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EDINBURGH NEW 


PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 


hipaa 7’ 
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THE 


EDINBURGH NEW 
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL, 


EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE 


PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS 


IN THE 


CONDUCTED BY 


ROBERT JAMESON, 


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


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


OCTOBER 1847 .... APRIL 1848. 


VOI XIV. 
TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY. 


EDINBURGH : 


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


1848. 


ee 


EDINBURGH: 
PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, OLD FISHMARKET, 


Art. I. 


Il. 


Ill. 


EY: 


CONTENTS. 


An Attempt to classify the Phenomena in the Glens 


On 


of Lochaber with those of the Diluvium, or Drift, 
which covers the face of the Country. By Sir G. 
S. MackENzIE, “Bart, FRS., V.P.R.S.E., &c. 
With a Map. Communicated by the Author, 


the Comparative Physical Geography of the 
Arabian Frontier of Egypt, at the earliest Epoch 
of Egyptian history, and at the present time. By 
Miss Fanny Corpaux. With Two Plates. Com- 


municated by the Authoress, 


On the Specific Gravity of the Water of the Sea off 


the Coast of British Guiana. By Joun Davy, 
M.D., F.R.S., Lond. & Ed., Inspector-General of 
Army Hospitals, &c. Communicated in a Letter 


addressed to Professor JAMESON, 


the Urinary Secretion of certain Animals, consi- 
dered in connection with their Temperature, Food, 
&c. By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Lond. & 
Ed., &c., 


PAGE 


13 


43 


46 


il CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
V. Observations on the Petrifaction of Shells in the Me- 
diterranean. By MM. Marcer pre Serres and 
L. Ficurer, : : ; ‘ ‘ 9 200 


I. On the mode in which Organic Bodies became Petri- 
fied in Historical and Geological Eras, . 2 50 


II. Facts which prove that Petrifactions are now forming 
in the bosom of existing seas, analogous to those of 
Geological times, : : ; . ; 53 


‘III. On the progress and different degrees of the Petrifac- 
tion of Shells, . ‘ F ; : : 55 


IV. On the Chemical Composition of Shells, considered in 
a fresh and also in a petrified state, during Histo- 
ricaland Geological times, . : . : 58 


Table of Analyses of Living Shells, and of such as 
have been petrified in Geological and Historical 


eras, : ; ‘ ; ‘ : ‘ 59 


Of the Shelly Sandstones now forming in the Medi- 
terranean, : - : : : . 61 


V. Have the Physical Phenomena of the Ancient World 
any Analogy with the Phenomena now taking place? 63 


Conclusions, ° : r é = ; 64 


VI. On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, with a few Re- 
marks on the Devonian Rocks of Moravia, in a 
Letter to Professor LEonnarp from Sir RopEricx 
I. Murcuison. With a Plate. Communicated 
in Manuscript by the Author, through M. Lron- 
HARD, for the Edinburgh New Philosophical 
Journal, . : ‘ A : : ~) 2166 


VII. On the Height of the Aurora Borealis, By G. A. 
RoweEt., . : : : ; : so ao 


VIII. On the Aurora Borealis. By G. A. Rowext, « ee 


IX. Biographical Sketch of the celebrated ALEXANDER 
BRONGNIART, 4 : F : * 3 = OZ 


XI. 


XII. 


XIII. 


XIV. 


» 


XVI. 


Sy iT: 


XVIII. 


CONTENTS. 


. On the Changes of the Vegetable Kingdom in the 


different Geological Epochs. By M. Apo.pHe 


BRONGNIART, 


Observations on the Relative Position of the Forma- 
tions of the Western Swiss Alps, and of the Alps 
of Savoy. By Professor Favre, 


A Description of the Glaciers of the Pindur and 
Kuphinee Rivers in the Kumaon-Himalaya. By 
Lieut. R. Srracney, Bengal Engineers, 


Note on the Temperature of the Spider; and on the 
Urinary Excretion of the Scorpion and Centipede. 
By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Lond. and Edin., 
Inspector-General of Army Hospitals, 


Description of a new Pyrometer. By Mr Atex. 
Miter, Liverpool. With a Plate. Communi- 
cated by the Author, 


Meeting of Association of American Geologists and 
Naturalists, held at Boston, September 27, 1847, 


On the Zeuglodon—Koch’s Hydrarchos, 


On the Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 
By Joun Crawrurp, Esq., F.R.S.L., Conductor 
of the Embassy to Siam. Communicated by the 
Ethnological Society for the Edinburgh New Phi- 


losophical Journal, 


Notice of some Plants which have flowered recently in 
the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. By J. H. Bat- 
rour, M.D., Professor of Botany in the University 
of Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author, 


ili 


PAGE 


97 


101 


108 


123 


126 


131 


152 


155 


200 


iv CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
XIX. Memoir on the Changes in the mean direction of the 


Wind, in the Annual Period, in North America. 
By M. Dove, . : 1 ‘ : . 205 


XX. New Diluvian Formation of the Vosges, ; 207 


On Artificial Quartz—Llamas and Alpacas in Holland—Diseases arising 
during the manufacture of Brussels Lace. 


Paris Academy of Sciences.—Dec. 6.—M. Ebelmen submitted to the Academy 
some specimens of artificial quartz. Amongst them are some to which he has 
given various tints by mixing colouring substances with the silicic acid. The 
specimens impregnated with chloruret of gold are remarkably beautiful. At 
the end of a certain time the chloruret of gold is decomposed, and streaks of 
gold appear in the entire mass, The decomposition is accelerated by the action 
of the solar light, and under its influence also bright colours are obtained— 
sometimes blue, sometimes red, and sometimes violet, By a modification of his 
process, M. Ebelmen obtains a true natural mineral, the hydrophane, It is a 
siliceous, porous, and opaque substance, which becomes perfectly diaphanous as 
soon as it is plunged in water. M.Ebelmen has ascertained that this substance 
absorbs gases a8 powerfully as charcoal— A communication was received from 
M. Christian Bonafoux, giving an account of the attempt made, by order of the 
King of Holland, to acclimatize the llamas and alpacas of Chili. Four years 
ago thirty-four of these animals, males and females, were imported into Hol- 
land, and put into the royal park, Scheviningen, near the Hague, where they 
have propagated freely. The climate does them no injury, and they merely 
seek the shelter prepared for them when there is snow on the ground.—M. 
Gaudichaud laid before the Academy his opinion on the disease which has lately 
been so destructive to the potato.—M. Blanchet gave an account of the serious 
consequences resulting from the process of whitening Brussels lace to the per- 
sons employed init. In this process the carbonate of lead is used; anda large 
portion of it is carried into the atmosphere, where it is inhaled, and thus pro- 
duces a serious affection of the intestines. Itis also very injurious to the sight 
and to the hearing.—M. Leroy D’Etiolles submitted a new and improved litho- 
tritic instrument.—Athenceum, No. 1051, p. 1306. 


Miss F. CorBAvx’s Coloured Map of Egypt will be given 


in next Number. 


CONTENTS. 


Art. I. On the Comparative Geography of the Arabian 
Frontier of Egypt, at the earliest Epochs of 
Egyptian history, and at the present time. With 
a Map. By Miss Fanny Corpaux. Communi- 
cated by the Authoress. Continued from page 
42, 


IJ. The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. By THomAs 
R. Heywoop Tuomson, M.D. Communicated 
to the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal by 
the Ethnological Society of London, , 


Supplement.—_Upon the Edeeyah Vocabulary of 
Thomas R. Heywood Thomson, M.D. By R. E. 
Lartuam, M.D., : : : 


III. On the Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces. By 
the Rev. F. Mason, A.M., 


IV. On the Distribution of the different species of Rocks 
in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. By M. A. 
Guyot. Communicated by the Author, 


V. Latitudinal Distribution of Reptiles inhabiting the 
Malayan Peninsula and Islands, and other locali- 
ties. By Turopore Cantor, M.D., Bengal Me- 
dical Service, 


Altitudinal Distribution of Reptiles inhabiting the Ma- 
Jayan Peninsula and Islands, and other localities, 


PAGE 


209 


232 


244 


246 


249 


CONTENTS. 
c PAGE 
VI. Gutta Percha. By Tuomas Oxy, Esq., A.B., 
Senior Surgeon of the Settlement of Prince of 
Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca, . +, 286 
Properties of the Gutta, . : : : »- 290 
VII. On the Use of Gutta Percha in Electrical Insulation. 
By Micuart Farapay, F.R.S., Foreign Asso- 
ciate of the Academy of Sciences, &c., . . 295 


VIII. Communications respecting Scandinavia. In a Let- 
ter from Herr Kart Bruner Jun., to Professor 


SrupER, . : d : ; 3 ee | 
On the Metamorphoses of Rocks, ‘ 2 -| 998 
On the Erratic Phenomena, : . ; - S08 


IX. On the Use of the Marine Hydrometer. By Grorce 
Bucuanan, Civil Engineer, F.R.S.E., President 
of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts. Commu- 
nicated by the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 307 


X. On the Normal presence of different Metals in the 
Human Blood, . ; 2 : : 1 809 


XI. On procuring Crystallisations in the Dry Way, as 

explained in a Memoir laid before the French 

» Academy of Sciences, and reported on by MM. 

Beupant, BertHier, and Durrenoy. By M. 
EBELMEN, : : : : ; Sol 


XII. Zoological Researches. By Professor Acassiz, 316 


XIII. Topography of the Pennine Alps, and Primitive Site 
of the Principal Species of Rocks found in an er- 
ratic state in the Basin of the Rhone. By M. A. 
Guyor. Communicated by the Author, . otf 


XIV. On Shooting Stars. By Sir J. W. Luszock, Bart., 330 


XV. Further Progress of Mr Jameson’s great Tea-Plant- 
ing Operations in India, under the Patronage and 
Direction of the Honourable The East India Com- 
pany, J , : : 3 : : 932 


CONTENTS. ili 


PAGE 
XVI. A Discourse on Draining and Irrigation, delivered be- 


fore the General Agricultural Society of Barba- 
does, at its Fourth Half-yearly Meeting, on the 
22d of December 1847. By Joun Davy, M.D., 
F.R.S., Inspector-General of Army Hospitals, 
Honorary Member of the Society. Communicated 


by the Author, . : : ; : . 336 

XVII. The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago, 348 
XVIII. On Mineral Metamorphism, : : ; . 364 
Metamorphism, Definition, t : . 864 

Metamorphosis of Rocks by Heat and Peace, 865 

Metamorphosis of Rocks by Vapours, . : : 868 

Metamorphosis of Rocks by Injection, 4 369 

General Metamorphic Processes, : = : 370 

Massive Rocks, s = B71 


XIX. Tabular View of au econ of Minerals, founded 
on Physical and Chemical Characters.. By Pro- 

fessor JAMESON, te . : 5 Be 
XX. Notice of Plants which have flowered recently in the 
Royal Botanic Garden, and other Gardens near 
Edinburgh. By J. H. Batrour, M.D., F.L.S., 
Professor of Botany in the University of Edin- 

bargh, Communicated by the Author, . ole 


XXI. Abstract of Meteorological Observations for 1847, 
made at Applegarth, Dumfriesshire. By Rev. 
Wn. Dunzsar, D.D., . i ; : . 383 


XXII. Screntiric INTELLIGENCE :— 


ANTHROPOLOGY. 
1. Ona Universal Language. 2. Caffers described. 3. 
Hottentots described. 4. Fingoes described. 5. 
“ Ceaird” the Celtic appellation for “ Gypsies.” 385—387 
ZOOLOGY. 
6. On the Skulls of adult and aged Male and Female 


Chimpanzees. 7. Voices of Birds, - : - 388 
BOTANY. 

8. Distribution of Plants, } ; - » $889 
GEOLOGY, 


9. Geology and Physieal History of the Globe. 10. De- 
composition of Rocks, 11. On the Position in the 


iv CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
Cretaceous Series of Beds containing Phosphates of 
Lime. By R. A. Austen, Esq. 12. On the Presence 
of Phosphoric Acid in the Subordinate Members of the 
Chalk Formation. By J.C. Nisbet. 13. On the Fossil 
Remains of Birds, collected in various parts of New 
Zealand. By W. G. Mantell, Esq, 14. On the Orga- 
nic Remains found in the Skiddaw Slate; with some 
Remarks on the Classification of the Older Rocks of 
Cumberland and Westmoreland. By the Rey. Pro- 
fessor Sedgwick. 15. Coral Island. 16. Vale of 


Sharon, . 5 ‘ : : : 390-397 
HYDROGRAPHY. 
17. Gradual Diminution of Temperature of the Air and 
the Sea as we approach the Land, : 5 5 ESOT 
ARTS, 


18. On the Curiosities of Glass Manufacture. By Mr 
A, Pellatt. 19. House-Painting. 20. Preparation of 
a Substitute for Horn. By M. Rochon, 21. On the 
Colouring Principles of some of the Lichens. By Dr 
J. Stenhouse. 22. Stereochromy. 23. Melon Wine, 


398-402 

XXIII. New Publications received, : : : . 408 
XXIV. List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d Decem- 

ber 1847 to 22d March 1848, s ‘ . 405 

INDEX, : 4 : ; : : . 409 


TO CORRESPONDENTS. 


We regret that the very interesting letters on Dolomization, addressed to M. 
De Beaumont, by M. De Morlot, and sent by the author to us through Dr Boue, 
did not reach Edinburgh in time for the present number of our Journal. 


ERRATA. 
Page 82 line 34, for was to seen read was seen, or, was to be seen 
83 — 37, for on which read in which 
84 — 5, for 80° read 18° 


88 bottom line, for or 8 or 9 miles xead and 8 or 9 miles 
89 — for such little appearance read such appearance 


THE 


EDINBURGH NEW 


PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 


An Attempt to classify the Phenomena in the Glens of Lochaber 
with those of the Diluvium, or Drift, which covers the face of 
the Country. By Sir G. 8S. Mackernzin, Bart., F.R.S., 
V.P.R.S.E., &e. With a Map. Communicated by the 
Author. 


‘THE notion respecting the origin of the terraces or shelves 
in the Glens of Lochaber, which was entertained on their 
being first discovered, viz :—that they were productions of 
art, is scarcely worthy of being mentioned, except for the 
purpose of remarking as singular, that they still retain the 
name of “the Parallel Roads,” indicating that the impression 
of their being artificial had been exceedingly strong. When 
it came to be universally admitted that the formation of the 
shelves was natural, and that the operating power had been 
water, difficulties presented themselves in every inquiry into 
the mode in which the water had been brought to act, and 
into that by which it had been removed. Geologists are as 
far from coming to an agreement as ever; and the interest 
in the phenomena is reviving. 

It is now more than twelve years since I briefly announced 
in Sir David Brewster’s Philosophical Journal, a new expla- 
nation of the origin of these terraces, which occurred to me 
during a conversation with him, when he resided on the banks 
of the Spey. In January, 1842, I read a more extended ac- 
count of my views before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 
in which I noticed Mr Darwin’s theory; but I delayed to 
publish my observations, in the expectation of being able to 


VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. A 


2 On the Shelves of Lochaber. 


collect additional facts to support my ideas. During the 
time that has since elapsed, the observations of geologists 
of the travelled and water-worn materials which so abun- 
dantly cover the globe, have been considerably extended ; 
and the results have contributed to confirm me in the belief 
that my explanation was well-founded. Mr David Milne 
has made an extensive and careful examination of the Loch- 
aber phenomena, and has given the result of it to the public 
in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and 
in Jameson’s Journal. As all that he has decribed appears 
to me to favour my own views, a nearer approach to truth 
may be made, if I now submit these views to the considera- 
tion of those who take an interest in the discussion. 

Every one who proposes a new theory being bound to shew 
that preceding ones are insufficient, Mr Milne has entirely 
set aside that of Mr Darwin. I should not, therefore, now 
notice the theory of the latter gentleman, were it not to point 
out that an objection he stated, unfounded, against mine, is 
applicable to his own, though it has been received with much 
favour by the English geologists; and perhaps the ease with 
which he rejects the theories of others, without taking the 
trouble to disprove them, may have contributed to gain the 
favour of those who are more accustomed to the simple effort 
of describing facts, than to the more complicated one of ac- 
counting for them. Mr Darwin appealed to Dr MacCulloch’s 
elaborate argument to shew that no sudden change could have 
taken place in their formation ; and against the objection that, 
as the shelves were separated from each other by considera- 
ble distances, a sudden movement in the rising of the land 
was necessary to the formation of each shelf, Mr Darwin af- 
firmed that the force which acted upwards pushed up only the 
space occupied by the shelves, and, of course, he imagines it to 
have been so carefully regulated as to preserve them un- 
broken. If the space including these shelves had been ex- 
clusively elevated somewhere about 1800 feet above the level 
of the sea, it is singular that Mr Darwin did not seek for, 
find, and point out, the boundary of the elevated space, since 
. it ought to stand out clear of the surrounding country from 
which it had been separated. One would imagine, that the 


‘ 


On the Shelves of Lochaver. 2 


shock necessary for such a separation would have effec- 
tually disturbed, if not obliterated, the parallel shelves. 
How Mr Darwin could adopt such an idea, after affirming 
that no sudden change could have taken place, I am at a loss 
to understand. 

Mr Milne’s theory requires a more detailed examination ; 
and, fully sensible of this, I went to Lochaber shortly after 
his paper was read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh ; 
and while I found a confirmation of the objections that had 
occurred, | met with nothing which did not appear to con- 
firm my own views. I am not, however, so unphilosophically 
wedded to them as to imagine they will withstand the as- 
saults which the observation of others may enable them to 
make on them. At all events, the time has not yet come for 
the final settlement of any physico-geological question. 

Mr Milne goes back to a period long antecedent to the 
formation of the shelves, in order to pave the way for them ; 
and if I have not rightly understood him, the fault must rest 
with me ; for, both in conversation and correspondence, he 
has, with the greatest readiness, answered every question. 
He has, too, materially helped in the construction of the map, 
so that by its assistace both of us may be ae understood 
than we would have been without it. 

Mr Milne assumes— 

1. That our island had been submerged in the ocean, where 
it acquired its present aspect. 

2. That during the period of submergence, the hollows be- 
tween the mountains were filled with boulder clay, gravel, 
sand, mud, &c. 

3. That after the hollows were filled the land began to rise. 

These three conditions are preliminary to the action by 
which the existence of the shelves is attempted to be ex- 
plained. They involve some important considerations, ren- 
dering some special hypothesis necessary for their explana- 
tion. We may pass over the first assumption; but the 
second scems to require some consideration before it can be 
atlmitted as a postulate. The hollows between the moun- 
tains are all filled up; and the mass of loose matter employ- - 
ed for that purpose is far too great for being collected by any 


+ On the Shelves of Lochaber. 


ordinary natural cause. We see indications of great violence 
in the rounding of large boulders, and in the reduction of 
rock to the state of gravel and sand. To render his theory 
complete, Mr Milne should, perhaps, have instructed us 
whence, and by what means, the loose materials were brought 
to fill up the valleys. An appeal has no doubt been made to 
oceanic currents. I am not, however, aware of any known 
current that proceeds at such a rate as to enable it to carry 
boulders and gravel along with it. An extraordinary force 
appearing requisite, its nature and origin should have been 
explained, before its effects were assumed hypothetically. In 
Mr Milne’s paper, on page 410 of the 16th volume of the 
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and page 
355 of Jameson’s Journal for July and October 1847, we 
find him thus expressing himself :—‘‘ These facts, taken in 
connection with the undoubted fact that detrital matter has 
been spread over Scotland, to a height of at least 1500 feet 
above the sea, pretty clearly indicate that detrital matter not 
only may have been, but actually was spread over the Loch- 
aber district, and filled its several valleys to the height of at 
least the highest of the Glen-Roy shelves, thus affording am- 
ple blockage for its lakes.”’ 

We have now an extensive mountainous district under the 
sea, having its valleys filled with detritus to a specified ele- 
vation. It is next to be raised out of the water by a process 
so carefully managed, that the levels and parallelism of the 
shelves, to be formed one after the other as the land rose, 
were not to be disturbed. Supposing the land elevated to 
the height necessary to lay the surface of the detritus dry, 
we have then a desert plain, extending some hundreds of 
square miles. We may next suppose that water issued from 
some points of the higher ground, to the amount of the 
existing streams, and inquire to what quarter it was to 
flow in order to join the sea? According to the theory 
under examination, the valleys were filled up with detritus 
to the height of the highest shelf; consequently, there could 
be no hollows for the formation of lakes, when the land was 
raised so as to expose the surface of the detritus. Mr Milne 
has not pointed out any limit to the detritus. The water, 


On the Shelves of Lochaber. 5 


however, would find its way to whatever point of the com- 
pass the surface might lean, and however tortuous the course. 

Every one who has observed the action of rivers on loose 
materials knows that when a stream flows over an extended 
surface, it cuts but little away, until it comes to an edge or 
slope; and then it cuts backwards, throwing before it such 
loose matter as it has power to move. This process is in- 
compatible with the formation of a lake.. To form a shelf, 
there must have been a considerable depth of water under 
the line of surface where it was to be shaped out; but in the 
case before us there could be no such thing. 

Such, I conceive, to be the simple mechanical result of Mr 
Milne’s filling the valleys with detritus. He makes no pro- 
vision for hollows to form lakes ; but he evidently assumes 
them, though inconsistently with the statement with which 
he sets out. But I am not disposed thus to limit the theory 
in question. I will admit that there were hollows left free 
when the detritus filled the rest of the country. I will take 
Glen-Roy as an example, and suppose that the detritus ex- 
tended but a little way up the Glen, all the rest being empty. 

Now, while the land was submerged, according to Mr 
Milne’s hypothesis, what is now Glen-Roy must have formed 
part of the bottom of the sea; and we cannot doubt that, in 
such a case, it would be inhabited by marine animals com- 
mon to the latitude. It is obvious that when the land rose 
above the level of the sea, Glen-Roy would be, at first, a salt 
water lake, and the creatures inhabiting it would be caught, 
as it were, in a trap. The fresh water running into this 
Jake would gradually free it from salt, and the animals would 
perish. As the process of emptying the lakes is supposed 
by Mr Milne to have been gradual, the remains of these ani- 
mals, bones and shells, being uninjured and undisturbed, 
ought to have been left behind in sufficient quantity to indi- 
cate the catastrophe that had befallen them, just as we find 
such exuvice in what are called elevated sea-beaches. No- 
thing of the kind has hitherto been observed. 

The chief difficulty which to me appears to meet Mr Milne's 
theory is, howto getrid of the enormous mass of materials which 
he has accummulated. For, to produce the shelves, to clear 


6 On the Shelves of Lochaver. 


the country so as to make it present its existing aspect, by 
the means which nature has placed at his command, seems 
to me an utter impossibility. There never could have been 
any means consistent with his theory, other than the waters 
issuing from the district. The Great Glen which is supposed 
to have been filled along with the others, presents a special 
difficulty in the great depth of its lakes. How this glen, and 
the basins of the lakes were cleared out, Mr Milne leaves us 
to conjecture. Until they were cleared out, there was no- 
thing to direct us to the point where the Lochaber streams 
might have reached the sea; and their courses are not un- 
important to his theory. If we suppose the clearing of the 
Great Glen to have been accomplished as far as its present 
relative position to the level of the sea, it would still remain 
to shovel out the detritus from its lake basins, to the depth 
of some six or seven hundred feet; to a depth, indeed, ex- 
ceeding that of the North Sea. 

The foundation of Mr Milne’s theory does not admit of 
barriers placed here and there as occasion might require. 
The whole was filled with detritus to the height of the high- 
est shelf, which must have been the highest level of the sup- 
posed lake ; and if we admit of lakes at all, the water in them 
must have been retained by a fall or slope of the great mass 
covering the whole country. Let us, however, imagine a 
barrier extending a mile or two across a valley, and of breadth 
proportioned to its height. The operation of a stream, such 
as that of the Roy, commencing its work at the top of the 
barrier, would be to cut from the edge of the outer slope 
backwards. After the cutting had proceeded to a certain 
depth, the sides would fall in, giving the stream additional 
labour to perform. This would, in course of time, be repeat- 
ed, till the slope of the sides became sufficiently low to pre- 
vent their falling in. Following out, then, the simple me- 
chanical operation of water on masses of loose matter, and 
considering the immense amount of such matter assumed by 
Mr Milne, we must conclude that some traces of that aceu- 
mulation, and some unequivocal marks of the progress of the 
streams should have remained to this day, as well as the 
Shelves. No such traces or marks appear; and I deny the 


On the Shelves of Lochaber. 7 


possibility of clearing the country of the assumed mass of 
detritus, so as to give its present aspect, by the means which 
nature has furnished. Supposing that such a mass had existed, 
it may be asked, what has become of it? Have the streams 
of the district such power as to warrant the idea that they 
carried it back to the region whence it was brought? I can- 
not think that any one who has seen them, even in a state of 
flood, will answer in the affirmative. 

I now proceed to state what I have long entertained as the 
most probable cause of the production of the shelves. 

It is now admitted, I may say almost universally, that the 
evidence of water having flowed over the land, and in this 
country in a direction from between west and north to be- 
tween east and south, is complete. As we find detritus de- 
posited at fully 1500 feet above the sea, the water which 
carried it must have had its surface greatly more elevated. 
Some suppose, as Mr Milne, that this deposition took place 
while the surface was under the ocean. The permanency and 
parallelism of the Lochaber shelves, together with all the phe- 
nomena of the diluvium or drift, including the absence of 
marine exuviz from the latter, persuade me irresistibly, 
that when they were formed, the land had acquired its pre- 
sent general relative position to the level of the sea; admit- 
ting, nevertheless, that partial and local, though not exten- 
sive, gradual elevations may have taken place. Every one 
who has given attention to what goes on at the bottom of 
rivers, on the margins of lakes, in estuaries, and on the sea 
coast, knows that loose matter may assume under water 
various forms, often fantastic, according to the direction, 
foree, and interference of currents with each other. The ob- 
servations made during a long series of years have not led 
me to swerve from the conviction, that, after the land had 
assumed its present aspect and position in relation to the 
sea, or at the time when the land was broken up into its present 
condition, a vast body of water has passed over it. It is little 
short of half a century since Sir James Hall made me ac- 
quainted with the facts which led him to the conclusions 
which he published in the Edinburgh Transactions ; and no- 
thing I haye seen or been informed of since has contributed 
to change my views in reference to his conclusions; though 


8 On the Shelves of Lochaber. 


in regard to many other points of geology, I may declare, as 
the last survivor of the old Huttonian school, that I have 
seen ample reason to call in other agents, besides those em- 
ployed by that school, to account for them. 

The apparent difficulty of assigning a cause for such a flood 
as the debacle theory assumed, has. probably deterred many 
from adopting it. Buta careful examination of effects, and 
a patient investigation of their modifications, during the szdé- 
sidence of such a flood, by the local configuration of the land, 
might satisfy every observing mind that the flood had oc- 
curred, whatever might have been its cause. We are satis- 
fied with many things without pursuing a chain of causation 
at all. Any one meeting with a stream of cold lava, or a 
mountain composed of cinders and slags, though unacquaint- 
ed with volcanic phenomena, concludes at once that heat had 
dealt with them. So when we meet water-worn masses at 
great elevations, we are satisfied that water had brought 
them to their resting-place ; and we do not inquire either for 
the cause of heat in the one case, or whence the water had 
come in the other. In reference to our present subject, it is 
not impossible to assign a cause sufficient to raise a wave vast 
enough to break over the highest portions of our island. On 
this subject I read a paper to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 
in February 1847; but it is unnecessary to enter into the 
subject at present, farther than to state that, from various 
facts which have presented themselves to their knowledge, 
several of our most eminent geologists have expressed their 
conviction that a continent existed in the space now occupied 
by the Atlantic Ocean, of which the British islands, the Faroe 
islands, and Iceland are remnants. The sudden sinking of 
much less than the whole of such a continent, could be shewn 
to be sufficient to raise a wave of ample dimensions to break 
and flow over the British Islands, and to extend its influence 
much farther. Assuming then that such a flood as the de- 
bacle theory assumes had happened, I will now endeavour 
to shew why I am of opinion that the shelves of Lochaber 
are proofs of that theory. 

Assuming what has in reality been proved, that the quar- 
ter from whence the wave proceeded was as mentioned above, 


On the Shelves of Lochaber. 9 


let us carefully attend to a most important peculiarity con- 
nected with the Lochaber glens, and which suggested the 
theory to which I have been so long attached. It will be ob- 
served, on inspecting the map, that Glen-Gluoy opens into 
the Great Glen, its streams flowing into Loch-Lochy. Glen- 
Roy, ineluding its offsets, opens into Glen-Spean, and the 
latter opens towards the Great Glen. 

The next fact to be kept in view is, that the Great Glen is 
at a right angle with the direction of the flood, being NE. 
and SW., the flood having passed from NW. to SE. 

Let us néw suppose the flood passing over the land. As 
soon as it subsided below the mountain tops, it would neces- 
sarily be divided into currents and eddies, taking courses in- 
to which the water would be forced by the opposing eleva- 
tions ; and this circumstance should be kept in mind, when 
the forms and position of drift matter are contemplated. 
When the waters had subsided a little below the summit level 
between Glen-Gluoy and Glen-Roy (1, on map, Plate I.), the 
former would become, not precisely a lake, but an arm of 
the waters, protected on all sides from violent agitation, and 
in a condition to form the upper shelf, No. 1. which we find 
coincident with the summit level. While the waters flowed 
over this level into Glen-Roy, no shelf could have been form- 
ed on account of the violence with which the water advanced. 

The waters continuing to subside, as soon as the summit 
level between Glen-Roy and the valley of the Spey (2.) be- 
came exposed, this glen would become an extensive, and well 
protected arm of the waters; and, accordingly, we find No. 
2 formed a very little way below the second summit level. 
I may here remark that the shelves should be found to ter- 
minate near to the locality where it would appear the waters 
continued to be greatly agitated ; and this is seen to be the 
case. 

Mr Milne, during his active researches, discovered a sum- 
mit-level between the head of Glen-Glaster (3.), (a glen over- 
looked by former observers,) and Glen-Spean ; and shelf No. 
3, which had been a stumbling-block, is now found in cir- 
cumstances precisely similar to those above it, in relation to 
the summit-level., 


10 On the Shelves of Lochaber. 


The next summit-level (No 4.) is that which separates 
Glen-Spean, and all the comparatively low country extend- 
ing from the eastern side of Ben Nevis to the mountains 
forming the glens in question, from Strathspey. When the 
waters had subsided below this level, all this district would 
be filled with water little agitated, except in the vicinity of 
the Great Glen, through which the waters must have con- 
tinued to flow both towards the NH. and SW. Accordingly, 
we find shelf No. 4. commencing at the summit-level, and 
stretching towards the Great Glen, disappearing where we 
may presume the waters were too much agitated to admit 
the formation of a shelf. It should be observed that when- 
ever the flow of water over a summit-level ceased, the sub- 
sidence of the waters would be checked for a time, they hay- 
ing to take a new and circuitous course, and thus ample time 
would be afforded for the formation of a shelf. 

Mr Darwin has remarked the probability that the forma- 
tion of the shelves was somehow connected with these sum- 
mit-levels ; and it appears to me that there cannot be a doubt 
of the fact, that the nature of the connection is as I have 
stated. It is clearly more natural that the waters had sub- 
sided to the levels, than that the land was raised from the 
sea ; for, in the latter case, it would have been necessary to 
lift the land to a certain point, and then stop until the first 
shelf was formed ; then to lift it again rapidly thatno formation 
should take place during the interval, and to stop till the next 
shelf was formed ; and so on—a process not likely to pre- 
serve the levels. Itmust be remarked, too, that the shelves 
are not shaped precisely as if the matter forming them had 
been deposited by water in a state of absolute rest. Their 
upper surfaces slope downwards, and the edges are rounded 
off to the steeper slope, indicating the action of waves of con- 
siderable power. 

We have now seen the effects of the peculiarities of the 
locality of Lochaber on the waters of the great flood, forcing 
it to leave behind it traces of its action, having very marked 
relations among themselves. These are altogether indepen- 
dent of the effects of the flood in other localities (not having 
similar peculiarities,) where we find the effects, as indicated 
by the drift, to be precisely what we should expect from the 


On the Shelves of Lochaver. 11 


courses which the water must have taken through the valleys, 
and from the eddies caused by the meetings of currents. 
Wherever glens may exist having the same peculiarities, in 
reference to the direction of the great flood, there we may 
expect to find similar shelves. Partial appearances of shelves 
may be seen here and there, which may not exactly accord 
with the circumstances of those in Lochaber. But when we 
contemplate the operations of such a flood as has been 
supposed, and consider that its movements over the uneven 
surface, and through the sinuosities of the land, must have 
subjected it, and the materials carried along by it, to very 
variable conditions, we may reasonably expect to find effects 
which cannot instantly be accounted for. Many of the ter- 
races we find in valleys have been formed in a manner differ- 
ent from the operation of waves throwing materials against 
aslope. It appears in many places that the gravel, sand, and 
boulders have been deposited in the valleys so as to leave a flat 
surface. As the waters subsided and formed powerful streams, 
this flat surface has been cut through, and much of what had 
been deposited carried away, leaving fiats, more or less ex- 
tensive, with faces sloping towards the streams. 

Another probable result of the passage of the flood may be 
considered, in reference to those portions of the island 
towards the eastern coast, which are open and comparative- 
ly free of mountainous elevations. In such localities the 
waters must have spread out, still, however, flowing and ed- 
dying in its general direction, and retaining its general level. 
Of this level, in its variations in elevation, wherever we may 
suppose the water to have been more quiet, (as it must have 
been in the Lochaber glens) we may expect to find traces. 
If in the North Highlands and elsewhere there be spaces over 
which the waters could spread, and be less agitated; or 
glens, such as those of Lochaber, or others in which they were 
confined, their general level and its traces would be the 
same in all similar localities, though distant from each other. 

I have only farther to observe, in reference to the attempt- 
ed assimilation of the shelves and terraces we have been con- 

sidering to sea-beaches, by Mr Darwin and others, that the 
materials composing the former are the same with those 
com posing the general diluvium or drift; whereas ewisting 


12 On the Shelves of Lochaber. 


sea-beaches—those formed, and forming under our eyes, are 
very differently compounded, and generally different in form. 
If any ordinary beach, on which the sea now operates, can 
be shewn to possess characters in all respects the same with 
the Glen-Roy shelves, and other shelves and terraces, then 
there will be an end of the question. No advocate of the 
beach theory has ever attempted this, so far as I know. 
That shells may have been deposited by the operation of the 
great flood at considerable elevations, and whales thrown up- 
on the land in some localities on the east coast where their 
exuvie had been found, I think may be shewn. Yet I by 
no means deny the existence of facts tending to demonstrate 
the partial elevation of the land. I myself saw, many years 
ago, while wandering among the sandhills near Forres, and pro- 
bably about ten or twelve feet above the sea, a beach which 
was recognisable at a glance. But I must still maintain that 
the sea-beach possesses characters that plainly distinguish 
it, from shelves of diluvium. Until they be proved identical, 
the theory of raised beaches, as applied to the Lochaber and 
other shelves, cannot be supported. This proof is the very 
first thing to be given to provide a foundation for the theory. 
When it is made known where the proof is to be seen, I will, 
if at all able, gladly travel to see it, and with sincere plea- 
sure will acknowledge it. 

I will conclude by remarking, that, if the conjecture be 
correct (as I hold it to be) that a great Atlantic Continent 
has disappeared, and that the British Islands are remnants 
of it, one effect of sinking would necessarily have been to 
lower the general level of the ocean. ‘This would afford 
means of explaining the phenomena of what have been called 
raised sea-beaches ; only the title would have to be changed, 
the sea having left them. 

Should these surmises mect the eyes of American geolo- 
gists, they may consider whether the sinking of an Atlantic 
Continent, and the consequent production of an enormous 
wave, can account for the diluvial terraces in the western 
hemisphere. The component parts of the diluvium in Ame- 
rica should, in such a case, be nearly similar to those of the _ 
European ; for the loose matter in both must have been, in 
great part, derived from the sunken surface. 


auton) 


On the Comparative Physical Geography of the Arabian Frontier 
of Eqypt, at the earliest epoch of Egyptian history, and at the 
present time. By Miss FANNY CorBAUX. With Two Plates. 
Communicated by the Authoress. 


The sections (Plate V.,) are constructed from the measurements of the I'rench 
Scientific Survey, for which vide Descr. de ’Egypte, Et Mod., vol. xi., Journal 
du Nivellement de l’Isthme. The degrees of the levelling operations are re- 
tained in the diagram, to facilitate reference. They consist of French feet, 
inches, and lines, reckoning downwards from an imaginary standard point, 150 
feet above the high-water mark at Suez. The measures and calculations in the 
memoir always suppose French feet, when it is not otherwise stated. This is to 
avoid the confusion likely to arise from the use of two different standards. 
Twelve French feet are about equal to thirteen English. 

A comparative scale of the perpendicular and horizontal measurements is 
given in the plate. In such a delineation, one cannot avoid giving a very ex- 
aggerated idea of the heights as compared with the distances of the respective 
points. To obtain a section on a true proportional scale, it would be necessary 
to make it about 1500 times as long as the engraving, the height remaining the 
same, 

Introduction. 

The geography of a country is often the index of its history. 
Its physical peculiarities exercise a sensible influence in form- 
ing the manners, customs, and character of its inhabitants, 
and in regulating their internal and external policy. This 
was peculiarly the case with ancient Egypt. Hemmed in on 
all sides by natural barriers which no hostile neighbour could 
overpass, we find all her historical remains testifying how, 
from the remotest antiquity, she had cultivated the arts of 
peace. The numerous Syrian tribes beyond her frontier had 
not time to become nations. They wasted their energies in 
mutual strife for small tracts of land; Egypt looked on, at- 
tacked them, and seized the prize they were contending for ; 
took to herself the lands and souls of her captives, and made 
them the tools of her pride, in recording their own degrada- 
tion on the walls of the gigantic monuments reared by their 
forced labours. 

On one side only was this favoured country open to foreign 
intrusion ; her Arabian frontier. It seems to have been the 
persevering aim of the rest of Egypt for cenvuries, to gain 
possession of this tract, and to expel its early colonists, tribes 


14 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


nearly allied to the Egyptians in blood, but who maintained 
their simple pastoral habits and hardy independence to the 
last. A race, who not only were able to resist Egypt for 
several centuries, but even to subdue a considerable part of 
that country for a time, as is recorded of these shepherd 
people, must have been numerous; and their country could 
not then have been the sandy, barren, and marshy desert that 
we now find it. It must have possessed some very important 
resources and advantages; for it was only after the expulsion 
and dispersion of this people, that the power of Egypt began 
to be felt externally, and soon reached its highest pitch of 
eminence. Her commercial and military ascendency only then 
passed the limits of her river, and began to exert its influence 
over the rest of the known world. Not long afterwards, the 
family of the patriarch Jacob went to settle in Egypt. The 
country of “ the Goshen” must then have been very different 
from what it appears to be, since Joseph availed himself of 
the inveterate prejudices of the Egyptians, which extended 
even to the land their dangerous and hated adversaries had 
so long occupied, and to the manner of life they had Jed, to 
obtain its rich pastures as a settlement for his beloved family.* 

In fact, unless we admit that very considerable physical 
changes have taken place on the face of this important dis- 
trict, the frontier state of Egypt, the ancient LAND OF 
GOSHEN, we can form no idea of its position and boundaries, 
its agricultural, commercial, and pastoral advantages, and its 
commanding position as a military state, in the remote ages 
of early Egyptian history. or it is in the very regions on 
the primitive condition of which its chief value as a settle- 
ment depended, that it will be found to have undergone a 
thorough revolution. 

It was in the hope of throwing additional light on some 
of the doubts and difficulties attaching to a few early pas- 
sages of Egyptian history, that the succeeding inquiry was 
entered upon. The principal event of which that land was 
the scene, in those remote ages, is one that has a sacred 


* Vide Gen. xlvi., 33, 34; xlvii., 6, 11. 


Ox the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 15 


and universal interest in the eyes of all to whom the Holy 
Scriptures are the history of religion. It was the place of 
refuge of the Hebrew Church for more than two centuries ; 
and, in the days of her temporary oppression, the momentous 
events of her deliverance and Exodus were enacted there. 
Yet the scenes of those events have hitherto remained a 
matter of doubt and unsupported conjecture ! 

The great difficulty which Biblical crities encounter in their 
attempts to refer the events of the Mosaic account of the 
Exodus to any definite localities, arises from their having 
framed their hypotheses from the land as it és now, with- 
out taking into account the probable extent of the changes 
wrought in its physical geography,—partly by the slow, but 
certain operations of nature,—partly, as we shall have rea- 
son to discover, by the interference of man. Those only who 
are correctly informed concerning the actual state of the 
country, can estimate the formidable difficulty of reconciling 
the Mosaic narrative with such positions as its present topo- 
graphy affords. The few detached and unsupported conjec- 
tures, wholly at variance with each other, hitherto published 
on the geography of the Exodus, attest both the extent of 
this dificulty, and the doubtful success of every attempt to 
propose a theory on the subject. Before we can judge whether 
the account of Moses can be made to square with the topo- 
graphy of the land through which he led the host under his 
guidance ;—before we can appreciate, as a subject so sacred 
and important deserves, the extraordinary geographical ac- 
curacy of the minute detail included in that account;—we must 
go back 3500: years, and restore the land to its primitive con- 
dition, by inquiring into the changes that may have been 
effected in it since then, by determining their period, and 
ascertaining their causes. 

The results of an inquiry to this effect are embodied in the 
map.* It differs in four essential points from any former 
attempt to illustrate the geography of the Mosaic period. 


* See Plate LV. 


16 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


1°. In the limits of the Red Sea, which has retired 30 miles 
from its former head. 

2°, In the Mediterranean coast region, where nearly 25 
miles of land beyond the shore have been converted into a 
large lake and barren unhealthy marshes. 

3°. In the region of the river, where, besides restoring to 
their primitive position the branches of the Nile known to 
have changed their course or become extinct, I have intro- 
duced another branch, unknown to ancient geography, and 
situated on the frontier, to the east of the Pelusiac ; it is mark- 
ed on the map as the ETHAM éranch. 

4°. It differs in the position of the cities and sites enume- 
rated by the Sacred historian as the stations of encamp- 
ment. 

In our common Bible-maps, these stations are generally 
placed at random along the line of desert between Cairo and 
Suez. This distance, owing to the difficulty of the route, 
would amount to a four days’ journey for such a multitude, 
encumbered with goods, children, and cattle; and there is 
not a spring or a well all the way. So that a track along 
that road is physically impossiéle. 

Dr E. Robinson* has seen this difficulty, without obviating 
it. He proposes another plan, liable to objections almost as 
serious as those he has sought to avoid, and that are fatal 
to his hypothesis. He places “ RamzsuS,” the starting-point 
of the assembled multitude, in the Valley of Seven Wells, 
where there is a ruin of a former frontier-city ; and pro- 
poses to bring the Hebrew host to Suez by coasting the (so- 
called) Bitter Lakes. But as two days of this journey would 
be equally destitute of water, the indifferent wells at Ajrad 
being then the only supply, the difficulty is not sufficiently 
lessened by this hypothesis to counterbalance the unquestion- 
able claim of the ruin he takes for “ RAMESES,” to represent 
quite a different place, the ‘‘ Hero” of the Antonine itinerary, 
the position of which,—in respect of several other sites 
enumerated in this itinerary, and all exactly corresponding 


* Biblical Researches in Palestine, &., by E. Robinson, D.D., and the Rey. 
Eli Smith, vol. i., p. 74-86. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 17 


with existing ruins,—is too well fixed by this correspondence 
to admit of doubt or controversy.* And if this be the cele- 
brated maritime city known to ancient geography as Herowm, 
Heroon, and Heroopolis,t which it would be absurd to 


__. eR eee eee ee ee ea 


* All the roads introduced in the map are comprehended in the subjoined 
extracts from the Itinerary of Antoninus. As the roads are graduated in Ro- 
man miles, according to the scale, the cities they lead to will be easily found ; 
and (with only one exception, Tasacarta) correspond to ruins still to be seen. 


Roap I. From Pelusium to Memphis. 
Pelusio to Daphne,* M.P., xvi.,—to Tasacarta, xviii..—to Thou, xxiv.,—to 
Scenas Veteranorum, xxvi.,—to Heliu, xiv..—to Memphi, xxiv. 

* Remark.—The position of Tel Defenneh, the remains oféDaphne, enable us 
to detect and rectify an error—probably of copy—a deficient x in the Ro- 
man numerals. Tel Defenneh is exactly xxvi. M.P. from Farama, the 
remains of Pelusium. 

Roap II. From the Serapeum to Pelusium. 
Serapiu to Thaubasio, M.P. viii..—to Sile,* xxviii.,—to Magdolo, xii..—to 
Pelusio, xii. 

* Remark.—There is here another error analogous to the above; a redundant 
x in the Roman numerals, which the ruins enable us to rectify. The dis- 
tance between the vestiges of Sil and Thaubasio is xviii. M.P. 

Roap II. From Babylon to Clysmo. 
Babylon to Heliu, M.P. xii..—to Scenas Veteranorum, xviii.* (some copies 
have xvii.),—to Vico Judezorum, xii.—to Thou, xii.,—to Hero, xxiv..— 
to Serapiu, xviii..—to Clysma, L. 


* Remark.—Two slight discrepancies in this road may be easily removed by 
the position of the ruins, which correspond exactly with the distances as- 
signed to them by Road I. The xvii. M.P., which some copies have, be- 
tween Heliu and Scenz, seem a copyist’s error for xiii, And, since there 
are xxvi. M.P. between Scenz and Thou, as well by the ruins as by Road 
I..—and the true distance between Scenz and the intermediate station, 
Vicus Judxorum, is nearly xii. M.P., in which the present road coincides 
with the ruins,—it follows that there ought to be more than xii. between 
Vicus Judsorum and Thou, and that the repetition of xii. here must be 
a copyist’s error. The real distance, by the ruins, is a little above xiv., 
which exactly makes up the total of xxvi. to Thou. 


Roan IV. Part of road from Gaza to Alexandria. 
Pelusio to Heracleus, M.P. xxii.,—to Tanis, xxv.,—to Thmuis, xxii.,—to 
Cyno, xxv., &e. 

+ Strabo renders the name of this city by ray Heway rors, of which “ City 
of Heroes” seems the literal translation. Hero or Heron was an Egyptian 
god. It is possible that the Egyptian name, the true orthography of which 
is unknown, might have had a plural termination, that led this geographer 
into what rather appears, than is, an error, as this form given to the proper 
name may be only emphatic, no notion of plurality being necessarily in- 
tended. The corresponding Hebrew name Hiroth has likewise a fem. 
plural termination. A curious mistake of the Septuagint may fairly be ad- 
duced in proof that, when this version was made, a city known to them as 
Hiroth existed in Egypt on the road to Palestine, and that it was called in 

VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN, 1848. B 


18 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


doubt ;—and further, if the said ‘“‘ Hero” be indentical with 
the Hrrots of Scripture, a place which, from the last en- 
campment near it being called <‘ Pi-ha-hiroth,’ must have 
also been near the Sea,—and which the result of this inquiry 
will prove really was the case, it will be evident that the 
site thus chosen by Dr Robinson for the starting-point, must 
in fact have been near the end of the journey. 

Mr Sharpe, in his History of Egypt (vol. i., pp. 30-32), 
proposes another hypothesis. By an ingenious etymological 
analysis, he identifies the principal stations of the Mosaic 
account, by name, with certain cities on one of the lines of 
the road particularized by the above mentioned itinerary. 

This theory further supposes the Arabian Gulf to have 
occupied at that time the site of the saline marshes, generally 
—but, as we shall hereafter find, erroneously—supposed to 
be the “ Bitter Lakes” of Strabo’s geography. Thus the last 
encampment at Pi-ha-hiroth, might ¢ien have been near the 
sea, though that site is now nearly 35 miles from it. 

It is a very satisfactory coincidence in support of the 
positions thus suggested by Mr Sharpe, that the researches 
of MM. Dubois-Aymé and Le Pére* led them to conclude, 
on the best physical and historical grounds, that the extent 
of the Red Sea, wp to beyond the time of Herodotus, had been 
such as he had conjecturally assigned to it. This view was 
approved by all the contemporaneous scientifie men except- 
ing M. Roziére, who pleaded a physical objection} to this 


Greek Heroopolis. The translators appear to have read from a MS. in which 
(Gen. xlvi., 28) the first two letters of the infinitive horoth PY7\F{ “ to guide or 
“direct” being imperfectly formed, looked like MVM ’Hiroth ; which they ac- 
cordingly rendered by “ Hercopolis.” Josephus, following this reading, informs 
us that Jacob sent Judah to meet Joseph at Heroopolis in Goshen. The Sep- 
tuagint translators would hardly have committed this mistake, had no such 
city existed in that situation ; for the false reading would have been obvious, 
and thay would have rectified it. To have read any other word than “ horoth, 
i.e., to direct,” would have made the entire passage unmeaning. 

* Deser. de l’Higypte. Ht Mod., vol. xi. 

Tt Deser. de l’Eg, Ant., vol. vi.,p. 272. M. Roziére supposed the low plateau 
(marked “ Pi-ha-hiroth” in the map) in the centre of the Isthmus to be lower 
than the Red Sea (Vide also sect. i.) ; and as the whole valley of the canal, and 
nearly all the Delta, are also much lower, he urged, that if in historical times 


Plate Vr 


> 
od 
Sa 


Meych Cocod 
Mak 


ESSION 


| 4s a reeent dep 


1350 = 
High water, Red Sca 


160 
~~ Height of the Nile at Mow 
Bastin of Ge 

j and line of low 


/ r. 


ma Unsur 


- / 
Lo Py 
yn enema = 
hs 
/ 
| 
i= id 
i oo 
; 4 
a 
tf 


® 


High water Mediterranean 


: 


__ Scale of te 2 Sect. 


7/ 


lar Scale 


bench feet 


eh 


| 


S the Soil 


Ravel Meych Gocodile lakes Thaubasto 


Ht alah 


Puss or opening 


ofMiroth * 3 
Baal xphon Gulph of Heroopolis Rel 


S : 
Serapeum now a Saline marsh Fownt 


$ 
SS 
3 
; = 
Ww * 
S g 
BS 3 
Si é 
E & 
: § 
LOTS igh water, Red Sea 
Stor de Me \ 
ql 
3 33 
RSS | 
190 S 83 
Weight of thea) ¥ XS 
Basin of Gocodile lakes, 2 83 
and line of lowsaline marsher, § SB 
Unsurveyed. ys 
ro f S 
33) 
<3 
s* 
QO Tigh waler Mediterranean Sect ae OM a. 
eSis PPtusiac bro" ‘ / 
Seis 5 alee Scmubast Mere the basin. seth 
Sede Scale of te 2 Sections. Pope NCORCr nae 
te Geog Sib fort 3 2 bel 7 : - 
ES Monsontal Seale in Gcagr Miter Ue | I8/ section the bh 
: ae ay pa ’ 
Garo ‘ P 
- 5 7, Ce At 
pave On or Heliopolis Onion Oe (Es 
= a te Tel et Jehug Laoumel El Menayr Belbew Abbasich 
Nilometer of Roda I. Beg.of Canut Abou Menedyy d 


ISOS 


Shibbeen Ureat dvke 


=; 


o~ 
ay 


Edin! New Phil. Journ. Vol. 44 pJ9. 


P90 on, § . 
Rede esa on Point eb the Fussage etsinoe —- Clysma 
of the Red Sca Pilgran route Ser 
Present extent of the 
Gulph of Sues 
Pe ee. a P 
7a \ igh water at Sucx | of fo) 
as These measures are gwen tt 
Turis fed, and reckoned donn 
ie : M0 00wards from a point 150 feet abore 
[i046 Great Shoat E #e “ 
} the level of the High water at Suex 
15.3.0 
G0.0.0. 
IE 1800.0 
vi 
fa 
it 


Te) Section of the kthimus of Suez, by the Gocodile lakes, lo Ras-de Vaoych dhallah 


x 
Athoum ttkero g 
(Ethan) . S Hireth = p 
olbes Abbasich Tel ed Wady — Wady Toomilat has dl Wady Aboukeshgd or _ Moukfar Besidl of the river to the WE. 


Dykes Widy dyke E Sayer Valley of Seven Wells into the Crocodile Lakes 


> 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 19 


theory, which was most satisfactorily refuted by MM. Le 
Pére and Dubois-Aymé ; who produced the results of actual 
measurements in their appendix. Descr. de l’Eg. vol. xviil., 
Pt. i. 

A brief sketch of the physical structure of the Isthmus of 
Suez, may here be of interest to such as are not familiar with 
the characteristic features of this remarkable though inhos- 
pitable tract. The survey of Messrs J. M. and G. Le Pere, 
St Genis, and Chabrol,* furnishes the data for the dia- 
gram illustrating this subject, Section No, 1. shewing the 
line of the lowest points across the Isthmus of Suez, from 
the present head of the Gulf to the north side of the plateau 
in question. This line is the bottom of a valley, flanked on 
both sides by a table-land of barren rock and sand. It forms 
an irregular trough, lower than the Red Seain every part, ex- 
cepting two low plateaus of very small extent. Both of these 
were once only shoals extending across a narrow strait, t 
along which the Mediterranean and Red Seas mingled their 
waters, which then had the same level. At some period more 
remote than historical records can reach, the gradual eleva- 
tion of the land must have brought up the central shoal to 
eight feet above the water’s surface, by which a natural dyke, 
about five miles across, was formed, separating the two seas. 
The northern haif of the Isthmus, and the whole Delta, owe 
their existence as dry land to the formation of this barrier. 
For, the Mediterranean having thereby become a large in- 


the Red Sea had reached the limits assigned to it by MM. Dubois-Aymé and Le 
Pere, it would have gone farther, and submerged all lower Egypt. He there- 
fore concludes of the theory “ C’est une hypothése ; tandis que ?abaissement du 
plateau est wn fait positif ; en effet, qu’ importe le reste 9” 

In answer to M. Roziére, M. Le Pére gave the measurement of every station 
of the survey across this plateau, 12 in number, proving that it rises 8 feet above 
the highest tides of the Red Sea; so that the elevation of that critical point, and 
not its depression, is the “ fait posit#f”’ Thus the sea could, and did, for perhaps 
thousands of years, reach that limit, without the disastrous effects predicted by 
M. Roziére. The result of these measurements are given in the section No. L, 
where the principal stations only are delineated. On so small a scale, more de-: 
tail would have produced confusion. 

* Deser. de Egypte, Et Mod., vol. xi., and App., vol. xviii., pt. i. The line: 
of both sections is coloured on the map. 

+ Lyell’s Pr. of Geology, book ii., p. 1., chap. viii. 


20 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


land gulf, subject to a greater evaporation than the current 
that sets in from the Straits of Gibraltar can replace,* its 
waters sank, at the eastern end, to a permanent level of equi- 
librium between these two opposite agencies,—which is about 
30 feet lower than the Red Sea at high water. 

It is evident that this central plateau must have conti- 
nued to form the northern boundary of the Red Sea, until 
another shoal, near Suez, was raised above the water’s edge 
by the simple process of accumulation, forming a second 
natural dyke across the gulf, that stopped out the water 
from the upper gulf-basin, and left a hollow nearly 60 feet 
deep, which became a salt lake, and is now a dangerous 
marsh. This second shoal begins about 20 geogr. miles south 
of the head of the former gulf, and its length, to near Suez, 
is about 113 miles ;f but it is only a space about 23 miles 
of its southern end that is actually Aigher than the sea; be- 
yond this, it slopes downwards about 10 feet to the edge of 
the upper gulf-basin. The process by which the surface of 
this shoal was raised to its present height, may be seen still 
going on in the Red Sea. The coral banks that grow up 
rapidly in its shallows, rise to the low-water mark; and then 
the lithophytes cease their operations. The enormous quanti- 
ties of drift-sand, blown into the shallow gulf, are washed up 
by the waves, and deposited, with broken shells and gravel, 
on the top of these shoals; where, from the quantity of cal- 
careous matter which the water of this sea contains, they form 
hard banks up to the high-water level. It was at the foot of a 
height on which Ptolemy Philadelphus built the marine sta- 
tion of Arstnoé, that a line of sand-banks began to form on a 
shoal of this description, at its southern end, the one most 
exposed to the winter-tides, which are always 3 or 4 feet 
higher at that season, because then the prevailing winds blow 
from the south. It will be seen by the section that this end 
of the bank is scarcely 3 feet above the ordinary winter high- 
water mark of the Red Sea, and only a few lines above its 
excessive tides in stormy seasons. 

Thus far, Mr Sharpe’s positions appeared to be sustained 


* Lyell’s Pr. of Geology, book ii., p. 1., chap. vii. 
} Its extent is indicated by a dotted line on the map, Plate IV. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 21 


by the coincidence of the Red Sea’s former extent, prior to the 
time of Herodotus. But it was still open to the old and fatal 
objection that, in the time of Moses, there was no visible sup- 
ply of water for those cities along which the Hebrews’ route 
was supposed to pass; and that cities could not exist without 
water. The corresponding Egypto-Roman cities were on the 
banks of a canal, but the date of the construction of this 
work, the famous Red-Sea canal, is well fixed by history: 
it was only begun by Pharaoh-Necho, who lived 870 years 
after Moses. Some traditional accounts refer the commence- 
ment of the undertaking to “ Sesostris ;”? but Sesostris is a 
fabulous personage. And though Sir Gardner Wilkinson* 
very judiciously argues, from a monument of Remeses II. 
being found at ‘‘ Hero” on the canal, that this monarch may 
be the “ Sesostris’’ referred to in this legendary account— 
and it is historically admitted that he cut numerous canals 
to drain and irrigate Lower Egypt—we are not helped out 
of the difficulty; since the most accredited chronological ar- 
rangements tend to place his reign about 200 years after 
Moses. 

But when we consider that the principal Egyptian canals 
are only restorations of natural channels that have either 
moved off or died away, we are tempted to suspect that such 
may have been the case with this particular canal ; and that 
if it was commenced only by Necho, or by Sesostris, it was 
because the natural stream did not fail tili then. M. Le- 
pere distinctly recognises tokens of the Nile having flowed 
in the valley of the canal, at some period unassignably re- 
mote. And as the inundations of the Nile are reported even 
now to penetrate occasionally far into the valley, such an 
hypothesis might appear very plausibly sustained. But the 
possibility of an hypothesis being true, is no proof that it zs 
so. And to verify a geographical theory; to establish it as 
a fact that may in its turn be used in confirmation and illus- 
tration of history in general—and of sacred history in parti- 
cular—we require positive evidences—physical proofs. 

I therefore propose, in the succeeding dissertation, to de- 


* Modern Egypt and Thebes, vol. i., p. 312. 


22 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


monstrate that such a boundary arm of the Nile did actually 
exist at the time of which the map is supposed to represent 
the geography, and that it was then the connecting link of a 
highly important chain of ancient Egyptian frontier cities 
and fortresses ; among which will be found the places Mr 
Sharpe proposes to identify with the stations of the Mosaic 
itinerary. 

As this inquiry involves a question entirely new to ancient 
geography, it will be necessary to enter upon a very minute 
consideration of the physical facts from which the proofs we 
require may be deduced, and of the historical details by 
which our conclusions appear to be supported. 

The first step in this investigation will be, to study the line 
of this river’s supposed course, in order to ascertain whether 
the present condition of the valley in which it ran affords a 
clue to the physical causes of its decay. A correct delinea- 
tion of the present structure of the land, and its relation to 
the water-levels, is here the first desideratum. And for this, 
the invaluable data contained in the “ Journal du Nivelle- 
ment” of the French Commission—designed for the restora- 
tion of the ancient canal—furnish all the materials we re- 
quire. 


ON THE ANCIENT FRONTIER CHANNEL OF THE NILE, 


The section, No. 2, taken along the line of lowest points 
from Cairo to the end of the Valley of Seven Wells, in which 
are the Crocodile lakes, delineates the present state of the 
valley through which this ancient frontier channel had its 
course. In this section we have, as it were, the country itself 
before our eyes: we have both the means of arriving at a con- 
clusion, and of judging whether it be supported by fact or 
not.* 

This section exhibits a double series of levels along the 
whole line, to shew the relative positions of the land and the 
water. 


* The survey of this district was effected by Messrs Devilliers, Duchanoy, 
Tévre, and Alibert. Tor the details of the measurement, &c., vide Deser. de 
VEgypte, vol. xi.; Extrait du Journal du Nivellement, To avoid confusion, 
the leading and characteristic levels alone are indicated in the section. 


i i 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 23 


From Cairo to Abbasieh, where the canals that are still 
open terminate, the principal and most significant levels are 
those of the water’s surface along the canals early in Decem- 
ber, that is, three months after the height of the inundation. 
Above this are seen a few leading points upon the banks, to 
shew the general elevation and form of the land itself along 
the edge of the.water-courses. The points selected are :—near 
Boulak ;—the foot of the ‘“‘ Tel el Jehud’’ mounds of ** Onion’’ 
and “ Scenw,” near Shibbeen ;—and at Abbasieh near the ves- 
tiges of “ EtHAM or Thoum,” Here, the further course of 
the water is cut off by dykes. Beyond this point the level in- 
dicated by the dark dotted line is that of the bottom of 
“ Wady Toomilat,*” at the extremity of which, “ Ras el 
Wady” is another large dyke. We next come to the Valley 
of “ Seven Wells ;’’} and, following the course of the ancient 
canal past two very remarkable ruins, that of HirovTH or 
Hero, and that of a commercial outpost or magazine belong- 
ing to it, about three miles distant, called “ Moukfar” in 
the great French map, we find that the ground-line, after 
rising gradually from near Hero to Moukfar, suddenly sinks 
again, and the valley terminates in the large basin contain- 
ing the Crocodile lakes. 

Necho’s canal ran along the north bank of the Wady Too- 
milat; and, besides the lowest ground-line, some points on the 
ruined dykes of this ancient canal are indicated, along the 
whole length of the valley, by a lighter dotted line. 

As standards of comparison, I have introduced the nilo- 
meter of Roda in its place—the levels of the two seas—and 
also a diagram of the canal Moéz near Bubastis,{ in order to ° 
shew the relative height and true proportions of its embank- 
ments, its bed, and its water at various seasons. All these 
are taken from Le Pére’s “ Tableau des échelles compara- 
tives,” and adapted to the scale of the section. (Vide Plate 
xiv., Deser. de ’Egypte, vol. i. Et Mod.) 


* This is the modern name of the part of the valley between Abbasieh and 
“ Hero.” 

} The remainder of the valley, to the Crocodile lakes inclusive. 

} The Canal Moéz now occupies the site of the Tanitic branch of the Nile, 
from near Athribis to Zoan, 


24 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


~ The first thing that strikes one as remarkable, in this sec- 
tion, is the abrupt fall of the water-line just beyond Tel el 
Jehud: and this would be much more remarkable, if the river 
had not already sunk to half its maximum height, when the 
measurements were taken. This reduced level continues 
along about twenty miles of canal, till the further progress 
of the water is arrested by the dykes of Tel el Wady near 
Abbasieh.—To irrigate the Wady, the water is occasionally 
let out as far as the great dyke at Ras el Wady, as all this 
part of the valley, and even the bed of the old canal, are cul- 
tivated ground; but this does not take place every year. 

One cannot look at this sudden interruption of the water- 
line, in connection with the great depth of the valley beyond it, 
without suspecting that some artificial restraint must be em- 
ployed to keep the water lower than the line of its natural 
flow; and that, without such restraint, a branch of the Nile 
would probably run along this valley at the present time. 

The great inundation of 1800 proved this fact, and much 
besides, more conclusively than any argument. It fortu- 
nately happened while the survey by the French engineers 
was in progress, so that the results were observed and re- 
corded by them. The Nile rose so rapidly to an unusual 
height, that it broke through its embankments, and filled the 
whole length of the valley to the Crocodile lakes. The depth 
of the water, between Abbasieh and Ras el Wady, varied 
from 15 to 25 Paris feet. Every road from Belbeis to the 
north was stopped, being rendered impassable for months, 
from the quantity of water, except at “ Moukfar,’” where 
the bottom of the valley rises and its sides contract. There, 
the course of the water was confined to the bed of the an- 
cient canal, which is in tolerably good preservation, though 
so much choked up by sand and alluvial matter that the 
depth of the water was only five feet; so that there was 
at that place one fordable passage. Beyond this spot, the 
water began to flow downward with a very rapid current ; it 
filled the lagoons of the Crocodile lakes, passed through 
an opening at the north-eastern end of the basin enclosing 
the lakes, and there was lost in a line of low saline marshes 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 25 


that now extend northwards from these lakes to Lake Men- 
zaleh.* 

Now if we compare the height of the water at the nilome- 
ter of Roda Island during the inundation of that year, with 
the height it generally attains in an average favourable in- 
undation, the difference is under eighteen inches. Hence, 
it is quite clear that what happened in 1800, might happen 
every year, minus that small difference. As surely as water 
will run into a hollow and rise in it to its own level, so 
surely would the Nile run into this valley to this very day, 
and fill it annually to a considerable depth, if no restraint 
were imposed on its course. There would be about 14 feet 
(English) of water near Abbasieh,—and 24 at Ras el Wady, 
(as may be seen by the two upper slanting water-lines,— Vide 
section 2.) Even when the Nile is at its lowest point,—as in- 
dicated by the lower slanting line extending from the mea- 
surement of that point on the nilometer to the end of the 
valley,—there would be about 12 feet of water in the deep 
parts of the ancient river’s course, nearly up to the spot 
where the vestiges of Hero are found. If the waters rose in 
the valley up to the point of 1800, once, it was through an 
accident by which, that once, the river was enabled to attain 
its natural level. 

When we connect the facts brought to light by this irrup- 
tion, with the construction of the valley as exhibited in the 
section, the inevitable conclusion thereby forced upon us is 
rather startling. For while we have before us physical proof 
that art alone prevents a considerable river from flowing in 
its natural channel to this day, it is equally certain that the 


* [Those who wish to go over the very remarkable and interesting details 
of this inundation, will find the particulars,—Descer. de l’Egypte, Et Mod., vol. 
xi., pp. 82-86, Mém. sur le Canal des 2 Mers, by M. J. M. Le Pere.—Appen- 
dix, vol. xviii., pp. 349-355, Mém. M. Dubois-Aymé.—Extrait du Journal de 
M. Devilliers, ibid., pp. 379-382.—And vol. v. Ant., Descr. des Ant. de l’Isthme, 
by the same, p. 134-158.] 

t The waters of 1800 rose to 30 Paris feet and a few inches above the point 
0 of the nilometer, 3 digits above the 18th cubit over the capital of the column; 
and this measure is adapted to the scale of the levelling operations, in the sec- 
tion. A rise of 29 feet above the point 0 is regarded as the measure of an 
abundant inundation, 


26 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


peried when the restraint of art was first imposed on its 
waters, must be more remote than the most ancient histori- 
cal records extant. For Herodotus mentions the Pelusiac 
branch, as being, in his time, the most eastern arm of the 
Nile. And one naturally asks, how so vast a work as cut- 
ting off in its prime a stream as deep and broad as any re- 
maining secondary arm of the Nile, should ever have been 
undertaken ?—and also, when can it have been done ?—by 
whom ? and to what purpose ? 

The bed of the ErHAM river offers some remarkable phy- 
sical anomalies that are only to be accounted for by the man- 
ner of its formation. And as these may serve, in their turn, 
to lead us towards a satisfactory answer to these inquiries, 
we must look back a little, and consider what it was during 
the ante-historical period. 

The Ern Am river does not appear to have been an ordi- 
nary Delta-channel along the whole of its course, hollowed 
out of the alluvial soil with an even and downward slope to 
the sea, like the other arms of the Nile. Part of its bed lay 
along the bottom of a valley in the rocky district out of the 
true Delta, and part of the bottom of this valley has a slope 
just the contrary way. This remarkable acclivity is to be 
seen at the spot called “ Moukfar” (wide section 2), where it 
is highest; the slope upwards begins a little before Hero. 
Much of this is the result of recent accumulations of sand and 
alluvium in the most narrow and exposed part of the valley, but 
not al/,aswe shall hereafter have occasion to remark more par- 
ticularly. A certain amount of inequality—a slight swell of 
ground all along the cleft in the rocks that form this remark- 
able valley,—must always have existed, forming a consider- 
able impediment to the course of the Nile along it; so that 
the water, after it had reached Hero, had to rise above the 
level of the obstacle, before it could flow off through the val- 
ley by the downward passage already adverted to, which is a 
natural opening in the hills, in the direction of the northern 
marshy tract, and where the current, during the great flood of 
1800, was so extremely rapid. 

The general level of the ground, all along the valley, from 
near Belbeis to the Crocodile lakes, being much /ower than 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 27 


the Red Sea; while the rocky plateau capped with sand-hills 
rises suddenly on both sides from 30 to 50 feet adove it, shews 
us that, before the first central shoal in the strait that once 
separated Egypt from Arabia had risen to the water’s edge, 
and parted the Mediterranean from the Red Sea the whole 
valley formed another narrow strait nearly at right angles to 
the first, so that the hilly tract north of the valley was a 
large island. 

The sediment of the Nile being drifted into it, as in other 
contiguous parts of the sea, while the whole of the present 
Delta was yet under water, this part of the strait would end 
in having a smooth ground corresponding in level to the other 
parts of the Delta. So that afterwards, when the seas were 
divided by the rising of the central shoal,* and the waters 
of the Mediterranean began to evaporate, and the Nile be- 
gan to send out arms towards the retiring sea in all pos- 
sible directions, one of these arms might well make its way 
along the low ground of this valley, till it reached the point 
where the bottom of the strait had been originally higher 
than the Delta, which is near Hero. But over this natural 
obstacle, the water could not pass, at that remote epoch, 
when the Nile was low. For, as the soil at the apex of the 
Delta was then considerably lower than it is now, so the level 
of the water-line was proportionally lower. It was only during 
the inundation season that the river could attain a sufficient 
height to form a superficial current over this acclivity, so as 
to run into the basin of the Crocodile lakes,—and out of these 
again along the low marshy tract left by the retiring northern 
sea. 

One consequence of this formation is, that the annual de- 
posits of the Nile must, fur a considerable part of the year, 
have been accumulated exclusively in the western half of the 
valley, known as Wady Toomilat. Indeed, at a remoter pe- 
riod than that represented by the map, this may have formed 
a long shallow lake, with a river flowing part of the year 
into it, and the other part through it. We cannot conclude 
any thing positive on this state of things, from the mere fact, 


* At the spot marked Pi-ha-hiroth in the map. 


28 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


that 15 feet of the alluvial soil have been dug through with- 
out reaching the bottom ;—because either all this, or more, 
or only a part of it, may be of submarine formation like the 
Delta ; and unless we could determine the precise period when 
the Mediterranean retired; and had also an opportunity of 
subjecting the contents of the deposits to geological scrutiny, 
it would be fruitless to stop to conjecture how far the hollow 
between the two rocky plateaus that form the sides of the 
valley may have been filled up while yet under the sea ;—and 
how much the raising of its surface may be due to the sub- 
sequent depositions of such a lake as the Nile would form 
there, if the sea had retired before the hollow was filled up. 
And such a conjecture would be quite useless to the present 
inquiry, which requires nothing more than the undeniable 
physical fact, attested by the present form of the land as de- 
lineated in the section, that, whereas the water-line dis- 
tinctly shews that the Nile must have run through the vyal- 
ley, and would do so still if it were allowed to haye its own 
way ;—nevertheless, the dand-line as distinctly shews, that 
when it ceased to flow in and through the valley, é¢ had not 
done so long enough to fill up the entire hollow. For, consider- 
ing the present depth of this hollow, compared with the 
height of the swell that terminates it, we must see that, had 
the river that flowed through it, been allowed to flow on, it 
must have continued open naturally, until its deposits had 
brought up its whole bed along the valley to the level of the 
obstacle. It must at last have made for itself an even and 
shallow bed with an insensible slope towards the sea, like 
that of the defunct Pelusiac. The form of the valley alone 
compels us to conclude, that, if the river has ceased to flow 
there, it cannot have ceased from a natural stoppage, but 
must have been intercepted abruptly, whether by art or by 
accident, at a time when the level of its course was only 
sufficiently raised and equalized to make its channel along 
the valley merely a little wider and deeper in parts than an 
ordinary Delta channel ; so as even to form in two or three 
places, considerable pools, not to say lakes, but of no very 
great depth. 

In addition to these considerations, we shall find other rea- 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 29 


sons to be satisfied that the Etham branch cannot have been 
naturally extinct in the time of Moses and the older Pharaohs. 
If we compare the level of the bed of the river at the time of its 
excision (which is displayed by the section)* with the height 
of the waters of the Nile at the remote period represented 
by the map, (which can be estimated with considerable pre- 
cision), we shall be convinced that it must then have yielded 
a deep and useful channel, both for navigation and irrigation, 
along the whole inhabited region of the valley. We must 
subtract from the height which the Nile now attains during 
the inundation, the amount added to the river’s bed, in the in- 
terval, by the annual sedimentary depositions ;—and the nilo- 
meter of Roda Island affords a sure index to the height gained 
by the point of the Delta, from this cause, in a given time. 
In an average favourable inundation, the water now rises 
about 35 inches above the 16th cubit of the nilometer, that 
marked such an inundation—one of 16 cubits—when the 
column was erected and graduated. This was about A.D. 
860.+ Thence we may conclude that about a yard in 1000 
years is the amount of rise in the bed and banks of the Nile, 
by its depositions at Roda Island. For we are not reckoning 
from a local measurement of the quantity of matter deposited 
in one given spot ina given time, which is liable to the greatest 
variations, according as the spot lies high or low with respect 
to the adjacent lands, and according to the depth of the water ; 
but we have a natural index susceptible of the strictest accu- 
racy, the actual height of a water line that covers and in- 
cludes all these possible variations, and that thus gives us a 
natural average far more precise than any one could obtain 
by computation. 

At the rate of a yard of increase in 1000 years, a favour- 
able inundation of the Nile, 3500 years ago, must have been 
lower by about 3} yards, with respect to the invariable mean 
level of the sea, then it is at the present time at the point of 
the Delta. The slope to the sea being less by so much, the 
water would be unable to flow farther than Hero, except 
during the season of inundation. 


* Section 2,—between Abbasieh and “ Hero.” 
t Vide Sir G. Wilkinson’s Modern Egypt and Thebes, vol. i., pp. 279-282. 


30 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


We are thus led by a chain of natural indications to a fact 
which will enable us to account for the conflicting statements 
of some ancient authors, relative to the canal that afterwards 
occupied this valley. For, even after we have made due al- 
lowance for the recent accumulations in the narrow gorge of 
the valley, where the ground rises so strangely, we shall still 
find that its height above the bottom of the river must have 
been sufficient to render some amount of artificial excavation 
necessary at the earliest period to which history will permit 
us to ascend ; otherwise, great injury might have been done 
by every inundation of the Nile to the habitations and plan- 
tations of the early settlers in the valley where so many 
ruins are found. Although the force of the water, when 
pressed forward by the rising inundation against this point, 
would have enabled it at last to excavate a way for itself, 
the effects of such efforts would be devastation to the neigh- 
bouring district, until the hand of man came to the rescue. 
A very smail amount of labour, a mere deepening of the 
river’s annual channel between Hero and the point of its 
rapid descent towards the Crocodile lakes, a space of only 
six miles, would effectually remove this formidable obstacle to 
their comfort and prosperity, by keeping the river open all 
the year round. We cannot reasonably suppose that so ne- 
cessary as well as easy a work, would have remained undone 
by the most enterprising and industrious of ancient people, 
since the tract could hardly be habitable until it was done. 

The natural bend of the river, a little beyond the part where 
its channel might thus have required easing, brought it so 
near the foot of the low plateau that separates the Crocodile 
lakes, into which it ran, from the Red Sea, that there are only 
eight miles distance between that bend and the actual head of 
the gulf, which, at that time, was near BAAL-ZEPHON (sub- 
sequently known as the Port Daneon, whose ruins are close 
to the Serapeum of the Antonine itinerary). Since we admit 
that such a city as BAAL-ZEPHON must have existed on the 
sea-shore in the time of Moses (which was the golden age of 
Egyptian history, when its civilization, arts, commercial en- 
terprise, and warlike renown, had reached a point they never 
afterwards surpassed) we can scarcely doubt that a partial 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 3l 


prolongation of the water-course towards BAAL-ZEPHON may 
have been attempted, even at that early period, to supply 
the city more easily with water; and that we have thus a 
natural verification of the accounts transmitted by Pliny and 
Strabo, who doubtless derived them from some more substan- 
tial authority than idle tradition, that the famous canal of 
the Red Sea was begun by some ancient Pharaoh, whose 
name is lost to history, and whose deeds have gone to swell 
the fame of the fabulous “ Sesostris.’? For reasonable in- 
ference alone must satisfy us that the safety, prosperity, nay, 
the very existence, of every city and settlement between 
“ ETHAM” and the sea, depended on that work being so far 
executed, at an earlier date than systematic historical records 
can lead us up to. Nature had not only done three-fourths 
of the work, but she actually compelled man, in self-defence, 
to execute a considerable portion of the remainder ; and what 
she did not thus actually compel, she suggested, by the physi- 
cal features of the tract, that were singularly favourable to 
the execution of this great national undertakiug. 

On the strength of these various considerations, I had been 
inclined to favour the conjecture that the direct communica- 
tion of the channel of ETHAM or Hero with the Red Sea, 
by means of such a short branch canal, might have been 
effected wholly, at this early period; and that the mouth of 
this canal, being at the head of the gulf, seemed to explain 
the etymology of the Scriptural name of the site, P1-wA- 
"HIROTH, MT? the “ mouth’ or “ opening” of Hirotn. But 
the amount to be deducted from the present height of the 
water-line at the point of the Delta, to give its height at 
that time—and of which I had not formed a fixed esti- 
mate, seems conclusive, that although such a work would be 
practicable now, it was not possible then for the canal to 
run into the sea. It is the sea that would have run into 
the canal. For, if we calculate downwards at the rate above 
mentioned :—as the highest point now attained by the Nile 
during the flood season, at Cairo, is only about nine to ten 
feet above the Red Sea, it must, in the time of Moses, have 
been nearly level with the sea at the point of the Delta; 
and, therefore, as much lower, at the termination of the canal, 


32 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


as the difference caused by the downward slope of the lands 
through which the water had to run. 

But the commercial importance of this great undertaking 
lost nothing material by stopping short of actually piercing 
through the central natural dyke of the isthmus to which 
the Delta owes its existence ; since that spot is only a low 
plateau between the hills, five miles or thereabouts in length, 
and eight feet above the sea in its highest part. A short and 
easy overland transit like this, over a narrow plain only five 
miles long from the end of the canal to the sea, could be no 
serious obstacle to commerce and traffic, when the line of 
navigation by the river on one side, and by the sea on the 
other, was wholly uninterrupted. 

Nor does etymology require that the canal should run 
into the sea, to identify this site with the PI-HA-HIROTH of 
Scripture, near which the Hebrew army encamped “ by the 
sea.” For that compound expression would quite as correct- 
ly designate any kind of opening or outlet, as that of a 
stream, natural or artificial And when we consider the 
position and configuration of this spot,—that this overland 
passage is flanked to the right and left by a steep ascent, 
which forms the table-land, capped with sand-hills, of the ori- 
ginally divided continents of Asia and Africa, we can under- 
stand why it was called "72 the “ mouth” or “ opening 
of Hiroth ;’—the pass or gorge in the hills, forming the only 
opening that leads from the sea to that celebrated ancient 
city, vid the canal of the same name. It is the very expres- 
sion employed by Herodotus, when he speaks of the canal 
being completed by Darius, who cut it across this spot; 
“ and where a mountain opens towards the south, it is dis- 
charged into the Arabian Gulf.’ The formidable obstacle 
presented by the great height of the Red Sea rendered its 
completion too difficult to be worth running the superfluous 
risk of the undertaking, while there was such an easy natural 
road as the “ opening of Hero;” until another obstruction 
to commercial traffic was presented, by the gradually in- 
creasing height of the great shoal between the upper gulf 
and the open sea. This necessitated a second overland 
journey across an inhospitable and much longer tract,—for 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 33 


this shoal is 113 geogr. miles long. So that Darius found it 
necessary to make the opening for the canal, which his prede- 
cessors had not required. The Persepolitan characters found 
on the fragments of ruins at the north end of this shoal,* tes- 
tify that his operations were sufficiently important to be re- 
corded on its monuments; and that a marine station existed 
in his time—if he did not build it—at the very spot where 
such a station would be absolutely necessary for the accom- 
modation and protection of commercial bands, if, in his time, 
the sea was no longer navigable at that spot. 

As we see no further reason why we should not admit the 
accounts of Strabo and Pliny, who ascribe the commence- 
ment of this great enterprise to a much earlier period than 
that mentioned by Herodotus, we may now proceed to inquire 
why such a canal as the latter ascribes to Necho, was re- 
quired along a valley so well watered by nature and by art 
scarcely 900 years before, that it is utterly contrary to phy- 
sical possibility for the river to have failed naturally during 
that interval. 

In proportion as the soil over which the Nile flows is 
raised by its depositions, the waters of the inundation spread 
over a greater area of land than before. Such a hollow as the 
valley of the KTHAM river presents, must have filled faster 
than any other channel of the Nile, since little or no alluvial 
deposits could be borne by the current beyond the acclivity 
where we_have seen that the excavated channel begins. In 
the time of Necho, a much greater area of land must have 
been laid under water at every inundation than in the time of 
the early Pharaohs; and where the course of the Pelusiac 
branch was so near that of its ETHAM derivation, its waters 
were sufficient to irrigate the upper district of the ETHAM 
river's course; so that the latter, there, could be dispensed 
with as useless, while the rest was worse,—very mischievous. 
For the great height to which the water rose in the valley 
must have destroyed—instead of fertilizing—the land conti- 


* he site of those ruins is indicated on the map, though the name of the 
place is not known. 


VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. Cc 


34 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


guous to the cities that lay all along it; besides causing great 
inconvenience, by the stoppage of all the roads.* 

The causes of this river’s disappearance, as well as the 
era and purpose of such an undertaking, are thus revealed, 
simply by the make of the land. Necho did not construct his 
canal because there was no¢ water enough in the valley for 
navigation and irrigation, but because there was too much ! 
His object was, on the one hand, to keep up the communi- 
cation so important to commerce, by means of a water-course, 
and which, under proper restraint, might fertilize the soil 
without swamping it; and yet, on the other hand, to reclaim 
and bring into cultivation a large tract of land lying waste 
under a mass of equally waste and useless waters. 

It is quite clear that such a purpose could not be carried 
into effect without beginning by draining the valley. The 
operations of cutting a canal and building up embankments, 
eannot be carried on in a place which every annual inunda- 
tion converted into a lake from 12 to 20 feet deep (exclu- 
sive of the central channel of the river), for that must have 
been the amount of the rise in the valley in Necho’s time. 
No one but he who intended to replace the river by such a 
canal as Necho constructed, would do such a thing as to cut 
off the only possible supply of water from a chain of the most 
important frontier cities of Egypt, extending from ETHAM to 
Miepou. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to ascribe to 
Necho the excision of this part of the ETHAM channel. For 
it is an inference necessarily arising out of certain facts—the 
physical fact of the construction of the land, that reveals the 
expediency of the undertaking—coupled with the historically 
recorded faet, that Necho made this part of the canal. The 
conclusion that he cut off the corresponding part of the river, 
requires no other proof than is afforded by those facts. 

A strong embankment thrown across the ErHAM branch 
at its point of junction with the Pelusiac, would effect this, by 


* Mém. sur le Canal des deux Mers. Lepére; Ht Mod., vol. xi., p.83. During 
the accidental irruption of the waters in 1800, the entire valley, from Abba- 
sieh to Ras el Wady, had the appearance of a sea—the palm trees near Abba- 
sieh were so immersed in water, that only the tops of their leaves were visible, 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 35 


throwing the course of the waters wholly into the Pelusiac 
channel. It could easily be done when the Nile was low, for 
a reference to the section No. 2 will shew that at that season 
the canal Moéz near Bubastis only has 4 feet of water; and 
most probably the depth of the Pelusiac, and of its tributary 
the ErHAM channel, near the same locality, were not more 
than that of the Tanitic, which the canal Moéz replaces. 

Under these circumstances, the most convenient point for 
the new canal to begin would be where the account of Hero- 
dotus places it :—“ The water was derived from the Nile: it 
entered it a little above the city Bubastis, near Patumos, the 
city of Arabia ; and it terminated in the Erythrean oe ae 
They began to sink this canal in that part of Egypt which 
is nearest to Arabia; contiguous to it is a mountain which 
stretches towards Memphis, and contains quarries of stone. 
Commencing at the foot of this, it extends from west to east 
through a considerable tract of country, and where the moun- 
tain opens towards the south, it is discharged into the Ara- 
bian Gulf.” + 

The only portion of this canal that needed excavating was 
the junction of the Pelusiac near Bubastis, with the valley. 
The part of the canal that lay along the valley itself, did not 
even follow the bed of the intercepted river ; it must have had 
the character of a gigantic aqueduct, that entirely confined 
the waters to the north bank of the valley, and restrained 
them, during the flood season, to a mere fraction of their ori- 
ginal breadth, until they fell into the narrow and high natu- 


* quros 0: dmb rou Nefdou rd Vdwe é¢ wdray' haros 02 xarbaegde OAiyov 
BovBdorios wbrs0s, rages Tlaroduov shy Agu Biny wor eobyer O2 eg riy 


Egulejy darAucouy.—tlerodotus ; Euterpe, clviii. 

+ Werodotus further says, that “in the prosecution of this work under Necho, 
no less than 120,000 Egyptians perished ;” but does not say how. The cause 
of such a catastrophe may however be surmised from the very nature of the 
operations. We have only to suppose a very probable casualty—that an un- 
usually high inundation of the Nile broke through the newly made embank- 
ments, and suddenly overwhelmed the workmen and the works, to see through 
the truth of a statement which, under the ordinary process of digging a canal, 
would appear alinost fabulous. 


36 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


ral channel beyond Hero. It is in that situation that the 
ruins of the canal occur, and not in the central depression of 
the valley where the river originally flowed. The diagram 
of the canal Moéz, introduced into the section, will give an 
idea of the height of embankments requisite to convey the 
waters along the valley without overflowing, even when the 
Nile rose to its highest point. By a glance at this delinea- 
tion, in which the true proportions of the parts are given, we 
see at once the verification of Pliny’s account, that the canal 
was in some parts 30 feet deep. He reckoned from the top 
of the embankments. 

But although Necho replaced the river by a canal, from 
the Nile to Hero, the river remained én statu guo beyond that 
point. The physical indications that such was the state of 
things remain ; the following remarkable extract from Le- 
pére’s “ Mémoire sur le canal des deux mers,”* will speak for 
itself. “* Les digues du canal sont totalement effacées quel- 
ques cents toises aprés Moukfar ; la vallée devient plus étroite 
i Saba-Byar,t et l'on doute si le canal a existe dans cette 
partie, que les sables n’ont pas encore envahie.”—P. 73. 

Here, from the original elevation of the soil, so remarkable 
as hardly to admit of the river’s passage at all times of the 
year, without the aid of additional excavation, it is clear that 
no dykes were ever necessary, since the highest inundation 
possible did not even carry the water out of the bed of the 
river (or canal) at Moukfar. 

Lepére continues thus :—‘“ C’est un peu au dela de ce point 
que le crue de 1800 présenta un courant extrémement rapide, 
(p. 73), * * * courant dont la vitesse extréme devait resul- 
ter d’une pente considérable.” (P. 85.) 

This is the part beyond which no further artificial excava- 
tion was necessary, the water having cut its way through a 
natural opening in the hill, and afterwards, by a sudden 
bend to the north-east, making its way into the basin of the 
Crocodile lakes.§ “ L’eau, aprés avoir fait un grand détour 


* Descr. de Egypte, Et Mod., vol. xi. 
t i.e, Valley of Seven Wells. 
§ At the place where the two sections join, vide Pl. V. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 37 


a gauche, se répand dans deux vastes bassins qu’elle rem- 
plit. Ces bassins ont 6 4 7 lieues de circonference.”* 

It is necessary to remark that both the depth of the water 
along the ETHAM valley, and the height of the acclivity be- 
yond “ Hero,” appear greater in the section of the present 
staie of the valley, than they were with respect to the plain 
of the Delta when the channel was first cut off. And the 
reason is this :—in all the parts from which the inundations 
of the Nile have not been purposely excluded, the surface of 
the soil has continued to rise by the annual deposits of the 
river ; whereas the general level of the valley from which the 
free access of the waters has been restrained for more than 
24 centuries, has not been raised in any thing like the same 
proportion. The bottom of the bed of canal Moéz is now from 
six to eight feet higher than the general surface of the valley, 
and shews the difference that may be made to obtain the genc- 
ral ground-line along the water-course. The beds of the small 
canals open to near Abbasieh, are also about 9 feet higher. 

Conversely, near Moukfar, where the acclivity appears so 
exaggerated as to be more like a dyke across a river than a 
part of its bed, the fact that there was only 5 feet of water, 
during an extreme inundation, in the bed of the old channel 
that formerly was navigable all the year round, shews that 
owing to the great accumulations of sand and soil in the hol- 
low of the narrow gorge, during many centuries of neglect, 
the height of the acclivity must be much greater, in a section 
that includes all this, than it was when the bed of the river 
was open. 

After allowing for all these circumstances, we still find 
that the great depth of the valley from ETHAmM to Hero com- 
pared with the other parts of the river’s course, must have 
caused its channel here to be much broader than the other 
parts, as well as deeper, so as even to form several pools. 
Besides which there must have been a lake at Ras el Wady, 
with an island in it, upon which are some unidentified ruins. 
Another shallower lake may have existed in front of HERo. 


* }xtrait du Journal de M. Devilliers, Descr. de l’Hg.; vol. xviii, App. pant ds; | 
p. 579-882, Vide aleo the Mém, of M, Dubois-Ayme, ibid,, pi 350-851... 5,, 7 


38 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


The remains of another near ETHAM are still called “ Birket 
el Haj el Kadim,” the former Lake of Pilgrims. 

In making these allowances for the effects of time between 
the relative positions of the variable and invariable levels, it 
may also be as well to remark, that although the present 
general surface of the same valley may represent the ave- 
rage level of the corresponding parts of the Delta about 
Bubastis, in the time of Necho, the difference between this 
average surface at that time, and at the earlier period repre- 
sented in the map, cannot have been very considerable, be- 
cause the sedimentary depositions of the river, in a district 
so constituted, would sink into the deep hollows, and equalize 
the form of the bottom, rather than elevate its general sur- 
face. Hollows which in the time of Moses were deep lakes, 
may have become the slight depressions we now find them. 
But, owing to the subsequent elevation of the surfaces of 
land and water, in the parts which the inundations have been 
allowed to reach, since their exclusion from this valley 
twenty-two centuries ago, it has become—relatively to them 
—so much lower, that if the Nile were now freely readmitted 
into the valley, it would form a long shallow lake. 

As we can now hardly entertain a doubt of the former ex- 
istence and artificial excision of the ETHAM branch of the 
Nile, since the main fact that it would still exist, were it not 
artificially suppressed, stands upon physical proofs that speak 
for themselves, the secondary task of following it up along 
its entire course, from the extreme points of its origin and 
its embouchure, will not present any material difficulties ; as 
of these, satisfactory tokens are by no means wanting. 

There is a great dyke connecting the mound of Onion with 
that of Scenw, at “ Tel el Jehud.” Beyond this point, the 
water-line, as we before remarked, is intentionally kept down 
to a very much lower level than is natural, along a series of 
small and shallow canals of irrigation, one of which is the 
remains of the canal made by Ptolemy Philadelphus, that fell 
into Necho’s canal at Thowm (or EtHAM) near the modern 
Abbasieh. At this place, the water is now altogether cut off 
from the remainder of the valley, after having been reduced 
in height by other intermediate dykes. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 39 


We may be sure that where those dykes begin, there the 
danger to the valley would begin, if the dykes did not exist. 
Since the great dyke of Tel el Jehud is the first artificial im- 
pediment to the free course of the Nile, there the valley of 
the EvHAmM branch must be too low for a free passage of the 
waters to be safe ;—which is as much as to say, there the 
ErHam branch parted from the Pelusiac. 

The Pelusiac channel, now represented by the canal of 
Abou-Menedgy, flowed somewhat to the west of the Onion 
mound, and then ran off northwards to Bubastis; while the 
Erm branch bent off to the north-east, skirting the base of 
the “ Arabian Mountain.” Here, then, Necho, in order to 
drain the valley effectually, must have cut off its course 
through the valley of Belbeis, and confined the course of the 
Nile exclusively to the Pelusiac arm. 

Theory and fact agree to mark this point as the junction 
of the Pelusiac and EKtham branches. For it was a little to 
the south of the great dyke of Tel el Jehud, and between it 
and Abou-Zabel, that the water first broke through in 1800, 
upon the astonished inhabitants of the valley. In some in- 
teresting particulars of this irruption, that occur in Mr Devil- 
liers’ ** Mém. sur les antiquités de l Isthme,”* we find:—*< L’eau, 
s’échappant est d’ Abou-Zabel, s’est enfoncée fort avant dans 
le désert, et est arrivée,—suivant une direction gu’on ne se 
rappelait pas lui avoir vu prendre, auprés de El-Menayr. Le 
village de Zaoumel a été entiérement tourné par les eaux du 
canal Abou-Menedgy.” (These two places indicated in the 
section are near the mound “ Scenz.’’) And in another part, 
the same observer remarks, that the inhabitants of a village 
near Abbasieh saw, equally to their consternation and sur- 
prise, the water flowing in upon them doth ways—from Bubas- 
tis and from the south. 

Thus, the course of the southern half of the ErmAm branch 
is as clearly manifested by the phenomena attendant on this 
accidental irruption, as if it still flowed along its forsaken, 
obliterated, and forgotten channel. 


* Deser. de Hg. Ant. vol. v. 


40 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


The latter part of its course, from the Crocodile lakes to 
the Mediterranean, is still tolerably well defined; although 
a great portion of the district through which it flowed has 
undergone a change of level, from other causes than me- 
chanical deposition, which it is necessary to point out. 
Though the historical interest of this change is inconsider- 
able, its geographical and geological interest may warrant a 
brief reference to the phenomena it has produced, were it 
only to justify the omission of Lake Menzaleh in a map pro- 
fessing to represent the physical geography of the Egyptian 
frontier during the remote Mosaic age, and the introduction 
of water-courses in directions where now, owing to those 
changes, water could not possibly flow. 

The Lake Menzaleh* appears to have been formed by the 
depression of a considerable tract in the north of the Delta, 
several feet below its former level, that has taken place since 
the occupation of Egypt by the Romans, ¢. e., within the last 
1500 years. The waters of the Mediterranean now cover 
what, in the time of Strabo, was an expanse of marshy plains 
interspersed with lakes, across which the Mendesian, Tanitic, 
and Pelusiac arms of the Nile, ran into the sea. The adjoin- 
ing tract, participating less in the depression, has been con- 
verted from cultivated or pasture land, into unhealthy and 
inaccessible marshes. Ruins of cities, that in the time of 
the Romans were populous and flourishing, Tanis, Mendes, 
Thmuis, Heracleus (or Sethrum), Daphne, Pelusium, Sile, 
Diospolis-Parva ; all these are now found in places accessible 
only to wild boars and water-fowls; and one city, Tennes- 
sus,} formerly described as situated on the Tanitic channel, 
is now a heap on an island in the middle of the lake. 

The natural tendency of the soil of the Delta is to rise by 
the annual depositions of the river ; to drain marshes, by rais- 
ing their level; and to fill up lakes—not to form and extend 
them. And this tendency is very sensibly observable on the 
western coast of the Delta, where it has not been affected 
by a counteracting downward movement. It is therefore evi- 


* A dotted line in the map shews the present extent of Lake Menzaleh. 
+ Called also Tennees, or Tenesi. It must be the HAves of Isaiah xxx., 4. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. AL 


dent that this entire tract must have sunk below its former 
level since those cities were habitable. 

Owing to this depression having cut across the Pelusiac 
arm, its waters could not follow the old channel up to its 
mouth, had it remained open. _ During the flood season, the 
surplus water still flows along the extinct arm, as far as 
Fakkoos (Phacusa), beyond which it is conveyed under the 
sand in a direction considerably to the south of the former 
channel, dividing near Salahieh into two branches that ter- 
minate in the marshy lake Ballah, which forms part of Lake 
Menzaleh at that time of the year. 

The waters of the ETHAM branch would also run no further 
than this lake, were its course to be now restored. It is there 
that they were lost, in the accidental irruption of 1800. Mr 
Devilliers, in his journal, says, ‘‘ Un sheik nous dit: ‘ Ras el 
Moyeh el-Ballah a vu l’eau du Nil cette année.’ (vol. xviii., 
p- 380.) But before any additional depression of that already 
very low tract had taken place, the centre of the hollow 
formed by the continuation of the ancient strait northwards, 
and now occupied by a line of salt marshes and by the above 
mentioned Lake Ballah, must have marked the bed of the river, 
as far as MiGDOL, and it may then have passed round the 
hill of MrGpoL, and run into a lake now dried up and filled 
with sand, which is the Lake Seréonis of Herodotus. During 
the inundations, a line of sweet water under the sand, appa- 
rently the continuation of a deep eastern inlet of Lake Ballah, 
and along which there are several wells, seems to point out the 
position of a former water-course extending in the direction 
of the modern village of Katich. The firmness of the soil 
along this line, and abundant vegetation, seem to countenance 
this supposition. Nevertheless, I must acknowledge that 
this course of the river beyond MiGDoL rests wholly on in- 
ferences drawn from such physical indications as a map 
esteemed a masterpiece of topographical accuracy in details, 
affords—for such the great French map of the Delia is ad- 
mitted tobe. The survey of the northern half of the Isthmus 
did not follow the line of the lowest points. It cut across 
two considerable swells of ground, at the base of which the 
water courses lay. A special observation alone can deter- 


42 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


mine whether the above indications are truly vestiges of a 
former water-course ; or whether the termination of its course 
beyond Mrepou must be referred to the only possible alter- 
native, that would make it follow the middle of the southern 
arm of Lake Menzaleh, so as to become reunited to its pa- 
rent, the Pelusiaec channel, about half-way hetween TAun- 
PANES and SIN or Pelusium, 

Strabo’s account of the entire tract about Pelusium, brief 
as it is, shews clearly that it must have been a very low re- 
gion, flat, and full of minor hollows, which are now all in- 
cluded in Lake Menzaleh. “ Beyond the Tanitic and Pelusiac 
mouths, there are lakes, and great and continuous marshes, 
in which are many villages. Pelusium itself is surrounded by 
marshes and pools, which some call clefts (or pits) (Bagauden).”* 
That part of Lake Menzaleh is now very shallow, averaging 
from three to eight feet only. 

Such an alteration in the most unimportant part of the 
Etham river’s course, would, however, in no wise affect the 
main proposition of our. geographical theory, that such an 
eastern frontier channel of the Nile existed, and was natu- 
rally open and navigable till two centuries before the time 
of Herodotus ; and would continue so to this day, had it not 
been kept ever since then, and did it not still remain, sup- 
pressed by art. 


(To be continued.) 


* Strabo, Geog., lib. xvii., § 802. 


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“GF ATX JOA mop “DIT MAK “MEPIL * ‘Al WLW Td 


> 


INHYIONV AO UHI LNOUd NVIAVUY 


PP xtrequoy 


We wowoy 
Wy boa 
SA 


2 


ve 
POUISLY MA 


\ 


> bapedouprhs i 
 SSDsapguvu 


. 


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Wy, “MeMoYyy, vOMIDY, / 
WOK NVHGST fe WOOK 
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( 48 ) 


On the Specific Gravity of the Water of the Sea off the Coast of 
British Guiana. By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Lond. 
& Ed., Inspector-General of Army Hospitals, &e. Com- 
municated in a letter addressed to Professor Jameson. 


My DEAR SiR,—Conceiving that some useful results might 
be obtained by determining the specific gravity of sea-water 
at different distances from the land, along the shores of which 
large rivers pour out their waters, such as that of British 
Guiana, on a return voyage which I recently made from that 
Colony, viz.—in the first week in June,—I had specimens of 
water taken up for the purposed trial. They were put into 
phials provided with glass stoppers, and their specific gravity 
wasdetermined after arrival in Barbadoes in the ordinary way, 
using a very delicate balance: each specimen was numbered 
at the time it was obtained. 

No. 1 was taken from the shore at George Town, where 
the Demerara river meets the sea, and where the water is 
only just perceptibly saline. Its specific gravity at 36° Fahr. 
compared with rain-water of the same temperature, was 
10-036 to 10-000. 

No. 2 taken up, where the mail steamer, in which I em- 
barked, was at anchor, about a quarter of a mile from the 
shore, was of specific gravity, 10-991. 

No. 3, from about 11 miles from the shore was of specific 
gravity, 10-210. 


No. 4, about 19 miles off, was of specific gravity, 10°236 
— §, = 1 27 4 : e : : 10°2495 
— 6, — 35 , * 5 iS P 10°236 
— 7, — 43 F . P é A 10°2495 
— 8, — Sl 5 4 - 5 10°258 
= 2 ee , 3 - : 10°266 


This last mentioned specific gravity was of water taken up 
when the sea had acquired, or nearly so, the blue colour of the 
ocean, andis a near approach to that of sea-water generally in 
the West Indies, The highest that I have ascertained hay- 
ing been 10:278, which was of water from of the coast of 


44 Dr Davy on the Specific Gravity of the Water 


Antigua, towards the end of an unusually dry season ; the 
lowest that of 10-260, was of water from near the shore of 
Barbadoes, taken up after a good deal of rain had fallen dur- 
ing the preceding three months. 

With the exception of Nos. 6 and 7, there is a regular 
and well marked increase of the specific gravity of the water 
with the increasing distance from the land. In these two in- 
stances, it is probable that the slight diminution in the one, 
and the no augmentation in the other, compared with the 
preceding No. 5, may have been owing to some heavy 
showers of rain which fell on that part of the sea, about the 
time that the steamer was passing. 

For practical purposes in navigation, no doubt, it is desir- 
able that more numerous observations should be made on the 
specific gravity of the water off the coast of British Guiana, 
and with all possible accuracy as to intervals of distance, 
position and distance, from the shore. Should it be found, 
that in all seasons there is a certain and partly regular 
diminution of the specific gravity of the water in nearing 
the coast, may not the circumstance be turned to use- 
ful account, especially by the mail steamer? Provided 
with a hydrometer, even in the darkest night, aided by 
soundings, it is probable the position of the vessel might 
be determined with accuracy within the range of a very 
few miles, so as not to be under the necessity of lying 
to, perhaps sixty miles from land, as is now often the 
case, and even in nights not particularly dark,—a necessity 
connected with the lowness of the coast-line of this vast 
alluvial district, there being on it no conspicuous land-mark, 
and even the light of the lighthouse in George Town being 
often obscured by mist. 

Reflecting on the subject, it naturally occurs to one, whether 
the hydrometer might not be useful to navigators, not only 
in making land where the well-known coast is at all similar 
to that of British Guiana, as regards rivers and lowness, but 
also in exploring expeditions off unknown coasts, where the 
existence of rivers is uncertain, and they are anxiously sought 
for. In reading the accounts which we hear of the surveys 
of the coast of New Holland, I have fancied that had a hydro- 


of the Sea off the Coast of British Guiana. 45 


meter been used for ascertaining the specific gravity of the 
water, where the proximity of the river has been conjectur- 
ed and laboriously sought for, the enterprising navigators 
would have had a great aid in solving the problem. It may 
be said, that the coast of British Guiana is almost peculiar, on 
account of the many and large rivers by which it is broken. 
This is true; and, the diminution of the specific gravity 
of the water of the sea there is, in proportion, remarkable. 
Where fewer and smaller rivers have their outlet, there a less 
diminution, but some diminution, may be expected to be found 
on approaching land, appreciable by the hydrometer and an 
indication of the cireumstance,—the difference being only in 
degree. 

In conclusion, I may remark, that the sea for many miles 
off the coast of British Guiana is more or less discoloured ; 
near the land itis the colour of the Thames at-London bridge, 
—light brown. This, with increasing distance from the shore, 
acquires a greenish hue; the pure blue of the ocean is hard- 
ly observable within eighty miles of the land. In all the 
specimens of sea-water which I had taken up, with the ex- 
ceptions of Nos. 8 and 9, there was, on rest, a minute sedi- 
ment (the cause chiefly of the discoloration), diminishing 
withthe distance at which each was collected. Observed under 
the microscope, this sediment, in each instance, appeared to 
consist of granular matter, the granules commonly less than 
zoboo inch in diameter, and of minute lamine of irregular 
form, seldom exceeding 5155 inch in diameter. The exceeding 
firmness of this discolouring matter is not surprising, when 
it is considered that the rivers which are the carriers of it, 
flow for many miles with a very sluggish course; and that 
the bottoms of many of them, perhaps of all of them, in part, 
are actually below the level of the sea. The discolouring 
material is, no doubt, chiefly earthy matter, and probably 
mixed with very minute portions of vegetable and animal 
matter: this seems to be indicated by the granules being 
collected together in little masses. Resting on the sediment 
in the specimen of water taken up close to the shore, was a 
mucor-like substance. And, it may be, that to the presence 
of a portion of animal and vegetable matter, the alluvial soil 


46 Dr Davy on the 


of British Guiana, so productive without manure, in part 
owes its fertility, as well as in part to the extreme minute- 
ness of division of the inorganic earthy portion, its principal 
constituent. Believe me, my dear Sir, very faithfully yours, 
J. Davy. 
BaRBADOES, August 15, 1847. 


On the Urinary Secretion of certain Animals, considered in 
connection with their Temperature, Food, §c. By JOHN 
Davy, M.D., F.R.S. Lond. & Ed., &e. 


1. It is well known that the urinary secretion in the in- 
stance of many birds,—animals exceeding all others in tem- 
perature,—consists chiefly of lithate of ammonia. So far as 
my inquiries have extended, I have not met with a single ex- 
ception ; even in the case of birds, as the parrot and the dove, 
living in confinement, restricted to a diet entirely vegetable, 
IT have found it the same. The dove, in the particular in- 
stance to which I allude, was fed on Guinea and Indian corn, 
the parrot on bread and fruit, chiefly the plantain ; and other 
parrots of several kinds, the urine of which I examined in 
Ceylon many years ago, and was found similar, were fed 
chiefly on rice and plantains. 

2. Insects, with a variable temperature, varying, it would 
appear, with the degree of their excitement, or energy of ac- 
tion, or of respiration, whether living on vegetable or animal 
matter, or on a mixture of the two, have, according to my ex- 
perience, a urinary secretion like that of birds, composed 
chiefly of lithate of ammonia and lithic acid. 

3. Spiders, of low temperature, but of considerable activity, 
living entirely on insects, secrete a urine of a different kind, 
being composed, as I have found it, of xanthic oxide. 

4, Serpents, of low temperature, a few degrees only above 
that of the atmosphere in which they live, occasionally, like 
the spiders, making great muscular exertions, and, like them, 
capable of living a long time without food, and their food be- 
ing entirely animal, have their urinary secretion composed 
chiefly of lithate of ammonia. 


Urinary Secretion of certain Animals. AT 


5. Lizards, with a temperature like that of serpents, and, 
like them, living entirely on animal matter, resemble them 
also, so far as my experience allows me to speak, in the com- 
position and quality of their urine. The trials I have made 
of it have been limited to that of three or four different spe- 
cies. 

6. The frog and toad, both of very low temperature, living 
entirely on animal matter, and capable of long continued 
fasts, have a urinary secretion different from that of any of 
the preceding. In all the preceding instances, this secretion 
would appear to pass from the secerning organs,—the kidneys, 
—in a semifluid state (granules of lithate of ammonia, mixed 
with a little watery fluid), and to become solid before it is 
voided, or shortly after, in consequence of the absorption of 
the aqueous part in the cloaca serving as a urinary recep- 
tacle, or its loss by evaporation in the open air. But, in the 
instance of these Batrachian animals, it is secreted by the 
kidneys, in a liquid state, and very dilute, and is commonly, 
after passing into the cloaca, received into a very thin, and 
dilatable, and contractile bladder, which communicates by a 
large longitudinal opening, provided with a valve,” with the 
lower part of the intestinal canal,—the cloaca,—in which the 
waters terminate.t The dilute liquid urine of these animals 
consists chiefly of water holding, in solution, urea and a little 
saline matter, and, in its composition, may be considered as 
an approach to the human urinary secretion. Many years 


* JT am not aware that the valvular structure alluded to above has yet been 
described ; it is a semiluna fold of the delicate lining membrane of the cloaca, 
extending across, not unlike the valve of a vein in its form, and, in position, in 
regard to the opening into the bladder, not unlike that of epiglottis in relation 
to the glottis. When pressed down, as by the pressure of a probe moved to- 
wards the anal opening, it completely covers the aperture into the bladder. It 
is perfectly well adapted to allow a fluid, descending from the waters, to pass 
when the sphincter ani is closed, and to prevent fecal matter from entering the 
bladder in its descent through the cloaca, where it never lodges, a sphincter 
above keeping it in the large intestine. 

+ As difference of opinion exists amongst high authorities in comparative 
anatomy relative to the termination of the waters of these animals, I may men- 
tion that I have passed a fine leaden probe through the water of the toad into 
its cloaca, 


48 Dr Davy on the 


ago, I found this to be the nature of the urine of a large spe- 
cies of frog, and of a toad which I examined in Ceylon.* 
Lately, I have found the urine of the toad of this island (Bar- 
badoes), which is of the same species as the common toad of 
Europe (Rana bufo), of like composition. 

What are the bearings of these facts in their physiological 
relations? Do they not prove that neither the temperature 
of the animal, nor its activity, nor even its food (that is, the © 
physiological conditions connected with respiration, muscular 
action, digestion, &c.), affect, materially, the nature, as to 
composition, of the urinary secretion? And does it not fol- 
low that the quality of this secretion, therefore, must depend 
chiefly on the intimate structure of the secerning organs ? 
This is a view which, for a long while, has appeared to me 
most consistent with established facts ; though, I believe, it 
has never been generally adopted, and, recently, other views 
have been taken, theoretically very different, which have been 
supported by much ingenuity of reasoning, but not, I appre- 
hend, equally by facts. 

I have spoken of the toad and frog as having a urinary 
bladder. The function of the organ I allude to, and its pro- 
per denomination, have, for a long while, been a subject of 
difference of opinion; some inquirers holding it to be a re- 
ceptacle for urine, others, the receptacle of a fluid not derived 
from the kidneys, but rather the product of cutaneous absorp- 
tion. Even recently, I find that two English physiologists 
maintain this latter opinion; one of them seems to ground 
it chiefly on the anatomical argument, that the vesicle, the 
bladder of these animals, is the “‘ unobliterated remains of 
the allantois of the embryo.” Granted that it is so, if it be 
found to have increased in size with the growth of the ani- 
mal, and to be so modified as to answer the purpose of a 
urinary bladder, fitted to receive this fluid, and to let it es- 
cape when necessary, and that the fluid which is found in it 
is actually of the nature of urine, as regards chemical com- 


* The results will be found in a paper published in the Philosophical Trans- 
actions for, I believe, 1817, and in the first volume of my Researches. 

7 Professor Rymer Jones, in his “General Outlines of the Animal Kingdom,’ 
p- 535. London, 1841. 


Urinary Secretion of certain Animals. 49 


position, must it not be considered, having the functions of a 
urinary bladder, to be such in reality? Moreover, apart 
from the chemical composition of the fluid, it appears to me 
difficult to conceive how, on the supposition of absorption (the 
ground on which the other physiologist supports his opinion),* 
it can find its way into the bladder, inasmuch as this organ 
is provided with few bloodvessels from which an inhalation 
can take place ; nor does it appear to possess the property of 
imbibition or endosmosis, by which fluid could be drawn into 
it from the cavity of the abdomen; for when immersed in wa- 
ter, empty and collapsed én situ, immediately after the deca- 
pitation of the animal, it does not become distended. 

Before concluding, I would make one remark, which is, 
that though I believe the quality of the secretion of the kid- 
neys to depend chiefly on structure, I am also of opinion that 
this secretion is affected, in a minor degree, by circumstances 
of diet, and of atmospheric temperature, and especially in 
man. In acold or cool climate, using a diet chiefly of ani- 
mal food, lithic acid and lithate of ammonia are found com- 
monly, in a vegetable proportion, in the human urine ; but 
not so in a hot climate, not even when the diet is the same; 
and, in consequence, within the tropics, where least oxygen 
is consumed in respiration, the ailments depending on the 
formation of gravel and calculi are almost unknown. In the 
instances of other animals, no doubt, the proportion of the 
urinary matter, the quantity secreted, depends very much on 
the quantity of food taken ; and, when, as in some instances, 
it is a mixture of animal and vegetable matter, and the urine 
secreted is semifluid or concrete highly azotised matter, as in 
some birds or insects, it depends also on the quantity of the 
former that is consumed. 


BARBADOES, September 6, 1847. 


* Professor Bell, in article Amphibia , Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, 
p- 104. 


VOL. XLIV. NO, LXXXVIL—JAN, 1848. D 


( 50 ) 


Observations on the Petrifaction of Shells in the Mediterranean. 
By MM. MaArceEL De SERRES and L. Figur. 


All the researches of modern geology seem to prove that nothing 
is changed in the order of nature, and that the same causes which 
operated in the first ages of the world, are still influencing the oc- 
currences that take place under our own eyes. Certain facts, how- 
ever, have hitherto appeared not to be referable to this common 
origin; and the petrifaction of organic remains, in the midst of 
geological formations, is daily adduced as one of the most weighty 
arguments against this general law. 

Few persons, indeed, will be ready to admit what, however, is an 
indisputable fact, that there are now forming, in the bosom of seas, 
petvifactions which, in the double respect of chemical composition 
and mode of petrifaction, are altogether analogous to those which 
are formed in the bed of the ancient sea. The object of this me- 
moir is to demonstrate this general fact, and to study the pheno- 
mena by means of which it is brought about. 

We hope to prove, at the same time, that the sandstones contain- 
ing the molluscous remains which cover, as is well known, spaces of 
such vast extent in the tertiary formations, have their analogues in 
the shelly rocks of recent formation, which are formed, in our own 
day, in the middle of the Mediterranean. 


I. On the Mode in which Organic Bodies became Petrified in 
Historical and Geological Eras. 


If we reason according to the facts which occur in our own day, 
certain conditions seem necessary to produce the petrifaction of 
organised bodies, or, in other words, these petrifactions are not ob- 
served but where these conditions are united. We may admit, with- 
out deviating too much from probability, that the same cireum- 
stances were necessary to produce this phenomenon during the geo- 
logical epochs. 

is order that organic remains may become petrified, that is to 
say, in order that the organic matter they contain may be replaced 
by a mineral substance which preserves their forms and most deli- 
cate lineaments, it is necessary, in our opinion, 1s¢, that these remains 
should be sunk in great masses of water ; Qdly, that the waters 
should contain, in certain abundance, calcareous or siliceous salts. 

It is easy to conceive, that the first of these conditions must have 
been constantly present during geological times, as well in respect 
to the organised species deposited in seas, as in regard to those 
existing in fresh waters. ‘lo be convinced of this, it is sufficient 
to compare the extent occupied by seas at periods when there was 
no human witness, with that which they now occupy. 


Observations on the Petrifaction of Shells, Se. 51 


In fact, the waters which filled the basin of the seas of geological 
times, not only occupied very large spaces, but they also possessed a 
more energetic dissolving property, if we may judge from the great 
quantity of substances which they have deposited on the surface of for- 
mations. A similar comparison between the fresh waters of the old 
world, and those which now fill the lakes and lowest points of con- 
tinents, will lead to the same conclusion. Indeed, it does not ap- 
pear that existing fresh waters can produce such considerable de- 
posits as those which have been left by the rivers and lakes of the 
old world. 

The important part which carbonate of lime and silex have per- 
formed in the phenomenon of petrifaction, appears from a simple 
examination of facts. The greater part of geological petrifactions 
have been produced by means of carbonate of lime. ‘This pheno- 
menon is always more complete when the waters among which it 
takes place contain this salt in abundance. When the gypseous 
formations contain organic remains, which rarely happens in regard 
to the mollusca, they are found to be in a state of incomplete petri- 
faction, as may readily be seen by examining the bones found in 
such places. It is the same with the most part of the arenaceous for- 
mations and deposits of clay, where the shells preserve their distinct 
appearance as well as in the gypseous formations. It is, in fact, 
among marls and sands that the remains of the life of geological 
times are best preserved and most frequently found. 

After the carbonate of lime, silex is the most frequent agent of 
petrifaction ; it is superior even to the carbonate of lime in the 
fidelity and delicacy with which it reproduces the finest lineaments 
of organic remains. 

Besides, certain peculiarities of these organized bodies appear to 
have been not without influence on the siliceous pseudo-morphoses, 
Thus, the parts of bodies of sufficient consistency to preserve their 
form during the time necessary for petrifaction, are almost always 
in the calcareous state, and those of less consistency have passed 
into the siliceous state. We often see the ligaments of Gryphee 
changed into silex, although the head be petrified with calcareous 
matter. The greater part of the fossil Aleyons and Sponges are 
almost always transformed into silex. In like manner, the nuclei 
of these shells are more frequently metamorphosed into silex than 
their heads. The Ananchites and the other Echinides of the green 
sandstone, whose head is almost always calcareous, have a siliceous 
nucleus in the interior, which often fills the whole space. One would 
say, that the animal matter has sometimes issued from it as if squeezed 
out by mechanical pressure. Finally, the siliceous zoophytes are 
often found disseminated throughout caleareous rocks, which seems 
to indicate a kind of electrive attraction of the animal matter for 
silex. 

Carbonate of lime and silex are not the only substances which 


52 Observations on ihe Petrifaction of Shells 


have concurred in the petrifaction of the organized bodies of the old 
world, The peroxide of iron, anhydrous or hydrated, and the sul- 
phur of iron have co-operated. Indeed Ammonites are sometimes 
transformed into Oligiste or Limonite. Many of these Ammonites, 
partly ferruginous, are not less calcareous, like the formations in 
which they are found; often they are even converted into pyrites. 

To this explanation of the petrifaction of the remains of organized 
bodies, by means of previous dissolution, it will perhaps be objected 
that the carbonate of lime and silex, which are the most ordinary 
agents in producing this phenomenon, are naturally insoluble in 
water. But we know that the carbonate of lime dissolves in an ex- 
cess of carbonic acid, particularly when aided by an increase of pres- 
sure, and the bicarbonate of lime is met with in sea-water in con- 
siderable proportion. With regard to silex, the action of alkalies, 
the elevation of temperature, the gelatinous or nascent state induce its 
dissolution, as is well known, The solubility which it acquires in these 
circumstances may be conceived to admit of the formation of the zeo- 
lithes and amygdaloids, which we so frequently meet with in the 
neighbourhood of igneous rocks, Finally, in certain circumstances, 
the silex is taken away from the rocks that contain it by the heat 
of the water alone. It is to an effect of this nature that we must 
refer the origin of these siliceous deposits, found in such great 
quantities in Iceland, at the bottom of the Geysers. MM. Dumas ad- 
mits that, in these particular cases, the silex is dissolved by the re- 
peated shock of the steam escaping from the warm springs. The 
thermal springs of that country, indeed, contain a considerable 
quantity of silex in a state of dissolution, caused by the double effect 
of heat and alkalies. 

An increase of pressure is not perhaps without influence on the 
solubility of this earth. We are tempted to believe this, on witness- 
ing silex existing in a state of solution in the greater part of subter- 
ranean waters, such as the mineral springs applied to medical pur- 
poses. Lastly, when we remark that a great number of vegetables 
contain notable quantities of silex in their stalks, and in certain of 
their members, and when we find silex in a dissolved state in the 
waters of many rivers, we are led to believe that the greater part of 
fresh waters contain small quantities of this substance. 

If we decline to admit the fact of a real dissolution of silex in the 
waters which have petrified shells in geological times, it will be suf- 
ficient, for the explanation of the phenomenon, that we admit its 
gelatinous state. If it be necessary that silex should be in a state 
of dissolution before it can produce rock-crystal, it is evident that, 
by solidifying to the gelatinous state, it has produced the silices, and 
particularly the agates and calcedonies. 

The preceding observations authorise us, therefore, to refer the 
phenomenon of the petrifaction of organic remains, during the geo- 
logical and historical epochs, to a mineral substitution brought about 


in the Mediterrancan. 53 


by means of substances dissolved in waters, where they are found in 
a gelatinous state. 


II. Facts which prove that Petrifactions are now forming in the 
bosom of existing seas, analogous to those of Geological times. 


The shells in the bottom of the Mediterranean, abandoned by the 
animals which formed them, there meet with the conditions indica- 
ted above as indispensable to their petrifaction. They are sunk in 
considerable masses of water, holding notable quantities of carbonate 
of lime in solution. Accordingly, to the calcareous carbonate which 
composed the shell in a fresh state, a new quantity may be added or 
substituted, furnished by the waters of the sea, and which replaces 
the animal matter, and the carbonate of the original lime. This is 
just what we observe, and in different degrees, according as the 
petrifaction is more or less advanced, ~ We shall afterwards study, 
with the necessary details, the whole of the different degrees of this 
phenomenon. Let us now confine ourselves to the simple announce- 
ment of the fact, which we shall immediately examine in such a way 
as to remove all doubts. 

But it is not on our own coasts only that we find shells brought 
to a state of petrifaction in our own era; we have received from 
Algiers masses of shells transformed into a crystalline limestone of 
a peculiar whiteness and brilliancy, similar to alabaster. We find 
in these shell-rocks, as they may be called, small rolled pebbles, en- 
erusted with a stalagmitic and crystalline coating. This same 
coating appears to be the cement which has agglutinated the rolled 
pebbles ; the latter are siliceous or calcareous. Among the shells 
composing these masses, we notice only genera and species of our 
own epoch, particularly Pectunculus and Cardium ; more rarely uni- 
valves. The officers who have brought us these shell petrifactions 
from the neighbourhood of Algiers, assure us that they are formed in 
our own times, and in the historical epoch. But as we have not our- 
selves observed these masses of shells inthe places where they occur, 
we cannot very positively assert that such is really their origin. 

We may add, that it is not shells alone which may be thus 
brought to the state of petrifaction in the midst of salt waters. It 
is easy to produce examples of vegetable petrifactions formed in 
recent times. We may first refer to the curious observation of M. 
Lyell. This geologist found grains of chara petrifying, in the pre- 
sent day, into calcareous matter in the lakes of Scotland, just as 
seeds of the same vegetable petrified into calcareous matter in the 
lacustrine waters of the old world. Captain Baux observed a fact of 
the same kind in the island of Mogador, Stalks of fucus, belonging to 
the same species as those living in the surrounding sea, have become, 
as it were, centres of attraction for the calcareous and siliceous salts, 
These substances have precipitated themselves on the stalks, around 
which they are moulded. Some of these stalks, as yet incompletely 


54 Observations on the Petrifaction of Shells 


petrified, shew some traces of vegetable tissue. M. Baux could 
compare them with the fuci of the neighbouring sea, and he found 
that the petrified fuci were identical with Fucus natans. 

M. Blast, of Bombay,* has discovered, in the neighbourhood of 
Cairo, an entire forest converted into silex ; the vessels, medullary 
rays, and even the most slender fibres, are distinctly visible. The 
petrified trees are from 16 to 18 metres in length, This phenome- 
non extends over a surface of many hundred miles. The whole de- 
sert which is crossed by the road from Cairo to Suez is strewed with 
these trees, which seem to have been petrified on the spot, and in 
the existing era. At least this forest is covered by nothing more 
than sand and gravels. The latter, and the trees embedded in 
them, rest on calcareous limestones, which contain oysters with 
their texture and colour so little altered, that one would believe that 
they had been but recently left by the waters of the sea. It is 
therefore probable that these substances belong to our own era; and 
we may adduce this interesting fact as tending to prove the trans- 
formation of living shells into new calcareous carbonate.} 

‘We may add, in the last place, that the waters of the sea are not 
the only ones which can cause the petrifaction of shells in the exist- 
ing period. In India, in the territory of Kurneel, there is a ther- 
mal spring which forms abundant calcareous deposits, and in which 
numerous fresh water shells of the genera Melania and Planorbis are 
found. These shells, in different states of petrifaction, are some- 
times entirely converted into calcareous spar, while others preserve 
only their interior mould; and, lastly, there are some of them 
covered with quartz crystals, while in others these crystallizations are 
in a rudimentary state. The shell deposites formed by the thermal 
spring of Kurneel, have a consistency analogous to that of the sili- 
ceous tufas of the warm springs of the Geysers in Iceland. The 
transformation of the shells of living Melania and Planorbis into 
siliceous matter is a much more surprising fact than the conversion 
of the shells of the Mediterranean into calcareous matter different 
from that of which they were primitively constituted. 

The facts which we have passed in review sufficiently demonstrate, 
in our opinion, the reality of the phenomenon of the petrifaction of 
shells in the present day, and impart to it besides a remarkably 
general character. We must now examine the phenomenon more 
closely, by following the progress, and pointing out the differences 
which present themselves according to the diversity of the species. 


* L’Institut, April 1846, p. 116. 

t Along with these facts, which we are unable to give on our own autho- 
rity, we may add the two following, which are of great value in reference to 
the question now before us :— 

The Cardium edule, in a petrified state, is said to form considerable banks at 
the mouth of the Sommé. 

At Caucale, oyster-shells, which have been thrown into the sea after having 
appeared at table, there become petrified like our shells in the Mediterranean. 
If this statement be correct, it is evident that it meets all objections. 


in the Mediterranean. toy, 


III. On the progress and different degrees of the Petrifaction of 
Shells. 


The indispensable condition for shells becoming petrified in our 
epoch is, that they remain for a very long period submerged in the 
sea. When merely left on the shore they exfoliate and become 
disintegrated, but never petrify. The whole is then reduced by a 
slow but total destruction, the rapidity of which depends on the ex- 
ternal circumstances to which they are subjected. But the process 
is very different with those which remain sunk in the water. 

The shells abandoned by the animals which inhabit them, and 
principally such as are left near the shore, are for a long time tossed 
about by the waves. The first modification they undergo is in the 
alteration of their colours. Thus discoloured, they are often thrown 
out on the beach, where they are found in great plenty after rough 
weather and violent winds. The loss of their natural colours is the 
first effect produced on the shells and the solid and calcareous tubes 
of the Annelides, then on the stony masses of the Polypi; the se- 
cond, and the more considerable, consists of the alteration of their 
substance. ‘This alteration first appears most evidently on the shells 
provided with angles and elevated ridges. The grooves and promi- 
nent parts disappear, and the surface becomes uniform. This is 
particularly observable in the large ribbed Buccini, such as Cardium 
album, trebberea, tuberculatum, and aculeatum. The prominent 
ribs, and the osseous interstices, which are so conspicuous in the 
fresh shells, scarcely leave sensible traces of their existence when 
the alteration is somewhat advanced. This first modification is par- 
ticularly obvious in the Pectunculi, in which it often exposes their 
singular structure beneath the external covering. The Citheree 
likewise lose their external coat, and exhibit the structure of their 
interior layer. 

In proportion as these modifications advance, sand is precipitated 
into the interior of the valves of the shell-bearing Molluses, where it 
becomes agglutinated and hardened, occasionally enclosing more or 
less considerable remains of small shells in the interior of their 
masses. ‘he calcareous matter which, by the effect of this mineral 
substitution, is precipitated into the very substance of the shells, 
often becomes there a kind of sphere of attraction for salts of every 
kind existing in a state of solution in the sea-water; in consequence 
of this attraction, the carbonate of lime is precipitated on the exterior 
surface, as well as on the interior of the shells, and there forms a 
crystallization often well-marked, and sometimes of considerable re- 
gularity. ‘Lhe form of these crystals is referable, for the most part, 
to the inverse variety of Haiiy. 

We have collected a considerable number of shells, in which the 
original snbstance has almost wholly disappeared, and is replaced by a 
carbonate of crystalline lime, the aspect, colour, and transparency of 
which have no relation to that which at first composed the shell. The 


55 Observations on the Petrijaction of Shells 


difference is so great, that if the carbonate of crystalline lime had 
not preserved the general form of the shell, it would be impossible to 
recognise the origin of their new bodies. We have also found a Tri- 
ton, the modiferum of Lamarck, which presented singular cireum- 
stances. All the inequalities found on the surface in a fresh state 
have completely disappeared, and it has become quite smooth ; it is 
wholly transformed into a crystalline limestone. One of its sides 
has lost a part of its substance; and this opening seems to have 
served as a passage to the lapideous liquids which have penetrated 
into the interior of its cavity, and by accumulating there, have given 
it a very great density and hardness. We likewise possess a curious 
specimen of a mass of shells petrified and agglutinated together, 
found in the neighbourhood of Algiers. We can distinguish among 
these shells, Murex tranaclus and arentinus, Natica cruentata, 
Venus verrucosa and gassina, Cardium tuberculatum and eduli, 
Pecten glaber, and Pectunculus glycimeris. We likewise notice a 
Lucina, not sufficiently entire to be determined ; and, lastly, a cast 
resembling Mytilus afer, which is known to live on the coasts of 
Barbary. Among the most remarkable individuals of the last men- 
tioned localities, and which, like these just spoken of, have been trans- 
formed into crystalline alabaster, we may mention particularly a 
Triton modiferum of large size ; it is almost double the dimensions 
of those belonging to our coasts; numerous inverse crystals of car- 
bonate of lime are deposited in its interior. We likewise possess ano- 
ther fragment about 40 square centimeters, composed almost entirely of 
the agglutinated valves of Petcunculi, which are likewise transformed 
into crystalline alabaster. The valves are soldered to each other by 
a gluten of the same nature, the whole as solid and brilliant as that 
composing the valves themselves. ‘This specimen, the origin of which 
is unknown to us, appears, however, to come from our own coasts, 
for it existed in the collection of the Faculty of Sciences, long before 
we had formed settlements in Algiers. 

All the shells in the bosom of seas do not undergo the same kind 
of alterations. For the most part, Oysters and Pectens receive the 
lapidific fluids only between the leaves of their lamina, which renders 
them more solid and stony than in their fresh state. Often the 
species of this genus not having very thick valves, such, for example, 
as Ostrea cristata, are impregnated with a calcareous gluten, which 
solders the valves together, in the same manner that takes place in a 
great number of fossil species, particularly those of the secondary 
formations. Sometimes the stony valves of large oysters, particu- 
larly those of Ostrea edulis in the Mediterranean, are covered on the 
outside with crystals of the carbonate of Jime. When this quantity 
is considerable, it renders these oysters as dense as those of geolo- 
gical times. The superior valves of the Pectens, are likewise covered 
with small calcareous or sandy deposits; but the latter are never 


abundant, the valves of these shells not being of sufficient thick- 
ness, 


in the Mediterranean. 57 


When the petrifaction has reached its last stage, the carbonate of 
lime which composed the shell in its fresh state, has totally disap- 
peared. It has been replaced, pretty generally, by a crystalline cal- 
careous substance, which retains, more or less, the form and struc- 

ture of the shell in which it was formed. We pretty often see shells 
metamorphosed in this manner into new limestone, encrusted with a 
layer of sand, more or less thick, and always indurated. 

All kinds of shells do not appear susceptible of petrifying in the 
same degree ; we have hitherto observed very few species of the genus 
Venus in this state. A certain number, however, are to be found 
in the Mediterranean, among which we may mention, as the most 
common, Venus decussata, virginea, rugosa and galinea. This cir- 
cumstance is so much the more remarkable, as this genus is ex- 
tremely frequent in the tertiary formations, where it is petrified, like 
the greater number of the species of this formation. The same thing 
may be observed of the small Tellinze, so numerous in the Mediter- 
ranean, and which, notwithstanding, are very rarely petrified.* 

There is, lastly, another kind of alteration presented by shells, and 
of which we shall only say a few words, because it is not connected 
very directly with the question under discussion ; and which, more- 
over, takes place among fresh as well as petrified shells. When 
shells, or rocks containing shells, remain a long time in the mud or 
in puddles of brackish water, such as are very often found along the 
shores of the Mediterranean, they become of a black or deep blue 
colour, more or less intense. This change in the colour does not ex- 
tend much further than the exterior surface. To be convinced of 
this, we have only to break an oyster, or some other shell thus dark- 
ened, when we perceive that the shade of colour does not go beyond 
afew millimetres beneath the surface; the rest of the shell presents 
the white colour of carbonate of lime. This alteration is owing to 
the sulphur of iron, which is formed at the expense of the oxide of 
iron, forming part of the shell, and the sulphuretted hydrogen spon- 


* We believe that the facts contained in this chapter, afford a sufficient an- 
swer to an objection which has been made to us by some geologists, and which we 
shall now state. It is alleged that the petrified shells found on the shores of 
the Mediterranean may come from geological formations; the waves may have 
detached these shells from the tertiary formations, in places where these forma- 
tions formed the bottom of the sea, and they may have been thrown up on the 
bank. The two following remarks are suflicient to destroy this argument :— 

1. We find, in the Mediterranean, shells in every stage of petrifaction, from 
simple discoloration to their complete transformation into carbonate of cerys- 
talline lime. 

2. The molecular structure of the petrified shells of the present day is often 
very different from the structure of fossil shells. The former most frequently 
have a crystalline texture ; the latter are always in a compact state. 

Besides, the facts which we shall afterwards mention, in reference to the mo- 
dern shelly sandstone now preduced in the Mediterranean, do not leave us any 


roonr to doubt the reality of the important phenomenon we are illustrating in 
this memoir. 


58 Observations on the Petrifactions of Shells 


taneously disengaged from the mud in the midst of which the shells 
are lying. Indeed, if we scrape the black part of the shells, and 
treat them with diluted chlorhydric acid, suspending a paper sa- 
turated with acetate of lead in the phial in which the gas is dis- 
engaged, the paper blackens in a few instants. 


IV. On the Chemical Composition of Shells, considered in a fresh and 
also in a petrified state, during Historical and Geological times. 


It is necessary, in order to complete the preceding observations, 
to submit the shells petrified during the two great epochs in the his- 
tory of the earth, to a chemical examination, 

In order to render the results at which we arrive comparable, 
we must examine the same species found petrified in geological for- 
mations and in our own seas, for it would be illogical to compare, in 
respect to chemical composition, a Belemnite or an Ammonite, for 
example, with a Mactra, a Buccinum, or any other genus of a modern 
formation. Among the genera petrified in present times, we have 
chosen particularly those fouud most frequently in that state, that is 
to say, Oysters, Pectunculi, and Buccinum. Finally, as none of 
these shells, with the exception of Ostrea, from the ocean, have 
hitherto been subjected to analysis, we have thought it right to ana- 
lyse chemically all these species taken in a fresh state. 

The following are some of the processes followed in these anslyses, 
The animal matter has been determined in the following manner ; 
10 grammes of the shell were taken, reduced to powder, and de- 
prived of the water it contained by prolonged exposure to a heat of 
about 150 degrees, till the weight of the matter ceased to undergo 
any change. ‘hese 10 grammes of matter, perfectly free from water, 
were then calcined to a red heat in a porcelain crucible, in order to 
destroy the organic matter. As the read heat had necessarily de- 
composed a part of the carbonate of lime of the shell, the calcined 
matter was then moistened with a concentrated solution of carbonate 
of ammonia ; a heat, below a red heat, was then carefully applied, in 
order to recompose the carbonate of lime destroyed, at the expense 
of the carbonate ef ammonia. On again weighing the matter after 
this treatment, the loss undergone by the 10 grammes of matter em- 
ployed, represented the organic matter destroyed. We have at- 
tempted to determine the animal matter by another process, for the 
difficulty of drying the shell thoroughly, without altering the animal 
matter, may leave some doubt. The shell, dried only by a heat of 
100 degrees, has been dissolved in hydrochloric acid, the precaution 
being taken to add this acid in small portions, in order to prevent 
the liquor becoming heated. ‘The shell dissolved, leaving only the 
insoluble animal matter under the form of filaments or delicate mem- 
branes, just in the same manner as when bones are treated with 
hydrochloric acid in order to extract the gelatine. 

By operating in this manner, we have always obtained a smaller 


in the Mediterranean. 59 


quantity of animal matter than by calcination ; probably because a 

art of the organic matter was dissolved in the chlorhydrid acid. 
We know, indeed, that in the dissolution of the gelatine of bones by 
acids, it is impossible to prevent the dissolution of a small quantity 
of the organic substance. This method, however, served to check 
the results of the first method, and to shew that the relative numbers 
obtained by the two methods followed in the experiments were the 
same. We may observe, however, that the last mentioned process 
could not always be followed in regard to shells recently petrified. 
These often retain a little sand between their lamine, of which it is 
impossible to deprive them. After the action of the acid, this sand 
remains mingled with the animal matter, which, besides, is in very 
small proportions.* 

The phosphate of lime has been treated by evaporating the solu- 
tion of shells in chlorhydric acid nearly to dryness, again taking it 
up in water, evaporating it anew, and slightly calcining the residuum. 
Taken up with water, the latter leaves a mixture of phosphate and 
sulphate of lime. As the sulphate of lime would have required too 
many washings to be freed from the phosphate of lime, the mixture 
was weighed, dissolved in chlorhydric acid, and the sulphuric acid 
precipitated by a salt of barytes. The weight of the sulphate of 
barytes indicated the quantity of the sulphate of lime, and the dif- 
ference between the weight of the sulphate of lime from that of the 
primitive mixture, indicated the quantity of the phosphate of lime. 

The other constituent principles of shells have been determined 
by the ordinary means, agitating the solution in chlorhydric acid. 


Table of Analyses of Living Shells, and of such as have been 
petrified in Geological and Historical eras. 


OYSTERS. 


Ostrea, nearly 


- Vi. 
Oe = eee Ostrea edulis. | related to Ostrea 
Lamarck, living in| "27: ©. petrifiegin| hippopus of the 
aa ae the Mediter superior marine 
3 ranean. tertiary formations 


ranean. f 
(Pliocene.) 


% Se 


Animal Matters, .  . 3 1:5 0-8 
Carbonate of Lime, . : 96:3 96:5 
Carbonate of Magnesia, ; O1 14 
Sulphate of Lime,. . : 07 0:5 
Phosphate of Lime, . y ene $! 
Oxide ofIron,. . . (traces) Ld 0:8 


100-0 100°0 100°0 


* The animal matter obtained from shells is azoted, and presents the character 
of coagulated albumen. 


60 


Observations on the Petrifaction of Shells 


ee SS 


PECTENS 


Animal Matters, 
Carbonate of Lime, 3 
Carbonate of Magnesia, 
Sulphate of Lime, . 
Phosphate of Lime, A 
Oxide of Iron, Sehr 


Pecten glaber, 
living in the 
Mediterranean. 


Pecten of the 
superior marine 
tertiaryformations 


Pecten glaber, 
petrified in the 
Mediterranean. 


(Pliocene.) 

3:0 0:9 O7 
96:0 97:3 96:7 
(traces) 078 0-4 
0:7 05 08 
0-3 Ae ots 
(traces) 0:5 14 
100°0 100-0 100-0 


Venus semilis, of 


Venus virginea, Venus virginea, ¥ : A 
living in the petrified in the Poe tee 
Mediterranean. Mediterranean. |'© (Brochi.) rons 
Animal Matters, 3:0 1:0 
Carbonate of Lime, 96°6 97°9 
Carbonate of Magnesia, (traces) ae 
Sulphate of Lime, . 06 
Phosphate of Lime, . : sii 
Oxide of Iron, hes oi (traces) 0:5 
100:0 1000 
PECTUNCULI. 
| Peet. alycimeris | Peet. glicimeris | Pectunculus pulvi- 
| and famulatus, | and famulatus, natus of the 
| living in the | petrified in the superior marine 
Mediterranean, | Mediterranean. |tertiary formations 
Animal Matters, 2-4 | 07 0:8 
Carbonate of Lime, 97-2 99:0 98-4 
Carbonate of Magnesia, (traces) oie state 
Sulphate of Lime,. . O-4 0:3 0-4 
Oxide of Iron, (traces) O-4 
100-0 | 100-0 1000 
\ 
CARDIUMS, * 
Cardium tubercu- | C.tuberculatum, | Cardium of the 
latum, living in the| petrified in the superior marine 
Mediterranean. Mediterranean. |tertiaryformations 
Animal Matters, *  . 2-0 Os 0-5 
Carbonate of Lime, 97°8 98-7 98:8 
Carbonate of Magnesia, (traces) (traces) OrL 
Sulphate of Lime,. . 0-2 0-5 0°3 
Oxide of Iron, Betes (traces) (traces) 0:3 
100-0 100-0 100-0 


in the Mediterranean. 61 


The result of these analyses sufficiently shews the remarkable re- 
semblance that prevails, in respect to their composition, between the 
shells petrified in geological times, and those petrifying in the Medi- 
terranean. The small quantity of animal matter contained in both 
is pretty nearly the same ; shells recently petrified offer only a slight 
excess over fossil species, which, however, is never considerable. 

The phosphate of lime existing in certain of these shells in a living 
state, such as the Oysters, Pectens, and Venus, is not found in petri- 
fied shells, whatever be their date. This peculiarity perfectly ac- 
cords with the geological observations mentioned above. 

It will be remarked, finally, that all the shells examined contain 
sulphate of lime. Although this salt is found in pretty considerable 
proportion, it had not been indicated in the analyses of oysters, as 
given by Vauquelin, Bucholz, and Brandex. The existence of this 
earthy salt cannot, however, be doubted ; for if we calcine the shells 
of Oysters, Pectens, and Venus, and dissolve the residue of this cal- 
cination in chlorhydric acid, the liquor will discharge sulphuretted 
hydrogen in abundance. 


Of the Shelly Sandstones now forming in the Mediterranean. 


We ought, in conclusion, to direct attention to those shelly sand- 
stones, which we observe in our own day on the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean, and which we have already referred to as representing the 
analogues of the shelly sandstones met with in such abundance in 
geological formations, particularly of the tertiary epoch. 

It often happens that the sands of the Mediterranean, when they 
become cemented together, incorporate in their masses a great number 
of shells in a more or less advanced state of petrifaction, and thus 
form true banks of shells. These modern shelly sandstones differ 
from the shelly sandstones peculiar to the geological formations only 
in their small extent. They are found disseminated in the midst of 
sea-sands, forming scattered insulated blocks, without continuity, and 
at very unequal distances. 

It las appeared to us interesting to ascertain the nature of the 
gluten which gives adherence and solidity to these sands, and which 
produces the numerous arenaceous agglomerations the sea throws up 
on its shores, By separating the shells and their debris from these 
shelly rocks, and treating them with chlorhydric acid, which dissolves 
the smallest detritus of the shells not separated by mechanical means, 
a residuum remains, which presents the physical qualities of clay. 
This kind of mineral gluten, then, is analogous to Roman cement ; 
like it, it is very plastic, and hardens and solidifies under water. We 
may add that a clay quite analogous, and which produces the same 
effects, is found on the shores of the ocean, principally on the coasts 
near Havre, where one of us observed it. 

Although these shelly rocks are found on the shores only in small, 
and almost always insulated masses, it is yet probable that they con- 


62 Observations on the Petrifaction of Shells 


stitute, in the middle of the seas, large and extensive masses, of 
which we find only the fragments. It cannot be doubted that they 
are formed in the middle of the salt waters, when we remark, that 
the part which does not rest on the bottom is often covered, not 
only by Annelides of the genus Serpula, but also by different Zoo- 
phytes. We sometimes also find Barnacles upon them, as on many 
of the fossil remains of terrestrial mammifera which have been car- 
ried into the sea in geological times. 

The formation of these shelly sandstones presents a great number 
of curious circumstances, which we shall rapidly point out. Metallic 
objects remaining long in the sea, become, as it were, centres of at- 
traction for the substances in solution in the waters. These sub- 
stances are precipitated on their surface, and cover them with a coat- 
ing often of very considerable thickness and hardness. 

We possess a musket which appears to have lain long in the sea. 
It is covered with a sandy shelly layer, from 5 to 6 centimeters thick, 
and of great hardness. In our collections we possess many iron in- 
struments, shewing the same peculiarities. | We have exhibited to 
the Academy the blade of a knife, still adhering to its handle, which 
has been surrounded by a layer of shelly sand nearly 4 centimeters 
in thickness. Besides the fragments of shells collected by us, and 
hardened by means of a ferruginous cement, which compose this kind 
of rock, we also observe small pebbles in it, like those generally found 
in the sea. We can easily perceive, from the examination of the 
knife thus encased, the influence which the oxide of iron has exerted 
on the production of the cement which agelutinates the sand, the 
shells, and small pebbles. The iron composing the blade and the 
nails of the handle is converted into limonite or hydrated peroxide, 
and, by spreading through the mass of sandstone, it has communi- 
cated a considerable solidity and hardness to this new rock. 

The phenomenon which we have seen exemplified on small objects, 
is likewise produced on a large scale, and in circumstances too curious 
not to be at least rapidly noticed. In 1827, by the advice of Davy, 
the English Admiralty caused the copper sheeting of vessels to be 
covered with a certain number of plates of zinc, in order to oppose, 
by a galvanic action, the rapid corrosion of the metal in sea-water, 
particularly in some parts of the coast of Africa. But this expedient 
had soon to be abandoned, because considerable deposits of shells and 
agglutinated sand encrusted the vessel so rapidly, that its progress 
was retarded. Here the galvanic action accelerated the phenomenon. 
The copper, rendered negatively electrical by the pile formed by the 
superimposed zinc and copper, attracted the insoluble bases, the mag- 
nesia and lime held in solution iu the sea-water, and the sides of the 
vessel began to be covered with carbonate of lime and magnesia ; 
the shells and sand were then precipitated on these earthy deposites. 
The electrical action induced and accelerated the phenomenon, but 
it is evident that it is entirely of the same order as those we have 
been examining. 


in the Mediterranean. 63 


V. Have the Physical Phenomena of the Ancient World any 
Analogy with the Phenomena now taking place ? 


The preceding facts prove that the petrifaction of shells is not a 
phenomenon peculiar to past ages, since it is still observed in our 
own days. ‘This phenomenon cannot, therefore, be brought forward 
against the opinion of the actual permanence of the causes which 
have operated in the geological epochs. But it may be asked, whether 
this fact be unique, and whether the other phenomena of the mate- 
rial world concur with it in inducing us to admit that there is no 
change in the operating causes, unless it be that they exercise their 
action with less intensity, and in a less general manner. It forms 
no part of our intention to discuss this question,—one of the most de- 
licate and important connected with geology, in all its details,—in this 
place. We shall confine ourselves to examine briefly whether other 
facts do not strengthen that one we have been studying, and, like it, 
prove that the same effects have been always produced on the surface 
of the globe. 

If we turn our attention to peat-mosses, the most abundant de- 
posites of carbon we now possess, they will give us, in their alternate 
beds of marl and sand, a very accurate idea of the conversion of ancient 
forests into coal. Besides, immense rafts of wood, which the great 
rivers of America bring down to their mouths, are often transformed, 
when subjected to great pressure, into a carboniferous matter analo- 
gous to coal itself. Lastly, when wood is found in suitable circum- 
stances, such as an elevated temperature, or a considerable pressure, it 
is converted into lignite, very nearly in the samemanner as trees were 
under the same conditions, in geological times. There are no longer 
formed, it is true, deposites of ferrate of iron similar to those wrought 
in Sweden ; but ferruginous deposites have by no means ceased to be 
produced, for they are daily forming in lakes and marshes. These 
consist principally of limonite (hydrate and peroxide of iron), which 
is found sometimes in suspension in marshy or lacustrine waters, some- 
times disseminated through sandy formations. To the examples of 
this previously known, M. Daubrée has recently added another, which 
he has described to the Geological Society of France (1846.) This 
fact is not less remarkable than those which had formerly been noticed. 
On the other hand, the numerous stony beaches filled with marine 
shells, forming every day in so many different places, represent, in 
the whole of their characters and texture, the coarse limestone or 
calcaire moellon, both so replete with the remains of molluscs ; they 
are both solid and hard. Among the deposites produced every day 
under our own observation, we may mention those of the Straits of 
Messina, the harbour of Copenhagen, coasts of Ceylon, the Bay of 
Sea Dogs, of New Holland, and Guadaloupe. The Antilles also 
afford many examples of these modern formations. It is the same 
with those of the Island Anastasius (Santo Anastasio), near the east 
coast of Florida, opposite the Port of St Augustin, The solid marine 


64 Odservations on the Petrifaction of Shells 


beds which are constantly precipitated, and envelop the living shells, 
compose agglomerations which harden so rapidly as to admit of being 
employed for building. These stones are even much sought after, on 
account of their lightness and solidity: they have the advantage of 
resisting the action of projectiles without cracking, balls sinking into 
them. 

The shelly sandstones of geological times have their analogues, not 
only in those produced in our own day in the Mediterranean, but 
also in the siliceous banks formed on the shores of the ocean. M. 
De la Béche cites a very remarkable example of this on the north 
coast of Cornwall. ‘These sandstones are so solid that, in a steep 
shore which is formed of them, they have dug out caverns at New 
Park to afford shelter during embarkation. They have even built 
the church of Crantoch, which is very near, of this material. 

Banks of pudding-stone, so numerous and extensive in geological 
times, are still forming in the present day. One in particular is 
mentioned between Dives and the mouth of the Orne. ‘There is a 
vast collection of rolled pebbles, mingled with shells which have still 
the freshness of living species. These agglomerations are cemented 
with carbonate of lime, formed in part by the triturated debris of 
some of these shells, as MM. Constant Prevost and Huot have ob- 
served. In like manner, siliceous sediments are deposited every day 
from mineral springs in an indefinite number of places. These sedi- 
ments correspond to similar deposites of geological times. 

Modern travertins remind us in every respect of the travertins of 
geological epochs. The former form layers as distinctly stratified as 
the latter, which shews, as Mr Lyell remarks, that they have been 
produced by the same cause. 

No doubt these facts are insufficient to prove that all the pheno- 
mena of the old world are continued in the present day, but they 
are calculated to make us presume so in regard to the majority of 
such as are best known to us. Now, it is rational to suppose that 
such also must be the case with respect to those facts to which we 
have not yet directed our attention. It is then extremely probable 
that the same laws have always regulated physical phenomena, to 
whatever epochs they belong, for unity has been at all times the es- 
sential character of the works of Nature. 


Conclusions. 


The facts we have stated lead to the following conclusion :— 

1st, Shells which have lain for a long time in the Mediterranean 
petrify there, just as they petrified in the basin of the ancient seas. 

2d, The fossilization of the shells of the old world, and the petri- 
faction of shells in the basin of existing seas, were effected in the 
same manner, and constitute two similar phenomena. 

3d, The petrified shells of the old world, and those now met with 
in the same state on the shores of the Mediterranean, are almost 
identical in regard to their chemical composition, 


in the Mediterranean. 65 


4th, The difference which exists in the mode of substitution in 
the present day and in geological times, consists in this, that the 
petrifaction formed at these two epgchs have a different texture and 
molecular constitution; it is essentially crystalline in the former, 
while it is compact in the petrifactions of the old world. 

5th, Shells petrified in the present day do not arrive at this erys- 
talline texture till after they have passed through a certain number 
of stages, easy to be observed. They begin by losing their colour ; 
then the inequalities, asperities, and expansions of their surface dis- 
appear, and they become quite smooth. Finally, the penetration of 
the calcareous fluids causes their transformation into a stony mass, 
most commonly crystalline, and sometimes having the appearance of 
alabaster. 

6th, Univalve shells petrify less easily than bivalves. The loose 
and foliated structure, such as is observed in oysters, seems to facili- 
tate the penetration of the lapidifying liquids, 

7th, The black tint which shells often acquire by lying in sea-mud, 
arises from the reaction of sulphuretted hydrogen, spontaneously dis- 
engaged from the mud, on the oxide of iron which these shells con- 
tain. This phenomena has no connection with petrifaction. 

Sth, The phenomenon of petrifaction is very little perceptible on 
bones in modern times. By lying in the Mediterranean, they merely 
acquire greater density and solidity. 

9th, There are formed, in our own day, in the middle of the waters 
of the Mediterranean, banks of shelly sandstones which represent the 
analogues of the shelly sandstones proper to geological formations. 

10th, These shelly sandstones are produced with great facility 
around all metallic objects which remain pretty long in the sea. 

11th, The phenomena which we have proved as existing in the 
Mediterranean probably take place in the ocean; and it will be easy 
to ascertain this when naturalists turn their attention to it. 

The facts contained in this memoir concur, then, with many others, 
to prove that nothing is changed in the order of Nature, and that the 
thread of her operations is not broken.* 


* From Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Jan. 1847, p. 21. 


VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. E 


( 66 ) 


On ‘‘ the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia,” with a few Remarks on 
the Devonian Rocks of Moravia, in a Letter to Professor 
LEONHARD from Sir Roprrick I. Murcuison. With a 
Plate. Communicated in Manuscript by the Author, 
through M. Lreonuarp, for the Edinburgh New Philoso- 
phical Journal. 


MY DEAR Sir.—I avail myself of a day of leisure, to give 
you a brief general view of the Silurian system of the centre 
of Bohemia, as it has been most correctly named by M. 
Barande.* To you who have kindly undertaken to make 
better known to the scientific public of Germany, the results 
of the researches of my colleagues, M. De Verneuil, Count 
Keyserling, and myself, I have only to refer to the first chap- 
ter of our work, to remind you of the very great importance 
which is there attached to the labours of M. Barande. I 
first visited Prague in 1829, secondly in 1843, and now I have 
spent a fortnight there in company with M. De Verneuil, in the 
latter part of which we were joined by Count Keyserling. Dur- 
ing the first visit, I knew nomore of the succession of the palzo- 
zoic series of rocks and fossils beneath the mountain or ear- 
boniferous limestone (lerg-ka/k), than any of my brother geolo- 
gists of Europe; and my fellow-traveller on that occasion, 
Professor Sedgwick, and myself, having chiefly in view the 
development of the structure of the Eastern Alps,} we satis- 
fied ourselves with an excursion along the left bank of the 
Moldan, where, under the guidance of the able mineralogist 
Professor Zippe, we saw that large masses of limestone with 
trilobites were subordinate to rocks which were then, with- 
out distinction, termed “ grauwacke,” or “ transition.” With 
the exception of a few trilobites, chiefly those described by 
Count Sternberg,t the museum of Prague then offered few 
paleozoic fossils. Time rolled on, during which, by several 
oD ee, Ore NYS! Sel 


*® See Notice Preliminaire sur le Systeme Silurien, et les Trilobites de Boheme 
par Joachim Barande. Leipsic, 1846, p. 1. 

+ See Transactions of the Geological Society of London, New Series, vol. iii., 
p- 301, and Philosophical Magazine, New Series, vol. viii., August 1830. 

+ See two Notices of Count Sternberg 1825 and 1838, in the Verhandbenger 
des Vaterlandesches Museum, Prague. 


On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, 67 


years of researches in England and Wales, I established the 
Silurian system as a true natural “terrain,” which, charac- 
terised by peculiar organic remains, is separated from the 
mountain limestone above it, by the great deposit of the old 
red sandstone. This first step was the prelude to the sub- 
sequent labours of Professor Sedgwick, M. Landale, and my- 
self, whereby the “ Devonian system ” of fossiliferous lime- 
Stones, schists, sandstones, &e., was shewn to be the equiva- 
lent of the old red sandstone. In this manner the relations 
of the older series of fossiliferous strata having been unra- 
velled, the next step was to apply this basis of classification 
as exhibited in Britain to Europe and other countries, and 
see how it would there stand the test. You know the part I 
have borne in carrying out this project; and I only allude to 
it to inform you, that it was on my return from Poland and 
Silesia in 1843, whilst I was making certain additions to the 
work on Russia, that I next visited Prague, and then, for 
the first time, became really convinced of the fact, that to 
whatever extent the Silurian rocks were to be recognised in 
Germany (the strata beneath the carboniferous limestone of 
Belgium and Rhenish Prussia chiefly representing the De- 
vonian system), there could be no doubt that M. Barande 
had succeeded in demonstrating, that the palzeozoic rocks of 
the tract around Prague were of true Silurianage. He had, 
in fact, even in 1840 (and immediately after the publication 
of my classification), communicated to me his opinion, that 
the Bohemian deposits were of the same age as those I had 
described and classified. After making an excursion with 
him to view the order of the limestones and shells, I never 
shall forget the surprise and delight I felt in seeing the 
‘rooms and cabinets of this accomplished private gentleman, ab- 
solutely loaded with organic remains, nine-tenths of which had 
certainly never before been laid before geologists ; nor did I 
hesitate a moment in confirming the conclusions at which 
M. Barande had already arrived, by comparing his fossils, 
and the rocks in which they are embedded, with the animal 
forms and sections of my Silurian system. Since that time, 
M. Barande further communicated to me, that there existed 


68 On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, and 


a very clear distinction between the upper and lower Silurian 
rocks of Bohemia, in mineral character and superposition, as 
well as in organic remains ; and hence, I had no hesitation 
in announcing the fact in the opening chapter of the work 
on Russia. I always intended, however, to enjoy the plea- 
sure of examining in detail the best transverse sections of 
the Bohemian basin, and little persuasion was required to in- 
duce my colleague, De Verneuil (who, in the interval, has 
brought the Silurian and other paleozoie rocks of North 
America into an exact parallel with the European series), 
to join me in an excursion, during which he might rigorously 
scrutinize the collections of M. Barande. Having also been 
joined, as before said, by my other colleague, Count Keyser- 
ling, so distinguished by his writings on the palzeozoic rocks 
of the wild regions of the Petechora, I confidently assert, in 
the name of my friends and self, that the collection of Silu- 
rian fossils, made by M. Barande, is by far the richest yet 
made known to any one region of Europe—if not in the 
globe. I am therefore naturally anxious to offer a brief 
sketch of so remarkable a basin, the most striking points of 
which I have now explained. Admiring the beautifully di- 
versified animal forms which M. Barande has brought to 
light, my friends and myself cannot too much extol his la- 
bours of the last ten years, nor adequately commend the spi- 
rit of enterprize and love of science which have sustained an 
unaided French gentleman, who, by the very liberal employ- 
ment of his own pecuniary means, has opened out many 
quarries in search of these ancient. medals of creation; and 
who, by a sound judgment and penetrating discrimination, 
has himself successfully classed, and is now describing nearly 
800 of the Silurian fossils, each group of which distinguishes 
a well-marked physical horizon. The extreme precision with 
which M. Barande has handled this difficult portion of his 
subject is, indeed, beyond all praise; and whether I consider 
his labours in a field full of complication, or in the cabinet, 
and behold their fruitful and well-digested results, I must, 
in justice say, that his work, when completed (82 of its 120 
plates of fossils being already finished), will be one of the 


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the Devonian Rocks of Moravia. 69 


very best and most interesting monographs which has ever 
enriched geological science.* 

Referring your readers to the annexed transverse section 
across the broadest part of this Bohemian basin which con- 
tains fossils, and excluding from our view those inferior 
rocks in which no fossils have been discovered, it may be 
stated that, so defined, the Silurian rocks there extend from 
NE. to SW., through a distance of about 10 German miles, 
and have a maximum breadth of about 3} miles from NW. 
to SE. This direction of the major ellipse of the Bohemian 
basin is the same as that of the typical Silurian rocks of 
Britain, and, like the British type, consists of two great di- 
visions. The outer zone, representing the lower Silurian 
rocks, and composed of schists, shale, conglomerate, and 
quartzose rock, encircles and dips under an ellipsoid of lime- 
stone and shale, which represents the upper Silurian. The 
external zone, or that in which the oldest fossils have been 
found, is marked in its lowest stage by an earthy schist of 
greyish and dull green colours, (¢ of section, Plate II.) which is, 
in truth, a very good representative of the ‘‘ mudstones” and 
“ rotch”’ of the Silurian Regions, like which, it is devoid of any 
distinct slaty cleavage. At the places where we examined 
this rock, (Ginetz on the one.side, and Skrey on the other side 
of the basin) it is scarcely to be distinguished from other 
schists (6) which underlie it quite conformably, and are in- 
tercalated in quartzose and conglomerate greywacke, similar 
to that which at Skrey is seen to overlie the fossil stratum 
(e.) These underlying rocks, (a and 6) which M. Barande 
has very properly distinguished from the overlying by their 


* Since M. Barande issued his “ Notice Preliminaire,” and gave the first 
correct general sketch of the Silurian basin of Bohemia, with an account of 
115 species of trilobites, MM. Haule and Corda have published a prodromus of a 
publication on the Bohemian trilobites, in which I regret to observe that no 
allusion is made to the meritorious discoveries of M. Barande. I leave to 
paleontologists to decide eventually on the value of a work in which the au- 
thors profess to describe 329 species of Crustaceans! but, on the part of my 
friends and self, I must protest against their geological view, that all these di- 
versified and finely laminated strata were contemporaneous or nearly so, and 
tannot be separated into groups of successive ages. 


70 On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, and 


want of fossils, seem, however, to me to be so allied by mi- 
neral characters, and conformity of dip and strike, to those 
which overlie them, that they must be considered to form as 
truly the natural bottom of the Silurian basin of Bohemia, 
as the siliceous sandstones and arkose of Sweden, and the 
lower shale of St Petersburg (both equally void of all fossils 
except fucoids), constitute the base of the Silurian rocks of 
these countries. 

Amid the numerous species of trilobites contained in the 
lower schists (c), it is worthy of remark, that one species 
(the Paradoxides Tessini) is identical with a form which spe- 
cially characterises the lowest fossil band in Scandinavia, 
like which it is also associated with the Pattus or Agnostus. 
The specimens of the latter genus exceed in consolidation 
and perfection any thing which the rest of the world has 
offered, and have been the first to explain the true form of 
this most curious crustacean, with its rounded head and py- 
gidium united by two body segments only. Among the few 
Orthide discovered in this band of trilobites, is the Orthis 
Romingert (Barr.), which is very closely allied to the O. zestu- 
dinaria, so characteristic of the lower Silurian rocks of Bri- 
tain and other parts of Europe, and which M. De Verneuil 
has recognised as one of the surest types of the lowest Silu- 
rian strata of North America. 

These trilobite schists are surmounted by quartzo-schistoze 
masses (d d* and d”* of the section.) This order is clearly 
seen near Ginetz on the one side of the basin, and at Skrey 
on the other, in the gorge of the Beraun, to the west of that 
village. At the first mentioned places, the rock overlying the 
schist is a slighly ceyloneritic quartz rock, which passes up- 
wards into a great mass of siliceous strata, constituting a 
lofty ridge, usuaily occupied by forests ; but those relations to 
the superjacent, as well as to the subjacent strata, are well 
exposed in the deep narrow valleys of the Beraun and Litawka 
on either flank of the basin. On the right bank of the Be- 
raun, near Skrey, the ceylonerite above the trilobite beds is 
composed of coarse materials, for the most part rounded, 
of white quartz and black lydian stone, varying in size from 
that of small pebbles to the dimensions of a man’s head. The 


the Devonian Rocks of Moravia. 71 


matrix is chiefly made up of the detritus of the underlying 
schist, in one of the harder fragments of which I observed a 
portion of a Paradoxides. With some local exceptions and 
numerous dislocations towards the north-eastern extremity of 
the tract, there is a more perfect symmetry in the ascending 
series, on whatever side the section be made, than any other, 
of the same dimensions and age, with which I am acquainted. 
I will not here speak at length of the porphyry, kiesil-schifer, 
hornstone (dc), &c., which occur on the north-western side of 
the basin, which with certain bands of heavy, dark, quartzose 
grauwacke, give a peculiar aspect to the lower portion of this 
division, as seen between Nyschburg and Skrey ; but I must 
observe that the iron ores in it are scarcely to be distin- 
guished in mineral aspect from those of Dillenburg and 
other places in Nassau. There Bohemian pisolites are, how- 
ever, quite distinct from those of the Lahn and Rhine, both 
in geological position and zoological contents ; for they occur 
in the very heart of the lower Silurian Rocks, and instead of 
Devonian fossils they contain Echinosphientes, belonging to 
Cystidez, those earliest crinoids which have alone been detect- 
ed in the lower Silurian strata, and which have been so ad- 
mirably described by Leopold von Bueh. Although this is 
not the occasion to treat of the influence produced on the 
marine deposits by the eruption of porphyry, greenstone, &c., 
with which this tract abounds, nor of the varied structure 
and contents of the mineralized district near Przibram, I 
shall, however, presently allude to some igneous evolutions 
intimately connected with the sedimentary succession. The 
superior masses of the quartzose series are chiefly character- 
ised by a profusion of trilobites, the type of which is the 
Trinucleus—one species being, in my opinion the JT. carac- 
tact (mihi), and another the 7’. ornatus (Sternberg). These, 
with various forms of Phacops, Calymene, Asaphus, and 
Odentopleura, &c. are associated with the Orthis redux (Barr.), 
a form similar to one of my Caradoc fossils. It is specially 
where these quartzose rocks begin to pass upwards into al- 
ternation with soft black schists, that a new source of interest 
awaits the geologist. He is here on the upper limit of all 
those rocks to which the term ‘“‘ Lower Silurian” has been 


72 On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, and 


applied, whether in Europe or America ;* and in proceeding 
from that protozoic division to the next in ascending order, he 
cannot fail to remark, that many masses of eruptive rocks are 
interpolated, some of which have been most certainly formed 
contemporaneously with the ordinary sedimentary strata. The 
lowest of these eruptive rocks contains already more lime, 
whether inamygdaloids or disseminated, than is to be detected 
in all the subjacent lower Silurian strata ; and each superior 
course of this eruptive matter is more and more charged with 
carbonate of lime in a basis of felspathic greenstone. In truth, 
when the rock alternates with the graptolite schist and lower 
limestone of Barande, (e of section), it is perfectly undistin- 
guishable from many of those bands of “‘ schaalstein” which 
are familiar to you, as well as other German geologists in 
Nassau, and is not unlike some of the contemporaneous Silu- 
rian volcanic grits described by me in Shropshire and Rad- 
norshire, or the “ volcanic ash’’ of De la Beche. In Nassau 
the “ schaalsteins” are subordinate to true Devonian rocks, 
but in Bohemia they occur in the lowest stage of the upper 
Silurian division (e). This stage is instructively displayed 
on the left bank of the river Beraun, below the town of that 
name, where it is clearly seen to repose on the schists and 
quartzose rocks, or upper beds of the lower division, and is 
surmounted by the limestones (f, gy. and #). The bottom 
beds contain numerous forms of the most beautiful grapto- 
lites I ever saw. Thin layers of black limestone occur, and 
then the shales contain round and spheroidal nodules of 
black earthy limestone, in which M. Barande has found 
many of his best fossils. Bands of “ schaalstein,” passing on 
the one hand into a coarse-grained greenstone, and on the 
other into amygdaloidal trap, succeed, until the group gra- 
duates upwards into a solid limestone, usually of dark colour, 
which is absolutely loaded with Orthoceratites, Phragmoceras, 
and other chambered shells, and is also peculiarly distin- 
guished by containing Cardiolw. The surfaces of the upper 
portion of these lower limestones are marked by numerous 


* De Verneuil’s Table of Classification of the Paleozoic Mossils which mutu- 
ally occur in North America and Europe. Bulletin dela Soc. Geol. de France, 
1847, 


the Devonian Rocks of Moravia. 73 


corals, including the Cenfenipora escharoides, 80 characteristic 
of the Silurianrocks,and which has neveryet been found in the 
Devonian, togetherwith the Terebratulu linguataand T. imbri- 
cataor marginalis of Dalman, which occur in the upper Silurian 
rocks of Wenlock and Dudley in England, and of Gothland in 
Sweden.* In speaking of the contemporaneity of the trap- 
rocks of this part of the Silurian series of Bohemia, to youwho 
have so distinguished yourself in this department of our 
science, I must explain myself. Some of the greenstones and 
amygdaloids in question have certainly been erupted in 
amorphous masses, which have broken irregularly through 
the limestone and shale, and have often, to a great extent, 
fractured, indurated, and altered them. Such masses have, 
therefore, fairly burst through pre-existing strata; but this 
eruption having terminated, the bottom of the sea in which 
the phenomenon occurred, evidently resumed, to a great ex- 
tent, its tranquillity ; for the upper portion of the plutonic 
rock assumes a bedded form, and is followed in the ascend- 
ing order by numerous thin courses of “ schaalstein,’’ inter- 
laminated with black schists and nodular limestone, all of 
which strata are conformable over considerable areas. This 
phenomenon, which I have studied in other countries, even 
Siberia, in company with De Verneuil and Keyserling, | 
have always thought can only be explained either by sup- 
posing that the cinders or ashes derived from the eruptive foct 
were regenerated into deposits with alternating courses of 
calcareous mud, or, as is more probable, that successive par- 
tial disturbances of the sea-bottom furnished fresh subma- 
rine volcanic materials during a certain period, until the 
yolcanie action entirely ceased+ The lowest member of the 
upper Silurian Rocks of Bohemia is overlaid by limestones of 
considerable thicknesses, which M. Barande has very pro- 
perly divided into two formations (/ and g of section), by ob- 
serving, that however united in physical aspect, each is dis- 


* See Murchison’s Description of the Silurian Rocks of Sweden, Journal of the 
Geological Society of London. 

+ Here, as in the Rhenish provinces, Britain, and elsewhere, organic re- 
mains occasionally occur in the “ Schaalstein.”’ 


74 On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, and 


tinguished by fossils peculiar to it, and distinct from those of 
the underlying limestone. The middle limestone (/) is, for 
the most part thin-bedded ; but at Karlstein and other places 
it assumes a nodular or concretionary structure ; even then, 
however, it only partially contains the thinnest films of shale 
between the beds of limestone, and is usually a hard sub- 
crystalline united congeries of thin strata, having a thick- 
ness of 300 or 400 feet, the colours of which vary from whitish 
to light grey, and reddish, and occasionally even to blackish 
tints. Its chief fossils are Brachiopods and Trilobites, and 
of the former, I may enumerate Terebratula princeps, (Barr.), 
and its associates ; 7. Wilsond, with Pentamenes, Sperifer, 
Lepteena, &e. 

The upper limestone is more compact and thick-bedded, 
and is of about the same thickness as that beneath it. Ina 
transverse section, which passes from the deep gorge of St 
Iwan to Hostin, as in a few other places, this rock is seen to 
be overlaid by brown-grey shale, very slightly micaceous, 
alternating with a few courses of very thin-bedded psammite, 
and very impure limestone. This upper band is distinguished 
by a few Trilobites only, one of which is the well-known 
Phacops Hausmanni. In his “ Notice Preliminaire,’” M. Ba- 
rande has compared these three stages of calcareous strata 
with the upper Silurian subdivision, as given in my original 
work ; and has ably pointed out, that although agreeing on 
the whole with the upper Silurian of the British isles, the 
Bohemian division is characterised by local peculiarities in 
the distribution of the fauna. This observation of so good 
an observer is well worthy of notice. So far from invyali- 
dating the conclusions at which I arrived twelve years ago, 
when I published my first Synopsis of the Silurian system,* 
it confirms them in the strongest manner. I then, and in 
every subsequent publication, specially requested geologists 
to consider my swé-divisions of upper, middle, and lower 
Ludlow, and upper and lower Wenlock, as mere local British 
examples, which, even in my own country, were not minera- 
logically nor zoologically traceable for any great distance. 


* See Philosophical Magazine, London, June 1835, 


jh, . tae 


eS 


the Devonian Rocks of Moravia. 75 


I emphatically requested all those who would apply my classi- 
fication to distant parts, to look to #vo great natural portions 
only, into which the Silurian system might be expected to 
divide itself in other countries, viz. “ Lower and Upper Si- 
lurian,” the local distinctions in each of which would probably 
be found to be various in different countries ; whilst the ge- 
neral distribution of the fauna in each would, I hoped, be 
proved to harmonize with the physical and zoological arrange- 
ment of one great natural system. It is in this point of 
view that the Silurian system has since been applied to va- 
rious parts of Europe and North America, and has been 
found to stand the test. But however the smaller subdi- 
visions of distant countries may differ from each other, I 
would here remind geologists, that in these ancient rocks, as 
well as in those of secondary age, similar types of organic 
life frequently occur on the same horizon in distant lands, 
when similar mineral conditions are repeated. Thus, in the 
lowest fossilliferous schists of Ginetz and Skrey, we are re- 
minded of the Llandeilo flags and schists of England, and of 
the Alum-Slates of Sweden, by the development of large Tri- 
lobites, and the genus Battus, which, together with Orthidee 
and Cystidez, peculiarly mark these deposits. In the over- 
lying quartzose rocks of Bohemia, we cannot fail to be struck 
with their analogy to the Caradoc sandstone (even in Britain 
often in a quartz rock); and so impressed was I with this 
resemblance of these siliceous flagstones of Bohemia, which 
are loaded with Tvrinuclet, to my British types, that if I had 
seen these specimens in any cabinet, I would have said that 
they came from the Caradoc group of the lower Silurian 
rocks of my own country. 

Then, as to the upper Silurian, it strikingly resembles the 
British division of the same age, in being like it eminently 
characterised by a multitude of chambered shells (Orthoceras, 
Phrogmoceras, Cyrtoceras, Lituites, &c.), some of the charac- 
teristic species of which are most abundant in the very heart 
of this upper division in England; viz. in the shale between 
the Ludlow and Wenlock rocks. Again, the middle group of 
the upper division of Prague contains large Pentamenes, one 
of which is undistinguishable in external form from the pen- 


76 On the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, and 


tamenes Knightii of the middle limestone of the Ludlow rock, 
and in Bohemia, as in England, it is associated with the 
well-known Terebratula WVilsoni. In reference to the trilo- 
bites which occur in the wpper Silurian of Bohemia, I hope I 
may be excused for saying, that I was peculiarly gratified 
to observe, that the lower stage of the limestones of this 
age contains, as in England, the Bumastus (mihi); and that 
of the two species collected by M. Barande, one is scarcely 
distinguishable from my B. Barriensis. Now, while I state 
with some confidence, that no such species has been found in 
the lower Silurian rocks, I equally maintain (mere geologist 
as I may be), that, despite of the criticism of the learned 
naturalist Barmeister, the genus Bumastus, as defined by 
me, is well established, and never can be united, as he sug- 
gests, with the true lower Silurian genus I//e@nus, from which 
it is at once distinguished, by its completely round and per- 
fectly untrilobed (without trilobation) pygidium, whilst it is 
as absolutely separated from Nileus, by the number of seg- 
meats in its body. 

If time permitted, I could now run on in enumerating a 
remarkable number of additions to the natural history of 
geology, which will be made known and illustrated by the 
work of M. Barande; but intending to give you a mere out- 
line of what may be expected from him, I may inform you, 
that amid many analogies and identities, to some of which I 
have already alluded, the Brachiopoda alone offer about 30 
species which are absolutely identical with British and Silu- 
rian types. 

I will now conclude this letter, by informing you that Count 
Keyserling, De Verneuil, and myself, have examined the tract 
around Olmutz, subsequent to our visit to Prague. When 
Professor Glochar of Breslau, sent to your Journal a brief 
communication on the nature of the limestone of Rittberg, 
and the environs of Olmutz, surmising that it was of Silurian 
age, your valued coadjutor, M. Brown suggested, in a note, 
that it was probably, however, of Devonian age, as the fossils 
were like those of the Eifel. Since then, some additional 


* See Jahrbuch, 1842, p. 42. 


the Devonian Rocks of Moravia. 77 


fossils were collected from Rittberg, to the SW. of Olmutz, by 
M. Geveril and Koch, and having been sent to the young M. 
Hornes of Vienna to be named, my friend Count Keyserling at 
once said that they must belong to a Devonian group. Still 
the tract required examination, and it is after a circuit by 
Nebetein to Grosse, Luttein, Rittberg, Cyllechowitz, and 
Ollscham, and after collecting a good many fossils, that we 
came to the conclusion without a doubt, that these rocks be- 
long to the Devonian system. The fossils which have been 
scrupulously examined, are Bronteus, two species, Trilobite 
(pygidium only of a small species), Turritella, Macrocheilus, 
closely allied to the MW. arculatus, and to the species of the 
Hartz, Bellerophen tuberculatus, Maclurites, (species undeter- 
mined), Luomphalus two species, one of which most resemble 
one of the Hifel, Lucina proavia, L. Dufrenoyi, andt wo 
other species, Modiola (species undetermined), Terebratula re- 
ticularis, 7’. concentrica (small variety), T. pugnus (a variety 
which occurs in the Hartz, T. mycrorynchus ?) T. smooth spe- 
cies of the 7. virgo, Strigocephalus Burtini, Spirifer heteroclitus, 
S. species undetermined, Leptzena depressa, Porites inter- 
stincta, Favosites Gothlandica, T. spongites, Lithodendron 
cespitosum, Cyathophyllum turbinatum, Fenestella antiqua, 
Cystiphyllum, &e. 

In these fossils we recognise at once, some of the most 
characteristic types of the Devonian age, such as the Strigo- 
cephalus, associated with Lithodendron cxspitosum, and 
others, which are above named in italics. The trilobites and 
chambered shells of the upper Silurian rocks, are no longer 
present, and with the exception of two or three shells, and 
a few corals which are common to the upper Silurian and De- 
vonian, the type is on the whole very distinct; no really 
characteristic Silurian species being present, and the Cateni- 
pora escharoides, that true Silurian coral, not being obsery- 
able. 

As to the character of the limestones of Olmutz, I would 
repeat the observation which has been made by Professor 
Sedgwick and myself, as to the British and Rhenish deposits 
of the same age, viz.:—that though of posterior date, they 
have often a more ancient aspect, and more resemble pri- 


78 On. the Silurian Rocks of Bohemia, and 


mary limestone, than any portion of the upper Silurian masses. 
This is so remarkably the case in the little ridge between 
Nebetein and Olscham, which is thrown up in an anticlinal 
form, and where the highly veined hard and sealy crystalline 
limestone is so associated with taleco-micaceous schists, that 
if we had not found fossils in it, we might have well presum- 
ed that it was of much higher antiquity. At Rittberg, bands 
of whitish hard quartzose conglomerate dip under the 
black Strigocephalus limestone, and thus represent the sand- 
stones, grits, &e., which occupy a similar place in the Rhen- 
ish provinces ; whilst, at Gross Luttein, the limestone is 
overlaid by a coarse grit and hard sandstone, in parts con- 
glomeritic, whose exact relations we had not time to deter- 
mine. This last mentioned rock occupies the higher wood- 
lands, and in mineral character is not unlike some varieties 
of the Carpathian grit; but not being able to observe a june- 
tion, we forbear from attempting to determine the point. In 
the mean time, it is enough to observe, that as up to the present 
day, the grauwacke and limestone of the environs of Olmutz, 
have not been dissociated on geological maps from the grau- 
wacke and limestone of Bohemia, so is the value of the palzo- 
zoic classification made apparent. From what I already 
know of the existence of true Devonian rocks in Upper Silesia, 
and the country of Glatz, and from noticing great masses of 
ancient stratified rocks on the western borders of Moravia, 
which, on the whole, plunge under the Devonian rocks of Ol- 
mutz, I have little doubt that a zealous geologist, who could 
devote a summer to the task, would be able to demonstrate 
that strata of true Silurian age, like those of Bohemia, are 
also to be detected in Moravia, and on the south-eastern 
flanks of the Riesengebirge, and in the tract between Trop- 
pau and Olumtz. Atall events, it is to be hoped that the types 
of both these systems being now pointed out in this ceutral 
region of Germany, the time will shortly come, when their 
respective limits will be accurately laid down. 

I presume you are aware, that since Professor Sedgwick 
and myself indicated the existence of certain large Producti, 
&c., of the carboniferous age near Bleiberg in Carinthia, 
which there surmount crystalline rocks, with encrinites of the 


the Devonian Rocks of Moravia. 79 


Tauern Alps,* other paleozoic fossils have been found on 
the northern side of the crystalline axis of the Eastern Alps, 
and notably at Dienten, to the south of Salzburg. 

Having inspected some of these fossils from Dienten, kind- 
ly shewn to us by the Chevalier V. Hauer, which are in Mon- 
tanishtische Museum of this place, M. De Verneuil and my- 
self are of opinion, that they belong to the upper Silurian 
group ; and my friend further believes, that they are of the 
same age as the Silurian schists of Feugerolles in Normandy. 
We are now about to proceed into the Austrian Alps, on our 
way to the meeting of the Italian Naturalists at Venice, and 
in this journey we hope to gain some additional information 
on this interesting point ; it being now evident. that the Alps, 
as a whole, are not composed of rocks of a more recent date, 
but they exhibit towards their centre, sufficient evidence that 
numbers of the masses of schist, grauwacke, and limestone, 
now in a highly metamorphic condition, and which are 
flanked on both sides by limestones of Liassic and Jurassic 
were originally members of a regular paleozoic series. 

Believe me to be, my dear Professor Leonhard, your faith- 
ful friend, 

RopERIcK I. Murciison. 


VIENNA, August 5, 1847. 


On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 
By G. A. ROWELL. 


In a paper I submitted to the British Association at the 
late meeting, I endeavoured to shew the correctness of the 
theory which I first submitted to the Ashmolean Society in 
Noyember 1839, on the cause of the aurora; that is, that 
electricity rises with the vapour in the torrid regions, and is 
carried thence by the superior trade-winds towards the colder 


* See Transactions of the Geological Society of London, vol. iii. p. 307. 


80 On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 


parts of the earth, where, at times, the air, during severe frosts 
is rendered so dry and non-conducting, that tho electricity is © 
prevented from escaping from the clouds and vapour to the 
earth in those parts ; and therefore accumulates, till it flashes 
back through the upper and rarer air towards the warmer 
and more negative parts of the earth, and thus causes the 
aurora. 

The opinion so generally received, that the aurora is at 
times at such heights as to be far above the limits of our at- 
mosphere, is so directly opposed to this theory, that one or 
the other must be erroneous; I therefore suggested that the 
observations which give such altitudes to the aurora, may 
be incorrect, either from some error in the observations, or 
from some other luminous meteor being taken for an aurora, 
or from some optical illusion in the observations. 

At the conclusion of my paper, Professor Challis stated 
that he had (at Cambridge), in conjunction with Professor 
Chevallier (at Durham), taken the altitude of an aurora, which 
gave positive proof of its being at least 160 miles high, and 
consequently far above the limits of the atmosphere. I, of 
course, could not doubt the correctness of these observations ; 
but as I was not convinced that my own views were wrong, I 
have been led by several reasons to conclude that the error 
must be owing to some optical illusion. 

In the first place, the fact, that the auroral corona is never 
seen except in or near the zenith, shews that it is an appear- 
ance only, and not in reality a convergence of auroral streams 
to one point, as in that case it would at times be seen at every 
point of the compass, according to the situation of the obser- 
ver; and auroral streamers would at times be seen crossing 
the sky in an oblique direction, instead of always rising nearly 
perpendicular to the horizon. 

It is shewn by Lieutenant Hood, that auroral arches are 
only so in appearance, “as the aurore which filled the sky at 
Cumberland House, from the northern horizon to the zenith, 
with wreathes and flashes, assumed the shape of arches at 
some distance to the southward ;” and I belieye the reports 
on the aurora of the 24th of October, by Professors Challis 


On the Height of the Aurora borealis. 81 


and Chevallier, in the Athenzum for November 6; by Mr 
Glaisher, inthe philosophical Magazine for the present month; 
together with my own observations in the Oxford Herald for 
October 30, will prove that no calculations founded on the ap- 
parent altitude of an aurora can be depended on ; that Auroral 
Coronas, Streamers,and Archesare only appearances and optical 
illusions; and that no two observers can see any of these Au- 
roral phenomena at exactly the same time and place, any 
more than two persons can see exactly the same halo; or, 
when looking at the same cloud, can see exactly the same 
rainbow. There are many discrepancies in these reports, both 
as regards time and appearances. Professor Chevallier says, 
“bright streamers, some white, others of a light green, were 
seen shooting upwards from the northern and north-western 
parts of the sky before half-past six o’clock ; and at intervals 
a slight crimson flush was observed alternating with the 
streamers, and diffused over the neighbouring parts of the 
sky.” Mr Glaisher states, that “about 6" 30", a bright red 
streamer was seen to spring up from the north-west ; at 6" 40™ 
another streamer was seen in the north-west ; and at the same 
time one sprung up from the north, both of which were of a 
beautiful red.’ Whilst at Oxford, “ about a quarter past six 
o'clock, a faint red colour overspread the north-western ho- 
rizon, and at the same time a slight appearance of Auroral 
streamers in the north. These appearances continued to in- 
crease, but more especially the spreading of the glowing red 
colour, till the north-western sky was covered with large 
patches, which increased and decreased in size, appeared and 
disappeared, with a rapidity which was truly surprising; 
about seven o’clock it became cloudy.” 

Professor Chevallier says: “Soon after eight o’clock similar 
phenomena (to those he before described) were observed ; 
but the streamers now rose to a greater height, some attain- 
ing even the zenith, and the rose-coloured tinge of the sky 
was still more remarkable”? Mr Glaisher takes no notice of 
any glowing red-coloured patches ; but states, that, from ‘“ be- 
tween 7) 30™ and 9" 40™, there were occasional streamers, 
both ved and white.” Whilst at Oxford, at about eight o’clock, 

VOL. XLIV. NO, LXXXVIL—JAN. 1848. F 


82 On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 


and for some time afterwards, the red colour became less than 
it had been for the hour and half previous. 

Professor Chevallier says, that “at 8° 29, mean Green- 
wich time, a faint but sufficiently well-defined corona was 
formed by the apparent convergence of beams of light to a 
point about 70° of altitude, and 26° eastward of south.” I 
have seen no notice in any other report of a corona having 
been seen at this time, and I believe no such appearance was 
seen at Oxford. No allusion is made to the strange misty 
appearance of the sky as seen here, although it was visible for 
some hours, commencing about eight o’clock (the time when 
the red colour of the sky began to disappear). I have seen 
no notice of the curious curtain or fringe like lights, as they 
appeared here at about 9" 43™, although I think they were 
too striking to escape the notice of any observer at the time ; 
nor is any notice taken of the dark arch under the hazy part 
of the sky. There are discrepancies, also, as regards both 
time and appearances of the grand auroral phenomenon at 
about ten o’clock ; while the beautiful appearance, as seen 
at Oxford from 11" 45™ to twelve o’clock, is not noticed by 
Professors Challis and Chevallier ; and Mr Glaisher describes 
a very different phenomenon, as seen at Blackheath ; as he 
says, “ The phenomenon at midnight exhibited an appearance 
as beautiful as any of those that had preceded it. An arch 
appeared extending from the north-west to the south-east ; 
from this arch very bright and flickering pencils of light 
darted out, both upwards and downwards. At 12" 30™ the 
streams were frequent; the arch now extended from the north 
by west to the east by north, and at every part of this arch 
an occasional streamer, with its taper-like form, sprung up ;_ 
and this appearance continued till after 13".” Of this arched 
appearance I saw nothing, as after the disappearance of the 
beautiful fan-like rays which commenced at 11” 45™, and 
ceased at twelve o’clock, Oxford mean time, nothing was to 
seen here except “a tinge of red on the north-east and west- 
ern horizon, with an occasional streamer from the north, 
which continued when I left the scene at Malf-past twelve 
o'clock.” 

These discrepancies are far too great to be accounted for 


On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 83 


as mere errors of description, and a due consideration of them 
is of great importance, as regards the subject in question. In 
the last case, at midnight, at two places not sixty miles apart, 
with a perfectly cloudless sky, totally dissimilar appearances 
were seen. Now, had the appearance at Oxford been similar 
to that at Blackheath, and the height of the arch, as it ap- 
peared at each place, been accurately taken, a calculation 
might have been made from these observations, and the height 
of the aurora been considered as fairly ascertained ; whereas 
the two arches may have been as totally distinct, and no more 
to be referred to one point, than the appearances above de- 
scribed ; consequently, the result could in no way be depended 
upon, and I cannot conceive that any two observers, at a 
distance from each other, can ever be certain that they are 
looking at the same appearance, or at an appearance in one 
and the same place. 

But the most important point, and one that I believe will 
fully bear out my opinions, is the difference in the observa- 
tions of Professor Chevallier at Durham, and Professor Chal- 
lis at Cambridge, on the position of the centre of the corona, 
as seen at those places. 

Professor Chevallier says, “ But the most brilliant spec- 
tacle was presented at ten o’clock. At this time the whole 
of the south-western part of the sky was ‘glowing with rose- 
coloured light; while bright streams arose from all sides, 
especially from a little south of west to a little east of north, 
passing beyond the zenith, and converging in a flickering 
corona in the same part of the sky as before, the bright star 
Mirach (2 Andromedz) forming now nearly the central point.” 

Professor Challis says,—* The most remarkable feature 
of the phenomenon was the distinct convergence of all the 
streamers towards a single point of the heavens, situated a 
little to the east of the meridian, and to the south of the 
zenith. Around this point a corona, or star-like appearance, 
was formed, the rays of which diverged in every direction 
from the centre,—leaving a space about the centre free from 
light, on which I noticed at one time the rapid formation and 
disappearance of part of a circular luminous ring. It was 
easy to fix on the central point. 


84 On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 


“ According to an estimate made conjointly by myself and a 
friend at 10" 10™ Cambridge mean time, it preceded the 
bright star Mirach, or 8 Andromede, 10™ in right ascension, 
and had greater north polar distance by two degrees: conse- 
quently, by calculation, its azimuth was 80° 41’ from south 
towards east, and its altitude 69° 51’. The azimuth appeared 
not to vary with the diurnal motion of the heavens.” 

Here, then, are two observations on an auroral appearance, 
the most distinct and unmistakeable. First at Durham (lat. 
54° 46’ 80”) a corona is seen, the centre of which is in a line 
with the star Mirach. At Cambridge (lat. 52°13’) about the 
same time a similar corona is seen, and its position in the 
heavens distinctly marked out in reference to the same star. 
Nothing could be more satisfactory for the determination of 
the height of the aurora, as the places of observation were 
distant full 23° the one from the other; the object of obser- 
vation had been noted carefully, and was not a mere fleeting 
point; as at Durham a corona had been seen “ in the same 
part of the sky” about an hour and a half previous, and at 
Cambridge the corona was seen for some time, and its “ azi- 
muth appeared not to vary with the diurnal motion of the 
heavens.” 

Under these circumstances there can be no doubt, that had 
the corona been observed at Cambridge to the north of Mi- 
rach, these observations would have been taken as sufficient 
to determine the height of the aurora. But instead of the 
corona appearing some 60° north of Mirach, as it should have 
been, had the height of the aurora been 160 miles, and 
more or less, according to its height, the corona appeared 
2° south of that star ; thus having very nearly the same alti- 
tude as at Durham, and therefore giving the most convincing 
proof that no dependence can be placed on any observation 
on the apparent altitude of an aurora, for the purpose of de- 
termining its height from the earth. 

I intended, looking over the various reports on aurore, 
given in the Philosophical Transactions, to see how far they 
coincided with the opinions I now advance; but have only 
had time to go through Halley’s celebrated report on the 
aurora of March 6, 1716; and although this report is often 
referred to, to prove the great height of aurore, yet I believe 


On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 85 


that it will not only strongly support the opinion that no de- 
pendence can be placed on observations on the altitudes of 
aurore; but that it also proves in a great degree that the 
aurora takes place at a very little height, compared with that 
which has generally been ascribed to it. 

It is stated in the report, that ‘“‘ there was very little dif- 
ference from what appeared in London and Oxford, unless 
that in the north of England and Scotland the light was 
somewhat stronger and brighter.” Yet this justly celebrated 
philosopher gives the following hypothesis in explanation of 
the various appearances reported in the many accounts of 
this aurora, sent to the Royal Society. After describing the 
perpendicular beams as caused by the rising of the magnetic 
fluid, in columns perpendicular to the surface of the earth, 
and the corona as caused by the beams ascending to such 
heights ‘as to emerge out of the shadow of the earth, and 
to be illustrated by the direct beams of the sun; whence it 
might come to pass, that the first corona was seen coloured 
and much brighter than what appeared afterwards in some 
places, where the sight thereof was more than once repeated, 
after the sun was gone down much lower under the horizon ; 
hence also it will be easily understood that the corona was 
not one and the same in all places, but was different in every 
differing horizon ; exactly after the same manner as the rain- 
bow seen in the same cloud is not the same bow, but different to 
every eye. 

In another place, he gives strong evidence of the mere local 
appearance of auroral phenomena ; as he says, “ the light had 
now put on a form quite different from all that we have 
hitherto described, and had fashioned itself into the shape of 
two lamine or streaks, lying in a position parallel to the 
horizon, whose edges were butillterminated. They extended 
themselves from the north by east to the north-east, and 
were each about a degree broad ; the undermost about‘eight or 
nine degrees high, and the other aboutfour or five degrees over 
it ; these kept their places for a long time, and made the sky so 
light, that I believe a man might easily have read an ordinary 
print by the help thereof.’ Now, although these lights were 
so different from all that had preceded them, and were so 


86 On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 


bright, yet, they do not seem to have been seen by any other 
observer, as farther on he says, “ I have thought fit to annex 
a figure exhibiting the particular appearance of the two 
lamine which I saw at London, between 10 and 11; more 
especially, because I do not find, among the many relations I 
have seen, any one that has taken notice of it.” 

From these extracts, I think it may be fairly inferred, that 
on this occasion, (as also during the late aurora), although 
auroral action was going on simultaneously over a great space, 
and presented generally similar appearances, yet the same 
appearances were not in reality seen at different places ; and 
thus one of the great arguments in support of the opinions 
which ascribe such great elevation to the aurora, is removed. 

This extraordinary aurora was seen over all the north of 
Europe, from the west of Ireland to the confines of Russia 
and Poland on the east; as also on the north-west coast of 
Spain. From this it has been considered that its elevation 
must have been exceeding great, but I cannot think it proves 
more than that the auroral action was going on simulta- 
neously over these countries. 

And in fact, there is strong evidence to the contrary, as in 
another article on the subject, (p. 430), there is the following 
passage : “ In our last, we endeavoured to give the public 
‘as good an account of the late surprising meteors seen in the 
heavens on the 6th of March last, as could be gathered from 
the several relations of very distant spectators, which had 
come to the Royal Society’s notice ; and since then, we can 
only add thereto, that at Paris, the light was so énconsider- 
able, that it was not regarded.” 

This fact, that the auroral light was not seen at Paris, 
tells strongly against the theory of the great elevation of the 
aurora. But to this evidence, it may be objected that clouds 
may have prevented the light being seen at Paris. If this 
had been the case, it surely would have been noticed by 
Halley, as the subject excited so much interest at the time 
as to produce a special report at the request of the Royal 
Society. 

There is another instance of an aurora mentioned by Dr 
Halley, which may also be advanced, #. ¢., “ That of the year 


On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 87 


1621, on the 2d of September, seen all over France, and well 
described by Gassendus in his Physicks, who gives it the 
name of the Aurora Borealis. This, though little inferior to _ 
what we lately saw, and appearing to the northward both of 
Rouen and Paris, is nowhere said to have heen seen in Eng- 
land, over which the light seemed to lie.”’ 

From a consideration of the points I have advanced, together 
with the fact, that the aurora takes place in the frigid 
regions, about the ordinary height of the clouds, or even at 
less heights, as proved by the observations of Franklin, 
Richardson, Parry, &c. I submit that there is no sufficient 
ground for assuming that the aurora ever takes place above 
the earth’s atmosphere, and I believe it does at times take 
place in England, at heights very little above the higher re- 
gions of the clouds. I again beg to suggest a trial of the ex- 
periment I proposed to the British Association, at the Glas- 
gow meeting, #. e., for causing the aurora by raising electric 
conductors by the aid of balloons, to the height of the clouds 
in the frigid regions during severe frosts ; and as I suggested 
similar experiments with electrical kites, to Sir John Frank- 
lin, previous to his leaving England, I have hopes that some 
farther light may be thrown on the subject on his return. 

G. A. ROWELL. 
November 22, 1847. 


Since writing the foregoing, I have read in the Philosophi- 
cal Transactions, the paper of the late Dr Dalton on the 
height of the aurora of March 29, 1826; and I think there 
are many points in it which tell in favour of my views. 

On that evening an auroral arch was seen at Edinburgh, 
and several intermediate places thence southward to War- 
rington, on the south border of Lancashire, and itwas assumed 
that the same arch was seen at each place. 

Dr Dalton first gives the account of it as seen at Edinburgh, 
and then the accounts from Jedburgh, Hawick, and Kelso, 
places about 40 miles south of Edinburgh. These accounts 
seem to be drawn up with care, but Dr Dalton remarks, 
« From this it would seem that the arch, instead of appearing 
low from the last mentioned places, as it must have done if 


83 On the Height of the Aurora Borealis. 


situated only five or even ten miles above the carth’s surface, 
appeared as far to the south of the zenith as at Edinburgh, or 
rather further.” —“ Unfortunately the Edinburgh and Hawick 
observations do not harmonize together ; however, those at 
Jedburgh, a place of nearly the same latitude as Hawick, seem 
to shew that both the others are wrong, or rather, perhaps, 
that they had not been contemporary with each other and 
the rest of the observations. The Hawick altitude is probably 
too low, and that at Edinburgh considerably too high.” 

From the seeming impossibility of arriving at any conclu- 
sions from accounts with such discrepancies, the Doctor re- 
jects these observations altogether, although, apparently, 
they were otherwise entitled to full credit, as the situation of 
the arch is pointed out in reference to certain stars, &. ; and 
he adopts the observations at Whitehaven and Warrington as 
the basis of his calculation. 

At Whitehaven the altitude seems to have been taken with 
no more care than at the former places, as it is said that at 
8" 45™ the arch was about 15° south of the zenith. “ At 92 6™ 
the arch moved southward.” 

At Warrington, the method of taking the altitude is very 
unsatisfactory. Dr Dalton says, his friend, Mr Crossfield, in- 
formed him that “ he saw the arch about nine o’clock, or be- 
tween that and ten. At the first glance he took it for the 
milky way, but soon discovered his mistake. The direction 
of the arch was from WSW. to ENE., passing to the north 
of the zenith. The western branch was longer and more bril- 
liant. He saw no northern lights at the time, neither did he 
apprehend the phenomenon was connected with them. On 
elevating the pole of a celestial globe till the axis passed 
through a series of angles with the horizon, I desired him to 
fix upon an elevation which he judged most nearly to coincide 
with the elevation of the centre of the luminous arch. On 
examination, the angle was found to be 61°. I fixed the 
angle at 70°; this he was almost certain was too high. When 
it was fixed at 50°, he was still more certain that it was too 
low.” 

From these observations, Dr Dalton calculated the areh 
was 100 miles high. or 8 or 9 miles in width. 


G. A. Rowell on the Aurora Borealis. 89 


Altitudes taken by such means as these, are but very little 
to be depended upon, and there seems to be no proof that the 
observations were simultaneous ; as at Whitehaven, it seems 
to have been taken between 8" 45™ and 9" 8™, this being the 
time the arch moved southward ; and at Warrington, the arch 
was first seen at about nine o’clock, or between that and ten.” 
I therefore submit that, in this case, there is no sufficient 
evidence that the aurora is at any great elevation, and that 
the discrepancies in the observations at Edinburgh, Jedburgh, 
Hawick, &c., shew the local character of such phenomena ; 
the little dependence which can be placed on observations of 
such little appearances; and the probability, that, as regards 
such phenomena, no observers at a distance from each other, 
can ever be certain that they see exactly the same appearance, 
or an appearance in exactly the same place. 

In conclusion, I beg that I may not be thought presump- 
tuous in making these remarks on a paper by this revered 
and eminent philosopher ; and I believe that, were he living, 
he would have been pleased with any observation, which, by 
exciting farther investigation, may tend in the least degree 
to increase our knowledge on this interesting subject. 

G. A. ROWELL. 

December 4, 1847. 


On the Aurora Borealis. By G. A. ROWELL. 


Srr,—The aurora which appeared on the evening of Sunday last 
(the 24th inst.), was, I believe, by far the grandest and most extra- 
ordinary which has occurred for many years—if, indeed, it was ever 
equalled in these parts. I have seen accounts of its appearance in 
several parts of England, i. ¢., London, Brighton, Cambridge, &c., 
but they all fail in conveying anything like an idea of the magnifi- 
cent display as seen at Oxford. I therefore beg to submit the fol- 
lowing account, as I had the gratification of observing the phenomenon 
with but slight intermission for upwards of six hours. I fear, how- 
ever, that my description will fall short of conveying an adequate 
idea of the grandeur of the scene. 

About a quarter past six o’clock I saw a faint tinge of red colour 
overspreading the north-western horizon, and at the same time a 
slight appearance of auroral steamers in the north. ‘These appear- 


90 G. A. Rowell on the Aurora Borealis. 


ances continued to increase, but more especially the spreading of the 
glowing red colour, till the north-western sky was covered with large 
patches, which increased and decreased in size, appeared and disap- 
peared with a rapidity which was truly surprising. About seven 
o’clock the sky in those parts became overcast with dark clouds, and 
rain fell for some time ; after which the patches (which were between 
a pink and crimson colour) appeared more distinct than before. 
About eight o’clock these patches gradually disappeared, except on 
the north-western horizon, where the crimson light continued de- 
creasing at times till almost invisible, when it burst out again with a 
bright glowing light, sometimes to the height of thirty or forty de- 
grees, having the appearance of the light from a large fire at a dis- 
tance. At the same time there was an appearance of the red tinge 
in the north-east, but not so bright as that in the north-west. This 
coloured patch was some ten or twelve degrees above the horizon, and 
extended thence towards the zenith, at times ten, twenty, or thirty de- 
grees ; this light decreased gradually till it faded away about half-past 
eight o’clock. About eight o'clock there arose from the north an 
ill-defined band of five or six degrees in depth, of a light misty ap- 
pearance, having somewhat the form of an auroral arch with its 
centre about midway between the magnetic and the true meridian. 
It continued to rise gradually till the lower side of the centre of the 
arch had an elevation of fifteen or eighteen degrees, while it had so 
increased in width as to rise almost to the pole star; but the upper 
part was so ill-defined that it had the appearance of a fine hazy 
cloud ; so much so that I believe no one would have thought it other- 
wise, but for the presence of the auroral lights above alluded to, and 
since at times faint flashes of auroral streamers appeared in the haze, 
and disappeared again instantaneously. About nine o’clock a bright 
crimson patch appeared on the horizon, a little north of east, the stars 
Castor and Pollux being sometimes within the light, and at other times 
the light being a little farther towards the north. This light, as also 
that in the north-west, continued till the grand appearance at a quar- 
ter to ten o'clock. The hazy appearance in the north had now in- 
creased till it had quite the look of a cloud, except that the stars 
were visible through it ; the dark arch below jt had the look of a black 
cloud, but I am convinced that it was only the clear sky rendered 
more dark from the contrast with the light above it. About seven- 
teen minutes before ten o'clock there appeared suddenly in the haze 
singular patches of whitish light, looking as if two curtains or fringes 
of light were hanging across the heavens, the one above the other, 
and parallel with the horizon: they were each about five or six de- 
grees in depth, and perhaps ten or twelve degrees long, the lower 
one being just above the dark arch—this continued for a minute or 
two, when a scene presented itself so grand that I fear I can only 
give a very inadequate description of it. Suddenly from the body 
of light on the eastern horizon, bright crimson columns or streamers 


G. A. Rowell on the Aurora Borealis. 91 


flashed up with inconceivable velocity towards a point ten or twelve de- 
grees south of the zenith, while from the hazy cloud in the north, si- 
milar columns, but of a yellow light, shot towards the same point south 
of the zenith, and reaching northward to near the top of the dark 
arch ; and from the west the columns were of such bright crimson 
and flame colours as to render the scene in that direction truly mag- 
nificent ; in the part of the sky to which the several columns con- 
verged, there appeared a sort of irregular circular space of four or 
five degrees diameter, into which the several columns seemed to be 
pouring volumes of fiery smoke, which appeared to wave about simi- 
lar to the motion of flames in an oven, or under the action of winds 
blowing from all and every direction, the whole having the appear- 
ance of a half canopy or tent spreading over the northern portion of 
the heavens. During this appearance flashes of light were continually 
passing up the columns, as if a film of steam was projected up them 
with the greatest velocity, or as if the whole canopy had been shaken 
by the wind, and the light was reflected and glancing off from its 
surface. 

This sublime spectacle continued for ten or fifteen minutes, when 
it gradually faded or rather crumbled away, disappearing in a very 
singular manner about ten o’clock. From this time I observed 
nothing particularly striking, except an occasional tinge of crimson 
in the north-west and north-east, and a few flashes of streamers from 
the north through the hazy part of the sky, till at about a quarter 
past eleven o’clock, when very bright crimson streamers flashed from 
the eastern horizon as before, which soon faded into a dull crimson 
haze. About the same time streamers of a very singular appearance 
began to flash from the north towards the south; they seemed like 
columns of light smoke or steam darting with the velocity of lightning 
along the sky, having something the appearance of water thrown with 
great violence from a syringe. About a quarter to twelve o’clock 
columns of a more regular form began to appear from the north-east 
to the north-west, and in a few seconds formed one of the most beau- 
tiful scenes that I believe was ever witnessed; from the eastern ho- 
rizon, a few degrees north of Castor and Pollux, bright crimson co- 
lumns arose to within six or seven degrees of the zenith, or rather as 
before to a point ten or twelve degrees to the south of it ; from these 
crimson columns others of a bright whitish light spread over the whole 
of the northern part of the sky to north-west, where other crimson 
columns formed (the star @ Aquile being a little to the south 
of them), the whole having the form of a large fan of lioht spread 
over the northern portion of the heavens ; but the rays did not meet 
in the centre, but terminated in points about six degrees from it. I 
may perhaps describe it better, as representing the tail of a bird 
spreading over the northern sky to above twenty or thirty degrees 
from the northern horizon, and spreading on each side till it meets 


92 Biographical Sketch of Alexander Brongniart. 


the horizon at the points described, the features being of a whitish 
colour, except the outer ones, which were crimson. 

The scene at this time was beautiful in the extreme, the dark arch 
on the northern horizon contrasting strongly with the bright appear- 
ance above it ; while to the south of the zenith the sky was pertectly 
cloudless, the full moon (with her attendant Mars) shone brightly ; 
and as she was at the time very nearly on the meridian, and only a 
few degrees south of the point to which the auroral rays converged, 
it seemed as if the rays of light emanated from the moon (but this 
only owing to her peculiar position at the time); the planet Jupiter 
shone brilliantly in the east, together with the stars of Orion, &c.; 
and thus was formed one of the most delightful scenes, one indeed 
that can never be forgotten by those who had the pleasure of wit- 
nessing it. This appearance continued with slight alteration till about 
twelve o’ clock, after which there continued a tinge of red on the north- 
east and western horizon, with an occasional streamer from the 
north, which continued when I left the scene at half-past twelve 
o'clock. 

It may perhaps be worthy of notice that patches of crimson light 
similar to those seen in the earlier part of the evening, were seen 
during an occulation of Mars some ten or twelve years since, and 
that an occulation of Mars took place on the 24th also—I am, 
yours, &c., 

G. A. RoweEtt. 
October 28, 1847. 


Biographical Sketch of the celebrated ALEXANDER 
ERONGNIART.* 


M. Brongniart was born at Paris in 1770. His father was 
justly celebrated for his attainments in the fine arts. His 
mind developed itself in the midst of that brilliant society, 
belonging to the end of the eighteenth century, which his 
father was accustomed to draw around him. He then de- 
rived from conversations with Franklin the germ of that mild 
and practical philosophy which he never abandoned; from 
those of Lavoisier, his earliest notions of chemistry, which 
formed one of the foundations of his scientific career. He 
gave early indications of that clearness of elocution which 


* At the funeral of M. Alexander Brongniart, which took place on Saturday 
9th October, M. Elie de Beaumont gave an address, from which the above is an 
extract. 


Biographical Sketch of Alexander Brongniart. 93 


formed one of his merits as a professor; and it is related 
that Lavoisier himself took pleasure in listening to a lecture 
on chemistry delivered by Brongniart, when he was scarcely 
fifteen years of age. He soon concluded his earliest scientific 
studies at the School of Mines in Paris, which Louis XVI. 
had founded, and where Sage taught him mineralogy. At 
twenty years of age, in 1790, he undertook a scientific journey. 
He visited England, where the mines and picturesque scenery 
of Derbyshire made a strong impression on his mind, and from 
whence he brought back the elements of a memoir on the art 
of enamelling. His uncle, who was chemical demonstrator in 
the Jardin des Plantes, took him to be an assistant, and ini- 
tiated him in the practice of chemistry. He likewise studied 
in the Ecole-de-Medecine, where he was thrice enrolled, and 
when the first requisition called every Frenchman to the fron- 
tier, he was connected with the army of the Pyrenees, in the 
capacity of apothecary. A stay of fifteen months among these 
mountains gave him the opportunity of studying a rich and 
varied field of nature, as a zoologist and botanist. He likewise 
made geological observations which, at a later period, took 
their place in the science, and which he often took pleasure in 
recalling ; but he there encountered dangers which his youth 
did not suspect, and he was imprisoned under suspicion of hav- 
ing favoured the escape of the skilful naturalist Broussonnet, 
who avoided certain death by fleeing by the breach of Rol- 
land. Restored to liberty after the 9th thermidor, he re- 
turned to Paris, where, on the recommendation of Fourcroy 
and Coquebert de Montbret, then occupied with statistical 
mineralogy, he was attached to the agency of mines, in the 
capacity of mining engineer. Soon after he was called to 
the Professorship of Natural History in the central school of 
Quatre-Nations; he became a contributor to the best scien- 
tific collections of the period ; and a little after the 18th bru- 
maire, in 1800, he was nominated director of the Porcelain 
manufactory of Sevres, on the recommendation of Berthollet. 

When the imperial University was organised, M. Brong- 
niart was entrusted with the composition of an elementary 
treatise on mineralogy. This work, which appeared in 1807, 
was one of the best, and, in particular, one of the clearest 


94 Biographical Sketch of Alexander Brongniart. 


and most practical, which had been published on this science, 
hitherto so difficult of access. There was remarked in it, 
what we remark in it still, a peculiar originality of exposi- 
tion, and a penetrating clearness, worthy of forming a model 
to others desirous of rendering the sciences level to the ca- 
pacity of youth. This work was of important service, and 
became the text-book, assiduously improved, of the instruc- 
tions which M. Brongniart for a long time gave to the Fa- 
culty of Sciences, as assistant to M. Haiiy, and which he 
continued in the Museum of Natural History, when he was 
called to replace this illustrious master in that establishment. 

But M. Brongniart did not confine himself to mineralogy. 
His works exhibit the same variety as his studies. He long 
continued to occupy himself with zoology, in which his first 
undertakings have not been forgotten. It is to him that we 
are indebted for the division of reptiles into four orders ; 
and the naturalists of the whole world have adopted after 
him, according to the example of Cuvier, the names of Saw- 
rians, Batrachians, Chelonians, and Ophidians—names which 
now appear so natural, that we often repeat them without 
remembering who was their author. At a later period he 
likewise created the name Trilobites, and fixed the basis of 
classification for these singular crustacea, strangers to all 
modern creations, in a learned memoir which has been the 
starting point for all the works relating to this immense 
family. 

Independently of the honour he derived from them, M. 
Brongniart owed perhaps to his zoological labours one of the 
happinesses of his life, his intimate connection with the illus- 
trious author of the Regné Animal and of comparative ana- 
tomy. When M. Cuvier was brought to Paris, M. Brong- 
niart appreciated from the first the high caste of his intel- 
lect. He soon became one of his most faithful friends and 
most sincere admirers; and this noble feeling continued, in 
the greatest intensity, to the last day of his life. But he did 
not confine himself to admiration, and he was enabled to 
contribute, in his own proper sphere, to one of his friend’s 
greatest works. 

The masters of science have declared, that Cuvier’s dis- 


Biographical Sketch of Alexander Brongniart. 95 


coveries respecting the fossil bones of the chalk formations 
of Montmartre, are the most original of all those which will 
preserve his name to future ages. These discoveries could 
not be placed in their proper category ; it was even impos- 
sible to deduce the resulting principles from them, until the 
formations in the neighbourhhod of Paris should be examined 
mineralogically, and classed geologically in the order of their 
position. The eminently judicious mind of Cuvier felt the 
need of being assisted in carrying out, in the most complete 
manner, researches having such a special object. M. Brong- 
niart had travelled in 1808, in Auvergne, where he had 
pointed out formations as being made in fresh water, in- 
asmuch as they contained only river shells in a fossil state. 
This was an entirely new application of zoology to the 
study of mineral deposits. M. Cuvier at once perceived 
the fellow-labourer which nature had destined for him, 
not as another Daubenton, (in itself a connection so glo- 
rious), but as a mind of similar complexion and wonderful 
originality, adapted to his own. Already prepared for thie 
task by his previous studies of the Montmartre gypsum and 
Champigny limestone, himself the chief of the school, and 
seconded in certain details by pupils, then young, and since 
become celebrated professors, M. Beudant, M. Constant 
Prevost, and the younger M. Desmarest, M. Brongniart 
presented to the first class of the Institute, in the month of 
April 1810, in concert with M. Cuvier, the Essay on the Miner- 
alogical Geography of the Neighbourhood of Paris, which first 
appeared in the Journal des Mines, and soon became so cele- 
brated. Reprinted in 1811, with additional development, 
this work, in which the first rules for the application of zoo- 
logical determinations, for the purpose of characterising for- 
mations are laid down, and which has ever since continued 
to be the classical type of works of the same kind, opened to 
M. Brongniart, in 1815, the doors of the Academy of Sciences. 
He replaced in that institution the indefatigable explorer of 
the voleanoes of Auvergne, Desmarest, whom he surpassed 
in reputation. 

M. Brongniart never knew repose. His admission to the 
Academy redoubled his activity, Animated with an enthu- 


96 Biographical Sketch of Alexander Brongniart. 


siasm, as judicious as fruitful, for the vast field which he had 
so sagaciously entered, he became in a few years, the legis- 
lator in this branch of geology, then so new and important. 
He settled the laws of it, by examples which, in such a case, 
are the most solid of all precepts. Like that Greek philoso- 
pher, in whose presence motion was denied, M. Brongniart 
advanced in this career with an intelligent and indefatigable 
ardour, and every one of his steps has been an important 
discovery. A conqueror in a new field, M. Brongniart set out 
in 1817 for Switzerland, tiie Alps, and Italy, accompanied by 
his son, and one of his most skilful pupils, M. Bertrand Geslin. 
In these countries, where Saussure had already immortal- 
ized himself, he fixed, in the most unexpected manner, land- 
marks which are still standing, and which no longer give 
place but to discussions in detail, without which no work on 
natural history can be perfect. Who has not been struck 
with the boldness, as fortunate as it was surprising, with 
which M. Brongniart associated the black limestones of the 
mountain of Fis, in Saxony, with our chalk formations of the 
north of France! In 1822, all the results of this kind which 
he had obtained, were inserted in a second edition of the Geo- 
logical Description of the Neighbourhood of Paris, which thus 
became more especially the monument of his genius. 
But he did not limit himself to the modern formations, the 
particular object of this great work. Later, in 1824, M. 
_ Brongniart visited Norway and Sweden with the same view. 
He was warmly received by M. Berzelius, who wished to act 
as his guide and interpreter in a country whose language 
was unknown to him. He there laid down the first founda- 
tions of a classification of the most ancient fossiliferous for- 
mations. It was likewise in this voyage to Scandinavia, 
that he united the elements of a memoir on erratic blocks, 
which happily associated his name with those of the Saus- 
sures and De Buches, in the study of a phenomenon on which 
the extent of the revolutions of the globe are inscribed in 
the most striking characters. 
I ought also to speak to you of his remarkably original 
memoir on the Ophiolithes of the Apennines, his clear and 
ingenious views on volcanoes, and Vesuvius in particular. 


Hi 


On the changes of the Vegetable Kingdom, Sc. oF 


But you do ‘not expect of me, gentlemen, that I should re- 
mind you, in this short sketch, of all the treasures with 
which the labours of sixty years have enriched the sciences. 

M. Brongniart by no means confined himself to a single 
branch. Neither did he limit himself to theoretical specu- 
lations, The cares, labours, and investigations which occu- 
pied him for forty years, as the Director of the Royal Manu- 
factory of Porcelain at Sévres, would have worthily filled up 
the life of an ordinary man of science. He undertook nu- 
merous journeys, in order to become acquainted with the 
great manufactories of the same kind in other parts of Ku- 
rope, and all the sources from which they derive their first 
materials ; and thus obtained the elements of a beautiful geo- 
logical and chemical memoir on the Kaolins, which lately 
appeared. Faithful to his earliest researches on the art of 
enamelling, he revived at Sévres the almost lost art of paint- 
ing on glass, the magnificent results of which we have all 
had occasion to admire. 

M. Brongniart, at nineteen years of age, was one of the 
founders of the Societé Philomatique—a society as scientific 
as unpretending, whose device is Science et Amitie. It was 
the centre of many useful communications, and, at the period 
of proscription for all of a higher class, kept alive the sacred 
flame of science.* 


On the Changes of the Vegetable Kingdom in the different Geo- 
logical Epochs. By M. ADOLPHE BRONGNIART. 


The changes which have taken place in the nature of liv- 
ing beings, since their first appearance on the globe till the 
period when the surface of the earth, having assumed its 
present form, has been covered by the creation which now 
occupies it, constitute one of the most interesting depart- 
ments of geology: it is the history of life and its metamor- 
phoses. 

The progress of modern geology presents to us the surface 


* From I’Institut, No. 719, p. 336. 
VOL. XLIV, NO, LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. G 


* 
98 On the Changes of the Vegetable Kingdom 


of the globe becoming renewed many times since the period 
when life first appeared upon it, under the influence of Crea- 
tive Power. At each of these modifications—every time that 
a great bed of mineral matter covered a portion of the ear th’s 
surface, or a shaking of the crust of the globe wrinkled this 
surface, and produced new chains of mountains, the living 
beings which inhabited our earth, destroyed and buried in 
these sedimentary deposits, were replaced by a new creation 
more or less different from the preceding. 

It would be a difficult task at this moment to fix precisely 
the number of these successive creations of animals and 
vegetables ; but science is every day leading us nearer to this 
result, although it requires more detailed facts to enable us 
to reach it. 

At certain epochs, however, great changes in the physical 
state of our planet have been followed by modifications 
equally great in the nature of the beings which inhabit it. 

These are the very decided changes which alone deserve 
our attention in the present instance ; for, on the one hand, 
they shew us each of the two organic kingdoms passing 
through varied forms, of which the different degrees are of 
great interest, owing to the remarkable order in which they 
succeed each other; and, on the other, the nature of the 
beings which correspond to each of these great geological 
periods, may afford us most valuable indications respecting 
the physical state of the earth, and its climate, at these dif- 
ferent epochs, illustrative of the history of the formation of 
our globe. 

From the most remote historical times, the vegetables 
inhabiting our globe have undergone no change. ‘This is 
proved by the comparison of grains and plants preserved 
in the tombs of Egypt, with those which now grow in that 
country. 

On the contrary, the plants of the latest geological periods, 
—those which occupied the earth before the last revolution of 
its surface, and whose remains are enclosed in the deposits 
named tertiary formations,—differ very considerably from such 
as now grow in these same places. Theyare, in general, species 
no longer existing in a living state, and their differences, re- 


in the different Geological Epochs. 99 


latively to the plants now living on the same ground, are 
so much greater as they occur in the most ancient beds of 
these tertiary formations. The most recent indicate a cli- 
mate differing little from that of temperate Europe; the 
most ancient announce a warmer climate than now occurs in 
that region. 

But in all these beds, which are very vecent when com- 
pared with the other parts of the crust of the globe, we find 
vegetation, as a whole, agreeing in all its principal features 
with the mass of the vegetable kingdom which still inhabits 
the surface of the earth; there are the same classes, the 
same natural families, often the same genera. The general 
characters of this extinct vegetation are the same as those of 
the existing vegetation, and we might suppose ourselves only 
transported to another quarter of the globe. Viewed as a 
whole they are the same; the details only are different. 

But if, on the contrary, we descend more deeply into the 
layers composing the earth’s crust, and go back to the more 
ancient periods of the creation ; if we consider the vegeta- 
bles preserved in the formations named secondary, which have 
preceded those of which we have spoken by many ages, we 
shall find the vegetable kingdom reduced to a much less 
considerable number of those natural groups which we name 
families or classes. 

This variety of form and aspect, which gives such a charm 
to the existing vegetation, did not then exist ; and, to cha- 
racterise in a word the vegetable kingdom of those remote 
periods, we may say that the plants composing it, much less 
yaried and numerous than those now covering our ground, 
were all deprived of what constitutes their greatest orna- 
ment, namely, those flowers with brilliant envelopes which 
belong to almost all the plants of our period. All the 
vegetables of the first geological periods were in fact analogous 
to our firs and ferns, whose habit and elegant foliage form 
all their beauty. 

In these ancient times of geological history, we may far- 
ther distinguish two great periods ; the one nearest our own 
times, during which terrestrial vegetation, almost entirely 
limited to three families, the ferns, conifer, and cycades, 


100 On the Changes of the Vegetable Kingdom, ¥c. 


presented only species so far analogous in their most essen- 
tial characters to those now existing, that they may be easily 
classified in the natural families I. have just named; the 
other, more ancient, to which the vegetables belong whose 
remains have produced great deposits of coal, and numerous 
remains of which accompany beds of this combustible. The 
latter recede much more widely from actually living forms, 
enter with more difficulty into known families, evidently con- 
stitute other families altogether distinct from those of our 
actual creation, families whose existence has not been pro- 
longed beyond this first geological period. 

The singular organisation and great dimensions of these 
first inhabitants of our soil, have long thrown much obscurity 
over the great classes of the existing vegetable kingdom. 
Every day, however, the study of them is advancing, and 
now we can no longer doubt that these gigantic vegetables, 
so remarkable by their extraordinary forms and by their 
structure, constitute special families, allied, however, to the 
ferns and conifere ; (that is to say, belonging to the great 
divisions of vascular cryptogams, and gymnospermous pha- 
nerogams.) 

In conjunction with many true ferns, often arborescent. 
and with some conifer, very different from those of our 
climate, these vegetables must have formed vast forests grow- 
ing on a turfy soil, produced by their detritus, and to which 
our coal owes its origin. 

Thus, briefly to recapitulate ; during the earliest periods of 
the creation of living beings, the vegetable kingdom was 
composed only of plants belonging to the two classes of that 
kingdom distinguished by the simplest structure. These 
plants had then special forms, were of considerable dimen- 
sions, and the greater part constituted families now extinct. 

At a later period, these two great classes still continued 
to exist alone on the earth, but their forms approached more 
to those which they present in the present vegetation ; the 
families peculiar to the most ancient epochs were already 
destroyed, and the numerous and varied families which were 
to appear in the tertiary epoch did not yet exist. 

Lastly, during this latter period, vegetation assumes cha- 


On the Formations of the Western Sniss Alps. 101 


racters analogous to those it now presents. Those more per- 
fect vegetables, known by the name of angiospermous pha- 
nerogams, appeared in great numbers, and the vegetable 
kingdom is not distinguishable from that now existing but by 
characters of detail, or by differences analagous to those 
which diversities of climate still produce on the earth. 

If we now compare the vegetables of the families which, 
like the ferns and conifers, have been perpetuated during 
all the geological periods, from the most ancient up to the 
present, we perceive that such as belong to the most re- 
mote creations, approach particularly plants of these same 
families which now inhabit regions of the earth having a cli- 
mate very different from our own ; and that such, on the 
contrary, as we meet with in the most recent beds, become 
so much the more analogous to the species which still grow 
in these same countries, as the geological period to which 
they belong approaches nearer our own. 

Everything, therefore, proves, on the one hand, that the dif- 
ferent vegetable creations which have succeeded each other on 
the globe have become more and more perfect; on the other 
hand, that the climate of the surface of the earth is greatly 
modified since the earlier times of the creation of living beings 
up to the commencement of the present epoch. * 


Observations on the Relative Position of the Fcrmations of the 
Western Swiss Alps, and of the Alps of Savoy. By Profes- 
sor FAVRE. 


If we take a rapid glance at the formations of the Western 
Swiss Alps and the Alps of Savoy, with the view more espe- 
cially of determining the relations of position existing be- 
tween them, we shall find that these mountains are composed 
in the following manner :— 

1. Crystallised formations, formed of rocks of a very varied 
character, very generally known, and on which we need not 
make any further remarks. 


* rom L’Institut, No. 714, p. 289. 


102 On the Formations of the Western Swiss Alps, 


2. Metamorphic rocks. These are gneiss, mica-schists, schis- 
tose protogines, &e. These rocks rest, in an irregular man- 
ner, on the crystallised formation. 

3. Pudding-stone, or the Valorsine system, in large strata, 
often containing anthracite. In general, this system is 
formed at its upper part by schists, sandstones, or very ar- 
gillaceous limestones, exhibiting many impressions of ferns. 
Sometimes these latter rocks are wanting, because, in great 
upheavings, the argillaceous rocks are more easily compressed 
than the others, and disappear. 

I have not hitherto observed in Savoy any discordance be- 
tween this anthracitie system and the metamorphic rocks.* 

4. Above the Valorsine system come the limestones, and 
the more or less argillaceous schists of the jurassic formation, 
terminated at the lower part by a bed of Cargneule, or cellu- 
lar magnesian limestone. This jurassic formation has a 
stratification not conformable with that of the Valorsine sys- 
tem ; and may be seen on the right bank of the Rhone, be- 
tween Bex and Martigny. The valiey of the Rhone there 
forms an immense section, very nearly perpendicular to the 
direction of the formations of the Alps. We there observe 
that the crystalline and metamorphic formations form two 
parallel chains, which run under the secondary formations of 
the northern chain of the Valais. 

The Valorsine system is compressed between the two 
chains, and covers them only in part, while the cellular mag- 
nesian limestone, surmounted by the jurassic formations, en- 
velop them entirely; and it may be said that these forma- 
tions, notwithstanding the accidents to which they have been 
subject, form a kind of vault, which extends from the baths 
of Lavey to Saillon, in the Valais, and rises in the mass of 
mountains crowned by the Dent de Morcles. 

The stratification of the jurassic formations, moreover, is 
transgressive in relation to that of the Valorsine system. 

5. The cretaceous formation rests on the jurassic formation. 
It is divided in the following manner :— 


* This discordance, however, has been pointed out in the Alps of Dauphiny. 
See Bulletin de la Société Geologique de France ; meeting at Grenoble, 1840, XI., 
and my Memoir on the Anthracites of the Alps. 


and of the Alps of Savoy. 103 


a. Neocomian, which is characterised by the Holaster 
complanatus, the Gryphees, and Crioceras. The last men- 
tioned fossils have been found only in erratic blocks. 

6. First zone of the rudistes, or limestone with Hippurites 
or Chama ammonia; nummulites are never observed. This 
bed is the one which has most influence on the relief of the 
surface in the cretaceous districts of the Alps. It forms, in 
general, dentated crests, very arid, and of great elevation. 

ce. Albian formation, gault or green sandstones, very rich in 
fossils, which, in certain localities, seems to alternate with 
beds of limestone. 

d. M. Studer has described a formation, occurring in the 
centre of Switzerland, under the name of Seeven limestone ; 
but this formation does not exist either among the Western 
Alps of Switzerland, or in those of Savoy. At Diablerets, 
for example, we may place the hand in such a manner, that 
one of its extremities rests on the green sandstone, and the 
other on the nummulites limestone: it often even happens 
that the fossils of these two beds are mingled. This obser- 
vation, made in many other localities, is a good proof of the 
non-existence of the Seeven limestone in these regions. 

All these stages of the ecretaceous formation are confor- 
mable with each other, but their stratification is not confor- 
mable with the jurassic formation. The latter, indeed, have 
been subject to dislocations before the deposition of the cre- 
taceous formation ; these dislocations are indicated by great 
contortions. 

These are seen in the bottom of some of those deep val- 
leys, which permit us to obtain a view of the interior struc- 
ture of mountains. These contortions, or rather this contor- 
tion, for it is a single accident which we observe in different 
localities, is placed on a line very nearly straight and paral- 
lel with the Alps. I have observed it for a length of about 
13 leagues: the most northern point is the Dent de Daily, 
above the baths of Lavey (on the right bank of the Rhone). 
These contorted beds pass below the great mass of the Dent 
du Midi, and re-appear on the south-east, under the glaciers 
of Mont Ruan, at the bottom of the Combe de Sixt. 

They are likewise found in the lower part of the mountains 


104 On the Formations of the Western Swiss Alps, 


of Fiz, on the side of Sixt, at a place called Faucilles du 
Chantet. 

This contortion runs across below the mountains of Fiz, 
and is seen at the celebrated waterfall of the Arpenaz, on 
the banks of the Arve. Lastly, a fifth locality, where the 
Same observation may be repeated, is found near Giétaz, in 
the valiey of Megéve. : 

In all these localities, the contortion of the beds is situated 
in the jurassic formations, while the cretaceous formation 
covers these dislocations without having shared in them. 

6. The nummulites limestone, which participates in all the 
dislocations which have given relief to the cretaceous grounds. 
Besides the characters indicated by M. Leymerie for this for- 
mation in the Corbicres,* it furnishes us, among the Alps, 
with the opportunity of making two important observations. 

We observe, in the first place, that this formation contains 
a bed of coal so considerable as to be wrought at some points. 
These localities, advancing from NE. to SW., are the chain 
of Titlis ;t at the extremity of the cantons of Berne and Un- 
terwalden, the heights of Beatenberg and Habkeren,} to the 
north of the Lake of Thun, and the Mittaghorn, to the south 
of Frutigen ; these localities are indicated by M. Studer. 
There are others besides, which I have visited myself, namely, 
—the celebrated bed of Diablarets, where the coal is associ- 
ated with Cerithium diaboli and other fossils. The mine of 
Pernant, not far from Arrache, on the right bank of the Arve ; 
this mine was described by M. Necker in 1826.§ I shall only 
add to his observations, that the bed of fossils is in contact, and 
below the true nummulitic limestone, and forms part of that 
formation. The coal-mine of Petit-Bornant near Bonnevilles, 
and that of Entrevergne on the southern shores of the lake 
of Annecy.|| These eight localities running nearly in a line 


* Memoires de la Société Geolog. de France: Archives, 1846, t. i. p. 107. 

t Studer, Mem. de la Soc. Geolog. de France, t. iii., p. 394. This is merely a 
carburetted schist. 

¢ Studer, Zbid. iii., 388. The coal has been mined these 40 years. 

§ Necker, Bibl. Univ. de Geneve, Sc. et Arts, xxxiii., 90. 

|| Bulletin de la Société Geolog. de France. Extraordinary meeting at Cham- 
bery, 1844; t. i., p.G01, &e. 


and of the Alps of Savoy. 105 


parallel with the Alps, shew that, at the period of the depo- 
sition of the nummulitic limestone, a carboniferous formation 
was made of great extent, which has been subjected to inun- 
dations and immense dislocations. 

A second character of the nummulitic formation, of greater 
theoretical importance, is the following :—this formation is 
independent, in the mode of tts arrangement, of the cretaceous 
formation which is inferior to it. This important fact merits 
some details. 

The nummulitic beds, as I have stated, lie above the albian 
formation, and the first zone of therudistes. But at Voirons, 
near Geneva, the nummulitic rocks, under the form of grés,* 
rest on a thin bed of jurassic limestone, the exact age of which 
is undetermined, but which lies above a kind of limestone, 
which is unquestionably the Oxford limestone. 

A similar disagreement has been pointed out by M. Cha- 
mousset in the chain of Nivolet near Aix, where the nummu- 
litie rocks rest on a coralline limestone. He states that he 
has also observed them in the Valley of Thénes, in contact 
with a black Oxford limestone, and that M. Sismonda has seen 
them among the maritime Alps, resting sometimes on the lower 
chalk, sometimes on the Neocomian, sometimes on jurassic beds, 
which he presumes to consist of lias.} On the other hand, Pro- 
fessor Studer has found the nummulitic formation, in the 
canton of Appenzell, resting on the Seeven limestone, which, 
as I have said, is superior to the albian formation; in the 
neighbourhood of the lake of Thun, resting on rudistes lime- 
stone, and at Mont-Faudon, near Gap, on the Oxford clay. 

All these instances evidently prove, therefore, the indepen- 
dence of the nummulitic formation of the Alps. 

7. The Flysch or Macigno, is formed by fine micaceous or 
talcose sandstone, by coarse quartzy sandstone, by schists or 
calcareous breccia, which always present a most remarkable 


* Many years since, M. Boué pointed out the nummulites in these sandstones 
at Voirons. Guide du Voyageur Geologique, iii. 395. Ihave made the same ob- 
servation. The grés of Valerette at the foot of the Dent du Midi, near Saint- 
Maurice in the Valais, likewise contains nummulites. 

Tt Bulletin de la Soc. Geolog. de France, Second Series, i. 624. 


106 On the Formations of the Western Swiss Alps, 


resemblance to lias rocks. Nearly for a third of its thick- 
ness, this formation contains cargnules and gypsum in beds. 
I never found nummulites in the macigno, but in some loca- 
lities, the remains of fishes are abundant: in it these are, 
scales, fins, and small jaws. M. Agassiz regards some of 
these fragments as characterising the fishes of the cretaceous 
epoch.* 

This formation seems to be identical with the Italian ma- 
cigno, although M. Pilla in his new observations, on the hetru- 
rian formation, places it below the nummulitic limestone.t 
Like him, I have ascertained its independence. Indeed, while 
travelling from Saint-Jeoire to Samoens in Savoy, we per- 
ceive that this macigno or flysch runs in layers very nearly 
horizontal, although undulated, along the right bank of the 
Giffre. These layers rest, to the north-west, on the jurassic 
beds, and to the south-east, on the nummulitic limestone, 
which is itself placed on the Chama ammonia limestone. This 
observation proves that the macigno is independent of the 
nummulitic limestone. Consequently, the nummulitic lime- 
stone and the macigno are both independent of the cretaceous 
formations, and independent of each other. 

The point of Marcely, which rises to about 1280 metres 
above the little town of Tanninge, is wholly formed of the 
nearly horizontal layers of which I have just spoken. This 
number gives an approximate idea of the thickness of the 
flysch formation. Now, as it has been subjected to all the 
dislocations which have formed the relief in the formations of 
he Alps, it is probable that, in order to get, the true height 
to which many of the calcareous chains of the Alps arose in 
ancient times, we ought to add to the actual height of the 
needles and cones with which they are covered, the thickness 
of the formations which have been subjected to the same mo- 
difications. Thus, it is necessary to add to the enormous 
height of the Pointe Percie,{ formed by the Chama ammonia 
limestone, the thickness of the nummulitic formation and that 
of the macigno. And to the Buet, the peak of which is ju- 


* Bulletin de la Soc. Geolog. de France, 1844, i., 626. 
+ Mém. de la Soe. Geol. de France, 1846, ii. 163, and Archives, 1846, i. 107. 
+t From Supplement a la Bib. Univ. de Geneve, No, xviii. p. 120. 


- 


and of the Alps of Savoy. 107 


rassic, we must add the cretaceous and nummulitic forma- 
tions, as well as 1300 metres of macigno. 

The macigno rocks being somewhat friable, a part must 
have fallen down at the time of projection ; but it is probable 
that at some points they have continued unimpaired, and that 
it is only by degrees, by the effects of denudation and falling 
down, that certain aiguilles have been lowered to the still 
considerable height which they now occupy.” 


* [his elevated summit is situate at the end of the valley of the Reposoir, 
and has never been measured. See Saussure, Voyages, § 285 and 1977. 

Norr.—Glance at the Geology of Switzerland, Extract of a Discourse pronounced 
at the Jubilee of the Society of Natural History of Zurich, on the 30th November 
1846, by M. Arnold Escher de la Linth.—M. Escher, after referring to the works 
of some Swiss Naturalists, such as Scheuchzer, Saussure, Ebel, Charpentier, 
Studer, &c., explains the geological phenomena of the Alps. He first adverts 
to the distribution of the two great masses of mountains, as pointed out by M. 
Studer; then the fan-like structure of the central chains, the metamorphism, 
age, and dislocation of the deposits of the Alps, the geographical limits of the 
formations, their relative position, and the conclusions which may be drawn 
from the geological history of this country. According to tke author, there does 
not exist in it any formation more ancient than the las; on it all the forma- 
tions even to the upper chalk, rest with a conformable stratification. No dis- 
location, therefore, took place during the whole time these immense deposits 
were forming; but there was a convulsion between the deposition of the jlysch 
(at the end of the cretaceous period), and the molasse. It is impossible to ex- 
plain otherwise the absence of molasse among the Alps. It was at this period 
that the metamorphic action was exerted, and that many of the sedimentary 
rocks became crystalline. But after the molasse period, during which the Rhi- 
noceros, Mastodon, Stag, &c., lived, another revolution took place, the principal 
effects of which were the formation of the basins of lakes, and the opening of 
the transverse valleys of the Reuss, Linth, &c., valleys which commence in the 
centre of the chain of the Alps, and are continued in those districts where the 
ground is formed by molasse. It is at a later period that the erratic formation 
was spread abroad, the transportation of which M. Escher ascribes to the gla- 
ciers.—(Bib. Univ. de Geneve, May 1847, p. 418.) 


( 108 -) 


A Description of the Glaciers of the Pindur and Kuphinee 
Rivers in the Kumaon-Himalaya. By Lieut. R. STRACHEY, 
Bengal Engineers. 


The existence of glaciers in the Himalayas being appa- 
rently still considered a matter of doubt by the natural philoso- 
phers of Europe, I have thought that some account of two most 
decided glaciers, which I have just visited (May 1847}, in these 
mountains, in about lat. 30° 20’, may not be uninteresting. 4 

As there is probably nothing specially worthy of note in 
these individual glaciers, I wish to explain, that, my object 
being to shew that these phenomena exist in the Himalaya, 
under forms apparently identical with those observed in the 
Alps, it has been necessary that I should enter into details, 
which, under other circumstances, would have been super- 
fluous. As these are the first glaciers that I have ever seen, 
it is right to add, that I am only acquainted with those of 
the Alps through the medium of Professor Forbes’s accounts ; 
and that, as I lay no claim to originality, I have not scrupled 
to adopt freely the ideas, and perhaps expressions, of a per- 
son so infinitely better acquainted with these phenomena 
than I canbe. To guard against mistakes, I would also men- 
tion, that the glaciers were selected for examination only on 
account of their accessibility, and that, consequently, no in- 
ferences should be drawn from them of the general extent of 
glaciers in the Himalaya. 

The Pindur River is the most easterly tributary of the 
Bhagiruttee, or that stream of the Ganges that issues into 
the plains of India at Hurdwar. It rises from the south side 
of one of the great snowy ranges of the Himalaya which con- 
tains the cluster of peaks of which Nunda Devce* is the 


* The heights of these peaks are as follow :— 
No. 10. 15,805 English feet. 


11, 20,758 a 
ie oe a 
13. 22,385 £2 
14, 25,741 f 
15. 22,491 - 


— Vide Asiatic Researches, vol. xiii., p. 306. 
“ Nunda Devee’’ is the “ Jowahir” of the maps. “ Jowahir,” or more correctly 


On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 109 


centre. At the head of the Pindur is one of the glaciers I 
am about to describe: the other gives rise to the Kuphinee, 
the first considerable affluent of the Pindur. 

The Pindur and Kuphinee, rising on opposite sides of the 
peak called Nunda Kot, unite about 7 miles south of it. A 
small tolerably level space between them, close to their con- 
fluence, is called Diwaélee. The lower end of the glacier of 
the Pindur is about 8 miles, and that of the glacier of the 
Kuphinee about 6 miles above this place. 

The valley of the Pindur, at the termination of the glacier, 
is about a mile across between the precipitous mountains 
that bound it. From the foot of the rocks on either side its 
bottom slopes inward with a moderate inclination, leaving in 
the middle a hollow about 300 yards wide and 250 feet deep, 
with very steep banks, at the bottom of which flows the river. 
This comparatively level space, between the central hollow 
in which the river runs and the precipitous sides of the valley, 
its surface running nearly parallel with the present bed of 
the river, but from 200 to 300 feet above it, can be distinctly 
seen for a mile or more below the end of the glacier. The 
plateau itself, as well as the steep banks between it and the 
bed of the river, are considerably cut up by water-courses 
running across them from the sides of the valley, but every- 
where they have an almost perfectly rounded outline. 

The whole of the bottom of the valley is covered with grass, 
or those species of plants that grow in these elevated regions, 
excepting where beds of snow, rocks, or the debris of the 
mountains interrupt the vegetation. i 

The glacier occupies about two-thirds of the whole breadth 
of the head of this valley, leaving between itself and the cliffs 
on the east an open grassy slope, which extends lgngythe foot 
of the moraine for upwards of a mile and a half above the 


“ Jwar” or “ Joohar,” is the name of a district (Purgunnah) which consists of 
the upper part of the valley of the Goree River. Nunda Devee is on the 
boundary of this district, and has been erroneously named after it in many 
maps, the word “ Joohar” being never applied to designate this particular peak, 
though the portion of the range in which it is has undoubtedly been called the 
Mountains of Joohar. 


110 On the Glaciers of the Himaiaya. 


source of the river, and which seems to be a continuation of 
the plateau I before mentioned. 

The first appearance is remarkable: it seems to be a vast 
rounded mass of rocks and ground, utterly devoid of any sign 
of vegetation, standing up out of a grassy valley. From the 
foot of its nearer extremity, the river, even here unfordable, 
rushes in a turbid torrent out of a sort of cave, the top of 
which, when I saw it, was but a few feet above the surface 
of the water. The end immediately over the source of the 
river is very steep, and of a dull black colour. It is consider- 
ably fissured, the rents appearing to arise from the lower 
parts tearing themselves from the upper by their own weight. 
On a closer examination, this abrupt end proves to be a sur- 
face of ice, covered with sand and gravel, and curiously striped 
by the channel made by the water that runs down it as it 
melts. Behind this, the glacier rises less steeply, like a bare 
gravel hill, to its full height, which is probably about 590 feet 
above the water of the river, when it leaves the cave; in 
some places, however, are seen great fissures both vertical 
and horizontal, the latter evidently made by the separation 
of regularly stratified layers. The last thing that might be 
expected of such a dismal coloured and monotonously rounded 
hill is, that it should be composed within of the purest ice. 

The cliffs that form the immediate bounds of the valley 
where the glacier lies are of no great height ; but the moun- 
tains of which they are the foot, rise many thousand feet above 
them, though with much monotony of appearance. Many 
grassy slopes are still seen considerably above the glacier ; 
but bare rock and snow much predominate, and are soon left 
in sole possession of these inhospitable regions. Two peaks* 
which rise, one to the north-east and the other to the north- 


* The peak on the north-west is the most easterly of the three smaller peaks 
which are seen from Almorah, below Nunda Devee. That on the north-east is 
the point at the end of the range that descends from Nunda Kot to the north» 


and appears on its left from Almorah. Between these peaks is the pass called’ 


after Mr Traill, over which he went into Joohar, or the valley of the Goree. 
It is, perhaps, rather gratuitous to call this passage a pass, as no one has gone 
over it since, and certainly never will go, unless from curiosity. 'To the right 
of the north-east peak is another depression in the range, over which, I was 
told, Mr Traill attempted to go, but failed. 


On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 111 


west of the valley, probably to a height of 20,000 feet above 
the sea, are fine objects in themselves, and the frozen snow on 
their summits shines gloriously in the sun; but they are not 
sufficient to prevent the general impression from the scene 
being one of disagreeable monotony, and of desolation com- 
plete indeed, but without sublimity. 

The glacier is formed by the meeting of two ice-streams, 
from gorges, one coming from the north-west and the other 
nearly from the east, which meet about two miles above the 
source of the river. 

The feeder from the north-west is larger than that from 
the east, and its surface is at a considerably higher level for 
some hundred yards below their first junction. It descends 
with a great inclination, entirely filling the gorge down which 
it comes, in what Professor Forbes aptly terms a cascade of 
ice. It assumes the general appearance of a confused mass 
of irregular steps, which are again broken up transversely 
into peaks of every shape. 

The feeder from the east is formed by the union of two 
smaller glaciers, one coming from the north-east, the other 
from the south-east: the latter is the larger of the two, and 
descends in ice-cliffs to some little distance below the rocky 
point which intersected my view of its upper parts. The 
north-east tributary is not so steep, its surface, as far as I 
could see, being continuous, excepting immediately at its 
union with the other, where it seems to be a good deal broken 
up. I did not goto any of these glaciers, and describe them 
as they appeared from the upper parts of the united glacier. 

Another small tributary glacier also falls into the main one 
from the north-west. Its inclination is very great, but it 
perfectly maintains its continuity of structure to the bottom. 

The lateral moraine of the west side of the northern branch 
of the glacier shews itself as a black band along the edge 
of the ice, which, in other parts of the fall, is quite white. 
The moraine is small at one point ; at another, it very rapidly 
increases, and in its lower parts is a chaos of desolation, such 
as I never saw before. This great addition to the size of the 
moraine is owing to the quantity of debris brought down by 
the small glacier, over the lower parts of which stones were 


112 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 


constantly rolling on to the upper end of the moraine during 
the whole time we were near it. We were thus here enabled 
to see the actual formation of a moraine. The ice below the 
junction of this tributary with the main glacier being much 
broken up by crevasses ; rocks and gravel, from the moraines 
on the two sides of the tributary, are scattered over the space 
between them, and the moraines, at first sight, appear to lose 
their distinct form ; but although there is no clear ice between 
the moraine that originates on the east of the tributary and 
the west side of the glacier, the identity of that moraine is 
sufficiently marked by its colour, and by the regular rise, above 
the general surface of the glacier, of its top, which remains 
tolerably even for some way down, being beyond the limit of 
the disturbance caused by the crevasses along the edge of 
the glacier; about half way down to the lower end of the 
glacier, however, the full action of these crevasses reaches the 
whole of the moraine, and it is scattered or lost sight of in 
the general confusion of surface. 

An epoch of peculiar destructiveness to the mountains 
passed by the glacier is marked on one part of this moraine 
by an accumulatien of huge masses of rock, from 20 to 30 feet 
Square, and as much as 15 feet high, and the stones found 
on it are generally larger than those on any of the other mo- 
raines; the true west lateral moraine, below the tributary 
glacier, is not very large, nor is its top much elevated above 
the bottom of the valley, excepting quite at its end. This.is pro- 
bably owing to the level of the valley on this side being higher, 
rather than to the top of the glacier boing lower. The bottom 
of the valley slopes from the cliffs at its sides inward. On the 
east, the edge of the glacier is at some distance from the cliff, 
and the bottom of the valley has dipped considerably where 
it meets the foot of the moraine, the summit of which, on 
that side, is high above the valley. On the west side, the 
glacier edge is close to the cliff: the bottom of the valley 
will therefore be higher. I did not notice any difference of 
level in the two sides of the valley. 

The lateral moraine of the south-east side of the glacier is 
very large. Its top rises, on an average, probably 250 feet 
above the bottom of the valley. Along its foot runs a stream, 


On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 1138 


gradually increasing in size, that collects the drainage of the 
open part of the valley, and of the outer slopes of the moraine. 
The lower part of this slope is a mass of loose stones and 
earthy gravel, which rolls down from above, as the face of 
ice, which is visible in the upper 50 or 60 feet of the slope, 
melts and recedes. This process is seen constantly going on. 
On the inner side, the top of the moraine is 40 or 30 feet above 
the level of the clear ice of the glacier. 

Besides these lateral moraines is a medial one, which, simi- 
lar to several described by Professor Forbes, is first seen as 
a dirty stripe among the white ice-cliffs of the fall at the head 
of the north glacier. As it comes down the level ice, it gra- 
dually begins to assume the decided appearance of a moraine, 
and, increasing by degrees, at last becomes very large. It 
continues in a well-defined form for some short distance beyond 
where the western moraine is dispersed; but there it is also 
scattered over the ice, and the two become blended together, 
and ultimately extend to meet the debris which is similarly 
dispersed by the eastern moraine from the opposite side of 
the glacier. 

The whole of the moraines in the middle of the length of 
the glacier, where it is most regular, are very considerably 
raised above the general surface of the ice, which in some 
parts is, I should think, as much as 100 feet below the tops 
of the western and medial moraines. It is not to be supposed 
that this great elevation is caused to any considerable extent 
by the mere mass of rocks andrubbish collected in the mo- 
raine ; it results from the ice below the mass being protected 
by it from external melting influences, which constantly de- 
press the level of the clear ice beyond the moraine. On the 
very tops of the moraines pure ice was often seen hardly 
covered by the stones. 

The protection given to the ice by the great lateral mo- 
raines, raises the sides of the glacier so much, that a very 
considerable hollow is caused in its middle, which is a strik- 
ing feature in the first appearance of its lower extremity. 

The ice of which the glacier is composed, agrees most ex- 
actly in its nature with the Alpine glacier ice, as described by 
Professor Forbes. It is perfectly pure and clear, but where 

VOL. XLIV. NO, LXXXVII.—JAN, 1848. H 


114 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 


seen in considerable masses, stripes of a darker and lighter 
bluish-green are distinctly visible. It is composed of bands 
of ice, containing small air-bubbles, alternating with others 
quite free from them. In many places the surface presents 
a striated appearance, arising from the different degrees of 
compactness of these differently ecloured bands, and their 
consequently different rates of melting. 

The direction of these coloured veins, as seen in crevasses, 
or in the striated surfaces of the ice, follow laws exactly simi- 
lar to those observed in the Alps. The dip was most dis- 
tinctly inwards, 7. e., towards the longitudinal axis, and up- 
wards, z.e., towards the origin of the glacier in every part ; 
the stratification being more perpendicular near the head, 
and more nearly horizontal in the lower parts. The direction 
of the strata was also very clearly marked in many parts of 
the ice, and was plainly in curves, having their branches 
nearly parallel to the sides of the glacier, and their apices 
directed downwards ; the curvature in the centre not being 
at all sudden. I nowhere could perceive “ dirt-bands.”’ 

The crevasses (perhaps owing to my visit having been made 
somewhat early in the summer) were much less numerous and 
terrific than I had expected. Although considerable detours 
were at times necessary in crossing them, I remember no 
place that I thought dangerous or difficult to pass. They are 
developed across the direction of the glacier's length, along 
both of its sides, commencing from the small tributary on 
the west side, and from the union of the eastern glacier on 
the other, and continuing almost to the end, those on the west 
side being, I think, the largest. They are generally wider 
towards the edges of the glacier, closing up as they approach 
the centre. They are nearly vertical, and are directed from 
the sides upwards or towards the head of the glacier, those 
on the west bearing nearly east and west, those on the east 
bearing nearly north and south, thus forming angles of about 
45° with the axis of the glacier. 

Many pools of water (the Baignoirs of the Alps) were seen 
on the surface of the ice ; some of the largest were said by our 
guides, who are in the habit of visiting the glacier, to be found 
in the same place every year. The clear surface of the ice 


On the Glaciers of the Himataya. 115 


everywhere assumes a more or less undulating form, from the 
action of the water that drains from it as it melts; and the 
small streams into which the drainage collects, end, as in the 

_ glacier of the Alps, by falling into some of the crevasses. The 
remains of the last winter’s snow was hardly perceptible on 
any part of the glacier. 

The occurrence of stones standing up on bases of ice (gla- 
cier tables) above the general surface of the glacier, is com- 
mon; but all that I saw were small. I also observed what 
appeared to be imperfect glacier cones, or the remains of 
them, but these also were small. 

T examined the effect the glacier produced upon the rocks : 
I found it covered with grooves or scratches, sloping in about 
the same direction as the surface of the ice at the spot. These 
grooves extend to 20 or 30 feet above'the present level of the 
glacier. Lalso observed, that almost everywhere a space was 
left between the rock and the ice, the latter appearing to 
shrink from contact with the former. This was, of course, the 
effect of the heat of the rock melting the ice. I regret that 
an attempt that I made to measure the actual motion of this 
glacier proved ineffectual, owing to circumstances which it is 
not necessary to detail. 

The valley of the Kuphinee, for a mile or two below the 
end of the glacier, has much the same general character as 
that of the Pindur, but is more rugged and desolate in ap- 
pearance. A fine peak of pure snow (probably Nunda Kot) 
is seen from below the glacier, but is lost sight of behind an 
intermediate point, on a nearer approach. 

The direction of the glacier is almost due north and south, 
and the whole breadth of the valley, in its upper part, about 
* of a mile, is occupied by it. It commences about two miles 
above the river’s source, in a very precipitous fall of ice. We 
went up about 200 feet, by the lower part of this, much be- 
yond which it would probably have been impossible to ascend, 
owing to the excessive steepness above. A cliff of ice about 
60 or 70 feet high, rose immediately above the point which we 
reached. The ice was perfect, with the ribbon structure quite 
visible; the bands were very highly inclined, and I think 
further apart than in the lower parts of the glacier. The 


116 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 


direction of the structural lines was in no degree parallel to 
the sides of the glacier, but much more nearly perpendicular 
to them. The precise contrary of this was observed by Pro- 
fessor Forbes, under apparently similar circumstances, in the 
Glacier du Talefre, in the Alps. 

From the foot of the fall, the surface of the glacier was 
on the whole very even, though its slope downwards was very 
considerable. It still had remaining, on its upper half, a good 
deal of unmelted snow, which was disagreeable to walk over, 
as it was seldom strong enough to make us indifferent to 
what was under it. 

The main glacier is joined by two small tributaries on the 
east, and by one on the west; all are highly inclined, and 
bring down considerable quantities of debris. The moraines 
are altogether confined to the sides of the glacier, though 
many small stones are scattered over every part of the ice. 
Here, as in the glacier of the Pindur, the protection given by 
the moraines to the ice on the sides, raises them greatly, and 
leaves a deep hollow in the middle of the glacier at its end. 
The crevasses here also are most strongly marked near the 
sides, and are inclined at an angle of about 45° from the 
longitudinal axis, downwards. The structure of the ice is in 
all respects precisely as was seen in the Pindur glacier. I 
am unable to offer any decided opinion as to whether these 
glaciers have ever varied considerably from their present 
limits. During the very short period of my visit to these 
regions, | saw no direct evidence of it. The shepherds who 
take their flocks to the pastures in the valleys near the 
glaciers during the summer months, (for there are no fixed 
habitations within 14 or 15 miles of them), have no idea of 
any motion in the glacier, but say, that they suppose the ends 
of them to be gradually receding. Their statements are, how- 
ever, of a very vague nature, and, as far as I could judge, are 
founded on their views of what ought to be, rather than what 
really is. Some very decided change in the state of things 
is however certainly indicated by the long plateaux, which I 
before mentioned, running for a mile or two below the 
present terminations of both glaciers, nearly parallel to the 
rivers, but several hundred feet above them. I consider it to 


On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 117 


be impossible, that these level banks above the rivers, have 
been caused by deposits from the ravines in the sides of the 
valleys, for such deposits would have had very irregular sur- 
faces; and indeed their present effect in destroying the re- 
gularity of the plateaux is everywhere visible. Had the same 
appearance been noticed in any other part of the river’s 
course, it would at once have been attributed to the action of 
the water at some former period; and it would have been 
supposed that the bed had afterwards been excavated to its 
present depth. If this was the case, the glaciers, while the 
plateau was forming, must either have terminated consider- 
ably higher up the valleys, or have stood altogether at a 
much higher level; in either of these ways, the water could 
have been delivered at a level sufficiently high to form the 
plateau. But it may admit of doubt, whether the quantity 
of water in the rivers, as they are at present, is sufficient to 
account for such an extent of level deposit, or for such a 
depth of erosion of their beds; for at this great elevation, 
they are not subject to those violent floods that occur lower 
down ; for nearly half the year, too, they must be almost 
inert. 

The only other way that occurs to me of accounting for the 
appearance, is, that it has been occasioned by an extension of 
the glacier, and that the level top of the plateau shews the 
limit to which the tops of the moraines reached, as the glacier 
gradually receded. From the very cursory nature of my ex- 
amination of the matter, however, I am unable to do more 
than point out the fact, and what possibly may have caused it. 

There is another circumstance relating to these rivers, 
which is also worthy of notice, namely, that in the upper two 
or three miles of their course, their fall is considerably less, 
than in two or three miles immediately succeeding those. 
Thus, in the Kuphinee, the average fall in the first three 
miles is about 400 feet, in the next four miles, about 650 feet 
per mile; but, as the average is only about 160 for the next 
eight miles, it is highly probable that the fall in the fourth 
and fifth miles will be considerably greater than in the sixth 
and seventh. I therefore infer, that it is quite possible that 
the fall in the fourth and fifth miles may be as much as 800 


118 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 


feet per mile, or even more, which the appearance of the 
rivers would fully justify. 

Smaller extensions of the glacier of the Pindur were visible 
in many places. They were marked by mounds of a rounded 
form covered with grass, projecting from the modern mo- 
raines in a curved direction concave to the glacier. I did 
not remark them at the Kuphinee. I would here observe, 
that in this climate, where we are subject to periodical rains, 
persons should be cautious in concluding that piles of rocks 
in long lines are moraines, even though their edges are in no 
way water worn. On both of these rivers Isaw many instances 
of such heaps of rocks which might very easily have been 
thought moraines ; and though from their immense extent, 
and the great size of the blocks they contain, it is not easy 
to believe that they have been formed by the action of water, 
more particularly as the rocks have perfectly sharp edges, 
and as there is often no appearance of water ever having 
been near them; yet they have certainly been brought down 
by torrents, and may be easily traced up to ravines in the 
mountains. 

The.term snow-bed having been hitherto applied by tra- 
vellers in these mountains, (with one exception,*) both to 
true glaciers, and to mere beds of unaltered snow, I will 
shortly explain what is meant by it when used in the latter, 
which is the correct, sense. In many parts of the higher 
valleys real beds of snow lie far below the limit of perpetual 
snow for the greater part of the year, and some would pro- 
bably be permanent at very low elevations were they not de- 
stroyed by the rain during the rainy season. These snow- 
beds are formed by avalanches, as is sufficiently proved by 
their form and position. On the Kuphinee river we have a 
fine example of a snow-bed, which occurs at an elevation of 
10,800 feet. 

It came down from a ravine, and entirely covered the 
river, which flowed under its whole length. The snow ex- 
tended but little beyond the upper side of the ravine, but was 
prolonged far down the river on the lower side. Its surface 


* [ allude to Major Madden, who has given a short account of the glacier of 
the Pindur in a late Number (176) of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 
Bengal. 


On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 119 


was marked by curved hills. This is evidently precisely the 
form that would be assumed by snow falling down the ravine 
into the river. The slope of the river bed being great, the 
avalanche would naturally continue its course down it, after 
having filled the channel immediately in front of the ravine. 
The fall of an avalanche in the upper part of this valley, 
gave me an opportunity of seeing the motion of loose snow 
in large masses ; it was very similar to that of a fluid body, 
the snow appeared rather to flow than to fall. So here, the 
snow descending through the ravine, gradually filled the river 
channel, the main supply moving with the greatest velocity 
down the middle, but sending off, all along it as it went on, 
particles to the sides. Its head would therefore advance in a 
convex curve, as the central particles moving directly for- 
ward would always keep in advance of those that spread out 
to the sides. The end of the snow-hbed takes the curved form, 
and a succession of smaller avalanches would mark its sur- 
face with numerous curves of the same sort. 

In the last two miles of the approach to the Kuphinee 
glacier we crossed two snow-beds, both of which were up- 
wards of a quarter of a mile wide, and extended from the ra- 
vines in which they originated, right across the valley from 
side to side, entirely covering up the river. 

The surface of many of the snow-beds has a sort of rippled 
appearance, caused by the protection given by grass and 
leaves blown upon the snow to the parts immediately under 
them. The snow itself is generally firm, and receives but a 
slight impression from the foot of a man walking over it. 

I have estimated the heights of these glaciers from obser- 
vation of the boiling-point of water as follows; the results 
will certainly be within 500 feet of the truth. 


Feet above 
the Sea. 
Lowest point of the glacier of the Pindur and source of the 
river, : ; 3 ‘ f 11,300 
Surface of the glacier at the commencement of smooth ice, 12,000 
Lowest point of the glacier of the Kuphinee and source of the 
river, 7 ° A ; ; ‘ 12,000 
Surface of the glacier at the commencement of smooth ice, 15,500 


Diwalee, union of the Pindur and Kuphinee, - A 8,200 


120 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 


The limit of perpetual snow here being about 15,000 feet 
above the sea, in the one case the glacier comes down 3700, 
and in the other 3000 feet below it. At the Kuphinee gla- 
cier, a mass of Rododendron campanulatum, a shrub six or 
eight feet high, was growing within thirty yards of the ice. 
There were no shrubs of any size at the Pindur glacier, but 
grass and fiowers were at both places flourishing considerably 
above the level of the ice. 

Having now concluded the record of my own observations 
on the two glaciers seen by myself, I will add two extracts 
from the journals of travellers in these mountains, which 
most clearly prove the existence of two other glaciers, both 
of great size ; one at the source of the Bhagiruttee or Ganges, 
the other at that of the Goree, which is one of the main 
feeders of the Kalee or Gogra. The first extract is from a 
journal by Captain Hodgson, of a visit to the source of the 
Ganges, in the year 1847 (Asiatic Researches, No. xiv., 4to, 
pp. 117-128.) Captain Hodgson thus describes the first ap- 
pearance of the glacier, from which the river rises. 

“ The Bhagiruttee or Ganges issues from under a very low 
arch at the foot of the grand snow-bed.”’—* Over the debouche 
the mass of snow is perfectly perpendicular, and from the 
bed of the stream to the summit, we estimate the thickness 
at little less than 300 feet of solid frozen snow, probably the 
accumulation of ages ; it is in layers of some feet thick, each 
seemingly the remains of a fall of a separate year. The 
height of the arch of snow is only sufficient to let the stream 
flow under it.” 

He ascends the glacier: “ This vast collection of snow is 
about 14 mile in width, filling up the whole space between 
the feet of the peaks to the right and left; we can see its 
surface forward to the extent of four or five miles, or more.” 
—‘ General acclivity, 7°, but we pass small hollows in the 
snow, caused by its irregular subsiding; a very dangerous 
place ; the snow stuck full of rubbish and rocks imbedded in . 
it. Many rents in the snow appear to have been recently 
made, their sides shrinking and falling in.”—“ Ponds of water 
form in the bottom of these.” 

«Tt was remarked above, that the snow of the great bed 


On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 121 


was stuck, as it were, with rock and rubbish, in such a man- 
ner, as that the stones and large pieces of rock are supported 
in the snow, and sink as it sinks ; as they are at such a dis- 
tance from the peaks as to preclude the idea that they could 
have rolled down to their present places except their sharp 
points had been covered, it appears most likely” that they 
came down like snowballs with avalanches. “ It is not easy to 
account for the deep rents which intersect this snow-bed, with- 
out supposing it to be full of hollow places.” The source of 
the Ganges is stated by Captain Hodgson to be 12,914 feet 
above the sea. 

The next is an extract from a journal of Lieutenant Weller, 
printed as a note to a journal of Captain Manson, (Journal 
of the Asiatic Society, No. 132.) 

* | went to see the source of the Goree River, about a mile 
north-west from Milum. The river comes out in a small but 
impetuous stream, at the foot of apparently a mass of dirt 
and gravel some 300 feet high, shaped like a half-moon. This 
is in reality a mass of dark coloured ice (bottle-green colour), 
extending westward to a great distance, and covered with 
stones and fragments of rock, which, in fact, form a succes- 
sion of small hills. I went along this scene of desolation for 
a long space, but could not nearly reach the end. Here and 
there were circular and irregularly shaped craters (as it 
were), from 50 to 500 feet in diameter at top, and some of 
them 150 feet deep; the ice was frequently visible on the 
sides, and at the bottom was a dirty sea-green coloured pool of 
water, apparently very deep. The bases of the hills on either 
side, and frequently far up their faces, are one succession of 
landslips; but, from their distance, I do not believe it pos- 
sible that the debris in the centre of the snow-bed valley can 
have fallen there from the side hills.”” Lieutenant Weller 
also says of the same glacier in his journal, published in the 
Journal of the Asiatic Society, No. 134 :—* The mass of desola- 
tion, as described at the source of the Goree, continues thus far 
up, thatis, about four miles, and how much farther no one will 
or can tell me. The fissures hereabouts are narrow, instead 
of being crater-like, and the ice, when visible, is more nearly 
the colour of snow. On the opposite (south) side, hnge ae- 


122 On the Glaciers of the Himalaya. 


cumulations of ice and gravel are to be seen in the openings 
between the hills. Once on either side I had a view of the 
old ice high upon the hills; its light sea-green colour, with 
strongly defined and fantastical lines of shape (castles, stairs, 
&c.), formed a very pleasing and grand appearance.” This 
glacier is known to be six or seven miles long; its lower ex- 
tremity is at 11,600 feet above the sea. 

In the published journals of travellers in the Himalaya 
that I have seen, I have not met with any other accounts of 
glaciers sufficiently distinct to be worth quoting, though we 
not unfrequently come across a snow-bed that seems suspi- 
cious. Iam, however, fully satisfied of the actual existence 
of many other glaciers, both from the verbal accounts of Mr 
Batten, who has been a resident in Kumaon for many years ; 
of my brother, Mr H. Strachey, who visited several of the 
passes into Thibet last year; and of the Bhotians (the natives 
of the valleys immediately below the snowy ranges); and 
from having myself had distant views of several. 

From these sources I am able to affirm positively the ex- 
istence of glaciers at the heads of the following rivers, viz. : 
—the Vishnoogunga (near Budrinath) ; the Kylgunger, the 
Koourgurh the Soondurdoonga, all rising from the northern 
side of Tresool and Nunda Devee ; the Ramgunga (that which 
falls into the Surgoo, not the great river of the same name); 
the Piltee, an affluent of the Goree; and the Gonka, which 
rises near the Oonta-doora or Joohar, pass into Thibet. 

I therefore conclude, that in the Himalaya, as in the Alps, 
almost every valley that descends from the ranges covered 
with perpetual snow, has at its head a true glacier ; and’.in 
spite of Mr Elie de Beaumont’s ingenious fact, that the 
seasons here “have no considerable variations of tempera- 
ture,” and that “ the thaw and frost do not separately pene- 
trate far enough to conyert the snow into ice,” I am of opinion, 
that the very great intensity of all atmospheric influences, in- 
cluding variations of temperature, should render these moun- 
tains one of the most favourable fields for the investigation 
of glacial phenomena.— Journal of the Asiatic Society of Ben- 
gal, New Series, No. viii., p. 794. 


(1985 


Note on the Temperature of the Spider; and on the Urinary 
Excretion of the Scorpion and Centipede. By JOHN Davy, 
M.D., F.R.S., Lond. and Edin., Inspector-General of Army 
Hospitals. 


In a former communication made to this Journal, I have 
spoken of spiders as belonging to the class of cold-blooded 
animals. Though this I believe is generally admitted as a 
fact, I am not aware of any precise observations that have 
been made and published confirming it. I am induced in 
consequence to give the following, which, although the num- 
ber is very limited, may in part at least supply the supposed 
deficiency. 

The subject of the first trials I shall mention was a large 
species of Mygale, not uncommon in Barbadoes, the body of 
which was about an inch long. A small thermometer, with 
a projecting bulb, applied to its abdomen, was stationary at 
86:25° Fahrenheit, when a similar one placed under the glass - 
vessel in which the spider was confined stood at 86°. The 
following day, the difference between the two thermometers 
was a little greater; that in contact with the spider was 
§8°5°; that under the glass 88°. On this occasion the spider 
was placed on cotton-wool, and the bulb of the instrument 
was between this bad conductor of heat and the abdomen of 
the animal. I may add, that the previous nights it devour- 
ed the soft parts of a beetle, and voided a considerable quan- 
tity of urinary excrement, consisting almost entirely of xan- 
thic oxide. The trial of the thermometer on this spider 
was repeated several times, and with the same result. 

In Trinidad, as well as in some of the other West Indian 
islands, a very large spider (4. avicularia, Linn.?) is met 
with. At my request, Mr Longmore, assistant-surgeon of 
the 19th regiment, stationed in Trinidad, was so good as to 
institute some trials on it, to determine its temperature. In 
the first he made, he informed me that a delicate thermo- 
meter, the bulb of which was grasped by the spider so as to 
be surrounded, rose in one instance from 85° to 863°; in an- 
other from 83° to 85°. In some other trials, made on the 


124 On the Temperature of the Spider ; and on the 


same spider, taking precautions which I suggested to him, 
he found the thermometer under the abdomen, and in con- 
tact with it, from one-half to three quarters of a degree 
higher than in the air of the box in which the spider was 
confined; and he stated that the same results followed the 
experiment when made at different atmospheric tempera- 
tures. ‘These last results, of course, I consider, as did also 
Mr Longmore, the most accurate. 

In connexion with its temperature, I have thought it worth 
while to ascertain the proportion of carbonic acid formed by 
the spider in a certain time. The spider, the temperature 
of which I had tried, was confined in a glass jar, over water 
of the capacity of 23 cubic inches, and holding this quantity 
of common air. After 243 hours, (the temperature of the 
room the same at the beginning and end of the experiment), 
calculating the absorption that had taken place, the dimi- 
nution of the volume of air, and the after diminution by agi- 
tation with lime-water, it was found that there was a total 
diminution of 2:11 cubic inches of air, so that about this 
quantity of carbonic acid, it may be inferred, had been form- 
ed. Ina second experiment, on another species of Mygale, 
about half the size of the former, after three days confine- 
ment in 13°6 cubic inches of atmospheric air, nearly a cubic 
inch (:97 of a cubic inch) appeared to be formed. The spider, 
at the end of three days, was alive and active. These re- 
sults, on the quantity of oxygen consumed by these spiders, 
in the formation of carbonic acid, or the animal-heating pro- 
cess, may be considered in accordance with the degree of 
temperature they have been observed to possess. 

I have mentioned, that the spider first used in the trial 
on temperature, devoured the soft parts of a beetle: of this 
I satisfied myself by careful examination of the remains. 
And, I may add, that from repeated observations, Iam sure, 
that spiders do not, according to popular belief, feed on the 
juices of the animals they make their prey, but on their 
muscle and other soft parts. The same remark, the result 
also of observation, applies to the scorpion. 

As regards this last mentioned animal, there is another 
popular belief, which I have no doubt is equally ill-founded, 


Urinary Excretion of the Scorpion and Centipede. 125 


viz., that if an attempt be made to confine it, it will destroy 
itself by thrusting its sting into its head. I apprehend that 
most scorpions that die shortly after they have been placed 
in confinement, have been hurt in being taken, and die in 
consequence. The committing of self-destruction on loss of 
liberty, excepting it be done instinctively, implies not only 
a reasoning power and process, but a knowledge of the effects 
—that is, of death,—a knowledge which we can hardly sup- 
pose any animal but man to possess. But, apart from this 
general consideration, I may mention, that the only scorpion 
T have had, that I have taken uninjured, has lived, and is 
now living in confinement, and feeds well, eating the soft 
parts of flies, and of small cockroaches, which it kills, and 
seems to be in the enjoyment of perfect health, and nowise 
repining under the loss of liberty. 

This scorpion, a small brown one, with transverse stripes 
on its back of a lighter hue (S. americanus), has enabled me 
to make trial of its urinary excrement. Like that of spiders, 
it is voided in a semifluid state, shortly becomes solid from 
the evaporation of the aqueous part; is of a greyish hue ; un- 
der the microscope is seen to consist chiefly of spherical 
granules, of from about soo to rzdo0 Of an inch in dia- 
meter; and examined chemically, is found to have the pro- 
perties of the xanthic oxide. I have never been able to detect 
in it any traces of lithic acid, and have sought for it in 
several specimens. It is remarkable that almost the whole 
of the excrement of this animal appears to be urinary. It 
is voided often, and, in proportion to the size of the scor- 
pion, in large quantity. A like remark is applicable to the 
spider, but not to the centipede. Hitherto my observations 
on this secretion of the scorpion have been limited to one 
example; and, in the instance of that of the centipede, they 
have been equally limited. 

The centipede (Scolopendra morsitans), from which some ex- 
crement was obtained for examination, was about six inches 
long: it died, after having been about a fortnight in confine- 
ment without eating ; it had been hurt in being taken. During 
this time it twice voided excrement—a dark small cylindri- 
cal mass, partially covered with a whitish incrustation. This 


126 Mr Miller’s Description of a New Pyrometer. 


whitish matter, separated and examined apart, was found to 
consist chiefly of lithate of ammonia: under the microscope, 
it was seen to be composed of granules of about 55 inch 
in diameter, and acted on by nitric acid and heat, it yielded 
the purple compound characteristic of lithic acid. The dark, 
almost black matter, composing the principal part of the 
excrement, under the microscope appeared as a very mixed 
debris, amongst which sand, in very fine grains, was ob- 
servable, but nothing else, well defined. No doubt, it was 
feecal matter, and it would seem to indicate that the centi- 
pede is a coarse feeder. 


BARBADOES, October 31, 1847. 


Description of anew Pyrometer. By Mr ALEX. MILLER, Liver- 
pool. With a Plate. Communicated by the Author. 


Thermometers being found inapplicable to the measure- 
ment of the higher ranges of heat, Musschenbroek, about the 
year 1750, was led to make use of the expansion of metal 
rods instead of that of mercury. Since that period pyrome- 
ters and metallic thermometers, with few exceptions, have 
been made on the same principle, though varying in form ; 
the expansion of the rods being assumed as proportional to 
the temperature. 

The exceptions to Musschenbroek’s method may be briefly 
noticed. Wedgwood’s pyrometer is founded on the property 
that clay possesses of contracting by heat. Achard’s resem- 
bled the common thermometer, semi-transparent porcelain 
being substituted for glass, and a fusible alloy for mercury. 
Mr Prinsep, assay-master of the mint at Benares. proposed 
the employment of alloys of various metals, in different pro- 
portions, which melted at various degrees. The expansion 
of air by heat has also been employed in the measurement of 
high temperatures. 

The principle of the pyrometer that forms the subject of 
this communication, in the opinions of those* in whose judg- 


* Professors Faraday and Melson. 


Mr Miller’s Description of a new Pyrometer. 127 


ment I have more confidence than in my own, is new in its 
application, and correct in theory; but the practical utility 
of this contrivance remains to be tested. . The difficulty that 
attends the invention of an instrument of this kind, that in 
its use is submitted to the torture of fire, may be inferred 
from the disagreements found in tables of temperatures above 
the boiling of mercury. 

My aim has been to make the mercurial thermometer sub- 
servient to the measurement of high heats. As in mecha- 
nics, a comparatively small weight, placed on the lever of a 
steelyard, counterpoises and determines the weight of the 
load, it seemed also possible by some method to determine, 
by the thermometer itself, temperatures beyond its range. 

With this view experiments were first tried with a short 
cylinder of iron, of one inch diameter, a tube of sheet-iron, 
and a thermometer, proceeding as follows :—The iron cylin- 
der, after being heated, was dropped into the tube ; the ther- 
mometer, graduated on the stem, was suspended at a small 
distance above it, and at the same distance in all experi- 
ments, to receive the impression of radiated heat; the rise 
of the thermometer during a given time was observed. It 
was supposed that the thermometer would be affected ac- 
cording to the intensity ;—that if the iron heated to 100° 
above the atmospheric temperature caused the thermometer 
to rise 12° in four minutes, 200° would cause it to rise 24° 
in the same time. 

The following improvement was made on this arrange- 
ment. The thermometer was bent to a right angle about an 
inch from the bulb, which was afterwards imbedded to the 
depth of about half an inch in sand, contained in a metal 
cup,; the thermometer stem was passed through a hole in the 
side of the cup, and fixed in an upright position: a cylinder 
of iron weighing about six ounces, with a thin handle, was 
heated in mercury to various known degrees, and then ap- 
plied to the shielded bulb. In each experiment, the degree 
to which the thermometer rose during four minutes, was 
noted, and the numbers passed over were counted. The re- 
sults with moderate heats were tolerably uniform; an in- 


128 Mr Miller’s Description of a new Pyrometer. 


crease of 100° in the cylinder producing an increase of about 
12° in the ascent of the thermometric column. From re- 
sults with known heats, a scale was obtained, by which un- 
known and higher heats were inferred. But as the capacity 
of iron for heat increases rapidly, all determinations with this 
metal must be too great in the higher ranges. 

In practice, this method was attended with some inconve- 
niences. The sand that surrounded the bulb of the thermo- 
meter imbibed moisture from the air in the driest weather: 
when the cylinder was applied at a red heat, the moisture 
was converted into steam, and the thermometer quickly rose 
from perhaps 70 or 80 degrees to the boiling point of water. 
There was also difficulty in marking the time by a seconds 
watch, and the ascent of the thermometer at the same in- 
stant. A new plan was suggested, in which ééme does not 
enter as an element in the investigations, and the operation 
is thus in some measure simplified. 

The pyrometer, in its present form (Plate III.), consists of 
a platinum* cylinder, weight about four ounces ; about thirty 
ounces of mercury, contained in a vessel of sheet-iron, placed 
in one of wood, with charcoal between; a thermometer, gradu- 
ated on the stem to 600°. The iron vessel has a cover of the 
same material ; an iron tube, closed at the lower end, and of 
rather greater diameter than the platinum heater, is secured 
to the cover by a lip or flange, and passes through the mer- 
eury to about one-eighth of an inch from the bottom of the 
vessel. 

The procedure is similar to the above ; differing in this, 
that instead of estimating the heat by its partial effect dur- 
ing a short and given period, it is estimated by its total effect 
on a mass of mercury. 

The platinum after receiving the temperature of the fur- 
nace, melted metal, &c., is dropped into the tube, sand is 
poured quickly over it, and the tube closed with a non-con- 
ducting stopper. A lid of wood is pressed down on the outer 


* Platinum has two desirable properties not possessed by wrought iron; it 
sustains intense heat, without being oxidized, and its capacity for heat is not 
a rapidly increasing one, nor irregular. 


Mr Miller’s Description of a new Pyrometer. 129 


case, through this lid, and the one of iron under, are holes to 
admit the thermometer to the mercury, the scale is exposed 
from 30° upwards. 

The weight of the platinum is about one-ninth of that of 
the mercury and sheet-iron surrounding it. Mercury, which 
forms the chief part of the weight, has nearly the same spe- 
cific heat as platinum ; the temperature, therefore, when dif- 
fused over, or diluted in, the mass is lowered to one-tenth, 
not one-ninth, as the platinum retains its share; thus, a tem- 
perature of 2000° (on the supposition that the atmosphere is 
at zero) would become 200°, and be measurable by thermo- 
meters. The diffusion of all heats is completed in the same 
time, viz., in six minutes when the thermometer becomes sta- 
tionary. 

The scale, it will have been observed, is determined by the 
relative weights of the mercury and platinum, and may be 
altered by increasing or diminishing either ; it may be found 
by calculation, but more accurately and easily by experiment. 
A seale of 1°to 10° of Fahrenheit has been chosen, partly for 
the sake of ready notation ; by the addition of a cipher to the 
number of degrees through which the thermometer has risen, 
and the addition afterwards of the atmospheric temperature, 
the original heat is obtained.* 

As far as the thermometer served to check and carry out 
the experiments, the results were found uniform and consis- 
tent, or nearly so; 100 clear degrees imparting 10° to the 
mass, 200°, 20°, and so on. 

The boiling point of linseed oil, estimated at 600° was in- 
dicated at 594°. The heat of an ordinary fire varied from 
about 1200° to 1600°, according to intensity, which is depen- 
dent on draught. The heat of a parlour fire is set down by 
the late Professor Daniell at 1141°. The difference here ex- 
hibited was unexpected, nor does it seem to be clearly ac- 
counted for by attributing an excess in my determination to 


* Example.—With the atmosphere at 50°, let it be supposed the thermome- 
ter has risen to 145°, the number of degrees passed over is 95; a cipher an- 
nexed makes 950, and the weather temperature of 50° added, gives 1000° as 
the original heat. 

VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. I 


130 Mr Miller’s Description of a new Pyrometer. 


the increasing specific heat of platinum, for this might be 
supposed nearly balanced by the increasing rate of expansion 
of platinum in the other determination of 1141° with the re- 
gister pyrometer. The increasing capacity, and the expan- 
sion of metals in general, seem to bear a relation to each 
other, and in platinum both are small. If the temperature 
assigned to an ordinary fire by this pyrometer be really too 
great, the error, I apprehend, can be ascribed only to pro- 
gressive specific heat; yet, no such increase was shewn in 
the previous experiment with boiling oil, that gave a result 
rather under 600°, the temperature indicated by an open ther- 
mometer. 

The fusing point of copper, and the white or welding heat 
of iron, were also shewn at higher ranges, but much under 
those assigned by Morveau in his corrections of Wedgewood’s 
scale. 

Itis worthy of remark, that the determinations by Daniell’s 
first pyrometer (described in Brande’s Quarterly Journal) 
were higher when pulleys were used to magnify expansion, 
than those afterwards given by the register pyrometer, in 
which a lever is used instead of pulleys. The melting point 
of cast-iron by the former was 3479", by the latter 2786°. 
Dr Brewster, in his edition of Ferguson’s Lectures, has 
pointed out a singular oversight in the construction of Fer- 
guson’s pyrometer, with respect to the lever employed to 
increase expansion to the eye. He says, in a note (vol. i. p. 
20), “It is wonderful how the author and other writers on 
natural philosophy should have overlooked the striking de- 
fect in the principle upon which this new pyrometer is con- 
structed.” The error is then pointed out, with references to 
the drawing of the instrument in the book of plates. Dr 
Brewster adds, “As the arms of the two levers, therefore, 
are continually changing their proportion, every pyrometer 
constructed upon the principle of the lever must give a very 
inaccurate result.’’* 


* The error in Ferguson’s pyrometer might be rectified by a scale of equal 
parts, laid down, not on the arc, but on a tangent to it, parallel to the expand- 
ing bar. 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 131 


The levers in Ferguson’s pyrometer act like levers of the 
third kind; in Daniell’s, like one of the first kind: but it is 
difficult to decide, by mere inspection of the diagram that ac- 
companies the description of the register pyrometer, whether 
an error similar to that in Ferguson’s arrangement, or in- 
deed, whether any error exists in Daniell’s scale. I have 
not had an opportunity to inspect the instrument itself. 

All who have brought forward pyrometers endeavour to 
connect them as supplements to the thermometer, which, it 
is now generally admitted, is not really consistent with it- 
self from its lower to its higher limits ; an approximation to 
an accurate continuation of Fahrenheit’s scale is therefore 
all that can be expected. The difficulties that stand in the 
way of a solution of the problem, seem to arise from the 
small expansion of the metals employed, which thus requires 
the intervention of levers and pinions, that may not “ per- 
form with theoretical accuracy ;” from unequal expansions 
by equal increments of heat; and in the method now sub- 
mitted, from the increasing specific heat of metals. At pre- 
sent, to me it seems possible to determine, within 100° at 
least, a temperature not greater than 1200°, or double that of 
boiling oil, by means of the fusible alloy, and by a method 
(perhaps unsuitable for a permanent instrument) in which 
those suspected causes of error may be evaded. If opportu- 
nity be afforded, and if the inquiry be attended with even mo- 
derate success, I may, with permission, take leave to return 
to this subject. 


Meeting of Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, 
held at Boston, September 27, 1847. 


This Association met, according to adjournment, in the Marl- 
borough Chapel, Tuesday morning, at 10 o'clock. 

The meeting was called to order by Dr John C. Warren, of this 
city, chairman, pro tempore. The proceedings of Monday were 
then read by the secretary, Dr J. Wyman. Professor Silliman, of 
the Standing Committee, after making a few remarks relative to the 
death of Dr Binney, nominated Professor William B. Rogers as 
permanent chairman of the present meeting, and he was unani- 


132 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


mously elected. Previous to the commencement of the regular pro- 
ceedings, Mr Teschmacher of this city, informed the members that 
large masses of the Lake Superior copper-ore were left at the Pro- 
vidence Railroad Depot, and that individuals interested might have 
an opportunity of examining them. 

A paper was presented by Mr B. L. C, Wales upon the forma- 
tion of the Mississippi Bluff, near Natchez. This paper, in the 
absence of Mr Wales, was read by the secretary. It went to ex- 
plain the respective agencies of diluvium and glaciers in the forma- 
tion of the Bluff.~ It also explained the manner in which animal 
remains had been found in the ravines, near the locality, shewing 
that land slides and floods were continually depositing in the ra- 
vines bones and other articles from the higher regions, and which 
from time to time had been dug up and exhibited. There was a 
large number of specimens from the locality, consisting of fossil 
woods, favosites, carnelians, jaspers, and ochres, &c. 

Mr P. A. Browne, of Philadelphia, read a paper, entitled ‘* Ani- 
mal Torpidity.” He first treated of the respiration of hibernating 
animals. With mammals the respiration does not cease at once, 
but gradually, and no oxygen is consumed by the animal in a com- 
pletely torpid state. The respiration of the torpid state may be 
only imperfect, as, for instance, when the animal breathes and then 
ceases from breathing for minutes, and it may be for hours. Ani- 
mals, when about to enter the torpid state, seek retirement. The 
mammals roll themselves up into as small a compass as possible, 
and retire into holes or caverns; the mollusca retreat into their 
shells; flies, spiders, &c., creep into holes. 

A Hamster kept in a box of straw, in a sufficiently cold place, did 
not become torpid; but when buried in the ground he became torpid, 
and revived as soon as he was dug up. Hamsters have been kept in 
a cage and fed, eating during the season when they usually hibernate. 
Opinions are various upon the point of the total extinguishment of 
respiration during torpidity. Some naturalists assert, that in hiber- 
nation animals do not breathe, while others contend that respiration 
is not extinct. A torpid animal immersed in carbonic acid gas will 
not die. The respiration of animals is subordinate to temperature 
—in summer quick; in autumn slow; in winter, none at all. 
Experiments have shewn that hibernating animals consume oxygen, 
considerable in volume, when in an active state; that the consump- 
tion diminishes as the temperature falls; that they can exist in an 
air which will neither support life nor combustion ; that in a torpid 
state the consumption of oxygen is small; and that in a perfect state 
of torpidity no oxygen is consumed, and there is no respiration. 

The Alligator, when about to hibernate, takes a pine or cypress 
knot in its mouth, completely closing it ; it then retires into holes 
under water, where it remains until the warm weather in the spring 


slssociation of American Geologists and Naturalists. 133 


comes on. <A water-rat was ploughed up in England, in the year 
1769, completely enclosed in a hibernaculum. A mouse was dug 
up in 1798, enclosed in a ball of clay about the size of a goose ege ; 
when brought into a warm room, it revived and escaped. Twenty 
or thirty frogs were once taken in a torpid state from a depth of twenty 
feet in the earth, where they must have remained a hundred years 
or more. The snail, when about to hibernate, retires into its shell, 
closing its operculum with a partition of a silky membrane, anda de- 
posite of carbonate of lime. Sometimes as many as six membran- 
ous partitions are formed between the operculum and the recess of 
the shell. In this state it remains for months, and the only evi- 
dence of life is a susceptibility to muscular sensation. It lives 
without food, without air, and exercising none of the animal genera- 
tive functions. It does not subsist upon the modicum of air remain- 
ing in the shell, as this has been examined and found capable of sup- 
porting combustion—this fact shewing that it had not been breathed. 

Torpidity is neither life nor death, but an intermediate state— 
neither is it sleep in the ordinary sense of the word. 

The circulation of hibernating animals is suspended in a state of 
profound torpidity. 

The digestion also is arrested, and all food is declined. A hedge- 
hog kept in a room without fire, ate of its food regularly up to 
December, when it refused it, went into a torpid state and remained 
so during the winter, never eating food laid before it. A land tor- 
toise kept for forty years, ate voraciously in summer, but refused all 
food in winter when hibernating. Absorption goes on, but this is 
an entirely different process from digestion. The secretions are 
also arrested. The organs of relation are paralyzed. A torpid 
dormouse cannot be roused by a shock of electricity ; bats do not 
feel wounds or hurts, and can be aroused only by heat and currents 
of air. 

Are the organs of reproduction suspended? Upon this point a 
difference of opinion prevails. ‘As we understood Mr Browne, he 
was of the opinion that during a torpid state they have nothing to 
operate upon but their fat. 

Tn the anatomical structure and physiology of hibernating animals, 
a similarity is observed, especially in the construction of the thymus 
gland. Some naturalists are of the opinion, that fat or the omentum 
is provided as a covering from the cold or for consumption, while 
others look upon it as purely an accidental circumstance. But Mr 
Browne is of the opinion that fat is not an accidental circumstance, 
but has to do with hibernation. The blood remains in a fluid state 
during hibernation. 

Mr Browne was of opinion that the fibrine and albumen which 
was deficient in the blood of hibernating animals was converted 
into fat; in consequence of which the blood was preserved from con- 
cretibility and the storehouse of fat was laid up, upon which the 
animal subsisted when digestion was extinguished, 


134 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


There is nothing in the habits of hibernating animals to dis- 
tinguish them, for their habits vary in different countries. Hiber- 
nation may depend on a difference of temperature. Lizards hibernate 
in France and do not in the Island of Santa Cruz. 

The immediate causes of torpidity are cold, heat, drought, want 
of oxygen, and necessity for repose. 

Dr J. C. Warren expressed his gratification at the remarks made 
by Mr Browne, He said that the use of the omentum, about which 
there had long been a difference of opinion, was to afford a soft 
cushion for the sensitive intestines, which are always put in pain by 
pressure. It may also serve as a reservoir for food when the animal 
is not in a state to digest it. In fevers and consumption the fat is 
taken up by the absorbent vessels to supply the want of food. The 
Doctor’s impression was, that hibernation was the result of cold 
acting on the nervous system, and through this system paralyzing 
all other parts of the body. 

Professor Agassiz did not agree with Mr Browne upon the point 
of the cessation of circulation during hibernation, He asked what 
experiments had been made to test this point Mr Browne replied, 
that a French naturalist, M. Sacy, who had investigated the subject, 
had made a thousand experiments. Mr Browne had added upwards 
of forty upon reptiles. Professor Agassiz was of the opinion, that 
until the membrane of the wings of bats in a torpid state had been 
examined by a microscope, to see whether the blood circulates, it was 
not proper to pronounce decisively that circulation ceases. He was 
further of the opinion that until it had been shewn that the species 
of lizards in France and Santa Cruz were identical, it would not do to 
assert that hibernation depends on the difference of climate. 

Remarks were also made by Mr 8. 8. Haldeman of Carlisle, Pa., 
and Dr Samuel Jackson of Philadelphia. The latter gentleman ex- 
pressed the opinion that respiration was not entirely suspended, 
Professor Agassiz stated that a friend was investigating most minutely 
the subject of the hibernation of the dormouse, at Neuchatel. 

Dr F. Roemer of Berlin, Prussia, made a report on the results of 
a geological tour recently made in Texas. The fossils of the corre- 
sponding formation of the Old and New World were compared, and 
reference was made to their geographical distribution. He had as- 
certained that the isothermal lines of the cretaceous epoch (as indi- 
cated by the fossils) were the same on the two continents of Europe 
and America, as at the actual epoch. 

Professor 8. S. Haldeman presented an interesting fact in the geo- 
graphical distribution of animals. He stated that an insect was sent 
to him from Rio, by Dr J. C. Reinhardt, with information that this 
or an allied species, had been seen by him on board the United 
States ship Constitution, in Cochin China, and subsequently in all 
the ports of the Pacific—the ship touching at the Sandwich Islands 
and Western Mexico, and passing Cape Horn and Brazil,—a wider 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 135 


geooraphical distribution than has heretofore been given to this 
genus. The insect proves to be an Evania, and its extensive distri- 
bution is attributable to the fact, that this genus is parasitic on 
the Blatta (or cockroach) which is known to be extensively abundant 
upon ships between teh tropics. 

In the afternoon, Mr J. E. Teschmacher, of this city, made a 
communication upon the subject of the fossil vegetation of anthra- 
cite coal, shewing that the plants of which the coal is formed are the 
same as those found in the shale. He treated his subject under the 
five divisions of the external parts of plants—the internal parts, the 
vessels, the leaves, and the seed. Several specimens of coal were ex- 
hibited by Mr T. to illustrate his ideas upon the subject. They 
were very beautifully marked by leaves, seed, and vessels of plants. 

The Rey. Mr Hincks of London, recently arrived, presented to the 
Association a specimen of recent vegetation, for their examination. 

Professor Agassiz made a communication upon the subject of 
Echinoderms, shewing that there is no essential difference between 
the types or families of Echinus and Asterias. He explained many 
points in the animal economy of the Echinoderms not before known, 
and shewed the affinities existing between the EKchinus and Asterias. 
He fully proved great uniformity of structure in the two species. 
He shewed that Asterias has an external skeleton as well as Echinus. 
He explained the circulation, and while speaking of the functions of 
certain organs, took occasion to observe that physiologists were 
greatly in error when they determined an organ by its function, 
He also shewed the existence of minute aquatic tubes or canals, and 
of gills in both species. The Echinoderms, when first taken from 
the water, are of a brilliant red colour, but they shortly change to a 
bright green after death, They can only be obtained from water 
to the depth of from 90 to 150 and 200 feet. Professor Agassiz 
had a month’s excursion in one of the United States surveying ves- 
sels, Lieutenant Commanding Davis, on the coast, and collected his 
specimens during this excursion. 

Dr Le Conte, of New York, made a communication upon speci- 
mens of five new species of fossil mammalia, discovered at Galena, 
Ill, He believes them to belong to the Tapiroids and Suelline 
families. 

Professor Hitchcock read a letter from Robert Chambers, of 
Edinburgh, asking for information of the terraces or former sea- 
levels of this country. Professor Hitchcock said it was an interest- 
ing subject, and he hoped that information might be elicited from 
members of the Association. He stated that terraces existed on 
the banks of the Jordan in Asia, similar in character to the terraces 
formed in this country, Upon the banks of our streams there are 
usually two terrace levels, Mr Chambers says that the terraces of 
Great Britain bear the same level throughout the country. 

Professor Hitchcock thought that this could not be the case in 


135 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


America; the terraces of the same basin might have corresponding 
levels, but terraces of different basins could not possibly have the 
same level above the ocean tide. Professor Silliman hoped that 
members would turn their attention to this subject. He had lately 
visited the terraces in New Hampshire, and had an opportunity to 
examine their internal structure through the cuttings of the railroad 
through them. ‘They presented a very beautiful appearance. Mr 
Hall, late geologist of the State of New York, said that the terraces 
along lake Ontario, had an almost uniform height on both the 
Canadian and American shores. M. Desor, a French gentleman, 
stated that the terraces in Finmark were nearly of the same height, 
but not perfectly horizontal, which was presumed to arise from the 
subsidences. 

On the motion of Professor Tellkampkf, the committee appointed 
to investigate the subject, whether platina had been found in the gold 
districts of the south, were authorised to continue their investiga- 
tions, and report at the next annual meeting. 


Wednesday's Proceedings. 


Professor Silliman, senior, exhibited a specimen of uncrystallised 
corundum from North Carolina; and stated, that he had received a 
specimen of this same mineral many years since from the same 
state. 

Mr Clingman of North Carolina, who had brought this specimen 
from North Carolina, gave an account of the circumstance of its dis- 
covery, which placed the statement that it was a native specimen 
beyond a doubt. 

A paper was read by Mr W. C. Redfield of New York, “ on the 
remains of marine shells of existing species, found interspersed in 
deep portions of the hills of drift and boulders, in the heights of 
Brooklyn, on Long Island, near New York city.”” These remains 
had long since attracted the attention of Dr Mitchell, and other na- 
turalists of the vicinity, but the true character of the formation, and 
the peculiar positions in which the shells were found, were not dis- 
tinctly known to geologists. 

It fortunately happened that M. Desor and Count Portalis, while 
on a visit to Brooklyn a few months since, discovered fragments of 
these remains in the great masses of boulder-drift in South Brook- 
lyn, through which the new streets are being excavated. At their 
invitation, Mr Redfield had examined the place in company with 
Professor Agassiz, and had obtained a variety of specimens, which 
were found at depths varying from twenty-five to forty feet below 
the original surface of the hills, in which they were embedded. 

Since that occasion, Mr Redfield has found similar remains in 
those hills about two miles northward from the first locality, and 
has collected numerous specimens, which he exhibited to the meet- 
ing, together with samples or fragments of the original beds inclosing 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 137 


these shells, which had been dispersed by the drift, and thus lodged 
in the Brooklyn hills. The number of species comprised in the col- 
lection amounts to ten or twelve, among which are those now most 
common to our shores. 

These discoveries in regard to the drift appear to agree with those 
which Sir R. Murchison states to have been made in the drift of 
Europe. They must be admitted as proving that the most common 
species of our present molluscs were of prior origin to the hills where 
the remains were found, and probably older than the entire forma- 
tion of drift and boulders which is found in the northern states. 
The species obtained are not such as indicate a colder climate than 
now prevails. But the shells found by Professor Emmons and others 
in the pleistocene clays on the borders of Lake Champlain, and by 
Mr Lyell and others in Canada, appear to belong to a later period 
of the drift; and Mr Redfield infers that they were brought in from 
more northern regions, or from deeper waters, by the great arctic 
currents which must have swept over those regions, during the drift 
period, when this portion of the Continent was deeply submerged. 
These polar currents, annually freighted with immense fields and 
islands of floating ice, such as are now diverted along the shores and 
banks of Newfoundland, till they are met by the dissolving influence 
of the Gulf stream, nearly in the latitude of Boston and New York, 
he considered to have been among the chief agents in producing the 
remarkable phenomena of the drift period, 

M. Desor stated, that discoveries in Scandinavia and northern 
Europe shewed that the two geological epochs were the same in this 
country and Europe, that the first deposite of the drift, consisting of 
coarse clay and gravel, and stratified, was of a turbulent character, 
while the second was quiet. Boulders have been brought from the 
northwest, striated and scratched all over their surfaces. How much 
of the phenomena, presented upon a close survey of these drifts, was 
attributable to currents of water, M. Desor would leave to others to 
say. For his own part, he believed that these drifts gave evidence 
of the action of a body different from water. If the drift and boul- 
ders were connected in the action, he fully believed that some other 
agent than water must be looked for to account for their existence. 
He could not agree with Mr Redfield in the positions which he had 
assumed. 

Mr Redfield was not disposed to look for foreign causes to ac- 
count for geological phenomena when one of a more domestic char- 
acter was entirely adequate to produce these phenomena. Two great 
polar currents are constantly setting southward—one to the south-east 
from Hudson’s Bay, the other to the south-west from the shores of 
Greenland—these two currents unite near the Gulf stream, and 
result in one current. These currents bring along immense masses 
and islands of ice, These islands bear along rocks, pebbles, &c., 
collected on them before their separation from the land where they 


138 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


originally formed glaciers; they often ground and remain grounded 
for months, turned and moved in every possible position by the wind 
and wayes. They would scratch the bottoms of the valleys of the 
ocean, and would cause the excoriated appearance which the rocks 
present. In Mr Redfield’s view, this agent of currents of water 
was sufficient to account for many of the geological phenomena 
which the earth presents, 

M. Desor could not conceive how the sides of the valley could be 
scratched by this agent if the bottoms were. He exhibited speci- 
mens of strata or scratched rocks from the glaciers of the Grindelwald 
and Aar of Switzerland, from Essex county, this State, from Norway, 
and from the terraces near Lake Ontario. They are all similar in 
character—one cause must have produced effects so similar. It would 
not do to say that one cause operated in Norway, another in Swit- 
zerland, and still another on this continent. The effects were 
brought about by the slow action of a mighty body. Glaciers have 
been observed not only in the Alps but also in the polar regions. 
In Iceland, glaciers exist for fifty miles in extent. Such being the 
case, it requires no great effort to believe in the existence of a 
glacier 300 or 400 miles in extent. It is only necessary that the 
temperature should be lowered a few degrees for them to exist. 

Commander Wilkes, United States Navy, late of the Exploring 
Expedition, remarked that icebergs have a wide distribution; that they 
were constantly changing their specific gravity, changing their 
position—what was a side at one time would become the bottom, &c. 
In this way the variety of striae might be accounted for. 

Professor Silliman, with no view to object to the glacier theory, for 
he desired to learn, asked its adyocates to explain the existence of 
glaciers in regions where there were no mountains. The theory as 
applied to the Alps and other mountainous districts was good. 

Professor Adams, of Vermont, made a drawing of a rock of tal- 
cose slate in the valley of Union River, Vermont. It was rounded, 
beautifully polished, and striated on its surface. Near the bottom of 
the rock was a depression or hollow, and upon the side on which 
the power, whatever it was, first acted. This hollow was not touch- 
ed—it presents a rough and jagged outline. The body appears to 
have struck the rock near its lower edge, and, through the resistance 
made to its passage by the rock, to have been forced over it, polish- 
ing and striating its surface. If water was the agent, it would 
appear as if it should have acted equally on the depressed or hollow 
surface. 

Professor Hitchcock said the rock referred to by Professor Adams, 
a representation of which was drawn upon the black board, was a 
miniature representation of the mountains of New England. Moun- 
tains Monadnock and Holyoke were prominent examples. They are 
all rounded and polished with striz running in one general direction 
over their surfaces. It was evident to his mind that whatever body 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, 139 


produced these effects, was held in its place by a mighty agency, 
and that it would have turned to the right or left when it encounter- 
ed the resistance of the mountains, if it had been possible for it to 
have done so. Striz are not only marked upon the rocks in situ, but 
deep valleys are cut in their surfaces. And it is only upon the 
struck side that these marks are to be observed. He had arrived at 
the conclusion that, whether in the form of an iceberg or a glacier, 
it was ice in mass which had produced the effects above referred to, 
He could not believe that waves of translation were, of themselves, 
sufficient to accomplish these results. 

Professor Silliman asked Captain Wilkes if it was within his own 
knowledge whether the iceberg in the Southern Ocean, along which 
the vessels of the Exploring Expedition coasted for some 60 or 70 
miles, was attached to the coast or was afloat. He replied that it 
was not afloat. Mr Redfield could generally coincide in the views 
expressed by Professor Hitchcock. He felt inclined to admit that 
icebergs were the principal agency in causing the strie, rounded, and 
polished surfaces of the rocks of this country and Europe. He did 
not believe that there was any such antagonism in the glacier and 
iceberg theories. It was difficult to explain, on the iceberg theory, 
how the different strize have been produced ; but he believed it more 
difficult to explain the same phenomenon on the theory of the gla- 
ciers. Waves of translation have been unfrequent. 

M. Desor remarked that scratches were observed on the mountains 
of Scandinavia at a height of 6000 feet, on the White Mountains, 
New Hampshire, at a height of 5000 feet. Mount Washington, which 
is some 5300 feet high, is not scratched; its top is covered with 
loose boulders, presenting a fine specimen of what has been denomi- 
nated a lake of stones. Just beneath the summit of this mountain 
the scratches take the general direction of the scratches in the 
harbour of Boston, The scratches are observed at heights of 5000 
feet, 10 feet, and below the surface of the water, but to what depth 
is not at the present time known, ‘The same is true of the 
mountains of Scandinavia. The glaciers of Greenland do not run 
beneath the sea, but form a vertical walk at its surface, where the 
water melts the ice, and large icebergs are broken off and float away. 
Murchison says that glaciers have left their marks as far as the 
mountains extend, but that currents have produced the phenomena 
observed in the valleys. This cannot be true, for the strize of the 
mountains and yalleys preserve one general direction. Now the 
strie being similar in character when observed in different parts 
of the world, he was led to conclude that one general course had 
produced these effects. 

Mr Redfield did not think that the strize were marked upon the 
mountains and valleys at the same time. 

Remarks were also made by Dr Reed, and Prof, H. D. Rogers. 


140 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


The latter spoke of the terraces of the St Lawrence and the Lakes. 
Some of them give evidence that they had been formed by drainings 
of the upper lakes. 

Prof. J. W. Bailey read a paper upon the structure of anthracite 
coal. He found the evidence of the leaves, &c., in the coal. Thin 
slices of coal shewed very plainly the vegetable tissue. But there 
was no evidence that arborescent plants had entered into the forma- 
tion of coal, it was only the deciduous and soft portions which had 
been converted into coal. Anthracite coal had alone been examined ; 
soft coal containing so large a quantity of bitumen could not so 
readily be tested. 

A few remarks passed between Professor Bailey and Mr Tesch- 
macher, upon an apparent discrepancy in their views in relation to 
the subject of coal. 

Professor Hitchcock read a paper, being an attempt to discrimi- 
nate the animals which had made the fossil footmarks in the Con- 
necticut valley. He had discovered forty-seven species in nineteen 
localities. At some length, he argued the propriety of his giving 
names to the birds as well as to the footprints. He then stated the 
peculiar characteristics of the footmarks which led him to assign the 
names that he had done, to the birds—such as thick and narrow 
toes, winged feet, number of toes, absolute and relative length of 
toe, spread of lateral toes, projection of middle toe beyond the lateral 
ones, distance between the tips of the lateral toes, distance between 
the tips of middle and outer toes, direction of hind toe, character of 
the claw, width of toe, number and length of the phalanges, the im- 
pression on the mud, length of step, distance of feet from line of 
direction, &. The number of toes varies from three to five. 

He explained the means by which to distinguish between the 
marks of quadrupeds and bipeds, described the classes into which he 
had divided the birds, and pointed out their affinities. In one spe- 
cimen which he had found, every alternate step was turned at an 
angle of 45 degrees from the line of direction. He could explain 
this only by the conjecture that the animal had broken its leg, and 
for want of good medical advice the leg was set awry, and this was 
the cause of the very singular footmark left on the rock. Some 
giant footsteps, twenty inches in leneth, he believed to be those of 
frogs. They resembled closely in character the embryo foot of a 
frog which had been shewn to him by Professor Agassiz, and here 
he would remark that the fossils discovered more generally resemble 
the embryo of animals of the present day than adults. 


Wednesday Afternoon, 
Professor Horsford, of Harvard University, read a paper, shew- 
ing that Barium, Strontium, Lime, and Magnesia, and their salts, 
are in their intensity in the order of their atomic weights. 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, 141 


Mr E. G. Squier read a paper entitled ‘“ Observations on the 
Fossils, Minerals, Organic Remains, &c., found in the Mounds of 
the West.”” Mr Squier stated, that any traveller through the fer- 
tile valleys of the west, must have been struck with the number 
and magnitude of the mounds there existing. Many who have had 
no opportunity of examining them, have questioned their artificial 
origin. They have regarded them as the result of diluvial action ; 
and the fact that some of them are stratified, has been seized upon 
as conclusive upon this point, and as establishing the hypothesis. 
Recent investigations shew that this feature, instead of being the 
result of natural causes, is the strongest proof of the artificial origin 
of the mounds in which it occurs. The tumuli or mounds of the 
Ohio valley are clearly distinguished from each other by position, 
structure, and contents. Some are deemed sepulchral; others are 
connected with the superstitions of the builders; others still the 
sites of ancient structures, or in some way connected with the mili- 
tary system of the ancient people. The sepulchral mounds stand 
isolated or in groups, apart from other works; those which are 
deemed sacred, are found alone within the enclosures. It is this 
class which appear stratified. They are considerably less in size 
than the other varieties, and are formed of alternate layers of loam 
and sand or gravel. The first or outer layer consists of coarse 
gravel, pebbles, and water-worn stones ; the second of loam of vari- 
able thickness, alternating with thin strata of fine sand. These 
layers are all clearly defined, but their arrangement is not uniform. 
Sometimes there is but a single layer of sand, while occasionally 
there are as many as six. Pits or excavations, at times broad and 
deep, almost invariably accompany these works. It is from them 
that the materials were taken for their construction. 

A peculiar feature of these stratified mounds is, that they almost 
invariably cover altars of burned clay or stone, The altars are 
generally round, always symmetrical, and are occasionally of great 
size. One has been discovered sixty feet long, by twelve broad, 
covered with remains of ancient art. 

The character of the stratification fixes its artificial origin. It 
would be extremely difficult to explain how diluvial action could 
have originated these altars of burned clay or stone, The mounds 
of a lower latitude, in Louisiana and Mississippi, present a different 
kind of stratification. It is not improbable that in some instances 
natural structures have been modified by art, the natural stratifi- 
cation being preserved. 

None of these mounds are found on the first or latest formed 
terraces of the western rivers, that is, the Ohio or its tributaries. 
This fact bears directly on the question of their antiquity. The 
mounds are found indiscriminately upon all the other terraces or 
bottoms, It is legitimate, then, to conclude, that the latest terrace 


142 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


was formed since the period of their construction. Trees growing 
upon the works shew that their origin must date back a long period. 
The forests that cover these works are in no way distinguishable 
from the other forests. The same varieties of trees are found, in 
the same proportions; and they have a like primitive aspect. This 
fact was observed by the late President Harrison, and he considered 
it one of the strongest evidences in support of the great antiquity of 
of these works, And here an extract was read from an address 
made by him before the Historical Society of Ohio. 

Within the mounds are found implements, ornaments, sculptures, 
&c., &c., composed of materials generally foreign to the region in 
which they are discovered, and often exceedingly rare and beautiful. 
The identification of the localities from which these were obtained 
must tend to reflect light upon the origin, migrations, and inter- 
course of the race of the mounds. Obsidian, a volcanic product, is 
found in the mounds on the alluvia of the Ohio. The nearest 
place where it is known to exist in abundance is Central Mexico, 
the ancient inhabitants of which country applied it to the very pur- 
poses for which it was used by the race of the mounds. 

In these mounds are discovered native silver and copper from the 
shores of Lake Superior, pearls and shells from the Southern Gulf, 
obsidian probably from the volcanic ridges of Mexico, mica from the 
primitive ranges of the Atlantic coast, galena from the upper, and 
fossil teeth from the tertiary deposites of the lower Mississippi, be- 
sides numberless other remains. 

Silver and copper are the only metals which have been developed 
from the depositions. The ore of lead is quite abundant, and lead, 
under circumstances, implying a knowledge of its use on the part of 
the ancient people. Noiron, or traces of iron, has been discovered, 
except in the late deposites, and it is certain that the ancient people 
were wholly unacquainted with its use. 

A mass of native copper weighing twenty-three pounds, from 
which pieces had evidently been cut, was discovered a few years 
since in the vicinity of Chillicothe, Ohio. It is nearly certain that 
both silver and copper were obtained in a native state, and both 
metals appear to have been wrought in a cold state. They were 
undoubtedly obtained from the shores of Lake Superior. The 
copper was frequently wrought into axes, and various other imple- 
ments, and into ornaments, beads, bracelets, &c. (Several speci- 
mens were exhibited displaying a considerable degree of skill in the 
workmanship.) 

The implements and ornaments discovered in the mounds are more 
generally made of stone ; and they wrought the rarest minerals with 
great skill. Their lance, and armed heads, and cutting implements, 
were generally made of quartz, and some of them from the pure 
limpid crystals of this mineral, and some from obsidian. From one 
altar were taken several bushels of finely wrought spear-heads of 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, 148 


milky quartz, nearly all of which had broken up by the fire. In 
another altar a slight excavation disclosed upwards of 600 spear- 
heads. “ Flint Ridge,” which extends through the counties of Jack- 
son, Muskingum, and Licking, Ohio, is a locality in which this 
mineral is found. The locality appears to have been extensively 
wrought. 

The axes, pestles, &c., like those formerly in use among the exist- 
ing tribes of Indians, are composed of tough syenitic rocks, green- 
stone, &c., and are all to be referred to primitive localities. 

There are other varieties of rock, a description of compact slate 
of a dull green ground, interpersed with stripes of a dark black 
colour, a stone of a high specific gravity, dark ground, thickly in- 
terspersed with minute flakes of salmon-coloured mica, The primi- 
tive locality of neither of these varieties is known. The most in- 
teresting variety of stone is a kind of porphyry, which was wrought 
into the most delicate ancient sculptures. All the examples were 
of intense hardness. The primitive locality is unknown. 

Mica is found in great abundance in the mounds. It is fre- 
quently found in large sheets of all varieties, and is often cut into 
ornamental figures, discs, scrolls, and oval plates. Some of these 
plates are quite large. Several fine specimens of graphic mica in 
oval plates were recently found in a mound near Lower Sandusky, 
Ohio. 

Articles made of other varieties of stone are also found. 

Beads and other ornaments are taken from the mounds, composed. 
of the compact portions of marine shells, and several thousands often 
accompany a single skeleton. Not less than five kinds of marine 
shells have been fully identified. Quantities of pearls, more or less 
burned, have been discovered, and they are clearly not from the 
fresh water mollusca. These must have been obtained from the 
Gulf of Mexico. The teeth of the shark, alligator, bear, panther, 
wolf, the talons of rapacious birds, and the fossil teeth of the shark, 
are taken from the mounds, 

The carvings on stone, as before observed, display no inconsider- 
able skill. They exhibit a close observance of nature, and an at- 
tention to details which is not looked for among a people not consi- 
derably advanced in the arts. They are remarkable for their truth- 
fulness ; they display not only the general form and features of the 
animal sought to be represented, but to a surprising degree their 
characteristic attributes and expression. In some instances their 
very habits are represented, 

Among the sculptures are also some of the human head, which, it 
may safely be concluded, display not only the characteristic features 
of the ancient people, but also their modes of adjusting their hair, 
their style of ornament, &c. The skeletons belong to two eras, those 
of the tribes inhabiting the country when discovered by the Euro- 
peans, and those of the builders of the mounds. The skeletons are 


144 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


so much decayed that it is impossible to recover an entire speci- 
men ; but one skull was secured whole. 

None of the skeletons are of extraordinary size, although the 
bones in some cases seem more massive than usual. Specimens of 
the carvings, &c., were exhibited, which, as Mr Squier observed, 
displayed no inconsiderable skill and taste. 

Professor Agassiz made a communication on the structure and de- 
velopment of Polypi. He was of the opinion that there was a-more | 
intimate relation than had been supposed among the radiated ani- 
mals. He endeavoured to shew the bilateral character of the Po- 
lypi. 

Mr Dana, of the United States Exploring Expedition, mentioned 
one or two facts in corroboration of the views of Professor Agassiz. 


Thursday’s Proceedings. 


Dr J. C. Warren made a communication upon the subject of the 
Mastodon. He at first gave an historical account of the discovery of 
the different skeletons now existing. He shewed that the Mastodon 
and Elephant belonged to the same family of Pachydermata or thick- 
skinned animals. The proper name is Mastodon giganteus. In the 
skeleton of this animal the great preponderance of the anterior 
parts is to be observed, the head, tusks, and vertebra of the neck. 
The posterior portions of the animal are greatly inferior in size to 
the anterior. The head of the Mastodon is greatly flattened on its 
upper surface, differing in this respect widely from the head of the 
Elephant, the facial angle is smaller than in the Elephant, the cavity 
of the cranium is smaller. The difference between the teeth of the 
Elephant and Mastodon were explained, and the growth of the teeth 
commented upon. It was shewn that the teeth did not all grow at 
one time, but at different periods. He also pointed out other pecu- 
liarities and distinctions. The perfect state in which the bones are 
found, he attributed to their exclusion from atmospheric air. Their 
antiquity he could not pretend to detail, but it must be very great. 

Professor Agassiz made a remark or two in relation to the sub- 
ject. 

Dr Warren said that some persons had attempted to make out 
thirty species of Mastodons. He had been enabled to make out 
only three—the Angustideus, the Humboldteus, and the Giganteus. 

Mr Dana read a paper upon the laws or cohesive attraction, as 
exemplified in crystallization. The following are the inferences 
which he drew :— 

1. Cohesive attraction is characterised by fixed angles, as regards 
the direction of its action, and by specific relations of force in cer- 
tain axial directions, and it differs in those particulars for different 


substances. 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 145 


2. In the aggregation of molecules by attraction, only equal or 
homologous axes unite. 
3. The axes of cohesive attraction in molecules have opposite 


: polarity at opposite extremities—that is, the opposite poles are 


positive and negative, or north and south, as the terms are ordina- 
rily used. 

4. The polarity of the molecules may be reversed by extrinsic 
influences, 

5. The axes and polarity of cohesive attraction in solidification 
exist before the union of the molecules, instead of being a conse- 
quence of that union. 

6. The axial lines of cohesive attraction are not indefinitely fixed 
in position, but in some way modified in direction and force by tem- 
perature. 

7. The variations which the attraction of cohesion undergoes, 
take place according to some simple ratio. 

8. The homologous parts of molecules similarly and simultane- 
ously undergo this variation as regards the attraction. 

9. In some cases the parts of a molecule or opposite sides of a 
pole, undergo a different amount of variation. This takes place 
symmetrically with regard to all the poles. 

10. If the state of attraction which produces a primary cube or 
prism is considered in its normal state, when secondary planes are 
produced, there is a decrease of force in the direction of the prin- 
cipal axis, and this decrease is in some simple ratio. 

11. The diminution of attracting force in the primary axis, on 
which the formation of a secondary depends, consists in the partial 
action of their force along intermediate axes symmetrically situated 
with reference to primary axes; and the greater or less amount of 
diminution determines the kind of distribution. 

12. The direction of cleavage may indicate in any species of mat- 
ter which set of axes is dominant or strongest in attracting force, 
the primary or secondary set. 

13. Those variations of attraction producing secondary forms, de- 
pend often on surrounding bodies favouring the concentration or dif- 
fusion of the attracting force, and causes often act simultaneously in 
nature over wide areas. 

14. In an enlarging crystal one axis (or two) may have the ac- 
tion of attraction accelerated by extrinsic influence, and this accele- 
ration or retardation affects equally all crystals forming together 
under the common circumstances. 

15. The action of cohesive attraction is often intermitted, pro- 
ducing seriate results, as exemplified in the cleavage of crystals, and 
the specific rate of intermittent action is different for unequal axis. 

A letter was received from President Everett, inviting the Asso- 
ciation to hold its next annual meeting at the University in Cam- 
bridge. The invitation was declined for the coming year, and on 


VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. K 


146 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


motion, a vote of thanks was tendered, with the intimation that the 
Association would accept it at some future day. The reason that the 
Association declined the invitation was, that it was not deemed advis- 
able to hold two consecutive meetings at or near the same locality. * 
It was then resolved that the next annual meeting should be held 
in Philadelphia. 

A second letter was received from President Everett, covering a 
letter to him from Mr Bond of the Observatory, communicating the 
pleasing intelligence that the Nebule in the constellation of Orion 
had been resolved by the Cambridge telescope. The observations 
were made on Thursday morning, at about three o'clock, and under 
the most favourable circumstances. Professor Pierce of Harvard 
University, made a communication upon the subject of the “ Nebular 
Hypothesis.’’ He did not think that its three supports, derived from 
geology (and of this he did not speak), from physical astronomy, 
and from celestial mechanics, were sufficient to sustain it. As grand 
an hypothesis as it is, it must give way to scientific investigation. 

Dr J. Wyman, made a report on some crania and bones belong- 
ing to anew species of Orang recently discovered by Dr T. S. Savage, 
in West Africa. Some of the peculiarities of its organization, by 
which it is readily distinguished from other members of the same 
family were pointed out; and the different parts of the skeleton were 
compared with the corresponding ones of the human body. 

A detailed account of its habits, drawn up by Dr Savage, was read, 
giving many interesting facts with regard to its food, to the super- 
stitions entertained by the natives with regard to its nature, &c. This 
Species is much larger than the one heretofore described as coming 
from the same country. ‘The skull is two inches longer than that of 
an ordinary man. 

In the afternoon, Professor Bailey exhibited some fossils from the 
coal-formation in New Mexico, New England, from Santa Fe, and 
near the Rocky Mountains. They were sent to him by Lieut. Abert 
of the United States Army. Professor Agassiz made a verbal re- 
port on the geographical distribution of animals along the coasts of 
New England. He said that this was a difficult subject for investi- 
gation—the data to be collected are few—and it involves the ques- 
tion, where did the animals originate, and where do they live? They 
are capable of locomotion, and the actual distribution is not the 
primitive distribution. The general result may be arrived at, that 
the animals are different in different localities. 

Wild animals differ in small areas—different geographical divi- 
sions are inhabited by different animals, The Arctic animals are 
identical in all parts of the world. As you approach to the more 
temperate and tropical regions, the animals of different localities 
differ more widely. Sometimes, however, similar or analogous spe- 
cies are found. The fresh-water fish originated in the localities where 
they are found, These fish are entirely different in different coun- 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 147 


tries ; and those species which now appear identical will, the Pro- 
fessor thinks, one day be determined to be unlike in their structure and 
character. One of the grand results shewn by the naturalists of the 
Exploring Expedition is, that the land-shells of the islands in the 
Pacific Ocean are entirely different in different islands; each island 
appears to have a species of shell peculiar to its own formation. These 
shells could not have been derived from the continent, but must have 
originated on the respective islands where they are found. The 
geographical distribution is connected with the features of a country ; 
as, for instance, the monkey tribe is confined to the tropics. The 
fossils of New Holland and of Brazil belong to the same families of 
animals that now inhabit these countries ; this fact shewing that the 
same laws prevailed before man had anything to do with the geogra- 
phical distribution of animals, as prevail at the present time. The 
geographical distribution indicates the primitive origin. The higher 
organised beings are found in the higher climates; the lower orga- 
nization in colder climates. The Alligator, the highest organization 
of the reptile family, is found alone in the tropics. Frogs exist only 
in cold regions, and so of other animals and reptiles. The monkey, 
which possesses of all other animals the strongest affinities to man, 
is confined to the tropics. As the new species of the monkey tribe, 
which had been described by Dr Wyman, lives in the land of the 
Negroes; and as they claim affinity to it, Professor Agassiz was in- 
clined to think that the negro has a more intimate connection with 
the country where he lives than is generally admitted. The fact 
that the lowest terrestrial mammalia (the Pachydermata) are found 
in the tropics, may seem to contradict the position that the nearer 
the approach to the higher regions, the higher the organization, 
But these mammalia are the remnants of ancient races of animals. 
The shells and fishes of the shores of Massachusetts have been treated 
in an able manner by Drs Gould and Storer. But the Radiated ani- 
mals and the Crustacea have been almost entirely neglected. The 
latitude in which an animal is found must not only be considered, 
but also the depth of water at which it lives; and this because the 
conditions of existence are diflerent at different depths. The same 
species do not live in shallow and deep water. A very few feet be- 
low low-water mark the species differ greatly from those above it. 
And this small difference between low and high water mark corre- 
sponds to several thousand feet in height in the diffusion of terrestrial 
animals above the level of the sea. The types also vary as you 
descend down to the depth of eight or nine fathoms; so that there 
are as it were levels, where the animals found in the separate levels 
differ entirely from those in the levels immediately above and below. 
The Professor thought it singular that the different depths at which 
various kinds of fish are caught, had never called the attention of 
naturalists to the habits, &c. of the lower class of animals inhabiting 
the water at different levels of the ocean. 

Professor Adams mentioned the existence of a singular pond on 


148 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


the Peninsula, at Port Royal. Two different types of animals exist 
in the pond, one 18 inches below the surface, the other some two 
feet or more below the surface; the line of demarcation between 
them is perfectly distinct. 

A few remarks were made upon the subject by Dr Holbroke of 
Charleston, South Carolina. 

Professor Agassiz said that the same species of fish were found in 
the head waters of the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube; and 
that there was no communication between the basins of the three 
rivers. The same species had also been found in the mountain 
rivers of Norway and Sweden. These facts shew that one species 
is not confined alone to one basin or series of basins, r 

A paper was read by Dr Dickeson, on the Cypress Basins of 
Louisiana and Mississippi. He spoke of the geographical distri- 
bution of the cypress—the habits of the tree. It runs parallel 
with the cotton plant. But a small proportion of the wood is avail- 
able for mechanical purposes. But little can be transported to 
market, as the specific gravity is greater than that of water. The 
cypress growing along the bayous is of an inferior character ; 
that growing along the Mississippi river is a much better wood. 
There are remains of cypress stumps which must be at least 4000 
years old. In the texture and quality of thes wood there is great 
variety. 

A letter was read froin George G. Smith, extending an invita- 
tion to the members to attend the fair of the Charitable Mechanics’ 
Institution. A letter was also read from Moses Kimball, giving 
the members an invitation to visit the Boston Museum. 

Professor H. E,. Rogers read extracts from a report made by 
Lieutenant Maury, and presented to the Association a chart, shew- 
ing the currents of the Northern Atlantic Ocean. The publication 
of these charts is to be continued, shewing the currents in other 
parts of the Atlantic and in the Pacific oceans. The hope was ex- 
pressed that these charts would enable navigators to make their 
voyages in shorter times, and with less labour and difficulty, than 
is done now. 

In the evening, the Association met at half-past seven o’clock, 
and a paper was read by Dr Prescott upon the fishes found in Lake 
Winnepissiogee and its tributary waters. 

Dr Storer made a remark or two upon this paper. 

A communication was made upon the subject of concretions by 
Professor Adams. 

Remarks upon this subject were made by Professors Haldeman 
and Johnson of Pennsylvania. 

The Association adjourned at nine o’clock p, m., to accept an in- 
vitation extended by Dr Warren to the members to call upon him 
socially at his residence. The Association has visited several of our 
hospitable citizens since the commencement of the meetings in this 
city. 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 149 


Friday’s Proceedings. 


A paper by Dr N. D. Gale, upon the Natchez Bluff Formation, 
was read by the secretary, Dr Wyman. This Natchez Bluff is 
among the latest formations; there is none other within fifty or 
sixty miles of it later than this. It consists of beds of gravel, sand, 
and loam. The gravel is composed of coarse pebbles near the base ; 
the pebbles decrease as you approach the sand-bed. ‘This is the 
deepest ; in some places from 60 to 100 feet thick. The fossils in 
the gravel bed were described, They are silicified, and belong to the 
older secondary rocks, and are transported from distant geological 
fields. Many of the specimens are worn to rounded pebbles, having 
received this form by being transported by the currents. The fossils 
of the other beds were also described. The Mastodon is found in, 
not upon, the loam bed. 

Professor W. B. Rogers remarked, in connection with the obser- 
vations of the preceding paper, that the subject of the transporting 
power of water in the force of rivers, currents, waves, &c., is one 
which as yet stands in need of experimental investigation. We 
have yet, indeed, no accurate data on the subject, and it would 
form a most important contribution to geological science, were the 
power of aqueous transportation really ascertained in numerical 
force. No statements on this subject can be relied upon which do 
not take into account as well the force and nature of the surface 
upon which the matter is moved, as the velocity of the current and 
the size and specific gravity of the transported materials. Professor 
Rogers urged the investigation of the subject systematically, as a 
most important basis for much geological reasoning. 

Professor Agassiz said, that the rate of currents, as transporting 
agents, was not accurately ascertained. There were no data to de- 
termine the transporting power of the agent or currents which 
transported the boulders and drift. But the data of the glacier 
movements have been accurately determined. 

Mr Dana stated that publications had appeared in England, 
shewing the velocity of water; but the deductions arriyed at were 
on mathematical and not experimental grounds. 

Professor Agassiz said, that in the early history of glaciers their 
movements were explained on mathematical grounds ; but experi- 
ment had shewn that the whole matter was erroneous. 

Professor W. B. Rogers gave an abstract of a series of researches 
lately made by himself and Professor R. D. Rogers, on the abzorp- 
tion of carbonic acid by liquids. Their researches, besides applying 
to most of the liquids included in: the well-known experiments of 
Saussure, embrace many others. The method of research involving 
a peculiar apparatus for securing permanency of temperature and 
moisture, is entirely new, and is regarded as capable of very great 
accuracy, while it has the further advantage of being applicable to 


150 Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 


many variety of liquids, as well as to solid bodies. It furnishes a 
complete result in a few minutes, while the method hitherto in use, 
in many cases, requires several days. 

The results they obtained vary greatly from the determinations 
of Saussure, which have heretofore been relied on as accurate. Among 
these, Professor Rogers mentioned, as a very interesting fact, that 
common sulphuric acid, at 60° degrees of Fahrenheit, absorbs car- 
bonic acid in the enormous proportion of 94 per cent., and that 
Nordhausen acid absorbs 125 parts to the 100 of liquid. Professor 
Rogers especially insisted on the importance of this fact on its bear- 
ings on the processes for determining the amount of carbonic acid in 
the free atmosphere, as in the experiments of Boussingault and 
others, and that in the air of mines, and the air escaping from the 
lungs in respiration. The use of the sulphuric acid as a drying 
agent in these processes, as well as in the apparatus of Fresinius 
for analyzing the carbonates, was thus shewn to be attended with 
serious error, in consequence of the absorption of the carbonic acid 
by the dessicating agent. 

A conversation took place, in which Professor Agassiz, Professor 
Johnson, and Mr Teschmacher engaged. The latter remarked, that 
he hoped in his future experiments Professor Rogers would consider 
the connection of this subject with an atmosphere of carbonic acid 
gas during the coal period, and its then action on the disintegration 
of rocks. 

Professor §. 8, Haldeman read a paper upon the languages of 
the Aborigines of the South-West. The labials, the easiest sounded 
of all the letters, are wanting in the Indian languages ; the want of 
these sounds is a marked peculiarity of these languages. ‘The Pro- 
fessor thought that he had identified a peculiar sound of the Arabic 
with some of the sounds of the Indian languages. The Wyandotts 
close the glottis after pronouncing the vowels ; the North-Western 
after pronouncing the consonants. The Cherokees place the final 
accent on almost every word. There is no word for horse among 
the South-Western Indians. Other differences and peculiarities 
were pointed out by Professor Haldeman. 

A brief discussion sprang up relative to the time allowed for 
making written and verbal reports, and several motions were made, 
but subsequently withdrawn. 

Professor B. Silliman jun, laid before the Association the pro- 
spectus of the Ray Society. 

Professor Henry made a few remarks on the oe of the Smith- 
sonian Institute. 

Dr Dickeson read a paper on the mounds of the South-West. 
These mounds are very similar in character to those found in the 
Ohio valley ; many articles found in them are identical with those 
discovered in the Ohio mounds. Dr Dickeson has opened a large 
number of these mounds, and recovered from them great quantities 


Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 151 


of ancient relies. It is generally believed that the Indians are 
ignorant of the purposes for which these mounds are built. They 
always declare their ignorance when questioned in relation to them. 
But it is well known to the citizens of the South-Western States, 
that they visit them in the most mysterious manner to the present 
day. ‘hey invariably follow the ancient paths when visiting them, 
unless obstructed by works of improvement. They can trace the 
paths with the greatest accuracy, even after the plough has passed 
over the field. They usually leave the mounds about midnight, 
making the most hideous howls and groans. Ovens have been dis- 
covered in the mounds of Arkansas, with the pottery in them all 
ready for baking. A head was discovered with artificial teeth set, 

As we gave in our paper of yesterday so full a report of the 
paper made by Mr Squier, we have not thought it necessary to do 
more than mention a few facts related by Dr Dickeson, more espe- 
cially, as there is so strong a resemblance between the mounds of 
the Ohio valley and the South-West, and in the articles recovered 
from them. 

Mr Squier remarked, that there was an almost absolute identity 
existing between them. 

Professor Hall made a communication, being the general results 
of investigation in the paleontology of the lower strata of New 
York. 

Professor Agassiz remarked, that the types for this country should 
not be taken from the European formations. The men of science in 
this country have no cause to fear their European brethren; they 
have made more progress in the same departments than the scien- 
tific men of Europe. It must be a source of congratulation with 
them, that this country must furnish the principal geological types. 

Professor H. D. Rogers remarked, that each country or district 
must be a type for itself; that one geological formation could not 
be a type for another in a remote region of country, that is, it would 
not do to extend the types. 

Professor H. D, Rogers offered some remarks on the reorganiza- 
tion of the Association. 

Professor Agassiz gave a brief account of similar Associations in 
Europe, and more especially of the Swiss Association, the parent of 
all the others, 

Brief remarks were made by other members upon the reorganiza- 
tion of the Association. It was then voted that the Association 
should be designated as the “* American Association for the Promo- 
tion of Science.” 

A paper was read by Professor C. B. Adams on the Taconic 
system of rocks. 

The Secretary read a paper on the same subject by L. Vanuxen. 

Professor §. 8, Haldeman made a report on the character of 
Triarthus Bekkit and Atops Trilineatus. 


152 On the Zeuglodon. 


In the evening Mr Hodge made a few remarks on the economical 
geology of Berkshire. 

M. Desor read a report on the Drift of New England. As the 
views were mainly those offered by this gentleman a few days since, 
when a kindred subject was under discussion, and as we then made 
«a brief abstract of the same, we shall make no report of the remarks 
presented by him on Friday evening. M. Desor sustains the glacial: 
theory. 

Remarks were made on the subject of M. Desor’s report by Pro- 
fessors H. D. Rogers and Agassiz. Professor Rogers also made a 
report on the Drift of New England. He differs from M. Desor in 
his views of the same. Professor Rogers is an advocate of the 
diluvial theory. 


On the Zeuglodon—Koch’s Hydrarchos. ; 

The recent publication of a report by Carus of Dresden, on 
these interesting remains, has again called attention to the 
controversy with regard to their true nature. The main 
points in dispute are two :— 

I. As to the fact of the bones belonging to one and the 
same individual. 

Il. As to the nature of the animal, whether a Reptile or a 
Mammal. 

I. Mr Koch avowed that the bones all belonged to one 
and the same individual—that they were found in one loca- 
lity, and very nearly in their natural order. Dr Gescheidt 
of New York, after examining the skeleton, maintained that 
this statement was correct, as is obvious from the following 
paragraph— 

« Having by this, as shortly as possible, proved that the 
vertebral column of the Hydrarchos is not composed of dif- 
ferent vertebre, but is a whole and an integral part of a 
fossil animal, &c.’’ 

Carus of Dresden, relying upon Koch’s statement, enter- 
tains the same view. 

On the other hand, it was denied that the vertebral column 
above mentioned did belong to one and the same individual, 
because the hones of which it was made up presented dif- 
ferent degrees of ossification, some of the bones being ina 
mature, and others in an immature, condition; a state of 
things never occurring in one and the same animal. 


On the Zeuglodon. 153 


This conclusion is supported by the testimony of those who 
were eye-witnesses of, or familiar with, the exhu mation of the 
remains. Dr Lister, who resides in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood of the locality where the bones were found, but was 
not an eye-witness of the exhumation, says :—‘ They were 
not lying in their natural position, so as to constitute an 
unbroken series, but were scattered here and there ; others 
were procured in Clark county, twenty miles distant.” 

Mr Lyell, whose accuracy and love of truth no one will 
question, travelled over the region of the Zeuglodon, and, in 
a letter to Professor Silliman jun., states as follows :— 

“Part of the head of the Zeuglodon and vertebra, ex- 
tending to,a length of thirty feet (the Hydrarchos was one 
hundred and fourteen feet), were procured by Mr Koch, in 
1845, at a place which I visited, four and a half miles south- 
west of Clarkville, Ala., in company with Mr Pickett, who 
assisted in the exhumation made by Mr Koch; but the main 
body of the vertebre (as I learn from the same gentleman 
and other persons) which entered into the skeleton exhibited 
in the United States under the name of Hydrarchos, were 
procured in Washington county, fifteen miles distant, in a 
direct line from the place where the head was discovered.” 
(See American Journal of Science, vol.i.,p. 312, New Series.) 
_ The editors insert as a note to the preceding, the follow- 
ing :— 

*« Another correspondent, S. G. Houston, Esq., gave us a 
confirmation of Mr Lyell’s statement. Mr H. says that the 
fossils were found, a bone here and a bone there, scattered 
over a space of twenty-five miles.” 

Mr Koch has not brought forward the testimony of a single 
eye-witness in corroboration of his own statement. 

Il. Mr Koch maintained that the bones were those of a 
Reptile (“ Sea Serpent”). Dr Gescheidt rejected the idea 
that they were those of a serpent, but maintained their rep- 
tilian character, “a connecting link between Saurians and 
Mammalia.” Carus of Dresden, in his recently published 
memoir, entertains the reptilian view, and, in accordance 
with it, has given an ideal diagram of a restored head, in 
which the reptilian character is strongly portrayed. 

On the other hand, it was maintained that it had no cha- 


154 On the Zeuglodon. 


racter whatever of areptile. No reptile has as yet been dis- 
covered having teeth with double roots implanted in corre- 
sponding sockets; the Hydrarchos has teeth with double roots 
and double sockets. In reptiles the bodies of the vertebrx 
are either concave on one face and convex on the other, or 
else doubly concave ; the faces of the vertebre of the Hy- 
drarchos are flat as in mammalia. The size of the vertebral 
canal compared with the bodies, has, in the Hydrarchos, the 
Mammalian and not the Reptilian proportions. 

If any doubt heretofore existed, it is now removed by the 
recent discovery by F. S. Holmes, Esq., and Professor Lewis 
R. Gibbs, of Charleston, South Carolina, of a skin of the Zeu- 
glodon nearly entire, and which demonstrates that gee restored 
head given by Carus is purely imaginary (and with this state- 
ment any one will be satisfied who will take the trouble to com- 
pare the figures). The newly discovered skull, in addition to 
the character given above, has the double occipital condyles, 
only met with in Mammalia, and the convoluted tympanic bones 
which are characteristic of Cetaceans. (See American Jour- 
nal of Science, September 1847). The bones of Koch’s Zeu- 
glodon are now in Berlin, and a report on them is in prepara- 
tion, to be presented to the Academy of Sciences by Professor 
Muller, the most distinguished German physiologist. In a 
letter to Retzius of Stockholm, recently published, he says,— 
“T think I can satisfactorily shew that the Hydrarchos is not 
a reptile, but a mammal belonging to a peculiar extinct family. 
Tt has the ear formed as in the mammals, viz. :—a helix con- 
structed as in the mammalia, with a tympanic bone as in the 
whale. It has, moreover, two occipital condyles, and, in the 
whole formation of the cranium no trace of a reptile struc- 
ture occurs, but, on the contrary, everything is as in the 
mammals.” 

From this review of the evidence in the case, the two fol- 
lowing propositions, given in a former report, are sustained. 

1sé, The skeleton of the Hydrarchos is composed of bones 
belonging to two different individuals. 

2a, The bones are those of a Mammal. In addition to the 
above, it may now be added, 

3d, That they are intimately allied to those of Cetaceans. 
—J.W. (Boston Journal, September 30, 1847.) 


( 155 ) 


On the Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. By 
JOHN CRAWFURD, Esq., F.R.S.L., Conductor of the Em- 
bassy to Siam. Communicated by the Ethnological So- 
ciety for Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal.* 


Distinct and unequivocal traces of a Malayant language 
have been found from Madagascar to Haster Island, and from 
Formosa to New Zealand, over 70 degrees of latitude, and 
200 of longitude. 

To account for this remarkable dissemination of a lan- 
guage, singular for its extent, among a people so rude, it has 
been imagined that all the tribes within the wide bounds re- 
ferred to constitute, with the exception, however, of the 
Papuas or Negroes, one and the same race, and that the 
many tongues now known to be spoken by them, were, origi- 
nally, one language, broken down, by time and dispersion, 
into many dialects. This is the theory adopted by Mr Mars- 
den, Sir Stamford Rafiles, and the Baron William Humboldt, 
as well as by many French and German writers, but I be- 
lieve it to be wholly destitute of foundation. 

A sketch of the different groups of nations within the range 
T have alluded to, will shew, that whether their languages be 
of one stock or not, the men themselves belong physically to 
distinct races. They may, I think, be divided into three 
groups—men of brown complexion, with lank hair; men of 
sooty complexion, with woolly hair; and men of brown com- 
plexion, with frizzled hair. Each of these, again, consists of 
several subdivisions. 

Beginning with the first group, the most remarkable race 
in it is what may be called the Malay. The prevailing 
complexion is here a light brown, with a yellow tinge; the 
hair is lank, long, coarse, abundant on the head, and defec- 
tive on every other part of the body; the nose is short 
and small, but never flat ; the mouth is large; the lips thin ; 
the cheeck-bones high. The person is squat, and the average 
stature does not exceed 5 feet 3 or 4 inches. 


* Read before the Ethnological Section of British Association, June 1847. 
t L use this word as a common term for all that belongs to the Archipelago. 


156 Mr Crawfurd on the 


This is the only race, within the bounds described, that has 
exhibited a considerable intellectual development. It has, 
for ages, possessed the knowledge of letters, worked the use- 
ful metals, and domesticated useful animals. Judging by the 
evidence of language, these arts are of native growth, and 
not borrowed from strangers. 

All the inhabitants of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, 
Bali, Lonbok, and Sumbawa, are of this race, as are most of 
those of the Malayan Peninsula, and of the Philippine 
Islands. 

East of Celebes and Sumbawa, and lying between these 
and New Guinea, there is a second division of men of brown 
complexion and lank hair, constituting, probably, .a distinct 
race. The stature is the same as in the last, but the com- 
plexion is darker, the features generally coarser, the lips 
thicker, and the hair often buckling or even frizzling, so as 
to give them an appearance of being an intermediate race 
between the lank and woolly haired families. The inha- 
bitants of Flores, Gilolo. Timur, the Molunas, and several 
smaller islands, would seem to belong to this race, who, al- 
though they have made considerable progress in the arts, 
have never invented the use of letters. The inhabitants of 
Gueby, an island lying between Gilolo and New Guinea, may 
be taken as a fair example. M. Freycinet describes them as 
being of a dark olive complexion, with flat noses, projecting 
lips, and a facial angle of seventy-seven degrees, which is 
from ten to twelve degrees higher than that of the oriental 
negro of the same neighbourhood. 

The inhabitants of the Caroline, the Marianne or Ladrone, 
and Pelew Islands, probably constitute a third subdivision 
of the brown-complexioned and lank-haired people. The 
average height of five individuals, as taken by Freycinet* 
and his companions, was 5 feet 7 inches English. This 
would make them much taller than the Malay race, but pro- 
bably the height is over-rated, from the average being taken 
from too small a number of individuals. 

Passing over countries inhabited by negro races, and en- 


* Voyage autour du Monde. Paris, 1829. 


= 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 157 


tering the Pacific, we first encounter a race with brown com- 
plexion and lank hair in the group of the Feejee and Friendly 
Islands, in about 180° of east longitude. The same race con- 
stitutes the inhabitants of the Society, the Marquesas, the 
Lowe Islands, the Navigator Islands, Easter Island, and New 
Zealand, with the Sandwich Islands. 

Although dispersed over little less than sixty degrees of 
latitude, and eighty of longitude, the inhabitants of all these 
islands speak essentially the same language, and approach so 
near to each other in form, that they must be considered as 
one race. 

In respect to stature, however, there is either some differ- 
ence between them, or there is some discrepancy in the ac- 
counts rendered of it by voyagers; yet it is not material. 
Freycinet makes the inhabitants of Tahiti 5 feet 8 inches, 
and those of the Sandwich Islands 5 feet 9 inches high. 
This is about the ordinary stature of Europeans. Cook, 
who describes the people of the Marquesas as the hand- 
somest of all the South Sea islanders, makes their average 
height from 5 feet 10 to 6 feet, which is making them some 
3 inches taller than Europeans. 

La Perouse makes the inhabitants of the Navigator Islands 
from 6 feet and 1 inch to 6 feet and 2 inches high; but he 
admits that he measured individuals not exceeding 5 feet 
Sinches. He describes them as being equally powerful and 
athletic as tall, and concludes that, compared with Euro- 
peans, they are as the Danish horse to the ordinary one of 
the French provinces. There is no doubt, however, some 
exaggeration here ; for Captain Wilkes, in his recent voyage, 
makes their stature only 5 feet 10 inches, and says nothing 
of their superior strength.* 

The other physical features of this race are given by 
Freycinet and Cook. The first describes the Sandwich 
islanders as having oval faces, noses a little flattened, small 
black eyes, large mouths, projecting lips, long lank hair, a 
little frizzled, very little beard, and a complexion of a clear 
brown. 


* Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. J.ondon, 1847. 


158 Mr Crawfurd on the 


Cook says of their colour that it is a “ nut-brown,” and 
that ‘‘ it would be difficult to make a nearer comparison, ~ 
taking in all the different lines of that colour.” 

In so far, then, as physical form is concerned, there can, I 
think, be little doubt that this race, so tall and well-propor- 
tioned, is a very distinct one from the short and squat Ma- 
lay, from which it has been gratuitously imagined to be de- 
rived. 

The varieties of the Negro race, within the scope under 
consideration, are more numerous than those of the brown- 
complexioned. They have been usually called Papua, which 
is the corruption of a Malay adjective meaning “ frizzled.”’ 
Some writers have also called. them Austral Negroes, eyi- 
dently an improper appellation, as they are found equally in 
the northern as the southern hemisphere. Perhaps the name 
Oriental Negro is more suitable, but the name Negritos, or 
Little Negroes, applied to them by the Spaniards, is still 
better. 

Beginning from the west, we first find a race of oriental 
negroes occupying the whole chain of the Andaman Islands, 
in the Bay of Bengal, between the 10° and 14° of N. latitude. 
This is a diminutive squat being, not exceeding 5 feet high, 
of a sooty-black colour, with flat nose, thick lips, and short 
woolly hair.* Two individuals of this race, whom I saw in 
Penang, to which they had been brought by the late General 
Kydd, who had superintended an attempted British settle- 
ment on the Andamans, entirely agreed with this account. 

Lately, a race of Negroes has been unexpectedly discover- 
ed in the interior of the Nicobar Islands, hitherto believed 
to have been wholly occupied by the Malay race, but I have 
seen no account of their personal appearance. 

We find a negro race next in the mountain-chain which 
runs through the length of the Malay Peninsula. This is 
known to the Malays, in some parts, under the name of 
Samang, and in others of Bila. Those people are of a sooty- 
black complexion, have woolly hair, and African features. 
An adult male, measured by my friend General Macinnes, 


* Syme’s Embassy to Ava. 1800. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 159 


was found to be only 4 feet 9 inches high. This indi- 
vidual was brought from the mountains of Queda. A lad 
sent to myself, while in the administration of Singapore, by 
the Raja of K4lanten, a Malay state on the east coast of the 
peninsula, agreed in complexion, hair, and features, with the 
description now given. 

The great islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Celebes, 
are without any negro race of inhabitants; nor is there any re- 
cord or tradition of them ever having existed. In some islands 
of the Philippine group, however, they are found in consider- 
able numbers, and are well known to the Spaniards under the 
name of Negritos. Zunigas’ description of them is, that they 
are more of a copper colour than the true African negro, that 
they have flat noses, soft hair, and are of very-low stature. 
The total number of them subject to the Spanish rule, in the 
principal island of Lucon, is about 3000. 

From all those accounts, Iam disposed to conclude, that 
the negroes of the Andaman Islands, probably those of the 
Nicobars, those of the Malayan Peninsula, and of the Phi- 
lippine Islands, are all of the same race, which would include 
all the negroes north of the equator. But it must be admit- 
ted that this conclusion may not be warranted by a better 
knowledge than we now possess. 

South of the equator, and still within the Malayan Archi- 
pelago, we find at least two races of negroes on New Guinea 
and the islets adjacent to it. One of these has the Negro 
features, but not in an exaggerated form; and the hair, in- 
stead of growing in woolly tufts, is frizzled, long, and bushy, 
so as to be easily dressed out into the huge mop-like form, 
of which good representations will be found in the plates an- 
nexed to the voyages of the recent French circumnavigators. 
The stature appears to be about the ordinary one of the Ma- 
layan race. 

Sir Stamford Raffles brought to England a lad of ten years 
of age, a native of New Guinea, of the woolly-haired race, of 
which there is a good representation in the second volume of 
his History of Java. The late Sir Everard Home described 
this individual as follows:—‘ The Papuan differs from the 
African negro in the following particulars: His skin is of a 


160 Mr Crawfurd on the 


lighter colour. The woolly hair grows in small tufts, and 
each hair has a spiral twist. The forehead rises higher, and 
the hindhead is not so much cut off. The nose projects 
more from the face. The upper lip is longer and more pro- 
minent. The lower lip projects forward from the lower jaw 
to such an extent that the chin forms no part of the face, the 
lower part of which is formed by the mouth. The buttocks 
are so much lower than in the Negro, as to form a striking 
mark of distinction, but the calf of the leg is as high as in 
the Negro.’”’* 

Both races appear to exist on the island of Wagion, lying 
immediately at the north-west end of New Guinea, and most 
probably there has been here some intermixture of them. 
M. Duperry, in the voyage of the Coquille, gives the follow- 
ing description of the inhabitants of this island :—“ They are 
of slender and delicate person, and generally small. Of 
twenty individuals measured, one only was found to be as 
much as 5 feet 6 inches high. The average gave only 5 feet 
4 inches. In complexion they were less black than the in- 
habitants of New Ireland, and their features were more 
regular and agreeable. The facial angle was from 63° to 
69°. In some the hair was woolly, like that of the African 
negro; in some it was lank; and in others intermediate be- 
tween the two.” 

After passing New Guinea, we find all the islands lying 
east of it and of New Holland, up to 170° of east longitude, 
and from the equator to the tropic of Capricorn, inhabited by 
men of the Negro stamp, and, as far as they are known, dif- 
fering so much from each other as to seem to constitute dis- 
tinct races. 

In the voyage of the Coquille, the inhabitants of New Ire- 
land are described as being, in stature, from 5 feet 5 to 5 
feet 6 inches, with persons rather slender than athletic—of a 
colour less black than the African negro, having a facial 
angle of 66 degrees, and woolly hair, with little beard. They 
were an uglier race than the inhabitants of Wagiou, within 
the Archipelago. 


* History of Java, by Sir Stamford Rafiles, vol. ii. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 161 


Cook describes the inhabitants of Malicolo and of the New 
Hebrides as .a very dark-coloured and diminutive race, with 
long heads, flat faces, and,monkey countenances ; their hair 
as black, short, and curly, but not quite so short and woolly 
as that of the African negro, and their beard as short, crisp, 
and bushy. He pronounces them “an ape-like people,” and 
the most ugly and ill-proportioned he had encountered in the 
Pacitic ; ‘‘ quite a different nation from any other” he had met 
with in that sea. 

Cook’s account of Tanna, another of the New Hebrides, 
makes the inhabitants short and slender, but with good fea- 
tures, and agreeable countenances, having hair crisp and 
woolly, but longer than that of the inhabitants of Malicolo. 
At first he was disposed to think them a mixed race between 
the latter and the Friendly Islanders, but a little acquaint- 
ance convinced him they had “ little affinity with either.” 

The isolated New Caledonia, lying between the 20° of 
south latitude and the tropic, is inhabited by another race 
of negroes, plainly differing from those already mentioned. 
Cook describes them as a strong, robust people, some in- 
dividuals being found as tall as 6 feet 4 inches. Their colour 
is the same as that of the inhabitants of Tanna, that is black, 
but not an ebony black. They had, however, ‘better fea- 
tures and more agreeable countenances.” “TI observed,” says 
he, “‘some who had thick lips, flat noses, and full cheeks, 
and, in some degree, the features and look of anegro.” The 
hair he mentions as very much frizzled, so that, at first, it 
appeared much like that of an African negro, yet was “ never- 
theless very different.” The hair, in fact, appears to be of 
the same texture as that of some of the inhabitants of New 
Guinea, and was, like that of these, easily dressed into a 
hideous mop, as already described. 

But we have still another race in the inhabitants of the 
islands of Torres Straits. Mr Jukes describes the inhabi- 
tants of Erroob as follows:—“ The men were fine, active, 
well-made fellows, rather above the middle height, of a dark- 
brown or chocolate colour. They had, frequently, almost 
handsome faces, aquiline noses, rather broad about the nos- 
trils, well-shaped heads, and many had a singular Jewish 

VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. Li 


162 Mr Crawfurd on the 


cast of features, The hair was frizzled, and dressed into 
long ringlets. The hair of their body and limbs grew in small 
tufts, giving the skin a slightly woolly appearance.’’* 

The Australian continent, with Van Diemen’s Land, may 
be considered as coming within the scope of the present in- 
quiry. The Australian approaches nearer to some of the 
oriental negroes than to any other races of mankind, but is, not- 
withstanding, widely different. One race occupies the whole 
continent. Its average stature is 5 feet 6 inches, and the 
colour “ almost black.” The hair is black, sometimes lank, 
and sometimes curled, but never woolly. The beard is toler- 
ably abundant and long. The mouth is large, the lips thick, 
the teeth good, but frequently there is no distinction in the 
form of the incisors and canine. “ Compared with the other 
races scattered over the face of the globe, the New Hol- 
lander appears to stand alone.” t 

It remains only to notice the inhabitants of Madagascar, 
very wantonly imagined by some writers to be of the Ma- 
layan race, simply because in the Malagasi language there 
have been found a few words of a Malayan tongue. But the 
people of Madagascar, whether Hovas or ordinary Malagasis, 
are merely a variety of the African negro, and, neither in 
colour, features, form, or stature, do they bear any analogy 
either to the Malayan race, or to any section of the oriental 
negro. 

From the enumeration now made, it will appear that there 
are no fewer than five distinct races of the brown-com- 
plexioned and lank-haired family ; and, without including 
Madagascar or Australia, and supposing all those to the north 
of the equator to be identical, not less than eight of that of 
the oriental negro. As far, then, as physical form is con- 
cerned, it is certain enough that none of these widely scat- 
tered races could have sprung from one and the same stock, 
as has been imagined; yet, in most of the many tongues 


* Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of the Fly. London, 1847. 

} Journal of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, by Edward 
John Eyre. London, 1845, Discoveries in Australia, by J. Scot Stokes, Conr. 
in the R.R. 1846. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 163 


spoken by them, whether brown or negro, traces of a Malayan 
language are to be found. 

A brief examination, phonetically, grammatically, and ver- 
bally, of some of the principal languages, will, I think, clearly 
shew that they are generally distinct tongues, not derived 
from a common stock, and that the Malayan words they con- 
tain have been engrafted on them as Teutonic words have 
been on the continental languages of Europe of Latin origin ; 
or as French words have been on our own Anglo-Saxon, al- 
though, indeed, the mode by which this has been effected has 
been, in general, very different. 

The languages from which, in my opinion, the words so en- 
grafted have been, for the most part, derived, are those of 
the two most civilized, numerous, and adventurous nations 
of the archipelago, the Malays and Javanese. The Malayan 
words found in each language that has received them will, I 
think, be found not only numerous, but correct in sound and 
sense, in proportion to the facilities, geographical, navigable, 
and lingual, possessed by the parties adopting them, of com- 
munication with the parent countries of the Malay and Ja- 
vanese nations. 

The dissemination might be direct from Sumatra and Java, 
the parent countries in question, or indirectly from some 
nearer country ; and it would happen through commerce, pi- 
ratical expeditions ending in settlement and conquest, or by 
the fortuitous wreck of tempest-driven vessels, to all of which 
I shall, afterwards, more particularly allude. 

The Malay and Javanese languages have the same number 
of vowels, diphthongs, and consonants. The vowels are six 
in number, viz., a, a, e, 7,0, uw; the diphthongs two, az and au, 
and the consonants nineteen, 0, @, d, da, 9, 7, k, 1, m, n, nr, tt, p, 
r, t, t, w, y, exclusive of the aspirate, which never begins a 
word or syllable, and always follows a vowel. 

In no part of speech of either language is gender or num- 
ber expressed by a change in the form of the word ; and the 
only instance of an inflexion is to express a possessive. Re- 
lation is expressed generally by prepositions. 

The only changes which verbal roots undergo, express 
neuter, transitive, casual, passive, and reciprocal verbs ; and 


164 Mr Crawfurd on the 


this is effected by prefixes or affixes, or both together. Time 
and mode are expressed by modals prefixed. 

It is to be observed that the adjectives expressing gender 
and number, the prepositions expressing relation, the pre- 
fixes and affixes applied to verbal roots, and the modals ex- 
pressing time and mode are, for the most part, different in 
the two languages, although there be so general an agree- 
ment in their grammatical structure. 

In these characters, phonetic and grammatical, the other 
languages of Sumatra, of Java, of Madura, of Bali, of Lom- 
boc, and of Borneo agree, but the similarity goes no farther 
than these. 

I proceed to compare some of the other languages in which 
Malay and Javanese words are found with those character- 
istics of the Malay and Javanese languages, and begin with 
that of Madagascar. Instead of six vowels, this has only 
four,—a, e, 7, and w. Instead of nineteen consonants, it has 
but fourteen, viz., , d, f, 7, k, 1, m,n, 2, p, v, 8, 2, 2d. It wants 
the @, the palatal d, and % 7, 7, w, and y, of the Malay and 
Javanese, but it has f, v, z, and ed, which are unknown to 
these. Like these it has an aspirate ; but instead of follow- 
ing the vowel as in them, it always precedes it. 

In Malay and Javanese, words may end in a vowel, a con- 
sonant, or an aspirate indifferently. In Malagasi, they can 
end in a vowel only. | 

In Malay and Javanese, the liquids /, 7, w, and y, are the 
only consonants that coalesce with other consonants ; but, 
with the exception of 7 in a few instances, they never do so 
in Malagasi. On the other hand, we have in this language 
combinations of consonants unpronounceable by a Malay or 
Javanese, as mp, nt, nzd, and fs, and these, even beginning 
words and syllables. If the natives of Madagascar had in- 
vented an alphabet, which, like other Negro Africans, they 
have not done, each of these harsh sounds would, probably, 
have been considered a distinct consonant, and have had its 
proper character. 

But the grammatical structure of the Malagasi has been 
adduced as proof that it is a member of what has been called 
the Polynesian family of languages, in itself a mere hypo- 


Ma’ayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 1€5 


thesis, and the form of the verb has been especially referred 
to as evidence. 

One form of the Malay, but not of the Javanese transitive 
verb, is made by prefixing to the root the inseparable par- 
ticle ma, the nasals m, 2, #, and 2, being substituted for the 
initial letter of the root as the euphony of the language may 
demand. 

There exists also in the Malagasi a verbal prefix begin- 
ning with the letter m ; but beyond this there is no analogy. 
The Malagasi prefix, instead of being one, expressing one 
meaning, amounts to thirteen, expressing as many meanings. 
We have mi, man, mana, maha, mampi, mampan, mampampan, 
mifan, mifampi, mifampan, mampampan, and mampifampan. 
Each of the Malagasi verbs formed by these prefixes has an 
indicative, an imperative, and an infinitive mood. The indi- 
eative has, throughout, a present, a preterite, and a future 
tense expressed by an inflexion. In four kinds of verbs, the 
imperative has two forms; and in nine, it has four. In all, 
the root undergoes 180 changes. 

There is nothing analogous to this in the simplicity of the 
Malay or Javanese verbs. To the copious and elaborate 
Dictionary of Messrs Freeman and Johns, a most meritorious 
work, there is prefixed the paradigm of a Malagasi verb, from 
which I have borrowed my representation of it.* The root 
in this case, is sedu, a substitute which, LT have no doubt, is 
the Javanese word sudur, meaning tke same thing, or “a re- 
presentative,” or “ agent,” with the loss of its final consonant, 
indispensable to the genius of Malagasi pronunciation. 

The greatest number of changes which any root can be 
made to undergo in Malay, or Javanese, does not exceed 
twelve; and seur, the root in question, could not be sub- 
jected even to one half this number, not one of which would 
correspond in sound or sense with any one of the Malagasi 
compounds. 

The very length of these Malagasi compounds appears to 
me to be good evidence against the allegation that the Mala- 
gasi is of Malayan origin. The great majority of Malay and 


%* A Dictionary of the Malagasi Language, by J. J. Freeman. London, 1835. 


166 Mr Crawfurd on the 


Javanese roots are bisyllables ; but in the Malagasi they fre- 
quently extend to four or even five syllables; and when to these 
are added, not monosyllabic prefixes or affixes, as in Malay 
and Javanese, but prefixes or affixes, of two, three, and even 
of four syllables, the monstrous length of some compounds 
may readily be supposed. From the root sel already men- 
tioned, although only of two syllables, is formed, for example, 
the compound mampifampanolo, which means, “to order to 
cause to exchange,” being a word of six syllables, of which 
the languages of the Malayan family afford not one example. 
But words of even double this length may be formed ! 

I come now to the evidence afforded by words. The Ma- 
lagasi Dictionary, already quoted, contains about 8000 words, 
exclusive of compounds. Ihave gone carefully over it nfore 
than once, and can discover no more than 140 which are of 
Malayan origin, which would make about ;;th part of the 
language. 

But to the dictionary is appended a list of words espe- 
cially called roots. These amount to 500; and among them 
I find just six Malayan words, and no more. 

The nature of the Malayan words found in the Malagasi, 
is of much importance in the inquiry. Sixty are the names 
of natural objects, and thirteen are numerals. There is no 
preposition among them, no auxiliary verb, nor any other 
word essential to the structure of a sentence. The language, 
in a word, might be written or spoken without them, with 
more ease, and that is not difficult, than good English can be 
written or spoken without the assistance of the Norman- 
French portion of it. 

The Malayan words received into the Malagasi are, with 
with few exceptions, corrupted in sound, a result to be ex- 
pected from the wide difference between the phonetic cha- 
racter of the languages. ‘The corruption extends both to 
vowels and consonants. There are also corruptions of sense, 
although not so frequent. 

Of the 140 Malayan words, 42 are exclusively Malay, 15 
exclusively Javanese, and 73 common to these two languages, 
while two are, I think, Bugis. The number is completed by 
eight, suspected to be Sanscrit, of which six are tolerably cer- 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 167 


tain. These Sanscrit words are popular in the languages of 
the Indian archipelago, and have every appearance of having 
been received into the Malagasi through this channel. 

All this will, I hope, be considered a sufficient refutation 
of the hypothesis, that the language of Madagascar is of the 
same stock with the Malay. 

Passing over the languages of Sumatra, Java, Madura, 
Bali, and Borneo, which, in phonetic character and gramma- 
tical strueture, bear much analogy to the Malay and Javanese, 
I shall take for my next example, the most cultivated, and 
widely-spoken of the languages of Celebes, that of the Bugis, 
called by themselves Wugi. This is a written tongue, with 
a peculiar native character, and differs essentially from the 
Malay and Javanese. 

IT am enabled to render some satisfactory secoutt of the 
Wugi, from possessing a vocabulary of it in the native charac- 
ter.* The vowels of the Wugi are seven in number, a, e, 7, 0, 
u, 6, %. According to the author of the vocabulary, the 6 has 
the same sound as this letter in the German word Kéning- 
berg, and the i is the « of the French. The 4, equivalent to 
our commonest sound of uw, so frequent in the Malay and Ja- 
vanese, is wanting. The diphthongs are the same as in Ma- 
lay and Javanese, viz., az and au. 

The Wugi consonants are 15 in number, instead of 19, as 
in Malay and Javanese. They are as follows: 4, @, d, 9,7, , 
l,m, n,n, p, 7, 8,t,w. It wants the palatal d and ¢ of the Ma- 
lay and Javanese, with #% and y. The nasal # has no repre- 
sentative as a consonant in the alphabet; it follows a vowel 
only, and is marked by a point over the preceding letter. 
The sharp aspirate / is ranked among the consonants, and 
may precede or follow a vowel. The letter /, at the end of 
a word, is used as a soft aspirate; and with this exception, 
that of the aspirate and the nasal x, every Bugis word must 
end in a vowel or diphthong. Thus the Malay word mawar, 
arose, becomes mawara, and rampas, to plunder, by a double 
elision, and the substitution of a diphthong for a vowel, rapa. 


* A Vocabulary of the English, Bugis, and Malay Languages, containing 
about 2000 words. Singapore, 1833. (By the Rev. Mr Thomson.) 


168 Mr Crawfurd on the 


The grammar of the Wugi is extremely simple. Gender 
and number are expressed by native adjectives ; and relation 
of nouns by prepositions, differing, however, wholly from 
those which act the same part in Malay and Javanese, which 
is the same thing as the saying of languages of complex 
structure that their declensions are wholly different. 

The Wugi has native pronouns of the first, second, and 
third persons; which last, it may be noticed, are wanting in 
the Javanese. It has also pronouns expressing plurality. 

Neuter verbs, adjectives, and participles, are formed from 
roots, which are usually nouns, by the prefix ma, evidently 
a different thing, in sense and sound, from the transitive pre- 
fix ma of the Malay, The word /osi means “ rain,” and ma- 
host,“ to rain.” Puti is the noun “ white,” and mapuéi, the 
adjective “ white,’ or the verb “ to be white.” Transitive 
verbs are formed by the affix 7, according to one of several 
forms for such verbs in Malay, but not Javanese. Thus, géncin 
is “a pair of scissors,’ and gonéini, “to shear or clip.” 

An examination of 1777 words of the Wugi vocabulary 
gives the following results. The number of 1852 are native 
words; 109 are Malay ; ; 16 are Javanese; and 300 are com- 
mon to these two languages. The proportion of Malayan 
words to native, therefore, is less than 24 to 76 in 100, or 
less than a fourth part of the whole. 

I may add, that in 1810 words, there are in the Wugi 33 
words of Sanscrit, being the same that are popular in the 
Malay and Javanese, and not improbably introduced through 
them. 

From this account it will be seen, that the Malayan words 
in the Bugis language form something like a similar propor- 
tion to the native portion of it that the French does to the 
Anglo-Saxon in our own language; and it may safely be 
added, that it is not more essential to its structure. 

The great alterations generally effected in the form of Ma- 
layan words introduced into the Wugi, seem to me plainly to 
attest their foreign origin. We find in them, changes by per- 
mutation, both of vowels and consonants, changes by addition 
of vowels, and changes by elision of consonants. I shall only 
give two or three examples. Aayu, wood, is in Wugi con- 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 169 


verted into aj, by the loss of the first consonant, and the con- 
version of the second, which does not belong to the Wugi, into 
j. SLutut, the knee, and kulit, skin or rind, become, in Wugi, 
utu, and uli, by the loss both of their initial and final conso- 
nants. Cdarmin, a mirror, becomes ¢amz, by the change of @ 
for a, the elision of the r, which would not be followed by an- 
other consonant without the intervention of a vowel, and the 
elision of the final consonant, which is one that could not end 
a word. 

The same inference of a foreign origin is, I think, to be 
deduced from the nature of the Malay and Javanese words 
found in Wugi. Among these there are 240 nouns, 35 ad- 
jectives, and 85 verbs. Among the 52 pronouns of the Bugis, 
I can discover but three that can be. suspected Malay or 
Javanese. In 69 adverbs, I find three only that are of these 
languages ; and out of 16 conjunctions, and 26 prepositions, 
there is but one of each that belongs to them. 

The languages of the Philippine islands form a peculiar 
group, differing very essentially from the Malay and Javanese 
languages. Several of those of the great island of Lucon 
have received a large amount of culture, and, like the prin- 
cipal languages of the western portion of the archipelago, 
are written tongues, with a peculiar and distinct alphabet. 

This alphabet, the same for all the languages, has five 
vowels—a, é, 7,0, «u; and 4 diphthongs—ai, ao, au, and ui; 
with sixteen consonants, besides the aspirate, viz., b, d, 9,7, 
k,l, m,n, it, 2, p, 7, t,w,y. Of the vowels, therefore, it wants 
the a of the Malay and Javanese, while it possesses two diph- 
thongs, which these have not. Among the consonants, it has 
all those of the Malayan languages except the sound é, and 
the palatal d and 7. 

Words or syllables, in the Philippine languages, may begin 
with the aspirate, but not end with it, which is exactly the 
reverse of what obtains in the Malay and Javanese. 

In the Philippine languages words may end, and very ge- 
nerally do, in consonants, as obtains in the Malay and Java- 
nese, but contrary to the usual practice of the languages of 
the neighbouring island of Celebes. No consonant coalesces 


170 Mr Crawfurd on the 


with another in the Philippine languages, with the exception 
of the liquids 7 and J, and these not often. 

In the Philippine languages, certain consonants follow 
others without the intervention of a vowel, which in Malay 
and Javanese are never found to do so. The letter g, which 
very rarely ends a Malay or Javanese word, is a very fre- 
quent termination of Philippine ones. Of these two peculiari- 
ties the following are examples from the Bisaya language :— 
Lobtog, a jar; yagbak, a rat; toltog, to pound; tag, lord or 
master ; ¢wig, time; which are sounds utterly repugnant to 
Malay or Javanese pronunciation. 

Between the grammatical structures of the Malay and Ja- 
vanese and the Philippine languages, there is a very wide 
difference. In order to illustrate the extent of it, I take the 
grammar of the Pampanga, one of the six principal lan- 
guages of Lucon, for an example.* 

The noun is simple, or without any inflexion. As the au- 
thor of the grammar says, it undergoes no more change than 
the Latin word genu. Relation, or case, is expressed by 
what the Spanish author of the grammar calls an article. 
This varies, or, more correctly, is a different word for each 
case. There is, besides, one kind of article for appellatives, 
and another for proper names. 

If the words thus called articles by the Spaniards be, as is 
probable, only prepositions, then it must be observed that 
they bear no resemblance to any prepositions of the Malay 
or Javanese. 

A still wider difference exists in the pronouns. The per- 
sonal pronoun of the first person has two genitive cases, and 
three plurals: a dual, “ we two;” a plural general, “ we all ;” 
and a plural particular, “‘ we in particular.” 

The pronouns of the second and third persons have but one 
plural. The demonstrative and interrogative pronouns have 
also one plural only. 

Adjectives are formed from roots, as in the Wugi of Ce- 
lebes, by the prefix ma. 

The verb, according to the Spanish author of the gram- 


* Arte de la lengua Pampanga por Diego Bergafio. Quarto. Manila, 1736. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 171 


mar, is of considerable complexity, and has several conjuga- 
tions. Its moods and passive forms are composed by auxi- 
liaries, but its tenses by inseparable prefixes. One portion 
only of the Pampanga verb resembles the Malay and Java- 
nese, or, at least, one form of these. This is the verbal noun, 
which is formed by the affix an, added to the root. 

In order to find the proportion of Malayan words in the 
Philippine languages, I have carefully gone over two dic- 
tionaries of the most prevalent of them, the Tagala and 
Bisaya of Lucon,* the last of which has spread to Magindanau 
and the Sulu group. 

The Tagala Dictionary contains above 12,000 words. but 
excluding compounds about 7700. Of these 77 are Malay, 
20 are Javanese, and 156 are common to these two languages. 
This makes the whole number of Malayan words 253, which 
gives the proportion of about 33 in 1000. The Tagala Dic- 
tionary contains also 24 words of Sanscrit, which, I have no 
doubt, found their way into the language through the Ma- 
layan tongue. 

The Bisaya Dictionary contains 9000 words, of which 72 
are Malay, 17 Javanese, and 197 are common to those lan- 
guages, making, in all, 266 Malayan words, or about 30 in 
1000—a proportion not very different from that of the Ta- 
gala. The Bisaya contains also Sanscrit words, but I can 
find only 13. 

The Malayan and Javanese words introduced into the two 
Philippine languages have often undergone great corruptions, 

_both in sound and sense. Thus, the word b4ii, “to buy,” in 
Malay, is written 6¢/i in Tagala, and is interpreted “ price,’’ 
or “cost.” Buna, in Malay, is “ a flower” or “ blossom,” 
and in Tagala it is “ fruit.” Pintu, in Malay and Javanese, 
is a “door” or “ gate ;” but in Tagala, written pinto, it means 
“a house.” Luban, in Malay, is a “ hole,” « aperture, or 
“ pit ;” and in Tagala, written dubun, it signifies “ interment,” 
and “a grave.” Utan, in Malay, means “a forest” or 
“ wild ;” but in Tagala, “ foliage” and “ verdure.”’ 
Ne ea a See 


* Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala compuesta por N. H. Fray Domingo de 


los Santos. Fol, Tagaleas, 1703. Vocabulario de la lengua Bisaya por el R. 
J. Matheo Sanches. Fol. Manila, 1711. 


172 Mr Crawfurd on the 


Sometimes one of the Philippine languages gives the sense 
more correctly than the other. Thus, the Malay word bau, 
“odour” or “ smell,” is, in Tagala, “ stench” or “ bad smell,” 
while in Bisaya the Malay sense is correctly given. In Malay 
and Javanese, the word tali signifies “a rope,” “ string,” 
or “ cord,” but in Bisaya it is “a sash;” while in Tagala it 
is correctly rendered. Nana, “to gape,” in Malay, is, in 
Tagala, ‘‘ to open,” ‘ to masticate,” “ to eat;’? while in Bi- 
Says it signifies “ to open the mouth,” making a nearer ap- 
proach to the true meaning. 

The Sanscrit words introduced into the Philippine lan- 
guage have been equally corrupted with the Malayan. Thus, 
the word ¢inta, “ affection,” is correctly written in Malay 
and Javanese, but in the Tagala and Bisaya the letter ¢ not 
existing, s is always substituted for it, and Cinta becomes 
sinta. 

The well-known Sanscrit word Avatar, meaning “ descent,” 
and commonly applied to a descent or an incarnation of 
Vishnu, is corrupted in the Malayan languages into Bazara, 
and not confined to the incarnations of Vishnu, but applied 
as a generic term to any of the chief Hindoo gods. This is 
the sense in which it was used by the Philippine islanders on 
the arrival of the Spaniards, but by a permutation that is fre- 
quent with words introduced from the Malayan, / is substi- 
tuted for 7, and an aspirate being added, the word has become 
Bathala. 

The Spanish missionaries found this word ready to their 
hand, and applied it as an appellative to the Deity; so that, 
by a strange coincidence among the native Christians of the 
Philippines, the Hindoo Avatar comes to be the translation of 
the Jehovah of the Jews, and the Dio of the Spaniards.* 

The nature of the Malay and Javanese words introduced 
into the languages of the Philippines, points, I think, plainly 
enough to their foreign origin. Of these found in the Ta- 


* Baron William Humboldt, in his great work the Kawé Sprache, seems to 
consider the Philippine languages as exhibiting the supposed great Polynesian 
language in its greatest purity, but on what ground I am not aware. As far 
as my judgment goes, the common terms are greatly-corrupted Malay and Ja- 


vanese. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 178 


gala, nearly one-half are substantive nouns, or names of 
things. The pronouns amount only to two, the adjectives 
only to five, and there is but a solitary preposition. In a 
great majority of cases the Malay and Javanese words are - 
only synonymes, and the language could not only be written 
with ease without them, but suffer little by their omission. 

I come next to the languages of the Pacific. <A language, 
essentially the same, is spoken in the Sandwich, the Society, 
the Marquesas, and the Friendly Islands, the Lowe Islands, 
Haster Island, and New Zealand—that is, from the Tropic of 
Cancer to the 46° of south latitude. This is one of the most 
extraordinary phenomena in the history of language; and 
there is certainly nothing parallel to it, either within the 
Pacific itself, or the islands of the Indian Archipelago. 

To illustrate this language, I shall take the Tahitian and 
New Zealand dialects for examples, good grammars and dic- 
tionaries of both having been published.* The French have 
called this widespread language the Ouanic, and other Euro- 
pean nations the Polynesian, which last, as most general, I 
shall adopt. 

The vowels of the Polynesian, as exemplified in the New 
Zealand, are five in number—a, e, 7, 0, u ; the diphthongs—six 
ae, at, ao, au, et, and ou ; and the consonants only eight—A, m, 
n,n, p, 7, t,w, exclusive of the aspirate. Thus it has one vowel 
less than the Malay and Javanese, and three times as many 
diphthongs, while it wants no fewer than eleven consonants 
of the Malayan series. 

The aspirate is largely used, and in a manner contrary to 
the usage of the Malay and Javanese, for it must always pre- 
cede, but never follow, a vowel—consequently never end a 
word or syllable. 

Every syllable and every word must end in a vowel, and 
when foreign words are introduced ending in a consonant, 
the consonant is either elided, or a vowel added. No conso- 


* A Grammar of the Tahitian Dialect of the Polynesian Language. ‘Tahiti, 
1823. A Dictionary of the New Zealand Language, and a Concise Graminar, 
by William Williams, Archdeacon of Waiapu. Pahia, 1844. Vocabulaire 


Oceanien-Frangais et Frangais-Oceanien. Par L’Abbé Boniface Mosblech. 
Paris, 1843, 


174 Mr Crawfurd on che 


nant ever coalesces with another; or, in other terms, a vowel 
or diphthong is always interposed between two consonants. 

The paucity of consonants, and the frequency of vowels 
’ and diphthongs, necessarily convey to a stranger a sense of 
monotony and feebleness. Thus, the word “ to shiver with 
cold,” Aauachanuru, notwithstanding its length, contains but 
two consonants. Tviahuahu, “ to distribute” or “ scatter 
about,” and puhihih?, words each of eight letters, have but a 
single consonant a-piece. These are sounds so utterly re- 
pugnant to the genius of Malayan pronunciation, that a Malay 
or Javanese could hardly articulate them. 

The grammar of the Polynesian language is nearly as 
widely apart from that of the Malay or Javanese as its pho- 
netic character. The Polynesian has two articles, parts of 
speech unknown to the Malay and Javanese, but bearing 
some analogy to those of our own language. The cases of 
nouns are expressed, not by inflexions, but prepositions, 
which, however, differ wholly from those which serve the 
Same purpose in the Malay and Javanese languages. 

The noun has a plural formed by the inseparable prefix na. 
Gender is designated by adjectives; but these differ not only 
from those of the Malay and Javanese, but from those of 
every other language of the Archipelago that I have exa- 
mined. 

One of the most remarkable differences between the Malay 
and Javanese languages on the one hand, and the Polynesian 
on the other, consists in the latter having a singular, a dual, 
and a plural number to its pronouns of the second and third 
persons. The only languages of the Archipelago that have 
something resembling this peculiarity, are those of the Phi- 
lippines; but here it is the pronoun of the first, and not of 
the second and third persons that have numbers. 

The Polynesian verb differs entirely from the Malay and 
Javanese. The simplest form of it is the neuter or active 
verb, which may be considered the root. This is made causal 
by the prefix waka, and passive by the affix a. The moods 
are formed by particles; and the tenses, of which there are 
six, by the help of prefixes, affixes, or adverbs. A verbal 
noun is formed by adding to the root the inseparable particle 
na, under certain rules of euphony. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 175 


The New Zealand Dictionary contains about 6000 words ; 
but omitting derivatives, about 5500. I have carefully gone 
over it, and can discover in it only 107 words belonging to 
the Malayan languages. Ofthese 24 are Malay, 16 Javanese, 
59 common to these two languages, and 8 belonging to the 
Bugis or Wugiof Celebes. The proportion, then, of Malayan 
words in the Polynesian, to judge by the dialect of New 
Zealand, is less than 20 in 1000. 

There are two words in the New Zealand which may pos- 
sibly be Sanscrit. <Apiti, “ to join,” may be the word apit of 
the Malay and Javanese, taken from the Sanscrit, and mean- 
ing “ close, pressed together ;’ and ¢apu, the well-known 
tabu, may be the ¢apa, or religious penance of the Hindoos, 
found in almost every language of the Indian Archipelago. 
The addition of the vowel, in the case of apit, has already 
been explained; and of the permutation of the final a into 
other vowels, we have several examples, as kapu, “ an axe,’’ 
for kapak; tanu, “to bury,” for tanam; ono, “ six,” for 
anam ; and rami, “ to squeeze,” for ramdas. 

From the wide discrepancy which exists between the pho- 
netic system of the Polynesian and Malayan languages, the 
words of the latter introduced into the former, are of course, 
greatly corrupted in form. The Malay and Javanese word 
apt, “ fire,” becomes, for example, ahi; Buah, “fruit,” be- 
comes hua; minum, “to drink,” inu ; salah, “a crime,” hara; 
papan, “a boar,” papa; tahun, “a year,” tau; and daun, “a 
loaf,” rau. 

Corruptions in sense are also frequent. Mata, “the eye,” 
in Malay and Javanese, means “the face” in the New Zea- 
land. In the Marquesas, however, this word has the correct 
meaning of “‘ the eye,” as well as the improper one of “the 
face.” Although this word, however, in its literal sense is 
misapplied, it is remarkable that, in some of its figurative 
meanings, it is correctly used, as for the “mesh of a net,” 
“the point” or “blade” of a weapon, and “a spring” or 
“fountain.” Batu or watu is a stone in Malay and Javanese, 
but in the New Zealand it means “hail” and the “ pupil of 
the eye,” figurative senses of it in the two first languages. 
fiahi, in Javanese, means “ the face,” but its literal meaning 


176 Mr Crawfurd on the 


in the New Zealand is « donchead, ” and its figurative “a 
promontory.” 

The Malayan words which have found their way into the 
Polynesian, are far too few and unimportant to form an es- 
sential portion of the language, the grammatical structure of 
which is complete without reference to them. In point of 
number, in fact, they do not exceed that of the English in- 
troduced, within the last thirty years by the English and 
American missionaries, into the dialects of the Marquesas 
and Sandwich Islands.* These last, too, it may be added, 
have undergone the same inevitable mutilations. Thus, to 
give a few examples, a book has become puke ; paper, pope ; 
school, kula; bread, palena; powder, paora; a shoe, hin; 
the cow, pifa (beef); the sheep, ipa; riches, mamona (mam- 
mon); and a chureh (ecclesia), helipulue. 

Although the dialects of New Zealand, Tahiti, the Mar- 
quesas, Friendly, and Sandwich Islands, are admitted by com- 
petent judges to be the same language essentially, there still 
exist between them some material discrepancies, both as to 
sound and words. 

Thus, in the Tahiti, there are nine consonants, instead of 
eight, as in the New Zealand. It has 6, d, f, and v, which 
the last wants; while it wants /, x, and w, which the New 
Zealand has. The Marquesa has but seven consonants, viz. 
k, m,n, p, t, and v; and the Sandwich Island is the poorest 
of all, for it has but six, viz. &, J, m,n, p, and v. 

The proportion of Malayan words in the Marquesa and 
Sandwich Island dialects is smaller than in the New Zealand. 
Most of those words are the same, although often much 
altered in form; but I find at least twenty words of Malayan 
in the New Zealand not existing in the other two dialects. 
The pronunciation is also most correctly given in the New 
Zealand, and least so in the Sandwich Island. 

The language of the Feejee islanders was, for some time, 
considered to be different from the great Polynesian, but is 
now well known to be only a dialect of it. I have seen no 
vocabulary of it of sufficient length to enable me to form any 


* Vocabulaire Océanien-Frangais et Frangais-Océanien par L’Abbe Boni- 
face Mosblech. Paris, 1833.” This work appears to be drawn from good ma- 
terials, and is exceedingly well executed. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 177 


judgement of it. Its alphabet, however, has been correctly 
given, and this consists of the usual five vowels, and not of 
six or nine consonants like the Polynesian, but of fifteen, viz., 
b, d, f, 9, j,k, l, m, n, 2, p, 7, 8, t, and v, which, for variety of 
intonation, puts it on an equality with the Wugi of Celebes, 
although it leaves it, by four letters, short of the Malay and 

‘Javanese.* The Feejee language contains Malayan words, 
like the other languages of Polynesia; but in what propor- 
tion I am not aware. 

Our materials for forming a judgment of the languages of 
the Negro races are, as might be expected, from the rude- 
ness or the ferocity, or remoteness of these tribes, extremely 
imperfect. One of the longest list of words of any of their lan- 
guages which I have seen, is one furnished to myself, in 1811, 
by the then minister of the Raja of Queda. It is of the lan- 
guage Samang of the Jarai, one of the highest of the moun- 
tains of the Malay Peninsula. It consists of 176 words, to 
which I add twenty-one of the language of the same people, 
from the work of Mr Marsden.t} 

The phonetic system of the language of the Samang is not 
very remote from that of the Malay and Javanese; but it 
seems to abound more in aspirates, gutturals, and mono- 
syllables. Syllables and words may end with vowels or con- 
sonants, but do so most frequently with the latter. 

In the 191 words to which I have alluded, I find that 156 
are native, that fifteen are Malay, two Javanese; that 
twenty-three are common to these two languages, and that 
one word only is Sansecrit. The proportion of Malay and 
Javanese words, therefore, is nearly eighteen in 1000. 

As in the case of the languages of the brown-complexioned 
races, the existence of the Malay and Javanese words may 
be considered as in a great measure fortuitous ; and neither 
in character or number can they be considered as forming 
any necessary part of the Samang language. 


* Introduction toa Grammar of the Tahitian Dialect of the Polynesian Lan- 
guage. Tahiti, 1833. An Australian Grammar, &c. &c., by L. Li. Threlkeld. 
Sydney, 1834. Narrative of the United States’ Exploring Expedition, 1847. 

+t “On the Polynesian and Nast Insular Languages.” Miscellaneous Works. 
1834, 


VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVIJ.—JAN. 1848. M 


178 Mr Crawfurd on the 


Ihave compared, with this specimen of the language of 
the Samang, the few words given by Colonel Colebroche, in 
the Asiatic Researches, of the language of the Andaman 
Islands, and the result is that no two words are alike, and 
that the latter contains no word of Malayan origin. 

De Dentrecasteaux* has given a list of 103 words of the 
Negro language of Wageou, lying off the north-west end of 
New Guinea, as already alluded to. To judge by the appear- 
ance of this list, it seems to embrace all the sounds found in 
the Malay and Javanese, but it contains, besides, two let- 
ters, f and z, which are unknown to these. The 103 words 
contain eighteen which are also found in Malay and Javanese. 
Of these ten are numerals, greatly corrupted ; two are syno- 
nymes, occurring with native terms; one is Télagu, and one 
Portuguese, both, no doubt, derived from the Malay. 

On comparing the native portion of the language of Wa- 
geou with that of the Samang, and the few words of the An- 
daman, no resemblance can be found between them. 

De Dontrecasteaux gives another list of the language of a 
Negro people who visited the French ships while they lay at 
Boni harbour in Wageou, and whom he describes as having 
flat noses, very thick lips, and short woolly hair. Every 
word of this language, which he supposes to be of New 
Guinea, differs from that of Wageou; nor does a single word 
of Malay or Javanese occur in it. 

M. Duperry has given the ten digits of three Negro lan- 
guages, two of New Guinea, and one that of New Ireland. 
In the first in order of those of New Guinea, the numbers 5, 
6, and 10, are Malayan, greatly corrupted. The second, said 
to be that of the inhabitants of the interior, does not contain 
even one word that is Malayan. But in the language of New 
Treland we find the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10, all Ma- 
layan. 

Forster} has thirty-three words of the language of Malicolo, 
one of the New Hebrides, the population of which group 
appears to be Negro. Cook observes, that the people of Ma- 


* Voyage autour du Monde. Paris, 1808. 
+ Forster’s Observations on Cook’s Voyage. 1776. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 179 


licolo “ seemed to be quite a different nation from any we 
had yet met with, and speak a different language. Of about 
eighty words collected by Mr Forster, hardly one bears any 
affinity to the language spoken at any of the islands I had 
ever been at. I observed that they would pronounce most 
of our words with great ease. They express their admira- 
tion by hissing like a goose.”’* 

The words given by Forster accord with this description 
of its phonetic character. They imply 12 consonants, instead 
of the meagre numbers of the Polynesian dialects. These 
are 6, d, g, k, 1, m, n, n, 7, s, t, and y; and they are com- 
bined in a manner not only unknown to the Polynesian, but 
to the Malay and Javanese, as dd, és, and rg. 

Among the thirty-three words, there are three which are 
corrupted Malayan : the words “eye,” “ear,” and the verb 
“to die,” which, however, instead of mati, is mats. 

Another Negro language is that of Tanna, also one of the 
New Hebrides. Forster gives forty-one words of it. Cook 
observes of it: “It is different from any we had before met 
_ with, and bears no affinity to that of Malicolo; so that it would 
seem the people of this island are a distinct nation.” t 

To judge by the list of words, the Tanna has thirteen con- 
sonants, several of which differ from those of the Malicolo. 
They are 6, f, g, k, 1, m, n,n, p, 7, 8, ¢t, and v. The words 
abound more in vowels than the Malicolo, and the harsh 
combinations of them existing in the latter are absent. 

There are but two words in the Tanna which are the same 
as in the Malicolo, those for the verb “ to drink,” and for 
“a house.’ There are six Malayan words, viz. that for “ a 
eocoa-nut,” for “ land or country,” for “ the sea,” for “ fish,” 
and for ‘‘a chisel,” which last is erroneously translated by 
Forster, “hatchet.” I can find in it only one word of the 
Polynesian, that for “ chief,” or “ priest.” 

Of the language of New Caledonia, Forster has given thirty- 
eight words. This seems to have twelve consonants, differing 
in some respects both from those of Tanna and Malicolo. They 
are b, 9, k,l, m,n,n, %, p,7, t,and mw. Cook considers this lan- 


* Cook’s Second Voyage. ¢ Ibid. 


180 Mr Crawfurd on the 


guage as a mixture between that of Tanna and the Polyne- 
sian. I donot find one word in itin common with the Tanna, 
except such as both have borrowed from other languages. 
Those common to it with the Polynesian are the verb “ to 
eat,’ the word for “ moon,’ and the words for “ chief,’ or 
“ priest,” which last it has in common with the Tanna. 

The Malay words contained in the New Caledonia are five 
in number,—that for “ a cocoa-nut,” for “the ear,” for “ fish,” 
for “ water,” and for “a yam,’—all in a corrupt form, as 
nu for fur, a cocoa-nut ; galina for talina, the ear; and wfi or 
ubi, a yam. 

Not one of the three Negro languages just mentioned con- 
tains a word that is common to the Negro languages be- 
fore enumerated, except such as all have derived from a third 
source, the Malayan. 

To this meagre list of the Negrito languages, I have to add 
the more copious ones furnished by Mr Jukes, of the lan- 
guages of the Torres Straits islanders. The vocabularies 
which he furnishes are six in number, and amount to from 37 
words up to 545. The vowel sounds appear to be a, 4G, e, #, 
o, u, and the diphthongs aé and aw, which agrees exactly with 
those of the Malay and Javanese. The consonants seem to 
be 8, @, d, g, k, l, m, n, p, 7, 8, t, v, w, and z, together with a 
sound represented by Mr Jukes as dh, dz, and 7. If there be 
such sounds, it is clear that there are really three distinct 
consonants, and that if these people had invented an alpha- 
bet, each would have its distinct character. If this be the 
case, there are 18 consonants, besides the aspirate, which 
these languages have. 

In all these languages, I find but one word which is Malay, 
and even this is confined to a single language, that of Mas- 
seid or York Island. This is mareck, which the natives ap- 
plied to the domestic fowl which they saw in the hen-coops 
of the Fly, for they have none of their own. The word is, 
no doubt, a corruption of the wide-spread Malayan manuk, 
and probably borrowed from New Guinea, which the natives 
of the islands of Torres Straits appear sometimes to visit. 
There are two other words which are very doubtful. In two 
of the languages, the cocoa-nut is called doonarri, which may 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 181 


be a corruption of the Malay words buah nur, or the fruit of 
the cocoa-nut; and in a third the same object is called woo, 
which may be a corruption of the Malay dwah, or the Javan- 
ese woh, “fruit” or “ the fruit.” 

Comparing the languages of the islands in Torres Straits 
with those of Malicolo, Tanna, and New Caledonia, there 
are certainly no two words in common between them. Even 
the numerals are wholly different ; and while the Polynesian 
negroes count as far as 10, Torres Straits islanders can pro- 
ceed no further than 6, and even this only by combining one 
and two. 

From the details which have now been given, it will be 
seen that Malay and Javanese words, as I stated before, 
have found their way into the languages of the Archipelago 
and Pacific, or other neighbourhood, in proportion to facility 
or difficulty of communication with the parent countries of 
these two languages, Sumatra and Java. The facilities and 
difficulties have consisted of proximity or distance, geogra- 
phical and navigable; of similarity or dissimilarity of race, of 
similarity or dissimilarity of lingual idiom, and attraction or 
repulsion from disparity in the condition of civilization. 

The influx of Malay and Javanese words will be found 
large in the proportion of the facilities; and small as they 
diminish, until, by an accumulation of difficulties, they cease 
altogether. 

Malay and Javanese words have not been traced to the 
languages of the continents of Africa and America. Mada- 
gascar seems to intercept them from the first ; and the want 
of stepping-stones or stages between Easter Island and the 
west coast of America, with adverse winds and currents, from 
the last. 

Wherever they have been received, the Malays and Ja- 
vanese will be found in a higher state of civilization than the 
nations into whose languages theirs have been adopted. 
Wherever, on the contrary, the nations with whom they have 
held intercourse have been in a higher state of civilization 
than themselves, their languages have been rejected, and 
the languages of those nations even adopted into their own. 


182 Mr Crawfurd on the 


The Hindoos, in a higher state of civilization than the 
Malays and Javanese, have wholly rejected their languages ; 
but, on the contrary, in the course of an intercourse of many 
ages, have borrowed largely,—of which, if this were the pro- 
per time, I would, through the friendship of a learned and 
ingenious orientalist, who is an ornament of this University, 
furnish larger and more satisfactory evidence than has ever 
been adduced before. 

The same cause has excluded the Malay and Javanese 
from the languages}of Arabia and Persia, notwithstanding 
an intercourse of at least five centuries; while those lan- 
guages have been to a considerable extent largely adopted 
both by the Malays and Javanese. 

Superior civilization, and probably not less, the unconge- 
nial monosyllablic character of their languages, has excluded 
the Malayan languages from the regions east of Hindustan. 
The Siamese, although in immediate juxtaposition with the 
Malay, has neither given the latter words, nor, with the ex- 
ception of about half a dozen, received any thing from it. 

This remark is still more applicable to the Chinese lan- 
guages, which have not only borrowed nothing from the 
Malayan languages, but conferred little or nothing on them, 
notwithstanding the interccurse and settlement of centuries. 

It is a striking fact, that not a word of any Malayan lan- 
guage is to be found in any of the many languages of Aus- 
tralia. I should have expected them, for example, in the 
language of Raffle’s Bay, which is close to the stations fre- 
quented, probably for many ages, by the Tripang fishers of 
Macassar; but there is not a word to be found init. This 
is not to be accounted for by difference of race or differ- 
ence of idiom, for the languages of the Negro races of the 
Archipelago contain Malayan words; and so does that of the 
far more distant Easter Island, of which, in so far as pronun- 
ciation is concerned, the genius is more remote from the 
Malayan than is that of the Australian. 

The absence from the Australian languages of all trace of 
the Malayan, can, I think, only be accounted for by the very 
low social condition of the Australian race, which seems, as 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 1838 


if it were, to have repelled all knowledge derived from a su- 
perior one. 

In order to shew the proportion in which Malayan words 
are found in the various languages which have received 
them, I give a few examples. In the Madura, one of the 
two languages of the island of that name, in 1000 words, it 
is 581; in Sunda, one of the two languages of Java, it is 
528 ; in Lampung, one of the six languages of Sumatra, it 
is 516; in the Wugi, one of the many languages of Celebes, 
it drops down to 233; in the Tagala of the Philippines, it is 
but 83; in the New Zealand, it is but 20; and in the Mala- 
gasi, but 17. 

A few instances occur of the languages of tribes so situated 
that we might fairly expect them to contain a considerable 
portion of Malay and Javanese, but which really contain very 
little. The most remarkable example of this is the Tambora 
of Sumbawa. This island is only the third from Java, and 
nearly in the centre of the Archipelago, while the people 
who speak the language are of the brown-complexioned lank- 
haired race, like those who speak two other languages of the 
same island, both containing a large influx of Malay and Ja- 
vanese, yet, out of forty-eight words, the Tambora contains 
but two words, bulu, “a hair,’ and makan, “ to eat.”* 

Another example, although not so striking a one, is af- 
forded by the language of the Pelew or Pilu Islands, inha- 
bited by a brown-complexioned and lank-haired race, and not 
more than eight degrees east of the Philippine group. In 
658 words of it, I can discover only three which are Malayan. 
Yet a considerable number of Malayan words are found in 
the language of the Bashee Islands, and in that of the native 
inhabitants of Formosa; and a still larger in the Sandwich 
Island dialect of the Polynesian, ten times as far from the 
Philippine as the Pelew group.t 


* It was in the country of the people of Tambora that took place the greatest 
volcanic eruption on record, that of 1814; and the nation is said to have been 
nearly destroyed by it. 

tT Acc6unt of the Pelew Islands from the Journals of Captain Henry Wilson, 
by George Keate, Esq. London, 1788, 


184 Mr Crawfurd on the 


An argument in favour of one original tongue has been 
attempted to be deduced from the supposition that the Ma- 
layan words, so widely dispersed, express, in most cases, the 
simplest and earliest ideas of mankind. My friend, the late 
Mr Marsden, with his usual good faith, has given a list of 
34 such words in 72 languages, on which, with other words 
of the same imagined class, I shall offer a few observations. * 

Among the words imagined to express a simple and pri- 
mitive class of ideas, the numerals have been much insisted 
on. It is obvious enough, however, that the numerals, espe- 
cially a decimal series of them, extending like the Malayan, 
to 1000, are far from being words expressing such a class of 
ideas. On the contrary, they must be the invention of a com- 
paratively advanced period of civilization. Thus, among the 
many languages of Australia, the inhabitants of which are 
far below the humblest of those of the Indian and Paeific 
islands, there is not one that has numerals going beyond 
“ four,” and even the last number is attained only by doubling 
the number two. 

But there are some languages of the Archipelago and Pa- 
cific Islands, and this of the brown-complexioned race, which 
have preserved their own native numerals entire. This is 
the case with the language of Tambora in Sumbawa, with 
the Ternati, and the Tidovi, two of the languages of the Mo- 
luceas, and with the language of the Pelew Islands. 

In some languages, again, the native numerals have been 
preserved as far as “ three” or “ four,’ and the series com- 
pleted with the Malayan, as in the Gorongtalu of Celebes, 
and the Mangarai of Flores. 

The same is the case in the languages of the Negroes as in 
those of the brown-complexioned men. Some have adopted 
and some rejected the Malayan system. The negroes of 
Wageou, and of the coast of New Guinea, with the natives of 
New Ireland within the Pacific, have, to a greater or less 
extent, adopted the Malayan numerals, while the Samang of 
the Malay Peninsula, the Alfours of the interior of New 


s 
* “On the Polynesian or East Insular Languages.” Miscellancous Works. 
1834. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 185 


Guinea, the people of Malicolo, of Tanna, and of New Cale- 
donia, have each their own native system, unaffected by the 
Malayan. 

Some languages have numerals as far as “ five,” and clum- 
sily continue the series of the digits from their native re- 
sources, by adding “ one,” “ two,” &c., to the last named 
number, so that six is expressed by “ five” and “ one,” and 
* seven’”’ by “ five” and “two.” This is the case with the 
New Caledonia. 

Others seem to have relics of a binal scale, and combine it 
with the Malayan decimal one, as in the Endé of Flores. 
In this, for “ one,” “ two,” “ three,” and “ five,” the Malayan 
terms have been adopted, but instead of being continued be- 
yond this, “ six” and “ seven” are expressed by the Ma- 
layan words “ five and one” and “five and two.” Four is ex- 
pressed by a native word, and the Malay numeral “ two” pre- 
fixed to it expresses “ eight,” that is, two fours. 

The native Malayan system extends only to 1000, and even 
to this extent it is not carried by all the tribes that have 
adopted it. It is doubtful whether the terms for fen and for 
hundred, in the different dialects of the Polynesian, and 
which differ among themselves, are Malayan; the word for 
thousand, mano, certainly is not. In the Lampung of Suma- 
tra, a written language, the term for this last number is the 
same which means an “ iron nail or spike.” 

For the numbers above 1000, the Malayan system has bor- 
rowed from the Sanscrit ; and the Javanese, but it alone, goes 
as far with the higher numerals as ‘ten billions.” There 
are two remarkable misapplications of the Sanscrit numbers : 
the Laksa and Kati, the well-known Jac and krove which 
ought to express a hundred thousand and ten millions, express, 
through all the cultivated languages of the Archipelago, 
“ten thousand” and “ a hundred thousand” only. 

From the explanation now given, I think it must be suffi- 
ciently obvious that the Malayan numerals afford no evidence 
whatever of the existence of one great original language. 
They seem simply, and as opportunity offered, to have been 
adopted as a matter of convenience—in some cases in their 
entireness, but for the most part only partially. 


186 Mr Crawfurd on the 


Among the Malayan words most generally diffused, and 

considered to be of the class representing the most simple 
and primitive ideas, are the terms for “ man,’ “ bird,” 
“ fish,” &c.; but these are obviously general or abstract 
terms, and necessarily could not have been among the first’ 
invented. The Australians, according to Mr Eyre, have no 
such terms.* It may be conjectured, indeed, that the want 
of such terms in the ruder languages both of the Archipelago 
and Pacific, is one cause of the frequent occurrence of such 
words from the Malayan as kayn, “ tree” or “timber ;” buah, 
“ fruit; bunah, “flower ;’ and manuk, “a bird.” 
_ The very first word of Mr Marsden’s list, “ man,” occurs 
in its Malay form of oré% only in two other languages of the 
Archipelago, the Madura and Achin, and these are known to 
have received more Malay than any others; while in the 
many languages of the Pacific it does not occur at all. On 
the other hand, two Sanscrit words having the same meaning 
represent the same idea in no less than ten languages of Mr 
Marsden’s own list. 

The members and other parts of an animal body, natural 
objects, such as water, fire, earth, a stone, sun, moon, stars, 
do really represent the earliest and simplest ideas, but their 
wide dissemination is easily enough accounted for. In fact, 
they are, for the most part, only synonymes along with native 
terms, or, at best, words that have, in the lapse of time, dis- 
placed the latter, as they have themselves been frequently 
displaced by Sanscrit words. 

To give a few examples: in the Malagasi, besides the Ma- 
layan word, there is one native one for ‘“ the sky,” there are 
two for *‘ the tongue,” two for “ a stone,’ four for “ fire,” 
five for “ the eye,” five for “ the head,” and seven for the 
verb “to die.” 

In the Bisaya of the Philippines, there are, besides the 
Malayan words, two native ones for “ a stone,” two for 
‘“ earth,” four for “ shore” or “ beach,” and six for “ air” or 
“ wind.” 

In the dictionaries of these last languages, 1 observe that 


* Discoveries in Central Australia, by John Edward Hyre. London, 1845. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 187 


the Malayan word is generally placed first in order, whence I 
infer that it is probably the most current and acceptable ; and 
this, I have no doubt, it owes to its more agreeable and facile 
pronunciation. Thus, in the Malagasi, it is not difficult to 
understand how vatw, for a stone, should be preferred, even 
by a native, to hodiboamkazo. 

That agreeableness of sound and facility of pronunciation 
have had a considerable share in the spread of Malayan 
words, I think highly probable. Thus, the Malay word laki, 
a man or male human being, is one of yery easy pronuncia- 
tion, and has extended to nearly every language of the Archipe- 
lago, while its correlative, parampuan, woman, a primitive of 
four syllables, and not very euphonious—rare in any of the 
Malayan languages—is found in one other language only, 
that of the Bima of Sumbawa, which abounds in Malay 
words. 

Of Sanscrit words expressing simple ideas, that have 
either superseded, or are more popular than native ones, the 
examples are numerous; as in Malay, kapala, the head; in 
Javanese, sira, for the head ; muka, the face, bahu, the shoul- 
der, and anguta, 2 member, in several languages; dina, a 
day, in Javanese and Bali; hasta, the arm, in several lan- 
guages; dasa, for the numeral fen, and surya, for the sun, 
in Bali. The elephant is unquestionably a native of Suma- 
tra and the Malay Peninsula, but the popular name for it in 
at least eight languages of these countries is the Sanscrit 
word gaja. There is, indeed, another, divam, in Malay, but 
it is obsolete, or little known. 

Instead of the elementary words of language being those 
most widely spread, the reverse is the case. Such words 
are the rarest to be found in many languages, and some of 
the most essential have not been disseminated at all, but are 
found to be distinct in each separate language. In fact, the 
class of words most widely diffused, are in a great measure 
extrinsic, and the offspring of a considerable advancement in 
civilization ; such, for example, as the names of cultivated, 
useful, or familiar plants; those of domesticated, useful, or 
familiar animals; terms connected with numeration, fishing, 


188 Mr Crawfurd on the 


navigation, agriculture, the mechanical arts, the calendar, 
war, government, and even literature. 

If, then, one language only had ever existed, we are re- 
duced to the necessity of supposing that the people who spoke 
it were one race, and that they were in a social state of 
considerable advancement before they were dispersed, and 
their language broken down into the chaos of tongues at pre- 
sent existing, an hypothesis without the shadow of a proof. 

Had such a language ever existed, we would not have 
failed to have had the same kind of evidence of it, which the 
modern languages of the south of Europe afford of the ex- 
istence of Latin; that is, a virtual agreement in the most 
familiar nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, prepositions, and 
particles ; but of this there is nothing whatever in the lan- 
cuages of the Archipelago. 

There are but two languages in the Indian and Pacific 
Islands that have been widely spread, the Malay in the first, 
and the Polynesian in the last ; and the evidence of a common 
origin in these, respectively, is as satisfactory in their dia- 
lects, as that yielded by the French, Spanish, and Italian, of 
their common origin. 

It remains to consider how the principal languages of Su- 
matra and Java, the Malay and Javanese, came to be so 
widely disseminated, as the theory which I adopt supposes 
them to have been, within the limited bounds of the Archi- 
pelago, to which I first confine my examination. I have no 
doubt the dissemination was effected, in the case of the lan- 
guages of neighbouring tribes, by conquest, and in the more 
remote, by piratical expeditions, terminating in conquest and 
colonization ; by commerce, and, perhaps, in some small de- 
gree, by religious agency. 

The nearest parallels to this, with which the European 
reader is familiar, will be found in the piratical and commer- 
cial expeditions, conquests, and colonizations of the ancient 
Greeks, or the piratical expeditions, conquests, and settle- 
ments, of the Scandinavian nations, known as Danes or 
Normans. 

Even without the knowledge of the compass, the mon- 
soons afford, to the nations of the Indian Archipelago, ex- 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 189 


traordinary facilities for carrying on such expeditions and 
such commerce, far exceeding even those of the Mediter- 
ranean; and the voyages of the Malays and Javanese, con- 
sequently, far surpass in length, if not in difficulty, those 
of the early Greeks and Pheenicians. 

When European nations first visited the Indian Archipe- 
lago, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, they found the 
Malays and Javanese conducting the first stage of that com- 
merce in the clove and nutmeg, by which these valued articles 
found their way first into the markets of Continental India, 
and eventually into those of Arabia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome 
—that is, making trading voyages which extended from the 
western to the eastern bounds of the Archipelago. The 
spices in question were found in the Roman markets in the 
second century of our era; and the great probability, there- 
fore, is, that the Javanese and Malay trade alluded to had, 
when Europeans first observed it, been going on for at least 
fourteen centuries. 

The conquests and settlements of the Malays, the chief 
agents, have extended from the centre of Sumatra, the pa- 
rent country of this people, over nearly all the coasts of that 
island itself, over the whole Malay Peninsula, and over near- 
ly the whole coast of Borneo; while small settlements of 
them may be found as far as Timur, in one direction, and 
Lucon, the chief of the Philippines, in another. 

The Malay language has, moreover, been, immemorially, 
the common medium of communication throughout all the 
islands. Magellan and his companions, in 1521, carried on 
an easy intercourse with the inhabitants of some of the small 
and remote islands of the Philippine group by means of a 
Malay slave of the Admiral; for although the native lan- 
guages were different, the chiefs and persons engaged in 
commerce were all found to be acquainted with the Malay. 

When again they arrived at Tidor, one of the Spice Islands, 
they found the Malay equally current, and the vocabulary in 
Pigafettas’ Narrative, collected there, and consisting of 352 
words, is, with the exception of 20 local terms, good and cur- 
rent Malay, such as is spoken at the present day. Yet Tidor 
and the other Moluccas have, to the present time, preserved 


190 Mr Crawfurd on the - 


their own peculiar languages wholly different from the Ma- 
lay.* 

The evidence for the agency of the Javanese, as its influ- 
ence was less, is less palpable, but still sufficient. The Ja- 
vanese had settled in various ‘parts of Sumatra; and at Pa- 
lembang in that island, their language still subsists entire, 
while through monuments, inscriptions, and names of places, 
it is to be traced in other parts of that island. 

Similar evidence, although less complete, exists of their 
settlements in Borneo ; and there is historical record of those 
made by them in the Moluccas, as well as of their predatory 
expeditions and commerce to the Malay Peninsula. The 
Javanese language, however, less euphonious than the Malay, 
more prolix and more difficult, was never employed as the 
common medium of communication ; and it is not improba- 
ble that, even in their own especial settlements, it gave way 
to the Malay. 

In its immediate neghbourhood, the influence of the Ja- 
vanese has naturally been greater on the surrounding lan- 
guages than that of the Malay. Thus, in the Sumanap, 
one of the two languages of Madura, there are, in 1000 words, 
170 exclusively Javanese, and only 103 exclusively Malay. 
In the Bali, there are 127 Javanese, and 69 Malay: and in 
the Sunda of Java, 156 of Javanese, and only 44 of Malay. 

As soon as we cross the narrow strait that divides Suma- 
tra from Java, the proportions are reversed, although we 
find still a large amount of Javanese words. In 1000 words 
of Lampung we have 138 exclusively Malay, and 70 exclu- 
sively Javanese. 

I should remark that the numerals, when they differ in 
Malay and Javanese, are, even in the remote languages, al- 
most always those peculiar to the Javanese, and not to the 
Malay. These numerals are, 3, 7, 8, and 9; and the Mala- 
gasi, the Philippine tongues, and the Polynesian, with many 
intermediate languages, afford examples of this. 

The different means of propagation now specified will I 
think, be sufficient to account for the facts, that such a lan- 


* Prima Viaggio interno al globo terraqueo. Milano, 1800. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 191 


guage, for example, as that of the Lampungs, a people lying 
between and in the neighbourhood of the Malays and Java- 
nese, should consist of nearly one half of the languages of 
these two nations; that the language of the remoter, Bugis 
of Celebes, should consist of only one-fourth of them, and that 
in the still more remote Tagala and Bisaya of the Philip- 
pines, the porportion should drop down to one-thirtieth part. 

I haye next to consider how the Malayan words existing 
in the language of Madagascar may have found their way 
into it. The inhabitants of Madagascar are Negroes, and in 
race differ wholly from the Malays and Javanese. The whole 
number of Malayan words in the Malagasi does not exceed 
one fifty-seventh part of the language, and they are, as I have 
shewn, not essential to it. There is, in short, nothing in 
common between the two races, and nothing in common be- 
tween the character of their languages. 

The Indian islanders are ignorant of the existence of Ma- 
dagascar, and the people of Madagascar equally so of the 
existence of the Indian Islands. A navigation of 3000 miles 
of open sea lies between them, and a strong trade-wind pre- 
vails in the greater part of it. A voyage from the Indian 
Islands to Madagascar is possible, even in the rude state of 
Malayan navigation ; but return would be wholly impossible. 
Commerce, conquests, or colonization are, consequently, 
utterly out of the question as means of conveying any portion 
of the Malayan language to Madagascar. 

There remains, then, but one way in which this could have 
taken place—the fortuitous arrival on the shores of Mada- 
gascar of tempest-driven Malayan praus. The south-east 
monsoon, which is but a continuation of the south-east trade- 
wind, prevails from the 10° of south lat. to the equator, its 
greatest force being felt in the Java Sea, and its influence 
embracing the western half of the Island of Sumatra.* This 
wind blows from April to October; and an easterly gale dur- 
ing this period might drive a vessel off the shores of Sumatra 
or Java, so as to make it impossible to regain them. In 
such a situation she would have no resource but putting before 


* See the Directory of my greatly-respected friend, the late Capt. Horsburgh, 


192 Mr Crawfurd on the 


the wind, and making for the first land that chance might 
direct her to; and that first land would be Madagascar. 
With a fair wind and a stiff breeze, which she would be sure 
of, she might reach that island without difficulty in a month. 

Two or three such adventures are known to have taken 
place since our own occupation of the Mauritius, and, conse- 
quently, more frequent intercourse with Madagascar. Earl 
Grey, at my request, has most obligingly written to the 
Mauritius for the particulars of these strange adventures ; 
and I am only sorry that the replies have not arrived in time 
to lay the information before the Association. 

The accident of praus being tempest-driven from the 
shores of the Malay Islands, is probably one of not unfre- 
quent occurrence, although few of them may reach Mada- 
gascar. Shortly after the restoration of Java, in 1816, the 
late Captain Robinson, of the Indian Navy, picked up a small 
fishing-boat, having on board two Malay men and a woman, 
800 miles from the nearest Malay shore; and being a gentle- 
man well acquainted with the Malays and their language, he 
could have made no mistake about nationality. 

The occasional arrival in Madagascar of a shipwrecked 
prau, might not, indeed, be sufficient to account for even the 
small portion of Malayan found in the Malagasi; but it is 
offering no violence to the manners or history of the Malay 
people, to imagine the probability of a piratical fleet, or a 
fleet carrying one of those migrations, of which there are ex- 
amples, on record, being tempest-driven, like a single prau. 
Such a fleet, well-equipped, well-stocked, and well-manned, 
would not only be fitter for the long and perilous voyage, 
but reach Madagascar in a better condition than a fishing or 
trading boat. It may seem, then, not an improbable suppo- 
sition, that it was through one or more fortuitous adventures 
of this description, that the language of Madagascar received 
its influx of Malayan. 

Respecting the probable era of such adventures, we have 
just one faint ray of light. With the Malayan, there came 
in a few words of Sanscrit, such as are popular in the Malay 
and Javanese. From this it may be fair to infer, that the 
chance migrations I have supposed, whether they had before 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 198 


taken place earlier or not, may have taken place, at all events, 
as early as the epoch of the connection of the Hindoos with 
the Indian Archipelago,—a connection, the commencement 
of which cannot, I think, be placed later than the birth of 
Christ. 

I have, finally, to attempt an explanation of the manner 
in which Malayan words may have found their way into the 
languages of the Pacific. The proportion of Malayan words 
in the Polynesian, judging by the New Zealand dialect, is no 
more than 20 in 1000, while in that of the Sandwich Islands 
it does not exceed 17. Except in these few words, there is 
nothing in common between those who speak the Malayan 
language and those who speak the Polynesian. Their races 
are different, and their languages distinct. 

Conquest and settlement by the Malays, Javanese, or other 
tribes of the Archipelago, had probably, therefore, nothing 
to do with the dissemination of the Malayan in the languages 
of the Pacitic. I have no doubt, then, that, as in the case of 
the language of Madagascar, it was brought about by the 
work of tempest-driven praus or fleets, and gradually, and 
step by step, from island to island, transmitted, in the course 
of ages, to the Sandwich Islands north of the equator, to 
New Zealand south of it, and as faras Easter Island. 

The trade-winds are the seeming obstacle to this commu- 
nication ; but when the question is duly examined, they do 
not prove to be so. The south-west monsoon, to the north 
of the equator, extends to the Marianne Islands, and the 
145° of east longitude ; and the north-west monsoon to the 
south of the equator, as far east as New Guinea; while west- 
erly winds are frequently experienced in the Pacific far to 
the west of this island. This is the statement of the accu- 
vate Captain Horsburgh.* 

La Perouse goes farther, and observes, that westerly winds 
are, at least, as frequent as east in the Pacific in a zone of 
7° on each side of the equator, and that the winds are so va- 
riable, that it is little more difficult to make a voyage to the 


* Vorsburgh’s Bast India Directory. 
VOL. XLIV. NO. UXXXVII.—JAN. 1848. N 


194 Mr Crawfurd on the 


eastward than to the westward.* The testimony of Cap- 
tain Fitzroy is to the same effect.} 

But it is further ascertained, that the monsoon “ (the west- 
ern) is occasionally experienced through all the islands of 
Eastern Polynesia,’{ Captain Beechy, in his instructive 
narrative, informs us that he picked up at sea a tempest- 
driven canoe, belonging to Chain Island, three hundred miles 
east of Tahiti, and subject to it. She had been on a voyage 
to the latter, and by two successive gales from the westward, 
was driven 600 miles out of her course, to Barrow Island, 
in about the 20th degree of south latitude. When rescued, 
she had on board twenty-eight men, fifteen women, and ten 
children ; in fact, the nucleus of a little colony. 

Captain Wilson found, when wrecked on the Pelew Is- 
lands, in the 8° of north latitude, and the 135° of east longi- 
tude, three Malay mariners ; and, having among his own crew 
a Malay interpreter, he was able to communicate with the 
natives through these Malays, who had acquired the Pelew 
language. The account which they gave of themselves was, 
that in a voyage from Batavia to Ternate, one of the Mo- 
luceas, touching at Menado in Celebes, they were driven by 
a storm on the Pelew Islands. One of them, however, who 
accompanied Captain Wilson to England, acknowledged that 
he and his companions were part of the crew of one of three 
piratical praus. 

Casual wrecks like this might easily have carried the Ma- 
layan language to the most westerly of the islands of the 
Pacific, within the tropics ; while adventurers, like that of the 
Chain Island canoe, would, in the lapse of ages, convey it, 
step by step, to Easter Island and the Sandwich group. 

_ This explanation would sufficiently account for the disse- 

mination of the Malayan language over the tropical islands 
of the Pacific ; but, it must be admitted that there are greater 
difficulties in respect to the large islands of New Zealand, 


* Tua Perouse, vol. ii. 

+ Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, by Cap- 
tain Fitzroy, R.N. 

{ Voyage to the Pacific in 1825, &. &c., by Captain Beechy, R.N. London, 
1831. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and kaces. 195 


the nearest portion of which is 35° from the equator, and, 
consequently, within the region of variable winds and tem- 
pests. 

The same difficulty, however, it should be observed, exists 
in attempting to account for the fact of the New Zealand 
islands being peopled, throughout, by the Polynesian race, 
speaking the Polynesian language. By some means or other, 
practicable to a rude people, an intercourse, we may be quite 
sure, took place between these islands and the intertropical 
ones inhabited by the same race of men, speaking the same 
language—since men are no more born with language than 
with mathematies—are born, in a word, only with a capacity 
to acquire both, equally branches of acquired knowledge. 
For New Zealand, then, notwithstanding the difficulties of 
the voyage, whether from the Malay Archipelago, or between 
it and the intertropical islands of the Pacific, tempest-driven 
praus, or fleets of praus, are our only resource for a rational 
explanation. 

A brief examination of the cultivated plants and domesti- 
cated animals of the Polynesian Islands, on their first discovery 
by Europeans, may, perhaps, be thought to throw some light 
on the mode in which their languages received an infusion 
of Malayan. 

The following were the plants,—the cocoa-nut, the bread- 
fruit, the yam, the batata, the taro, the sugar-cane, the 
orange, tle banana, the bamboo, and the paper-mulberry. 
Every one of these is a native of the Indian Archipelago; 
but if the Malayan nations brought them, they did not bring 
the names, with two trifling or partial exceptions. The 
cocoa-nut is known by a Malayan name in the Polynesian 
dialect of the Sandwich Islands, but not in the Marquesas, 
It has the same Malayan name also in the Negro languages 
of New Caledonia and Tanna, but not in the Malicolo. Inthe 
New Caledonia alone, I find the Malayan name for a yam 
written wi, for uli. In the Tanna and Malicolo, these are 
different ones. 

Rice, with all the numerous pulses, and esculent vege- 
tables known in the Indian Archipelago, were not found in 
_ the islands of the Pacific; and, with the exception of the 


196 Mr Crawfurd on the 


banana and orange, the numerous fruits of that region were 
wanting. 

The domesticated animals found in the South Sea Islands 
were only the hog, the dog, and the common fowl. In none 
of the languages, either of the brown, or negro races, are 
the names of these animals, Malay, Javanese, or of any 
other language of the Archipelago, except that of the Mari- 
anne Islands, in which is found the Javanese word manuhe, 
“a bird” or “ fowl,” the name for the common poultry in 
the Philippine languages. 

Among the most frequent of the domesticated animals of 
the Malayan Archipelago are the goat, the cat, and the duck ; 
and had an easy communication existed between it and the 
islands of the Pacific, they must, from their hardiness, have 
been introduced ; but they are all three wanting. 

The absence of Malayan names for both plants and ani- 
mals, supposing the plants and animals to have been derived 
from the Indian Archipelago, would be the more remarkable 
from the frequency of the same name, for these objects, in 
the different Malayan languages themselves. Thus, for the 
domestic dog, the Javanese name is found in ten otber lan- 
guages, and the Malay name for the domestic hog in forty 
others. The name for the yam and for the sugar-cane is 
almost as often repeated from one extremity of the Archi- 
pelago to the other as that of the hog. 

From the absence of Malayan names for plants and ani- 
mals, and the absence of hardy plants and animals that might, 
in a transit of ordinary facility, have been introduced from 
the Malayan Archipelago into the islands of the Pacific, I 
must infer that neither were introduced by the means through 
which the Malayan language was communicated to those of 
the Pacific. I conclude, on the same ground, that the voyages 
were fortuitous and precarious, such as I have fancied them. 
Had the plants or seeds of plants, and the animals, been 
even on board the storm-driven praus, it is certain they 
must have been devoured by the famishing crews as food. 

Although all the domesticated animals and cultivated 
plants of the Islands of the South Sea, are common to the 
Malay Islands, and all, I believe, indigenous in the latter, I 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and aces. 197 


think it, on the whole, more probable that they were indige- 
nous also in the former, than that they were introduced from 
any quarter, and consequently that the culture of the one, 
and the domestication of the other, were native arts. 

The hog and dog of the South Sea Islands are very pecu- 
liar varieties. The hog is said to resemble the Chinese 
-breed, having a short body, short legs, a belly hanging almost 
to the ground, and erect ears. The dogs have “ a prodigious 
large head, remarkably little eyes, pricked ears, long hair, 
and a short bushy tail.” This is neither the hog nor dog of 
the Malayan islands in the wild or domesticated condition. 5, 

All the domesticated animals are very unequally distri- 
buted over the South Sea Islands. The hog, the dog, and 
common fowl are all three found only in the Society and 
Sandwich groups. New Zealand has the dog only. The 
Marquesas, the Iriendly Islands, and New Hebrides, want 
the dog. Easter Island and New Caledonia have only the 
common fowl. This last alone is general.* 

This irregularity of distribution is remarkable, and would 
seem to point at the precarious nature of the communication 
through which so many of the islands have been peopled by 
the same nation ; for, had the intercourse been one of ordinary 
facility, it cannot be doubted but that the emigrants would 
have carried along with them their usual domesticated ani- 
mals, in the entireness of their number. 

The animals of the islands of the Pacific, now existing 
only in the domesticated state, may, then, once have existed, 
in some of them, in the wild one, and, as in other countries, 
been exterminated in the progress of population. The hog 
and common fowl in the wild state are certainly found in 
some of the Malayan islands much smaller than Tahiti or 
Owaii, from which, at the same time, the large quadrupeds, 
the ox, the buffalo, the rhinoceros, and the tiger, are ex- 
cluded. 

Still, it must be admitted that this branch of the subject is 
full of difficulties. The Sandwich Islands, to the north of 
the equator, had the hog, the dog, and common fowl, while 


* VWorster’s Observations on Ccok’s Voyage. 


198 Mr Crawfurd on the 


the Marianne group, also to the north of the line, and by 50° 
of longitude nearer to the Archipelago, had neither the hog 
nor dog, and probably not even the common fowl. On the 
other hand, the common fowl, in the wild, but not the domes- 
ticated state, was found in the Pelew Islands, on the same 
side of the equator.* 

The objections to the hypothesis which some have main- 
tained that the hog and dog may have been introduced by 
European shipping, in comparatively modern times, are, that 
there is no record of any such event down to the time of 
Cook—that the varieties of the animals in question are dif- 
ferent from any known European varieties—that they are 
the same throughout—that the names of the animals are 
neither European, nor have reference to a European or other 
foreign origin; but that, on the contrary, they are native, 
and the same throughout, wherever the Polynesian language 
is spoken, New Zealand alone excepted, in so far as con- 
cerns one animal, the dog. 

The Marianne Islands, when discovered, were found des- 
titute of nearly all the domesticated animals. The Span- 
iards introduced the ox, the horse, the ass, deer, goats, the 
dog, the hog, and the cat, some of which have since returned 
to a state of nature. Here we have evidence of foreign, and 
even of European introduction. The cat is called keéo or 
gheto, evidently a corruption of the Castilian gato; and the 
dog is called by a compound epithet, meaning “ foreign 
animal.”’+ There is nothing like such evidence, historical 
or philological, in the languages of the Pacific. 


I shall conclude with a brief recapitulation of the results 
at which I have arrived in this essay. 

The races of men referred to in the inquiry do not consist, 
as commonly supposed, of one brown-complexioned, and one 
negro race, but of several of both. 

The inhabitants of Madagascar are Africans, and wholly 
distinct from all the inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago 
or Pacific. 


* Freycinet, Voyage autour du Monde; Wilson’s Account of the Pelew Islands. 
+ Ibid. 


Malayan and Polynesian Languages and Races. 199 


There are many languages essentially distinct from each 
other, both of the brown-complexioned and negro races, and 
not one only of each of these two, as generally supposed. 

Except in the case of the Malay in the Archipelago, and 
the Polynesian in the Pacific, there are no wide-spread lan- 
guages or dialects. 

As far as our scanty knowledge of the Negro languages 
will enable us to judge, the only clear distinction between 
them and those of the brown-complexioned consists in the 
first containing always more consonants in proportion to 
vowels, and more harsh combinations of consonants than the 
latter. 

It is chiefly the Malay and Javanese, the languages of the 
two most powerful, civilized, and enterprising of the Archi- 
pelago, which is found in other tongues. from Madagascar to 
Easter Island, and from Formosa to New Zealand. 

The evidence for this exists in the words themselves, and 
their being pure and numerous as we are near Sumatra and 
Java, the original countries of the Malay and Javanese 
nations, and corrupt and unfrequent as we recede from 
them, until, the barrier becoming insuperable, they disappear 
altogether. 

The superior civilization of the people of the countries of 
the Asiatic continent has excluded Malayan from their lan- 
guage ; a grovelling condition of society has excluded them 
from those of the tribes of Australia; and insuperable phy- 
sical obstacles from those of America. 

Within the Malayan Archipelago the Malay and Java- 
nese languages have been communicated to others by con- 
quest, settlement, or colonization, and commerce ; while to 
Madagascar, and the islands of the Pacific, they have been 
communicated by the accidents of tempest-driven praus or 
fleets of praus. 

The insular character of the whole region over which a 
Malayan language has been disseminated, and the periodical 
winds prevailing within it, which, on a superficial view, ap- 
pear obstacles, are, in truth, the true causes of the dissemi- 
nation; for, had the region in question been a continent, 
stretching north and south like America, or lain within the 


200 Dr Balfour’s Description of Rare Plants. 


latitudes of variable winds and storms, no such dispersion 
of one language could have taken place. 

Such is the most rational explanation I can render of a 
fact in the history of our race, mysterious without explana- 
tion, and wonderful enough even with it. 


Notice of some Plants which have Flowered recently in the 
Edinburgh Botanic Garden. By J. H. Baurour, M.D., 
Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh. 
Communicated by the Author. 


STENOCARPUS* CUNNINGHAMI, Hook.—Nat. Ord. Protea- 
cex.—Tetrandria Monogynia. 


Generic Coaractrr.—Perianthium irregulare, foliolis distinctis, se- 
cundis. Stamina apicibus cavis foliolorum immersa. Glandula 
hypogyna unica, semi-annularis. Ovarium pedicellatum, multi- 
ovulatum. Stylus deciduus. Stigma obliquum, orbicularo-dila- 
tatum, planuisculum. Folliculus linearis. Semina basi alata.— 
Frutices glaberrimi. Folia alterna integerrima. Umbelle axil- 
lares vel terminales, pedunculate. Flores ochroleuci (v. au- 
rantiaci.) Br. 

Linn. Trans. x., 201. Prod. Fl. Nov. Holland., 341. Supp. 34. 

Sreciric Cuaracter.—Foliis amplis, obovato-lanceolatis, integris, 
sinuatis pinnatifidisve, floribus umbellatis sericeo-aurantiacis.— 
Hook. Bot. Mag. 4263. Agnostus sinuatus, All. Cunning. 

It belongs to the genus Cybele of Knight and Salisbury. Prot, p.i23. 
Species Embothrii. Forst. Gen. 16. 

The plant in the Botanic Garden is a small tree about 20 feet 
high, erect, stem 23 inches in diameter, branching at the upper 
part, and bearing evergreen foliage at the end of the branches. 
Leaves alternate, petiolate ex-stipulate, coriaceous, shining, usually 
sinuate or pianatifid, sometimes undivided, in their general cir- 
cumscription cuneate, glabrous, 12 to 18 inches long, feather- 
veined, and beautifully reticulated, having numerous stomata. 
Inflorescence umbellate. Umbel axillary or terminal, and stipi- 
tate, with from 12 to 15 radii. General expansion of floral clusters 


* grevs narrow, and xxer0s fruit. 


De Balfour's Description of Rare Plants. 201 


centrifugal. In some of the specimens, the stalked umbels pro- 
ceeded singly from the axil of leaves; in others the flowering 
branch ended in a cluster of pedunculated umbels, giving rise to 
the appearance of a compound umbel. This depends on a short- 
ening of the branch, the leaves of which, in place of being alter- 
nate, became opposite, and the flowering stalks thus came off nearly 
at the same point. Jnvolucre, consisting of numerous small tri- 
angular deciduous scales or bracts, one of which is at the base of 
each pair of flowers. Pedwneles covered with brownish or golden 
hairs. The extremity of each of the peduncles is curved down- 
wards abruptly, the apex forming a circular flattened disk, 
Flowers obliquely attached to short pedicels about half an inch 
long, arranged in a circular manner round the extremity of the 
pedunele. Alabastrus of a clavate form, the extremity being 
rounded or knob-like. Sepals four, valvate, at first opening be- 
tween the claws, and cohering by their capitate or clavate apex, 
afterwards opening entirely, and becoming revolute, three of them 
curving downward and one upward, thus giving a subsecund 
aspect, of a pale-orange colour outside, and of a fine orange scar- 
let within, hypogynous, linear-clavate, lower half of nearly uni- 
form breadth, upper becoming narrower, and gradually tapering 
towards the ovato-triangular hollow, spoonlike, obliquely attached 
extremity, which is of a yellowish colour. Sepals and pedicels 
covered with short minute, appressed brownish hairs, some of 
them conical, others clavate. Anthcers four, supported on short 
stalks, which are inserted in the lower part of the concave apices 
of the sepals. Pollen triangular, extine reticulated. Ovary 
covered with silky brown hairs, supported on a long stalk or the- 
caphore, which is equal in length to the style, and has a dark-red 
adherent scale, partially surrounding its base; unilocular, with 
three ovules attached to a parietal placenta. Style one inch long, 
curved nearly at right angles from the apex of the ovary, taper- 
ing, ending in an oblique shield-like apex, bearing a large sub- 
conical stigma, which is covered with pollen when the sepals ex- 
pand. Ovules amphitropal. Fruit has not been perfected in the 
Garden. It is said to be a terete follicle, about the size of the 
little finger, apiculate, woody, chocolate-brown, and containing 
seeds which are winged at the base. 

Ifooker states, that this plant was discovered in 1826, by Allan 
Cunningham, on the banks of the Brisbane River, Moreton Bay, 
but as he did not see the flower, he gave no description of the 
plant. ‘Two rooted plants were sent to Kew, and from them the 
plant has been distributed over the country. The plants in the 
Kew Garden ‘Have attained the height of 16 fect, but have not 


202 Dr Balfour’s Description of Rare Plants. 


flowered.—In the Glasgow Garden there is a plant about the same 
size. In October 1846, the plant flowered in the Edinburgh 
Botanic Garden. Sir William Hooker has figured a specimen 
from the greenhouse of the United Gardeners’ Society, King’s 
Road, Chelsea; and he remarks, that it is probable that the great 
heat and much sun of the season has contributed to the flowering. 
The plant has flowered also in the Birmingham Botanic Garden, 
under the care of Mr Cameron. The flowers are very showy. 


Exoconium PurcGa, Benth.—The True Jalap plant—Con- 
volyulacew.—Pentandria Monogynia. 


Generic Cuaracter.—Sepala quinque. Corolla tubulosa, stamina 
exserta. Stylus 1. Stigma capitatum, bilobum, Ovarum bilo- 
culare, loculus bi-ovulatus——Herbe aut suffrutices, volubiles, 
America orte. Choisy, Mem. Soc. H. N. Genev. vi., 404. 

Spreciric Caaracter.—Foliis cordatis, acuminatis integerrimis, 
utrinque glabris, pedunculis 2-3 floris, tubo corolle calycem ob- 
tusum quadruplo superante, limbo hypocraterimorpho, lobis ob- 
tusis, sub-emarginatis. 

Ipomea Purga, Wenderoth, Pharmac. Centralb. I. p. 457. Choisy, 
Dec. Prod. ix.,346. Lindley, Flora Medica, No. 809. Bot. Reg. 
Mise. 1839, No. 136, and Sept. 1847. Nees ab Esenbeck, Pl. Of. 
Suppl. 3. t. 13. Hayne, Darstell. und, Beschreib. der in All. 
Arzneikunde Gebrauchl. Pflanzen. 1833, t. 33, 34. 

Ipomea Schiediana, Zuccarint Flora, 1831, p. 801. Abhandl. 
Bajer. Acad. Wissenschaft, 1832. 

Ipomea Jalapa, Nuttall and Cowe, American Journal of Med. 
Sciences. February 1830, t. 7. Royle, Ill. Himal., p. 308. 
(non Pursh.) 

Exogonium Purga, Benth. Pl. Hartweg, 46. Bot. Mag. Feb. 1847. 

Convolvulus Jalapa, Schiede in Linnea, 1830, p. 473. 

Tuber roundish, becoming as large as a moderate-sized turnip, brown 
externally, whitish internally, giving rise to numerous rootlets and 
stems. Stem twining from right to left, spirally twisted, gla- 

brous, marked with numerous ridges and furrows (20 or more), 
branching, more or less purplish-red, extending 10 or 12 feet. 
Leaves alternate, ex-stipulate, petiolate, cordate or sagittato-cor- 
date, deeply lobed at the base, acuminate, entire, glabrous on 
both sides, slightly rugose, dull green above, paler or subglaucous 
below, reticulated, veins radiating at the base, prominent on the 
lower surface of the leaf, and channelled on the upper. Petioles 
| about 2 inches long, shorter than the leaves, striated, grooved 
above, rounded below. Peduneles reddish, axillary, erect, twisted, 


{ 


a 


Dr Balfour’s Description of Rare Plants. 208 


wiry, about 13 inch long, 2-3 flowered (rarely 1 flowered), with a 
small triangular bractlet at the base of the pedicels or partial flower- 
stalks, which are about quarter of an inch long, and thickened 
upwards. On making a section of the pedicel near its upper 
part, the cellular tissue in the centre was found to be arranged 
in astellate manner. Inflorescence definite, expansion of flowers 
centrifugal. Oalyw glabrous, of five somewhat elliptical, obtuse, 
concave, adpressed sepals, membranous at their margins, the 
two outer ones smaller. Corolla shining, glabrous, between fun- 
nel-shaped and salver-shaped, of a fine purplish red colour ; tube 
slightly contracted at its junction with the limb, then widening 
and ultimately tapering downwards, about 2 inches long, four 
times longer than the sepals, purplish-red outside, and of a 
whitish colour within; limb expanded, slightly revolute at the 
margin, 23 inches across, plaited or undulated, of five blunt 
slightly notched lobes and shallow sinuosities between them, the 
union of the petals marked by two lines, prominent on the lower 
side, uniting at the margin of the limb, and enclosing a triangu- 
lar space ; spiral vessels distributed through the substance of the 
corolla. Mstivation contorted. Stamens 5, colourless, exserted 
beyond the tube and towards one side of the throat, shorter than 
the limb; filaments unequal in length, from 2 to 23 inches long, 
inserted near the base of the tube of the corolla, flattened 
at their union with the corolla, tapering towards their an- 
therine extremity, with scattered hairs and tooth-like pro- 
jections towards their lower half; anthers 2-lobed, opening by 
longitudinal dehiscence, innate, introrse ; pollen spherical, extine 
marked with numerous prominent processes. Pistil rather longer 
than the longest stamens; stigma colourless, 2-lobed, capitate, 
tubercular, 7. ¢. covered with numerous projecting cellular pro- 
cesses ; style about 3 inches long, slender, tapering ; ovary supe- 
rior, conical, gradually ending in the stigma, surrounded at its 
base by a thickened annular disk of a yellowish colour ; 2-celled, 
with two ovules in each cell; ovules somewhat trigonous, ana- 
tropal. 

The plant evidently belongs to the genus Exogonium of Choisy, as 
defined in De Candolle’s Prodromus, although the author places 
it under the genus Ipomea, from which the exserted stamens at 
once distinguish it. The following are the definitions of the 
allied genera, as given by Choisy :— 

A—Ovary 3-4-celled, each cell having 2 ovules. 

1. Pharbitis. 

B—Ovary 2-celled, each cell having 2 ovules. 

2. Convolvulus, stigmata linear, cylindrical, stamens included. 


204 Dr Balfour’s Description of Rare Plants. 


3. Jacquemontia, stigmata ovate, flattened, stamens included. 
4. Ipomea, stigmata capitate-globose, stamens included. 
5. Exogoniwm, stigmata capitate-globose, stamens exserted. 

Schiede found the plant at a great elevation on the eastern slope of 
the Mexican Andes, near Chiconquiaco ; and also on the eastern 
slope of Cofre de Perote. He gives an account of his discovery 
inthe Linnea for 1830. Hartweg, it appears, has also found the 
plant in Mexico, and it has been described by Bentham from his 
specimens. 

Although jalap has been used in Huropean medicine for nearly two 
centuries and a half, it is only within a few years that its bota- 
nical source has been correctly ascertained. The plant long cul- 
tivated as the true jalap-plant in the stoves of Europe, and, among 
the rest, in the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, is the Convolvulus 
Jalapa of Linneus and Willdenow, or Ipomea macrorhiza of 
Michaux, a native of Vera Cruz. But between the years 1527 
and 1830, it was proved, by no fewer than three independent au- 
thorities, M. Ledanois, a French druggist, resident at Orizaba in 
Mexico; Dr Coxe of Philadelphia, through information supplied 
by M. Fontanges, an American gentleman who resided at Jalapa ; 
and Schiede, the botanical traveller, from personal examination, 
—that the root of commerce is obtained, not from the hot plains 
around Vera Cruz, but from the cooler hill country near Jalapa, 
above 6000 feet above the level of the sea, where it was exposed 
to frost in the winter time; and that the plant which yields it, is 
an entirely new species of the Convolvulacee. Schiede introduced 
the plant for the first time into Europe; and it has been cultiva- 
ted in various botanic gardens of Germany. In this country it 
was probably first cultivated in the Botanie Garden of Edin- 
burgh, from a tuber sent by Dr Coxe of Philadelphia to Dr 
Christison, in 1838. Dr Graham could not describe it at that time, 
because, owing to unacquaintance with the habits of the plant, it 
was forced in the stove, and died the same year, after forming nu- 
merous flower-buds, of which one only became partially developed. 
In 1844, a plant from the Chelsea Botanic Garden, cultivated in 
acold frame in the Edinburgh garden during the winter and 
spring, and uncovered in the summer and autumn, flowered 
luxuriantly in September. But the crown of the tuber was in- 
jured by frost in the subsequent winter, and the tuber was thus 
killed. A drawing was taken by Dr Graham, but it has not been 
found among his papers. Ultimately, Mr M‘Nab resolved to try 
whether the plant could be raised from slips; and the experi- 
ment has proved completely successful. A tuber, of the size of 
a hazel-nut, formed in the course of three months. The stem 
made little progress the next summer; but when transferred to 


M. Dove on the Wind. 205 


the cold frame in the spring of 1846, formed the plant which 
flowered in October, from which the description has been taken. 

Some still maintain that the plant requires a stove-heat to make it 
flower. In the Botanical Register for September 1847, the fol- 
lowing remarks are made in regard to it :—‘ In cultivation this 
should be regarded as a stove herbaceous climber, which grows 
freely in a mixture of sandy loam and leaf mould in equal por- 
tions.” In the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, the plant con- 
tinues to thrive in a cold frame, as already mentioned. 


Memoir on the Changes in the mean direction of the Wind, in 
the Annual Period, in North America. By M. Dove. 


As there is no point on the surface of the earth where the 
atmospheric pressure increases or diminishes without inter- 
ruption, we must suppose that, as within the tropics, the 
quantities of air which move below, towards the equator, con- 
sist of a current running in a contrary direction to that above; 
just as two currents which advance by the side of each other, 
in the temperate zone, form an equilibrium, in such a manner 
that the one which, in the space of a year, moves towards 
the pole on certain points of a parallel, returns in an opposite 
direction to the equator on other points of the same parallel. 
At the same time, as the air which moves from the equator 
towards this parallel, arrives at it with a higher temperature 
which it gradually leaves in the ground over which it passes 
in its progress towards the pole, a temperature which it does 
not restore to the parallel on its return from the pole to the 
equator, because cold air occupies a smaller space than warm 
air; it thence follows, that the polar current must be weaker 
than the equatorial current. If the movement in the one di- 
rection or the other has taken place in variable strata, it is 
thereby rendered probable, that a place exists in the polar 
current weaker than that in the equatorial current, and, con- 
sequently, that the mean direction of the wind, from this 
cause alone, ought to be equatorial throughout the whole 
temperate zone. Besides, as the quantity which returns to 
the equator is less, because the elastic accompaniments on 
the air or steam is more and more condenscd in its progress 
to the pole, the returning air is deprived of an elastic element 


206 M. Dove on the Wind. 


which returns to the equator or to its origin, under the form 
of liquid water, so that there is a double cause to which we 
may ascribe the mean direction of the wind to the south-west, 
in the northern temperate zone, and to the north-west, in 
the southern temperate zone. It is evident, that what has 
been said as to the mean direction of the wind does not apply to 
its compounds, that is to say, that at a determined period of the 
year, it must necessarily happen, that the same parallel should 
be traversed by winds in a contrary direction. It is not less 
evident, that it must be extremely difficult, in consequence of 
the multiplicity of directions observed, to demonstrate the 
compensation which must take place in each case. This fact, 
at the same time, had always been, indirectly, rendered very 
probable by the climateric circumstances of localities placed 
at short distances from each other, in the work which the au- 
thor has undertaken on the periodical changes in the distri- 
bution of the temperature at the surface of the earth, for 
upwards of a century, principally between the American and 
European stations ; but it was desirable to see this compen- 
sation confirmed in a direct manner. 

A great number of monthly directions of winds, calculated 
by MM. Schiibler, Kaemtz, Wenckeback, Kupfer, Haellstroem, 
and the author, have demonstrated that in Europe, the di- 
rection of the wind, which in winter is south-west, is changed 
in summer into a north-west direction, again returning to the 
south in autumn. According to the causes explained above, 
there cannot be, in all the temperate zone, a north-west diree- 
tion of the wind simultaneously in all the places of the same 
parallel, since at all epochs the south winds must predominate 
over those of the north. It is necessary, therefore, in order 
that compensation take place, that the periodical changes 
should be opposed to those of Europe. This is precisely the 
ease with regard to North America, where the south-west 
direction of the wind prevails in summer, and the north-west 
in winter. It would oceupy too much space to give here the 
tables and formulz which the author has employed to demon- 
strate the existence of this phenomenon.* 


* From L’Institut, No. 711, p. 169. 


re 


( 207 ) 


New Diluvian Formation of the Vosges. 


M. De Billy read a memoir on an argillaceous diluvian 
formation observed in the department of Vosges. 

The author distinguishes four classes of diluvian formations 
in the department of Vosges, namely,— 

1. The granitic diluvium, composed of pebbles and sands 
produced by the disintegration of granites, gneiss, porphyries, 
and other ancient rocks. 2. A deposit, composed of the 
debris of Vosgian sandstone in the state of sand, quartzy 
pebbles, angular fragments, and blocks of this secondary 
sandstone. 3. An argillo-sandy diluvium, very frequently 
filled with rounded quartzy pebbles. 4. Argillaceous deposits 
formed in the middle of Jurassic formation, and mixed with 
a greater or less abundance of fragments of secondary 
limestones. 

The work which M. De Billy communicated to the Society 
is devoted to the third class of diluvium. 

This deposit is principally composed of an argillaceous 
earth, sometimes sandy, more frequently plastic ; the colour 
varying from light-grey to greyish-yellow, and to yellowish- 
grey inclining to red. ‘We generally find in it that kind of 
quartzy pebbles everywhere so abundant in the Vosgian 
sandstone. It sometimes happens, however, that the clay is 
quite free from them. The localities where this argillaceous 
dilavium has been observed are along the numerous water 
courses which furrow the northern region of the depart- 
ment of Vosges. It is noticed sometimes at the level of the 
present waters, and even below them, sometimes a little 
above; and lastly, and this case is frequent, covering the 
plateaux which overhang the valleys, and in which the 
waters may be supposed to have deposited them when they 
were of larger size, and ran ata higher level than in our 
days. These currents of water, beginning at the east, are 
the Mortagne Arentelle, Durhion, Moselle, and the Aviére. 
The thickness of the deposit, which frequently varies between 
20 and 50 metres, reaches a height of 124 metres on the 
banks of the Moselle, as inthe neighbourhood of Charmes. 


208 New Dituvian Formation of the Vosges. 


This observation is of some interest, on account of the 
inferences which may be drawn from it. It proves, for 
example, how other sedimentary masses, which, on account 
of their thickness or level, we were unwilling to ascribe to 
the action of running water, may be referred to that agent 
without fear of exaggeration. 

The author regards the deposit of which he treats as the 
result of the decomposition of Vosgian sandstones. He is 
led to this conclusion, both by the facts passing under his 
eye, and by the topographical position of the diluvium, which 
is below a mass of Vosgian sandstone deeply furrowed, 
almost even destroyed at many points, which extends very 
nearly north-east and south-west from the valley of 
Meurthe, near St Die, as far as that of the Moselle near 
Kpinal. 

The age of this formation, when compared with other 
deposits of the same epoch, cannot yet be determined with 
any degree of precision. 

In certain cantons, this diluvian deposit has a very marked 
influence on agriculture. It often appears to be very favour- 
able to the growth of forests. Sometimes, by retaining the 
water on the surface, it gives rise to springs. When not 
mingled with pebbles, it is used for the purposes of making 
pottery, most frequently tiles and bricks. When the pebbles, 
on the contrary, are very abundant, it is dug for the pur- 
pose of mending roads. This formation has, therefore, a 
certain degree of influence on the support of the people, their 
modes of building, and the channels of communication ; and 
if it be not of great importance in consequence of its mass 
and extent, it is among the number of those which have a 
direct effect on the inhabitants of a country. 


Notices of New Publications deferred until neat Number, in con- 
sequence of the indisposition of Professor Jameson. 


EDINBURGH: 
PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, OLD FISHMARKET. 


THE 


EDINBURGH NEW 


PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 


On the Comparative Geography af the Arabian Frontier of 
_ Egypt, at the earliest epochs of Egyptian History, and at 
the present time. (With a Map.) By Miss Fanny CorBAUX. 


(Continued from p. 42.) 


We have yet to account for the disappearance of the 
northern balf of the Etham river, for it seems to have been 
destroyed piecemeal, as its partial substitute, the sea-canal, 
was made; and unless the suppression of this portion also 
had been effected before the time of Herodotus, he undoubt- 
edly would have mentioned the river among the arms of the 
Nile he enumerates ; for Necho’s canal only changed a part of 
its course, but that work did not accomplish its final excision, 
though it certainly was the first step towards it. Instead 
of flowing along a natural channel from Scene to Hero, it 
now ran along an artificial bed from Bubastis to Hero, and 
all the rest of its course, through the Crocodile lakes towards 
Magdolum and the sea, remained as yet unaltered. 

If our inquiry had had no other purpose in view but to 
prove that in the lost arm of the Nile whose history we have 
begun, a natural supply of water existed during the Mosaic 
period, sufficiently ample to account for the existence of cities 
in the localities suggested by Mr Sharpe as the sites of the 
Mosaic stations, we need not have pursued the subject far- 
ther ; for we must by this time be content as to a fact proved 
by such unquestionable natural indications, that although 
the suppression of this river originated in Necho’s time (nine 
centuries after Moses), it is not even now naturally extinct. 

VOL. XLIV, NO. LXXXVIL.—APRIL 1848. 9) 


210 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


Thanks to the phenomena brought to light by the flood of 
1800, there is no difficulty in proving its existence. The 
only difficulty is to find satisfactory reasons to explain its 
absence ! 

But there is another desideratum, without which this geo- 
graphical theory would hardly be complete. As it requires 
that the Red Sea should have retired from its primitive head 
since the time of Moses, it will be very interesting to ascer- 
tain the precise period of its retiring. Now, the solution of 
this problem is so connected with the history of the ancient 
canal made to connect the Nile and the sea, and the history 
of this canal is, in its turn, so inseparable from that of the 
river it partly supplanted, that by following up the subse- 
quent destinies of the river, we shall arrive at all we wish to 
ascertain on the other points. The history of that river af- 
fords the only clue to guide us out of the labyrinth of per- 
plexity in which we are entangled by the strangely discordant 
accounts given by ancient authors concerning the canal, of 
which Major Rennell so pithily remarks, that “ if we credit 
Herodotus, Darius finished it; if Diodorus and Strabo, Pto- 
lemy alone completed it; and if Pliny, it was never finished 
at all!” 

As Herodotus, who wrote within eighty years of the reign 
of Darius, having himself visited Egypt on purpose to gather 
information, distinctly, and in several places, tells us that 
the canal was finished by Darius—that <‘ it entered the Red 
Sea,” “‘was discharged in the Arabian Gulf,’’—and, again, 
in another place, refers to the “ Arabian Gulf into which Da- 
rius introduced a channel of the Nile,”’* we cannot doubt that 
such was the case, without setting aside the most unequivo- 
cal kind of testimony,—that of a contemporaneous historian 
and eye-witness, who is generally found faithful in his rela- 
tion of what he observed. The subsequent retiring of the sea 
may have rendered necessary the additional operations histo- 
rically attributed to Ptolemy Philadelphus and to Trajan ; 
but to doubt that, in the time of Darius Hystaspes, the junc- 
tion of the Nile with the Arabian Gulf, as far as it extended, 


* Herodotus, Euterpe, clviii. Melpomene, xxxix. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 211 


had been virtually effected, would be carrying scepticism be- 
yond reasonable bounds. Some later historians than Hero- 
dotus certainly do seem to treat of it as not finished by Da- 
rius ; but where we find conflicting accounts of a matter of 
fact, we must estimate the authority of a witness according 
to his means of information, weigh it with other facts, and 
decide accordingly. The subsequent retiring of the sea will 
prove the means of harmonizing the discrepancies their ac- 
counts exhibit; and as the sequel will shew how the mistake 
of the ancient authors here adverted to, finds an easy and na- 
tural explanation by this hypothesis, we may, for the present, 
safely admit the distinct statement of Herodotus—that the 
canal in his time was finished up to the sea—as an histort- 
cal fact, and a fixed point to start from in the succeeding in- 
quiry. 

We must now revert to the configuration of the district 
along which this famous canal was led, and convince our- 
selves, by a critical analysis of its external features, that, al- 
though we have, on the one hand, this positive historical 
fact, that Darius joined the Nile to the Arabian Gulf, we 
have, on the other hand, an equally positive physical fact, 
that to do this, without intercepting the northern half of the 
river, would have been impossible ;—as impossible as for 
Necho to have made his canal along the valley of Etham, 
without first intercepting the southern half. 

Every body knows that if water runs off down a slope toa 
much lower level, the general level of the water will corre- 
spond with that slope, and therefore its height, at the end 
of its course, will be about as much less than that of the ori- 
ginal fountain, as the amount of the incline downwards.* But 
if, instead of being thus allowed to run off, the course of the 
water is dammed up, then the water-line will no longer cor- 
respond with the slope—it will rise to the level of the origi- 
nal fountain, and become horizontal. 

When the waters rose to 4 feet 6 inches above the bed 
of the ancient canal, and within 3 feet 9 inches 9 lines of the 
top of the granite block at Moukfar, during the irruption of 


* Vide Plate VI., diagram B, line ABB. + lbid., line AA, 


212 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


1800, they had already suffered a great loss in height. The 
perpendicular height of the Nile near Bubastis, and conse- 
quently in the corresponding place of the plain of the Delta 
near Abbasieh, must have been one foot below the level of 
the Red Sea. But at Moukfar, it was 11 feet 3 inches 11 
lines below the same mark.* This great loss is explained 
by the fact that immediately beyond Moukfar, the water be- 
gan to shew the remarkably rapid downward current already 
referred to; a current far exceeding that of the natural 
course of the Nile in velocity,—(M. Devilliers estimates it at 
4 feet per second), proving the truth of M. Le Pére’s re- 
mark, ‘‘ que les eaux avaient trouvé des terrains beaucoup 
plus bas sur lesquels elles se répandaient.’’+ 

It is therefore obvious, that if, at the present time, and 
during an excessive flood, the Nile is already lower than the 
sea at Bubastis, where, in the time of Darius, the canal 
began,—it must have been utterly inconsistent with such a 
project as Darius is said to have executed, to allow of any 
further waste of height; at a period when a similar flood must 
have fallen considerably short of the same mark.t To carry 


* Vide Sect. 2., Plate V., for the height of an ordinary inundation, on the 
diagram of Canal Moéz. Vide also diagr. B., Plate VI. 

t Descr. de ’ Egypte, Mém. of M. Dubois-Aymé, vol. xviii., App. p. 349, 350, 
and Journal of M, Devilliers, ibid. 

¢ On the supposition that the increase in height of the land, at Cairo, is 36 
feet English in 1000 years, the increase in the region of Bubastis would be 
about 27 inches in the same time. For we may suppose that (ceteris paribus) 
the average amount of sedimentary matter deposited by running water in a 
given place will be proportional to the depth of the water. At Cairo, ina good 
inundation, the Nile swells to 24 feet above its lowest point. At Bubastis, it 
swells to nearly 18. Therefore, were it not for secondary circumstances, which 
rather tend to reduce the bulk of the deposits, the nearer the formations are to 
the sea, the gain of land at Bubastis would be to that at Cairo as 3 to 4; and 
the soil at Cairo, in the time of Necho, 617 B. c., being 90 inches lower than it 
is now, the Nile accordingly must have risen there by so much less, with re- 
spect to the invariable level of the Red Sea. According to this proportion, at 
Bubastis, where Necho’s canal began, the difference would be 674 inches, as 
delineated in diagram A, Section 1., Plate V. 

But owing to the secondary circumstances above alluded to, (which need not 
be detailed here), we are likely to be much nearer the truth if we allow the 
gain to be less by about 16 inches, than strict computation would make it. 
This is the standard adopted for the comparative proportions of the Nile exhi- 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 213 


his plans into successful execution, he must keep up the 
level of the water in his canal to about the point it had at 
Bubastis. He must both dam up the water, and stop up the 
outlet into the low lands. 

The locks and dykes through which vessels had to pass 
from the canal to the sea, answered the first purpose. For, 
of course, the canal could not run into the sea, being still a 
little the lower of the two;—but its water ran against the 
locks, as against a wall; and being thus dammed up, it could 
rise to the level it had at the canal’s point of junction with 
the Pelusiac arm, “a little above Bubastis, and near Pa- 
tumos,”—provided the outlet of the river through the low 
level of the Crocodile lakes into the still lower marshy re- 
gion to the north, were previously stopped up. Otherwise, 
the water in the canal must have taken the slope of the 
lands; it could not even have risen to the point it reached 
at Moukfar in 1800, but would have fallen short of that by 
about 6 feet, owing to the additional height required by the 
Nile and the land during a lapse of more than 20 centuries, 
and also, to that year’s inundation being an excessive one. 
If, then, the Aighest water-line obtainable during the flood 
season was still sixteen feet below the level of the sea, what 
must the Jowest have been? This must convince us that un- 
less Darius stopped out the river, the works historically 
attributed to him by Herodotus will seem impossible. 

But although this is much, it is not all we want to justify 
a conclusion. We must find historical and physical evi- 
dence,—1°, that such a stoppage has been effected ;—and, 2°, 
that ¢his was done at a period referable to the reign of Darius. 


hited by the diagram B, Plate VI., shewing the end of the Etham river’s 
course, and the levels of the waters and bed of the river at Bubastis, lowered 
to the times of Necho and Ptolemy Philadelphus. It joins Section 2 at the 
place of the scale. 

It will be seen that the bed of the river is brought down to a point coincid- 
ing with the general level of the Wady Toomilat, by this calcvlation, which 
thus would have led to what it now helps to conjirm—the date of the Nile’s ex- 
clusion from that part of the valley, deduced from indirect historical evidence. 

The lines marked N. in this diagram, shew the utmost height of the Nile at 
Bubastis in the time of Necho and Darius. 

Those marked I’, P, shew its rise in the time of I’tolemy Philadelphus, 


214 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


In the absence of a definite statement that Darius did 
actually intercept this water-course, our clue of evidence 
appears very slender. Indeed it is so fragmentary, that in 
order to reunite the detached links of our broken chain, and 
so connect them as to lead us to a satisfactory conclusion, it 
will be necessary to make an apparent digression from the 
main point, to discuss two very important geographical 
questions, which, at first sight, may appear but remotely 
connected with the subject immediately under considera- 
tion. 

Strabo, writing at or about the time of the Christian era, 
mentions certain lakes, situated somewhere in the vicinity 
of the Sethreitic nome, which formerly were bitter, but 
which in his time had been rendered sweet by the waters of 
the canal that led to Arsinoé being introduced into them. 
The first point to be settled, is to determine the site of those 
lakes.* 

It has always been taken for granted that their site must 
have been the great hollow, now occupied by salt marshes, 
lying between the ancient Serapeumt and the neighbourhood 


* He is describing the country above Pelusium in Arabia. 

“ Tt is said that there are some other lakes and canals in the same parts out 
of the Delta. Near one of these lakes is the Sethreitic nome, one of the ten 
that are reckoned in the Delta. Two other canals enter these lakes ; one leads 
to the Arabian Gulf, to the city Arsinoé, which some call Cleopatris. It also 
flows through the so-called bitter lakes, which indeed formerly were bitter ; 
but this canal being cut, they were made sweet by mixing with the river, and 
now abound with excellent fish and lake-fowls. * * * Near Arsinoé is also 
the city of Heroon (Heroopolis) and Cleopatris, in the inner recess of the Ara- 
bian Gulf, the one nearest to Egypt, [ev r®@ wuy@ rod AguPiou xérmou rh 
meds Alyurroy| as well as harbours and dwellings, and several canals, with 
lakes adjacent tothem. Here also are the nome and city of Phagroriopolis. 
The beginning of the canal that led into the Red Sea is near Phacusa.”— 
Strabo’s Geogr., Book xvii., p. 804. 

This passage, which some have deemed so decisive in settling—or rather un- 
settling, the vexed question of the position of Heroopolis, will be found to lose 
much of its decisive character when thus given entire, prefaced by Strabo’s 
own admission, that he speaks only by report of parts he had not himself visit- 
ed,—and closed by the statement that the canal began near Phacusa. We can- 
not refuse him a corresponding latitude of meaning, or looseness of expression, 
when he speaks of Hero, on that canal, being near Arsinoe—especially as it was 
the nearest city of note, and so easily accessible by water. 

* Vide Map, Plate LV. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 215 


of Suez. And as all arguments drawn from the passage of 
Strabo here alluded to, are based on this common misappre- 
hension, it will be necessary, before we are able to conclude 
anything from it, to shew, firstly, that, at the very time 
Strabo wrote, and even fifty years after, the body of water 
formerly occupying the site of those marshes was considered 
a part of the Arabian Gulf: Secondly, and independently 
of this, there will be no difficulty in demonstrating that to 
assume the site of the marshes to have been that of Strabo’s 
lakes. would involve the admission of several physical impos- 
sibilities. 

The first of these propositions will be made evident by a 
critical examination of Pliny’s account* of the works and 
dimensions of the sea-canal in his time,—more than 300 years 
after the operation of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and fifty years 
later than Strabo. After describing the Elanitic arm of the 
Red Sea, he proceeds thus :— 

“ There is another gulf, called by the Arabians A/ant, on 
which is the city of Heroum, * * * * and the Port Daneon, 
from whence there is a navigable canal that leads to the 
Nile, traversing from this port to the Delta a space of 62 
M.P., which is the distance between the Nile and the Red 
Sea.” 

These 62 M.P. will be found to correspond exactly with 
the interval between the Serapeum and the Pelusiac branch, 
if we ascend the line of navigation along the canal of Necho 
and Darius, to Thoum ; and leaving it there, follow in a S.W. 
direction, another canal, which formerly joined this to the 
Nile a little to the north of Scenz, and of which the re- 
mains, choked up with sand, still exist. (This is a canal 
opened by Ptolemy Philadelphus higher up the river than 
Necho’s, for a purpose which will appear in the sequel). 
20 M.P. along this canal to Thoum, + 24 from thence 
to Hero + 18 to the Serapeum = 62 M.P. Near the 
Serapeum are the vestiges of a small town, which I identify 


* Pliny, Geog. 1. vi., c. xxix. 
| Vide Plate VI., a ground plan of this canal in its several stages, the dis- 
tances being graduated according to the scale. 


216 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


with the Port Daneon of Pliny—a more modern name of 
BAAL-ZEPHON. Nothing can be clearer, thus far, than this 
statement ; and nothing easier than to verify its accuracy by 
actual measurement, since the ruins of the canal are still visi- 
ble. It is 62 miles long,—it is finished up to the sea,—and 
that is the distance from the Nile to the sea. 

Yet, Pliny thus continues :—“ Sesostris, King of Egypt, 
first conceived this undertaking ; afterwards Darius of Persia, 
after him, Ptolemy II., who dug a canal to the bitter springs, 
100 feet wide, 30 deep, and 37,500 paces (873 Rom. miles) 
long. He did not finish the work for fear of inundating the 
country, the Red Sea being found at that place three cubits 
higher than the lands of Egypt. 

In what place ? most unquestionably near the sea, wherever 
that might be. But Pliny seems here to contradict himself 
in a most extraordinary manner. He appears to forget hav- 
ing just told us that a canal of a certain length was finished 
up to the sea, since what immediately follows that very ex- 
plicit statement, is another equally explicit statement that 
it was not! 

The only hypothesis by which this contradiction can be 
resolved, from the unqualified absurdity that it appears, into 
the accurate representation of the state of things in Ptolemy’s 
time that it really was,—is this: that a little before the reign 
of Ptolemy, a ew head of the Red Sea had been formed near 
Suez, (vide section 1, 4), but that the ancient head, now vir- 
tually become an inland sea 20 geographical miles in length, 
still retained its former name; that this accident of nature 
had rendered necessary certain additional works, amounting 
to 373 M.P., to extend the line of navigation up to the new 
maritime station, Arsinoé, built (according to the same ac- 
count) by Ptolemy, on the “Gulf of Charandra:” that, in 
the first paragraph, Pliny alluded to the former head of the 
gulf; and, in the second, to its present one. 

When we consider that the surface of the great shoal 
north of Suez must have been rising so slowly and insensibly, 
by the submarine accumulations of centuries, that no one 
perhaps had particularly remarked the exact period when a 
sand bank, which for more than 300 years had so far impeded 


- 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 217 


navigation as even to be constantly laid dry at low water,* 
finally reached the critical point that shut out the highest 
tides also; there seems nothing improbable in supposing that 
long after the event, the force of habit may have prevailed 
over strict geographical precision of expression, in the de- 
nomination bestowed on the upper gulf-basin, and that it 
thus continued to be called “ the Sea,” in common parlance 
so long as it retained a sufficiently large body of water to 
justify an appellation it owed to long custom. And if there 
exists no direct historial memorial of this physical change, 
we must remember that the region where the obstruction took 
place was the most barren and inhospitable part of the 
Egyptian frontier; that, owing to the want of fresh water 
eminently characterisic of that neighbourhood, it contained 
no habitations but the two marine stations{ recently erected, 
merely to serve as resting points for troops, or for commer- 
cial bands ; that it consequently was out of the reach of ob- 
servation from all but the traders who passed by on their 
way to the Indian Sea. Under such circumstances, it is not 
surprising that the final crisis of a physical change so gradual 
in its progress, should have remained unmarked and unre- 
corded ; that the works called forth by the event being exe- 
cuted, the next generation forgot their immediate occasion ; 
and that an oblique course of inferences, drawn from contem- 
poraneous accounts too brief to admit of such explanatory 
details, should be the only means we have of referring its 
occurrence to a definite historical period. 


* The dotted lines 2 and 3 on the shoal in section 1, Plate V. are an attempt 
to indicate these successive stages of growth from the time of Necho to that 
of the Ptolemies. 

t+ The place where ruins with Persepolitan inscriptions were seen, indicated on 
the map, but without a name, is one ; Arsinoé itself is the other. At the time 
Arsinoé was built, the little inlet above Suez, which is all now remaining of 
the Gulf Charandra, must have been a good harbour, and navigable up to that 
port. It has since become so shallow, as to be fordable, with camels—the coast 
line having retired so much as to be nearly two miles from Arsinoé, in ordinary 
tides. Already in the time of the Roman emperors who completed the canal, 
another marine station seems to have been needed. This was “ Clysma,” a 


heap now known as * Tel Kolzim,” a little to the north of Suez. 


218 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


We cannot subject this hypothesis to a more decisive test, 
than that of weighing its consistency with physical and with 
historical fact, by considering, with the help of the diagrams 
which embody the physical facts, how far the details of the 
works, attributed by Pliny to Ptolemy, agree with the main 
design Ptolemy would have in view in executing those works, 
namely, that of keeping up as entire a line of water commu- 
nication with the southern sea, as could be done with ease 
and safety, under the altered state of things. 

The superficial communication of the main with the upper 
gulf-basin being now, as we suppose, cut off (vide section 1), 
the contents of the latter must have sunk a little by evapora- 
tion. Were it not for the annual supply from the Nile, in- 
troduced by Darius’s canal, they would have dried up entirely; 
and so long as this was taken from Bubastis, where the in- 
undation, at its greatest height, was yet six feet lower than 
the sea, that level is the utmost the water of the gulf-basin 
could attain.* Under such circumstances, the greatest part 
of the intervening shoal must have been laid bare (vide sec- 
tion 1, Plate V., ante, p. 19), and to open a communication 
by water as far as Arsinoé, it would be necessary to excavate 
about xi. M.P. along it. 

Although it would be difficult to suggest how far below 
their maximum height the waters of the gulf-basin would 
sink annually by evaporation, we may be sure that the loss 
of so large a surface, in such a climate, would be too great 
to admit of a passage to Arsinoé navigable all the year, unless 
a very deep channel were cut in the hard nucleus of the shoal. 
It was easier to dig a trench of little depth in its softer sur- 
face only ; and this done, to supply the whole line of naviga- 
tion from a point in the Nile where the water is about 5 feet 
higher than at Bubastis (véde section 2),-by conducting it 
from the Pelusiac branch near “ Scene,” along the Etham 
river's former course, where the half-obliterated bed of the 
river was still sufficiently marked to render excavation in 
that quarter unnecessary.t For high banks to lead the wa- 


* Vide the diagram B, plate VI., upper line A.PP. 
t Vide ground plan, Plate VI., PP—PP. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 219 


ter along, and to confine it effectually within their bounds, 
as with Necho’s canal, would effect Ptolemy’s purpose much 
better. So that the 20 M.P. of canal between Scene and 
Thoum, already referred to as part of the lxii. M.P. consti- 
tuting, in Pliny’s time, the length of the canal, and “ the dis- 
tance-from the Nile to the sea,’ were only a restoration of 
part of the Etham branch, sacrificed by Necho upwards of 
three centuries before; and these 20 M.P. to Thoum or Pa- 
tumos, + four, beyond that city, between it and the point of 
junction with Necho’s canal, besides the excavations between 
the gulf-basin and Arsinoé, make up 35 of the 373 assigned 
by Pliny as the total length of Ptolemy’s canal operations. 
The residue of 23 we shall find hereafter. 

So perfect an agreement between nature and history can- 
not be purely accidental. We may feel warranted in assum- 
ing that, when Pliny wrote this account, the great gulf-basin 
was only nominally the sea; but that the real open sea, whose 
level coincided with the ocean, stopped at Arsinoé; that the 
“‘bitter springs,” where Ptolemy ultimately suspended his 
operations, were some springs in that neighbourhood—(since 
all the wells about Suez and Ajrid have that disagreeable 
quality) ;—and that the same reason deterred Ptolemy from 
cutting through the second barrier so lately interposed be- 
tween the open sea and the former gulf, which had deterred 
Necho and his predecessors from cutting through the /irs¢. 
For it was a smaller inconvenience to go by land across a low 
sand bank that naturally and effectively kept out the sea, 
than to run the risk of an irruption, by attempting to make 
artificial dykes upon the tender sandy soil, too recently de- 
serted by the sea to yield a safe foundation for such works 
as the terminal locks of a canal like this.* 

OEE F 0M Sete AISI. NN air a nalieag pigemiaaae 

* Aristotle (Meteor. lib. i. c. xiv.) is the first authority who seems to contra- 
diet Herodotus, by speaking of the canal as not finished up to the sea, whereby 
he may have misled the succeeding Greek writers. For although Darius finished 


it, the subsequent removal of the head of the gulf would leave it as if it had 
not been finished. Thus the limit of this event is between the times of Darius 
and of Alexander. 

Diodorus and Strabo, who wrote long after the reign of Ptolemy, add to this 
statement of Aristotle the works they attribute to Ptolemy, adducing, as the 


220 Ox the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


Since it is now made clear that the large body of water to 
the south of the Serapeum was considered ¢he sea in Pliny’s 
time, it could not have been the “ bitter lakes” that Strabo 
had mentioned 50 years before; and, indeed, he speaks of 
that very spot with more propriety of description than he 
has got credit for, ‘‘ as the inner recess, wuyos, of the Arabian 
Gulf, the one clese to Egypt,” and on (or about) which, near 
Arsinoé, Heroopolis was situated, and other harbours and 
dwellings; near which were several canals with lakes adja- 
cent to them, as well as the nome and city of Phagroriopolis ; 
—a description which never could have applied exclusively to 
the immediate vicinity of the present gulf of Suez, from the 
want of fresh water which has always characterised that in- 
hospitable region. 

And if, even thus far, Strabo’s own account would justify 
a doubt whether his “ d¢tter lakes’? occupied the place of the 
salt-marshes, that doubt will become a certainty, if we en- 
deayour to apply the particulars he gives concerning the lakes, 
to this site that hitherto has been so unfortunately chosen to 
represent them. 

Firstly, Strabo unequivocally refers to several lakes,t as 
those through which the canal that led to Arsinoé ran. Now, 


reason of the canals being unfinished, as they say, by Darius, the greater height 
of the Red Sea, which made him afraid of inundating the country by cutting 
through the isthmus; and they add that Ptolemy, who finished it, proved this 
to be anerror; as, by means of an euripus,—a series of locks that were opened to 
admit the vessels, and closed again instantly,—the canal was made navigable to 
the sea without difficulty. 

Diodorus, who is followed by Strabo, has evidently confounded the opera- 
tions of Darius with those of Ptolemy. As the canal was jinished up to the sea 
by Darius, according to the unequivocal account of Herodotus, the euripus would 
be wanted there, and that work should correctly be referred to Darius, its situ- 
ation being at Baal-zephon or Port Daneon. But Diodorus was not aware of the 
sea’s having retired, though he had learnt that, since Darius, some additions had 
been made to the canal by Ptolemy; the long established fact of its completion, 
and the ingenious structure of the euripus, which was a matter of equal noto- 
riety, easily explain the confusion this writer makes between the authors of the 
two parts of the canal. Strabo has merely repeated his mistake. I have al- 
ready shewn that, on this matter, he admits that he only spoke from report of 
those parts, which he had not visited. 

+  Breegee? B: noel dice row mingiw AUAOVILEVEY Pu[Lvenv, Ot TROTEQOV [EV 


> | 
HOkY TIAL. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. | 221 


the large basin in question never can have formed more than 
one lake after its separation from the main. The form of the 
ground, in the section 1, places this point beyond dispute. 

Secondly, So small a body of fresh water as any artificial 
canal, (even if it had run freely into the lake, which this par- 
ticular canal did not), never could pour into it a sufficient 
quantity to sweeten the contents of such a basin of sea-water 
as this, full 20 miles long, averaging 5 in breadth, and 60 
feet deep in the middle. The canal could only restore to its 
own level, whatever water the lake lost by evaporation. But 
as salt does not evaporate, the lake would always remain as 
salt as before, unless it had an outlet, by another canal, into 
a sea lower than either the canal or the lake; then, there 
being a current through it, the salt water might gradually 
be replaced by fresh. 

Thirdly, But in the time of Strabo, no such eit existed. 
It went no farther than Arsinoé. Its final junction with the 
present Gulf of Suez, across the remainder of the newly 
formed barrier, was not effected till a century after Strabo 
wrote, by the Roman Emperors Trajan and Hadrian.* Al- 
though earlier authors than Pliny speak of the canal as be- 
ing finished by Ptolemy Philadelphus, it is obvious that they 
only spoke from report, and confound the first termination of 
the canal with the second ; the author of the one with that of 
the other ;+ but that the account given by Pliny is the true 
representation of the state of things tn is own time ; he takes 
up the matter where Herodotus broke off, and therefore, as 
the last contemporaneous authority, whose testimony has 
stood the ordeal of minute analysis, he is the most to be 


* Trajan’s canal completed the restoration of the southern part of the Etham 
branch as a water-course. Beyond Scenx to Heliopolis, it followed a de- 
serted course of the Pelusiac, deflected from its former position to the present 
site of canal Abou-Menedgy, by the action of the same causes that have thrown 
the Canopic into the Sebennytic branch, From Heliopolis to Babylon, the rest of 
Trajan’s canal, which is now the canal of Cairo, was an entirely artificial cut- 
ting,—its object, to raise the level of the water to that of the sea at Clysma, 
where it ended. Hence Claudius Ptolemy, the geographer (B. iv., ¢. 5.), says 
of it, that it flowed through Babylon and Heroopolis. (Vide Plate VI.) 

+ Vide Note to page 219. 


222 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


credited. And the reason Pliny gives for Ptolemy’s not at- 
tempting to cut his canal through the second barrier,—the 
greater height of the Red Sea,—is the very thing that would 
prevent the canal from flowing ¢hrough the lake, had it been 
cut. 

Fourthly, For, even if the junction were effected, the inter- 
vening canal could never possibly be made to convey water 
from the dower basin into the higher sea. The greatest pre- 
cautions must, on the contrary, be taken to prevent the sea 
from pouring into the lower basin, via the canal, more salt 
water than it contained already; since the low basin would 
then replace what it had lost by evaporation, partly with salt 
water from one end, partly with fresh from the other, instead 
of doing so wholly with fresh as before. Thus, the tendency 
of such a junction, when effected, would rather be to increase 
the saltness of the lake, than to sweeten it. 

Lastly, The large crystalline masses of salt,* found on the 
plains and marshes that now remain from this dried-up gulf 
basin, in such enormous quantities, that the Arabs of the 
desert have for centuries past made it a productive article of 
commerce, continue an unquestionable physical proof to this 
day, that would, in itself, suffice to certify—that the waters 
of that lake have never been sweetened at all. 

There being so many conclusive reasons against assigning 
this position to the “ so called Bitter Lakes” of Strabo ;—the 
only hollows in the vicinity through which the canal could 
have flowed, are the Crocodile lakes,} through which the 
Etham river itself had flowed. 


* Descr. de l’Hg., Journal, vol. xi., 323, 324. Mém. de Le Pére, ib. p. 122. 
Mém. De Dubois-Aymé, vol. xviii. p. 354; and of Devilliers, ib. p. 380, 381. 

+ This position has been assigned to the Bitter-lakes by M. Dubois-Aymé, 
and I regret not being able to coincide beyond this point with his hypothesis 
on the ancient geography of the district; neither as to the period when the open 
sea was cut off from the gulf-basin, nor as to the site of Pliny’s “ Bitter foun- 
tains.” The former event he supposes may have been posterior even to the 
time of Hadrian. In that case, an open sea, accessible to the tides, must have 
extended to the Serapeum, in the time of Ptolemy ; thus, any excavations on the 
shoal above Arsinoé would have been impossible, however shallow the water ; 
and the 374 M.P. of Ptolemy’s canal operations must be found exclusive of 
this spot. This, M., Dubois-Aymé is obliged to do. He suggests that the 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 223 


But if the river ran through them, ow could they have 
been bitter ? It is evident that the communication of the Nile 
must have been cut off, or they would always have been 
sweet, as when after this canal was introduced. That the 
river did flow through them has been physically proved. 
That Strabo’s lakes could be situated nowhere else, will now, 
I hope, be readily granted. That the river, if cut off at all, 
must have been cut off before the time of Herodotus, is un- 
deniable. That the construction of the land rendered such 
an operation expedient for the successful execution of the 
works of Darius, has also been demonstrated. And if, after 
the river was intercepted, and these lakes had remained in- 
sulated some time, the canal was re-introduced into them be- 
fore the age of Strabo, and we can find vestiges of such works 
having been executed at the very time our theory requires,— 
then, I hope, the chain of circumstantial evidence will be as 
complete as can be desired, and far beyond what one could 
have anticipated, in an endeavour to elucidate a subject so 
obscure. For it is well known that the exudations of the 
soil throughout this region, in which the Nile no longer flows, 
have the property of imparting a disagreeable, bitter, and 
acrid quality to the water that collects in its hollows by fil- 
tration through the sandy soil. The wells now in the valley 
partake of it more or less ; but the saline plains and marshes 
to the north of the Crocodile lake basin, are decidedly of that 


62 M.P. being the distance from the sea to the Nile, the canal of Ptolemy, be- 
ginning from the Nile near Bubastis, must have ended a little beyond Ras el 
Wady, where he, accordingly, places the “ bitter fountains.” Now, unless we 
entirely set aside the valuable contemporaneous testimony of Herodotus, who 
not only has described, with a degree of circumstantial precision, which a glance 
at the map (Plate VI.), will enable us duly to appreciate, the very place where 
the canal was begun by Necho, and its entire course as completed by Darius to 
the Arabian Gulf, into which it was discharged ; the hypothesis of M. Dubois- 
Aymé will amount to this,—-that Ptolemy dug 37 miles of a canal, along a valley 
where a canal had existed for 330 years ;—that he left off for fear of the greater 
height of the sea, at a place that the sea had never come to within 20 miles of ; 
—and that he then and there, and on that account, left unfinished, a work that 
was finished up to the sea 200 years before he was born. Vide Descr. de l’Kg., 
Kt Mod., vol. xi., and App., vol. xviii. Mém. of Dubois-Aymé, “ Sur les 
anciennes limites de la Mer Rouge.” 


224 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


that character. Therefore the lakes themselves, if insulated, 
would not remain exempt from a quality that resides in the 
very soil they lie upon. 

Here, then, is the topographical proof that such a succes- 
sion of operations were executed, in the locality mentioned, 
and during the interval we require. We must follow M. Le- 
pére along the traces of the ancient canal. Having passed the 
spot east of Hero, where he remarked that “ no canal seemed 
ever to have existed,’’ since he found no dikes,—and where we 
now understand why none ever could be required—because 
there had existed a natural stream, flowing rapidly down- 
wards between high banks, through the opening of the hills, 
(vide Plate VI., N to S.), he now leaves the point where the 
waters of 1800 bent off northwards into the lakes; and he 
continues his search along the remains of the artificial channel 
that branched out of the true river at this point, in a some- 
what SW. direction, begun, as some ancient authors assert, 
by Sesostris,” and continued by Darius to the sea (vide 
Plate VI., S,S,D). When he came to the place where the 
canal of Darius may have begun (S), he remarked the re- 
appearance of dykes. ‘‘ Dans cette partie, la vallée est plus 
ouverte; le cété nord est remarquable par un abaissement 
du sol, et une végetation trés abondante, qui a aspect d'un 
bois taillis.”” (This is the large circular basin enclosing the 
Crocodile lakes.) “On retrouve encore dans cette partie la 
dérivation d’un canal dirigée au nord sur un monticule de 
décombres qui a dia étre le site d’une ancienne ville.” This 
site coincides in position with the Thaubasio of the “ Itine- 
rary,” viii. M. P., from the Serapeum.* The mound is an 
eminence in the middle of the valley enclosing the lakes. 
“ Une des digues se prolonge a lest, et semble séparer le 
bassin des lacs d’une plaine basse et saline qui se dirige au 
nord vers le Ras-el-Moyeh.” + 

These are precisely the indications we required. As this 


* j. e. V M. P. along the sea-canal, across the opening of Hero, and iii., along 
the little branch canal above described. 

+ Mém, sur le canal des deux mers. Descr. de l’Hgypte, bt. Mod., vol. xi. p. 
120, 121. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 225 


short branch canal, leading through the lakes, begins about 
two miles beyond the ancient river’s point of natural entrance 
into them, the very fact of an artificial communication having 
been opened, presupposes that the natural entrance must 
have been closed up at a former period ; otherwise, another 
entrance had neither been wanted nor made. 

The remains of a large embankment across the north- 
eastern opening of the low basin enclosing the lakes, and 
separating it from the still lower saline plains to the north,* 
reveal with equal clearness the fact, that there the waters 
were confined by art within that basin, at the place where 
originally, the river flowed out of them. It appears then 
demonstrated by these remains, that although the water of 
the river, after having been excluded from the lakes at one 
point,t was re-admitted into them at another, by means of 
this little branch canal,t it was not allowed to go beyond the 
basin ; shewing that the same purpose had been kept in view 
in both operations—of keeping up the level of the water in 
the canal by stopping out the final course of the river, only 
from a different spot. 

The succession of events, and the periods to which they 
are referable, no longer admit of a doubt. When the pur- 
pose of Darius required that the only outlet of the waters 
should be the Arabian Gulf, let us suppose he merely cut 
off their farther progress downwards in a contrary direction, 
at the place where the stoppage would be most easily effected. 
This brings us up to the age of Herodotus—and the Etham 
branch of the Nile has ceased to exist. The lakes, being 
now so far separated from the channel of the Nile, as to be 
fed only by the filtration of its waters through the sandy soil 
of that district, would then become “ dé¢ter lakes”’ —their 
waters of inferior quality for drinking, although still answer- 
ing the purpose of irrigating and fertilizing the beautiful val- 
ley that enclosed them in its bosom. 

Another monarch (which can only have been Ptolemy Phil- 
adelphus, whose extensive operations relative to the canal, 
so variously recorded, preceded the era of Strabo by three 


* Vide Plate VI. t Vide S. Plate VI. —_ Vide PP. ibid. 
VOL XLIV. NO. LXXXVIIJ.—APRIL 1848. P 


226 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


centuries), may have thought of turning those lakes to better 
account, by converting them into a reservoir during the inun- 
dation, to supply the canal when the Nile was low—a pro- 
ject by no means of difficult execution, from the advantageous 
position of the lakes ; since it was only necessary to re-open 
a communication with them, and to transfer the stoppage of 
the river’s course from its place of entrance to its point of 
exit. The first was effected by the little branch canal—the 
latter by the great transverse embankment. This brings us 
up to the time of Strabo, and he might then well say of these 
lakes, that “formerly they were bitter;” but “had been 
made sweet by the canal that flowed through them.” 

And, in conclusion, the little canal between 2 and 3 M. P. 
long, would just make up the complement of the 373 of works 
attributed to Ptolemy Philadelphus by Pliny’s account. 

This last circumstance is the only direct indication from 
which the supposed operations about the “ bitter Jakes’ may 
be referred personally to Ptolemy, as part of a connected 
series of works, all essential to the success of his canal en- 
terprise; but where direct proof, in the satisfactory form of 
an authentic historical statement, is wanting, we must be 
content with a reasonable degree of indirect evidence. The 
vestiges of these operations, by themselves, prove nothing ; 
but considered in connexion with Strabo’s account concerning 
these lakes, they unquestionably indicate that after the Nile 
had been excluded from them, before the time of Herodotus, 
it was re-admitted into them by means of a canal, before 
Strabo wrote; and even though we had no further clue to 
the authors of these works, the main object of this inquiry 
would be proved, namely, that the ETHAM arm of the Nile 
was cut off from its course at a particular time, and at a par- 
ticular spot. Whether this was done by Darius and Ptolemy 
themselves, or by their immediate predecessors or successors, 
is quite a secondary question; its solution may be a matter 
of curious interest, but is not indispensable to establish the 
point at issue, which is, the former existence and intentional 
suppression of this river. But when, upon a critical analysis 
of the levels of land and water, we find that all the works 
connected with this suppression were indispensable to the 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 227 


success of the canal enterprise of Darius and Ptolemy, it 
would be a very unusual coincidence of error to find such dis- 
tinct evidences of the time and place of this operation, com- 
bined with such proofs of its necessity as the structure of the 
land displays, if, after all, these monarchs had not executed 
the works this theory attributes to them. 

Since the partial restoration of the river under Ptolemy 
and Trajan, it has always been regarded as a canal—a work 
of art—a decayed monument of national enterprise, illustrat- 
ing the triumph of human perseverance over the most for- 
midable natural difficulties, and whose origin is lost in the 
gloom of fabulous antiquity. After the canal fell into ruins 
from disuse and neglect, the summary process of turning the 
course of the waters another way, by the dykes of Tel el 
Jehud,* was resorted to; and the manner in which the river 
remains suppressed to this day, so effectually, that its former 
existence is not even suspected, is thus too obvious to require 
further explanation. The flood of 1800 threw the valley 
out of cultivation for two years. No wonder, then, that it 
should be more expedient to keep the water low by means of 
dykes, and to exclude it altogether from the valley, than to 
let it take its natural course. To restore the entire canal, 
so that the waters could be conducted safely through it, as 
in ancient times, is a work which the recent condition of 
Egyptian affairs has offered as yet no motive for attempting. 
Mohammed Ali has replaced a piece of Necho’s canal. up to 
near Abbasieh, but only for irrigation. The supply of water 
can never surpass the low level to which the canal Abou- 
Menedgy, from which it is drawn, is itself artificially kept 
down near Shibbeen ; unless, by design or accident, the dykes 
that confine its waters should be removed, and present again 
the unexpected, but perfectly.natural, phenomena of 1800, 
by which so startling and convincing a proof was afforded to 
confirm my conclusion, that an arm of the Nile, which, in 
the remotest ages of historical antiquity, was the natural 
frontier fortification of Arabian Egypt, has been sacrificed to 
the exigencies of man; that it has been removed out of its 


* Vide ante, p. 38, and Plate V., section 2. 


228 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


course, partly or wholly, on repeated occasions and in various 
ways, to minister to his purposes; and that, to this day, it 
continues to be held in abeyance, but is not naturally extinct. 


CONCLUSION. 


A very few additional remarks will suffice to dicate the 
application of the results brought to light by this geographi- 
eal inquiry to the illustration of Ancient, and especially of 
Sacred History. In an extensive tract now uninhabitable, 
never visited by travellers, consisting partly of unhealthy 
marshes, partly of a barren sandy waste, and entirely desti- 
tute of running water, we discover what was, 3500 years ago, 
a land endowed with a variety of natural advantages both 
for commerce and defence, of peculiar importance to a fron- 
tier state, and seldom found united in a district of such limited 
extent. While the river that formed its eastern limit, and 
flowed to within six miles of the Red Sea, was the axis of its 
prosperity, by connecting a line of fortified frontier cities, si- 
tuated in the most commanding positions, and whose begin- 
ning is lost in the remotest antiquity. The abundant ruins 
scattered over the Egyptian “ Arabia,” as well as the histo- 
rical records of works carried on along its boundary line, re- 
main unquestionable tokens that its natural capabilities were 
duly appreciated by the lords of the land ; and that these were 
snfficient to bear out the fragmentary intimations handed 
down by historical tradition, concerning the power once ac- 
quired by its earliest colonists, the ‘“ Hyk-sos,” or royal 
Shepherd tribes, whose encroachments on their neighbours’ 
territories it required the united efforts of the king of Thebes 
and all the rest of the Egyptians to subdue ; and when this 
coalition had compelled them to yield their ground, we are 
at no loss to understand the motive of the Egyptian monarch’s 
policy (Exod. i. 9,10). The Egyptians saw another people 
of similar simple and pastoral habits, increasing rapidly in 
the country from which the ancient rivals of their power had 
been expelled with so much difficulty, and who, from their 
position, even more than from their numbers, might become 
dangerous neighbours, should they increase sufficiently to 
assert their independence. Such a national calamity the 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 229 


kings of Egypt hoped to avert by the summary expedient re- 
corded in the opening chapters of Exodus. 

And when, after the long course of oppression systemati- 
cally practised against the children of Israel, in pursuance of 
this barbarous policy, these were finally delivered by the 
manifest interference of the Divine Power, we need no longer 
wonder how so vast a body—including the mixed multitude 
that shared their fortunes—were sustained on the way, as 
they went out of the land of Egypt “ witha high hand ;” since 
that way is no longer the doubtful and improbable track 
hitherto assigned to them, in defiance of possibility and geo- 
graphy, through stations marked out at random, at impracti- 
cable distances from each other, across the heart of a desert 
without water or vegetation. The ingenious identification of 
some of these stations, suggested by Mr Sharpe, being so 
well borne out by all that the minutest inquiry can elicit re- 
specting the former condition of the country as to amount 
to a complete demonstration, satisfies us that their track was 
an orderly progress along that line of ancient frontier-cities 
about which their own tent-villages were clustered, and our 
conception of this important passage of sacred history is in- 
vested with a clearness and certainty it never possessed be- 
fore. We can now appreciate, as it deserves, the cireum- 
stantial fidelity of the Mosaic narrative, in agreeing with 
every peculiarity of position which the primeval geography 
of the land, now rescued from the gloom and oblivion of ages, 
reveals. The road followed by this great multitude turns 
out to have been the same kind of road as all ancient and 
modern Egyptian roads, the banks of a river or canal. The 
spots where they encamped were near cities, the remains of 
which still exist, all at an easy day’s journey from one an- 
other ;—the object of their progress, the very natural one of 
gathering together the residue of their numbers that might 
yet be scattered through the villages near these cities, prior 
to their final evacuation of the country. 


Rameses,* 


Having started from { Heliopelis, 


\ and passed through 


* Wxod. xii. 37. 


230 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


Succoth Etham or Pithom,* 1 ah 
{ Scene 27d { Thoum or Patumos, } where, utter skiruny 


Hiroth, 
Heroopolis, 
the second and only remaining frontier route, and re-en- 
tered the wilderness,t to encamp in face of the heights of 
{ Baal-zephon, 

Port Daneon and Serapeum, 
ceive by the map,{ that, if they left this, their last encamp- 
ment, in the morning, just as the host of Pharaoh appeared 
in sight, an easy day’s journey would bring them to a spot 
which satisfies all the conditions required by the Mosaic 
narrative of the passage of the Red Sea.§ This spot is ex- 
actly opposite the unidentified ruins where the Persepolitan 
remains were seen; at the northern end of the great shoal, 
separating the upper gulf-basin from the present Gulf of 
Suez, and about 12 geographical miles, or a day’s journey, 
from the site to which, hitherto, the passage of the Israelites 
has most generally been referred. The strait, there, can 
hardly have been more than two miles wide, which would 
admit of the whole army crossing over “ before the morning 
watch,” “ when the sea returned to its strength.” The pass 
is even now 10 feet below the level of the Red Sea. It 
may not have gained materially in height since this memor- 
able event; as the southern end of the shoal was the one 
most exposed to the effects of the accumulations, which finally 
cut off the sea from the gulf-basin. In the time of Moses, 
the sea there must have been much too deep to be fordable 
under any ordinary circumstances. But on this one moment- 
ous occasion, when the effects of a supernatural strong wind|| 
were permitted, by the manifest interposition of DIvINE 
PROVIDENCE, to combine with the excessive tides of the 
equinoctial season, the entire strait must have been laid dry 
under so unsual and unexpected a combination of circum- 
stances, which it required a miraculous special interference 
to produce, and a no less miraculous special guidance to be, 
like Moses, prepared for. 


the neighbourhood of { | they turned out of 


} by the sea; we shall per- 


* Bxod. xiii. 20. ¢ Ib. xiv. 1-9. { Vide, Plate IV. 
§ Vide, Section 1 Plate V. || Exod. xiv. 21-27. 


On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 231 


It may not be unworthy of a passing notice to add, in con- 
clusion, that by comparing the present state of the Egyptian 
frontier district with its primitive condition, as deduced from 
the numerous historical and topographical details upon which 
this inquiry is founded, we obtain a natural explanation of a 
very remarkable passage in Isaiah, intended as a prophetic 
intimation of the desolate state in which the land, once so 
familiar to the Hebrews, was destined to remain during the 
latter days preceding the final restoration. 

« And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lorp will 
again set his hand a second time to recover the remnant of 
his people. * * * And the Lorp will utterly destroy 
(or dry up) the tongue of the Egyptian Sea, and with his 
mighty wind He will wave his hand over the river, and smite it 
in the seven streams, so that one may walk over in sandals ; 
and there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, 
that are left of Assyria, as there was to Israel in the day 
that he ascended out of Egypt.”—(Isaiah, ch. xi., ver. 11-15.) 

Sir Gardner Wilkinson* has already suggested the possi- 
ble application of the last clause in ver. 15, to the present 
physical condition of the river of Egypt. May not its be- 
ginning be deemed an equally significant allusion to the fu- 
ture condition of her sea, under the same stage of the great 
providential dispensation? If it has really come to pass, 
that all the natural mouths of the Nile are so reduced as to 
be, literally, crossed over “in sandals ;” the only channels 
remaining navigable all the year round being the two which 
Herodotus says were the work of art; it is equally true that, 
since the days of Isaiah, “ the tongue of the Egyptian Sea” 
has ceased to exist. For whether we read, as in the present 
state of the Hebrew text, po4ny74,t incorrectly translated, 


* Modern Egypt and Thebes, vol. i. 

+ Gesenius follows the present text, and takes it in the sense of a threat or 
imprecation. This is not far from the radical sense of the word ; which is to de- 
vote, excommunicate, anathemize, a sentence which, in some cases, did involve 
he destruction of whatever had been so devoted ; but the word does not in itself 
mean “ to destroy,” and, therefore, does not seem a fit expression to apply to a 
ea in the present case. The slight difference in the formation of the final 
letter, which would alter its signification to“ dry up,” is supported by the 
Chaldee version that has %5}9 dry up. The Septuagint translators also must 
have read 5JYPJ74, since they render this word in the passage in question 


232 On the Arabian Frontier of Egypt. 


“utterly destroy ;” or whether we adopt the more critically 
correct expression, as restored by the learned Bishop Lowth, 
2°97 rendered, in his beautiful translation, ‘‘ smite with a 
drought”—the fact is before us—in an arm of the sea 35 
miles long, changed into a waste of sand and saline marsh, 
and remaining, to this day, a speaking and instructive in- 
stance of the literally accomplished doom, pronounced on the 
land by the inspired voice of Prophecy, in the days of her glory 
and pride. 


The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. By Tuomas R. 
Heywoop Tuomson, M.D. Communicated to the Kdin- 
burgh New Philosophical Journal by the Ethnological So- 
ciety of London.* 


Of the different localities in Western Africa, visited by 
the Niger Expedition in 1841 and 1842, perhaps no one pre- 
sented a greater number of new and interesting features to 
the inquirer than the island of Fernando Po, in the Bight of 
Biafra. Lying between 3° 12’ and 3° 67’, north latitude, and 
8° 46’ and 8° 57’ east longitude, it forms, towards the southern 
extremity, an oblong square, about 35 miles in length, and 22 
in breadth. The land is high, and in many parts precipitous. 
Two principal mountain ranges intersect the island in a north- 
east direction, of which Clarence Peak, rising to a height of 


by egjwoes, “ make dry, barren, or desolate,” as in all other passages which it 
occurs; moreover the expression “ drying up the sea” is frequent in prophetic 
poetry, whether intended to be taken figuratively or literally. 

This conformity between the two most ancient versions leaves scarcely a 
doubt that the original reading was, ‘“ And JEHOVAH will dry up the tongue 
of the Egyptian Sea.” Although the separation of the gulf-basin dates from 
the last century of the Persian domination in Egypt, and upwards of three cen- 
turies after Isaiah wrote the above, “ the tongue of the Egyptian Sea’? was not 
* dried up” until the power of Egypt had reached its lowest stage of decadence 
under the Moslem rule, when the canal was left to fall into ruins, and its 
waters were turned off another way. 

And that very shoal, which once was made “an highway for Israel, when he 
ascended out of Egypt,” has become a permanent highway for the people. The 
Mecca pilgrims’ caravan route from Cairo, through the desert, crosses it a little 
north of Arsinoé. 

* Read before the Ethnological Society of London, 8th Dec, 1847, 


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COMPARATIVE PROPORTIONS OF THE VILE. Periods of Necho Dortus and Peolemy IT 


Diagram B 


Waker of Wie ab 
Bubasius and Abbafrieh 


Stone at Monkefor Bitter Lakes 


GROUND PLAN OF THE ANCIENT SEA CANAL 


The Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 233. 


11,000 feet, forms the leading feature ; while a less elevated 
range, at the southern end, separates Melville Bay and Cape 
Badgely. The appearance of the island is picturesque in the 
extreme, being well wooded, even towards the higher ranges ; 
while, skirting the sea, may be observed numerous varieties 
of high and umbrageous trees, among which the graceful 
palm and the towering bombax, or cotton tree, stand forth 
conspicuous. At most of the little ravines, a stream of good 
clear water is found; but in no part of the island could be 
discovered any marsh or alluvial deposites. The rainy season 
lasts from May to December, when it is followed by the 
“ smokes,’’ a peculiar dense vapour which envelopes the 
island, and extends for some distance to seaward. 

The object of the present paper is to bring under consi- 
deration the physical and moral condition of the “ Edeeyah.”’ 
It is unnecessary, therefore, to dwell at greater length on the 
characteristics of the island; suffice it to say, that whether 
we examine its animal, its vegetable, or mineral productions, 
novelty is written on all. Little notice has, however, been 
taken of this small portion of Western Africa, although it is 
only 20 miles from the mainland of Cameroons, and many of. 
the vegetables, and nearly all the animals, are peculiar to it- 
self; while the natives offer, in their language, customs, and 
even in their physical appearance, such distinctions to their 
continental neighbours, as fairly entitle them to be placed by 
themselves. 

It may be proper to state, that the nature of the country 
* is So mountainous, and covered with such impenetrable forests, 
that the natives of its opposite sides are almost unknown to 
each other, which rendered it impossible for me, with my limit- 
ed means, to visit in person all the native towns to be men- 
tioned ; but the information on each was received, with due 
precaution, from creditable and competent persons, who, in 
trading speculations, had passed some time among them. 

Altogether there are about fifteen native towns and villages 
situated at different points of the island, and in some of them 
the dialects spoken are so peculiar and distinct as to be quite 
unintelligible to their neighbours. 

Thus at Banha-pa, Bassi-poo, Bassi-li. Rebol-la, Bario-batah, 
Bassa-pi, Bi-dtonos, Tapullé-palla, the language or dialect 


234 The Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 


spoken is that given in the accompanying vocabulary, under 
the head of Edééyah. At West Bay, Bi-illi-pa, Bario-bi, there 
is another quite as distinct, while at another native town, 
name unknown, on the south-east side, another obtains ; and 
in bartering with the Bubis, who go round from the neigh- 
bourhood of Clarence to purchase the earthen pots and jars 
made there, the traffic is carried on by signs. We saw seve- 
ral during our sojourn at Clarence Cove, who could not make 
themselves intelligible to the Edeeyahs. 

Thus, it is evident there are two or more dialects, if not 
distinct languages, in this small island; and it is to be re- 
gretted that the opportunity did not occur to procure voca- 
bularies, as no doubt a comparison would have removed any 
questions as to their common origin, which we are inclined 
to believe, from the general resemblance of their physical 
characters. 

The Edeeyah have mostly been spoken of, by such persons 
as have seen them, under the name of Bibis, from their usual 
salutation on meeting a stranger—of Bibi, the Edeeyah term 
for friend. They are for the most part well made and mus- 
cular, with an average height of 5 feet 6} inches, as deduced 
from the measurement of fifteen men taken indiscriminately 
as they passed through Clarence ; round the chest 373 inches, 
and from trochanter major to the sole of the foot 322 inches ; 
across the head, from one meatus auditorius extreme to the 
other, 13% inches ; from occipital protuberance to nasal pro- 
cess 32} inches. Facial angle, 72. The face is more inclined to 
be round, the cheek-bones not so high, the nose less expanded, 
the lips thinner, and the mouth better formed than in most 
other Africans, The eye is at once expressive of intelligence 
and good-humour. The hair is softer and longer than in 
any of the West Africans, and although there is a tendency to 
curl, it is not crispy as in the other Negroes. The skin is not 
so black ; it is more of an olive shade, and is soft and unctuous. 

The lower extremities are particularly powerful, and the 
muscles strongly developed; and from this probably arises 
the appearance as if the body was unnaturally long, and the 
legs, from the pelvis downward, shortened. 

The continual exercise on foot, as well as the habit of sit- 
ting with the legs doubled up to the chin, must tend to pro- 


The Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 235 


duce this unusual development of the lower extremities, which 
is so striking a feature that the most careless observer can 
scarcely fail to notice it. The hands and feet are, for the 
most part, smaller than in other Africans. In many of the 
females they are beautifully proportional ; and, indeed, the 
general symmetry of some Edeeyah girls at Bassapoo was 
perfect. The women have generally a soft and rather plea- 
sing expression of countenance, which even the horrid prac- 
tiee of cutting strong lines across the face does not remove. 
This is usually done when young; andin both sexes, to come 
up to the Bubi idea of beauty, the marks on cicatrisation 
should be raised and corrugated. It must be, indeed, a pain- 
ful operation ; but, like civilised nations, much must be sacri- 
ficed to the prevailing taste or fashion. Palm oil is much 
used about their persons, mixed either with clay or ferru- 
ginous earth, with which they daub themselves in various 
ways, So as to produce a savage and wild appearance, quite 
inconsistent with their gentle and harmless disposition. 

They have several modes of arranging the hair, which is 
done up into a greater or less number of knobs, with red 
clay. and with which they sometimes unite small bones of 
the dogsormonkeys. In some, the hair is made up into one 
large mass with red clay, weighing many pounds, which one 
would suppose to be a painful sacrifice to fashion; but the 
simple Edeeyah prides himself on his coiffure, and willingly 
submits to what will enhance his appearance. 

No tribe of Africans have such antipathy to European 
clothing as this singular people. Notwithstanding the fre- 
quent intercourse many of them have had with our settle- 
ment at Clarence, no article of dress has been adopted. The 
little bunch of grass suspended between the thighs, and the 
flat or conical grass hat, are the only attempts at covering 
they have ventured on. Their ornaments consist of little 
chains of grass, neatly woven, the vertebre of snakes, mon- 
keys, and dogs, and, in the richer persons, a lump of suet, in- 
closed in a portion of intestine, and suspended round the 
neck, is a choice ornament, as well as a supposed charm. 
Country money, a small species of limpit, made round, and 
strung in long lines, is also a favourite addition, fastened 
round the arms and legs; so that one can judge of the wealth 


236 The Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 


of many of them by the quantity of this ornament. Among 
the chiefs, the head and horns of a goat, or of the golden 
rood-bocke, is secured to the hat. Nearly all have little grass 
bracelets and armlets, in which they secure the knife, a most 
useful article, and almost the only European one they care for. 

The first impression conveyed to the observer on seeing an 
Adeeyah in his native woods, is certainly anything but fa- 
vourable. The face cut and disfigured by transverse stripes ; 
the hair done up with red knobs ; the body painted, or rather 
bedaubed, into red and yellow clay; a bunch of grass to 
cover those portions of the person which even savages are 
averse to display ; a little flat grass hat, fastened to the head 
by a skewer; the long wooden spear raised on high as if to 
be brought into immediate use, seldom fail to produce the 
conclusion that here is the very acme of barbarous and savage 
life. A little inquiry, however, into the native character and 
the laws by which they are regulated removes the prejudice, 
and we feel deeply interested in a race presenting such an 
anomalous combination of the wisest and most civilised laws, 
with the rudest and most untutored state of nature. On the 
testimony of George Ireland, a liberated African, and a very 
intelligent person, who lived among the Edeeyah for eleven 
years, and had visited most parts of the island, they are de- 
scribed as being most hospitable and generous to strangers, 
humane, and kindly-disposed towards each other in their se- 
veral communities, both in health and sickness, willing to 
assist each other in difficulties, brave, yet forbearing, and re- 
luctant to spill the blood even of their enemies; and these 
good traits we can vouch for, not only on general authority, 
but from our own observations among them. 

Their battles are not attended with cruelties; their reli- 
gious rites untainted by human blood,—in this affording a 
notable difference between them and most Africans, who 
make their fellow-creatures the grand victims for conciliat- 
ing the jujis, or fetishes. Murder is unknown among 
them; so much so, that a chief near Clarence received the 
cognomen of Cut-throat, for an attempt made on the life of 
one of his subjects, whom he discovered in the act of steal- 
ing from a vessel of war’s boat, during Captain Owen’s visit 
in 1825. They are remarkably honest. We have seen them 


The Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 237 


exposed to such temptations as few Africans can resist, and 
yet not betray the confidence placed in them. 

In Lieutenant Botelar’s narrative of the survey under Cap- 
tain Owen, in H.M.S. Leven and Banacouta, he says,—‘*‘ Our 
intercourse with savages of various tribes and nations, for the 
last four years, has far exceeded that which generally falls to 
the lot of navigators or travellers overland, yet never did we 
meet with a people more savage in appearance, or more sin- 
gular in their customs, than the people of Fernando Po. In 
stature, they were generally low, yet of perfectly symmetri- 
cal form, and, in many cases, of Herculean mould. In hue 
they varied much, some being black, and others of a copper 
colour. Their features were all of exactly the same cast, so 
that I cannot imagine the latter had sprung from intercourse 
with the white.”— Their features were pregnant with intel- 
ligence.” Again, he says,— In no place that we visited did 
the natives appear to be in a state of such barbarism as at 
Fernando Po; yet they manifested the greatest horror of 
theft, which would have done credit to people more advanced 
in civilisation ;”’” and “they made signs that the person who 
had committed the theft should atone for it by the loss of 
one or both hands.” 

Botelar also says, p. 464,—* The further insight into the 
character of the Fernando Po people, gained on our second 
visit to the island, tended to shew that, however barbarous 
they appear to strangers, yet among themselves they have 
very salutary regulations, not less apparent in their civil go- 
vernment than in a military point of view.” 

Neither foreign nor domestic slavery is tolerated; indeed, 
a spirit of independence is discernible in their very bearing 
and look. The Spanish colonists were driven from the 
island during the end of the seventeenth century, for en- 
deavouring to carry on the slave-trade, and to entrap the in- 
habitants. Each town and village has its king or chief, who 
with the head men and jaja men, or Buyeh-ripis, settle all dis- 
putes. The only acknowledgment made to the more powerful 
chiefs is that respect which their superior power ensures. 
They have no traditionary account of their origin or settle- 
ment on the island. 


The religion of these strange people is paganism ; while at 


238 The Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 


the same time they believe in and worship as the great head 
of their religion, an unknown great spirit whom they call 
Riupi, and whom they believe to be the sovereign ruler of the 
world. The idols (different wooden and earthen figures) are 
ealled “ Mohs,” while the priests or Jiji men, of which there 
are always two to each village and town, are styled Buyeh- 
Ripis. It is needless to say that these latter possess un- 
limited confidence and control, and are in fact the principal 
movers in all unusual events, since nothing can be commenced 
or carried on without consulting the ‘‘ Mohs” or idols, a pre- 
rogative only granted to the Buyeh-Ripis. The offerings to 
the mohs or idols are portions of cooked meat, venison, 
ground pig, fowl, and palm wine or topi. Like most Africans, 
the Edeeyah always spits out the first mouthful of spirits, 
or any beverage he is about to partake of, as a portion for 
the Moh! or god. The principal religious festival is just be- 
fore planting the yam, and not at the completion of the har- 
vest as in other parts of Africa. At the season just spoken 
of, they make up a large hunting party in each village or 
town, for the capture of a sort of buffalo which is said to be 
found in the mountains. It resembles a bullock, but is larger ; 
it is black above, with some white about the belly. It is 
wild, scarce, and difficult to be procured, also for the golden 
roode-bocke and philatumba (two species of antelope), monkeys, 
a species of large rat, called a ground pig, for the purpose of 
making a great peace-offering to the unknown god Riupi, 
through the mediation of the mohs or idols. The meat is 
roasted and placed before them; after which the tribe par- 
take of the remainder, eating almost to a surfeit. They be- 
lieve by this feast the deities are conciliated, and a good yam 
season insured. Topi, or palm wine, is freely partaken of on 
such occasions, and is then kept prepared in its most exhila- 
rating form. 

On the decease of any member of a tribe, lamentation is 
made for seven suns or days. The body is covered with a 
sort of white clay, and buried the day of decease. A hole 
is dug just large enough to receive the body placed on its 
side in a sitting posture, with the legs doubled up, and the 
head laid toward the Peak of Clarence, the highest moun- 
tain point. Whether this may have any connexion with the 


The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 239 


belief entertained by many of them, that the rupi visits the 
peak occasionally (when, they say, fire is seen), it is difficult 
to ascertain. 

Tke whole term of mourning, or remembrance of the de- 
parted, is one month, or twenty-eight suns or days, during 
which the relatives assemble in one place, where they eat 
together, and drink the fermented topi or palm wine. Thus, 
though held to be a period of mourning, it is rather one of 
great rejoicing. At the end of the month, four of the sons 
— if the deceased has that number, or, if unmarried, four re- 
latives—are obliged to go out hunting to procure the favourite 
food of the Edeeyah, the bush pig, which, when cooked in a 
small earthen vessel, is partaken of by those only who were 
engaged in the hunt; after which, some of it, with yam and 
palm-oil and topi, are placed on the grave for the supposed 
use of the dead. To touch the foot of a deceased person is 
considered a most unfortunate and distressing circumstance, 
and almost certain to be followed by the death or some sad 
calamity of the party, and that very immediately. Their rude 
ornaments are buried with them. The money (a small spe- 
cies of patella), as also the yams or other property, are di- 
vided equally among all the children, if he has any; if not, 
among the other relatives. 

Like the Jews, and some other eastern nations, the Edee- 
yahs have a system of betrothal, which must continue for 
two years before sexual connection is permitted, during 
which time, the aspirant to the fair possession is obliged to 
perform all the labour which would otherwise fall on his in- 
tended wife, viz., planting yams, carrying water, palm-oil, &c. 
This is only observed in the case of the first wife. The 
courtship or betrothal commences generally at thirteen or 
fourteen years of age, but connection is not permitted until 
the conclusion of the two years ; and should frail nature yield 
before the specified time, the offence is treated as seduction, 
and the youth severely punished, as well as exacting heavy 
fines from the offender’s relatives. Indeed, to seduce an 
Edeeyah girl is one of the most serious offences; and they 
sometimes even destroy the dwelling of the relatives, as well 
as seizing their yams and other property. After the term of 


240) The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 


betrothal, the female is obliged to remain in the hut, from 
which she is not allowed to wander out until there are un- 
equivocal signs of pregnancy. If this does not take place, 
she continues under observation in her hut for eighteen 
months or moons. On her first appearance, or joining the 
tribe as a married woman, a feast is held by the friends. 
Polygamy is universally permitted, the number of wives de- 
pending much on the circumstances of the party. Two and 
three are the usual number ; but some of the chiefs have large 
harems, a few upwards of 100. Bulloka, king of Barid-batah, 
a town seven miles from Clarence, is said to have upwards of 
200: how far correct, I know not. Still it appears that fe- 
males are much more numerous than males; which the na- 
tives admit to be the case. 

Adultery is considered a very aggravated crime against 
their social system. For the first offence both parties are 
punished by the loss of a hand; but in the case of the man, 
he can only lose one: the punishment for the second offence 
being severe chastisement and heavy fines, extended even to 
the property of the relatives. The woman loses her remain- 
ing hand for a repetition of the adultery ; a third offence dis- 
qualifies for a continuance in the village or town. These un- 
fortunate women mostly take refuge with the Kroomen. I 
noticed several who had forfeited both hands, living in the 
care of the Kroomen at Clarence. Adultery is said to be 
very unfrequent. The amputation is performed with a com- 
mon knife, and is done at the wrist-joint. After the opera- 
tion, a vegetable stringent is applied, which is said to control 
the hemorrhage. Clay is put over all, and the arm held up- 
right by a relay of friends. The body is covered with clay 
and palm-oil, to keep the sufferer as warm as possible. I 
examined the stumps of several of these unhappy offenders 
against the Adeeyah system of morals, and they looked as 
well as if done by the most accomplished surgeon. Death 
seldom results from the operation. Of the number of inha- 
bitants collectively, or in the respective towns and villages, 
it would be hazardous to surmise, since no authentic infor- 
mation can be procured on the subject. Some have stated 
5000 to be the probable estimate ; but, judging from the well- 


The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 241 


known harems of some of its chiefs, as also the population 
of some of the smaller towns near Clarence, I should say 
15,000, not to exceed. Bassa-pdo and Ban-na-pa, though small 
towns, would seem to have not less than 1000 to 1200 each, 
from what we noticed on visiting them. 

The dwellings of the Edeeyahs are most primitive and un- 
comfortable. At many of the villages and towns we visited, 
the greater number of the huts were formed simply by 
spreading a coarse matting of palm-leaves over four rude 
posts, just large enough to screen the tenants from the dew 
and part of the rain, but open to all the winds of heaven. 
The more wealthy have, however, their domiciles of wicker- 
work of a square form, and even plastered with mud. Such 
obtain in the villages and towns near Clarence chiefly, and 
have probably been imitated from those of our Sierra Leone 
settlers there. A pillow, hewn out of a block of palm-tree, 
an earthenware pot to boil yams, a pipe for smoking, and a 
topi calabash, make up the list of their furniture. 

When we remember the variable nature of the climate, and 
its heavy rains from May to December, it is truly surprising 
how anything human could exist under such circumstances ; 
and yet they are not only robust, but enjoy good health ; and 
except smallpox, from which they suffer dreadfully when 
once introduced, they have few disorders of a rapid or serious 
character. The principal diseases are light fevers, and skin 
affections; psora, in its worst and African form; and some 
eases of dracunculus, or guinea-worm; but now and then a 
case of elephantiasis of the lower extremity is seen. I need 
not mention that, once that scourge of mankind (especially 
the black portion), the smallpox, commences, it spreads with 
rapidity through the tribe, and carries off great numbers. 
As yet, little has been done to introduce the vaccine among 
them, as their Buyeh-ripis or priests are the doctors, and they 
regard with distrust and ill-feeling anything which is likely 
to remove or weaken their influence among the tribes. They 
use a few vegetable remedies; and anointing certain parts 
of the body with clay and palm-oil near a fire, is a common 
means for headaches and skin diseases; but the chief re- 

VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXYVIIL—APRIL 1848. Q 


242 The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 


liance is placed in the propitiatory powers of the priest to 
invoke the mohs or idols; and if the sick person dies, it is 
only considered to be the operation of the gods, who did not 
wish him to be retained any longer in the tribe. We omitted 
to state in the proper place, that the females have a fair 
portion of labour assigned to them, such as planting and col- 
lecting the yam, preparing and carrying the palm-oil to the 
traders, &c.; but they ave certainly treated with greater 
consideration and kindness than in any part of Africa we 
visited, and they appear to be much attached to their hus- 
bands and children. 

The Hdeeyahs are expert hunts; they use the spear and 
sling with great precision, and kill squirrels, lizards, and 
birds this way. When a tribe is engaged in a hunt, the 
sight is novel and exciting in the extreme. On one occa- 
sion, we had a party of 200 natives from Bannapa, who came, 
agreeably to their promise, to let the White man see ‘* Bubi 
hunt.” They first secured a number of nets, very strongly 
made of bark, to the surrounding trees; after which, the 
juju man, or Buyeh-rupi, began to vociferate loudly, using the 
most absurd gesticulations, in which he was occasionally fol- 
lowed by the others. Their strangely painted bodies, the al- 
most unity of voice with which the party responded to the 
Buyeh-rupi, as well as the frantic manner in which they threw 
their arms about from time to time, formed a scene of the 
strangest interest ; nor was it the less so, as being enacted 
under the waving palm, and lofty hombax or cotton-trees. 
After waiting about half an hour, by which time the juju man 
had got the mohs into a favourable humour, at a given sig- 
nal each person rushed to a small tree, from which he 
plucked some leaves, and commenced rubbing them briskly 
between the hands; some were put into the grass armlets. 
The chief also placed some in the button-holes of our shoot- 
ing-coats. On inquiry, we found it was intended as a token 
of good feeling among all pres ent; that if any should be 
killed or wounded in the hunt, it was not to be considered as 
intentional, but the result of accident. The whole party then 
separated into two long lines, and commenced beating the 
bushes to drive the deer and game down to the nets. Such 


The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 243 


of vis as had guns were placed at the spots they expected the 
golden roode-bocke, or larger deer, to break through. 

Unfortunately a tornado came on, and the party was 
obliged to break up without having secured much game. 

The Edeeyah mode of dancing is both strange and uncouth. 
On festive occasions they fasten dry palm-leaves, &e. all over 
their persons ;—these, tossed about in their frantic evolutions, 
cause a rustling noise, which, with a sort of pavior’s grunt, eh! 
eh! eh! eh! eh! eh! is the only accompanying music, if the 
word can be so employed. Spear in hand, they spring about 
observing a certain regularity of time and figure—rude but 
amusing. They are frequently under the influence of spirit- 
ous liquors at such times, and this adds to their look of 
wild excitement. One peculiarity in the Edeeyah is the in- 
clination they feel to work, hunt, or amusement in unison. 
Thus, whenever it is necessary to employ them on any work, 
a whole village or town must be employed ; in this way, in a 
few days an immense deal is cleared away, when they can be 
persuaded to come together. 

Mr Scott, a respectable coloured man, who usually super- 
intended their labours for the West African Company at 
Fernando Po, informed me that trees of the largest size were 
easily transported by them to the beach, merely by the habit 
they have of employing their force simultaneously. Even 
in the vocal exertions they observe this, and when they chant 
their incantations to Rupi, either at a feast or hunt, or be- 
fore working, they use their voices in such exact unison, that 
it sounds like one stentorian effort, and produces an extra- 
ordinary effect on the ear. The first time we heard them 
thus occupied, it struck us as the most singular unison of vo- 
cal power we ever listened to, On such occasions the Buyeh- 
rupi uses a sort of wooden rattle, with which he keeps up a 
noise during the intervals of the performance. The only 
other instrument of a musical character used by the Kdeeyah 
is a sort of small gourd compressed in the centre, and open 
at both ends. By blowing more or less forcibly into this, and 
regulating the fingers or hand at the bottom, such a variety 
of tones is produced as to enable them to communicate with 
each other at a distance, and even to hold musical dialogues. 


244 The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 


In the still woods of Fernando Po, they are said to be able 
to communicate with each other at the distance of two or 
three miles. Having been a witness to some of these at- 
tempts, we can quite credit the statement. 

Such are a few particulars of this singular people; their 
classification in the African family will be a matter of future 
consideration, when a careful examination of the language and 
comparison with others shall have afforded further data. It 
only remains to state that, having. seen something of the 
African race on the eastern coast and Mosambique, and not 
a little of many of the West African subdivisions, we regard 
the Edeeyah people as at once the most rude and barbarous 
in appearance, and the most civilised in their laws and social 
system. When we say appearance, we do not allude to their 
physical characters, which are superior to most if not all 
Africans. What is meant, is the rude external adornment 
of the untutored savage. That they are capable of reaching 
a high state of improvement cannot be doubted,—their wise 
and salutary laws go half way to meet the missionary or 
philanthropist in his exertions; and the amiable dispositions 
and friendly feelings towards white men would, if expanded 
by a proper system, soon attach them to their benefactors. 

We hope we may not be deemed to anticipate too much 
when we express the belicf that, from the at present little 
known and centrally-situate island of Fernando Po, much of 
the civilization of Western Africa will at some future day 
proceed. 


Supplement—Upon the Edeeyah Vocabulary of Thomas R. 
Heywood Thomson, M.D. By R. E. LAtHaAm, M.D. 


The vocabulary of Dr Thomson of the Kdeeyah language 
of Fernando Po, enables me to institute a comparison between 
it and the languages of the Continent opposite. 

My comparison entirely verifies the statement of Dr Thom- 
Son of its being an independent language. 

With one of the dialects of the Continent, the Bimbia, 


The Bubis, or Edeeyah of Fernando Po. 245 


Dr Thomson’s own vocabularies furnish a comparison ready- 
made. Here there is no affinity on the surface. 

With the language of the Cameroons River, the same 
statement holds good, although it must be borne in mind 
that we have no accessible Cameroons vocabulary of any 
length. The longest one known to the present writer is one 
that was for some time in the library of the Asiatic Society, 
in MS., and which is now in possession of the original col- 
lector. 

The Gaboon vocabularies are also scanty. Such as they 
are, however, they afford no signs of any of the Gaboon dia- 
lects being Edeeyah. 

As to the language of the Delta of the Niger, we have a 
multiplicity of specimens in various dialects, the Ibo, the 
Moko, the Old Calabar, &c. collected by Robertson, Mr Kil- 
ham, Mr Daniell, and others. None of these exhibit any 
special affinity with the Edeeyah. 

With the Benin and Yaruba tongues, the affinity is still 
less evident. . 

Such is the view of the Edeeyah of Fernando Po, considered 
in a practical point of view. Ihave no doubt of its being 
unintelligible to every tribe of the Continent. 

Nevertheless, as it may be this, and yet be no more unlike 
to such languages than English is to Dutch, or Dutch to Dan- 
ish, the farther question as to its more general affinities stands 
over. 

Upon this I can safely say that it is by no means an iso- 
lated language ethnologically speaking. 

It has miscellaneous affinities, with almost all the lan- 
guages between the Gambia and Gaboon; in other words, it 
belongs to that great class which, from comparing the Ibo, 
Ashantee, and other tongues, I call Ibo-Ashantee. The paper 
that proves this is at present in the printers’ hands, for the 
report of the present author upon the present state of Afri- 
can Ethnographical Philology for the British Association. I 
have only to add that Dr Thomson's vocabularies both for 
the Bimbia and Edeeyah are unique, and that they fill an 
important hiatus in African philology. 


( 246°) 


On the Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces. By the 
Rev. F. Mason, A.M. 


In conversation with a distinguished medical officer, and 
member of the Asiatic Society, I found that he was not at all 
aware that the Tenasserim provinces produce gamboge. It 
has, therefore, occurred to me that a brief notice of the gam- 
boge of these provinces might not be unacceptable to the 
readers of the Journal, and would contribute its influence to 
draw attention to a most interesting portion of the British 
provinces in the east ; one that is exceeded by few in the rich- 
ness and variety of its natural productions. 

Three works in my possession describe gamboge, each as 
the product of a different tree ; a fourth represents all to be 
wrong ; and a fifth suggests a different plant still. One re- 
fers it to Cambogia gutta, a plant which, as described by Lin- 
nus, has probably no existence. He described a Ceylon 
plant, and it is now quite evident, says Dr Wight, ‘that 
the character of the flower and ovary is taken from one spe- 
cimen, and that of the fruit from a different one, owing to 
the imperfection of his specimens, and his not being aware 
that the lobes of the stigma afford a sure indication of the 
number of cells of the fruit.” 

Another refers it to Garcinia cambogia; but Dr Wight 
says that the exudation of this tree is “ wholly incapable of 
forming an emulsion with the wet finger ;” a statement which 
the writer knows to be correct. The tree is very common 
in the Tenasserim provinces, but the bright yellow exuda- 
tion it produces is certainly not gamboge. 

A third refers to Stalagmitis cambogioides ; but Dr Wight 
remarks, “ the juice of this tree differs so widely in its qua- 
lities from good gamboge, that it can never be expected to 
prove valuable as a pigment.” 

Dr Graham has described a Ceylon tree under the name 
of Hebradendron cambogioides, which is said to produce good 
gamboge; but no gamboge has ever been exported into the 
English market from Ceylon. Thus it would appear, to use 


On the Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces. 247 


the language of Dr Wight, that “the tree or trees which 
produce the gamboge of commerce is not yet known.” 

Dr Helfer, who was employed by Government as a scienti- 
fic naturalist in these provinces, at an expense of 1300 rupees 
per month, reported, “ the gamboge of this country dissolves 
very little with water, and consequently does not yield that 
yellow emulsion as the common gutéifera. It will never 
serve as a colour, but promises to give a very beautiful var- 
nish.” ‘This statement was controverted by a writer in our 
local periodical at the time, who said he had obtained ‘fine 
gamboge of the very best description” from our jungles : in 
which he was no doubt correct ; but he erred when he added 
that it came from the “true Stalagmitis cambogioides.” A 
yery small amount of botany would have served to preserve 
him from falling into this error; for the plant has a quinary 
arrangement of its flowers, while the arrangement of the 
flowers in those that produce gamboge in these provinces is 
quaternary. 

The hills that bound the valley of the Tavoy river, on both 
sides, from their bases to their summits, abound with a tree 
which produces a fine gamboge. It is Roxburgh’s Garcinia 
pictoria, which he knew produced gamboge, but which he said 
was liable to fade. As soon as I satisfied myself of the iden- 
tity of the trees by an examination of the inflorescence of 
our plant compared with Roxburgh’s description, I coloured 
a piece of paper, one band with this gamboge, and another 
with the gamboge of commerce; and subsequently exposed 
both to the weather equally for more than twelve months, 
but without being able to discover that one faded any more 
than the other. South of the latitude of the mouth of Tavoy 
river, and throughout the province of Mergui, there is found 
on the low plains at the foot of the hills, and on the banks 
of the rivers, almost down to tide waters, another species of 
garcinia that also produces good gamboge. Ihave no doubt 
but it is the tree from which Dr Griffiths furnished Dr 
Wight with specimens, and which the latter says, “ I refer 
doubtfully to Wallich’s G. elliptica.’” We will call it then 
G. elliptica, w species which Dr Wight has on his list of 
‘species imperfectly known.” The foliation and female 


248 On the Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces. 


flowers are, however, very well described; and to complete 
the description, I may add, the male flowers are peduncu- 
lated, but the peduncles are shut, and they might be cha- 
racterised as subsessile. The anthers, like those of the 
female flowers, are sessile, depressed, or flattened above, 
and dehise circularly. The ripe fruit is globose, and not 
furrowed. As I send along with this paper specimens of 
both the male and female flowers, any of your botanists will 
be able to correct me at a glance, if I be in error. 

Neither Wallich, Wight, nor Griffiths appear to have 
been at all aware that this species produces gamboge. 
Dr Wight, in a recent number of his Neilgherry plants, 
says—“‘ Two species of the genus Garcinia are known to 
produce gamboge, most of the others yield a yellow juice, 
but not gamboge, as it will not mix with water.” The spe- 
cies which he has described as producing gamboge, and. to 
which I suppose he refers, are G. gutta or H. cambogioides 
(Graham), and G. pictoria (Roxburgh). That others may 
be enabled to judge of the character of the gamboge pro- 
duced by this tree, I have the pleasure to send specimens of 
its exudation. In its appearance to the eye, and in its pro- 
perties as a pigment, I have failed to discover the slightest 
difference between it and the gamboge of commerce. It 
serves equally well to colour drawings—-the Burmese priests 
often use it to colour their garments, and the Karens to dye 
their thread. It is also used by the native doctors in medi- 
cine, but I think not extensively. Dr Lindley, in his new 
work the “ Vegetable Kingdom,’ says,—‘ The best gamboge 
comes in the form of pipes from Siam, and this is conjec- 
tured to be the produce of Garcinia Cochinchinensis.” As 
G. elliptica is spread all over the province of Mergui, is it 
not probable that it extends into Siam, and that the Siamese 
gamboge is the produce, in part at least, of this tree? 

There are several other species of Garcinia indigenous to 
the province, but I know of no others producing anything 
resembling gamboge, except Gambogia; the exudation of 
which, though it will not dissolve in water, dissolves in 
spirits of turpentine, and forms a very beautiful yellow var- 
nish for tin and other metallic surfaces.—(Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, New Series, No. vii., p. 661.) 


( 249 ) 


On the Distribution of the different species of Rocks in the Er- 
ratic Basin of the Rhone. By M. A. Guyot. Communi- 
cated by the Author. 


We now know, and my preceding communications have, I 
think, demonstrated, that the erratic Alpine formation is di- 
-vided into a certain number of groups of rocks, or into erratic 
basins, whose respective limits are perfectly distinct. But 
the question is more difficult to answer, whether, in the in- 
terior of each of these basins, we can determine a certain 
order in the distribution of the different rocks there met with. 
This subject, indeed, can scarcely be said to have been con- 
sidered at all. Among the few authors who have occupied 
themselves with the study of the erratic formation, M. J. A. 
Deluc enumerates a multitude of facts, carefully arranged, 
without endeavouring to deduce from them any argument for 
or against the existence of a law of distribution. MM. de 
Buch and Charpentier have slightly touched the question as 
it relates to the basin of the Rhone. The former seems to 
answer it inthe affirmative, with regard to the granites of Mont 
Blane and the pudding-stones of Valorsine. The latter, who 
admits a law of distribution for the erratic rocks in the interior 
of the valley of the Rhone, appears to deny all regularity in 
the appearance of the same species which cover the plain ; 
but M. Studer, on the contrary, believes that he has found 
one in the basin of the Aar, in the space which lies beyond 
the high Alps. The facts which I have observed in all the 
erratic basins, and especially in those of the Rhine, the Reuss, 
and the Rhone, have led me to these results :— 

1st, That the distribution of the species of erratic rocks in 
the interior of each basin is subject to a law which has the 
same influence in the plains as in the valleys. 

2dly, That this law is the same in all the basins. 

But it is of the last only of the basins I have named that 
I wish to speak at present. 

The variety of rocks, differing as much in appearance as in 
mineralogical character, presented by the basin of the Rhone, 
and the large scale on which the phenomenon is exhibited, ren- 


250 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


der this basin an excellent field for a study of this nature. On 
the other hand, its double divergeney and double outlet, on the 
east and west, complicate the question, by introducing an 
element not found in the other basins, and which it is ne- 
cessary to be particularly careful in taking into account. I 
shall first notice briefly the principal species of rocks which 
distinguish the basin of the Rhone, then examine what is the 
mode of association and distribution peculiar to each of them,,. 

Characteristic species—The rocks which I consider as truly 
characteristic of this basin, without belonging to species very 
distinct, nevertheless form everywhere groups identical with 
themselves, and perfectly recognisable, They are essentially 
the following :— 

1. A species of granite, or, if the term be preferred, taleose 
syenite, of a yellowish-green colour, composed of a talcose, 
chloriteous, and most frequently slaty mass, intermixed with 
numerous crystals of quartz, felspar, and amphibole, and 
sprinkled here and there with very small crystals of sphene. 
Pretty frequently it affects the structure of gneiss, or even 
slate; in the latter case, the quartz and amphibole, and 
even the felspar, gradually disappear, and the rock passes 
into a sort of chloriteous slate. This rock is the talcose 
granite of M. De Charpentier, the sphenitic rock of M. De 
Buch; I shall designate it by the single word Arkesine, a name 
which M. Jurine has given to a rock very analogous, of which 
I have found some specimens in the collection deposited in 
the museum of Geneva. 

2. A species of gneiss, very rich in white felspar imper- 
fectly crystallised, with broken or undulated scales of chlorite, 
of a fine light green, sprinkled with very shining particles, 
and containing crystals of quartz, few in number, and irre- 
gularly distributed. By the disappearance of the quartz, 
which is often wanting, this rock passes into a sort of chlori- 
teous leptinite ; by the diminution of the felspar to a very 
minute quantity, and the predominance of the chlorite, it ap- 
proaches to a simple chloriteous slate. I shall call it chlori- 
teous gneiss. 

3. Chiorites, of a light or dark bluish-green, usually slaty, 
appearing as if regularly pricked with a great number 
of granules of white or yellowish felspar, of very variable 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 251 


size. It is these chlorites which I have hitherto named 
roches de Bagnes, because they constitute, in a considerable 
degree, the great chains which traverse the upper part of this 
valley and its neighbourhood. 

These three species are found too uniformly together 
throughout the whole extent of the basin of the Rhone not 
to have primitively belonged to the same localities, They 
form a group by themselves, which I shall call, by way of 
eminence, the Pennine rocks ; for I have satisfied myself that 
it is in the highest summits of the Pennine Alps that they 
have their primitive seat. 

M. De Charpentier had announced, on hearsay, that arke- 
sine, or talcose granite, came from the valley of Binnen, in the 
Haut-Valais, and especially from the chain which separates 
this yalley from Val-Antigorio. I have traversed this valley, 
and the Col de Albrun, which leads to Antigorio, without 
meeting with a single fragment which reminded me of this 
well-marked rock. MM. Studer, Escher, and Desor, have 
examined the two chains which border this valley, from Va- 
lais as far as Val-Divedro, without finding it. I was there- 
fore ignorant, when starting on my last expedition among 
the Alps, whither I should go to seek for it. Guided by the 
law of distribution which I had recognised in the plain, and 
by the constant association of this rock with those of Mont 
Rosa, I directed my steps to the bottom of the valleys of this 
enormous mass, and there, above the Glacier of Zmutt, I at 
last found it in great abundance, forming a vast moraine on 
the left flank of the valley, at the very limit of the polished 
rocks, at a height of 9000 feet. This train, which I followed 
for the space of a league, evidently came from the near re- 
gions of the Dent Blanche and Dent d’Erin, 

I again found the arkesine in the Val d’Erin in equal abun- 
dance. The only two specimens of this rock in the rich col- 
lection at Berne, were brought, the one from these same 
regions of the Dent d'Erin, where it was found by M. Forbes, 
the other from the bottom of the valley of Bagnes, from the 
Glacier of Chermontane, where it was procured by M. Studer. 
At the Glacier of Zmutt, as in the Val d’Erin, the chloritic 
gneiss, with all its varieties, accompanies the arkesine. We 


252 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


may therefore assert that these rocks belong to the great 
metamorphic chain which, according to M. Studer, constitutes 
the greater part of the enormous masses of the Pennine Alps 
from the valleys of Bagnes and Entremont, as far as that of 
Viege and beyond it.* 

With regard to the granular chlorites, or Bagnes rocks, 
their original site is determined long since. Although de- 
scending in greatest abundance by the valleys of Bagnes and 
Entremont, they are found throughout the whole extent that 
T have indicated, all varying much. They pass by different de- 
grees to slates, more or less talcose, often with a filamentous 
structure, and they are found under these diverse forms in the 
southern chain as far as the Haut-Valais. The arkesine, on 
the contrary, and the chloriteous gneiss, never appear higher 
than the valley of Viege, which is occupied by the rocks which 
have descended from the valley of Saas. 

We may join to this group of the Pennine rocks, properly 
so called, that of the rocks of Mont Rosa, which likewise 
contains three species particularly characteristic. 

4. The Euphotides of Saas are here placed in the first 
rank. This beautiful rock, whose varicties, more or less rich 
in Saussurite, Smaragdite, and yellow or white tale, are very 
numerous, is distinguished from the rare euphotides or gra- 
nitones of the basins of the Isére and Rhine. It is spread 
over almost the whole surface of the basin of the Rhone, 
and is, notwithstanding, known to be derived from the valley 
of Saas alone. It descends the high ridges of Saasgrat by 
one route, the glacier Alalein, behind which I could not per- 
ceive a single fragment. This exclusive origin, joined to its 


* These conclusions have been fully justified, and placed beyond all doubt, 
by my investigations last summer (1846). I traversed the whole high chain 
of the Pennine Alps, still so little known, from Mont Blane to Mont Rosa. I 
either reached or crossed the ridge at five different points. I examined the 
bottom of all the valleys on the northern side, from the valley of Bagnes to that 
of Saas, as well as a part of those on the southern slope; and I had the great 
satisfaction of discovering at last, in these almost inaccessible peaks, the pre- 
cise site of all the characteristic rocks of the erratic basin of the Rhone which 
are here enumerated, and to collect them in sitw. I shall give an account else- 
where of the result of these researches, which complete the series of my studies 
on the Swiss erratic formation,—Scee p. 319. 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 253 


great diffusion, renders it of much value for distinguishing 
the basin of the Rhone from contiguous basins. 

5. The Eclogites, faithful companions. of the euphotides, 
and not less characteristic, also come exclusively from the 
same localities. The base of this rock seems to be a sort of 
granular amphibolite, of a greyish-green, imperfectly slaty, 
sprinkled regularly with small grains, from one to four 
millimeters in diameter, so numerous that they form an essen- 
tial part of the rock, and with brilliant spangles of silvery 
mica, likewise numerous, of the same size, and remarkable 
for their regular distribution and generally rounded form. 
This rock, as widely distributed as the euphotide in the form 
of pebbles and small blocks, is seldom found in blocks of 
large size, although it descends, like the euphotide, by the 
glacier Alalein; I have likewise found it to the west of Saas- 
grat, in the moraines of the glacier of Finnelen. 

6. The Serpentines, compact and slaty, belonging to the 
mass of Mont Rosa, may be ranked among the rocks 
characteristic of this great Pennine chain, and of the basin 
of the Rhone. For, although it may be alleged that some of 
_ them are likewise found in the neighbouring basins of the 
Arve and Isére, they will always afford distinct indications, 
by their particular varieties, abundance, and association with 
rocks of a less questionable origin than themselves. 

The two preceding groups represent, in the plain, the great 
central or Pennine chain ; the following species essentially 
represent the lateral masses of Mont Blanc and of the Ber- 
nese Oberland. 

7. The granites of the basin of the Rhone, forming gigantic 
blocks scattered on the declivities of the Jura, and which 
having been the first to attract the attention of the learned 
world, it is natural that they should have been considered 
as the principal and most characteristic rock of this basin. 
Such, however, is not the case; for not only are they less 
generally diffused than the Pennine rocks, but some of them 
are common to it with the basin of the Arve, and others are 
very analogous to those of the basin of the Aar. 

These granites are essentially of two sorts. 

One of them has a base of white felspar, sometimes very 


254 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


slightly tinged with violet, in large parallelopipedal crystals, 
often mdcles, or twin crystals, with quartz faintly violaceous ; 
amphibole and a chloriteous substance usually replace the mica, 
which is rare, and form here and there masses of a dark-green, 
the size of which varies from an inch to a foot and upwards. 
We should then be disposed to say that a fragment of a foreign 
rock was imbedded in the mass of granite. Lastly, a taleose 
substance of a light-green, with an earthy appearance, com- 
municates its colour to a part of the mass. These are the 
protogines of the chain of Mont Blanc, of which there are 
many varieties, owing to differences in the development of 
the crystals, in the structure, and in the abundance of the 
talcose parts. Although these varieties seem to be found in 
many parts of the chain, it may be said, in general, that the 
protogines which are distinguished by the disproportionate 
size of their crystals of felspar and gneissitic structure, be- 
long to the needles of Chamounix, on the north-west decli- 
vity of the chain ; those of Val Ferret, on the north-east de- 
clivity, have a more equal grain, although the crystals are 
still very much developed. The protogines with small grains, 
poor in talcose portions, or passing into true gneiss, are 
found chiefly in the extreme north, between St Maurice and 
Martigny, as in Mont Catogne. 

The second kind of granite differs from the preceding in 
many characters. ‘The crystals do not exceed a medium size ; 
they are also more confusedly crystallised, and are never 
méacles, or twin erystals.. The mica, or the substances which oe- 
cupy its place, is more disseminated and of a lighter green: 
These granites rarely contain dark masses imbedded in their 
substance: when they do, they are inconsiderable, and less 
distinctly defined on their edges. The talcose portions are 
often by no means abundant, and the aspect of the rock gene- 
rally whiter. These granites come from the glacier of the 
Rhone and the mass of the Bernese Oberland, descending by 
the glaciers Viesch and Aletsch, and following the right bank 
of the Valais, whence their analogy with those which issue 
from the same masses by the valley of the Aar. 

8. The Pudding-stones of Valorsine, which the beautiful 
observations of Saussure have rendered celebrated, are one 


ae 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 255 


of the kinds of rock most distinctive of the basin of the Rhone. 
They are composed of a sandstone, often slaty, of a fine grey, 
yery micaceous, sprinkled here and there with slaty spots, of 
greater or less size, and of a deep and dull black, interposed 
between the lamine. These sandstones contain pebbles and 
fragments of quartz, gneiss, and other primitive rocks, the size 
of which varies from that of fine gravel to the bigness of the 
head. These pebbles are usually so numerous that the slaty 
structure disappears, and they are so firmly cemented that 
the hammer cannot detach them without breaking their bed, 
and at the fracture they appear like spots whose edges are 
not always clearly marked. The whole forms a rock of great 
hardness. Their primitive site is not confined to the valley 
of Valorsine; the rock is likewise cv si¢w on the right bank 
of the Rhone, above Outre-Rhone, near the Dent de Morcles, 
and on the mountain of Foully. In two localities it is ac- 
companied with conglomerates and schists of wine-red, be- 
longing to the same formation. It is from the latter, that is, 
the right side of the valley, that the greater part of the nu- 
merous blocks of this species which are in an erratic state in 
the basin of the Rhone, seem to have been detached. 

9. We must, in the last place, indicate, as a character of 
the basin of the Rhone, which no other neighbouring basin 
shares with it, at least in the same degree, the remarkable 
abundance of pebbles of all sizes, of a quartz usually yellow- 
ish, which are distributed over the entire surface, and the 
presence of which, at the outskirts of the basin, invariably 
announces the proximity of other erratic rocks. 

Distribution of the Species.—The distribution of the spe- 
cies I have named in the plain is by no means accidental. 
Here also there is no disorder, no absolute mixture, but an 
order and a method, which takes place according to certain 
laws. No doubt we cannot look here for distinct limits of 
distribution, like those which separate the different basins, 
but we can lay down the following propositions :— 

1. A particular species abounds in one region of the basin, 
and is found rarely, or not at all, in another. 

2. The blocks of diverse species, on leaving the place of 
their origin, have a tendency to form parallel series, and 
when they reach the plain, they spread considerably, but do 


256 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


not fail to preserve a respective disposition, analogous to that 
which they occupied in their primitive sites. The blocks of 
the right flank of the valley occupy, in the plain, the right 
side of the basin; those of the left flank, the left side ; those 
of the most central valleys cover the central regions of it. 

3. Groups composed each of a single species of rock to the 
exclusion of every other, are found here and there in the 
midst of rocks of various species, but always in conformity to 
the conditions of the preceding rule. 

A word on the distribution of each of the species I have de- 
scribed will afford proof of this. 

The Pennine rocks, the arkesine, chloriteous gneiss, and 
granular chlorites, are by far the most widely diffused ; they 
cover three-fourths of the surface of the basin. We have 
said that they always go together, and form a group which 
conducts itself almost like a single species. If we take them 
at their point of departure from the mouth of the valley of 
Viege and Val d’Erin, we see them follow the left flank of 
the valley of the Rhone, without ever passing to the opposite 
side. At the outlet of the valleys of Entremont and Trient 
they are joined by the granites of Mont Blanc, which accom- — 
pany them, and form the outer border. On issuing from the 
valley of the Rhone, they spread themselves in the plain in a 
vast fan-shaped expansion, and fill the basin of Leman, and 
that of the lakes Neuchatel and Bienne. We find them at 
the same time along the exterior slopes of the Chablais 
chains, at the foot of the Saléve, in the whole of the plain of 
Geneva ; they crown Mont De Sion with prodigious blocks. 
They constitute the great majority of the large blocks sus- 
pended on the back of the Jura from Fort Ecluse to the foot 
of the Dole, as well as the less numerous blocks scattered in 
the plains in the country of Gex and the heights of De la 
Cote, as far as the vicinity of Lausanne. Further to the east, 
these same rocks, but in blocks of smaller size, and compara- 
tively less frequent, strew the slopes of the Jura, and form, 
along with the granites of Mont Blanc, the superior limit of 
the erratic formation. In the plains, where granites scarcely 
appear, they again predominate, and cover with their debris 
the whole plain of the Aar, the molassic hills between Soleure 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 257 


and Berne, and extend to the environs of Zoffingen and Ar- 
bourg, where measurable blocks of chlorites may be consi- 
dered the last representatives of the Pennine rocks, and mark 
the extreme limit of the extension of the basin of the Rhone. 

Still further, these rocks are the only ones which pene- 
trate into the interior of the high valleys of the Jura. Be- 
yond the superior limit of the erratic formation, indicated in 
the Jura of Neuchatel and Vaudois by large blocks of gra- 
nite and the existence of polished surfaces, beyond the two 
or three first chains, and still further, we encounter in the 
bottom of the high valleys, at a height of more than 3500 
feet, an erratic formation, composed of fragments and blocks, 
the largest of which scarcely measure a metre, accompanied 
with numerous quartz pebbles. 

These fragments are usually very angular, yet have an in- 
describable appearance of great age ; the rock seems greatly 
altered. They appear to have been buried for a longer or 
shorter time under the earth, where they are still found for 
the most part. Yet the rocks composing this erratic forma- 
tion, which may well be called insulated and distinct from the 
rest of the basin, are still exclusively the Pennine rocks. 
Not one granite from Mont Blane, nor one pudding-stone of 
the Valorsine, penetrates into this inclosure, defended by the 
high chains of the Jura. The valleys open towards the plain, 
such as those of Vallorbe, Val de Travers, Val de Ruz, are 
the only ones of the Jura into which the latter penetrate. 
The quartz only, in numerous pebbles of all sizes, accompa- 
nies the Pennine rocks into the interior of the Jura, and thus 
become, along with them, the last and most distant repre- 
sentatives of the Alpine rocks over the whole of this extre- 
mity. 

But although these three species of rocks thus act a com- 
mon part, we can, nevertheless, remark a difference in their 
distribution, which confirms the law indicated above. 

The granular chlorites, which come in greatest abundance 
from the lower part of the valley of the Rhone, have a ten- 
dency to preserve their exterior position along the left bank 
of the basin. They are found in greatest plenty, and in 
blocks of the largest size, in the western part of the basin. 

VOL, XLIV. NO, UXXXVIM.—APRIL 1848. R 


258 M., A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


They ascend very high on the chains of the Chablais, with- 
out, however, attaining the height of the granites, but leav- 
ing below them the arkesines, which occupy chiefly the foot 
of these heights. They still appear in blocks of many metres 
on Mont de Sion. Above the country of Gex, on the con- 
fines of the Vaudois and Neuchatelese Jura, on the Suchet 
and Chasseron, they reappear more frequently and in large 
blocks. But more to the east the blocks ave smaller and 
less numerous, and more talcose varieties, in which all gra- 
nulation gradually disappears, become substituted for the 
true granular chlorites. 

The chloriteous gneiss, although abundant, rarely forms 
large blocks; its presence is more intimately connected with 
that of arkesine ; and we may consider what we are about to 
state as to the distribution of the latter rock, as applicable to 
it also, 

The arkesine, with its analogues, is the most widely spread 
of these three rocks ; its true domain is the south-west part 
of the basin. We find it along the Savoyard side of the Lake 
of Geneva; it forms the great majority of the blecks on 
Mont de Sion, Vouache, and the country of Gex. More to the 
east, it accompanies the granites of Jura, in blocks still nu- 
merous, but of much smaller size. Inthe plain we find it 
abundantly between Neuchatel, Fribourg, and Berne; it forms, 
almost by itself, some leagues from Soleure, the largest blocks 
known, not only in the basin of the Rhone, but in all Switzer- 
land, such as the great block of Stienhof, and, quite near to 
that, those of Steinberg. 

Thus, then, the Pennine rocks are found almost through- 
out the whole extent of the basin. No region is exempt, 
unless it be the right side of the valley of the Rhone, and be- 
yond the Alps, the countries situate at the foot of the moun- 
tains of Gruyére. Everywhere the chlorites abound, particu- 
larly on the left bank of the Lake of Geneva, while the arke- 
sines, along with the chloriteous gneiss, prevail in the central 
portion of the basin, especially, on the one hand, on Mont 
de Sion and in the country of Gex, and, on the other, at the 
extremity of the north-east, in the plain to the south of Soleure. 
The respective situation of the regions where the one or other 


a 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 259 


of these three erratic species predominate, is thus, beyond 
the Alps, the same as is observed to exist among the Alpine 
valleys whence they derive their origin. 

The rocks of Mont Rosa, in like manner, act as if they 
were one species. They follow very nearly the attraction of 
the Pennine rocks, and accompany them almost everywhere 
in the state of pebbles; but they do not follow them to the 
greatest heights, appearing to prefer the plain or the lower 
sides. The considerably-sized blocks of these rocks are found 
chiefly in the western part of the basin. The plain of Geneva, 
and the slopes which bound it, the country of Gex, and par- 
ticularly the neighbourhood of Nyon, are their true domain. 
There only we meet with blocks of euphotide from two to 
five metres in length, and masses of serpentine still longer. 
Beyond this limit, in the eastern part of the Pay de Vaud, 
and further to the east, blocks of euphotide become very rare ; 
the most remote I have met with on the sides of the Jura, 
were found above Neuchatel and Neuveville, and they scarcely 
reach the dimensions of a metre. The same thing may be 
said of the serpentines. Both of these rocks, however, and 
the serpentines in particular, reappear in abundance and in 
large blocks between Berne and Bourgdorf, where they give 
a character to an entire region of the basin. Withregard to 
the eclogites, I am acquainted with no large blocks of it. It 
is usually found in blocks of small size, searcely measurable, 
and most frequently in pebbles of very variable dimensions. 

We see that the two regions in which the rocks of Mont 
Rosa are most abundant, are both on the right of those in 
which the Pennine rocks predominate. Here, also, we again 
find in the plain a disposition of the erratic rocks which 
recalls the relative situation of the valleys from which they 
descended. 

The distribution of the granites of Mont Blanc presents 
some remarkable characters. We find them, at the same time, 
at the superior limit of the whole erratic formation, along 
the left side of the basin, on the heights of Chablais, and 
along the opposite declivities of the Jura. This latter loca- 
lity even appears to be, contrary to all expectation, the spe- 
cial domain of this rock. From La Dole to beyond Soleure, 


260 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


in the neighbourhood of Niederbipp and Aarwangen, not only 
do blocks of granite predominate both in number and size, 
but they are arranged in continuous bands with well-defined 
limits, excluding everywhere all other species of rock. This 
takes place more especially in the Neuchatelese Jura, where 
this disposition is more distinctly exhibited than in any other 
place. 

On the flanks of the Chaumont chain, indeed, the upper 
limit of the erratic formation is composed of a zone of granite 
blocks, the largest of which measures ten metres. This zone 
is prolonged, always becoming lower to the east side, on the 
heights of Chaumont to the foot of Chasseral, near Nods and 
Ligniéres, then by the valleys of Orvins and Vauffelin. It 
is mingled with numerous blocks, but relatively of small size, 
of the Pennine rocks. Below this first zone is an interval of 
upwards of a thousand feet in height, altogether destitute of 
large blocks: with difficulty we observe here and there a 
few representatives of the Pennine rocks. But we soon meet 
with a second zone nearly twenty minwées broad, which covers 
the plateaux of Pierre-a-Bot with a quantity of blocks quite 
as large and numerous as those of the former zone. It is to 
this zone that Pierre-a-Bot belongs ; it is eighteen metres 
in size, and there are a great number of others almsot of 
equal dimensions. This band is prolonged to the east and 
west in all the country of Neuchatel, and forms, a little 
above Boujeau, near Bienne, one of the finest deposites of 
this kind to be met with on the declivities of the Jura. 

Two species of rocks only form this train of huge blocks, 
namely, the protogine of Mont Blane, with very large crystals 
of felspar, coming from the needles of Chamouni, and, in gene- 
ral, the western declivity of the chain, accompanied by a kind 
of grey gneiss or very hard mica-slate, of which I have 
found examples in the chain of the red Aiguilles of Chamouni. 
The inferior limit of this zone, which, in the vicinity of Neu- 
chatel, is five hundred feet above the plain, is distinctly 
marked. After passing it, we immediately find the arkesines, 
chlorites, euphotides, &c., reappear. 

These two zones may be followed to a distance, to the east 
and west; but they are not everywhere so distinct. The 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 261 


upper zone always forms the superior limit of the erratic 
formation ; it turns round Chaumont, enters the Val de Ruz, 
at the bottom of which it is marked by an accumulation of 
large blocks near the village of Pasquier, follows the heights 
of Planches, the foot of the Pic de Tete de Rang, the elevated 
meadows of Champs-devant, passes into the Val de Travers, 
where it forms everywhere the circumference of the valley, 
as far as the tower of St Sulpice, where there is a crown of 
blocks at the same level. The granites extend to the entrance 
of the valley of Verricres, without entering it, and terminate 
suddenly below Céte-aux-Fees without ascending the pla- 
teau, while these two valleys contain pretty numerous frag- 
ments of altered Pennine rocks. 

The zone of granite then ascends the mountain of Boudry, 
describes a semicircular curve in the bottom of the hollow of 
Provence, of which the Prises and high pasturages are as it 
were inundated with immense blocks, notwithstanding the con- 
tinual efforts of the agriculturalist to destroy or to bury them. 
In this anfractuosity, the interval between the two zones dis- 
appears, but their position is still indicated by a greater 
abundance of large granitic blocks at the summit and bottom 
of the side. This double cincture continues to be drawn, 
with the analogous phenomena, on the flanks of Mont Aubert ; 
the granites rise to the village of Mont Borgeais, near which 
the great block of Pidouse indicates nearly the upper limit. 
The latter attains its maximum height on the plateau of 
Bullets, whence it gently descends by Sainte Croix on the 
eastern declivities of the Aiguille de Beaumes. From that 
point, the large blocks of Suchet, those of Granges de Valorbe, 
which measure twenty metres, the numerous blocks of the 
plateau De Premier, those of Mont la Ville, celebrated for 
their great dimensions, and lastly, those which conceal the 
forests of Mont Richer, by their numbers, everywhere mark 
out the permanence of this grand girdle of granites, which 
gradually descends lower, and becomes more and more in- 
termixed. Still further, toward the west, these same granites 
do not cease, but from Déle more especially, the blocks be- 
come less numerous, much smaller, and yield the prepon- 
derance tothe Pennine rocks. We still find them, it is true, 


262 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


throughout the whole extent of the plain of Gex and Geneva, 
but they are sporadical, mixed, and no longer in the zone of 
the large blocks like that we have just described. 

In this girdle of the large blocks of the Jura, it is the 
varieties which must have issued from the valley of Trient 
which predominate. Those of the Val Ferret are rarer, 
and are found rather below the two zones towards the plain. 
This arrangement, and the fact that the lower limit of the 
zone of blocks is distinctly defined, even in the midst of the 
forests and uncultivated rocky places, prevents us ascribing, 
as has been done, the absence of the large blocks in the 
plain solely to the hand of man and the progress of cultiva- 
tion. 

The granites of Haut Valais, or those on the right flank 
of the valley, occupy a very secondary place in the plain. 
Pretty numerous in the Valais on the right bank of the Rhone, 
in the plain they are superseded by the pudding-stones of 
Valorsine towards the interior of the basin. They follow a 
curved line which passes along the Jorat between Lausanne 
and Vevey, turn slowly to the east on the plateaux which 
surround Moudon, then follow the heights to the north of 
Romont, and rejoin the Alps of Fribourg at the foot of La 
Barra. The greater part of the granites which are scattered 
in small numbers to the north of this line, as far as the neigh- 
bourhood of Neuchatel, Fribourg, and Berne, seem to have 
this origin. 

On the other hand, I think I may rank in this class a con- 
siderable number of granite blocks, met with on the plateaux 
which overlook Morges, near the village of Bussy, and as far 
as Aubonne and the plains of Biére. These blocks might 
form a second zone running from the east to the west on the 
heights of Jorat, parallel to the banks of the lake, as if to re- 
join the Jura. 

The pudding-stones of Valorsine, along with the red or wine 
coloured conglomerates, have a more distinct domain than any 
other rock. They occupy by themselves the right side of the 
basin, from the mouth of the valley of the Rhone, and cover 
the plateau of Jorat, as far as the environs of Lausanne. The 
red conglomerates keep almost exclusively at the upper limit 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 263 


of the erratic formation, along the extreme right side on the 
heights of the chain which overlook Semsale, on the Moleson 
and La Barra. We again encounter them even beyond Goug- 
gisberg. The blocks of Valorsine, properly so called, occupy 
the heights which overhang Vevey, to the exclusion of aliost 
every other rock. They form a broad zone, which, on issuing 
from the valley, bends to the north-east, and covers all the 
country between the Alps on the one side, and the heights to 
the north of Rue and Romont, to the neighbourhood of Fvi- 
bourg and Guggisberg. We likewise find them very nume- 
rous, and even predominating, but mingled with the Pennine 
rocks and granites, on the plateau between Lausanne and 
Yverdon, and on all the southern bank of the lake of Neucha- 
tel. They are rare on the northern bank of this lake and at 
the foot of the Jorat, where they rarely ascend to any height. 
We may mention, asa phenomenon, a block of this rock, of 
two or three metres, situate 400 feet above the lake of 
Neuchatel, in the little valley of Vert, near Boudry. To the 
east of Berne and Aarberg the Valorsines are very thinly 
scattered. 

The western part of the basin is by no means entirely desti- 
tute of them; they occur to the west of Lausanne and Yver- 
don, as far as Aubonne, and near the Jura. A few appear 
here and there in the plain of Geneva; but these no doubt 
come from the left bank, from the valley of Valorsine and 
Trient. In no part of these regions are they so abundant as 
to impart a character to it, and the size of the blocks is never 
very remarkable. 

Quartz Pebbles. If I have given a place to quartz pebbles 
among the most characteristic rocks, it is because there are 
few rocks so generally and uniformly distributed in the basin 
of the Rhone. The quartz, however, appears most ready to 
accompany the Pennine rocks. Beyond the limits of the 
blocks, on the Jura, when every other rock has disappeared, 
we still find a quartz pebble here and there, even to a height 
of 4000 feet, as on the summit of the chain of Creux du Vent, 
between Provence and Motiers; on the ridge of the chain of 
Tete de Rang, between Val de Ruz and the valley of Sagne ; 
on the heights of Pery and Du Monto; on the chain which 


264. M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


separates the valley of Langenbruck from Cisingen, and else- 
where. 

The quartz pebbles are thus the only vestiges of the erratic 
formation which connects the region of the exterior blocks of 
the Jura with the erratic formation, as we find it insulated in 
the bottom of the high valleys of this chain. Here they are 
associated with the Pennine rocks as usual, but they are pro- 
portionably more abundant. Lastly, no rock appears in more 
numerous fragments, nor so far from the Alps. When placed 
beyond the erratic basin of the Rhone, we approach the re- 
gions which it occupies in Savoy, in the Jura, as in Argovia ; 
everywhere we encounter, on the outer margin, the quartz 
pebbles as the avant-coureurs of the Alpine rocks. It is in 
this way, that at the eastern extremity of the basin, and most 
remote from the primitive sites, in the vicinity of Urkheim = 
and Zofingen, not far from the spot where we leave the predo- 
minating erratic rocks of the Reuss, a great abundance of 
quartz pebbles suddenly announces the approach of the basin 
of the Rhone. They are alone at first, but a few hundred 
metres further on, some granular chlorites shew themselves ; 
the tale schists and granites finally succeed these, and no 
longer leave any doubt that we are in the basin of the Rhone. 
This abundance of quartz pebbles is so much the more re- 
markable, because the blocks of this rock are rare and of 
small size. Perhaps their number is owing to their almost in- 
destructible nature, and the absence of large blocks to their 
being produced by veins rather than from massive rocks. 

To shew briefly the distribution of the species of rocks in the 
basin of the Rhone, let us cut the basin transversely to the 
east at first, than to the west of the outlet of the valley from 
which they issue, each time leaving the Alps to emerge on 
the Jura; each of these sections will shew us clearly the 
order of succession which the rocks observe. I draw the 
first from the neighbourhood of Bulle to Mont de Boudry, 
near Neuchatel; the second from Fourches d’Aberre, in 
Chablais, to Marchairu. 

On leaving the Alps, above Bulle, we find, on the height, 
the wine-coloured conglomerates which form the superior 
limit of the erratic formation and the extreme right bank of 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 265 


the basin. Along with these the Valorsine region of blocks 
commences. Beyond Romont and the valley of La Glane, 
on the heights which separate this valley from that of La 
Broye, some whitish granites of the Haut Valais mingle with 
the pudding-stones of Valorsine; we then see the euphotide 
blocks of Saas, accompanied with the talcose chlorites and 
serpentines of Mont Rosa. In the space comprised between 
Broye and the banks of the lake of the Neuchatel, the arke- 
sines and chloriteous gneiss are joined to the preceding 
rocks. On the north bank, beyond the lake, the latter and 
the chlorites become predominating; the Valorsine rocks 
have almost disappeared. On ascending the sides of the 
Jura, from five or six hundred to a thousand feet above the 
lake, and not till then, the granites of Mont Blanc make their 
appearance. It is the inferior zone of large blocks. 

Lastly, above a space of nearly a thousand feet in height, 
in which almost all the Alpine rocks disappear, the superior 
zone of the large blocks of Mont Blane, with which the 
Pennine rocks are intermixed, forms the most elevated limit 
of the erratic formation. 

We must therefore distinguish three principal regions in 
this section; that of the Valorsine pudding-stones along the 
Alps ; that of the blocks of Mont Blane along the Jura; and 
those of the Pennine rocks, preceded by some granites of the 
Haut Valais and rocks of Mont Rosa, in the centre. 

The section across the western part gives us an analogous 
series. 

The heights of Chablais, in the neighbourhood of the 
outlet of the Dranses, shew us the granites of Mont Blanc, 
less numerous, however, than might be expected in the upper 
part ; and allied to the chlorites which rise almost to the same 
level. Further down, the arkesines and chloriteous gneiss 
form a junction with them, on the slopes which overlook 
Thonon, Evian, and La Tour Ronde; but the euphotides and 
serpentines are still rare. Beyond Leman, to the south of 
Aubonne, and near Nyon, the rocks of Mont Rosa are very 
abundant. Lastly, at a greater distance, towards the Jura, 
we meet with the white granites of Haut Valais, the pudding- 
stonesof Valorsine, and granites of Mont Blanc, mingled with 
the preceding rocks, but preduminating. 


266 M. A. Guyot ow the Distribution of Rocks 


Here, again, we observe the rocks succeed each other in the 
same order as in the preceding section ; and this order is that 
in which these same rocks have advanced from below up- 
wards into the principal valley. First, the granites of the 
left bank and of the lower part of the valley; then the 
chlorites of Bagnes, the arkesines and chloriteous gneiss 
of Val d’Erin, the serpentines of Mont Rosa, and the 
euphotides of Saas, and lastly, confusedly mixed, the rocks 
of the right bank with the granites of Mont Blane, which 
belong, as we shall afterwards see, to the effusion of the 
eastern part. 

It is therefore correct to affirm, as I did at the outset, that 
the distribution of the species of erratic rocks is subject to 
a law, according to which the transported debris of rocks of 
the same species preserve in the plain a determinate position, 
which is assigned to them by the respective situation of the 
valleys from which they issue. The rocks which proceed from 
the lateral valleys, nearest the opening of the principal valley, 
keep the margin on one side or the other; such as proceed 
from the most remote tributaries remain in the centre. 

This law of distribution I have also observed to hold true 
in the basin of the Rhine, and more distinctly still in that of 
the Reuss, which is more simple than the two others; but a 
circumstance which is peculiar to the basin of the Rhone is the 
double divergency of which I have spoken. We may perceive 
that each of the two branches, eastern and western, repre- 
sent, in their order, the rocks of the valley of the Rhone 
considered collectively. Now this disposition compels us to 
admit two periods of divergency. During the first, the issue 
took place only on the north-east side, that is to say, on 
the most open side of the great valley lying between the 
Alps and the Jura. In a second epoch, the effusion must 
have taken place by the much narrower basin of Leman, to- 
wards the plain of Geneva and the country of Gex. 

The analogy between this distribution and that of the mo- 
raines of a glacier, is evident, and must strike every one. 
The arrangement in linear series, which the superficial mo- 
raines affect, the uniformity of the respective situations they 
preserve, in spite of all the angles and contours of the val- 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone, 267 


ley, their expansion, and gradual, but always incomplete mix- 
ture, in the lower part where the glacier spreads itself; all 
these phenomena, so distinctly marked on the surface of every 
one of our existing glaciers, are precisely those presented, 
though on a gigantic scale, by the surface of the erratic basin 
of the Rhone. Let us imagine for a moment, the existence 
of this vast glacier of the Rhone, and let us take it at the in- 
stant, when, in consequence of its progression, it has carried 
the rocks of the Alps to the extreme limit where we now 
find them, and let us observe what would be the distribution 
of the superficial moraines which we find on the surface, ac- 
cording to the acknowledged laws of the mechanism of 
glaciers. 

In a primeval era, that of its greatest extension, all the 
space comprised in the acute angle formed on the south-west 
by the union of the Alps and Jura, is encumbered with masses 
of ice, fed by the valleys of the Isére, the Arve, the Dranse, 
and the Rhone. The outlets are insufficient ; escape by this 
side is almost impossible, at least for the ice of the valley of 
the Rhone. A divergency, therefore, takes place by the north- 
west, where the plain opens and becomes broader by the gra- 
dual retirement of the two chains. The principal mass of 
the glacier rests upon the Jura, which throws it back towards 
the plain, in which the ice spreads itself more at ease, and 
seems even to recoil slightly towards the Alps. Here it meets 
with a new obstacle, the glacier issuing from the valley of the 
Aar, which presses against the glacier of the Rhone, and com- 
presses it, without otherwise arresting its progress. Lastly, 
the ices of the Valais, diminishing more and more, at length 
terminate not far from Aarwangen and Zofingen. Such, then. 
is the prodigious glacier of the Rhone. 

The moraines distinguishable on this glacier are, 1st, The 
right lateral moraine, composed almost exclusively of numer- 
ous blocks of Valorsine pudding-stone, detached from their 
principal site on the declivities of the Dent de Morcles ; they 
extend along the Alps from Fribourg as far as Singine. 2d, 
The moraine of Haut Valais, characterised by the white gra- 
nites, from the southern declivity of the Bernese Oberland 
and the Galenstock. 3¢, The moraine of Mont Roga, with 


268 M. A. Guyot on the Distribution of Rocks 


its euphotides and serpentines, among which a few Pennine 
rocks are already mingled. 4h, The moraine of the Pen- 
nine Alps as far as the foot of the Jura. 5th, The left late- 
ral moraine, formed by the granites of Mont Blanc, which 
have united themselves, by way of Martigny and the Valley 
of Salvan, to the other rocks of the basin. 

This last moraine is of much greater length than the right 
lateral moraine. This circumstance, as well as the general 
inflexion of the interior or superficial moraines, is the ne- 
cessary consequence of the movement imparted to the ice by 
the configuration of the bed in which it moves ; we have seen 
it above. 

The line which leaves the foot of the Alps of Guggisberg, 
forms the limits of the basin of the Rhone, at its contact with 
that of the Aar, and extends even beyond Aarwangen, is not, 
in spite of appearances, the continuation of the right lateral 
moraine, but rather the frontal, which, at first sight, one 
would have been disposed to seek on the opposite side, on 
the Jura itself. It is not that we find here, any more than 
elsewhere, an accumulation which reminds us of the frontal 
moraines of many existing glaciers; but it is on this line 
that all the moraines we have named have rested a-breast. 
Instead of finding only the rocks of the right side on this 
boundary, as would be the case if it were only a prolonga- 
tion of the lateral moraine, we find, in passing along it, the 
rocks of all the rest, and in the order indicated: the Valor- 
sines at Guggisberg; the granites of Haut Valais, between 
Schwarzenbourg and Koniz ; the euphotides and serpentines 
in the neighbourhood of Berne and Bourgdorf; the arkesines 
and their companions, at Seeberg and Steinhof; the granites 
of Mont Blane near Arwangen. 

At a posterior epoch, the flow of ice took place nearly 
in a south-west direction by the basin of the lake of Geneva, 
and the same phenomena are here repeated. Here, as in 
the eastern part, the blocks of Mont Blanc, coming down by 
Salvan and Martigny, form the left lateral moraine. In 
the Valais and in Chablais, the chlorites mingle with them, 
soon become predominant, and form the limit at the bottom 
of the Voirons, on the northern declivity of the Saléve, and 


in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 269 


as far as Mont de Sion. The Pennine rocks form a large 
central moraine, partly immersed in the waters of the lake, 
and which covers the plain of Geneva, and Pays de Gex, as 
far as Mont de Sion and the Jura. The moraine of Mont 
Rosa, marked by a greater abundance of euphotides, serpen- 
tines, and secondary rocks of the same group, passes along 
the vicinity of Nyon and Coppet, running in a westerly di- 
rection as far as the very foot of the chain. The moraine of 
Haut Valais, characterised by numerous and huge blocks of 
white granite, is the beginning of the right lateral moraine, 
passing by Morges, Bussy, Aubonne, and Biére. Lastly, the 
Valorsines, particularly numerous in the environs of Lau- 
sanne and Cossonay, and often in connexion with limestones, 
form the extreme right lateral. The granites of Mont Blanc, 
which are found in the latter regions, and as far as the Jura, 
undoubtedly belonged to the left lateral moraine during the 
period of the first divergency, and must have been carried to 
the west at the time when the change of direction in the 
progress of the glacier took place. 

In this part of the glacier, we may consider the blocks ac- 
cumulated at the extreme limit of the basin, on the summit 
of Mont de Sion, from the road to Frangy, along the declivi- 
ties of Vouache and the Jura, as far as the vicinity of Fau- 
cille and Divonne, as the frontal moraine; for, in the whole 
of that space, we scarcely meet with anything else than the 
Pennine rocks and those of Mont Rosa. 

Here, again, as in the eastern part, the left lateral moraine 
is more extended than the right lateral moraine ; but the dis- 
proportion is far from being so great, a circumstance per- 
fectly accounted for by the relief of the basin. 

It is thus that we explain, by this successive effusion of 
the glacier in two opposite directions, the complicated but 
still normal distribution of the species of erratic rocks of the 
basin of the Rhone. The order of succession appears to me 
fixed, not only by the nature of the reliefs, as I have ex- 
plained above, but still further by that of the rocks them- 
selves. Although the characteristic rocks are the same in 
the eastern as in the western portion of the valley, yet we 
searcely find among the former any others but the species 


270 Distribution of Rocks in the Erratic Basin of the Rhone. 


which come from the highest summits of the Alps; while, in 
the latter, these same rocks are accompanied by a much 
greater variety of rocks, which I call secondary, and which 
generally proceed from a part of the mountains below the 
elevated summits. We ought thence to infer, that the rocks 
of the eastern part were detached when the highest summits 
rose alone from the bosom of the ice, while the rocks of the 
western part have fallen on the glacier when the inferior 
rocks were uncovered, and yielded their contingent of very 
varied rocks. Now, the whole mode of the deposition of the 
erratic formation, and the angular blocks it contains, pre- 
senting themselves like a phenomenon of continued retreat 
since the period of the greatest extension of the diluvian ice, 
it follows that the deposites of the eastern part of the basin 
represent the beginning, those of the western part the end, 
of this long erratic period. 

Conelusions.—The facts which have been explained autho- 
rise us, in my opinion, to affirm— 

1st, That the distribution of the species of rocks in the in- 
terior of the basin of the Rhone is subject to a law. 

2d, That this law is, in all respects, conformable to that 
which regulates the arrangement of moraines on an actual 
glacier composed of many tributaries. 

3d, That the great glacier which the extension and ar- 
rangement of the Alpine debris, which constitute the erratic 
basin of the Rhone, presupposes, had its head in this prodi- 
gious mass of the Pennine Alps and Mont Rosa, the most ele- 
vated, most extensive, and richest in snowy peaks and pro- 
found valleys—in a word, the most colossal of all those which 
convey their tribute to the valley of the Rhone; a vast re- 
ceptacle of eternal snow and ice, which, even in the present 
day, knows no rival among the Alps; insomuch that the 
whole of Haut Valais, on the one hand, and the valleys 
which descend from Mont Blanc on the other, act simply as 
its affluents. 

Thus we explain the grouping of the species of rocks in 
parallel and linear zones, their distribution in special locali- 
ties, and their respective situation, always conformable to 
the position of the valleys from which they have issued. 


On the Latitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 271 


Thus, by means of the law of central or median moraines, 
we give an explanation of the remarkable fact, that the blocks 
which come from the most remote valleys and the most ele- 
vated peaks, such as the Pennine rocks, are likewise those 
which, notwithstanding their often enormous size, stray the 
greatest distance from their primitive sites. According to 
this hypothesis, the preservation of the blocks, their angular 
forms, or striated surfaces, their passage across lakes, their 
elevated position on the sides of mountains, for which no 
other hypothesis gives any probable account—in a word, the 
erratic phenomena—are no longer in our eyes an impene- 


trable mystery. 


a i ee ee ee 


Latitudinal Distribution of Reptiles inhabiting the Malayan 
Peninsula and Islands, and other localities. By THEODORE 
Cantor, M.D., Bengal Medical Service. 


[Sp. prefixed to localities signifies that they are inhabited by species of which 
varieties occur in Malayan countries.] 


1. Geoemyda spinosa, 
Gray. 


to 


. Emys  crassicollis, 
Bell, ms. 


3. Emys 
Gray. 


platynota, 


4, Emys __ trivittata. 
Dum. and Bibr. 


. Cistudo amboinensis 
(Daud.) 


or 


6. Tetraonyx 
Cantor. 


afinis, 


7. Gymnopus gange- 
ticus (Cuy.). 

8. Gymnopus cartila- 
gineus (Boddaert)- 


9. Gymnopus indicus, 
(Gray). 


CHELONIA. 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Singapore, Malay- 
an Peninsula, 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula, 


Sumatra. 
Sumatra, Java. 
Sumatra. 
Bengal, Assam. 


Jaya, Amboina, Philip- 
pines, ‘Tenasserim Pro- 
vinces. 


Rivers and Bay of Ben- 
gal. 

Java, Dukhun, “ India,” 
« China.” 


Rivers of India, Philip- 


pines. 


272 


10. Chelonia virgata, 
Schweigger. 

11. Chelonia imbricata, 
(Linné). 

12. Chelonia  olivacea, 
Kschscholtz. 


10. 


ine 


12, 


13. 


14. 


. Platydactylus 


. Crocodilus vulgaris, 


Cuy. Var. B. Dum. 


and Bibr. 

. Crocodilus porosus, 
Schneider. 

. Platydactylus lugu- 
bris, Dum. and 
Bibr. 


. Platydactylus gecko 


(Linné), 


. Platydactylus sten- 


tor, Cantor 


mo- 
narchus, Schlegel. 


. Ptychozoon homato- 


cephalum(Creveld) 


. Hemidactylus pero- 


nti, Dum. & Bibr. 


. Hemidactylus coctwi, 


Dum. and Bibr. 


Hemidactylus frena- 
tus, Schlegel, ms. 


Hemidactylus pla- 
tyurus (Schneider). 


Gymnodactylus pul- 
chellus (Gray). 
Varanus nebulosus, 
Dum. and Bibr. 


Varanus flavescens 


(Gray). 


Malayan Seas. 


Malayan Seas. 


Malayan Seas. 


SAURIA. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula, 


Pinang. 


Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Pinang. 

Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 

Pinang, Singa- 
pore. 

Pinang. 

Pinang. 

Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula, 

Pinang. 

Pinang, Singa- 
pore, 

Pinang. 

Pinang. 


Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


Teneriffe, Rio Janeiro, 
Cape of Good Hope, 
New York, Indian 
Ocean, Red Sea. 


Atlantic 
Ocean, 


and Indian 


Bay of Bengal, China 
Sea. 


Java, Sumatra, Tenasse- 
rim, Bengal, Coroman- 
del, Malabar. 


Seychelle Islands, Timor, 
Java, Sumatra, Tenas- 
serim, Bengal. 


Otaheite. 


Philippines, Java, Tenas- 
serim, Burmah, Ben- 
gal, Coromandel. 


Philippines, 
Borneo. 


Amboina, 


Ramree Island (Arra- 
can). 


Isle of France. 
Bengal, Bombay. 


Amboina, Timor, Java, 
Marian Isles, Ceylon, 
Bengal, Assam, South 
Africa, Madagascar. 


Philippines, Borneo, Ja- 
ya, Bengal, Assam. 


Java, Siam, Bengal. 


Bengal, Nipal. 


Latitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 


15. Varanus — salvator 
(Laurenti). 


16. Bronchocela crista- 
tella (Kuhl), 


17. Lophyrus armatus 
(Gray). 

18. Dilophyrus grandis 
(Gray). 


19. Draco-volans (Linné), 


20. Draco 
(Gray). 
21. Leiolepis bellii (Gray), 


maculatus 


Eumeces punctatis 
(Linné) Var, 


. Euprepis rufescens 
(Shaw), 
Var. D. Dum. 
and Bibr. 
Var. E. Dum. 
and Bibr. 
Var. F. Dum. 
and Bibr. 


Euprepis — ernestit, 
Dum. and Bibr. 


- Lygosoma chalcides 
(Linné). 


i) 
or 


1. Pilidion lineatum, 


(Boie.) 

2. Typhlops nigro-al- 
bus, Dum. and 
Bibr. 

3. Typhlops braminus 
(Daudin). 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 
Pinang,  Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula, 
Pinang, 
pore. 
Pinang. 


Singa- 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula, 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 

Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 


Peninsula. 
Pinang, Singa~- 
pore. 
OPHIDIA. 
Innocuovs. 
Pinang, Singa- 
pore, 
Pinang,  Singa- 
pore. 
Pinang,  Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


273 


Philippines, Moluccas, 
Amboina, Jaya, Ben- 
gal, Assam. 


Amboina, Island of Buru, 
Jaya, Sumatra. 


Cochin-China. 
Rangoon. 


Philippines, Borneo, Ja- 
va. 


Tenasserim. 
Cochin-China, 


Sp. Coromandel, Mala- 
bar, Bengal. 


Sp. Sandwich Islands, 
Philippines, Timor, 
Celebes, Borneo, Java, 
Coromandel, Bengal. 


Java, 


Jaya. 


Jaya. 


Sumatra. 


Canton Province, Philip- 
pines, Guam (Marian 
Isles), Java, ‘Tenasse- 
rim, Bengal, Assam, 
Coromandel, Ceylon, 
Malabar. 


VOL. XLIV. NO, LXXXVIIT.—APRIL 1848. 8 


274 
4. Cylindrophis rufus 
(Laurenti). 


5. Xenopeltis unicolor, 
Reinwardt. 


6. Python reticulatus 
(Schneider). 


7. Acrochordusjavani- 
cus, Hornstedt. 


8. Acrochordus granu- 
latus (Schneider). 


9. Calamaria lumbri- 
coidea, Schlegel, 
Var. 


Calamaria linnet, 
Boie, Var. Schle- 
gel. 


Calamaria — longi- 
ceps, Cantor. 

Calamaria sagitta- 
ria, Cantor. 

. Coronella baliodei- 

ra, Schlegel. 


. Xenodon purpura- 
scens, Schlegel. 


15. Lycodon aulicus 
(Linné). 
Var. A. 
Var. B. 
Var. C. 
Var, D. 
16. Lycodon platurinus 
(Shaw). 
17. Lycodon = effrenis, 
Cantor. 
18. Coluber fasciolatus, 


Shaw. 


Singapore. 


Pinang,  Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Pinang, 
pore. 


Singa- 


Rivers and Sea of 
the Malayan 
Peninsula and 
Islands. 


Pinang, 
pore. 


Singa- 
Pinang. 


Penang. 


Malayan Penin- 


sula, 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 

Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 
Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 
Malayan Penin- 

sula. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Malayan  Penin- 


sula. 


Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


Java, Tranquebar, Ben- 
gal? 


Celebes, Java, Sumatra. 


Chusan? Amboina, Java, 
Banka, Sumatra, Bengal? 


Java. 


Bay of Manilla, New Gui- 
nea, Timor, Java, Su- 
matra, Coromandel. 


Sp. Celebes, Java. 


Jaya. 


Bengal, Assam. 
Java. 


Java, Tenasserim. 

Var. Chirra Punji, As- 
sam, Darjeling, Mid- 
napore (Bengal). 


Bengal, Coromandel. 


Bengal. 
Java, Tenasserim. 


Pulo Samao, Timor. 


Bengal. 


Java, Bengal ? 


Coromandel. 


Latitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 


19. Coluber radiatus, 
Schlegel. 
20. Coluber korros, 


Reinwardt. 


. Coluber hewagonotus, 
Cantor. 


2. Dipsas dendrophila, 
Reinwardt. 


Dipsas multimacu- 
lata, Schlegel. 


24. Dipsas 


Cuvier. 


cynodon, 


25. 
26. 


Dipsas boa, Boie. 


Herpetodryas 
cephalus 
wardt). 


owy- 


(Rein- 


Lo 
~T 


. Dryinus prasinus 
(Reinwardt). 


Var. A. 
Var. B. 
Var. @. 


Leptophis pictus 


(Gmelin). 


Var. A. 


29. Leptophis caudali- 
neatus, Cantor. 


30. Letophis ornatus 
(Shaw). 
Var. 
31. Tropidonotus um- 
bratus (Daudin). 
Var. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula, 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Same localities. 
Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Malayan Penin- 

sula, 
Pinang, 
pore. 


Singa- 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


275 


Java, Sumatra, Cochin- 
China, ‘Tenasserim, 
Assam. 


Jaya, Sumatra, Arracan, 
Tenasserim. 


Celebes, Java. 


Celebes, Java, Tenasse- 
rim, Bengal. 


Java, Tenasserim. 


Jaya. 
Celebes. 


Celebes, Java, Cochin- 
China, Siam, Burmah, 
Tenasserim, Arracan, 
Bengal, Assam. 

Same localities. 


Manilla, New Ireland, 
Waigiou, Amboina, 
New Guinea, Pulo 
Samao, Java, Sumatra, 
Jochin-China, Tenas- 
serim, Burmah, Ben- 
gal, Assam, Coroman- 
del. 

Bengal, Assam, Ceylon. 


Sp. Bengal, Ceylon. 


Java, Sumatra, Tenasse- 
rim, Arracan. 


Sp. Bengal, Assam, Coro- 
mandel, Ceylon, 
Java, Bengal. 


276 


32. Tropidonotus stola- 
tus (Linné), 


33. Tropidonotus schis- 
tosus (Daudin). 


Var. 


. Tropidonotus cera- 
sogaster (Cantor). 

. Tropidonotus jun- 
ceus, Cant. 

- Homalopsis  rhin- 
chops (Schneider), 


. Homalopsis buccata 
(Linnd), 


. Homalopsis Siebol- 
di, Schlegel. 

. Homalopsis — enhy- 
dvis (Schneider). 


. Homalopsis 
bea, Boie. 


plum- 


. Homalopsisleucoba- 
lia, Schlegel, Var. 


. Homalopsis hydri- 
na, Cantor. 


43, I. Elaps melanurus 


(Shaw). 


44, Il. Elaps intestina- 


lis (Laurenti). Var. 


45. III. Elaps nigro- 


maculatus, Cantor, 


46. IV. Elaps bivirga- 


tus, Kuhl, Var. 


47. V. Lungarus flavi- 


ceps, J. Reinhardt. 


VI. Bungarus can- 
didus, (Linné). 


48. 


Pinang, Malayan 


Peninsula. 
Malayan Penin- 
sula, 


Same locality. 


Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Pinang. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Sea off Pinang, 
and the Ma- 
layan Peninsu- 
la, 


VENOMOUS. 

Malayan Peninsu- 
la. 

Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula, 

Pinang, 
pore. 


Singa- 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la. 


Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


Philippines, Tenasserim, 
Bengal, Assam, Nipal, 
Coromandel, Ceylon, 
Bombay. 


Philippines, Tenasserim, 
Bengal, Madagascar. 
Same localities. 


Bengal, Assam. 


New Guinea, Amboina, 
Timor, Sarapua, Java, 
Sumatra, Tenasserim, 
Bengal, Coromandel. 


Jaya. 
Bengal. 


Java, Tenasserim, Ben- 
gal, Coromandel, 


Jaya. 


Sp. Timor. 


Tenasserim, Nerva (Co- 
romandel), 


Sp. Java, Malwah (Cen- 
tral India). 


Sp. Jaya, Sumatra, 


Jaya. 


Java, Tenasserim, Ben- 
gal, Assam, Coroman- 
del, Ceylon, Malabar. 


Latitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 277 


49, VII. Bungarus fas- 
ciatus (Schneider). 


50. VII. Hamadryas 
ophiophagus, Can- 
tor, 


51. IX. Naja lutescens, 
Laurenti. 


Var. D. (Dau- 
din). 


Var. negra, 


52, X. Trigonocephalus 
gramineus (Shaw). 


Var. 


53. XI. Trigonocepha- 


lus  swmatranus 
(Raffles) Var. 

- AIL. Trigonocepha- 
lus puniceus,Rein- 
wardt. 

. XI. 8 Laticauda 
scutata, Laurenti. 


56. XIV. Hydrus stria- 


tus (Laccpéde). 


. XV. Hydrus nigro- 
cinctus (Daudin). 


Var. ? 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula, 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, 
pore. 


Singa- 


Pinang,  Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang,  Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Sea of the Malay- 
an Peninsula 
and Islands, 


Sea of Pinang, 
Malayan Pen- 
insula, 

Sea of Pinang, 
Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsu- 
la. 


Sea off Pinang. 


Java, Tenasserim, Ben- 
gal, Coromandel. 


Java, Sumatra, Bengal, 
Assam, Coromandel. 


Sp. Countries between 
the Sutlej and Cape 
Comorin, Ceylon, Hin- 
doostan to Cape Ro- 
mania, Sumatra, Java, 
Ternate, Borneo, Phi- 
lippines, Chusan. 


Bengal, Coromandel. 


New Holland, Timor, 
Pulo Samao, Celebes, 
Eastern Java, Banka, 
Sumatra, Tenasserim, 
Bengal, Chirra Punji, 
Nipal, Coromandel, 
Ceylon. 


Sumatra, Tenasserim. 


Sp. Sumatra. 


Jaya. 


Bay of Bengal, Sea of 
Timor, Celebes, Mo- 
lucea, and Liewkiew 
Islands, New Guinea, 
Tongataboo, China 
Sea. 

Sea of lLiewkiew Is- 


lands, Timor, Suma- 
tra, Bay of Bengal. 


Bay of Bengal, estuaries 
of the Ganges, 


278 


58. XVI. Hydrus gia- 
cilis, Shaw. 
59. XVII. Hydrus schis- 
tosus (Daudin). 
60. XVIII. Hydrus pe- 
lamidoides (Schle- 
gel). 

XIX. Hydrus bico- 
lor (Schneider), 


61. 


1. Ichthyophis glutino- 
sus (Linné.) Var. ? 

2. Rana leschenaulti, 
Dum, and Bibr. 


3. Rana tigrina, Dau- 
din. 


4. Megalophrysmonta- 
na, Wagler, Var. 


5. Limnodytes  eryth- 
veeus, (Schlegel). 


6. Polypedates leuco- 
mystax, (Graven- 
horst). 


7. Bufo melanostictus, 
Schneider. 


- Hyledactylus bivit- 
tatus, Cantor. 


io) 


Sea of Malayan 
Peninsula and 
Island. 


Sea of Malayan 
Peninsula and 
Islands. 


‘Sea of Malayan 


Peninsula and 
Islands. 


Sea of Malayan 
Peninsula, 


BATRACHIA. 


Singapore. 


Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Pinang. 


Malayan Penin- 
sula, 


Pinang, Singa- 
pore, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsu- 
la and Islands. 


Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


Bay of Bengal, Malabar, 
Sumatra, Borneo. 


Bay of Bengal, Malabar, 
Sumatra. 


Bay of Bengal, Sea of 
Celebes, Molucca 
Islands, China Sea. 


Bay of Bengal, Sea of 
Sumatra, Java, Ce- 
lebes, Moluceas, China 
Sea (to 27° N. L.) 
Otaheite, Bay of Port 
Jackson (33° 55’ §. 
L, 154° 25" EB. T:) 


Sp.Java, Ceylon, Assam. 
Bengal, Pondicherry. 


Coromandel, Bengal, As- 
sam, Tenasserim, Ja- 
va, Sumatra, Timor, 
Philippines, Canton 
Province. 


Sp. Java. 


Java, Tenasserim, Arra- 
can. 


Bengal, Coromandel,!Ma- 
labar. 


Jaya, Tenasserim, Ben- 
gal, Coromandel. 


Altitudinal Distribution of Reptiles inhabiting the Malayan Pen- 
insula and Islands, and other localities. 


[The extra-Malayan localities have necessarily been confined to such 
of which the elevation has been specified by authors, the Malayan are 
given from personal observation. | 


Altitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 279 


Prince or Waters Istanp (Puno Prvana), 5° 25’ N. L., 100° 19’ E. 
Valley: Mean annual temperature, 80°03 Fahr, Average monthly 
range of the thermometer, 11°; greatest daily range, 13°. Annual 
quantity of rain 55°5 inch. (145 days.) 

Hills: Granite. Highest elevation (Western Hill), 2500 ft. Mean 
annual temperature 71°. Average monthly range of the thermometer 
10°; greatest daily range, 9°. Annual quantity of rain, 116°6 inch 
(174 days.) Vegetation, even for a tropical, distinguished by luxuriance, 
beauty, and variety. Characteristic features : Filices. (Alsophila con- 
taminans, Wal.—Schizea dichotoma,—Newroplatyceros (Acrostichum) 
biforme, Desvontaine. Polypodiwm Horsjieldii, Bennett.) 

Pandanacex. (Hreycinetia.) 

Taccacee.  (Zacca cristata, Jack.) 

Palmacee. (Areca catechu, Willd. Arenga saccharifera, Labill. Nipa 
fruticans. Euoplus tigillavia, Jack. “ Pinang Lawyer.”* Calamus.) 
Scitaminee, (Hedychiwm swmatranum, Jack. Amomum biflorwm, 
Jack). 

Orchidacez. 

Taxacee. (Dacrydium. Podocarpus.) 

Gnetacew. (Gnetwm gnemon. Gnetum brunonianum.) 

Artocarpee. (Phytocrene palmata, Wal. Phytocrene bracteata,t 
Wal.) 

Nepenthacex. (Nepenthes distillatoria. Nepenthes ampullaria, 
Jack.) 

Gesneracee. (Didymocarpus crinitus, Jack.) 

Euphorbiacee. 

Corylacee. (Quercus racemosa, Jack. Lithocarpus javensis, Blume.) 

Begoniacerx. (Begonia orbiculata, Jack.) 

Sterculiacee. (Sterculia coccinea, Roxburgh. Durio Zibethinus, Lin.) 

Dipteracee. (Dipterocarpus.) 

Aurantiacee. (Murraya puniculata, Loar.) 

Anacardiacee, (Stagmaria verniciflua, Jack.) 

Connaracee. (Eurycoma longifolia, Jack.) 

Garciniez. 

Melastomacee. (Melastoma bracteata, Jack. M. ewigua, Jack. 
M, glauca, Jack. Sonerila moluccana, Rob.) 

Myrtacee. 

Stncapore Isianp, 1° 24’ N. L., 104° E. Mean annual temperature, 
80°. Greatest daily range of theremometer, 10°. Annual ‘number of 
rainy days, 185. Surface gently undulating. Sandstone hills, indicat- 
ing remote convulsion ; highest hill (Bukit Timah) 530 ft. In the val- 
leys oceur vegetable and animal forms, which at Pinang have been ob- 
served at or near the summit of the hills, but not in the plains. Thus 
at Singapore, occur Alsophila, Schizea, Tacca cristata, Gnetum, Ne- 
penthes, Begonia, Ewrycoma, and others, which at Pinang appear to affect 
a much greater elevation. Instances of Reptiles in common to the plains 
of Singapore and the hills of Pinang are, Ptychozoon homalocephalum, 


ie 


* An undescribed dwarf palm, hitherto supposed to be confined to the hills 
of Pinang. Sir William Norris found it on Mount Ophir in 1847. 

+ This species appeay's to be confined to the lower part of the hills and the 
valleys. 


280 Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


Gymnodactylus pulchellus, Lygosoma chaleides, Pilidion lineatum, 
Typhlops nigroalbus, Calamaria lumbricoidea. Var. Leptophis cauda- 
lineatus, Elaps intestinalis, Elaps nigromaculatus. 

Maayan Peniysuta. Geographically, not politically, from 12° N. L. 
between 98° and 104° E., computed to be about 80,000 square miles, or 
about 4000 square miles less than Great Britain, zoological informa- 
tion has hitherto been confined almost exclusively to the plains of the 
western part. The productions of the chain of mountains dividing the 
Peninsula, and terminating in Cape Romania in 1°17’ N. L. (Point 
Barus in 1° 15’ N. L.) are almost entirely unknown. The late Mr 
Griffith on a visit in the early part of 1842 to mount Ophir (Génong 
Lcdang, in about 2° 30’ N. L. on the eastern boundary of the district of 
Malacca granite, and computed about 4000 ft.) made the interesting dis- 
covery, that from 1500 ft. and upwards, the vegetation changes com- 
pletely, and in many respects assumes a Polynesian or Australian cha- 
racter. arly in 1847 Lieutenant-Colonel James Low visited Keddah 
Peak (Génong Jerai), opposite to the town of Keddah, in about 6° 5’ N. L., 
which he observes is not granite, but stratified, abounding in minerals. 
According to observation of the boiling point of water, the summit, a small 
platform on the edge of the strata, is 57054 feet above the sea. Towards 
the summit the vegetation becomes very stunted, and partakes of Austra- 
lian character.* Colonel Low further observes, that during the ascent, 
he did not see a single animal, but found foot-prints of a Rhinoceros, 
smaller than usual, he supposes, up to the very summit. ‘To a casual 
visiter of the Malayan hill forest, during the day, the paucity of animals 
is a striking feature. The noonday light, subdued by the dense foliage 
of the towering stems, gives to the scene a sombre character, heightened 
by the unseen denizens. Their presence is manifested in the shrill vi- 
brations of Cicadz, one of which on the Pinang hills is noted for its re- 
semblance to the cavalry trumpet, the callof the Tupai, the dismal tap of 
the gigantic wood-pecker, the creaking flight of a Buceros, or the retreat 
of frightened Semnopithees. 


CHELONIA. 
SPECIES, HILLS. PLAINS. 
Geoemyda spinosa,Gray. Pinang. 
Emys crassicollis, Bell, Ponds and rivulets Ma~- 
MS. layan Peninsula, Pin- 
ang. 
Emys platynotu, Gray. Malayan Peninsula, Pin- 
ang. 
Emys trivittata, Dum. & Ponds and rivers Malay- 
Bibr. an Peninsula; Pinang, 
Bengal. 


* A collection of plants from the summit of the mountain, with which Colonel 
Low favoured me, were examined by Captain Munro, H.M. 39th Regiment, the 
only botanist at present in Calcutta, previously to their being despatched to the 
Royal Gardens, Kew. 


Altitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 281 


SPECIES. 
Cistudo amboinensis, 
(Daud). 


Tetraonya afinis, Cantor. 
Gymnopus gangeticus, 
(Cuvier). 


Gymnopus cartilagineus, 
(Boddaert). 


Gymnopus indicus, 
(Gray). 


Chelonia virgata, Schw. 


Cheloniaimbricata (Lin). 


Chelonia olivacea, Esch- 
scholtz. 


Crocodilus vulgaris, Cuv. 
Var. B. Dum. , and 
Bibr. 


Crocodilus porosus, 
Schneider. 


Platydactylus lugubris, 
Dum. and Bibr. 


Platydactylus gecko, 
(Linn‘<). 


Platydactylus 
Cantor. 


stentor, 


Platydactylus monarch- 
us, Schlegel. 


Ptychozoon homaloce- 
phalum, (Creveld). 


Hemidactylus peronit, 
Dum. and Bibr. 
Hemidactylus — coctai, 


Dum. and Bibr. 


Hemidactylus frenatus, 
Schlegel, MS. 


HILLS. 


SAURIA. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


PLAINS. 
Ditto, ditto. 


Sea off Pinang. 


Rivers and sea-coast Ma- 
layan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal. 


Ponds and rivers, Malay- 
an Peninsula, Pinang, 
Java, Dukhun, “ In- 
dia,” * China.” 


Rivers, estuaries,and sea- 
coast, Malayan Penin- 
sula, Pinang, India, 
Philippine Islands. 


Sea. 


Rivers, estuaries and sea- 
coast, Malayan Penin- 
sula and Islands, Java, 
Sumatra, Tenasserim, 
Bengal, Coromandel, 
Malabar. 

Ditto,ditto, and Seychelle 
Islands, Timor. 


Pinang. 
Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 


gal, 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula, Singapore. 


Singapore. 
Pinang. 


Pinang, Bengal. 


Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal, 


282 


SPECIES. 
Hemidactylus platyurus, 
(Schneider). 


Gymneodactylus pulchel- 
lus, (Gray). 


Varanus nebulosus, 
Dum. and Bibr. 


Varanus flavescens, 
(Gray). 

Varanus salvator, (Laur- 
enti). 


Bronchocela cristatella, 
(Kuhl). 


Lophyrus armatus, 
(Gray). 


Dilophyrus grandis, 
Gray. 


Draco volans, Linné. 


Draco-maculatus, (Gray). 


Leiolepis bellit, (Gray). 


Eumeces punctatus 
(Lin). Var. 


Euprepis, rufescens, 
(Shaw). 

Var. D. Dum. 

and Bibr. 
Var. E. Dun. 

and Bibr. 
Var. F. Dum. 

and Bibr. 


Euprepis ernestii, Dum. 
and Bibr. 


Lygosoma chalcides, 
(Linné). 


Pilidion lineatum, 
(Boie). 

Typhlops nigro-albus, 
Dum. and Bibr. 


HILLS. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 
Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 
Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


OPHIDIA. 
Innocuovs. 


Pinang, 


Pinang. 


Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


PLAINS. 


Pinang, Bengal. 
Singapore. 

Bengal. 

Pinang, Bengal. 
Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 


gal. 


Malayan Peninsula, Sin- 
gapore. 


Pinang, Singapore. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula, Singapore. 


| Pinang, Malayan Penin- 


sula, Singapore. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Singapore. 


Singapore, 


Singapore. 


Altitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 


SPECIES, 
Typhlops braminus, 
(Daudin). 


Cylindrophis rufus, 
(Laurenti). 


Xenopeltis unicolor, 
Reinwardt. 


Python reticulatus, 
(Schneider). 


Acrochordus javanicus, 
Hornstedt. 


Acrochordus grenulatus, 
(Schneider). 


Calamaria lumbricoidea 
Schlegel, Var. 


Calamaria linnet, Boei, 
Var, Schlegel. 


Calamaria longiceps, 
Cantor. 


Calamaria sagittaria, 
Cantor. 


Coronelia baliodeira 
Schlegel. 


Xenodon purpurascens, 
Schlegel. 


Lycodon aulicus (Linné), 


Var. A. 
Var, B. 


Var. C. 
Var. D. 


Lycodon platurinus 
(Shaw). 


Lycodon effrenis, Cantor. 
Coluber fasciolatus, Shaw. 


HILLS. 
Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula, 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 


283 


PLAINS. 

Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal, Assam. 


Singapore, 
Bengal. 


Tranquhar, 


Singapore, Malayan Pen- 
insula, 


Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal? 


Singapore, Jaya. 


Rivers and sea-coast of 
Malayan Peninsula 
and Islands, New 
Guinea, Timor, Java, 
Sumatra, Coromandel, 
Bay of Manilla. 


Singapore, 


Java, 


Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal. 


Jaya. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula, Bengal. 

Pinang, Bengal. 

Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula, 

Malayan, Peninsula, 
Bengal. 

Bengal ? 


Malayan Peninsula, Co- 
romandel, 


284 


SPECIES. 
Coluber radiatus, Schle- 
gel. 


Coluber korros, Rein- 
wardt. 


Coluber hewagonotus, 
Cantor. 


Dipsas dendrophila, 
Reinwardt. 


Dipsas multimaculata, 
Schlegel. 


Dipsas cynodon, Cuvier. 
Dipsas boa, Boie. 


Herpetodryas oxycepha- 
lus (Reinwardt). 


Dryinus prasinus (Rein- 
wardt). 
Var. A. 
Var. B. 
Var. C. 


TIILLs. 


Pinang. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Malayan Penin- 
sula and Islands. 

Ditto. 

Pinang. 

Pinang. 


Leptophis pictus (Gmelin). Malayan Penin- 


Var. A. 


sula and Islands. 
Ditto. 


Leptophis caudalincatus, Pinang. 


Cantor. 


Leptophis ornatus (Shaw), Pinang. 


Var. 
Tropidonotus umbratus 
(Daud.), Var. 


Tropidenotus stolatus 
(Linn®). 


Tropidonotus schistosus 
(Daud.). 
Var. 


Tropidonotus cerasogas- 
ter (Cantor). 


Tropidonotus junceus, 
Cantor, 


Homalopsis. 


Pinang. 


Dr Theodore Cantor on the 


PLAINS. 
Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula. 


Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula, Java. 


Malayan Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsula. 


Jaya. 


Malayan Peninsula and 
Islands. 
Ditto. 


Malayan Peninsula and 
Islands, Bengal. 
Ditto. 


Singapore. 
Malayan Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsula and 
Islands, Jaya, Bengai. 
Pinang, Malayan, Penin- 
sula, Bengal, Nipal, 
Coromandel, Bombay. 


Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal. 
Ditto, ditto. 


Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal. 


All the Malayan species 
inhabit fresh water 
rivers, estuaries, or the 
sea-coast, as noted un- 
der each, 


Altitudinal Distribution of Reptiles. 


SPECIES. 


Elaps melanurus (Shaw). 


Elaps intestinalis Lau- 
renti), Var. 


Elaps nigromaculatus, 
Cantor. 


Elaps bivirgatus, Kuhl. 
Var. 

Bungarus flaviceps, J. 
Reinwardt. 


Bungarus candidus 
(Linné). 


Bungarus fasciatus 
(Schneider). 


VENOMOUS. 


TI1L.ks. 


Pinang. 


Pinang. 
Pinang. 


Pinang. 


Hamadryas ophiophagus, Pinang. 


Cantor. 


Naja lutescens. Laurenti. 


Var. D. (Daud. ) ; 


Var. nigra. 
Trigonocephalus grami- 
neus (Shaw). 


Var. 


Trigonocephalus swma- 
tranus (Raffles), Var. 


Trigonocephalus puni- 
ceus, Reinwardt. 


Laticauda Hydrus. 


Ichthyophis glutinosus 
(Linn*), Var. 


Rana leschenaulti, Dum. 
and Bibr. 


Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


Pinang. 

_ Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula, Chir- 
ra Punji. 

Pinang, Malayan 
Peninsula. 


BATRACHIA. 


285 


PLAINS. 
Malayan Peninsula, Te- 
nasserim, Nerva. 


Singapore, Malayan Pen- 
insula, Sp. Java, Mal- 
wah (Central India). 


Singapore. 


Malayan Peninsula. 


Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal, Coromandel, Ma- 
labar. 


Pinang, Malayan Penin- 
sula, Bengal, Coroman- 
del. 


Singapore, Malayan Pen- 
insula, Bengal. 


Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal, Coromandel. 

Pinang, Singapore. 

Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
Jayan Peninsula, Ren- 
gal, Nipal. 

Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula. 

Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula. Sp. 
Sumatra, 


Pinang, Singapore, Ma- 
layan Peninsula. 


All species inhabit the 
sea or estuaries. 


Singapore. 


Malayan Peninsula, Ben- 
gal, Pondicherry. 


286 Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 


Rana tigrina, Daudin. Malayan Peninsu- Malayan Peninsula and 
la and Islands. Islands, Bengal, 


Megalophreys montana, Pinang, Sp. Java, 
Wagler, Var. 


Limnodytes erythraus Malayan Peninsula. 
(Schlegel). 

Polypedates leucomystax Pinang, Malayan Singapore, Malayan Pe- 
(Gravenhorst). Peninsula. ninsula, Bengal. 

Bufo melanostictus, Malayan Peninsu- Malayan Peninsula and 
Schneider. la and Islands. Islands, Bengal. 

Hyledactylus bivittatus, Malayan Peninsula. 
Cantor. 


—Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, New Series, No. 10, p. 1067, 
Calcutta, 1847. 


Gutta Percha. By THOMAS OXLEY, Esq., A.B., Senior Sur- 
geon of the Settlement of Prince of Wales Island, Singa- 
pore, and Malacca. 


Discovery of the Gutta Percha by Europeans— Botanical Description 
—Range, habitat, mode of procuring—Properties, uses, appli- 
cation to the practice of Surgery—Great superiority to bandages 
and splints in cases of fracture—Capsules for vaccine virus— 
Patents in England for cleansing the Gutta, and removing its 
acidity— Means of procuring it pure where it is produced. 
Although the trees yielding this substance abound in our 

indigenous forests, it is only four years since it was disco- 

vered by Europeans. The first notice taken of it appears to 
have been by Dr W. Montgomerie, in a letter to the Bengal 

Medical Board, in the beginning of 1843, wherein he com- 

mends the substance as likely to prove useful for some sur- 

gical purposes, and supposes it to belong to the Fig tribe. In 

April 18438, the substance was taken to Europe by Dr D’Al- 

meida, who presented it to the Royal Society of Arts of Lon- 

don, but it did not at first attract much attention, as the Society 
simply acknowledged the receipt of the gift ; whereas shortly 

after they thought proper to award a gold medal to Dr W. 

Montgomerie for a similar service. Now, as the discovery of 

both of these gentlemen rested pretty much upon the same 


Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 287 


foundation—the accidental falling in with it in the hands of 
some Malays, who had found out its greatest peculiarity, and 
availed themselves thereof, manufactured it into whips, which 
were brought into town for sale—there does not appear any 
plausible reason for the passing over the first, and rewarding 
the second. Both gentlemen are highly to be commended 
for endeavouring to introduce to public notice a substance 
which has proved so useful and interesting. The Gutta 
Percha having of late attracted much attention, and as yet 
but little being known or published about it, I would now 
propose to supply, to the best of my ability, this desideratum, 
and give a description of the tree, its product and uses, so 
far as it has been made available for domestic and other pur- 
poses in the place of its origin. 

The Gutta Percha tree, or Gutta Tuban, as it ought more 
properly be called,—the Percha producing a spurious article, 
—belongs to the natural family Sapotez, but differs so much 
from all described genera, having alliance with both Achras 
and Bassia, but differing in some essentials from both, that 
I am disposed to think it is entitled to rank as a new genus. 
I shall, therefore, endeavour to give its general character, 
leaving the honour of naming it to some more competent 
botanist, especially as I have not quite satisfied myself re- 
garding the stamens from want of specimens, for observa- 
tions. 

The tree is of a large size, from 60 to 70 feet in height, 
and from 2 to 3 feet in diameter. Its general appearance 
resembles the genus Durio, or well-known Doorian, so much 
so as to strike the most superficial observer. The under sur- 
face of the leaf, however, is of a more reddish and decided 
brown than in the Durio, and the shape is somewhat differ- 
ent. 

The flowers are axillary, from 1 to 3 in the axils, sup- 
ported on short curved pedicles, and numerous along the ex- 
tremities of the branches. 

Calyx inferior, persistent, coriaceous, of a brown colour, 
divided into six sepals, which are arranged in double series. 

Corolla monopetalous, hypogenous, divided like the calyx 
into six acuminate segments. 


288 Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 


Stamens inserted into throat of the corolla, in a single 
series, variable in number, but, to the best of my observa- 
tion, the normal number is twelve, most generally all fertile ; 
anthers supported on slender bent filaments, opening by two 
lateral pores. 

Ovary superior, terminated by a long simple style, six- 
celled, each cell containing one seed. 

Leaves about four inches in length, perfect, entire, of a 
coriaceous consistence, alternate, obovate, lanceolate ; upper 
surface of a pale green; under surface covered with close, 
short, reddish-brown hairs ; midrib projects a little, forming 
a small process or beak. 

Every exertion of myself and several others have failed in 
procuring a specimen of the fruit of the Gutta. Iregret being 
compelled to omit the description of it in the present in- 
stance; but hope to rectify this omission in a future number 
of the Journal. It is quite extraordinary how difficult it is 
to obtain specimens of either the flower or the fruit of this 
tree, and this is probably the reason of its not having been 
earlier recognised and described by some of the many bota- 
nists who have visited these parts. 

Only a short time ago the Tuban Tree was tolerably abun- 
dant on the island of Singapore; but already all the large 
timber has beet felled, and few, if any, other than small 
plants are now to be found. The range of its growth, how- 
ever, appears to be considerable ; it being found all up the 
Malayan Peninsula, as far as Pinang, where I have ascer- 
tained it to be abundant; although, as yet, the inhabitants 
do not seem to be aware of the fact; several of the mercan- 
tile houses there having sent down orders to Singapore for 
supplies of the article, when they have the means of supply 
close at hand. The tree is also found in Borneo, and I have 
little doubt is to be found in most of the islands adjacent. 

The localities it particularly likes are the alluvial tracts 
along the foot of hills, where it flourishes luxuriantly, form- 
ing, in many spots, the principal portion of the jungle. But 
notwithstanding the indigenous character of the tree, its ap- 
parent abundance and wide-spread diffusion, the Gutta will 
soon become a very scarce article, if some more provident 


Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 289 


means be not adopted in its collection than at present in use 
by the Malays and Chinese. 

The mode in which the natives obtain the gutta is by cut- 
ting down the trees of full growth, and ringing the bark at 
distances of about 12 to 18 inches apart, and placing a cocoa- 
nut shell, spathe of a palm, or such like receptacle, under the 
fallen trunk to receive the milky sap that immediately exudes 
upon every fresh incision. This sap is collected in bamboos, 
taken to their houses and boiled, in order to drive off the 
watery particles and inspissate it to the consistence it finally 
assumes. Although the process of boiling appears necessary 
when the gutta is collected in large quantity, if a tree be 
freshly wounded, a small quantity allowed to exude, and it 
be collected and moulded in the hand, it will consolidate per- 
fectly in a few minutes, and have all the appearance of the 
prepared article. 

When it is quite pure the colour is of a greyish-white ; but 
as brought to market it is more ordinarily found of a reddish 
hue, arising from chips of bark that fall into the sap in the 
act of making the incisions, and which yield their colour to 
it. Besides these accidental chips, there is a great deal of 
intentional adulteration by sawdust and other materials. 
Some specimens I have lately seen brought to market could 
not have contained much less than one quarter of a pound of 
impurities ; and even the purest specimens f could obtain for 
surgical purposes, one pound of the substance yielded, on 
being cleansed, one ounce of impurities. Fortunately, it is 
neither difficult to detect or clean the gutta of foreign matter, 
it being only necessary to boil it in water until well softened, 
roll out the substance into thin sheets, and then pick out all 
impurities, which is easily done, as the gutta does not adhere 
to any thing, and all foreign matter is merely entangled in its 
fibres, not incorporated in its substance. The quantity of gutta 
obtained from each tree varies from five to twenty catties, so 
that, taking the average at ten catties, which is a tolerably 
liberal one, it will require the destruction of ten trees to pro- 
duce one picul. Now, the quantity exported from Singapore 
to Great Britain and the Continent, from 1st January 1845 to 


VOL. LIV. NO. XLXXXVIIT.—APRI 1848. ™ 


290 Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 


the presentdate, amounts to 6918 piculs, to obtain which 69,180 
trees must have been sacrificed. How much better would it 
_therefore be to adopt the method of tapping the tree prac- 
tised by the Burmese in obtaining the caoutchoue from the 
Ficus elastica (viz., to make oblique incisions in the bark, 
placing bamboos to receive the sap which runs out freely), 
than to kill the goose in the manner they are at present doing. 
True, they would not at first get so much from a single tree, 
but the ultimate gain would be incalculable, particularly as 
the tree seems to be one of slow growth, by no means so 
rapid as thelicus elastica. I should not be surprised, if the 
demand increases, and the present method of extermination 
be persisted in, to find a sudden cessation of the supply. 


Properties of the Gutta. 


This substance when fresh and pure is, as already men- 
tioned, of a dirty white colour, and of a greasy feel, with a 
peculiar leathery smell. It is not affected by boiling alcohol, 
but dissolves readily in boiling spirits of turpentine, also in 
naphtha and coal-tar. A good cement for luting bottles and 
other purposes, is formed by boiling together equal parts of 
gutta, coal-tar, and resin. I am indebted for this hint to Mr 
Little, surgeon, and the above were his proportions. I have, 
however, found it necessary to put two parts of the gutta, 
that is one-half instead of one-third, to enable the cement to 
stand the heat of this climate. When required for use, it 
ean always be made plastic by putting the pot containing it 
over the fire for a few minutes. The gutta itself is highly 
inflammable, a strip cut off takes light, and burns with a 
bright flame, emitting sparks, aud dropping a black residuum 
in the manner of sealing-wax, which in its combustion it very 
much resembles. But the great peculiarity of this substance, 
and that which makes it so eminently useful for many pur- 
poses, is the effect of boiling water upon it. When immersed 
for a few minutes in water above 150° Fahrenheit, it becomes 
soft and plastic, so as to be capable of being moulded to any 
required shape or form, which it retains upon cooling. If a 
strip of it be cut off, and plunged into boiling water, it con- 
tracts in size both in length and breadth. This is a very 


Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 291 


anomalous and remarkable phenomenon, apparently opposed 
to all the laws of heat. 

It is this plasticity when plunged into boiling water that 
has allowed of its being applied to so many useful purposes, 
and which first induced some Malays to fabricate it into 
whips, which were brought into town, and led to its further 
notice. The natives have subsequently extended their manu- 
factures to buckets, basins, and jugs; shoes, traces, vessels 
for cooling wine, and several other domestic uses; but the 
number of patents lately taken out for the manufacture of 
the article in England, proves how much attention it has al- 
ready attracted, and how extensively useful it is likely to be- 
come. Of all the purposes, however, to which it may be 
adapted, none is so valuable as its applicability to the prac- 
tice of surgery. Here it becomes one of the most useful 
auxiliaries to that branch of the healing art, which of all is 
the least conjectural. Its easy plasticity and power of re- 
taining any shape given to it when cool, at once pointed it 
out as suitable for the manufacture of bougies, and accord- 
ingly, my predecessor, Dr W. Montgomerie, availed himself 
of this, made several of the above instruments, and recom- 
mended the use of it to the Bengal Medical Board. But, like 
many other good hints, for want of sufficient inquiry, I fear 
it was disregarded. The practice, however, has been con- 
tinued by me, and I find many advantages in the use of this 
substance. It also answers very well for the tubes of syring« 
which are always getting out of order in this country, when 
made of caoutchouc. But my late experiments have given it 
a much higher value, and proved it the best and easiest ap- 
plication ever yet discovered in the management of fractures, 
combining ease and comfort to the patient, and very much 
lessening the trouble of the surgeon. When I think of the 
farago of bandages and splints got rid of, the lightness and 
simplicity of the application, the gutta would be no trifling 
boon to mankind were it to be used solely for this and no 
other purpose. The injuries coming under my observation, 
wherein I have tested its utility have, as yet, only been two 
compound fractures of tie leg, and one of the jaw. But so 
admirably has it not only answered, but exeeeded my expec- 


292 Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 


tations, that I should think myself culpable in not giving the 
facts early publicity. Its utility in fracture of the lower jaw 
must at once strike any surgeon. So well does it mould it- 
self to every sinuosity that it is more like giving the patient 
a new bone than a mere support. A man lately brought into 
hospital, who had his lower jaw broken by the kick of a 
horse, and which was so severe as to cause hemorrhage from 
the ears, smashing the bone into several fragments, was able 
to eat and speak three days after the accident, and felt so 
well with his gutta splint, that he insisted leaving the hospital 
within ten days. My mode of applying this substance to 
fractures of the leg is as follows :— 

The gutta having been previously rolled out into sheets of 
convenient size, and about one-fourth of an inch in thickness, 
is thus kept ready for use. When required, a piece of the ne- 
cessary length and breadth is plunged into a tub of boiling 
water. The limb of the patient is then gently raised by as- 
sistants, making extension in the usual manner. The sur- 
geon, having ascertained that the broken bone is in its place, 
takes the sheet of gutta out of the hot water, and allows it 
to cool for a couple of minutes. It is still soft and pliable as 
wash leather. Place it whilst in this state under the limb, 
and gently lower the latter down on it. The gutta is then 
to be brought round and moulded carefully to the whole of 
the back and sides of the leg, bringing the edges close toge- 
ther, but not uniting them. If there be any superfluous sub- 
stance, it can be cut off with a scissor, leaving an open slit 
down the front of the leg. You have now the leg in a com- 
fortable, soft, and smooth case, which, in ten minutes, will 
be stiff enough to retain any shape the surgeon may have 
given it, and which will also retain the bone in siéu. Place 
the leg so done up on a double inclined plane, and secure it 
thereto by passing three of the common loop bandages around 
the whole ; that is, one at the top, one in the middle, and one 
at the lower end. Let the foot be supported by a foot-board, 
and a ease of gutta put over the dorsum of the foot, to bear 
off the pressure of the small bandage generally used to se- 
cure it to the board. Having done this, the surgeon need 
not cause his patient another twinge of pain until he thks 


Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 293 


he can use the leg, or he deems the bone sufficiently united 
to bear the weight of his patient. If it be a compound frac- 
ture, it will be only necessary to untie the loop bandages, 
separate the edges of the gutta splint to the required dis- 
tance, wash and cleanse the limb without shifting any thing 
except the dressings, and having done so, shut it up again. 
The most perfect cleanliness can be maintained, as the gutta 
is not affected by any amount of ablution ; neither is it soiled 
or rendered offensive by any discharge, all which washes off 
as easily from the gutta case as from oil-cloth. I have had 
a patient where the tibia protruded through the integu- 
ments fully two inches, walking about in six weeks from the 
injury, with a leg as straight and well formed as ever it had 
been. It is quite obvious, therefore, that if it answers so 
well to compound, it will answer equally, if not better, for 
simple fractures; and that any broken bone capable of re- 
ceiving mechanical support can be supported by the gutta 
better than by any other contrivance. For it combines light- 
ness and smoothness, durability, and a capability of adjust- 
ment, not possessed by any other known substance. All 
new expcriments have to run the gauntlet of opposition, and 
I do not suppose that these recommendations will prove an 
exception to the rule. But all I ask of any surgeon is to try 
the experiment ere he argues on its propriety, and I feel fully 
convinced that all other splints and bandages will be con- 
signed to the tomb of the Capulets. There are some other 
uses for which I have tried this substance, viz., as capsules for 
transmission of the vaccine virus, which ought to keep well 
when thus protected, for it is most perfectly and hermetically 
sealed ; but I have not had sufficient experience in this mode 
of using it to pronounce decidedly on its merits. I am at 
present trying the effects of it on ulcers, by inclosing the ul- 
cerated limb in a case of gutta so as to exclude all atmos- 
pherie air, and, so far, the experiment promises success. 
Since writing the foregoing observations, I have had an 
official intimation from Penang of the vaccine virus trans- 
mitted in the gutta capsules having been received in good 
order, and of its having succeeded most satisfactorily. I have 
also opened a capsule containing a vaccine crust that had 
been kept here for one month, and it also seems to have lost 


294 Mr Thomas Oxley on Gutta Percha. 


none of its efficacy, as the case inoculated has taken. This 
will appear the more striking when it is recollected that, to 
preserve the vaccine virus hitherto in Singapore, even for 
a few days, has been almost impossible ; that this settlement, 
notwithstanding every exertion on the part of both private 
and public practitioners, has been without the benefit of this 
important prophylactic for an interval sometimes of two 
years; and that at all times, the obtaining and transmitting 
this desirable remedy has been a cause of trouble and difficulty 
to all the medical officers I have ever met with in the Straits. 

I observe in the Mechanics’ Magazine for March 1847, a 
notice of several patents taken out for the working of this 
article, by Mr Charles Hancock, in which an elaborate pro- 
cess is described for cleaning the gutta, as also mention of its 
having a disagreeable acid smell. The gutta, when pure, is 
certainly slightly acid, that is, it will cause a very slight effer- 
vescence when put into a solution of soda, but is unaffected by 
liquor potassa. The smell, although peculiar, is neither 
strong nor unpleasant, so that the article experimented upon 
must have been exceedingly impure, and, possibly, derived 
a larger portion of its acidity from the admixture and fer- 
mentation of other vegetable substances. Again, it appears 
to me that, if the gutta be pure, the very elaborate process 
described as being necessary for cleaning it, is superfluous. 
The gutta can be obtained here in a perfectly pure state by 
simply boiling it in hot water until well softened, and then roll- 
ing it out into thin sheets, when, as I have before said, all 
foreign matter can be easily removed. I would recommend 
that the manufacturers at home should offer a higher price for 
the article if previously strained through cloth at the time of 
being collected, when they will receive the gutta in a state 
that will save them a vast deal more in trouble and expense 
than the trifling addition necessary to the original prime cost. 
—(From a very promising Periodical printed at Singapore, 
which we trust will be very generally encouraged, The Journal 
of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, No.1, July 1847, 
p- 22.)* 


* For further particulars regarding the Gutta percha, vide Dr Maclagan’s 
Account in vol. xxxix., p. 238, of this Journal. 


On the Use of Gutta Percha in Electrical Insulation. By 
MIcHAEL Fanrpay, F.R.S., Foreign Associate of the Aca- 
demy of Sciences, &c. 


Mr Farady, in an interesting letter to Mr Phillips, pub- 
lished in No. 214 of the Philosophical Magazine, March 
1848, communicates the following curious particulars in re- 
gard to Gutta Percha, which are quite new, and of import- 
ance. ‘I have lately found,” says Mr Farady, “ gutta 
percha very useful in electrical experiments; and, therefore, 
that others may take advantage of its properties, if they have 
oceasion, or are so inclined, give you this notice for insertion 
in the Philosophical Magazine. Its use depends upon the 
high insulating power which it possesses under ordinary con- 
ditions, and the manner in which it keeps this power in states 
of the atmosphere which make the surface of glass a good 
conductor. All gutta percha is not, however, equally good 
as it comes from the manufacturer’s hands; but it does not 
seem difficult to bring into the best state. I will describe 
the qualities of a proper specimen, and refer to the differ- 
ences afterwards. A good piece of gutta percha will insu- 
late as well as an equal piece of shell-lac, whether it be in 
the form of sheet, a rod, or filament; but being tough and 
flexible when cold, as well as soft when hot, it will serve bet- 
ter than shell-lac, in many cases, where the brittleness of 
the latter is an inconvenience. Thus, it makes very good 
handles for carriers of electricity in experiments on induc- 
tion, not being liable to fracture ; in the form of thin band 
or string, it makes an excellent insulating suspender ; a piece 
of it in sheet makes a most convenient insulating basis for 
anything placed on it. It forms excellent insulating plugs 
for the stems of gold-leaf electrometers, when they pass 
through sheltering tubes, and larger plugs supply good insu- 
lating feet for extemporary electrical arrangements; cylin- 
ders of it, half an inch or more in diameter, have great stiff- 
ness, and form excellent insulating pillars. In these, and in 
many other ways, its power as an insulator may be useful. 

“* Because of its good insulation, it is also an excellent sub- 


296 Michael Farady, Esq., on the 


stance for the excitement of negative electricity. It is hardly 
possible to take one of the soles sold by the shoemakers out 
of paper, or into the hand, without exciting it to such a de- 
gree as to open the leaves of an electrometer one or more 
inches; or, if it be unelectrified, the slightest passage over 
the hand or face, the clothes, or almost any other substance, 
gives it an electric state. Some of the gutta percha is sold 
in very thin sheets, resembling, in general appearance, oiled 
silk; and if a strip of this be drawn through the fingers, it 
is so electric as to adhere to the hand, or attract pieces of 
paper. The appearance is such as to suggest the making a 
thicker sheet of the substance into a plate electrical machine 
for the production of negative electricity. 

* Then as to inductive action through the substance, a sheet 
of it is Soon converted into an excellent electrophorus; or it 
may be coated, and used in place of a Leyden jar, or in any 
of the many other forms of apparatus dependent on inductive 
action. 

“T have said, that all gutta percha is not in this electrical 
condition. With respect to that which is not so (and which 
has constituted above one-half of that which, being obtained 
at the shops, has passed through my hands), it has either 
discharged an electrometer as a piece of paper or wood would 
do, or it has made it collapse greatly by touching; yet has, 
on its removal, been followed by a full opening of the leaves 
again. The latter effect I have been able to trace and refer 
to a conducting portion within the mass, covered by a thin ex- 
ternal non-conducting coat. When a piece which insulates 
well is cut, the surface exposed has a resinous lustre and a 
compact character that is very distinctive ; whilst that which 
conducts has not the same degree of lustre, appears less 
translucent, and has more the aspect of a turbid solution so- 
lidified. I believe both moist steam-heat and water-baths 
are used in its preparation for commerce ; and the difference 
of specimens depends probably upon the manner in which 
these are applied, and followed by the after-process of roll- 
ing between hot cylinders. However, if a portion of that 
which conducts be warmed in a current of hot air, as over 
the glass of a low gas-flame, and be stretched, doubled up, 


Use of Gutta Percha in Electrical Insulation. 297 


and kneaded for some time between the fingers, as if with 
the intention of dissipating the moisture within it, it becomes 
as good an insulator as the best. 

“ T have soaked a good piece in water for an hour nd on 
taking it out, wiping it, and exposing it to the air fora minute 
or two, found it insulate as well as ever. Another piece was 
soaked for four days, and then wiped and dried; at first it 
was found lowered in insulating power; but, after twelve 
hours’ exposure to air, under common circumstances, it was 
as good as ever. I have not found that a week’s exposure 
in a warm air cupboard, of a piece that did not insulate, 
made it much better: a film on the outside became non-con- 
ducting ; but if two fresh surfaces were exposed by cutting, 
and these were brought into contact with the electrometer 
and the finger, the inside portion was still found to conduct. 

“If the gutta percha, in either the good or the bad condi- 
tion (as to electrical service), be submitted to a gradually in- 
creasing temperature, at about 350° or 380°, it gives off a 
considerable proportion of water; being then cooled, the 
substance which remains has the general properties of gutta 
percha, and insulates well. The original gum is probably 
complicated, being a mixture of several things ; and whether 
the water has existed in the substance as a hydrate, or is tle 
result of a deeper change of one part or another of the gum, 
I am not prepared to say. All I desire, in this note, is to 
make known its use in the arrangement of extemporary or 
permanent electrical apparatus for the advantage of work- 
ing philosophers, both juvenile and adult.” 


Communications respecting Scandinavia. In a letter from 
HERR KARL BRUNER Jun., to Professor STUDER. 


On the Ist of December 1845, says Prof. Studer, Herr 
Bruner wrote me from Berlin the following amongst other 
matters :— 

Having arrived from my northern tour, it is not only 
my duty, but I have also great pleasure, in giving you an 
answer to the letter which I had received shortly before my 
departure. 


298 Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 


On the Metamorphoses of Rocks. 


You call Norway the classic land for metamorphoses of 
rocks. It is so, inasmuch as this theory in its present form 
was first put forth there: but any other mountainous region 
offers just as good opportunity for evolving these views. In 
the Alps, for instance, does not every step lead to changes 
which the rocks have undergone? ‘The same stamp,” says 
our great master, “is impressed upon nature from the Alps 
as far as the North Pole. Her laws are extended universally 
over the surface of the earth.” 

The advantage which Norway affords for the study of the 
relations of rocks, consists in the severity of its climate per- 
mitting the growth of no luxuriant vegetation, which is so 
inimical to geognosy. To this is added the circumstance, 
that no high hills have to be climbed in order to trace the 
geognostical relations, and in fine, that the capital of the 
country, Christiania, lies exactly in the middle of that rich 
region. 

Professor Keilhau, of Christiania, treats of the geology of 
his country according to the metamorphic theory.* It would 
almost appear to me as if he went too far in his complete re- 
jection of chemistry and physics. For by this he plainly 
damages his own cause, first, by rejecting the aid of all 
those who steadily adhere to the positive (principle) in 
science ; and also, by depriving himself of many fine explana- 
tions ; for only by the aid of chemistry it appears shewn 
that alum-slate, which plays such a considerable part in 
the geology of Norway, furnishes the material of gneiss, 
since it has the same chemical composition ; and in Natural 
Philosophy alone can we hope to find an explanation for the 
new arrangement of molecules in the crystalline limestone of 
Gjellenbak, which at the same time contains petrifactions. 

It is indeed a peculiar phenomenon, that everywhere in 
which the unaltered transition rocks come in contact with 
the gneiss, the former consists of alum-slate, which, in 


* Professor Keilhau’s celebrated Memoirs on Metamorphic Rocks were first 
published in this country in the 28d and 25th volumes of the Edinburgh New 
Philosophical Journal, and under the immediate superintendence of the cele- 
brated Anthor. 


Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 299 


the immediate neighbourhood of crystalline mountains seems 
to have lost all stratification; but which, on the other hand, 
frequently presents a cleavage parallel with the surface of the 
contiguous gneiss. It is this very same phenomenon which 
one so often meets with in our Alps, and which may increase 
the difficulty of the answer to the question, whether the 
slate character of the crystalline rock corresponds to a for- 
mer state of stratification? IT have avery lively recollection 
of that excursion across the glacier of the Grindelwald, which 
I had the pleasure of making in your company. We saw 
that the limestone on the front of the Mettenberg exhibited 
a distinct and almost horizontal stratification. We then ob- 
served how gradually towards the posterior part, along the 
glacier, the stratification disappeared; and in place of it on 
the south side of the mountain, where the glacier of the 
Grindelwald joins the Mer de Glace, and the gneiss appears, 
a nearly perpendicular and very distinct separation in the 
limestone, running parallel with the surface of the gneiss, 
becomes apparent. This proves, however, that at the change 
of these formations, the effect of the rock-metamorphoses had 
extended, although in a slight degree, to the surrounding 
parts; and, on the other hand, that the separation of strata 
in limestone is a phenomenon which is first and most easily 
lost by external agency. 

In the alum-slate of the neighbourhood of Christiania there 
is to be found beds of greenstone and eurite, which appear 
as veins wherever the stratification of the alum-slate is in- 
tersected by tabular masses of greenstone. I lately men- 
tioned to you in a former letter, that among the transition 
rocks in the Hartz mountains also, greenstone appears to 
occur more frequently in beds than inthe shape of veins. If 
jn a mountainous region, we suppose alternate layers of dif- 
ferent characters, of which the one kind are more suscepti- 
ble of metamorphoses than the other, then we shall see the 
former assume the crystalline structure, while the latter re- 
tain their original character: thus we shall have the appear- 
ance of beds of erystalline formation in the midst of un- 
changed rock. But such changes of a rock in the midst of 
others that remain unchanged, is, of course, to be accounted 
for by no external agency, occasioned by volcanic rocks, for 


300 Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 


this would have produced like metamorphoses in all the 
rocks, instead of leaving the fossiliferous slates, in which 
those metamorphic rocks lie, in their original condition. 
Thus, Nature here gives us a hint that the cause of these 
metamorphoses could not have been produced by external 
agency. But this does not exclude the existence of the vein- 
genous appearance of crystalline rocks, which also occur in 
Norway. Certainly a state of softness has frequently arisen 
during those changes, especially in all those which have pro- 
duced the granular crystalline rocks. Were there now such 
amass in the act of metamorphoses, under great pressure, 
we should see the mass penetrating through fissures into the 
superincumbent and subjacent rock, and thus we should have 
veins running upwards as well as downwards. In Norway we 
meet with some of the latter kind, as for instance the rhombic 
porphyry, which, issuing from the mass of porphyry lying above 
the sandstone, ramify into the subjacent transition rock. 
Greenstone and eurite* are consequently very abundant in 
the transition rock district of Christiania. A very peculiar 
appearance occurs about half a Norway mile north of the 
town. Here, in a dark-green mass of rock, appear angular 
fragments of granite, and various kinds of gneiss and horn- 
blende, intermingled without the slightest order. I have 
brought specimens, in which we see all these varieties of rock 
together. I confess that I doubted the possibility of an ex- 
planation. The Vulcanists, however, are at once ready with 
one. They say, the greenstone has, during its upward pres- 
sure, torn off fragments from the mountain whilst piercing 
through it; and they make these different kinds of rock meet 
together in the unexplored lower regions, and there produce 
the formation. When I examined the rock more closely, it 
appeared to me as if the heterogeneous enclosures, instead of 
being parts of a breccia, were rather the remains of a con- 
glomerate, which had become partly affected by the green- 
stone, so that only isolated hard grains which resisted the 
influence were left behind, and are now, of course, deprived 
of their former rounded form. I anticipate much pleasure 


* Wurite is a very fine, granular, nearly compact, granitic mixture, with pre- 
dominating felspar. With imbedded small crystals of felspar it forms eurite- 
porphry. 


Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 301 


in exhibiting these fragments to you on my return, and in 
being able to hear your opinion regarding them. The possi- 
bility of this mode of their origin was increased in my mind 
to probability, when subsequently, in the crystalline slate- 
hills of Dovre-Fjeld and in the Kjolen, I found a similar 
conglomerate where the inclosures are less affected by the 
surrounding mass, so that one can more distinctly discern 
their rounded form. The boulders here also are gneiss of 
various appearance, and the rocky bed in which they lie is a 
talcose mica-slate. It is aspecies of Valorsine conglomerate. 
Nearer Sneehitten these slates assume the character of horn- 
blende; and in the same ratio as they do so the conglome- 
rates also appear. Indeed, we still see very distinctly, by 
their angular remains, that they once existed here also ; but 
the appearance of the hornblende gave the signal for their 
destruction, and thus produced a rock which may be con- 
sidered as analogous to the diorite of Christiania. If, for 
instance, a metamorphosis should seize our Nagelfluh, it would 
first assume the character of the conglomerate of Dovre- 
Fjeld, viz., rounded boulder stones in a crystalline ground of 
rock. If the metamorphosis should proceed further, then the 
limestone and small pebbles, for example, would disappear, 
and at last there would remain behind only granite and gab- 
bro-boulders, which offer the greatest resistance ; yet these 
also would partly dissolve, and thus lose their rounded form. 
In short, we would have the rock of Christiania. 

The granular limestone of Gjellebik presents the pheno- 
menon of Monzon; but here, in Norway, beside tremolite, 
idocrase, garnet, and blende, there are very distinct traces of 
petrifactions, the very same as occur in the transition rocks of 
this country. In‘like manner, the strata of marl among lime- 
stone still remain pure ; and this proves, that the metamor- 
phic process has been easy and gradual, and that it was not 
a destructive granite, which, by its heat, melted the mountain 
to a fluid mass, out of which a new rock, the granular lime- 
stone, was crystallised. The gradual change of form of a 
body which still continues solid, is a problem at which many 
are confounded, because they cannot imitate the great expe- 
riment of nature. Ona grand scale, it does not hold; but 
in a smaller way, the barley-sugar, which, in course of time, 


302 Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 


becomes crystalline and dull, presents an example of a change 
of structure without any alteration of its solidity ; and copper 
coins, buried in the earth, become oxidised without losing 
their impressions. 

From the Tyri-Fjord, out of which the Drammen-Ely or — 
river discharges itself into the sea, we observe, to the south- 
east, a long wallof rock, which borders the beautiful district 
of Ringrige. In the bottom of the valley is transition 
rock, with its petrifactions or fossils ; and above it there lies, 
almost horizontally, the red non-fossiliferous sandstone, which 
we consider as analogous to the old red. We now advance 
on the Krokskleven by that steep wall, and we are not a little 
surprised to see, lying in the middle of the declivity of the 
sandstone, the most beautiful porphyry, with large crystals 
of feldspath: it is Buch’s rhombic-porphyry. That this por- 
phyry is spread over the sandstone cannot be doubted, for it 
is quite horizontal, and the bounding surface of these two 
different rocks does not lie concealed under rubbish, but is 
visible along the rocky wall, and so plain, that no profile 
could delineate it better. One can place his hand upon it, 
and the evidence of the senses must be believed. The marls 
of the sandstone get white spots next the boundary, and fre- 
quently become amygdaloidal. I here called to remembrance 
the road from Castelruth up to the Seisseralp ; for if one 
looks, for instance, in Buch’s profile of that part of Tyrol, at 
the front side alone, and leaves out the portion which repre- 
sents the interior of the Seisseralp (which also has never 
been observed),—as you state in your lectures,—then we 
have a phenomenon analogous to the Krokskleven, viz., Me- 
laphyr, lying above marl and limestone. As everything in 
Norway bears a grand character, so also here this overlying 
of the porphyry upon the sandstone is not confined to a single 
locality, but, for the distance of many miles, we see in the 
mountains the porphyry covering the sandstone. But nobody 
has yet observed anything like veins passing out of the por- 
phyry into the sandstone below; and as the porphyry is, in 
this case, entirely cut off from the lower regions, so, in like 
manner, is any explanation of this phenomenon, by the Vul- 
canic theory, cut off. 

The Slosberg in Hadeland, as Keilhau has already described 


Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 303 


it, shews a distinct transition of clay-slate into syenite. Ihave 
collected a complete series of fossiliferous slates, in which, 
first, iron-pyrites lie separate on the surface, then individual 
crystals of hornblende, then mica, which passes into mica- 
slate, and even into massive syenite. It will be interesting 
to compare the phenomenon, which here lies so plain before 
our eyes, with our similar Alpine phenomena. 

The true high lands of Scandinavia, which are by no means 
those forming the boundary between Norway and Sweden, 
but which lie in the western part of Norway, are not all rich 
in geognostic relations, for they consist entirely of gneiss and 
mica-slate, which, apart from interesting individual forma- 
tions, which they comprise, bear the same character as every- 
where else. But this extensive distribution of that rock is 
in itself a subject of the greatest interest; in an extent of 
many hundred square miles, there is nowhere to be found a 
single formation which, according to the modern terminology, 
one might venture to call granite; and, consequently, in the 
language of the Vulcanists, there is no cause for producing 
metamorphoses of rock ; yet, nevertheless, every part appears 
crystalline, even the highest peaks, the Skagastlstinderne in 
Fortun-Fjeld, form no exception. 

The great beds of chrome iron-ore in Trondhjem’s stift lie 
in serpentine, and the latter forms beds in mica-slate. The 
appearance of serpentine in beds, which you long ago shewed 
in regard to the Alps, unquestionably occurs here in Nor- 
way. Veins of a white fossil carbonate, which, according to 
Stromeyer’s analysis, is bitter-spar, ramify through the 
chrome iron-ore, which seems to occur in vast nests. This 
may appear strange, as, in general, carbonate of magnesia 
does not oceur in the neighbourhood of serpentine. 

Sweden is still much poorer than the high lands of Norway. 
Save some spots of fossiliferous transition rock, and the 
more recent formations in Skonen, granite, or rather, accord- 
ing to G. Rose’s description, gneiss, is almost the only forma- 
tion which occurs. Wherever, in this rock, there appear 
veins of a coarse granular granite with oligoklase,* we find or- 
thite, gadolinite, and yttro-tantalite : indeed, these, latter mi- 
nerals are more universally spread than is generally believed. 


* A species of felspar in which the cleavage is very imperfect. 


304 Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 


On the Erratic Phenomena. 


As to phenomena arising from the erratic system, it may 
be said, that these in Scandinavia are limited to strize, pro- 
duced by friction and (riesentépfe) giant-pots. The erratic 
blocks are of less importance. By this, however, I do not 
mean to say, that one may not be as much in error in ex- 
plaining this phenomenon as in others. I have seen polished 
and striated rocks on the sea-shore, so that the line of stria- 
tion now passes under the level of the sea,—a proof that the 
tides are by no means inimical to the phenomena; but whe- 
ther they may, therefore, be considered as causes of it, is by 
no means decided by this circumstance, for striated rocks are 
also found at a great distance from the ocean. In Tellemar- 
ken, striated or grooved lines, produced by friction, are to be 
seen 2000 feet above the level of the sea; on Gousta-Fjeld, 
they are observed even at 4000 feet. But the sea has cer- 
tainly never reached so great a height in modern times. The 
rocks with the firmly-adhering barnacles (Balanus), near 
Christiania, which furnish the most striking proof of their 
having been once covered by the sea, lie only 400 feet above 
its level; and a little above this elevation, all traces of a ma- 
rine diluvium seem to disappear. Though the fact is also esta- 
blished, that the level of the sea in Norway formerly stood 
higher, still that fact has no bearing on the striated character 
of the rocks in the high lands, which, doubtless, may be ex- 
plained in the same way as the similar phenomenon in Swit- 
zerland. The matter stands otherwise in Sweden. The 
whole of this country lies very low, and the characteristic 
Scheren on the west coast extend with the same character, 
as naked and destitute of all vegetation, as they stand out in 
the midst of the sea, many miles distant in the interior of 
West Gothland, so that one is often inclined to believe, that 
the action of the waves of the Cattegat and Skagerrak upon 
these rocks was only a matter of yesterday. The same is 
the case on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. The time 
may easily be calculated, when the hills of Stockholm were 
hidden under the water, and the rocks are rising out of the 
sea, as it were before our eyes; but they issue forth rounded 


Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 305 


and striated from Neptune’s workshop. The traveller in the 
south of Sweden has no need of compass, for every exposed 
rock shews him, by the direction of the strix, the direction 
from north to south. In the same direction run those boul- 
der-dikes, which characterise this phenomenon of Sweden. 
There is no Asar in Norway, at least not in the middle and 
northern divisions. I do not know whether any occur on the 
south coast of Christiansandstift, but I would be inclined to 
doubt it. In Sweden, however, they often extend continu- 
ously over many miles, and their direction may be found in 
every travelling map ; for, by reason of their great regularity, 
the highways in Smiland and Sédermanland are carried along 
these causeways. In the neighbourhood of Stockholm, of 
which Nor-Malm lies partly upon an Asar, I had occasion to 
examine one newly cut into. I then saw that it consists of 
nothing else than rounded boulder-stones, amongst which a 
certain stratification could not be mistaken. Nothing in it 
reminds one of moraines. As regards the striated character 
of the rocks, neither in this respect did they appear to me 
quite analogous to our Swiss phenomenon: the rocks are 
more rounded, and frequently deep furrows of a foot in 
breadth are washed out in them. Those very smooth mir- 
ror-like surfaces, such as the “ shelle platte” in Handeckfalle, 
do not occur in Sweden, On the contrary, we frequently meet 
with the riesentipfe or giant’s pots, which do allow us to in- 
fer these have been produced by the washing of water. 
Thus, if we are referred for the explanation to currents of 
water which moved sand and larger stones along the bottom, 
then the view of Mr Sefstrom, that this current was produced 
by the rising of the land, appears not quite evident ; for this 
rising up of the coast from the sea appears far too gradual 
to allow even a small stone being moved from its place. We 
must have recourse to the theory of sudden and frequently 
interrupted risings; and this is a new hypothesis, in sup- 
port of which there is no proof. Mr Professor Forch- 
hammer sees in the phenomenon the effect of aqueous cur- 
rents, such as still occur in all seas; and this mode of 
explanation strikes me as much more probable: it possesses 
the advantage of requiring no new hypothesis, since it ex- 
VOL. XLIV. NO, UXXXVIII.—APRIL 1848. U 


306 Communications respecting Rocks of Scandinavia. 


plains every thing by existing facts and actions still going 
on. An accurate study of the phenomenon, and the col- 
lection of many individual facts, will assist in throwing a 
clear light on this subject. In Copenhagen there is pre- 
served a large plate of limestone from Zealand, on which we 
distinctly perceive three different directions in the striated 
character, corresponding to the changes in the direction of 
the current of the sea, which have taken place in consequence 
of the gradual rising of the land. By the Sefstromean theory, 
which ascribes the phenomenon entirely to a sudden passing 
cause, a similar change in the direction of the strie is left 
unexplained ; for when the land suddenly rose up, and the 
water ran off, the latter would do so by the shortest way; and 
to this one direction only of the striz corresponds. But the 
Forchhammerean current in the bottom of the sea must al- 
ways vary its direction according to the configuration of the 
solid land, which would be changed by suddenly rising up : 
thus it is not surprising to observe more than one direction 
of the striz on the same spot. This specimen in Copenhagen 
is therefore of great importance for the examination of the 
theories of the northern phenomenon, and certainly possesses 
attractions for us also, in enabling us to compare with it the 
similar phenomenon of our own country. I have obtained a 
east of it in plaster of Paris, which Professor Forchhammer 
has already had the kindness to forward to me here. 

My specimens, which partly I sent here from Norway, and 
partly brought with me, have all reached this in safety, and 
are already arranged and numbered. They are all, of course, 
intended for our museum. What I obtained by barter con- 
sists simply of a small, but very pretty and exactly deter- 
mined, specimen of fossiliferous transition rocks from the 
island of Gothland, and from West Gothland : this I got from 
Professor Loven in Stockholm, to whom I have promised 
Swiss fossils in return ; also specimens of fossils in Danish 
chalk, got from Professor Forchhammer in exchange for 
Swiss chalk fossils. In regard to simple minerals, I have been 
less fortunate. We cannot purchase any; for in the whole 
of Scandinavia there is not a single dealer in minerals, and 
even in Christiania and Stockholm people must procure the 


On the use of the Marine Hydrometer. 307 


specimens of their own country from foreign dealers. 1 have 
received very complete specimens of the rare minerals of 
Sweden in a present from Captain Svanenberg and Axel 
Erdmann. All these, as I have already said, I have here in 
Berlin.—(Mettheilungen der Natuforschenden Gesilischaft zu 
Bern. N.57 and 58, January 1846.) 


On the Use of the Marine Hydrometer. By GuorcEe Bu- 
CHANAN, Civil Engineer, F.R.S.E., President of the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts. Communicated by the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts.* 


This is an instrument which I have found extremely useful 
in inquiries connected with the prevalence of sea or river water 
in different estuaries, with the view of determining the limits 
of these waters in respect of the sea. This forms not only a 
curious subject of investigation, but has become of great 
practical application in this country in connection with the 
interests of the salmon-fisheries. These we know in rivers 
are restricted in the modes of fishing, while in the sea they 
may be carried on freely by any means of catching, such as 
stake-nets or other fixed machinery. After the introduction 
of this modern improvement in the fishing, the great question 
arose, how to determine the limit between the river and the 
sea, and by it to fix the point where the restrictions were to 
be taken off, and the free use of fixed machinery was to be- 
gin. On this question much diversity of opinion has pre- 
vailed ; and among other tests was that of the prevalence of 
fresh or salt water. 

Having been engaged in various inquiries of this nature, 
I found that for every purpose it was sufficient to test the 
qualities of the waters by their specific gravities, this being 
always an exact measure of the prevalence of sea or of fresh 
water in any mixture. 

The specific gravities were accordingly measured by weigh- 
ing each specimen in the usual way in a fine balance. But 
this method being tedious, and nearly inapplicable where a 


* Kead before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, January 24, 1848." 


308 On the use of the Marine Hydrometer. 


great number of specimens were to be tried on the spot, and 
during the progress of the surveys, it occurred to me, that 
something on the principle of the hydrometer might be intro- 
duced, which would facilitate the business ; and this is one of 
the instruments which I found to answer. It consists merely 
of a common spirit hydrometer-bulb, made so long as just to 
sink under the bulb in sea-water, and adapted with a very 
thin scale, so as to give greater sensibility, and measure the 
different shades of saltness with accuracy. Considerable 
difficulty was found in adapting this scale, as it must not 
only be thin, but light, otherwise it tends to overbalance the 
whole instrument. A thin slip of whalebone or ivory answers 
sufficiently well. A stem of glass would be desirable, but it 
is too slender, and liable to be broken. Here is an instru- 
ment entirely of brass, like the brewers’ hydrometer, and will 
answer very well; and I have no doubt, that in the hands of 
instrument-makers, a more finished and correct instrument 
could be constructed for general use ; and it would be curious 
to have experiments with such an instrument in different seas. 

The general specific gravity of sea-water along the shores 
on the east coast of Scotland, I have found rarely to exceed 
1026. Fresh water being 1000. The use of the instrument 
was shewn in different waters, and a very small impregnation 
of salt was visible in fresh water by the rising of the stem. 
A specimen from Granton Pier at low water was found 1024, 
shewing an impregnation of one part of fresh in 13 of salt, 
and at high water, it was exactly the same, and also the 
same at the top and bottom: but this is seldom the case at 
the mouths of rivers and estuaries, the fresh water being 
found generally floating on the surface, particularly in rivers 
such as the North Esk in Forfarshire, which, making a rapid 
and sudden descent into the sea without an intervening 
estuary of any extent, no time is allowed for the mixture of 
the waters. I have frequently found the waters there per- 
fectly fresh on the surface, and in the water at 4 or 5 feet 
deep, the hydrometer mounted nearly to the top of the scale, 
shewing the entire prevalence of the sea-water at that depth. 
After their descent into the open sea, the fresh waters float 
about on the surface for a long time, and are driven in dif- 


M. E. Millon on Aletals in the Human Blood. 309 


ferent directions by the prevailing winds. At Queensferry, 
a specimen from the surface was shewn and tried, and found 
1023, shewing 1 part of fresh in nearly 9 of salt, and at 14 
fathoms down, it was 1023}, or 1 part fresh in 10} salt. At 
Alloa, again, where the waters at low water are nearly quite 
fresh, yet at high water a specimen was shewn, which was 
found 10103 at the surface, and at the bottom 1013, shewing 
a mixture of 10 parts of fresh in 16 salt, in the one case, and 
exactly half-and-half in the other. 

In the Northern and Arctic Seas, it has been found by Dr 
Marcet, and Mr Scoresby, and Dr Fyfe, 1026-7, and nearly 
the same at all depths. Under the equator 1028. In the 
Mediterranean 1028-82, shewing that this sea is considerably 
Salter than that of the oceans which surround the globe. 
But the saltest, at least the heaviest of all the waters on the 
earth is the Dead Sea, which is impregnated not only with 
salt, but also with sulphurous and bituminous ingredients. 
The specific gravity, from a specimen brought over many 
years ago by Mr Gordon of Clunie, was found to be 1211, 
shewing an impregnation eight times greater than sea-water.* 


On the Normal presence of different Metals in the Human Blood. 


M. E. Millon has addressed to the Academy of Sciences, 
a Memoir on the Normal Presence of many Metals in the 
Human Blood, and an Analysis of the fixed Salts contained in 
that Liquid. 

Upon receiving the blood on issuing from a vein in about 
three times its volume of water, and introducing it after this 
dilution into a jar of gaseous (chlore) chlorine, it is seen to 
coagulate, become of a brown colour, and soon after forms a 
grey amorphous mass, in which the organisation of the 
sanguineous globules has entirely disappeared. By placing 
the whole in a fine cloth and squeezing it, a liquid flows out 


* See Jameson’s Philosophical Journal, vol. ii., 1820, 


310 M. E. Millon on Metals in the Human Blood. 


which runs rapidly through the filter and remains limpid. If 
we examine this reaction more closely, we will find a peculiar 
separation of the elements of the blood. The organic sub- 
stances are found almost wholly in the coagulated portion ; 
all the saline principles, on the contrary, are collected in the 
liquid. This division is made so completely, that on washing 
the coagulum and then calcining it, it is destroyed, without 
leaving any residuum. On the other hand, the liquid, when 
evaporated to dryness and burned in a tube used for organic 
analysis, affords so little carbonic acid, that at most we may 
estimate the proportion of the organic matters of the blood 
which the chlorine does not coagulate, at one in a hundred. It 
is easy to convince ourselves that the coagulum furnished by 
the organic principles does not contain the fixed salts of the 
blood—does not condense them—and encloses a quantity only 
proportionate to the quantity of water which impregnates it ; 
so that if we weigh the water in which we received the blood, 
and weigh it again after mixture with the blood, we may act 
upon a known weight of filtered liquid, as on a determined 
weight of blood. This liquid accommodates itself so well to 
all analytic researches, both as regards quality and quantity, 
that we can immediately discover the quantity of one or other 
of the fixed salts of the blood. This method is in fact an ana- 
lysis of the fixed salts of the blood, by the humid method, 
and M. Millon thinks that it will apply advantageously to 
other tissues and other liquids employed for economical 
purposes. 

This facility in insulating the saline part of the blood has 
led M. Millon to other results. He states that he has proved 
that the blood of man constantly contains silex, manganese, 
lead, and copper. The proportion of silex and of the metals 
is sufficient to prevent any particular modification being re- 
quired in their analysis. After evaporating to dryness the 
liquid set free by the action of the chlorine, the residuum is 
calcined for a few instants in order to remove the small 
quantity of organic matter which the chlorine has not rendered 
insoluble. The insoluble part of the ashes is then treated as 
a mineral substance, in which we find silex, lead, copper, 
and manganese. M. Millon has in this way found, that in 


On procuring Crgstallisations in the Dry Way. 311 


100 parts of this insoluble residuum, left by the ashes of the 
blood, 
The Silex varies from 1 to 3 in 100 


The Lead ” 1to5 ” 
The Copper Pe 0°5 to 2°5 ,, 
The Manganese _,, 10 to 24 ,, 


After the determination, in this way rendered so easy, M. 
Millon wished to examine whether the copper and the lead 
were disseminated throughout the whole mass of the blood, or 
whether, like the iron, they are assembled in the sanguineous 
globules. 1killogramme of coagulated blood, carefully sepa- 
rated from the serum of numerous bleedings, yielded him 
0s"083 of lead and copper. 1 killogramme of serum sepa- 
rated from the preceding coagulum, gave him only 02"008 
of these two metals ; and M. Millon thinks that these three 
milligrammes of lead and copper contained in the serum, 
ought to be ascribed to the sanguineous globules dissolved or 
suspended in the lymph. 

Then, he states in conclusion, the copper and lead are not 
in a state of diffusion through the blood ; they are fixed with 
the iron in the globules, and everything leads us to believe 
that they share with it organization and life.* 


On procuring Crystallisations in the Dry Way, as explained 
ina Memoir laid before the French Academy of Sciences, 
and reported on by MM. BEUDANT, BERTHIER, and DUFRE- 
noy. By M. EBELMEN. 


The modern theories of geology, says M. Beudant, one of 
the reporters, render it necessary to admit that a great part _ 
of mineral substances are formed by fusion at a temperature 
more or less elevated; that is to say, that the rocks anciently 
named primitive, formations of which we are now acquainted 
with belonging to all ages, are the result, like all the matters 
also which they contain, of a crystallisation by fusion. The 
probability of this assertion has beensupported by experi- 


* From L’Institut, No, 732, January 1848, p. 10. 


312 M. Ebelmen on 


ments of very old date, in which, by the melting of different 
substances, crystalline products have been obtained com- 
posed of different ingredients promiscuously intermingled ; it 
has been corroborated since by the examination of scoriz, &e. 
of smelting-houses, in which crystalline matters have been 
found identical with some of the natural substances occur- 
ring in the above mentioned rocks. Finally, it has been con- 
firmed by direct experiments, in which, by fusion, certain 
minerals have been formed at pleasure, and many analogous 
substances. However, certain problems remained to be 
solved, as, fortunately for our successors, will always conti- 
nue to be the case. Here, for example, matters more or less 
analogous to the minerals formed in our smelting houses 
(usines), such as we have directly formed by uniting the com- 
posing ingredients in suitable proportions, have all hitherto 
been fusible substances ; but it very often happens in nature 
that such matters are accompanied by others which resist the 
most violent fires of our furnaces, and frequently also the 
latter envelope the former; thus quartz, corundum, spinel, 
and cymophane, &c., all infusible substances, are found along 
with others which melt more or less readily. It thence fol- 
lows that we can attain to no certainty as to the origin of 
these matters; and if, by analogy, we admit that they have 
likewise been produced by fusion, we must suppose tempera- 
tures which we cannot produce but by means of blowpipes of 
detonating gas, with which only trifling attempts at crystal- 
lisation can be attempted. Consequently nothing positive 
could be ascertained respecting these bodies. 
These doubts appear to have occupied M. Ebelmen’s mind, 
and led him to the idea, from which important consequences 
‘may be derived. He conceived that it was not merely the 
fusion of substances at a temperature more or less elevated 
that might determine the combination of different elements, 
and the crystallisation of composite forms, but that it must 
likewise frequently happen that there will be real solutions 
of these substances, even of such as are infusible, in certain 
substances in fusion, just as there is a solution of different 
salts in water or other liquids; and that, consequently, 
crystallisations ought to be formed either by the evaporation 


Procuring Crystallisations in the Dry Way. 313 


of this new kind of dissolvent, or by the simple cooling of 
the solution made at a high temperature. It is under the 
first of these two points of view that he has undertaken a 
series of experiments, the result of which he has laid before 
the Academy. 

M. Ebelmen immediately thought of the known dissolvents 
of this kind, such as boracie acid, phosphoric acid, the alka- 
line borates and phosphates, which dissolve, as is known, a 
considerable number of oxides when they are in a state of 
fusion, and have the property besides of volatilising slowly 
at a high temperature, whence it might be supposed that the 
solution would leave the dissolved substances under crystal- 
line forms. The experiment completely succeeded, although 
made in circumstances by no means favourable; for it was 
carried on in the porcelain ovens of the royal manufactory, 
where they reach the maximum temperature very slowly, 
and stop it almost suddenly; so that there are only five or six 
hours for the evaporation of the dissolvent, during which 
crystallisation took place. It followed from this that only 
very small crystals could be obtained, and that, in many 
cases, none could be obtained at all. It is likewise proper to 
add, that the experiment is quite novel; and we do not know, 
with respect to these dissolvents, the degree of solubility of 
the different substances. 

In spite of these obstacles, M. Ebelmen has made a series 
of experiments, the results of which are of high interest. 
On the one hand, by dissolving alumina in borate of soda 
or in boracic acid in fusion, he has made this substance 
cerystallise, and has obtained the mineral known by the name 
of corundum, with all its characters. It is true that the crys- 
tals obtained are small, but perfectly formed, and possess all 
the characters of infusibility, great hardness, lustre, crystal- 
lisation, optical properties, and properties of composition, 
that we discern in the identical natural substances. 

Thus the general problem is solved—infusible substances 
present no greater difficulties than the others; and besides, 
we are certain that we can henceforth obtain the crystallisa- 
tion of a substance in a much more perfect manner than in 
al] the experiments hitherto made. 


314 M. Ebelmen on 


But M. Ebelmen has not limited himself to the crystallisa- 
tion of infusible substances. The means he conceived hav- 
ing been completely successful, he applied them to a different 
class of considerations, namely, to remove any doubt that 
might remain as to the composition of certain minerals, and 
clearly to establish analogies which hitherto rested only on 
conjecture. His first experiments having confirmed the com- 
position Al? O?, MgO for spinel, he wished to ascertain if 
its presumed isomorphisms could be substituted for the mag- 
nesia, and those of alumina could be substituted for that sub- 
stance. This the natural compositions would lead us, on 
theory, to suppose, but the fact had never been clearly de- 
monstrated. 

For the magnesia, therefore, he successively substituted 
lime, protoxide of manganese, protoxide of iron, and protox- 
ide of cobalt, and he obtained, if not always bodies erystal- 
lised in distinct regular octohedrons, at least bodies present- 
ing positive indications of this form—the hardness, and all 
other characters like those of other spinels. He mingled 
many of these composites together, and the results were the 
same as when employing the magnesia alone. With regard 
to the substitution of baryte in the same proportional rela- 
tions, it has yielded rather vague indications of crystallisa- 
tion, but evidently belonging to another system, and resem- 
bling the result which the author had previously obtained by 
employing glucine, which produced cymophane artificially, 
in all respects identical with the natural substance, the com- 
position of which, previously considered very probable, was 
thus completely verified. 

M. Ebelmen proceeded in the same manner by replacing 
the alumina by its presumed isomorphisms, namely, the oxide 
of chrome Cr? O°, the peroxide of iron, &c., in the atomic 
proportions of spinel, sometimes preserving the magnesia 
as a base, at other times substituting other bodies for it. In 
all his experiments he obtained matters completely analo- 
gous to the aluminate of magnesia, and, among others, the 
chromate of iron, quite analogous to spinel, thus removing 
all doubts on what has been called chromated iron or sidero- 
chrome. He has likewise ascertained that mixtures of these 


Procuring Crystallisations in the Dry Way. 315 


bodies with the aluminates of the same formula may be ob- 
tained artificially, as likewise with the ferrate of iron Fe? 03, 
Fe O in all proportions, precisely as they are found in na- 
ture, a circumstance which has long embarrassed those mine- 
ralogists who do not well understand the relation of physical 
and chemical characters. 

Thus isomorphisms which, according to facts of another 
nature, have hitherto been only probable in regard to sub- 
stances which we had not the means of causing to crystallise 
at pleasure, are now found completely established by M. Ebel- 
men’s experiments. 

The reporter states further: The leading idea which M. 
Ebelmen has conceived, appears to us a richer one than he has 
represented it to us—no doubt because he wished to speak 
only of what he had made the subject of experiment, which 
has already yielded results of considerable importance. In 
its most general form, the idea consists of this, that many 
bodies in fusion probably possess the property of acting as 
dissolvents on many others, fusible as well as infusible. It 
does not appear absolutely necessary that these bodies should 
be capable of being volatilised in order to obtain from them 
a crystallisation of the dissolved substances, for with water 
only we may obtain crystals in vessels hermetically sealed, 
and consequently without evaporation, by the mere difference 
of the temperature of saturation and crystallisation. Now, 
since we find infusible bodies, such as quartz, corundum, 
spinel, cymophane, &c., as well as fusible bodies such as 
garnet, emerald, &c., in felspathic substances, in the granu- 
lar carbonate of lime, &c., may we not suppose that these 
matters, in a state of fusion, have been the dissolvents? May 
we not also suppose the same thing of many others? These 
are at least fine subjects for experiment, which it will be of 
advantage to try; for if we may suppose, in consequence of 
M. Ebelmen’s experiments, that boracic acid may be the 
vehicle of some great crystallisation, by way of formation, in 
some localities where we at present see it disengaged in 
abundance, it must be confessed that this body, as well as its 
compounds, is too rare among the products that issue from 
the bosom of the earth to ascribe to it the enormous mass 


316 Professor Agassiz’s Zoological Researches. 


which would have been required for the purpose men- 
tioned. 

However this may be, Beudant says, in terminating his re- 
port, we see, by the short exposition which has been given, 
that M. Ebelmen’s idea appears to be avery fruitful one ; that 
it has been conceived in the sound spirit of natural philosophy ; 
that it has already furnished the means of verifying doubtful 
compositions in a great number of minerals, as well as of - 
making many substances which nature has not yet presented 
to us, and thus filling up important blanks in general classi- 
fications ; finally, that it has yielded positive and fundamen- 
tal facts for science. 

Agreeably to the conclusions of the report, the Academy 
decides that M. Ebelmen’s Memoir shall be inserted in the 
Memoires of the Savants etrangers.* 


Siaandick phn Hata bev ane ate viel Ch ee Te 


Zoological Researches. By Professor AGASSIZ. 


M. Duvernoy communicated a letter from M. Agassiz, 
dated Boston, 30th September 1847, and addressed to M. 
Alex. De Humboldt. 

The zoological part of this letter relates to the inferior 
marine animals, and more particularly the Actiniz, Lucerna- 
rie, and some points in the anatomy of the Asterias and 
Echini. 

Tt likewise contains many theoretical developments of the 
pilateral, from which M. Agassiz thinks he has discovered 
and demonstrated in Echinodermes, and which he supposes 
he has detected in anew species of Actinia, which he dredged 
from a depth of 140 feet. This species, which he proposes 
to dedicate to Captain Davis, under whose guidance he 
made an exploratory voyage of a month’s duration, along the 
shores of Nantucket, is remarkable for the size of its tenta- 
cula, which are few in number, and widely open at their ex- 
tremity. 


A ened tc a op eat al 


* From L’Institut, No. 731, January 1848, pp. 1-2. 


Professor Agassiz’s Zoological Researches. 317 


After having observed that the contracted mouth forms a 
straight line, and that the tentacula are placed five by five, 
so as to form a regular pentagon, one of which is always in 
the prolongation of this line, the author thence concludes, 
that there can no longer be any doubt as to the ee aes of 
this polypus. 

It is our belief, on the contrary, says M. Duvernoy, that 
this conclusion can be no longer hazarded ; and we pass on 
to his observations on the development of the Actinia, which 
appear to us to be of unquestionable interest. 

“ It remains for us to study the mode of formation and the 
increase in number of the tentacula. The same Actinia 
which enabled me to observe the symmetry of structure, fur- 
nished me with the means of doing this. One day I saw it 
deposit a packet of eggs, which were soon developed, and 
gave birth to young, provided with ten tentacula only, and of 
a distinct pentagonal form, which extended to the margin of 
the interior disc by which they were attached. At this 
period, the organisation of these animals is very easily under- 
stood ; the vertical plates which divide the general cavity of 
the body are ten in number, and the stomach is suspended 
above this cavity, into which it opens below by a large 
aperture. A young Actinia, at this stage, resembles an Al- 
cyonium ; only in place of eight vertical bands, there are 
here ten plates, which advance considerably from the inte- 
rior of the cavity, and which correspond to the ten tentacula 
of the circumference, or rather which interceptthem. These 
plates are muscular, and, along with the circular fibres of 
the surface, determine the very varied forms we observe 
among these animals. The ovaries and the testicles, which 
are suspended to these plates, are developed at a very early 
period. The new tentacula are simple prominences on the | 
circumference, which are formed on the outside of the al- 
ready existing tentacula and between them. The walls of 
the new tentacula are then prolonged vertically, by project- 
ing into the interior, and giving birth to new plates. In my 
new Actinia, the tentacula themselves are plaited on the in- 
terior, as is the whole animal, and I can distinctly see the 
fibres, or rather the longitudinal muscular fascicles which 


318 Professor Agassiz’s Zoological Researches. 


make them project. The general cavity of the body is filled 
with water, which enters by the mouth and stomach, as well 
as by the numerous microscopic pores arranged in vertical 
series in the walls, and which issues by the tentacula and 
these same walls. The produce of digestion constantly 
mingles with this water; but as the mouth, stomach, and 
extremity of the tentacula can be closed at pleasure, the di- 
luted nutritive fluid may circulate for a long time between 
the plates of the general cavity of the body and in the tenta- 
cular tubes, before spreading itself exteriorly, and becoming 
farther diluted by the introduction of new water. In these 
animals, then, the same walls serve to elaborate the food, to 
separate the nutritious fluid, and make it undergo the neces- 
sary modifications for the purposes it has to fulfil ; functions 
which, in the higher animals, are deyolved on the particular 
apparatus of circulation and respiration. 

I forgot to mention, that, in the same deposit, this same 
individual produced living young, as far advanced as those 
from the eggs, many days after their exclusion, and the eggs 
at very different degrees of development; so that this Acti- 
nia (which I shall describe under the name of Rhodactinia 
Davisii) is at the same time oviparous and viviparous. Hay- 
ing seen many similar successive layings, and having ob- 
served this fact in two distinct species, I am inclined to be- 
lieve that itis the ordiary mode of reproduction among the 
Actinias. 

I shall not speak to you of the numerous genera of Tubu- 
laria, Sertularia, and Bryozoaria, which I have had occasion 
to examine ; this would lead me into an infinity of details 
which are not yet sufficiently digested. 

Discarding the sponges from the class of Polypi, as having 
nothing to do with the animal kingdom, and also the Bryo- 
zoaria, which are true Molluses, both in regard to their or- 
ganisation and mode of development, this class contains 
a very natural group of animals extremely like each other ; 
for, although we separate them into two great divisions, the 
Hydroides and Actinoides, it is not difficult to demonstrate 
the most intimate analogy between these two types. 


* 


Professor Agassiz’s Zoological Researches. 319 


The Hydroides have a general cavity of the body, below 
the stomach, into which the latter opens, as in the Actinia. 
The walls of this cavity are provided with longitudinal and 
circular muscular fibres, and the ovaries, suspended below 
the tentacula, nevertheless open into this general cavity, 
still as in Actinia. The clusters of the ovaria are simply 
reversed. The stomach itself likewise projects between the 
tentacula; but it opens into the general cavity of the body, 
as in the Actinia. The tentacula alone are really different, 
being filled instead of tubular (which renders their motions 
much less active), and the base of the body is prolonged in 
a stalk fixed to the ground. The difference between the 
Alcyons and the Actinias almost completely disappears, in 
proportion as we learn to recognise the analogy of their 
parts. Examine the stomach and ovaries, and you have a 
true Actinia. 

I shall confine myself to saying that I am fully of Mr 
Edward’s opinion, who brings the Bryozoaria near the Mol- 
luses. I shall even add, that I am able, in some measure, to 
demonstrate in detail the analogy of these animals with the 
Acephali, from the disposition of their respiratory and fecal 
orifices, to the arrangement of the interior organs. 

An insulated fact of great interest observed in a Lucer- 
naria is, that this polypus has ocelli, eight in number, iden- 
tical in their appearance with the eyes of the Echinodermes 
and Medusee, and placed in the notches among the tentacular 
fascicule. 


Topography of the Pennine Alps, and Primitive Site of the 
Principal Species of Rocks found in an erratic state in the 
Basin of the Rhone. By M, A. Guyot. Communicated 
by the Author. 


M. Guyot finished his explanation of the results of a jour- 
ney he made last summer into the most elevated and least 
known portion of the Pennine Alps, the principal object of 


320 M. A. Guyot on the 


which was to search for the primitive situations of the erratic 
blocks of the basin of the Rhone. 

He first remarked that the portion of the Alps comprised 
between Mont Blanc and Mont Rosa, or rather between 
Col du St Bernard and that of the Simplon, constituted the 
most elevated, most continuous, and most gigantic masses of 
the Hautes Alps. Its enormous breadth of base, the mean 
elevation of its cols and ridges, the height and number of its 
pics and aiguilles, surpass any thing of the same kind to be 
found in the celebrated masses of the Bernese Oberland, the 
Orteler, Oetzthaler-Ferner, and of Mont Blanc itself. 

The group of Mont Rosa in particular, composed of the three 
chains of Mont Rosa, the Saasgrat, and the Weisshorn, in the 
centre of which lies the valley of Zermatt, brings together in 
a limited space from twenty to thirty peaks, all of which mea- 
sure from 12,000 to 14,000 feet high. The ridge itself of this 
part of the Alps presents only immense fields of snow whence 
numerous glaciers descend; it is with difficulty accessible, 
and the wild valleys that lead to it are so uninviting to the 
traveller, that these regions, although situate in the very 
centre of Europe, have hitherto remained almost unknown. 
The best maps of Switzerland which we possess, although 
corrected of late years in some particulars, still present us 
with a very rough, and often altogether inaccurate, represen- 
tation of these regions. 

After ascending the valley of Salvan, and again observing in 
this classical region the moutonnéed rocks, and furrowed and 
striated rocks, which indicate the passage of ancient glaciers, 
M. Guyot, ascending the Col de Balme, again collected the 
diverse varieties of granite which descend from the numerous 
aiguilles of Mont Blanc, by the glaciers of Tour, Argentiére, 
and Des Bois. 

The complete identity of these varieties with those that 
compose the majority of the blocks scattered on the sides of 
the Jura, fully convinced him of the truth of what he had for- 
merly advanced, namely, that it is from the western declivity of 
the Mont Blane chain that the greater part of the Jura blocks 
are derived, while the varieties less talcose, and with a more 
equal granular structure, come principally from the Val Fer- 


Topography of the Pennine Alps. 321 


ret or eastern declivity. Repassing by the Val Orsine and 
Téte-Noire, he visited the sites of the famous pudding-stones, 
which are one of the characteristic rocks of the basin of the 
Rhone, and remarked, on the summit of the Col de la For- 
claz, numerous blocks of protogine, which indicate the height 
to which the glacier of Trient formerly rose. 

M. Guyot penetrated into the heart of the Pennine Alps 
by the valley de Bagnes. He describes the various basins, 
at different stages, of which the valley is composed, and the 
numerous glaciers which surmount the savage hollows of this 
district. He at last arrived at the Chalet de Champriond, 
at the foot of the great glacier of Chermontane. This glacier 
is only the lower part of a vast mer de glace which turns 
suddenly to the north-east, and ascends by a gentle, almost 
imperceptible, slope as far as the ridge of the chain; it is the 
mer de glace of the great Otemma, which derives its name 
from the western peak which commands it. This vast field 
of ice, feeding eight lateral glaciers which descend from the 
eastern chain which bounds it, and four tributary glaciers 
suspended on the flanks of the great Otemma, has a regu- 
lar system of moraines on its surface, each of which can be 
easily followed to its origin. These moraines convey the 
rocks of each of the summits before him to the feet of the 
traveller. The mer de glace of Otemma extends along the 
northern declivity, where it connects itself, according to the 
report of the chamois-hunters, with the great glaciers 
which descend to the bottom of the northern valleys. A 
range of high peaks which belong to the northern aspect, and 
which commence at some distance from the ridge, separates 
it into two branches, one of which is said to join the great 
glacier of Arolla on the east side, and the other, more to the 
north, confounds itself with the masses of ice which descend 
the northern sides of Som de Gietroz, in order to form the 
mass of the great glacier of Lenaret, at the bottom of the 
valley of Hermence. 

On the south side, almost in the same direction, a glacier 
resembling a snowy valley descends from the south to the 
north of the Col de Crestasetz, to mingle its ices with those 
of Chermontane. The glacier of the Col de Fenétre, which 

VOL. XLIV, NO. LXXXVIU.—APRIL 1848. x 


322 M. Guyot on the 


is separated from the former by the imposing mass of Mont 
Gelé, is very nearly parallel, but more to the west. It af- 
fords an easy passage, although covered with ice, into Pied- 
mont, by the deep valley of Ollomont and the lower part of 
Val-Pelline ; while by the Col de Crestasetz, which M. Guyot 
crossed, we descend across the ruins of neighbouring moun- 
tains, without any trace of a path, a little more to the east, 
on the elevated chalets of the village of Bionnaz, in the mid- 
dle of the Val-Pelline. After ascending this deep and savage 
valley as far as the last chalet, that of Prarayé, he explored 
the bottom of the valley, which is occupied by the great 
glacier of Lisette. This glacier turns suddenly to the north, 
traverses, among high summits, the ridge of the chain, and 
here confounds itself in the superior plateaux with the great 
glacier of Ferpécle. 

Retracing his steps, M. Guyot traversed the ice-covered 
Col of Mont Collon, from the summit of which the plateaux 
of snow extend without interruption to the superior glacier 
of Ferpéele. Three hours of rapid descent on the glacier of 
Arolla brought him to its lower extremity. This glacier fol- 
lows a sinuous line, and turns westward round the base of 
Mont Collon, here traverses a tributary of the great glacier 
of Otemma, and resumes its northern direction before arriv- 
ing at the first chalets. M. Guyot remarks how defective and 
insufficient our best maps of these lofty summits are to form 
a guide to the traveller. The map of Osterwald alone, not 
yet published, but of which M. Guyot had obtained a proof, 
gives a less imperfect sketch of them. 

Not far from the Col de Collon, but at some distance from 
the ridge of the chain, a small chain commences with the 
Dent des Bouquetins, which descends towards the north, and 
separates the bottom of the val d’Erin into two valleys. To 
the west is the valley of Arolla, with the glacier of the same 
name; to the east, the origin of the val d’Erin, with the 
double glacier of the Ferpecle and Mont Miné. After de- 
scending the first of these valleys, M. Guyot went up the 
second, as far as the superior plateau from which the great 
glacier Ferpecle descends in immense cascades. These pla- 
teaux form in this place vast fields of snow from 10,000 to 


Topography of the Pennine Alps. 323 


11,000 feet in height, extending among the high summits of 
the Dent Blanche on the north, the Dent d’ Erin on the south, 
‘and a great number of peaks towards the west, which rise 
here and there from the bosom of the plateaux, along the 
ridge of the chain or the smaller northern chains. These 
plateaux terminate towards the east in an abrupt wall of al- 
most vertical rocks, at the bottom of which lies the glacier of 
Zmutt, at a giddy depth. This ridge of rocks, which unites 
the mass of the Dent Blanche with the Dent d’Erin, presents, 
on the south side, a sort of depression or less precipitous de- 
clivity to the foot of Dent d@Erin, by which the ice descends 
to the deep valley of Zmutt; this is the Col d’Erin, and the 
origin of the glacier of Zmutt. 

A little to the north of the col rises a rounded eminence, 
which Forbes erroneously describes under the name of Stock- 
horn, which is a summit situate more to the south, and alittle 
more elevated still. M. Guyot ascended the first mentioned 
of these, and gave it the name of Téte Blanche d’Erin. From 
this central point, elevated 11,000 feet above the sea, a most 
admirable panorama is unfolded to the eye. On the east side, 
the view extends over the gigantic chains of Cervin, Mont 
Rosa, and Saasgrat; to the north and north-east, over those 
of Dent Blanche and Weisshorn; to the west, the prospect 
reaches beyond the vast plateaux of snow which lie at your 
feet, as far as Mont Collon, and Combin; so that, at a 
single glance, the eye takes in all this vast chain of the 
Pennine Alps. 

It will be seen, from what has been said, that one of the 
characteristic features of this high chain are the extensive 
plateaux which crown the summit. The highest points 
rarely touch each other so as to form an uninterrupted 
series: here and there considerable gaps lie between the two 
declivities, and form those cols with insensible slopes, which, 
like the mer de glace of Otemma, rather resemble large val- 
leys with a flat bottom than cols which traverse the ridge of 
one of the most elevated chains of the Alps. On the north- 
ern aspect, in particular, the northern links of the chain ori- 
ginate in the very bosom of the plateaux, and not from the 


324 M. Guyot on the 


summit itself, so that they seem to be without a point of at- 
tachment. 

To these details, M. Guyot has added others respecting 
the bottom of the valleys of Torrent and Zinal, which, when 
united, form the deep valley of Anniviers. He points out 
many corrections to be made in the topography and nomen- 
clature of the peaks of these regions, as given by Frébel. He 
describes the appearance of the upper valley of Tourtemagne 
and the glaciers of Weisshorn, which occupy the bottom ; 
then, passing the difficult and elevated Col of Joung, he 
ascends the valley of St Nicolas and Zermatt, again examin- 
ing the glaciers and rocks, traverses that of Saas, where he 
determines the precise situation of the euphotides, and en- 
ters by the Monte Moro, in the Piedmontese valley of Macug- 
naga. From this point, traversing the Turlo, he successively 
went through all the southern valleys of Mont Rosa, which 
he examined particularly, with a view to the erratic forma- 
tion, and the rocks which they furnish. 

The valley of Aoste appeared to him of the highest inte- 
rest in this point of view. 

From the height of the Col de Joux or of Amai, by which 
M. Guyot entered this large and beautiful valley, the eye 
takes in the greater part of its extent at a single glance. 
From this view, we may conceive beforehand the part that 
must have been performed during the period of extensive ice, 
by this vast reservoir, comprised between the massive heights 
of the Pennine Alps, the elevated and compound chain of the 
mountains of Cogne, having at its head the chain of Mont 
Blane, by which the view is arrested in front, at the horizon. 
This presentiment is speedily confirmed. On descending the 
Col towards the baths of St Vincent, we already perceive 
considerable masses of erratic formation, blocks and pebbles 
of serpentine and chlorite, mingled with glacial mud. These 
masses, Suspended on the torn and abrupt flanks of the moun- 
tain at more than 1500 feet above the valley, indicate the 
pressure, at another era, as well as the thickness of the an- 
cient glaciers. Farther down, in the region of the vines, the 
blocks become more frequent and of larger size. 

From St Vincent, as far as Ivrée, there is scarcely any 


Topography of the Pennine Alps. 325 


rock among those bordering the road, and even to a consi- 
derable height, which is not moutonné, grooved or striated 
in the most characteristic manner. All the hills are cupola- 
shaped. A little below St Vincent, we already notice an 
insulated rock in the middle of the valley, which seems to 
issue from below the glacier. Further on, the heights which 
crown the old fort of Mont Jovet, the hill on which the im- 
pregnable fort of Bard is situated, and all the neighbouring 
rocks, are likewise moutonnés, and furrowed in the most ad- 
mirable manner. At the opening of the valley, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Ivrée, all the hills, comprising the diorite around 
that town, exhibit these characters in the highest degree. It 
may be said, that wherever the rock is exposed, it shews the 
corroding marks of the erratic agent. Nowhere are they so 
marked as at the narrow parts of the valley, especially below 
St Vincent, at Mont Jovet, and Fort de Bard; and we may 
observe here, as elsewhere in the same circumstances, the 
tendency of the furrows to ascend in a direction contrary to 
the slope of the valley. 

Beyond Ivrée, the erratic phenomena present themselves 
in a form as grand as it is novel. To the east of this town, 
the horizon is bounded by a large, steep hill, composed en- 
tirely of pebbles, mud, and erratic blocks. This is the hill 
of Serra, which rises from the side of Mont St André to two- 
thirds of its height, and descends in an inclined and regular 
line towards the plain, turning its abrupt face to the west. 
This is a true moraine, analogous to the great erratic bar 
which extends from the rocks of Memise to Thonon, on the 
left bank of the lake of Geneva, but even more strongly cha- 
racterised. M. Studer has already pointed it out as such to 
the attention of geologists. Towards the south, in the axis 
of the opening of the valley, on the road from Ivrée to Chi- 
vasso, we meet with many masses of erratic debris in the 
form of arched bands, the true terminal moraines of the great 
glacier of Aoste. The first appears at Strambino, the second 
at Candia, the third at Calusso; beyond the latter village, 
the levelled plain and ancient diluvium of Lombardy com- 
mence. In this place, as in Brianza, at the mouth of the 
Lake of Como, and on the banks of Lake Maggiore and Lake 


326 M. Guyot on the 


Orta, we distinctly distinguish the character and superposi- 
tion of the two formations. 

These facts, in themselves so significant, are not the only 
ones of this nature observed in this valley. M. the Canon 
Carrel has proved the existence, on a large scale, of all the 
same phenomena in the neighbourhood of the city of Aoste. 
Many years previously, M. Guyot had pointed out very beau- 
tiful polished rocks at the foot of Mont Blane, above Cour- 
mayeur, where they were likewise seen by MM. Agassiz and 
Forbes. This assemblage of facts authorises us, in M. Guyot’s 
opinion, to consider the valley of Aoste, viewed in relation to 
the development of the erratic phenomena, as analogous to 
the valley of the Rhone. It is, in regard to the southern de- 
clivity of the Pennine chain, and the Italian side of Mont 
Blane, what the Valais is to the northern declivity of these 
two chains ; it is even superior to the latter in the number and 
evidence of polished and moutonnéed rocks, and, in this re- 
spect, it does not yield even to the classical valley of the Aar. 

As to the essential object M. Guyot had in view in this ex- 
ploratory journey, namely, to determine the precise site of 
the species of rocks of the erratic basin of the Rhone, the 
origin of which was not sufficiently clear, he has completely 
succeeded in attaining it. 

He was particularly careful to obtain specimens én sitw of 
the chloriteous gneiss and arkesine scattered in such great 
abundance in the plain. Noone had previously done this. M. 
Guyot had only indicated the bottom of the valley of Bagnes 
and the valley of Viége, where these rocks had been ob- 
served in an erratic state by himself, and previously by MM. 
Studer and Forbes, as the extreme limits of their extension. 
He soon convinced himself that these rocks and their varie- 
ties, accompanied with diverse amphibolic rocks, constitute, 
in a great measure, the central mass and the highest sum- 
mits of the Pennine chain. In the bottom of the valley of 
Bagnes, after passing the region of the chlorites, we imme- 
diately find the chloriteous gneiss and arkesine in great 
abundance on the glacier of Brena, at the western base of the 
Champriond, where these rocks, almost of themselves, form 
the fine, frontal moraines left by this glacier. The glacier of 


~~ ———a 


Topography of the Pennine Alps. 327 


Chermontane and the mer de glace of the great Otemma, 
searcely exhibit anything else, in their numerous moraines, 
than very diversified varieties of these same rocks, generally 
of a dull colour, among which we can distinguish many rich 
in epidote. The mountain of the great Otemma itself is, in 
a great measure, formed of chloriteous gneiss. This rock 
loses more and more its slaty structure, as we advance to the 
top of the chain, and near that point it assumes the appear- 

ance of a granite, with large ill-defined crystals of felspar, 
and of a slight rose-colour. 

The opposite chain, which comprehends the mass of the 
Trumma de Bouc, and which is prolonged by the Col de Cre- 
stasetz as far as Val-Pelline, is likewise composed of chlori- 
teous gneiss, in which the proportion of the constituent parts 
is very variable, according to the localities. In the last men- 
tioned valley, the rock seems to pass, by almost insensible 
transitions, into a true syenite. The chloriteous enciss, but 
not the arkesine, is still frequently found in the Val-Pelline, 
or, on ascending the valley, we see it alternating with the 
syenites, and other rocks less distinctly characterised. To- 
wards the bottom of this valley, as far as the glacier of Li- 
sette, amphibolic rocks and talcose limestones or cipolins 
succeed, and present petrographic forms of the highest in- 
terest in ref erence tothetheory of metamorphism. 

At the Col de Collon, and along the glacier of Arolla, the 
chloriteous gneiss and arkesines reappear, but under less 
normal forms. The proportion of the amphibolic rocks, sye- 
nites, and species which may be more directly connected with 
the green granite, greatly increase. It may even be said, 
that they are dominant as far as the tributary of the grand 
Otemma, which brings specimens whose forms approach more 
and more to the types of the two rocks in question. 

But the true granitoidal arkesine and chloriteous gneiss 
with shining particles, such as they are usually found in the 
plain, reappear in the masses which surround the glacier of 
Ferpécle. The tributary glaciers which descend from the 
Dent Blanche in particular, carry along with them scarcely 
any other rocks than arkesines; and these are, in part, dis- 
tinguishable from those of the Otemma and Chermontane, by 


328 M. Guyot on the 


more crystalline forms, and a general tint of deeper yellow. 
Mont Miné also yields chloriteous gneiss, but it is rather 
syenites and various rocks rich in amphibole, which predomi- 
nate there. 

More to the east, the arkesine and chloriteous gneiss dis- 
appear, and seem to be wanting in the chain of the Weiss- 
horn. At least, M. Guyot scarcely met with any in the val- 
leys of Anniviers and Tourtemagne, which descend from this 
great chain; and the numerous blocks of these two species 
which he noticed on the glacier of Zmutt, and on the heights 
which overlook its left bank, evidently come from the Dent 
Blanche. 

We thus see that the chlorites, the chloriteous gneiss, and 
the arkesines, as well as the green granites, syenites, and 
other amphibolic rocks, belong to the most central, and most 
elevated part,—in a word, to the axis of this high chain of the 
Pennine Alps situate between the bottom of the val de Bagnes 
and the col d’Erin. It is in these almost inaccessible peaks, 
and in the bosom of the glaciers that descend from them, 
that we must seek for the rocks from which have been de- 
tached the erratic masses, at once the most numerous, most 
colossal, and most widely distributed on the surface of the 
basin of the Rhine. How surprising ies their primitive site 
should have remained so long unknown 

The group of erratic species to mer M. Guyot, with a 
just title, has given the name of Pennine rocks, likewise be- 
longs to this elevated chain. These rocks have issued from 
it by two principal channels only, the valley of Erin and that 
of Bagnes. The valley of Viége furnishes only a small num- 
ber of them, for this may be considered an accidental outlet 
for these rocks, while it is the principal, indeed the only 
canal, by which the rocks of Mont Rosa have been brought 
down to the valley of the Rhone. 

The group of the Mont Rosa rocks contains species only 
whose place of origin was previously in some degree deter- 
mined. The principal site of the serpentines is the region 
lying between the great Cervin and the Lyskamm. The chain 
of the Riffel, likewise composed of serpentines and which is 
prolonged eastward into the Saasgrat, may be regarded as 


Topography of the Pennine Alps. 329 


depending on this part of the central ridge. The glacier of 
Schwarzwald, at the foot of Monte Moro, near lake Matmark, 
brings numerous blocks of serpentine from the bottom of the 
upper valley of Saas, among which two enormous masses are 
observed, left, a few years ago, on the border of the path by 
the glacier, the most considerable of which is looked upon as 
the largest erratic block known. Some other sites, further 
down near Viéges, are of less importance. 

With regard to the euphotides, M. Guyot adds to what he 
had formerly stated regarding their original site, that he is 
convinced their point of departure is the rocks which over- 
look the upper part of the glacier of Alalein, particularly on 
the left side and a little below the highest summits. The 
eclogites, not so strictly localised, pass along the western de- 
clivity, and descend by the moraines of the glacier of Fin- 
elen, in which M. Guyot collected many varieties. 

The greater part of the serpentine debris has therefore 
descended by the valley of St Nicolas, a small quantity only 
by that of Saas. The reverse of this holds true with the 
eclogites. The euphotides come exclusively from the valley 
of Saas. 

M. Guyot terminates his communication by a few petro- 
graphic considerations on the two groups of the Pennine 
rocks and the rocks of Mont Rosa. A frequent comparison 
of the various species and their numerous varieties, as well 
as an inspection of their respective sites, leads him to think 
that their association into two distinct groups, is not only a 
geographical fact, as the names he has given to each of 
them would induce us to believe, but that it is justified also 
by their nature. He is induced to believe that these groups 
really form two metamorphic series, and he mentions that he 
has numerous specimens in bis collection, which shew the al- 
most insensible transition of the species of each of these two 
groups into one another. He likewise exhibits many speci- 
mens obtained én situ, of each of these species, represented 
by their most widely diffused types, and compared with 
specimens collected in an erratic state in the different parts 
of the basin of the Rhone, whose complete identity with the 
first is obvious to the least experienced eye. 


( 330 ) 


On Shooting Stars. By Sir J. W. Lussocg, Bart. 


As the phenomena of shooting stars (stella cadens) are interesting, 
from their connection with the structure of our planetary system, 
we have much pleasure in communicating the following observations 
on these remarkable bodies, from the last Number of the Philoso- 
phical Magazine, by Sir J. W. Lubbock, Bart. I wish, says Sir J. 
W. Lubbock to the conductor of the Philosophical Magazine, to cor- 
rect an oversight in page 85 of the last Number of the Philosophical 
Magazine, where it is implied that the same shooting star may be ob- 
served to disappear at different instants of time by different observers. 
It is obvious that ifthe moving body cease to shine, by reason of its en- 
tering the shadow of the earth, this event is entirely irrespective of the 
position of the observer; and, therefore, if it should be observed by 
more than one person, such observations will furnish the parallax, 
and may determine whether this mode of accounting for the disap- 
pearance of the star is correct or not. If it has been attempted to 
determine the differences of terrestrial longitude by such observations, 
probably the materials exist somewhere by which the accuracy of 
the hypothesis can at once be tested. It may possibly however, be 
again observed on the same night, either by the same or different 
observers, after an entire revolution. 

It has been the subject of speculation, whether such bodies owe 
their origin to violent action at the moon’s surface. But observers 
are, I believe, agreed that the surface of the moon offers no evidence of 
great agitation. The indentations of the surface remain unchanged, 
and no phenomena have, I believe, been seen which indicate the ex- 
istence of voleanoes, which might discharge small bodies with great 
force, and thus give rise to the satellites of the earth. 

The case is widely different as regards the sun. Changes of enor- 
mous magnitude are continually witnessed on its surface, which indi- 
cate the action of forces agitating the mass probably in a state of 
fluidity. Recently I have observed spots which were even visible to 
the naked eye, and of which, on the following and succeeding days, 
not a trace could be found by a good telescope. 

If a body were thrown up from the sun’s surface, it must, omit- 
ting all consideration of the planets, describe an ellipse having the 
centre of the sun in one of the foci; and, thus, however great the 
force by which the body may be supposed to have been discharged, 
it must return to the sun, and impinging upon it, would not perform 
even one entire revolution. If, however, we consider the action of 
the other planets, and especially of Jupiter, it seems by no means 
impossible that in returning, a body so discharged might clear the 
sun, and perform many complete revolutions round the primary, that 
is, might become a comet (or shooting star.) It would be interest- 


—— 


Sir J. W. Lubbock, Bart., on Shooting Stars. 331 


ing to ascertain how much the perihelion distance of such a body 
might be lengthened under given circumstances of the action of 
Jupiter ; or whether, under any hypothesis of the configuration of the 
planets, the perihelion distance of any known comet could be brought 
under -004647. Le Verrier suggests, that some of the comets may 
have become fixed to our system, and retained by the action of Jupi- 
ter; and that in consequence of the same action, they may again 
wander in space, and cease to belong to this system.* But may not 
such bodies owe their origin to the same forces of which the existence 
is indubitable, which operate on the surface at any rate of the sun’s 
mass ? And if so, it is by no means impossible, that, by calculating 
the perturbations of some comet for the past, especially one whose 
perihelion distance is small, it may be traced back to its origin, and 
the very year ascertained when it left the solar mass. 

The phenomena of shooting stars may possibly throw light upon 
the question of the extent to which an atmosphere extends, capable 
of affording any sensible resistance to the motion of such bodies, and 
may thus afford an interesting illustration of the connexion which 
exists between different branches of physical science. In my treatise 
on the Heat of Vapours, p. 43, I have given a table, shewing, upon 
the hypothesis I there adopted, the density and temperature for a 
given height above the earth's surface. According to that hypothesis, 
at a height of 15 miles the temperature is 240°-6 F., below zero 
the density is 03573, and the atmosphere ceases altogether at a 
height of 22°35 miles. In the Comptes Rendus des Séances de 
l Academie des Sciences, tom. viii. p. 95, M. Biot has verified a cal- 
culation of Lambert, who found from the phenomena of twilight, the 
altitude of the atmosphere to be about 18 miles. The constitution 
of the higher regions of the atmosphere, according to the hypothesis 
adopted by Ivory is very different, and extends to a much greater 
height. See p. 3, of the Supplement to my Treatise on the Heat of 
Vapours, where I have given a table, shewing the construction of the 
atmosphere according to Ivory. Such a table for the constitution 
due to Laplace’s hypothesis is still wanted.—(The Philosophical Ma- 
gazine, Third Series, vol. xxxii. p. 170, March 1848.) 


* “ Dans un certain nombre de siécles toutefois, elle atteindra de nouveau 
Vorbite de Jupiter, dans une direction opposée 4 celle par laquelle elle a par 
arriver dans le systéme planétaire; et son cours sera certainement encore fois 
altéré-Peut-etre méme Jupiter la rendra-t-il aux espaces aux quels il l’ayait 
dérobée.”—Le Verrier, Comptes Rendus, Dec. 20, 1847, p. 925. 


( 332 ) 


Further Progress of Mr Jameson’s great Tea-Planting Opera- 
tions in India, under the Patronage and Direction of the 


Honourable The East India Company. 


We mentioned some short time ago, on the authority of 
the Star, that Government had sanctioned an outlay of one 
hundred thousand rupees for the carrying on the tea-planta- 
tion experiments on a most extensive scale, under the super- 
intendence of Mr Jameson. We also intimated before, that 
this officer had been deputed to examine the hill-country 
west of the Jumna, as to its capabilities for tea-planting. 
We have now the pleasure to announce that the grant is to 
extend over a series of years at the rate of one lakh (£12,000) 
per annum ; and that Mr Jameson has been for upwards of a 
month engaged in the delightful occupation of selecting sites 
for tea plantations. He has already given it as his opinion that 
Annandale and Kotghur, in the Simla jurisdiction, are suited 
to the object in view, and crossing the Sutlej at Kotghur, he 
has proceeded as far as Kangra via Kooloo and Mundee. 
A friend, who has had opportunities of hearing Mr Jameson’s 
account, says he was highly gratified to see the change that 
is coming over the former country. “ Villages are now being 
built everywhere on the old sites of those that were burnt 
and destroyed by the Sikhs.” At Gumpta is the descent 
into the Beeas valley, which is a magnificent plain, well irri- 
gated, but only half cultivated, owing to the thinness of the 
population. After the Beeas valley there is a series of val- 
leys on to Noorpoor, viz. the Paklun, Kangra, Rilloo, &c., 
varying in height from 3000 to 4500 feet, and separated 
from each other by small ranges of hills running N. and 
S. To the north these valleys are bounded by a high range, 
now, according to a correspondent at Kangra, more than 
half covered with snow, and to the south by a lower range. 
They vary in breadth from three to four miles, and are about 
eighty miles in length; the general dip of the country is to 
the south; and from the northern boundary a number of 
streams take their rise, irrigating the valleys in a most effi- 
cient manner. The revenue derived from these valleys is at 


—— 


The Indian Tea Plantations. 233 


present about two lakhs (£25,000) of rupees. We hear that 
all of them are admirably adapted for tea ; and as soon as the 
plant is brought generally under cultivation, as must be the 
case, we doubt not the revenue will be increased cent. per 
cent., if not considerably more. In the Beeas, Paklun, Kangra, 
and Rilloo valleys, there is, we are assured, nearly as much 
land adapted for tea cultivation as would, if thus used, supply 
the whole European market. The principal products now 
cultivated are rice, wheat, and sugar; the latter is described 
as wretchedly poor, being very small, and containing but 
little saccharine matter. We are told that much as has been 
written and said of the Dhera Dhoon and its capabilities, it 
falls far short of the Kangra and_Rilloo valleys. “ They are 
undoubtedly,” says a correspondent who has opportunities 
of examining them, “ the Eden of our hill territories. In 
the Dhoon water is, in many places, scanty; here there is 
much more than is required. ‘Here and there you meet large 
streams containing a body of water superior in quantity to 
that supplying the Dhoon canals, yet considered of so small 
importance as to be nameless. In every direction the valleys 
are intersected by kucha canals.’ We learn, therefore, with 
much satisfaction, that many sites for tea plantations have 
already been selected in these valleys, one in Paklun, now a 
waste, some 4 miles by 38. Inthe Kangra valley, the largest 
site as yet chosen is a waste plain, upwards of a mile long, 
near Dhurmsala. It is clear, that in a very few years, these 
valleys must become important on account of their tea culti- 
vation, as our friend says that the smaller sites selected by 
Mr Jameson are too numerous to mention. At present, tea 
is imported from Yarkund, in Noorpoor, packed in bulk (as 
our local readers may ascertain by inspection of the tea- 
blocks to be sold on the 27th at the Begum’s house, on ac- 
count of Government, and from thence to the Punjab). It 
is much valued by the natives, and the finer sorts are sold 
as high as six rupees, a proof that the use of tea would be- 
come much more general, in that as in other quarters, pro- 
vided it was sold at a lower and reasonable rate. In order 
to insure the success of the experiments now about to be ear- 
ried out, on the liberal scale already mentioned, we have 


334 The Indian Tea Plantations. 


been told that His Excellency the British Plenipotentiary at 
Hong Kong, Sir John Davis, has been requested to send two 
additional sets of Chinese tea manufacturers, also seeds from 
all the most celebrated districts in China. The latter, on 
arrival at Calcutta, are to be sent up letter dak, so that a 
considerable proportion, if not all, stand the chance of arriv- 
ing in a vegetating condition. We were informed a short 
time ago, that the manufactory of tea had commenced in the 
Dhoon, but now learn that the information was premature ; 
none was prepared there last season ; but the requisite build- 
ings being now ready, it is hoped the manufacture will com- 
mence next year (in April). It is intended, as soon as the 
new “ manipulators” arrive from China, to send one set to 
Kangra, which must ultimately become the most important 
tea district, and to keep the other in the Dhoon. As soon 
as the Kutturputtur canal, to which Lieutenant Hutchison 
has been lately appointed, is cut, the superintendent of the 
tea-grounds has been authorised to establish a large planta- 
tion there. After he has selected the land best adapted for 
his purpose, che remainder is to be sold to the highest bidder. 
The Dherah Dhoon certainly possesses one advantage over 
the hill-country beyond the Sutlej, and that consists in the 
facility of transit presented by the Jumna and Ganges. At 
Kangra, the distance from the plains is four marches; but 
these once got over, the Sutlej and Indus will afford an ex- 
cellent outlet to Bombay. The arrangements now in pro- 
gress will, in a few years, put the government in possession 
of vast tea-forests from the banks of the Kalee to Noorpore, 
and those who formerly considered the idea of supplying the 
home market with tea from India as a mere chimera, must 
ere long be convinced that the thing is to be done. The 
quantity of seeds produced in Gurwal and Kumaon this sea- 
son, exceeded one hundred maunds; besides which, the tea- 
plant is easily reared from cutiings and layers. The super- 
intendent, to whom these extensive arrangements have been 
entrusted, has been vested with unlimited power as to the 
situation of sites, the appointment of cultivators, &c., and 
the various officers, in whose districts he is now engaged, 


Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 335 


have afforded him every assistance, as but one opinion pre- 
vails amongst them regarding “ rapid extension.” —Dedhi 
Gazette, December 15, 1847. 


A Discourse on Draining and Irrigation, delivered before the 
General Agricultural Society of Barbadoes, at its Fourth 
Half-yearly Meeting, on the 22d of December 1847. By 
Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S., Inspector-General of Army 
Hospitals, Honorary Member of the Society. Communi- 
cated by the Author. 


GENTLEMEN,—On this occasion I propose to bring under your no- 
tice, the important and nearly allied subjects of Dratnine and Irri- 
GATION; important, as conducive greatly to fertility ; and nearly 
allied, the mean element in both being water, without which, soils 
of the very best quality you know are barren. 

Limited as we are for time, were there not other reasons for it, 
I must, in this short Discourse, which I have now the honour of 
addressing to you, restrict myself in a great measure to principles,— 
and avoid the details of the operations, whether of Draining or Irri- 
gation. Should I be so fortunate as to enunciate clearly the former, 
and to convince any individual present, doubtful of the efficacy of 
these processes, that draining, or thorough-drained land is essential 
to Agriculture,—if it be the intent, as it should be the interest of 
the Agriculturist, to conduct it in the most improved manner ; and 
that Irrigation, wherever practical, most amply repays by imparting 
a wonderfully increased fertility ;—should I be able to accomplish thus 
much, I shall not regret passing over the minutiz of details—which 
are best studied and learnt in systematic works on the subject, that 
is, if practical means of instruction are not available, which are the 
best of all. 

The kind of draining to which I have to call your attention, is 
not the common surface-draining, but the new and far more advan- 
tageous method of deep and thorough-draining, a method by which 
the excess of rain is conveyed from the surface of the land into its 
substance, and even to the subsoil and beneath it; to be retained in 
moderate quantity favourable to tillage,—favourable to vegetation,— 
favourable to the disintegration and decomposition of the coarse parts 
of the soil, and of the subsoil, and consequently to the improvement 
of the quality of the soil, and to the formation of new soil fit for 
tillage. 

These effects, so admirable, can only be elucidated and brought 
clearly to the understanding, by considering the principles of the 
operation ; or in other words, the qualities of the different substances 
concerned, as of the soil and subsoil, and their elements, in conjunction 
with rain aud atmospheric air, and their agencies. 


336 Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 


A soil fit for cultivation is never formed of any single earth—it 
is more or less compounded, and the greater in degree, generally, the 
better is its quality. In all good soils there is a certain proportion 
of clay, and commonly of sand, either silicious or calcareous, or a 
mixture of the two. What is designated clay, always consists of 
many ingredients,—of.which alumine and silica are the principal. 
In three specimens from fertile soils in Flanders, carefully analysed, 
besides alumine and silica, there were found present eighteen other 
substances,—the most important of which were lime and magnesia, 
the alkalies—including ammonia, certain acids—as the phosphoric, 
sulphuric, and carbonic, and two or three kinds of vegetable matter. 

The peculiar quality of clay is, that it is retentive of moisture, 
and of the most complete clay in its condensed state, using the term 
in contradistinction to a loose state,—that it is an obstruction to 
flowing water—a property of vast importance in the economy of 
nature,—without which, the earth would be, in great measure desti- 
tute of springs,—the ground arid and unfit for vegetation, giving 
rise to a universal desert-waste. This peculiar property is mainly 
dependent on one earth, viz., alumine; and on the circumstance that 
when separated in consequence of the decomposition of the mineral 
compounds in which it exists, it is, as when obtained by precipita- 
tion, by the addition of an alkali to a salt of alumine in solution, in 
a state of extraordinarily minute division, with the power of adhesion 
particle to particle, and of becoming plastic from compression ; a 
power this, of the first importance in the economy of soils, without 
which, it is obvious the surface of the Earth would be in the state 
of a moveable, drifting sand, such as we find where the binding ele- 
ment of clay is deficient, as in the instance of the most remarkable 
deserts. Of this state of minute division, you may satisfy yourself 
most easily by a simple experiment—the precipitating of alumine 
from a solution of alum by ammonia, and examining it under the Mi- 
croscope. So minute are the particles of the precipitate, that even 
when using one of the highest powers of a good instrument, a glass, 
for instance, with a focal distance of one eighth of an inch, they are 
hardly distinguishable—indeed, I may say, they are not distinguish- 
able individually,—only when connected one with another. This state 
of minute division of the detached alumine is connected with, and 
may be dependent on another property of this earth, its perfect in- 
solubility in water, and in water impregnated with carbonic acid, 
and owing to this insolubility, its inaptitude, when so detached, to 
form crystals. 

To appreciate these peculiarities of alumine, let us consider for a 
moment the qualities of the other earths, which are the other chief 
ingredients of soils, viz., silica, lime, and magnesia. 

Silica occurs in soils chiefly in the form of quartzose sand, derived 
from the disintegration of certain compound crystalline rocks, espe- 
cially granite, of which rock it is an ingredient. It also oceurs in 


Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 337 


smaller proportion, in a very finely-divided state, when derived, it 
may be inferred, like alumine, from the decomposition of certain 
minerals containing it, such as felspar. In this state it is soluble 
either by means of carbonated alkali, or carbonic acid alone, as I be- 
lieve, or water alone, according to a distinguished Swedish chemist. 
Owing to this quality it is capable of entering into the composition 
of vegetable textures. When deposited from its solution, it is not 
in the manner of alumine, but either in minute adhering crystals, or 
uncrystallized in the form of a compact hard stony crust. 

Lime exists in the soil most generally in the state of carbonate 
of lime; even if introduced in the caustic state, owing to its strong 
affinity for carbonic acid, it rapidly absorbs this gas from the atmo- 
sphere. The carbonate has a strong tendency to crystallize: it un- 
dergoes crystallization in the act of its formation, when the lime is 
absorbing carbonic acid. If you precipitate lime from a solution of 
one of its salts in water by an alkaline carbonate, the carbonate of 
lime thus obtained will be in minute crystalline grains,—minute, 
according to our ordinary ideas of bulk, but coarse indeed, if com- 
pared under the microscope with the precipitate of alumine. Nor 
has it the property of alumine, as you may satisfy yourselves by a 
very easy experiment, of retaining or preventing the flow of water. 

Magnesia, like lime, having a considerable affinity for carbonic 
acid, commonly exists in the soil in the state of carbonate. But it 
has not the same disposition to crystallize, and in consequence, per- 
haps, its particles are finer; at least this may be inferred from the 
examination of the carbonate, artificially obtained by precipitation 
by a carbonated alkali, added to the solution of a magnesian salt. 
These, though finer than those of carbonate of lime procured in the 
same manner, are visible individually under the microscope; and 
are therefore very much larger than those of alumine. And tested 
by water, the carbonate of magnesia is found to retard, not entirely 
prevent, its flow and transmission. 

The relative minuteness of the particles of these three earths is 
well shewn by the time required by each to subside after suspension 
in water by agitation. It will be found that the carbonate of lime 
will descend and find its place of rest rapidly ; the carbonate of mag- 
nesia in slower time; and the alumine by far the slowest. And 
hence the wide diffusion of this last-mentioned earth—a happy cir- 
cumstance in the economy of nature. Washed out of the naked 
disintegrating rocks by rain, with mineral particles of other kinds, 
not so minute, but hardly less diffusible, they are carried by rivers 
into seas, and by tides and currents transported even into the ocean ; 
there they subside and form beds, destined, it may be, to become 
fertile soils on islands or even continents, should the rocky founda- 
tions on which they rest be elevated into the atmosphere, as this 
island has been, and so many others—covered with beds of clay and 
soil, which we are sure from their nature are of distant origin. 

VOL, XLIV, NO, LXXXVIII.—APRIL 1848, se 


338 Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 


Another peculiarity of alumine requires notice, in connection 
with thorough-draining, to wit, its power of contracting in drying. 
No earth absorbs so much water,—whether chemically or hygrosco- 
pically,* no one retains it so powerfully, or contracts so much in 
losing it. There are before you precipitates, dried, of alumine, of 
carbonate of lime, and of carbonate of magnesia. How great is the 
difference in their appearance! that of the alumine is fissured in 
every direction; that of the carbonate of magnesia exhibts only a 
very few fissures; whilst the carbonate of lime has a smooth un- 
broken surface, indicating no contraction. 

The two peculiar properties of alumine adyerted to, and which 
are also properties of clays, chiefly depending on the presence of 
alumine, yiz., being impermeable to water when expanded by it,— 
that is, when containing a certain quantity without a free outlet, 
such as a drain affords; and being liable to contract, and become 
fissured and so permeable, on losing water, such as is drawn off by 
a drain; these two properties may be considered fundamental ones 
in connexion with thorough-draining,—the first giving rise to the 
necessity for the operation,—the second rendering it practicable, 
In the first instance, it must be supposed, or taken for granted, 
that the clay is not so compact or condensed by pressure as to allow 
no passage to water, even with a free outlet, which is a quality, as 
already remarked of the purest clays. 

For this, the deep and thorough mode of draining, to be most 
"efficient, should by followed by subsoil-ploughing, which breaks up 
the clay to a certain depth, and renders it more pervious to water 
and the access of air, without bringing any of the subsoil to the sur- 
face. The effect of subsoil-ploughing, it may be remarked, is well 
illustrated, by taking a piece of stiff clay and breaking it up, when 
it will be found to be readily permeable by water; and again, 
when the water has been drained from it, compressing it as a plastic 
mass, when it will recover more or less its impermeability, accord- 


* Wet alumine, from which water had ceased to drop, compared with wet 
carbonate of lime and fine silicious sand, from which water poured on them in 
a filter of bibulous paper, had also ceased to drop, lost, I find, in drying, 22 
per cent, more water than the carbonate of lime, and 36 per cent. more than 
the silicious sand: thus, the alumine lost 60:8 per cent.; carbonate of lime 
38°7; and the fine silicious sand 24:4 per cent.,—at a temperature of air of 
about 80° Fahr., and when there was a difference of about 10° between the 
moistened bulb and dry bulb thermometer. Farther, it may be mentioned, 
that the alumine kept over strong sulphuric acid, lost 10 per cent. more of 
water, whilst the carbonate of lime lost only four-tentns, and the sand only 
two per cent. The carbonate of lime and silicious sand kept over water, 
shewed no appreciable hygroscopic power; their weight was not sensibly in- 
creased; the alumine similarly placed, after having been similarly dried in 
the air, acquired water to the extent of 8:6 per cent. he avidity with which 
alumine sucks in water is remarkable; it is indicated by the loud crackling 
noise attending it. I would ask, may not some of the subterraneous sounds 
not unfrequent in certain clay districts, especially in climates subject to long 
droughts, followed by heavy rains, be owing to this cause ? 


Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 339° 


ing to its quality,—that is, the proportion of finely-divided alumi- 
nous matter it contains, and the proportion of sand. As it appears 
that in some instances this process of subsoil-ploughing has been of 
little advantage, not repaying the cost, it may be prudent to try the 
effect of it on a small portion of the drained land, and to be guided 
by the result as to its extension,—for example, the quality and 
quantity of produce on the portion subsoiled, compared with the 
quality and quantity of the crop on an equal portion merely drained. 

Allow me now to turn your attention to the atmospheric air, and 
to the rain-water, for the admission and penctrating of which into 
the soil, without stagnation of the latter, thorough-draining, as re- 
gards its function, may be considered in the first place as instituted. 

Atmospheric air, we know, is composed of oxygen and azote and 
carbonic acid in almost constantly the same proportion, viz., Pa 
parts in volume of oxygen, 79 of azote, and about the one-half of a 
thousandth part of carbonic acid, with a very variable proportion of 
water diffused through it in the elastic state in the form of vapour, 
and when in the vesicular state in the form of clouds, and also an 
extremely minute portion, there is reason to believe of carbonate of 
ammonia, and of some other matters, chiefly saline, either held in 
solution in it or in suspension. 

Rain, it is to be remembered, is never absolutely pure water: it 
is variously impregnated; and this in consequence of two offices 
which it seems to have to perform, (not to mention others) ; namely, 
the purifying of the atmosphere, and the fertilizing of the earth. 
Carbonic acid, oxygen, and azote, are always contained in it, and 
the former in considerably larger proportion than in the atmo- 
sphere, oxygen being more soluble in water than azote. And be- 
sides these, there are other matters, such as carbonate of ammonia, 
and yarious substances which it brings down with it, exercising its 
purifying function, from the atmosphere, in which they were sus- 
pended or dissolved. 

The rain entering the soil thus impregnated, not only immediately 
promotes active vegetation, but also has an ameliorating effect on 
the soil and the subsoil, fitting it for the purposes of vegetation. 
The water, impregnated with oxygen, promotes the decomposition 
of animal and vegetable matter, thus forming food for plants; and 
acting on compound minerals in the soil and subsoil, it produces the 
separation of their elements ; and thus forms new mould. Thorough- 
draining, by preventing the stagnation of water, and promoting its 
descent, administers in a remarkable manner to these ameliorating 
effects, And preserving the soil and subsoil in a porous condition, 
it administers also to another effect, not insignificant in the economy 
of vegetation, namely, the formation of ammonia by the union of 
the azote of the atmospheric air penetrating into the earth, with 
hydrogen, as it is disengaged from decomposing animal and vege- 
table matter; thus supplying an alkali, which appears to be the 


340 Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 


most active portion of many valuable manures, and is probably 
essential to the production in plants of all these albuminous sub- 
stances which are of the nature of animal matter, from which even 
animals themselves—those feeding on vegetables, are supposed to 
be formed, the vegetable being the generator, and the animal only 
the recipient. 

There are other good and important effects resulting from thorough- 
draining, which I have scarcely time to mention, as its tending to 
counteract the evils of drought, as well as of excessive moisture, 
thereby favouring vegetation, and at the same time benefiting the 
climate, as it conduces equally to prevent either extreme,—a parched 
state of the atmosphere, or excessive humidity and fog; and as it 
tends also to promote an. equable temperature of atmosphere. In 
brief, it is difficult, I believe, to appreciate too highly the advan- 
tages of thorough-draining to land that requires it. Mr Smith of 
Deanston, who may be considered as the inventor of the process, 
has well said, that it requires faith to admit all the good it is ea- 
pable of accomplishing,—that good is so much beyond what the in- 
experienced in its efficacy would expect. 

I consider it, I may remark, a circumstance of good fortune to 
have witnessed the results of the first trial made of it at Deanston 
by this gentleman, and also the first attempt, I believe, of the kind 
made within the tropics, viz., in this island, by your talented coun- 
tryman Dr Phillips, on his estate of Lamberts, and in Demerara by 
Dr Schier, the able agricultural chemist of that colony, on an estate 
in the neighbourhood of George Town. At Deanston, when I was 
there six years ago, the condition of the land and of the pastures was 
such as to excite admiration. Though the season was unusually dry, 
and fields adjoining the property were parched, in which rushes were 
growing, the Deanston meadows, similarly situated, were beautifully 
green, and in them not a rush was to be seen or a weed. The har- 
vest was over, but the farmyard, in the numerous stacks of corn, 
bore ample proof of the great fertility of the arable land. The in- 
creased yalue of the estate, the result of its improvement from tho- 
rough-draining and good farming, I am afraid to mention, lest I 
should lay myself open to the charge of exaggeration. Mr Smith, 
who was my conductor and informant on the occasion, kindly had a 
hole dug through the soil and subsoil, to shew the deepening of the 
soil from the decomposition and disintegration of the subjacent stony 
matter from the action on it of air and moisture. In Demerara, the 
result of Dr Shier’s experiment, making allowance for the shortness 
of time, appears to be no less satisfactory. When I saw the field, 
in the latter end of May last, after a heavy fall of rain, water was 
flowing abundantly from the mouths of the drains, whilst the sur- 
face soil was merely moist, and in a fit state for tillage ; and having 
no open drains, such as are generally used in the colony, it was in a 
condition to admit of the plough and harrow, and the use of any 


Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 341 


other implement of husbandry likely to economise labour, In a let- 
ter with which I have been favoured by Dr Shier, of the 3d of No- 
vember last, he makes mention of the thorough-drained field as in 
a very prosperous state. Canes grown in it, cut when only six 
months old, gave a juice of the specific gravity of 1-070; and an 
imperial gallon of this juice yielded 1 1b. 2 0z. of beautiful musco- 
vado sugar, the molasses from which contained only about one-third 
as much salt as molasses from other fields of the estate with open 
drains. For the success of the experiments at Lamberts, in this 
island, we have the authority of the Leeward Agricultural Society. 
In their report, dated the 2d of last May, it is stated, that a field of 
24 acres, which in wet seasons had always failed, drained in April 
1846, did not suffer at any period of the late wet season; “ whilst 
the field adjoining, although of somewhat greater elevation, suf- 
fered materially from the effects of water, making, on an average, 
one hogshead less per acre than the drained field, although manure 
had been applied to the former and not to the latter.” And I have 
had confirmation of these favourable results, and I am glad to say, 
on an extended scale, from the resident manager on the estate, 
Mr Phillips. In a note with which he has obliged me, of the 1st 
of this month, he states, that 8 acres of land are now drained and 
planted, land similarly situated to that just mentioned as, before 
draining, liable to suffer from heavy rain, the bad effect of which it 
has entirely escaped this year, and that the canes on it are very su- 
perior to any on the estate. He adds, that there are now altogether 
15 acres drained, and that he hopes to complete 20 acres before the 
end of the year. He specially notices, as worthy of remark, that, 
during the severe drought some months ago, the canes on the drained 
Jand suffered least; and, yet that the soil of this land, compared 
with any other, always appeared drier and mere friable ;—all re- 
sults, let me observe, in accordance with the principle of thorough- 
draining, and the general experience we have of its effects. 

I must not conclude the subject of draining, without briefly ad- 
verting to the qualities of soil which may be considered as requiring, 
and to the contrary ones not needing it. If the soil be sandy, or 
abounding in marl, with a sandy or marly subsoil, it will be suffi- 
ciently porous to water; water will not collect and stagnate on it, 
except, indeed, its situation be low, and almost on a level with the 
sea high water-mark. Moreover, if the soil be shallow, only 3 or 4 
feet deep, resting on porous rock, such as the shell and_coral limestone 
of Barbadoes commonly is, thorough-draining would be superfluous, 
could it be effected. Occasionally, however, and not unfrequently, 
this rock is covered with an adventitious incrustation of carbonate of 
lime, impervious equally to rain-water and the roots of plants, To 
give fertility to land so situated, this crust should be broken through, 
as I believe it sometimes is, preparatory to the planting of canes. In 
Malta, I may remark incidentally, where a like crust forms on the 


d42 Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 


soft porous freestone on which the scanty soil of that island rests, 
from time to time the industrious natives bare the rock of its soil, 
and make grooves in it, penetrating through the hard incrustation, 
so as to admit the passage of rain-water into the rock, and its exha- 
lation to the soil during the dry season. The qualities of soil likely 
to be benefited by thorough-draining, are the stiff clay soils, or the 
lighter and more porous soils, with a substratum of such clays on 
which, after heavy rain, water rests in a state of stagnation. Should 
it, as regards any soil, be a doubtful question whether it requires or 
not the process of thorough-draining, a simple experiment may be 
made, which may help to remove the doubt: it is by taking a por- 
tion of the soil, and subjecting it to the action of water in a tube, or 
a piece of bamboo covered at its lower end by linen, which will sup- 
port the soil, and allow water to pass. If the soil, when compressed, 
acts in the manner of stiff clay, and does not allow the water to drop 
—to flow through it, it is a criterion of the propriety of draining ; 
and the contrary, if it permit the passage of water. Trials of this 
kind, I apprehend, may be advantageously made to test the proper- 
ties of soils, as to their retentive powers; which are graduated, in a 
great measure, by the proportion of alumine present, and the pro- 
portion of the other earths, in a finely-divided state,—any earth, if 
finely-divided, tending to have the same effect as alumine, in retard- 
ing or preventing the descent of water. The results of such trials, 
moreover, may indicate whether clay should be added to the soil to 
increase, or sand or lime to diminish, its power of retaining water. 

I have spoken of Dr Shier’s experiment on thorough-draining ; 
let me add, what I should have done before, that you wili find the 
particulars of it clearly detailed in his published report on thorough- 
draining, a report most highly creditable to him as a scientific agri- 
cultural chemist, and as a scientific inquirer, and which, for the va- 
luable and new information it contains on the subject of which it 
treats, is particularly deserving the attention of all tropical agricul- 
turists who wish to enter into the minute details of the operation. 
It affords a happy example of science and practice combined. 

T remarked in commencing this discourse, that irrigation and tho- 
rough-draining are allied: they are so, not only inasmuch as water 
is mainly concerned in both, but also as to the manner in which it 
is concerned. ‘Thorough-draining may be viewed as a slow and deep 
irrigation, the water descending from the surface to the drains or 
channels conveying away what is superfluous ; whilst irrigation is the 
conducting of water over the surface of land in constant slow flow, so 
as to afford nourishment to the growing crop, which all experience 
proves it to do with wonderful effect. At the same time, it is to be 
kept in mind, that the slowly flowing water does not act merely super- 
ficially, but that it penetrates deeply ; and not only promotes vege- 
tation, but likewise, when properly managed, has a tendency to en- 
rich the soil, either by what it deposits, or by its action, through the 


Dr Davy’s Agricuitural Discourse. 343 


oxygen which it contains, occasioning the decomposition of mineral 
compounds in the soil and subsoil, and the setting free of inorganic 
substances, those required for the purposes of vegetation, such as the 
fixed alkalies, lime and magnesia, and certain acids, especially the 
phosphoric, which plants in the act of growing are constantly ab- 
stracting from the soil, by, if uncompensated, an exhausting process. 
The penetrating water, impregnated with oxygen, is also beneficial, 
in converting an injurious compound of iron, when present—the pro- 
toxide—into the inert and harmless peroxide, and likewise, and in a 
great degree, by favouring the decomposition of animal and vegetable 
matter, and the production of carbonic acid and ammonia. For these 
latter effects to be fully produced, the land should have the advan- 
tage of thorough-draining. 

Water of various qualities is employed in irrigation, and, as might 
be anticipated, with an effect varying with the quality, that depend- 
ing on the substances suspended or dissolved in the water. ‘The 
purer the water, the less it will differ in its effect from rain. The 
more of decomposing animal and vegetable matter it contains, the 
more the effect will be like that of rich manure frequently applied, 
under the most favourable circumstances of season as to rain. The 
more of earthy matter it holds in suspension, in a finely-divided state 
—a state indeed necessary to suspension—the more its influence will 
resemble that of a well-watered virgin soil. 

According to the kind of crop, water of irrigation, of one or the 
other of these qualities, appears to be preferable. The rice-lands of 
the mountainous parts of Ceylon yield, year after year, excellent pro- 
duce, irrigated by water differing but little from rain water. The 
vineyards of Zante and Cephalonia, the fruit of which is the currant- 
grape, bear abundantly after a winter irrigation, the water used de- 
scending from the hills discoloured by clay, an argillaceous, calcare- 
ous marl, much resembling that deposited by the Nile, that vast irri- 
gator and fertilizer of the ever-productive valley of Egypt. The 
meadows in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, irrigated by the strongly 
impregnated sewer-water of that city, are well known for the enor- 
mous and repeated crops of grass they yield in the course of the year, 
almost without intermission. 

The mode in which irrigation is performed is also various, de- 
pending very much on the scale. If for garden and limited field 
cultivation, in many countries the water used is raised from wells 
or cisterns by the Persian wheel, or by the lever and bucket, and 
distributed by little canals or gutters. If for extensive cultivation, 
streams are conducted from lakes or rivers, and their water admitted 
into prepared fields, and diffused over them. There are works for 
this purpose in India, tanks and aqueducts of immense magnitude, 
miles in cireumference and length, which excite the wonder of the 
passing traveller, and are, in the labour expended on them, little 
inferior to the jiyramids of Egypt themselves, it has been imagined, 


344 Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 


erected for hydraulic purposes. For every species of irrigation, I 
need hardly mention that there is one circumstance in common, 
which is, the making of the surface of the soil so gently inclined and 
regular, as to admit the flow of water over or through it uninter- 
ruptedly, with means of excluding the water when necessary. 

Having stated thus much generally as to irrigation, I shall ven- 
ture to make a few remarks on it, in connection with the cultiva- 
tion of the sugar-cane, and the practicability of applying it far more 
generally than has hitherto been done to this the staple crop of these 
colonies. That irrigation is favourable to this crop, is, I believe, so 
well proved, that no doubt can be entertained respecting it. In this 
island, I understand, on one estate in St Phillip’s, where the trial 
has been made, the success has been great; and that in periods of 
drought, when, without irrigation, the canes would hardly have been 
worth the reaping. In Berbice, there are one or two estates that I 
heard of when there, which had always been productive, yielding, - 
even in the driest seasons, and always without the application of ma- 
nure, not less than three hogsheads an acre, these estates having a 
command of water brought to them by an inland never-failing stream, 
derived by a canal from one of the large rivers of that country. 

This partial success considered, and the nature of the cane, it 
being almost an aquatic plant, is it not deserving of thought, whether 
irrigation cannot be more generally applied, and whether all possible 
means, consistent with just economy, should not be taken to effect it, 
and even at intervals, and occasional, if means permitting it only at 
intervals be available ? 

In some parts of Barbadoes, especially in the parishes of St Joseph 
and St Andrew, and in that portion of St John’s below “ the Cliff,” 
there are running streams, some of them perennial, in a great mea- 
sure running to waste, which I have no doubt might be turned to 
the purposes of irrigation with excellent effect, especially if connected 
with terrace cultivation, which, in certain of the hill-sides, in these 
parishes where rock is in plenty, capable of affording stone for ter- 
race walls of support, might be effected with no great labour and 
probably at a small expense. Such terraces are likely to have the 
double advantage of facilitating irrigation, and of preventing the soil 
from being washed away by heavy rains. Not only in the parishes 
named, but in most parts of the island, I imagine, partial irrigation 
might be accomplished, by forming channels in the cane-fields, to re- 
ceive, after any considerable fall of rain, the running water in small 
streams, with such a declivity as to allow of their flowing slowly, 
remembering always that it is running water that promotes vegeta- 
tion, and stagnant water only that injures it. Such small channels, 
after heavy rains, might also prove useful in preventing that accu- 
mulation of water, which occasions a destructive flood, that de- 
signated here, from its effects, “a wash.” 

Were thorough-draining introduced, the water in excess from a 


Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 345 


higher level, discharged by the drains, might be made applicable to 
partial irrigation in fields of a lower level. Such water, no doubt, 
would have a fertilising effect, and, perhaps, even more than ordi- 
nary rain-water, as it would contain certain saline substances and 
other compounds which are soluble, derived from the soil, and, it may 
be, from the manure in the soil, whilst the water is in the act of pass- 
ing through it, and thus partaking of the quality of spring-water, 
which is always more or less impregnated with foreign matter, from 
a like cause, spring-water being rain-water that has passed through 
the natural filters of the earth’s surface. Could this water be so ap- 
plied to irrigation, it would remove an objection which may be started 
on the score of economy against thorough-draining,—an objection, 
however, I believe, of no great weight, if we place, as we should, 
against the loss by percolation, the gain by active vegetation kept 
vigorously so by moisture ; and the gain to the soil, through the 
influence of thorough-draining of a decomposing and ameliorating 
kind, thereby adding to and deepening and improving it. The sol- 
vent power, however, of the percolating water is well worthy of 
being kept in mind; and it may raise a question of the propriety of 
applying largely manures to the soil at one time, and whether it 
would not be better, in the instances of the use of guano, nitrate of 
soda, and the like, to adopt the method said to be followed by the 
Peruvians, and make the applications in different stages of the crop, 
using smaller quantities. 

Barbadoes in many respects resembles Malta ; I am speaking of 
them now in their agricultural relations. In Malta, as I have al- 
ready observed, there is a thin soil, which is of excellent quality, 
resting on a porous freestone. That island hasa regular dry season, 
extending through the hot montlis of summer, and sometimes longer, 
Water there is a great want. To collect and store it, attention is 
constantly given, and immense labour has been expended. Not 
only every house has its tank, quarried in the rock, but also the 
majority of the fields—fields of terrace-construction called made- 
fields—‘* Campi artificiali.” When the rains set in, even the pub- 
lic roads are made water-channels, and gutters from them convey 
the water into the field-tanks, some of which are excavated under 
the roads, and have mouths usually covered with large stones, even 
in the roads, When the dry season arrives, these tanks are brought 
into use. Water is raised from them by the lever and bucket, the 
simplest of all mechanical contrivances for the purpose, and applied 
to the watering of certain crops, as the cotton crop at a particular 
stage, and to various vegetables and fruit-trees. Could such reser- 
voirs of water be introduced into Barbadoes, they would unquestion- 
ably be very useful, especially for the minor crops, and for garden 
cultivation. Of the happy effects of water applied to the latter, an 
instance offers, close to the garrison of St Anns, where an intelli- 
gent and active Italian from Tuscany, has brought a picce of lad, 


346 Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 


recently considered worthless, into the highest state of culture ; and 
by the help of water from wells which he has sunk, and which, from 
their low situation, are never dry, he has succeeded in growing vege- 
tables for the table throughout the year. 

I must now, Gentlemen, bring this discourse to a conclusion. If 
I have occupied an undue portion of the time of the meeting, I must 
plead as an excuse the importance of the subjects treated of, which, 
even had I more time, I am conscious I could not have done justice 
to, and the peculiarity in relation to the agriculture of the colonies 
of the present period, and the prevailing impression, in consequence 
of this peculiarity, that your agriculture cannot continue to flourish, 
unless all possible means are taken to improve it. I allude to the 
free-trade measures which have become popular at home, and which 
have been carried out in part, and are likely to he extended, by Her 
Majesty’s Government—measures which, if carried out in-their true 
spirit, and liberally and rightly conducted, will assimilate, I cannot 
help thinking, international trade to the home trade, now allowed 
to be the most beneficial and the most profitable. Supposing, then, 
protection to colonial interests to be withdrawn, as is portended, and 
no discriminating duties allowed—a form of such protection—you 
will have to compete with thea griculturists of the world; not only 
with those of Hindostan and the far East, but what you seem to 
dread more, with those of Brazil, and the Spanish and French slave- 
colonies of the West Indies. 

If I may venture to express an opinion, and I trust I may, as it 
is hopeful,—I cannot but think, if you put forth your energies, 
adopting every improvement that is economical, using implements as 
much as possible to spare human labour ; paying well for what is em- 
ployed, to encourage exertion and skill ; and making an effort, which 
it is to be hoped will have encouragement from the Home Govern- 
ment, to improve your manufacturing processes ; doing this, I cannot 
but think that you will be successful,—and that equally against the 
very cheap labour of the East Indies, and the slave-labour of the 
West. ‘The one weak, and of little efficiency, so that it is rather 
cheap in name than in reality, and perhaps, better fitted for cotton 
than for the sugar-cane cultivation,— to which (the former) it appears 
probable, if the Navigation Laws be abrogated, it will soon be 
specially directed. The other forced, hardly to be depended on, 
and, as to cheapness and efficiency, even doubtful. 

We have been told recently, that when the admission of slave- 
grown sugars into the English market was made known in Cuba, 
there were rejoicings and illuminations ;—followed by excessive 
labour ;—that the slaves during crop-time, in the boiling-houses, 
were kept constantly oceupied fifteen hours in the twenty-four ; and 
how, in the fields, they were kept to their task by the terror of the 
whips of the drivers,—these defended by blood-hounds ; how, in ac- 
cordance with this system, life is sacrificed there to work,—it being 
thought more profitable to make new purchases, than to take any 


Dr Davy’s Agricultural Discourse. 347 


fo) 


from 200 to 500 dollars is the market-price of a slave. Such par- 
ticulars, and others of a horrid kind, we have from a writer, who has 
lately been in Cuba, he says, and, judging from the want of expres- 
sion of feeling by him in giving the particulars, not averse to slave- 
labour; and therefore, probably, he has not exaggerated. 

Such a system—such proceeding, may glut the home-market for a 
time ; but can it be profitable long? surely not ; a system connected 
with such monstrous vice, we may be confident cannot flourish. I 
should as soon expect that piracy would be successful for a continu- 
ance, and become an authorised calling. if it be profitable for the 
moment, depend upon it, it will meet with some great reverse, after 
the manner of piracy, as exemplified in the history of the Buccaneers, 
and with a punishment equal to the crimes that maintain it. Even 
without some signal visitation, I cannot believe that such a system 
can be long profitable,—when so high a price is paid for slaves,— 
and the period of their labour is so “short, averaging, it is said, not 
more than ten years. And that it is not, seems to be denoted by 
these very colonies inyporting free labourers; and one of them, it is 
stated, even from China, But whether profitable or not, whether 
signally punished or not, this we are sure of—that man has a con- 
science, through which, even in this life, it cannot be doubted, that 
he is punished for his misdeeds, and rewarded for his good acts, In 
the ancient drama, the perpetrators of great crimes were held up to 
horror, as haunted by the avenging Furies, lashed by their whips of 
snakes and scorpions, and allowed no rest. These, in all times, are 
the stings of conscience, when awakened to a sense of guilt. 

A President of the United States, Mr Jefferson, who, from his 
own experience, knew well the evils of slavery, and the dangers con- 
nected with it, alluding to these, has said :—‘ Indeed, I tremble 
for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice can- 
not sleep for ever; that considering numbers, nature, and natural 
means only, a revolution in the wheel of fortune, an exchange of 
situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by 
supernatural inter rfer ence! The Almighty has no attribute which can 
take side with us in such a contest.” 

Your success, Gentlemen, to which I have said, I look forward hope- 
fully, if earned, as I expect, will be of the right kind, owing to your 
own exertions, without any strain on humanity, or violation of duty, 
beneficial to your labourers and the community at large; nor likely 
to be ephemeral, or soon to pass away ; on the contrary to be stable, 
and to increase in amount with its endurance, which may be held to 
be characteristic of what is right, of which we have so many proofs 
in history, both ancient and modern, and remarkably so, as regards 
the converse, in the history of our own times, during the last half 
century, of which that of St Domingo alone may be held to be an 
epitome. 

These few remarks, I trust you will receive with the indulgence I 


care, entailing expense, of the labouring slaves; and this, although 


348 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


have been accustomed to have from you. They may appear foreign 
from my subjects; but, there are times when it seems a duty to 
express individual opinion, and raise the voice against what is mon- 
strous. I have faith that the sentiments I have now expressed will 
have your approval and sympathy, and so received and approved, 
individual opinion acquires the character of public opinion, and 
carries with it its weight. 

Apart from virtue and vice, right and wrong, it is a problem, 
merely economically considered, in the minds of many reflecting per- 
sons, which kind of labour is most profitable—slave or free labour. 
I trust, Gentlemen, it is your destiny to prove, and it will be a high 
destiny in regard to its probable consequences, that the free—the 
right labour, is truly that which makes, in the long run of time, the 
best return. And let this be but proved,—then, even amongst 
merely money-making men, slavery should fall, being without even 
a plausible support. 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago.* 


Physical relation of the Archipelago to the Continent of Asia.—Hypo- 
thesis of their former connection.—Influence of its geological develop- 
ment on the distribution and form of the islands, on climate and vege- 
tation.—Luxuriance of the latter, character thereby given to the small 
islands, to the mountains.—Change caused by volcanic eruptions.— 
Forests of the Archipelago, their character, wild animals.—The life 
of the sea-marshes, beaches, and banks.—Testimony of naturalists to 
the exuberance and beauty of animal and vegetable life.—Influence 
of the physical on the human history of the region,—population an 
extension of that of the continent.—Two great eras in its civil his- 
tory.— Wild nomades of the forests and the sea.—Hindu civilization. 
—Mahomedan.—Rise of dominant nations.—European influence.— 
Great diversity of tribes, languages, customs, forms of government.— 
Human and life industry in the Archipelago at the present day.— 
Great piratical communities.—Slave trade.—Social and personal con- 
dition of the inhabitants.—Present degeneracy of the governments 
from the influence of the European dominations—foreign elements of 
change—means of amelioration—duty of England. 


The first and most general consideration in a physical review of 
the Archipelago is its relation to the Continent of Asia, In the 
platform, on which the largest and most important lands are distri- 
buted, we see a great root which the stupendous mass of Asia has 
sent forth from its south-eastern side, and which, spreading far to 
the south beneath the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and 
there expanding and shooting up by its plutonic and volcanic energy, 


* As the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, already recommended to public 
attention in this Journal, has scarcely reached Europe, we have pleasure in lay- 
ing before our readers part of an introductory memoir by the Hditor. 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 349 


has covered them, and marked its tract with innumerable islands. 
That there is a real and not merely a fanciful connection between 
the Archipelago and Asia is demonstrable, although, when we en- 
deavour to trace its history, we are soon lost in the region of specu- 
lation. So obvious is this connection, that it has been a constant 
source of excitement to the imagination, which, in the traditions of 
the natives, and in the hypotheses of Europeans, has sought its 
origin in an earlier geographical unity. Certainly, if in the progress 
of the elevatory and depressing movements which the region is pro- 
bably undergoing even now, the land were raised but a little, we 
should see shallow seas dried up, the mountain ranges of Sumatra, 
Borneo, and Java, become continental like those of the Peninsula, 
and great rivers flowing not only in the Straits of Malacca, whose 
current early navigators mistook for that of an inland stream, but 
through the wide valley of the China Sea, and by the deep and nar- 
row Strait of Sunda, into the Indian Ocean. Thus the unity would 
become geographical, which is now only geological. That the great 
platform from which only mountains and hills rose above the sea- 
level, till the materials drawn from them by the rains were rolled 
out into the present alluvial plains, is really an extension of the 
Asiatic mass, appears evident from the facts, amongst many others 
which require a separate geological paper for their discussion, and 
would be less readily appreciated by the general reader, that its di- 
rection, as a whole, is that which a continuation of South-Eastern 
Asia, under the same plutonic action which produced it, would pos- 
sess ;—the mountain ranges, which form the latter, sink into it ir- 
regularly in the lines of their longitudinal axes ;—in one zone, that 
of the Peninsula, the connection is an actual geographical one ;—the 
Peninsula is obviously continued in the dense clusters of islands and 
rocks, stretching on the parallel of its elevation and of the strike of 
its sedimentary rocks from Singapore to Banka, and almost touches 
Sumatra, the mountain ranges of which are, notwithstanding, parallel 
to it ;—Borneo and Celebes appear to represent the broader or east- 
ern branch of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, from which they are sepa- 
rated by the area of the China Sea, supposed to be sinking ;—and, 
finally, nearly the whole Archipelago is surrounded by a great vol- 
canic curve, rooted in Asia itself, and the continuity of which demon- 
strates that the platform and the continental projection with which 
it is geographically connected are really united at this day into one 
geological region by a still vigorous power of plutonic expansiveness, 
no longer, to appearance, forming hypogene elevations, but expend- 
ing itself chiefly in the numerous volcanic vents along the borders 
where it sinks into the depths of the ocean. 

Whether the present platform ever rose above the level of the sea 
and surrounded the new insular eminences with vast undulating 
plains of vegetation, instead of a level expanse of water, we shall 
not here seek to decide, although we think that Raffles, and others 


350 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


who have followed in his steps, too hastily connected the supposed 
subsidence with the existing geological configuration of the region, 
and neglected the all-important evidence of the comparative distri- 
bution of the living flora and fauna, which seems to prove that the 
ancient southern continent, if such there was, had subsided before 
they came into existence. No conclusive reasons haye yet been ad- 
duced why we should consider the islands of the Archipelago as the 
summits of a partially submerged, instead of a partially emerged, 
continent. - But whether it was the sinking of the continent that de- 
luged all the southern lowlands of Asia, leaving only the mountain 
summits visible, or its elevation that was arrested by the exhaustion 
of the plutonic energy, or the conversion of its upheaving into an 
ejecting action, on the opening of fractures along the outskirts of the 
region, before the feebler action there had brought the sea-bed into 
contact with the atmosphere, the result has been to form an expanse 
of shallow seas and islands elsewhere unequalled in the world, but 
perhaps not greater in proportion to the wide continental shores, 
and the vast bulk of dry land in front of which it is spread out, than 
other archipelagoes are to the particular countries or continental 
sections with which they are connected. 

The forms and positions of these islands bear an older date than 
that of any limited subsidence or elevation of the region after its for- 
mation. They were determined by the same forces which originally 
caused the platform itself to swell up above the deep floor of the 
southern ocean; and it was one prolonged act of the subterranean 
power to raise the Himalayas into the aérial level of perpetual snow, 
to spread out the submarine bed on which the rivers were afterwards 
to pile the hot plains of Bengal, and to mould the surface of the 
southern region, so that when it rose above, or sunk into, the sea to 
certain levels, the mutual influences of air and sea and land should 
be so balanced, that while the last drew from the first a perennial 
ripeness and beauty of summer, it owed to the second a perennial 
freshness and fecundity of spring. Hence it is, that in the Archi- 
pelago, while the bank of black mud daily overflowed by the tides is 
hidden beneath a dense forest, and the polypifer has scarcely reared 
its tower to the sea’s surface before it is converted into a green islet, 
the granitic rocks of the highest plutonic summits, and the smoke of 
the volcanic peaks, rise from amidst equally luxuriant and more 
varied vegetation. Certainly, the most powerfully impressive of all 
the characteristics of the Archipelago is its botanical exuberance, 
which has exercised the greatest influence on the history and habits 
of its human inhabitants, and which, as the most obvious, first ex- 
cites the admiration of the voyager, and from its never staling, be- 
cause ever renewing itself in fresh and changelul beauty, retains its 
hold upon our feelings to the last. 

When we enter the seas of the Archipelago we are in a new world. 
Land and ocean are strangely intermingled. Great islands are dis- 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 351 


joined by narrow straits, which, in the case of those of Sunda, lead at 
once into the smooth waters and green level shores of the interior, 
from the rugged and turbulent outer coast, which would otherwise 
have opposed to us an unbroken wall more than two thousand miles 
in length. We pass from one mediterranean sea to another,—now 
through groups of islets so small that we encounter many in an hour, 
—and presently along the coasts of those so large that we might be 
months in circumnavigating them. Even in crossing the widest of 
the eastern seas, when the last green speck has sunk beneath the 
horizon, the mariner knows that a circle drawn with a radius of two 
days’ sail would touch more land than water, and even that, if the eye 
were raised to a sufficient height, while the islands he had left would 
reappear on the one side, new shores would be seen on almost every 
other. But it is the wonderful freshness and greenness in which, go 
where he will, each new island is enveloped, that impresses itself on 
his senses as the great distinctive character of the region. The equi- 
noctial warmth of the air, tempered and moistened by a constant eva- 
poration, and purified by periodical winds, seems to be imbued with 
penetrating life-giving virtue, under the influence of which even the 
most barren rock becomes fertile. Hence, those groups of small 
islands which sometimes enyiron the larger ones like clusters of satel- 
lites, or mark where their ranges pursue their course beneath the sea, 
often appear, in particular states of the atmosphere, when a zone of 
white quiyering light surrounds them and obliterates their coasts, to 
be dark umbrageous gardens floating on a wide lake, whose gleaming 
surface would be too dazzling were it not traversed by the shadows 
of the clouds, and covered by the breeze with an incessant play of 
light and shade. Far different from the placid beauty of such scenes 
is the effect of the mountain domes and peaks which elsewhere rise 
against the sky. In these the voyager sees the grandeur of Euro- 
pean mountains repeated, but with all that is austere or savage trans- 
formed into softness and beauty. The snow and glaciers are replaced 
by a mighty forest, which fills every ravine with dark shade, and 
arrays every peak and ridge in glancing light. Even the peculiar 
beauties which the summits of the Alps borrow from the atmosphere, 
are sometimes displayed. The Swiss, gazing on the lofty and ma- 
jestic form of a yolcanic mountain, is astonished to behold, at the 
rising of the sun, the peaks inflamed with the same rose-red glow 
which the snowy summits of Mont Rosa and Mont Blanc reflect at 
its setting, and the smoke wreaths, as they ascend from the crater 
into mid air, shining in golden hues like the clouds of heaven.* 
But, serene in their beauty and magnificence as these mountains 
generally appear, they hide in their bosoms elements of the highest 
terrestial sublimity and awe, compared with whose appalling energy, 


* M., Zollinger, in describing Mount Semira in Jaya, notices this singular re- 
semblance to the mountains of his native country. 


352 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


not only the bursten lakes and the rushing avalanches of the Alps, 
but the most devastating explosions of Vesuvius or Etna, cease to 
terrify the imagination. When we look upon the ordinary aspects 
of these mountains, it is almost impossible to believe the geological 
story of their origin, and if our senses yield to science, they tacitly 
revenge themselves by placing, in the remotest past, the era of such 
convulsions as it relates. But the nether powers, though imprisoned, 
are not subdued. The same telluric energy which piled the mountain 
from the ocean to the clouds, even while we gaze in silent worship 
on its glorious form, is silently gathering in its dark womb, and time 
speeds on to the day, whose coming science can neither foretell nor 
prevent, when the mountain is rent; the solid foundations of the 
whole region are shaken ; the earth is opened to vomit forth destroy- 
ing fires upon the living beings who dwell upon its surface, or closed 
to engulph them; the forests are deluged by lava, or withered by 
sulphurous vapours; the sun sets at noonday behind the black 
smoke which thickens over the sky, and spreads far and wide, rain- 
ing ashes throughout a circuit hundreds of miles in diameter ; till 
it seems to the superstitious native that the fiery abodes of the 
volcanic dewas are disembowelling themselves, possessing the earth, 
and blotting out the heavens, The living remnants of the genera- 
tion whose doom it was to inhabit Sumbawa in 1815, could tell us 
that this picture is but a faint transcript of the reality, and that our 
imagination can never conceive the dreadful spectacle which still ap- 
pals their memories. Fortunately, these awful explosions of the 
earth, which to man convert nature into the supernatural, occur at 
rare intervals; and, though scarcely a year elapses without some vol- 
cano bursting into action, the greater portion of the Archipelago be- 
ing more than once shaken, and even the ancient granitic floor of the 
Peninsula trembling beneath us, this terrestrial instability has ordi- 
narily no worse effect than to dispel the illusion that we tread upon 
a solid globe, to convert the physical romance of geological history 
into the familiar associations of our own lives, and to unite the events 
of the passing hour with those which first fitted the world for the ha- 
bitation of man. 

We have spoken of the impression which the exterior beauty of 
the Archipelago makes upon the voyager, and the fearful change 
which sometimes comes over it, when the sea around him is hidden 
beneath floating ashes mingled with the charred wrecks of the noble 
forests which had clothed the mountain sides; but, hurried though 
we are from one part of our slight sketch to another, we cannot 
leave the vegetation of this great region without looking upon it 
more closely. ‘To recall the full charms, however, of the forests of 
the Archipelago—which is to speak of the Archipelago itself, for the 
greater portion of it is at this moment, as the whole of it once was. 
clothed to the water’s edge with trees—we must animate their soli- 
tudes with the tribes which dwell there in freedom, ranging through 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 353 


their boundless shade as unconscious of the presence of man, and as 
unwitting of his dominion as they were thousands of years ago, 
when he did not dream that the world held such lands and such 
creatures. 

When we pass from the open sea of the Archipelago into the 
deep shade of its mountain-forests, we have realised all that, in 
Europe, our fancies ever pictured of the wildness and beauty of prime- 
val nature. Trees of gigantic forms and exuberant foliage rise on 
every side: each species shooting up its trunk to its utmost measure 
of development, and striving, as it seems, to escape from the dense 
crowd. Others, as if no room were left for them to grow in the or- 
dinary way, emulate the shapes and motions of serpents, enwrap 
their less pliant neighbours in their folds, twine their branches into 
one connected canopy, or hang down,—here, loose and swaying in the 
air, or in festoons from tree to tree,—and there, stiff and rooted, like 
the yards which support the mast of a ship. No sooner has decay 
diminished the green array of a branch, than its place is supplied by 
epiphites, chiefly fragrant orchidaceze, of singular and beautiful 
forms. While the eye in vain seeks to familiarise itself with the 
exuberance and diversity of the forest vegetation, the ear drinks in 
the sounds of life which break the silence and deepen the solitude. 
Of these, while the interrupted notes of birds, loud or low, rapid or 
long-drawn, cheerful or plaintive, and ranging over a greater or less 
musical compass, are the most pleasing, the most constant are those 
of insects, which sometimes rise into a shrill and deafening clangour ; 
and the most impressive, and those which bring out all the wildness 
and loneliness of the scene, are the prolonged complaining cries of 
the ankas, which rise, loud and more loud, till the twilight air is 
filled with the clear, powerful, and melancholy sounds. As we pe- 
netrate deeper into the forest, its animals,—few at any one place,—are 
soon seen to be, in reality, numerous and varied. Green and harm- 
less snakes hang like tender branches. Others of deeper and 
mingled colours, but less innocuous, lie coiled up, or, disturbed by 
the human intruder, assume an angry and dangerous look, but 
glide out of sight. Insects in their shapes and hues imitate leaves, 
twigs, and flowers. Monkeys, of all sizes and colours, spring from 
branch to branch, or, in long trains, rapidly steal up the trunks. 
Deer, and amongst them the graceful palandoh, no bigger than a 
hare, and celebrated in Malayan poetry, on our approach fly startled 
from the pools which they and the wild hog most frequent. Lively 
squirrels, of different species, are everywhere met with. Amongst 
a great variety of other remarkable animals which range the 
forests, we may, according to our locality, encounter herds of 
elephants, the rhinoceros, tigers, the tapir, the babirasa, the 
orangiitan, the sloth; and, of the winged tribes, the gorgeously 
beautiful birds of paradise, the loris, the peacock, and the argus 
pheasant. ‘The mangrove rivers and creeks are haunted by huge 

VOL, XLIV. NO. LXXXVII.—APRIL 1848. Z 


354 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


alligators. An endless variety of fragile and richly-coloured shells 
not only lie empty on the sandy beaches, but are tenanted by pagu- 
rjan crabs, which, in clusters, batten on every morsel of fat sea-weed 
that has been left by the retiring waves. The coasts are fringed 
with living rocks of beautiful colours, and shaped like stars, flowers, 
bushes, and other symmetrical forms. Of multitudes of peculiar 
animals which inhabit the seas, the dugong, or Malayan mermaid, 
most attracts our wonder, 

Before we leave this part of our subject, we would assure any 
European reader who may suspect that we have in aught written 
too warmly of the physical beauty of the Archipelago, that the same 
Nature which, in the west, only reveals her highest and most prodi- 
gal terrestrial beauty to the imagination of the poet, has here un- 
girdled herself, and given her wild and glowing charms, in all their 
fulness, to the eye of day. The ideal has here passed into the real. 
The few botanists who have visited this region declare, that from 
the multitude of its noble trees, odorous and beautiful flowers, and 
wonderful vegetable forms of all sorts, it is inconceivable in its mag- 
nificence, luxuriance, and variety. The zoologists, in their turn, 
bear testimony to the rare, curious, varied, and important animals 
which inhabit it, and the number and character of those already 
known is such as to justify one of the most distinguished of the day 
in expressing his belief, that ‘no region on the face of the earth 
would furnish more novel, splendid, or extraordinary forms than the 
unexplored islands in the eastern range of the Indian Archipelago.’ 

Hitherto we have faintly traced the permanent influence of the 
physical configuration of the Archipelago in tempering the inter- 
tropical heat, regulating the monsoons, determining the distribution 
of plants and animals, and giving to the whole region its peculiar 
character of softness and exuberant beauty. But when its rock 
foundations were laid, the shadow of its future human as well as 
natural history spread over them. Its primal physical architec- 
ture, in diminishing the extent of dry land, has increased the va- 
riety in the races who inhabit it; while the mineralogical constitu- 
tion of the insulated elevations, the manner in which they are dis- 
persed throughout its seas, and all the meteoric and botanical con- 
sequences, have affected them in innumerable modes. Again, as we 
saw that the platform of the Archipelago is but an extension of the 
great central mass of Asia, and that the direction of the subterranean 
forces had determined the ranges of the land, so we find that its 
population is but an extension of the Asiatic families, and that the 
direction of migration was marked out by the same forces. But, 
separated by the sea from the great plains and valleys of the conti- 
nent, having the grand routes of communication covered by moun- 
tains and dense and difficultly penetrable forest, the Archipelago 
could not be peopled by hordes, but must have owed its aborigines 
to the occasional wandering of small parties or single families. The 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 355 


migrations from one island to another were probably equally limited 
and accidental ; and the small and scattered communities in such as 
were inhabited, must, for a long period, have remained secluded from 
all others, save when a repetition of similar accidents added a few 
more units to the human denizens of the forests. __ 

We cannot here attempt to retrace in the most concise manner 
the deeply interesting history of the tribes of the Archipelago, so 
exciting from the variety of its elements, and its frequent, though 
not impenetrable, mystery. We can but distinguish the two great 
eras into which it divides itself,—that, at the commencement of 
which some of the inhabitants of the table-land of Asia, having 
slowly traversed the south-eastern valleys and ranges, a work per- 
haps of centuries, appeared on the confines of the Archipelago, no 
longer nomades of the plains but of the jungles, with all the changes 
in ideas, habits, and language which such transformation implies, 
and prepared by their habits to give rise, under the influences of 
their new position, to the nomades of the sea ;—and the second era, 
that, at the commencement of which the forest and pelagic nomades, 
scattered over the interior, and along the shores, of the islands of 
the Archipelago, in numerous petty tribes, each with some peculi- 
arities in its habits and language, but all bearing a family resem- 
blance, were discovered in their solitudes by the earliest navigators 
from the civilized nations of the continent. 

The ensuing, or what, although extending over a period of about 
two thousand years, we may term the modern history of the Archi- 
pelago, first exhibits the Klings from southern India,—who were a 
civilized maritime people probably three thousand years ago,—fre- 
quenting the islands for their peculiar productions, awakening a 
taste for their manufactures in the inhabitants, settling amongst 
them, introducing their arts and religion partially communicating 
these and a little of their manners and habits to their disciples, 
but neither by much intermarriage altering their general physical 
character, nor by moral influence obliterating their ancient super- 
Stitions, their comparative simplicity and robustness of character, 
and their freedom from the effeminate vanity which probably then, 
as in later times, distinguished their teachers. At a comparatively 
recent period, Islamism supplanted Hinduism in most of the com- 
munities which had grown up under the influence of the latter, but 
it had still less modifying operation; and, amongst the great bulk 
of the people, the conversion from a semi-Hindu condition to that 
of Mahomedanism was merely formal. Their intellects, essentially 
simple, and impatient of discipline and abstract contemplation, could 
as little appreciate the scholastic refinements of the one religion, as 
the complex and elaborate mythological machinery and psychological 
subtleties of the other. While the Malay of the nineteenth century 
exhibits in his manner, and in many of his formal usages and habits, 
the influence which Indians and Arabs have exerted on his race, he 


356 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


remains, physically and morally, in all the broader and deeper traits 
of nature, what he was when he first entered the Archipelago; and 
even on his manners, usages, and habits, influenced as they have 
been, his distinctive original character is still very obviously im- 
pressed. 

We cannot do more than allude to the growth of population and 
civilization in those localities which, from their extent of fertile soil 
or favourable commercial position, rose into eminence, and became 
the seats of powerful nations. But it must be borne in mind that, 
although these localities were varied and wide-spread, they occupied 
but a small portion of the entire surface of the Archipelago, and 
that the remainder continued to be thinly inhabited by uncivilized 
tribes, communities, or wandering families. 

Prevented, until a very recent date, by stubborn prejudices and 
an overweening sense of superiority, from understanding and influ- 
encing the people of the Archipelago, the European dominations 
have not directly affected them at all; and the indirect operation of 
the new power, and mercantile and political policies which they in- 
troduced, has been productive of much evil and very little good. 
While, on the one hand, the native industry and trade have been 
stimulated by increased demand and by the freedom enjoyed in the 
English ports, they have, on the other hand, been subjected by the 
Portuguese, English, and Duich, to a series of despotic restraints, 
extending over a period of three hundred years: and, within the 
range of the last nation’s influence, continued, however modified, to 
this hour: which far more than counterbalance all the advantages 
that can be placed in the opposite scale. 

The effect of the successive immigrations, revolutions, and admix- 
tures, which we have indicated or alluded to, has been that there are 
now in the Archipelago an extraordinary number of races, differing 
in colour, habits, civilization, and language, and living under forms 
of government and laws, or customs, exhibiting the greatest variety. 
The same cause which isolated the aborigines into numerous distinct 
tribes and kept them separate,—the exuberant vegetation of the 
islands,—has resisted the influence, so far as it was originally 
amalgamating, of every successive foreign civilization that has domi- 
nated; and the aboriginal nomades of the jungle and the sea, in 
their unchanged habits and mode of life, reveal to their European 
contemporary the condition of their race, at a time when his own 
forefathers were as rude, and far more savage. The more civilized 
races, after attaining a certain measure of advancement, have been 
separated by their acquired habits from the unaltered races, and 
have too often turned their superiority into the means of oppressing, 
and thereby more completely imprisoning in the barbarism of the 
jungles, such of them as lived in their proximity. So great is the 
diversity of tribes, that if a dry catalogue of names suited the pur- 
pose of this sketch, we could not afford space to enumerate them. 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 857 


But, viewing human life in the Archipelago as a general contem- 
plation, we may recall a few of the broader peculiarities which 
would be most likely to dwell on the memory after leaving the re- 
gion. 

In the hearts of the forests we meet man scantily covered with 
the bark of a tree, and living on wild fruits, which he seeks with the 
agility of the monkey, and wild animals, which he tracks with the 
keen eye and scent of a beast of prey, and slays with a poisoned ar- 
row, projected from a hollow bambi, by his breath. In lonely creeks 
and straits we see him in a small boat, which is his cradle, his house, 
and his bed of death ; which gives him all the shelter he ever needs, 
and enables him to seize the food which always surrounds him. On 
plains, and on the banks of rivers, we see the civilised planter convert- 
ing the moist flats into rice-fields, overshadowing his neat cottage of 
bambi, nibong, aud palm-leaves, with the graceful and bounteous 
cocoa-nut, and surrounding it with fruits, the variety and flavour of 
which European luxury might envy, and often with fragrant flower- 
ing trees and shrubs which the greenhouses of the West do not pos- 
sess. Where the land is not adapted for wet rice, he pursues a sys- 
tem of husbandry which the farmer of Europe would view with as- 
tonishment. Too indolent to collect fertilising appliances, and well 
aware that the soil will not yield two successive crops of rice, he takes 
but one, after having felled and burned the forest ; and he then leaves 
nature, during a ten years fallow, to accumulate manure for his se- 
cond crop in the vegetable matter elaborated by the new forest that 
springs up. Relieved from the care of his crop he searches the 
forests for ratans, canes, timber, fragrant woods, oils, wax, gums, 
caoutchouc, gutta-percha, dyes, camphor, wild nutmeg, tbe tusks of 
the elephant, the horn and hide of the rhinoceros, the skin of the 
tiger, parrots, birds of paradise, argus pheasants, and materials for 
mats, roofs, baskets, and receptacles of various kinds. If he lives 
near the coast, he collects fish, fish-maws, fish-roes, slugs (trepang), 
sea-weed (agaragar), tortoise-shell, rare corals, and mother of pearl. 
To the eastward, great fishing voyages are annually made to the 
shores of Australia for trepang. In many parts, pepper, coffee, or 
betel-nut, to a large, and tobacco, ginger, and other articles, to a con- 
siderable extent, are cultivated. Where the hirundo esculenta is 
found, the rocks are climbed and the caves explored for its costly 
edible nest. In different parts of the Archipelago the soil is dug for 
tin, antimony, iron, gold, or diamouds. The more civilised nations 
make cloths and weapons, not only for their own use but for export~ 
ation. ‘The traders, including the Rajahs, purchase the commodities 
which we have mentioned, dispose of them to the European, Chinese, 
Arab, or Kling navigator who visits their shores, or send them in 
their own vessels to the markets of Singapore, Batavia, Samarang, 
Manilla, and Maccassar. In these are gathered all the products of 
the Archipelago, whether such as the native inhabitants procure by 


358 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


their unassisted industry, or such as demand the skill and capital of 
the European or Chinese for their cultivation or manufacture ; and, 
amongst the latter, nutmegs, cloves, sugar, indigo, sago, gambier, 
tea, and the partially cultivated cinnamon and cotton. To these busy 
marts, the vessels of the first maritime people of the Archipelago, 
the Bugis, and those of many Malayan communities, bring the pro- 
duce of their own countries, and that which they have collected from 
neighbouring lands, or from the wild tribes, to furnish cargoes for 
the ships of Europe, America, Arabia, India, Siam, China, and 
Australia. To the bazar of the Eastern seas, commerce brings re- 
presentatives of every industrious nation of the Archipelago, and of 
every maritime people in the civilised world. 

Although, therefore, cultivation has made comparatively little im- 
pression on the vast natural vegetation, and the inhabitants are de- 
void of that unremitting laboriousness which distinguish the Chinese 
and European, the Archipelago, in its industrial aspect, presents an 
animated and varied scene. The industry of man, when civilisation 
or over-population has not destroyed the natural balance of life, must 
ever be the complement of the bounty of nature. The inhabitant of 
the Archipelago is as energetic and laborious as nature requires him 
to be; and he does not convert the world into a workshop, as the 
Chinese and the Kling immigrants do, because his world is not, like 
theirs, darkened with the pressure of crowded population and over- 
competition, nor is his desire to accumulate wealth excited and goaded 
by the contrast of splendour and luxury on the one hand, and penury 
on the other,—by the pride and assumptions of wealth and station, 
and the humiliations of poverty and dependence. 

While in the voleanic soils of Java, Menangkabau and Celebes, 
and many other parts of the Archipelago, population has increased, 
an industry suited to the locality and habits of each people prevails, 
and distinct civilisations, on the peculiar features of which we can- 
not touch, have been nurtured and developed ; other islands, less fa- 
voured by nature, or under the influence of particular historical cir- 
cumstances, have become the seats of great piratical communities, 
which periodically send forth large fleets to sweep the seas, and 
lurk along the shores, of the Archipelago, despoiling the seafaring 
trader of the fruits of his industry and his personal liberty, and car- 
rying off, from their very homes, the wives and children of the vil- 
lagers. From the creeks and rivers of Borneo and Johore, from the 
numerous islands between Singapore and Banka, and from other parts 
of the Archipelago, piratical expeditions less formidable than those 
of the Lanuns of Sulu are year after year fitted out. No coast is 
so thickly peopled, and no harbour so well protected, as to be secure 
from all molestation, for, where open force would be useless, re- 
course is had to stealth and stratagem. Men have been kidnapped 
in broad day in the harbours of Pinang and Singapore. Several 
inhabitants of Province Wellesley, who had been carried away from 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 359 


their houses through the harbour of Pinang and down the Straits of 
Malacca to the southward, were recently discovered by the Dutch 
authorities living in a state of slavery, and restored to their homes. 
But the ordinary abodes of the pirates themselves are not always at 
a distance from the European settlements. As the thug of Bengal 
is only known in his own village as a peaceful peasant, so the pirate, 
when not absent on an expedition, appears jn the river, and along 
the shores and islands of Singapore, as an honest boatman or fisherman. 

When we turn from this brief review of the industry of the Ar- 
chipelago, and its great internal enemy, to the personal and social 
condition of the inhabitants, we are struck by the mixture of simpli- 
city and art, of rudeness and refinement, which characterises all the 
principal nations. No European has ever entered into free and 
kindly intercourse with them, without being much more impressed 
by their virtues than their faults. They contrast most favourably 
with the Chinese and the Klings in their moral characters ; and al- 
though they do not, like those pliant races, readily adapt themselves 
to the requirements of foreigners, in their proper sphere they are 
intelligent, shrewd, active, and, when need is, laborious. Comparing 
them even with the general condition of many civilized nations of far 
higher pretensions, our estimate must be favourable. Their man- 
ners are distinguished by a mixture of courtesy and freedom which 
is very attractive. Even the poorest while frank are well bred, 
and, excluding the communities that are corrupted by piracy, or a 
mixture with European seaman and low Chinese and Klings, we 
never see an impudent air, an insolent look, or any exhibition of im- 
modesty, or hear coarse, abusive, or indecent Janouage. In their 
mutual intercourse they are respectful, and, while good-humoured 
and open, habitually reflective and considerate. They are much 
given to amusements of various kinds, fond of music, poetry, and 
romances ; and in their common conversation addicted to sententious 
remarks, proverbs, and metrical sentiments or allusions. To the 
first impression of the European, the inhabitants, like the vegetation 
and animals of the Archipelago, are altogether strange ; because the 
characteristics in which they differ from those to which we are habi- 
tuated, affect the senses more vividly than those in which they agree. 
For a time the colour, features, dress, manners, and habits which we 
see, and the languages which we hear, are those of a new world. But 
with the fresh charms, the exaggerated impressions also of novelty 
wear away ; and then, retracing our steps, we wonder that people 
so widely separated from the nations of the west, both geographically 
and historically, and really differing so much in their outward aspect, 
should, in their more latent traits, so much resemble them. The 
nearer we come to the inner spirit of humanity, the more points of 
agreement appear, and this not merely in the possession of the uni- 
versal attributes of human nature, but in specific habits, usages, and 
superstitions. 

What at first seems stranger still is, that when we seek the native 


c 


360 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


of the Archipelago in the mountains of the interior, where he has 
lived for probably more than two thousand years secluded from all 
foreign influence, and where we expect to find all the differences at 
their maximum, we are sometimes astonished to find him approxi- 
mating most closely of all to the European. In the Jaktn, for in- 
stance, girded though his loins are with terap bark, and armed as he 
is with his sumpitan and poisoned arrows, we recognise the plain 
and clownish manners, and simple ideas of the uneducated peasant 
in the more secluded parts of European countries ; and when he de- 
scribes how, at his merry-makings, his neighbours assemble, the ar- 
rack tampti flows around, and the dance, in which both sexes mingle, 
is prolonged, till each seats himself on the ground with his partner 
on his knee and his bambn of arrack by his side, when the dance 
gives place to song, we are forcibly reminded of the free and jovial, 
if rude, manners of the lower rural classes of the west. Freed from 
the repellant prejudices and artificial trappings of Hindu and Maho- 
medan civilisation, we see in the man of the Archipelago more that 
is akin than the reverse to the unpolished man of Europe. 

When we turn to the present political condition of the Archipe- 
lago, we are struck by the contrast which it presents to that which 
characterised it three or four centuries ago. The mass of the people, 
it is true, in all their private relations, remain in nearly the same 
state in which they were found by the earliest European voyagers, 
and in which they had existed for many centuries previously. But, 
as nations, they have withered in the presence of the uncongenial, 
greedy, aud relentless spirit of European policy. They have been 
subdued by the hard and determined will of Europeans, who, in gene- 
ral, have pursued the purposes for which they have come into the 
Archipelago, without giving any sympathy to the inhabitants. The 
nomadic spirit, never extinguished during all the changes which they 
underwent, had made them adventurous and warlike when they rose 
into nations. But now, long overawed and restrained by the power 
of Europeans, the national habits of action have, in most parts of 
the Archipelago, been lost, or are only faintly maintained in the 
piratical expeditions of some. Their pride has fallen. Their living 
literature is gone, with the power, the wars, and the glory which in- 
spired it. The day has departed when Singapore could be invaded 
by Javanese,—when Johore could extend its dominion to Borneo on 
the one side, and Sumatra on the other,—when the fleets of Acheen 
and Malacca could encounter each other in the straits, to dispute the 
dominion of the eastern seas,—when the warrants of the Sultan of 
Menangkabati were as potent over the Malayan nations as the bulls 
of Rome ever were over those of Christendom,—when a champion of 
Malacca could make his name be known all over the Archipelago,— 
and when the kings of the Peninsula sent their sons, escorted by 
celebrated warriors, to demand the daughters of the emperors of 
Majapahit in marriage. The Malayan princes of the present day 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 361 


retaining all the feudal attachment and homage of their subjects, and 
finding no more honourable vent for the assertion of their freedom 
from restraint and the gratification of their self-will, have almost 
everywhere sunk into indolent debauchees and greedy monopolists, 
and, incited by their own rapacity and that of the courtiers who sur- 
round them, drain and paralyse the industry of their people. 

The foreign elements at present exercising, or likely to exercise, 
great influence on the condition of the Archipelago, are the dominion 
of the Dutch and Spanish, the commerce and settlements of the 
English, the educational and missionary efforts of Christendom, the 
growth of large Chinese communities, and the continued influx of 
emigrants from China. It is probable, if England does not extend 
her influence, that the whole Archipelago, with the exception of the 
Malayan Peninsula (which is always considered a member of it), the 
Philippines, and a small portion of Borneo, will, in no long time, be- 
come a portion of the Dutch empire; and if the humanising and 
liberal influences which, we hope, are now modifying the character 
of the eastern policy of that nation, receive full effect, and Nether- 
lands India comes to be really looked upon as an integral part of Hol- 
land, its inhabitants being admitted to a full reciprocity of advantages 
with those of the European portion of the empire, there will be little 
to regret, and much to welcome, in the change. England, in intro- 
ducing freedom of trade, and in leaving the inhabitants and their pos- 
sessions, small as they are, to the unshackled exercise of their own 
industry, has set an example of rational government which, if imi- 
tated in every European possession in the Archipelago, would do 
something to atone for past misgovernment and neglect. It is im- 
possible to foresee how great the influence of the Chinese may be- 
come. Large as the Chinese population already is, and numerous 
as the annual emigrants from China are, they must, in the progress 
of the change which is working in China itself, greatly increase ; and 
there can be little hazard in looking to the pressure of population in 
China, as one of the most momentous elements in the future history 
of the Archipelago. 

Broken down as the more civilised and once powerful states are, 
till their governments, with hardly an exception, have lost all tho 
energy and ambition to be useful, and retain only the power to be 
hurtful; divided as the greater proportion of the population of the 
Archipelago is, into separate tribes and communities too small to re- 
sist the domineering and exacting spirit of the more covetous, bold, 
and active Malays and Bugis who infest their coasts; openly robbed 
and enslaved by their brother islanders; defrauded by the Chinese, 
Kling, or Arab adventurer, whose superior activity and cunning en- 
able him to profit more by their industry than they do themselves ; 
neglected by the Nuropean who seeks the same end by honest means, 
and, that attained, returns to his native country, and gives them no 
second thought ; and without any active internal elements of ad- 


362 The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 


vancement ;—it is only by awakening an interest in Europe itself 
that the inabitants of the Archipelago can hope for any amelioration. 
So long as they only know one phase of European character,—the 
ardent, steady, and inventive pursuit of gain,—the influence of Europe 
will remain, what it has hitherto proved, more prejudicial than bene- 
ficial. But let the deep human sympathy which dwells in England, 
and overflows on so many sides, once effectually reach the people of 
this noble region of the world ; let England learn their many virtues, 
their mild and engaging manners, their freedom from intolerance, 
their docility, their aptitude for instruction; and let her but take 
seriously to heart the fact that on the seas where her flag has floated, 
and her commerce largely profited for two hundred and fifty years, 
the peaceful trader cannot at this day venture to embark without the 
risk of being slain or enslayed,—that from the destruction of all na- 
tional power, in which her own policy aided, a few thousand pirates 
now keep the coasts of countries numbering millions of inhabitants 
in a state of insecurity,—and her energy and resources will soon work 
out the best means of suppressing these evils at once and for ever, 
and of implanting fresh and vigorous elements of moral development 
in the now stagnant minds of the inhabitants. Without this we may 
continue for another hundred years to mingle in the trading commu- 
nities of the Archipelago, without ever exercising any of that influence 
which our predecessors, the Hindus and the Mahomedans, exercised. 
But if we would seek to assimilate the natives of the Archipelago to 
those of Europe, and take them with us on our path of advancement, 
we must, like the Hindus and Mahomedans, begin by acquiring a 
thorough and familiar knowledge of them. 

Their political and material wants are so connected, that whatever 
tends to remedy the latter must react on the former. It is no less 
the duty of the Christian and the philanthropist for their ends, than 
of the economist for his, to take every practicable measure for the 
improvement of the external condition of the natives of the Archi- 
pelago. We need not now suffer our minds to be disturbed by any mis- 
givings as to the benefit derivable from European influence. In the 
first place, the influence hitherto has not been that of Europe in her 
noblest characteristics ; or the lower and more selfish have so much 
predominated, that they have not yet dreamt of Europe in her 
earnest devotion to the bettering of humanity, her pure and deep 
love of all truth, spiritual and physical, and her ever-extending 
knowledge of the secret springs of nature, For, although we fully 
appreciate the earnest and noble labours of the missionaries who are 
found in many of the islands, we cannot be blind to the fact, that 
their numbers and resources are, as yet, far too limited to make 
more than a slight impression on the great field which lies around 
them. In the second place, we have no choice. We may deplore 
that some tribes, happy in their simplicity and guilelessness, should 
be roused from their repose of peace, to pass through the turbulent 


The Present Condition of the Indian Archipelago. 363 


period which separates man, first awaking to a sense of new wants, 
and setting out on his career of dissatisfaction and action, from man, 
when civilisation has thrown off its early vices and evils, and is 
bringing all human wants and desires into harmony. But we cannot, 
if we would, arrest the march of events; and as the necessities and 
enterprise of China and Europe are yearly more and more invading 
the recesses of the Archipelago, and the most secluded tribes musi 
in a short time be brought within the circle of general economical 
intercourse, we must dismiss from our minds distrust and hesitation, 
and substitute in their place the fact that this intercourse is now 
most extensive, will soon be universal, and is a mighty agent for 
good as well as for evil. 

Unfortunately the Chinese, who are so rapidly spreading, can only 
corrupt and debase the natives. Living but for gain and merely 
physical enjoyment, and pursuing these objects with a combination 
of the most mature patience, laboriousness, duplicity, craft, and often 
fraud, which is the more dangerous from the easy, open, plain, and 
plausible manner with which it is accompanied, the Chinese flow 
into every opening which European powers effect, whether by sup- 
planting or weakening native governments. If every step which 
European enterprise makes is thus followed by an accession of 
Chinese corruption, it is the more incumbent on Europe that she no 
longer stand aloof from the natives, and abandon them to the de- 
basement of a civilisation, purely industrial and sensual, to which 
she contributes to expose them. 

It is time that England should see and be shocked by the effects 
of her past policy, or absence of policy, in the anarchy, degeneracy, 
oppressions, and vices, which largely prevail in many parts of the 
Archipelago. England would then learn by what a small effort, in 
comparison with those which she is daily making for objects of far 
inferior magnitude and moment, she might make herself known in 
her true character in the Archipelago, and speedily free the slave 
from his bonds ; suppress the trade in men, and its associate, piracy ; 
mitigate and eventually abolish the heavy monopolies and restraints 
which depress industry, and nourish oppression, fraud, and corrup- 
tion: and, having thus given to the people freedom in person, pro- 
perty, and mind, lead them, through her sympathy and pity, and 
their docility and gratitude, to a willing reception of the humanising 
and elevating knowledge of Christendom. 


364 


On Mineral Metamorphism. 


As the doctrine of mineral metamorphism is now exciting 
very general attention, we, as introductory to what we may 
afterwards communicate on this important and curious sub- 
ject, lay before our readers a few explanatory observations by 
one of the most distinguished of modern geologists — the 
celebrated Swiss philosopher and professor, B. Studer.* 


Metamorphism, Definition. 


In its wider sense, mineral metamorphism means every 
change of aggregation, structure, or chemical condition which 
rocks have undergone subsequently to their deposition and 
stratification, or the effects which have been produced by 
other forces than gravity and cohesion. There fall under 
this definition :—the discoloration of the surface of black 
limestone by the loss of carbon; the formation of brownish- 
red crusts on rocks of limestone, sandstone, many slatestones, 
serpentine, granite, and so on, by the decomposition of iron 
pyrites, or magnetic iron, finely disseminated in the mass of 
the rock; the conversion of anhydrite into gypsum, in con- 
seauence of the absorption of water; the crumbling of many 
granites and porphyries into gravel, occasioned by the decom- 
position of the mica or felspar. In this doctrine must also 
be reckoned the conversion of water into ice, and of snow and 
ice into water, or into steam. In its more limited sense the 
term metamorphic is confined to those changes of the rock 
which are produced, not by the effect of the atmosphere or of 
water on the exposed surfaces, but which are produced, di- 
rectly or indirectly, by agencies seated in the interior of the 
earth. In many cases the mode of change may be explained 
by our physical or chemical theories, and may be viewed as 
the effect of temperature, or of electro-chemical actions. Ad- 
joining rocks, or connecting communications with the interior 
of the earth, also distinctly point out the seat from which the 


* Vide Lehrbuch ‘der Physikalchen Geographie und Geologie, vol. 2, Bern, 
1847. 


On Mineral Metamorphism. 365 


change proceeds. In many other cases the metamorphic 
process itself remains a mystery, and from the nature of the 
products alone do we conclude that such a metamorphic pro- 
cess has actually taken place ; as, for instance, when we find 
neptunian rocks gradually passing into others, which, to judge 
from their present condition, could not have been formed in 
water. Geological science is in the same position in refer- 
ence to metamorphic rocks, as mineralogy is with reference 
to the pseudomorphic crystals : it acknowledges the change to 
be a fact established by accurate observation, but by no means 
depending on the probability or possibility of an explanation. 


Metamorphosis of Rocks by Heat and Cementation. 


The influence exercised by quick or slow cooling, the 
pressure which keeps gases in their combinations, and the 
effect which is thus exercised upon the aggregation and struc- 
ture of the solidifying fused masses, has already been men: 
tioned.* Also, regarding the change of stratified neptunian 
rocks by heat, a multitude of facts have, in later times, been 
collected, partly by direct observation of the effect of the 
furnace-fires on the bricks of the furnace, or of burning beds 
of coal on the adjacent strata ; and partly indirectly, by con- 
eluding that this effect exists from the changes which such 
neptunian rocks shew in the neighbourhood of others, of which, 
it is supposed, they were at one time in a state of fusion, or 
had, at least, been strongly heated, that is to say (i.e.) we 
reason from the redations of contact. Metallurgical processes 
have shewn that the chemical condition of solid substances, 
when exposed to high temperatures, may undergo alterations 
without previous fusion. In the process of cementation, iron, 
when nealed for some time with pounded charcoal, unites 
withthe charcoal and forms steel ; so also copper, when nealed 
with zinc, is changed into brass. In Agordo and Réraas, 
pyrites, containing only 2 per cent. of copper, when roasted in 
pieces the size of a fist, become changed in the centre into 
copper pyrites, yielding 7 per cent. pure copper, and this cen- 
tral mass detaches itself with a smooth variegated surface, 


* Vide vol, i. p, 136 of Studer’s Lehrbuch. 


366. On Mineral Metamorphism. 


from the external, nearly copperless exterior. In South 
America, gold, containing silver, is reduced to almost pure 
gold, when the grains are nealed with brick-dust and culi- 
nary salt; the silica, assisted by the watery vapours issuing 
from the fuel, decomposes the muriate of soda, when muria- 
tie acid is evolved, and the chlorine unites with the silver 
to form chloride of silver. In more recent times, there have 
been produced, by direct smelting experiments, or as casual 
productions of the forge, many minerals which most frequently 
belong to the volcanic and metamorphic rocks. Augite, a 
principal ingredient of many lavas and traps, was discover- 
ed in the slags of Fahlun. The slags of Sahla are decep- 
tively like basalts, and their cavities are occupied by augite 
crystals. By fusion of the ingredients of augite, Berthier and 
Mitscherlich obtained distinct crystals of augite. A mineral 
isomorphic with olivin, a common ingredient of basalt, is not 
unfrequently contained in the slags of the iron-refining and 
copper-smelting processes. Felspar was found in the shape 
of distinct crystals, possibly formed from vapours (Hausmann) 
in the rents of a copper-furnace at Sangershansen, in the dis- 
trict of Mansfeld. At Stolberg, on the Hartz Mountains, 
small twin crystals, exactly similar to the adularia of Mont 
Gotthard, were found in a deserted iron-furnace 52 feet 
above the floor (Hausmann). A direct formation of felspar 
has never yet been obtained by the fusing together of its in- 
gredients. Mitscherlich met with mica in the form of hexa- 
gonal prisms, in the old slags of a copper-melting furnace in 
Sweden. Hausmann met with scales nearly related to mica, 
in the cells of a crystalline sandstone which had served in 
the Hartz as the floor or bottom of aniron-furnace. Garnets 
and Idocrases have partly been produced from their ingredients 
by smelting, and have partly been found in the slags of fur- 
naces. <A crystalline’ substance, resembling the mineral 
named Wollastonite, was discovered in iron slags. Gaudin 
made crystals of corundum by artificial means. The meta- 
morphosis of many rocks, which have been mentioned as ab- 
normal or older limestones, clays, sandstones, and coals, rests 
on these facts and others yet to be quoted; although, in 
many cases, we should be at a loss to explain the act of me- 


On Mineral Metamorphism. 367 


tamorphosis and the productions of new minerals by the 
effect of heat on the individual cases. 

The distance to which the metamorphic influence of heat 
extends, or the thickness of the metamorphosed portions of 
the rock which separates the original rock from the eruptive 
mass, is very unequal. The influence of the trap veins or 
dikes on the adjoining rock, and even of the great overlaying 
trap upon the subjacent rock, seldom extends beyond a few 
fathoms. On the Krazzenberg, near Cassel, the shell-lime- 
stone (muschelhalk) has been altered to the extent of one 
foot from a basaltic vein passing through it; at Hartford, in 
Connecticut, variegated sandstone has been altered to the 
extent of five feet under a covering of dolerite; the change of 
the brown coal at the Meissner extends, on an average, to 
eight feet under the basalt; that of chalk, in Ireland, to 
ten feet. The thickness of metamorphic coal sandstone, pro- 
duced by a trap-dike in Ireland, extends even as far as forty 
feet ; that of the metamorphic clay-slate, in Anglesea, ex- 
tends to fifty feet; that of the metamorphic or altered coal 
at Blythe, in Northumberland, to ninety feet. Granite, sye- 
nite, and analogous rocks, appear to have exercised a much 
more widely-extended influence, whether it be that a longer- 
continued calorific radiation took place through these, as 
also their crystalline condition indicates, or that their effect 
on the adjoining rock has been altogether different from that 
of fiery molten masses. The metamorphosis of the lime- 
stone and of the clay-slate, near Christiania, extends to up- 
wards of 1000 feet from the granite,—according to Durocher, 
even as far as 1000 yards or metres; that of the limestone 
of the Pyrenees, in §. Paul de Fenonillet, to at least 900 
feet; the thickness of the white marble of Predazzo, on Pal- 
lerabbiose, and on Monzoni, or the gallestro slate and red 
jasper in Tuscany and in Elba, will be scarcely less; the 
influence of granite upon the clay-slate of Brittany extends, 
according to Durocher, to the distance of from two to three 
killometres.* 


SS Sndiessss 


* A killometer is equal to 10933 yards. 


368 On Mineral Metamorphism. 


Metamorphosis of Rocks by Vapours. 


The experiments of Jeffreys shew that watery vapours pro- 
duce no perceptible effect upon siliceous combinations, until 
the heat exceeds the melting point of cast-iron, butthen quickly 
decompose felspathic rocks and other silicates, and line the 
roof of the furnace with a covering of siliceous earth resem- 
bling hoar-frost. The presence of siliceous earth in hot- 
springs is explained by this in a simple way.* The long-con- 
tinued influence of heat at low temperatures is perhaps able, 
as frequently occurs in chemical reactions, to produce the 
ame result as higher temperatures. The decomposition 
which the jasper and hornstone, at M. Rotondo, adjacent 
to the Suffioni in Tuscany, suffer from its watery vapours, 
is in the highest degree remarkable; the red and dark-grey 
colours pass through different stripes into white ; the com- 
pact texture is loosened, the stone becomes porous and pu- 
mice-like, and crumbles at last into a mealy powder. In- 
odorous aqueous vapour exercises the same decomposing 
influence’on the trachyte of Terceira: the stone is changed 
into white, fine, earthy clay, whilst the iron carried off by 
the vapours accumulates in other places, and imparts a 
bright-red colour to the earthy mass; siliceous earth also 
is extracted, and again deposited as hyalite (Darwin). “ The 
Telega-Leri in Java,” says Junghuhn, “ is a morass com- 
pletely perforated by vapours; all the rocks are decomposed 
and metamorphosed into light-grey clay, only a few rocks 
shew still some cohesion, but these are also bleached. 
The water in the lake is milk-white, and: in the middle is 
about thirty feet deep, and cold. On the banks we see hun- 
dreds of springs, of which the temperature in some is 57° C., 
and that in others 68° C. We cannot proceed a single 
step without coming upon hissing vapours or hot-jets, and 
we are continually enveloped in clouds of vapour, which, 
however, do not impede the respiration, and have only a very 
slight smell of sulphur.” Not unfrequently the decomposing 
power of watery vapour is aided by an admixture of sulphu- 
rous or sulphuric acid. In the neighbourhood of the Stufe 
di S. Calogero in Lipari, according to Hoffmann, a fume- 


* Studer’s Geologie, vol. i., 247. 


On Mineral Metamorphism. 369 


role of watery vapours, impregnated with sulphur, particu- 
larly attracts the attention, by the strikingly altered colour- 
ing of the soil: the face of a bold projecting felspathic 
lava is changed into a white, coarse-grained, chalky marl 
or tripoli-like rock; the adjacent tuffa, which is yellowish- 
white, very friable, and frequently intersected by dark-red 
streaks, incloses coarse lumps of a bluish-white stone, re- 
sembling opal or pitch-stone, the numerous crevices of which 
are lined with chalcedony or hyalite. 


[We may add, as in some degree connected with the preceding, that the for- 
mation of many minerals by sublimation in smelting processes, and in active 
voleanoes and solfateros, is well known. Thus the rents in the walls of smelt- 
ing furnaces are frequently filled or encrusted with metallic substances which 
could only reach these rents by sublimation. Crystals of lead-glance, and zinc- 
blende occur, on the walls and in the rents ef furnaces where lead and 
zinc ores are smelted; and beautiful cubes of titanium are found in the walls 
of furnaces where titaniferous iron-ore is smelted. Graphite occurs in the ve- 
sicular cavities, or on the surface of iron slags, and appears in such to be a 
sublimation of carbonaceous matter. In nature we find graphite associated 
with minerals which many consider as formed at high temperatures, such as 
felspar, quartz, and mica; also in metamorphic marble and trap. Thus the fa- 
mous graphite of Borrodale in Cumberland occurs in irregular nests in vertical 
veins in trap. The vein stones are cale-spar, brown-spar, and quartz.] 


Metamorphosis of Rocks by Injection. 


As on a grand scale, veins of fiery molten substances have 
filled up the interstices of sedimentary rocks, so in several 
cases narrow veins of molten substances appear to have 
penetrated into the rocky mass in such quantities, and so 
universally, that the rock acquires a wholly altered charac- 
ter, since the newly injected substance established itself as 
an essential ingredient of the rock. In the case of many 
quartzites in the flysch regions of Wallis and Grandbiindten, 
this origin becomes not at all unlikely, when we see the veins 
of quartz, in the flysch, becoming more and more numerous, 
until, at last, only a few remaining thin slaty plates of flysch 
indicate the nature of the original rock. Quartz nodules also, 
as we frequently find them in clay-slate and mica-slate, may 
have arisen if the injected fluid was made to separate in 
consequence of the resistance of the mass penetrated. Masses 
of gneiss, which are penetrated by veins of granite or of por- 
phry, have often the appearance of having been formed by 
the forcible entrance of felspath and quartz between the 
layers of the original slate. Through the influence of the 

VOL, XLIV. NO, LXXXVIII.—APRIL 1848. 2A 


370 On Mineral Metamorphism. 


high temperature of the injected mass, the slaty substance 
may at the same time have received a higher crystalline 
character, and have been developed as mica. East from 
Stockholm lies the quarry of Ytterby, so well known to all 
mineralogists, where, according to Von Buch, we have good 
illustrations of metamorphosis by injection. Possibly this 
explanation of metamorphosis and injection may also be ap- 
plied to the gneiss of the Outer Hebrides, where, by the rami- 
fication of the many granitic veins, the original mass is, in 
some instances, almost supplanted. Molten metallic sub- 
stances also may have mixed, by injection, with the adjoin- 
ing rock; and Fournet is inclined to attribute to this cause 
not only the origin of the reticulated ramified ores in many 
mines, but also that of great masses, or of kidneys of ore, 
isolated on every side; the nearly mined-out nodules of py- 
rites of copper at Chessy, near Lyons, of manganese-ore near 
S. Marcel, in the valley of Aosta, of fahl-ore in Anniviers, 
and of white-lead in the Maurienne have, according to his 
view, originated through injection. 


General Metamorphic Processes. 


The difficulties which at present stand in the way of an 
explanation of those metamorphoses which occur most fre- 
quently, and in the greatest masses, are of different kinds. 
In several cases, the idea of a transformation appears contra- 
dictory to our chemical and physical laws, such as formerly 
was the case with the metamorphosis of carbonate of lime 
into marble by fusion, with the sublimation of silica, of oxide 
of iron, and of charcoal, and with the formation of felspath, 
and other minerals in the dry way. The explanation of still 
existing, seemingly contradictory facts must be looked for 
from the progress of science. In other cases, the metamor- 
phosis extends to masses, the thickness of which far exceeds 
the limits of the observed influence of molten substances on 
the rocks adjacent to them, whilst mountains, many thousand 
feet thick, have been influenced by it. Besides, it frequently 
happens that we discover no eruptive rock to which we might 
ascribe the metamorphic influence. In many parts of the 
Alps, for instance, we may perceive the influence of the erys- 


On Mineral Metamorphism. 371 


talline slate rock on the adjacent limestone. The latter, for 
several fathoms upwards, is bright or variegated crystalline, 
or changed into siliceous limestone or dolomite (Urbachvale, 
Grindelwald, Morcles, Oisans); but if the crystalline slates are 
themselves also of metamorphic origin, then we look in vain 
for a focus from which their metamorphoses can have pro- 
ceeded. The greatest difficulty, however, lies in the fact, 
that metamorphic rocks are frequently separated by a series 
of extensive strata of unchanged rocks from every eruptive 
mass, as well as from the high temperatures of the interior of 
the earth ; sometimes they form the outermost covering of un- 
changed mountains, and are also frequently found alternated 
with strata, to which the metamorphic influence has not ex- 
tended. An explanation of the metamorphosis, by the heat 
of the adjoining rocks, or by vapours, is evidently, in this 
ease, insufficient. But that the cause of this metamorphosis, 
whichever it may be, is more closely connected with the pro- 
cesses of the interior of our globe, seems evident, from this 
circumstance, that these metamorphic rocks occur in those 
regions only which, by the up-raising of the originally hori- 
zontal series of strata, thus forming high mountains, or by 
the breaking out of eruptive rocks, bear unmistakeable 
traces of a former very intense influence of forces acting from 
the interior of the earth. 


Massive Rocks. 


The close connection of the greater number of metamor- 
phic rocks with massive rocks, the perfect similarity of their 
mineralogical character, and the gradual transition of the one 
kind of rock into the other, lead to the conclusion that the 
massive rocks themselves are to be considered as merely the 
Jast stage of the conversion or change ; that granites also, and 
porphyries and trap-rocks have proceeded in a similar way 
from the original neptunian rocks, as undoubtedly is the 
case with massive limestone, dolomite, and quartzite. From 
this it also appears that the metamorphosis has, in individual 
cases, proceeded as far as fluidity, which is so evident in 
the case of granite or trap veins or dikes. In this point of 
view, all massive rocks form a series, which begins with mar- 


372 On Mineral Metamorphism. 


ble and dolomite, and ends with the lavas of modern date. 
Of the trachytic rocks, granites and syenites are most closely 
allied to the metamorphic slates ; the felspar porphyries form 
a middle link between the granites and the prismatic tra- 
chytes, which had formerly been in a state of fluidity. 
Amongst the trap-rocks, the diallage-traps which occur in 
rare instances only as eruptive veins, and never with a pris- 
matic character, come nearest to the neptunian rocks; after 
these diallage-traps come the hornblende-traps, the metamor- 
phosis of which takes place quite as frequently in a solid as 
in a fluid condition : last of all come the augitic-traps, to which 
class belongs basalt, almost identical with augitic lava. In 
several important cases, it is difficult to determine to what 
degree the metamorphosis has extended, since it remains un- 
certain whether the form and structural relations of the 
mountain-mass are to be considered as remains of the nep- 
tunian sedimentary formation, or as a product of the metamor- 
phosis itself ; for the original form of the neptunian, as well as 
of the volcanic sedimentary rocks have often become so 
changed by erosion, and so much alike in both classes of 
rocks, that this distinctive character is wholly lost ; the slaty 
or tabular structure of lava-formed rocks becomes so entirely 
like the stratification of neptunian formations, that we are 
frequently puzzled regarding the explanation of this character.* 


* One of the earliest writers on mineral metamorphism was the celebrated 
Captain-General of the Saxon Mines, Charpentier ; but the world is indebted to 
a remarkable man—the author of the famous Theory of the Earth, Dr Hutton 
of Edinburgh, for the first broad view of this subject in his work on the Theory 
of the Earth. Sir James Hall and Professors Playfair and Hope supported and 
extended this doctrine; Hall, by his celebrated experiments; Playfair, in his 
eloquent and classical “ Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory ;” and Dr Hope, 
by his admirable lectures on the subject in the class of Chemistry in our Univer- 
sity. It may be said of Hope that the most brilliant part of his academical lec- 
tures was that on the Huttonian Theory. Thecelebrated Dr Boue, our excellent 
friend and former pupil, first made known, in detail, to Continental Geologists, 
the views of Hutton on this subject ; about the same time, Thomson of Naples 
illustrated the metamorphism of roeks founded on his observations made in Italy; 
and more lately Keilhau and Scherer of Christiania, Von Buch, Bischof of Bonn, 
Studer of Bern, and Haidinger and Morlot of Vienna, have eminently contri- 
bated to this department of the geology of rocks, Note by the Editor, Edin, New 
Phil. Jour. 


(B73. ) 


Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals, founded on 
Physical and Chemical Characters. By R. J. 


CLASS I. M. 


AcROGENOUS MINERALS (Haidinger.) 
Minerals that occur chiefly on the surface of the Earth or 
soil. 
Characters of the Class.—If solid, is sapid. Specific gravity 
less than 3°8. 


ORDER 1.—GAS. Genera. 1—Hydrogen Gas, &e. 

ORDER 2.— WATER. Genera. 1.—Sea Water, &c. 

ORDER 3.—ACIDS. Genera. 1.—Boracie Acid, &e. 

ORDER 4.—SALT. Genera. 1—Natron, or Carbonate 
of Soda, &e. 


CLASS II. MM. 
GEOGENOUS MINERALS. H. 


Minerals of which the known solid part of the Earth is 
chiefly composed. 

Characters of the Class—Specific gravity more than 1°8. 
Tasteless. 


Susctass I1.—HALOIDAL MINERALS. 


Tasteless compounds of Earths and Acids, and Tasteless 
compounds of Metals and Acids. 


OrDER 1.—HALLITE. Tasteless compounds of Earths and 
Acids. 
* Kuphallite. Light, Tasteless, Saline Minerals. 
Genera. 1. Gypsum, 2. Anhydrite. 3. Calc-Spar. 4. Fluor. 
5. Apatite. 6. Alumstone. 7. Wavellite. 8. Cryolite. 
** Barallite. Heavy, Tasteless, Saline Minerals. 


Genera, 1. Heavy-Spar, including Barytic Spars, and Strontiani- 
tic Spars. 


374 Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals. 


Susctass I].—HALOCHALCITE. 


Saline Ores, or Tasteless compounds of Metals and Acids. 


OrvER I. BARALOCHALCITE.—Zeavy, Tasteless, Saline 
Ores. 

Not metallic. No metallic pearly lustre. Streak white, 
pale-brown, orange-yellow. Hardness=2‘0—5-5. Specific 
gravity =3:'3—8'1. 

Genera. 1. Sparry-Iron. 2. Red Manganese. 3. Retine-Spar. 


4. Tungsten. 5. Calamine. 6. Lead-Spar. 7. White Anti- 
mony; or Antimony -Spar. 


ORDER II. KUPHALOCHALCITE.—Light, Tasteless, 
Saline Ores. 


Not metallic. Colour blue, green, yellow. Streak blue, 
green, brown. Hardness=2:‘0—5‘0. Sp. gr.=25—42. 


Genera. 1. Liriconite. 2. Olivenite. 3. Blue Malachite. 4. 
Emerald Malachite, or Silicate of Copper. 5. Green Mala- 
chite. 6. Dystom-Malachite. 7. Copper-Green. 


ORDER III. MICALOCHALCITE.— Tasteless, Micaceous, 
Saline Ores; or, Mica-like Saline Ores. 
Genera. 1. Copper-Mica. 2. Uran-Mica, 
OrpER IV. KERALOCHALCITE.—Corzeous, Tasteless, 
Saline Ores. 


Not metallic. Streak white or grey. No single distinct 
cleavage. Hardness=1:0—2-0. Sp. gr.=5-5—6'5. 


Genera. Horn-Ore. 


Suspontass LIT—TERRIGENOUS OR EARTHY 
MINERALS. 


Minerals in most cases composed of one earth or more fre- 
quently coloured by Metallic Oxides, especially Oxide of Iron. 


ORDER I. STEATITE. 


Not metallic. Streak white. Hardness = 1:5—4:0. Sp. 


gr. = 2-47—3°0. 


i 


Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals. 375 


Genera. 1, Picrosmine. 2. Serpentine. 3. Glyphine-Steatite or 
Common Steatite. 3. Praseolite. 4. Pyrargillite. 5. Agal- 
matolite. 6. Gieseckite. 7. Plinthite. 8. Pinite. 9.Gigan- 
tolite. 10. Gilbertite. 11. Gibbsite. 12. Osmelite. 


OrpDER II. MICA. 


Not metallic. Cleavage distinctly axotomous. Streak 

white---green. Hardness = 1:0—4:5. Sp. gr. = 2:3—3-4. 

Genera. * 1 Hydrargillite. 2. Brucite or Pearl-Mica, 3. 
Nemalite. 4. Volknerite. 


** 5. Tale. 6. Nacrite. 7. Pyrophyllite. 8.Chlorite. 9. Mica. 
10. Biotite. 


ORDER III. SPAR. 


Not metallic. Streak white, reddish-brown, blue. Hard- 
ness = 2‘5—7:0. Sp. gr. = 20—37. 


Genera. 1, Schillerite. 2. Kyanite. 3. Diaspore. 4. Triphane. 

_ 5. Prehnite. 6. Datolite. ‘7. Wagnerite. 8. Amphigene. 
9. Zeolite. 10. Edingtonite. 11. Elaine-Spar. 12. Petalite. 
13. Felspar. 14, Chiastolite. 15. Augite.. 16. Alman- 
dine-Spar or Eudyalite-Spar. 17. Azure-Spar. 18. Adia- 
phane Spar. 


ORDER IV. GEM. 


Not metallic. No metallic adamantine lustre. Streak 
white. Hardness = 5°5—10°0. Sp. gr. = 1:9—4-7. 


Genera. 1. Andalusite. 2. Corundum. 8. Diamond. 4. Topaz. 
5. Emerald. 6, Quartz. 7. Axinite. 8. Chrysolite. 9. Bo- 
racite. 10, Tourmaline. 11. Garnet. 12. Zircon. 


Supctass IV.—METALLIFEROUS MINERALS. 


Minerals in which Metals, generally the chief constitu- 
ents, are in the native state, or combined with Oxygen or 
Sulphur. 


OrpER I. ORE or OXIDE. 


Metallic, black, not metallic. Streak not green, not blue. 
Hardness = 20—7:0. Sp. gr. = 3-4—8-0, 


876 = =Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals. 


Genera. 1. Titanium-Ore. 2. Zinc-Ore or Red Oxide of Zinc. 
3. Red Copper Ore or Red Oxide of Copper. 4. Tin-Ore or 
Oxide of Tin. 5. Tantalum-Ore. 6. Wolfram-Ore. 7. 
Uranium-Ore. 8. Cerium-Ore. 9. Chrome-Ore. 10. Iron- 
Ore. 11. Melane-Ore. 12. Manganese-Ore. 


ORDER II. METALS, or NATIVE METALS. 
Metallic. Not lead-grey, not black. Fluid, solid. Hard- 
ness = 0:0—7-0. Sp. gr. = 5°7—21-0. 


Genera. 1. Arsenic. 2. Tellurium. 3. Antimony. 4. Bismuth. 
5. Mercury. 6. Silver. 7. Gold. 8. Iridium, 9. Palla- 
dium. 10. Platina, 11. Iron. 12. Copper. 


OrpDER III. PYRITES, or HARD SULPHURETS. 


Metallic. Not lead-grey, not black. Streak black. Hard- 
ness = 3:0—6'5. Sp. gr. = 4:2—7°7. 
Genera. 1. Nickel-Pyrites, or Copper-Nickel, or Arsenical 
Nickel. 2.Arsenical-Pyrite. 3.Cobalt-Pyrites. Iron-Pyrites. 
Copper-Pyrites. 


ORDER IV. GLANCE, or SEMIHARD SULPHURETS. 
Metallic. Colour grey, black, brown. Hardness =1:0— 
40. Sp. gr. = 42—8'8. 


Genera. 1. Dystom-Glance. 2. Copper-Glance. 3. Silver- 
Glance. 4. Lead-Glance. 5. Eutomous Glance. 6. Bismuth- 
Glance. 6. Antimony-Glance. 8, Melane-Glance. 


ORDER V. BLENDE, or SULPHURETS WITHOUT 
METALLIC LUSTRE. 


Metallic, black ; not metallic. Streak green, red, orange, 
brown, white. Hardness = 1:0—5:0. Sp. gr. = 2°8—82. 

Genera. 1. Manganese-Blende. 2. Bismuth-Blende. 3. Cad- 

mium-Blende (Greenockite, Jam.) 4. Zinc-Blende or 


Garnet-Blende. 5. Antimony-Blende, or Purple-Blende. 
6. Ruby-Blende. 


ORDER VI. THIOLITE. 


Not metallic. Colour, red, yellow, brown. Streak red, 
yellow, white. Hardness = 1:5—2:5. Sp. gr. 19=36. 


Tabular View of an Arrangement of Minerals. 377 


Genera. 1. Orpiment (Auripigment or Rauschgelb). 2. Realgar 
or Rauschroth. 3. Sulphur. 


CLASS III. M. 


PHYTOGENOUS MINERALS. HZ. 


Minerals chiefly formed of mineralized vegetable matters. 


Characters of the Class—Specific gravity less than 1:8. If 
liquid, the smell is bituminous. If solid, is tasteless. 


OrpDER I. RESIN. 
Fluid and Solid. Hardness = 0-0—2‘5. Sp. gr. =0:8 = 
16. If sp. gr.=1:2, and more, the streak is white and 
grey. 


Genera. Mellite, or Honeystone. 2. Mineral Resin. 


ORDER II. COAL. 
Solid. Streak brown, black. Hardness = 1:0—2:5. Sp. 
If the specific gravity = 1:4 and more, the streak is black 
and without considerable lustre. 


a 


Genera. 1, Black Coal. 2. Brown Coal, 3. Anthracite. 
4. Graphite ? 


@are. 3) 


Notice of Planis which have Flowered recently in the Royal 
Botanic Garden, and other Gardens near Edinburgh. By 
J. H. Batrour, M.D., F.L.8., Professor of Botany in the 
University of Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author. 


LIVISTONA CHINENSIS, Martius—Nat. Ord. Palme. Tribe 
Coryphinz, Mart.—Hexandria Monogynia. 


Generic Cuaracter.— Flores hermaphroditi in spadice spathis 
pluribus incompletis basilaribus cincto sessiles, bracteati. Calya 
trifidus. Corolla tripartita. Stamina sex ; jilamenta in discum 
hypogynum coalita; antherw caudato-oblonge. Ovarit carpidia 
tria, intus coherentia; styli coalescentes ; stigmatibus connatis 
vel distinctis. Bacca plerumque unica, monosperma, Albumen 
cavitate ventrali teste radio horizontaliruminatum. Embryo dor- 
salis—Palme in Nova Hollandia et in Asia tropica observate ; 
caudice mediocri, frondium basibus persistentibus squamato, 
frondibus flabelliformibus, laciniis apice bifidis sceepe pilis inter- 
jectis, distinctis. Endlicher. 

The genus was named by Brown (F1. Nov. Holl., p. 267) in honour 
of Patrick Murray, Baron of Livistone, who had a botanic gar- 
den on his estate in which more than 1000 plants were culti- 
vated, and which’he handed over to the Edinburgh Botanic Gar- 
den at its first foundation, towards the end of the seventeenth 
century.* 

Speciric Cuaracter.—Caudice mediocri, petiolis lamine diametrum 
subequantibus a basi ad medium usque aculeatis, lamine laciniis 
longe bifidis interdum filis interjectis, baccis oliveformibus, ellip- 
ticis olivaceo-viridibus. 

Latania chinensis, Jacq. Fragm. Bot., p. 16, t. 11, f. 1. 

Latania borbonica, Lam. Encyclop. III., p. 411. Wilid. Spec. 
Plant. IV., p.878. Spreng. Syst. Veg. IL., p. 623. 

Livistona chinensis, Mart. Palm., 146. 

Livistona Mauritiana of Wallich, according to Martius. 

This palm is a native of Southern China, It is cultivated under 
the name of “ Latanier de la Chine” in the Mauritius, whence 
it was introduced into the Garden at Schoenbrunn. It grows also 
in the Caleutta Garden. 

The plant in the Palmhouse of the Botanic Garden has attained 
the height of 25 feet, the stem at the lower part having a dia- 
meter of 22 inches. The caudex or stipe is covered with the 
persistent bases of the leaves and their reticulum, except at the 


* Memoria Balfouriana, p. 69, et seg. 


Dr Balfour’s Deseription of Rare Plants. 379 


lower portion, where the surface presents a wrinkled and spongy 
aspect. Fronds numerous, forming a large hemispherical coma, 
some of them spreading, others nearly erect; their base sur- 
rounded with a brown fibrous reticulum or mattulla, consisting of 
a coriaceous membrane and interlacing fibres, which arise laterally 
from the base of the petiole. Petioles about 8 feet long, flat above 
or slightly concave towards the margin, convex and keeled below, 
becoming broad at their base where they join the stem, and giving 
off a fibrous membrane at their sides; compressed where they join 
the lamina, and forming there a projecting pointed sort of ligule 
on their upper surface. Margin of the petioles acute, covered to 
about 3 or 3 its length from the base with straight compressed 
subulate horny roughish spines, pointing downwards, varying from 
3 lines to 1 inch in length, and placed at the distance of } to 3 of 
an inch from each other. Lamina or blade of frond, suborbi- 
cular, flabelliform or fan-shaped, its extreme breadth 7 feet, with 
from 80 to 90 rays; lacinie linear-lanceolate, acuminate, united 
by commissural ribs ; length of lacinie varying from 2 feet to 5 
feet, their apices bifid, and the segments acute, brownish, 6 inches 
long. Flowers on axillary spadices, three of which have been 
produced by the plant. Whole Inflorescence from 4 to 41. feet 
long, spreading in the form of a branching panicle. 

General Rachis or peduncle flexuous, somewhat flattened at the 
base, where it is between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, giving origin 
to primary branches (about 1 inch in diameter at their base), 
which are alternate, and divide into numerous secondary and ter- 
tiary peduncles. All the peduncles are alternate and tapering, 
and the ultimate divisions bear about 40 flowers. On an entire 
spadix about 10,000 flowers were counted. The spadix, when 
fresh, gives out an odour like cauliflower, and when a sec- 
tion is made it becomes speedily brown by exposure to the air. 
On examination under the microscope, the spadix presents spiral 
and annular vessels, along with fusiform woody tubes. Bastlar 
sheaths or spathes two, about 20 inches long, green at their lower 
part, brown above, bifid at the apex, the segments being trian- 
gular, acute, of a coriaceous woody texture, furrowed in the middle 
and keeled towards the margin on the upper side, smooth in the 
inside, and covered on the outside with greyish tomentum and 
scales, which consist of elongated cells placed end toend. Partial 
spathes three, giving off from their axil three primary branches, 
to which they are united at the base, about 1 foot long, green 
at their lower part, brown at the apex, lanceolate, flattish, hol- 
lowed in the part next the rachis, keeled near the margin, 
slightly swollen below the cleft whence the peduncles proceed, 
covered, like the basilar spathes, but more sparingly, with tomen- 


380 Dr Balfour’s Description of Rare Plants. 


tum and scales. Triangular, subulate, membranaceous, brownish 
bracts occur in various parts of the inflorescence, especially at 
the points where the primary and secondary peduncles come off ; 
they are sometimes very acute, and vary in length from half an 
inch to 4 inches. 

Flowers hermaphrodite, small, yellowish, sessile, occasionally placed 
singly on the rachis, but generally in clusters of 3, the central 
flower opening first. Clusters placed alternately in a spiral order. 
Perianth or perigone double. Outer perianth or calyw 3-cleft, seg- 
ments broadly ovato-triangular, tip often brownish, closely applied 
to the inner perianth, and about half its length. Inner perianth 
or corolla 3-partite, segments ovate, concave internally, united at 
the base, xstivation valvate. Stamens 6, included ; filaments 
dilating downwards in a triangular form, and ending in a disk- 
like membrane which unites their bases,and ishypogynous; anthers 
ovate, bifid at the base, versatile, introrse, with longitudinal de- 
hiscence ; pollen yellow, elliptical, furrowed. Pisted small, con- 
sisting of 3 carpels united ; ovary rounded, flattened above, ob- 
soletely 3-lobed; ovule erect, one in each cell ; style short, subulate, 
trigonous ; stigma depressed, capitate. Fruit an olive-like berry, 
usually single, containing only one seed, in consequence of the 
abortion of two ovules ; albumen cartilaginous; embryo cylindrical. 

This plant was introduced into the Edinburgh Botanic Garden about 
30 years ago from Kew. It is now about 36 years old. It produced 
flowers in February 1847. This seems to be the first time that 
it has flowered in Britain, and perhaps in Europe. Mr N. B., 
Ward informs me, that it has not flowered in Messrs Loddiges’ 
palm-house. He says, “ The plant at Hackney is most gigantic, 
but the roots have made their way through the bottom of the tub, 
and are now growing in the soil, which may possibly account for 
its not having flowered.” 


PrimuLtaA StuartTu, Wall—Nat. Ord. Primulacee.—Pen- 
tandria Monogynia. 


Generic Cuaracter.— Calyx subeampanulatus vel tubulosus, sepius 
angulatus vel inflatus, quinquedentatus vel quinquefidus. Corolla 
hypogyna, infundibuliformis vel hypocraterimorpha, tubo cylin- 
draceo, brevi vel elongato, ad faucem dilatato, limbo quinquefido, 
laciniis obtusis, emarginatis vel bifidis. Stamina quinque, corolla 
tubo inserta, ejusdem laciniis opposita, inclusa ; filamenta brevis- 
sima; anther oblonge, biloculares, longitudinaliter dehiscentes. 
Ovarium globosum, uniloculare, placenta basilari substipitata. 
Ovula plurima, punctato-rugosa, peltatim amphitropa, dorso plana, 
ventre convexa. Oapsula ovata quinquevalvis, valvulis integris 
aut bifidis apice tantum dehiscentibus. Scmina minima, numerosa. 


Dr Balfour's Description of Rare Plants. 381 


Embryo in axi albuminis carnosii—Herbe in Europa et Asia 
imprimis alpicole, in America boreali rare, foliis plerumque 
radicalibus, scapo simplici, floribus umbellatis, involucratis, 
swpissime speciosis. Endlicher et Duby. 

Sprcrrre CHaRACTER.—F oliis levibus, planis, late lanceolatis, acutis, 
glaberrimis, subtis farina lutei obtectis, acute serratis, interdum 
margine revolutis, in petiolum late alatum basi dilatatum mem- 
branaceum subvaginantem subcoarctatis; scapo crasso, glabro, foliis 
longiore, sub involucro farinoso, involucri multiflori polyphylli 
pedicellos subzquantibus et illis interdum brevioris foliolis in- 
equalibus e basi anguste lanceolata acuminato-elongatis obtusius- 
culis, calycis farinacei campanulato-tubulosi subultra-quinquefidi 
tubo dimidio brevioris laciniis lanceolatis subacutis, corolla hypo- 
craterimorphe lobis obrotundis suberenulatis vix emarginatis. 
Duby. 

Primula Stuartii, Wall. Fl. Ind., ii., p. 20. Duby in Dec. Prod., 
viii, p. 41. Don, Prodrom. Flor. Nepal., p. 80. Balfour in 
Botanical Magazine, 4356. 

This beautiful perennial herbaceous Primrose is a native of the 
mountainous parts of India, having been gathered in Gossain- 
Than in Nepal, by Wallich, and on the Himalayah, at an eleva- 
tion of 9000 feet, by Royle, who speaks of it as giving a rich 
yellow glow to those regions. The plant flowered in the garden 
of the Edinburgh Horticultural Society, under the superintend- 
ence of Mr James M‘Nab, during the summer of 1847, having 
been presented by the late Sheriff Speirs, in whose garden, at 
Granton House, it was raised from seeds sent from India by 
Major Grant, 9th Lancers, during the spring of 1845. It was 
planted in a north exposed border in the summer of 1846, in a 
mixture of loam and peat. It stood the winter of 1846-47 un- 
protected, and without any artificial covering except its own de- 
cayed leaves. The plant did not produce seed. 

Plant about 16 inches high. eaves 10 or 11 inches long, nu- 
merous, radical, erect, smooth, broadly lanceolate, acute, shining” 
above, covered below with a yellowish mealy matter or farina 
(the grains of which are supported on short cellular projections), 
gradually ending in a sheathing petiole, which is deeply hollowed 
in its upper surface; margins of leaves slightly undulated with 
close sharp serratures, which are occasionally directed downwards, 
and are somewhat revolute at the point; midrib very prominent 
on the lower side, grooved in the upper, not covered with meali- 
ness. Vernation revolute. Scape umbellate with numerous flowers 
longer than the leaves, covered for about half its length from be- 
low the point where the pedicels diverge with a pale sulphur -yel- 


382 


Dr Balfour's Description of Rare Plants. 


low farina, similar to that on the leaves. Involucre polyphyllous, 
leaflets (one of which is at the base of each pedicel) lanceolate, 
from } to 3 quarters of an inch long, and shorter than the pedicels, 
which are from 1 inch to 1} inch in length. Calya gamosepa- 
lous, 5-cleft, campanulato-tubular, covered with farina, its seg- 
ments lanceolate-acute. Corolla yellow, gamopetalous, salver- 
shaped, its tube twice as long as the calyx, narrow about the 
middle, and expanding in a somewhat campanulate manner to- 
wards its union with the limb, where there is a marked constric- 
tion ; limb of an orange tint towards the centre of the flower, with 
five grooves at the part where it joins the tube, having five seg- 
ments, which are rounded, waved, somewhat crenate, covered with 
minute capitate hairs. Stamens five, attached to the corolla, free 
part of filaments very short, anthers opening longitudinally, in- 
trorse ; pollen spherical. Ovary rounded, oblong, having an ap- 
pearance of 10 teeth at its apex, indicating five bidentate car- 
pels; style round; stigma eapitate, obscurely 5-lobed, with a 
depression in the centre; placenta free, central, with numerous 
rows of amphitropal ovules. 


Localities for Rare Highland Plants. 


The following observations were made during an excursion to the 
Braemar, Clova, and Breadalbane districts in August 1847, a fuller notice 
of which will appear in the next Number of the Journal. 


ie 


to 


aon a 


Carex leporina, Li., was picked near the summit of Cairn Toul, between 


3000 and 4000 feet above the level of the sea. This is the second British 
losality for the plant. It was also gathered in Dr Dickie’s original lo- 
cality on Lochnagar. 


- Sonchus alpinus, L. (Mulgedium alpinum, Less.), was found by Mr W. 


Douglas in profusion on Lochnagar, a locality in which it has not been 
noticed since the days of Don, It grows on cliffs, which are not easily 
accessible, and hence it has been passed over by, botanists. This re-dis- 
covery of ene of Don’s stations confirms the opinion, that ultimately 
those plants which have not been found since his day, such as Potentilla 
tridentata Ranunculus alpestris, &c., will yet reward the investigations 
of botanists. 


. Carex vaginata, Tausch., was found abundantly on every mountain in the 


Braemar and Clova district. It is particularly plentiful on Ben-Aven 
and Ben-na-Muich Dhui. 


. Luzula arcuata, Hool., is also generally diffused on the mountains of that 


district, having been found on Lochnagar, Ben- Aven, Ben-na-Muich 
Dhui, Breriach, and Cairn Toul. 


. Hieraciwm villosum ? Sm., on Lochnagar. This is perhaps H. alpinum, 


var., longifolium of the Flor. Siles. 


Woodsia hyperborea, Br., was pulled in Glen Isla, Glen Phee, and on Ben 


Lawers. 


. Equisetum umbrosum, Wiild., occurred on the hills near Ballater. 
. Orobus niger, L., was found in profusion in the woods at the Pass of Kil- 


liecrankie. 


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SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 


ANTHROPOLOGY. 


1. Ona Universal Language.—The idea of a universal language 
has long been a favourite with sanguine and speculative minds ; each 
individual speculator looking to his native tongue for the common 
interpreter, and of course overrating its natural fitness for such an 
office. Sir John Herschel has said that the adoption of a common 
language—at least by the leading nations of the world—is one of 
the grand desiderata at which mankind should aim by general con- 
sent. On the other hand, there are ethnolgists who repudiate the 
notion altogether, looking upon the varieties of form and terminology in 
language as the natural result and expression of organic differences 
of race and climatic environment, and, therefore, on the diversity as an 
inevitable consequence of causes which no artificial arrangements can 
ever permanently overcome. The moral and intellectual advantages 
of unity of speech in neighbouring nations are manifest and momen- 
tous; and the argument, that the common medium of communica- 
tion to be adopted should be the language of Shakespear, is based as 
follows :—Of the three great tongues of Europe, English, French, 
and Dutch, it possesses, in a higher degree than either of its rivals, 
nearly all those natural and accidental advantages which are neces- 
sary to qualify it for universality, namely — organic simplicity, 
acquired wealth, extent of present diffusion, and irrevocable connec- 
tion with rapidly expanding institutions. Inits easiness of grammatical 
construction—in its almost total disregard of the distinctions of gen- 
der, excepting those of nature—in the simplicity and precison of its 
terminations and auxiliary verbs, not less than in the majesty, vigour, 
and copiousness of its expression, our mother tongue seems well , 
adapted by organization to become the language of the world. To 
boast of its wealth is needless, with such a literature as exists to 
prove it. It its now spoken by sixty millions of people: and before 
the termination of the present century, will, in all human proba- 
bility, be spoken by two hundred millions, in the British Islands, 
in the United States, in Canada, in Central America, in Guiana, in 
the West Indian group of Islands, on the seaboard of Africa, in 
Hindostan, in the Asiatie Archipelago, and in Australia and the 
vast islands of the surrounding seas—a population nearly equal to 
that of the whole of Europe. To what extent the revolutions of 
science, the progress of free institutions, and the developments of 
civilization generally may contribute to spread the English language 
on the neighbouring Continent it is not so easy to determine ; but it 
need scarcely be supposed that a language which has already belted 
the world, and established itself permanently in every latitude, will 
prove unable in the future, with new advantages in its favour, to fix 
itself firmly in the countries of Europe. 


VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVIII.—APRIL 1848. 2B 


386 Scientific Intelligence—Anthropology. 


Assuming the argument, it follows that a language with such a 
destiny before it should be stripped as much as possible of all acci- 
dental excrescences and anomalies, and rendered as perfect an in- 
strument as skill and judgment can make it. Its phonology is re- 
markably imperfect—its spelling is cumbersome and arbitrary be- 
yond all reasonable limits,—and its irregularities of declension and 
conjugation are more numerous than they need be.—A theneum. 


2. Caffers described.—lt is now pretty generally admitted that the 
Caffers belong to the Negro race of mankind; but the characteristic 
peculiarities of that race, with the exception of the woolly hair, are 
less strongly marked in them than in the natives of Guinea or Mo- 
zambique; the lips are less thick, the nose less flat, the lower part 
of the face is not remarkably prominent, and the forehead is often 
as high and as amply developed as in Europeans. The colour of 
the skin appeared to me, in most of the individuals I saw, to be a 
dark umber brown, frequently approaching to black, while in others 
it had a tinge of yellow or red; but the skin is so often smeared 
with red ochre, that it is not easy to judge accurately of its real 
native tint. The Caffer men are in general tall, though not gi- 
g@ntic, and extremely well proportioned: indeed their fine forms 
and easy attitudes often remind one of ancient statues; but they are 
more remarkable for activity than for strength; and it is said, have 
generally been found inferior in muscular power to British soldiers. 
——Residence at the Cape of Good Hope, by Charles F. Bunbury. 
p- 166 


3. Hottentots deseribed.—We had been escorted in our little tour 
into Cafferland by detachments of the Hottentot corps, or Cape 
Mounted Rifles, who are, or were at that time, the only cavalry in 
the colony, and seem well suited for the frontier service. The 
officers are English, the men partly of mixed breed, and partly 
genuine Hottentots. These latter people, of whom I saw a consi- 
derable number in Graham’s Town and its neighbourhood, have a 
most peculiar and repulsive physiognomy. The form of the face is 
singularly angular, owing to the excessive projection of the cheek- 
bones, the shrunk and pinched appearance of the lower part of the 
cheeks, and the sharpness of the chin; the mouth is prominent, and 
the lips thick; the eyes very small and narrow, and rather obliquely 
placed ; the forehead depressed ; the nose flattened in a remarkable 
degree, so that the upper part of it appears to be quite obliterated, 
while the nostrils are large and wide. The plates in Le Vaillant’s 
Travels do not at all exaggerate the usual ugliness of this strange 
race; but whether his account of their moral qualities be correct, I 
cannot tell, I never saw any of them in their original state of wild 
independence ; and if they ever were such as he describes them, they 
have become sadly deteriorated from their intercourse with civilized 
men. Many people are struck with the likeness of the Hottentots 


Scientific Intelligence—Anthropolojzy. 387 


to the Chinese in physiomnomy ; and Dr Prichard considers this ap- 
proximation as confirmed by the formation of the skull ; the woolly 
hair, in which they differ remarkably from the Mongolian nations, 
may be a character of secondary importance. The Hottentots are 
mostly of small stature ; the majority of those in the Cape corps (at 
least of the new levies) are under five feet high, and they are pos- 
sessed of very little muscular strength. Their hands and feet are 
small and delicate ; in which particular they differ very remarkably 
from the Negroes. 

The number of genuine Hottentots within the colony at the pre- 
sent day is small compared with that of the mixed breeds, or Bas- 
taards, as they are called, in whom the blood of the aboriginal race 
is crossed with that of the Dutch, the Negro, or the Malay. The 
Bastaards are much superior in size and strength to the Hottentots. 
—Charles F. Bunbury on the Cape of Good Hope, p. 164. 


4. Fingoes described.—T he Fingoes are remnants of several tribes 
of the Caffer race, who had inhabited the country near Port Natal, 
but had been exterminated or driven into exile by Chaka, the ter- 
rible chief of the Zoolos. Of those whom we met here, some were 
under the middle size, others considerably above it, slenderly but 
actively made; their colour not quite black, but a very dark umber- 
brown, totally different from the dirty yellowish-brown of the Hot- 
tentots, to whom, indeed, they have no resemblance, except in the 
woolly hair. They were, however, considerably inferior in personal 
appearance to the Caffers whom we afterwards saw ; the women, in 
particular, were far from prepossessing.—Journal of a Residence 
at the Cape of Good Hope, by Charles F. Bunbury, p. 116. 


5. “ Ceaird” the Celtic Appellation for “* Gypsies.’’—This term 
primarily signifies “ trade, occupation, or any handicraft,’? by which 
‘gain is made, and may have in this respect some radical affinity to 
the Greek xegéog gain, which is also employed in a more extended 
sense to express “‘ craftiness” or “subtlety.’’ The word ‘* Ceard” 
comes to be applicable, by a natural transition, from the craft to the 
craftsman ; most commonly it is used for this purpose in apposition, as 
*‘ or-cheard,’ goldsmith,—* ceard-umha,” coppersmith. A good 
illustration of the mode of employing the term occurs in the Gaelic 
version of the Scriptures, with reference to the artificers of Ephesus, 
Acts xix. verses 24-25, who are described as craftsmen (luchd- 
ceaird), whose craft (ceard) as silversmiths (ceaird-airgid), consisted 
in making silver shrines for the goddess Diana, 

In a more generic and distinctive sense, however, the term “ceaird” 
is employed in the Highland districts, without any qualifying adjunct 
or limitation, to all itinerant tinsmiths, horn-spoon manufacturers, and 
pre-eminently to the “ gypsy” tribes. Of the latter, ‘‘ Ceaird”’ is the 
peculiar appellative, without any ambiguity of meaning, generally 
pronounced like the last syllable of the verb discard, and always con- 


388 Scientific Intelligence—Zoology. 


veys the same idea of opprobrium which attaches to the English word 
“tinker,” and for this reason holds a prominent place among the 
abusive epithets interchanged in colloquial altercations.—Charles M. 
MacRae. 


ZOOLOGY. 


6. On the Skulls of adult and aged Male and Female Chimpanzees. 
— Zoological Society, Feb. 22.—W. Yarrell, V.-P. in the Chair. 
Professor Owen read a paper on the skulls of adult and aged male 
and female Chimpanzees from the Gaboon River, much exceeding in 
size, and specifically distinct from the previously known Troglodytes 
niger. The existence of this formidable animal in that district was 
first made known to Professor Owen by Dr Savage, in a letter, dated 
April 22, 1847, which contained drawings of two skulls obtained by 
him in that locality ; and Professor Owen therefore proposes to 
call it Troglodytes Savagei. The skulls which formed the subject 
of the paper, were placed in Professor Owen’s hands by Mr Stutch- 
bury of Bristol, who obtained them through the assistance of Cap- 
tain G. Wagstaff, who visited the Gaboon during the past summer. 
Professor Owen entered into a minute comparison of the correspond- 
ing parts of T. Savagei and T’. niger, and carefully established the 
characters, which prove a true specific difference between them—ob- 
serving that some scepticism might be expected from naturalists who 
had not been able to realise those differences by the actual compa- 
rison of specimens; but he felt no doubt but that, as was the case 
of the Pithecus morio, more extended knowledge of the new species 
would confirm the validity of its distinction. In size, the 7. Savages 
excels even the great orang, the skull of the oldest male measuring 
113 inches in length—Atheneum, No. 1062, p. 246, March 4, 
1848. 


7. Voices of Birds—The voices of birds appear to me (the notion 
may be merely imaginative) a special adaptation to their localities 
and habits. Almost all the birds that haunt our coasts, and with 
the exception, perhaps, of the Anatide or ducks, have a low melan- 
choly wail, clear and melodious, but still wild, that appears to be 
admirably in keeping with the loneliness of the spots they inhabit. 
Before us lies the wide waste of waters, with here and there a heavy 
lagging sail, which seems to mock the very idea of life and bustle ; 
around us spreads an unbroken extent of low marshy land, where no 
trees rear their heads, and where the rush and the sainfoin alone 
may grow. How beautifully in unison with such a scene is the clear 
shrill whistle of the curlew and plover, and the wild, hoarse voice of 
the gull! It makes sadness pleasingly sad, and desolation more de- 
solate, to listen to such sounds amidst such scenery. Who would 
like to hear them in the neighbourhood of his dwelling, for which 
the busy chirp of the sparrow, the twittering of the swallow, and the 
loud clear accents of the danger-defying chanticleer are so well at- 


Scientific Intelligence— Botany. 309 


tuned 2 Copse and woodland covert, hedgerow and orchard, seem 
made purposely for the clear music of the mavis and merle, With 
what clear accents burst forth these gladsome notes from eve'y dell 
and dingle, and how harmoniously they rush through apple-blossoms, 
and May flowers, and sweet-smelling plants. They render rusticity 
more rustic, and are the most glorious poeans that could be sung at 
the revels of luxuriant nature. Birds do not sing in winter amidst 
gloom, and mist, and thick pelting snow, but reserve their songs for 
spring and summer, nature’s fairest and rosiest holidays. Where 
shall the skylark find a freer temple for his rich morning song than 
the blue firmament, with azure above him and emerald shades be- 
neath, and the bright sun-beams sparkling on every plume? Or 
what hour shall the nightingale choose for her clear calm orisons but 
the watching hour of eve, when the earth and all its creatures are 
hushed into a willing auditory? Surely the plover was made for 
solitude, and the mavis for glad retirement, and the fowl for the 
barn-door, the skylark for mid-heaven, and the nightingale for dewy 
eve.—Summer Evening Rambles. 


BOTANY. 


8. Distribution of Plants.—If we divide the surface of the globe 
into botanical provinces, according to the geographical distribution of 
plants, South Africa will be one of the most distinct and strongly 
marked of these provinces, although, in proceeding towards the north- 
eastward, its peculiarities seem to be in some measure shaded off into 
those of the tropical regions. It would seem that the distribution of 
plants and that of animals are not governed by precisely the same 
laws. Le Vaillant, Dr Smith, and Mr Swainson, have shewn that 
very many birds are common to Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope ; 
whereas, I believe, that these two countries possess not a single 
flowering plant in common (introduced species being excepted), and 
scarcely even a genus of plants, with the exception of such as are 
almost universally diffused. Not a single example of any of the 
tribes most characteristic of the Cape vegetation was found by Mr 
Brown in the collections from Congo. ‘The zoology of the Cape, as 
far at least as the quadrupeds and birds are concerned, would appear 
to be of a much more thoroughly African type than its botany. A 
great number of the most conspicuous and characteristic mammalia 
of the regions near the Cape, are either identical with those inhabit- 
ing tropical Africa to the north of the equator, or, if distinct species, 
they are at least closely allied, and often with difficulty distinguish- 
able.* Not that the Cape has not several peculiar forms, such as 
the ant-eater (Orycteropus), the Gnoo, the Eland, and some of the 


* Ags in the case of the Giraffe of South Africa, which is considered by some 
naturalists as a different species from that found to the north of Europe. 


390 Scientific Inielligence—Geology. 


sub-genera of Antelopes ; but its Fauna certainly appears to be much 
more similar to that of the tropical regions of Africa than its Flora. 

In Abyssinia alone, as it would seem, do any of the dominant and 
characteristic forms of the Cape Flora reappear. The beautiful blue 
water-lily, indeed, has been supposed to be common to Egypt and 
South Africa, but the forms of the plant occurring in these two 
countries are a little different, and are considered by De Candolle as 
distinct species ; their distinctness, however, may perhaps be doubt- 
ful. 

The vegetation of the ‘Cape is most strikingly different from that 
of Buenos Ayres in South America, which lies nearly in the same 
latitude, and has nearly the same mean temperature. It is not 
merely that the species, the genera, and the prevailing tribes of 
plants are different, but the whole aspect of the vegetation is dissimilar. 
A very large proportion of the Cape plants are shrubs; those of Buenos 
Ayres, are almost entirely herbaceous. Both countries agree, in- 
deed, in the very great scarcity (generally speaking) of trees, a 
scarcity which is much less surprising on the arid rocks and stony 
wastes of South Africa, than on the marly plains of the Rio de la 
Plata. Nearly all the remarkable families of plants which predomi- 
nate at the Cape, are wanting in the Buenos Ayrean region, where 
the prevailing forms are a great variety of Nightshades, Tobaccos, 
Petunias, Nierembergias, and plants allied to these, numerous Ver- 
benas, Amaranths, Chenopodiums, Mallows, and Grasses. Some gay 
flowered plants of the Iris and Amaryllis families, which grow in great 
abundance on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, are nearly all that 
shew an affinity to the Flora of the Cape. 

On the other hand, the botany of Australia, in the same latitude, 
seems to have many striking points of similarity to that of the Cape 
of Good Hope. This similarity appears both in the general exter- 
nal aspect of the vegetation, and in the presence of several remark- 
able families of plants common to both countries ; in particular, the 
Proteaceze and Restiaceze. On the other hand, there is a remarkable 
difference between them, in the absence from Africa of the Eucalypti, 
or gum trees, and which constitute the great bulk of the vegetation 
of Australia — Bunbury on the Cape of Good Hope, p. 220. 


GEOLOGY. 


9. Geology and Physical History of the Globe—M. Elie de 
Beaumont communicated a letter from M. Hommaire de Hell, dated 
Tauris, of the 25th Nov. 1847, and containing different observa- 
tions and researches already made by him, during a journey in which 
he is engaged in the country washed by the Black Sea. 

He has observed that the voleanic rocks which border the northern 
part of the Bosphorus, are continued without interruption as far as 
Kilia and Kirirkaia, to about six leagues of the strait. On this 
line, as along the other parts of the coast of Romelia and Bulgaria, 


Scientific Intelligence—Geology. 391 


he has seen no trace of Silurian formation in the sides of the canal. 
He only found, to the east of Kilia, a very curious formation of 
sedimentary rocks, the beds of which, highly elevated, appeared to 
be composed of the same elements as the igneous rocks in contact 
with them, and which seem to belong to the trachytic family. 

M. Hommaire has determined the saltness of the Black Sea, at 
different points, by means of M. Callardeau’s densimeter, and by 
the more exact method of evaporation, and weighing the containing 
vessel when empty, full, and with the residuum. The results have 
been sensibly the same everywhere, and presented scarcely any dif- 
ference from those of the Bosphorus. 

M. Hommaire has sought to verify the existence of a great cur- 
rent which is generally admitted to flow towards the Bosphorus, and 
which is attributed to the superabundance of the waters which the 
Danube and the great rivers of Southern Russia discharge into the 
Euxine sea. He has found no trace of this current, and yet he has 
sailed along the shores of the Black Sea for upwards of 300 leagues. 

M. Hommaire de Hell is likewise occupied with the level of the 
Bosphorus. An investigation made with the utmost care, by means 
of a proper instrument, has proved that there is no sensible dif- 
ference of level between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora. 
From Roumelikavak to Bacta-Liman, adistance of upwards of 138000™, 
the declivity being towards the south, and while the winds were from 
the north, it did not exceed 0™:0326. 

The observations he has made on the direction and quickness of 
the currents, at different depths, have indicated a general direc- 
tion towards the south. He has been struck with the rapidity with 
which the current sets in towards the south, even to a depth of 25™, 
as soon as the north winds begin to blow, It might then be said 
that the waters are displaced in a single mass, throughout their 
whole height, to be conveyed towards the Sea of Marmora. He has 
likewise noticed a faint southern current at the surface, diminishing 
by degrees till it is reduced to zero, to a depth of about 15™, to re- 
appear in the same direction at 18 or 20™, with a celerity tenfold 
that of the surface. In order to explain this phenomenon, M, Hom- 
maire supposes that there first existed, under the influence of strong 
winds from the north, a current towards the south, embracing nearly 
the whole height of the canal. South winds haying succeeded these 
north winds, the current would become completely neutralised in the 
superior beds; but before the reaction could descend into the lower 
regions, the south wind would have resumed; hence the new cur- 
rent towards the south, at the surface, and even to a certain depth. 

After all these investigations, it seemed of consequence to the 
author, towards the interest of his researches on the geological revolu- 
tions of the basin of the Euxine, to determine whether, in the case of 
the closing up of the Bosphorus, the waters of the Black Sea, on 
rising, might find an outlet in the Sea of Marmora, by ascend- 


392 Scientific Intelligence—Geology. 


ing the valley of Sakaria, and penetrating into the Gulf of Nico- 
media, by way of Sabandja. M. Hommaire has, therefore, taken 
the level to determine the height of the hills which separate the basin 
of Sabandja from the Propontis. He has found that the least ele- 
vated point reached an elevation of 40™:99 above the level of the Gulf 
of Nicomedia. The Bosphorus being closed, the waters of the Black 
Sea might then rise, flow above the plains of Manitch, and unite in 
the Caspian Sea, without finding any issue into the Sea of Marmora, 
Such a junction could not, perhaps, take place in the present day, in 
consequence of the changes which are taking place in the rivers. 

The same phenomena which M. Hommaire has remarked on the 
northern shores of the Black Sea, he has again found on the coast of 
Bulgaria, Romelia, and Anatolia. Everywhere there exists traces 
of a greater elevation of level in the waters of the Black Sea. These 
traces consist of modern deposites rising everywhere nearly to the 
same height, rarely exceeding from 25 to 30 metres, and containing 
uninjured marine shells, all the species of which now live in the 
Black Sea. Unless we suppose a complete and regular rising upwards 
of all the countries surrounding the Euxine and the Sea of Azof, pos- 
terior to all the geological revolutions hitherto indicated, a supposition 
which, after his own observations, M. Hommaire considers scarcely 
admissible, we must necessarily have recourse to the notion that the 
Bosphorus was anciently closed up and burst forth from its boun- 
daries. 

M. Hommaire has determined the saltness of lake Van. The 
densimeter of M. Collardeau gave 102, water being 100. The me- 
thod by evaporation gave 102, 029. 

He concludes by giving the result of his observation, and his ee 
culations of the following latitudes :— 


Tauris, “ : é : 88° 04’ 47”-87 
Gumuchtlane, 5 A 40 24 29 -21 
Eguin, on the Euphrates, . 39 12 37 ‘31 
Kebanmaden, on the Euphrates, 38 44 35 -80 
Kharpout, . : : . 38 39 37 :98 


Diarbekir . : : 37 54 51°58 
Bitlis, + abbas ‘ Not yet calculated 
Van, : : F 38 29 238 °40 


10. Decomposition of Roki ——M. Ebelmen’s memoir on the sub- 
ject contains new analyses, made by the author, of rocks in a state of 
decomposition under the influence of atmospheric agents. In deter- 
mining in this way the nature and proportion of the elements which 
disappear by decomposition, the author has. endeavoured to confirm 
the conclusions of a former work, By the comparative analysis of the 
unchanged and altered rock (consisting of trap, called grey-stone, from 
the neighbourhood of St Austel in Cornwall, and basalt from the 
vicinity of Linz), he has ascertained that the silex, lime, magnesia, 
the oxide of iron, in certain cases, and the alkalies, have a tendency 


Scientific Intelligence—Geology. 395 


to separate more or less completely in the decomposition of the rock, 
Water alone is found in much greater proportion in the decomposed 
than in the unaltered rock. The produce of the alteration in the 
rock tends to approach more and more near to a hydrated silicate of 
alumina, than to a clay. These results are quite in unison with such 
as he had formerly obtained, and from which he deduced the two 
following principles, 1st, In the decomposition of silicate not contain- 
ing alumina, we constantly find that the silex, lime, and magnesia, 
are eliminated. Sometimes, however, the iron remains in the resi- 
duum of the decomposition in the state of peroxide, sometimes it dis- 
appears with the other bases. 2d, In the decomposition of silicates 
containing alumina and the alkalies, with or without other bases, the 
alumina is concentrated in the residuum by retaining the silex and 
fixing the water, while the other bases are carried along with a part 
of the silex. The final produce approaches more and more to a hy- 
drated silicate of alumina. 

Almost all the rocks of igneous origin contain alumina, and con- 
sequently, yield an argillaceous residuum by decomposition under the 
influence of the atmosphere. The author endeavours to shew, in his 
memoir, that we cannot ascribe the clay of stratificd formations to 
any other origin than the mechanical abstraction of the residua of 
the decomposition of igneous rocks. 

Finally M. Ebelmen examines, at the conclusion of his memoir, 
one of the most important questions relating to the natural history 
of the globe, that of the relations which necessarily exist between 
the phenomena of the alteration of rocks and the composition of at- 
mospheric air, ‘ The different bases which separate from the silex 
by the decomposition of igneous rocks determine, in fact, the precipi- 
tation, the mineralisation of the oxygen and of the carbonic -acid, 
The last element, in particular, is absorbed in great quantity, and a 
simple calculation shews that a small body of decomposed plutonic 
rocks is sufficient for the complete precipitation of the carbonic acid 
contained in the air. Now, the argillaceous beds of stratified for- 
mations induce the decomposition of immense masses of plutonic 
rocks; and, consequently, the precipitation of quantities of carbonic 
acid out of all proportion with those actually existing in the atmos- 
phere. This result may be explained without any necessity of ad- 
mitting that the air has possessed, in the different geological epochs, 
a very different composition from which it presents at present. 

“I observe, in voleanic phenomena,” says M. Ebelmen, “ the 
principal cause which restores to the atmosphere the carbonic acid 
which the decomposition of rocks continually precipitates from it. 
We know that this gas is disengaged in abundance from the ground 
in the neighbourhood of active volcanoes, and even from extinct vol- 
canoes. It is interesting to witness the formation of igneous rocks, 
accompanied with the disengagement of a gas, which the destruction 
of these same gases will precipitate. The central heat of the globe 


394 Scientific Inielligence—Geology. 


will therefore be indispensable for the maintenance of organic life on 
its surface. The beautiful experiments of Saussure on the influence 
of the carbonic acid of the air on the nourishment of vegetables, are 
no longer sufficient to explain the permanence of the composition of 
atmospheric air. We see that phenomena entirely of a different 
kind must be introduced for the solution of the question, and that 
the mineral elements of the crust of the earth likewise concur, by 
the inverse reactions the one on the other, to produce this equi- 
librium.”"—From E’Institut, No. Supplement, p. 22. 


11. Geological Society, March 8.—Sir H. T. de la Beche in the 
Chair.—A paper “ On the Position in the Cretaceous Series of 
Beds containing Phosphate of Lime,” by R. A. C. Austen, Esq., 
was read.—In a letter in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of the 19th of 
February last, Mr Paine of Farnham gives an account of some 
strata in which phosphate of lime occurs in sufficient abundance to 
render it of importance to agriculture; and the editor expresses a 
hope that the notice may lead to the successful search for like under- 
ground wealth in other parts of the country. The present paper is 
written in part-fulfilment of that hope. Many observers, as M. 
Brongniart, Dr Buckland, Sir H. de la Beche, and Dr Fitton, have 
noticed the occurrence of phosphates of lime in the gault. The 
author had also noticed them in his account of the vicinity of Guild- 
ford. The important part of the recent discovery is, therefore, only 
that this substance is so abundant as to have great economic value. 
Near Guildford, phosphate nodules are abundant in the upper green- 
sand, In the gault below, concretions of phosphate of lime are not 
so uniformly diffused, but occur in two seams—one in the argilla- 
ceous portion of the bed, the other very low in the mass. Both beds 
are very persistent; but in consequence of the undulations of the 
strata along the base of the escarpment of the North Downs, it is 
only a few places that will repay those who may look for this mine- 
ral substance, the beds of gault and greensand being often far be- 
low the surface. The phosphates have been found beneath New- 
land’s Corner, near Guildford, at Puttenham, and other places. The 
greensand and gault at Farnham also contain beds productive of 
phosphates of lime. The nodules have the form of coprolites, but 
differ from these bodies in internal structure-—Atheneum, No. 
1064, p. 296. 


12. On the Presence of Phosphoric Acid in the Subordinate Mem- 
bers of the Chalk Formation, by J. C. Nisbet, was next read.—F rom 
the marl near Farnham there was obtained by washing a substance 
evidently coprolitic, containing 28 per cent. of phosphoric acid, while 
the general mass contains as much as 2 to 3 per cent. In some 
nodules from the gault near Maidstone so much as 23 per cent. was 
also obtained, and some nodular masses of shells from the Shanklin 
Sands, shewed 15 per cent, of this important substance—A theneeum, 
No. 1064, p. 296. 


Scientific I ntelligence— Geology. 395 


13. On the Fossil Remains of Birds, collected in various parts of 
New Zealand. By W. G. Mantell, Esq.-—The first relic of the 
gigantic struthious birds, which formerly inhabited these islands, 
that was transmitted to Europe, was a small fragment of the shaft 
of afemur or thigh-bone, only a few inches long, and so much re- 
sembling that of an ox, that it was at first mistaken for such by 
many eminent naturalists. Its true characters were, however, re- 
cognised by Professor Owen in 1839, who proclaimed that it be- 
longed to a bird of the ostrich family, but of far more colossal dimen- 
sions. This prediction was soon confirmed by more numerous re- 
mains, sent home by the Rev. Mr Williams and Mr Earl. On 
hearing of this discovery, Mr W. Mantell endeavoured to procure 
some more complete specimens; and in 1846, and the beginning of 
1847, explored every known locality where they were found. All 
the bones previously sent to this country were found embedded in the 
mud of rivers, and were permeated and coloured more or less deeply 
by a solution of iron, Those now sent by Mr Mantell occurred in 
a bed of loose volcanic sand, and are light, porous, of a delicate fawn 
colour, and with the most fragile processes uninjured ; portions of 
the egg-shells, of the mandibles, and even of the bony rings of the air- 
tubes being preserved. ‘The volcanic sand has filled all the open 
cavities of the bones; but, not being at all consolidated, is easily re- 
moved by shaking or by a soft brush. The locality is not men- 
tioned on any map of New Zealand, but seems to be near the river 
Wanganu, which takes its rise in the voleanic mountain of Ton- 
gariro, remarkable for its boiling springs. From seven to eight 
hundred specimens have been sent home, belonging to birds of va- 
rious size and age. And they indicate the existence of five genera, 
of which four were previously unknown. In certain mounds, said by 
the natives to contain the remains of their feasts, Mr Mantell found 
bones of the moas or gigantic birds, of dogs and men, all mixed up 
together, and all evidently subjected to the effects of fire. Hence 
these birds must have lived at the same period with men who, like 
the present natives, were cannibals. Since the bones were embedded 
in the alluvial beds, the’ land seems to have been elevated ; several 
terraces, at different heights above the sea, being seen round the 
coast. New Zealand has thus, from a very ancient period, been 
inhabited by a peculiar race of birds, to the almost total exclusion 
of mammalia and reptiles; thus forming a counterpart to certain 
geological periods, during which 1 ptiles, either alone or chiefly, pre- 
vailed, as in the case of the Galapagos islands at the present day. 


14. On the Organic Remains found in the Skiddaw Slate; with some 
Remarks on the Classification of the Older Rocks of Cumberland and 
Westmoreland. By the Rev. Professor Sedgwick.—Immediately 
above the granite of Skiddaw Forest is a group of slate-rocks, of great 
but unknown thickness, and forming hills reaching to 3000 feet in 
height. Above this is a vast group of green roofing slates, alternating 


396 Scientific Intelligence—Geotogy. 


with feldstone-porphyry, and trappean rocks. Above this, again, are 
the Coniston limestone, the Ireleth slates, and several other depo- 
sites, overlaid unconformably by the old red conglomerate and car- 
boniferous limestone. In reference to the classification of these 
rocks, it is stated that good physical groups are the foundation of all 
geology, and the most remarkable monuments of the past history of 
our globe, so far as it is made out in any separate region. Organic 
remains are, in the first instance, but accessaries to good sections ; 
though, in comparing remote deposites, they become the primary term 
of comparison. The Coniston limestone and flagstone, in their lower 
part, contain true Lower Silurian fossils; all the higher part of the 
series, till we touch the old red conglomerate, belongs to the Upper 
Silurian system. The lower deposites, or the green slates and porphy- 
ries, with the Skiddaw slates, are the true equivalents of the great 
Cambrian group of North Wales. The latter, however, contains fossils 
almost to its very base ; whereas the Cumberland beds have never 
exhibited a single specimen. This rarity of organic remains may 
have arisen from various causes ; but even in 1822, Professor Sedg- 
wick pointed out the existence of carbon in these rocks; and last 
summer gave Mr J. Ruthven, of Kendal, directions to explore this 
tract. His search has resulted in the discovery of two species of 
graptolites, and some fucoids in the Skiddaw slate, which, conse- 
quently, is not below the limits of organic life. These fossils belong 
to the lowest groups; and probably very nearly mark the limits 
below which life has not extended.—Atheneum, No. 1061, p. 218. 
February 26 1848. 


15. Coral Island.—Although there is not much variety, there is 
considerable beauty in a small coral reef when viewed from a ship's 
mast-head at a short distance in clear weather. A small island, 
with a white sand beach and a tuft of trees, is surrounded by a 
symmetrically oval space of shallow water of a bright grass-green 
colour, enclosed by a ring of glittering surf, as white as snow, im- 
mediately outside of which is the rich dark-blue of deep water. All 
the sea is perfectly clear from any mixture of sand or mud; even 
where it breaks on a mud beach, it retains its perfect purity, as the 
large grains of coral are heavy, and do not break into mud, so that 
if a bucket full of coral sand be thrown into the sea, it may be seen 
gradually sinking like a white cloud, without producing any discolo- 
ration in the surrounding water. It is this perfect clearness of the 
water which renders navigation among coral reefs at all practicable, 
as a shoal with even five fathoms water on it can be discerned at a 
mile distance from a ship’s mast-head in consequence of its greenish 
hue contrasting with the blue of deep water. In seven fathoms 
water, the bottom can still be discerned on looking over the side of 
a boat, especially if it has patches of light coloured sand; but in ten 
fathoms the depth of colour can scarcely be distinguished from the 


Scientific Intelligence—Hydrography. 397 


dark course of the unfathomable ocean.— Voyage of Her Majesty's 
Ship Fly, by J. B. Jukes, p. 10. 


16. Vale of Sharon.—But I must describe the Vale of Sharon. 
It is an immense meadow, extending from Mount Carmel to Joppa 
on the coast, and bounded on the east by the great chain of barren- 
looking hills, among which is situated the Holy City. It is an area 
of perhaps twenty miles square, of beautiful rich lowlands, planted, 
in many places, with olive and fig orchards, and grazing plats, upon 
which herds of goats and cattle were browzing. In all this beauti- 
ful valley there is not a single fence or wall, and the park-like effect 
of the groves and valleys is very lovely. It struck me that, in the 
hands of skilful husbandmen, it might be a paradise. Several Arab 
villages of brown mud cottages, with tall date-trees intermingling, 
and ruins of ancient elegance, as arches of aqueducts, fountains, and 
causeways, are scattered over the plain; and huge reservoirs of 
water, with convenient fountains for the traveller; are pleasant, 
shady spots, which the lingering heat of the sun made exquisitely 
welcome to us. There is no feature of eastern scenery so beautiful 
as these fountains, generally of solid masonry, with arching domes, 
and deep niches, huge stone-basins, and cool porticoes, with carved 
stone-ottomans, upon which the weary pilgrim may freely repose 
his limbs ; large carob-trees and thick shady figs spread their huge 
limbs over the approaches, and the cool shade is dark and pleasant 
from the garish sun. We had ridden six miles, when we arrived at 
the second of these diamonds of the plain. We found a small cara- 
van reclining under the trees; the camel-drivers were adjusting the 
panniers, urging the patient beasts to lift their huge forms, and low, 
melancholy cries were groaned forth as they rose under their bur- 
dens. A herd of goats, probably two hundred in number, was also 
just leaving the fountain to continue their way toward Jaffa; and 
the swarthy, half-naked herdsmen were occupied in keeping the 
flock together on the way. Arab women were drawing water, and 
carried Rebecca-looking jars on their heads. Several dismounted 
Arabs reclined under the cool portico; and the whole picture, in 
architecture, costume, habits, and scene, was unchanged since 1800 
years. Our Arab guard came first along, and took their position a 
little beyond the pools; the officers came in turn, drew out their 
drinking cups and flasks, and man and beasts took long and copious 
draughts of the refreshing springs. This fountain has left delight- 
ful impressions : it was a gay and joyous pausing place; and eyes 
fond of’ pictures, and hearts fond of recollections, had ample occupa- 
tion.— Shores of the Mediterranean, by Schrveder, vol. i., p. 193. 


HYDROGRAPHY. 


17. Gradual Diminution of Temperature of the Air and the Sea 
as we approach the Land,—This evening we observed a gradual di- 
minution of the temperature of the air and the sea as we approached 


398 Scientific Intelligence—Hydrography. 


the coast of Africa; and before midnight we entered a cold mist which 
prevented our seeing to any considerable distance ; the water appear- 
ing discoloured, we tried for, but did not obtain soundings, with 130 
fathoms of line. 

By 1 p.m. the next day, the temperature of the sea had fallen 
from 70° to 565, that of the air being 65°, and the mist unplea- 
santly cold to our feelings. We were at this time in lat. 32° 21’ S., 
long. 17° 6’ E., therefore, about forty-five miles from Paternoster 
Point, when we struck soundings in 127 fathoms on a bed of fine 
dark sand. We had expected to have found an elevation in the tem- 
perature both of the air and sea on our approach to the African coast, 
by reason of the radiation of heat from its shores ; but the cause of 
the depression became evident on the morning of the 9th, when, hav- 
ing sighted Cape Paternoster at daylight, we found we had to contend 
against a current increasing in strength and coldness of temperature 
as we neared the land. The existence of a body of cold water rush- 
ing from the eastward, round the Cape of Good Hope, has long been 
suspected ; but its extension so far to the northward, has not, I be- 
lieve, been before noticed. As we were several days beating up to 
the Cape, we collected the following curious facts respecting it. Thus, 
on the 7th, when distant 120 miles from the coast, and before we 
perceived the effects of the current, the temperature of the air was 
71°, that of the sea 70°, and the depth of water more than 400 
fathoms, which, being placed in order, will serve to explain the ar- 
rangement of the following table :— 


Distance 


Temperature. Depth 
TH = oO 
ee Sone eka Sea. | Water. 


Date. Remarks. 


70° | 400_| No Soundings. 
63 130 | No Soundings. 
56 127 | Temp. at that depth 45°. 


61 200 | Temp. at that depth. 43°°5. 


64 203 
54 142 
66°5 | 313 
67 202 
54°5 72 
55 58 
51°5 48 
BTS | 1S 


51 76 | WNW. from Cape. 


62 190 | WSW. from Cape. 
7 | In False Bay, SH. from Cape, 


Scientific Intetligence— Arts. 399 


By a careful examination of the above experiments it will be mani- 
fest that the distance to which the cold water extends from the coast, 
depends materially upon the depth of the soundings. It barely 
reaches 40 miles from the shore, where the sea is more than 300 
fathoms deep, but spreads over double that distance in the shallower 
parts. At 45 miles from the land, and at a depth of 120 fathoms, 
the temperature was found to be 45°, that of the surface being 5G 
and at 60 miles off the land, at 200 fathoms, it was 43°:5, the sur- 
face being 61°. 

All these circumstances combine to shew that a northerly current 
of very limited extent, but of considerable force, exists from the Cape 
of Good Hope along the western coast of Africa; which, in general 
terms, may be represented by a volume of water 60 miles wide, and 
200 fathoms deep, averaging a velocity of about a mile an hour, and 
of the mean temperature of the ocean, running between the shores 
of Africa and the waters of the adjacent sea, The cloud of mist 
which hangs over this stream of cold water, is occasioned, of course, 
by the condensation of the vapour of the superincumbent atmosphere, 
whose temperature is generally so many degrees higher than that of 
the sea. It is sufficiently well defined to afford useful notice to sea- 
men of their near approach to the land.— Sir James Ross’s Voyage 
to the Southern Seas, vol. i., p. 32. 


ARTS. 
18. On the Curiosities of Glass Manufacture. By Mr A. Pellatt. 


—In ancient as in modern glass, sand was the base, and alkali the 
solvent, and the injury occasioned to the glass by an excess of the 
latter ingredient was pointed out. That opacity of glass called de- 
vitrification, was explained as consisting in the formation of a mul- 
titude of minute crystals, in close contact with each other, on the 
surface of the glass. The process of annealing was then described ; 

and it was shewn that a glass-tube forty inthe i in length contracts, 
if annealed, a quarter of an inch; while an unannealed tube of the 
same length contracts but one-eighth of an inch. The most inte- 
resting part of Mr Pellatt’s discourse referred to the mode of mak- 
ing Vitro di Trino, and of impressing heraldic devices, &c., on glass. 

In the case of Vitro di Tino, the gathered glass, after heing expand- 
ed into a bulb or cylinder of the required size, has rods of other glass 
or enamel attached to it in a vertical position, at equal distances all 
round, and then, the bottom being held, the top part is more or less 
turned, so as to give an equally inclined twist to the vessel and the 
rods, A similar but larger vessel is made ; but which is also turned 
inside out, and then the former is put into the lathe; and, being ex- 
panded by blowing, the two come together, and adhere by the rods 
and their intersections, but inclose small portions of air, which, being 
regular in size, form, and disposition, give the character of the olass. 

When heraldic devices, &c., are to be impressed, a mould of tho do- 


400 Scientific Intelligence—Arts. 


sion is made in a fit earthy material (being puzzolana, or one of the 
volcanic deposites), and this is placed within, and forms part of, the 
larger iron mould, in which the decanter is blown. When the large 
mould is removed, the earthen portion still adheres to the glass 
and continues in its place until the bottle is finished. After the an- 
nealing, the mould is moistened with water, and immediately sepa- 
rates, and the impression is found really perfect.—Royal Institution 
Proceedings.—Athenewm, No. 1061, p. 220, February 26, 1848. 


19. House Painting.—M. Leclaire, house-painter, calls the at- 
tention of the Academy to a substitution which he daily makes of the 
white of zine and colours witha zinc base, for white-lead and colours 
with a base of copper and lead, in the arts, and for ordinary pur- 
poses. 

In his daily practice, M. Leclaire employs the white of zinc, 
which appears to possess all the qualities of white-lead, without any 
of its inconveniences. Thus, if we must give credit to his state- 
ments, and the results are of sufficient standing to render it easy to 
verify them, zinc-white is much whiter than white-lead; ground 
and used with oil, it reflects the light, instead of absorbing it: it 
furnishes finer and more transparent tones, it covers better, and 
with equal weights, a larger space; it remains unchanged by 
sulphurous fumes, which immediately blacken objects painted with 
lead; finally, the manufacture and use of zinc-white has no in- 
jurious effect upon the health. But all this is not sufficient for the 
complete solution of the problem. In fact, although zinc-white 
was known in science, it has never been collected hitherto but as 
a produce of the laboratory. It was necessary to obtain it in quan- 
tities and at an accessible price. Then, once obtained and mixed 
with oil, it was necessary, in order to apply it readily to painting, 
that it should be made to dry easily. Now, the only drying sub- 
stances we knew had a leaden base, and thus communicated all the 
defects of lead to the zinc-white. M. Leclaire has obtained a dry- 
ing substance with a manganese base, which has the property of 
drying zinc-white more readily than litharge could do. 

This was not all. White tones form, so to speak, a kind of ex- 
ception in painting. Some of the colours most in use are extracted 
from lead and copper, and owe to these metals the defect of being 
alterable by sulphurous gases; mingled with zinc-white, they de- 
prived it of the advantage of being unalterable. It was necessary, 
therefore, to render the process complete, and its application com- 
mon, to substitute colours which undergo no change for all these 
alterable colours. After many years of research, says M. Leclaire, 
I have succeeded in producing, if I may use such an expression, the 
commencement of a reformation in painting, by completing the scale 
of unalterable colours—by the substitution of inoffensive and unalter- 
able colours for all such as had lead or copper for their base, so that 
I can now affirm, Ist., That the health of a great number of men 


Scientific Intelligence—Arts. 401 


may be saved without any detriment to the profession; 2dly, That 
the interior and exterior of houses may be painted without the least 
risk of the colours changing or blackening by sulphurous emanations ; 
3dly, That pictures will be no longer liable to change their appear- 
ance and harmony with the lapse of time, as has happened with so 
many pictures of the old masters. 

M. Leclaire constantly employs about two hundred workmen in 
Paris. From the time that he substituted zinc-white for white-lead, 
not only has he never had a case of lead-colic, but he affirms that 
no indisposition has at any time appeared among his workmen which 
can be attributed to their profession. The work has been entrusted 
to the examination of a commission—From L’Institut, No. 734, 
January 1848, p. 30. 


19. Preparation of a Substitute for Horn. By M. Rochon. 
(Voigt. Mag. de Naturk. und Revue Scient., Feb. 1846, p. 256.)—In 
many of the arts, more especially where steel instruments are manu- 
factured, glass windows are of great inconvenience, owing to frequent 
breakage by fragments of steel. The substitution of horn is at- 
tended with some inconvenience, principally on account of its want 
of transparency. A substitute is proposed to be made by very light 
cloth or wire-gauze, composed of fine brass wire, which is to be im- 
mersed repeatedly into a solution of isinglass until all the meshes 
are filled, and a sufficient thickness acquired, after which it is 
covered with a coat of copal or other varnish to protect it from the 
weather. 


20. On the Colouring Principles of some of the Lichens. By Dr J. 
Stenhouse.—The lichens, it is well known, yield no colour to water ; 
and it is difficult to imagine how the Celtic inhabitants of the High- 
lands of Scotland were led to look to so unpromising a source for 
some of the brightest colours which they have long imparted to their 
national tartans. The father of the late C. Mackintosh and his 
partner, Mr Cuthbert Gordon, first added them to the chemical arts, 
about the middle of the last century, probably availing themselves of 
the indigenous processes; and the article known by the name of 
Cudbear (a corruption of the Christian name of Mr Gordon) is still 
manufactured by their representatives in Glasgow. The researches 
of Heeren, Dumas, Kane, Schunck of Manchester, and other chemists, 
led to the discovery of several organic principles in these lichens, 
chiefly of a neutral or acid character, themselves colourless, but con- 
verted by ammonia into the delicate reds and purples of archilo, lit- 
mus, and Cudbear. Dr Stenhouse has been enabled to add largely 
to the number of these principles, and to illustrate their singular re- 
lations, chiefly from having discovered the proper mode of extracting 
them from the lichens ; which is by means of hot-water and lime, 
and not by means of boiling water, as hitherto practised. Plants, 
botanically the same, but from different localities, are here found to 

VOL. XLIV. NO. LXXXVUI.—APRIL 1848. 2¢ 


402 Scientific Intelligence—Arts. 


yield chemical principles, allied in character, but of different com- 
position ; shewing that the organic nature is even more prolific in 
chemical than in botanical species. From a South American variety 
of Roccella tinctoria Dr Stenhouse obtains new acids, named by him 
Alpha-orsellic and Alpha-orsellesic ; from a Cape of Good Hope 
variety. Beta-orsellic and Beta-orsellesic, and a neutral principle 
Roceellinin. The Evernia prunastri yielded evernic and evernesic 
acids, the Usneas usnic acid, &c. The author recommends that the 
extraction of the colouring principles should be performed in the 
countries where the lichens grow, by cutting them up into small 
pieces, macerating in milk of lime, neutralising the solution obtained 
by muriatic or acetic acid, collecting the gelatinous precipitate which 
falls on cloths, and drying it at a gentle heat. Thus the carriage of 
the original bulky lichen would be, in a great measure, saved. The 
commercial value of these lichens also varies excessively, according to 
the proportion of colouring matter producible from them. This, he 
finds, may be accurately determined for trade purposes, by macerat- 
ing a constant weight of the lichen in milk of lime, filtering and 
adding a solution of bleaching powder of known strength, from an 
alkalimeter, till all colour disappears, and noting the quantity of so- 
lution required. He thus found samples of the following lichens to 
have proportional values assigned to them :— 


Angola lichen F . required 200 measures, value 1:00 
American, : : Be amine tas es Bente OU 
Cape . é : : fee <li ona US 
Lecanora Tartarea (Giessen) ... DBs Cart oe Ona 


—Atheneum, No. 1061, p. 217, February 26, 1848. 


21, Stereochromy.—A communication from Professor Schottlauer, 
of Munich, acquaints us with particulars of a new invention for paint- 
ing upon walls, discovered by himself, conjointly with Herr Fuchs, 
Counsellor of the Mines, to be called stereochromy. Its peculiarities 
are stated as follows: —Far greater ease in its manipulation than fres- 
co. The ground is not laid in patches, but by one single operation. 
The colours, prepared in distilled rain-water, take such firm hold as 
not to be disturbed or altered by any subsequent washings or shades, 
while the process of painting may be carried on with any amount of 
intervals, thus rendering a far richer finish possible than with fresco, 
After the picture is finished, it is saturated with a fluid, which unites 
the ground and the colour into a mass of the consistency of stone, 
desiccation being thereby rendered impossible. The colours are of 
greater strength and brightness than with fresco, though without the 
slightest glare or reflection, as of oil. It resists all atmospheric in- 
fluences, humidity, evaporation, &c.; a test, no less extreme than 
the burning of alcohol has been applied to it, without the slightest 
change or deterioration —Atheneum, No. 986, p. 820. 


22. Melon Wine.—A paper was received by the Paris Academy of 


New Publications received. 403 


Sciences, from M. Boucharett, on the culture of the vine, and the fa- 
brication of wine. The author gives hints as to the kinds of vine pro- 
per to different soils, and the mode of cultivating them; and speaks 
also of various other vegetable productions from which wine might be 
made. The melon, he says, is one of the best; it yields an excellent 
white wine, which will keep for several centuries, and, properly cul- 
tivated, may be made to render a handsome profit. 


NEW PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 


1. A Description of Active and Extinct Voleanoes, of Earthquakes, and 
of Thermal Springs. Second Edition, much enlarged. By Charles Dau- 
beny, M.D., F.R.S., &c. &. London, R. and J. E. Taylor. 1848. 
Dr Daubeny, one of our most intelligent geologists, in this new edition of 
his celebrated work, brings all the descriptive and the theoretical branches 
of volcanic geology up to the present time. It is now the classical En- 
glish work on volcanoes. 


2. Generum et Specierum Mineralium, Secundum ordines Naturales 
Digestorum Synopsis. Scripsit Ernestus Fridericus Glocker. Halle. 
1847. The work of a learned Mineralogist, well deserves a place in 
our Mineralogical Libraries. 


3. Geologie von Dr Gustav Bischof. Vol. i. and vol. ii.; Part Ist. 
Bonn. 1847. As this important treatise is only im progress, we delay 
our opinion in regard to it at present. 


4, Outlines of Physiology. Part. 1. By Professor Allen Thomson. 
Maclachlan, Stewart, & Co., Edinburgh. 1848. One of the best English 
Text-Books of Physiology. It will take its place beside the well arranged 
Text-Books of the late Professor Playfair and the present distinguished 
Dr Alison. ' 


5. Physiologische Briefe fur Gebildete Aller Stiinde Von Carl Vogt 
Stuttgart und Tiibingen. 1847. 


6. H. G. C. Clarke’s Address to the Members of the Berwickshire 
Naturalists’ Club. Alnwick. 1847. We oncea year receive, and with 
pleasure, from the Berwickshire Club, the Annual Report of their peri- 
patetic peergrinations. All those in this part of Scotland who enjoy 
health, will find it a delightful recreatiun to join the naturalist pedes- 
trians of Berwickshire, 


7. Historia Naturalis Orcadensis.— Zoology. Part I. By B. W. 
Baikie, M.D. and R. Heddle. Edinburgh. 1848. The Natural His- 


404 List of New Publications. 


tory of the Orkneys [Seal Islands of ancient writers] promises, from the 
manner in which this first part is got wp, to be fully and accurately de- 
scribed by Messrs Baikie and Heddle of Orkney. 


8. The Natural History of the Human Species. By Lieut.-Colonel 
Charles Hamilton Smith, K.H. Edinburgh. W.H. Lizars. 1848. 
Colonel Smith, so well and favowrably known as a Naturalist and Artist, 
in this beautifully illustrated volume displays his usual extensive know- 
ledge of his subject. Although we must differ from the intelligent Author 
in some of his views, we are not the less disposed to recommend tt, par- 
ticularly to Students of Anthropology. 


9. Bemerkungen uber Gyps und Karstenit. Von Professor Joh. Freidr. 
L. Hausmann. Gottingen. 1847. This celebrated Memoir so much 
prized by Philosophical Mineralogists and Geologists, we advise those of 
our readers not already familiar with it to study carefully. 


10. Mineralogie und Geognosie. Von Professor F. X. M. Zippe. 
Prag. 1846. Professor Zippe in his work, advocates the geognostical 
views, and also the mineralogical system of the late celebrated Professor 
Mohs. 


11. Dr E. Vogt’s Geologie. Vols. i. and ii. Braunschweig. 1847. 
This amusing and instructive work professes to contain the author's 
own geological experiences and the views of Elie de Beaumont, as delivered 
in his lectwres on Geology. 


12. A Stratigraphical Account of the Section from Atherfield to 
Rocken End, Isle of Wight. By William Henry Filton, M.D., F.R.S., 
&e. London. R. &.J.E. Taylor. 1847. This admirable account 
and section afford ample proofs of the accuracy, skill, and indefatigable 
perseverance of our friend and former pupil Dr Filton. 


13. Lehrbuch der Physikalischen Geographie und Geologie. Von B. 
Studer, Doctor and Professor in Bern. Vols. i. and ii, Bern, 1847. As the 
Ray Society has done good service to science by its various well-selected 
and useful publications, we presume to recommend, as one of their series, 
a translation of Professor Studer’s admired work on Physical Geography 
and Geology. Mr Tulk, who has added to owr English literature, 
through the Ray Society, an admirable translation of a celebrated work, 
viz. Oken’s Elements of Physiophilosophy, would, we are convinced, be 
equally successful with a translation of Professor Studer’s two volumes. 


14. Erichson’s Archiv fur Naturgeschichte, up to 1848. Berlin. 
15. Jahres Bericht. Von Jacob Berzelius fur 1847. 
16, L’Institut up to February 1848, 


List of Patents. 405 


17. Leonhard and Bronn’s Jahrbuch der Mineralogie und Geognosie, 
up to 1848. 


18. The Journal of Agriculture and the Transactions of the Highland 
and Agricultural Society of Scotland, up to March 1848. W. Blackwood 
& Sons, Edinburgh. 

19. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal up to November 1847, 
inclusive. 


20. Mineralogie von Franz von Kobell. Niirnberg. 1847. 
21. Geognosie, von Dr Philipp von Volger. Wien. 1847. 


22. Bericht Uber die Mittheilungen. Von Freunden der Naturwis- 
senschaften zu Wien. Von William Haidinger. 1st Band, from May to 
October 1846, inclusive. A valuable record of the proceedings of a new 
and very promising Association. 1847. 


23. Professor Poggendorf’s Annalen der Physic und Chemie, have not 
been received for many months. 


24. The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. N.1. 
to 7. Singapore, Printed at the Mission Press. 1847. This new pe- 
riodical does honour to the editor and intelligent gentlemen associated 
with him, and promises to open up a new and rich field to the Natural 
Historian, and to the cultivator of the Statistics of India. 


List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d December 1847 
to 22d March 1848. 


1. To Roperr Witson, of Greenock, in North Britain, Master of 
Arts, ‘‘ improvements in certain kinds of rotatory engines, worked by 
steam or other elastic fluids, part of which improvements are applica- 
ble to rotatory engines worked by water or by the wind; also an improye- 
ment in safety-valves for steam-boilers.”—29th December 1847. 


2. To Witt1am Epwarp Sraire, of Lombard Street, in the city of 
London, gentleman, “ certain improvements in lighting, and in the 
apparatus used therein, parts of which are applicable to other useful 
purposes.” —31st December 1847. 


3. To Georczk Atexanper Mizar, of Piccadilly, in the county of 
Middlesex, ‘‘ improvements in lamps.’’—5th January 1848. 


4. To Georce Amproise Micuant, of Epieds, in the kingdom of 
France, gentleman, now residing at Gerrard Street, Soho, in the county 
of Middlesex, “‘ improvements in the production and application of heat, 
and in the manufacture of coke.”’—10th January 1848. 


406 List of Patents. 


5. To Hector Sanpeman, of the Tulloch Bleach-field, in the county 
of Perth, bleacher, ‘certain improvements in the materials and processes 
employed in dressing, clearing, scouring, and bleaching, certain textile 
fabrics, and the materials of which such fabrics are composed.”—25th 
January 1848. 


6. To Rosert Weare, of Argyle Street, Birkenhead, in the county 
of Chester, watch and clock-maker, “ improvements in clocks or time- 
keepers.” —25th January 1848. 


7. To Witt1am Watson Pattinson, of Felling, near Gateshead, Dur- 
ham, chemical manufacturer, “ improvements in the manufacture of 
soda.” —27th January 1848. 


8. To Srorrorp Tuomas Jonzs, of Stamford Street, in the county of 
Surrey, lieutenant in Her Majesty’s service, “ improvements in steam- 
engines, and in machinery for propelling vessels.’-—27th January 1848. 


9. Ricaarp Roserts, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, ma- 
chinest, ‘‘ certain improvements in machinery for preparing and spinning 
cotton and other fibrous substances.” ——28th January 1848. 


10. To Witt1am Barnes, of Norwich, inspector of railways, improve- 
ments in the manufacture of parts of railways, and in bearings of ma- 
chinery, and in apparatus used in constructing railways.”—1st February 
1848. 


11. To Tuomas Lampert, of the New Cut, Blackfriars Road, in the 
county of Surrey, brassfounder, and Cuar.es Wiurir1am Rowrey Ricx- 
arps, of Charlotte Street, Blackfriars, engineer, “ improvements in water- 
closets, and in cocks for drawing off liquids and gases.” —I1st February 
1848, 


12. To Witiiam Tuomas of 129 Cheapside, gentleman, “ certain im- 
provements in stays, which improvements are applicable to other useful 
purposes,” being a communication from a certain foreigner residing 
abroad.— 3d February 1848. 


13. To Gzorce Henry Bursirz, of Hornsey Road, in the county of 
Middlesex, engineer, and Josera Braprorp, of Maida Hill, in the county 
of Middlesex, gentleman, “‘ improvements in envelopes, wrappers, and 
covers, and in machinery and apparatus for the manufacture thereof.” — 
3d February 1848. 


14. To Grorce Frerauson Wixson, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in the county 
of Surrey, gentleman, “‘ improvements in treating and manufacturing cer- 


List of Patents. 407 


tain fatty or oily matters, and in the manufacture of candles and night 
lights.” —3d February 1848. 


15. To Henry Bessemer, of Baxter House, Old St Pancras Road, fl 
the county of Middlesex, engineer, “‘ improvements in the manufacture of 
plates, sheets, or panes of glass.”—3d February 1848. 


16. To Wit11am Tuomas, of 129 Cheapside, gentleman, being a com- 
munication from abroad, “ certain improvements in stays, which improve- 
ments are applicable to other useful purposes.”——3d February 1848. 


17. To Joun Harvey Sapurr, of Holbeck, Leeds, in the county of 
York, Scotch iron-merchant, “ improvements in constructing bridges, 
aqueducts, and similar structures.”—4th February 1848. 


18. To Aime Boura, of Rathbone Place, in the county of Middlesex, 
dyer and scourer, “ improvements in extracting colouring matters.” —7th 
February 1848. 


19. To Jonny Frepericx Bateman, of Manchester, in the county of 
Lancaster, civil engineer, and Atrrep Moorz, of the same place, civil en- 
gineer, “ certain improvements in valves or plugs for the passage of water 
or other fluids.’—7th February 1848, 


20. To Witt1am Lonemaip, of London, gentleman, “ improvements 
in the manufacture of alkali and chlorine.”—8th February 1848, 


21. To Tuomas Hancock, of Stoke Newington, in the county of Mid- 
dlesex, Esquire, “‘ improvements in fabrics elasticated by gutta percha, or 
any of the varieties of caoutchouc.”—11th February 1848. 


22. To Goprrey AntHony Ermen, of Manchester, in the county of Lan- 
caster, cotton-spinner, “ certain improvements in machinery or apparatus 
for twisting cotton, or other fibrous substances.” —18th February 1848. 


23. To Atrrep Vincent Newron, of the Office for Patents, 66 Chan- 
cery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, mechanical draughtsman, “ im- 
proved machinery for manufacturing shot and other solid balls,” communi- 
eation from abroad.—18th February 1848. 


24. To Cuartes Hancock, of Brompton, in the county of Middlesex, 
gentleman, “ improvements in the preparation of gutta percha, and in the 
application thereof, alone and in combination with other materials, to 
various manufacturing purposes.” —25th February 1848. 


25. To Tuomas Ports, of Birmingham, brass-tube maker, “ improve- 
ments in the manufacture of tubular flues of locomotive and other steam 
boilers,”—28th February 1848, 


26, To Epwarp Newman Fovurprinirr, of Chiddleton, in the county 


408 List of Patents. 


of Stafford, paper-manufacturer, ‘‘ improvements in apparatus to be used 
for raising and lowering weights from mines, and other places.”’—3d March 
1848. 


27. To Davip Witttams Wire, of No. 9 St Swithin’s Lane, in the 
city of London, gentleman, “ an improved manufacture of candles and 
other like articles, used for affording light,” communication from abroad. 
—3d February 1848. 


28. To Joun Pratt, of Oldham, in the county of Lancaster, machine- 
maker, and Tuomas Patmer, of the same place, mechanic, ‘“ certain im- 
provements in machinery or apparatus for making cards; also for pre- 
paring and spinning cotton and other fibrous materials ; and for preparing 
and dressing yarn, and weaving the same.’—6th March 1848. 


29. To James Naysmiru, and Hoxrsroox Gasxert, both of Patricroft, 
in the county of Lancaster, engineers, “certain improvements in ma- 
chinery or apparatus for forging, stamping, and cutting iron, and other 
substances.’’—6th March 1848. 


30. To Gzorez Epmunp DenistHorpe, of Leeds, in the county of 
York, manufacturer, ‘‘ improvements in roving and spinning wool and 
flax, and in treating wool previous to spinning, and in heckling flax.”— 
7th March 1848. 


31. To Jonn Tuarc Harrapine, of Holywell, Cunaheedingworth, in 
the county of Huntingdon, farmer, “‘ an improved agricultural instrument 
for preparing land in various ways for agricultural purposes.” —9th 
March 1848. 


32. To James LocuneaD, of Milton, Gravesend, in the county of Kent, 
‘‘ certain improvements in ventilation.” —13th March 1848. 


33. To Jonn Lawson, of Paisley, North Britain, woollen shaw] printer, 
“« improvements in machinery for separating burs, seeds, and other foreign 
matters from wool, cotton, and other fibrous substances, being a commu- 
nication from abroad.’’—1d5th March 1848. 


34. To Witiram Brexetr Jonnson, of Liverpool, in the county of 
Lancaster, engineer, ‘‘ certain improvements which are applicable to 
locomotive, stationary, and marine steam-engines.””—17th March 1848. 


INDEX. 


Agassiz, Professor, on hybernation, 134—-On echinoderms, 135— 
Zoological researches, 316. 

Alps of Savoy and Western Swiss Alps, their formation, by Professor 
Favre, 101. 

Arabian Frontier of Egypt, its physical geography illustrated, by 
Miss Fanny Corbaux, communicated by the Authoress, 13, 
209: 

Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, at Boston, Sep- 
tember 27, 1847, 131. 

Aurora Borealis, their height considered, by G. A. Rowell, 79.— 
On the Aurora Borealis, by G. A. Rowell, 89. 


Balfour, Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh, his 
notice of some rare plants which have flowered in the Edinburgh 
Royal Botanic Garden, communicated by the Author, 200, 378. 

Blood, human, metals in, by M. Millon, 309. 

Birds, voices of, considered, 388. 

Birds, fossil remains of, in New Zealand, 395. 

Bohemian Silurian Rocks, remarks on, by Sir Roderick 1. Murchi- 
son, 66. : 

Brongniart, Alexander, biographical sketch of, 92—On the changes 
of the vegetable kingdom in the different geological epochs, 97. 

Browne of Philadelphia, on animal torpidity, 132. 

Bruner, K. B., on Scandinavia, 297. 

Brussels lace, diseases arising during its manufacture, No. 87, p. iv. 

Bubis or Edeeyah of Fernando Po, described by Dr R. H. Thomson, 
232. 

Buchanan, George, civil engineer, F.R.S.E., President of the Royal 
Scottish Society of Arts, on the use of the marine hydrometer, 
BD GF50.00 


Caflers, described, 386. 
Cantor, Theodore, M.D., on the distribution of reptiles in the Ma- 
layan Peninsula and Islands, and other localities, 271. * 


410 Index. 


Ceaird, its explanation, 387. 

Chalk formation, presence of phosphoric acid in the subordinate mem- 
bers of, 394. 

Changes of the vegetable kingdom in the different geological epochs, 
by M. Adolphe Brongniart, 97. 

Chimpanzees, or T'roglodytes Savaget, noticed, 388. 

Corbaux, Fanny, Miss, on the ancient frontier of Egypt, 13, 209. 

Coral Island described, 396. 

Crawfurd, John, Esq., F.R.S., &c., on the Malayan and Polynesian 
languages and races, 155. 

Cretaceous series, beds of, containing phosphates of lime, 394. 

Crystallization in the dry way, how to procure, by M. Ebelmen, 
311. 


Davy, Dr John, on the specific gravity of the water of the sea off the 
coast of British Guiana, 43.—On the temperature of the spider, 
and on the urinary excretion of the scorpion and centipede, 
123.—Agricultural discourse, 335. 

Devonian rocks of Bohemia, described by Sir R. I. Murchison, 66. 

Diluvian formation of the Vosges, 207. 

Dove, M., on the changes of the mean direction of the wind, in the 
annual period, in North America, 205. 


Ebelmen, M. on procuring crystallization in the dry way, 311. 
Egypt, its Arabian Frontier considered, by Miss F. Corbaux, 13, 
209. 


Favre, Professor, on the relative position of the formations of the 
Western Swiss Alps, and the Alps of Savoy, 101. 
Fingoes described, 387. 


Gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces described by the Rev. F. 
Mason, A.M., 246. 

Geology and physical history of the globe, remarks on, 390. 
Glaciers, observation on, in pages 138 and 139.—Glaciers of the 
Himalaya, by Lieut. R. Strachey, Bengal Engineers, 108. 

Glass manufacture, curiosities of, 399. 

Gutta percha, account of, by Thomas Oxley, Esq., A.B., Prince of 
Wales Island, Singapore, 286. 

On the use of, by Michael Farady, F.R.S., 295. 


Index. 411 


Guyot, M. A., on the distribution of the different species of rocks in 
the Erratic Basin of the Rhone, 249.—On the topography of 
the Pennine Alps, 319. 


Horn, artificial substitute for, 401. 

Hottentots, described, 386. 

House-Painting, observations on, by M. Leclaire, 400. 

Hydrarchos of Koch and Carus, observations on, 152. 

Hydrometer, Marine, on the use of, by George Buchanan, F.R.S.E., 
&c., 307. 


Koch, M. on the Hydrarchos, 152. 


Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Journal of, 405. 
Indian Archipelago, its present condition considered, 348. 


Jameson, William, Esq., on the tea plantations in the N.-W. Provinces 
of India, 332. 
Journal of the Indian Archipelago recommended, 405. 


Llamas and Alpacas in Scotland, No. 87, p. iv. 

Language, Universal, observations on, 388. 

Lichens, the colouring principles of, 401. 

Lochaber, on the phenomena in its shelves with those of the Diln- 
vium or Drift, which covers the face of the country, by Sir G. 
S. Mackenzie, Bart., F.R.S., V.P., R.S.E., Edinburgh, 1. 


Mackenzie, Sir G. 8., V.P., R.S.E., on the phenomena of Lochaber, 
‘iL. 

Malayan and Polynesian languages, account of, by J. Crawfurd, Esq. 
F.R.S., communicated by the author, 155. 

Mason, F., A.M., on the gamboge of the Tenasserim Provinces, 
246. 

Miller, Alexander, of Liverpool, on a new pyrometer, 126. 

Minerals, new systematic arrangement of, founded on physical and 
chemical characters, by R. J., 373. 


Oxley, Thomas, on gutta percha, 286. 


Patents, list of, granted for Scotland, from 22d December 1847 to 
22d March 1848, 405. 


412 index. 


Petrifactions of shells in the Mediterranean, by MM. Marcel de 
Serres and L. Figuier, 50. 

Plants, distribution of, remarks on, 389. 

Publications, new, received, 403. 


Quartz, artificial, observations on, by M. Ebelmen, No. 87, p. iv. 


Rocks, their decomposition considered, by M. Ebelmen, 311. 

Roger, Professor, on the absorption of carbonic acid by liquids, 149. 

Rowell, G. A., on the height of the Aurora Borealis, 79.—On the 
Aurora Borealis, 89. 


Scandinavia, communications respecting the rocks of, by H. K. Bru- 
ner, junr., 297. 

Sharon, vale of, described, 397. 

Skiddaw slate, its organic remains enumerated, 396. 

Spider, on its temperature; and on the urinary exeretion of the 
scorpion and centipede, by John Davy, M.D., 128 

Stars, shooting, observations on, by Sir J. W. Lubbock, 330. 

Stereochromy, account of, 402. 


Temperature of the air and the sea, its diminution as we approach 
the land, 397. 


Vosges, its diluvial formation considered, 207. 


Water of the sea, its specific gravity off the coast of British Guiana, 
by Dr J. Davy, 48. 

Wind, observations on, by M. Dove, 205. 

Wine, melon, observations on, 402. 


END OF VOLUME FORTY-FOUR, 


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