gas. See page 77.
Chromatics, that part of Optics that explains the properties of the

colour of bodies.
Chrysolite, a precious stone having the property of becoming electric

when rubbed.

Cinnalur, an ore of quicksilver.
Cobalt, a metal of a grey colour, and exceedingly brittle. It is used

in pottery, and gives the beautiful blue colour to porcelain.
Cohesion, that kind of attraction that unites the particles of bodies.

See page 13.

Cold, the absence of heat, or atomic motion. See page 32.
Colour, a property inherent in light, depending on the different vibra-
tions excited in the optic nerves. See page 30.
Columbium, a metal discovered at the beginning of the present cen-
tury, and so called from the mineral from which it was first procured,
having been brought from America. It is of a dark colour, and par-
ticularly infusible ; it is of no real use.
Combustion, the decomposition of certain substances, attended with

heat and fire.

Conchology, the science which treats of shells.

Condensation, the reducing of a body into less bulk or space. Con-
densation always produces heat.

Copper, a well-known metal, very hard, sonorous, and elastic, and
nearly as malleable as gold. It has been found in various parts of
the world, but is most abundant in Cornwall, where as much as
10,000 tons per annum has been produced. Wales has also pro-
duced 2,000 tons per annum. It has a slight affinity for oxygen,
and will form chemical combinations with various substances. It
also forms a part of various alloys, of which brass, bell-metal, pinch-
beck, and the metal of which cannon is made, are the principal.
Crystal, a very hard and clear body, of which there are various kinds,

presenting a resemblance to different precious stones.
Crystallization, an operation in which various earths, salts, &c., pass

"from a fluid to a solid state.
Cyanogen, Prussic acid, a most virulent poison.
Decomposition, the reducing a body into its simple elements.
Decrepitation, the crackling noise that salts make when heated.
Deliquescence, a term applied to saline bodies becoming liquid through

their affinity for the moisture of the atmosphere.
Dew, a kind of mist which falls when the sun is below the horizon.
See page 54.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 141

Diamond, the most valuable, the most pellucid, and the hardest of all
the minerals. The Diamond is simply crystallized carbon. It is
very nearly the same as common charcoal, only it is in a state of
crystallization.

Diaphanous Body, a body through which the rays of light can pass.
Dioptrics, the science of refracted vision. See page 27.
Discharger, an instrument used in electricity for the purpose of dis-
charging an excited body.

Distillation, that process whereby the most subtle parts of a compound
body are separated by the means of caloric from the mass, in a
state of vapour.

Divergent, a term in optics to express rays of lights receding from
each other ; concave glasses make the rays diverge, while convex
glasses make them converge.

Ductility, a property possessed by various metals of undergoing ex-
tension. Gold is the most ductile, and lead is the least ductile of
such metels as possess this property.
Dynamics, the science of the motion of bodies.

Earths, certain bodies which are incombustible and generally unalter-
able by fire.

Echo, reflected sound. See page 51.
Effervescence, that motion which takes place in certain liquids through

the escape of a gaseous substance.
Efflorescence, a kind of mealy substance on the surface of certain

bodies, produced generally by decomposition.

Elastic fluids, a name given to vapours and gases. Vapour is an elastic
fluid, but it may be condensed. Gas is a permanently elastic fluid,
because it cannot be readily condensed.
Electric, a body which may be easily excited by electricity, as resin.

silk, wood, &c.
Electricity. See page 58.

Electrometer, an instrument to measure electricity. See page 63.
Electrophorus, an electrical instrument for showing perpetual electri-
city. See page 62.
Emerald, a precious stone of great beauty and value. The colour of

the emerald is generally green, sometimes it is sky blue.
Eudiometer, an instrument for measuring the purity of the air.
Evaporation, that act by which fluids are converted into vapour by

heat. See page 53.

Fata Morgana, or Mirage, an aerial phenomenon exhibiting in the at-
mosphere a part of a coast or country. \Vhen the weather is calm
there arises a vapour which acquires considerable density ; this is
sometimes so disposed as to receive, and reflect as from a mirror,
various objects. In this way the coast of France, some few years
since, became clearly visible from Hastings, although actually below
the horizon.

Fermentation, an intestine motion arising spontaneously among the
particles of a mixed body, producing a different combination of those
parts : there are three kinds, acetous, vinous, and putrefactive.
Flame, volatile inflammable matter in the act of combustion.
Fluoric Acid, a peculiar acid obtained from fluor spar ; it is the only
acid that will corrode glass.

142 VOCABULARY OF

Flux, a substance mixed with any mineral to promote its fusion \
thus an alkali is mixed with silica or sand, to form glass.

Focal-distance, the distance from the centre of the glass to the focus.

Focus, in optics, a central point where rays of light converge.

Fossil-remains, those animal and vegetable remains of the earliest
times which have preserved their original forms.

Freezing, the fixing of a fluid body into a solid mass, through the ab-
straction of its caloric. See page 16.

Friction, in Mechanics, implies the resistance arising from the rough-
ness of the surfaces of the moving bodies. See page 70.

Fulcrum, in Mechanics, is the point about which a lever moves.

Fusion, the state of a solid body rendered fluid by heat.

Galvanism, the science of annual electricity. See page 64.

Garnet, a precious stone of a red colour.

Gas, the state of any permanently elastic fluid. See page 71.

Gasometer, a vessel for measuring, collecting, or containing gas.

Gelatin, an animal substance ; jelly.

Geology, that part of Natural History which treats of the structure of
the earth. See page 78.

Glucine, a peculiar earth, so named from its sweetness.

Gold, a well-known metal found in almost every country of the world.
South America furnishes the greatest quantity of gold now used,
although various parts of Hindostan are very rich in it. Gold is
obtained in a more pure state than any other metal, and, with the
exception of platinum, is the heaviest of all metals. It is so ex-
ceedingly ductile, that a cube of one inch and a quarter would gild
a wire of sufficient length to extend round the earth. Gold has no
affinity for the oxygen of the atmosphere, and therefore will not
rust ; it is also considered' a perfect metal, for if kept in a state of
fusion for a very considerable time, it will sustain but a very trifling
loss of weight.

Granulation, the operation by which metallic substances are reduced
into small pieces. This is performed by pouring the melted metal
slowly into water, while kept in a state of agitation.

Gravimeler, another term for the Aerometer or Hydrometer.

Gravitation, the tendency of bodies towards the centre of the earth.
See page 1 1.

Gravity, Specific, the relative weight of different bodies compared
with some well-known body. Water is generally used for this pur-
pose, and the specific gravity of any body denotes that such body is
so many times heavier than water, bulk for bulk. Thus the specific
gravity of platinum is 21, of gold 19, of mercury 13-6, of lead 11,
of silver 10, of cobalt 87, of manganese 8, of iron 7'7, of tin 7,
of zinc 7, of antimony 6-7. See page 46.

Grotto del Cano, a grotto in Italy, which takes its name from the
number of dogs killed there through suffocation. See page 73.

Gryphite, an oblong fossil shell increasing in width from the head to-
wards the extremity where it terminates in a curve or circle.

Gypsum, sulphate of lime, selenite or plaster of Paris.

Hail, water congealed during the act of falling. See page 55.

Halo, or Corona, a coloured circle sometimes appearing round the sun
or moon. See page 55.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 143

Heat, the sensation caused by the action of fire.

Helioscope, a peculiar kind of telescope.

Hydrates, those substances which have such an affinity for water as to
solidify it Slaked lime is a hydrate of lime.

Hydraulics, that science which teaches the velocity and force of fluids
in motion. The construction of water engines of all kinds depends
on Hydraulics. See page 47.

Hydrogen, one of the constituents of water. See page 75.

Hydrometer, an instrument to show the strength of spirits.

Hydrostatic-Balance, an instrument for ascertaining the specific gravity
of bodies. See page 46.

Hydrostatics, that science which teaches the weight and pressure of
fluids. See page 45.

Hygrometer, an instrument for measuring the moisture of the air.

Jargon, a precious stone found in Ceylon.

Ice, the state of water deprived of its caloric.

Ignis-fatuus, a meteor occasionally seen in marshy places. See page 57.

Iodide, a compound formed by the union of Iodine with any substance.
For Iodine, see page 21.

Iridium, a newly discovered metal, so named from Iris, the rainbow,
in consequence of the different colours its salts assume. It is not
much used.

Iron, a well-known metal, exceedingly malleable, ductile, and elastic ;
it is easily oxidized, and will burn in oxygen gas. It combines with
most of the acids, as well as forms other chemical combinations,
which are used in painting, dyeing, and medicine. That substance
known by the name of black lead is a Carburet of iron ; Bed Ochre
is an ore of iron ; Umber is a compound of the ores of iron and
manganese ; and Emery is an oxide of iron.

Kaleidoscope, an optical instrument formed by a combination of mirrors
so as to produce a symmetrical reflection of different objects.

Kelp, a kind of soda obtained from sea-weed dried and burnt. It is
used in making certain kinds of glass.

Lac, a well-known substance used for making sealing-wax. It is the
production of an insect

Lapis Lazuli, a stone of a beautiful blue colour, very*>rettily spotted
with gold-coloured spangles. Painters form their ultramarine from
Lapis Lazuli calcined.

Lead, a well-known metal, particularly abundant in Great Britain. The
lead-mines of Derbyshire alone yield 15,000 tons per annum. Lead
possesses but very little tenacity and ductility, and with the exception
of platinum, gold, and mercury, it is the heaviest of the metals. It
has a great affinity for oxygen, and will form various chemical com-
binations. Its oxides are used in dyeing, calico printing, making
glass, earthenware, &c.

Lens, a piece of glass or other transparent body whose sides are either
convex or concave, used for the purpose of converging or diverging
the rays of light.

Lever, a bar of iron or wood, used as one of the mechanical powers.
See page 67.

144 VOCABULARY OF

Leyden Jar, a glass jar, coated with tin foil, for electrical purposes.
It received its name from the first contriver being a native of Ley-
den. See page 6 1 .

Light, that power by which objects are made perceptible to our sense
of seeing. See page 25.

Lightning, an electrical phenomenon preceding thunder.

Liquid, the state of any body, in which by means of heat, the particles
slide over one another, and wet any substance that comes in contact
with it. Water, Oil, &c., are both liquids and fluids. Quicksilver is
fluid, but not a liquid.

Lithium, a recently discovered metal, brought from Sweden. It is of
no practical use.

Machine, any body intended to produce motion, so as to save either
time or strength.

Magnesium, the metallic base of magnesia.

Magnetism, the quality of a body rendered capable of attracting. See
page 13.

Malleability, that property by which metals may be extended through
hammering.

Manganese, a metal noted for its peculiar affinity for oxygen : it is very
generally diffused through all kinds of rocks, and is procured in great
abundance from different parts of England. In its pure metallic
form it is of a bright white colour; but through its affinity for oxygen,
if exposed to the air it will soon lose its metallic appearance, and
fall to powder. The metallic form is obtained by art, as its natural
state is an oxide. Manganese is used in glazing, and also in pre-
paring bleaching liquor.

Matrix, the substance in which ores are imbedded in the earth.

Mechanical Powers, engines used for raising weights. See page 67.

Meniscus, a glass, convex on one side, and concave on the other.

Menstruum, any fluid that will disssolve hard bodies.

Mercury, another name for quicksilver, so called from its volatility.
Although its natural state is that of a fluid, it will become frozen at
about 40° below Zero, and is then both malleable and ductile. Mer-
cury will combine with several of the metals, which combinations
are called amalgams ; it also combines with sulphur, phosphorus,
&c. It has' very little affinity for oxygen, except when heated.

Metals, are bodies known by their weight, ductility, &c. There are
said to be nearly forty kinds of Metals ; Platinum is the heaviest,
and Potassium the lightest.

Metallic Oxides, metals combined with oxygen, when, from being com-
bustible, they become incombustible.

Metallurgy, the art of extracting metals from the ore.

Meteorology, the doctrine of the various phenomena of the atmosphere.
See page 53.

Microscope, an optical instrument, formed by the combination of
lenses, to magnify small objects.

Mineral, any substance, either of a metallic, earthy, or saline nature.

Mineralogy, the science which treats of the properties of minerals.
Minium, a red oxide of lead.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 145

Mirror, any smooth body which forms the images of objects by re-
flection. For the effects of Mirrors, see page 1 8.

Molybdenum, a metal obtained from a mineral found in Sweden ; it
is of a brittle nature, and has been procured only in small quantities.

Muriates, the combination of a base with muriatic acid.

Muriatic Acid, a powerful acid obtained from sea-salt. It is much used
in the arts.

Matron, a salt found at different parts of the earth, either on or near
its surface. It is the nitre of the ancients, but is very different from
our nitre, the latter being a nitrate of potash, and the former a
carbonate of soda.

Xeutral Salt, a salt in which the acid is completely neutralized by the
base, and the base by the acid.

Xickel, a wbite metal, both ductile and malleable, but of difficult
fusion. The oxide of this metal is used in the arts, and the metal
itself is sometimes used in combination with other metals.

Citric Acll, a powerful acid, obtained from nitre or saltpetre, by
distilling it with sulphuric acid. It is much used in the arts. Ni-
trous Acid is of a similar nature to the former. The salts are Xi-
trates and Nitrites.

Nitrogen or Azote, one of the constituent parts of the atmosphere.
See page 73.

Nitro-Muriatic-Acid. See Aqua-Regia.

Nitrous Oxide Gas, commonly called Laughing-gas. See page 78.

Ochre, & combination of an earth with an oxide of iron.

Olefiant Gas, a kind of carburetted hydrogen. See page 77.

Onyx, a precious stone of the agate kind.

Opal, a precious stone of which there are various kinds and different
colours.

Ophites, a stone resembling a serpent, from which it takes its name.

Optics, the science of vision.

Ores, metallic earths.

Oscillation, the vibration of a pendulum.

Osmium, a newly-discovered metal; it is insoluble in the acids, and
has not been applied to any use.

Oxalic Acid, a peculiar acid found in sorrel ; it may be also obtained
from sugar. It is of a highly poisonous nature, and from its re-
semblance to sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts) persons have oc-
casionally been poisoned with it It is used in the arts.

Oxide, a substance combined with oxygen.

Oxygen, a component part of the atmospheric air and of water. See
page 72.

Oxygenate, to acidify a substance with oxygen.

Oxymuriatic Acid Gas, same as Chlorine.

Palladium, a recently discovered metal. It is hard, and of a white
colour. It has been obtained only in small quantities, and has
been scarcely applied to any use.

Paraselene, a mock moon. See page 56.

Parhelion, a mock sun. See page 56.

Pendulum, a heavy body, so suspended that it may swing backwards
and forwards. A second's pendulum, or a pendulum that will make

a

146 VOCABULARY OF

one oscillation in a second, should be 39^- inches in length, reckon-
ing from the point of suspension.

Petrifaction, an incrustation formed on any body by the deposition of
earthy matter from water.

Petroleum, a liquid bitumen found on the waters of springs in various
parts of the world.

Pewter, an artificial metal, being a mixture of tin, lead, and brass.

Phosphorus, a simple combustible. See page 21. A phosphuret is a
combination of phosphorus with some other substance. Phos-
phates and phosphites are salts formed by the combination of a
base with phosphoric and phosphorous acid.

Phosphuretted hydrogen gas. See page 77.

Photometer, an instrument for measuring the intensity of light.

Physics, the science of matter and bodies, with their motions, opera-
tions, &c.

Plano-convex, a term applied to a lens which has one side flat and the
.other convex.

Plano-concave, a term applied to a lens which has one side flat and the
other concave.

Platinum, a metal noted for its weight, (being the heaviest of all
metals,) ductility, and want of affinity for oxygen.

Plumbago, a carburet of iron ; black lead.

Pluviometer, an instrument for measuring the quantity of rain that
falls.

Pneumatics, the science which treats of the properties of the air. See
page 35.

Pneumatic trough, a vessel for collecting gases.

Potash, the vegetable alkali. See page 23.

Potassium, the metallic base of potash. See page 22.

Precipitation, a process in chemistry by which any body separated
from others in a solution falls to the bottom of the vessel.

Prism, a glass wedge used to refract light and exhibit its different
colours.

Prussia Acid, a peculiar acid of a most poisonous nature, it is pre-
pared from blood and animal substances. Prussian blue is iron
combined with this acid.

Pump, a well-known instrument for raising water. See page 48.

Pyrites, a combination of sulphur with a metal.

Pyrometer, an instrument for measuring the higher degrees of heat.

Pyrophorus. a substance which ignites when exposed to the air.

Rainbow, a well known beautiful appearance in the heavens, caused by
the refraction and reflection of the rays of light.

Retina, that enlargement of the optic nerve on which any body we
see is painted. See page 29-

Retort, a chemical vessel for distillation, &c.

Rhodium, a recently discovered metal of a white colour, remarkable for
its hardness and brittleness. ,

Ruby, a precious stone of a fiery red colour. The largest ruby known
adorns the imperial crown of Russia.

Rust , the oxide of a metal. Gold is of all metals the least inclined to
rust. Platinum and silver have also but very little affinity for
oxygen.

SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 147

Safety Lamp. See page 76.

Suit, chloride of soda. Of this there are two kinds, sea salt and rock
salt. Sea-salt is obtained by evaporating sea-water, which when
done sufficiently the salt will form in crystals. Rock-salt is
obtained from mines in various parts of the world. England sup-
plies it very plentifully.

Salts, the combination of any base with an acid.

Sapphire, a precious stone of a blue colour. The finest sapphires come
from the East Indies, although remarkably beautiful ones have been
found in Scotland. This is the hardest of all the gems, with the
exception of the diamond and the ruby.

Sardonyx, a precious stone of the agate kind.

Sebacic-acid, an acid procured from fat, whence it takes its name.

Selenite, a species of gypsum or plaster of Paris.

Silicum, the metallic base of silica or flint.

Silver, a well known metal possessing great tenacity, ductility, and
malleability. It has very little affinity for oxygen, and is of so
indestructible a nature, that it may be kept in a state of fluidity
through intense heat for a long time with but a trifling loss of weight.

Siphon, a bent tube used for the purpose of drawing off liquors.
See page 48.

Snow, particles of water frozen in falling. See page 55.

Soda, the mineral alkali. See page 23.

Sodiumt the metallic base of soda. See page 23.

Spectrum, an oblong image of light made by a prism. See page 31.

Stalactites, spars in the form of icicles found hanging from the roofs of
caverns, &c.

Statics, a branch of physico-mathematical science, which considers
weight or gravity, and the motion of bodies resulting therefrom.

Steel, iron combined with carbon.

Steel-yard, the most ancient and universal instrument used for the
purpose of ascertaining the weight of bodies. The Jews, Greeks,
and Romans used it, and it is in general use throughout Asia at the
present day. It is in fact a balance of unequal arms, and depends
on the principle of the lever of the first kind for its action.

Strontium, the metallic base of the earth strontites.

Sublimation, a process whereby certain substances are volatilized bv
heat, and again condensed by cold into a solid form. Flowers of
sulphur are made in this way.

Sulphur, a well known simple substance, found in combination with
metals and otherwise. See page 21. Sulphurous and Sulphuric
acids are formed through the affinity of sulphur for oxygen. Sul-
phur, in combination with another substance, forms a sulphuret ;
sulphurous and sulphuric acids form in combination Sulphites and
Sulphates.

Synthesis, the composition of any body from its original parts.

Syringe- Condensing, an instrument used for the purpose of charging
the ball of an air-gun. See page 40.

Telescope, an instrument for viewing distant bodies. By a combina-
tion of lenses the object is seen under a larger angle than with the
naked eye, and its apparent magnitude proportionately increased.
H 2

148 VOCABULARY OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS.

Tellurium, a metal discovered in the year 1798. It forms combina-
tions with various bodies, but it has not yet been used except for
experiments.

Thermometer, an instrument for discovering the temperature of the air.

Tin, a well known white metal, and very little inferior in appearance
to silver. It has but very little affinity for oxygen, for which reason
our culinary vessels are coated with a solution of it.

Topaz, a gem of a gold colour, called by the ancients chrysolite. The
finest topazes come from the East Indies, the Great Mogul is said to
have had one worth £20,000.

Trumpet, Speaking and Hearing. See pages 51 and 52.

Tungsten, a very heavy metal, when pure it is extremely hard and
brilliant. It is of very little use.

Uranium, a metal discovered in the year 1786. It is hard and brittle,
but is found in very small quantities, and is of no particular use.

Vacuum, a space void of matter.

Valve, in hydraulics a kind of cover of a tube so contrived as to admit
a fluid one way and by its pressure to prevent its return.

Vision. See page 28.

Voltaic Electricity, or " Galvanism." See page 64.

Water. For the various kinds of this fluid, seepage 41.

Wind, air in motion. See page 57.

Yttria, a kind of earth discovered in Sweden at the latter end of the
last century.

Zaffire, the oxide of cobalt, used for painting porcelain a blue colour.

Zero, a term applied to a certain point in the thermometer ; in Fah-
renheit's thermometer, it is placed at 32° below the freezing point.
In Reaumur's, as also in the French centigrade thermometer, it is
placed at the freezing point.

Zinc, a well known metal. It is never found in a pure state, but
principally obtained from calamine and blende. Zinc is naturally
brittle, yet when heated and annealed, it may be passed through
rollers and formed into sheets. This is one of the most useful
alloys, principally in combination with copper. It is also used in
medicine.

Zirconia, a new kind of earth, first discovered in the Jargon or Zir-
con of Ceylon.

POETRY.

OP THE OBJECT AND EFFECT OF POETRY.

POETRY and Eloquence are universally acknowledged
to hold the highest rank among the fine arts : they, of all
others, possess the most attractive influence, and charm
the soul with an inestimable sweetness and force.

The study of Poetry, while it produces the most elegant,
instructive, and amusing entertainment, is calculated to
elevate the mind and to rouse into action its most noble
and amiable qualities. Persons of every rank in life feel
its charms and acknowledge its sway. As it was the
earliest kind of literature, so it is at once the most de-
lightful and the most powerful. The opinions, the con-
duct, and the passions of mankind, are, to a considerable
degree, influenced by the poet; which influence, as has
been well observed, may be greater and more permanent
than that of Sages and Legislators.

Poetry was, most probably, originally invented for the
purpose of adoration and praise to God. On occasions of
miraculous deliverance by the interposition of the Al-
mighty, the Hebrews gave expression to their feelings of
gratitude by those sublime effusions which we find in the
Scriptures.

The Song of Moses, the earliest regular ode with which
we are acquainted, is a masterpiece of composition; and
the human mind can scarcely conceive any language
more grand, and at the same time more sweet and ex-
pressive, than the songs of the Hebrew Bards. In the
book of Job, the Psalms, and the Prophets, poetry shines

150 POETRY.

forth iu the most resplendent manner. The beautiful
imagery, the bold and dignified language, cannot but
most forcibly affect the most indifferent reader. As
Poetry was first employed by the Hebrews in praise and
thanksgiving to the true God, so it was first employed by
the Heathens in praise and adoration of their divinities ;
and, next to the Bible, the Greek Poets present the most
beautiful and sublime language imaginable. The histories
of most nations have been preserved in Poetry. Har-
monious and sonorous language, with highly metaphorical
terms in measured lines, ending in similar sounds or
alternating with each other in sense, were easily com-
mitted to memory and retained ; and as these were ac-
companied by a tune on some instrument, it became an
agreeable amusement thus to celebrate any interesting
event. In this manner was handed down to posterity,
from father to son, any thing of consequence, the memory
of which it might be deemed desirable to preserve. Many
an ancient tale has thus descended among the Irish, even
to the present day, the recital of which forms a source of
amusement during their long and tedious winter evenings.
f A very particular object of Poetry was to give a tone
to the morals of society. The Epic Poem instructed
under the allegory of some heroic action. The aim of
Tragedy was to inspire a horror for guilt and a love of
virtue ; and of Comedy, to ridicule vice and folly. The
Ode celebrated the exploits of eminent men, in order
to inspire others to imitate them ; while the Elegy was
calculated to call up feelings of tenderness and regret at
the loss of a friend or companion.

As each of the different kinds of Poetry is comprehen-
sively explained in the " Rhetorical Speaker," it is not
deemed necessary to give a more particular explanation
here.

151

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

HAPPINESS.

ONE morning in the month of May,

I wander' d o'er the hill ;
Tho' nature all around was gay,

My heart was heavy still.
Can God, I thought, the just, the great,

These meaner creatures bless,
And yet deny to man's estate

The boon of happiness :
Tell me, ye woods, ye smiling plains,

Ye blessed birds around,
In which of nature's wide domains

Can bliss for man be found ?
The birds wild caroll'd over head,

The breeze around me blew,
And nature's awful chorus said —

No bliss for man she knew.

I question'd LOVE, whose early ray

So rosy bright appears,
And heard the timid genius say,

His lieht was dimm'd by tears.

O *

I question'd FRIENDSHIP: FRIENDSHIP sigh'd,

And thus her answer gave : —
The few whom fortune never turn'd

"Were wither' d in the grave !

I ask'd if VICE could bliss bestow,

VICE boasted loud and well j
But fading, from her wither'd brow,

The borrow'd roses fell.

52 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

I sought of FEELING, if her skill
Could sooth the wounded breast ;

And found her mourning, faint, and still
For others' woes distress'd!

I questioned VIRTUE : VIRTUE sigh'd,

No boon could she dispense ;
Nor Virtue was her name, she cried,

But humble Penitence.

1 question'd DEATH : the grisly shade

Relax'd his brow, severe ;
And, " I AM HAPPINESS," he said,

" If Virtue guides thee here."

HEBER.

WHAT IS LIFE?

And what is Life ? An hour-glass on the run,
A mist retreating from the morning sun,

A busy, bustling, still-repeated dream. —
Its length ? — A minute's pause, a moment's thought.

And happiness ? — A bubble on the stream,
That, in the act of seizing, shrinks to nought.

What is vain Hope ? — The puffing gale of morn,
That robs each flow'ret of its gem, and diesj

A cobweb, hiding disappointment's thorn,

Which stings more keenlythrough the thin disguise.

And thou, O Trouble ? — Nothing can suppose
(And sure the Power of Wisdom only knows)

What need requirest thee :
So free and liberal as thy bounty flows,

Some necessary cause must surely be.
But disappointments, pains, and every woe

Devoted wretches feel,
The universal plague of life below,

Are mysteries still, 'neath Fate's unbroken seal.

And what is Death ? is still the cause unfound ?
That dark, mysterious name, of horrid sound ? —

A long and lingering sleep, the weary crave.
And peace ? where can its happiness abound ?

Nowhere at all, save heaven, and the grave.

CLASSICAL MODERN* POETRY. 153

Then what is Life ? — When stripp'd of its disguise,

A thing to be desired it cannot be ;
Since every thing that meets our foolish eyes

Gives proof sufficient of its vanity.
'Tis but a trial all must undergo ;

To teach unthankful mortals how to prize
That happiness vain man's denied to know,

Until he's call'd to claim it in the skies.

CLARE.

THE SPIRIT'S PRAYER.

A Spirit, whom the voice of death

Had call'd from this cold sphere,
Paused for a moment on her path,

To look at scenes once dear.
The frozen tinge that shadow'd o'er

Her face had died away ;
The shroud she wore an hour before,

She left beside her clay.

Her eye beheld, with strange delight,

The systems round her roll ;
A thousand things, unknown and bright,

Broke on her wondering soul.
She saw the Earth hang dim and far

Beneath her airy tread,
Lit by each solitary star

That round her calmly spread.

She saw the city of her birth

Beneath the moonshine lie :
She saw the thousands of the earth

Unheeded, fall and die]
Smote by the giant arm of death,

They fell, and left no trace ;
Their spirits pass'd her on their path,

Through the wild fields of space.

She gazed through the unclouded air,
Where once her mansion lay;

Her children still were weeping there,
Beside her tombless clay.
H 5

154 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

She saw them in their loneliness,

Unheeded, round her bow,
And, in their sorrow, kiss each tress

That hid her lifeless brow !

They were in want — none came to cheer ;

Even hope in darkness slept !
The spirit saw each burning tear,

And as she saw she wept ;
And bending then her deathless eye

Far through the slumbering air,
Where God sat in the starry sky,

She breathed a mother's prayer :

" Eternal Spirit ! comfort now

Yon mourners in their dark abode ;
They have no parent — oh ! be thou

Their guardian and their God.
Cold is the breast where they have clung

And prattled in their infant glee ;
Closed are the lips, and mute the tongue,

That would have turn'd their hearts to thee.
" Then, oh, bind up the broken heart,

Which few in yon cold world will heal ;
Where is the shield to break the dart

That misery's victims feel ?
Yes, thou shalt plume the spirit's wing

That bends on thee faith's trusting eye ;
Though tempests gather, she shall spring

In sunshine to the sky.

" Then smile upon their opening bloom ;

Let virtue lead their hearts above ;
Till, past the darkness of the tomb,

They share once more a mother's love ! "
She ceased — an arch of light appeared,

Love's brightening banner to her given : —
The spirit knew her prayer was heard,

And bore away for heaven.

D. MOORE.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 155

SEA-SIDE THOUGHTS.

Beautiful, sublime, and glorious,

Mild, majestic, foaming, free ;
Over time itself victorious ;

Image of Eternity.

Sun, and moon, and stars, shine o'er thee.

See thy surface ebb and flow,
Yet attempt not to explore thee

In thy soundless depths below.

Whether morning's splendours steep thee
With the rainbow's glowing grace ;

Tempests rouse, or navies sweep thee,
Tis but for a moment's space.

Earth — her valleys, and her mountains,

Mortal man's behest obey :
Thy unfathomable fountains

Scoff his search and scorn his sway.

Such art thou, stupendous ocean !

But if overwhelm'd by thee,
Can we think, without emotion,

What must thy Creator be t

BARTON.

THE SHIP AT SEA.

A white sail gleaming on the flood,
And the bright brb'd sun on high,

Are all that break the solitude
Of the circling sea and sky ; —

Nor cloud nor cape is imaged there,

Nor isle of ocean, nor of air.

Led by the magnet o'er the tides,
That bark her path explores j

Sure as unerring instinct guides
The birds to unseen shores.

With wings, that o'er the waves expand,

She wanders to a viewless land.

156 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Yet not alone ; — on ocean's breast,

Though no green islet glows,
No sweet refreshing spot of rest

Where fancy may repose,
Nor rock, nor hill, nor tower, nor tree
Breaks the blank solitude of sea.

No ! not alone ;• — her beauteous shade

Attends her noiseless way,
As some sweet memory, undecay'd,

Clings to the heart for aye,
And haunts it, wheresoe'er we go,
Through every scene of joy and woe.

And not alone ; — for day and night

Escort her o'er the deep,
And round her solitary flight

The stars their vigils keep;
Above, below, are circling skies,
And heaven around her pathway lies.

And not alone ; — for hopes and fears

Go with her wandering sail ;
And bright eyes watch, through gathering tears..

The distant cloud to hail ;
And prayers for her, at midnight lone,
Ascend, unheard by all, save One.

And not alone ; — with her bright dreams

Are on the pathless main ;
And o'er its moan — earth's woods and streams

Put forth their choral strain ;
When sweetly are her ^lumberers blest
With visions of the land of rest.

And not alone ; — for round her glow

The vital light and air,
And something that, in whispers low,

Tells to man's spirit there,
Upon her waste and weary road,

A present, all-pervading God !

MALCOLM.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 157

MY NATIVE LAND.

Where'er we wander, still we find

A thousand cares on either hand ;
But none can feel true grief of mind,

Unless far from his native land.
When to invoke the future, high

The Captive lifts his chain-gall* d hand ;
That chain — alas ! — he heaves so high,

Reminds him of his native land.

If borne by fancy, while he sleeps,
To where his cottage used to stand,

With joy he wakes, but waking weeps,
To find no more his native land.

If, kindly, to relieve his pain,

Some friendly, generous hearts expand,
He would be happy, but in vain,

It minds him of his native land.

Should e'er it be my lot to stray,
To be by southern breezes fann'd,

I'll ne'er forget, though far away,
How much I love thee, native land !

Or, if to climes enrobed in snow,

And locked in winter's icy band,
By adamantine fate obliged to go,

I'll think of thee, my native land.

MY BIRTH-DAY.

Time shakes his glass, and swiftly run
Life's sands, still ebbing grain by grain,-

For weary, wan, autumnal sun,

Brings round my birth -day once again ;

And lights me, like the fading bloom

Of Pale October, to the tomb.

My birth- day ! Each revolving year —
It seems to me a darker day ;

Whose dying flowers, and leaflets sere,
With solemn warning, seem to say,

158 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. .

That all on earth like shadows fly ; —
That nought abideth 'neath the sky.

My hirth-day ! Where, when life was young,
Is now each promise which it gave ?

Hope's early wreaths have long been hung,
Pale, faded garlands, o'er its grave,

Where memory waters with her tears,

Those relics of departed years.

My birth-day ! Where the loved ones now,
On whom, in happier times, it dawn'd ?

Each beaming eye, and sunny brow,
Low in the dark and dreamless land

Now sleep, — where I shall slumber soon,

Like all beneath the sun and moon.

My birth-day ! Once I loved to hear

These words, by friendship echoed round ;

But now, they fall upon mine ear,

With thoughts too mournful and profound, —

Fraught with a sad and solemn spell,

And startling as a wailing knell.

MALCOLM.

THE FATE OF TYRANNY.

AN ODE.

[This is a free Paraphrase on part of the 14th chapter of Isaiah, where the
Prophet, after he has foretold the destruction of Babylon, subjoins a Song
of Triumph, which he supposes the Israelites will sing when his prediction
is fulfilled.]

Oppression dies ; the Tyrant falls :
The golden city bows her walls !

Jehovah breaks th' Avenger's rod.
The son of wrath, whose ruthless hand
Hurl'd Desolation o'er the land,
Has run his raging race, has closed the scene of blood ;

Chiefs, arm'd around, behold their vanquish'd Lord,
Nor spread the guardian shield, nor lift the royal sword.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 159

He falls, and Earth again is free.
Hark ! at the call of Liberty,

All Nature lifts the choral song.
The fir-trees on the mountain's head,
Rejoice through all their pomp of shade ;
The lordly cedars nod on sacred Lebanon :

Tyrant ! they cry, since thy fell force is broke,
Our proud heads pierce the skies, nor fear the woodman's
stroke.

Hell, from her gulf profound,
Rouses at thine approach ; and all around,
Her dreadful notes of preparation sound.
See, at the awful call,
Her shadowy heroes all,
E'en mighty kings, the heirs of empire wide,
Rising, N\ith solemn state, and slow,
From their sable thrones below,
Meet, and insult thy pride : —
What, dost thou join our ghostly train,
A flitting shadow, light and vain :
Where is thy pomp, thy festive throng,
Thy revel dance, and wanton song •
Proud King ! Corruption fastens on thy breast,
And calls her crawling brood, andbids them share the feast.
O Lucifer ! thou radiant star ;
Son of the Morn, whose rosy car

Flamed foremost in the van of day ;
How art thou falTn, thou King of Light !
How fall'n from thy meridian height !
Who said'st the distant poles shall hear me, and obey.
High, o'er the stars, my sapphire throne shall glow,
And, as Jehovah's self, my voice the heavens shall bow.

He spake, he died. Distain'd with gore,
Beside yon yawning cavern, hoar,

See, where his livid corse is laid.
The aged Pilgrim, passing by,
Surveys him long with dubious eye,
And muses on his fate, and shakes his reverend head. —

Just heavens ! is thus thy pride imperial gone ?
Is this poor heap of dust the King of Babyloix ?

160 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Is this the. man, whose nod
Made the Earth tremble ? whose terrific rod
Levell'd her loftiest cities ? Where he trod

Famine pursued, and frown'd,

Till Nature, groaning round,
Saw her rich realms transform'd to deserts dry ;

While at his crowded prison's gate,

Grasping the keys of Fate,
Stood stern Captivity.

Vain Man ! behold thy righteous doom ;

Behold each neighb'ring monarch's tomb ;

The trophied arch, the breathing bust,

The laurel shades their sacred dust ;
While thou, vile outcast, on this hostile plain,
Moulder'st, a vulgar corse, among the vulgar slain.

No trophied arch, no breathing bust,
Shall dignify thy trampled dust ;

No laurel flourish o'er thy grave.
For why ? proud King, thy ruthless hand
Hurl'd Desolation o'er the land.
And crush'dthe subject race, whom kings are born to save.

Eternal Infamy shall blast thy name ;
And all thy sons shall share their impious father's shame.

Rise, purple Slaughter ! furious rise,
Unfold the terrors of thine eyes ;

Dart thy vindictive shafts around :
Let no strange land a shade afford,
No conquer'd Nations call them Lord ;
Nor let their cities rise, to curse the goodly ground,

For thus Jehovah swears : No name, no son,
No remnant shall remain of haughty Babylon.

Thus saith the righteous Lord :
My vengeance shall unsheath the flaming sword ;
O'er all thy realms my fury shall be pour'd.

Where yon proud city stood

I'll spread the stagnant flood ;
And there the bittern in the sedge shall lurk,

Moaning with sullen strain :

While, sweeping o'er the plain,
Destruction ends her work.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 161

Yes, on mine holy mountain's brow,

I'll crush this proud Assyrian foe.

Th' irrevocable word is spoke.

From Judah's neck the galling yoke
Spontaneous falls ; she shines with wonted state. —
Thus, by MYSELF I swear, and what I swear is FATE.

MASON.

HEAVENLY MINSTREL.

Enthroned upon a hill of light,

A heav'nly minstrel sings ;
And sounds, unutterably bright,

Spring from the golden strings.
Who would have thought so fair a form
Once bent beneath an earthly storm !

Yet was he sad and lonely here j

Of low and humble birth ;
And mingled, while in this dark sphere,

With meanest sons of earth.
In spirit poor, in look forlorn,
The jest of mortals, and the scorn.

A crown of heav'nly radiance now,

A harp of golden strings,
Glitters upon his deathless brow,

And to his hymn-note rings.
The bower of interwoven light
Seems, at the sound, to grow more bright.

Then, while with visage blank and sear,

The poor in soul we see,
Let us not think what he is here,

But what he soon will be ;
And look beyond this earthly night,
To crowns of gold, and bowers of light.

EDMESTON.

162 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

LOVE.

They sin who tell us love can die.
With life all other passions fly;
All others are but vanity.

In heaven ambition cannot dwell,

Nor avarice in the vaults of hell.
Earthly, these passions are of earth,
They perish where they have their birth ;

But love is indestructible.
Its holy flame for ever burneth,
From heaven it came, to heaven returneth

Too oft on earth, a troubled guest,
At times deceived, at times opprest,
It here is tried and purified,

And hath in heaven its perfect rest ;
It soweth here with toil and care,
But the harvest-time of Love is there.

O! when a mother meets on high

The babe she lost in infancy,
Hath she not then, for pains and fears,

The day of woe, the anxious night,
For all her sorrow, all her tears,

An over payment of delight ?

SOUTHEY.

LESSONS OF WISDOM.

Wisdom took up her harp, and stood in place
Of frequent concourse, stood in every gate,
By every way, and walked in every street ;
And lifting up her voice proclaimed : " Be wise,
Ye fools ! be of an understanding heart ;
Forsake the wicked, come not near his house, —
Pass by, make haste, depart, and turn away.
Me follow, me, whose ways are pleasantness,
Whose paths are peace, whose end is perfect joy.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 163

The seasons came and went, and went and came,
To teach men gratitude; and as they passed,
Gave warning of the lapse of time, that else
Had stolen unheeded by. The gentle flowers
Reared, and stooping o'er the wilderness,
Talked of humility and peace and love.
The dews came down unseen at evening-tide,
And silently their bounties shed, to teach
Mankind unostentatious charity.
With arm in arm, the forest rose on high
And lesson gave of brotherly regard.
And on the rugged mountain-brow exposed,
Bearing the blast alone, the ancient oak
Stood lifting his mighty arm, and still
To courage in distress exhorted loud.
The flocks, the herds, the birds, the streams, the breeze,
Attuned the heart to melody and love.
Mercy stood in the cloud with eye that wept
Essential love ! and from her glorious bow-
Bending to kiss the earth in token of peace,
With her own lips, her gracious lips, which God
Of sweetest accent made, she whispered still,
She whispered to Revenge, Forgive, forgive.
The sun rejoicing round the earth, announced
Daily the wisdom, power, and love of God.
The moon awoke, and from her maiden face,
Shedding her cloudy locks, looked meekly forth,
And with her virgin stars walked in the heavens,
Walked nightly there, conversing, as she walked,
Of purity and holiness and God.
In dreams and visions, sleep instructed much.
Day uttered speech to day, and night to night
Taught knowledge. Silence had a tongue ; the grave,
The darkness, and the lonely waste, had each
A tongue, that ever said, Man ! think of God !
Think of thyself! think of eternity! —
Fear God, the thunders said. Fear God, the waves.
Fear God, the lightning of the storm replied.
Fear God, deep loudly answered back to deep.

POLLOK.

164

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

THE SEASONS.

Oft have I seen the laughing Spring

Shed her rich blessings o'er the earth,
While born beneath her fragrant wing,

Spring Beauty forth, and Love, and Mirth.
But Spring soon fled, and Summer then

Her genial heats diffused around,
And Nature's wildest, roughest glen

Was by her hand with verdure crown'd.

Sweet Summer, too, alas ! was doom'd

To quit the rich and smiling plain:
For while in fruitfulness sne bloom'd,

Autumn began her glorious reign.
But Autumn's sun soon ceased to burn,

And clouds which roll'd across the sky,
Declared that winter and his urn,

In viewless icy car was nigh.

When Winter came, the gorgeous sun
Turn'd pale, and seem'd to wait his doom,

And all that late so radiant shone,
Now sunk in Winter's joyless tomb.

Thus blooming is life's early spring,
For Nature on each path hath shed

Her smiles, and Pleasure seeks to fling
Her garlands round each youthful head.

My spring has fled, and summer now

Rich o'er my youthful cheek doth breathe,

And soon to deck this gladsome brow,
Autumn her holiest sweets will wreathe.

Yet ere dim winter's gloomy birth,
Or age destroy this cheek of bloom,

Oh ! I may press my mother earth,
And quit this vain world for the tomb.

Then let me, Lord, at whose command,
Summer, and spring, and winter roll,

Praise, while I've life, th' Almighty hand
That spans the world from pole to pole.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 165

At morning's light, Lord of all space,
I'll praise thee; and at close of even ;

Then lend me. Lord, some ray of grace
To light my trembling steps to Heaven.

RYAN.

HOPE AT DEATH.

Unfading Hope ! when life's last embers burn,
When soul to soul, and dust to dust return !
Heaven to thy charge resigns the awful hour !
Oh ! then, thy kingdom comes ! Immortal Power !
What though each spark of earth-born rapture fly,
The quivering lip, pale cheek, and closing eye !
Bright to the soul thy seraph hands convey
The morning dream of life's eternal day —
Then, then, the triumph and the trance begin !
And all the Phoenix spirit burns within !

Oh! deep enchanting prelude to repose,
The dawn of bliss, the twilight of our woes !
Yet half I hear the parting spirits sigh,
It is a dread and awful thing to die !
Mysterious worlds, untravell'd by the sun !
Where Time's far wandering tide has never run ;
From your unfathom'd shades, and viewless spheres,
A warning comes, unheard by other ears.
Tis Heaven's commanding trumpet long and loud,
Like Sinai's thunder, pealing from the cloud !
While Nature hears, with terror-mingled trust,
The shock that hurls her fabric to the dust ;
And like the trembling Hebrew, when he trod
The roaring waves, and called upon his God,
With mortal terrors clouds immortal bliss,
And shrieks and hovers o'er the dark abyss !

Daughter of Faith ! awake, arise, illume,
The dread unknown, the chaos of the tomb !
Melt and dispel ye spectre doubts that roll
Cimmerian darkness on the parting soul !
Fly like the moon-eyed herald of dismay,
Chased on his night steed by the star of day !

166

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

The strife is o'er — the pangs of nature close,
And life's last rupture triumphs o'er her woes.
Hark! as the spirit eyes, with eagle gaze,
The noon of Heav'n, undazzled by the blaze,
On heavenly winds that waft her to the sky,
Float the sweet tones of star-born melody ;
Wild as that hallowed anthem sent to hail
Bethlehem's shepherds in the lonely vale,
When Jordan hush'd his waves and midnight still
Watch'd on the holy towers of Zion hill !

Soul of the just! companion of the dead !
Where is thy home, and whither art thou fled ?
Back to its heavenly source thy being goes,
Swift as the comet wheels to whence he rose ;
Doom'd on his airy path awhile to burn,
And doom'd, like thee, to travel and return.
Hark! from the world's exploding centre driven,
With sounds that shook the firmament of heaven,
Careers the fiery giant, fast and far,
On bickering wheels and adamantine car,
From planet whirl'd to planet more remote,
He visits realms beyond the reach of thought ;
But, wheeling homeward when the race is run,
Curbs the red yoke, and mingles with the sun ;
So hath the traveller of earth unfurl'd
Her trembling wings, emerging from the world,
And o'er the path by mortal never trod,
Springs to her source, the bosom of her God !

Eternal Hope ! when yonder spheres sublime
Peal'd their first notes to sound the march of time,
Thy joyous youth began — but not to fade —
When all the sister planets have decay'd;
When wrapt in fire the realms of ether glow,
And Heaven's last thunder shakes the world below ;
Thou undismay'd, shalt o'er the ruins smile,
And light thy torch at Nature's funeral pile !

CAMPBELL.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 167

MY LONG LAST HOME.

In that sweet hour when morning bright
Pours o'er the world a flood of light,

And wood and mountain, tower and stream..
Are glittering in the golden beam.

Or when the gentle moonbeams rest

Upon the broad lake's peaceful breast,
When the light breeze is full of balm,
And all around is still and calm,

I love in solitude to roam,

And muse on thee, my distant home.

My mother's gentle voice I hear,

Her tender smile I see ;
That voice, that smile, that seem more dear,

Than ever now to me.
With her through shady walks I rove.

Or tend her favourite flowers,
Or by the stream we used to love

Spend the bright summer hours.
Why did I cross the blue sea's foam,
Why leave my dear, my pleasant home !

If care or sorrow rend my heart,

Or agitate my breast,
Who now will seek, with tender art,

To sooth my griefs to rest ?
Who when on pain's hard couch I lie

Will share my chamber's gloom.
And who will watch me when I die,

And lay me in my tomb ?
It is enough — no more I'll roam,
I haste to thee, my long last home !

E. S. L.

168 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

CHILDE HAROLD'S FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.

Adieu, adieu ! My native shore

Fades o'er the waters blue ;
The night winds sigh, the breakers roar,

And shrieks the wild sea-mew.
Yon sun that sets upon the sea

We follow in his flight ;
Farewell, awhile, to him and thee

My native land ! — Good night.

A few short hours and he will rise

To give the morrow birth,
And I shall hail the main and skies,

But not my mother earth.
Deserted is my own good hall,

Its hearth is desolate,
Wild weeds are gathering on the wall,

My dog howls at the gate.

And, now I'm in the world alone,

.Upon the wide, wide sea:
But why should I for others groan,

When none will sigh for me ?
Perchance my dog will whine in vain,

Till fed by stranger hands ;
But long ere I come back again

He'd tear me where he stands.

With thee, my bark, I'll swiftly go

Athwart the foaming brine,
Nor care what land thou bear'st me to

So not again to mine.
Welcome, welcome, ye dark blue waves,

And when you fail my sight,
Welcome ye deserts and ye caves !

My native land — Good night !

BTfRON.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 169

THE POLISH MOTHER.

The Polish mother sat and wept

Afar in wild Siberia's land,
Her lovely little infant slept,

Cradled upon her knee and hand :
She gazed upon his placid face,

His father's image, mild but brave, —
Anxious she gazed if she could trace
One feature of a slave.

" Ah, no !" she cried, " thou art, my son,
Thy father's son, who died so brave ;
I'd rather that thy race was run. '

Than nurture thee to be a slave !
Yes, I would rather dig thy grave,

And lay thee there without a tear,
Than suckle thee, that tyrant knave
Should dare enslave thee here.

" But I will tell thee of thy sire—

I'll tell thee of thy country's shame,
And I will mark thy young breast's fire,

And fan and feed the flame :
I'll tell thee of our Russian foe,

Who came into our land once free,
And sent us to this land of snow,
To die in slavery!

" I'll tell thee how that Europe gazed

And wonder'd Poles could face each horde,
But how they only look'd and praised,

Nor sought to aid the patriot's sword !
I'll tell thee too, when Warsaw fell,

What cruelties our nation bore,

And when thou growest, I will tell

Thee — Be a slave no more.

170 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

" Away — away — my bosom glows,

I'll make a hero of my son ;
He'll lead his countrymen from snows,

To death or victory — on — on ! "
With this she raised him, and embraced

The young and yet unconscious child :
He oped his lovely eyes, and gazed

Upon her face and smiled.

THE DYING BOY.

It must be sweet, in childhood to give back

The spirit to its Maker, ere the heart

Has grown familiar with the paths of sin,

And sown— to garner up its bitter fruits.

I knew a boy, whose infant feet had trod

Upon the blossoms of some seven springs,

And when the eighth came round, and called him out

To gambol in the sun, he turn'd away,

And sought his chamber, to lie down and die !

Twas night — he summon' d his accustom' d friends,

And in this wise, bestow'd his last bequest :—

" Mother ! I'm dying now—
There is deep suffocation in my breast,
As if some heavy hand my bosom press' d,

And on my brow
I feel the cold sweat stand,

My lips grow dry and tremulous, and my breath
Comes feebly up. Oh ! tell me, is this death ?

Mother ! your hand —
Here — lay it on my wrist,
And place the other soft beneath my head,
And say, sweet mother '.—say, when I am dead,

Shall I be miss'd ?
Never beside your knee
Shall I kneel down at night to pray,
Nor with the morning wake, and sing the lay
You taught to me !

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 171

Oh. at the time of prayer,
When you look round and see a vacant seat,
You will not wait there for my coming feet —

You'll miss me there ! "
"Father ! I'm going home —
To the good home you spoke of, that bless'd land
Where it is one bright summer always, and

Storms do not come.
I must be happy then :

From pain and death you say I shall be free —
That sickness never enters there, and we

Shall meet again ! "
" Brother ! the little spot
I used to call my garden, where long hours
We've stay'd to watch the budding things and flowers,

Forget it not.

Plant there some box or pine —
Something that lives in winter, and will be
A verdant offering to my memory,
And call it mine !"

" Sister ! my young rose-tree
That all the spring has been my pleasant care,
Just putting forth its leaves so green and fair,

I give to thee.
And when its roses bloom,
I shall be gone away — my short life done !
But will you not bestow a single one

Upon my tomb ? "
"Now, mother! sing the tune
You sang last night — I'm weary, and must sleep !
Who was it called my name ? — Nay, do not weep,

You'll all come soon I "
Morning spread over earth her rosy wings,
And that meek sufferer, cold and ivory pale,
Lay on his conch asleep ! The gentle air
Came through the open window, freighted with
The savoury labours of the early spring —
He breathed it not ! — The laugh of passers by
Jarr'd like a discord in some mournlul tune,
But marred not his slumbers. — He was dead !
I 2

172 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER.

PRIMEVAL POWER; Almighty and Supreme,
Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Eterne,
The Uncreated God ! at whose command
Nature and time did hand in hand arise,
And round Thee wheel a universe of worlds, —
Descend ! and magnify our thoughts for prayer >
Illume, expand, and purify the soul
With inward light, reflected from Thyself;
Unlock the springs of mind, and let them pour
The vital feelings forth in one full stream
Of adoration, duteous as divine.

Thou Infinite ! since first creation roll'd,
Thy mercy hath reveal'd a ray of Thee
To every heart : in every age or clime,
Heard in the wind, or vision'd in the cloud,
Or in the parent sun presumed to shine, —
Still has th' immortal soul been stamp' d with Thee !

Oh ! all that thought can span, or eye perceive,
Is but a part, a shadow of Thy power,
Creating, filling, and upholding all !
The airy ocean, far above us spread,
Where balanced worlds perform their silent march,
And seasons dwell and roll, — the chainless deep,
Belting the earth with majesty and might, —
The mountains pinnacled with storms, the floods
And streams, the meadows beautified with flowers,-—
Are fill'd with Thee ! and in the thunder-peals,
Rattling from cloud to cloud, terrific ire,
We hear the language of a God ! and in
The winds, careering till they whirl and roar
Like rebel spirits plunging from the sky, —
We dread Thee, wing'd upon each awful blast !

Fountain of Light and Love ! while Nature hymns
Thy praise, in wave or wind, from shore to shore,
Thy miniature, immortal Man, the grace
And glory of the Earth, with brow erect,

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 1/3

Was made to walk the world in joy, to share

Thy goodness, and adore the hand divine.

Then look ! Thou Universal One, whose eye

Is fixed alike on all, — with mercy look

Upon the spacious World ; from east to west,

From north to south, extend Thy guardian care :

In polar climes, in lands refined or rude,

In isles remote, and deserts darkly spread, —

Where beats a heart within a human breast,

There be Thou present, and Thy power adored !

And, oh ! since all are doom'd one common race

To run, and one eternal goal to win,

May Thy prime attribute each bosom warm

With tender sympathy and truth ; may man

Be link'd to man in fellowship of soul,

Till one vast chain of Love embrace the world.

R. MONTGOMERY.

THE DOVE.

The dove let loose in eastern skies,

Returning fondly home,
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies

Where idle warblers roam ;

But high she shoots through air and light,

Above all low delay,
Where nothing earthly bounds her flight.

Nor shadow dims her way.

So grant me, God, from earthly care,

From pride and passion free,
Aloft, through faith and love's pure air,

To hold my course to thee.

No lure to tempt, no art to stay
My soul, as home she springs ;

Thy sunshine on her joyful way,
Thy freedom on her wings.

MOORE.

174 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

INFANCY.

On yonder mead, that, like a windless lake,

Shines in the glow of heaven, a cherub-boy

Is bounding, playful as a breeze new-born,

Light as the beam that dances by his side.

Phantom of beauty ! with his trepid locks

Gleaming like water-wreaths — a flower of life,

To whom the fairy world is fresh, the sky

A glory, and the earth one huge delight !

Joy shaped his brow, and pleasure rolls his eye,

While Innocence, from out the budding lip,

Darts her young smiles along his rounded cheek -,

Grief hath not dimm'd the brightness of his form ;

Love and affection o'er him spread their wings,

And Nature, like a nurse, attends him with

Her sweetest looks. The humming-bee will bound

From out the flower, nor sting his baby hand ;

The birds sing to him from the sunny tree ;

And suppliantly the fierce-eyed mastiff fawns

Beneath his feet, to court the playful touch.

To rise all rosy from the arms of sleep,

And, like the sky-bird, hail the bright-cheek'd morn

With gleeful song, then o'er the bladed mead

To chase the blue-wing' d butterfly, or play

With curly streams, or led by watchful Love,

To hear the chorus of the trooping waves,

When the young breezes laugh them into life !

Or listen to the mimic ocean-roar,

Within the womb of spiral sea-shell wove ; —

From sight and sound to catch intense delight,

And infant gladness from each happy face ;

These are the guileless duties of the day :

And when at length reposeful evening comes,

Joy-worn, he nestles in the welcome couch,

With kisses warm upon his cheek to dream

Of heaven, till morning wakes him to the world.

The scene hath changed into a curtain'd room,

Where mournful glimmers of the mellow sun

Lie dreaming on the walls ! Dim-eyed and sad,

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 175

And dumb with agony, two parents bend
O'er a pale image in the coffin laid, —
Their infant once, the laughing, leaping boy,
The paragon and nursling of their souls !
Death touch'd him, and the life-glow fled away,
Swift as a gay hour's fancy ; fresh and cold
As winter's shadow, with his eyelids seal'd,
Like violet lips at eve, he lies, enrobed,
An offering to the grave ! but, pure as when ^
It wing'd from heaven, his spirit hath return'd,
To lisp his hallelujahs with the choirs
Of sinless babes, imparadised above.

MONTGOMERY.

THE PARTING SPIRIT.

Farewell, thou vase of splendour !

I need thy light no more,
No brilliance dost thou render

The world to which I soar.

Nor sun, nor moonbeam brightens
Those regions with a ray,

But God himself enlightens
Their one eternal day.

Farewell, sweet nature ! waving
With fruits and flow'rets fair,

Of these but little craving

Of what thou well canst spare.

Only an earthly pillow

To bear my death-cold head,

And the turf and drooping willow,
To deck my lowly bed.

The world to which I'm going
Has fairer fruit than thine ;

Life's river ever flowing,
And skies that ever shine.

176 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Farewell, each dearest union,
That blest my earthly hours ;

We yet shall hold communion
In amaranthine bowers.

The love that seems forsaken
When friends in death depart,

In heaven again shall waken
And repossess the heart.

The harps of heaven steal o'er me ;

I see the jasper wall ;
Jesus who passed before me -,

And God the judge of all.

So sang the parting Spirit,

While down flow' d many a tear,

Then spread her wings to inherit
A throne in yonder sphere.

WHAT IS PRAYER?

Pray'r is the soul's sincere desire,

Utter' d or unexpress'd ;
The motion of a hidden fire

That trembles in the breast.

Pray'r is the burden of a sigh,

The falling of a tear :
The upward glancing of an eye,

When none but God is near.

Pray'r is the simplest form of speech

That infant lips can try ;
Pray'r is the sublimest strains that reach

The Majesty on high.

Pray'r is the Christian's vital breath,

The Christian's native air,
His watchword at the gates of death,

He enters heaven by prayer.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Pray'r is the contrite sinner's voice,

Returning from his ways ;
While angels in their songs rejoice

And say, " Behold he prays !"
The saints in pray'r appear as one,

In word, and deed, and mind,
When with the Father and the Son

Their fellowship they find.
No prayer is made on earth alone •

The Holy Spirit pleads ;
And Jesns on th' eternal throne

For sinners intercedes.
O Thou ! by whom we come to God,

The Life, the Truth, the Way ;
The path of pray'r thyself hast trod :

Lord, teach us how to pray.

MONTGOMERY.

RELIGIOUS HEROISM.
" Go, Lictor, lead the Bishop forth,

Let all the assembly stay,
For he must openly abjure,

His Christian faith to-day."
The Praetor spake : the Lictor went,

And Polycarp appeared;
And totter' d, leaning on his staff,

To where the pile was reared.
His silver hair, his look benign,

Which spake his heavenly lot,
Moved into tears both youth and age,

But moved the Praetor not.
The Heathen spake: " Renounce aloud,

Thy Christian heresy."
"Hope all things else," the old man cried,

" Yet hope not this from me !"
" But if thy stubborn heart refuse

Thy Saviour to deny,
Thy age shall not avert my wrath,

Thy doom shall be — to die !"
I 5

178 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

"Think not, O Judge! with menaces,

To shake my faith in God ;
If in his righteous cayse I die,

I gladly kiss the rod."
" Blind wretch ! doth not the funeral pile

Thy vaunting faith appal ?"
" No funeral pile my heart alarms,

If God and duty call !"
" Then expiate thy insolence,

There perish in the fire ;
Go, Lictor, drag him instantly

Forth to the funeral pyre !"
The Lictor dragg'd him instantly

Forth to the pyre : with bands
He bound him to the martyr's stake,

He smote him with his hands.
" Abjure thy God," the Praetor said,

" And thou shalt yet be free."
" No," cried the hero, « rather let

Death be my destiny !"
The Praetor bow'd : the Lictor laid

With haste the torches nigh :
Forth from the faggots burst the flames,

And glanced athwart the sky !
The patient champion at the stake

With flames engirdled, stood ;
Calm, patient, look'd he heavenwards
And seal'd his faith with blood.

THE EXILE.

Not yet, not yet, a few brief hours

Are mine to linger still,
To gaze upon the ivied towers

That crown my native hill ;
To glance o'er each familiar tree

That shades that lovely spot ;
And that must soon forgotten be,

But shall not be forgot !

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

What varied hours of joy or woe,

My childhood here hath pass'd ;
Ah, happy! ere I learnt to know

Woe must prevail at last !
As summer clouds are quickly fled

Before the blaze of noon;
So transient were the tears I shed,

And joy returned as soon !
Here would I muse beside the stream,

Or seek the shelter'd vale,
To shade me from the broad noon-beam,

And woo the fragrant gale ;
While ardent fancy loved to frame

Fond dreams of future bliss ;
Nor deem'd I, when that future came,

Of such an hour as this !
In yon low copse my brothers played,

Their bosoms light as mine ;
Through yon dark wood my sisters strayed,

At summer eve's decline ;
And now — I cannot gaze on aught,

Around — above — below,
That is not with remembrance fraught,

And memory is but woe.
For now a wanderer must I roam,

The sport of every wave ;
Far from my childhood's much-loved home,

And from my father's grave !
Nor can I hope in other clime

To find a home as dear;
Hearts cannot change with place or time,

And mine will still be here !

For here, with father, sister, friend,

With nature's holiest ties,
Another name was wont to blend,

And other dreams to rise.
But oh ! I must not breathe it now —

In silence let me bear —
Man should his lighter griefs avow,

But bury his despair !

180 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

'Twere vain to mourn the hopes that fled

When fortune ceased to smile ;
Yet o'er the scenes she loved to tread

I would have roam'd awhile —
'Twould sooth me, where in other days

With other thoughts I ranged,
On wood and hill and tower to gaze,

And find them still unchanged !
But now a tyrant's stern command

Constrains me hence to roam ;
Then, O farewell, my father-land,

Farewell, my only home !
Whate'er of valley, or of hill,

In other lands I see,
That will I deem the loveliest place

That leads my thoughts to thee.

REV. T. DALE.

THE WOODMAN.

The Woodman with his keen bright axe,

Throughout the forest goes ;
Its sound the leafy silence breaks,

Trees fall before its blows.
He careth not though summer green,
On leaves and blossoms there is seen ;
He careth not for winter's cold,
But onward hews, the Woodman bold.

The forest king, — the mighty oak

He levels with the ground ;
Its glories fall with every stroke

That through the glades resound,
Until at length so low 'tis laid,
That twigs long dwarf 'd within its shade,
Do o'er it wave their leaflets free ;
The Woodman bold what careth he.

The poplar, lady of the wood,

Is doom'd his prey to be,
He snaps the willow by the flood,

Nor spares the beechen tree.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 1ST.

The forest's pride he layeth low,
He nippeth all things that do grow :
The little shrub, the tree so old —
He smiteth all — the Woodman bold.

He leaveth not the brier-bush,

He spareth not the rose,
Whene'er he comes the winds shall rush

No longer through green boughs.
He taketh all, he spareth none,
He leaves the tree-land bare and lone,
Without an elm to rest beneath —
The stalwart Woodman's name is — DEATH !

FORGET ME NOT.

Forget me not when I am gone,

I grieve to cause one sigh to thee,
But ere thou seest to-morrow's dawn,

Thou wilt have said ' farewell ' to me.
When much-loved friends shall bid adieu

To him they never more may see,
'Twill cheer the last, sad, lingering view,

To know that thou wilt think of me.

Tho' years of sorrow pass away

Ere we can hope to meet again ;
Sure as yon pale moon sheds her ray.

Unalter'd shall my truth remain :
When friendship's voice so sweetly dear

Shall loudly chant in praise of thee,
Then will my spirit hover near,

And gently whisper, "Think of me."

May guardian angels never cease

O'er thee their constant watch to keep;
May painful thoughts ne'er wound thy peace,

Nor anguish make thy eyes to weep :
When heaven hangs out her orbs of light

And thou in secret bend the knee,
Let memory tell thee of this night,

And with affection think of me. E. F.

182 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

MY NATIVE SPOT.

My native spot, my native spot,

Where first I saw the day ;
Oh, ne'er through life to be forgot,

Where'er my footsteps stray.

Where first I knew a mother's love,

And felt a mother's kiss ;
And day-dreams of the future strove

With childhood's present bliss.

Alas ! the present faded fast,

The future never came,
And life is but a wither' d waste,

And joy is but a name.

Yet midst the wreck of hopes o'ercast,

The weight of worldly ills,
With mournful pleasure still the past

My aching bosom fills.

There's nought maturer age can find

To equal those bright hours,
When the sunshine of the opening mind

Deck'd coming life with flowers.

Each happy scene returns to view,
The loved, the dead are there,

All gilded with the brilliant hue
Which childhood bade them wear.

My thoughts yet dwell on each loved haunt,

Beside each favourite tree ;
The verdant path, the grassy mount,

An universe to me.
These speak of years of innocence,

Of many a sportive game,
Of schemes of youthful confidence

And airy plans of fame.

Now vanish' d all — the sports have fled,-

Ambition and her train
No more excite this wearied head —

The loved are wept in vain.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 183

Yet still my native spot is dear,

When memory bids it rise ;
Still hallowed with a heartfelt tear,

Still chronicled with sighs.

LORD DOVER.

THE PEN.

FROM THE GREEK.

I was an useless thing, a lonely reed !

No blossom hung its beauty on the weed.

Alike in summer's sun and winter's gloom 5

I sigh'd no fragrance, and I bore no bloom.

No cluster wreath' d me, — day and night I pined

On the wild moor, and wither'd in the wind.

At length a wanderer found me. From my side

He smooth' d the pale decaying leaves, and dyed

My lips in Helicon ! From that high hour

I SPOKE ! My words were flame and living power!

And there was sweetness round me, — never fell

Eve's sweeter dews upon the lily's bell.

I shone '.—night died ! — as if a trumpet call'd,

Man's spirit rose, pure, fiery, disenthrall' d !

Tyrant's of Earth ; ye saw your light decline,

When I stood forth, a wonder and a sign.

To me, the iron sceptre was a wand,

The roar of nations peal'd at my command ;

To me the dungeon, sword, and scourge, were vain,

I smote the smiter, and I broke the chain :

Or towering o'er them all, without a plume,

I pierced the purple air, the tempest's gloom;

Till burst th' Olympian splendours on my eye,

Stars, temples, thrones, and gods, — Infinity !

CROLY.

184 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

DISAPPOINTMENT.

Come, Disappointment, come !

Not in thy terrors clad :
Come in thy meekest, saddest guise,
Thy chastening rod but terrifies
The restless and the bad.
But I recline
Beneath thy shrine,
And round my brow resign'd thy peaceful cypress t\vine.

Though Fancy flies away

Before thy hollow tread,
Yet Meditation in her cell
Hears with faint eye her lingering knell
That tells her hopes are dead ;
And though the tear
By chance appear,
Yet she can smile and say, My all was not laid here.

Come, Disappointment, come !

Though from Hope's summit hurl'd,
Still, rigid nurse, thou art forgiven,
For thou severe wert sent from Heaven
To wean me from the world, —
To turn my eye
From vanity,
And point to scenes of bliss, that never, never die.

What is this passing scene ?

A peevish April day !
A little sun, a little rain,
And then night sweeps along the plain
And all things fade away.
Man (soon discuss'd)
Yields up his trust,
And all his hopes lie with him in the dust !

Oh, what is Beauty's power ?

It flourishes and dies,
Will the cold earth its silence break,
To tell how soft, how smooth a cheek

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 185

Beneath its surface lies ?
Mute — mute is all
O'er Beauty's fall ;
Her praise resounds no more, when mantled in her pall.

The most beloved on earth

Not long survive to-day ;
So music past is obsolete,
And yet 'twas sweet, — 'twas passing sweet,
And now 'tis gone away !
Thus does the shade
In memory fade,
When, in forsaken tomb, the form beloved is laid.

Then, since this world is vain,

And volatile, and fleet,
Why should I lay up earthly joys,
Where rust corrupts and moth destroys,
And cares and sorrows eat ?
Why fly from ill,
With anxious skill,

When soon this hand will freeze, — this throbbing heart
be still ?

Come, Disappointment, come !
Thou art not stern to me ;
Sad monitress ! 1 own thy sway ;
A votary sad in early day,
I bend my knee to thee:
From sun to sun
Thy race will run, —
I only bow and say, My God, thy will be done '.

KIRKE WHITE.

FAREWELL TO LIFE.

Composed by Korner, as he lay wounded and helpless in a wood, expecting
to die.

My deep wound burns ; — my pale lips quake in death ; —
I feel my fainting heart resign its strife ;
And reaching now the limit of my life,

Lord, to thy will I yield my parting breath !

186 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Yet many a dream hath charm'd my youthful eye !

And must life's fairy visions all depart ?

Oh, surely no ! for all that fired my heart
To rapture here, shall live with me on high.

And that fair form that won my earliest vow,
That my young spirit prized all else above,
And now adored as freedom, now as love,
Stands in seraphic guise before me now :
And as my wav'ring senses fade away,
It beckons me on high, to realms of endless day !

A MOTHER'S WISH.

Sweet smiling cherub ! if for thee

Indulgent Heaven would grant my prayer,
And might the threads of destiny

Be woven by maternal care —
No golden wishes there should twine,

If thy life's web was wrought by me ;
Calm, peaceful pleasures should be thine,

From grandeur and ambition free !

I would not ask for courtly grace

Around thy polish'd limbs to play,
Nor Beauty's smile to deck thy face,

Given but to lead some heart astray.
I would not ask the wreath of Fame

Around thy youthful brow to twine ;
Nor that the Statesman's envied name,

And tinsell'd honours, should be thine !

Ne'er may War's crimson'd laurels bloom,

To crown thee with a hero's wreath —
Like roses smiling o'er a tomb,

Horror and death lie hid beneath.
Nor yet be thine his feverish life, « •

On whom the fatal Muses smile ;
The Poet, like the Indian wife,

Oft lights his own funereal pile !

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. IS*

No ! I would ask that virtue bright

May fix thy footsteps, ne'er to stray 5
That meek Religion's holy light

May guide thee through life's desert way.
That manly sense, and purest truth,

A breast, Contentment's chosen shrine,
May, through the slippery paths of youth,

Unstain'd, untarnish'd, still be thine !
That Love's chaste flame, — that Friendship's glow,

May kindle in thy generous breast ;
That peace, which greatness ne'er can know,

Be thy calm pillow's nightly guest.
Sweet smiling infant ! if for thee

Indulgent Heaven would hear my prayer,
Thus should the web of Destiny

Be woven by a mother's care.

MRS. C. B. WILSON.

PAUPER ORPHANS.

They never knew what 'twas to play,
Without control, the long, long day,

In wood and field at will :
They knew no bird, no tree, no bud ;
They got no strawberries from the wood,

No wild thyme from the hill.

They play'd not on a mother's floor ;
They toil'd amidst the hum and roar

Of bobbins and of wheels ;
The air they drew was not the wild
Bounty of nature, but denied,

And scanty were their meals.

Their lives can know no passing joy,
Dwindled and dwarf d are girl and boy,

And even in childhood old ;
With hollow eye and anxious air,
As if a heavy grasping care

Their spirits did enfold.

188 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Their limbs are swoln, their bodies bent,
And worse, no noble sentiment

Their darken'd minds pervade :
Feeble, and blemish' d by disease,
Nothing their marble hearts can please,

But doings that degrade.

Oh, hapless heirs of want and woe !
What hope of comfort can they know ?

Them man and law condemn :
They have no guides to lead them right,
Darkness they have not known from light,

Heaven be a friend to them !

MARY HOWETT.

MAN.

Like as the damask rose you see,

Or like the blossom on a tree,

Or like the dainty flower in May,

Or like the morning to the day,

Or like the sun, or like the shade,

Or like the gourd which Jonas had ;

Even such is man, whose thread is spun,

Drawn out, and cut, and so is done. —

The rose withers, the blossom blasteth,
The flower fades, the morning hasteth,
The sun sets, the shadow flies,
The gourd consumes, and man — he dies.

Like to the grass that's newly sprung,

Or like a tale that's new begun,

Or like a bird that's here to-day,

Or like the pearled dew of May,

Or like an hour, or like a span,

Or like the singing of a swan ;

Even such is man, who lives by breath,

Is here, now there, in life and death.
The grass withers, the tale is ended,
The bird is flown, the dews ascended,
The hour is short, the span not long,
The swan's near death, man's life is done.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

Like to a bubble in a brook,

Or in a glass much like a look,

Or like the shuttle in weaver's hand,

Or like the writing on the sand,

Or like a thought, or like a dream,

Or like the gliding of a stream ;

Even such is man, who lives by breath,

Is here, now there, in life and death !
The bubble's out, the look's forgot,
The shuttle's flung, the writing's blot,
The thought is past, the dream is gone,
The waters glide, man's life is done.

Like to an arrow from a bow,

Or like swift course of water-flow,

Or like that time 'twixt flood and ebb,

Or like the spider's tender web,

Or like a race, or like a goal,

Or like the dealing of a dole ;

Even such is man, whose brittle state

Is always subject unto fate.

The arrow's shot, the flood soon spent,
The time no time, the web soon rent,
The race soon run, the goal soon won,
The dole soon dealt, man's life soon done.

Like to the lightning from the sky,

Or like a post that quick doth hie,

Or like a quaver in a song,

Or like a journey three days long,

Or like the snow when summer's come,

Or like the pear, or like the plum ;

Even such is man, who heaps up sorrow,

Lives but this day, and dies to-morrow.
The lightning's past, the post must go.
The song is short, the journey so,
The pear doth rot, the plum doth fall,
The snow dissolves, and so must all.

WASTELL.

190 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

THE OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD.

Dweller in heaven, and ruler below !

Fain would I know thee, yet tremble to know !

How can a mortal deem how it may be,

That being can not be, but present with thee ?

Is it true that thou saw'st me ere I saw the morn ?

Is it true that thou knew'st me before I was born ?

That nature must live in the light of thine eye ?

This knowledge for me is too great and too high !

That fly I to noonday or fly I to night,
To shroud me in darkness, or bathe me in light,
The light and the darkness to thee are the same,
And still in thy presence of wonder I am !
Should I with the dove to the desert repair,
Or dwell with the eagle in clough of the air,
In the desert afar on the mountain's wild brink,
From the eye of Omnipotence still must I shrink.

Or mount I on wings of the morning away,
To caves of the ocean unseen by the day,
And hide in these uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there to be living and moving in thee ?
Nay, scale I the cloud in the heavens to dwell,
Or make I my bed in the shadows of hell ;
Can science expound, or humanity frame,
That still thou art present, and all are the same ?

Yes, present for ever ! Almighty — alone,
Great Spirit of nature, unbounded, unknown !
What mind can imbody thy presence divine ?
I know not my own being ! how can I thine ?
Then humbly and low in the dust let me bend,
And adore what on earth I can ne'er comprehend,
The mountains may melt and the elements flee,
Yet an universe still be rejoicing in thee.

. HOGG.

CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY. 191

THE SUPERIOR BEAUTY OF THE EYE.

Lovely the milk- white orient pearl,
Deep hid beneath the waves that curl

In Ormus' sunny bay 5
And bright the blush of the Ruby's red,
When we drag it forth from the secret bed,

In the dark earth where it lay.

But lovelier far the Diamond bright,
Darting its beams of living light

Through the darkness of the mine :
More beautiful its silvery rays,
Than the pearl's soft white, or the ruby's blaze,

Or the fairest gems that shine.

So the brow may be pure as the unsunned snow,
And the blushing tints on the cheek that glow

May be exquisitely bright ;
But these fading charms can never vie
With the diamond-sparkle of the Eye,

With its pure and lustrous light.

'Tis here the immortal spirit lives,
The spark of heavenly fire, that gives

Expression to the whole ;
Each feeling pictured here we find,
'Tis the index of the mighty mind,

The palace of the Soul.

A. W. L.

THE POLISH CHILDREN.

Forth went they from their father-land,

A fallen and fetter'd race,
To find upon a distant strand,

Their dark abiding place.
Forth went they — not as freemen go,

With firm and fearless eye,
But with the bow'd down mien of woe

As men go forth to die.

192 CLASSICAL MODERN POETRY.

The aged in their silver hair,

The young in manhood's might,
The mother, with her infant care,

The child in wild affright —
Forth went they all — a pallid band,

With many an anguish'd start :
The chain lay heavy on their hand,

But heavier on their heart !

No sounds disturb' d the desert air,

But those of bitter woe,
Save when at times re-echoed there

The curses of the foe.
When hark ! another cry peal'd out —

A cry of idiot glee,
Answer'd and heighten'd by the shout

Of the fierce soldiery.

Twas childhood's voice — but ah ! how wild,

How demon-like its swell !
The mother shriek' d to hear her child

Give forth that soulless yell !
And fathers wrung their fetter'd hands,

Beneath this maddening woe ;
While shouted out those infant bands,

The chorus of the foe !

And curses deep and low were said,

Whose murmur reach'd to heaven ;
And sighs were heaved and tears were shed,

And woman-hearts were riven j
While all forgetful of their woes,

The children onward trod,
And sang * — and their young voices rose

A vengeance-cry to God !

* It is said that the Russians intoxicated the children of the con-
demned Poles, in order that they might sing while on their way to the
mines.

193

DRAMATIC SCENES.*

THE TRIAL OF THE MACEDONIAN PRINCES.

Perseus, the eldest son of Philip, the last King of Mace-ion, having for a
considerable time seen with extreme indignation the regard which the
Macedonians entertained for his brother Demetrius, took the most culp-
able means to gain over to his side as many chiefs of the nation as
he possibly could, who formed the determination of taking the earliest
opportunity of ruining him in the opinion of his father, or of even
taking his life. As was the custom, after a certain annual festival the
army was reviewed, and a sham fight took place. On this occasion the
army was divided into two parts, one of which was commanded by Per-
seus, and the other by Demetrius ; and, although the troops fought with
foils, they entered so much into the spirit of the engagement as to cause
bloodshed. Demetrius's party had the advantage, which increased the
hatred of his brother, and made him more intent than ever on his destruc-
tion. After the battle the two princes gave a grand entertainment, and
Perseus was invited by his brother to his banquet ; he, however, refused
to go, but sent a spy, whose object being known, was treated rather
rouehly by some of Demetrius's party, but entirely without the knowledce •
of Demetrius. Demetrius, wishing to conciliate his brother, proposed to
his friends to visit him ; they all agreed, but those who had ill-treated the
spy, took with them, privately, arms to defend themselves if attacked, as
they expected they might be. This being told to Perseus, he refused
their admittance, under the pretence that he feared assassination, and the
next day went to Philip, and accused his brother of endeavouring to take
his life. Philip immediately ordered Demetrius to appear before him to
answer the charge ; the accusation and defence form the groundwork of
the following dramatic scene.

CHARACTERS.
PHILIP, King of Macedon.
PERSEUS, his elder son.
DEMETRIUS, his younger son,
DYMAS, the King's favourite.
PERICLES, the friend of Perseus.
ANTIGOXUS, a minister of state.

* In the Dramatic Scenes, the Orations, Impassioned and Comic
Pieces intended for Recitation ; those words which are Emphatic are
printed in italics, while those which require decidedly a very full
emphasis are printed in capital*.

K

194 DRAMATIC SCENES.

The King appears seated. Dymas stands by the side of the King.
The King's manner is naturally most dignified, but his peculiar
position, in being the judge between his sons, requires the tone of
voice to be most solemn, and expressive of the feelings which must
necessarily liarass and distress his mind.

KING. Bring forth the prisoners.
Strange trial this ! Here sit I to debate,
Which vital limb to lop, nor that to save,
But render wretched life more wretched still.
What see I, but heaven's vengeance in my SONS ?
THEIR guilty scourge for MINE. Tis thus heav'n writes
Its awful meaning, plain in human deeds.
And language leaves to man.

Enter PEBSEUS and DEMETRIUS in chains, from opposite sides .• Perseus
followed by Pericles, and Demetrius by Antigonus.

DYMAS. *Dread Sir, your sons.

KING, fl have no sons, and that I ever had
Is now my HEAVIEST CURSE. And yet, what care,
What pains, I took to curb their rising rage !
How often have I rang'd through history
To find examples for their private use ?
The Theban brothers did I set before them —
What blood ! what desolation ! but — in vain!
For thee, Demetrius, did I go to ROME
And bring thee patterns thence of brothers' love ;
The Quintti and the Scipios. But in vain !
If I'm a monarch, where is your obedience ?
If I'm a father, where's your duty to me 1
If old, your veneration due to years ?
But I have wept, and you have sworn, in vain !
I had your ear, and enmity your heart.
How was this morning's counsel thrown away !
How happy is your mother in the grave !
She, when she bore you, suffered less. Her pangs,
Her pungent pangs throb thro' the father's heart.

DEM. jYou can't condemn me, Sir, to worse than this.

KING. §Than what, thou young deceiver ? While I live,

* In the most respectful manner. f With intense feeling.

I Much affected. § In a severe tone.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 195

You both with impious wishes grasp my sceptre :
Nothing is sacred, nothing dear, but EMPIRE ;
Brother, nor father, can you bear : fierce lust
Of EMPIRE burns, extinguish'd all beside.
Why pant you for it ? To give others awe ?
Be therefore aw'd yourselves, and tremble at it,
While in a father's hand.

DYMAS. My lord, your warmth

Defers the business.

KING. *Am I then too warm ?

They that should shelter me from ev'ry blast,
To be themselves the storm. O ! how ROME triumphs !
Oh ! how they bring this hoary head to shame !
Conquest and fame, the labour of my life,
Now turn against me, and call in the world
To gaze at what was Philip, but who now
Wants ev'n the wretch's privilege — a WISH.
What can I wish ? Demetrius may be guiltless.
What then is Perseus? Judgment hangs as yet
Doubtful o'er them ; but I'm condemn'd already,
For both are mine ;
Should these two hands wage war (these hands less

dear!)

What boots it which prevails ? In both I bleed.
But I have done. Speak, Perseus, and at large,
You'll have no second hearing. Thou forbear, t

PERSEUS, i Speak ! — Twas with utmost struggle I

f -L.

forbore.

These chains were scarce designed to reach my tongue :
Their trespass is sufficient, stopping here.
These chains !§ for what ? Are chains for innocence ?
Not so ; for, see, Demetrius wears them too.

* Relaxing into a milder tone, with much feeling.

f To Demetrius.

j Persens is a great villain and a consummate hypocrite, and has
been long aiming at the life of his brother. His manners are plau-
sible, but his defence breathes an expression of defiance. His hypo-
crisy should be rendered evident by the speaker, although it be appa-
rently concealed by the garb of honesty.

§ He here shows his arms.

K 2

196 DRAMATIC SCENES.

Fool that I was, to tremble at vain laws,
Nor learn from him defiance of their frown ;
Since innocence and guilt are us'd alike ;
Blood-thirsty stabbers, and their destin'd prey >
PERSEUS, and HE* — I will not call him brother,
He wants not that enhancement of his guilt.

KING. But closer to the point ; and lay before us
Your whole deportment this ill-fated day.

PERSEUS. Scarce was he cool from that embrace this

morning,

Which you injoined, and / sincerely gave ;
Nor thought he plann'd my death within my arms,
When holding vile, oaths, honour, duty, love,
He fir'd our friendly sports to martial rage.
If war, why not fair war? But THAT has danger.
From hostile conflict, as from brother's play,
He blushed not to invite me to his banquet.
I went not ; and in that was I to blame ?
Think you, there nothing had been found but peace,.
From whence, soon after, salli'd armed men ?
Think you, I nothing had to fear from swords,
When from their foils I scarce escaped with life?

Or poison might his valour suit as well.

This pass'd, as suits his wisdom, Macedonians L
Who volts o'er elder brothers to a throne ;
With an armed rout, he came to visit me,
Did I refuse to go, a bidden guest ?
And should I welcome him, a threatening foe ?
Resenting my refusal ; boiling for REVENGE !

DEM. t'Tis FALSE.

ANT. jForbear The King.

PERSEUS. Had 1 receiv'd them,

You now had mourn 'd my death, not heard my cause,
Dares he deny he brought an armed throng?
Call those I name ; who dare this deed, dare all ;
Yet will not dare deny that this is true.
My death alone can yield a stronger proof ;
WiTl no less proof than that content a FATHER-?

* Pointing at Demetrius. f Most energetically.

In a low tone.

DRAMATIC SCENKS. 197

PER. Perseus, you see, has art, as well as fire ;
Nor have the wars worn Athens from his tongue.

PERSEUS. Let him, who seeks to bathe in brother's

BLOOD,

Not find well pleas'd the fountain whence it flow'd :
Let him, who shudders at a brother's KNIFE,
Find refuge in the bosom of a FATHER.
For where else can I fly ? whom else implore ^
I have no ROMANS, with their eagles' wings,
To shelter ME ; DEMETRIUS borrows those,
To mount full rebel -high : I have their hatred
And, thanks to heav'n ! DESERVE it : Good Demetrius
Can see your towns and kingdoms torn away
By these PROTECTORS, and ne'er lose his temper.
My weakness ! I confess, it makes me rave ;
It makes me weep, and my tears rarely flow.

PER. Was ever stronger proof of filial love ?

PERSEUS. Vain are ROME'S hopes, while YOU and I

survive :

But should the sword take ME, and age my FATHER,
(Heav'n grant they leave him to the stroke of age !)
The kingdom and the King are both their own ;
A duteous, loyal king, a sceptred SLAVE,
A willing Macedonian slave to ROME.

KING. First let an earthquake swallow Macedonia.

PERSEUS. How, at such new?, would HANNIBAL rejoice ?
How the great shade of Alexander smile ?
The thought quite chokes me up : I can no more.

KING. Proceed !

PERSEUS. No, Sir Why have I spoke at all •

'Twas needless : PHILIP justifies my charge,
Philip's the single witness which I call,
To prove Demetrius GUILTY.

KING. What dost mean ?

PERSEUS. *What mean I, Sir ! what mean I ! To

run mad ;

For who, unshaken both in heart and brain,
Can recollect it !
KING. What ?

* In a hurried tone and manner.

198 DRAMATIC SCENES.

PERSEUS. This morning's insult.
This morning they proclaimed HIM Philip's KING.
This morning they forgave YOU for HIS sake.

O pardon, pardon ! 1 could strike him dead.

KING. More temper.

PERSEUS. Not more truth, that cannot be !
And that it cannot, one proof can't escape you ;
For what but truth could make me, Sir, so bold?
Rome puts forth all her strength to crown her minion ,•
Demetrius' vices, thriving of themselves,
Her fulsome flatt'ries dung to ranker growth.
Demetrius is the burden of her song j
Each river, hill, and dale, has learnt HIS name ;
While elder Perseus in a whisper dies.
DEMETRIUS treats, DEMETRIUS gives us peace ;

Demetrius is our GOD, and would be so

My sight is short : Look on him you that can :
What* sage experience sits upon his brow,
What awful marks of wisdom, who vouchsafes
To patronize a Father, and a King ?
Such patronage is TREASON.

KING. TREASON !f DEATH !

PERSEUS. Nor let the ties of blood bind up the hands
Of justice ; Nature's ties are broke already :
For who contend before you ? — Your two sons ? —
No; read aright; 'tis MACEDON and ROME.
A well-mask 'd foreigner , and your — ONLY SON,
Guard of your LIFE, and — exile of your LOVE.
Now, bear me to my dungeon : What so fit
As darkness, chains, and death, for such a traitor <

KING. Speak, Demetrius.

ANT. My lord, he cannot speak ; accept his tears —
Instead of words.

PERSEUS. His tears as false as they. —

Now, with fine phrase, and foppery of tongue,
More graceful action, and a smoother tone,
That orator of fable, and fair face,

* This sentence should be given in a sneering, sarcastic manner,
f With much vehemence.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 199

Will steal on your bribed hearts, and, as you listen,
Plain truth, and I, plain Perseus, are forgot.

DEM.* My FATHER! KING! and JUDGE ! thrice awful

power !

Your Sox, your SUBJECT, and your PRISONER, hear.
Thrice humble state ! If I have grace of speech,
(Which gives, it seems, offence) be that no crime,
Which oft has serv'd my country, and my king :
Nor in my brother let it pass for virtue,
That, as he is, ungracious he would seem :
For, oh ! he wants not art, tho' grace may fail him.
The wonted aids of those that are accus'd,
Has my accuser seiz'd. He shed false tears,
That my true sorrows might suspected flow :
He seeks my life, and calls me MURDERER ;
And vows no refuge can he find on earth,
That I may want it in a father's arms ;
Those arms to which e'en strangers fly for safety.

KiNG.f Speak to your charge.

DEM He charges me with treason ;

If I'm a TRAITOR, if I league with ROME,
Why did his zeal forbear me till this hour ?
Was treason then no crime, till (as he feigns)
I sought his life? Dares Perseus hold, so much,
His father's welfare cheaper than his own '?
Less cause have I, a brother, to complain.
He says, I wade for Empire thro' his blood:
He says, I place my confidence in ROME :
Why murder him, if ROME will crown my brow .'
Will then a sceptre, dipt in brother's blood,
Conciliate love, and make my reign secure ?
False are both charges, and he proves them false,
By placing them together.

ANT. That's well urg'd.

DEM. Mark, Sir, how Perseus, unawares, absolves me
From guilt in all, by loading all with guilt.

* Demetrius is a very amiable prince, and has been much per-
secuted by his brother. His tone of voice is mild and plaintivCf
although earnest; and as he proceeds in his defence, he has frequently
much difficulty in suppressing his feelings,

f Sternly.

200 DRAMATIC SCENES.

Did I design him poison at my feast,
Why then did I provoke him in the fold,
That, as he did, he might refuse to come ?
When angry he refus'd, I should have sooth'd
His rous'd resentment, and deferr'd the blow ;
Not destin'd him that moment to my sword,
Which I before instructed him to shun.
Thro' fear of death, did he decline my banquet,
Could I expect admittance then at his ?
These numerous pleas at variance, overthrow
Each other, and are advocates for ME.

PERSEUS. No, Sir, Posthumius is his advocate.

KING.* Art thou afraid that I should hear him out?

DEM. Quit, then, this picture, this well painted fear,
And come to that, which touches him indeed :
Why is Demetrius not despis'd of all,
His second in endowments, as in birth?
How dare / draw the thoughts of MACEDON ?
How dare I gain esteem with FOREIGN POWERS ?
Esteem, when gain'd, how dare I to PRESERVE?
These are his secret thoughts ; these burn within ;
These sting up accusations in his soul,
Turn friendly visits to foul fraud, and murder j
And pour in poison to the bowl of love.
MERIT is TREASON in a younger brother.

KING. But clear your conduct with regard to Rome.

PEM. Alas ! dread Sir, I grieve to find set down
Among my crimes, what ought to be my PRAISE.
That I went hostage, or ambassador,
Was PHILIP'S high command, not MY request:
Indeed, when there, in both those characters,
I bore in mind to whom I owe my birth :
Rome's favour follow'd. If it is a crime
To be regarded, spare a crime you caus'd ;
Caus'd by your orders, and example too.
True, I'm Rome's friend, while Rome is your ally:
When not, tins hostage, this ambassador,
So dear, stands forth the FIERCEST of her FOES ;
At your command, flies swift on wings of fire,
The native thunder of a father's arm.
* The King here becomes apparently biassed towards Demetriut.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 301

ANT. There spoke, at once, the Hero, and the Son.

DKM. To close — To thee,* I grant, some thanks are due;
Not for thy kindness, but malignity :
Thy characters my friend, tho' THOU my foe :
For, say, whose temper promises most guilt ?
Perseus, importunate, demands my death :
I do not ask for HIS : Ah ! no ; I feel
Too pow'rful nature pleading for him HERB :
But, were there no fraternal tie to bind me,
A son of Philip must be dear to me.
If you, my FATHER, had been angry with me,
An tLDER brother, a less AWFUL parent,
HE should assuage you, HE should intercede,
Soften my failings, and indulge my youth:
But my asylum drops its character ;
I find not there my rescue, but my ruin.

PERSEUS, f His bold assurance

KING. Do not interrupt him ;

But let thy brother finish his defence.

DEM.J O Perseus! how I tremble as 1 speak!
Where is a brother's voice, a brother's eye ?
Where is the melting of a brother's HEART ?
Where is our awful father's dread command?
Where a DEAR, DYING MOTHER'S last request?
FOBGOT, SCORN'D, HATED, TRODDEN under foot !
Thy heart, how dead to ev'ry call of nature !
UNSON'D! UXBROTHER'D! nay, UNHUMANIZ'D!
Far from affection, as thou'rt near in blood !
Oh! Perseus! Perseus! — But my heart's too full. §

KING. Suppurt him.

PERSEUS. || Vengeance overtakes his crimes.

KING. No more !

ANT.** See, from his hoary brow he wipes the dew,
Which agony wrings from him.

KiNG.ft Oh ! my friend,

These boys at strife, like ^Etna's struggling flames,
Convulsions cause, and make a mountain shake ;

* To Perseus. t With a contemptuous sneer.

J Exceedingly affected. § He here falls on Antigonus.

U In a malicious tone. ** In reference to the King.

ff Turning to Dymas with much internal emotion.
K 5

DRAMATIC SCENES.

Shake Philips firmness, and convulse his heart,

And, with a fiery flood of civil war,

Threaten to deluge my divided land.

I've heard them both ; by neither am convinc'd :

And yet Demetrius' words went thro* my HEART. —

A double crime, Demetrius, is your charge;

Fondness for Rome, and hatred to your brother.

If you can clear your innocence in one,

'Twill give us cause to think you wrong' d in both.

DEM.* How shall I clear it, Sir?

KING. This honest man

Detests the Romans. If you wed his daughter,
Rome's/oe becomes the guardian of your faith.

DEM. I told you, Sir, when I return'd from Rome —

KiNG.f How ! — Dost thou want an absolute command ?
Your BROTHER, FATHER, COUNTRY, ALL exact it.

ANT.J See yonder guards at hand, if you refuse;
Nay, more, a father, so distress'd, demands
A son's compassion, to becalm his heart.
Oh ! Sir, comply.

DEM.§ There ! there ! indeed you touch me ;
Besides, if I'm confind, and Perseus FREE,

I never, never, shall behold her more,

Pardon, ye gods ! an artifice forc'd on me.
Dread Sir, your Son complies. ||

DYMAS. Astonishment !

KING. Strike off his chains. Nay, Perseus, too, is free :
They wear no bonds but those of duty, now.
Dymas, go, thank the prince : He weds your daughter,
And highest honours pay your high desert.

YOUNG'S BROTHERS.

* In the most anxious manner. •}• In a haughty manner.

£ Aside to Demetrius. •§ Aside to Antigonns. j| To the Jiln«.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 203

SCENE FROM THE IRON CHEST.

CHARACTERS.

SIR EDWARD MORTIMER.

WlLFORD.

Sir Edward Mortimer is represented by the dramatist as a man universally
respected and loved for his virtues, and particularly for his kindness to
the poor and distressed. He had, however, received such extremely cruel
and brutal treatment from a neighbouring gentleman, that he openly avowed
his determination to send him a challenge. The gentleman was soon after
found murdered in the high road. Sir Edward was charged with the murder ;
he was tried and acquitted, and generally considered innocent, although he
had actually perpetrated the horrid deed. The bloody dagger with which the
murder had been effected, together with other proofs, he kept in an iron chest
in his library. Conscious of his guilt, he was always apprehensive lest it
might be discovered, and consequently led a life of the most horrid anxiety.
Wilford, an orphan youth, whom he had taken under his protection, and made
his amanuensis, having heard something of the circumstance, takes an oppor-
tunity of looking into the chest, and there discovers the dagger. Sir Edward
enters the room while he is looking at it, and, in a transport of fury, -
pistol with the intention of shooting him, bof, which, after a violent struggle of
mind, he throws from him. "Sir Edward was, through the arrival of his brother
at that moment, diverted from the affair ; he, however, shortly after desired
Wilford to wait his presence in the library, when the following dialogue is
supposed to have taken place.

The above explanation will afford the speaker an idea of the feelings with
which both Sir Edward and Wilford may be supposed to be agitated. Sir
Edward is racked with mistrust and apprehension, and the most horrid feel-
ings that a mind, naturally noble and honourable, may be supposed to possess.
Wilford's manner is modest and submissive, evincing an excellent disposition,
with a grateful remembrance of Sir Edward's kindness.

SIR E. Wilford ! Is no one in the picture-gallery :

WILF. No — not a soul, Sir ; — not a human soul : —
None within hearing, if I were to bawl
Ever so loud.

SIR E. Lock* yonder door.

WILF. The door,f Sir '.

SIR E. Do as I bid you.

WILF. What, Sir ? lock}

[Sir Edward waves with his hand.'j
I shall, Sir. [Going to the door, and locking if.]

* Mysterious manner. •{• Surprise mingled with alarm.

\ Hesitating.

"204 DRAMATIC SCENES.

SIR E. Wilf ord, approach me. — What am I to say
For aiming at your life ? — Do you not scorn me,
Despise me for it ?

WILF. I ! Oh, Sir !

Sm E. You must ;

For I am singled from the herd of men,
A vile, heart-broken wretch !

WILF. Indeed* indeed, Sir,

You deeply wrong yourself. Your equal's love,
The poor man's prayer, the orphan's tear of gratitude,
All follow you : — and // — / owe you ALL !
/ am most bound to bless you.

SIR E. Mark me, Wilford :

I know the value of the orphan's tear ;

The poor man's prayer ; respect from the respected ;

I feel to merit these, and to obtain them,

Is to taste, here below, that thrilling cordial

Which the remunerating angel draws

From the eternal fountain of delight,

To pour on blessed souls that enter Heaven.

I FEEL this : — I ! — How must my nature, then,

Revolt at him who seeks to stain his hand

In human blood? — and yet, it seems, this day

I sought your life. — Oh ! I have suffer'd madness !

None know my tortures, — pangs ! — but I can end them -,

End them as tar as appertains to thee .

I have resolv'd it. — Hell-born struggles tear me :
But I have ponder'd on't, — and I must trust thee.

WILF. Your confidence shall not be

SIR E. You must SWEAR.

WILF. Swear, Sir ! — will nothing but an oath, then

SIR E. Listen.

Mayf all the ills that wait on frail humanity
Be doubled on your head, if you disclose
My fatal secret ! May your body turn
Most /rtzar-like and loathsome ; and your mind
More loathsome than your body ! May those 'fiends,
Who strangle babes, for very wantonness,

* Most emphatic manner.

f This imprecation requires the most earnest delivery, with the
greatest degree of solemnity.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 205

Shrink back, and shudder at your monstrous crimes,
And, shrinking, curse you ! Panics strike your youth!
And the sharp terrors of a guilty mind
Poison your aged days ; while all your nights,
As on the earth you lay your houseless head,
OUT-HORROR HORROR ! May you quit the world
Abhorrd, self-hated, hopeless for the next,
Your life a burden, and your death a fear !

WILP. *For mercy's sake, forbear ! you terrify me !

SIR E. Hope THIS may fall upon thee : SWEAR

thou hopest it,

By every attribute which heaven, earth, hell,
Can lend, to bind, and strengthen conjuration,
If thou betray'st me.

WILF. Well, I [Hesitating]

SIR E. No retreating !

WILF. [After a pause.] I swear by all the ties that

bind a man,
Divine or human, never to divulge !

SIR E. Remember, you have sought this secret : — Yes,
Extorted it. I have not thrust it on you.
Tis big with danger to you ; and to me,
While I prepare to speak, torment unutterable.
Know, Wilford, that fConfusion !

WILF. Dearest sir !

Collect yourself. This shakes you horribly :
You had this trembling, it is scarce a week,
At Madame Helen's.

SIR E. There it is Her uncle

WILF. +Her uncle !

SIR E. HIM. She knows it not ; — None know it, —
You are the first ordained to hear me say.

I am §HIS MURDERER.

WILF. O Heaven !

SIR E. His ASSASSIN.

WILF. What, you that — mur — the murder 1 am

choked !

With the greatest degree of alarm.

Sir Edward is here apparently convulsed by his feelings.

Surjirixe and alirm. § The greatest degree of horror.

206 DRAMATIC SCENES.

SIR E. Honour, thou blood- stain 'd god ! at whose red

altar

Sit War and Homicide : O ! to what madness
Will insult drive thy votaries ! By Heaven !
In the world's range, there does not breathe a man
Whose brutal nature I more strove to soothe,
With long forbearance, kindness, courtesy,
Than his who fell by me. But he disgraced me,
Stain d me, — oh, death, and shame ! the world look'd on
And saw this *SINEWY SAVAGE strike me down;
Rain blows upon me, drag me to and fro,
On the base earth, like carrion. Desperation,
In every fibre of my frame, cried vengeance!
I left the room, which he had quitted : Chance,
(Curse on the chance !) while boiling with my wrongs,

Thrust me against him, darkling, in the street :

I stabb'd him to the heart : And my oppressor

Roll'd, lifeless, at my foot.

WILF. Oh ! mercy on me !

How could this deed be cover'd ?

SIR E. Would you think it?
E'en at the moment when I gave the blow,
Butcher da. fellow- creature in the dark,
I had all good men's love. But my disgrace,
And my opponent's death, thus link'd with it,
Demanded notice of the magistracy.
They summon'd me, as friend would summon friend,
To acts of import, and communication.
We met: and 'twas resolv'd, to stifle rumor,
To put me on my trial. No accuser,

No evidence appear'd, to urge it on :

'Twas meant to clear my fame. How clear it then ?

How cover it 1 — you say. — Why, by a LIE : —
Guilt's offspring, and its guard. I taught this breast.
Which truth once made her throne, to forge a LIE :
This tongue to utter it ; — rounded a tale,
Smooth as a seraph's song from Satan's mouth ;
So well compacted, that the o'erthrong'd court

* The recollection of the insults he received almost overpowers him.

DRAMATIC SCENES.

207

Disturb'd cool Justice in her judgment-seat,

By shouting " Innocence!" ere I had finish'd,

The court enlarged me ; and the giddy rabble

Bore me, in triumph, home. Ay ! — look upon me. —

I know thy sight aches at me.

WILF. Heaven forgive me ! It may be wrong, but
Indeed I pity you.

SIR E. I disdain* all pity.—
I ask no consolation. Idle boy !
Think'st thou that this compulsive confidence
Was given to move thy pity ? — Love of fame
(For still I cling to it) has urg'd me, thus,
To quash thy curious mischief in its birth.
Hurt honor, in an evil, cursed hour,
Drove me to MURDER ; — LYING; — 'twould again.
My honesty. — sweet peace of mind, — all, all,
Are barter'd for a NAME. I will maintain it.
Should slander whisper o'er my sepulchre,
And my soul's agency survive in death,
I could" embody it with heaven's lightning,
And the hot shaft of my insulted spirit
Should strike the blaster of my memory
Dead, in the churchyard. Boy, I would not kill thee ;
Thy rashness and discernment threaten'd danger !

To check them there was no way left but this

Save one : — your death : — you shall not be my victim.

WILF. My death! What, take my life0 — My life!

to prop
This empty honour.

SIR E. Empty ? tGrovelling fool !

WILF. I am your servant, Sir : child of your bounty.
And know my obligation. I have been
Too curious, haply : 'tis the fault of youth.
I ne'er meant injury : if* it would serve you,
I would lay down my life; I'd give it freely :
Could you, then, have the heart to rob me of it :
You could not; — should not.

SIRE. How!

WILF. You dare not.

* Strong expression of disdain. f Most contemptuous manner.

208 DRAMATIC SCENES.

SIR E. Dare not !

WILF. Some hours ago you durst not. Passion moved

you,

Reflection interposed, and held your arm.
But, should reflection prompt you to attempt it,
My innocence would give me strength to struggle,
And wrest the murderous weapon from your hand.
How would you look to find a peasant boy
Return the knife you levell'd at his heart ;
And ask you which in heaven would show the best,
A rich man's HONOUR, or a poor man's HONESTY ?

SIR E. 'Tis plain I dare not take your life. To spare it,
I've endangered mine. But dread my power;
You know not its extent. Be warned in time ;
Trifle not with my feelings. Listen, Sir !
Myriads of engines, which my secret working
Can rouse to action, now encircle you.
Your ruin hangs upon a thread : provoke me,
And it shall fall upon you. Dare to make
The slightest movement to awake my fears,
And the gaunt criminal, naked, and stake-tied,
Left on the heath, to blister in the sun,
Till lingering death shall end his agony,
Compared to thee, shall seem more enviable
Than cherubs to the damn'd.

WILF. O, misery !

Discard me, Sir ! I must be hateful to you.
Banish me hence. I will be mute as death ;
But let me quit your service.

SIR E. Never. Fool !

To buy this secret, you have sold yourself.

Your movements, eyes, and, most of all, your breath,

From this time forth are fetter'd to my will.

COLMAN.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 209

THE BANISHMENT OF CATILINE.

" About the 688th year of Rome, Catiline, a man of noble family, who had
been praetor in Africa, canvassed for the consulship. His claim was set aside,
on the ground that some charges relative to his late employment had not been
cleared up. This he asserted to be a pretext, and occupied himself in forming
a party. It was rumoured that his cabal entertained designs against the state.
The pride of the senate gave way to their fears, and at the next election Cicero
was chosen consul. Catiline canvassed a third time, and was again defeated,
directly in consequence of Cicero's coming to the election in armour, and
declaring that he wore it through fear of assassination. Hopeless of legitimate
success, he now plunged into revolt, answered the menaces of the senate by
open defiance, and set the republic on the chance of a single battle."*

CHARACTERS.

CICERO. CATILINE.

CETHEGUS. A CONSUL.

SEXATOUS. LICTORS, OFFICERS, PRISONERS.

SCENE—THE SENATE-HOUSE.

The Senate are assembled. A Consul in the chair. CICERO
on the floor concluding his speech. The time supposed
to be night.

Cic. Ourf long debate must close. Take one proof
more

Of this rebellion. Lucius Catiline

Has been commanded to attend the senate.

He dares not come. I now demand your votes, —

Is he condemned to exile?

[CATILINE enters hastily, and takes a seat.']
HereJ I repeat the charge, to gods and men,
Of treasons manifold ; — that but this day,
He has received despatches from the rebels —
That he has leagued with deputies from Gaul
To seize the province ; nay, has levied troops,
And raised his rebel standard ; — that but now

* Preface to Catiline.

t Cicero's manner and utterance are earnest and^rwi.

j Cicero here turns towards Catiline.

210 DRAMATIC SCENES.

A meeting of conspirators was held
Under his roof, with mystic rites and oaths,
Pledged round the body of a murder'd slave.
To these he has no answer.

CAT. [Rising calmly.] Conscript Fathers !

I do not rise to waste the night in words :
Let* that plebeian talk, 'tis not my trade ;
But here T stand for RIGHT. Let him show proofs ; —
For ROMAN right • though none it seems dare stand
To take their share with me. Ay, cluster, there,
Cling to your master ; judges-]- — Romans — SLAVES !
His charge is false ; — I dare him to his proofs ;
You have my answer now ! I must be gone.

Cic. Bring back the helmet of this Gaulish £ king ;

[Enter Lictors with a helmet and axe.~\
These, as I told you, were this evening seized
Within his house. You§ know them, Catiline ?

CAT. The 1 1 axe and helmet of the Allobroges ! (aside)
Know^f them ! What crimination's there ? what tongue
Lives in that helm to charge me 1 Cicero —
Go search my house, you may find twenty such,
All fairly struck from brows of barbarous kings,
When you and yours were plotting here in ROME.
I say, go search my house. And is this all ?
I scorn to tell you by what chance they came.
Where have / levied troops — tamper'd with slaves —
Bribed fool or villain, to embark his neck
In this rebellion ? Let my actions speak.

Cic. Deeds shall convince you! Has** the traitor done?

CAT. But this I will avow, that I have scorn'd,
And still do scorn, to hide my sense of wrong :
Who brands me on the forehead, breaks my sword,
Or lays the bloody scourge upon my back,

* Most haughty and disdainful manner.

f This requires a protracted utterance, with the strongest expres-
sion of scorn.

J This refers to Catiline ; the helmet and axe -were the kingly
emblems he had received from the Allobroges in token of their sub-
mission to him.

§ With a significant tone and manner. || With apparent alarm.

^f Resumes his self-possession.

** Most dignified manner, with a severe tone and look.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 2ll

Can wrong me half as much as he who shuts

The gates of honour on me, — turning out

The "Roman from his birthright ; and for what ? —

[Looking round him.']

To fling your offices to every slave :

Vipers* that creep where man disdains to climb ;
And having wound their loathsome track to the top
Of this huge mouldering monument of Rome,
Hang hissing at the noble man below.

Cic. This is his answer ! Must I bring more proofs ?
Fathers, you know there lives not one of us
But lives in peril of his midnight sword.
Lists of proscription have been handed round,
In which your general properties are made
Your murderer s hire.

tBring in the prisoners.
[The Lictors return with Cethegus and others,]

CAT. Cethegus !:£ (aside.)

Cic. Fathers ! those stains to their high name and

blood,

Came to my house to murder me ; and came
Suborned by him.

CAT. [Scornfully.'] Cethegus !
Did you say this ?

CETH. §Not I. I went to kill

A prating, proud plebeian, whom those fools
Palm'd on the consulship.

Cic. And sent by whom ?

CETH. By none. — By nothing but my zeal to purge
The senate of yourself, most || learned Cicero !

[An officer enters with letters for CICERO; other
prisoners are also introduced chained.

Cic. Fathers of Rome ! If man can be convinced
By proof as clear as daylight, there it stands !

[Pointing to the prisoners.]
Those men have been arrested at the gates,
Bearing despatches to raise war in Gaul.

* Most emphatic and disdainful manner.

•h In a tone of command. J Alarmed.

§ Careless and insolent tone and manner.

be tone of irony must here be observed, with the greatest degree
of mock respect.

DRAMATIC SCENES.

Look on these letters ! Here's a deep laid plot

To wreck the province : a solemn league,

Made with all form and circumstance. *The time

Is desperate, all the slaves are up; — Rome shakes !

The heavens alone can tell how near our graves
We stand ev'n here ! — The name of Catiline
Is foremost in the league. He was their KING.
Triedf and convicted traitor, go from Rome !

CAT. jCome, consecrated lictors ! from your thrones ;

[To the Senate. ]

Fling down your sceptres : — take the rod and axe,
And make the murder as you make the law.
Cic. Give up the record of his banishment.

[7'o an officer. .]

[The officer gives it to the Consul j]

CAT. §Banish'd from Rome ! What's banish'd but set
From daily contact of the things I loathe ? [free

' Tried and convicted traitor ! ' \\ Who says this ?
Who'll prove it at his peril, on my head ?
Banish'd ? — ^[1 thank you for't. It breaks my chains !
I held some slack allegiance till this hour —
But now my sword's my own. Smile on, my lords ;
I scorn to count what feelings, withered hopes,
Strong provocations; bitter, burning wrongs,
I have within my **heart's hot cells shut up,
To leave you in your lazy dignities.
tfButhere I stand and scoff you : here I fling
Hatred and full defiance in your face.
J jYour Consul's merciful. — For this all thanks.
He dares not touch a hair of Catiline.

(The CONSUL reads.) " Lucius Sergius Catiline ; by
the decree of the Senate, you are declared an
enemy and an alien to the State, and banished
from the territory of the commonwealth."

* Increased animation.

f Authoritative command requiring a particularly stern air and force-
able utterance.

J Catiline, having seated himself, here rises in the most haughty
manner. § With the strongest indignation.

|| Increased violence. H Sarcastic tone.

** Suit the action to the word,
t The language will here fully direct the speaker.
Here is a transition to sarcasm.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 213

CONSUL. Lictors, drive the traitor from the temple !
CAT. *' Traitor!' I go — but I return. This — trial!
Here I devote your Senate ! I've had wrongs,
To stir a fever in the blood of age,
Or make the infant's sinew strong as steel.
This day's the birth of sorrows ! This hour's work

Will breed proscriptions Look to your hearths, my

For there henceforth shall sit, for household gods, [lords 1
Shapes hot from Tartarus ! — all shames and crimes ; —
Wan Treachery with his thirsty dagger drawn ;
Suspicion poisoning the brother's cup;
Naked Rebellion with the torch and axe,
Making his wild sport of your blazing thrones ;
Till anarchy comes down on you like night,
And massacre seals Rome's eternal grave !

[The SENATORS rise and cry out,
Go, enemy and parricide, from Rome !

CAT. fit shall be so ! — (Going. He suddenly

returns.) — When Catiline comes again,
Your grandeur shall be base, and clowns shall sit
In scorn upon those chairs ; — Your palaces
Shall see the soldier's revels, and your wealth
Shall go to deck his harlot and his horse.

Then Cicero, and his tools, shall pay me blood

Vengeance for every drop of my boy's veins ; —
And such of you as cannot find the grace
To die with swords in your right hands, shall feel
The life, life worse than death, of trampled slaves !

{The SENATORS cry out,
Go, enemy and parricide, from Rome !

Cic. Expel him, lictors ! Clear the senate house !

[The Lictors approach /iiro.]
CAT. I go, — but not to leap the gulf alone :
I go ; — but when I come — 'twill be the burst
Of ocean in the earthquake — rolling back
In swift — and mountainous ruin. Fare you well !
You build my funeral pile ; but your best blood
Shall quench its flame. Back, slaves ! [Yo the Lictors.']
I will return ! [He rushes out.~] CROLY.

* Catiline here becomes perfectly furiaus, and continues so through-
out; the tone of voice is hurried, while the eye sparkles with rage.
| With the greatest indignation.

214 DRAMATIC SCENES.

CATO'S SENATE.

Cato having vainly tried to bring about an agreement between Pompey and
Csesar, sided with the former, and after Pompey's death fled with his party
to Utica in Africa. Being pursued by Csesar, he called his friends toge-
ther, and advised them to leave him instantly and throw themselves on
Caesar's clemency. They left him accordingly, and Cato, being unwilling to
fall into the power of Csesar, put himself to death with his own hands.
The poet here describes Cato deliberating with his senate as to the mode
of conduct to be pursued, now they were so hotly pressed by Csesar.

CHARACTERS.

CATO. DECIUS.

SEMPRONIDS. JUNIUS.

Lucius.

Cato seats himself, and the senators take their places around him.
Cato's tone and manner are most grave, earnest, and dignified
throughout : Sempronius is particularly animated and energetic ;
Lucius is mild and persuasive ; Decius is solemn and forcible ;
Junius's address is rather hurried and monotonous.

CATO. FATHERS, we once again are met in council :
CESAR'S approach has summon'd us together,
And Rome attends her fate from our resolves ;
How shall we treat this bold aspiring man ?
Success still follows him, and backs his crimes ;
Pharsalia gave him ROME, EGYPT has since
Receiv'd his yoke, and the whole NILE is CAESAR'S.
Why should I mention Jubus overthrow,
And Scipio's death? NUMIDIA'S burning sands
Still smoke with blood. 'Tis time we should decree
What course to take. Our foe advances on us,
And envies us even LYBIA'S sultry deserts.
Fathers, pronounce your thoughts : are they still fix'd
To hold it out, and fight it to the last ?
Or are your hearts subdued at length, and wrought
By time, and ill success, to a submission ?.
SEMPRONIUS, speak.

SEM. My voice is still for WAR.

GODS ! can a ROMAN senate long debate
Which of the two to choose, SLAV'RY or DEATH !

DRAMATIC SCENES. 215

No,* let us rise at once, gird on our swords,

And at the head of our remaining troops,

Attack the foe, break through the thick array

Of his throng'd legions, and charge home upon him :

Perhapsf some arm, more lucky than the rest,

May reach his HEART, and free the world from BONDAGE.

Rise,+ fathers, rise ! Tis ROME demands your help :

Rise, and revenge her slaughter'd citizens,

Or share their fate ! The corpse of half her senate

Manure the fields of Thessaly, while we

Sit here deliberating^ in cold debates,

If we should sacrifice our lives to HONOUR,

Or wear them out in SERVITUDE and CHAINS.

Rouse up, for shame ! our brothers of Pharsalia

Point at their wounds, and cry aloud — To BATTLE !

Great Pompey's shade complains that we are slow ,

And SCIPIO'S ghost walks unreveng'd amongst us.

CATO. Let |j not a torrent of irripetuous zeal
Transport thee thus beyond the bounds of REASON :
True FORTITUDE is seen in great exploits,
Thatju.-itice warrants, and that wisdom guides :
All else is tow' ring frenzy and distraction.
Are not the lives of those who draw the sword
In ROME'S defence intrusted to our care ?
Should we thus lead them to a field of slaughter,
Might not th' impartial world with reason say,
We lavish'd at our deaths the blood of thousands,
To grace our fall, and make our ruin glorious ? —
Lucius, we next would know what's your opinion ]
~ Luc. My thoughts,! must confess, are turn'd on PEACE.
Already have our quarrels fill'd the world
With widows, and with orphans. SCYTHIA mourns
Our guilty wars : and earth's remotest regions
Lie half unpeopled by the feuds of ROME.
'Tis time to sheath the sword, and spare mankind.

* This and the three following lines require an increased rapidity
of utterance.

f Here is a transition to a deeper tone, and more lengthened utterance.

j Much animation.

§ This requires a protracted utterance ; thus de-li-be-ra'ting.
* jj Cato's gravity forms a striking contrast with the impetuosity of
Sempronius.

216 DRAMATIC SCENES.

It is not C.ESAR, but the GODS, my fathers,

The GODS declare against us, and repel

Our vain attempts. To urge the foe to battle,

(Prompted by blind revenge and wild despair)

Were to refuse th' awards of providence,

And not to rest in Heaven's determination.

Already have \ve shown our love to ROME ;

Now let us show submission to the GODS.

We took up arms, not to revenge ourselves,

But free the commonwealth : when this end fails,

Arms have no further use. Our COUNTRY'S cause,

That drew our swords, now wrests 'em from our hands,

And bids us not delight in ROMAN blood

Unprqfitably shed. What men could do,

Is done already: heavn and earth will witness,

If ROME must fall, that WE are innocent.

SEM. This smooth discourse, and mild behaviour, oft
Conceal a traitor — something whispers me
* All is not right. — Cato, beware of Lucius.

[Aside to Cato.]

CATO. Let us appear nor rash nor diffident ;
Immod'rate valour swells into a fault ;
And fear admitted into public councils
Betrays like treason. Let us shun 'em both. —
Fathers, I cannot see that our affairs
Are grown thus desp'rate : we have bulwarks round us :
Within our walls are troops inur'd to toil
In AFRIC'S heat, and season'd to the sun ;
NUMIDIA'S spacious kingdom lies behind us,
Ready to rise at its young prince's call.
While there is hope, do not distrust the GODS ;
But wait at least till CESAR'S near approach
Force us to yield. 'Twill never be too late
To sue for CHAINS, and own a CONQUEROR.
Why should ROME fall a moment ere her time ?
No, let us draw her term of freedom out
In its full length, and spin it to the last,
So shall we gain still one day's LIBERTY :
And let me perish, but iu CATO'S judgment,
A DAY, an HOUR, of virtuous LIBERTY,
Is worth a whole ETERNITY in bondage.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 217

[Enter Junius.~\

JUN. Fathers, this moment, as I watch'd the gate,
Lodg'd on my post, a herald is arriv'd
From CAESAR'S camp, and with him comes old DECIUS,
The ROMAN knight ; he carries in his looks
Impatience ; and demands to speak with CATO.

CATO. By your permission, fathers bid him enter.

[Exit Junius.

DECIUS was once my friend, but other prospects
Have loos'd those ties, and bound him fast to C.ESAR.
His message may determine our resolves.
[Enter Decius and Junius.]
DEC. C.ESAR sends health to CATO.
CATO. Could* he send it

To CATO'S slaughter'd FRIENDS, it would be welcome.
Are not your orders to address the senate ?

DEC. My business is with CATO. C.ESAR sees
The straits to which you're driven ; and as he knows
CATO'S high wortli, is anxious for your LIFE.

CATo.f My life is grafted on the fate of ROME.
Would he save CATO? bid him spare his COUNTRY.
Tell your DICTATOR this; and tell him, CATO
Disdains^ a life which lie has power to offer.

DEC. ROME and her senators submit to C.ESAR ;
Her gen'rals and her consuls are no more,
Who check'd his conquests, and deny'd his triumphs.
Why will not CATO be this CESAR'S friend?

CATO. These very reasons thou hast urg'd/or&id it.
DEC. CATO, I have orders to expostulate,
And reason with you, as from friend to friend :
Think§ on the STORM that gathers o'er your head,
And threatens ev'ry hour to burst upon it:
Still may you stand high in your country's honours;
Do but comply, and make your peace with C.ESAR,
ROME will rejoice, and cast its eyes on CATO,
As on the second of mankind.

* Cato here assumes much sternness of manner.

f Enthusiastic manner.

j Haughtiness of manner, with an expression of disdain, •

§ Great solemnity of manner.

218 DRAMATIC SCENES.

CATO. No* more ?

I must not think of life on such conditions.

DEC. CAESAR is well-acquainted with your virtues?
And therefore sets this value on your LIFE ;
Let him but know the price of CATO'S friendship,
And name your terms.

CATO. Bidf him disband his LEGIONS,

Restore the commonwealth to LIBERTY,
Submit his actions to the public CENSURE,
And stand the judgment of a ROMAN senate.
Bid him do this, and CATO is his FRIEND.

DEC. CATO, the world talks loudly of your wisdom.

CATO. Nay, more; tho' CATO'S voice was ne'er employ'd
To clear the guilty, and to varnish crimes,
Myself will mount the ROSTRUM in his favour,
And strive to gain his pardon from the people.

DEC. A style like this becomes a CONQUEROR.

CATO. DECIUS, a style like this becomes a ROMAN.

DEC. What is a ROMAN, that is CAESAR'S foe ?

CATO. Greater than CAESAR : he's a friend to VIRTUE,

DEC. Consider, CATO, you're in UTICA,
And at the head of your own little senate :
You don't now thunder in the capitol,
"With all the mouths of ROME to second you.

CATO. Let him consider that, who drives us hither.
"Tis CESAR'S SWORD has made ROME'S SENATE little,
And thinn'd its ranks. Alas! thy dazzled eye
Beholds this man in a false glaring light ;
Which CONQUEST and SUCCESS have thrown upon him ;
Did'st thou but view him right, thoud'st see him black

With MURDER, TREASON, SACRILEGE, and CRIMES,

That strike my soul with HORROR but to NAME 'em.
I know thou look'st on me, as on a wretch
Beset with ills, and cover'd with misfortunes j
But, by the GODS I SWEAR, MILLIONS OF WORLDS
Should never buy ME to J be like that C.ESAR.

* In an angry tone.

f Assumes great dignity and earnestness, with a tone of command.
J This requires a protracted utterance ; thus, to — be — like — that — •
Csesar.

DRAMATIC SCENES. 219

DEC. Does CATO send this answer back to C.ESAR,
For all his gen'rous cares, and proffer'd friendship?

CATO. His cares for me are insolent and vain:
Presumptuous* man! the GODS take care of CATO.
Would C.ESAR show the greatness of his soul,
Bid him employ his care for these my friends,
And make good use of his ill-gotten pow'r,
By sheltering men much better than himself.

DEC. Your high unconquered heart makes you forget
You are a MAN. You rush on your destruction.
But I have done. When I relate hereafter
The tale of this unhappy embassy
All ROME will be in tears.

[Exit DECirs with JUNIUS.]

SEM. CATO, we thank thee ;

The mighty genius of immortal ROME
Speaks in thy voice; thy soul breathes LIBERTY.
CAESAR will shrink to hear the words thou utter'st,
And shudder in the midst of all his conquests.

Luc. The senate owns its gratitude to CATO,
Who with so great a soul consults its safety,
And guards our lives, while he neglects his own.

SEM. Sempronius gives no thanks on this account.
Luciusf seems fond of life ; but what is life ?
'Tis not to stalk about, and draw fresh air
From time to time, or gaze upon the sun ;
'Tis to be FREE. When LIBERTY is gone,
Life grows insipid, and has lost its relish.
Oh, could my dying hand but lodge a sword
In CESAR'S bosom, and revenge my COUNTRY !
By heav'ns! I could enjoy the pangs of death,
And smile in agony.

Ltrc. Others, perhaps,

May serve their country with as warm a zeal,
Though 'tis not kindled into so much rage.

SEM. This sober conduct is a mighty virtue
In lukewarm patriots.

CATO. Come, no more, Sempronius ;

All here are friends to ROME, and to each other.

Most disdainful manner. f With a contemptuous sneer

L 2

22O DRAMATIC SCENES.

Let us not weaken still the weaker side
By our divisons.

SEM. CATO, my resentments

Are sacrific'd to ROME — I stand reprov'd.

CATO. FATHERS, 'tis time you come to a resolve.

Luc. CATO, we all go into your opinion,
CAESAR'S behaviour has convinc'd the senate
We ought to hold it out till terms arrive.

SEM. We ought to hold it out TILL DEATH : but, CATO,
My private voice is drown'd amidst the senate's.

CATO. Then let us rise, my friends, and strive to fill
This little interval, this pause of life
(While yet our liberty and fates are doubtful)
With resolution, friendship, ROMAN bravery,
And all the virtues we can crowd into it :
That Heavn may say it ought to be prolong'd.
FATHERS, FAREWELL.

ADDISON.

221

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED
PIECES.

SPEECH OF LORD CHATHAM AGAINST EMPLOYING
THE INDIANS IN THE AMERICAN WAR.*

I cannot, my Lords, I will not, join in congratulation
on misfortune and disgrace. This, my Lords, is a perilous
and tremendous moment. It is not a time for adulation :
the smoothness of flattery cannot save us in this rugged
and awful crisis. It is now necessary to instruct the
throne in the language of TRUTH. We must, if possible,
dispel the delusion and darkness which envelope it ; and
display, in its full danger and genuine colours, the RUIN
which is brought to our doors. Can ministers still
presume to expect support in their infatuation ? Can par-
liament be so dead to its dignity and duty, as to give
their support to measures thus obtruded and forced upon
them : Measures, my Lords, which have reduced this
late flourishing empire to SCORN and CONTEMPT ! -'But
yesterday, and Britain might have stood against the
world : now, none so poor as to do her reverence." The
people whom we atjirst despised as REBELS, but whom
we now acknowledge as ENEMIES, are abetted against us,
supplied with every military store; have their interest
consulted, and their ambassadors entertained by our
INVETERATE ENEMY — and ministers do not, and dare
not, interpose with DIGNITY or EFFECT. The desperate
state of our array abroad is in part known. No man

* This most eloquent and powerful speech particularly demands a
vehemence of expression, with a dignity and solemnity of manner.

222 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

more highly esteems and honours the British troops than
/ do : I know their virtues and their valour ,- I know they
can achieve any thing but impossibilities; and I know
that the conquest of British America is an IMPOSSIBILITY.
You cannot, my Lords, you cannot CONQUER America.
What is your present situation there ? We do not know
the worst : but we know that in three campaigns we
have done NOTHING, and suffered MUCH. You may swell
every expense, accumulate every assistance, and. extend your
traffic to the shambles of every German despot : your
attempts will be for ever vain and impotent — doubly so,
indeed, from this mercenary aid on which you rely j for
it irritates, to an incurable resentment, the minds of
your adversaries, to over-run them with the mercenary
sons of rapine and plunder, devoting them and their pos-
sessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty. If I were an
American — as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop
was landed in my country, I never: would lay down my

arms ; NEVER ! — NEVER ! — NEVER !

But, my Lords, who is the man, that, in addition to
the disgraces and mischiefs of the war, has dared to autho-
rize and associate to our arms the tomahawk and scalping-
knife of the savage ? to call into civilized alliance, the wild
and inhuman inhabitant of the woods? to delegate to
the merciless Indian, the defence of disputed rights, and
to wage the horrors of his barbarous war against our
BRETHREN ? My Lords, these enormities cry aloud for
redress and punishment. But, my Lords, this barbarous
measure has been defended, not only on the principles of
policy and necessity, but also on those of morality ; " for
it is perfectly allowable," says Lord Suffolk, " to use all
the means which God and nature have put into our
hands." I am astonished, I am shocked, to hear such
principles confessed ; to hear them avowed in this House,
or in this country. My Lords, I did not intend to
encroach so much on your attention j but I cannot

repress my indignation 1 feel myself- impelled to

speak. My Lords, we are called upon as members of
this house, as MEN, as CHRISTIANS, to protest against
such horrible barbarity ! — " That God and nature

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. 223

have put into our hands !" What ideas of God and
nature that noble Lord may entertain, I know not ; but I
know, that such detestable principles are equally abhor-
rent to religion and humanity. What ! to attribute the
sacred sanction of God and nature, to the massacres of
the Indian scalping -knife ! to the cannibal savage, tor-
turing, murdering, devouring, drinking the blood of his
mangled victims ! Such notions shock every precept of
morality, every feeling of humanity, every sentiment of
honor. These abominable principles, and this more
abominable avowal of them, demand the most decisive
indignation.

I call upon that Right Reverend, and this most
Learned Bench, to vindicate the religion of their GOD,
to support the justice of their COUNTRY. I call upon
the Bishops, to interpose the unsullied sanctity of their
lawn ; — upon the Judges to interpose the purity of their
ermine, to save us from this pollution. I call upon the
honor of your Lordships to reverence the dignity of
your ancestors, and to maintain your own. I call upon
the spirit and humanity of my country, to vindicate
the national character. I invoke the genius of the

constitution. To send forth the merciless cannibal,

thirsting for blood! against whom? — our BRETHREN ! —
to lay waste their country, to desolate their dwellings, and
extirpate their race and name, by the aid and instru-
mentality of these HORRIBLE HOUNDS OF WAR!

Spain can no longer boast pre-eminence in barbarity.
She armed herself with blood-hounds, to extirpate the
wretched natives of Mexico ! We, more ruthless, loose
these dogs of war against our countrymen in America,
endeared to us by every tie that can sanctify humanity.
I solemnly call upon your Lordships, and upon every order
of men in the state, to stamp upon this infamous pro-
cedure, the indelible stigma of public abhorrence. More
particularly, I call upon the holy prelates of our religion
to do away this iniquity; let them perform a lustration, to
purify the country from this deep and deadly sin. My
Lords, I am old and weak, and at present unable to say
more ; but my feelings and indignation were too strong,
to have said less. I could not have slept this night in my

924 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

bed, nor even reposed my head upon my pillow, without
giving vent to my eternal abhorrence of such ENORMOUS
and PREPOSTEROUS principles.

TELL IN PRISON.

Think ye, vile chains ! to curb the soul

Dungeons can never daunt the PATRIOT'S spirit !

I'd sooner be within these four damp walls,

With three-fold fetters on me, with the worm,

That leaves its slimy trace of wretchedness,

For my companion, than the pampered wretch

Who, in his gorgeous tyranny above,

Tramples upon a people's RIGHTS, and earns

A people's CURSES for his nightly blessing !

fMy BODY is thy prisoner, Gesler ! Chains

May gall my FLESH — may manacle my LIMBS,

And for a time may make me blush to mark

The stains they've left upon them ; but my MIND-

Can ne'er be soil'd.by things like THESE !

The coward crouches if the treacherous pard

Doth look on him. My spirit will not crouch

Nor quail before the spotted beast. I feel

There's that within me which doth hold me up,

And prompt me with a mighty unseen power

To deeds of unseen glory. — I am FREE —

Free in this prison-house ! I range at will

The mighty bulwarks of our mountain worlds. —

Over beloved Switzerland I go

With my mind's energy !

Think J ye the spirit requires corporeal form

To converse with the spirit ? Are there not hours,

Hours of pale solitude, when the outer world

* Strong expression of disdain with the most undaunted, courageous
manner.

f The manner continues most undaunted, with the highest degree
of enthusiasm.

% Relaxing into a solemn, contemplating, reflecting manner, requiring
a slow utterance.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. 225

Is to the inner world a thing as vague

As the obscure and twilight line that bounds

The dim horizon ? for the mind can make,

By its own magic powers, worlds fairer far

Than this one ! [He pauses.]

Yea* it must, it must be so !

A beauteous land is passing now before me,

And there are glorious Alps, whereon the sun,

Oft, in his journey, pauses to look back

Upon the paradise he leaves behind him !

And there are valleys, basking in his beams,

Starred with white cottages, and orange-bowers,

And vine-groves, where the light guitar is swept,

To charm the golden fruitage. — I behold

Lakes blue as morning, where, at eve, the star

Delights to lave its far descending rays,

And ancient forests, giant-like, advancing

With towering strides, up to the high hill tops.

And ever and anon I hear the sounds,

The mighty sounds of avalanches rolling,

The crash of forests and the roar of waters ;

But in the vales the maiden's free voice rings,

And on the hills the bold-eyed mountaineer

Looks proudly up to heaven, and children sport

Like swallows on the lea, and ancient sires

Within the trellised porch -serenely sit,

And grandams read their missals in the sun,

Which AusxRiANf banners dare not now obscure.

I cannot be mistaken : 'tis my COUNTRY !

O Switzerland ! and shall it be a dream —

A wild, imaginative dream ? No,\ no !

Thou shalt be FREE, thy fetters rive in twain ;

The voice of Prophecy is on me now !

Back roll the volumy clouds, the mighty mists

That veil the future, roll, at my bidding, back !

Come forth ! It comes ! the sun of Freedom comes

With its refulgent canopy of clouds,

* Animation somewhat increases ; the speaker should look forward
during the delivery of this Vision, with a fixed countenance, as if he
actually saw what he is describing.

f Disdain. J Increased energy.

L 5

226 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

And in its radiance Switzerland's banners sparkle ;

Helvetic swords its beams are multiplying ;

Ten thousand stars upon their spear-points tremble :

Ten thousand voices roll their living thunders,

And all cry " LIBERTY !" It is no dream !

They shout again, and my own name they shout ;

A Tell, a Tell ! they cry. I come, I come !

Thou shalt be FREE ; thy fetters rend asunder,

Thus, as I rend my own.

WALLACE.

Cursed* be the fatal day when Edward came,
In crested pride, to urge a lawless claim ;
Cursed be the day. Letf weeping History tell
How fought the brave, and how the noble fell ;
When, slowly swelling, roll'd the battle-tide
On Falkirk's field of death, and Carron's side. —
The beam of morn, that rose on eastern height,
Danced on the plume of many a gallant knight ;
The J ray that lingered on the ocean- wave.,
Kiss'd the red turf of many a soldier's grave :
Dark as the torrent's desolating flow,
And drear as winter was that time of woe,
Yet droop'd not Hope; she§ turn'd her azure eyes
Where, heaven-ward, Caledonia's mountains rise,
And deep embosom'd in the glow of night,
A star was seen to shed a lonely light ;
It burn'd afar, with lustre pale and sweet,
To mark the spot of Freedom's last retreat.
There, || on a rock, unmov'd and undismay'd,
The sable plumage waving o'er his head,
Stern Wallace stood. With high uplifted hand

* Firm and strong tone of voice, with a feeling of anger.

•)• Relaxes into a calmer manner, with much solemnity and earnestness.

J Plaintive utterance, with a low tone.

§ The tone arid manner become more animated and cheerful, with a
calm and serene expression of countenance.

|| Firm and impressive manner, in order to reflect the courageous
deportment of Wallace.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. llf

He shook the gleamy terrors of his brand,

Glanc'd proudly on th* embattled host below,

And raock'd the menace of a conquering foe —

And long had mock'd,* — but Heaven untimely frown'd,

And pluck'd the fairest flow'r on Scottish ground.

It was no falchion rais'd in mortal strife,

That snatch'd thee, Wallace, from the light of life;

No arrow glided on the wings of death

To drink thy blood, and steal away thy breath ;

There were no honors of a glorious grave,

The patriot's boast, the birth-right of the brave ;

Far other fate thy generous zeal repaid,

Torn from thy country, by thy friend betray'd. —

Methinksf I see thee led in sullen state,

High in thy fall, and e'en in fetters great ;

And view thee, dragg'd in all the pomp of woe,

A sport of impotence, a public show.

Still* conscious virtue cheers thy latest hour,

Nor sinks thy spirit in the grasp of power.

Still, in the pangs of death, thy closing eyes

Speak the proud thoughts that in thy bosom rise 1

And the last sigh, that gave the soul release,

Breath'd to thy Scotland LIBERTY and PEACE.

O§ Wallace ! if my voice can pierce the gloom,
And rouse the silent slumbers of the tomb,
O'er thy cold dust the Muse shall pour her strain,
To tell thee, that thou didst not fall in vain —
Yes, honour' d Shade ! though brief was thy career,
And not a stone records thy lowly bier ;
E'en yet, thy native woods and wilds among,
Thy wreaths are verdant, and thy deeds are sung :
There, haply, as some minstrel tells thy tale
To many a mountain chief, and listening Gael,
Their kindling bosoms catch the patriot flame,
And learn the path to FREEDOM — and to FAME.

SMIRKE. — Cambridge Prize Poem.

* Here is a transition to solemnity of manner, requiring much pathos,
t Increased solemnity.

j The tone of voice becomes somewhat less plaintive, and the man-
ner rather more elated,

^ Most solemn and impressive manner, with a slow rate of utterance.

228 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

GENERAL WOLFE TO HIS ARMY, BEFORE QUEBEC.*

I congratulate you, my brave countrymen and fellow
soldiers, on the spirit and success with which you have
executed this important part of our enterprise. The
formidable heights of Abraham are now surmounted, and
the city of Quebec, the object of all our toils, now stands
in full view before you. Af perfidious enemy, who have
dared to exasperate you by their cruelties, but not to
oppose you on equal ground, are now constrained to face
you on the open plain, without ramparts or entrenchments
to shelter them.

You know too well the forces that compose their army
to dread their superior numbers. AJ few regular troops
from old France, weakened by hunger and sickness, who,
when fresh, were unable to withstand BRITISH soldiers,
are their general's chief dependence. Those numerous
companies of Canadians, INSOLENT, MUTINOUS, UNSTEADY,
and ILL-DISCIPLINED, have exercised his utmost skill to
keep together to this time ; and as soon as their irregular
ardour is damped by one firm fire, they will instantly
turn their backs, and give you no farther trouble but in
the PURSUIT.

As for those savage tribes of Indians, whose horrid yells
in the forests have struck many a bold heart with affright ;
terrible as they are, with the tomahawk and scalping
knife, to a flying and prostrate foe ; you have experienced
how little their ferocity is to be dreaded by resolute men,
upon fair and open ground : you can now only consider
them as the just objects of a severe revenge, for the un-
happy fate of many slaughtered countrymen.

This day puts it into YOUR power to terminate the
fatigues of a siege, which has so long employed your
courage and patience. Possessed with a full confidence

* Firmness of manner, with a considerable degree of ardour, forma
the principal characteristic of this address,
f This requires a tone of indignation.
j Contemptuous, disdainful manner.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. ^29

of the certain success which BRITISH valour must sain
over such enemies, I have led you up these steep and
dangerous rocks, only solicitous to shew you the foe
within your reach. The impossibility of a retreat makes
no difference in the situation of men resolved to CONQUER
or DIE : and believe me, my friends, if the conquest could
be bought with the blood of your general, he would must
cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his
country. AIKIN.

THE BRITISH WARRIOR QUEEN'S ADDRESS TO
THE ROMANS.

Yes,* Roman ! proudly shake thy crested brow.
'Tis thine to conquer, thine to triumph NOW ;
For thee, lo ! t'ictory lifts her gory hand.
And calls the fiends of terror on the land,
And flaps, as tiptoe on thy helm she springs,
Dripping with British blood her eagle wings.

Yet,f think not, think not long to thee 'tis given
To laugh at Justice and to mock at Heav'n ;
Soon shall TH\ hand with blood-stained laurels crown'd
Stoop at the feet of VENGEANCE to the ground.
1+ see amid the gloom of future days
Thy turrets totter and thy temples blaze;
I see upon thy shrinking Latium hurl'd,
The countless millions of the northern world ;
I see, like vultures gathering to their prey,
The shades of states that fell beneath thy sway :
They leave their fallen palaces and fanes,
Their grass-grown streets, and ruin-scatter'd plains,
Where lonely long they viewless lov'd to dwell,
And mourn the scenes that once they loved so well :

* Solemn and dignified manner, with a strong expression of indig-
nation.

f Increased degree of solemnity, with a low full tone of voice.

j During this vision the tone rises gradually, the eye of the speaker
being fixed intently on space, the hand at the same time following the
eye.

230 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

Triumphant,* lo ! on all the winds they come,
And clap th' exulting hand o'er FALLEN ROME ;
And hovering o'er thy domes that blazing glow,
Their waving pinions fan the flames below ;
They view, rejoiced, the conflagration's gleams
Shoot their long glare o'er Tiber's redden'd streams ;
And snuff the carnage-tainted smokes that rise,
An incense sweet, a grateful sacrifice.

Sad f Tiber's banks with broken columns spread !
Fall'n every fane that rear'd to heav'n its head !
Poor heap of ashes ! Grandeur's mouldering tomb !
ArtJ THOU the place was once ETERNAL ROME ?

Yes,§ Roman ; snatch thy triumph whilst thou may,
Weak is thy rage, and brief thy little day ;
Vanish'd and past the momentary storm,
Albion, || my Albion, brighter shows her form.
Far o'er the rolling years of gloom I spy
Her oak-crown'd forehead lifted to the sky,
Above the low-hung mists unclouded seen,
Amid the wreck of nations still serene ;
She bursts the chain when hands like thine would bind
The groaning world, and lord it o'er mankind.
Amid yon glitt'ring flood of liquid light,
Flow regal forms before my dazzled sight ;
Like stars along the milky zone that blaze,
Their sceptr'd-hands and gold-bound fronts they raise :
My sons ! — my daughters ! — faint, ^[ alas ! and dim,
Before these failing eyes your glories swim,
Mix'd with the mists of death. 'Tis yours to throw
Your radiance round, while happier ages flow ;

* The manner becomes animated with the highest degree of enthu-
siasm and a tone of exultation. " Clap th' exulting hand," requires a
suitable action.

f The tone here changes to that of apparent sympathy but real disdain*
gradually increasing in violence.

J This line requires a particularly slow utterance with the strongest
expression of contempt,

§ Here is a transition from disdain to a haughty daring, rising into
|| enthusiasm.

^ Plaintive tone.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. 231

I* smile at storms of earthly woe, and rise
Shades of my sires I to your serener skies.

WHEWELL'S BOADICEA. — Cammdge Prize Poem.

ALEXANDER'S ADDRESS TO HIS SOLDIERS.t

SOLDIERS ! I am not ignorant that many things have
been published by the Indians, purposely to affright us.
But such artifices are by no means unusual to you. The
Persians described the straits of Cilicia, the vast plains of
Mesopotamia, the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, as the
most insurmountable difficulties. Yet your bravery con-
quered THEM . Do you repent that you have followed me
thus far ? Your glorious deeds have subdued for you a
multitude of provinces. You have extended your con-
quests beyond the laxarthes and Mount Caucasus ; you
see the rivers of India flow through the midst of your
empire. Why are you afraid of crossing the Hyphasus,
and of erecting your trophies on its banks as on those of
the Hydaspes ? What ! can the elephants, whose num-
ber is so falsely augmented, terrify you to such a degree ?
Has not experience taught you that they were more
destructive to their own masters than to the enemy ?
Endeavours are used to intimidate you by the dreadful
idea of innumerable armies ; are they more numerous
than those of Darius ? It is sure very late for you to
count the legions of the enemy, after your victories have
made Asia a desert. It was when you crossed the
Hellespont that you ought to have reflected on the small-
ness of your number. Now the SCYTHIANS form part of
our army ; the BACTRIANS, the SOGDIANS, and the DAH^E
are with us, and fight for OUR glory. I do not depend
on those barbarians : it is on YOUR courage that / rely.
Your victorious arms are present to my imagination, and
your courage assures me SUCCESS. So long as I shall be
surrounded with YOU in fight, so long as YOU exhibit the

* Emltation increasing to transport ; the last line to be uttered with
elevated eyes and extended hands.

f This speech should be delivered in a firm, manly tone of voice.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

same confidence and bravery you have hitherto displayed,
there will be no occasion for me to compare the number
of my troops with that of the enemy.

Consider, soldiers, not only your glory but even your
SAFETY is at stake. Should we now retreat, it will be
supposed that we fly before our enemies, and from that
moment we shall appear as mean as the enemy will be
judged formidable. It is in my power to make use of
authority, and yet I employ entreaties only. Do* not
abandon, I conjure you, I do not say your King and
Master, but your Pupil and Companion in battles. Do
not break in my hand that glorious palm which will soon,
unless envy rob me of so great a glory, equal me to
Hercules and Bacchus. What !f do I then speak to the
DEAF ? Will no one listen to me, nor deigu to answer ?
Alas ! + I am abandoned, I am betrayed, I am delivered
up to the enemy. But§ I will advance still farther,
though I go alone. The Scythians and Bactrians, more
faithful than YOU, will follow wherever I lead them.
Return, || then, to your country, and boast, ye DESERTERS
of your king, that you have abandoned him. As^f for
myself, I will either meet DEATH or VICTORY.

HAMILCAR'S SOLILOQUY.**.

Iff hate their feastings ; 'twould have been my death
To stay in that close room ! This air is cool.
I felt my spirit choked. Gods ; was I born
To bear those drunkards' tauntings on my hue,
My garb — Numidia's GARB ! My native tongue

Here is a transition to a tone and manner of entreaty.
Here is another transition to a strong feeling of indignation.
Apparent apprehension. § Most courageous manner.

|| Most contemptuous disdainful manner.
f The highest degree of enthusiasm.

** Hamilcar, a Moorish prince, is supposed to have just quitted,
through disgust, a Roman banquet. Revenge is the prominent feeling
throughout this piece.

ft The utterance is slow and emphatic, and the deportment must
haughty, the eyes flashing with indignation.

ORATIONS AXD IMPASSIONED PIECES. 233

Not tuneable to their Patrician ears ?
Will* the blow NEVER fall ?

There's not a slave,t

Not the most beggar 'd, broken, creeping wretch
That lives on alms and pillows on the ground,^
But had done SOMETHING before now ; and I —
A soldier and a king. The blood of kings,
Afric's last hope. — let months and years pass by,
And still live on a butt for ribald jests —
And more, to let Numidia's injuries sleep,
Like a chid infant's !
This§ is a mortal hour; the rising wind
Sounds angry, and those swift and dizzy clouds,
Made ghostly by the glances of the moon,
Seem horse and chariots for the evil shapes
That scatter ruin here.||

Come from your tombs,

Warriors of Afric! — from the desert's sands —
From the red field — the ever surging sea,.
Though ye were buried deeper than the plumb
Of seamen ever sounded.
Hamilcar,^ Hannibal, Jugurtha — Come,
My royal father '. from the midnight den
Where their curst Roman axes murdered ibee '.
Ye shall have VENGEANCE ! Stoop upon my breast,
Clear it of man, and put therein a heart,
Like a destroying spirit's : make me fire,
The winged passion that can know no sleep,
Till VENGEANCE has been done; wrap up my soul
In darkness stronger than an iron mail,
Till it is subtle, deadly, deep as night,

* The fist is here clenched with the most vindictive expression of
countenance.

t The tone of voice should be here low, with a slou* and emphatic
utterance.

f A most powerful feeling of self-condemnation.

$ Here is a transition to a somewhat more sedate and comjwsed man-
ner, whilst the same revengeful feelings are still preserved.

|| This requires an elevated and loud tone of voice.

^ Most nofent and emphatic manner, with the most unsubdued feel-
ing at " vengeance ;" the fist should be clenched and the teeth set.

234 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

Close as coil'd aspics, still as tigers crouch'd,

But furious as them roused. Let me fill ROME

With civil tumult, hate, conspiracy,

All dissolution of all holy ties,

Till she has outraged Heaven, while / unseen,

Move like a spectre round a murderer's bed,

To start upon her DYING AGONY.

CROLY.

THE DOWNFALL OF POLAND.

Oh !* sacred Truth ! thy triumphs ceas'd awhile,
And Hope, thy sister, ceas'd with thee to smile,
When leagued Oppression pour'd to northern wars
Her whisker'd pandoors and her fierce hussars,
Wav'd her dread standard to the breeze of morn,
Peal'd her loud drum, and twang' d her trumpet horn ;
Tumultuous horror brooded o'er the van,
Presaging wrath to POLAND and to MAN !

Warsaw's last champion from her height surveyed,
Wide o'er the fields a waste of ruin laid :
" Oh t heaven !" he cried, " my bleeding country save,
Is there no hand on high to shield the brave ?
Yet though destruction sweep those lovely plains,
Rise, I fellow men! our country yet remains !
By that dread name we wave the sword on high,
And swear for her to LIVE ! with her to DIE !"

He § said, and on the rampart heights array'd
His trusty warriors,/<?«; but undismay'd;
Firm paced and slow, a horrid front they form,
Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm ;
Low murmuring sounds along their banners fly,
REVENGE || or DEATH ! the watchword and reply ;
Then peal'd the notes omnipotent to charm,
And the loud tocsin tolled their last alarm !
In ^[ vain, alas ! in vain, ye gallant few !
From rank to rank, your volley'd thunders flew.

* Solemn manner. f slrdent, enthusiastic manner, rising

into J Vehemence. § Narrative, with much solemnity.

|| Strong emphasis, with a low tone, ^f Plaintive tone and manner.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. 235

Oh! bloodiest picture in the book of time !
Sarmatia fell unwept, without a crime ;
Found not a generous friend, a pitying foe,
Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe !
Dropp'd from her nerveless grasp the shatter'd spear,
Closed her bright eye, and curb'd her high career;
Hope for a season bade the world farewell !
And FREEDOM shriek'd, as KOSCIUSKO FELL!

The* sun went down, nor ceas'd the carnage there,

Tumultuous murder shook the midnight air —

On Prague's proud arch the fires of ruin glow,

His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below,

The storm prevails, the rampart yields a way,

Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay !

Hark! as the mouldering piles with thunder fall,

A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call !

Earth shook — red meteors flashed along the sky,

And conscious nature shuddered at the cry !

Departedf spirits of the mighty dead !

Ye that at Marathon and Leuctra bled !

Friends of the world ! restore your swords to man,

Fight in his sacred cause, and lead the van !

Yet for Sarmatia's tears of blood atone,

And make her arm puissant as your own !

Oh, once again to freedom's cause return

The patriot TELL — the BRUCE of BANNOCKBCRN.

CAMPBELL.

BRUTUS, OVER THE DEAD BODY OF LUCRETIA.
Thus, thus, my friends! fast as our breaking hearts
Permitted utterance, we have told our story :
And now, to say one word of the imposture —
TheJ mask necessity has made me wear.
When the ferocious malice of your king —
King, do I call him : — when the MONSTER,§ Tarquin,
Slew, as most of you may well remember,
My father Marcus, and my elder brother,

* Most solemn manner, gradually approaching to a feeling of horror.
f Here is a transition to a calmer feeling, requiring much solemnity,
with a plaintive utterance.
J Strong feeling of indignation. § Hatred.

236 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

Envying at once their virtues and their wealth,
How could / hope a shelter from his power,
But in the false face I have worn so long ?

Would you know why I summon'd you together ?
Ask ye what brings me here ? Behold* this dagger,
Clotted with gore ! Behold that frozen corse !
See where the lost Lucretia sleeps in death!
She was the mark and model of the time,
The mould in which each female face was form'd,
The very shrine and sacristy of virtue !
The worthiest of the worthy : Not the nymph
Who met old Numa in his hallow'd walks,
And whisper'd in his ear her strains divine,
Can I conceive beyond her! — the young choir
Of vestal virgins bent to her ! — Such a mind
Might have abash'd the boldest libertine,
And turn'd desire to reverential love
And holiest affection ! Oh, my countrymen !
You all can witness, when that she went forth
It was a holiday in Rome ; old age
Forgot its crutch; labour, its task; all ran;
And mothers, turning to their daughters, cried,
" There.f there's Lucretia !" Now,:}: look where she lies,
That beauteous flower, that innocent, sweet rose,
Torn up by ruthless violence — gone ! gone !

Say,§ would you seek instructions ? would you seek
What ye should do? — Ask[| ye yon conscious walls
Which saw his poison'd brother, saw the incest
Committed there, and they will cry, REVENGE !
Ask yon deserted street, where Tullia drove
O'er her dead father's corse, 'twill cry REVENGE !
Ask yonder Senate-house, whose stones are purple
With human blood, and it will cry, REVENGE !
Go to the tomb where lies his murder'd wife,
And the poor queen, who lov'd him as her son,

* Most solemn manner, requiring a low tone, with a feeling of »rief
mixed with revenge.

f This requires an elevated tone of voice.

\ Plaintive utterance, with an expression of horror.

§ Solemn interrogatory, requiring a low tone.

|| Rises into vehemence, with a strong feeling of revenge.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. 237

Their unappeased ghosts will shriek, REVENGE !
The temples of the gods, the all- viewing heaven, —
The gods themsehes — shall justify the cry,
And swell the general sound — REVENGE! REVENGE!

PAYNE,

DUNCAN'S WARNING.

As* o'er the heath, amid his steel-clad thanes,

The royal Duncan rode in martial pride,
Where, full to view, high-.topp'd with glittering vanes,

Macbeth" s strong towers o'erhung the mountain's side ;

Inf dusky mantle wrapp'd, a grisly form
Rush'd with a giant's stride across his way;

And thus, while howl'd around the rising storm,
In hollow thundering accents pour'd dismay.

" Stop,$ O King ! thy destined course,
Furl thy standard, turn thy horse;
Death besets this onward track,
Come no further, — quickly back.

" Hear'st thou not the raven's croak ?
Seest thou not the blasted oak •
Feel'st thou not the loaded sky?
Read thy danger, King, and FLY.

" Lo ! yon castle's banners glare
Bloody through the troubled air :
Lo ! what spectres on the roof,
Frowning, bid thee stand aloof.

" Murder, like an eagle, waits,
Perch'd above the gloomy gates,
Just in act to pounce his prey ;
Come not near AWAY ! AWAY !

" Let not plighted faith beguile ;
Honor's semblance, Beauty's smile ;
Fierce ambition's venom'd dart
Rankles in the fest'ring heart.

* Descriptive, requiring little more than level speaking,
t The manner becomes more serious, with a feeling of alarm,
f. This warning requires a peculiarly solemn and earnest tone a»d
manner.

23S ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

" Treason arm'd against thy life,
Points his dagger, whets his knife,
Drugs his stupifying bowl,
Steels his unrelenting soul.

" Now 'tis time : ere guilty night
Closes, round thee, speed thy flight ;
If the threshold once he crost,
Duncan! thou'rt for ever lost .

" On* he goes ! — resistless Fate
Hastes to fill his mortal date :
Cease, ye warnings, vain, though true,
Murder'd king, ADIEU ! — ADIEU!"

DR. AIKIN.

THE SHIPWRECK.

As the eldest son of Henry I. was returning from Normandy, accompanied by
the sons of the principal English nobility, together with Maude, his natural
sister, the vessel, through the negligence of the captain, was wrecked, and the
whole company, with one single exception, were lost.

'Twasf night ; and its lovely empress shone

From her azure canopy,
And many a bright and holy star,
Glittering in its silvery car,

Spangled the cloudless sky.
And o'er the bosom of the deep

A vessel rode alone,
And proudly sail'd the pennon'd ship,

For she bore a monarch's son :
She bore great Albion's hope and pride,

The kingly Henry's heir,
(And ne'er could England wish a prince

More virtuous or more fair) ;
And with him were a gallant train —

The lovely, young, and brave;
And the sound of music and revelry

Came lightly o'er the wave.

* Solemn description, with a feeling approaching to horror.
t Solemn manner, with an easy, graceful delivery.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. 239

Alas !* alas ! who could foresee,
la this gay and joyous hour,
That the angel of death was hurrying past
On the fearful wings of the tempest's blast,

With an all-destroying power !
Yet thus it was : for the doom-winds rose,

And the boiling surges dash'd ;
The thunder walk'd in majesty
Along the dark and scowling sky,

And the li.vid lightnings flash'd !
The jocund laugh, and sprightly song,
Were quickly changed to wailing,
For wilder grew the deaf ning roar

Of " waters loud prevailing."
A lesser boat was lowered now
Across the troubled wave,
And, "Haste,t my prince!" the captain cries,
" Heed not the raging of the skies,

Oh ! haste thy life to save !"
The royal youth obeyed the call,
And fain the boat would gain,
But his lov'd sister's piercing shriek

Compell'd him to remain.
" My+ brother ! oh, my brother, stay :

Leave me not here to die ! "
Ah !§ could he turn a senseless ear

To the despairing cry?
No ! though the angry billows rush'd

With a stern resistless power,
He could not one so dear forsake,

In that o'erwhelming hour.
Tillj | now the boat had bravely sped

Through the tempest's mingled roar,
And the joyous mariners descried
The white spray of the foaming tide,
Lashing the friendly shore ;

* Increased solemnity, with much pathos.

t This address to the prince requires an eager and rapid utterance.

I Earnest entreaty, with a plaintive tone and rapid utterance.

§ Mournful and solemn tone.

|| Here is a transition to the narrative.

240 ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES.

But* ah ! no earthly ship could last,

In a storm so fierce as this ;
And now she is toss'd a mountain's height,

Now sunk in the dark abyss.
At length was heard the dreadful sound

Of life's departing cry :
Anotherf shriek — a horrid one —
A loud, appalling, lengthen' d groan

Proclaim'd DEATH'S VICTORY !

OhJ Heavens ! it was a fearful sight

That broke on the view with the morning light,

For all around the shore was spread

With the clay-cold bodies of the dead:

And where was the prince ? — Alas ! he lay

In the depths of the ocean cave ;
No dirge was sung — no death-knell rung,

Above his lowly grave ;

Yet the blue sea's daughters around him wept,
And murmur' d a requiem as he slept;

While many a nymph, from her coral bed,
A pearly mantle o'er him spread,
And placed on his brow a diadem
Of jewel rare and costly gem,
Such as a prince (however great)
Might proudly wear in regal state.

One, only one, escaped the storm,

And he was left to bring
The maddening tale — the tale of death,

Unto the childless king.
Alas ! it was a mournful thing,

Such sad intelligence to tell !
To say his child was lost, dead, drown' d,

Nor lay his bones in hallow'd ground !
To tell him that his age's prop,

His kingdom's heir had pass'd away,

* Increased solemnity, approaching to f/iorror.
J Most solemn description, requiring a mournful tone, occasionally
varying in intensity.

ORATIONS AND IMPASSIONED PIECES. C241

E'en as the rose droops, when the voice

Of autumn dooms it to decay.
Say what on earth could parallel

A woe so withering ?
The royal mourner heard the tale

In silent agony ;

He could not speak, he could not weep, —
His grief was far too wild and deep,

Too great his misery j
One only sigh escaped his breast —
Oh, SUCH a sigh ! as it would fain
The vital fibres rend in twain,
Aud free him from life's galling chain,
And give his spirit rest !

The monarch sat, with his crown and robes.

In a splendid chair of state ;
And laurel'd knight, and jewel'd dame,

His kingly notice wait :
But ah ! with a cold and careless eye
He gazed on the gorgeous pageantry :
For what could homage or splendour bring
The heart which grief was withering !
His spirit had sunk in that ruthless wave
Where his bosom's joy had found a grave.

In vain the minstrel swept his harp.

To wake its thrilling strain ;
For nothing now could delight inspire
In the aching breast of the mourning sire,
" He never smiled again ."•

242

COMIC PIECES.

THE MISER'S WILL.*

OLD SCRAPE-ALL who had long been ailing,
Was at a trembling debtor railing;
Threat'ning, if he a mite should fail,
To whelm him in a neighbouring jail ;
When Truth, his neighbour, pass'd that way,
The Debtor saw and slipp'd away.
Scrape-all then, thus, with sigh profound,
And wheezing cough, a church-yard sound !
Address'd, with lifted hand, his friend : —
" I think my grief will never end !
The hog that wallows in his sty,
Has thrice more happiness than I !
My care is now, whilst others sleep,
Not how to gain, but how to KEEP."

Said Truth — " As usual, still I see,
Brimful of grief and misery ! —
Riches — the things which others bless,
To you bring nought but wretchedness !
But tho' your purse is deep and strong,
Good sir, you cannot hold it long;
Your years on years have so increas'd,
You must be fourscore now at least."

" Speak louder, friend, rny ears do fail,
I'm grown as deaf as a door nail."
" I say your years have so increas'd,
Your must be FOURSCORE years at LEAST."

* The narrative part of this piece should be delivered in the natural
voice of the speaker, but with an earnestness of manner. The tone and
manner of Truth should be particularly grave and impressive, and
form a contrast with the tremulous, piping voice of Scrape-all.

COMIC PIECES. 2-13

" Hold, hold!" he cried, " you're FAR away !

I am but seventy-nine this day,

And think, whatever others fear,

I still may reach my hundredth year !"

Said Truth, "Now make me your confessor !
Pray who do you keep your riches for ?" —
" Who fur!" cried Scrape-all, "for MYSELF!
And when at length I die — FIVE SCORE,
Or thereabouts, — say ten years more,
My wealth, I do design, shall be
Placed in my COFFIN close by me."

"Nay," auswer'd Truth, '• when you are dead,
Authority you'll find is fled ;
Some-one, no doubt, will still contrive
To keep your slumbering gold alive. —
Make, make your will ; howe'er it grieve,
You must your ALL to some one leave !''

" "What ! make my will ! my all bestow
On some one else ? No ! neighour, no !
I'll be, whilst these my hands can hold,
The only keeper of my gold ;
From night to morn, from morn to night,
I'll keep it close, and hold it tight!"

" You rightly speak, you are no more

Than keeper to your golden store,

But when you die, as die you must,

To whom will you bequeath your trust ?" —

" To NO ONE !" Scrape-all stern replied ;
''The WHOLE, I'll in my coffin hide!
I who have scraped for fifty years,
With ceaseless toil and hourly fears,
Shall I give ALL away, at LAST ?
No ! neighbour, NO ! /'// hold it fast /"

" Strive how you will, your wealth to save,
You cannot hold it in the grave!
Although, old man, it rend your heart,
Your God and you at length must part !"

Said Scrape-all, sorrowful and slow,
' Well, then ! come thirty years or so,

M 2'

244 COMIC PIECES.

And I will think on this affair,
And if needs be appoint my heir."

Cried Truth, " No moment lose ! you now
Your head with age and palsy bow !
I guess when Jack your wealth has got,
He soon will spend it all ! a Sot !
And ere you've closed your eyes a year,
Behind a prison grate appear !"

" My spendthrift nephew, here, I swear !
Shall never be rich Scrape-all's heir T'
" Then make your Will! or 'twill be so !
He'll have it all, when you are low !"
" What ! make my will just in my prime,
Twould be to die before my time."

" Nay," Truth replied. «' be well content !

You will not die, nor Jack lament,

The sooner for this instrument.

And I would more in candour say —

Do good, friend Scrape-all, while you may!

Erect, and you will gain renown,

A school within your native town ;

Then build a hospital, that fame,

When you are dead, may bless your name, —

For you 'twill be a small bequest,

Your nephew then may spend the rest."

Cried Scrape-all, " NEVER, whilst I live,
Will I a mite to any give !
No, no ! good neighbour, to the last,
With bolt and bar I'll hold it fast !—
And as I cannot give, when dead,
The law shall give it in my stead !
But as for Jack, again I swear,

The rogue shall NEVER be my heir!"

One year is past ! — let thirst of gold

Its object and its end behold !

Whilst none their different lots bewail—

SCRAPE-ALL is DEAD ! and JACK'S in JAIL ! !

COMIC PIECES. 24.5

THE WALLET.*

From the French of La Fontaine.

Jove once assembling all his creatures,

Proclaim'd, whoe'er disliked his lot,
As far as outward form and features,

Might have them mended on the spot.

Among the rest he saw the Ape —

Thought HIM fit subject for beginning:

But Jacko faultless found his shape,
And saw the graces in his grinning.

Said Jack, " You might have pitch' d a worse on}
Sire, in the crowd that here's attending !

There's brother Bruin's half-licked person
May need, I think, some little mending."

The Bear not wishing to complain,

Said, " That pert jackanapes must doat,

How many beasts desire in rain
The comforts of this shaggy coat.

" Yon Elephant, our height o'ertopping,
In clumsy bulk, perhaps I'm stronger —

But sure his EARS require some cropping —
Should not his TAIL be somewhat longer?"

The Elephant these changes scouted, —

The same vain notions e'en prevail
In his wise head; he rather doubted

If not too large, was FAT DAME WHALE.

Contented was my lady Whale,

While Mistress Ant believed Miss Mite

Was made on much too small a scale,
She thought her own dimensions right.

* In this piece there is but little change of tone required. Liveliness
of manner, distinctness of utterance, a strict attention to the emphasis,
and a suspension of the voice before the supposed speech of the ani-
mals, claim the chief attention of the speaker.

COMIC PIECES.

Not one there was in all the crowd

Wish'd to be larger, smaller, straighter :
The ugliest monster there was proud

Of the fair gifts bestow' d by nature.
Above the rest conspicuous MAN

Appear' d, than other creatures vainer.
Great Jove contriv'd a simple plan,

To make this obvious truth the plainer.
At his command, men wallets bore :

For holding faults was made the sack ;
One end, as usual, hung before,

The other close behind his back.

Each to his own dear failings blind,

To find another's error labours ;
Packs up his own faults snug behind,

And trains the front pouch with his neighbour

THE HORSE AND THE WOLF.*

From the French of La Fontaine.

When nature, releas'd from the cold icy trammels
Which winter had form'd, all her lustre renews,

When the gold of the cowslip each meadow enamels,
And the amethyst blends with soft emerald hues.

At this sprightly season of love and of joy,

A home from his stable was sent by his master,

In freedom these holiday hours to employ,
And graze at his ease in a rich verdant pasture.

A wolf who was prowling in search of adventures,
The glossy, plump animal joyfully spies,

With caution the paddock's enclosure he enters,
In hopes of possessing so tempting a prize

* The narrative part of this piece should be spoken in an easy and
lively manner. The wolf is at first exulting, his tone then changes to
that of caution, and finally he becomes insinuating and'nr/ful, while
the horse is grave.

COMIC PIECES. 247

" Ah ! wert them, stout beast," cries the thief, " but a
MUTTON —

In a moment that carcass I'd seize as my own ;
As it is, some disguise I must artfully put on,

Before I can tear thy fat flesh from the bone."

So gravely saluting, he questioned the steed —

" Are you here, my fair sir, for your health or your

pleasure '?
From the symptoms, I fear you're a great invalid,

For, in health, men allow their poor nags but smalt
leisure.

" As a pupil of Galen, accept my assistance,

By feeling your pulse I shall feel what your state is ;

I have travell'd thus far from a very great distance,
To give the afflicted my best advice gratis.

"Very choice are the wise in selecting their food,

For plants that are noxious the functions disturb all ;

As Solomon knew well the bad from the good,

I can point out each root in old Culpepper's herbal."

The horse Isgrim's character knew by repute,
And plainly perceiv'd what the traitor design'd :

So he says, " Learned doctor, my pains are acute,
An abscess is form'd in my off-foot behind."

"A delicate part !" quoth the leech, " and indeed
In the choice of a surgeon, 'tis well to be wary;

Allow me to touch it, and then I'll proceed,
Like a perfect adept in the art veter'nary.

" But first of your pain let's examine the cause — ,"
The horse launch'd his heels, and no kick could be

kinder,
It crush'd to a mummy the hypocrite's ja\v«,

And dash'd from their sockets, each holder and
grinder.

" All this I deserve," said the wolf, full of sadness :
" In the trade of a butcher, I'd been quite at home, ah !

To change my profession was absolute madness —
Who dares kill a patient without a diploma!"

COMIC PIECES.

BLIND-MAN'S BUFF.*

Three Wags (whom some fastidious carpers
Might rather designate three sharpers)

Enter'd at York the Cat and Fiddle,
And finding that the host was out

On business for two hours or more,

While Sum the rustic waiter wore
The visage of a simple lout,

Whom they might safely try to diddle ;
They ordered dinner in a canter

Cold or hot, it matter'd not,
Provided it was served instanter ;
And as the heat had made them very

Dry and dusty in the throttles,

They bade the waiter bring three bottles
Of PRIME OLD PORT, and one of SHERRY.

Samf ran with ardour to the larder,

Then to the kitchen ;
And as he briskly went to work, he
Drew from the spit a smoking turkey,

With sausages embellish'd, which in
A trice upon the board was spread,

Together with a nicel cold brisket,

Nor did he even obliviscate

Half a pig's head :
To these succeeded puddings, pies,

Custards and jellies,
All doom'd to fall a sacrifice

To their insatiable bellies ;

* In this speech there are six different tones of voice required ; that
of the narrator — of the three wags— of Sam and his master. The tone
and manner of the narrator should be particularly lively and comic.
The three wags are affected and somewhat formal. Sam, being an
uneducated countryman, will naturally be supposed to use a braid,
rustic dialect : while the innkeeper is loud and a/i^n/.

f This line should commence in an elevated tone, and gradually fall.

J The rate of utterance should be here slow.

COMIC PIECES.

As if, like camels, they intended

To stuff into their monstrous craws
Enough to satisfy their maws,

Until their pilgrimage was ended.

Talking,* laughing, eating, and quaffing,
The bottles stood no moment still ;
They rallied Sam with joke and banter,
And as they drain'd the last decanter,
Call'd for the bill.

'Twas brought j when one of them, who eyed
And added up the items, cried,

" Extremely^ moderate, indeed !
I'll make a point to recommend
This inn to every travelling friend ;

And you, Sam, shall be doubly feed."
This said, a weighty purse he drew,

When his companion interposed ;
" Nay,;J; Harry, that will never do,

Pray let your purse again be closed ;
You paid all charges yesterday,
'Tis clearly now my turn to pay."

Harry, however, wouldn't listen

To any such insulting offer ;
His generous eye appeared to glisten

Indignant at the very proffer ;
And though his friend talk'd loud, his clangour
Served but to aggravate Hal's anger.
" My$ worthy fellows," cried the third,

" Now, really this is too absurd ;
What ! do both of you. forget
I have not paid a farthing yet?

* This requires a tone of jollity and mirth. The tone also may be
elevated at the commencement of the line, gradually sink towards the
middle, and again rise at the end.

f This may be given in & pompous manner.

J This requires a tone of expostulation.

§ The tone and manner of this speaker must vary from each of the
others. The first part of this address requires a tone of erpostulation ;
the latter of pm-iiii-cness.

250

COMIC PIECES.

Am I eternally to cram
At your expense r — 'tis childish, quite ;
I claim this payment as my RIGHT —
Here,* how much is the money, Sam ?"

To this most rational proposal

The others gave such fierce negation,
One might have fancied they were foes all,

So hot became the altercation ;
Each in his purse the money rattling,
Insisting, arguing, and battling,
One of them cried at last — " A truce ! —

This point we will no longer moot ;
Wrangling for trifles is no use,

And thus we'll finish the dispute. —
That we may settle what we three owe,

We'll blindfold Sam, and whichsoe'er

He catches of us firs t shall bear
The whole expenses of the trio ;
With half a crown (if that's enough)
To Sam, for playing Blindman's buff."

Sam liked it hugely, — thought the ransom
For a good game of fun was handsome ;

Gave his own handkerchief, beside,

To have his eyes securely tied ;
And soon began to gropef and search,

When the three knaves, I need not say,
Adroitly left him in the lurch,

Slipp'd down the stairs, and stole away.

Poor Sam continued hard at work ;

Now o'er a chair he gets a fall ;
Now flound'ring forward with a jerk,

He bobs his nose against the wall ;
And now encouraged by a subtle

Fancy, that they're near the door,

He jumps behind it to explore,
And breaks his shins against the scuttle ;

* Pompous, authoritative manner.

f Suit the action to the word throughout Sam's supposed perform-
ance, but carefully and cautiously.

COMIC PIECES. 251

Crying at each disaster — " Drat it !
Dang it ! — 'orf rabbit it ! — and rat it !"

Just in this crisis of his doom,

The host returning, sought the room ;

And Sam no sooner heard his tread,

Than pouncing on him like a bruin,
He almost shook him into ruin ;

And with a shout of laughter, said —

By* gom, Fre cotch'd thee nou- ! so down
With cash for all, and my half crown .'"

Off went the bandage, and his eyes

Seem'd to be goggling o'er his forehead,
While his mouth widen'd with a horrid

Look of agoniz'd surprise.

" GULL !" roared his master — " GUDGEON! DUNCE!
Fool as you are, you're right for once ;
'Tis clear that / must pay the sum ; —

But this one thought my wrath assuages,
That every halfpenny shall come

Out of your wages."

THE FARMER'S WIFE AND THE GASCON.f

At Neufchatel, in France, where they prepare

Cheeses that set us longing to be mites,
There dwelt a farmer's wife, famed for her rare

Skill in these small quadrangular delights.
Where they were made, they sold for the immense
Price of three sous a piece ;
But as salt water made their charms increase,
In England the fixed rate was eighteen pence.

This damsel had to help her in the farm,

To milk her cows and feed her hogs,
A Gascon peasant, with a sturdy arm

For digging or for carrying logs ;

* Sam's rustic dialect must not be forgotten.

f Throughout this piece there is a great deal of broad comic humour,
which will require a corresponding attention in the recital.

252 COMIC PIECES.

But in his noddle weak as any baby,

In fact, a GABY.*
And such a. glutton when you came to feed him,

That Wantley's dragon, which " ate barns and churches

As if they were geese and turhies,"
So says the ballad, scarcely could exceed him.

One morn she had prepared a monstrous bowl

Of cream like nectar,
And would'nt go to church (good careful soul !)

Till she had left it safe with a protector ;
So she gave strict injunctions to the Gascon,
To watch it while his mistress was to mass gone.

fWatch it he did, he never took his eyes off,

But licked his upper then his under lip,
And doubled up his fist to drive the flies off,
Begrudging them the smallest sip,

Which if they got,

Like my Lord Salisbury, he heaved a sigh,
And cried, " O happy, happy fly,

How I do envy you your lot !"

Each moment did his appetite grow stronger ;

His stomach yearn' d,
At length he could not bear it any longer,

But on all sides his looks he turn'd,
And finding that the coast was clear, he quaffed

The whole up at a draught.
Scudding from church, the farmer's wife

Flew to the dairy
But stood aghast, and could not, for her life,

One sentence mutter,

Until she summon'd breath enough to utter,
J" Oh ! St. Mary !"

And shortly with a face of scarlet,
The vixen (for she was a vixen) flew
Upon the varlet,

* A suspension of the voice is requisite after " fact," to render
" GABY " more emphatic.

f This line requires a slow but emphatic utterance.

j This ejaculation should be uttered with raised hands and eyes,
and a look of astonishment.

COMIC PIECES. "253

*Asking the when, and where, and how, and who,
Had gulped her cream, nor left an atom,

To which he gave not separate replies,
But, with a look of excellent digestion,
One answer made to every question —
f"The flies r

I" The flies, you rogue ! — theyftes, you guzzling hound!

Behold your whiskers still are cover'd thickly ;
You gormandizing rascal, I'll be bound

I'll make you tell another story quickly."
So out she bounced, and brought, with loud alarms,

Two stout Gens d'/lrmes,
Who bore him to the Judge — a little prig,
"With angry bottle nose,
Like a red cabbage rose,
While lots of white ones flourish'd on his wig.

Looking at once both stern and wise,

He turn'd to the delinquent,
And 'gan to question him, and catechise
As to which way the drink went.

Still the same dogged answers rise,
"Theses my lord, — the /?ies, ihejlits!"

§" Pslia!" quoth the Judge, half peevish and half pompous,

" Why, you're HO/I compos,
You should have watctid the bowl as she desired,

And kilCd the flies, you stupid clown."
||" What ! is it lawful, then," the dolt inquir'd,

" To kill the flies in this here town ?"
" The man's on ass — a pretty question this !
Lawful, you booby ! — to be sure it is :
You've MY authority, where'er you meet 'em,
To kill the rogues, and if you like, to EAT 'EM."

* The rate of utterance is at the beginning of this line st.yw, and
gradually becomes more rapid, the voice also becoming at the same time
gradually more elevated ; with a strong expression of anger on the
countenance.

f With a look of stupidity.

j This requires an elevated tone of voice.

§ The Judge's part requires a thick voice, with a gravity of manner
bordering on the ludicrous.

|| The clown speaks in a rustic dialect, and with a vacant look.

254 COMIC PIECES.

" Zooks!" cried the rustic, " I'm right glad to hear it.
Constable, catch that thief ! may I go hang

If yonder bluebottle (I know his face,)
Isn't the very leader of the gang
That stole the cream; let me come near it !"

This said, he started from his plare,
And aiming one of his sledge-hammer blows
At a large fly upon the Judge's nose,
The luckless bluebottle he smash'd,

And gratified a double grudge ;
For the same catapult completely smash'd
The bottle nose belonging to the Judge.

THE CUR AND THE MASTIFF.

There lived iu a village not far from a river,

A PUPPY, who thought himself knowing and clever;

A pert little cur, who, unable to BITE,

Kept snarling and barking from morning to night.

Whoever approach'd him he noisily greeted,
And with his shrill music each traveller treated ;
If he bark'd himself hoarse he would speedily rally,
And alike on his friends and his foes would he sally.

With his weakness and folly since ALL were acquainted,
His violent conduct they seldom resented :
To pass him in scorn is the course they prefer,
Since nobody cared for an insolent* cur.

The forbearance towards him thus daily extended,
To make him the prouder and saucier tended ;
He thought the whole village beheld him with fear,
And he deem'd himself MASTER of all who came near.

It happen'd, however, onef cold winter's day,

A noble\ large mastiff was passing that way ;

When, to show his importance, our silly young whelp

As usual began at his betters to yelp.

* This requires an expression of disdain.
f Slow rate of utterance, for the sake of emphasis.
Protracted utterance.

COMIC PIECES. 255

The mastiff turn'd round and loek'd grave at the puppy,
And I thought this reproof from his face I could copy :
" You saucy* young cur, had you ONE grain of true sense,
You'd scorn to be thus to your neighbours a nuisance.

"Your pranks, let me tell you, are foolish and vicious,
And brine: a disgrace on the whole of the species ;
But come, sir! I'm going to teach you the danger
To which you'reexpos'd in insulting a stranger."

Thus wisely resolv'd such ill manners to cheek,
He laid hold of the cur by the crag of the neck ;
While the latter, half dead with confusion and terror,
Sincerely repented his puppyish error.

Then trotting away to the river in haste,

The mastiff plung'd in it, but held the cur fast;

There* duck'd him, and sous' 'd him, and shook him about,

Till at last he thought proper to carry him out.

By this mode of proceeding the puppy he taught
The duty of holding his tongue when he ought ;
For he carried him back to the place of his dwelling
Quite cured of his passion for Larking and yelling.

THE PASHA AND THE DERVISE.f

When a sage leaves his shop, and on politics doting,

Exchanges CLOTH PATTERNS for plans of REFORM ,
When preachers hold forth on the pleasures of voting,

And roar, how delightfully calm is a storm !
Are they MAD? mad enough — see their frothy condition,
E'en the simple go mad when they're bit by AMBITION,
A Turkish Pasha in a whimsical mood,

Took a casket of gold full of jewelry fair,
And addressing a Dervise thrice solemnly good,

And wishing to make the grim animal stare,

* This line also requires a slow utterance, with considerable em-
phasis.

t This piece requires but little more than an easy, lively mode of
delivery. Care must, however, be taken that the tones of the several
speakers differ from each other, as also from that of the narrator.

256 COMIC PIECES.

" This casket," he cried, with extravagant mirth,
"You must give to the greatest of fools upon earth."

Sedately the Dervise observed the command,

And carefully went the gems' owner to find ;
Great fools in abundance he found in the land,

But to each of them gravely he said in his mind,
" Thou art a great goose, my good friend, I allow,
But perhaps I may yet find a greater than thou"

O'er the regions adjoining he rambled in vain ;

All the land of the Tartars he wandered around,
And then to the Bosphorus cross'd he the main,

Where a people half frantic with terror he found ;
With surprise he regarded the mob so delighted,
And with more when an Iman the reason recited.

With a bowstring the sultan has graciously sent
His vizier to take a short message to heaven ;
These affairs give the faithful amazing content,

And oft this content by the sultan is given.
" What — often ?" the sage with astonishment cried,
" Of late VERY often," the Iman replied.

The Dervise went on, "Is a successor named ?"
" O yes, with a form and magnificence meet,
This man," said the Iman, " I heard him proclaim' d,

There, there, you may see him, he's now in the street."
The Dervise beheld him, with wonder he saw,
In the newly made vizier, his friend the Pasha.

"You still have the casket?" the Vizier began,

For well the grim face of the Dervise he kenn'd "
Said the Dervise, " In vain long I sought for the man,

For whom you design'd it — my search has its end ;
The jewels belong to no mortal but you,
They are YOURS, mighty Vizier, accept them — ADIEU."

LONDON :
C. F. HODGSON, PRINTER, 1 COUCH-SQUARE, FLEET-STREET.

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

Q Linnington, R. T.

162 The scientific reader

and practical elocutionist

P&ASci.