The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. XLIX

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Title: The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. XLIX - April-October 1850
Author: Various
Language: English
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THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,

EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE

PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

IN THE

SCIENCES AND THE ARTS.

CONDUCTED BY

ROBERT JAMESON,

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

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 Physical, and Horticultural Societies of Edinburgh; of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland; of the Antiquarian and
Literary Society of Perth; of the Statistical Society of Glasgow; of
the Royal Dublin Society; of the York, Bristol, Cambrian, Whitby,
Northern, and Cork Institutions; of the Natural History Society 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 Society
of Dresden; of the Natural History Society of Paris; of the
Philomathic Society of Paris; of the Natural History Society of
Calvados; of the Senkenberg Society of Natural History; of the Society
of Natural Sciences and Medicine of Heidelberg; Honorary Member of the
Literary and Philosophical Society of New York; of the New York
Historical Society; of the American Antiquarian Society; of the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; of the Lyceum of Natural
History of New York; of the Natural History Society of Montreal; of
the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion
of the Mechanical Arts; of the Geological Society of Pennsylvania; of
the Boston Society of Natural History of the United States; of the
South African Institution of the Cape of Good Hope; Honorary Member of
the Statistical Society of France; Member of the Entomological Society
of Stettin, &c. &c. &c.

APRIL 1850 ... OCTOBER 1850.

VOL. XLIX.

_TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY._

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

1850.

EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, OLD FISHMARKET.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

ART. I. Geographical Distribution of Animals. By Professor
LOUIS AGASSIZ:--

Different Views on the Subject.--Results of
Geological Observations.--Facts and
Suppositions.--Natural Limits for
Animals.--Limitations and Adaptations.--Influence
of Heights and Depths.--Distribution of
Mammalia.--Creations on each Continent.--Zoological
Provinces.--General Conclusion, 1-25

Additional Illustrations of the Geographical
Distribution of Animals:--

1. Geographical Distribution of Sturgeons, 25

2. Fishes of Lake Superior compared with those of
the other great Canadian Lakes, 27

3. General Observations; all Fresh-water Fishes of
North America different from those of Europe--Lake
Superior and the Lakes north of it constitute a
distinct Zoological District--These Fishes have been
created where they now live--Deductions from this
fact, 30

II. On the Geography and Geology of the Peninsula of
Mount Sinai, and the adjacent Countries. By JOHN
HOGG, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S.; Honorary Secretary of
the Royal Geographical Society, &c. (With a
coloured Geological Map.) Communicated by the
Author. (Continued from Vol. xlviii., p. 219), 33

III. Synopsis of Meteorological Observations made at the
Observatory, Whitehaven, Cumberland, in the year
1849. By JOHN FLETCHER MILLER, Esq., F.R.S.,
F.R.A.S., &c. Communicated by the Author, 53

IV. The Completed Coral Island. By JAMES D. DANA,
Geologist to the American Exploratory Expedition,
&c., &c., 65

V. Biographical Notice of Leopold Pilla, the Geologist.
By H. COQUAND. Communicated by the Author, 68

VI. On the Chronological Exposition of the Periods of
Vegetation, and the different Floras which have
succeeded each other on the Earth's surface.
According to the views of M. BRONGNIART. (Concluded
from Vol. xlviii., p. 330):--

Fossil Plants of the Permian Period.--Vosgian
Period.--Jurassic Period.--Tertiary Period, 72-97

VII. Glacial Theory of the Erratics and Drift of the New
and Old Worlds. By Professor AGASSIZ:--

Glacialists and Antiglacialists.--Erratic basins
of Switzerland.--Similar phenomena observed in
other parts of Europe.--Points necessary to be
settled; first, the relation in time and
character between the Northern and the Alpine
erratics.--Traced in North America.---Not yet
settled whether any local centres of distribution
in America; but the general cause must have acted
in all parts simultaneously. This action ceased
at 35° north latitude; this incompatible with the
notion of currents.--In both hemispheres a direct
reference to the Polar Regions. Difficulty as to
so extensive formation of Ice, removed;
difficulties on the theory of Currents, the
effects contrary to experience of
Water-Action.--Erratic phenomena of Lake
Superior.--The Iceberg theory.--Description of
appearances at Lake Superior.--Drift: contains
mud, and is without fossils.--Example of
juxtaposition of stratified and unstratified
Drift, at Cambridge.--Date of these phenomena not
fully determined, but doubtless simultaneous all
over the Globe.--The various periods and kinds of
Drift distinguished.--Accompanied by change of
level in the Continent, 97-98

VIII. Description of the Marine Telescope. By JOHN ADIE,
F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A. Communicated by the Author, 117

IX. Experimental Investigations to Discover the Cause of
the Change which takes place in the Standard Points
of Thermometers. By JOHN ADIE, F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A.
Communicated by the Author, 122

X. Observations on the Discovery, by Professor Lepsius,
of Sculptured Marks on Rocks in the Nile Valley in
Nubia; indicating that, within the historical
period, the river had flowed at a higher level than
has been known in Modern Times. By LEONARD HORNER,
Esq., F.R.S.S. L. & E., F.G.S., &c. Communicated by
the Author. With a Plate, 126

XI. On the Salmon Tribe (Salmonidæ); their Classification,
Geographical Distribution, &c., 144

XII. Results of Observations made by the Rev. F. FALLOWS,
at the Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1849-30-31.
Produced under the superintendence of G. B. Airy,
Esq., Astronomer Royal, 148

XIII. Discovery of the Great Lake "Ngami" of South
Africa, 150

XIV. DR DAVY'S Brief Sketch of the Geology of the West
Indies. Communicated for the Philosophical
Journal, 158

XV. On the Differences between Progressive, Embryonic,
and Prophetic Types in the Succession of Organized
Beings through the whole range of Geological times, 160

XVI. On a New Analogy in the Periods of Rotation of the
Primary Planets discovered by DANIEL KIRKWOOD of
Pottsville, Pennsylvania, 165

XVII. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE:--

METEOROLOGY.

1. Use of Coloured Glasses to assist the View in
Fogs. 2. Ozone, 170-171

HYDROGRAPHY.

3. On the Phenomena of the Rise and Fall of the
Waters of the Northern Lakes of America. 4.
Water Thermometer. 5. On the Falls of Niagara.
6. On the Existence of Manganese in Water.
7. Arsenic in Chalybeate Springs, 172-175

GEOLOGY.

8. The Coal Formation of America. 9. River
Terraces of the Connecticut Valley, 175-177

ZOOLOGY.

10. Fossil Crinoids of the United States. 11.
Discovery of Coral Animals on the Coast of
Massachusetts. 12. On the Circulation and
Digestion of the Lower Animals. 13.
Distribution of the Testaceous Mollusca of
Jamaica. 14. Metamorphoses of the Lepidoptera.
15. On the Zoological Character of Young
Mammalia. 16. The Manatus or Sea Cow, the
Embryonic Type of the Pachydermata. 17. Fossil
Elephant and Mastodon from Africa. 18.
Cauterization in the case of Poisonous Bites.
19. Dental Parasites, 177-184

ARTS.

20. The Steamboat New World. 21. Use of Parachutes
in Mines. 22. Adulterations of Drugs. 23. To
restore Decayed Ivory. 24. Ivory as an Article
of Manufacture. 25. Flexible Ivory. 26.
Air-Whistle. 27. Curious Electrical
Phenomenon, 184-188

XVIII. List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d March
to 22d June 1850, 189

* * * * *

_Memorandum._--New Publications will be noticed in our next Number.

MEMORANDUM.

Owing to the large space occupied by the Proceedings of the British
Association for the Promotion of Science, held at Edinburgh in the
month of August, 1850, various interesting communications are delayed
until the next number of the Philosophical Journal.

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.

_Geographical Distribution of Animals._
By Professor LOUIS AGASSIZ.

The greatest obstacles in the way of investigating the laws of the
distribution of organized beings over the surface of our globe, are to
be traced to the views generally entertained about their origin. There
is a prevailing opinion, which ascribes to all living beings upon
earth one common centre of origin, from which it is supposed they, in
the course of time, spread over wider and wider areas, till they
finally came into their present state of distribution; and what gives
this view a higher recommendation, in the opinion of most men, is the
circumstance, that such a method of distribution is considered as
revealed in our sacred writings. We hope, however, to be able to shew
that there is no such statement in the Book of Genesis; that this
doctrine of a unique centre of origin, and successive distribution of
all animals is of very modern invention; and that it can be traced
back for scarcely more than a century in the records of our science.

There is another view to which, more recently, naturalists have seemed
to incline; viz., the assuming several centres of origin, from which
organized beings were afterwards diffused over wider areas, in the
same manner as according to the first theory, the difference being
only in the assumption of several centres of dispersion instead of a
single one.

We have recently been led to take a very different view of the
subject, and shall presently illustrate the facts upon which the view
rests. But before we undertake to introduce more directly this
subject, there is another point which requires preliminary
investigation, which seems to have been entirely lost sight of by all
those, without exception, who have studied the geographical
distribution of animals, and which seems to us to be the keystone of
the whole edifice, whenever we undertake to reconstruct the primitive
plan of the geographical distribution of animals and plants. The
distribution of organized beings over the surface of our globe in its
present condition cannot be considered in itself; and without an
investigation, at the same time, of the geographical distribution of
those organized beings which have existed in former geological
periods, and had become extinct before those of the present creation
were called into being. For it is well ascertained now that there is a
natural succession in the plan of creation--an intimate connection
between all the types of the different periods of the creation from
its beginning up to this day; so much so, that the present
distribution of animals and plants is the continuation of an order of
things which prevailed for a time at an earlier period, but which came
to an end before the existing arrangement of things was introduced.

The animal kingdom, as we know it in our days, is therefore engrafted
upon its condition in earlier periods; and it is to the distribution
of animals in these earlier periods that we must look, if we would
trace the plan of the Creator from its commencement to its more
advanced development in our own time.

If there is any truth in the view that animals and plants originated
from a common centre, it must be at the same time shewn that such an
intimate connection between the animals existed at all periods; or, at
least, we should, before assuming such a view for the animals living
in our days, discover a sufficient reason for ascribing to them
another mode of dispersion than to the animals and plants of former
periods. But there is such a wonderful harmony in all the great
processes of nature, that, at the outset, we should be carefully on
our guard against assuming different modes of distribution for the
organized beings of former periods, and for those which at present
cover the globe. Should it be plain that the animals and plants did
not originate from a common centre at the beginning of the creation,
and during the different successive geological periods, we have at
once a strong indication that neither has such been the case with the
animals of the present day; and, on the other hand, if there were
satisfactory evidence that the animals and plants now living
originated from a common centre, we should consider the matter
carefully before trusting to the views derived from geological facts.
Let us, therefore, examine first the value of the evidence on both
sides.

We have already expressed, and we repeat here, our earnest belief that
the view of a unique centre of origin and distribution rests chiefly
upon the supposed authority of the Mosaic record; and is in no way
sustained by evidence derived from investigations in natural history.
On the contrary, wherever we trace the animals in their present
distributions, we find them scattered over the surface of our globe in
such a manner, according to such laws, and under such special
adaptations, that it would baffle the most fanciful imagination to
conceive such an arrangement as the mere results of migrations, or of
the influence of physical causes over the dispersion of both animals
and plants. For we find that all animals and plants of the arctic
zones agree in certain respects and are uniform over the three
continents which verge towards the northern pole, whilst those of the
temperate zone agree also in certain respects, but differ somewhat
from each other within definite limits, in the respective continents.
And the differences grow more and more prominent as we approach the
tropical zone, which has its peculiar Fauna and Flora in each
continent; so much so, that it is impossible for us to conceive such a
normal arrangement, unless it be the result of a premeditated plan,
carried out voluntarily according to predetermined laws.

The opinion which is considered as the Biblical view of the case, and
according to which all animals have originated in a common centre,
would leave us at a loss for any cause by which to account for the
special dispersion of animals and plants beyond the mere necessity of
removing from the crowded ground to assume wider limits, as their
increased number made it constantly more and more necessary and
imperative. According to this view, the animals of the arctic zone as
well as those of the tropics,--those of America as well as those of
New Holland,--have been first created upon the high lands of Iran, and
have taken their course in all directions, to settle where they are
now found to be strictly limited. It does not appear how such
migrations of polar animals could have taken place over the warmer
tracts of land which they had to cross, and in which they cannot even
be kept alive, in our days, with the utmost precautions: nor how the
terrestrial animals of New Holland, which have no analogies in the
main continents, could have reached that large island, nor why they
should have all moved thither. And, indeed, it is impossible, with
such a theory, to account, either for the special adaptation of types
to particular districts of the earth's surface, or for the limited
distribution of so many species which are found only over narrow
districts in their present arrangement. It is inconsistent with the
structure, habits, and natural instincts of most animals, even to
suppose that they could have migrated over any great distances. It is
in complete contradiction with the laws of nature, and all we know of
the changes our globe has undergone, to imagine that the animals have
actually adapted themselves to their various circumstances during
their migration, as this would be ascribing to physical influences as
much power as to the Creator himself.

And, again, the regular distribution, requiring precise laws, as we
find it does, cannot be attributed either to the voluntary migration
of animals, or to the influence of physical causes, when we see so
plainly that this distribution is in accordance with the geographical
distribution of animals and plants in former geological periods. But
about this presently. We will only add, that we cannot discover in the
Mosaic account anything to sustain such a view, nor even hints leading
to such a construction. What is said of animals and plants in the
first chapter of Genesis, what is mentioned of the preservation of
these animals and plants at the time of the deluge, relates chiefly to
organized beings placed about Adam and Eve, and those which their
progeny had domesticated, and which lived with them in closer
connection.

Let us now look at the results of geological investigations respecting
the origin of earlier races of animals and plants. It is
satisfactorily ascertained at present, that there have been many
distinct successive periods, during each of which large numbers of
animals and plants have been introduced upon the surface of our globe,
to live and multiply for a time, then to disappear and be replaced by
other kinds. Of such distinct periods, such successive creations, we
now know at least about a dozen, and there are ample indications that
the inhabitants of our globe have been successively changed at more
epochs than are yet fully ascertained. But whether the number of these
distinct successive creations be twelve or twenty, the fact stands in
full light and evidence, that animals and plants which lived during
the first period disappeared, either gradually or successively, to
make room for others, and this at often-repeated intervals; and that
the existence of animals and plants which live now is of but recent
origin, is equally well ascertained.

There is another series of phenomena, not less satisfactorily
established, which go to shew that the extent of dry land rising above
the surface of the ocean has neither been equally extensive at all
times, nor has it had the same outline at all periods. On the
contrary, we know that, early in the history of our globe, there has
been a period, when but few low groups of islands existed above the
surface of the ocean, which, through successive elevation and
depression, have gradually enlarged and modified the extent and form
of the mainland.

Again, in examining the remains of organized beings preserved in the
different strata constituting the solid crust of our globe, we find
that at each period, animals and plants were distributed in the ocean
and over the mainland in a particular manner, characteristic of every
great epoch. A closer uniformity in their distribution is found in the
earlier deposits, so much so that the oldest fossils discovered in the
southern extremity of Africa, on the eastern and southern shores of
New Holland, and in Van Diemen's Land, in North America, or in various
parts of Europe, are almost identical, or at least so nearly related,
that they resemble each other much more than the animals and plants
which at present live in the same countries; shewing that uniformity
in the aspect of the surface of the globe, as well as in the nature of
animals and plants, was at first the prevailing rule, and that,
whatever was the primitive region of these animals and plants, their
types occupied much more extensive districts than any race of living
beings during later periods. Are we to infer from this fact, that, at
that period, these animals and plants originated from one common
centre, and were distributed equally all over the globe? By no means.
Though slight, we find nevertheless such differences among them in
distant parts of the world as would rather sustain the view of an
adaptation in the earliest creations to more uniform circumstances,
than that of one centre of origin for all animals and plants of those
days. During later periods, indeed, we find from geological evidence
that large islands had been formed, more extensive tracts of land
elevated above the surface of the ocean, and the remains both of the
animals and plants derived from these different regions present
already marked differences when we compare them with each
other,--varieties similar to those which exist between the respective
continents at present, though perhaps less marked. Shall we here again
assume that animals and plants originated from another centre, or from
the same centre as those of former periods, to migrate over those
different parts of the world, through the sea as well as over land? It
is impossible to arrive at such a conclusion, when we consider the
distribution of fossil remains in the more recent geological deposits,
or in those strata which were formed during the latest geological
periods, immediately before the present creation. For we find in these
comparatively modern beds a distribution of fossil remains which
agrees in a most remarkable manner with the present geographical
arrangement of animals and plants. For instance, the fossils of modern
geological periods in New Holland are of the same types as most of the
animals now living there. Again, the recent fossils of Brazil belong
to the same families as those prevailing at present in Brazil; though,
in both cases, fossil species are distinct from living ones. If,
therefore, the organized beings of the recent geological periods had
arisen from one central point of distribution, to be dispersed and
finally to become confined to those countries where their remains are
found in a fossil condition, and if the animals now living had also
spread from a common origin over the same districts, and had then been
circumscribed within equally distinct limits, we should be led to the
unnatural supposition, that animals of two distinct creations,
differing specifically throughout, had taken the same lines of
migration, had assumed finally the same distribution, and had become
permanent in the same regions, without any other inducement for their
removal and final settlement than the mere necessity of covering more
extensive ground after they had become too numerous to remain any
longer together in one and the same district. This were to ascribe to
the animals themselves, or to the physical agents under which they
live, and by which they may be influenced, as much wisdom, as much
providential forethought, as is evinced throughout nature, both in the
distribution of animals, and in their special adaptation to particular
portions of the globe in which they are closely circumscribed at
present, and to which they were limited under similar circumstances
during those periods which preceded immediately the present
arrangement of things. Now these facts in themselves leave not the
shadow of a doubt in our mind, that animals were primitively created
all over the world, within those districts which they were naturally
to inhabit for a certain time. The next question is--were these
organized beings created in pairs, as is generally thought and
believed? The opinion, that all animals must be referred to one
single, primitive pair, is derived from evidence worthy of
consideration, no doubt, but the value of which may fairly be
questioned by naturalists; since this point, at least if we except
Adam and Eve, is entirely of human construction, and only assumed
because it is thought to shew a wise economy of means in the
established order of things which exists. It is supposed, that, if one
pair were sufficient, there is no reason why the Creator should have
introduced at one time a greater number of each kind, as economy of
means is always considered an indication of high wisdom. But are not
these human considerations? And if they are, and if we are entitled to
question their value, let us see how they answer the object which was
intended, namely, the peopling of the whole world with various races
of organized beings.

Whenever we consider the economy of nature, we observe great varieties
in the habits of different animals. There are, indeed, some which live
constantly in pairs, and which by nature are designed to perpetuate
their races in that way, and to spread generation after generation
over their natural boundaries, thus mated. But there are others to
which it is equally natural to live in herds or shoals, and which we
never find isolated. The idea of a pair of herrings, or of a pair of
buffaloes, is as contrary to the nature and habits of those
animals, as it is contrary to the nature of pines and birches to
grow singly, and to form forests in their isolation.

But we can go further. There are animals in which the number of
individuals of different sexes is naturally unequal, and among which
there are either constantly more males or constantly more females
born, as the result of their peculiar nature and habits in the
creation. A bee-hive never consists of a pair of bees; and never could
such a pair preserve the species, with their habits. For them it is
natural to have one female and many males devoted to it, and thousands
of neutral bees working for them. And this is the natural original
mode of existence among that species of animals, which it would be
utterly contrary to the laws of nature to consider as derived from a
single pair. There are a number of birds, on the contrary, in which
only a few males are universally found with many females, living
together in companies, such as the pheasants, and our domesticated
fowls. It were easy to multiply examples in order to shew that a
creation of all animals in pairs would have been contrary to their
very nature, as we observe it in all. To assume that they have changed
this nature would be to fall back upon the necessity of ascribing to
physical influences a power which they do not possess,--that of
producing changes in the very nature of organized beings, and of
modifying the primitive plan of the Creator.

Again, there are animals which, by nature, are impelled to feed upon
other animals. Was the primitive pair of lions to abstain from food
until the gazelles and other antelopes had sufficiently multiplied to
preserve their races from the persecution of these ferocious beasts?
Were all animals, and the innumerable tribes of ferocious fishes which
live upon smaller ones, to abstain from food till these had been
multiplied to a sufficient extent to secure their preservation? Or
were, perhaps, the carnivorous animals created only at a later period?
But we find them everywhere together. They constitute natural,
harmonious groups with the herbivorous tribes, both in the waters and
on land, preserving among each other such proportions as will maintain
for ages an undisturbed harmony in the creation.

Again, we find animals and plants occurring in distinct districts,
unconnected with each other, in such ways that it would seem almost
impossible for either to migrate from any point of their natural
circle of distribution over its whole surface. Have, for instance,
such animals as are found identical both in America and Europe been
created either in Europe or in America, and wandered from one of the
continents over to the other? Have those species which occur only in
the far north, and upon the higher summits of the Alps, been created
either in the Alps or in the north, and wandered from one place to the
other? We are at a loss for substantial arguments for believing that
either one or the other place has been the primitive location of such
animals, or for denying their simultaneous creation in both.

Evidence could be accumulated to shew, we will not say the
improbability only, but even the impossibility, of supposing that
animals and plants were created in single pairs, and assumed
afterwards their present distribution. But the facts mentioned will be
sufficient to introduce our argument, and from all we know of the laws
of nature and of the distribution of animals, we conclude that they
could neither originate from a single pair, nor upon a single spot.
And as for plants, we would ask naturalists whether it were not
superfluous to create more than a single stalk of most plants, as
vegetables, with a few exceptions, may multiply extensively from a
single stem. But if it is granted that animals could not originate
from a single pair, nor upon a single spot, what is the more natural
view to take of the subject?

Without entering fully into this question, we may as well state that
we have been gradually led to the conclusion, that most animals and
plants must have originated primitively over the whole extent of their
natural distribution. We mean to say that, for instance, lions, which
occur over almost the whole of Africa, over extensive parts of
Southern Asia, and were formerly found even over Asia-Minor and
Greece, must have originated primitively over the whole range of these
limits of their distribution. We are led to these conclusions by the
very fact, that the lions of the East Indies differ somewhat from
those of Northern Africa; these, again, differ from those of Senegal.
It seems more natural to suppose that they were thus distributed over
such wide districts, and endowed with particular characteristics in
each, than to assume that they constituted as many species; or to
believe that, created anywhere in this circle of distribution, they
have gradually been modified to their present differences in
consequence of their migration. We admit these differences to be
primitive and contemporaneous, from the fact, that there are other
animals of different genera extending over the same tracts of land
which have different representatives in each, circumscribed within
narrower bounds, and this particular combination in each special
district of the wider circle covered by the lion, seems, in our
opinion, the strongest argument in favour of the view, that the
particular districts of distribution have been primitively ascribed,
with definite limits, to each species. Why should the antelopes north
of the Cape of Good Hope differ from those of Arabia, or those of the
Senegal, or those of the Atlas, or those of the East Indies, if they
were not primitively adapted with their special modifications to those
districts, when we see the lion cover the whole range? And why should
the varieties we notice among the lions within these boundaries not be
primitive, though not constituting distinct species, when we see the
herbivorous species of the same genus differ from one district to
another? And why should the differences in that one species of lion be
the result of changes in its primitive character, arising from its
distribution into new districts, when we see that the antelopes are at
once fixed as distinct species over the same ground?

This argument cannot be fully appreciated by those who are not
extensively acquainted with natural history, but we may, perhaps, make
it plainer by alluding to some other similar facts. Our fresh waters
teem everywhere with animals and plants. Fishes and mollusca are among
the most prominent of their animals. Let us compare for a moment the
different species which occur in the Danube, in the Rhine, and in the
Rhone, three hydrographic basins entirely unconnected with each other
throughout their whole extent. They spring from the same mountain
chain, as we may take the Inn as the source of the Danube. These three
great rivers rise within a few miles of each other. Nevertheless, most
of their fishes differ, but there are some which are common to the
three. We find the pickerel,--the European pickerel, in the three
basins. The eel is also common to them all. One kind of trout occurs
in the three. But how strange the distribution of some others!--for
instance, the perches. In the Rhine we find _Perca fluviatilis_, and
_Acerina cernua_; in the Rhone, _Perca fluviatilis_, and _Aspro
vulgaris_; in the Danube, _Perca vulgaris_, _Lucio-perca Sandra_,
_Acerina cernua_, _A. Schraitzer_, _Aspro vulgaris_, and _A. Zingel_.
If these animals had not originated in these rivers separately, why
should not such closely-allied species, some of which occur in the
three basins, have all spread equally into them? and if they
originated in the separate basins, we have within close limits a
multiple origin of the same species.

And that this multiple origin must be admitted as a fact is shewn by
the following further evidence. Among the carpes we find, for
instance, _Barbus_, _Gobio_, _Carpio_, common to the three. But the
Danube has three _Gobios_, whilst the others have but one, one of the
Danube being identical with the one of the other two rivers. The most
striking fact, however, occurs in the genus _Leuciscus_. _Leuciscus
dobula_ is common to the three; but in addition to it, the Danube has
several species which occur neither in the Rhine nor in the Rhone. The
basin of the Rhone, again, has several species which occur neither in
the Danube nor in the Rhine; and in the Rhine, there are species which
belong neither to the Rhone nor to the Danube. Now, we ask, could all
these species of _Leuciscus_ have been created in one of the
basins,--in the Danube for instance,--and have migrated in such a way,
that a certain number of the species should remain solely in the
Danube, while some others left the Danube altogether to settle finally
only in the Rhone, and others to settle only in the Rhine; that one
accompanying those species peculiar to the Rhone, remained in the
Danube with those species peculiar to it, and settled also in the
Rhone, with those species peculiar to that river, and also in the
Rhine with the species peculiar to the Rhine? And whether we assume
the Rhone as the primitive centre, instead of the Danube or the Rhine,
the argument holds equally good. We have one species common to the
three rivers, and several species peculiar to each, which could never
have migrated (if migration took place) in such a manner as to assume
their present combinations. But if, on the contrary, we suppose that
all the species originated in the rivers where they occur, then we
have again a multiple origin of that species which is common to the
three, for it were wonderful if that one alone had migrated, when they
are all so closely allied. Here, again, we arrive at the conclusion,
that the same species can have a multiple origin, in the same manner
as, from the considerations alluded to before, we have decided that
species do not originate from single pairs, but in their natural
proportion with the other species with which they live simultaneously
over the whole ground which they cover. And this is the view which we
take of the natural distribution of animals, that they originated
primitively over the whole extent of their natural distribution; that
they originated there, not in pairs, but in large numbers, in such
proportions as suits their natural mode of living, and the
preservation of species; and that the same species may have originated
in different unconnected parts of the more extensive circle of their
distribution. We are well aware that there are very many species which
are known to have spread beyond what we would call their natural
limits; species which did not occur in North America before the
settlement of the whites, that are now abundant here over very
extensive tracts of country; other species which have been introduced
from America into Europe, and also into other parts of the world, in
different ways. But these are exceptional facts; and, what is more
important, these changes in the primitive distribution of organised
beings, both animals and plants, have taken place under the influence
of man,--under the influence of a being acting not merely from natural
impulses, or under the pressure of physical causes, but moved by a
higher will. So that these apparent exceptions to the rule would only
go to confirm it; as, within the limits of these secondary changes, we
see a will acting, just as we consider that the primitive distribution
of all organized beings has been the result of the decrees of the
Creator, and not the result of mere natural influences.

Having thus led the way to what we would consider as a fairer ground
for investigating the natural geographical distribution of animals and
plants, let us now examine the natural lines which seem to regulate
this distribution. Nothing can be more striking to the observer than
the fact, that animals, though endowed with the power of locomotion,
remain within fixed bounds in their geographical distribution,
although an unbounded field for migration is open to them in all
directions, over land, through the air, and through the waters. And no
stronger argument can be introduced to shew that living beings are
endowed with their power of locomotion to keep within general
boundaries, rather than to spread extensively. There is another fact
which shews that animals are made to remain within these natural
limits. We would allude especially to the difficulty we experience
whenever we attempt to transport animals from their native country
into other countries, even if we secure for them as nearly as can be
the same conditions in which they used to live. Again, observe the
changes which animals undergo when they are once acclimatized to
countries different from their native land. There can be no more
striking evidence of this than the endless variety of our domestic
animals, and there is no subject which more requires a renewed and
careful investigation than this. We do not, however, feel competent to
introduce this point more fully to the notice of our readers. Some
facts bearing upon the question may best be mentioned in a reference
to the different animals which man has thus made subservient to his
social condition. We shall here allude only to the laws of
distribution of wild animals in their natural condition.

It has already been stated, that the present distribution of animals
agrees with the distribution of extinct types belonging to earlier
geological periods, so that the laws which regulate the geographical
distribution of animals seem to have been the same at all times,
though modified in accordance with the successive changes which the
animal kingdom has undergone from the earliest period of its creation
to the present day. The universal law is, that all animals are
circumscribed within definite limits. There is not one species which
is uniformly spread all over the globe, either among the aquatic races
or among the terrestrial ones. Of the special distribution of man, who
alone is found everywhere, we shall speak hereafter. The special
adaptation of animals to certain districts is not merely limited to
the individual species. We observe a similar adaptation among genera,
entire families, and even whole classes. For instance, all _Polypi_,
_Medusæ_, and _Echinoderms_, that is to say all _Radiata_, without
exception, are aquatic.[1] That large group of animals has not a
single terrestrial representative upon any point of the surface of the
globe; and during all periods of the history of our earth, we find
that they have always been limited to the liquid element. And they are
not only aquatic, they are chiefly marine, as but exceedingly few of
them are found in fresh waters. Among _Mollusca_ we find almost the
same adaptation. Their element also is the sea. The number of
fresh-water species is small, compared with that of marine types; and
we find terrestrial species in only one of their classes. In former
periods, also, _Mollusca_ were chiefly marine; fluviatile and
terrestrial types occurring only in more recent periods.

Footnote 1: The following statements have been strictly
considered, and are made in reference to a revised classification
of the animal kingdom, the details of which must, however, be
omitted here, as they would extend this article beyond our
allotted bounds.

With the _Articulata_, we find another state of things. Two of their
classes, the worms and _Crustacea_, are chiefly marine, or at least
aquatic, as we have a number of fresh-water worms, and some
fresh-water _Crustacea_. But insects are, for the most part, chiefly
terrestrial, feeding upon terrestrial plants, at least in their
full-grown condition; though a large number of these animals are
fluviatile, and even some marine, during their earlier periods of
life. In the _Vertebrata_, the adaptations are more diversified. Only
one class of these animals is entirely aquatic--the fishes; and the
number of the marine species is far greater than that of the
fresh-water kinds. Among reptiles there are many which are aquatic,
either throughout life, or through the earlier period of their
existence. But, as if animal life rose to higher organization, as it
leaves the ocean to inhabit dry land or fresh waters, we find that the
greater number of the aquatic reptiles are fluviatile, and but a few
marine. This fact agrees wonderfully with the natural gradation of the
classes already mentioned. The lower type of animals, the _Radiata_,
is almost exclusively marine. Among _Mollusca_, we have a greater
number of marine types, a large number of fluviatile species, and
fewer terrestrial, and these are the highest in their class. Again,
among _Articulata_, the lower classes, worms and _Crustacea_, are
marine, or at least fluviatile, whilst the highest class, that of
insects, is chiefly terrestrial or fluviatile, during the earlier
periods of their growth. Among the _Vertebrata_ we see the lowest
form, that of fishes, entirely aquatic, and the same rule applies
partially to the reptiles; but as the class rises, the number of the
fluviatile species is greater than that of the marine types. Next,
among birds, which by their structure are exclusively adapted to live
in the atmospheric air, we find the larger number to be terrestrial,
and only the lower ones to live upon water, or dive occasionally into
it, always seeking the surface, however, to breathe and to perform
their most important vital functions. It is, nevertheless, not a
little strange, that this class should by nature be adapted to rise
into the air, just as if the first tendency towards liberating them
from the aquatic element had been carried to an excess, and gave them
a relation to the earth which no other class, as a whole, holds to
that degree, except, perhaps, the insects, which are placed among the
_Articulata_ in the same relation to the lower classes and the natural
element, which the class of birds maintains among _Vertebrata_. The
highest class of _Vertebrata_ affords us examples of these three modes
of adaptation, the lowest of these being entirely aquatic, and even
absolutely marine; next, we have fluviatile types of the large
terrestrial mammalia, in the family of _Manatees_, again, a swimming
family among Carnivora, another flying, most of them however walking
upon their four extremities on solid ground, but at the head of all,
man, standing upright, to look freely upwards, and to contemplate the
whole universe.

This wonderful adaptation of the whole range of animals, as it exists
at present, shews the most intimate connection with the order of
succession of animals in former geological periods. The four great
types, _Radiata_, _Mollusca_, _Articulata_, and _Vertebrata_, were
introduced at the beginning simultaneously. However, the earliest
representatives of these great types were all aquatic. We find in the
lowest beds which contain fossils, _Polypi_, together with
star-fishes, bivalve shells, univalves, chambered shells, cases of
worms, and _Crustacea_, being representatives of at least seven out of
nine classes of invertebrate animals, if we are not allowed to suppose
that _Medusæ_ existed also, and if insects were still wanting for a
time. But, in addition to these, fishes among _Vertebrata_ are
introduced, but fishes only, all of which are exclusively marine. At a
somewhat later period insects come in. We find next reptiles in
addition to fishes--the lower classes, or invertebrates, continuing to
be represented through all subsequent epochs, but by species changing
gradually at each period, as all classes do after they have been once
introduced. The first representatives among reptiles are marine, next
huge terrestrial ones, some, perhaps, flying types, and with them, and
perhaps even before them, birds, allied to the wading tribes: still
later, _Mammalia_, beginning again with marine and huge terrestrial
types, followed by the higher quadrupeds; and, last only, Man,--at the
head of the creation, in time as well as in eminence, by structure,
intelligence, and moral endowments.

Besides the general adaptation of animals to the surrounding media,
there is a more special adaptation, which seems not less important,
though it is perhaps less striking. Animals, as well as plants, do not
live equally at all depths of the ocean, or at all heights above its
surface. There must be a deep influence upon the geographical
distribution of animals in a vertical direction derived from
atmospheric pressure above the surface of the waters, and from the
pressure of the water itself at greater and greater depths,--the level
of the ocean, or a small elevation above its surface, or a shallow
depth under its surface, being the field of the most extensive and
intensive development of animal life. And it is not a little
remarkable that in the same classes we should find lower types at
greater depths in the ocean, and also lower types at greater heights
above. We will quote a few examples, to shew how much we may expect
from investigations pursued in this direction, for at present we have
but little information which can aid us in ascertaining the
relationship between atmospheric and hydrostatic pressure and the
energies of animal life.

Among _Polypi_, the higher forms, such as _Actiniæ_, are more abundant
in shallow water than the lower coral-forming types. Among _Medusæ_,
the young are either attached to the bottom, or grow from the depth,
while the perfect free forms of these animals come to the surface.
Among _Echinoderms_, the _Crinoids_ are deep-water forms; free
star-fishes and _Echini_, and, above all _Holothuriæ_, living nearer
the surface. Among _Mollusca_, the _Acephala_, which are lowest, have
their lower types,--the _Brachiopods_, entirely confined to deep
waters; the _Monomyarians_ appear next, and, above them, the
_Dimyarians_; among these latter, the highest family, the _Nayades_,
rises above the level of the ocean into the fresh waters, and extends
even to considerable heights above the sea, in lakes and rivers. A
number of examples of all classes should be mentioned, to shew that
this is the universal case; as, for instance, among _Crustacea_ the
_Macrura_ are, in general species of deeper water than the true crabs,
of which some come even upon dry land. Again, on the slopes of our
mountains, the highest forms among _Mammalia_ which remain numerous
are the _Ruminants_ and _Rodents_. There are no _Carnivora_ living in
high regions. Among birds of prey, we have the vultures, rising above
the highest summits of mountains, while eagles and falcons hover over
the woods and plains, by the water sides, and along the sea-shores.
Among reptiles, salamanders, frogs, and toads occur higher than any
turtles, lizards, &c. But the same adaptation may be traced with
reference to the latitudes under which animals are found. Those of the
higher latitudes, the arctic and antarctic species, resemble both the
animals of high, prominent mountain chains, and those of the deep
sea-waters, which there meet in the most unexpected combinations (and
it is surprising to see how extensively this is the case); while, in
lower latitudes, towards the tropics, we find everywhere the higher
representatives of the same families. For instance, among _Mammalia_
we observe monkeys only in warm latitudes, and they die out in the
warmer parts of the temperate zone. The great development of
_Digitigrades_--lions, tigers, &c., takes place within the tropics,
smaller species, like wolves and foxes, weasels, &c., occurring in the
north, whilst the _Plantigrades_, which come nearer and nearer to the
seal, follow an inverse progression, the largest and most powerful of
them being the arctic ice bear, which meets there his family
relations, the _Pinnipedia_, that are so numerous in the polar
regions. Again, the families of _Ruminants_ and _Pachyderms_ seem to
form an exception, for though belonging to the lower types of
_Mammalia_, they prevail in the tropical zone; but let us remember
that they were among the earlier inhabitants of our globe, and the
fact of their occurring more extensively in warm climates is rather a
reminiscence of the plan of creation in older times, than an
adaptation to the law regulating at present the distribution of
organized beings. The gradation of animals among birds being less
satisfactorily ascertained, we do not venture to say anything
respecting their geographical distribution, in relation to climates.
But among reptiles, we cannot overlook the fact, that the crocodiles,
which are the highest in structure, are altogether tropical, and
the _Batrachians_, which rank lowest, especially the salamandroid
forms, are rather types of the colder temperate zone than of the warm,
&c. From these facts it is plain, that the geographical distribution
of all groups has a direct reference to atmospheric and hydrostatic
pressure on one side, and also to the intensity of light and heat over
the surface of the globe.

The special adaptation of minor groups begins very early in the
history of our globe, and extends at present all over its surface. In
the same manner as animals are adapted to natural limits in their
large primitive groups which we call classes, we find also the minor
divisions more closely adapted to particular circumstances of the
physical condition of all parts of the globe. Among _Mammalia_, the
great type of _Marsupialia_ is placed in New Holland, and extends
little beyond that continent into the adjacent islands. A very few
representatives of that family are found in America. Asia, Africa, the
colder parts of North America, and its southern extremity, are
entirely deprived of this type. The family of _Edentata_, again, has
its centre of development in South America, where the sloth, dasypus,
ant-eaters, &c., form characteristic types, of which a few analogues
occur in Africa, along its southern extremity and western coast. Now
it is a fact upon which we cannot insist too strongly, that the same
districts of New Holland and South America were, during an earlier
geological period comparatively recent, the seat of an equally wide
development of the same animals in the same extensive proportion as at
present. We need only refer to the beautiful investigations of Dr
Lund, upon the fossil mammalia of Brazil, and to those, no less
important, of Professor Owen, upon the fossil remains of mammalia of
New Holland, to leave not a shadow of doubt upon this adaptation,
which indicates distinctly these two regions, at two distinct periods
remote from each other, as the points of development of two distinct
families, which have never spread over other parts of the globe at any
period since the time of their existence, indicating at least two
distinct foci of creation, with the same characters, at two successive
epochs; a fact which, in our opinion, can never be reconciled to the
idea of a unique centre of origin of the animals now living. But
though other families have never been and are not now localized in so
special a manner, we nevertheless find them circumscribed within
certain limits, in particular districts, or, at least, in particular
zones.

As already mentioned, the monkeys are entirely tropical. But here,
again, we notice a very intimate adaptation of their types to the
particular continents, as the monkeys of tropical America constitute a
family altogether distinct from the monkeys of the Old World, there
being not one species of any of the genera of _Quadrumana_, so
numerous on this continent, found either in Africa or in Asia. The
monkeys of the Old World, again, constitute a natural family by
themselves, extending equally over Africa and Asia; but the species of
Africa differ from those of Asia; and there is even a close
representative analogy between those of different parts of these two
continents; the orangs of Africa, the chimpanzee and gorilla,
corresponding to the red orang of Sumatra and Borneo, and the smaller
long armed species of continental Asia. And what is not a little
remarkable is the fact, that the black orang occurs upon that
continent which is inhabited by the black human race, whilst the brown
orang inhabits those parts of Asia over which the chocolate-coloured
Malays have been developed. There is again a peculiar family of
_Quadrumana_ confined to the Island of Madagascar--the makis--which
are entirely peculiar to that island, and the eastern coast of Africa
opposite to it, and to one spot on the western shore of Africa. But in
New Holland, and the adjacent islands, there are no monkeys at all,
though the climatic conditions seem not to exclude their existence any
more than those of the large Asiatic islands, upon which such high
types of this order are found. And these facts more than any other,
would indicate that the special adaptation of animals to particular
districts of the surface of our globe is neither accidental, nor
dependent upon physical conditions, but is implied in the primitive
plan of the creation itself. Whatever classes we may take into
consideration, we shall find similar adaptations, and though, perhaps,
the greater uniformity of some families renders the difference of the
types in various parts of the world less striking, they are none the
less real. The _Carnivora_ of tropical Asia are not the same as those
of tropical Africa, or those of tropical America. Their birds and
reptiles present similar differences. The want of an ostrich in Asia,
when we have one, the largest of the family, in Africa, and two
distinct species in Southern America, and two cassowaries, one in New
Holland, and another in the Sunda Islands, shews this constant process
of analogous or representative species repeated over different parts
of the world to be the principle regulating the distribution of
animals, and the fact that these analogous species are different,
again, cannot be reconciled to the idea of a common origin, as each
type is peculiar to the country where it is now found. These
differences are more striking in tropical regions than anywhere else.
The rhinoceros of the Sunda Islands differs from those of Africa, and
there is none in America. The elephant of Asia differs from that of
Africa, and there is none in America. One tapir is found in the Sunda
Islands, there is none in Africa, but we find one in South America,
&c. Everywhere special adaptation, particular forms in each continent,
an omission of some allied type here, when in the next group it occurs
all over the zone.

As we ascend into the temperate zone, we find, however, the similarity
greatly increased. The difference between the species of the same
family in temperate Asia, temperate Europe, and temperate America is
much less than between the corresponding animals of the tropical zone,
and no doubt it is to this great assemblage of more uniform animals,
living originally within the main seat of human civilization, that we
must ascribe the idea of their common origin, which has so long
prevailed and been so serious an obstacle to a real insight into these
natural phenomena. What, indeed, could be more natural for man, when
for the first time reflecting upon nature around him,--when seeing, as
far as he could extend his investigations, all things alike,--than to
imagine that every thing arose from a common centre, and spread with
him over the world, as it has been the fate of the white race, and of
that only, to extend all over the globe, and that, influenced by the
phenomena of the zone in which he lived and wandered, and from which
he extended farther, he took it for granted that all animals followed
the same laws. But now that we know the whole surface of our globe so
satisfactorily, there can no longer be a question about the difference
between animals and plants in the lower latitudes in all continents.
Besides, we see them equally striking in the southernmost extremities
of the three great continents, so that there can no longer be any
doubt about the primitive adaptation of these various types to the
continents where they live, as we do not find a single one naturally
diffused everywhere over all continents. Notwithstanding, therefore,
the slighter differences we notice between the animals of different
continents in the temperate zone, we are thus led step by step to
ascribe to them also a special origin upon those continents where they
now occur.

But as soon as we rise to the highest latitudes, the uniformity
becomes so close, that there is no longer any marked difference
noticed between the animals about the arctic regions, either in
America, Europe, or Asia; and we are naturally led to restrict the
idea of a common centre of origin, or at least of a narrow circle of
primitive development, to those animals which spread equally over the
icy fields extending around the northern pole upon the three
continents which meet in the north. The phenomena of geographical
distribution which we observe there among the terrestrial animals are
repeated in the same manner among the aquatic ones. The fishes in the
arctic seas do not materially differ on the shores of Europe, Asia,
and America, and through the northern Atlantic and through Behring's
Straits they extend more or less towards the colder temperate zone, or
migrate into it at particular seasons of the year, as do most birds of
the arctic regions also. But in the temperate zone we begin to find
more and more marked differences between the inhabitants of different
continents, and even between those of the opposite shores of the same
ocean; as, for instance, the fishes of Europe (some of the northern
species excepted) are not identical with those of the temperate shores
of North America, notwithstanding the very open field left for their
uniform distribution across the Atlantic. Such is also the case
between the fishes of Western Africa and those of Central America, and
between those of the southern extremities of these continents. The
fishes of the Indian Ocean, and the fishes of the Pacific vary
greatly, and, though some families have a wider range, there are many
which are circumscribed within the narrowest limits. It is one of the
most striking phenomena in the geographical distribution of
aquatic animals, to find entire families of fishes completely
circumscribed within particular groups of islands, such, for instance,
as the _Labyrinthici_, which are peculiar to the Sunda Islands, and
the family of _Goniodonts_, which are found only in the rivers of
South America.

A similar narrow limitation occurs also among the terrestrial animals,
as the family of _Colubris_ is entirely circumscribed within the
boundaries of the warmer parts of the American continent. The
appearance during the warmer season of the year of a few species of
that family in the Northern States, does not make this case less
strong. Examples might be multiplied without end to shew everywhere
special adaptation, narrow circumscription, or representative
adaptation of species in different parts of the world; but those
mentioned will be sufficient to sustain the argument that animals are
naturally antochthones wherever they are found, and have been so at
all geological periods; that in northern regions they are most
uniform; that their diversity goes on increasing through the temperate
zone till it reaches its maximum in the tropics; that this diversity
is again reduced in the aquatic animals towards the antarctic
pole, though the physical difference between the southernmost
extremities of America, Africa, and New Holland, seems to have called
for an increased difference between their terrestrial animals.

We are thus led to distinguish special provinces in the natural
distribution of animals, and we may adopt the following division as
the most natural: _First_, the _arctic province_, with prevailing
uniformity. _Second_, the temperate zone, with at least three distinct
zoological provinces--the _European temperate zone_, west of the Ural
Mountains, the _Asiatic temperate zone_ east of the Ural Mountains,
and the _American temperate zone_, which may be subdivided into two,
the _eastern_ and the _western_--for the animals east and west of the
Rocky Mountains differ sufficiently to constitute two distinct
zoological provinces. Next, the tropical zone, containing the _African
zoological province_, which extends over the main part of the African
continent, including all the country south of the Atlas and north of
the Cape Colonies; the _tropical Asiatic province_, south of the great
Himalayan chain, and including the Sunda Islands, whose _Fauna_ has
quite a continental character, and differs entirely from that of the
Islands of the Pacific, as well as from that of New Holland; the
_American tropical province_, including Central America, the West
Indies, and tropical South America. _New Holland_ constitutes in
itself a special province, notwithstanding the great differences of
its northern and southern climate, the animals of the whole continent
preserving throughout their peculiar typical character. But it were a
mistake to conceive that the _Faunæ_ or natural groups of animals are
to be limited according to the boundaries of the mainland. On the
contrary we may trace their natural limits into the ocean, and refer
to the temperate European _Fauna_ the eastern shores of the Atlantic,
as we refer its western shores to the American temperate _Fauna_.
Again, the eastern shores of the Pacific belong to the western
American _Fauna_, as the western Pacific shores belong to the Asiatic
_Fauna_. In the Atlantic Ocean there is no purely oceanic _Fauna_ to
be distinguished, but in the _Pacific_ we have such a _Fauna_,
entirely marine in its main character, though interspread with
innumerable islands extending east of the Sunda Islands and New
Holland to the western shores of tropical America. The islands west of
this continent seem, indeed, to have very slight relations in their
zoological character with the western parts of the mainland. South of
the tropical zone we have the _South American temperate Fauna_, and
that of the _Cape of Good Hope_, as other distinct zoological
provinces. Van Diemen's Land, however, does not constitute a
zoological province in itself, but belongs to the province of New
Holland, by its zoological character. Finally, the antarctic circle
encloses a special zoological province, including the _antarctic
Fauna_, which, in a great measure, corresponds to the arctic _Fauna_
in its uniformity, though it differs from it in having chiefly a
maritime character, while the arctic _Fauna_ has an almost entirely
continental aspect.

The fact that the principal races of man, in their natural
distribution, cover the same extent of ground as the great zoological
provinces, would go far to shew that the differences which we notice
between them are also primitive; but for the present we shall abstain
from further details upon a subject involving so difficult problems as
the question of the unity or plurality of origin of the human family,
satisfied as we are to have shewn that animals, at least, did not
originate from a common centre, nor from single pairs, but according
to the laws which at present still regulate their existence.

_Additional Illustrations of the Geographical Distribution of
Animals._

I.--_Geographical Distribution of Sturgeons._[2]

Footnote 2: Agassiz's Lake Superior, p. 264.

The sturgeons are generally large fishes, which live at the bottom of
the water, feeding with their toothless mouths upon decomposed
organized substances. Their movements are rather sluggish, resembling
somewhat those of the cod-fish.

Their geographical distribution is quite peculiar, and constitutes
one of their prominent peculiarities. Located as they are, in the
colder portions of the temperate zone, they inhabit either the fresh
waters or the seas exclusively, or alternately both these
elements,--remaining during the larger part of the year in the sea,
and ascending the rivers in the spawning season. Although adapted to
the cold regions of the temperate, they do not seem to extend into the
arctic zone, and I am not aware that they have been observed in any of
the waters of the warmer half of the temperate zone. The great basin
of salt-water lakes or seas which extends east of the Mediterranean,
seems to be their principal abode in the Old World, or at least the
region in which the greater number of species occur; and each species
takes a wide range, extending up the Danube and its tributaries, and
all the Russian rivers emptying into the Black Sea. From the Caspian
they ascend the Wolga in immense shoals, and are found further east in
the lakes of Central Asia, even as far as the borders of China. The
great Canadian lakes constitute another centre of distribution of
these fishes in the New World, but here they are not so numerous, nor
do they ever occur in contact with salt water in this basin.

Northwards, there is another great zone of distribution of sturgeons,
which inhabit all the great northern rivers emptying into the Arctic
Sea, in Asia as well as in America. They occur equally in the
intervening seas, being found on the shores of Norway and Sweden, in
the Baltic and North Seas, as well as in the Atlantic Ocean, from
which they ascend the northern rivers of Germany, as well as those of
Holland, France, and Great Britain. Even the Mediterranean and the
Adriatic have their sturgeons, though few in number. There are also
some on the Atlantic shores of North America, along the British
possessions as well as the northern and middle United States. They
seem to be exceedingly numerous in the Northern Pacific, being found
everywhere from Behring's Straits and Japan to the northern shores of
China, and on the north-west coast of America, as far south as the
Columbia River. Again, the so-called western waters of the United
States have their own species, from the Ohio down to the lower portion
of the Mississippi, but it does not appear that these species ascend
the rivers from the Gulf of Mexico. I suppose them to be rather
entirely fluviatile, like those of the great Canadian lakes.

Beyond the above limits southwards there are nowhere sturgeons to be
found, not even in the Nile, though emptying into a sea in which they
occur; and as for the great rivers of Southern Asia and of tropical
Africa, not only the sturgeons, but another family is wanting
there,--I mean the family of _Goniodonts_, which in Central and
Southern America takes the place of the sturgeons of the north. Again,
all the species in different parts of the world are different.

It is a most extraordinary fact, which will hereafter throw much light
upon the laws of geographical distribution of animals and their mode
of association, viz., that certain families are entirely circumscribed
within comparatively narrow limits, and that their special location
has an unquestionable reference to the location of other animals; or,
in other words, that natural families, apparently little related to
each other, are confined to different parts of the world, but are
linked together by some intermediate form, which itself is located in
the intermediate track between the two extremes. In the case now
before us, we have the sturgeons extending all around the world in the
northern temperate hemisphere, in its seas as well as in its fresh
waters, all closely related to each other. Neither in Asia nor in
Africa is there an aberrant form of that type, or any representative
type in the warmer zones; but in North America we have the genus
_Scaphirhynhus_, which occurs in the Ohio and Mississippi, and which
forms a most natural link with the family of _Goniodonts_, all the
species of which are confined exclusively to the fresh waters of
Central and South America. The closeness of this connection will be at
once perceived by attempting to compare the species of true
_Sonicariæ_ with the _Scaphirhynhus_. I know very well, that the
affinities of _Goniodonts_ and _Siluroids_ with sturgeons are denied,
but I still strongly insist upon their close relationship, which I
hope to establish satisfactorily in a special paper, as I continued to
insist upon the relation between sturgeons and gar-pikes, at one time
positively contradicted and even ridiculed. I trust then to be able to
shew, that the remarkable form of the brains of _Siluridæ_ comes
nearer to that of sturgeons and _Lepidostei_ than to that of any other
family of fishes. This being the case, it is obvious that there must
be in the physical condition of the continent of America some
inducement not yet understood, for adaptations so special and so
different from what we observe in the Old World. Indeed, such
analogies between the organized beings almost from one pole to
another, occur from man down to the plants in America only, among its
native products; while, in the Old World, plants as well as animals
have more circumscribed homes, and more closely characterized
features, in the various continents, at different latitudes.

As for the species of sturgeons which occur in the Canadian lakes, I
know only three from personal examination, one of which was obtained
in Lake Superior, at Michipicotin, another at the Pic, and the third
at the Sault; though I know that they occur in all other Canadian
lakes, yet it remains to be ascertained how the species said to be so
common in Lake Huron, compared with those of Lake Superior, and with
those in the other great lakes and the St Lawrence itself. As for the
Atlantic species, ascending the rivers of the United States west and
south of Cape Cod, I know them to differ from those of the lakes, at
least from those which I possess from Lake Superior. The number of
species of this interesting family which occur in the United States
is, at all events, far greater than would be supposed from an
examination of the published records. Upon close comparison of the
specimens in my collection from different parts of the country,
and in different museums, as those of the Natural History Society of
Boston, of Salem, of the Lyceum of New York, my assistant, Mr Charles
Giran, and myself, have discovered several species not described. For
this comparison I was the better prepared, as I had an opportunity in
former years of studying almost all the European species in a fresh
condition, during a prolonged visit in Vienna.

II.--_Fishes of Lake Superior compared with those of the other
great Canadian Lakes._

Besides the interest there is everywhere in studying the living
animals of a new country, there is a particular interest to a
naturalist in ascertaining their peculiar geographical distribution,
and their true affinities with those of other countries. It is only by
following such a course, that we can hope to arrive at any exact
results as to their origin. In this respect the fresh-water animals
have a peculiar interest, as from the element they inhabit, they are
placed under exceptional circumstances.

Marine animals, as well as those inhabiting dry land, seem to have a
boundless opportunity before them to spread over large parts of the
earth's surface, and their locomotive powers would generally be
sufficient to carry them almost anywhere; but they do not avail
themselves of the possibility; notwithstanding their facilities for
locomotion, they for the most part remain within very narrow limits,
using their liberty rather to keep within certain definite bounds.
This tendency of the higher animals especially, to keep within
well-ascertained limits, is perhaps the strongest evidence that there
is a natural connection between the external world and the organised
beings living upon the present surface of our globe. The laws which
regulate these relations, and those of geographical distribution in
particular, have already been ascertained to a certain extent, and
will receive additional evidence from the facts recorded during our
journey.

The fresh-water animals are placed in somewhat different
circumstances. Their abode being circumscribed by dry land, within
limits which are often reduced to a narrow current of water, and being
further, for the most part, prevented by structural peculiarities from
passing from the rivers into the ocean, they are confined within
narrower limits than either terrestrial or marine types. Within these
limits again they are still further restricted; the shells and fishes
of the head waters of large rivers, for instance, being scarcely ever
the same as those of their middle or lower course, few species
extending all over any fresh-water basin from one extreme of its
boundary to the other; thus forming at various heights above the level
of the sea, isolated groups of fresh-water animals in the midst of
those which inhabit the dry land. These groups are very similar in
their circumscription to the islands and coral reefs of the ocean;
like them, they are either large or small, isolated and far apart, or
close together in various modes of association. In every respect they
form upon the continents, as it were, a counterpart of the
Archipelagos.

From their circumscription, these groups of lakes present at once a
peculiar feature in the animal kingdom, their inhabitants being
entirely unconnected with any of the other living beings which swarm
around them. What, for instance, is there apparently in common between
the fishes of our lakes and rivers, and the quadrupeds which inhabit
their shores, or the birds perching on the branches which overshadow
their waters? Or what connection is there between the few hermit-like
terrestrial animals that live upon the low islands of the Pacific and
the fishes which play among the corals, or in the sand and mud of
their shores? And nevertheless there is but one plan in the creation;
fresh-water animals under similar latitudes are as uniform as the
corresponding vegetation, and however isolated and apparently
unconnected the tropical islands may seem, their inhabitants agree in
their most important traits.

The best evidence that in the plan of creation animals are intended to
be located within circumscribed boundaries, is further derived from
their regular migrations. Although the arctic birds wander during
winter into temperate countries, and some reach even the warmer zones;
although there are many which, from the colder temperate climates,
extend quite into the tropics, there is nevertheless not one of these
species which passes from the northern to the southern hemispheres;
not one which does not return at regular epochs to the countries
whence it came from. And the more minutely we trace this geographical
distribution, the more we are impressed with the conviction that it
must be primitive; that is to say, that animals must have originated
where they live, and have remained almost precisely within the same
limits ever since they were created, except in a few cases, where,
under the influence of man, those limits have been extended over large
areas. To express this view still more distinctly, I should say the
question to be settled is, whether for instance the wild animals which
live in America originated in this continent, or migrated into it from
other parts of the world; whether the black bear was created in the
forests of New England and the northern states, or whether it is
derived from some European bear, which by some means found its way to
this continent, and being under the influence of a new climate,
produced a new race; whether the many peculiar birds of North America
which live in forests composed of trees different from those which
occur either in Europe or Asia, whether these birds, which themselves
are not identical with those of any other country, were or were not
created where they live; whether the snapping turtle, the alligator,
the rattlesnake, and other reptiles which are found only in America,
have become extinct in the Old World after migrating over the
Atlantic, to be preserved in this continent; whether the fishes of the
great Canadian lakes made their appearance first in those waters, or
migrated thither from somewhere else? These are questions which such
an inquiry into the geographical distribution of animals involves; it
is the great question of the unity or plurality of creations; it is
not less the question of the origin of animals from single pairs or in
large numbers; and, strange to say, a thorough examination of the
fishes of Lake Superior, compared with those of the adjacent waters,
is likely to throw more light upon such questions, than all
traditions, however ancient, however near in point of time to the
epoch of creation itself.

In order to proceed methodically in this investigation, our first step
must be to examine minutely, whether the fishes of Lake Superior are
the same as those of other lakes, in this or any other country; and,
if not, how they differ. To satisfy ourselves in this respect, we
shall successively examine all the families of fishes, which have
representatives in those great fresh-water seas. (_Agassiz on Lake
Superior_, p. 246.) Professor Agassiz, after admirable histories of
the fishes of Lake Superior, concludes with the following excellent
observations:--[3]

Footnote 3: "Lake Superior," p. 373.

III.--_General Observations; all Fresh-water Fishes of North America
different from those of Europe--Lake Superior and the
Lakes north of it constitute a distinct Zoological District--These
Fishes have been created where they now live--Deductions
from this fact._

Such a critical revision of the fishes of Lake Superior, and the other
great Canadian lakes, was the first necessary step in the
investigation I am tracing, in order to ascertain the natural
primitive relations between them and the region which they inhabit.
Before drawing the conclusions which follow directly from these facts,
I should introduce a similar list of the fishes living in similar
latitudes, or under similar circumstances, in other parts of the
world; and more particularly of the species of Northern Europe. But
such a list, to be of any use, should be throughout based upon a
critical comparative investigation of all the species of that
continent, which would lead to too great a digression. The comparison
of the fresh-water fishes of Europe, which correspond to those of
North America, has been carried so far, that I feel justified in
assuming, what is really the fact, that all the species of North
America, without a single exception, differ from those of Europe, if
we limit ourselves strictly to fishes which are exclusively the
inhabitants of fresh water.

I am well aware that the salmon which runs up the rivers of Northern
and Central Europe, also occurs on the eastern shores of the northern
part of North America, and runs up the rivers emptying into the
Atlantic. But this fish is one of the marine arctic fishes, which
migrates with many others, annually further south, and which migratory
species is common to both continents. Those species, however, which
never leave the fresh waters, are, without exception, different on the
two continents. Again, on each of the continents, they differ in
various latitudes; some, however, taking a wider range than others in
their natural geographical distribution.

The fresh-water fishes of North America, which form a part of its
temperate fauna, extend over very considerable ground; for there is no
reason to subdivide into distinct faunæ the extensive tracts of lands
between the arctics and the Middle States of the Union. We notice over
these, considerable uniformity in the character of the fresh-water
fishes. Nevertheless, a minute investigation of all their species has
shewn that Lake Superior proper, and the fresh waters north of it,
constitute in many respects a special zoological district,
sufficiently different from that of the lower lakes and the northern
United States, to form a natural division in the great fauna of the
fresh-water fishes of the temperate zone of this continent.

We have shewn that there are types, occurring in all the lower lakes,
which never occur in Lake Superior and northwards, and that most of
the species found in Lake Superior are peculiar to it; the Salmonidæ
only taking a wider range, and some of them covering almost the whole
extent of that fauna, while others appear circumscribed within very
narrow limits.

Now, such differences in the range which the isolated species take in
the faunæ, is a universal character of the distribution of animals;
some species of certain families covering, without distinction,
extensive grounds, which are occupied by several species of other
families, limited to particular districts of the same zone.

But after making due allowance for such variations, and taking a
general view of the subject, we arrive, nevertheless, at this
conclusion; that all the fresh-water fishes of the district under
examination are peculiar to that district, and occur nowhere else in
any other part of the world.

They have their analogues in other continents, but nowhere beyond the
limits of the American continent do we find any fishes identical with
those of the district, the fauna of which we have been recently
surveying. The lamprey eels of the lake district have very close
representatives in Europe, but they cannot be identified. The
sturgeons of this continent are neither identical with those of Europe
nor with those of Asia. The cat-fishes are equally different. We find
a similar analogy and similar differences between the perches,
pickerels, eelpouts, salmons, and carps. In all the families which
occur throughout the temperate zone, there are near relatives on the
two continents, but they do not belong to the same stock. And in
addition to these, there are also types which are either entirely
peculiar to the American continent, such as Lepidosteus and Percopsis,
or belong to genera which have not simultaneous representatives in the
two worlds, and are therefore more or less remote from those which
have such close analogues. The family of Percoids, for instance, has
several genera in Europe, which have no representatives in America;
and several genera in America which have no representatives in Europe,
besides genera which are represented on both continents, though by
representatives specifically distinct.

Such facts have an important bearing upon the history of creation; and
it would be very unphilosophical to adhere to any view respecting its
plan, which would not embrace these facts, and grant them their full
meaning. If we face the fundamental question which is at the bottom of
this particular distribution of animals, and ask ourselves, where have
all these fishes been created, there can be but one answer given which
will not be in conflict and direct contradiction with the facts
themselves, and the laws that regulate animal life. The fishes, and
all other fresh-water animals of the region of the great lakes, must
have been created where they live. They are circumscribed within
boundaries over which they cannot pass, and to which there is no
natural access from other quarters. There is no trace of their having
extended further in their geographical distribution at any former
period, nor of their having been limited within narrower boundaries.

It cannot be rational to suppose that they were created in some other
part of the world, and were transferred to this continent, to die away
in the region where they are supposed to have originated, and to
multiply in the region where they are found. There is no reason why we
should not take the present evidence in their distribution as the
natural fact respecting their origin, and that they are, and were from
the beginning, best suited for the country where they are now found.

Moreover, they bear to the species which inhabit similar regions, and
live under similar circumstances in Europe and Asia, and the Pacific
side of this continent, such relations, that they appear to the
philosophical observer as belonging to a plan which has been carried
out in its details with reference to the general arrangement. The
species of Europe, Asia, and the Pacific side of this continent,
correspond in their general combination to the species of the eastern
and northern parts of the American continent, all over which the same
general types are extended. They correspond to each other on the
whole, but differ as to species.

And again, this temperate fauna has such reference to the fauna of the
arctic, and to that of the warmer zones, that any transposition of
isolated members of the whole plan would disturb the harmony which is
evidently maintained throughout the natural distribution of organized
beings all over the world. This internal evidence of an intentional
arrangement, having direct reference to the present geographical
distribution of the animals, dispersed over the whole surface of our
globe, shews most conclusively, that they have been created where they
are now found. Denying this position were equivalent to denying that
the creation has been made according to a wise plan. It were denying
to the Creator the intention of establishing well-regulated natural
relations between the beings he has called into existence. It were
denying him the wisdom which is exemplified in nature, to ascribe it
to the creatures themselves,--to ascribe it even to those creatures in
which we hardly see evidence of consciousness, or, worse than all, to
ascribe this wonderful order to physical influence or mere chance.

As soon as this general conclusion is granted, there are, however,
some further adaptations which follow as a matter of course. Each
type, being created within the limits of the natural area which it is
to inhabit, must have been placed there under circumstances favourable
to its preservation and reproduction, and adapted to the fulfilment of
the purposes for which it was created. There are in animals peculiar
adaptations which are characteristic of their species, and which
cannot be supposed to have arisen from subordinate influences. Those
which live in shoals cannot be supposed to have been created in single
pairs. Those which are made to be the food of others cannot have been
created in the same proportions as those which feed upon them. Those
which are everywhere found in innumerable specimens, must have been
introduced in numbers capable of maintaining their normal proportions
to those which live isolated, and are comparatively and constantly
fewer. For we know that this harmony in the numerical proportions
between animals is one of the great laws of nature. The circumstance
that species occur within definite limits where no obstacles prevent
their wider distribution, leads to the further inference that these
limits were assigned to them from the beginning and so we would come
to the final conclusion, that the order which prevails throughout the
creation is intentional,--that it is regulated by the limits marked
out on the first day of creation,--and that it has been maintained
unchanged through ages, with no other modifications than those which
the higher intellectual powers of man enable him to impose upon some
of the few animals more closely connected with him, and in reference
to those very limited changes which he is able to produce artificially
upon the surface of our globe.[4]

Footnote 4: The above view of the geography of animals appeared
partly in an American periodical and partly in Professor
Agassiz's beautiful and important work (just received) on Lake
Superior.

_On the Geography and Geology of the Peninsula of Mount
Sinai, and the adjacent Countries._
By JOHN HOGG, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S.;
Honorary Secretary of the Royal Geographical
Society, &c. Communicated by the Author.

(_Continued from page 219._)

This town is named in Scripture Elath or Eloth; in the Septuagint
Ailath, and Ailôn; Ailas, Aeila, or Aila by the Greeks; Ælana by the
Romans; and Ailah by the Arabians: it is described in 1 Kings ix. 26,
as "on the _shore_ of the _Red Sea_ in the land of Edom;" and in 2
Chron. viii. 17, "at the _sea-side_ in the land of Idumea." From
Procopius, in the 6th century, we learn the following exact
account,[5] which agrees very well with the site of those
_mounds_--"the eastern limits of _Palæstina_ (including of course that
part of the peninsula which he elsewhere relates[6] was called
_Palæstina Tertia_), reach along the Red Sea. On the shore is placed
the town _Aïlas_, where, the sea ending, it is contracted into a very
narrow bay."

Footnote 5: _Procopii_ de Bell. Pers., lib. i., cap. 19.

Footnote 6: _Procop._ de Ædificiis Justiniani, lib. v., cap, 8.
Tom. ii. Edit. _Par._ 1663.

Edrisi, in the 12th century, terms the steep descent from the Desert
El Tyh by El Nakb to Akaba--"Akaba Ailah"--_i.e._, the "Descent of
Ailah;" and Makrisi, in the 14th century, as cited by Burckhardt (p.
511), speaks of "the _Akaba_, or steep mountain _before Aila_."
Consequently, I take it to be correct that these _mounds_ indicate the
former position of _Elath_,[7] on the shore of the Sea of Edom or
Idumea--an arm of the Red Sea.

Footnote 7: Ailah was in the middle ages considered (Robinson,
i., p. 252, and Lepsius' Tour, p. 20), as _Elim_, the sixth
station of the Israelites after they passed the Red Sea. But I
apprehend that the error very likely arose from the word Ailam
occurring in the _Alexandrine MS._, (2 Kings xvi. 6; and 2 Chron.
viii. 17), for Ailath, which is used in the LXX., in those
verses. So Ailam had here been _mistaken_ for Aileim, _Elim_, the
word which is found in Exodus, xvi. 1; of the LXX.

At a short distance from them, but westward, a large space, like a
marsh, seemed to be impregnated with _nitre_, which is left incrusted
in some spots upon their surface. From hence, going up the extensive
valley El Araba, it is found to be full of sand drifts, with here and
there a few trees scattered about; the torrents, after rain, flow
along the west side, and their waters, which are _not absorbed_ by the
_sand_, enter the sea at the north-west angle. The width of this part
of the Wadi is near 5 miles, but in advancing farther to the north it
becomes wider. The mountains on the east are high--from 2000 to 2500
feet; being of _granitic_, or rather _porphyritic_ formation, they are
highly picturesque, and have fine, lofty, jagged peaks: but those on
the west, which are _sandstone_ and _chalk_, are lower; rising to
about a level with the desert El Tyh, they do not exceed 1500, or in
places 1800 feet in elevation.

Not far from Wadi Ghadyan,[8] towards the west side, a great
marsh-like tract, apparently impregnated with _nitre_, exhibits an
incrustation on its surface. And the water in the spring itself is,
according to _M. De Bertou_, strong of _sulphur_.

Footnote 8: How Robinson could suppose that this might afford a
_trace_ of Eziongaber, I cannot imagine. See Bib. Res., vol. i.,
pp. 251, 268.

Passing the opening of Wadi Beianeh, and still ascending, the most
elevated table-land or small plateau of the Wadi-El-Araba is reached
at about the line of 30° north latitude, and 35° 15' east longitude
nearly, which is very near 500 feet higher than the level of the Gulf
of Akaba, according to _Herr Schubert_. About that point the
_water-shed_ occurs; some of the waters of the Araba flow south into
the sea of Akaba, but most are carried off north by the tributaries of
the Wadi-el-Jeib into the Dead Sea.

The same traveller (_Schubert_) found the depression of the bed of
that deep Wadi at about 4 miles south of El Weibeh ("hole with
water,") to be 91 Paris feet, or 97 English feet _below_ the level of
the Red Sea; the commencement, or most southern limit of that
depression taking place at about 15 miles northward of Gebel Harun in
Wadi-el-Araba. Consequently, the Dead Sea, Asphaltic Lake (_Bahr
Lut_)--the "Sea of Lot"--must lie considerably _lower_ than the level
of the Gulf of Akaba; indeed, _Herr Schubert_ gives the level of the
_Dead Sea_ as being 598 Paris feet, and M. Russegger even more than
1300 English feet _below_ that of the Mediterranean.

These geographical facts then afford, as some authors have supposed,
sufficient evidence that the River Jordan, although taking its source
at an elevation of 1800 feet in the north Syrian mountains--_has not_
flowed through the entire valley _El Araba_ into the Gulf of Akaba; or
rather, into the Red Sea, beyond what is now the Strait of Tiran. And
certainly these facts are _decisive_ that it _never has done so_--if
the natural conformation of this region has _always_ been the _same_,
as it now exists with regard to _depth_ and _height_. But against its
having continued the _same_, _ab initio_, up to the present time, much
reasonable hypothesis, and several remarkable appearances may be
fairly advanced.

Of the latter, some are the _volcanic_ phenomena apparent around the
Dead Sea and El Ghor,[9] on the north; in the basaltic cliffs and
creeks nearly opposite the Isle of Kureiyeh; the frequent
displacements of strata and rocks in many places on the north-west
side of the Gulf of Akaba; the coincidences exhibited by the strata in
the Isle of Tiran, with those of the Arabian and Sinaic shores; and
the volcanic remains and crater-like hills between them and Sherm on
the south. Moreover, it may be collected from Scripture, that certain
_changes_ had actually been _effected_ in the vicinity of the _Dead
Sea_ (Gen. xix. 25); and that they were caused by _fire_ (_Ibid._
xxiv. 28); if then, at that period, the southern part of the valley of
the Jordan, the plain of the Dead Sea, and El Ghor had, through
igneous, or volcanic, or other agency, _sunk_ much _below_ their
former levels, it is possible that a corresponding _elevation_ of the
land in _Wadi-el-Araba_ might have taken place at the same (or perhaps
at another) time, by the same (or by a subsequent similar) agency.

Footnote 9: _Ghor_ signifies "a long _valley_ between two
mountains." Refer to some of these _volcanic_ indications, p. 122
of _Dr Kitto's_ "Physical Geography of the Holy Land." El Ghor,
on the south of the Dead Sea, abounding in _salt_, is most
probably "the _valley_ of salt" mentioned in 2 Kings xiv. 7.

Again, it seems probable from Scripture, that the _Dead Sea_ and
_Wadi-el-Araba_ had been once continued, or more connected in their
levels; because in Joshua iii. 16, and xii. 3, the former is called
"the _sea of the plain_ (even) the Salt Sea;" and in Deut. iv. 49,
only "the _sea of the plain_;" the original Hebrew expression in all
three verses is, "Yam ha Arabah;" that is, the _Sea of the Araba_; and
the Septuagint renders it hê thalassa Araba. "Ha Arabah," in Hebrew,
signifies the same as _El Arabah_ in Arabic--a "desert-plain," or a
"plain." So, likewise, we find in Deut. ii. 8, "the children of Edom"
described as dwelling "in Seir, through the way of the _Plain_ from
Elath, and from Eziongaber;" the Hebrew and Greek words for _the
plain_ are here also the same, viz., "_Arabah_." Consequently, these
passages from Scripture, shewing that _both extremes_, north and
south, of this great _plain_ or _Wadi_, bore the _same_ appellation,
prove that it was esteemed one _entire_ valley in its _whole extent_,
from the Dead, or Salt Sea, to Elath and Eziongaber on the Red Sea, or
Ælanitic Gulf, in the land of Edom (1 Kings ix. 26, and 2 Chron. viii.
17.) And, indeed, according to Dr Robertson, _no_ such _division_ of
it, as _M. De Bertou_ and some other travellers assert, into
_Wadi-el-Akaba_, and _Wadi-el-Araba_,[10] at this day exists.

Footnote 10: See _M. De Bertou's_ paper in the "Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society," vol. ix., p. 282.

After having attained the highest point, or short table-land of the
Wadi-el-Araba, the descent in fact begins in a direct line nearly due
north to the Dead Sea; it is in places more elevated, rougher, and
more sandy than in others; and its width also becomes greater.
Gebel-el-Beianeh appears the _loftiest_ of the chain on the west; but
this is scarcely two-thirds as _high_ as the east range,
Gebel-el-Shera (_Mount Seir_); the former is entirely sterile and
arid, whilst the latter is covered with herbs and occasional trees,
and seems to have a sufficiency of rain. The east _Wadis_ also, which
are numerous, are filled with trees, shrubs, and flowers; and their
eastern and _higher_ portions, being well cultivated, yield good
crops. So Strabo, calling the district "Nabathæa," states it _abounded
in pastures_; hê Nabataia polyandros ousa hê chôra kai eubotos;[11]
and being the country of Esau, it was "of the fatness of the earth,
and of the dew of heaven from above."--_Gen._ xxvii. 39.

Footnote 11: _Strabo Geog._, vol. ii., lib. 16-35, p. 1103. Edit.
_Falconer_.

The range of Mount Seir, _Gebel-el-Shera_, _i.e._, the mountains of a
"region" or "tract," under which I have only included those mountains,
commencing with Mount _Seir_ itself on the north, and extending to
Gebel-el-Ithm on the south. On the eastern side is now _sandstone_,
veined with _oxide of iron_; and those mountains still further to the
east, forming a part of the Nabathæan chain, are _limestone_ with
_flints_, of the same _cretaceous_ series as that of the Sinaic
Peninsula; they present many varied forms and shapes.

El Araba, in the approach to Wadi Gharandel, is more covered with
shifting sands, broken by innumerable undulations, and low hills; into
these sands the waters of Wadi Gharandel, which, according to
Burckhardt, have a _sulphureous_ taste, lose themselves. In the ascent
of this Wadi (Gharandel) towards Gebel Kula, a mountain is climbed
which is composed of _calcareous_ rocks, _sandstone_ and _flints_,
lying over each other in horizontal layers. Gebel Kula is covered on
its summit, with a _chalky_ surface. But in Wadi Dalegheh the
mountains are _calcareous_, with some _flints_, and perfectly bare.

East of these valleys, and distant about six miles, are said to be the
vestiges of a Roman road, which probably led near Usdaka--the
_Szadeke_ of Burckhardt--to Petra. Near that place is a hill with some
considerable ruins, very possibly the remains of what the Peutingerian
Table calls _Zadagasta_; which word seems to have been corrupted into
_Zadeka_, and _Sudaka_, or _Usdaka_. A fine spring, or _Ain_, is there
much noted. Also, further north five or six miles, at Ain Mefrak, some
ruins are visible. And the same traveller noticed, a few miles north
of the present picturesque village of Eljy--situate a little east of
Petra, in a more fertile spot--the substructions of walls and paved
roads, all constructed of flints. The present road, traversed by the
_Hadj_, or pilgrims, from Syria to Mecca, passes about five miles more
eastwards, through Maan (_Maon_, Judges x. 12), placed in a rocky
district. This town is divided by two hills, on each of which stands a
portion of it. The fruits, especially pomegranates, peaches, apricots,
and grapes, are there excellent, and are much sought after by the
Syrian pilgrims. Burckhardt (p. 436), says here, "are several
_springs_, to which the town owes its _origin_;" and I presume the
word itself, Ma'an, is abbreviated by use from _Mayan_, signifying a
"fountain."

_Fourthly._--"Petra," the Greek appellation of the capital of the
ancient _Nabathæa_, or territory of the Nabathæi, and the _Edom_ of
Scripture, was called in Hebrew, _Sela_; both words meaning a "rock,"
and the first of which gave _its name_ to the country--"Arabia
_Petræa_." It is also called _Joktheel_, in 2 Kings xiv. 7. Strabo has
distinctly recorded that "Petra was the capital of the _Nabathæans who
were Idumæans_." (Lib. xvi.) The former appellation having been
bestowed upon this people as descendants of _Nebaioth_, (1 Chron. i.
29), or _Nebajoth_ (Gen. xxv. 13), who was Abraham and Hagar's
grandson, and Ishmael's first-born son. Petra is correctly described
by the same Greek geographer, as well as by the Roman naturalist. The
short account of the last I here transcribe: "Nabatæi oppidum
_includunt Petram_ nomine in _convalle_, paulo minus duum mill.
passuum amplitudinis, _circumdatum montibus_ inaccessis _amne
interfluente_."[12] I will not add here any description of the very
magnificent remains of this remarkable city, the city of the
_Rock_--or rather excavated and carved out of the _natural
rock_--whose dwellings are said to have been "in the clefts of the
_rock_," (Obadiah 3), since they are now so well known.

Footnote 12: _Plin._ Nat. Hist., Lib. vi., cap. 28.

Coming to Petra from Eljy, on the east, the body of the regular
mountain on that side is limestone, and higher than the red sandstone,
where the tombs in Wadi Mousa are excavated. The cliffs at Petra are
of _red sandstone_, which is soft and easily cut, causing the
sculptures to decay quickly, unless where they may have been
_protected_ from the weather. This formation extends far to the north
and south, and rests on the lower masses of porphyry.

The colour of the _sandstone_ rocks in Wadi Mousa is not a dull
monotonous _red_, but a variety of bright hues, "from the deepest
crimson," as Dr Robinson writes (vol. ii., p. 531), "to the softest
pink; verging also sometimes to orange and yellow. These varying
shades are often distinctly marked by waving lines, imparting to the
surface of the rock a succession of brilliant and changing tints, like
the hues of watered silk, and adding greatly to the imposing effect of
the sculptured monuments."

The site of Petra, in the high ravine, is called by the Arabs, Wadi
_Mousa_; most likely corrupted from _Moseroth_, or _Mosera_ (Deut. x.
6), "where Aaron died and was buried." It is extremely interesting,
and is well watered by a flowing stream--the _El Syk_ of Burckhardt.
The _sandstone_ rocks, with their craggy and precipitous sides, have
their summits resembling rounded peaks; peaks, probably owing to the
softness of the stone, rounded by the effects of weather. The height
of this _Wadi_ is estimated at near 2200 feet above the adjoining
Wadi-el-Araba. To the west of Petra, Mount Hor, Gebel _Harun_
constitutes the loftiest point of this _sandstone_ tract. It stands
out conspicuously, and is a _cone_ irregularly truncated with three
rugged peaks, of which that to the NE. is the _highest_, and has upon
it the Mahommetan _Wely_; or the tomb of _Aaron_, called _Neby Harun_.
This peak rises to about 2700 feet above Wadi _Mousa_, or to 5300 feet
above the sea.

Captains Irby and Mangles, the _first_ Europeans who ascended Gebel
_Harun_, thus describe "the view from the summit." It "is extremely
extensive in every direction; but the eye rests on few objects which
it can clearly distinguish, and give a name to, although an excellent
idea is obtained of the general face and features of the country. The
chain of Idumean mountains, which form the western shore of the Dead
Sea, seem to run on to the south, though losing considerably in their
height. They appear in this point of view, barren and desolate. Below
them is spread out a white sandy plain, seamed with the beds of
occasional torrents, and presenting much the same features as the most
desert parts of the Ghor. Where this desert expanse approaches the
foot of Mount Hor, there arise out of it, like islands, several lower
peaks and ridges, of a purple colour, probably composed of the same
kind of _sandstone_ as that of Mount Hor itself, which, variegated as
it is in its hues, presents in the distance one uniform mass of dark
purple. Towards the Egyptian side there is an expanse of country
without features or limit, and lost in the distance. The lofty
district which we had quitted in our descent to Wadi Mousa, shuts up
the prospect on the south-east side; but there is no part of the
landscape which the eye wanders over with more curiosity and delight
than the crags of Mount Hor itself, which stand up on every side, in
the most rugged and fantastic forms, sometimes strangely piled one on
the other, and sometimes as strangely yawning in clefts of a frightful
depth."

Under the term _Nabathæan Chain_, or the chain of the mountains of
Edom, I have restricted those mountains beginning north of 30° N.
Lat., and which then tend round northward, by the east of Petra. They
are the loftiest on the east, attaining probably to an altitude of
3000 feet above the Wadi-el-Araba. This chain presents to the view, on
the east, long elevated ranges of _limestone_, sometimes with
_flints_, but of more easy slopes, _without_ precipices, being smooth
and rounded. Further still to the east, the high plateau of the Great
Eastern Desert--of which _El Nejd_ is a portion--stretches out to an
almost indefinite extent. To the west and north, and around Mount
_Hor_, lofty party-coloured _sandstone_ ridges and cliffs prevail;
then succeed high masses of _porphyry_, constituting the body of the
mountains, but _lower_ than the _sandstone_. And, lastly, more
northwards, the chain sinks down into low hills of _argillaceous_
rock, or of _limestone_.

The entire breadth of the _Seir_ range seems not to exceed eighteen
English miles, between Wadi-el-Araba and the Eastern Desert; whilst
that of the more northern, or _Nabathæan chain_, does not exceed
twenty-two miles between those districts.

Going west from Petra, the valley of the _Araba_ is again entered,
where the deeper _Wadi-el-Jeib_ is seen to wind along, very near the
middle of it, from the south, then sweeping off NW., it meets the
_Wadi-el-Jerafah_, which comes in from the SW. Afterwards, it is
called only _Wadi-el-Jeib_; and being a deep valley within a larger
valley, it forms the chief water-course of the greater portion of the
Araba, and carries down to the Dead Sea, in the wet season, an immense
body of water.

El Araba, more to the north of Gebel Harun, is much wider; in parts of
it there are _gravel_ hills; and here and there, masses of _porphyry_
lie about in the sand, having been washed down by the torrents. Eleven
or twelve miles north of that Mount (_Hor_), occurs the pass of
_Nemela_ among low hills of _limestone_, or rather a yellowish
_argillaceous_ rock, the dark steep mass of the mountain being
_porphyry_, as before described; thence the Wadi ascends between the
porphyry and limestone formations; and on the top is a little basin of
_yellow sandstone_ capping the _porphyry_.

Coming back southward through the Wadi-el-Araba, as far as
the _embouchure_ of the valley of the _Jerafah_--meaning
"gullying,"--which is about a mile wide, the mountains on this west
side are found to be composed of _chalk_ and _limestone_; and, in many
places, with large pieces of black _flint_.

On the north, and to the east of Lussan, the mountains of Idumæa are
lofty, consisting of precipitous _limestone_ ranges; the solitary
conical mount, about 600 feet above the plain, named _Gebel
Araif-el-Naka_--"the crest of a she-camel," forms a conspicuous
object; it is _calcareous_, and strewed with _flints_. Low ridges
extend from it westward and eastward; the latter terminating in a
headland or bluff, called Gebel _Makrah_.

The wide sandy _Wadi-el-Ghudhagidh_--the _Ghudhaghidh_ of Robinson--is
probably the _Gudgodah_; or, as it is written in Hebrew, _Ghudghodah_,
mentioned in Deut. x. 7, whither the Israelites journeyed from Mosera
(_Wadi Mousa_) after Aaron's death. After this valley were some low
_chalky_ cliffs, and then succeeded a barren _flinty_ tract.

Towards the NW. and W., a broad open district stretches out apparently
to _Gebel Jaraf_, said to be 1300 feet above the sea level, through
which is the course of the _Wadi Khereir_, elevated about 1000 feet at
its nearest point to that mount, and flowing northward into the large
_Wadi-el-Agaba_,--upon one side, and to _Gebel Yelak_, the "white
mountain," on the other side; but it is broken in some places by
_limestone_ or _chalk_ hills.

The Wadi Ghudhagidh, and the more southern tributaries of the Jerafah,
flow to the NE. to the Dead Sea, as already explained; and they, with
some smaller winter torrents that unite with them, are the only
water-courses in this part of _Arabia Petræa_ which supply that sea.
On the SE. of the upper Jerafah, some low _limestone_ ridges present
themselves; but, on the other side is the _sandy_ plain _El Adhbeh_:
beyond this, northwards, follows a level plain covered with pebbles
and black _flints_. The high West Desert, called by the Arabs El Tyh,
the "wandering," and so named in Edrisi and Abul-feda, near its centre
at _Nakhl_, signifying "date trees" (at which station there exists a
grove of those trees), at an elevation of near 1500 feet above the
sea, consists of vast plains, or _plateaux_ of varying, mostly higher,
altitudes, a sandy, flinty, or gravelly soil, and limestone hills of
the _cretaceous_ or secondary formation, having very irregular ridges
disposed in different directions.

The numerous _Wadis_, or water-courses, and winter torrents of this
enormous desert, all run to the N. or NW., and pour their waters into
the Mediterranean Sea; while those _Wadis_ that lie on the other side
of the Great Mountain range, which bounds the desert in its western
and southern extremities--_Gebel-el-Rahah_ and _Gebel-el-Tyh_--divide
their waters, and so supply, in part, the Gulf of _Suez_, and in part
the Gulf of _Akaba_. Of the former _Wadis_, two are the principal;
namely, _Wadi-el-Agaba_, which rises somewhat to the east of the line
of 34° E. long.; and _Wadi-el-Arish_, which Russegger and later
authors affirm as springing to the _west_ of it, and of _Gebels_
Heiyalah, Yelak, and Mishea, and of which _Wadi Nesil_ seems to me to
be only a tributary.

The chain called _Gebel-el-Egmeh_, or _El Odjme_ by Burckhardt,
appears, as he says, _chalky_; and such, also, is the soil of the
plain, and frequently covered with _black_ pebbles (_flints_); it
unites with the higher chain of the Gebel-el-Tyh, about the centre of
the Peninsula,--that is to say, of the _Peninsular Triangle_, and
where the branches North-el-Tyh and South-el-Tyh separate. There the
height of the summit of _El Tyh_ is given by Russegger as 4322 Paris
feet, or 4615 English feet, above the sea; descending thence by the
pass of Mureikhi, into the sandy plain of _Debbet-el-Ramleh_, the
elevation of that plateau, just about the middle of it, and about half
way to the head of _Wadi-el-Sheikh_, is near 4000 feet above the sea
level; Alahadar being a little to the east.

In the Wadi _El Sheikh_, meaning the "Valley of the Elder," or
"Chief," which is one of the principal valleys in the Peninsula,
before coming to "Moses' seat" (_Mokad Seidna Mousa_), occurs a range
of low hills of a substance called _Taffal_, chiefly a detritus of the
_felspar_ of _granite_, like pipe clay. The easiest approach to the
present Sinaic district is by the east side of this Wadi, which leads
into the wider Wadi, or plain _El Raha_, _i.e._, a "plain surrounded
by hills." The view of Gebels _El Deir_ ("The Convent"), the
now-termed _Horeb_, _Humer_ (red), and others, from thence is very
striking. The lower granitic mountains of the present _Sinai_ are more
regularly shaped than the upper; being less rugged, they have _no_
insulated _peaks_; and their summits terminate in smooth _curves_.
Whilst in the ascent to the higher mountains, _peaks on peaks arise_,
of the form of sharp cones, and of various altitudes. _Gebel Mousa_,
or "Moses' Mount," is of _red granite_ for about half-way up; all the
rest being a _yellowish granite_, with small _black_ grains, and from
_Wadi Leja_ ("asylum"), these colours appear most distinct. The height
of the apex of G. _Mousa_ peak, which does not exceed fifty yards in
width, was ascertained by Lieutenant Wellsted, from the _mean_ of
observations, to be 7505 feet above the sea of Akaba; and that late,
able, and lamented officer, who was upon that summit in _January_, and
"enjoyed the advantage of a clear serene atmosphere," which, in a more
advanced season of the year, would have been hazy, with a blue mist,
arising from the powerful sun, "was thereby enabled, by means of
angles taken to the hills on the Arabian coast, ninety miles distant,
to correctly fix the geographical position of the mountain." He has
also well described the most extensive view from that peak, as
follows:--

"The Gulfs of Suez and Akaba are distinctly visible; from the
dark-blue waters of the latter, the island of _Tiran_, considered
by the ancient geographers as sacred to _Isis_,[13] rears itself.
Mount Agrib (_Garib_), on the other hand, points out 'the land of
bondage.' Before me is St _Catherine_, its bare, conical peak now
capped with snow. In magnificence and striking effect, few parts
of the world can surpass the wild, naked scenery everywhere met
with in the mountain-chain which girds the sea-coast of Arabia."
... The monkish "Mount _Sinai_ itself, and the hills which compose
the district in its immediate vicinity, rise in sharp, isolated,
conical peaks. From their steep and shattered sides huge masses
have been splintered, leaving fissures rather than valleys between
their remaining portions. These form the highest part of the range
of mountains that spread out over the Peninsula, and are very
generally, in the winter months, covered with snow, the melting of
which occasions the torrents which everywhere devastate the plains
below. The peculiarities of its _conical_ formation, render this
district yet more distinct from the adjoining heights that appear
in successive ridges beyond it, while the valleys which intersect
them are so narrow that few can be perceived. No villages and
castles, as in Europe, here animate the picture; no forests,
lakes, or falls of water, break the silence and monotony of the
scene. All has the appearance of a vast and desolate wilderness,
either grey, darkly-brown, or wholly black."[14]

Footnote 13: _Isis_ is supposed to be the same as _Io_, and the
island of Tiran is evidently, as I have already stated in a
preceding note, that which Procopius names Iôtabê, _Iotabe_. This
word is probably derived from Ious ta abata,--the _shrine_, or
sacred place, of _Io_.

Footnote 14: Travels in Arabia, vol. ii., p. 97.

And Dr Lepsius remarks on this mountain, that--

"Although it is certainly a high mountain, still it is a
_secondary_ one, and almost eclipsed by others of the Great
Southern Chain, the geographical centre of which is neither in
_Gebel Mousa_, nor the loftier _Gebel Katherin_, but in the more
southern, and considerably more elevated _Gebel-um-Schomar_."

_Gebel Katherin_, composed principally of a coarse _red granite_,
presents the same _conical peaks_. But in Wadi _Owasz_, S. by W., from
the last mountain, Burckhardt noticed "a small chain of _white_ and
_red sandstone_ hills in the midst of _granite_."

_Gebel-um-Schomar_ ("Mount Mother _Schomar_"), also consists chiefly
of _granite_; the lower part _red_, but the top is almost _white_. In
its middle, between the granite, occur broad layers of brittle _black
slate_, mixed with veins of _quartz_ and _felspar_, and with
_micaceous schist_. Its extreme _peak_, about 8800 feet above the sea,
is sharp pointed, and seems to be inaccessible, owing to its
perpendicular and smooth sides. Burckhardt, in his attempt to ascend
it, was obliged to halt at about 200 feet below it. This was, until
recently, esteemed the _highest_ point in the Peninsula; but,
according to Herr Russegger, two or three other peaks, to the south of
it, are about 500 feet more lofty; the _extreme_ elevation of this
last group, which seems not to bear any distinct appellation, he
estimates at 9300 English feet.

I here add, after the latter author, a sketch of the _granite peaks_
of the high Modern-Sinaic mountains, from north to south, as they
present so interesting and remarkable an appearance.

[Illustration: Sketch of granite peaks]

In the narrow valley, a little south of _Gebel Mohala_, which is all
granite, on the east side of, or opposite to, the Schomar, is a spring
named _Tabakat_, where beautiful porphyry is observed.

The south side of Mount _Schomar_ is very abrupt, and there is _no_
secondary chain between it and the other lofty southern mountains, and
the long gravelly plain _El Kaa_.

From that plain, entering _Wadi Hebron_--a ravine about 100 yards
wide--fragments of rocks, principally of _granite_ and _porphyry_
washed down by torrents, are frequent; a small stream is seen flowing
among them; in spots, some date trees occur, and likewise the
manna-producing tamarisk. Continuing to ascend, a moderately-steep
pass is reached; afterwards, a descent of about 700 feet leads into
the sandy _Wadi Solaf_ "wine valley;" and then, gaining, with some
difficulty, the summit of a steeper pass, the north-west angle of the
extensive _Wadi Raha_ is come to. Here, again, the present Sinaic
group, beyond the plain, exhibits its rugged mountains of dark
_granite_, with "stern, naked, splintered _peaks_, and ridges of
indescribable grandeur."

Next, turning to the north down the narrow declivity called _Nakb
Hawi_, the "windy pass," of which the stupendous _granite_ walls or
cliffs elevate themselves to about 800 feet, passing to the west end
of _Wadi Solaf_, where it meets _Wadi Firan_ and _Wadi-el-Sheikh_, and
following the last valley as far as _El Szaleib_, that ascent is
attained. There the formation consists of _granite_, on the upper beds
of which run layers of _red felspar_. North-east of _Wadi-el-Ush_ is
situate _Gebel Sheyger_, which affords some native _cinnabar_. The
three principal passes leading from the sandy Debbet-el-Ramleh on to
the great desert over the Tyh range, are, _El Mureikhi_ near the
centre and near _Gebel-el-Egmeh_; then _El Warsah_, said to be of too
rapid an ascent for caravans; and the third, which is most to the
west, _El Rakineh_ (the painted.) Afterwards, at some distance to the
NW., is the valley opening past _Ras Wadi Gharandel_, that has already
been described.

Proceeding, again, across the plain El Ramleh, and over the pass
Mureikhi on to the Desert-el-Tyh, in the approach to the castle of
_Nakhl_, on the east, a few miles off, low _chalky_ hills appeared;
and in places there were holes wherein _rock-salt_ had been dug. The
water at Nakhl is brackish, and the ground chalky, covered with loose
pebbles. _Wadi Nesil_ was observed to be overgrown with green shrubs.
_Gebel-el-Thughar_, signifying "the mouths," presents a mountainous
tract, in which followed a valley with _calcareous_ hills: here deep
sands were lodged, and large insulated rocks of a porous _tufa_,
called by Burckhardt _tufwacke_, lie scattered in many places.

"The termination of the vast gravelly plain we had been crossing
from _Nakhl_ was now at hand; but we could yet see it spreading
out wide to our left, the mirage giving its distant portions the
appearance of a succession of blue lakes; directly in front were
the mountains which close it in; and far to the right we could
see, stretching away, a still higher range running to the north,
and on the left the tops of the mountains about Wadi Gharandel,
the _Taset_ (cup) _Soddur_ being conspicuous afar. We entered
these mountains by a slight ascent, which struck soon after the
head of a long winding valley descending towards Suez: the immense
plain we had traversed, floated away in mist, and we had now done
with the plateau of the Great Desert."[15]

Footnote 15: _Bartlett's_ "Forty Days in the Desert," p. 167.

Thence a plain, which is below the level of the Desert-el-Tyh, and
covered with moving _sands_, extends as far as the sea-shore. These
_sands_ are collected by the winds, in many spots, into hills 30 or 40
feet high. The wells at _Mabuk_ afford good water by digging to the
depth of 10 or 12 feet.

_Fifthly_, Once more leaving Suez; after having passed over a small
piece of marine and alluvial formation near the sea, and taking a
westerly direction, a narrow tract of _tertiary sandstone_, so
designated by Russegger, is observed; it is a plain which gradually
ascends from the shore of the Gulf, and in it is placed the Castle of
_Ajroud_; the water obtained there is very bitter. Beyond this to the
west, the plain becomes _sandy_, and covered with black flints.

But the soil and hills at _Wadi Emshash_, which signify the "Valley of
the Waterpits," near Ajroud, are calcareous: the well there, called
_Bir Emshash_, yields after rain good drinking water. The hills around
Ajroud consist of _tertiary limestone_ and _marl_. More to the south,
Gebel Ataka divides this formation, itself being a _secondary
limestone_ belonging to the _cretaceous_ series, and, according to Dr
Robinson, is strewed thickly with _flint_ pebbles. It terminates in
_Ras Ataka_, or "Cape Deliverance," on the Gulf. The sandy and
gravelly plain, _El Baidea_, the _Wadi Tawarik_ of others, has been
named by some, the "Valley of Moses," Wadi Mousa; it communicates on
the west with _Wadi-el-Tyh_.

_Gebel Deraj_ (steps) is limestone of the same cretaceous series as
Mount Ataka; and this formation stretches out southwards to a great
distance, constituting a large portion of the East Egyptian Desert.

Then on the south of the former mountain, a band of granite, which
forms the northern ridge of _Gebel Kallala_, is observed, wherein
there exist remains of old _copper_ mines. Those called
_Reigatamerih_, situate among low hills, "have evidently been worked
by the ancients, as well from the quantity of pottery and _scoriæ_
there, as from the remains of miners' houses, and the regular manner
in which the caverns have been cut, following up the veins."[16]

Footnote 16: _Mr J. Wilkinson_ on the Eastern Desert of Upper
Egypt, p. 32, vol. ii. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.

Near, on the SE., there is a well (_bir_) named _Horreh_, whose water
is bad, owing to the _sulphur_ which it contains. This is placed in
_Wadi Araba_, an extensive valley, running in a direction nearly due
W. and E., and descending from _Wadi Chaderat_ very rapidly to the
shore of the gulf, which is here termed by the Arabs _Mersa Zafraneh_,
_i.e._, "Harbour of Saffron." The coast itself is flat and marshy. The
headlands on the south are a conglomerate, or _breccia_ rock, of the
_Tertiary_ formation, composed of shells, stones, and other
substances, held together by a calcareous cement. The Arabs report,
that a carriage-road anciently existed through the Wadi Araba, and led
to the Bay of Zafraneh. This, I conceive, might have been the road of
communication to the Egyptian colonies and copper mines on the
opposite Sinaic peninsula, in _Wadi Maghara_, _Sarbut-el-Chadem_, &c.,
and over which the produce of those mines, having been shipped from
the harbour of Zelime to the Mersa Zafraneh, might have been conveyed
in waggons to the Nile. But, whether or not the _Araba_ mountains that
rise a little to the south of the opposite coast of the Peninsula had
received the _same_ appellation from _this valley_, there seems to be
no testimony to decide. The "Monastery of St Antony"--_Deir
Antonios_--distant about 17 miles from the sea, is a fortified convent
of Copts, surrounded by a strong wall, of about 35 feet in height, the
entrance to which is by a trap-door, wherefrom a rope descends, as in
the present Sinaic convent. The keep, or place of safety, is an
insulated tower, defended by a drawbridge. According to common
statement, this was the abode and place of burial of _St Antony_, the
founder of Monachism. The mountains to the south, at the northern end
of which stands the convent, are _calcareous_ (of the same
_cretaceous_ formation), containing in places a great deal of _salt_.
They are known to the Arabs by the term of _Gebel Kallala_, and, in
fact, constitute the southern ridge of that chain. Another large and
similarly protected convent, called _Deir Bolos_ (Paul), distant from
the former[17] about 15 miles in a direct SE. line, is situate in a
picturesque place, and about 10 miles from the nearest point of the
Gulf of Suez. An adjoining garden abounds in date and other
fruit-trees. On the east, between this convent and the sea, _Wadi
Girfeh_ is approached, among low hills: on the tops of some of these
the substructions of houses are visible, having been built with
uncemented stones. Also some chambers, or catacombs, are cut in the
rock: in the larger were found crystals of _rock-salt_; the strata are
composed of _limestone_, and contain many fossils. Broken pieces of
_terra cotta_ vases, chiefly red, are everywhere observed; and they,
with other vestiges, probably point out the site of a Roman colonial
town.

Footnote 17: See the Views of the Convents of St Paul and St
Anthony, plate 51, p. 128, chap. vi., book ii., vol. i., in
_Pococke's_ "Description of the East."

Proceeding from St Paul's to the SE., for near 15 miles, the line of
the _primitive_ mountains is reached on the left, whilst the
_secondary_ chain of Gebel Kallala, consisting of limestone with
ammonites, is continued on the right, or west. South of Wadi Dthahal
_micaceous schist_ approaching to _gneiss_ occurs, and a little
further, the primitive and _sandstone_, or _gritstone_ rocks join.
Thence the secondary, or _cretaceous_ mountains, diverging to the
south and south-west, gradually decrease in altitude.

Again, southwards, some more ancient copper-works are noticed; and
then, _Gebel Horvashia_, whose formation is _granite_, rises a few
miles off to the SE.; in its natural basin much good water is retained
after rain. _Wadi Abu Hadth_ next attracts attention from its
possessing a good deal of fine herbage, and many gum-arabic trees. Of
the granite mountains in this region, _Gebel Agrib_, or _Garib_, or
_Gharib_ ("camel's hump") is the loftiest, as it elevates itself to
about 6000 feet above the sea level; and from its position it forms a
conspicuous landmark far out at sea.

The ascent of this majestic mountain, from its steepness and numerous
ravines, is found to be fatiguing. Mr J. Wilkinson[18] describes it as
follows:--

"The first evening we reached the base of the highest cone, where we
slept, and ascended the next morning to the summit, from which we
had a view of the mountains on either side of the sea, and the
different plains. We tracked the gazelles very nearly to the summit,
and every now and then in the ravines found some solitary plants
growing under the shade of a projecting stone. The peaks of this
mountain resemble the _Aiguilles_ near Mount Blanc; but, to equal
that mountain in beauty, it requires the lower parts to be covered
with the woods and verdure of the Alps, and the desert plain below
to be exchanged for the green meadows of Switzerland. I calculate
the height to be 5513 feet above the ravine in the plain below,
which is a few hundred feet above the level of the sea."

Footnote 18: Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. ii.
p. 39.

About ten miles southward, _Bir-el-Dara_--the "Well of Dara," below
the mountain of that name, occurs; there, likewise, copper _scoriæ_,
smelting furnaces, and miners' houses, are observed.

Further south, more _copper mines_ are seen in a bare place, among low
hills, all of which have been examined for the ore.

Advancing south-eastwards by the plain, some _calcareous_ rocks are
passed, and afterwards a line of _sandstone_,[19] with limestone over
it, running parallel to, and nearly equidistant between the _two
primitive_ ridges. _Wadi-el-Enned_ succeeds to the eastward, where a
beautifully clear rivulet is found; but its water is too bad for the
use of animals, being chiefly serviceable for the nourishment of
numerous date palms. This spot lies at the foot of some _limestone_
hills of the _cretaceous_ series that join the eastern _granitic_
ridge.

Footnote 19: Mr J. Wilkinson (_ibid_, Note, p. 41), says,
"Judging from the angle of its dip, it formerly rose _over_ the
lower, or eastern primitive range, from which, however, it is now
separated by a valley, or bed of a torrent."

Next, on the south, comes _Gebel Kuffra_, where the water is so _salt_
as only to be drunk by camels. _Gebel Dochan_, (smoke)--the "Mons
Porphyrites" of the ancients--rising about eleven miles more
southward, and in the same line with the supposed site of _Myos
Hormus_, Myos Hormos, the "mouse harbour," is too distant from our
proposed limits, to receive a full description in the present Memoir.
I will only remark that at Mount _Dochan_, there exist some
interesting ruins, and "those vast _quarries_, from which Rome took so
many superb pieces of _porphyry_, to adorn her baths and
porticoes."[20] On its southern side, Mr J. Wilkinson adds, "we met
with some _Breccia Verde_; and of other kinds of _Breccia_ we had
observed great quantities and varieties at Dochan." The sea-shore,
about Myos Hormus, is bare and deserted; to the west, at some distance
from the harbour, the _granitic_ chain extends; on the east, between
it and the sea, a low ridge of _limestone_ hills, which unites with
the primitive rocks on the north, comes down towards the shore. "And,
in the distance, on the north, is seen the mountain _El Zeit_, so
called from the quantity of _petroleum_ found there; whence project
two small headlands, forming two gulfs, at the entrance of which are
many long _sandbanks_. May not this be the '_mons Eos_' of Pliny?"[21]

Footnote 20: _Ibid_, p. 42.--Pliny writes of the _quarries_,
"quantis libet molibus cædendis sufficiunt _Lapidicinæ_." Lib.
36, cap. 7. They produced _red porphyry_ of a most beautiful,
close-grained kind; so Pliny says, "_rubet porphyrites_ in eadem
OEgypto."

Footnote 21: Ibid., p. 51.

This _Gebel Zeit_, or "Mount of Oil," runs out into a promontory on
one side of the Strait of Jubal; at its foot a copious supply of
_Petroleum_, or rock oil, is obtained. It is about as liquid as
turpentine, of a black or dark-brown colour, and is collected by the
Greek Christians of Tur, who take it there and sell it, for rheumatism
and for healing sores. The Arabs call it _Zeit-el-Gebel_--"oil of the
mountain."

South of this promontory the sea is studded with a number of small
islands, some of which are described by Strabo; all, however, I
believe, except _Shadwan_, which is of secondary limestone, are of
recent marine formation--chiefly of _Coral_.

(_Conclusion in our next Number._)

_Climate of Whitehaven_

_Synopsis of Meteorological Observations made at the Observatory,
Whitehaven, Cumberland, in the Year 1849._
BY JOHN FLETCHER MILLER, Esq., F. R. S., F. R. A. S., &c.
Communicated by the Author.

+------++------------------------------------------------------------+
| || STANDARD BAROMETER,[22] |
| || CORRECTED AND REDUCED TO 32° FAHRENHEIT. |
| ||----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| || | | | | | | | |
| || | | Mean | Mean | Mean | Pres-| Mean | |
|1849. || Max. | Min. | at | at |Atmos-| sure | Pres-| |
| || | | 3 | 10 |pheric| of | sure | Range.|
| || | | P.M. | P.M. | Pres-|Vapor.|of Dry| |
| || | | | | sure | | Air. | |
|------||----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
| || Inches |Inches|Inches|Inches|Inches|Inches|Inches| Inches|
|Jan. ||30·173 |28·680|29·654|29·679|29·666| 0·236|29·430| 1·493 |
|Feb. ||30·774[23]|28·890|30·012|30·012|30·012| ·265|29·747| 1·884 |
|March ||30·494 |29·140|29·940|29·949|29·944| ·264|29·680| 1·354 |
|April ||30·147 |29·123|29·551|29·563|29·571| ·256|29·315| 1·024 |
|May ||30·147 |29·052|29·749|29·763|29·770| ·354|29·416| 1·095 |
|June ||30·122 |29·516|29·867|29·873|29·884| ·357|29·527| ·606 |
|July ||30·295 |29·216|29·763|29·770|29·780| ·426|29·354| 1·079 |
|Aug. ||30·189 |29·175|29·785|29·788|29·800| ·436|29·364| 1·014 |
|Sept. ||30·464 |28·924|29·826|29·831|29·842| ·413|29·429| 1·540 |
|Oct. ||30·489 |29·129|29·720|29·731|29·739| ·316|29·423| 1·360 |
|Nov. ||30·137 |28·737|29·637|29·668|29·666| ·295|29·371| 1·400 |
|Dec. ||30·721[24]|29·078|29·843|29·835|29·853| ·233|29·620| 1·643 |
|------||----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------|
|Means ||30·346 |29·055|29·778|29·788|29·794| ·321|29·473|{1·291}|
| || | | | | | | |{2·094}|
+------++----------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------+

Footnote 22: The readings of the barometer hitherto used required
an additive correction of about 0·08 inch. All past results will
be reduced to the standard instrument.

Footnote 23: Uncorrected Maximum, 30·820 inches.

Footnote 24: Uncorrected Maximum, 30·752 inches.

+------++-----------------------------------++-------------+
| || SELF-REGISTERING THERMOMETER. ||PLUVIOMETER. |
| || || |
| ||---------+-----+-----+-------+-----||------+------|
| || | | | | || | |
| ||Absolute | | | Mean | || Rain | |
|1849. || | Mean| Mean|Monthly|Range|| and | Snow.|
| ||---------| of | of |Temper-| || Snow.| |
| ||Max.|Min.| Max.| Min.| ature.| || | |
| || | | | | | || | |
|------||----+----+-----+-----+-------+-----||------+------|
| || ° | ° | ° | ° | ° | ° ||Inches|Inches|
|Jan. ||50· |18·7|42·14|35·82| 38·987| 31·3|| 5·683| |
|Feb. ||51· |30· |45·91|40·07| 42·990| 21· || 2·045| |
|March ||54· |28· |46·79|39·96| 43·375| 26· || ·837| |
|April ||62· |29· |49·73|38·51| 44·124| 33· || 1·488| ·090 |
|May ||70· |36·5|60·51|45·85| 53·185| 33·5|| 3·037| |
|June ||67·5|40·5|61·53|48·55| 55·044| 27· || 1·224| |
|July ||75·5|46· |63·93|53·74| 58·835| 29·5|| 5·478| |
|Aug. ||72· |46·5|64·05|55·03| 59·541| 25·5|| 3·771| |
|Sept. ||74· |42·5|62·56|50·48| 56·524| 31·5|| 2·814| |
|Oct. ||64· |34· |52·16|43·11| 47·636| 30· || 5·252| |
|Nov. ||55· |27·7|47·85|42·77| 45·310| 27·3|| 4·974| |
|Dec. ||52·5|25· |41·69|35·93| 38·810| 27·5|| 2·396| |
|------||----+----+-----+-----+-------+-----++------+------|
|Means ||62·3|33·7|53·24|44·15| 48·696| 56·8||38·999| ·090 |
| || | | | | | || | |
+------++----+----+-----+-----+-------+-----++------+------+

+------++-------------------------------------+
| || | | || |
| || | | || |
| || | | || |
| || Wet |Evapor-| Prevailing ||Force|
| ||Days.| ation | Winds. Two || of |
|1849. || | Gauge.| Daily ||Wind,|
| || | | Observations. || 0-5.|
| || | | || |
| || | | || |
|------||-----+-------+----------------++-----|
| || | Inches| || |
|Jan. || 20 | ·909 |SW. || 3·2 |
|Feb. || 12 | 1·024 |SW. || 2·1 |
|March || 13 | 1·558 |SW. & NW. || 2·1 |
|April || 16 | 2·620 |Easterly. || 2·5 |
|May || 14 | 3·886 |SW. || 2·0 |
|June || 10 | 5·076 |SW. || 1·9 |
|July || 18 | 4·156 |NW. || 2·3 |
|Aug. || 19 | 2·657 |SW. || 1·4 |
|Sept. || 12 | 3·337 |E., Variable 1·5|| |
|Oct. || 17 | 1·723 |SW. || 2·3 |
|Nov. || 24 | ·960 |SW. || 2·4 |
|Dec. || 15 | ·793 |E., Variable || 1·8 |
|------||-----+-------+----------------++-----|
|Means || 190 |28·699 |SW. || 2·1 |
| || | | || |
+------++-----+-------+----------------++-----+

HYGROMETER.

+---------++----------------------------------++
| || At 3h P.M. ||
| || ||
| ++-------+-------+----------+-------++
| || | | | ||
| 1849. || Mean | Mean | Mean | Com- ||
| || of | of | Dew- |plete- ||
| || Dry | Wet | Point |ment of||
| || Bulb. | Bulb. | De- | Dew- ||
| || | |duced.[25]|Point. ||
| || | | | ||
+---------++-------+-------+----------+-------++
| || ° | ° | ° | ° ||
|January || 40·28 | 39·02 | 36·68 | 3·60 ||
|February || 44·66 | 42·50 | 40·08 | 4·46 ||
|March || 45·85 | 43·17 | 40·02 | 5·82 ||
|April || 48·66 | 43·94 | 39·13 | 9·53 ||
|May || 58·79 | 52·85 | 48·39 | 10·40 ||
|June || 60·23 | 53·44 | 48·68 | 11·54 ||
|July || 63·13 | 57·47 | 53·82 | 9·30 ||
|August || 62·43 | 57·77 | 54·59 | 7·84 ||
|Sept. || 61·95 | 56·48 | 52·87 | 9·08 ||
|October || 51·17 | 48·13 | 45·09 | 6·06 ||
|November || 46·65 | 45·10 | 43·23 | 3·41 ||
|December || 40·25 | 38·74 | 36·40 | 3·79 ||
+---------++-------+-------+----------+-------++
|Means, || 52·00 | 48·21 | 44·91 | 7·07 ||
|1848, || 51·93 | 48·23 | 44·98 | 6·95 ||
|1847, || 51·94 | | 44·12 | 7·82 ||
+---------++-------+-------+----------+-------++

+---------++---------------++---------+-------+
| || WEIGHT OF || | |
| || VAPOUR. || | |
| ++-------+-------++ Degree | |
| || |Requir-|| of |Weight |
| 1849. || In a |ed for ||Humidity,| of a |
| || Cubic | Satu- ||(complete| Cubic |
| || foot |ration || Satu- |foot of|
| || of | of a || ration | Air. |
| || Air. |Cubic || =1·000).| |
| || | foot. || | |
+---------++-------+-------++---------+-------+
| ||Grains.|Grains.|| |Grains.|
|January || 2·80 | 0·32 || 0·899 | 546·2 |
|February || 3·04 | 0·57 || 0·844 | 546·8 |
|March || 3·03 | 0·72 || 0·811 | 543·7 |
|April || 2·87 | 1·23 || 0·701 | 535·1 |
|May || 3·93 | 1·73 || 0·696 | 527·2 |
|June || 3·91 | 1·99 || 0·663 | 527·8 |
|July || 4·70 | 1·77 || 0·726 | 522·6 |
|August || 4·85 | 1·50 || 0·767 | 523·2 |
|Sept. || 4·55 | 1·71 || 0·728 | 523·7 |
|October || 3·58 | 0·87 || 0·804 | 533·8 |
|November || 3·41 | 0·43 || 0·888 | 538·8 |
|December || 2·71 | 0·41 || 0·878 | 548·1 |
+---------++-------+-------++---------+-------+
|Means, || 3·61 | 1·10 || 0·784 | 534·7 |
|1848, || | || | |
|1847, || | || | |
+---------++-------+-------++---------+-------+

Footnote 25: From Mr Glaisher's Hygrometrical Tables, the
accuracy of which my own series of observations made in the years
1847 and 1848, for the purpose of testing their correctness, shew
in a very striking manner; and I think every meteorologist must
feel himself greatly indebted to Mr Glaisher for this valuable
compilation, which is also based on observations made under his
own superintendence at the National Observatory.

In eight months of the year 1847, the difference between the
observed and the deduced Dew-point at Whitehaven, is 0°·10; and
in 1848, it is only 0°·07, the mean of the two periods comprising
1220 observations, amounting to the comparatively evanescent
fraction of 8/100ths of a degree. Such satisfactory proofs of the
perfection of Mr G.'s tables have induced me to abandon Daniell's
Dew-point Apparatus, for that more simple, less costly, and
equally correct form of Hygrometer, the combination of the dry
and wet bulb thermometers.

SOLAR AND TERRESTRIAL RADIATION.

[Transcriber's Note: Key to abbreviations in table headers:
Six's = Six's Thermometer, 4 feet above Ground;
O G = On Grass;
O W = On Wool.]

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| || ABSOLUTE MINIMA.||MEAN NOCTURNAL TEMPERATURE.||
| ||----------------------------------------------||
| 1849. ||Six's| On | O W ||Six's| Naked Thermometers ||
| || |Grass| O G || | O G |O W O G| Diff. ||
|----------||-----+-----+-----||-----+-----+-------+-------||
| || ° | ° | ° || ° | ° | ° | ° ||
|January, || 18·7| 4· |--2·8||35·82|30·35| 27·71 | 2·64 ||
|February, || 30· | 20·5| 18· ||40·07|35·38| 33·08 | 2·30 ||
|March, || 28· | 19·5| 14·7||39·96|34·88| 32·60 | 2·28 ||
|April, || 29· | 21·3| 16· ||38·51|32·72| 28·88 | 3·84 ||
|May, || 36·5| 26· | 22· ||45·85|39·27| 36·27 | 3·00 ||
|June, || 40·5| 29·5| 25· ||48·55|41·06| 37·86 | 3·20 ||
|July, || 46· | 33· | 29· ||53·74|45·52| 42·43 | 3·09 ||
|August, || 46·5| 35· | 31·5||55·03|49·25| 46·05 | 3·20 ||
|September,|| 42·5| 31·8| 28· ||50·48|42·84| 39·53 | 3·31 ||
|October, || 34· | 24·5| 18·5||43·11|37·15| 33·46 | 3·69 ||
|November, || 27·7| 19·5| 14·5||42·77|37·79| 35·72 | 2·07 ||
|December, || 25· | 17·5| 11·5||35·93|30·29| 27·08 | 3·21 ||
|----------||-----+-----+-----||-----+-----+-------+-------||
| 1849, || 33·7| 23·5| 18·8||44·15|38·04| 35·05 | 2·98 ||
| 1848, || 32·5| | 20·2||43·79| | 35·73 | ||
| 1847, || 33·7| | 20·5||43·50| | 35·95 | ||
| 1846, || 36·1| | 23·1|| | | | ||
+-----------------------------------------------------------+

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| || TERRESTRIAL RADIATION. |
| ||--------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1849. || Maximum. || Minimum. || Mean. |
| || O G |O W O G| || O G |O W O G| Day. ||O G |O W O G|
|----------||-----+-------+---------||-----+-------+---------||----+-------|
| || ° | ° | || ° | ° | || ° | |
|January, || 14·7| 21·5 | 3d || 1· | 1·5 | 7th||5·47| 8·11 |
|February, || 11·5| 13· | 17th|| 1·5 | 1·5 | 3, 22d||4·69| 6·99 |
|March, || 14·5| 16· | 31st|| 0· | 1·5 | 11,12th||5·08| 7·36 |
|April, || 11·5| 17·5 | 11th|| 3· | 3· | 3d ||5·79| 9·63 |
|May, || 12· | 17·5 | 1st|| 1·5 | 2·5 | 15th||6·58| 9·58 |
|June, || 14· | 19·5 | 4th|| 2· | 3·5 | 26th||7·49| 10·69 |
|July, || 16· | 20· | 16, 17th|| 3· | 4· | 4th||8·22| 11·31 |
|August, || 19· | 22· | 4th|| 2· | 3· | 26th||5·78| 8·98 |
|September,|| 13· | 18·5 | 27th|| 2· | 2·5 | 16, 20th||7·64| 10·95 |
|October, || 14· | 21· | 17th|| 0· | 1· | 25, 30th||5·96| 9·65 |
|November, || 10·5| 13·2 | 24, 28th|| 1·5 | 1·5 | 8th||4·98| 7·05 |
|December, || 17·5| 21· | 4th|| 0· | 0·5 | 8th||5·64| 8·85 |
|----------||-----+-------+---------||-----+-------+---------||----|-------|
| 1849, || 14·0| 18·4 | || 1·46| 2·16 | ||6·11| 9·09 |
| 1848, || | 15·9 | || | 1·94 | || | 8·06 |
| 1847, || | 15·1 | || | 1·14 | ||[26]| 7·45 |
| 1846, || | 14·6 | || | 1·35 | ||[27]| 7·45 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+

+---------------------------------+
| || IN SUN'S RAYS. |
| ||---------------------|
| 1849. || Max. |Mean.|Solar |
| || | |Rad.[28]|
|----------||------|-----|--------|
| || ° | ° | ° |
|January, || 59 | 45·5| 3·37 |
|February, || 67 | 54·4| 8·49 |
|March, || 77 | 61·3| 14·51 |
|April, || 93 | 69·3| 19·57 |
|May, || 133 | 88·0| 27·49 |
|June, || 106 | 89·2| 27·67 |
|July, || 106 | 96·3| 32·37 |
|August, || 104 | 85·8| 21·75 |
|September,|| 102 | 81·1| 18·54 |
|October, || 75 | 64·9| 12·74 |
|November, || 67 | 50·9| 3·05 |
|December, || 56 | 44·1| 2·41 |
|----------||------+-----+--------|
| 1849, || 87·0 | 69·2| 15·99 |
| 1848, || | | |
| 1847, || 90·2 | 71·0| 17·15 |
| 1846, || | | |
+---------------------------------+

Footnote 26: In 1847, the Thermometer was on Cork throughout the
year. It is here reduced to the Standard of Raw Wool.

Footnote 27: In 1846, the Thermometer was placed on Cork in
cloudy and wet weather. The results are reduced to the Standard
of Raw Wool, by adding 0°·25 to the _recorded_ annual mean.

Footnote 28: Difference between the mean maximum in the Sun's
rays, and the mean maximum in the shade.

_Form, &c. of Instruments._

The Barometer (the frame of which is brass) is a standard made by
Barrow, under the direction of James Glaisher, Esq., of the Greenwich
Observatory.

The adjustment for the difference of capacity of tube and cistern is
effected previous to every observation, and the correction for
capillarity and reduction to the temperature of 32° is made at the
close of each month.

The difference between its readings and those of the Greenwich
standard is scarcely appreciable, being only 0·002 inch.

The Dry and Wet Bulb Thermometers, also made by Barrow, are considered
to have identical readings under similar circumstances, and both, too,
agree with the Greenwich standard thermometer. The Dew-point
apparatus, now discontinued, approximates very closely in its readings
to the dry and wet bulb thermometers.

The Self-registering Thermometer is a large Six made by Dollond in
1840, and its average difference from the standard is within 2/10ths
of a degree. A duplicate and precisely similar thermometer (which has
also been repeatedly compared with a standard at every part of the
scale) is fixed by its side, so that in case of No. 1 getting out of
order, No. 2 can be resorted to without detriment to the results.

These instruments all have a northern aspect, and are placed about 4
feet above the ground. The naked thermometers employed for indicating
the relative amount of solar and terrestrial radiation, are precisely
similar to those in use at the Government Observatories.

The Rain and Evaporation Gauges are 8 inches in diameter, and the
metres are graduated to the 1/1000th part of an inch. Both are read
off daily. The aperture of the rain-gauge is about 7 feet above the
ground. The evaporation dish is mounted on a moveable stand, 4 feet 4
inches in height, and the circular shelf on which the vessel rests, is
just large enough to hold it. The gauge receives a fair proportion of
wind and sunshine, and is always exposed in the open air during the
day, except when _rain is falling_. At night and in wet weather, it is
placed under a capacious shed, 9 feet in height, and open in front.
Thus, it is conceived that the evaporating surface is freely acted
upon by all the circumstances concerned in promoting this important
natural process.

The direction of the wind is taken twice daily, and its force is
registered on an arbitrary scale from 0 to 6; the highest number is
reserved for storms approaching the hurricane in violence, and is very
rarely recorded.

_Remarks on the Weather in 1849._

_January._--A damp wet month, except the first week, when sharp frost
prevailed. The mean temperature is 0°·68 _above_ the average. On the
night between the 2d and 3d, a naked thermometer on the grass fell to
4°, and one on raw wool to 2°·8 below zero, being the lowest
temperature I have recorded. The radiation indicated by raw wool was
21°·5. Between one and two o'clock on the morning of the 10th, a
terrific thunder-storm burst suddenly over the town, and spread great
alarm amongst the slumbering inhabitants. Seven or eight dazzling
discharges of the electric fluid, followed by deafening crashes,
succeeded each other in about as many minutes. The storm was almost
vertical; and between several of the flashes and the accompanying
thunder, there was scarcely an appreciable interval, certainly not
more than a single second of time. The war of the elements ceased as
suddenly as it commenced, and altogether, the storm did not last more
than ten minutes. The wind, which previously blew a heavy gale, lulled
almost to a calm as the last peal died away. The storm was followed by
a heavy fall of rain and hail. It appears to have been pretty much
confined to this town and neighbourhood. Thunder was also heard on the
evening of the 14th, and lightning was seen on the nights of the 21st,
26th, and 29th. Saturn's ring was perceived at this Observatory on the
night of the 31st, after a long continuance of damp, wet weather. As
this singular appendage was readily seen, and was well and sharply
defined, I have no doubt the instrument would have shewn it ten or
fourteen days earlier, had the nights been at all favourable. The ring
was also seen on the night of the 11th of September 1848, during its
temporary reappearance.

_February._--A fine, dry, and mild month. The temperature 3°·49
_above_ the average of twelve years. On the 11th, the barometer
attained the remarkably high point of 30·82 at this Observatory, which
is about 90 feet above the sea level. At the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich (40 feet above sea), the maximum was 30·85, being greater
than any reading since January 1825, when the barometer at the Royal
Society's apartments attained to 30·841, at 81 feet above the sea
level; and there is no other instance recorded in the Philosophical
Transactions of a reading so high as 30·8, from the commencement of
the series in 1774. The maxima of pressure recorded on the 11th in
various parts of the country, were all found to give a reading of
30·90 at the mean sea level.

On the 18th, primroses were in flower on the cliffs between Panton and
Harrington.

_March._--Similar to February. Temperature 2°·29 _above_ the average,
and the complement of the dew-point 2°·40 _below_ the mean of the two
preceding years.

FIRST QUARTER.--The temperature of the first quarter of 1849 is 2°·16
_above_ the average of twelve years, and the complement of the
dew-point is 1°·52 _below_ that of the corresponding quarter in the
unhealthy years 1847 and 1848.

The average fall of rain is 11·593 inches; in 1849, we have had 8·565,
or 3·02 inches _below_ the usual quantity.

The deaths in the quarter ending March 31, in the town and suburb of
Preston Quarter, are 168, being 16 _above_ the corrected quarterly
average, which is 152. In the corresponding quarters of 1848 and 1849,
the deaths were 250 and 187 respectively.

The deaths exceed the births by 25 in number.

_April._--A fine, dry, but cold month. The temperature 1°·95 below the
average. On the 23d the cuckoo was heard, and on the following day the
swallow was seen in this neighbourhood. On Good Friday, the 6th, two
parhelia, accompanied by a halo, were seen by a friend who was fishing
by the river Calder. The sky was covered with a thin cirro-stratus, so
that the images did not present any defined outline or disc, but
consisted of three circular patches of light of nearly equal
intensity, so much so, that it was difficult to distinguish the real
from the phantom suns. The phenomena were first noticed about 5 P.M.,
and they remained visible till near six. The ring or halo passed
through the centres of the parhelia, one of which was to the left, and
the other to the right of the sun, with which they formed a straight
line.

_May._--A fine month, with an average mean temperature. The sun shone
out on 29 days. The depth of rain is about an inch _above_ the average
quantity.

_June._--A very dry month, and by far the coldest June I have recorded
in the last seventeen years. The mean temperature is no less than
3°·67 below the average. The hay harvest began in this neighbourhood
about the 20th.

The thermometer on the grass, on raw wool, was below the freezing
point on eight nights; on the nights of the 8th and 10th it fell to
27°·5, and on that of the 19th and 20th, to 25°. On several mornings
ice was seen in the immediate vicinity of the town, and on the 3d of
the month there was a somewhat heavy fall of snow amongst the
mountains. Highbell, Kentmere, High Street, and the mountains around
Mardale, were covered with the mantle of winter to the depth of 6
inches. Such an incident has not occurred, it is said, since 1827,
when several sheep were lost and smothered in snow-drifts on Mosedale
and Helvellyn; and Skiddaw was covered with snow. Both snow and hail
are recorded on the 10th in the register kept for me at Bassenthwaite
Halls, at the foot of Skiddaw.

What is most remarkable, this unusual coldness does not appear to have
been experienced at all in the southern counties of England. At
Greenwich, the temperature is stated to be of the same value as that
of the average from 70 years, but less than that of the preceding
eight years, by 1°·9. According to Mr Glaisher's tables, published in
the Registrar-General's Report for the June quarter, the mean
temperature in Cornwall and Devonshire _exceeds_ that of the
corresponding month in 1847, by 0°·7, and south of lat. 52°, it is in
excess 9/10ths of a degree. Between the parallels 52° and 53°, the
temperature is 1°·2 _below_ that of June 1847; between 53° and 54°, it
is 2°·1, and at Whitehaven, in lat. 54½°, it is 2°·7 below that of
June 1847.

The extraordinary depression in the temperature has therefore been
unparticipated in, by places situated south of the parallel of 53°.

SECOND QUARTER.--The mean temperature of the quarter ending June 30,
is 1°·92 _below_ the average of twelve preceding years; and the
difference between the air and dew-point temperatures is 1°·32 _above_
that of the corresponding quarter in the years 1847 and 1848.

The average fall of rain is 8·15 inches; in the second quarter of
1849, the fall is 5·74 inches, or 2·40 inches under the normal
quantity.

The deaths in the town and suburb are 139, being 21 above the
corrected average number, which is 117. In the June quarters of 1847
and 1848 the deaths were 177 and 147 respectively. The births exceed
the deaths by 59.

_July._--Cold and wet. Temperature 1°·82 _below_ the average. The hay
harvest began in this neighbourhood about the 20th June; meadow hay
was rather light on the ground, but the crop generally was well
secured.

_August._--Average temperature and depth of rain, with a serene and
stagnant atmosphere. The complement of the dew point is 1°·78 _below_
the average of the month in the two preceding years.

_September._--A fine, mild, and rather dry month, with serene
atmosphere. At the close of the month, several of the public fountains
were dry, and most of the pumps in the town had ceased to yield their
supplies.

THIRD QUARTER.--The temperature of the quarter ending September 30th
is 0°·37 _below_ the average, and the complement of the dew-point, as
compared with the two previous years, is 0°·5 _below_ the mean. The
depth of rain is 0·36 inch under the average quantity, which is 12·42
inches. The deaths in the third quarter of 1849, in the town and
suburb, are 168, or 47 above the corrected average number; and, except
in 1846, a greater number than has occurred in any September quarter
since the register was begun in 1839. In the September quarter of the
last four years, the deaths are as under: 1846, 255; 1847, 148; 1848,
142; and 1849, 168. The births exceed the deaths by six in number.
During this quarter we had a few cases of Asiatic cholera in this
town, chiefly in the month of September; and at the adjacent seaport
of Workington the disease was of a most malignant character, and
exceedingly fatal. The total number of deaths from the commencement of
the epidemic on the 13th of August, till it entirely ceased on the 6th
of November, was 172. In 1841, the population was 6041, which gives a
mortality of 2·8 per cent., or one death in every 35 persons, from
cholera. It is, however, believed that the population of Workington
has decreased since the last census was taken; and at the time the
epidemic was raging, most of the respectable inhabitants had left the
place; so that the ratio of mortality amongst the then residents must
have been considerably greater than is here stated. A singular fact
connected with the disease is its sudden cessation for several days,
at the expiration of which it returns with increased virulence. In the
week between the 25th and 31st of August, the deaths were 65; from the
31st August to the 8th September there were none; on the 8th, 12; 9th
and 10th, none; on the 11th, 13; and on the 12th only one death; 13th,
11; from the 14th to the 19th inclusive, the deaths averaged 2·5
daily, but on the 20th they rose to 13; and between the 21st and the
end of September there were only eight deaths, which occurred on the
21st, 22d, 25th, and 27th.

Between the 1st and 20th of October the deaths were 32, and during
that period there were frequently none for three or four consecutive
days. There was only one death after the 20th October. It occurred on
the 6th of November, when the pestilence ceased. I am informed by a
resident medical gentleman, that at the commencement of the disease
the cases were rapidly fatal, many of them after eight or ten hours'
illness, and it was then almost entirely confined to the lower
classes.

The proximate cause of the exceedingly fatal character of the disease
at this seaport is probably to be found in the effluvia engendered by
the extensive tract of marshy land, called the "Cloffocks," adjoining
the river Derwent, and in the immediate vicinity of the town. What is
most remarkable, the first case of cholera at Workington occurred on
the same day of the same month, in the same house, and even in the
same room in the said house, where the epidemic first broke out in the
summer of 1832. There is no peculiarity in the situation of the house,
nor can any reason be assigned for this most singular coincidence. I
am informed that very few insects were seen about the river, and,
during the height of the disease, the rooks entirely forsook their
old-established quarters in the grounds adjoining the Hall.[29]

Footnote 29: The cause of this fearful epidemic is still a
mystery. The meteorological conditions of the atmosphere,
although slightly abnormal, are wholly inadequate to account for
its induction. It is most probably induced by some gaseous poison
diffused through the atmosphere, but of a nature so subtle that
the most delicate analysis fails to detect its presence.
According to the experiments of Dr Dundas Thompson of Glasgow, no
solid matter existed in the air, but ammonia was obtained from it
in the proportion of 0·319 grain of caustic ammonia, or 0·731
grain of carbonate of ammonia, to 1000 pounds of air.

_October._--Cold, with an average fall of rain (5¼ inches.) The mean
temperature is 2°·5 _below_ the average. The grain crops were above an
average in point of quantity, and they were got under cover in
excellent condition. Garden fruit, as pears, apples, &c., were not so
plentiful as usual. On the evening of the 28th, that rare phenomenon a
lunar rainbow, was seen from the grounds at Tarn Bank, near
Cockermouth, by Isaac Fletcher, Esq., to whom I am indebted for the
following description of it:--

In the early part of the evening the sky was clear, but at 8h 30m a
dense mist rose from the river Derwent and entirely overspread a large
segment of the northern horizon; whilst to the south, the atmosphere
continued comparatively clear, the moon, within four days of full,
shining brightly near the meridian. About 9h 10m, there was a faint
luminous arch in the north, which was evidently a lunar rainbow, or
rather a fog-bow, for no rain whatever was visible at the time. The
light reflected by the arch was white, and perfectly free from
prismatic colour. Its breadth was considerable, perhaps 4° or 5°, and
its centre or highest part, passed close under the star beta Ursæ
Majoris, so that the extreme altitude of the arch was probably about
18° or 20°. The edges were not sharply defined, but gradually shaded
off. It was noticed that the denser the fog became, the more apparent
was the arch, and _vice versa_, so that the phenomenon could not have
been of an auroral character. The phenomenon was watched for ten or
fifteen minutes, when the gradual dispersion of the fog, by destroying
the refracting medium, put an end to this interesting appearance.

_November._--As usual, a very dull, damp month, with but little
difference between the temperature of the days and nights. Temperature
1°·20 _above_ the average.

Early on the morning of the 2d, a swallow was seen on the wing in the
immediate vicinity of this town. The maximum temperature of the day
was 55°. Between the 9th and 12th inclusive, the extremes of day and
night temperature only varied 2 degrees.

_December._--A fine dry month with occasional frosty nights.
Temperature 2°·15, and rain 2·19 inches _below_ the average. Two loud
peals of thunder and much lightning on the night of the 14th.

The remarkable meteor observed at Edinburgh on the evening of the
19th, and minutely described by Professor Forbes who witnessed it, was
also seen at Whitehaven under the same circumstances and at the same
time.

LAST QUARTER.--The mean temperature of the last quarter of 1849 is
1°·15 _below_ the average, and the complement of the dew-point is
0°·87 _below_ the mean of the two preceding years. The average depth
of rain for the quarter is 14·64 inches; in 1849 the quarterly fall is
12·62 inches, or 2·02 inches _under_ the normal quantity. The deaths
in this quarter, in the town and suburbs, are 131, being 4 _below_ the
average number.

It is pleasant to have to announce a favourable change in the sanitary
condition of this town, and to record the termination of an excessive
mortality, which uninterruptedly prevailed for a period of two years
and a half; for this is the only quarterly period wherein the deaths
have not exceeded the average since March 1846.

In the corresponding quarters of 1846, 1847, and 1848, the deaths were
215, 161, and 176 respectively. The births exceed the deaths by 34.

THE AURORA BOREALIS.--There have been seven exhibitions of the aurora
borealis during the year 1849, two of which were sufficiently
remarkable to merit something more than a passing notice.

The first occurred on the evening of January 14th. At 10 P.M., a
well-defined auroral arch, about 5° in width, extended from NNE. to
W., its highest part reaching nearly to Arided in Cygnus. At 11h there
was one complete arch, and segments of two other arches, all
brilliant, crossing each other in the NW., and throwing off intensely
bright streamers, some of which reached the altitude of the Pointers.
The aurora was now exceedingly beautiful, and emitted considerable
light. The streamers appeared to have a duplex lateral motion, running
along the upper edge of the arch from west to north, and then
backwards from north to west. The clear sky beneath the arches was
almost black, from contrast. At 11h 30m the arches had broken up, and
the streamers appeared to emanate from the horizon.

_February 18._--At 9 P.M. there was a brilliant band of auroral light
in the east about 6° in width, which shot upwards towards the zenith,
throwing off short lateral streamers. At times, a complete arch of
varying width extended from the eastern to the western horizon; at
others, it was broken up into two or more detached portions. At 9h
45m, a magnificent rainbow-like arch about 2° in width, spanned the
heavens from ENE. to WSW. The altitude of the centre was apparently
about 75°; the lower edge, at or near the highest point of the arch,
was bounded by the star Castor. The arch was beautifully defined, and
of perfectly even width throughout its entire extent; it disappeared
in a few minutes after my attention was called to it, and soon after
the sky became overcast. But for the absence of the moon, it might
easily have been mistaken for a lunar rainbow. A precisely similar
arch made its appearance here on the evening of the 21st of March
1833, and as far as my observation goes, these perfect rainbow-like
arches are of exceedingly rare occurrence.

The following phenomenon though unconnected with auroræ, is probably
of electric origin; and, as an unusual atmospheric appearance, is
worthy of being placed on record:--_September 16._--The sky was mostly
overcast throughout the day, except a segment extending from WSW. to
ENE., which was bright and clear to an altitude of about 15°. The
upper boundary of the clear blue space was an elliptical segment
formed by a sheet of white cloud, which was partially illuminated
towards the western extremity, and somewhat resembled an auroral arch.
I first noticed this blue arch about 3 P.M., and from that time until
it disappeared, about six o'clock, there was not the slightest
apparent change, either in its altitude or position. It was observed
as early as 7 o'clock in the morning, when it was, nearer to the
horizon.

GENERAL REMARKS.--The year 1849 is the driest we have had since 1844;
the fall of rain (39 inches) is 7·9 inches under the average annual
depth, which is 47 inches nearly. From some cause, the annual quantity
of rain at this place is evidently on the decrease, and the diminution
is, I believe, general all over the north of England. Probably the
large amount of moor and waste marshy land brought into cultivation of
late years, and the more efficient drainage of the country generally,
by diminishing the evaporating surface, and so interfering with that
invisible process of nature which is the source of every kind of
atmospheric deposition, may have led to this and other changes which
appear to have occurred in the climate of England within the last half
century. In the first seven years (1833-39) after I began to keep a
meteorological record, the average annual depth of rain was 49·93
inches, or 50 inches nearly; in the last seven years, ending with
1848, the average is reduced to 43·74 inches. The greatest quantity in
the last 17 years is 59 inches, in 1836; the least, 34·69 inches in
1842. The three driest years in the period are 1842, 1844, and 1849,
which yielded 34·69 inches, 36·72 inches, and 39 inches.

The temperature of the past year (48°·69) is about half a degree
_below_ the climatic mean, which is 49°·02. The coldest year of the
last 17 was 1845, and the mildest, 1846; the mean temperatures of
these years were 47°·49 and 50°·85 respectively.

The naked thermometer on the grass, placed on raw wool, has been at or
below the freezing point in every month of 1849; viz., in January, on
19 nights; in February, on 14; in March, on 13; in April, on 18; in
May, on 11; in June, on 8; in July, on 1; in August, on 2; in
September, on 5; in October, on 16; in November, on 13; and in
December, on 24 nights. The amount of radiant heat thrown off from the
earth's crust at night, in the year 1849, as indicated by naked
thermometers placed on raw wool and on grass, is much greater than
usual. The evaporation exceeds the fall of rain in five months of
1849; viz., in March, April, May, June, and September. In 1849, we
have had 12 perfectly clear days; 163 days more or less cloudy but
without rain; 190 wet days; 261 days on which the sun shone out; 33
days of frost; 13 of hail; 7 of snow; 10 of thunder and lightning; and
7 days in which lightning occurred without thunder. There have also
been three lunar halos, one lunar rainbow, a double parhelion, and
seven appearances of the aurora borealis.

The clear days are 14, the days of sunshine are 13, and the wet days
are 8 _less_ than the average number. The past year has therefore
afforded a smaller share of blue sky and a less amount of sunshine
than usual, although the depth of rain and the number of wet days are
both _below_ the average for the locality.

The quantity of electricity in the air was extremely small down to the
end of July, after which it was restored to its average amount.

This fact is strikingly exhibited by the following table of continuous
observations taken by M. Quetelet with Peltier's electrometer:--

Average Mean
1844-1848. 1849.
° °
January, 53 39
February, 47 36
March, 38 27
April, 27 20
May, 21 16
June, 18 13
July, 19 14
August, 21 21
September, 24 24

In 1849, the deaths exceed the calculated average number by 79, and
the births exceed the deaths by 74.

In the seven years ending with 1845, the mean annual number of deaths
in the town and suburb, with an assumed population of 17,867, is 410,
being 22·9 per thousand, or one death in every 43·5 persons. In 1846,
1847, and 1848 (assumed average population 18,329), the mean annual
number is 694, being 37·8 deaths per thousand, or 1 in every 26·4
persons in those three most unhealthy years. In 1849 the deaths are
606, which, assuming the population to be the same as in 1848, give
32·2 deaths per 1000, or 1 death in every 31 persons. The average
annual number of deaths in the ten years 1839-48 is 495, which, with
an assumed population of 17,713, gives 27·9 per 1000, or 1 death in
every 35·7 inhabitants.

So that the mortality in 1849, although still above the average, shews
a marked improvement in the health of the town as compared with any of
the three preceding years; and, in the last quarter, the deaths are
below the average for the period.

THE OBSERVATORY, WHITEHAVEN,
_13th March 1850_.

_The Completed Coral Island._
By JAMES D. DANA, Geologist
to the American Exploratory Expedition, &c., &c.

The Coral Island, in its best condition, is but a miserable residence
for man. There is poetry in every feature; but the natives find this a
poor substitute for the bread-fruit and yams of more favoured lands.
The cocoa-nut and pandanus are, in general, the only products of the
vegetable kingdom afforded for their sustenance, and fish and crabs
from the reef their only animal food. Scanty, too, is the supply; and
infanticide is resorted to in self-defence, where but a few years
would otherwise overstock the half-dozen square miles of which their
little world consists.

Yet there are more comforts than might be expected on a land of so
limited extent, without rivers, without hills, in the midst of salt
water, with the most elevated point but ten feet above high tide, and
no part more than 300 yards from the ocean. Though the soil is light
and the surface often strewed with blocks of coral, there is a dense
covering of vegetation to shade the native villages from a tropical
sun. The cocoa-nut--the tree of a thousand uses--grows luxuriantly on
the coral-made land, after it has emerged from the ocean; and the
scanty dresses of the natives, their drinking-vessels and other
utensils, mats, cordage, fishing-lines, and oil, besides food, drink,
and building material, are all supplied from it. The_ Pandanus_, or
screw-pine, flourishes well, and is exactly fitted for such regions:
as it enlarges and spreads its branches, one prop after another grows
out from the trunk and plants itself in the ground; and by this means
its base is widened and the growing tree supported. The fruit, a large
ovoidal mass, made up of oblong dry seed, diverging from a centre,
each near two cubic inches in size, affords a sweetish-husky article
of food, which, though little better than prepared corn-stalks, admits
of being stored away for use when other things fail. The extensive
reefs abound in fish which are easily captured; and the natives, with
wooden hooks, often bring in larger kinds from the deep waters. From
such resources a population of 10,000 persons is supported on the
single Island of Taputeouea, whose whole habitable area does not
exceed six square miles.[30]

Footnote 30: There are a few islands better supplied with
vegetable food, though the above statements are literally true of
a large majority.

Water is usually to be found in sufficient quantities for the use of
the natives, although the land is so low and flat. They dig wells five
to ten feet deep in any part of the dry islets, and generally obtain a
constant supply. These wells are sometimes fenced around with special
care; and the houses of the villages, as at Fakaafo, are often
clustered about them. On Aratica (Carlshoff) there is a watering-place
50 feet in diameter, from which our vessels in a few hours obtained
390 gallons. The Tarawan Islands are generally provided with a supply
sufficient for bathing, and each native takes his morning bath in
fresh water, esteemed by them a great luxury.

The only source of this water is the rains, which, percolating through
the loose surface, settle upon the hardened coral rock that forms the
basis of the island. As the soil is white, or nearly so, it receives
heat but slowly, and there is consequently but little evaporation of
the water that is once absorbed.

These islands, moreover, enclose ports of great extent, many admitting
even the largest class of vessels; and the same lagoons are the pearl
fisheries of the Pacific.

An occasional log drifts to their shores; and at some of the more
isolated atolls, where the natives are ignorant of any land but the
spot they inhabit; they are deemed direct gifts from a propitiated
deity. These drift-logs were noticed by Kotzebue, at the Marshall
Islands, and he remarked also that they often brought stones in their
roots. Similar facts were observed by us at the Tarawan group, and
also at Enderby's Island, and elsewhere.

The stones at the Tarawan Islands, as far as we could learn, are
generally basaltic, and they are highly valued for whetstones,
pestles, and hatchets. The logs are claimed by the chiefs for canoes.
Some of the logs on Enderby's Island were forty feet long, and four in
diameter.

Fragments of pumice and resin are transported by the waves to the
Tarawan Islands. We were informed that the pumice was gathered from
the shores by the women, and pounded up to fertilize the soil of their
taro patches; and it is so common, that one woman will pick up a peck
in a day. Pumice was also met with at Fakaafo. Volcanic ashes are
sometimes distributed over these islands, through the atmosphere; and
in this manner the soil of the Tonga Islands is improved, and in some
places it has received a reddish colour.

The officers of the "Vincennes" observed several large masses of
compact and cellular basalt on Rose Island, a few degrees east of
Samoa: they lie two hundred yards inside of the line of breakers. The
island is uninhabited, and the origin of the stories is doubtful; they
may have been brought there by roots of trees, or perhaps by some
canoe.

Notwithstanding the great number of coral islands in the Paumotu
Archipelago, the botanist finds there, as Dr Pickering informs me,
only twenty-eight or twenty-nine native species of plants. The
following are the most common of them: _Portulacca_, two species;
_Scævola Konigii_. _Pisonia?_ one species; _Tournefortia sericea_;
_Pandanus odoratissimus_; _Lepidium_, one species; _Euphorbia_, one
species; _Morinda citrifolia_; _Boerhavia_, two species; _Cassytha_,
one species; _Heliotropium prostratum_, _Pemphis acidula_, _Guettarda
speciosa_, _Triumphetta procumbens_, _Sauriana maritima_;
_Convolvulus_, one species; _Urtica_, one or two species; _Asplenium
nidus_; _Achyranthus_, one species; a species of grass. One or two
rubiaceous shrubs. _Polypodium_.

On Rose Island, Dr Pickering found only the _Pisonia_ and a
_Portulacca_. The _Triumphetta procumbens_, a creeping plant, takes
root, like the _Portulacca_, in the most barren sands, and is very
common. The _Tournefortia_ and _Scævola_ are also among the earliest
species. The _Pisonia_, a tree of handsome foliage, the _Pandanus_, or
screw-pine, and the cocoa-nut (always an introduced species),
constitute the larger part of the forests. In the Marshall group,
where the vegetation is more varied, Chamisso observed fifty-two
native plants, and, in a few instances, the banana, taro, and
bread-fruit.

The language of the natives indicates their poverty, as well as the
limited productions and unvarying features of the land. All words,
like those for mountain, hill, river, and many of the implements of
their ancestors, as well as the trees and other vegetation of the land
from which they are derived, are lost to them; and as words are but
signs for ideas, they have fallen off in general intelligence. It
would be an interesting inquiry for the philosopher, to what extent a
race of men, placed in such circumstances, are capable of mental
improvement. Perhaps the query might be best answered by another: How
many of the various arts of civilized life could exist in a land where
shells are the only cutting instruments? The plants, in all but
twenty-nine in number,--but a single mineral,--quadrupeds, none, with
the exception of foreign mice,--fresh water barely enough for
household purposes,--no streams, nor mountains, nor hills! How much of
the poetry or literature of Europe would be intelligible to persons
whose ideas had expanded only to the limits of a coral island,--who
had never conceived of a surface of land above half a mile in breadth,
of a slope higher than a beach, of a change of seasons beyond a
variation in the prevalence of rains? What elevation in morals should
be expected upon a contracted islet, so readily overpeopled that
threatened starvation drives to infanticide, and tends to cultivate
the extremest selfishness? Assuredly, there is not a more unfavourable
spot for moral or intellectual development in the wide world than the
Coral Island, with all its beauty of grove and lake.

These islands are exposed to earthquakes and storms, like the
continents, and occasionally a devastating wave sweeps across the
land. During the heavier gales the natives sometimes secure their
houses by tying them to the cocoa-nut trees, or to a stake planted for
the purpose. A height of ten or twelve feet, the elevation of their
land, is easily overtopped by the more violent seas; and great damage
is sometimes experienced. The still more extensive earthquake waves,
such as those which have swept up the coast of Spain, Peru, and the
Sandwich Islands, would produce a complete deluge over these
islands.--(_United States' Exploring Expedition.--Geology._--_By James
Dana_, p. 75.)

_Biographical Notice of Leopold Pilla, the Geologist._
By H. COQUAND.[31] Communicated by the Author.

Footnote 31: Read to the Geological Society of France, at their
meeting on the 16th of April 1849.

Again, to bring to your recollection the numerous works which have
placed Pilla among the most eminent geologists of Italy, is to do
honour to the memory of an associate, whose recent loss we lament, by
bestowing well-merited praises on the greatness of mind in a citizen,
who nobly sacrificed a life already illustrious, and which the future
promised to render still more so, to the good of his country. Yes,
Italy has always been _tellus magna virum!_ The chances of war, the
rage of civil discord, the insults of foreign domination, may have
eclipsed its political name, but they could not extinguish its genius.
The blast of revolutions has respected the triple halo with which the
sciences, letters, and the arts, have adorned its brow. By entrusting
to one of his friends the task of enumerating his scientific labours,
the Society imposes on him a very painful duty; but he undertakes it
with feeling and gratitude; for the public homage rendered to the
virtues of those whom we have loved, seems to bring them back to us,
and softens the awards of destiny, which has too soon snatched them
from us.

Leopold Pilla was born in the kingdom of Naples. While still young,
the exciting scenes of Vesuvius attracted his attention, and
determined his scientific career. In 1832, he undertook to write the
annals of this volcano, and gave its history in two periodical
collections.[32] It was at this period that he proved the production
of flames in volcanic eruptions, and deduced from thence the ingenious
conclusions which you judged worthy of a place in your memoirs.[33]
This remarkable work, which of itself would have been sufficient to
establish his scientific reputation, was soon followed by numerous
others, which shed a new lustre on his name. The study of the extinct
volcano of Rocca Monfina,[34] in the Campania, illustrated the theory
of craters _de soulevement_, and enriched it with facts of the highest
importance.

Footnote 32: Spettatore del Vesuvio et Bulletino del Vesuvio.
Napoli, 1832.

Footnote 33: Sopra la produzione delle fiamme nei vulcani, e
sopra le consequenze che se ne possono tirare. Atti del Congresso
di Lucca, 1845.

Footnote 34: Memoires de la Société Geologique de France, t. i.,
2me serie.

With a mind at once philosophical and cultivated, he was able to
generalise and describe, to unite erudition with good taste, and to
treat questions of deepest science with that grace and picturesqueness
of style, which renders them popular without detracting from their
accuracy. His love for geology amounted to enthusiasm; he was
therefore so zealous in propagating his views, that certain jealous
minds could not pardon him, and led him to atone for his fault, by a
voluntary exile. The apostle of the science, he likewise was its
martyr; thus nothing was wanting to his fame. It is the privilege of
men of genius to be persecuted. Obliged to yield to the storm, Pilla
left Naples, but by his writings he belonged to Italy at large; and
the unanimous acclamation which greeted him in the chair formerly
occupied by Galileo, conferred on him by the liberality of the Grand
Duke of Tuscany, formed at once his triumph and revenge.

Besides the works mentioned, we owe to him a Mineralogical Treatise on
Rocks;[35] an Introduction to the Study of Mineralogy;[36] and a
Geological Itinerary from Naples to Vienna.[37] Thus, by approving the
new productions which his activity produced, and which caused him to
be better appreciated by the nation which had adopted him, the Tuscans
had only to sanction the judgment they had already given of our
_savant_, founded on his reputation and works.

Footnote 35: Trattato mineralogico delle Roccie, Napoli.

Footnote 36: Introduzione allo studio della geologia, Napoli.

Footnote 37: Osservazioni Geologiche che si possono fare lungo la
strada da Napoli a Vienna.

Pilla left his heart at Naples. That city contained all the objects of
his affections--a father, who had guided his first attempts in the
field of science, and his family--a classical soil which had revealed
to him the secret of its revolutions, a majestic landscape, which he
could not find among the monotonous plains of Pisa, and above all _his
own_ Vesuvius. It was in this way that he recalled to his mind the
mountain which had been the subject of his daily study, and from whose
summit nature presented herself to his eyes in the most striking
contrasts, revealing to his view its subterranean convulsions,
connected with the delightful picture of the Gulf of Baia. All his
thoughts brought him back to Naples. When, from the height of the
terraces of Campiglia our view extended from the peaks of Mount Amiata
to the banks of the Popolonia, and from the Tuscan Archipelago to the
distant horizons of Corsica and Sardinia, my poor friend often
interrupted our reveries by saying,--"It is almost as beautiful as
Naples, but my Vesuvius is wanting;" and then adding, "How unfortunate
it is that Werner did not lay the foundation of geology at Naples; _he
would have made it Plutonian_." Thus the love of his country, and the
recollection of its wonders, were confounded in his mind with the
cultivation of the science, and gave to his animated and poetical
conversation a touching melancholy which agreeably tempered his
vivacity.

During the years of his professorship at Pisa, Pilla published, in
succession, a comparative Essay on the formations which compose the
soil of Italy;[38] a Collection of the Mineral riches of Tuscany;[39]
two Memoirs on the Etrurian Formation;[40] History of an Earthquake
felt in Tuscany, in 1846;[41] many notices respecting the
Calcare-rosso, and on the temperature observed in the wells of
Monte-Massi;[42] lastly, the first volume of his Treatise on
Geology.[43] The entire work would have formed four octavo volumes.
The materials were prepared, but death left the work incomplete. As
these various writings are in the hands of all geologists, we give no
analysis of them; which indeed would only be a faint reflection from
the pictures present to your memory. I may merely say, that the
elevated considerations of the general physics of the globe to which
he has risen in appreciating and investigating the causes of
earthquakes, the comprehensive and methodical plan on which he has
projected this geological treatise, by affording us a proof of the
fertility and maturity of his mind, shew us, at the same time, the
importance of the part reserved for a philosopher, whom death has
removed from the present scene before he had reached his thirty-sixth
year.

Footnote 38: Saggio comparative dei terreni che compongono il
suolo de l'Italia, Pisa.

Footnote 39: Breve cenno sopra la richezza mineralogica della
Toscano, Pisa.

Footnote 40: Sulla vera posizione del terreno di macigno in
Italia, Pisa; and Memoires de la Société geologique de France,
2me serie, t. ii.

Footnote 41: Storia del tremuoto che ha devastuto i paesi della
costa Toscana, il di 14 Agosto 1846, Pisa.

Footnote 42: Miscellanee di fisica e di Storia naturale di Pisa,
anno 1, Nos. 7 and 8.

Footnote 43: Trattato di geologia, t. i., Pisa, 1847.

The war of independence raged at the time when Pilla was about to
visit the north of Europe, in order to complete his studies in
practical geology, by comparing the different formations. Every
generous heart in Italy beat high at the report of the insurrection of
Milan; and the Universities of Pisa and Sienna, by demanding arms and
first flying to the scene of danger, shewed that hearts, proved in the
fire of science, are prepared for great things. Pilla marched at the
head of his pupils, and led them in the path of glory, as he had done
in that of philosophy. The love of country and thirst for
independence, by subjugating his heart, had stifled the calculation of
reason under the impulse and delirium of enthusiasm. He had foreseen
the issue of the struggle; for he said to me some days before setting
out for the plains of Lombardy, "the hour of our fall has struck.
Italy loses by fourteen ages of servitude the splendour of her early
days. They are leading us to slaughter; but we must teach our children
how to die, in order that they may know how they may one day become
free."

The University legion formed a small corps which was placed on the
right wing of the Piedmontese army, and occupied the positions of
Curtatone and Montanara. The principal effort of the Austrian army was
directed against these lines, in the affair of the 29th May 1848.
Attacked by 13,000 imperial troops, the Tuscans resisted courageously,
and did not fall back till they had left 250 of their men on the field
of battle. Their heroic resistance paved the way for the success of
Goito. Pilla was found among the dead.

_On the Chronological Exposition of the Periods of Vegetation,
and the different Floras which have succeeded each other on
the Earth's Surface._ According to the views of M. BRONGNIART.

(_Continued from p. 330 of Volume 48._)

"II. _Permian Period._--The nature of the vegetables which appear
peculiar to this epoch, is far from being determined in a positive
manner; for the few localities where the fossils we consider as
belonging to it, have hitherto been found, are not perhaps really of a
formation very identical and truly contemporaneous. For it may be
asked, whether the bituminous and copper slates of the county of
Mansfield, classed by all geologists with the zechstein, and the
sandstone of Russia, placed by M. M. Murchison and Verneuil in their
Permian formation, are really contemporaneous? Finally, is there
greater reason for classifying the slates of Lodève, considered by M.
M. Dufresnoy and Elie de Beaumont as depending on the variegated
sandstone, but so different from the same sandstone of the Vosges in
its _flora_, in this period, which would thus be a kind of passage
from the coal period, so well characterised, to the vosgian or
variegated sandstone, which differs from it in so decided a manner?"

On account of these doubts, M. Brongniart indicates these three floras
separately; _1st_, The Flora of the bituminous slates of Thuringia,
composed of algæ, ferns, and coniferæ; _2d_, The Flora of the Permian
sandstones of Russia, which comprehends ferns, equisetaceæ,
lycopodiaceæ, and noeggerathiæ; _3d_, The Flora of the slates of
Lodève, which is composed of ferns, asterophylliteæ, and coniferæ.

"We perceive that there are great specific differences between the
plants of these localities, and that hitherto no species common to
them has been found. Must we ascribe these differences to the
influence of the great diversity of geographical position, or is
there, besides, a difference in the period of their origin among these
formations? The only character which tends to bring these two latter
Floras near each other, is the relation which both of them bear to the
coal-formations, of which they seem to be a kind of extract, reminding
us more especially of the most recent beds.

"With regard to the plants of the bituminous slates of the Mansfeld
district, they are so few in number, and appear to have been deposited
in conditions so different, that we can with difficulty compare them
with the two other Floras. Yet the species of Sphenopteris are
extremely like each other in the three formations, and an exact
comparison would perhaps establish the identity of many of them. The
Pecopteris crenulata of Ilmenau, is only perhaps an imperfect state of
the Pecopteris abbreviata of Lodève; lastly, the Callipteris of the
Permian formation of Lodève have a very close connection between
themselves and the Callipteris of the coal-formation.

"We may add, with regard to the bituminous slates of Thuringia, that
many of these fossils appear to be marine plants, whose numbers would
become much more considerable if we did not suppress all the imperfect
impressions which have been described as such, and which are nothing
more than fragments of ferns or altered coniferæ.

"II. REIGN OF THE GYMNOSPERMS.--During the preceding periods, and
particularly during the Carboniferous period, the Acrogenous
cryptogams predominated, and the Gymnospermous dicotyledons, less
numerous, shewed themselves in unusual forms, and sometimes so
anomalous that we are in doubt whether to place them in this or the
preceding department; such are the Asterophylliteæ. At a later period,
on the contrary, these anomalous and ambiguous forms, whose
classification is often obscure, disappear; Acrogenous cryptogams and
Gymnospermous dicotyledons evidently enter into families still
existing, differing from them only in generic forms; the Ferns and
Equisetaceæ, which represent the acrogens, are less numerous; the
Coniferæ and Cycadeæ almost equal them in number, and usually exceed
them in frequency, especially in the second period; by their abundance
and size they afford the essential character of all these formations;
lastly, the Angiospermous dicotyledons are wholly wanting, and the
monocotyledons are in very small numbers.

"This reign of the Gymnospermous dicotyledons is divided into two
periods; the first, in which the Coniferæ predominate, and in which
the Cycadeæ scarcely appear; the second, in which this family becomes
predominating in the number of species, in frequency and variety of
generic forms. The latter may be divided into many epochs, each
presenting peculiar characters.

"III. _Vosgian Period._--This period, which does not appear to have
been of long duration, and comprehends only the _variegated_ sandstone
properly so called, presents the following characters; _1st_, The
existence of ferns, pretty numerous, of forms very often anomalous,
evidently constituting genera now extinct, and which are not found
even in the most recent formations; such are the Anomopteris and the
Crematopteris. Stems of arborescent ferns are more frequent than
during the Jurassic period; true Equisetums are very rare; the
Calamites, or rather perhaps the Calamodendrons, are abundant. _2d_,
The Gymnosperms are represented by two genera of Coniferæ, _Voltzia_
and _Haidingeria_, of which the species and specimens are very
numerous. The Cycadeæ, on the contrary, are very rare. M. Schimper
mentions only two species founded on two unique specimens of a very
imperfect character, and the determination of which may be considered
doubtful.

"This consideration appears to me to separate completely, in a
botanical point of view, the period of the variegated sandstone from
that of the Keuper, although both are placed by geologists in the
trias-formation. For the Cycadeæ become very abundant in the Keuper,
are perfectly characterised, and often analogous to those of the
Jurassic period; while the Coniferæ of the variegated sandstone are,
on the contrary, wanting in this formation.

"IV. _Jurassic Period._--This period is one of the most extensive by
the formations which it comprehends, and the variety of different
special epochs of vegetation which it embraces; although we cannot
refuse to comprehend, under a common title, epochs during which very
analogous forms have succeeded each other. It thus comprehends from
the Keuper inclusively, up to the Wealdean formations. In fact, we
find the Pterophyllum of the Keuper appear anew, with slight specific
differences in the Wealdean formations. The _equisetites_ of the
Keuper extend to the mean oolithic formation; the _baiera_ of the Lias
likewise recurs in the Wealdean beds of the north of Germany; the
Sagenopteris and the Camptopteris likewise appear in the Keuper, Lias,
and Oolite.

"Yet these common characters, which indicate a great analogy between
the Floras of each of these epochs of formation, do not prevent each
of them having characters of its own, and often an assemblage of
species, almost all peculiar to each particular epoch. We ought,
therefore, to distinguish here those various subdivisions, the number
of which will perhaps be afterwards multiplied, when we become better
acquainted with the vegetables of each of the stages of the Jurassic
formations.

"_Keupric Epoch._--M. Brongniart then gives an enumeration of the
vegetables of the Keupric epoch, which, in regard to the Amphigenous
cryptogams, consist of Algæ; in regard to the Acrogenous cryptogams,
of Ferns and Equisetaceæ; in the case of the Gymnospermous
dicotyledons of Cycadeæ and Coniferæ; lastly, of two doubtful
monocotyledons (_Palæoxyris_ and _Preisleria_.)

"On comparing this Flora with that of the variegated sandstone of the
Vosges, and with that of the Lias, we perceive that it has nothing in
common with the first except the palæoxyris, which appears very nearly
related to that of the variegated sandstone; on the contrary, it
resembles the Flora of the Lias or Oolite in the ferns, many of which
are specifically identical, or nearly allied in the _Nilsonia_ and
_Pterophyllum_, which are likewise either identical, or very nearly
connected specifically with the Lias.

"_Lias Epoch._--The Liasic epoch furnishes Amphigenous cryptogams,
consisting of Algæ, mushrooms, and lichens; Acrogenous cryptogams,
such as Ferns, Marsileaceæ, Lycopodiaceæ, and Equisetaceæ;
Gymnospermous dicotyledons, represented by the Cycadeæ and Coniferæ;
finally, doubtful monocotyledons, consisting of _Proacites_ and
_Cyperites_.

"The essential characters of this epoch are therefore, _1st_, The
great predominance of Cycadeæ, already well established, and the
presence of numerous genera in this family, particularly _Zamites_ and
_Nilsonia_; _2d_, The existence of many genera among the ferns with
reticulated nerves, which scarcely shew themselves, and under forms
not greatly varied, in the most ancient formations; but some of which,
notwithstanding, already begin to appear in the epoch of the Keuper.
Such are the _Camptopteris_ and _Thaumatopteris_.

"_Oolitic Epoch._--The Oolitic epoch furnishes, among Amphigenous
cryptogams, the Algæ; among the Acrogenous cryptogams, Ferns,
Marsileaceæ, Lycopodiaceæ, and Equisetaceæ; among the Gymnospermous
dicotyledons, Cycadeæ and Coniferæ; lastly, among the doubtful
monocotyledons, Podocarya and Carpolithes.

"This list is chiefly founded on the fossils, so varied in character,
collected on the coasts of Yorkshire, near Whitby and Scarborough, in
beds which are referred to different parts of the inferior oolite, and
particularly to the great oolite. It likewise contains a small number
of species found in the slaty limestone of Stonesfield, near Oxford,
depending on these same beds.

"In France, the fossils of this formation have been collected in the
neighbourhood of Morestel, near Lyon, by Dr Lortet; at Orbagnoux and
Abergemens, near Nantua, in the department of the Ain, by M. Itier; in
the vicinity of Chateauroux, near Châtillon-sur-Seine, by Colonel
Moret; at Mamers, in the department of Sarthe, by M. Desnoyers; and,
lastly, in the greatest quantity by M. Moreau, in beds of oolithic
limestone of a very pure white, in the neighbourhood of Verdun, and
near Vaucouleurs. Some species have likewise been found at other
points of the Jura, in Normandy, near Valogne, in the neighbourhood of
Alençon, in each of these localities in very small number. But the
greater part of these species are not yet described and figured, and
they generally differ as species from those of England. The ferns are
generally less numerous, and not so well preserved; we must, however,
except the _Hymenophyllites macrophyllus_, found in a perfect state at
Morestel, and likewise observed at Stonesfield, and in Germany. The
Cycadeæ, the species of which are not greatly varied, are referrible
to the genera _Otozamites_ and _Zamites_; Ctenis, Pterophyllum, and
Nilsonia have not yet been observed; lastly, the Coniferæ of the genus
_Brachyphyllum_ are there particularly abundant, and more frequent
than in the other localities.

"In Germany, it is more especially in the slaty limestone of
Solenhofen, near Aichstædt, that these fossils have been observed, and
particularly those of the family of Algæ. M. Gæppert likewise notices
many Cycadeæ in the Jurassic formation of Ludwigsdorf, near Kreuzburg,
in Silesia.

"But these localities, so diverse, are referrible to very different
stages of the Oolithic series, and perhaps will constitute, when they
are better known, and more fully explored, distinct epochs.

"The distinctive characters of this epoch, comprising the whole extent
we have assigned to it, from the Lias to the Wealdean formation
exclusively, are; among the Ferns, the rarity of ferns with
reticulated nervures, so numerous in the Lias; among the Cycadeæ, the
frequency of _Otozamites_ and _Zamites_, properly so called; that is
to say, Cycadeæ most analogous to those of the existing period, and
the diminution of _Ctenis_, _Pterophyllum_, and _Nilsonia_, genera
much more remote from living species; finally, the greater frequency
of Coniferæ, viz., _Brachyphyllum_ and _Thuites_, much rarer in the
Lias.

"_Wealdean Epoch._--This epoch affords, Amphigenous cryptogams, the
Algæ; among Acrogenous cryptogams, Ferns, _Marsileaceæ_, and
_Equisetaceæ_; among Gymnospermous dicotyledons, _Cycadeæ_ and
_Coniferæ_; lastly, some Carpolithes as plants of a doubtful class.

"This enumeration results principally from discoveries made, in recent
years, in the Wealdean formations of the north of Germany, at
Osterwald, Schaumberg, Buckeburg, Oberkirke, &c., of which the fossil
plants were first described by M. Ræmer, and afterwards in a more
complete manner by M. Dunker, in his monograph of these formations. To
these species must be added others, less numerous and varied,
previously discovered in the _Wealds_ of England, near Tilgate Forest,
and Hastings in Sussex, and which are so well described by M.
Mantell."

This same formation has likewise been found in France, near Beauvais,
by M. Graves, who observed there _Lonchopteris Mantelli_, and some
other plants, of which M. Brongniart has not seen specimens, and which
he quotes from Graves on the geology of the department of the Oise.

"These species, 61 in number, enumerated above, appear to be all
peculiar to this formation, with the exception, perhaps, of _Baiera
Huttoni_, which seems to be identical with the species of the Bayreuth
Lias and Scarborough Lias; but their generic forms are almost all the
same as those of the Lias and Oolitic formations. The Cycadeæ,
however, already appear less numerous relatively to the ferns.

"We further observe, that this fresh-water formation, which, according
to our view, terminates the reign of the Gymnosperms is connected, by
the whole of its characters with other epochs of the vegetation of the
Jurassic formation, and is distinguished from the Cretaceous epoch,
which succeeds it, by the complete absence of every species which
could be arranged among the Angiospermous dicotyledons, both in France
and England, as well as in the deposits of northern Germany, so rich
in varied species. On the contrary, in the lower chalk, cretaceous
_glauconia_, the quadersandstein or planerkalk of Germany, we
immediately find many kinds of leaves evidently belonging to the great
division of Angiospermous dicotyledons, as well as some remains of
palms, of which no trace is observable in the Wealdean deposits.

"I class among the Cycadeæ the stems of the Tilgate forest, formerly
designated by the name of _Clatharia Lyellii_, and which I have
considered as a stem related to the _Dracæna_. The whole of its
characters, although the almost entire absence of the tissues prevents
us examining its anatomy, appear to me to render this connection most
probable, and particularly to indicate the relations between this stem
and that of _Zamites gigas_ found at Scarborough.

"The abundance of Lonchopteris Mantelli is a character of the Wealdean
formations of the south of England and the department of the Oise,
where this fossil seems to make its appearance, at least in fragments,
in the greater number of localities, where these beds are exposed by
the excavation of potter's clay in this formation, near Savignies. In
Germany, on the contrary, this species is wanting, and _Abietites
Linkii_ becomes the predominating plant. With regard to Brachyphyllum,
I have not yet had it in my power to study them in a natural state;
but the figures given of them leave little doubt as to their analogy
with the species of the Oolitic epoch.

"The abundance of the Cycadeæ likewise forms a distinctive character
of the Wealdean formations of Germany. Still there are, as has been
seen, many species common to the two basins; and I may add, that
probably the Sphenopteris Goepperti, _Dunk._, does not differ from
Sphenopteris Phillipsii, _Mant._

"I have not included in this list some marine plants mentioned as
belonging to the beds of this epoch; _1st_, because it appears to me
doubtful whether they really belong to the Wealdean and not to the
Glauconian epoch; _2dly_, because it still appears to me uncertain,
whether the species mentioned, Chondrites æqualis and intricatus, are
quite identical, specifically with the species of this name belonging
to the fucoidal sandstone lying above the chalk.

"III. REIGN OF THE ANGIOSPERMS.--The dominating character of this last
transformation of the vegetation of the globe, is the appearance of
Angiospermous dicotyledons, those vegetables which actually constitute
more than three-fourths of the vegetable creation of our epoch, and
which appear to have acquired this predominance from the commencement
of the Tertiary formations. For a long period I was of opinion that
these vegetables did not begin to appear till after the chalk, with
the earliest beds of the Tertiary formations; but more recent
investigation has shewn that beds belonging to the Chalk formation
present some very distinct examples.

"These vegetables appear even at the beginning of the Chalk formation;
for it is certain that many well-determined species exist in the
quadersandstein and planerkalk of Germany, which appear to correspond
to the green sandstone of France, or green sand of English geologists;
although this formation in France and England has never yielded any of
them, but only some examples of Cycadeæ, Coniferæ, and marine plants.
But in southern Sweden, at Kopingue in Scania, some specimens of
dicotyledonous leaves appear associated with a species of Cycadeæ, in
beds which have been referred to the greensand; so that the whole
Chalk formation would appear to constitute a first period in the reign
of the Angiosperms, forming, so to speak, the passage between the
vegetation of the Secondary and that of the Tertiary formations, still
presenting, as the first, a few Cycadeæ, as the following, some
Angiospermous dicotyledons, and thus paving the way to the
considerable development of these vegetables in the succeeding period.
This period is besides characterised by many Coniferæ peculiar to it,
and which appear very distinct from those of the Wealdean formations,
and from those of the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary formations; and
such in particular are the _Cunninghamites_.

"We can therefore distinguish two great periods in the reign of the
Angiosperms:

"_1st_, The Cretaceous period, a kind of period of transition.

"_2dly_, The Tertiary period, presenting all the characters arising
from the predominance of Angiosperms, Dicotyledons, and
Monocotyledons, and divisible into many epochs, the characters of
which will not be well established until we have removed all doubts as
to the agreement of the different local series of the Tertiary
formations.

"V. _Cretaceous Period._--The Cretaceous period, properly so called,
comprehends perhaps many distinct epochs; but the beds where fossil
vegetables have been observed, not having been always classified with
precision in the different subdivisions of this formation, it is
impossible to establish their chronology with certainty. Besides, we
must distinguish an epoch which appears immediately to precede this
formation, and one which follows it, and yet differs from the Eocene
period.

"We are acquainted with fossil vegetables of the Cretaceous period:--

"_1st, Sub-Cretaceous Epoch_.--In the subcretaceous marine lignites of
the Isle of Aix, near La Rochelle, and of Pialpinson, in the
department of the Dordogne; these are the most ancient beds of the
Cretaceous formation, or the last of the Jurassic period. Here have
been found only marine plants, wood, and branches of Coniferæ.

"_2d_, In the chloriteous chalk or greensand of southern England, the
neighbourhood of Beauvais and Maus; only Cycadeæ and marine plants
have been observed there.

"_3d_, In the same formation in Scania, where M. Nilson has observed
leaves of Dicotyledons mixed with leaves of Cycadites.

"_4th_, At Niederschoena, near Freyberg, in Saxony, beds, analogous to
greensand or quadersandstein, containing fossils of considerable
variety, Cycadeæ, Coniferæ, and Dicotyledons, particularly
_Credneria_.

"_5th_, In the quadersandstein of Bohemia and Silesia, at Blankenburg,
at Teifenfurth, Teschen, &c., where this sandstone is characterised by
the presence of dicotyledonous leaves of the genus _Credneria_, by
Cyeadeæ, and particularly by Coniferæ of considerable variety,
described by M. Corda in Reuss' work on the Chalk of Bohemia.

"_6th_, In France, in the iron sands connected with the green
sandstones, near Grand-Pré, in the department of Ardennes, where M.
Buvignier has found two fossil vegetables of a very remarkable
character, a stalk of an arborescent fern, and a cone previously
observed in England in the same formation.

"But in other places, and in beds belonging to epochs certainly
different, this period has presented only marine vegetables; such more
especially are those fucoidal sandstones or macigno, characterised by
Chondrites targionii, æqualis, intricatus, &c., now designated by the
name of fucoidal sandstone or flysch--the geological epoch of which
has long been doubtful, but which observers seem to agree in
considering as a distinct formation, superior to the chalk, and
inferior to the most ancient beds of the Tertiary formations.

"These fucoidal sandstones form a very distinct epoch, which hitherto
appears to be characterised only by marine vegetables, and what, at
least in a botanical point of view, would form the line of demarcation
between the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations; for it is remarkable
that the fuci found there in such great numbers have little connection
with those of the Chalk, properly so called, and none whatever with
those of the most ancient beds of the Tertiary formations, such as
those of Monte-Bolca.

"From the study and comparison of these fossils, derived from such
various sources, we may divide the Cretaceous period into three
epochs, of which the middle one is the true Cretaceous epoch. The
others, characterised almost exclusively by marine vegetables, are
somewhat doubtful with regard to their true geological position; the
one, more ancient than the Chalk, contains only the subcretaceous
lignites of the neighbourhood of La Rochelle, and the Department of
Dordogne; the other, superior to the Chalk, corresponds to the
Sandstone with fucoides."

The _subcretaceous_ epoch comprehends Algæ, Naiadeæ, and Coniferæ.

"This small Flora is almost entirely founded on fossil plants,
collected among the marine lignites of the Isle of Aix, near La
Rochelle, long since described by M. Fleureau de Bellevue.

"The difference of the vegetables does not appear to admit of
connecting this Flora with that of the inferior chalk or greensand;
but it would require to be more completely examined, both with regard
to its precise geological epoch and the entire amount of vegetable
species which it contains. The most abundant and characteristic of
these species is the _Rhodomelites strictus_, whose branches, crossed
and mingled with _Zosterites_, constitute the mass of these lignites
with the wood of Coniferæ, which have not yet been studied, and small
branchlets, very rare, of _Brachyphyllum orbignianum_.

"I have referred to this period the two _Cystoseirites_, described by
M. de Sternberg, and mentioned by him as found in the beds between the
jurassic slates and the chalk in Transylvania.

"Does this fossil Flora correspond to a formation almost entirely
marine, but cotemporary with the Wealdean epoch? New investigations
can alone determine this, but we may suppose an analogy between the
Brachyphyllum of the epochs."

_2d_, _Cretaceous Epoch_.--The Cretaceous epoch presents us, among the
amphigenous cryptogams, with Algæ, some of which are doubtful; among
the Acrogenous cryptogams, with ferns; the Monoctyledons are here
represented by two species of palms; the Gymnospermous dicotyledons by
the cycadeæ and coniferæ; the Angiospermous dicotyledons by a species
of Acerineæ, a betulaceæ, a cupulifera, salicineæ, an acerineæ, and a
juglandeæ; lastly, a few dicotyledons remain, but the determination of
the families to which they belong is uncertain.

"We ought, moreover, to notice at least from ten to twelve species of
dicotyledonous leaves, indeterminate, and often imperfect, figured by
Geinitz, Reuss, Corda, and Goeppert, or existing in collections.

"This Flora, which contains from sixty to seventy species, is, as we
perceive, remarkable in this respect, that the Angiospermous
dicotyledons nearly equal the Gymnospermous dicotyledons, and in the
existence of a pretty considerable number of well characterised
Cycadeæ, which cease to appear at the Eocene epoch of the Tertiary
formations.

"The genus _Credneria_, containing dicotyledonous leaves, with a very
peculiar nervation, but the affinities of which are doubtful, is
likewise one of the characteristic forms of this epoch, in a pretty
considerable number of localities. With regard to the species of
dicotyledonous leaves, referred to determined families, I may remark
that these supposed relations, founded on very imperfect specimens,
and very few in number, are still very uncertain, and incapable of
furnishing a basis for comparison with the other Floras, nor any
certain conclusion.

"_3d_, _Fucoidian Epoch_.--This epoch, which seems to me to form the
most natural limit between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, is
characterised by those deposits, so rich in Algæ, of a very peculiar
form, that they have been called the sandstones or macignos à
fucoïdes, or the flysch of Switzerland,--a formation very widely
spread, especially in southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, as far as
the vicinity of Vienna, and even to the Crimea.

"I have not hitherto found land plants mingled with these marine
species. I do not believe that fossil woods have been met with.

"Almost all these Algæ appear to belong to the same group, the genus
_Chondrites_; and although the species are pretty numerous, they pass
from one to another by almost insensible shades. The Algæ of the
neighbourhood of Vienna, placed in the genus _Munsteria_, are very ill
characterised, and perhaps are not congenerous with those of the
jurassic limestone of Solenhofen; but they appear to me to have been
found in the same formation, designated by the name of gray calcareous
slate, of the sandstone of Vienna, as the Chondrites of the same
country."

The Flora of the fucoidean sandstone is constituted by twelve species
of Algæ (_Chondrites_ and _Munsteria_.)

"What is remarkable in this series of species is, that they have
nothing in common, either with the Algæ of the Subcretaceous epoch, or
with those of the Eocene epoch, and particularly of Monte-Bolca, with
which this Flora should be almost cotemporary, according to many
geologists. The identity of these species of Algæ is likewise
remarkable in all the localities, however distant from each
other--localities so numerous, in regard to the greater number of
these species, that I have been unable to enumerate them.

"The Chondrites targionii, or perhaps a distinct species, but very
nearly related, is the only one presented in another formation, in the
greensand and gault of the Isle of Wight, in England, according to M.
Fitton; and in this same formation, in the department of the Oise,
according to M. Graves.

"M. Kurr has likewise described and figured, under the name of
_Chondrites bollensis_, a fucus of the Lias--the very varied forms of
which are almost identical with the Chondrites targionii, æqualis, and
difformis.

"VI. _Tertiary Period._--Considered as a whole, the vegetables of this
period, cotemporary with all the Tertiary deposits, and continued even
in the vegetation which now covers the earth's surface, is one of the
best characterised. The abundance of Angiospermous dicotyledons, that
of the monocotyledons of diverse families, but especially the Palms,
during a part at least of this period, immediately distinguish it from
the most ancient periods. Yet the observations made on the Cretaceous
epoch have established a kind of transition between the forms of the
Secondary epochs and those of the Tertiary epochs, which was not
suspected a few years ago. But while, at this period, the Angiosperms
appear nearly to equal the Gymnosperms, in the Tertiary period, they
greatly exceed them; while at the Cretaceous epoch, there are still
Cycadeæ and Coniferæ allied to the genera inhabiting tropical regions;
during the Tertiary period, the Cycadeæ appear to have been completely
wanting in Europe, and the Coniferæ belong to the genera of the
temperate regions.

"Notwithstanding this assemblage of characters common to the whole
Tertiary period, there are evidently notable differences in the
generic and specific forms, and in the predominance of certain
families at different epochs of this long period; but here we often
experience serious difficulties in establishing a uniformity as to
time among the numerous local formations which constitute the
different Tertiary formations. In assigning the different localities
where fossil vegetables have been observed to the principal divisions
of the Tertiary series, I have not followed exactly the bases admitted
by M. Unger in his Synopsis; I have approached nearer to the
distribution adopted by M. Raulin, in his Memoir on the
Transformations of the Flora of Central Europe during the Tertiary
period (Ann. Sc. Nat., t. x., p. 193, Oct. 1848), which refers many of
the formations, classified by M. Unger in the Miocene division, to the
Pliocene, or most recent epoch. Yet, according to the advice of M.
Elie de Beaumont, I have not placed all the Lignite formations of
Germany in the Pliocene division, as M. Raulin has done, nor all of
them in the Miocene division, like M. Unger; but, conformably to the
old opinion of my father, I have left the Lignites from the shores of
the Baltic, which include amber, in the inferior division of the old
basins of Paris, London, and Brussels, considering them cotemporary
with the Soisson Lignites. Those of the banks of the Rhine, of
Wetteravia and Westphalia, are arranged in the Miocene division; those
of Styria, and part of Bohemia, on the contrary, are placed among the
recent or Pliocene formations.

"This distribution agrees pretty generally with the nature of the
vegetables contained in them. One important point only leaves me in
doubt: this relates to the Lignites of the environs of Frankfort or
Wetteravia, the plants of which are pretty generally analogous to
those of OEningen or Partschlug in Styria; although their geological
position seems to call upon us to refer them to a more ancient
formation.

"It is probable that a more complete knowledge of these diverse
deposits would lead to a division into distinct epochs more numerous;
but I think that, in the meantime, the division into three principal
epochs, which I shall designate, with the majority of geologists, by
the names Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene, is sufficient for a
comparison of the successive changes of the vegetable kingdom. I shall
point out for each of them the localities which I think should be
comprehended under these different designations.

"With regard to the general characters which result from the
comparative examinations of these Floras, we find that the number of
species, in the great divisions, are thus distributed in these three
Floras:--

Eocene Miocene Pliocene
Epoch. Epoch. Epoch.
-------- -------- --------
Cryptogams, 33 ... 10 ... 13 ...
Amphigenous, ... 16 ... 6 ... 6
Acrogenous, ... 17 ... 4 ... 7
Phanerogams, ... ... ... ... ... ...
Monocotyledons, 33 33 26 26 4 4
Dicotyledons, 143 ... 97 ... 195 ...
Gymnosperms, ... 40 ... 19 ... 31
Angiosperms, ... 103 ... 78 ... 164
--------- -------- --------
Total, 209 ... 209 ... 212 ...

"It may only be remarked that, in the first column, or Eocene
formation, the fossil fruits of the Isle of Sheppey--a part only of
which have been described by M. Bowerbank--have a great influence on
the numbers of the different divisions of Phanerogams, and that this
locality appears altogether exceptional, and is, perhaps, an example
of the effect of currents conveying exotic fruits from remote
climates, and accumulating them on a point of the shores of Europe.

"In this point of view, the enumeration of the plants of this first
epoch is in no way comparable to that of the other epochs, where I
have refrained even from introducing the small number of fossil plants
from the Tertiary formations of the equatorial regions that are known,
in order to confine myself to a comparison of the Tertiary Floras of
Europe.

"With regard to the characters drawn from vegetable forms during these
three epochs, the most remarkable appear to me, 1_st_, In the Eocene
period, the presence, but rarity, of the palms, limited to a small
number of species.

"The predominance of Algæ and marine Monocotyledons, which must be
ascribed to the great extent of marine formations during this epoch.

"The existence of a great number of extra European forms, resulting
especially from the presence of the fossil fruits of Sheppey.

"2_d_, In regard to the Miocene epoch, the abundance of palms in the
greater number of localities belonging, without doubt, to this epoch;
the existence of a considerable number of non-European forms, in
particular of the genus _Steinhauera_, which appears to me to be a
rubiaceæ allied to _nauclea_, found in many localities of these
formations.

"3_d_, In regard to the Pliocene epoch, the great predominance and
variety of Dicotyledons, the rarity of Monocotyledons, and, above all,
the absence of Palms; lastly, the general analogy of the forms of
these plants with those of the temperate regions of Europe, North
America, and Japan.

"A remarkable character of the Floras of these three epochs, but which
is most striking in regard to the last, in which the dicotyledonous
plants are most numerous, is the absence of the most numerous and
characteristic families of the division of Gamopetalis. Thus, among
the numerous impressions of Partschlug, OEningen, Hoerring, Radoboj,
&c., there is nothing to indicate the existence of the Compositæ,
Campanulaceæ, Personneæ, Labiaceæ, Solaniæ, Boraginaæ, &c.

"The only Monopetales mentioned in great numbers are the Ericaceæ,
Ilicineæ, some Sapotaceæ, and Styraceæ, families which belong almost
as much to the Dialypetales as to the Gamopetales.

"In the Miocene flora only have been pointed out many Apocyneæ, and
Rubiaceæ, which I have mentioned above.

"1. _Eocene Epoch._--This epoch, in the most precise limits,
comprehends plastic clay with its lignites, the coarse Parisian
limestone and gypsum which lie above it in the same basin; but I have
not thought it worth while, in the meantime, to separate from it some
formations which, according to the investigations of modern
geologists, are placed between the Cretaceous formations and the
inferior parts of the formations mentioned; such are the Nummulitic
formations of the Vicentin, comprehending the celebrated locality of
Monte-Bolca, and probably some others near it, such as Salcedo, in the
Vicentin. I have likewise joined to this Flora of the Eocene
formations a very remarkable locality of the basin of Paris, the
relations of which with the Tertiary beds are not yet perfectly
determined,--these are the beds of a species of ancient Travertin
which, near Sezanne, contain numerous fossil vegetables still
undescribed, and of which I shall here notice the most remarkable.
These plants have very peculiar remains, and belong probably to a
special Flora, unless the differences can be ascribed to a diversity
of station.

"Besides the different members of the Eocene formation, properly so
called, of the Paris basin, I comprehend in this Flora the fossils of
the same formation in England, at the Isle of Wight, and Isle of
Sheppey in the London basin. These latter fossils, consisting almost
solely of fruits transformed into pyrites, constitute a whole which
has no analogue in any other of the Tertiary basins of Europe; not
only in the number and diversity of these fruits, but in their
peculiar characters, which remove them widely from the plants whose
leaves occur in the other beds of the same geological epoch.
Everything, therefore, would lead us to suppose that these fruits,
although belonging to plants cotemporaneous with the Eocene deposits
of Europe, have been brought from distant countries by marine
currents, just as fruits are still brought from the equatorial regions
of America to the coasts of Ireland or Norway by the great current of
the Atlantic. The deposit in the Isle of Sheppey appears therefore to
be an accidental case in the Eocene deposits, and the Paris basin
presents none of these fossils.

"The Tertiary basin of Belgium, which follows that of London, has
yielded, near Brussels, some fossil fruits in very small numbers, but
which appear identical with one of the genera most abundant at
Sheppey. This is the _Nipadites_, considered at first as a species of
Coco, under the name of _Cocus burtini_.

"Lastly, following the advice of my learned associate, M. Elie de
Beaumont, I have included in the same Flora the plants contained in
the Lignites of the shores of the Baltic and Pomerania, so rich in
amber, in which these vegetables have often been preserved. It is to
the labours of M. Goeppert that we are indebted for a knowledge of
these vegetables, most frequently represented by very small fragments,
the relations of which he has determined with much skill and
accuracy."

With materials collected in these various localities, but of which the
greater part are still unpublished, we may construct the Flora of the
Eocene epoch; but the list, comprehending only the species described,
or at least determined, is only a mere sketch.

M. Brongniart then gives the names of the vegetables belonging to the
Eocene epoch; these are, for the Amphigenous cryptogams, algæ, and
mushrooms; for the Acrogenous cryptogams, hepatici, mosses, ferns,
equisetaceæ, and characeæ. The Monocotyledons present Naiades,
Nipaceæ, and palms. The Gymnospermous dicotyledons are represented by
Coniferæ (Cupressinæ, Abietineæ, Taxineæ, and Gnetaceæ.) Lastly, among
the Angiospermous dicotyledons, we find examples of Betulaceæ,
Cupuliferæ, Juglandeæ, Ulmaceæ, Proteaceæ, Leguminosæ, OEnothereæ,
Cucurbitaceæ, Sapindaceæ, Malvaceæ, Ericaceæ, and three doubtful
families (Phyllites, Antholithes, and Carpolithes.)

"The most remarkable characters of this Flora are,--

"1_st_, The great quantity of Algæ and marine Naiades, characters
owing to the extent and thickness of the marine formations of this
epoch.

"2_d_, The great number of Coniferæ, the greater part belonging to
genera still existing, but among which the Cupressineæ appear to
predominate, especially if we admit as positively belonging to this
family the various fruits of the Isle of Sheppey, which M. Bowerbank
has described under the name of Cupressinites, and of which M.
Endlicher has formed the genera Callitrites, Frenelites, and
Solenostrobus. If these fruits really belong to European vegetation,
they indicate very peculiar generic forms, probably now wholly
extinct.

"3_d_, The existence of many large species of palm, equally shewn by
the occurrence of their leaves and stems.

"2. _Miocene Epoch._--This Eocene or middle epoch of the Tertiary
formations appears to me to comprehend the following localities among
those which have furnished materials for the study of the vegetation
of the Tertiary period: 1_st_, In the environs of Paris, the superior
sandstones, or those of Fontainebleau and the _Meulieres_, or
Buhrstone, which crown our coasts; 2_d_, The sandstone, with
impressions, in the environs of Mans and Angers, and probably those of
Bergerac, in the department of the Dordogne; 3_d_, A part of the
Tertiary formations of Auvergne, and particularly those of the
mountain Gergovia, formations which, by their impressions, appear more
ancient than those of Menat, but which perhaps all belong to different
stages of the Pliocene epoch; 4_th_, The fresh-water formations of
Armissan, near Narbonne, the Gypsum of Aix in Provence, the Lignites
of Provence, whose vegetable fossils are scarcely known; finally, the
Lacustrine formations, rich in the wood of palms, and in stems of
Monocotyledons, from Upper Provence, near Apt and Castellane; 5_th_, A
part of the Tertiary formations of Italy, and particularly those of
Superga, near Turin; 6_th_, The Mollasse of Switzerland, with its
Lignites, at Lausanne, Koepfnac, and Horgen, containing the remains of
palms; 7_th_, The Lignites of the banks of the Rhine near Cologne and
Bonn, at Friesborf, Liblar, &c., sometimes enclosing wood of palms,
and those of Wetteravia at Nidda, near Frankfort, and other places; as
well as those of Weisner near Cassel, which all appear to be of the
same epoch, although those of Wetteravia, by the abundance of certain
genera of Dicotyledons, such as _juglans_ and _acer_, and even by many
cases of specific identity, seem to make a nearer approach to the
Pliocene flora; 8_th_, A part of the Lignites of Bohemia, and
particularly those of Altsattel, whose fossils, described by M. de
Sternberg and M. Rossmæssler, generally agree with those of the other
localities already mentioned. The other Lignites of Bohemia, those of
Bilin and of Comothau in particular, enter completely into the
Pliocene flora; 9_th_, Hoerring in the Tyrol, and Radoboj in Croatia,
of which M. Unger has so well described the numerous impressions in
his _Chloris Protogæa_, and which have almost become the type of the
Miocene flora.

"With the exception of the Lignite formations of the neighbourhood of
Cassel and Frankfort--the species of which have often numerous points
of connection with those of OEningen and Parschlug, and which enter
rather into the Pliocene flora--the different localities I have
mentioned have numerous relations between them as to their fossil
vegetables. Thus, the Nymphea Arethusæ is found in the _Meulières_ or
Buhrstone of Paris, and in the marls of Armissan; the Flabellaria
rhapifolia and maxima recur at Hoering in the Tyrol, at Radoboj in
Croatia, and in the superior sandstones of the environs of Angers and
Perigneux.

"The Callitrites Brongniartii, Endl., is likewise met with in the
formations of Armissan, Aix, in Provence, at Hoering and Radoboj.

"Lastly, the Steinhauera globosa of the Altsattel Lignites in Bohemia,
is likewise found in the sandstone of the vicinity of Maus; and the
Platanus Hercules of Radoboj, in Croatia, has been sent to me from
Armissan, near Narbonne, by M. Toumal.

"These facts would probably multiply by a more attentive study of the
different localities; but as it is, they leave little doubt as to the
synchronism of the greater part of these local formations."

In the Flora of the Miocene formations, Amphigenous cryptogams occur,
represented by Algæ and mushrooms; Acrogenous cryptogams, represented
by mosses, ferns, and Characeæ; Monocotyledons, among which we find
Naiades, Gramineæ, Liliaceæ, and Palms; of the Gymnospermous
dicotyledons, Coniferæ; and Angiospermous dicotyledons, among which
occur Myriceæ, Betulineæ, Cupuliferæ, Ulmaceæ, Moreæ, Plataneæ,
Salicineæ, Lawrineæ, Umbelliferæ, Karolangeæ, Combretaceæ,
Calycantheæ, Leguminosæ, Anacardiæ, Xanthoxyleæ, Juglandeæ, Rhamneæ,
Acerineæ, Nympheaceæ, Apocyneæ, and Rubiaceæ.

"The most striking characters of this epoch consist of the mixture of
exotic forms at present peculiar to regions warmer than Europe, with
vegetables growing generally in temperate countries; such as the
palms, a species of bamboo, Lawrineæ, Combretaceæ, Leguminosæ of warm
countries, Apocyneæ, analogous, according to M. Unger, to the genera
of equatorial regions, a Rubiaceæ altogether tropical, united with
_erables_, walnuts, birches, elms, oaks, _charmes_, &c., genera proper
to temperate or cold regions. The presence of equatorial forms, and
particularly of palms, appears to distinguish this epoch essentially
from the following one. Lastly, we likewise observe the very small
number of vegetables with a monopetalous corolla, limited to species
referred to the family of Apocyneæ by Unger, and to the genus
Steinhauera, founded on a fruit which has much relation to that of
Nauclea among the Rubiaceæ.

"3. _Pliocene Epoch._--This epoch, embracing all the Tertiary
formations superior to the _fahluns_ of Touraine, comprehends pretty
numerous localities rich in fossil vegetables, and whose position in
these formations is determined as much by the _ensemble_ of the
vegetables they contain, as by their other geological characters. The
Tertiary basins which, it appears to me, must serve as the basis of
this Flora, both by their identity, and the numerous and
carefully-studied vegetables they contain, are: 1st, That of OEningen,
near Shaffouse, the species of which have been long since studied and
well determined by M. Alex. Braun, whose work, though unpublished, has
been communicated to many naturalists, and particularly to M.
Unger.[44] 2_d_, That of Parschlug, in Styria, the numerous
impressions of which M. Unger has collected, studied, and determined,
partly published by him in his _Chloris Protogæa_, and presented
altogether in a special enumeration of these species recently
published under the title of _Flora of Parschlug_. In this locality
alone, M. Unger has recognised and classified 140 different species;
it is the most numerous local Flora with which we are acquainted, and
the identity of a great number of species with those of OEningen,
indicates well the synchronism of these two local formations. Such
other points in Styria appear likewise to be of the same epoch, as
well as many localities in Hungary so rich in silicified wood. In
Bohemia, the tripoli slates of Bilin and Comothau, which contain a
pretty considerable number of plants described by M. de Sternberg, are
no doubt referrible to this epoch, according to the nature of these
plants. Lastly, the Tertiary hills, called the sub-appennine hills of
Plaisantin, of Tuscany, and a part of Piedmont, as well as the
gypseous formation of Stradella, near Pavia, so rich in impressions of
leaves, form part of this epoch; but, with the exception of this
latter point, these formations contain, in general, few vegetables.

Footnote 44: The following interesting observations on the
OEningen formation are by Professor Agassiz, who refers it to the
Miocene not to the Pliocene class:--

"This picture would be incomplete did I not institute a farther
comparison between the present vegetation of those regions and
the fossil plants of modern geological epochs. If we compare,
namely, the Tertiary fossil plants of Europe with those living on
the spot now, we shall be struck with the differences of about
the same value as those already mentioned between the eastern and
western coasts of the continents under the same latitudes.
Compare, for instance, a list of the fossil trees and shrubs from
OEningen, with a catalogue of trees and shrubs of the eastern and
western coasts, both of Europe, Asia, and North America, and it
will be seen that the differences they exhibit scarcely go beyond
those shewn by these different Floræ under the same latitudes.
But what is quite extraordinary and unexpected is the fact, that
the European fossil plants of that locality resemble more closely
the trees and shrubs which grow at present in the eastern parts
of North America, than those of any other part of the world;
thus, allowing us to express correctly the differences already
mentioned between the vegetation of the eastern and western
coasts of the continents, by saying that the present eastern
American flora, and I may add, the fauna also,[A] and probably
also that of eastern Asia, have a _more ancient character_ than
those of Europe and of western North America. The plants,
especially the trees and shrubs growing in our days in this
country and in Japan, are, as it were, old fashioned; they bear
the mark of former ages--a peculiarity which agrees with the
general aspect of North America; the geological structure of
which indicates that this region was a large continent long
before the extensive tracts of land had been lifted above the
level of the sea in any other part of the world.

"The extraordinary analogy which exists between the present Flora
and Fauna of North America, and the fossils of the Miocene period
in Europe, would also give a valuable hint with respect to the
mean annual temperature of that geological period.

"_OEningen_, for instance, whose fossils of all classes have
perhaps been more fully studied than those of any other locality,
could not have enjoyed, during that period, a tropical or even a
subtropical climate, such as has often been assigned to it, if we
can at all rely upon the indications of its Flora; for this is so
similar to that of Charleston, South Carolina, that the highest
mean annual temperature we can ascribe to the Miocene epoch in
central Europe must be reduced to about 60° Fah.; that is to say,
we infer from its fossil vegetation that OEningen had, during the
Tertiary times, the climate of the warm temperate zone, the
climate of Rome, for instance, and not even that of the northern
shores of Africa. We are led to this conclusion by the following
argument:--The same isothermal line which passes at present
through OEningen, at the 47th degree of northern latitude, passes
also through Boston, lat. 42°. Supposing now (as the geological
structure of the two continents and the form of their respective
outlines at that period seem to indicate), that the undulations
of the isothermal lines which we notice in our days existed
already during the Tertiary period, or, in other words, that the
differences of temperature which exist between the western shores
of Europe and the eastern shores of North America, were the same
at that time as now, we shall obtain the mean annual temperature
of that age by adding simply the difference of mean annual
temperature which exists between Charleston and Boston (12° Fah.)
to that of OEningen, which is 48° Fah., as modern OEningen agrees
almost precisely with Boston, making it 60° Fah.; far from
looking to the northern shores of Africa for an analogy, which
the different character of the respective vegetations would
render still less striking. The mean annual temperature of
OEningen, during the Tertiary period, would not therefore differ
more from its present mean than that of Charleston differs from
that of Boston."--_Agassiz_, _on Lake Superior_, p. 150.

Footnote A: The characteristic genera Lagomys, Cheldyra, and
the large Salamanders with permanent gills, remind us of the
fossils of OEningen, for the present fauna of Japan, as well
as the Liquidambar, Carya, Taxodium, Gleditschia, &c., &c.

"In France, the Pliocene epoch probably comprehends a part of the
fresh-water deposits of Auvergne and Ardêche. Thus, the slates of
Menat and those of Rochesauve appear to me to furnish a Flora very
similar to those of OEningen and Parschlug. With regard to the marls
of Gergovia and Merdogne, near Clermont, I think they ought rather to
be classed in the Miocene epoch; but this question can be settled only
by a more attentive determination of the species. The Flora, which
recapitulates all that has been described or named in these
formations, is, however, essentially founded, as may be seen by the
indication of localities, on the two basins of Parschlug and OEningen.

"The Flora of the Pliocene formations is constituted by Amphigenous
cryptogams, comprehending algæ and mushrooms; by Acrogenous
cryptogams, including a muscite, ferns, lycopodiaceæ, and equisitaceæ;
by Monocotyledons, naiades, gramineæ, cyperaceæ, and liliaceæ; by
Gymnospermous dicotyledons, coniferæ, represented by cupriessineæ,
abietineæ, and taxineæ; finally, by Angiospermous dicotyledons,
comprehending myriceæ, betulaceæ, cupuliferæ, ulmaceæ, balsamifluæ,
salicineæ, laurineæ, thymaleæ, santalaceæ, corneæ, myrtaceæ,
calycantheæ, pomaceæ, rosaceæ, amygdaleæ, leguminosæ, anacardeæ,
juglandeæ, rhamneæ, celastrineæ, sapindaceæ, acerineæ, tiliaceæ,
magnoliaceæ, capparideæ, sapoteæ, styraceæ, oleaceæ, ebenaceæ,
ilicineæ, and ericaceæ.

"The Pliocene epoch, considered in relation to Europe, for I have
intentionally excluded from the preceding list some fossils of the
Antilles referred to these formations, offers as peculiar characters
an extreme analogy to the existing Flora of the temperate regions of
the northern hemisphere; I do not say of Europe, for this Pliocene
flora comprehends many genera strangers in the present time to Europe,
but proper to the vegetation of America or temperate Asia. Such are,
if we admit the accuracy of the generic relations established by the
botanists to whom these determinations are owing, taxodium,
salisburia, comptonia, liquidambar, nyssa, robinia, gleditschia,
bauhinia, cassia, acacia, rhus, juglans, ceanothus, celastrus,
sapindus, liriodendron, capparis, sideroxylon, achras, and symplocos,
all genera foreign to temperate Europe, but in which they have been
found in a fossil state, but which, for the most part, still occur in
the temperate regions of other parts of the globe.

"As to other genera still existing in Europe, but which contain only a
small number of species, we find many more of them in a fossil state;
such are the _Erables_, of which 14 species are enumerated in this
Flora of the Pliocene epoch, and the Oaks, which are 13 in number. It
ought to be remarked, that these species come from two or three very
circumscribed localities which, in the present time, probably would
not furnish, in a circuit of many leagues, more than three or four
species of these genera. Lastly, another character, which I have
already spoken of, and which makes this Flora to differ still further
from that of our epoch, is the absence, or at least the small number
and nature of the plants with Gamopetalous corollas.

"Thus, there are only twenty plants of this Flora arranged in the
families of this division, and all are referrible to this group of
Hypogynous gamopetales, which I have distinguished by the name of
Isogynes; in the general organization of the flowers, they approach
nearest to the dialypetales.

"Is this absence of Anisogynous gamopetales, and with irregular
ovaries, the result of chance; or does it arise from this, that many
of these plants, particularly among the species of temperate regions,
are herbaceous, and that herbaceous plants are generally in conditions
less favourable for passing into a fossil state? Or, lastly, did those
families, which some botanists have been led to consider the most
elevated in organization, not yet exist? These are points which cannot
be positively determined in the present state of our knowledge.

"We may however remark, that at the Miocene epoch, these plants were
still less numerous, but belonging to other families; and that at the
Eocene period, no one is mentioned by the authors who have shewn the
connection between the fossil and living plants, without having any
preconceived idea on the subject.

"Another fact to be noticed, but which likewise probably depends on
the herbaceous nature of these vegetables, and their leaves not being
shed, is the almost complete absence of Monocotyledons, ferns, and
mosses, which establishes, in regard to these families, a very great
difference between the Pliocene flora and that of modern Europe.

"A difference not less important distinguishes this Flora from that of
the most ancient epochs; namely, the absence, in all these formations,
of the family of Ferns, which, on the contrary, furnishes so prominent
a feature in the Miocene epoch. No trace of them occur in Europe in
the Pliocene formations I have enumerated; while the woods of this
family are very abundant in the formations of the West Indies, which
is considered as an epoch at least as recent as the Pliocene
formation, which appears to indicate that at this period the zones of
vegetation were distributed nearly as at present.

"Indeed, in these modern formations of the Antilles, we find among the
fossil woods, the only portions of their vegetables that have hitherto
been collected, specimens which indicate the existence, not only of
numerous and varied palms, but of many other families of the
equatorial zone, such as Lianes, nearly related to Bauhinia and
Menispermeæ, Pisonia, &c. The vegetation of the Antilles had therefore
at this period the characters of the equatorial zone, as in Europe it
had then the characters of the temperate zone.

"Lastly, and to terminate our observations on this Flora of the latter
geological epoch which preceded the present one, we would remark that,
notwithstanding the general analogies which exist between the
vegetables of these formations and those now living in the temperate
regions, no species appears to be identical, at least with the plants
that still grow in Europe; and if, in some rare cases, complete
identity appears to exist, it is between these vegetables and American
species. Thus the Flora of Europe, even at the most recent geological
epoch, was very different from the European Flora of the present
day."--_L'Institut._

_Glacial Theory of the Erratics and Drift of the New
and Old Worlds_.[45]
By Professor L. AGASSIZ.

Footnote 45: _Vide_ Lake Superior, its physical character,
vegetation, and animals. By Professor Louis Agassiz. 1850.

_Glacialists and Antiglacialists.--Erratic basins of Switzerland.--Similar
phenomena observed in other parts of Europe.--Points necessary to be
settled; first, the relation in time and character between the
Northern and the Alpine erratics.--Traced in North America.--Not yet
settled whether any local centres of distribution in America; but
the general cause must have acted in all parts simultaneously.--This
action ceased at 35° north latitude; this incompatible with the
notion of currents.--In both hemispheres a direct reference to the
Polar Regions.--Difficulty_ _as to so extensive formation of Ice,
removed; difficulties on the theory of Currents, the effects
contrary to experience of Water-Action.--Erratic phenomena of Lake
Superior.--The Iceberg theory.--Description of appearances at Lake
Superior.--Drift; contains mud, and is without fossils.--Example of
juxtaposition of stratified and unstratified Drift, at
Cambridge.--Date of these phenomena not fully determined, but
doubtless simultaneous all over the Globe.--The various periods and
kinds of Drift distinguished.--Accompanied by change of level in the
Continent._

So much has been said and written within the last fifteen years upon
the dispersion of erratic boulders and drift, both in Europe and
America, that I should not venture to introduce this subject again, if
I were not conscious of having essential additions to present to those
interested in the investigation of these subjects.

It will be remarked by all who have followed the discussions
respecting the transportation of loose materials over great distances
from the spot where they occurred primitively, that the most minute
and the most careful investigations have been made by those geologists
who have attempted to establish a new theory of their transportation
by the agency of ice.

The part of those who claim currents as the cause of this
transportation has been more generally negative, inasmuch as,
satisfied with their views, they have generally been contented simply
to deny the new theory and its consequences, rather than investigate
anew the field upon which they had founded their opinions. Without
being taxed with partiality, I may, at the outset, insist upon this
difference in the part taken by the two contending parties. For, since
the publication of Sefstroem's paper upon the drift of Sweden, in
which very valuable information is given respecting the phenomena
observed in that peninsula, and the additional data furnished by De
Verneuil and Murchison upon the same country and the plains of Russia,
the classical ground for erratic phenomena has been left almost
untouched by all except the advocates of the glacial theory. I need
only refer to the investigations of M. de Charpentier, Escher, Von
Derlinth and Studer, and more particularly to those extensive and most
minute researches of Professor Guyot in Switzerland, without speaking
of my own and some contributions from visitors,--as the Martins, James
Forbes, and others, to justify my assertion, that no important fact,
respecting the loose materials spread all over Switzerland, has been
added by the advocates of currents since the days of Sanssure, De Luc,
Escher and Von Buch; whilst Professor Guyot has most conclusively
shewn that the different erratic basins in Switzerland are not only
distinct from each other, as was already known before, but that in
each the loose materials are arranged in well-determined regular
order, shewing precise relations to the centres of distribution, from
which these materials originated; an arrangement which agrees in every
particular with the arrangement of loose fragments upon the surface of
any glacier, but which no cause acting convulsively could have
produced.[46]

Footnote 46: A comparison of the maps, shewing the arrangement of
the moraines upon the glacier of the Aar, in my _Système
Glaciaire_, with the maps which Professor Guyot is about to
publish of the distribution of the erratic boulders in
Switzerland, will shew more fully the identity of the two
phenomena.

The results of these investigations are plainly that the boulders
found at a distance from the Central Alps, originated from their
higher summits and valleys, and were carried down at different
successive periods in a regular manner, forming uninterrupted walls
and ridges, which can be traced from their starting-point to their
extreme peripheric distribution.

I have myself shewn that there are such centres of distribution in
Scotland, and England, and Ireland; and these facts have been since
traced in detail in various parts of the British islands by Dr
Buckland, Sir Charles Lyell, Mr Darwin, Mr M'Laren, and Professor
James Forbes, pointing clearly to the main mountain groups as to so
many distinct centres of dispersion of these loose materials.

Similar phenomena have been shewn in the Pyrenees, in the Black
Forest, and in the Vosges, shewing beyond question, that whatever
might have been the cause of the dispersion of erratic boulders, there
are several separate centres of their distribution to be distinguished
in Europe. But there is another question connected with this local
distribution of boulders which requires particular investigation, the
confusion of which with the former has no doubt greatly contributed to
retard our real progress in understanding the general question of the
distribution of erratics.

It is well known that Northern Europe is strewed with boulders,
extending over European Russia, Poland, Northern Germany, Holland, and
Belgium. The origin of these boulders is far north in Norway, Sweden,
Lapland, and Liefland; but they are now diffused over the extensive
plains west of the Ural Mountains. Their arrangement, however, is such
that they cannot be referred to one single point of origin, but only
in a general way to the northern tracts of land which rise above the
level of the sea in the arctic regions. Whether these boulders were
transported by the same agency as those arising from distinct centres,
on the main Continent of Europe, has been the chief point of
discussion. For my own part, I have indeed no doubt that the extreme
consequences to which we are naturally carried by admitting that ice
was also the agent in transporting the northern erratics to their
present positions, has been the chief objection to the view, that the
Alpine boulders have been distributed by glaciers.

It seemed easier to account for the distribution of the northern
erratics by currents; and this view appearing satisfactory to those
who supported it, they at once went further, and opposed the glacial
theory even in those districts where the glaciers seemed to give a
more natural and more satisfactory explanation of the phenomena. To
embrace the whole question it should be ascertained:

_First_, Whether the northern erratics were transported at the same
time as the local alpine boulders, and if not, which of the phenomena
preceded the other; and again, if the same cause acted in both cases,
or if one of the causes can be applied to one series of these
phenomena, and the other cause to the other series. An investigation
of the erratic phenomena in North America seems to me likely to settle
this question, as the northern erratics occur here in an undisturbed
continuation over tracts of land far more extensive than those in
which they have been observed in Europe. For my own part, I have
already traced them from the eastern shores of Nova Scotia, through
New England and the north-western States of North America and the
Canadas as far as the western extremity of Lake Superior, a region
embracing about thirty degrees of longitude. Here, as in Northern
Europe, the boulders evidently originated farther north than their
present location, and have been moved universally in a main direction
from south to north.

From data which are, however, rather incomplete, it can be further
admitted that similar phenomena occur further west across the whole
continent, everywhere presenting the same relations. That is to say,
everywhere pointing to the north as to the region of the boulders,
which generally disappear about latitude 38°.

Without entering at present into a full discussion of any theoretical
views of the subject, it is plain that any theory, to be satisfactory,
should embrace both the extensive northern phenomena in Europe and
North America, and settle the relation of these phenomena to the
well-authenticated local phenomena of Central Europe.

Whether America itself has its special local circumscribed centres of
distribution or not, remains to be seen. It seems, however, from a few
facts observed in the White Mountains, that this chain, as well
as the mountains of north-eastern New York, have not been
exclusively,--and for the whole duration of the transportation of
these materials,--under the influence of the cause which has
distributed the erratics through such wide space over the continent of
North America. But, whether this be the case or not (and I trust local
investigations will soon settle the question), I maintain that the
cause which has transported these boulders in the American continent,
must have acted simultaneously over the whole ground which these
boulders cover, as they present throughout the continent an
uninterrupted sheet of loose materials, of the same general nature,
connected in the same general manner, and evidently dispersed at the
same time.

Moreover, there is no ground, at present, to doubt the simultaneous
dispersion of the erratics over Northern Europe and Northern America.
So that the cause which transported them, whatever it may be, must
have acted simultaneously over the whole tract of land west of the
Ural Mountains, and east of the Rocky Mountains, without assuming
anything respecting Northern Asia, which has not yet been studied in
this respect; that is to say, at the same time, over a space embracing
two hundred degrees of longitude.

Again, the action of this cause must have been such, and I insist
strongly upon this point, as a fundamental one, the momentum with
which it acted must have been such, that after being set in motion in
the north, with a power sufficient to carry the large boulders which
are found everywhere over this vast extent of land, it vanished, or
was stopped, after reaching _the thirty-fifth degree of northern
latitude_.

Now it is my deliberate opinion that natural philosophy and
mathematics may settle the question, whether a body of water of
sufficient extent to produce such phenomena can be set in motion with
sufficient velocity to move all these boulders; and nevertheless stop
before having swept over the whole surface of the globe. Hydrographers
are familiar with the action of currents, with their speed, and with
the power with which they can act. They know also how they are
distributed over the globe. And, if we institute a comparison, it will
be seen that there is nowhere a current running from the poles towards
the lower latitudes, either in the northern or southern hemisphere,
covering a space equal to one-tenth of the currents which should have
existed to carry the erratics into their present position. The widest
current is west of the Pacific, which runs parallel to the equator,
across the whole extent of that sea from east to west, and the
greatest width of which is scarcely fifty degrees. This current, as a
matter of course, establishes a regular rotation between the waters
flowing from the polar regions towards lower latitudes.

The Gulf Stream, on the contrary, runs from west to east, and dies out
towards Europe and Africa, and is compensated by the currents from
Baffin's Bay and Spitzbergen emptying into the Atlantic, while the
current of the Pacific, moving towards Asia, and carrying floods of
water in that direction, is maintained chiefly by antarctic currents,
and those which follow the western shore of America from Behring's
Straits. Wherever they are limited by continents, we see that the
waters of these currents, even when they extend over hundreds of
degrees of latitude, as the Gulf Stream does in its whole course, are
deflected where they cannot follow a straight course.

Now, without appealing with more detail to the mechanical conditions
involved in this inquiry, I ask every unprejudiced mind acquainted
with the distribution of the northern boulders, whether there was any
geographical limitation to the supposed northern current to cause it
to leave the northern erratics of Europe in such regular order, with a
constant bearing from north to south, and to form, on its southern
termination, a wide, regular zone from Asia to the western shores of
Europe, north of the fiftieth degree of latitude, before it had
reached the great barrier of the Alps? I ask, whether there was such a
barrier in the unlimited plains which stretch from the Arctic seas
uninterrupted over the whole northern continent of America as far down
as the Gulf of Mexico?

I ask, again, why the erratics are circumscribed within the northern
limits of the temperate zone, if their transportation is owing to the
action of water currents? Does not, on the contrary, this most
surprising limit within the arctic and northern temperate zones, and,
in the same manner, within the antarctic and southern temperate zones,
distinctly shew that the cause of transportation is connected with the
temperature or climate of the countries over which the phenomena were
produced? If it were otherwise, why are there no systems of erratics
with an east and west bearing, or in the main direction of the most
extensive currents flowing at present over the surface of our globe?

It is a matter of fact, of undeniable fact, for which the theory has
to account, that, in the two hemispheres, the erratics have direct
reference to the polar regions, and are circumscribed within the
arctics and the colder part of the temperate zones. This fact is as
plain as the other fact, that the local distribution of boulders has
reference to high mountain ranges, to groups of land raised above the
level of the sea into heights, the temperature of which is lower than
the surrounding plains. And what is still more astonishing, the extent
of the local boulders, from their centre of distribution, reaches
levels, the mean annual temperature of which corresponds, in a
surprising manner, with the mean annual temperature of the southern
limit of the northern erratics.

We have, therefore, in this agreement, a strong evidence in favour of
the view that both the phenomena of local mountain erratics in Europe,
and of northern erratics in Europe and America, have probably been
produced by the same cause.

The chief difficulty is in conceiving the possibility of the formation
of a sheet of ice sufficiently large to carry the northern erratics
into their present limits of distribution; but this difficulty is
greatly removed when we can trace, as in the Alps, the progress of the
boulders under the same aspect from the glaciers now existing, down
into regions where they no longer exist, but where the boulders and
other phenomena attending their transportation shew distinctly that
they once existed.

Without extending further this argumentation, I would call the
attention of the unprejudiced observer to the fact, that those who
advocate currents as the cause of the transportation of erratics,
have, up to this day, failed to shew, in a single instance, that
currents can produce all the different phenomena connected with the
transportation of the boulders which are observed everywhere in the
Alps, and which are still daily produced there by the small glaciers
yet in existence. Never do we find that water leaves the boulders
which it carries along in regular walls of mixed materials; nor do
currents anywhere produce upon the hard rocks _in situ_ the peculiar
grooves and scratches which we see everywhere under the glacier and
within the limits of their ordinary oscillations.

Water may polish the rocks, but it nowhere leaves straight scratches
upon their surface; it may furrow them, but these furrows are sinuous,
acting more powerfully upon the soft parts of the rocks or fissures
already existing; whilst glaciers smooth and level uniformly the
hardest parts equally with the softest, and, like a hard file, rub to
uniform continuous surfaces the rocks upon which they move.

But now let us return to our special subject, the erratics of North
America.

The phenomena of drift are more complicated about Lake Superior than I
have seen them anywhere else; for, besides the general phenomena which
occur everywhere, there are some peculiarities noticed which are to be
ascribed to the lake as such, and which we do not find in places where
no large sheet of water has been brought into contact with the erratic
phenomena. In the first place, we notice about Lake Superior an
extensive tract of polished, grooved and scratched rocks, which
present here the same uniform character which they have everywhere. As
there is so little disposition, among so many otherwise intelligent
geologists, to perceive the facts as they are, whenever they bear upon
the question of drift, I cannot but repeat, what I have already
mentioned more than once, but what I have observed again here over a
tract of some fifteen hundred miles, that the rocks are everywhere
smoothed, rounded, grooved and furrowed in a uniform direction. The
heterogeneous materials of which the rocks consist are cut to one
continuous uniform level, shewing plainly that no difference in the
polish and abrasion can be attributed to the greater or less
resistance on the part of the rocks, but that a continuous rush cut
down everything, adapting itself, however, to the general undulations
of the country, but nevertheless shewing, in this close adaptation, a
most remarkable continuity in its action.

That the power which produced these phenomena moved in the main from
north to south, is distinctly shewn by the form of the hills, which
present abrupt slopes, rough and sharp corners towards the south,
while they are all smoothed off towards the north.

Indeed, here, as in Norway and Sweden, there is on all the hills a
lee-side and a strike-side. As has been observed in Norway and Sweden,
the polishing is very perfect in many places, sometimes strictly as
brilliant as a polished metallic surface, and everywhere these
surfaces are more or less scratched and furrowed, and both scratches
and furrows are rectilinear, crossing each other under various angles;
however, never varying many points of the compass on the same spot,
but in general shewing that where there are deviations from the most
prominent direction, they are influenced by the undulations of the
soil. It has been said, that the main direction of these striæ was
from north-west to south-east, but I have found it as often strictly
from north to south, or even from north-east to south-west; and if we
are to express a general result, we should say that the direction,
assigned by all our observations to the various scratches, tends to
shew that they have been formed under the influence of a movement from
north to south, varying more or less to the east and west, according
to local influences in the undulations of the soil. It is, indeed, a
very important fact, that scratches which seem to have been produced
at no great intervals from each other, are not absolutely parallel,
but may diverge for ten, fifteen, or more degrees. There is one
feature in these phenomena, however, in which we never observe any
variation. The continuity of these lines is absolutely the same
everywhere. They are rectilinear and continuous, and cannot be better
compared than with the effects of stones or other hard materials
dragged in the same direction upon flat or rolling surfaces; they form
simple scratches extending for yards in straight lines, or breaking
off for a short space to continue again in a straight line in the same
direction, just as if interrupted by a jerk. There are also deeper
scratches of the same kind, presenting the same phenomena, only,
perhaps, traceable for a greater distance than the finer ones. These
scratches, instead of appearing like the tracing of diamonds upon
glass, as the former do, would rather assume the appearance of a
deeper groove, made by the point of a graver, or perhaps still more
closely resemble the scratches which a cart-wheel would produce upon
polished marble, if the wheel were chained, and coarse sand spread
over the floor. The appearance of the rock, crushed by the moving
mass, is especially distinct in limestone rocks, where grooves are
seldom nicely cut, but present the appearance of a violent pressure
combined with the grooving power, thus giving to the groove a
character which is quite peculiar, and which at once strikes an
observer who has been familiar with its characteristic aspect. Now, I
do not know upon what the assertions of some geologists rest, that
gravel, moved by water under strong heavy currents, will produce
similar effects. Wherever I have gone since studying these phenomena,
I have looked for such cases, and have never yet found modern gravel
currents produce any thing more than a smooth surface, with undulating
furrows following the cracks in the rocks, or following their softer
parts; but continuous straight lines, especially such crushed lines
and straight furrows, I have never seen.

When we know how extensive the action of water carrying mud and gravel
is on every shore and in every water-current,--when we can trace this
action almost everywhere, and nowhere find it similar to the phenomena
just described, I cannot imagine upon what ground these phenomena are
still attributed to the agency of currents. This is the less rational
as we have at present, in all high mountain chains of the temperate
zone, other agents, the glaciers, producing these very same phenomena,
with precisely the same characters, to which therefore a sound
philosophy should ascribe, at least conditionally, the northern and
alpine polished surfaces, and scratched and grooved rocks, or at least
acknowledge that the effect produced by the action of glaciers more
nearly resembles these erratic phenomena than does that which results
from the action of currents. But such is the prejudice of many
geologists, that those keen faculties of distinction and
generalization, that power of superior perception and discrimination,
which have led them to make such brilliant discoveries in geology in
general, seem to abandon them at once as soon as they look at the
erratics. The objection made by a venerable geologist, that the cold
required to form and preserve such glaciers, for any length of time,
would freeze him to death, is as childish as the apprehension that the
heavy ocean-currents, the action of which he sees everywhere, might
have swept him away.[47]

Footnote 47: Berlin Academy, 1846.

Now that these phenomena have been observed extensively, we may derive
also some instruction from the limits of their geographical extent.
Let us see, therefore, where these polished, scratched, and furrowed
rocks have been observed.

In the first place they occur everywhere in the north within certain
limits of the arctics, and through the colder parts of the temperate
zone. They occur also in the southern hemisphere, within parallel
limits, but in the plains of the tropics, and even in the warmer parts
of the temperate zone we find no trace of these phenomena, and
nevertheless the action of currents could not be less there, and could
not at any time have been less there than in the colder climates. It
is true, similar phenomena occur in Central Europe, and have been
noticed in Central Asia, and even in the Andes of South America, but
these always in higher regions, at definite levels above the surface
of the sea, everywhere indicating a connection between their extent
and the colder temperature of the places over which they are traced.

More recently, a step towards the views I entertain of this subject
has been made by those geologists who would ascribe them to the agency
of icebergs. Here, as in my glacial theory, ice is made the agent;
floating ice is supposed to have ground and polished the surfaces of
rocks, while I consider them to have been acted upon by terrestrial
glaciers. To settle this difference we have a test which is as
irresistible as the other arguments already introduced.

Let us investigate the mode of action, the mode of transportation of
icebergs, and let us examine whether this cause is adequate to produce
phenomena for which it is made to account. As mentioned above, the
polished surfaces are continuous over hills, and in depressions of the
soil, and the scratches which run over such undulating surfaces are
nevertheless continuous in straight lines. If we imagine icebergs
moving upon shoals, no doubt they would scratch and polish the rocks
in a way similar to moving glaciers. But upon such grounds they would
sooner or later be stranded; and if they remained loose enough to
move, they would, in their gyratory movements, produce curved lines,
and mark the spots where they had been stranded with particular
indications of their prolonged action. But nowhere upon arctic ground
do we find such indications. Everywhere the polished and scratched
surfaces are continuous in straight juxtaposition.

Phenomena analogous to those produced by icebergs would only be seen
along the sea-shores; and if the theory of drifted icebergs were
correct, we should have, all over those continents where erratic
phenomena occur, indications of retreating shores as far as the
erratic phenomena are found. But there is no such thing to be observed
over the whole extent of the North American continent, nor over
Northern Europe and Asia, as far as the northern erratics extend. From
the arctics to the southernmost limit of the erratic distribution, we
find nowhere the indications of the action of the sea as directly
connected with the production of the erratic phenomena. And wherever
the marine deposits rest upon the polished surfaces of ground and
scratched rocks, they can be shewn to be deposits formed since the
grooving and polishing of the rocks, in consequence of the subsidence
of those tracts of land upon which such deposits occur.

Again, if we take for a moment into consideration the immense extent
of land covered by erratic phenomena, and view them as produced by
drifted icebergs, we must acknowledge that the icebergs of the
_present period_ at least, are insufficient to account for them, as
they are limited to a narrower zone. And to bring icebergs in any way
within the extent which would answer for the extent of the
distribution of erratics, we must assume that the northern ice-fields,
from which these icebergs could be detached and float southwards, were
much larger at the time they produced such extensive phenomena than
they are now. That is to say, we must assume an ice period; and if we
look into the circumstances, we shall find that this ice period, to
answer to the phenomena, should be nothing less than an extensive cap
of ice upon both poles. This is the very theory which I advocate; and
unless the advocates of an iceberg-theory go to that length in their
premises, I venture to say, without fear of contradiction, that they
will find the source of their icebergs fall short of the requisite
conditions which they must assume, upon due consideration, to account
for the whole phenomena as they have really been observed.

But without discussing any farther the theoretical views of the
question, let me describe more minutely the facts, as observed on the
northern shores of Lake Superior. The polished surfaces, as such, are
even, undulating, and terminate always above the rough lee-side turned
to the south, unless upon gentle declivities, where the polished
surfaces extend in unbroken continuity upon the southern surfaces of
the hills, as well as upon their northern slopes. On their eastern and
western flanks, shallow valleys running east and west are as uniformly
polished as those which run north and south; and this fact is more and
more evident, wherever scratches and furrows are also well preserved
and distinctly seen, and by their bearings we can ascertain most
minutely, the direction of the onward movement which produced the
whole phenomena. Nothing is more striking in this respect than the
valleys or depressions of the soil running east and west, where we see
the scratches crossing such undulations at right angles, descending
along the southern gentle slope of a hill, traversing the flat bottom
below, and rising again up the next hill south, in unbroken
continuity. Examples of the kind can be seen everywhere in those
narrow inlets, with shallow waters intersecting the innumerable
highlands along the northern shores of Lake Superior, where the
scratches and furrows can be traced under water from one shore to the
other, and where they at times ascend steep hills, which they cross at
right angles along their northern slope, even when the southern slope,
not steeper in itself, faces the south with rough escarpments.

The scratches and furrows, though generally running north and south,
and deviating slightly to the east and west, present, in various
places, remarkable anomalies, even in their general course along the
eastern shore of the lake. Between Michipicotin and Sault St Marie, we
more frequently see a deflection to the west than a due north and
south course, which is rather normal along the northern shore proper,
between Michipicotin and other islands, and from the Pic to
Fort-William; the deep depression of the lake being no doubt the cause
of such a deviation, as large masses of ice could accumulate in this
extensive hollow cavity before spreading again more uniformly beyond
its limits. To the oscillations of the whole mass in its southerly
movement, according to the inequalities of the surfaces, we must
ascribe the crossing of the straight lines at acute angles, as we
observe also at the present day under the glaciers, as they swell and
subside, and hence meet with higher and lower obstacles in their
irregular course between the Alpine valleys.

In deep, narrow chasms, however, we find now and then greater
deviations from the normal direction of the striæ, where considerable
masses of ice could accumulate, and move between steep walls under a
lateral pressure of the masses moving onwards from the north. Such a
chasm is seen between Spar Island and the main land opposite Prince's
Location, south of Fort-William, where the furrows and scratches run
nearly east and west. But here also, there is no tumultuous
disturbance in the continuation of the phenomena, such as would occur
if icebergs were floated and stranded against the southern barrier.
The same continuity of even, polished surfaces, with their scratches
and furrows, prevails here as elsewhere. The angles which these
scratches form with each other are very acute, generally not exceeding
10°; but at times they diverge more, forming angles of 15°, 20°, and
25°. In a few instances, I have even found localities where they
crossed each other at angles of no less than 30°; but these are rare
exceptions. It may sometimes be noticed that the lines running in one
direction form a system by themselves, varying very little from strict
parallelism with each other, but crossing another system, more or less
strongly marked, of other lines equally parallel with each other. At
other times, a system of lines, strongly marked and diverging very
slightly, seem to pass over another system, in which the lines form
various angles with each other. Again, there are places,--and this is
the most common case, where the lines diverge slightly, following,
however, generally one main direction, which is crossed by fewer
lines, forming more open angles. These differences, no doubt, indicate
various oscillations in the movement of the mass which produced the
lines, and shew probably its successive action, with more or less
intensity, upon the same point at successive periods, in accordance
with the direction of the moving force at each interval. The same
variations within precisely the same limits may be noticed in our day
on the margin of the glaciers produced by the increase or diminution
of the bulk of their mass, and the changes on the rate of their
movement.

The loose materials which produced, in their onward movement under the
pressure of ice, such polishing and grooving, consisted of
various-sized boulders, pebbles, and gravels, down to the most minute
sand and loamy powder. Accumulations of such materials are found
everywhere upon these smooth surfaces, and in their arrangement they
present everywhere the most striking contrast when compared with
deposits accumulated under the agency of water. Indeed, we nowhere
find this glacial drift regularly stratified, being every where
irregular accumulations of loose materials, scattered at random
without selection, the coarsest and most minute particles being piled
irregularly in larger or smaller heaps, the greatest boulders standing
sometimes uppermost, or in the centre, or in any position among
smaller pebbles and impalpable powder.

And these materials themselves are scratched, polished and furrowed,
and the scratches and furrows are rectilinear as upon the rocks _in
situ_ underneath, not bruised simply, as the loose materials carried
onward by currents or driven against the shores by the tides, but
regularly scratched, as fragments of hard materials would be if they
had been fastened during their friction against each other, just as we
observe them upon the lower surface of glaciers where all the loose
materials are set in ice, as stones in their setting are pressed and
rubbed against underlying rocks. But the setting here being simply
ice, these loose materials, fast at one time and moveable another, and
fixed and loosened again, have rubbed against the rock below in all
possible positions; and hence, not only their rounded form, but also
their rectilinear grooving. How such grooves could be produced under
the action of currents, I leave to the advocates of such a theory to
shew; as soon as they shall be prepared for it.

I should not omit here to mention a fact which, in my opinion, has a
great theoretical importance, namely, that in the northern erratics,
even the largest boulders, as far as I know, are rounded, and
scratched and polished; at least, all those which are found beyond the
immediate vicinity of the higher mountain ranges, shewing that the
accumulations of ice which moved the northern erratics covered the
whole country; and this view is sustained by another set of facts
equally important, namely, that the highest ridges, the highest rugged
mountains, at least, in this continent and north of the Alps in
Europe, are as completely polished and smoothed as the lower lands,
and only a very few peaks seem to have risen above the sheet of ice;
whilst, in the Alps, the summits of the mountains stand generally
above these accumulations of ice, and have supplied the surface of the
glaciers with large numbers of angular boulders, which have been
carried upon the back of glaciers to the lower valleys and adjacent
plains without losing their angular forms.

With respect to the irregular accumulation of drift-materials in the
north, I may add, that there is not only no indication of
stratification among them, such, unquestionably, as water would have
left, but that the very nature of these materials shews plainly that
they are of terrestrial origin; for the mud which sticks between them
adheres to all the little roughnesses of the pebbles, fills them out,
and has the peculiar adhesive character of the mud ground under the
glaciers, and differing entirely in that respect from the gravels, and
pebbles, and sands washed by water-currents, which leave each pebble
clean, and never form adhering masses, unless penetrated by an
infiltration of limestone.

Another important fact respecting this glacial draft consists in the
universal absence of marine, as well as fresh-water fossils in its
interior--a fact which strengthens the view that they have been
accumulated by the agency of strictly terrestrial glaciers; such is,
at least, the case everywhere far from the sea-shore. But we may
conclude that these ancient glaciers reached, upon various points, the
sea-shore at the time of their greatest extension, just as they do at
present in Spitzbergen and other arctic shores; and that therefore, in
such proximity, phenomena of contact should be observed, indicating
the onward movement of glacial material into the ocean, such as the
accumulation within these materials of marine fossil remains, and also
the influence of the tidal movements upon them. And now such is really
the case. Nearer the sea-shores we observe distinctly, in some
accumulations of the drift, faint indications of the action of the
tide, reaching the lower surface of glaciers, and the remodelling to
some extent of the materials which these poured into the sea. A
beautiful example of the kind may be observed near Cambridge, along
Charles River, not far from Mount Auburn, where the unstratified
glacial drift (_a_) presents in its upper masses strictly the
characters of true terrestrial glacial accumulation, but shews
underneath faint indications (_b_) of the action of tides. Above,
regular tidal strata (_c_) are observed, formed probably after the
masses below had subsided. The surface of this accumulation is covered
with soil (_d_).

[Illustration: Sketch of river bank stratification]

The period at which these phenomena took place cannot be fully
determined, nor is it easy to ascertain whether all glacial drift is
contemporaneous. It would seem, however, as if the extensive
accumulation of drift all around the northern pole in Europe, Asia,
and America was of the same age as the erratic of the Alps. The
climatic circumstances capable of accumulating such large masses of
ice around the north pole, having no doubt extended their influence
over the temperate zone, and probably produced, in high mountain
chains, as the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Black Forest, and the Vosges,
such accumulations of snow and ice as may have produced the erratic
phenomena of those districts. But extensive changes must have taken
place in the appearance of the continents over which we trace erratic
phenomena, since we observe in the Old World, as well as in North
America, extensive stratified deposits containing fossils which rest
upon the erratics; and as we have all possible good reasons and
satisfactory evidence for admitting that the erratics were transported
by the agency of terrestrial glaciers, and that, therefore, the tracts
of land over which they occur stood at that time above the level of
the sea, we are led to the conclusion that these continents have
subsided since that period below the level of the sea, and that over
their inundated portions, animal life has spread, remains of organized
beings have been accumulated, which are now found in a fossil state in
the deposits formed under those sheets of water.

Such deposits occur at various levels in different parts of North
America. They have been noticed about Montreal, on the shores of Lake
Champlain, in Maine, and also in Sweden and Russia; and what is most
important, they are not everywhere at the same absolute level above
the surface of the ocean, shewing that both the subsidence and the
subsequent upheaval which has again brought them above the level of
the sea, have been unequal; and that we should therefore be very
cautious in our inferences respecting both the continental
circumstances under which the ancient glaciers were formed, and also
the extent of the sea afterward, as compared with its present limits.

The contrast between the unstratified drift and the subsequently
stratified deposits is so great, that they rest everywhere
unconformably upon each other, shewing distinctly the difference of
the agency under which they were accumulated. This unconformable
superposition of marine drift upon glacial drift is so beautifully
shewn at the above-mentioned locality near Cambridge (see diagram, p.
114.) In this case the action of tides in the accumulation of the
stratified materials is plainly seen.

The various heights at which these stratified deposits occur, above
the level of the sea, shew plainly, that since their accumulation the
main land has been lifted above the ocean at different rates in
different parts of the country; and it would be a most important
investigation to have their absolute level, in order more fully to
ascertain the last changes which our continents have undergone.

From the above mentioned facts, it must be at once obvious that the
various kinds of loose materials all over the northern hemisphere,
have been accumulated, not only under different circumstances, but
during long-continued subsequent distinct periods, and that great
changes have taken place since their deposition, before the present
state of things was fully established.

To the first period,--the ice period, as I have called it,--belong all
the phenomena connected with the transportation of erratic boulders,
the polishing, scratching, and furrowing of the rocks, and the
accumulation of unstratified, scratched, and loamy drift. During that
period the mainland seems to have been, to some extent at least,
higher above the level of the sea than now; as we observe, on the
shores of Great Britain, Norway, and Sweden, as well as on the eastern
shores of North America, the polished surfaces dipping under the level
of the ocean, which encroaches everywhere upon the erratics proper,
effaces the polished surfaces, and remodels the glacial drift. During
these periods, large terrestrial animals lived upon both continents,
the fossil remains of which are found in the drift of Siberia, as well
as of this continent. A fossil elephant, recently discovered in
Vermont, adds to the resemblance, already pointed out, between the
northern drift of Europe and that of North America; for fossils of
that genus are now known to occur upon the northern-most point of the
western extremity of North America, in New England, in Northern
Europe, as well as all over Siberia.

To the second period we would refer the stratified deposits resting
upon drift, which indicate, that during their deposition the northern
continent had again extensively subsided under the surface of the
ocean.

During this period, animals, identical with those which occur in the
northern seas, spread widely over parts of the globe which are now
again above the level of the ocean. But, as this last elevation seems
to have been gradual, and is even still going on in our day, there is
no possibility of tracing more precisely, at least for the present,
the limit between that epoch and the present state of things. Their
continuity seems almost demonstrated by the identity of fossil-shells
found in these stratified deposits, with those now living along the
present shores of the same continent, and by the fact, that changes in
the relative level between sea and mainland are still going on in our
day.

Indications of such relative changes between the level of the waters
and the land are also observed about Lake Superior. And here they
assume a very peculiar character, as the level of the lake itself, in
its relation to its shores, is extensively changed.[48]

Footnote 48: An interesting account of the natural terraces
around Lake Superior is given at p. 413-416 of "Lake Superior."

_Description of the Marine Telescope._
By JOHN ADIE, F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A. Communicated by the Author.

The instrument which has been popularly named the Water, or Marine
Telescope, from the power given by its use to see into the water,
consists of a tube of metal or wood, of a convenient length, to enable
a person looking over the gunnel of a boat to rest the head on the one
end, while the other is below the surface of the water; the upper end
is so formed, that the head may rest on it, both eyes seeing freely
into the tube. Into the lower end is fixed (water-tight) a plate of
glass, which, when used, is to be kept under the surface of the water.

[Illustration: sketch of marine telescope]

A very convenient size for the instrument represented in the above
figure, is to make the length AC, 3 feet, and the mouth A, where the
face is applied, of an irregular oval form, that both eyes may see
freely into the tube, with an indentation on one side, that the nose
may breathe freely, not throwing the moisture of the breath into the
tube. B is a round plate of glass, 8 inches diameter, over which is
the rim or edge C; this rim is best formed of lead, ¼ of an inch
thick, and 3 inches deep; the weight of the lead serves to sink the
tube a little into the water. Holes must be provided at the junction
of B to C, for the purpose of allowing the air to escape, and bring
the water into contact with the glass; on each side there is a handle
for holding the instrument. This size and form is very much that of
the instrument brought from Norway by John Mitchell, Esq., Belgian
Consul, of Mayville, with the improvement for excluding the breath,
and allowing the water to get into contact with the glass, which was
not provided for in that instrument.

The reason why we so seldom see the bottom of the sea, or of a pure
lake, where the depth is not beyond the powers of natural vision, is
not that the rays of light reflected from the objects at the bottom
are so feeble as to be imperceptible to our sense, from their passage
through the denser medium of the water, but from the irregular
refractions given to the rays in passing out of the water into the
air, caused by the constant ripple or motion of the surface of the
water, where that refraction takes place. Reflections of light from
the surface also add to the difficulty; and before we can with any
just hope expect to see the objects distinctly at the bottom, these
obstructions must be removed.

This is done to a very great extent by the use of the instrument which
forms the subject of this notice; the tube serves to screen the eyes
from reflections, and the water being in contact with the glass plate,
all ripple is got rid of, so that the spectator, looking down the
tube, sees all objects at the bottom, whose reflective powers are able
to send off rays of sufficient intensity to be impressed on the
retina, after suffering the loss of light caused by the absorbing
power of the water, which obeys certain fixed laws, proportionate to
the depth of water passed through; for as light passing through pure
sea-water loses half its intensity for each 15 feet through which it
passes,[49] we must, from this cause alone, at a certain depth lose
sight of objects of the brightest lustre. The perfect purity of the
water, and its freedom from all muddy particles floating in it, form
an important element in the effective use of the water-telescope; for
example, in the Frith of Forth, and similar estuaries, where the
influx and reflux of the tide keep particles of mud in constant
motion, the instrument is of little or no use; for these act in
exactly the same way in limiting our vision through water, as a fog
does through the air: it is therefore only in the pure waters of our
northern and western shores that this contrivance is applied with any
advantage; and in such situations we can speak of its powers with
confidence. In a trial made with the instrument last autumn on the
west coast of Scotland, the bottom was distinctly seen (a white
bottom) at a depth of 12 fathoms; and on a black, rocky bottom, at 5
fathoms under water, objects were so distinctly seen that the parts of
a wreck were taken up--the exact place of which was not known previous
to its use. In these experiments a lenticular form of glass was made
use of at the bottom of the tube, having a plane surface to the water,
but no great or marked advantage was observable from this
construction. With respect to the history of this contrivance for
viewing the bottom of the sea, we are unable to assign any particular
date: so far as our information goes, it has been in use from a very
remote period. We are informed that it is in general use in
seal-shooting along our northern and western islands, where, sometimes
in the form of an ordinary washing-tub, with a piece of glass fixed in
its bottom, the shot-seal was looked for, and the grappling-hook let
down to bring him to the surface. It may not be generally known, that
in seal-shooting, the shot or wounded seal always seeks the bottom,
from which he never rises after death, till washed ashore by the
action of the sea: it is only when the fatal ball deprives him of the
power of diving that he is ever found at the surface. In such
employments, therefore, the use of this instrument, however modified,
must form an important auxiliary to the best rifle. Throwing oil over
the surface of the water is used in the same pursuits; but this only
so far stills the ripple, leaving the reflections. Our eminent
engineer, Mr Robert Stevenson, made use of the water-telescope more
than 30 years ago, in works connected with harbour improvement in the
north of Scotland; it has also been used to examine the sand-banks,
&c., at the bottom of the River Tay, but in this case the mud
prevented its use in any considerable depth of water. To obviate this
difficulty, the construction was modified thus: by making the tube of
considerable length, and placing the glass at the lower end, this tube
was thrust through the water till within a few feet of the bottom,
acting as a cofferdam to set aside the dirty water, and enable the
bottom to be seen; but in this method of application it was found very
difficult to hold the tube down in the water from its buoyant power,
and we are informed by Mr Thomas Stevenson, C. E., that, he understood
from this cause its use had been discontinued. He suggested a simple
remedy; viz., to fill up the empty tube with pure water. We are
indebted to Mr Mitchell, the gentleman already mentioned, for having
brought this instrument into notice in the public prints, under the
name of Norwegian water-telescope, on the shores of which country it
is stated to be much used in fishing--in particular, that of the
herring; but the herring-fishers on the east coast of Scotland inform
us, that they require no such auxiliary, as, from the surrounding
elevated grounds, they can tell the position of the shoal, and, from
their motions seen from such situations, they know where they are to
be found when they go out a-fishing.[50]

Footnote 49: Leslie's Elements of Nat. Phil., p. 19.

Footnote 50: _Norwegian Water-Telescope._

The water-telescope is thus noticed in a very promising
periodical, the American Annual of Scientific Discovery, just
published, of which a copy reached us a few days ago.--ED. _Phil.
Journal_.

The water-telescope is an instrument which the people of Norway
have found of so great utility, that there is scarcely a single
fishing-boat without one of three or four feet in length, which
they carry in their boats with them when they go a-fishing. When
they reach the fishing-grounds, they immerse one end of this
telescope in the water, and look through the glass, which shews
objects some ten or fifteen fathoms deep as distinctly as if they
were within a foot of the surface. When a shoal of fish comes
into their bays, the Norwegians instantly prepare their nets, man
their boats, and go out in pursuit. The first process is minutely
to survey the ground with their glasses, and where they find the
fish swarming about in great numbers, they give the signal, and
surround the fish with their large draught-nets, and often catch
them in hundreds at a time. Without these telescopes their
business would often prove precarious and unprofitable; as the
fish, by these glasses, are as distinctly seen in the deep, clear
sea of Norway, as gold-fish in a crystal jar. This instrument is
not only used by the fishermen, but is also found aboard the navy
and coasting-vessels of Norway. When their anchors get into foul
ground, or their cables warped on a roadstead, they immediately
apply the glass, and, guided by it, take steps to put all to
rights, which they could not do so well without the aid of the
rude and simple instrument, which the meanest fisherman can make
up with his own hands, without the aid of a craftsman. This
instrument has been lately adopted by the Scotch fishermen on the
Tay, and, by its assistance, they have been enabled to discover
stones, holes, and uneven ground, over which their nets travel,
and have found the telescope answer to admiration, the minutest
object in twelve feet of water being as clearly seen as on the
surface. We see no reason why it could not be used with advantage
in the rivers and bays of the United States.

_Experimental Investigations to Discover the Cause of the Change
which takes place in the Standard Points of Thermometers._
By JOHN ADIE, F.R.S.E., F.R.S.S.A.
Communicated by the Author.

It has long been known to experimentalists that, in thermometers
constructed with the greatest care, a change takes place after a lapse
of time in the standard points, as given by the melting of ice and
boiling of water under a fixed pressure; on this account it has been
recommended by most writers, where the employment of thermometers is
treated of, that they should from time to time be compared one with
another, and also at the freezing point. This change is a rising of
the mercury in the tube, so that, after a length of time, the mercury
will not sink to the point laid off in the construction of the
instrument. To investigate to what cause this change was due, formed
the object of my experiments: Was it a change in the glass of which
the bulbs are formed, or in the mercury with which they are filled? I
was aware that thermometers filled with alcohol were not subject to
this change, which would lead to the inference, that the change was in
the mercury and not the glass; but then, in the spirit-thermometer,
air is left above the column of spirit, whereas, in those constructed
with mercury, the air is expelled, and there is a vacuum above the
column; consequently, the bulb is pressed together with the force of
an atmosphere on all sides; might not this force, acting for a length
of time, cause some small alteration in the arrangement of the
particles forming the glass of the bulb?

This is the explanation accepted by most of the Italian and French
writers on this subject. Some suppose that the mercury may contain air
and moisture within its particles; but such a hypothesis I think
inadmissible, as in the case of a vacuum over the mercury, these
particles would seek the void, and cause rather a depression than a
rising of the freezing point. Mr Daniell, in his Essay on Climate,
adopts the same view; and Sir John Herschel, in his article "Heat," in
the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, says: "The freezing point upon the
mercurial thermometer has been supposed to undergo some slight
variation, so as to appear too low upon the scales of those
instruments which have been long made; and it is said that, in such
cases, the just indication was again recovered by breaking off the end
of the stem, so as to admit atmospheric air." But, as I had observed
that the change went on for a time only, after which it ceased, and
that it affected thermometers sealed with air over the mercury, as
well as those with a vacuum, I undertook the following experiments:--

In September 1848 I made four thermometers having long degrees,--such
that 1/10° might be easily noted, constructed of the same draft of
glass tube; two of these I placed in boiling water, and kept them at
that temperature for a week: my object in this was to learn if any
change in the form of the bulb would take place from this slow process
of annealing, as glass is known to undergo some change from such
exposure.

The four thermometers were now filled with pure mercury: two of these
were sealed with a vacuum over the mercury; one tube that had been
boiled, and the other not: the other two tubes were sealed with air
over their columns, and the freezing points of all were marked on the
tubes; after which they were placed in a window freely exposed to
light, where they were left till January 1849--a space of four
months--when they were again placed in melting ice, and the freezing
points marked; they had risen ·24°, ·24°, ·20°, ·06° parts of a
degree. The whole four thermometers were now placed in boiling water,
and kept there for a week, when the freezing points were again
observed to have risen respectively ·48°, ·41°, ·50°, ·45°.

The instruments were now left exposed to light as at first; and, in
January 1850, the freezing points were again observed, when they were
found to have farther risen ·12°, ·18°, ·20°, ·13°; and, lastly, they
were observed in May 1850, when no change from last observation was
notable.

The whole amount of rising of the freezing point in these four
thermometers, after a lapse of eighteen months, is respectively ·84°,
·83°, ·90°, ·65°; and these changes may be the full amount that would
take place were the instruments observed after a greater lapse of
time. From my experience, I know that there is a period after which no
change takes place; but, from the method in which these experiments
have been conducted, I am not at present in a condition to assign a
time; moreover, it is evident that this period will be much modified
by circumstances. The results above stated form the following Table:--

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| No.| Description | Value of | Observed | Rise after | | |
| | of |one Degree|rise, Jan. | having | Rise at | Total |
| |Thermometer. | of Fahr. | 1849. |been boiled |Jan. 1850.| rise. |
| | | | |for a week. | | |
|----+-------------+----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------|
| { | Sealed in | } | | | | |
|1.{ | vacuum, | } 0·166 | 0·24 | 0·48 | 0·12 | 0·84 |
| { | not boiled. | } | | | | |
|----+-------------+----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------|
| { | Sealed in | } | | | | |
|2.{ | vacuum and | } 0·168 | 0·24 | 0·41 | 0·18 | 0·83 |
| { | boiled. | } | | | | |
|----+-------------+----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------|
| { | Sealed with | } | | | | |
|3.{ | air, not | } 0·199 | 0·20 | 0·50 | 0·20 | 0·90 |
| { | boiled. | } | | | | |
|----+-------------+----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------|
| { |Sealed with | } | | | | |
|4.{ |air, boiled. | } 0·154 | 0·06 | 0·45 | 0·13 | 0·65 |
+----+-------------+----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------+

From inspection of the Table, no very remarkable difference is
observable in the rising of these four instruments. No. 4 appears to
have risen less during the first period, but goes along with the
others afterwards. The effect of exposure to the temperature of
boiling water shews that, under high temperature, the change goes on
much faster than at the ordinary temperature of the air; from the
Table it will be observed, that about twice the amount of change was
caused by the boiling of the thermometers for a week, than had taken
place between the first and second observations, a period of four
months.

It does not appear that the boiling of the thermometer tubes for eight
days, previous to their being filled with mercury, had produced any
change on the form of the bulbs; we should at least infer this from
the change in their freezing points keeping pace so nearly with those
which had not been boiled.

I now come to the concluding experiment with these instruments, and,
it appears to me most interesting and anomalous. The four tubes being
placed in pounded ice, the columns stood at the points indicated in
the last column of the Table; in this situation the tops of the tubes
were broken off, so as to admit the free pressure of the air, and
instantly the thermometers fell, in the order of their numbers, ·54,
·43, ·40, ·35 of a degree, now indicating on their scales +·30, +·40,
+·50, +·35. The remarkable features shewn by this experiment are;
first, that the two thermometers sealed with vacuum, and the two
having air over their columns, should have risen nearly equally, when
two had their bulbs pressed with the whole force of an atmosphere,
while the other two had no pressure externally, farther than that
caused from changes in the pressure of the atmosphere. Next, that on
being opened, those with air over them should have started down nearly
as much as those with a vacuum; and on all these appears a permanent
change from three to five-tenths of a degree. I confess that I am very
much at a loss to account for these singular changes; atmospheric
pressure on the bulbs would account for the change in those sealed
with a vacuum; for we can easily suppose that a permanent form had
been taken from long exposure to that pressure by the glass forming
the bulbs: besides this permanent form, there appears to have been a
spring inwards, which instantly sprung out on removal of the pressure
by the admission of air over the mercury; but the same reasoning will
not apply to the thermometers having air over the mercury; and before
I attempt to make any suggestions as to the cause of these changes, I
propose to institute the following experiments. Having had three
thermometers blown and filled with mercury, I shall make one with a
perfect vacuum over the mercury, the next with air over it, and the
third with air condensed over it; and, noting the changes that may go
on in these, I hope to be able to assign a cause or causes for the
change. It is argued by some continental writers on this subject that
the reason why we do not perceive any change in the freezing point in
spirit-thermometers is from the great expansion of spirit above
mercury, volume for volume, thereby requiring a much smaller mass of
fluid to give the same length of a degree: this I propose to test by
making a thermometer with the same size of tube and bulb as those to
be experimented on with mercury. In mentioning these experiments to
Professor Forbes, he kindly put me in possession of some
spirit-thermometers, one of these, made in 1837, having a very large
bulb--this, with three others, shewed no change in the places of their
freezing points.

_Observations on the Discovery, by_ Professor LEPSIUS, _of Sculptured
Marks on Rocks in the Nile Valley in Nubia; indicating that,
within the historical period, the river had flowed at a higher
level than has been known in Modern Times_.
By LEONARD HORNER, Esq., F.R.S.S. L. & E., F.G.S., &c.
Communicated by the Author. With a Plate.

The recent archaeological researches of Professor Lepsius in Egypt,
and the Valley of the Nile, in Nubia, have given a deserved celebrity
and authority to his name, among all who take an interest in the early
history of that remarkable portion of the Old World. While examining
the ruins of a fortress, and of two temples of high antiquity at
Semne, in Nubia, he discovered marks cut in the solid rocks, and in
the foundation-stones of the fortress, indicating that, at a very
remote period in the annals of the country, the Nile must have flowed
at a level considerably above the highest point which it has ever
reached during the greatest inundations in modern times. This
remarkable fact would possess much geological interest with respect to
any great river, but it does so especially in the case of the Nile.
Its annual inundations, and the uniformity in the periods of its rise
and fall, have been recorded with considerable accuracy for many
centuries; the solid matter held in suspension in its waters, slowly
deposited on the land overflowed, has been productive of changes in
the configuration of the country, not only in times long antecedent to
history, but throughout all history, down to the present day. Of no
other river on the earth's surface do we possess such or similar
records; and moreover, the Nile, and the changes it has produced on
the physical character of Egypt, are intimately associated with the
earliest records and traditions of the human race. Everything,
therefore, relating to the physical history of the Nile Valley must
always be an object of interest; but the discovery of Professor
Lepsius is one peculiarly deserving the attention of the geologist;
for he does not merely record the facts of the markings of the former
high level of the river, but he infers from these marks, that since
the reign of Moeris, about 2200 years before our era, the entire bed
of the Nile, in Lower Nubia, must have been excavated to a depth of
about 27 feet; and he further speculates as to the process by which he
believes the excavation to have been effected.

It will be convenient, before entering upon the observations I have to
offer upon the cause assigned by Professor Lepsius for the former
higher levels of the Nile indicated by these marks, that I should give
the description of the discovery itself, by translating Dr Lepsius's
own account of it, in letters which he addressed to his friends,
Professors Ehrenberg and Böckh of Berlin, from the island of Philæ, in
September 1844.[51]

Footnote 51: Bericht über die zur Bekantmachung geeigneten
Verhandlungen der Königl. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenshaften zu
Berlin. Aus dem Jahre 1844.

"You may probably remember, when travelling to Dongola on the
Lybian side of the Nile, and in passing through the district of
Batn el hagér, that one of the most considerable of the cataracts
of the country occurs near Semne, a very old fortress, with a
handsome temple, built of sandstone, in a good state of
preservation; the track of the caravan passing close to it, partly
over the 4000-year-old artificial road. The track on the eastern
bank of the river is higher up, being carried through the hills;
and you must turn off from it at this point in order to see the
cataract. This Nile-pass, the narrowest with which I am
acquainted, according to the measurement of Hr. Erbkam, is 380
metres (1247 English feet) broad;[52] and both in itself, and on
account of the monuments existing there, is one of the most
interesting localities in the country, and we passed twelve days
in its examination.

Footnote 52: The breadth of the river itself. See Letter to Hr.
Böckh, p. 27.

"The river is here confined between steep rocky cliffs on both
sides, whose summits are occupied by two fortresses of the most
ancient and most massive construction, distinguishable at once
from the numerous other forts, which, in the time of the Nubian
power in this land of cliffs, were erected on most of the larger
islands, and on the hills commanding the river. The cataract (or
rapid) derives its name of Semne from that of the higher of the
two fortresses on the western bank; that on the opposite bank, as
well as a poor village lying somewhat south of it, is called
Kumme. In both fortresses the highest and best position is
occupied by a temple, built of huge blocks of sandstone, of two
kinds, which must have been brought from a great distance through
the rapids; for, southward, no sandstone is found nearer than
Gebel Abir, in the neighbourhood of Amara and the island of Sai
(between 80 and 90 English miles), and northward, there is none
nearer than the great division of the district at Wadi Haifa (30
miles distant.)

"Both temples were built in the time of Tutmosis III., a king of
the 18th dynasty, about 1600 years before Christ; but the
fortresses in which they stand are of a more ancient date. The
foundations of these are granite blocks of Cyclopian dimensions,
resting on the rock, and scarcely inferior to the rock itself in
durability. They were erected by the first conqueror of the
country, King Sesuatesen III., of the 12th dynasty, in order to
command the river, so easily done in so narrow a gorge. The
immediate successor of this king was Amenemha III., the Moeris of
the Greeks: he who accomplished the gigantic work of forming the
artificial lake of Moeris, in the Fayoum, and from whose time--the
most flourishing of the whole of the old Egyptian kingdom--the
risings of the Nile in successive years, doubtless by means of
regular markings, as indeed Diodorus tells, remained so well
known, that, according to Herodotus, they were recorded in
distinct numbers from the time of Moeris. It appears that this
provident king, occupied with great schemes for the welfare of his
country, considered it of great importance that the rising of the
Nile on the most southern border of his kingdom should be
observed, and the results forthwith communicated widely in other
parts of the land, to prepare the people for the inundations. The
gorge at Semne offered greater advantages for this object than any
other point; because the river was there securely confined by
precipitous rocky cliffs on each side. With the same view he had
doubtless caused Nilometers to be fixed at Assuan and other
suitable places; for without a comparison with these, the
observations at Semne could be of little use.

"The highest rise of the Nile in each year at Semne, was
registered by a mark, indicating the year of the king's reign, cut
in the granite, either on one of the blocks forming the foundation
of the fortress, or on the cliff, and particularly on the east or
right bank, as best adapted for the purpose. Of these markings
eighteen still remain, thirteen of them having been made in the
reign of Moeris, and five in the time of his two next successors.
These last kings discontinued the observations; for, in the
meantime, the irruption of the Asiatic pastoral tribes into Lower
Egypt took place, and wellnigh brought the whole kingdom to ruin.
The record is almost always in the same terms, short and simple:
_Ra en Hapi em renpe_ ... mouth or gate of the Nile in the
year.... And then follows the year of the reign, and the name of
the king. It is written in a horizontal row of hieroglyphics,
included within two lines--the upper line indicating the
particular height of the water, as is often specially stated--

[Illustration: sketch of hieroglyphics]

"The earliest date preserved is that of the sixth year of the
king's reign, and he reigned 42 years and some months. The next
following dates are, the years 9, 14, 15, 20, 22, 23, 24, 30, 32,
37, 40, 41, and 43; and include, therefore, under this king, a
period of 37 years. Of the remaining dates, that only of the 4th
year of his two successors is available; all the others, which are
on the west or left bank of the river, have been moved from their
original place by the rapid floods which have overthrown and
carried forward vast masses of rock. One single mark only, that of
the 9th year of Amenemha, has been preserved in its original place
on one of the building stones, but somewhat below the principal
rapid.[53]

Footnote 53: See Plate I.

"We have now to consider the relation which these--the most
ancient of all existing marks of the risings of the Nile--bear to
the levels of the river in our own time. We have here presented to
us the remarkable facts, that the highest of the records now
legible; viz., that of the 30th year of the reign of Amenemha,
according to exact measurements which I made, is 8·17 metres (26
feet 8 inches) higher than the highest level to which the Nile
rises in years of the greatest floods; and further, that the
lowest mark, which is on the east bank, and indicated the 15th
year of the same king, is still 4·14 metres (13 feet 6½ inches);
and the single mark on the west bank, indicating the 9th year, is
2·77 metres (9 feet) above the same highest level.

"The mean rise of the river, recorded by the marks on the east
bank, during the reign of Moeris, is 19·14 metres (62 feet 6
inches) above the lowest level of the water in the present day,
which, according to the statements of the most experienced
boatmen, does not change from year to year, and therefore
represents the actual level of the Nile, independently of its
increase by the falls of rain, in the mountains in which its
sources are situated. The mean rise above the lowest level, at the
present time, is 11·84 metres (38 feet 8 inches); and, therefore,
in the time of Moeris, or about 2200 years before Christ, the mean
height of the river, at the cataract or rapid of Semne, during the
inundation, was 7·30 metres (23 feet 10 inches) above the mean
level in the present day."

Such are the facts recorded by Dr Lepsius; and then follow, in the
same letter, his views as to the cause of the remarkable lowering of
the level of the river.

"There is certainly no reason for believing," he says, "that there
has been any diminution in the general volume of water coming from
the south. The great change in the level can, therefore, only be
accounted for by some changes in the land, and these must also
have altered the whole nature of the Nile Valley. There seems to
be but one cause for the very considerable lowering of the Nile;
namely, the washing out and excavations of the catacombs
(_Answaschen und Aushölen der Katakomben_); and this is quite
possible from the nature of the rocks themselves, which, it is
true, are of a quality that could not well be rent asunder, and
carried away by the mere force of the water, but might be acted
upon directly by the rising of the water-level, and the consequent
effects of the sun and air on the places left dry, causing cracks,
into which earth and sand would penetrate, which would then give
rise to still greater rents, until, at last, the rocks would of
themselves fall in, by having been hollowed out, a process that
would be hastened in those parts of the hills where softer and
earthy beds existed, and which would be more easily washed away.
But that, in historical times, within a period of about 4000
years, so great an alteration should take place in the hardest
rocks, is a fact of the most remarkable kind,--one which may
afford ground for many other important considerations.

"The elevation of the water-level at Semne must necessarily have
affected all the lands above; and, it is to be presumed, that the
level of the province of Dongola was at one time higher, as Semne
cannot be the only place in the long tract of cliffs where the bed
of rock has been hollowed out. It is to be conceived, therefore,
that not only the widely-extended tracts in Dongola, but those of
all the higher country in Meroë, and as far up as Fasogle, which,
in the present day, are dry and barren on both sides of the river,
and are with difficulty irrigated by artificial contrivances, must
then have presented a very different aspect, when the Nile
overflowed them, and yearly deposited its fertile mud to the
limits of the sandy desert.

"Lower Nubia also, between Wadi Haifa and Assuan, is now arid
almost throughout its whole extent. The present land of the
valley, which is only partly irrigated by water-wheels, is, on an
average, from 6 to 12 feet higher than the level to which the Nile
now rises; and although the rise at Semne might have no immediate
influence upon it, yet what has occurred there makes it more than
probable, that at Assuan there was formerly a very different level
of the river, and that the cataracts there, even in the historical
period, have been considerably worn down. The continued
impoverishment of Nubia is a proof of this. I have no manner of
doubt that the land in this lower part of the valley, which, as
already stated, is at present about 10 feet above the highest rise
of the Nile, was inundated by it within historical time. Many
marks are also met with here, that leave no doubt regarding the
condition of the Nile Valley antecedent to history, when the river
must have risen much higher; for it has left an alluvial soil in
almost all the considerable bays, at an average height of 10
metres (32 feet 9 inches) above the present mean rise of the
river. That alluvial soil, since that period, has doubtless been
considerably diminished in extent by the action of rain. On the
17th of August Hr. Erbkam and I measured the nearest alluvial
hillock in the neighbourhood of Korusko, and found it 6·91 metres
(22 feet 7 inches) above the general level of the valley, and
10·26 metres (33 feet 7 inches) above the present mean rise of the
river. That rise, which at Semne, on account of the greater
confinement of the stream between the rocks, varies as much as
2·40 metres (7 feet 10 inches) in different years, varies at
Korusko less than 1 metre (3 feet 3 inches).

"Near Abusimbel, on the west bank, I found the ground of the
temple 6·50 metres (21 feet 2 inches) above the highest
water-level. This temple, it is well known, was built under
Rameses the Great, between 1388 and 1322 years before Christ. Near
Ibrim there are, on the east bank, four grottoes excavated in the
vertical rock that bounds the river, which belong partly to the
18th and partly to the 19th dynasties; the last, under Rameses the
Great, is also the lowest, and only 2·50 metres (8 feet 1 inch)
above the highest inundation; the next in height is 2·70 metres (8
feet 9½ inches) above the former, and was made 250 years earlier,
under Tutmes III. Although I only measured the present level of
the valley near Korusko, nevertheless it appears to me that,
during the whole of the new kingdom, that is, from about 1700
years before Christ to this time, the Nile has not reached to the
full height of the low land of the valley.

"It is, however, conceivable that, at the time when the present
low land of the Nubian Valley was formed, the cataracts at Assuan
were in a totally different state; one that would, in some degree,
justify the overcharged descriptions of the ancients, according to
whom they made so great a noise that the dwellers near them became
deaf. The damming up of the inundation at Assuan could have no
material influence on Egypt, any more than that at Semne, or the
land from thence to Assuan."

It appears therefore, from the above statements, that at the time
mentioned, the Nile, during the inundations, stood 26 feet 8 inches
higher than the highest level to which it now rises in years of the
greatest floods; and that, to account for this, Professor Lepsius
conceives that, between the time of Moesis and the present day, the
bed of the Nile, from a considerable distance above Semne to Assuan,
must have been worn down to that extent. In the index to the volume of
the Berlin Monatsbericht, in which the letters of Professor Lepsius
are inserted, there is the following line:--

"NIL, _senkung seines Bettes um 25 Fuss seit 4000 Jahren_."

"_Nile_, sinking of its bed about 25 feet (Paris) within the last
4000 years."

Rivers are, undoubtedly, among the most active agents of change that
are operating on the earth's surface; the solid matter which renders
their waters turbid, and which they unceasingly carry to the sea,
afford indisputable proof of this agency. But the power of rivers to
abrade and wear down the rocks over which they flow, and to form and
deepen their own bed, depends upon a variety of circumstances not
always taken into account; and although the great extent of that
power, in both respects, is shewn in the case of many rivers, to
conclude, as some have done, from these instances, that all rivers
have excavated the channels in which they flow, is a generalization
that cannot be safely assented to. The excavation of the bed of a
river is one of those problems in geological dynamics which can only
be rightly solved by each particular case being subjected to the
rigorous examination of the mathematician and the physicist. The solid
matter which rivers carry forward is in part only the produce of their
own abrading power; and the amount of it must be proportional to that
power, which is mainly dependent on their velocity; they are the
recipients of the waste of the adjoining lands by other combined
agencies, and the carriers of it to the lower districts and to the
sea. They often afford the strongest evidence of the vast lapse of
time that must be included between the beginning and close of a
geological period; and, when they flow through countries whose remote
political history is known to us, they supply a scale by which we may
measure and estimate that lapse of time. This is especially so in the
case of the Nile.

When so startling an hypothesis as that now referred to, viz., that
the entire bed of so vast a river as the Nile, for more than 250
miles, from Semne to Assuan, has been excavated, within historical
time, to a depth of 27 feet, is made by a person whose name carries so
much weight in one department of philosophical inquiry, the statement
involves such important geological considerations, that it becomes the
duty of the geologist to examine, and thoroughly test the soundness of
the explanation, in order that the authority of Professor Lepsius, for
the accuracy of the facts observed, may not be too readily admitted as
conclusive for the correctness of his theory of the cause to which
they owe their existence. That there has been such an undoubting
admission, appears from the following passage in the work of one of
the latest writers on Nubia:--

"The translation of the name of this town (Aswán) is 'the
opening;' and a great opening this once was, before the Nile had
changed its character in Ethiopia, and when the more ancient races
made this rock (at the first cataract) their watch-tower on the
frontier between Egypt and the south. That the Nile has changed
its character, south of the first cataract, has been made clear by
some recent examinations of the shores and monuments of Nubia. Dr
Lepsius has discovered water-marks so high on the rocks and
edifices, and so placed as to compel the conviction that the bed
of the Nile has sunk extraordinarily by some great natural
process, either of convulsion or wear. The apparent exaggerations
of some old writers about the cataracts at Syene may thus be in
some measure accounted for. If there really was once a cataract
here, instead of the rapids of the present day, there is some
excuse for the reports given from hearsay by Cicero and Seneca.
Cicero says, that 'the river throws itself headlong from the
loftiest mountains, so that those who live nearest are deprived of
the sense of hearing, from the greatness of the noise.' Seneca's
account is: 'When some people were stationed there by the
Persians, their ears were so stunned with the constant roar, that
it was found necessary to remove them to a more quiet place.'"[54]

Footnote 54: Miss Martineau's Eastern Life, vol. i., p. 99.

_Note._--The learned author of an article on Egyptian Chronology and
History in the "Prospective Review" for May 1850, in referring to the
contributions of Professor Lepsius to Egyptian history, says, "He has
discovered undescribed pyramids, equal in number to those known
before; has traced the Labyrinth, and ascertained its founder. _He has
detected inscriptions on the banks of the Nile, which show that its
bed has subsided many feet in historic times." 9th June 1850_.

In the assumption of an excavation of the bed of the river, we have no
small amount of wear to deal with, for the distance from Semne to
Assuan, following the course of the river, is not less than 250 miles;
and if, as Professor Lepsius supposes, the excavation extended to
Meroë, we have a distance, between that place and Assuan, of not less
than 600 miles.

Although these records of a former high level of the Nile at Semne had
not been noticed by any traveller prior to Professor Lepsius, we may
rest fully assured of the accuracy of his statements, from the
habitual care and diligence, and the established character for
fidelity, of the observer. The silence of other travellers may be
readily accounted for by this, that none of them appear to have
remained more than a very short time at this spot--not even the
diligent Russegger--whereas we have seen that Professor Lepsius passed
twelve days in the examination of this gorge in the Nile Valley.

The theory of a lowering of the bed of the river by wearing, involves
two main considerations, viz., the power of the stream, and the degree
of hardness of the rocks acted upon. The power depends upon the volume
and velocity of the river--the velocity on its depth, and the degree
of inclination of the bed: the hardness of the rocks we can form a
tolerable estimate of when we know their nature. To judge, therefore,
of the probability of the hypothesis of Professor Lepsius, we must
inquire into the physical and geological features of the Nile Valley,
in Nubia.

In the observations I have now to offer, my information has been
derived of course entirely from the works of other travellers,
particularly those of Burckhardt, Rüppell, and Russegger,[55] and
especially the latter, who travelled in Nubia in 1837; for he not only
enters far more into the details of the natural history of the
country, but he is the only traveller in Nubia who appears, from
previous acquirements, to have been competent to describe its natural
history with any degree of accuracy--I refer more particularly to the
physical and geological features of the country. Besides full
descriptions in his volumes, he has given a geological map of Nubia,
and also several sections, or what may more properly be called
_vertical sketches_--a term that would, perhaps, be a more appropriate
designation for all sections that are not drawn to a true scale, or at
least when the proportion of height to horizontal distance is not
stated.

Footnote 55: Reisen in Europa Asien und Afrika, in der Jahren
1835, bis 1841.--Stuttgart 1841-1846.

_The Physical Geography of Lower Nubia._[56]

Footnote 56: With reference to the object of this paper.

Russegger informs us,[57] that he believes he was the first traveller
who had succeeded in making a series of barometrical measurements
along the Nile Valley, from the Mediterranean to Sennaar and Kordofan,
and thence to the 10th degree of north latitude. He gives the
following altitudes, above the sea:--

Paris Feet. English Feet.

The upper part of the Cataract of Assuan, 342 = 364·37
Korusko, on the right bank of the Nile, in
Nubia, 450 = 479·43
Wadi-Halfa, 490 = 522·00
New Dongola, 757 = 806·52
Abu Hammed, 963 = 1026·00

Footnote 57: Reisen, Bd. ii., 545.

I shall now give the length of the Nile along its course from Abu
Hammed to the island of Philæ, at the head of the cataract of Assuan.
I employ for this purpose the map in the atlas which accompanies the
work of Russegger, which bears the date of 1846, and which, doubtless,
was constructed on the best authorities. He mentions a map of General
von Prokesch with great praise.[58] It flows:--

German M. English M.

From NE. to SW., from Abu Hammed to
Meroë, about 31 = 150
It makes a curve between Meroë and Old
Dongola, of about 16 = 77
It flows between Old and New Dongola,
from SE. to NW., about 16 = 77
Then, with some short windings, nearly due
north to the island of Sais, for about 30 = 145
And from Sais to the island of Philæ, from
SW. to NE., about 68 = 327
---- ----
Making the whole length of the course, from
Abu Hammed to Philæ, about 161 = 776

Footnote 58: "Über den Stromlauf und das zunächst liegende
Uferland des Nils, von der zweiten Katarakte bis Assuan, besitzen
wir eine vortreffliche Karte namlich:" "Land zwischen der kleinen
und grossen Katarakten des Nil. Astronomisch bestimmt und
aufgenommen in J. 1827, durch v. Prokesch. Nil Grundrisse der
Monumente. Wien, 1831."--Reisen Bd. ii., Thl. iii. 86.

Ascending the river, we have, between Philæ and Korusko, a distance of
24 German, or 115½ English miles, and without any rapid, except one
near Kalabsche. Korusko being 115 feet above the head of the cataract
of Assuan, at Philæ, we have an average fall of the river between
these two places of a foot in a mile.

Between Korusko and Wadi-Halfa there is no rapid. The distance being
20 German, or 96 English miles, and the difference of altitude being
42½ feet, we have an average fall throughout that part of the river's
course of not more than 5·3 inches in a mile.

This very inconsiderable fall need not surprise us; for the average
fall of the Nile in Lower Egypt, at the lowest water, is little more
than one-third of that now stated. At the time of the highest water
the surface of the Nile, at Boulak, near Cairo; that is, about 116
miles in a direct line from the coast is only 43·437 English feet
above the level of the Mediterranean, and at the time of the lowest
water, only 17·33 feet. Thus, in the first case, there is an average
fall of about 5·00 inches; in the second, of not more than 1·80 inches
in a mile.[59]

Footnote 59: Russegger, Reisen, Bd. i., 258.

Between Wadi Halfa and Dale, a distance of about 94 miles, six
cataracts, or schellals, as they are called in the language of the
country, are marked in Russegger's map. And here, it may be as well to
notice, that there are no cataracts, in the ordinary sense of the
term, on the Nile; no fall of the river over a precipice; all the
so-called cataracts are rapids, where the river rushes through rocks
in its bed; the rapids varying in their length and degrees of
inclination. We have no measurements of their lengths or of their
falls, except as regards the first and second cataracts. The former,
according to Russegger, has a fall of about 85 English feet in a
distance of about 8 miles; and he describes the latter as extending
from 5 to 6 _stunden_; that is, from 12 to 14½ miles, but he does not
give the height. Speaking of the schellals above Semne, Russegger
says, that all may be passed in boats without difficulty for about six
weeks, or two months in the year. This is the case also, at the
cataract or rapid of Assuan. But between Wadi-Halfa and Dale, with
some inconsiderable spaces of free navigable water, in the ordinary
state of the river, there is an almost uninterrupted series of rapids.
We have no measurement of the height of Dale above Wadi-Halfa, near to
which the second great cataract of the Nile occurs; but this is the
part of the river's course where the fall is greatest, and from Semne
to Dale there are about 45 miles of this more rapid fall.

From Dale to New Dongola, a distance of 35 German, or about 168
English miles, only three rapids are marked on Russegger's map--the
highest being at Hannek, about 26 English miles below New Dongola. New
Dongola being 806 English feet above the sea, and the distance from
that place to the rapid of Hannek being 26 miles only, we may with
probability estimate the surface of the river at the rapid of Hannek
at 780 feet above the sea. Now, Wadi-Halfa being 522 feet, we have a
difference of height, between these two last-named places, of 258
feet; and the length of the river's course between them being 236
miles, we have an average fall of 13·12 inches in a mile; that is, in
the part of the river's course where nine rapids occur, in the
provinces of Batn-el-Hadjar, Sukkot, and Dar-el-Mahass, where the
river flows over granite and other plutonic rocks; gneiss,
mica-schist, and other hard rocks, which Russegger considers to be
metamorphic. But between Semne and the head of the second cataract at
Wadi-Halfa, there is not a continuous rapid stream; for Hoskins says,
that about two miles above that cataract, the river has a width of a
third of a mile, and, when he passed it the water was scarcely
ruffled.[60]

Footnote 60: Travels in Ethiopia, p. 272.

From the rapid of Hannek to Abu Hammed, the distance is 329 English
miles, and the difference of altitude is 246 English feet. We have
thus an average fall in that distance of 9·00 inches in a mile.

Thus, in the 776 miles between Abu Hammed and Philæ, we have an
average fall of the Nile

Of 9·00 inches in a mile, for a distance of 329 miles.
Of 13·12 ......... ......... 236 ...
Of 5·30 ......... ......... 96 ...
Of 12·00 ......... ......... 115 ...

_Of the Breadth, Depth, and Velocity of the Nile, in Nubia._

Our information is very scanty respecting the breadth and depth of the
river, either at the time of lowest water or during the inundations.
About two miles above Philæ, it is stated by Jomard[61] to be 3000
metres, or nearly two English miles wide. At the second cataract, or
rapid of Wadi-Halfa, it spreads over a rocky bed of nearly two miles
and a-quarter in width (2000 klafter),[62] but contracts above the
rapid to a third of a mile. Russegger also states, that the Nile, near
Boulak, in Lower Egypt, is 2000 toises, nearly two-and-a-half English
miles in breadth, and yet that it is considerably wider in some parts
of Southern Nubia; but Burckhardt says, that the bed of the Nile in
Nubia is, in general, much narrower than in any part of Egypt. Near
Kalabsche, about 30 miles above Philæ, the river runs through a gorge
not more than 300 paces wide, and its bed is full of granite blocks.
It shortly afterwards again widens for some distance; but near Sialla,
78 miles above Philæ, it is contracted by the sandstone hills on both
sides coming so near each other, that the river's bed is again not
more than from 250 to 300 paces wide. It is about 600 yards broad
about two miles above the second cataract near Wadi-Halfa, but is
again very much contracted in the rocky region of Batn-el-Hadjar. At
Aulike it is only 200 paces broad.[63]

Footnote 61: Description de l'Égypte.--Separate Memoir entitled,
"Description de Syène et des Cataractes."

Footnote 62: Russegger, Bd. ii., 3 Thl. 85.

Footnote 63: Russegger, Bd. ii., 3 Thl. 76.

I have not met with any measurements of the depth of the river in any
part of its course in Nubia; but Hoskins describes it as being so
shallow at the island of Sais, 327 miles above Philæ, on the 9th of
June, which would be before the commencement of the inundation, as
only to reach the knees of the camels.[64] Near Derr, about 86 miles
below the Cataract of Wadi-Halfa, Norden, in January, found the river
so shallow that loaded camels waded through it, and his boat
frequently struck the ground. In May, Burckhardt found the river
fordable at Kostamne, 53 miles above Philæ; and Parthey states, that
between Philæ and the island of Bageh, to the west of it, the river is
so shallow before the commencement of the inundation, that it may be
waded through.[65] Burckhardt says, that from March to June the
Nile-water, in Nubia, is quite limpid.[66] Miss Martineau, who visited
Nubia in December and January, speaking of the river above Philæ says,
that it "was divided into streamlets and ponds by the black islets.
Where it was overshadowed it was dark-gray or deep blue, but when the
light caught it rushing between a wooded island and the shore, it was
of the clearest green."[67] At the second cataract she describes the
river as "dashing and driving among its thousand islets, and then
gathering its thousand currents into one, proceeds calmly in its
course."[68]

Footnote 64: Travels, p. 257.

Footnote 65: Wanderungen durch das Nilthal, von G. Parthey,
Berlin 1840. 378.

Footnote 66: Travels, pp. 9 and 11.

Footnote 67: Eastern Life, i. 10½.

Footnote 68: _Ib._, 144.

Although we have no accurate measurements of the velocity of the Nile
in Nubia, we may arrive at an approximate estimate of it by comparing
its fall with that of a river well known to us.

I have stated the fall of the Nile in different parts of its course to
be 5·30, 9·00, 12·00, and 13·12 inches in a mile. The fall of the
Thames from Wallingford to Teddington Lock, where the influence of the
tide ends, is as follows:--

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | | Fall in |
| |Length of | Fall. | inches |
| | course. | |per mile.|
+-----------------------------------+----------+---------+---------+
| |Miles. F. |Feet. in.| |
|From Wallingford to Reading Bridge,| 18·0 | 24·1 | 15·72 |
|From Reading to Henley Bridge, | 9·0 | 19·3 | 25·68 |
|From Henley to Marlow Bridge, | 9·0 | 12·2 | 16·20 |
|From Marlow to Maidenhead Bridge, | 8·0 | 15·1 | 22·32 |
|From Maidenhead to Windsor Bridge, | 7·0 | 13·6 | 23·16 |
|From Windsor to Staines Bridge, | 8·0 | 15·8 | 23·52 |
|From Staines to Chertsey Bridge, | 4·6 | 6·6 | 17·28 |
|From Chertsey to Teddington Lock, | 13·6 | 19·8 | 17·40 |
| +----------+---------+---------+
| | 77·4 | 125·11 | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

"In general, the velocity may be estimated at from half-a-mile to two
miles and three-quarters per hour; but the mean velocity may be
reckoned at two miles per hour. In the year 1794, the late Mr Rennie
found the velocity of the Thames at Windsor two miles and a half per
hour."[69]

Footnote 69: Rennie, Report on Hydraulics, in the Fourth Report
of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1834,
p. 487.

It will thus be seen that the velocity of the Nile is probably greatly
inferior to that of the Thames; for it appears that, except during the
inundation, for more than half the year the depth is inconsiderable.
The average fall when greatest, that is, including the province of
Batn-el-Hadjar, where the rapids chiefly occur, is considerably less
than that of any part of the above course of the Thames; so that there
must be long intervals between the rapids where the fall must be far
less than 13 inches in a mile. The breadth of the Nile is vastly
greater; but supposing the depth of the water to be the same as that
of the Thames, on account of the friction of the bed, the greater
breadth would add very little to the velocity. If we assume the
average depth of the Thames in the above distance to be 5 feet, and
that it flows with an average velocity of 2 miles in an hour, and if
we assume the average depth of the Nile in that part of its course
where the fall is 13·12 inches to be 10 feet, when not swollen by the
rise, the velocity would be 2 miles nearly in an hour,[70] if the
fall were equal to that of the Thames. We shall probably come near the
truth, by assuming the velocity of the Nile on this part at 2 miles in
an hour. That it must be considerably less in the other divisions of
the course I have named, and especially in that part immediately below
the second cataract, where the average fall is only 5·30 inches for a
distance of 96 miles, is quite evident.

Footnote 70: I state this on the authority of my friend, W.
Hopkins, Esq., of Cambridge.

The power of a river to abrade the soil over which it flows, so far as
water is by itself capable of doing so, must depend upon its volume
and velocity, and the degree of hardness of the material acted upon.
The power is increased when the water has force enough to transport
hard substances. But even transported gravel has little action on the
rocks with which it comes in contact, when it is free to move in
running water, unless the fall be considerable, and, consequently, the
velocity and force of the stream great. When stones are firmly set in
moving ice, they then acquire a great erosive power, cutting and
wearing down the rocks they are forcibly rubbed against; but this
condition never obtains in Lower Nubia, as ice is unknown there.

_Geological Structure of Lower Nubia._

One kind only of regularly stratified rock occurs in the 776 miles
from Abu Hammed to Philæ; viz. a silicious sandstone, similar to that
which occurs to a great extent on both sides of the Nile in Upper
Egypt, and which Russegger, after a very careful examination of it
there, considers to be an equivalent of the greensand of the
cretaceous rocks of Europe. The tertiary nummulite limestone, so
abundant in Egypt, has not hitherto been met with in Nubia.

The Nile flows over this sandstone for nearly 426 miles of the entire
distance, but not continuously. At Abu Hammed, it flows over granitic
rocks, and these continue from that place for about 120 miles. There
is then about 215 miles of the sandstone, which is succeeded by
igneous and metamorphic rocks, that continue for 195 miles without any
interruption, except a narrow stripe of sandstone of about 15 miles
near Amara. It is in this region of hard igneous rocks that nearly all
the rapids occur, between that of Hannek and the great or second
cataract at Wadi-Halfa. From the latter place there is sandstone
throughout a distance of about 196 miles, and then commences the
granitic region of the Cataract of Assuan, through which the Nile
flows about 35 miles. Thus we have about 350 miles of igneous and
metamorphic rocks, and about 426 of sandstone.

The general hard nature of the igneous and metamorphic rocks, over
which the Nile flows for about 155 miles above Semne, and for about 40
immediately below it, will be recognised by my naming some of the
varieties described by Russegger, viz. granites of various kinds,
often penetrated by greenstone dykes; sienite, diorite, and felspar
porphyries; gneiss, and clay slate, penetrated by numerous quartz
veins.

The siliceous sandstone is very uniform in its character; and in
Nubia, as in Egypt, the only organic bodies which it has as yet been
found to contain, are silicified stems of wood. Occasionally, as in
the neighbourhood of Korusko, interstratified beds of marly clay are
met with.[71]

Footnote 71: Russegger, Bd. ii., 1 Thl. 569 to 584.

When, therefore, we take into account the hard nature of the siliceous
sandstone, the durability of which is shewn by the very ancient
monuments of Egypt and Nubia, that are formed of it, and the still
greater hardness of the granites and other crystalline rocks, it is
manifest that the wearing action of a river flowing over so gentle a
fall, can scarcely be appreciable. If the occasional beds of marly
clay occur in the bank of the river, they may be washed out, and
blocks of the superincumbent sandstones may fall down; but such an
operation would have a tendency to raise rather than deepen the bed of
the river at those places; unless the transporting power of the stream
were far greater than can exist with so moderate a fall, especially in
that part of the river below Semne, where, for 96 miles, it is not
more than 5·3 inches, and for 115 miles below that, not more than 12
inches in a mile. Even if we suppose the river to have power to tear
up its bed for some distance above Semne and below it, as far as the
rapid of Wadi-Halfa, it is evident that the materials brought down
would be deposited, except the finest particles, in that tranquil run
of 96 miles, which may be almost compared to a canal. The drains in
Lincolnshire are inclined 5 inches to a mile.[72] When the annual
inundations commence, the water of the Nile comes down the rapid at
Assuan of a reddish colour, loaded with sand and mud only; whatever
detrital matter of a larger and heavier kind the Nile may have brought
with it, is deposited before it reaches that point.

Footnote 72: Rennie, Report cited above, p. 422.

From all these considerations, therefore, I come to the conclusion,
that the bed of the Nile cannot have been excavated, as Professor
Lepsius supposes, since the date of the sculptured marks on the rock
at Semne. He says, "Es lässt sich kaum eine andere Ursache für das
bedentende Fallen des Nils denken, als ein Answaschen und Aushölen
_der Katakomben_." By the word _Katakomben_ he can only mean natural
caverns in the rock; but such caverns are rarely, if ever, met with in
sandstones, and only occasionally in limestones. If the course of the
Nile were over limestone instead of sandstone, we could not for a
moment entertain the idea of a succession of caverns for 200 miles
beneath its bed, sometimes two miles in width, the roofs of which were
to fall in; and where the igneous rocks prevail, this explanation is
wholly inapplicable.

But besides the objections arising from the nature of the rocks, and
the inconsiderable fall of the river, there is still another
difficulty to overcome. It is to be borne in mind, that this lowering
of the bed of the Nile, from Semne to Assuan, is supposed to have
taken place within the last 4000 years. Between the first cataract at
Assuan and the second at Wadi-Halfa, there are numerous remains of
temples on both banks of the Nile, some of very great antiquity. "From
Wadi-Halfa to Philæ," says Parthey, "there is a vast number of
Egyptian monuments, almost all on the left bank of the river, and so
near the water that most of them are in immediate contact with
it."[73] We may rest assured that the builders of these would place
them out of the reach of the highest inundations then known. Although
we have many accurate descriptions of these monuments, the heights of
their foundations above the surface of the river are not often given;
they are, however, mentioned in some instances. I shall describe the
situations of some of these buildings relatively to the present state
of the river's levels, and shall begin with those on the island of
Philæ.

Footnote 73: Parthey, 318.

This island, according to the measurements of General von Prokesh, is
1200 Paris feet (1278 English) in length, and 420 (447) in breadth,
and is composed of granite. Lancrot informs us, that, "à l'époque des
hautes eaux, l'île de Philæ est peu élevé audessus de leur surface,
mais lorqu'elles sont abaissées elle les surpasse de huit metres." It
was formerly surrounded by a quay of masonry, portions of which may be
traced at intervals, and in some places they are still in good
preservation. The south-west part of the island is occupied by
temples. According to Wilkinson, the principal building is a temple of
Isis commenced by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who reigned from 283 to 247
years before Christ; and he adds, that it is evident an ancient
building formerly stood on the site of the present great temple.
Lancrot, in referring to this more ancient building, says:--"Il y a
des preuves certaines d'une antiquité bien plus reculeé encore,
puisque des pierres qui entrent dans la construction de ce même grand
temple, sont des débris de quelque construction antérieure."
Rossellini considers that it was built by Nectanabis. The first king
of Egypt, of the Sebennite dynasty of that name, ascended the throne
374 years B.C., the second and last ceased to reign about 350 years
B.C.[74]

Footnote 74: Russegger, Reison, Bd. ii. 300 and 320. Lancrot,
Description de l'Égypte, Memoire sur l'île de Philæ, 15-58.
Rossellini, I Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia. Monumenti del
Culto, 187. Wilkinson's Thebes and General View of Egypt, 466.
Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, Arts. Ptolemy,
Ph. and Nectanabis.

Rossellini[75] informs us, that on the island of Bageh, opposite to
Philæ, there are the remains of a temple of the time of Amenophis II.,
and a sitting statue of granite representing him. He was a king in the
earlier years of the 18th dynasty, which, according to the Chevalier
Bunsen,[76] began in the year 1638, and ended in 1410 B.C.

Footnote 75: P. 187.

Footnote 76: Egyptens Stelle in der Weltgeschichte.--Drittes
Buch, 122.

GAU,[77] in describing a temple at Debu, about 12 miles above Philæ,
which he visited in January, and consequently during the time of low
water, states that he discovered under the sand, at the edge of the
river, the remains of a terrace leading towards a temple.

Footnote 77: Antiquités de la Nubie, p. 6.

A short distance north of Kalabsche, about 30 miles above Philæ, at
Beil-nalli, Rossellini[78] speaks of a small temple in the following
terms:--"Among the many memorials that still exist of Ramses II., the
most important, in a historical point of view, is a small temple or
grotto excavated in the rock;" and Wilkinson mentions it "as a small
but interesting temple excavated in the rock, of the time of Rameses
II., whom Champellion supposes to be the father of Sesostris or
Rameses the Great."[79] He was the first king of the 19th dynasty,
which began in the year 1409 B.C.[80]

Footnote 78: Tome III., Parte II., p. 6.

Footnote 79: Thebes, &c., p. 482.

Footnote 80: Bunsen, as above.

Gau[81] thus describes a monument at Gerbé Dandour:--"La chaine de
montagnes qui borde le Nil est, dans cet endroit, si approchée du lit
de ce fleuve, qu'il ne reste que très peu d'espace sur la rive. Cet
espace est presque entièrement occupé par le monument, et la rivière,
dans ses débordemens, arrive jusqu'au pied du mur de la terrasse."

Footnote 81: P. 9.

Parthey informs us that the temple of Sebua is about 200 feet distant
from the river, in which distance there are two rows of sphinxes, and
that the road between them, from the temple, ends in wide steps at the
water's edge; and he adds, that Champellion refers this temple to the
time of Rameses the Great.[82]

Footnote 82: Warnderungen, &c., 334.

It thus appears that monuments exist close to the river, some of which
were constructed at least 1400 years before our era; so that taking
the time of Amenemha III. to be, as Professor Lepsius states, 2200
years B.C., the excavation of the bed of the Nile which he supposes to
have taken place, must have been the work, not of 4000 years but of
800. If the erosive power of the river was so active in that time, it
cannot be supposed that it then ceased; it would surely have continued
to deepen the bed during the following 3000 years.

At all events, the buildings on the island of Philæ demonstrate that
the bed of the Nile must have been very much the same as it is now,
2200 years ago; and even a thousand years earlier it must have been
the same, if the foundation of the temple on the island of Begh,
opposite to Philæ, be near the limit of the highest rise of the Nile
of the present time; so that there could be no barrier at the Cataract
of Assuan to dam up the Nile when they were constructed; and thus the
deafening sound of the waterfall recorded by Cicero and Seneca must
still be held to be an exaggeration.

The existence of alluvial soil, apparently of the same kind as that
deposited by the Nile, in situations above the Cataract of Assuan, at
a level considerably above the highest point which the inundations of
the river have reached in modern times, to which allusion is made by
Professor Lepsius, has been noticed by other travellers, and even at
still higher levels than those he mentions. Whether that alluvial soil
be identical with, or only resembles the Nile deposit, would require
to be determined by a close examination, and especially with regard to
organic remains, if any can be found in it. There is no evidence to
shew that it was deposited during the historical period, and it may be
an evidence of a depression and subsequent elevation of the land
antecedent to that period. It may not be of fresh-water origin, but
the clay and sand, or till, left by a drift while the land was under
the sea. For remote as is the antiquity of Nubia and Egypt, in
relation to the existence of the human race, it appears to be of very
modern formation in geological time. The greater part of Lower Egypt,
probably all the Delta, is of post-pliocene age, and even late in that
age; and the very granite of the Cataract of Assuan, that of which the
oldest monuments in Egypt are formed, and which, in the earlier days
of geology, was looked upon as the very type of the rock on which the
oldest strata of the earth were founded, is said to have burst forth
during the later tertiary period. We learn from Russegger, that the
low land which lies between the Mediterranean and the range of hills
that extends from Cairo to the Red Sea at Suez, and of which hills a
nummulite limestone constitutes a great part, is composed of a
sandstone which he calls a "Meeresdiluvium," a marine diluvial
formation, and considers to be of an age younger than that of the
sub-appennines.[83] This sandstone he found associated with the
granite above Assuan, and covering the cretaceous sandstone far into
Nubia. It appears, therefore, that, in the later ages of the tertiary
period, this north-eastern part of Africa must have been submerged,
and that very energetic plutonic action was going forward in the then
bed of the sea. The remarkable fact of the granite bursting through
this modern sandstone is thus described by Russegger:--

"We arrived at a plateau of the Arabian Chain south-east of
Assuan. It is about 200 feet above the bed of the Nile, and
consists of the lower and upper sandstone, which are penetrated by
innumerable granite cones from 20 to 100 feet in height, arranged
over the plateau in parallel lines, very much resembling volcanic
cones rising from a great cleft. The sandstone is totally altered
in texture near the granite, and has all the appearance as if it
had been exposed to a great heat. 'I cannot refrain,' he says,
'from supposing that the granite must have burst, like a volcanic
product, through long wide rents in the sandstone, and that, in
this way, the conical hills were formed.'"[84]

Footnote 83: Reisen, Bd. I., s. 273.

Footnote 84: Id., Bd. II., I. Thl. s. 328.

An eruption of a true granite during the period of the sub-appennine
formations, one possessing the same mineral structure as that we
know to have been erupted during the period of the palæozoic rocks,
would be a fact of so extraordinary a kind, that its age would
require to be established on the clearest evidence, and especially
by that of organic remains in the sandstone.

Having thus ventured--I trust without any want of the respect due to
so eminent a person--to reject the hypothesis proposed by Professor
Lepsius for the high levels of the Nile at Semne, indicated by the
sculptured marks he discovered, it may perhaps be expected that I
should offer another more probable explanation. If in some narrow
gorge of the river below Semne, a place had been described by any
traveller, where, from the nature of the banks, a great landslip, or
even an artificial dam, could have raised the bed to an adequate
height; that is, proportionate to the fall of the river, as it was
more distant from Semne, a bar that, in the course of a few
centuries, might have been gradually washed away, I might have
ventured to suggest such a solution of the problem. But without any
information of the existence of such a contraction of the river's
channel, or any exact knowledge of the natural outlets and dams to
running water along the 250 miles of the Nile Valley, from Semne to
Assuan, it would be idle to offer even a conjecture. These marks are
unquestionably very difficult to account for, in the present
imperfect state of our knowledge of the structure of that portion of
the Nile Valley; and any competent geologist, well versed in the
questions of physical structure involved, who may hereafter visit
Nubia, would have a very interesting occupation in endeavouring to
solve the difficulty.

_7th April 1850._

[Illustration: _Marks of the Levels of the Nile near the Cataracts of
Semne in the time of King Amenemha III. (Moeris) about 2200 Years B.C.
compared with the present levels._]

_On the Salmon Tribe (Salmonidæ.)_

So long as the family _Salmonidæ_ remains circumscribed as it was
established by Cuvier, it seems to be a type almost universally
diffused over the globe, occurring equally in the sea and in
fresh-water, so that we are left almost without a clue to its natural
relations to the surrounding world. Joh. Muller, working out some
suggestions of Prince Canino, and introducing among them more precise
anatomical characters, had no sooner subdivided the old family of
_Salmonidæ_ into his _Salmonidæ_, _Characini_, and _Scopelini_, than
light immediately spread over this field. Limited now to such fishes
as, in addition to the mere general character of former _Salmonidæ_,
have a false gill on the inner surface of the operculum, the
_Salmonidæ_ appeared at once as fishes peculiar to the northern
temperate region, occurring in immense numbers all around the Arctic
Sea, and running regularly up the rivers at certain seasons of the
year to deposit their spawn, while some live permanently in fresh
water. We have thus in the true _Salmonidæ_ actually a northern family
of fishes, which, when found in more temperate regions, occurs there
in clear mountain rivers, sometimes very high above the level of the
sea, near the limits of perpetual snow, or in deep, cold lakes. That
this family is adapted to the cold regions is most remarkably
exemplified by the fact that they all spawn late in the season, at the
approach of autumn or winter, when frost or snow has reduced the
temperature of the water in which they live nearly to its lowest
natural point. The embryos grow within the egg very slowly for about
two months before they are hatched; while fecundated eggs of some
other families which spawn in spring and summer, give birth to young
fishes a few days after they are laid. The _Salmonidæ_, on the
contrary, are born at an epoch when the waters are generally frozen
up; that is at a period _when the maximum of temperature is at the
bottom of the water_, where the eggs and young salmons remain among
gravel, surrounded by a medium which scarcely ever rises above thirty
or forty degrees.

It is plain from these statements, and from what we know otherwise of
the habits of this family, that there is no one upon the globe living
under more uniform circumstances, and nevertheless the species are
extremely diversified, and we find peculiar ones in all parts of the
world, where the family occurs at all. Thus we find in Lake Superior
species which do not exist in the course of the Mackenzie or
Saskatchewan, and _vice versa_; others in the Columbia river which
differ from those of the Lena, Obi, and Yenisei, while Europe again
has its peculiar forms.

Whoever takes a philosophical view of the subject of Natural History,
and is familiar with the above stated facts, will now understand why,
notwithstanding the specific distinctions there are between them, the
trouts and white fishes are so uniform all over the globe. It must be
acknowledged that it is owing to the uniformity of the physical
condition in which they occur, and to which they are so admirably
adapted by their anatomical structure, as well as by their instinct.
Running up and down the rapid rivers and mountain currents, leaping
even over considerable waterfalls, they are provided with most
powerful and active muscles; their tail is strong and fleshy, and its
broad basis indicates that its power is concentrated; it is like the
paddle of the Indian who propels his canoe over the same waters. Their
mouth is large, their jaw strong, their teeth powerful, to enable them
to secure with ease the scanty prey with which they meet in these
deserts of cold water; and, nevertheless, though we cannot but be
struck by the admirable reciprocal adaptation between the structure of
the northern animals and the physical condition in which they live,
let us not mistake these adaptations for a consequence of physical
causes; let us not say that trouts resemble each other so much because
they originated under uniform conditions; let us not say they have
uniform habits because there is no scope for diversity; let us not say
they spawn during winter, and rear their young under snow and ice,
because at that epoch they are safer from the attacks of birds of
prey; let us not say they are so intimately connected with the
physical world, because physical powers called them into existence;
but let us once look deeper, let us recognise that this uniformity is
imparted to a wonderfully complicated structure: they are trouts with
all their admirable structure, their peculiar back-bones, their
ornamented skull, their powerful jaws, their moveable eyes, with their
thick, fatty skin and elegant scales, their ramified fin rays, and
with all that harmonious complication of structure which characterizes
the type of trouts, but over which a uniform robe, as it were, is
spread in a manner not unlike an almost endless series of monotonous
variations upon one brilliant air, through the uniformity of which we
still detect the same melody, however disguised under the many
undulations and changes of which it is capable.

The instincts of trouts are not more controlled by climate than those
of other animals under different circumstances. They are only made to
perform at a particular season, best suited to their organization,
what others do at other times. If it were not so, I do not see why all
the different fishes, living all the year round in the same brook,
should not spawn at the same season, and finally be transformed into
one type; have we not, on the contrary, in this diversity under
identical circumstances, a demonstrative evidence that there is
another cause which has acted, and is still acting, in the production
and preservation of these adaptations; a cause which endowed living
beings with the power of resisting the equalizing influence of uniform
agents, though at the same time placing these agents and living beings
under definite relations to each other?

That trouts are not more influenced by physical conditions than other
animals is apparent from the fact that there are lakes of small extent
and of most uniform features, in which two or three species of trout
occur together, each with peculiar habits; one more migratory, running
up rivers during the spawning season, &c., while the other will never
enter running waters, and will spawn in quiet places near the shore;
one will hunt after its prey, while the other will wait for it in
ambuscade; one will feed upon fish, the other upon insects. Here we
have an example of species with different habits, where there would
scarcely seem to be room for diversity in the physical condition in
which they live; again, there are others living together in immense
sheets of water, where there would seem to be ample scope for
diversity, among which we observe no great differences, as is the case
between the Siscowet and the lake trout in the great northern lakes.

If these facts, statements, and inductions were not sufficient to
satisfy the reader of the correctness of my views, I would at once
refer to another material fact, furnished us by the family of
_Salmonidæ_, namely, the existence of two essential modifications of
the true type of trouts, occurring everywhere together under the same
circumstances, showing the same general characters, back-bones, skull,
brain, composition of the mouth, intestines, gills, &c., &c., but
differing in the size of the mouth, and in the almost absolute want of
teeth, these groups being that of the white fishes, _Coregoni_, and
that of the true trouts, _Salmones_.

Now, I ask, where is there, within the natural geographical limits of
distribution of _Salmonidæ_, a discriminating power between the
physical elements under which they live, which could have introduced
these differences?--a discriminating power which, allotting to all
certain characters, should have modified others to such an extent as
to produce apparently different types under the same modification of
the general plan of structure. Why should there be, at the same time,
under the same circumstances, under the same geographical
distribution, white fishes with the habits of trouts,--spawning like
them in the fall, growing their young like them during winter,--if
there were not an infinitely wise Supreme Power, if there were not a
personal God, who, having first designed, created the universe, and
modelled our solar system, called successively, at different epochs,
such animals into existence under the different circumstances
prevailing over various parts of the globe, as would suit best this
general plan, according to which man was at last to be placed at the
head of creation? Let us remember all this, and we have a voice
uttering louder and louder the cry which the external world equally
proclaims, that there is a Creator, an intelligent and wise Creator,
an omnipotent Creator of all that exists, has existed, and shall
exist.

To come back to the _Salmonidæ_, I might say, that when properly
studied, there is not a species in nature, there is not a system of
organs in any given species, there is not a peculiarity in the details
of each of these systems, which does not lead to the same general
results, and which is not on that account equally worth our
consideration.

A minute distinction between species is again, above all, the
foundation of our most extensive views of the whole, and of our most
sublime generalizations. The species of _Salmonidæ_ call particularly
our attention, from the minuteness of the characters upon which their
distinction rests. Their number in the north of this continent (North
America) is far greater than would be supposed from the mere
investigation of those of the great lakes; but I shall, for the
present, limit myself to these.--_Agassiz, Lake Superior_, p. 366.

_Results of Observations made by the_ Rev. F. FALLOWS, _at the
Cape of Good Hope, in the years 1829-30-31_. _Produced under
the superintendence of_ G. B. AIRY, Esq., Astronomer Royal.

This important work, containing the earliest fruits of the Cape
Observatory; and, while the first, at the same time some of the
most valuable contributions to Southern Astronomy,--has been
received too late to allow us to do more than barely mention the
titles in the present number.

We are tempted, however, to extract the following short notice of
a remarkable meteor; because it tends to establish the connection
so very much wanted between _shooting-stars_ on the one hand, and
_meteorites_, or _meteor-stones_, on the other hand. The
phenomenon in question had a something of the characteristics of
each, but was more of the nature of the latter body, in which
case the mere fact of its appearing at the epoch of the
shooting-stars, maybe considered in some degree significant of a
connection, more especially when confirmed by a second instance
in another year; while, moreover, the November period of
shooting-stars had not then been suspected; and these two
observations not only serve to confirm that period, but also to
give the retrogression of the nodes of the orbit, which has been
suspected. P. S.

_Mr Fallows to the Secretary of the Admiralty._

ROYAL OBSERVATORY, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
_November 9, 1829_.

"SIR,--The inclosed document was drawn up at my request, by
Captain Ronald. At the moment the first explosion took place (ten
in the evening), I was writing in a room adjacent to that of the
Transit, and imagined from the loudness of the report that it
might be a signal of distress from some vessel in Table Bay.
Shortly after, perhaps four or five minutes, for I cannot be
certain, having no suspicion of what had been observed in the
Transit-room, I heard a second report, but it was somewhat fainter
than the former. This phenomenon has been noticed at Simon's Town,
Stellenbosch, and beyond Koe-berg.[85]--I have, &c.,

"FEARON FALLOWS."

Footnote 85: _i.e._, 20 miles to the South, 25 to the East, and
15 to the North.

(INCLOSURE.)

_Captain Ronald to Mr Fallows._

OBSERVATORY, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE,
_20th October 1829_.

"SIR,--As it may not be uninteresting perhaps to make some record
of the circumstances attending the appearance of a meteor which
was observed last evening, I beg leave to convey to you the
following notice: remarking that having seen it only through the
open roof of the Observatory, which prevented me from following
the direction it took, my report must necessarily be so far
incomplete.

"At the time of the occurrence of the phenomenon in question,
about ten in the evening, I was in the Transit-room, engaged in
observing the passage of a star, when a blaze of intensely vivid
light was observed a little to the West of North, about the height
of the Equator, and which continued for perhaps a couple of
seconds.

"While registering the observation, a loud report was heard nearly
in the same direction, resembling that of a piece of heavy
ordnance at the distance of two or three miles. The interval
between the flash and the report reaching me, must have been
between the limits of 2m 40s and 2m 45s, from the circumstance of
my having observed the light just before the star (_g Ceti_) had
come to the second wire[86] of the instrument, which, on referring
to the transit-book, would have taken place at 23h 57m 47s·6
nearly, and therefore the occurrence of the phenomenon may be
safely referred to 23h 57m 45s; and as, on hearing the report, I
immediately consulted the Sidereal clock, which indicated 0h 0m
30s, I think that the error in assuming the elapsed time as above
cannot be supposed to amount to five seconds.

Footnote 86: The Transit of _g Ceti_ (_2 Ceti_) over the second
wire, on this day is blank; and the word "meteor" is written in
the margin. The first and third wires are 23h 57m 27s·9 and 23h
58m 7s·4.

"There was little peculiar in the state of the weather or
atmosphere; the day had been rather more than usually cool, the
highest temperature being 68° Fahrenheit, the wind from the south,
and moderate, with slight passing showers. The evening was nearly
clear, with a light air from the south-west, atmosphere rather
dry; the barometer standing at 30in·20, and the thermometer at
52°, and both were observed to rise suddenly after the explosion,
the barometer by 0in·01, and the thermometer by 0°·1, though they
regained their original position in a short time afterwards.--I
have, &c.,
"W. RONALD.

"By referring to my Meteorological Journal, it appears that a
meteor of somewhat similar appearance was noticed in Cape Town
early on the morning of the 6th November last year.--W. R."

_Discovery of the Great Lake "Ngami" of South Africa._

Geographical discovery in Africa has even excited more interest than
similar explorations in any other part of the world, and with
reason--for, while it is one of the oldest and earliest peopled of
lands; while the human race first attained there a high degree of
civilization, and a high degree of knowledge in the arts of peace and
war, of science and literature; with a grandeur in some things, and a
skill in others never since equalled; yet it is now the country of all
others on the face of the globe concerning which we know least. In
other continents there are undoubtedly parts not yet visited by
Europeans, or worthy of being more fully explored; but they are but
inconsiderable spots compared with the almost boundless spaces of
Central Africa, where no foot of a white man has ever yet trod, and of
the greater part of which no semi-fabulous native accounts even have
ever reached us. So that age after age the civilization of the
enlightened nations of the world is gradually losing the hold which it
once had, at least along the northern shores of this vast continent;
and the land of Ham is gradually reverting to a state of primeval
wilderness, fenced in from all the rest of the world by the
obstructive power of ignorance and position.

And yet to no other part of the world has so continued a stream of
geographical explorers been poured, and is even pouring still; but
invariably either the deadly climate of the more fertile parts, or the
passive but all-powerful impediments offered by the more desert
portions, as well as the active opposition of natives, more savage and
sanguinary than in any other part of the world, have invariably, by
death or otherwise, put an untimely stop to the progress of the
travellers.

Under these circumstances it must be highly encouraging to all
interested in the prosecutions of African geography, to hear that an
actual and tangible discovery, and one of the most important kind for
the country in which it was effected, and for the prosecution of still
further research, has just been made, in the fact of the Rev. David
Livingston, a missionary of the London Society, having at least
reached the great lake[87] of South Africa.

Footnote 87: This lake must not be confounded with the smaller
one, supposed by the Portuguese to exist on the coast of
Zanzibar.

The circumstance requires perhaps something more than mere notice, and
to have more names mentioned in connection with it, from its being
part of a general system of co-operation in which many have borne a
part, and a very important and necessary part, towards the result
which has been finally achieved; and at the very least, the name of
the Rev. Mr Moffat, the fellow missionary of Mr Livingston, deserves
mention whenever the great lake is spoken of.

Its existence had been suspected long since, and its discovery has
been a constant theme of conversation for many years past at the Cape.
But yet the information of its whereabout, and size, and nature, were
so very scanty, as to throw more doubt over the matter, the further
that it was examined into. Up to a very recent date, the only persons
who had ever been able within the colony to bear testimony to the fact
of the existence of the great lake, from personal knowledge, were two
young Bechuana brought down by D. A. Smith's expedition. They said,
that when they were children, and their tribe was flying from their
enemies, they had been at one period close to the great lake; but,
after the closest cross-questioning, they left the matter more
uncertain than ever, for from the length of time that their tribe was
flying about in the desert in various directions, it would have been
quite possible to have reached the sea either to the east or west, or
the colony to the south; and nothing certain could be made out as to
the mean resulting direction of the marching and countermarching.

Nevertheless, many were the ardent explorers who endeavoured to reach
this consummation, so greatly to be desired, amid the arid plains of
South Africa. The last which started, and by far the most important of
all that were ever organized in South Africa, was that of the Cape
Town "Association for Exploring Central Africa," and which started in
1834, and returned in 1836. The party consisted of about seven
Europeans, as many waggons, and about thirty natives. The whole was
under the direction of Dr Andrew Smith, staff-surgeon, who had
admirably qualified himself for the command, by the experience of very
many years spent chiefly in the interior, and amongst the natives.
Among the members of the expedition, were an astronomer, well supplied
with instruments, and two artists, and Mr Charles Bell for landscape,
topography, and the manners and customs of the natives; and another,
Mr Ford, for the natural history department. Dr Smith took upon
himself especially the zoology, the ethnology, and geology; and the
others all contributed according to their powers, while the whole of
their notes and journals of every kind were to be made over to the
association.

The expedition started in 1834, reached at length the Rev. Mr Moffat's
residence at Kuruman, then the outpost of the Missionary stations; by
him it was carried on further into the Zoolah country, to the abode of
the great chief Umsiligas. This seemed for various reasons the
furthest northing that the expedition could make, but a small party
went on in light marching order a little further, so as to be just
able to say that 23° south latitude had actually been reached, before
the retrograde movement was begun.

The chief result of this expedition has been the publication of Dr A.
Smith's beautiful and valuable zoological work, for the publication of
which the government granted a sum of money.

The personal journal, the astronomical, geographical, geological, and
meteorological observations, have still to come; likewise Dr Smith's
own observations touching the history, language, and other particulars
of the various tribes of aborigines whom he met with; as well as Mr
Charles Bell's inimitable drawings of the manners, customs, and
appearances of the natives, and his expressive landscape scenery.

This degree or measure of success seemed to put the great lake further
off than ever. Europeans despaired of their ever finding or beholding
it, and none but traders and huntsmen subsequently traversed that part
merely of the road towards it, which the expedition did pass over;
while the only scientific mission which has acted since in South
Africa, viz., that of Captain Sir J. E. Alexander, sent out by the
Royal Geographical Society of London,--hopeless, apparently, of doing
anything by following Dr Smith's route, travelled and explored along
the western coast.

It was remarked long since by the North American Indians and other
aborigines, that the "black-robe chiefs of the mission" had always
preceded the daring hunter and the crafty trader; and in no country
has the _preceding_ spirit of the missionaries been more evident than
in South Africa. While pushing their stations continually further and
further into the interior, they christianize and civilize the tribes
as they go, and so leave the way paved and open behind them; a most
important condition, when it is remembered what excessive distances a
traveller is there from his resources, and in what an impracticable
country.

Silently, but surely, has this operation been going on, until as it
were, almost by natural causes, a point has been reached, within which
the lake was but at a moderate distance. Starting from Mr Moffat's
advanced post of Kuruman, Mr Livingston had founded the station of
Kolobeng further north; and then it only required a small advance of
money to pay the expense of the long contemplated journey. That sum
was furnished by two lay gentlemen, Messrs Murray and Oswell,--and
this great cynosure of South African geography, fell, in the ripeness
of time, an easy prize.

But if we have this much to say for the effective lever which the
missionary system affords for geographical discovery, we cannot say so
much as we should like in favour of the manner in which it has been
worked in this instance, though it may be better than in the
generality of cases.

There has been of late, it must be confessed, rather a decline of the
true scientific spirit of geographical exploration; and men have too
frequently been contented with filling their books with accounts
merely of what they shot and what they eat; unable to give any more
intelligent account of the country than the natives themselves.

Hardly any better, the Rev. Mr Rebman, who is supposed to have
discovered in 5° S. lat., and 3 or 400 miles within the eastern coast
of Africa, a mountain reaching above the limits of perpetual snow, and
which may be the source of the Nile on the one hand, and of the rivers
which feed the great lake Ngami on the other; for though he has been
twice to the mountains, yet he has sent home such puerile statements,
that the fact of its being snow at all which was _thought_ to have
been seen, is now contested; and the height, latitude, longitude, &c.,
of the mountain are quite uncertain.

Mr Livingston has done much better than this, though there is almost
everything for the geographer, the botanist, &c., to do; but no fault
is to be imputed to him, he had a higher object in view: we mention
the case so prominently here, rather to incite scientific men to go
and do their part. We append Mr Livingston's letter to the end of this
notice, and will merely condense here the principal notabilia.

The latitude of the E. corner of the lake at its junction with the
effluence the Zonga, was measured with a sextant, to be 20° 20´ S. The
longitude was estimated at 24° E., consequently about midway between
the E. and W. coasts. The height above the level of the sea was
thermometrically determined at 2200 feet. The length and breadth were
stated by the natives at 70 and 15 miles; Mr Livingston saw in the
former direction an uninterrupted horizon of water.

The feeder of the lake coming down from the north was described only
by the natives; but its water being very clear, even during its annual
risings, and these being incomprehensible to the inhabitants of that
part of the country, this course may be expected to be long, and not
improbably rising from a snowy mountain.

The effluent of the lake, the Zonga, was travelled along by Mr L. for
300 miles; as the water was clear, the stream placid, the banks
thickly clothed with beds of reeds, and the height above the sea 2200
feet,--it may be presumed that this river does _not_ communicate with
the ocean, and that it is gradually dissipated like other rivers there
by evaporation and absorption.

The banyan, the palmyra, and the baobab, taking the place of the
cactus, aloe, euphorbia and acacia, indicate the arrival in a better
watered country and a totally different botanical region than any
previously reached from the Cape.

The inhabitants of the lake "Bayeiye," seem to be a new race; their
language was unknown; and they possess several remarkable habits and
customs totally at variance with the characteristics of all the South
African tribes, Hottentots, Bushmen, Caffres, Bechuana, Zoolahs, &c.,
south of the tropics; as for instance, their having _canoes_, killing
the hippopotami with harpoons attached to ropes, and catching fish in
nets.

The head of a fish which abounds in the lake, as well as a fearful fly
which stings the oxen to death, have been sent home, and are declared
to be new.

In conclusion, we have the pleasure of adding that although the
Geographical Society could not exactly award with propriety their
Royal gold medal to discoveries in their science; made in a secondary
point of view, and but indifferently described, when it should be
reserved for a Bruce or a Humboldt,--yet they have with great
satisfaction and alacrity awarded the value of the medal in money; and
it is devoutly to be hoped that Mr L. may be spared to continue the
exploration which he has thus auspiciously begun. P. S.

_Letter from the Rev. David Livingston, addressed to the
Rev. Arthur Tidman, Foreign Secretary, London Missionary Society._

_Banks of the River Zonga, 3rd September 1849._

DEAR SIR,--I left my station, Kolobeng (situated 25° South lat.,
26 East long.), on the 1st of June last, in order to carry into
effect the intention, of which I had previously informed you, viz.
to open a new field in the North, by penetrating the great
obstacle to our progress, called the Desert, which, stretching
away on our West, North-West, and North, has hitherto presented an
insurmountable barrier to Europeans.

A large party of Griquas, in about thirty waggons, made many and
persevering efforts at two different points last year; but, though
inured to the climate, and stimulated by the prospect of much gain
from the ivory they expected to procure, want of water compelled
them to retreat.

Two gentlemen, to whom I had communicated my intention of
proceeding to the oft-reported lake beyond the desert, came from
England for the express purpose of being present at the discovery,
and to their liberal and zealous co-operation we are especially
indebted for the success with which that and other objects have
been accomplished. While waiting for their arrival, seven men came
to me from the Batavana, a tribe living on the banks of the lake,
with an earnest request from their chief for a visit. But the path
by which they had come to Kolobeng was impracticable for waggons;
so, declining their guidance I selected the more circuitous route,
by which the Bermangueato usually pass, and, having Bakwains for
guides, their self-interest in our success was secured by my
promising to carry any ivory they might procure for their chiefs
in my waggon; and right faithfully they performed their task.

When Sekhomi, the Bermangueato chief, became aware of our
intentions to pass into the regions beyond him, with true native
inhumanity he sent men before us to drive away all the bushmen and
Bakalihari from our route, in order that, being deprived of their
assistance in the search for water, we might, like the Griquas
above mentioned, be compelled to return. This measure deprived me
of the opportunity of holding the intercourse with these poor
outcasts I might otherwise have enjoyed. But through the good
providence of God, after travelling about 300 miles from Kolobeng,
we struck on a magnificent river on the 4th of July, and without
further difficulty, in so far as water was concerned, by winding
along its banks nearly 300 miles more, we reached the Batavana, on
the lake Ngami, by the beginning of August.

Previous to leaving this beautiful river on my return home, and
commencing our route across the desert, I feel anxious to furnish
you with the impressions produced on my mind by it and its
inhabitants, the Bakoba or Bayeiye. They are a totally distinct
race from the Bechuanas. They call themselves Bayeiye (or men),
while the term Bakoba (the name has somewhat of the meaning of
"slaves,") is applied to them by the Bechuanas. Their complexion
is darker than that of the Bechuanas; and, of 300 words I
collected of their language, only 21 bear any resemblance to
Sitchuana. They paddle along the rivers and lake in canoes
hollowed out of the trunks of single trees; take fish in nets made
of a weed which abounds on the banks; and kill hippopotami with
harpoons attached to ropes. We greatly admired the frank, manly
bearing of these inland sailors. Many of them spoke Sitchuana
fluently, and, while the waggon went along the bank, I greatly
enjoyed following the windings of the river in one of their
primitive craft, and visiting their little villages among the
reed. The banks are beautiful beyond any we had ever seen, except
perhaps some parts of the Clyde. They are covered, in general,
with gigantic trees, some of them bearing fruit, and quite new.
Two of the Baobab variety measured 70 to 76 feet in circumference.
The higher we ascended the river, the broader it became, until we
often saw more than 100 yards of clear deep water between the
broad belt of reed which grows in the shallower parts. The water
was clear as crystal, and as we approached the point of junction
with other large rivers _reported to exist_ in the North, it was
quite soft and cold. The fact that the Zonga is connected with
large rivers coming from the north awakens emotions in my mind,
which make the discovery of the lake dwindle out of sight. It
opens the prospect of a highway, capable of being quickly
traversed by boats, to a large section of well-peopled territory.

One remarkable feature in this river is its periodical rise and
fall. It has risen nearly three feet in height since our arrival,
and this is the dry season. That the rise is not caused by rains
is evident from the water being so pure. Its purity and softness
increased as we ascended towards its junction with the Tamunakle,
from which, although connected with the lake, it derives the
present increased supply. The sharpness of the air caused an
amazing keenness of appetite, at an elevation of little more than
2000 feet above the level of the sea (water boiled at 207½°
thermometer), and the reports of the Bayeiye, that the waters came
from a mountainous region, suggested the conclusion that the
increase of the water, at the beginning and middle of the dry
season, must be derived from melting snow.

All the rivers reported, to the north of this, have Bayeiye upon
them, and there are other tribes on their banks. To one of these,
after visiting the Batavana, and taking a peep at the broad part
of the lake, we directed our course; but the Batavana chief
managed to obstruct us, by keeping all the Bayeiye near the ford
on the opposite bank of the Zonga. African chiefs invariably
dislike to see strangers passing _them to tribes beyond_.
Sebitoane,--the chief who in former years saved the life of
Sechele our chief,--lives about ten days north-east of the
Batavana. The latter sent a present as a token of gratitude. This
would have been a good introduction; the knowledge of the
language, however, is the _best_ we can have. I endeavoured to
construct a raft, at a part which was only fifty or sixty yards
wide, but the wood, though sun-dried, was so heavy it sunk
immediately; another kind would not bear my weight, although a
considerable portion of my person was under water. I could easily
have swam across, and fain would have done it; but, landing
without clothes, and then demanding of the Bakoba the loan of a
boat, would scarcely be the thing for a messenger of peace, even
though no alligator met me in the passage. These and other
thoughts were revolving in my mind as I stood in the water,--for
most sorely do I dislike to be beaten,--when my kind and generous
friend Mr Oswell, with whom _alone_ the visit to Sebitoane was to
be made, offered to bring up a boat at his own expense from the
Cape, which, after visiting the chief, and coming round the north
end of the lake, will become missionary property. To him and our
other companion Mr Murray, I feel greatly indebted,--_for the
chief expense of the journey has been borne by them_. _They_ could
not have reached this point without my assistance; but, for the
aid they have rendered in opening up this field, I feel greatly
indebted; and, should any public notice be taken of this journey,
I shall feel obliged to the directors if they express my
thankfulness.

The Bayeiye or Bakoba listened to the statements made from the
Divine Word with great attention, and, if I am not mistaken,
seemed to understand the message of mercy delivered better than
any people to whom I have preached for the _first_ time. They have
invariably a great many charms in the villages; stated the name of
God in their language (without the least hesitation) to be
"Oreeja;" mentioned the name of the first man and woman, and some
traditionary statements respecting the flood. I shall not,
however, take these for certain, till I have more knowledge of
their language. They are found dwelling among the reed all round
the lake, and on the banks of all the rivers to the north.

With the periodical flow of the rivers great shoals of fish
descend. The people could give no reason for the rise of the
water, further than that a chief, who lives in a part of the
country in the north, called Mazzekiva, kills a man annually and
throws his body into the stream, after which the water begins to
flow.

The sketch which I enclose is intended to convey an idea of the
river Zonga and the lake Ngami. The name of the latter is
pronounced as if written with the Spanish ñ, the _g_ being
inserted to shew that the ringing sound is required. The meaning
is "Great Water." The latitude, taken by a Sextant on which I can
fully depend, was 20° 20´ south, at the north-east extremity,
where it is joined by the Zonga; longitude about 24° east. _We do
not, however, know it with certainty._ We left our waggon near the
Batavana town, and rode on horseback about six miles beyond it to
the broad part. It gradually widens out into a Firth about 15
miles across, as you go south from the town, and in the
south-south-west presents a large horizon of water. _It is
reported_ to be about 70 miles in length, bends round to the
north-west, and there receives another river similar to the Zonga.
The Zonga runs to the north-east. The thorns were so thickly
planted near the upper part of this river, that we left all our
waggons standing about 180 miles from the lake, except that of Mr
Oswell, in which we travelled the remaining distance; but for this
precaution our oxen would have been unable to return. I am now
standing at a tribe of Bakurutse, and shall in a day or two
re-enter the desert.

The breadth marked is intended to show the difference between the
size of the Zonga, after its junction with the Tamunakle and
before it. The farther it runs east, the narrower it becomes. The
course is shewn by the arrow-heads. _The rivers not seen, but
reported by the natives_, are put down in dotted lines. The dotted
lines running north of the river and lake, shew the probable
course of the Tamunakle, and another river which falls into the
lake at its north-west extremity. The arrow-heads shew also the
direction of _its_ flow. At the part marked by the name of the
Chief Mosing it is not more than 50 or 60 yards in breadth, while
at 20° 7´ it is more than 100, and very deep.

The principal disease reported to prevail at certain seasons
appears, from the account of the symptoms the natives give, to be
pneumonia and not fever. When the wind rises to an ordinary
breeze, such immense clouds of dust arise from the numerous
dried-out lakes called salt-pans, that the whole atmosphere
becomes quite yellow, and one cannot distinguish objects more than
two miles off. It causes irritation in the eyes, and, as wind
prevails almost constantly at certain seasons, this impalpable
powder may act as it does among the grinders in Sheffield. We
observed cough among them, a complaint almost unknown at Kolobeng.
Musquitoes swarm in summer, and the Banyan and Palmyra give in
some parts an Indian cast to the scenery.

(Signed) DAVID LIVINGSTON.

_A Brief Sketch of the Geology of the West Indies,
from_ Dr DAVY'S _Lectures on the Study of Chemistry,
drawn up chiefly from the Author's own Observations_.[88]
Communicated for the Philosophical Journal.

Footnote 88: Lectures on the Study of Chemistry, in connection
with the Atmosphere, the Earth and the Ocean, and Discourses on
Agriculture, with Introductions on the present State of the West
Indies, and on the Agricultural Societies of Barbados. By JOHN
DAVY, M.D., F.R.S., &c. London, Longmans. 1850.

In the preceding lecture, I brought under your notice the antagonist
and compensating, or correcting influences of animal life in
preserving the uniformity of composition of the atmosphere. In the
earth we witness influences of the like kind, as it were opposed to
each other, and producing opposite effects. Water, in its operation,
aided by air, may be considered as destructive, wearing away rocks and
mountains, and carrying their comminuted parts to lower levels, and
even into the sea, to be buried in its depths. Fire may be considered
as restorative; acting below the surface, it melts and also
consolidates, according to its degree of intensity, tending to
reproduce crystalline rocks in one instance, and stratified in the
other. Even when it appears most eminently to act according to our
ordinary notions of its operation as a devastating and destroying
agent, for example, in the eruption of a volcano, the ashes which are
discharged into the atmosphere, and are widely scattered by the winds,
even when they fall on the adjoining countries, may help to supply the
place of the old surface-materials, carried away by streams and
floods, and to renovate the soil with new elements of fertility. And
acting in another form and manner, the same power which occasions
volcanic eruptions appears to be productive of another effect, viz.,
the gradual elevation of the bed of the sea, tending to the formation
of new land, of which we seem to have examples in the extension of
certain coasts, and the appearance of rocks and dry land above the
waves, preceded by a gradual diminution of the water over the spots
where these remarkable phenomena occur.

Of most of the geological changes alluded to in the preceding remarks,
the West Indies afford well marked instances.

From the continent of America are to be seen vast rivers flowing into
the sea, turbid with the detritus of the country through which they
have descended in a course of thousands of miles, and discolouring and
freshening the waters with which they mix at an extraordinary distance
from land. Between their mouths on the coasts and their rapids in the
boundary hills of the interior, immense level, or almost level tracts
occur,--marsh, morass, and sandbank, neither land nor water, covered
chiefly with aquatic plants,--tracts formed by deposits from the great
rivers, and commonly of materials somewhat coarser and heavier than
those which are longer suspended and are carried out into the sea in
consequence of their greater fineness.

In many of the islands not only are there rocks to be seen evidently
of volcanic origin--columnar basalt, trachyte, and many varieties of
tufa, but also craters from whence eruptions have taken place, and in
which the fires are hardly yet extinct that once acted, as is
indicated by the hot steams and exhalations still proceeding from
them.

Moreover, in some of these islands, rocks of volcanic origin,
crystalline in their structure, and totally destitute of organic
remains, are associated with others of a perfectly different
character, stratified and abounding in organic remains,--various
species of sea shells and of coral; and it is worthy of notice, that,
in one of the instances in which the appearance is best observed,
viz., at Brimstone Hill, in St Christopher's, the volcanic rock,
flanked by the stratified rock, and the latter--an aggregate of
shells, coral, and calcareous marl, has its strata highly inclined,
tilted up as it were by the former.

Other islands, or parts of islands, occur, in which there are only
partial volcanic traces, and these not so much of volcanic action and
disturbance on the spot, as of materials, such as ashes, thrown up by
volcanoes, and those distant ones. The island Barbados is an example.
Composed in great parts of a calcareous aggregate, in which organic
remains abound, it has very much the character, in its peculiar
features, of having been raised from the bed of the ocean (where it is
certain it was formed), by some mighty force, slowly acting, and
which, it is probable, is acting still.

Nor is there wanting in these seas instances of islands, in which
almost every variety of formation is exemplified. Barbados, in its
smaller portion--the Scotland district, exhibits some interesting
varieties, such as beds of chalk abounding in the remains of
microscopic animalcules, strata of sandstone, some siliceous, some
calcareous; the one without organic remains, containing, however,
deposits of coal and bitumen; the other--the latter having included in
them organic remains, and of a kind to connect them with the
calcareous rock of which the larger portion of the island is formed,
for instance, the spines of echini and the teeth of squali. The larger
islands, Trinidad and Jamaica, Port Rico, and Cuba, yield examples,
still more in point. In Trinidad I am not aware that any volcano, or
crater of one, has been discovered, or any rocks evidently volcanic in
their origin; but from the imperfectly crystalline rocks, destitute of
organic remains and distinct stratification, to clays and marls, to
mud eruptions or volcanoes as these are sometimes called, through
limestones and sandstones stratified, and containing organic remains,
a tolerably well-marked series may be traced. In the adjoining and
smaller island Tobago some of the same series are observable, but in a
broken manner, not a little interesting and instructive. There, highly
crystalline rocks, destitute of organic remains, are in juxtaposition
with others abounding in these remains; coral rock is even found
resting on granite; and in another situation the latter rock is
contiguous to mica slate, in which quartz in mass is not of rare
occurrence.

_On the Differences between Progressive, Embryonic, and Prophetic
Types in the Succession of Organized Beings through
the whole Range of Geological Times._

It was a great improvement in our zoological investigations when the
differences in their relations, according to the various degrees of
affinity or analogy which exist between animals, were pointed out, and
successively better understood. In earlier times, zoologists made no
distinction between the different relations which existed among
animals. Affinity and analogy, so dissimilar in their essential
characters, were constantly mistaken one for the other; and upon the
peculiarities which struck the observer most at first sight, animals
were brought together, sometimes upon the ground of true affinity,
sometimes, also, upon the ground of close analogy; and though
comparative anatomy did put the mistakes arising from such confusion
right, by showing that external appearances were sometimes deceptive,
and that a more intimate knowledge of internal structure was necessary
fully to understand the real relations between animals, there
remained, nevertheless, a degree of uncertainty in many cases, as
long as the principles of affinities and of analogies were not
fully distinguished. Every naturalist now knows that true
relationship--affinity--depends upon a unity in structure, however
diversified the forms may be under which their fundamental structure
is displayed. For instance, the affinity of whales and the other
mammalia was not understood before it was shown that, under the form
of fishes, these animals had truly the same structure as the highest
_vertebrata_.

Again, the forms of _cetacea_ exemplify the analogy there is between
whales and fishes. They are _related_ to mammalia; they are
_analogous_ to fishes; they bear close affinity to the mammals which
nurse their young with milk; they have rather close analogy to the
gill-breathing fishes.

Since the fossil animals which have existed during former periods upon
the surface of our globe, and which have successively peopled the
ocean and the dry land, have been more carefully studied than they
were at the beginning of these investigations; since they are no
longer considered as mere curiosities, but as the earlier
representatives of an order of things which has been gradually and
successively developed throughout the history of our globe, facts have
been brought to light which now require a very careful examination,
and will lead to a more complete understanding of the various
relations which exist between these extinct types and those which
still continue to live in our days. Upon close comparison of these
facts, I have been led to distinguish two sorts of relations between
the extinct animals, and those of our days, which seem to me to have
been either overlooked or not sufficiently distinguished. Indeed, the
general results derived from Palæontological investigations, seem
scarcely to have gone beyond showing that the animals of former ages
are specifically and frequently also generically distinct from those
of the present creation; and also to establish certain graduation
between them, agreeing more or less with the degree of perfection
which we recognise between the living animals according to their
structure.

It is now pretty generally understood that fishes, which rank lowest
among the _Vertebrata_, have existed alone during the oldest periods;
that the reptiles which, in the gradation of structure, rank next
above them, have followed at a later period; that still later the
birds, which, according to their anatomy, rank above reptiles, have
next made their appearance; and that mammalia, which stand highest,
have been introduced last, and even among these the lower families
seem to have been more numerous, before the higher ones prevailed over
them. Man, at last, has been created, only after all other types had
acquired their full development. These facts which, in such generality
are fully exemplified in every country in the order of succession of
the different fossil characteristics of the various geological
deposits, shew plainly that a gradation really exists in this
succession, and constitutes one of the most prominent characters of
the development of the animal kingdom as a whole.

If we investigate, however, this gradation, and the order of
succession of animals more closely, we cannot but be struck with the
different relations which exist between the fossils and the living
animals. Many extinct types have been pointed out as characteristic of
different geological periods, which combine, as it were, peculiarities
which at present are found separately in different families of
animals.

I may mention as such, the _Ichthyosaur_, with their fish-like
vertebræ, their dolphin or porpoise-like general form, and several
special characters reminding us of their close relation to the
Crocodilian reptiles; thus combining characters of different classes
in the most extraordinary manner.

Again, the _Pterodactyli_, in which reptilian characters are combined
with peculiarities reminding us both of birds and bats.

Again, the large carnivorous fishes of the coal period, combining
peculiarities of the _Saurians_, with true fish characters; and so on.

These relations are of an entirely different kind from those which I
have pointed out between some of the older fossils and the early stage
of growth of the living representatives of the same families.

For instance, the fossil fishes with a heterocercal tail, found below
the new red sandstone, down to the lowest deposits, reminds us of the
peculiar termination of the vertebral column in all fish embryos of
species living in the present period, to whatever family they may
belong, indicating a similarity of structure in the oldest
representative of this class, with the earliest condition of the germs
of those animals in our days.

Let us now examine whether we can properly understand the bearings of
these relations, and the meaning of such differences.

In the first place, I have mentioned the gradual progress, which is
observed in the succession of the different classes of _Vertebrata_.
This progress is exemplified by a series of types which differ from
each other, but which shew, when arranged in a series, a gradation
which agrees in general with the structural gradation, which we may
establish upon anatomical evidence. For instance, the salamanders,
with their various forms, rank below the tailless _Batrachians_.

And where we have a succession of those animals in the tertiary
deposits as they occur in various parts of Europe, we may fairly say
that the fossils form, in their succession, a series of progressive
types.

Another example may perhaps illustrate the point more fully. The
_orthocera_ of the oldest periods precede the curved lituites, which,
in their turn, are followed by the circumvolute nautilus. Here, again,
we have a natural gradation of a series of progressive types. Again,
among _crinoids_, we find, in the older deposits, a variety of species
resting upon a stem, while free crinoids begin to appear only during
the secondary deposit and prevail, in the present creation, over those
attached to the soil. Here, again, we have a series of progressive
types developed successively, which are apparently independent of each
other and seem to bear no other relation to each than that arising
from the general character of the group to which they belong. Such
types exemplify simply in the groups to which they belong, a real
progress in the successive development of the peculiarities which
characterise them as natural divisions among animals. Such forms I
shall call _Progressive Types_.

The relations, however, which are exemplified in the oldest fishes, in
the ichthyosaurians, in the pterodactyls or in the megalosaurians,
seem to me to be clearly of a different character, and to differ from
simple progressive types, inasmuch as those which appear earlier,
combine peculiarities which, at a later period, appear separately in
distinct forms. For instance, the reptilian characters which we
recognise in the sauroid fishes, are developed at a later period in
animals no longer belonging to the class of fishes, but constituting
by themselves new types, provided with additional peculiarities which
separate them fully from the fishes in general, as well as from those
fishes in which we recognise some relation to reptiles during a period
when no reptile existed.

Again, the ichthyosaurians, though true reptiles appearing long after
fishes had been called into existence, and during an early period of
the history of the reptiles, still shew their relation to fishes by
the character of their vertebral column, and foreshadow, as it were,
in their form, the cetacea of later ages, as well as many forms of the
gigantic saurians of the secondary period. The same may be said of the
pterodactyls, which are also true reptiles, but, in which the anterior
extremity foreshadow peculiarities characteristic of birds and bats.
Such types I shall call _Prophetic Types_.

To an analytic mind the examination of the peculiarities of such
animals may foretell a higher progress of development, carried out in
real existence, only during a later period, even if he had never seen
the later ones; for in such types the germs of a future development
may be recognised, and upon close examination, truly referred to the
peculiarities of other higher groups, even if the intermediate links
remained unknown, which, however, as the matter now stands, can leave
no doubt in our mind that these prophetic types really foreshadowed
that diversity of forms which has been created since they have gone
by. We may also say that these prophetic types lay before us the
course of thoughts which has been carried out in the plan of creation
by the Supreme intelligence, who called them into existence in rich
order of succession, and in so diversified relations. The recognition
of this prophetic character of certain types of extinct animals is not
only important in a philosophical point of view; I have no doubt it
will ultimately and rapidly lead to a better, fuller, higher, and
deeper understanding of the various relations which exist between
animals. Let me at once point to some of these relations which might
never have been understood but for this appreciation.

Among Crinoids, we have not only progressive types, as I have already
quoted, but we have also prophetic ones. The Cystidæ are truly
prophetic of the Echini proper. I may only mention the genus
Echinocrinus to shew the link.

The Pentremites, again, are the prophetic type foreshadowing the
star-fishes. And often in subordinate groups we may find such close
relations between genera of the same minor divisions; such, for
instance, as the genus Encrinus, in which the genera Apiocrinus and
Pentacrinus, are simultaneously foreshadowed. Perhaps, in this case, a
distinction might be introduced between truly prophetic types and
synthetic types, in which the characters of later groups are rather
more combined than really foreshadowed.

As for the relation between older types and the embryos of the living
representatives of the same families which are so extensively observed
in almost all groups of the animal kingdom, which have existed during
earlier periods, it may best be expressed if we call those fossils
which exemplify, in full grown animals, forms which exist at present
only in the earliest stages of growth of our living animals,
_Embryonic Types_, in counterdistinction from the progressive types,
and from the prophetic types. These embryonic types may be purely
such, or they may be at the same time either progressive types, or
even prophetic types. I shall call purely embryonic types those in
which we recognise peculiarities characteristic of the embryo of the
same family. For instance, the older Sauroids, which have the upper
lobe of the tail prolonged, or the common Crinoids provided with a
stem, which resemble the young Comatulæ, &c., &c. I shall distinguish,
as progressive embryonic types, those in which we recognise
simultaneously a relation to the embryo of the same family, when they
form besides a link in the natural chain of progressive development.
Such, for instance, as the oldest Salamanders, or the earliest
Sirenoid Pachyderm. Finally, I shall call prophetic embryonic types
those in which we have embryonic characters, combined with the
peculiarities which stamp the type as a prophetic one, such, for
instance, as the Echinoid and Asteroid Crinoids of the former ages.

The fact that these different types may thus present complications of
their character, or appear more or less pure and typical, goes further
to shew how deeply diversified the plan of creation is, and how many
relations should be simultaneously understood before we are prepared
to have a full insight into the plan of creation. There we see one
type forming simply, and alone, the first link of a progressive
series. There we see another which foreshadows types, which appear
isolate afterwards. There we see a third, which, in its full
development, exemplifies a state which is transient only in higher
representatives of the same family. And then, again, we see these
different relations running into each other, and reminding us that,
however difficult it may be for us to see at one glance all this
diversity of relations, there is, notwithstanding, an intelligence
which not only conceived these various combinations, but called them
into real existence in a long succession of ages.--_L. Agassiz in the
American Association for the Advancement of Science_, August 1849.

_On a new Analogy in the Periods of Rotation of the Primary
Planets discovered by Daniel Kirkwood of Pottsville, Pennsylvania._

At the recent meeting of the Association for the Advancement of
Science, an announcement was made, which, if it is found to be
correct, will be regarded as relating to one of the most important
discoveries which have been made in astronomy for years. It is no less
than a new law of the solar system, closely resembling those of
Kepler, which form the groundwork of many of the problems of
astronomy. Mr S. C. Walker read to the Association a letter from Mr
Daniel Kirkwood, of Pottsville, Pa., the discoverer of this new law,
from which we make some extracts, omitting all that refers to the
higher branches of mathematics.

"While we have in the law of Kepler a bond of mutual relationship
between the planets, as regards their revolutions around the sun, it
is remarkable that no law regulating their rotations on their axes has
ever been discovered. For several years I have had little doubt of the
existence of such a law in nature, and have been engaged, as
circumstances would permit, in attempting its development. I have at
length arrived at results, which, if they do not justify me in
announcing the solution of this important and interesting problem,
must at least be regarded as astonishing coincidences."

After stating some equations, he gives the following tables as the
data on which he has proceeded:--

+---------+---------------+-------------+-----------+----------------+
| | Mean dist. | | Square |No. of rotations|
|Planet's | from the sun | Mars. | root of | in one sid. |
| name. | in miles. | | Mars. | period. |
+---------+---------------+-------------+-----------+----------------+
|Mercury, | 36,814,000 | 277,000 | 526·3 | 87·63 |
|Venus, | 68,787,000 | 2,463,836 | 1·569·6 | 230·90 |
|Earth, | 95,103,000 | 2,817,409 | 1·678·5 | 366·25 |
|Mars, | 144,908,000 | 392,735 | 626·7 | 669·60 |
|Jupiter, | 494,797,000 | 953,570,222 | 30·879·8 | 10·471·00 |
|Saturn, | 907,162,000 | 284,738,000 | 16·874·1 | 24·620·00 |
|Uranus, | 1,824,290,000 | 35,186,000 | 5·931·5 | |
+---------+---------------+-------------+-----------+----------------+

From these data he deduces the following law:--"The square of the
number of a primary planet's days in its year, is as the cube of the
diameter of its sphere of attraction in the nebular hypothesis."

"The points of equal attraction between the planets severally (when in
conjunction), are situated as follows:--

Miles from the Miles from the
former. latter.

Between Mercury and Venus, 8,029,600 23,943,400
" Venus and the Earth, 12,716,600 13,599,400
" Earth and Mars, 36,264,600 13,540,400
" Jupiter and Saturn, 266,655,000 145,710,000
" Saturn and Uranus, 678,590,000 238,538,000

"It will be seen from the above, that the diameter of the earth's
sphere of attraction is 49,864,000 miles. Hence the diameters of the
respective spheres of attraction of the other planets, according to my
empirical law, will be found to be as follows:--

Diameter of sphere
of Attraction.
Mercury, 19,238,000
Venus, 36,660,000
Mars, 74,560,000
Jupiter, 466,200,000
Saturn, 824,300,000

"The volumes of the sphere of attraction of Venus, Mars, and Saturn in
this table, correspond with those obtained from the preceding one;
that of Mars extending 61,000,000 miles beyond his orbit, or to the
distance of 206,000,000 miles from the sun. This is about 2,000,000 or
3,000,000 miles less than the mean distance of Flora, the nearest
discovered asteroid. That of Mercury extends about 11,000,000 miles
within the orbit; consequently, if there be an undiscovered planet
interior to Mercury, its distance from the Sun, according to my
hypothesis, must be less than 26,000,000 miles. Jupiter's sphere of
attraction extends only about 200,000,000 of miles within his orbit,
and leaving 89,000,000 miles for the asteroids. It is only in the most
distant portion of this space, where small bodies would be likely to
be detected, that none have yet been discovered."

Mr Kirkwood then modestly concludes:--

"The foregoing is submitted to your inspection with much diffidence.
An author, you know, can hardly be expected to form a proper estimate
of his own performance. When it is considered, however, that my
formula involves the distances, masses, annual revolutions, and axial
rotations of all the primary planets in the system, I must confess I
find it difficult to resist the conclusion, that the law is founded in
nature."

After this letter had been read, Mr Walker said, that, induced by the
importance of the subject, he had at once proceeded to verify the data
and conclusions of Mr Kirkwood, and had found that there was nothing
in them requiring modification, except, perhaps, the substitution of
some more recent values for the masses of Mercury and Uranus. This
theory and that of Laplace, with reference to nebulæ, mutually
strengthen each other; although the latter has been a mere
supposition, while the former rests upon a mathematical basis. In a
later letter, which was also read, Mr Kirkwood says that he has
pursued this subject for the last ten years, it having been first
suggested to him by the nebular hypothesis, which he thought could be
established by some law of rotation.

Mr Walker then entered into a lengthened examination of the data on
which the law rests, and seemed to come to the conclusion, that, as
far as we know at present, everything is in favour of the truth of the
law, except that it requires the assumption of another planet between
Jupiter and Mars.

Mr Walker closed his examination by saying, "We may, therefore,
conclude, that, _whether Kirkwood's analogy is or is not the
expression of a physical law, it is, at least, that of a physical fact
in the mechanism of the universe_. The quantity on which the analogy
is based has such immediate dependence upon the nebular hypothesis,
that it lends strength to the latter, and gives new plausibility to
the presumption that this, also, is a fact in the past history of the
solar system.

"Such, then, is the present state of the question. Thirty-six elements
of nine planets (four being hypothetical) appear to harmonize with
Kirkwood's analogy in all the four fundamental equations of condition
for each planet.

"To suppose that so many independent variable quantities should
harmonize together by accident, is a more strained construction of the
premises than the frank admission that they follow a law of nature.

"If, in the course of time, the hypotheses of Laplace and Kirkwood
should be found to be the laws of nature, they will throw new light on
the internal organization of the planets in their present, and in any
more primitive, state through which they may have passed.

"For instance, we may compute the distance from the centre at which
any planet must have received its projectile force, in order to
produce, at the same time, its double movement of translation and
rotation.

"If the planet, in a more primitive state, existed in the form of a
ring revolving round the Sun, having its present orbit for that of the
centre of gravity of the ring, the momentum of rotation must, by
virtue of the principle of conservation of movement, have existed in
some form in the ring. It is easy to perceive that this momentum is
precisely the amount which must be distributed among the particles of
the ring, in order to preserve to all the condition of dynamical
equilibrium, while those of each generating surface of the ring were
wheeling round with the same angular velocity.

"If the planets have really passed from the shape of a revolving ring
to their present state, the prevalence of Kirkwood's analogy shews a
nice adaptation of parts in every stage of the transition.

"If the primitive quantity of coloric (free and latent) had undergone
a very great change beyond that now indicated in the cooling of their
crusts; if the primitive quantity of movement of rotation had been
different from its actual value for any planet; if the law of
elasticity of particles for a given temperature and distance from each
other varied from one planet to another in the primitive or present
state; in either of these cases, the analogy of Kirkwood might have
failed. As it is, no such failure is noticed; we are authorised,
therefore, to conclude, that the primitive quantity of coloric, the
law of elasticity, the quantity of movement of rotation, the past and
present radii of percussion, the primitive diameter of the generating
surface of the rings, and the present dimensions and density of the
planets, have been regulated by a general law, which has fulfilled for
all of them the four fundamental conditions of Kirkwood's hypothesis.

"We may extend the nebular hypothesis and Kirkwood's analogy to the
secondary system. If they are laws of nature, they must apply to both.
In the secondary systems, the day and month are the same. This fact
has remained hitherto unexplained. Lagrange shewed that if these
values were once nearly equal, a libration sets in round a state of
perfect equality; but he offered no conjecture as to the cause of the
primitive equality. On the nebular and Kirkwood's hypothesis, it would
only be necessary that, upon the breaking up of the ring, the
primitive diameter of the generating figure and law of relative
density of layers should be preserved."

Professor Peirce, whose opinions will probably be regarded as of more
value on such a subject than that of any other man in this
country,--especially since his successful discussion with
Leverrier,--remarked, that Kirkwood's analogy was the only discovery
of the kind since Kepler's time that approached near to the character
of his three physical laws. Bode's law, so called, was at best only an
imperfect analogy. Kirkwood's analogy was more comprehensive, and more
in harmony with the known elements of the system. The diameter of the
sphere of attraction, a fundamental element in this analogy, now for
the first time gave an appearance of reality to Laplace's nebular
hypothesis which it never had before. The positive testimony in its
favour would now outweigh the former negative evidence in the case,
however strong it may have been. It follows at least from Kirkwood's
analogy, that the planets were dependent upon each other, and
therefore connected in their origin, whatever may have been the form
of the connection, whether that of the nebular hypothesis, or some
other not yet imagined.

At a later period of the meeting, M. B. A. Gould junior, stated that
he had gone through the necessary calculations, using different
quantities, and had come to the same conclusions as Mr Walker. He
expressed his opinion, that at some future day the world will "speak
of Kepler and Kirkwood as the discoverers of great planetary laws."

The members generally expressed the opinion, that Laplace's nebular
hypothesis, from its furnishing one of the elements of Kirkwood's law,
may now be regarded as an established fact in the past history of the
solar system.--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 335.

NOTE.--Such, at least, is rather a representation of American opinions
than of our own. We are inclined to compare it more with Bode's law
than with Kepler's. The former is a mere arithmetical accident,
applying indifferently well to a portion only of the planets, and
having nothing of reason to advance for its establishment. The latter
are essential parts of mechanics and gravitation, and precisely and
perfectly, and necessarily true, not only in every part of the solar
system, but through the whole universe.

The fact of axial rotations being the groundwork of Kirkwood's analogy
seems fatal to it, for gravitation takes no more account of the time
of rotation of a planet than it does of specific gravity; all
calculations of the movement of the body in space are equally
independent of the one and the other.

Under these circumstances, the degree of accuracy with which it may be
found to apply is the only saving clause. Messrs Walker and Gould
investigating the subject independently, and with better constants of
mass and distance than Kirkwood had been able to procure, declare that
it appears _perfectly_! We are sorry that the late hour at which we
have received this paper has prevented us either from giving it in
full, or from testing the theory rigidly.

It will be observed that, according to Kirkwood's theory, in order to
compute the time of axial rotations of any planet, it is necessary to
have its mass and mean distance, together with the same quantities for
the planets on either side of it. Now, these quantities are only
obtainable for Venus, the Earth, Saturn, and Uranus (a planet being
lost between Mars and Jupiter); and the rotation of Uranus not having
been obtained as yet, there remains only the three first by which the
theory can be tested.

In a preliminary calculation which we have instituted, we do not find
the results so accordant as we had been led to expect, but still
sufficiently so to give a certain probability of the approach to
truth, in a case where the quantity had not been observed.

Viewed in this light, some very interesting results are obtained.

_1st_, The idea entertained by Bianchini and other observers, that the
rotation of Venus is nearly 24 times as long as hitherto supposed, is
utterly untenable.

_2d_, The time of rotation of Uranus, a quantity never yet observed
(but doubtless capable of being observed by a telescope of Lord
Rosse's calibre, _removed to a table-land in a tropical country_) is
given; and appears so very different from any other yet observed,
especially so from those of its neighbours Saturn and Jupiter, being =
1·396779, earth's = 0·997270 (sidereal rotation in mean solar days.)

_3d_, Knowing the rotations of Jupiter and Mars, we may supply, by
using the analogy conversely, the _diameters of their spheres of
attraction_, and thus get at the elements of the lost planet between
Mars and Jupiter, and these appear to be:--mean distance = 2·9085111
(earth unity), mass in terms of Sun 1/1353240, sidereal rotation in
earth's mean solar days 2·406104, and diameter of sphere of attraction
0·830951, in terms of earth's distance. The size is thus a little
larger than Mars. The slowness of rotation is remarkable, especially
in the case of a planet which is supposed since to have burst into
pieces: the Americans have called it Kirkwood. P. S.

SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

METEOROLOGY.

1. _Use of Coloured Glasses to assist the View in Fogs._--M. Lavini of
Turin, in a letter to the editor of _L'Institut_ at Paris, makes the
following curious observation, which, if confirmed, may prove to be of
great importance:--"When there is a fog between two corresponding
stations, so that the one station can with difficulty be seen from the
other, if the observer passes a coloured glass between his eye and the
eye-piece of his telescope, the effect of the fog is very sensibly
diminished, so that frequently the signals from the other station can
be very plainly perceived; when, without the coloured glass, even the
station itself is invisible. The different colours do not all produce
this effect in the same degree, the red seeming to be the best. Those
who have good sight prefer the dark-red, while those who are
short-sighted like the light-red better. The explanation of this
effect seems to depend upon the fact, that the white colour of the fog
strikes too powerfully upon the organ of sight, especially if the
glass have a somewhat large field. But by the insertion of the
coloured glass, the intensity of the light is much diminished by the
interception of a part of the rays, and the observer's eye is less
wearied, and, consequently, distinguishes better the outlines of the
object observed."

2. _Ozone._--Chemists are not yet fully agreed concerning the nature
or production of this singular substance, ozone. To Schonbein and
Williamson we are indebted for most of our knowledge concerning it.
The latter has supposed it to be a compound of oxygen and hydrogen,
from the fact, that, when the ozone completely freed from moisture was
passed over ignited copper, water was produced. De la Rive produced it
by passing a current of electricity through pure dry oxygen gas
contained in a receiver. It is also obtained in large quantities by
passing oxygen gas over moistened phosphorous, and afterwards drying
it. Thus prepared, it is a powerful chemical agent, possesses
bleaching properties, oxidises the metals with rapidity, and destroys
India-rubber. The hydrogen acids of sulphur are decomposed by it,
water being formed by uniting with the hydrogen of the acid, and
sulphur being set free. Professor Horsford has observed that ozone,
subjected to a heat of 130° Fah., entirely loses its properties.
Ozone, like chlorine, precipitates iodine, colouring a solution of
iodide of potassium, and starch a deep blue colour. The peculiar
smell, prevalent in the vicinity of objects struck by lightning, as
well as that occasioned by the excitation of an electrical machine,
and by the striking of two pieces of silica together, it is believed
to be occasioned by ozone.--_Editors._--_Annual of Scientific
Discovery_, p. 219.

_Method of Determining the Amount of Ozone in the Atmosphere._--At the
meeting of the American Association, an instrument for determining the
relative quantity of ozone in the air was presented by Professor
Horsford. It consisted of a tube, containing at one end a plug of
asbestus, moistened with a solution of iodide of potassium and starch.
This plug within the tube, attached to an aspirator, would, as air
passed over it, become blue. If much water flowed from the aspirator,
and of course much air flowed over the asbestus before it became blue,
the quantity of ozone indicated would be small. If but little water
flowed (and this could be measured), the quantity of ozone indicated
would be greater. The quantities of ozone would be inversely as the
volumes of air passing through the tube before blueness is
produced.--_Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 219.

HYDROGRAPHY.

3. _On the Phenomena of the Rise and Fall of the Waters of the
Northern Lakes of America._--At a meeting of the American Academy,
February 1849, Mr Foster, of the United States Mineral Survey in the
North-west Territory, presented the result of some observations,
undertaken with a view of determining whether the waters of the
northern lakes are subject to any movements corresponding to tidal
action. The result of these observations had convinced him that these
waters do not rise and fall at stated periods, corresponding to the
ebb and flow of the tide, but are subject to extraordinary risings,
which are independent of the influence of the sun and moon. These
risings attracted the attention of the earliest _voyageurs_ in these
regions. Charlevoix, who traversed the lakes nearly a century ago,
says, in reference to Lake Ontario:--"I observed that in this lake
there is a sort of reflux and flux almost instantaneous; the rocks
near the banks being covered with water, and uncovered again several
times in the space of a quarter of an hour, even if the surface of the
lake was very calm, with scarce a breath of air. After reflecting some
time on this appearance, _I imagined it was owing to springs at the
bottom of the lake, and to the shock of their currents with those of
the rivers which fall into them from all sides, and thus produce those
intermitting motions_." The same movements were noticed by Mackenzie
in 1789; by an expedition under Colonel Bradstreet in 1764; on Lake
Erie in 1823, and at various later periods. In the summer of 1834, an
extraordinary retrocession of the waters of Lake Superior took place
at the outlet of Sault St Marie. The river at this place is nearly a
mile wide, and in the distance of a mile falls 18·5 feet. The
phenomena occurred about noon. The day was calm, but cloudy. The water
retired suddenly, leaving the bed of the river bare, except for a
distance of thirty rods, and remained so for nearly an hour. Persons
went out and caught fish in pools formed in the depressions of the
rocks. The return of the waters is represented as having been very
grand. They came down like an immense surge, and so sudden was it,
that those engaged in catching fish had barely time to escape being
overwhelmed. In the summer of 1847, on one occasion the water rose and
fell at intervals of about fifteen minutes during an entire afternoon.
The variation was from twelve to twenty inches, the day being calm and
clear; but the barometer was falling. Before the expiration of
forty-eight hours, a violent gale set in. At Copper harbour, the ebb
and flow of the water through narrow inlets and estuaries has been
repeatedly noticed when there was not a breath of wind on the lake.
Similar phenomena occur on several of the Swiss lakes. Professor
Mather, who observed the barometer at Copper harbour during one of
these fluctuations, remarks:--"As a general thing, fluctuations in the
barometer accompanied fluctuations in the level of the water; but
sometimes the water-level varied rapidly in the harbour, while no such
variations occurred in the barometer at the place of observation."

As a general rule, these variations in the water-level indicate the
approach of a storm, or a disturbed state of the atmosphere. The
barometer is not sufficiently sensitive to indicate the sudden
elevations and depressions, recurring, as they often do, at intervals
of ten or twelve minutes; and the result of observations at such time
may, in some degree, be regarded as negative. Besides, it may not
unfrequently happen, that, while effects are witnessed at the place of
observation, the cause which produced them may be so far removed as
not to influence the barometer. We are, therefore, led to infer that
these phenomena result, not from the prevalence of the winds acting on
the water, accumulating it at one point and depressing it at others,
but from sudden and local changes in the pressure of the atmosphere,
giving rise to a series of barometric waves. The water, conforming to
the laws which govern two fluids thus relatively situated, would
accumulate where the pressure was the least, and be displaced where it
was the greatest. It has been remarked by De la Beche, that a sudden
impulse given to the particles of water, either by a suddenly
increased or diminished pressure, would cause a perpendicular rise or
fall, in the manner of a wave, beyond the height or depth strictly due
to the mere weight itself. The difference in the specific gravity of
the water of the lakes and the ocean may cause these changes to be
more marked in the former than in the latter.--_American Annual of
Scientific Discovery_, p. 245.

4. _Water Thermometer._--Lieut. Maury states that he has been very
much assisted in developing his theory of winds and currents by means
of the thermometer used by some vessels for determining the
temperature of the water. It was by means of these observations on the
temperature of the water that he was enabled to prove that, off the
shores of South America, between the parallels of 35° and 40° south,
there is a region of the ocean in which the temperature is as high as
that of our own Gulf stream, while in the middle of the ocean, and
between the same parallels, the temperature of the water is not so
great by 22°. Now, this very region is noted for its gales, being the
most stormy that the as yet incomplete charts of the South Atlantic
indicate. Lieut. Maury says, however, that very few navigators make
use of the water thermometer, so that he has experienced some
inconvenience in his undertaking. He is the more surprised at this,
from the fact that New York owes much of her commercial importance to
a discovery that was made by this thermometer. At the time when Dr
Franklin discovered the Gulf Stream, Charleston had more foreign trade
than New York and all the New England States together. Charleston was
then the half-way house between New and Old England. When a vessel, in
attempting to enter the Delaware or Sandy Hook, met a north-west gale
or snow storm, as at certain seasons she is apt to do, instead of
running off for a few hours into the Gulf Stream to thaw and get warm,
as she now does, she used to put off for Charleston or the West
Indies, and there remained till the return of spring before making
another attempt. A beautiful instance this of the importance and
bearings of a single fact, elicited by science from the works of
nature.--_Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 160.

5. _On the Falls of Niagara._--If we follow the chasm cut by the
Niagara river, down to Lake Ontario, we have a succession of strata
coming to the surface of various character and formation. These strata
dip south-west or towards the Falls, so that, in their progress to
their present position, the Falls have had a bed of very various
consistency. Some of these strata, as the shales and medina sandstone,
are very soft, and, when they formed the edge of the Fall, it probably
had the character of rapids; but, wherever it comes to an edge of hard
rock, with softer rock-beds below, the softer beds, crumbling away,
leave a shelf projecting above, and then the fall is perpendicular.
Such is the case at present; the hard Niagara limestone overhangs in
_tables_ the soft shales underneath, which at last are worn away to
such an extent as to undermine the superincumbent rocks. Such was also
the case at Queenston, where the Clinton group formed the edge, with
the medina sandstone below. This process has continued from the time
when the Niagara fell directly into Lake Ontario to the present time,
and will continue so long as there are soft beds underneath hard ones;
but, from the inclination of the strata, this will not always be the
case. A time will come when the rock below will also be hard. Then,
probably, the Falls will be nearly stationary, and may lose much of
their beauty from the wearing away of the edge rendering it an
inclined plane. I do not think the waters of Lake Erie will ever fall
into Lake Ontario without any intermediate cascade. The Niagara shales
are so extensive that possibly, at some future time, the river below
the cascade may be enlarged into a lake, and thus the force of the
falling water diminished; but the whole process is so slow, that no
accurate calculations can be made. The Falls were probably larger, and
stationary for a longer time at the "Whirlpool" than anywhere else. At
that point there was no division of the cataract, but at the "Devil's
Hole" there are indications of a lateral fall, probably similar to
what is now called the American Fall. At the Whirlpool, the rocks are
still united beneath the water, shewing that they were once continuous
above its surface also.[89]--_Agassiz on Lake Superior_, p. 15.

Footnote 89: The data on which these and the previous remarks on
the geology of the Falls are founded, are derived from Professor
James Hall's investigations in the New York State Survey. A.

6. _On the Existence of Manganese in Water._--At a meeting of the
American Academy, in January 1849, Dr Charles T. Jackson stated that
he had discovered the presence of manganese in the water of streams,
lakes, &c., almost universally. He detected it in water from the
middle of Lake Superior, in Cochituate water, and in water from
various sources. It has usually been regarded as iron in previous
analyses. He considered the observation as having an important bearing
in accounting for the deposits of bog manganese at the outlets of
ponds, lakes, and in bogs, as well as for the source of the oxide of
manganese in the blood.--_Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 202.

_On the Presence of Organic Matter in Water._--The following facts
relative to the presence of organic matter in water were presented to
the British Association, by Professor Forchhammer, as the result of
extended observations on the water, near Copenhagen.

_1st_, The quantity of organic matter in water is greatest in summer.
_2d_, It disappears, for the most part, as soon as the water freezes.
_3d_, Its quantity is diminished by rain. _4th_, Its quantity is
diminished if the water has to run a long way in open channels. The
hypermanganate of potash or soda is recommended by the Professor as a
most excellent test for the presence of organic matter in water.

7. _Arsenic in Chalybeate Springs._--Since the discovery of arsenic in
the deposits from certain chalybeate springs, it has been asked
whether the poisonous properties of this substance are not neutralized
by the state in which it is found. M. Lassaigne has finished a series
of experiments connected with this subject, for the purpose of
ascertaining the proportion of arsenic contained, in what state of
combination it exists, and the nature of the action which these
arseniferous deposits exert in the animal economy. The following are
M. Lassaigne's conclusions:--1. In the natural deposits of the mineral
waters of Wattviller, arsenic exists to the amount of 2·8 per cent. 2.
A portion of these deposits, representing 1·76 grains of arsenic acid,
or 1·14 grains of arsenic, produced no effect upon the health of a
dog. 3. This non-action shews that the poisonous property of the
arsenic is destroyed by its combination with the peroxide of iron, and
thus confirms what has been before asserted, that peroxide of iron, by
combining with arsenious and arsenic acid, destroys their poisonous
properties, and consequently becomes an antidote for them.

GEOLOGY.

8. _The Coal Formation of America._--The coal regions of America are,
from the explorations which have thus far been made, supposed to be
divided into three principal masses; the great central tract,
extending from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to the west of Pennsylvania, and
being apparently continued to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; the
second tract strikes north-westward from Kentucky, crosses the Ohio,
and stretches through Illinois to the Mississippi River; a third
region, smaller than the others, lies between the three great
lakes--Erie, Huron, and Michigan. Competent geologists affirm that,
from a comparison of the coal strata of contiguous basins, these are
no more than detached parts of a once continuous deposit.

The extent of this enormous coal field is, in length, from north-east
to south-west, more than 720 miles, and its greatest breadth about 180
miles; its area, upon a moderate calculation, amounts to 63,000 square
miles! In addition to these, there are several detached tracts of
anthracite in Eastern Pennsylvania, which form some of the most
remarkable coal tracts in the world. They occupy an area of about 200
square miles.

The strata which constitute this vast deposit comprehend nearly all
the known varieties of coal, from the dryest and most compact
anthracite to the most fusible and combustible common coal. One of the
most remarkable features of these coal-seams is their prodigious bulk.
The great bed of Pittsburgh, extending nearly the entire length of the
Monongahela River, has been traced through a great elliptic area, of
nearly 225 miles in its longest diameter, and of the maximum breadth
of about 100 miles, the superficial extent being 14,000 square miles,
the thickness of the bed diminishing gradually from 12 or 14 feet to 2
feet. In 1847 the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania furnished
3,000,000 tons, and 11,439 vessels cleared from Philadelphia in that
year, loaded with the article. The produce in 1848 and the present
year, is of course larger.

The bituminous coal area of the United States is 133,132 square miles,
or one 17th part of the whole. The bituminous coal area of British
America is 18,000 square miles, or one 45th part; Great Britain, 8139
square miles; Spain, 3408 square miles, or one 52d part; France, 1719
square miles, or one 118th part; and Belgium, 518 square miles, or one
122d part. The area of the Pennsylvania anthracite coal formations is
put down at 437 square miles; and that of Great Britain and Ireland
anthracite and culm, at 3720 square miles. The anthracite coal of
Great Britain and Ireland, however, is not nearly so valuable an
article of fuel as the anthracite coal of Pennsylvania, nor does a
given area yield so much as the latter.--_New York Express._ _American
Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 271.

9. _River Terraces of the Connecticut Valley._--At the meeting of the
American Association in August, President Hitchcock of Amherst
College, read a paper "On the River Terraces of the Connecticut
Valley, and on the Erosions of the Earth's Surface." He stated that
his paper must be considered as containing a few facts and suggestions
and not a finished theory. He has examined the valley from its mouth
to Turner's Falls, and carefully measured the heights of the terraces.
"As you approach the river you find plains of sand, gravel, or loam,
terminated by a slope sometimes as steep as 35°, and a second plain,
then another slope and another plain, and so on, sometimes to a great
number. I find that these terraces occur in successive basins, formed
by the approaches of the mountains upon the banks at intervals.
Sometimes the basin will be 15 or 20 miles in width, but usually much
narrower; and it is upon the margins of these basins that the terraces
are formed. I have rarely found terraces more than 200 feet above the
river, which would be in Massachusetts, about 300 feet above the
ocean, and at Hanover, N.H., about 560 feet. Nowhere do they exist
along any river, unless that river has basins. As to the materials of
which they are formed they appear exceedingly artificial. The outer or
highest terrace is generally composed of coarser materials than the
inner ones. They are all composed of materials which are worn from the
rocks, but the outer terrace oftener is full of pebbles, some of them
as large as 12 inches, while the materials of the inner seem reduced
to an impalpable powder, like the soil of a meadow which is overflowed
during high water. Whence did these materials originate? The materials
were first worn from solid rocks, and afterwards brought into these
valleys. The outer terrace appears to have been often in part the
result of the drift agency. Afterwards, the river agency sorted the
materials, and gave them a level surface, the successive basins having
at that time barriers. The inner terrace appears to have been, at
least in its upper part, the result of deposition from the river
itself.

"I will now mention a few facts which I have observed. The terraces do
not generally agree in height upon the opposite sides of the valley.
The higher ones oftener agree, perhaps, than the lower ones. If
formed, as I suppose, from the rivers, we should expect this. The
terraces slope downwards in the direction of the stream. The same
terrace which, near South Hadley, is 190 feet above the river, slopes
until, at East Hartford, it is only 40 feet above the river, thus
sloping 150 feet more than the slope of the river itself, in a
distance of 40 or 50 miles. This shows that they could not have been
formed by the sea or by a lake, for they would then have been
horizontal. The greatest number of terraces observed is eight or nine.
Generally there are but two or three." President Hitchcock then gives
his view of the precise mode in which these terraces were formed,
illustrating them by references to other parts of our country, and
concludes by a notice of the erosions of the earth's surface.--_Annual
of Scientific Discovery_, 1850, p. 229.

ZOOLOGY.

10. _Fossil Crinoids of the United States._--At the meeting of the
American Association, 1849, a paper on the fossil crinoids of
Tennessee, by Professor Troost, was read by Professor Agassiz.[90] The
species embraced are not less than eighty-eight in number, of which
only half a dozen have been described. It is the opinion of Professor
Hall that all the silurian formations of New York, previous to the
beginning of the geological survey, did not afford more than four or
five. Now, about sixty species have been ascertained. Professor Hall
mentioned the fact, that all the crinoids of the lower silurian rocks,
with the exception of one species, have five pelvic plates, and we
never find one with three, or any other number of these plates, before
we reach the highest deposits. In Tennessee, the crinoids are so
abundant, that Professor Troost states that he had been able to
collect some 300 or 400 good specimens of seven or eight different
species in a single morning. In relation to the abundance of these
fossils in the United States, Professor Agassiz remarked, that it is
not, perhaps, sufficiently appreciated of what importance, and of what
immense value the study of these fossil crinoids may be for the
progress of palæontology. American students should be proud of these
materials, by which they will be able to throw so much light upon
these almost extinct families by their personal investigations, which
will not only render them independent of the palæontologist from
abroad for information with regard to the succession of types, and the
full illustration of these structures, but really afford correct
standards for comparison. It is the more desirable that all these
fossils should be made known, as the family of crinoids is so reduced
in our days that we can form no idea of the living animals of that
group, of their diversity of form, modification of character, and
peculiarity of position, from the living type only. He doubted whether
the number of crinoid heads of all species found in Europe, now
existing in the Museums of Europe, is one-third the number of those
which have been found by a single gentleman in Tennessee in one
morning. Now, with such materials, consider what precise and what
minute investigations could be made. And if these facts could be once
fully ascertained and well illustrated, there is no doubt that the
series of crinoids, and their succession in former ages, will be
established from American standards, and will no longer rest upon the
European evidence, which has often been derived from the examination
of small fragments of those ancient fossils, found in unconnected
basins for the most part, so that their geological succession could be
ascertained only with great doubt and difficulty. In conclusion,
Professor Agassiz would venture to say, that geologists who have had
any opportunity to compare the position of the ancient rocks on this
continent of North America with the corresponding deposits of Europe,
would agree with him in saying that the geology proper, the
stratography of North America, will afford the same precise and well
authenticated standards for the appreciation of the order of
succession of rocks, as fossils will for the order of succession of
living beings.--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 282.

Footnote 90: These fossiliferous remains were discovered in the
carbonaceous and silurian strata of the State, and shew a
wonderful development of that form of animal on the shores during
the palæozoic period. Thirty-one genera, sixteen of which are
considered by Professor Troost as new, are enumerated.

11. _Discovery of Coral Animals on the Coast of
Massachusetts._--Professor Agassiz, while on an expedition in one of
the vessels of the coast survey during the past summer, obtained by
means of a dredge, from a depth of seventy-two feet, in the Vineyard
Sound off Gay Head, several specimens of a coral with its animals. By
great care and attention they were preserved alive in glass jars for
more than six weeks, and afforded an excellent opportunity for an
examination and observation of their structure and habits. These
corals belong to the genus _Astrangia_, and have been named by
Professor Agassiz, in honour of Professor Dana, geologist of the
exploring expedition, Astrangia Dana.

This species presents two varieties. Some are of a pink or rose
colour, others are white. The general form of the animal is a cylinder
(as of all Polypi) resting on its base, and expanded on the upper
margin; thus expanded it is about two lines in diameter. The number of
tentacles is definite, but it is not always the same absolute number.
It never exceeds twenty-four; in earlier periods of life there are
only twelve, and there is even an epoch when there are only six.

It is, perhaps, a matter of surprise that the coral animal should have
been found in this latitude. They teem in the warm latitudes; but
there are very few species in the more temperate regions, and but for
the opportunity afforded by the coast survey, the existence of these
animals could not have been suspected on these shores. For many years,
however, dead fragments had been found along the shores; but whether
they lived there naturally or not had not been ascertained.--_American
Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 311.

12. _On the Circulation and Digestion of the Lower
Animals._--Professor Agassiz states, that the circulation of the
invertebrata cannot be compared to that of the vertebrata. Instead of
the three conditions of chyme, chyle, and blood, which the circulating
fluid of the vertebrata undergoes, the blood of that class of the
invertebrata which he had particularly studied, the annelida or worms,
is simple coloured chyle. The receptacles of chyle in different parts
of the body are true lymphatic hearts, like those found in the
vertebrata; this kind of circulation is found in the articulata and
mollusks, with few exceptions, and in some of the echinoderms. In the
medusæ and polyps, instead of chyle, chyme mixed with water is
circulated; this circulation is found in some mollusks and intestinal
worms. Professor Agassiz thinks, that the embryological development of
the higher animals shews a similar succession in the circulating
function. As regards the connection between respiration and
circulation in vertebrata, the gills are found between branches of the
blood system; in invertebrata, the chyliferous system is acted on by
the respiration. The gills of fishes, therefore, cannot be compared to
the gills of crustacea, articulata, and mollusks. In fact, no gills
are connected with the chymiferous circulation. Animals having this
circulation, have no true respiration. They have only tubes to
distribute freshly aërated water to different parts of the
body.--_Proc. Bost. Nat. Hist. Soc._

13. _Distribution of the Testaceous Mollusca of Jamaica._--The great
number of species is remarkable. A few miles of coast, without the aid
of storms, and without dredging, yielded 450 species. In the small bay
of Port Royal, 350 marine species were found. A pint of sand, taken
from a surface three yards long, contained 110 species. Probably there
are 350 or 400 specimens of land shells, and two or three times as
many of marine species. Extensive districts occur, however, which are
nearly destitute of land or marine shells. They are accumulated in
favourable stations.

The difference in the extent of the distribution of the marine and of
the terrestrial species is remarkable. A majority of the marine
species are known to occur in the other islands; probably not more
than 10 or 15 per cent. of them will be found to be peculiar to
Jamaica. But of the land shells, 95 per cent. are peculiar to the
island. The limited distribution of the terrestrial species is
remarkable. A few are generally distributed, but a large number are
limited to districts of a few miles in diameter; and several, although
occurring abundantly, could be found only within the space of a few
rods. Only seventeen fresh-water species were found. Favourable
stations for fresh-water species are rare.

In respect of the number of individuals of mollusca in Jamaica, as
compared with more northern latitudes, the rule so obvious in the
class of fishes is not applicable to the same extent. Of fishes, the
species are much more numerous, but individuals much less so. Of the
mollusca, the total number of individuals is about the same as in this
latitude, and the number of species represented by a profusion of
individuals is about the same. But the number of species not occurring
abundantly is much greater, so that the average of individuals to all
the species is less than in this latitude. From a comparison of the
laws of distribution of the marine and terrestrial species in the
Antilles, it follows that the number of the latter must exceed that of
the former. With the insular distribution of the terrestrial species
may be associated the fact, that the coral reefs are all fringing, for
both facts are connected with the geological fact, that these islands
are in a process of elevation.--Professor ADAMS before the American
Association.--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 334.

14. _Metamorphoses of the Lepidoptera._--Professor Agassiz said that
he had, during the past season, been studying the metamorphoses of the
Lepidoptera, and, to his great surprise, he had found that one stage
in the transformation of these insects has been overlooked by
naturalists. We knew the Lepidoptera in three conditions,--that of the
worm, furnished with jaws and jointed, the chrysalis, and the perfect
insect with four wings. The change not before described, which he had
noticed, is somewhat concealed under the skin of the caterpillar. The
animal at a certain period swells at the thoracic region, and becomes
extremely sensitive to the touch in this part, the skin being, in
fact, in a state of inflammation. On cutting open the skin at this
place, Professor Agassiz found beneath it a four-winged insect, before
it had passed into the chrysalis state. The wings were long enough to
extend half the length of the perfect insect. The posterior pair he
found to be membraneous bags, somewhat flattened, like the respiratory
vesicles of marine worms, with distinct ribs, which are blood-vessels.
The anterior pair are also bags, with their upper half stiff and
inflexible, like the elytra of coleoptera. The legs are tubular, but
not joined, as in the perfect insect. The jaws are changed into two
long tubes, which are bent backwards, as are also the antennæ. In the
chrysalis, the wings are flattened and soldered together, as are the
legs and sucking-tubes, which are bent backwards. The order of
development of the different parts and the coleopterous condition at
an incomplete stage, show that naturalists have been in error in
placing chewing insects, as the coleoptera, above the sucking insects.
The order should be reversed. Professor Agassiz said that he had
confirmed his observations in many specimens, by examining them just
at the moment when the skin begins to split on the back.--_American
Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 327.

15. _On the Zoological Character of Young Mammalia._--At the meeting
of the American Association for the Promotion of Science, Professor
Agassiz remarked, that zoologists have, in their investigations,
constantly neglected one side of their subject, which, when properly
considered, will throw a great amount of new light on their
investigations. Studying animals, in general, it has been the habit to
investigate them in their full grown condition, and scarcely ever to
look back for their characters in earlier periods of life. We scarcely
ever find, in a book of natural history, a hint as to the difference
which exists in the young and old. Perhaps in birds, the colour of the
young may be noticed; and it is generally known, that the young
resemble the female more than the male; but as to precise
investigation of the subject, we are deficient. But if the early
stages of life have been neglected, there is one period in the history
of animals which has been thoroughly investigated, for the last
twenty-five years,--embryology. The changes which take place within
the egg itself, and which give rise to the new individual, have been
thoroughly examined; but, after the formation of the new being, the
changes in its form which it passes through, up to its full grown
condition, have been neglected. It had been his object to investigate
this subject, because he had been struck with the deficiency there is
on this point in our works; and in making this investigation, he had
found that the young animals, in almost all classes, differ widely
from what they are in their full-grown condition. For instance, a
young bat, a young bird, or a young snake, at a certain period of
their growth within the egg, resemble each other so much, that he
would defy the most able zoologist of our day to distinguish between a
robin and a bat, or between a robin and a snake. There is something of
high significance in this fact. There is something common to all
these. There is a thought behind these material phenomena, which shews
that they are all combined under one rule, and that they only come
under different laws of development, to assume, finally, different
shapes, according to the object for which they were introduced.

There is a period of life, in which, whatever may be the final form of
their organs of locomotion, whatever may be the final difference
between the anterior and posterior extremities, vertebrated animals
have uniform legs, in the shape of little paddles or fins. This is the
case with lizards as well as birds. A robin's wing and a robin's leg,
which are so different from a bat's wing and a bat's leg, do not
essentially differ when young from the leg and arm of a bat. Wherever
we observe combined fingers preserving this condition, we have a
decided indication that such animals rank lower in the group to which
they belong. This is all-important, as we are enabled at once to group
animals which are otherwise allied, in a natural series, as soon as we
know whether they have combined or divided fingers. And the degree of
division to which the legs rise in their development is a safe guide
in our classification. Look, for instance, at the legs of dogs and
cats, in which the fingers are completely separated, and so elongated,
that the animals walk naturally upon tip-toe, and compare them with
others, bears, for instance, which walk upon the whole sole of the
foot; and, again, with those of seals or bats, which remain united,
and constitute either fins or a wing.

There are other reasons sufficient to convince us that the order of
arrangement which he had assigned them, according the development of
the fingers, is justified by the state of development of the other
organs of the mammalia, and especially of their higher organs and
intellectual faculties and instincts. And I will also add, says
Professor Agassiz, that mankind are not excluded from this connection,
but, in common with other vertebrata, we are all at one stage of
existence provided with paddles or fins, which are afterwards
developed into legs and arms.--_American Annual of Scientific
Discovery_, p. 324.

16. _The Manatus or Sea Cow, the Embryonic Type of the
Pachydermata?_--Professor Agassiz thinks that the Manati have been
improperly considered cetaceans: they differ from them in the form of
the skull, which is elongated, and in the position of the nostrils,
which are in front. On the other hand, the skull resembles that of the
elephant in front (particularly when seen from above), in some of the
details of the facial bones, which are not like those of the cetacea,
in the palatine bones, the arrangement of the teeth, and in the curve
of the lower jaw. Professor Agassiz, believed this to be the true
embryonic type of the Pachydermata.--_American Annual of Scientific
Discovery_, p. 313.

17. _Fossil Elephant and Mastodon from Africa._--M. Gervais
communicated to the French Academy, on March 12th, that he had just
received from Algiers, a drawing of the molar tooth of a fossil
elephant, whose genus is very easily recognised, and which indicates a
species more resembling those found in a fossil state in Europe, than
the present African elephant. This tooth was found at Cherchell, in
the province of Oran. Sicily has hitherto been the southernmost point
on the Mediterranean where the fossil elephant has been found.

At the same time, he also mentioned the discovery, near Constantine,
of some fossil remains of mastodons. Though fossil remains of this
animal have been previously found in all the other portions of the
world, these are the first discovered in Africa. The remains found are
a tooth and a rib, and, as far as can be judged from a drawing, they
belonged to an animal more resembling the mastodon brevirostris, or
the arvernensis, than the mastodon angustodens.--_American Journal of
Scientific Discovery_, p. 287.

18. _Cauterization in the case of Poisonous Bites._--In the _Comptes
Rendus_ for January 8th, we find an article by M. Parchappe,
containing the result of his observations on the question, whether the
spread of poison produced by a bite can be prevented by cauterizing.
He was induced to examine into this subject, because M. Renard had
stated that cauterization was found to have no effect when applied
even within five minutes after the bite in the cure of one sort of
virus, and within one hour in that of another. These results, he was
aware, though derived from experiments upon animals, would weaken the
confidence of physicians and patients in the only mode that medicine
possesses of preventing the bad effect of a bite from any poisonous
animal, where, as is generally the case, some considerable time must
elapse before the remedy can be applied. M. Parchappe, accordingly,
made several experiments upon dogs, with an extract of nux vomica, all
of which go to confirm him in ascribing to cauterization, a power even
greater than that commonly allowed it.--"From these experiments it
results, that the immediate amputation or destruction in the living
portion with which the extract of nux vomica has come in contact, has
the power of preventing the bad effects of the poison, even when it
has been in contact for some time." The author is aware, that there is
considerable difference between the virus of animals, and the
substance used by him, with reference to their direct and remote
effects, but thinks that every one must admit that there is a great
_analogy_ between them, is of the opinion, that in both cases the
poison remains in the bitten part for a considerable time before it is
transmitted to the rest of the body, and that cauterizing should be
adopted in all cases where a poisonous bite is even suspected.

19. _Dental Parasites._--At a meeting of the American Academy,
December 1849, a paper was read by Dr H. J. Bowditch, on the animal
and vegetable parasites infesting the teeth, with the effects of
different agents in causing their removal and destruction.
Microscopical examinations had been made of the matter deposited on
the teeth and gums of more than forty individuals, selected from all
classes of society, in every variety of bodily condition, and in
nearly every case animal and vegetable parasites in great numbers had
been discovered. Of the animal parasites there were three or four
species, and of the vegetable one or two. In fact, the only persons
whose mouths were found to be completely free from them cleansed their
teeth four times daily, using soap once. One or two of these
individuals also passed a thread between the teeth to cleanse them
more effectually. In all cases the number of the parasites were
greater in proportion to the neglect of cleanliness.

The effect of the application of various agents was also noticed.
Tobacco juice and smoke did not impair their vitality in the least.
The same was also true of the chlorine tooth-wash, of pulverized bark,
of soda, ammonia, and various other popular detergents. The
application of soap, however, appeared to destroy them instantly. We
may hence infer that this is the best and most proper specific for
cleansing the teeth. In all cases where it has been tried, it receives
unqualified commendation. It may also be proper to add, that none but
the purest white soap, free from all discolorations, should be
used.--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 320.

ARTS.

20. _The Steamboat New World._--Every year sees some new steamboat
constructed, which surpasses in size, magnificence, or speed those
previously made. There is no doubt that the mechanics of this country
excel those of any other in their inland steamboats, and it is also
probable that in a few years the same can be said of our sea-going
steamships, though it must be allowed that those hitherto produced
are, with few exceptions, decided failures. During the present year,
the new steamboat "New World" has commenced running. She is said to be
the longest boat ever put on the stocks in this country, and the
longest afloat in the world. Her length is 337 feet; extreme width, 69
feet; the engine is 76 feet in cylinder, 15 feet in stroke, and the
wheels of iron, 46 feet in diameter. She draws 4½ feet of water. The
engine is a low pressure one, and though the boat is so very long she
obeys the helm with great readiness. Her decorations are all of the
most superb and costly character.

If we even attain any greater speed either in our inland or sea-going
steam-vessels, it will be principally by enlarging their size. Though
some improvements will doubtless be made in the engines and in the
models of the vessels, yet the great gain will be by increasing the
tonnage, for the reason that the size, and consequent room for engines
and coal, increases much faster than does the opposition caused by the
water and the air.--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_, p. 30.

21. _Use of Parachutes in Mines._--It is well known that vertical
ladders for descending into deep mines are very fatiguing, so that the
miners prefer to trust themselves to baskets suspended by ropes, and
in many cases the baskets are the only means provided for descending
and ascending. But accidents frequently occur from the breaking of the
ropes, in spite of all the precautions that can be taken to prevent
it. The _Brussels Herald_ states that some experiments have lately
been made on a large scale in Belgium with a contrivance intended to
remedy this evil. The basket or cuffert is so made, that, in case the
rope breaks, it immediately springs open, forming a sort of parachute,
which is held suspended in the air by means of the strong current
which, it is well known, is always rushing up from mines, owing to the
temperature below being higher than that above. The effect of this
apparatus was shown before a numerous company, several miners
entrusting themselves to the basket, which was so arranged that at a
certain point the rope broke; they were sustained in the air by the
open basket, so that the experiments were entirely satisfactory.

22. _Adulteration of Drugs._--At a meeting of the New York Academy of
Medicine, June 1849, an elaborate report was presented by Dr M. J.
Bailey, on the practical operation of the law prohibiting the
importation of adulterated and spurious drugs, medicines, &c.

The report states, that since the law took effect, July 1848, over
90,000 lbs. of drugs of various kinds have been rejected and condemned
in the ports of the United States. Of these, 34,000 lbs. was included
under the comprehensive title of Peruvian bark, 16,343 lbs. rhubarb
root, 11,707 lbs. jalap root, about 2000 lbs. senna, and about 15,000
lbs. of other drugs. The agitation of the bill which preceded the
passage of the law had its effect abroad, and the supply of
adulterated drugs from foreign markets has greatly decreased. The
domestic supply, has on the contrary increased. Within a recent
period, quinine in considerable quantities has been found in the
market, adulterated to the extent of some twenty or twenty-five per
cent. These frauds were undoubtedly perpetrated by or among our own
people. The material used for the adulteration of the quinine was
found, on analysis, to be _mannite and sulphate of barites_, in nearly
equal weights. The latter article has long been used for this purpose,
but not until lately has _mannite_ been detected in the sulphate of
quinine. It seems to have been ingeniously substituted for salicine,
and a somewhat similar substance prepared from the poplar bark; which
articles have heretofore been extensively used for like purposes. The
ingenuity consists in the fact, that it is much more difficult to
detect the adulterations when effected by the admixture of _mannite_,
than when by the admixture of salicine, &c., while the former can be
furnished for less than one-fourth of the expense of the latter.

For some years past an extensive chemical establishment has been in
operation at Brussels, in Belgium, built up at great expense and care,
and expressly designed for the manufacture, on a large scale, of
imitations of all the most important foreign chemical preparations
used in medicine; while, at the same time, an agent was travelling in
this country making sales, and soliciting orders in all the principal
towns on our sea-board. The articles were prepared and put up with
consummate skill and neatness; and the imitation was so perfect that
it was impossible for the unsuspecting purchaser to distinguish them
from the genuine, notwithstanding that, in some instances, they did
not contain over five per cent. of the substances represented by the
label. Since the law went into effect at the port of New York, not a
single package has been presented for entry. Dr Bailey states,
however, that he has been informed that the persons formerly connected
with the Brussels firm, are now in this country engaged in the same
iniquitous business; hence the adulterations spoken of.--_Annual of
Scientific Discovery_, p. 188.

23. _To restore Decayed Ivory._--Mr Layard, in his explorations among
the ruins of Nineveh, discovered some splendid works of art carved in
ivory, which he forwarded to England. When they arrived there, it was
discovered that the ivory was crumbling to pieces very rapidly.
Professor Owen was consulted to know if there was any means of
preventing the entire loss of these specimens of ancient art, and he
came to the conclusion that the decay was owing to the loss of the
albumen in the ivory, and therefore recommended that the articles be
boiled in a solution of albumen. The experiment was tried, with
complete success, and the ivory has been rendered as firm and solid as
when it was first entombed.

24. _Ivory as an Article of Manufacture._--There are several sorts of
ivory, differing from each other in composition, durability, external
appearance, and value. The principal sources from which ivory is
derived are the western coast of Africa and Hindostan: Camaroo ivory
is considered the best, on account of its colour and transparency. In
some of the best tusks the transparency can be discovered even on the
outside. The manufacturers have a process by which they make poor
ivory transparent, but it lasts only for a short time. A third kind of
ivory, called the Egyptian, has lately been introduced, which is
considerably lower in price than the Indian, but in working there is
much waste. By an analysis, the African ivory shows a proportion of
animal to earthy matter of 101 to 100; the Indian, 76 to 100; and the
Egyptians, 70 to 100. The value of ivory consumed in Sheffield, where
it is much used in making handles for cutlery, is very great, and
nearly 500 persons are employed in working it up. To make up the
weight of 180 tons consumed in that place, there must be about 45,000
tusks, whose average weight is nine pounds each, though some weigh
from 60 to 100 pounds. According to this, the number of elephants
killed every year is 22,500; but allowing that some tusks are cast,
and some animals die, it may be fairly estimated that 18,000 are
killed every year merely for their ivory, which is contrary to the
usual belief that the ivory used comes from the tusks cast by living
elephants. These estimates, it will be seen, are for Sheffield merely.

25. _Flexible Ivory._--M. Charriere, a manufacturer of surgical
instruments in Paris, has for some time been in the habit of rendering
flexible the ivory which he uses in making tubes, probes, and other
instruments. He avails himself of a fact which has long been known,
that when bones are subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid, the
phosphate of lime, which forms one of their component parts, is
extracted, and thus bones retain their original form and acquire great
flexibility. M. Charriere, after giving to the pieces of ivory the
required form and polish, steeps them in acid alone, or in acid
partially diluted with water, and they thus become supple, flexible,
elastic, and of a slightly yellowish colour. In the course of drying,
the ivory becomes hard and inflexible again, but its flexibility can
be at once restored by wetting it either by surrounding it with a
piece of wet linen, or by placing sponge in the cavities of the
pieces. Some pieces of ivory have been kept in a flexible state in the
acidulated water for a week, and they were neither changed, nor
injured, nor too much softened, nor had they acquired any taste or
disagreeable smell.

26. _Air-Whistle._--Mr C. Daboll, of New London, Connecticut, has
invented a whistle that speaks with a most "miraculous organ" whenever
its services are required for the purpose of alarm or warning. It is
designed for the use of vessels at sea or on the coast, as on our
eastern shores, where dense fogs prevail, and vessels are liable to
come in collision before they are conscious of each other's approach.
Its great advantage is its power of communicating sounds for a
distance of from 4 to 5 miles, far exceeding the largest bells. An
experimental one has been placed on Bartlett's Reef, and the pilot of
the "Lawrence" states that he has heard it when about 4 miles off from
Bartlett's Reef, _against the wind_, which was blowing quite fresh at
the time. This was on a clear day, and when the whistle was blown at
his request, and also by advice of the inventor, so that the distance
might be marked. It is probable that, under the same circumstances,
the tones of a bell could not have been heard more than from one half
to three-fourths of a mile. The pilot of the steamer "Knickerbocker"
reports, that he _made the whistle_ during a dense fog, thirteen
minutes' running-time of the steamer, before coming up with the
station where it is located. He therefore must have been some four or
five miles distant from it when he heard it.

This whistle consists of an air chamber or condenser, of boiler iron
sufficiently strong to resist almost any pressure, an air-pump, and a
whistle similar to the ordinary ones used on locomotives. By means of
the air-pump operating into this chamber, a pressure of air is
obtained in it of any required amount,--say one, two, or three hundred
pounds to the square inch. When the air is so compressed, it is made
to operate the whistle by simply opening a valve, and gives a distinct
clear sound.

A memorial has been presented to the Treasury Department, signed by
most of the commanders and pilots of the steamboats running through
Long Island and Fisher's Island Sounds, setting forth the advantages
to be derived to navigation from this whistle, and urging that it be
introduced into the light vessels, and at all stations where the
government intends to afford protection to navigation.--_Annual of
Scientific Discovery_, p. 70.

27. _Curious Electrical Phenomenon._--We learn from a letter from a
gentleman connected with the Bay State Mills, at Lawrence,
Massachusetts, some facts with reference to a new and curious
application of electricity which has been introduced in those mills.
The electricity is generated by the motion of the machinery, and is
employed for lighting up the gas burners. It exists in large
quantities in the card-rooms, where there are many belts running on
iron pulleys, and, in the cold dry atmosphere of winter, often
producing serious damage to the quality of the cording. The manner in
which it was discovered that this electricity could be applied to
"lighting up," is somewhat curious. When the gas was first let into
the pipes in the mills, one of the overseers discovered fire setting
out from one of the pipes near a belt, and on examination it was
ascertained that a small stream of gas was escaping. It was surmised
that it had been ignited by the electricity, and to prove it, an
experiment was tried. Near a large belt in the carding-room was a
gas-burner, and on a bench between them there was placed a small
quantity of wool, which is a non-conductor of electricity. If a person
stood upon this wool, reaching one hand within two or three inches of
the belt, and touching the gas-burner with one finger of the other,
the escaping gas was at once ignited with an explosion like that of a
percussion-cap,--the body of the operator thus being made the medium
for conducting the electricity.

The writer adds,--"We shall be able to make a great saving of expense
in the woollen manufacture, as soon as we can discover an effective
method of conducting the electricity away from the cards, as we shall
then be able to dispense entirely with the use of oil on the wool, we
shall save at least $30,000 per annum, when the mills are in full
operation."--_American Annual of Scientific Discovery_ p. 117.

_List of Patents granted for Scotland from 22d March to
22d June 1850._

1. To JAMES HIGGINS, of Salford, in the county of Lancaster, machine
maker, and THOMAS SHOWFIELD WHITWORTH, of Salford aforesaid,
"improvements in machinery for preparing, spinning, and doubling
cotton, wool, flax, silk, and similar fibrous materials."--22d March
1850.

2. To FRANCAIS VOUILLON, of Princes Street, Hanover Square, in the
county of Middlesex, manufacturer, "improvements in the manufacture of
hats, caps, bonnets, and other articles made of the same or similar
materials."--26th March 1850.

3. To WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery
Lane, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, "improvements in the
manufacture of knobs of doors, articles of furniture, or other
purposes, and in connecting metallic attachments to articles made of
glass, or other analogous materials."--26th March 1850.

4. To JONATHAN CHARLES GOODALL, of Great College Street, Camden Town,
in the county of Middlesex, card-maker, "improvements in machinery for
cutting paper."--27th March 1850.

5. To CHARLES FELTON HAILSMAN, of Argyle Street, in the county of
Middlesex, gentleman, "improvements in machinery for spinning or
twisting cotton, wool, or other fibrous substances."--28th March 1850.

6. To ROBERT MILLIGAN, of Harden, near Bingley, in the county of York,
manufacturer, "an improvements mode of treating certain floated warp,
or welt, or both, for the purpose of producing ornamented
fabrics."--28th March 1850.

7. To ROBERT WHITE, and JAMES HENDERSON GRANT, both of Dalmarnock
Road, Glasgow, North Britain, engineers, "certain improvements in
machinery, or apparatus to be used in mines, which improvements, or
parts thereof, are also applicable to other purposes of a similar
nature."--11th April 1850.

8. To WILLIAM M'LARDY, of Manchester, gentleman, "certain improvements
in machinery or apparatus for preparing and spinning cotton and other
fibrous substances."--15th April 1850.

9. To JOHN SCOFFERN, of Essex Street, in the county of Middlesex, M.
B., "improvements in the manufacture and refining of sugar, and in the
treatment and use of matters obtained in such manufacture, and in the
construction of valves, and in such and other manufacture."--17th
April 1850.

10. To JAMES BUCK WILSON, of St Helens, in the county of Lancaster,
rope-maker, "certain improvements in wire ropes."--22d April 1850.

11. To THOMAS SYMES PRIDEAUX, of Southampton, gentleman, "improvements
in puddling, and other furnaces."--26th April 1850.

12. To CHARLES COWPER, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
county of Middlesex, "certain improvements in the treatment of coal,
and in separating coal and other substances from foreign matters, and
in the artificial fuel and coke, and in the distillation and treatment
of tar and other products from coal, together with improvements in the
machinery and apparatus employed for the said purposes," being a
communication.--26th April 1850.

13. To VIDIE LUCIEN, late of Paris, in France, but now of South
Street, Finsbury, French Advocate, "improvements in conveyances on
land and water."--26th April 1850.

14. To ROBERT DALGLEISH, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, in
Scotland, merchant and calico printer, "certain improvements in
printing, and in the application of colours to silk, cotton, linen,
woollen, and other textile fabrics."--27th April 1850.

15. To ETHIAN CAMPBELL, of the city of New York, in the United States
of America, philosophical, practical, and experimental engineer,
"certain new and useful improvements for generating and applying
motive power, and for propelling vessels."--30th April 1850.

16. To ROBERT REID, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, manufacturer,
"certain improvements in weaving."--3d May 1850.

17. To MAXWELL MILLER, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark,
coppersmith, "certain improvements in distilling and rectifying."--3d
May 1850.

18. To THOMAS KEELY, of the town and county of Nottingham,
manufacturer, and WILLIAM WILLIAMSON, of the same place, frame-work
knitter, "certain improvements in looped or elastic fabrics, and in
articles made therefrom; also certain machinery for producing the said
improvements, which is applicable in whole or in part to the
manufacture of looped fabrics generally."--8th May 1850.

19. To PETER ARMAND LE COMTE MOREAU FONTAINE, of 4 South Street,
Finsbury Square, in the county of Middlesex, patent agent, "certain
improvements for the production of heat and light, which improvements
are applicable to ventilation, and the prevention of explosions,"
being a communication.--9th May 1850.

20. To ETHIAN BALDWIN, of the city of Philadelphia and State of
Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, "a new and useful
method of generating and applying steam in propelling vessels
locomotive, and stationary machinery."--9th May 1850.

21. To JACOB CANNON, of Hyde Park, in the county of Middlesex,
gentleman, "improvements in melting, moulding, and casting sand,
earth, and other substances for paving, building, and various other
useful purposes."--20th May 1850.

22. To GEORGE JACKSON, of Belfast, Ireland, flax-dresser,
"improvements in heckling machinery."--24th May 1850.

23. To FREDERICK ROSENBERG, Esquire, of Albermarle Street, in the
county of Middlesex, and CONRAD MONTGOMERY, Esquire, of the Army and
Navy Club, Saint James's Square, in the same county, "improvements in
sewing, cutting, boring, and shaping wood."--24th May 1850.

24. To GEORGE FORD HAYWARD, of St Martins Le Grand, in the county
of Middlesex, "improvements in obtaining power," being a
communication.--27th May 1850.

25. To JOSEPH BARRANS, of St Pauls, Deptford, in the county of Kent,
engineer, "improvements in axles and axle-boxes of locomotive engines,
and other railway carriages."--27th May 1850.

26. To SAMUEL FISHER, of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick,
engineer, "improvements in railway carriage-wheels, axles, buffer, and
draw-springs, and hinges for railway carriage and other doors."--28th
May 1850.

27. To THOMAS CHANDLER, of Stockton, Wilts, "improvements in machinery
for applying liquid manure."--28th May 1850.

28. To THOMAS DICKSON ROTCH, Esquire, of Drumlamford House, in the
county of Ayr, North Britain, "improvements in separating various
matters usually found combined in certain saccharine, saline, and
ligneous substances."--28th May 1850.

29. To HENRY COLUMBUS HURRY, of Manchester, in the county of
Lancaster, civil engineer, "certain improvements in the method of
lubricating machinery,"--29th May 1850.

30. To SIMON PINCOFFS, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster,
merchant, "certain improvements in the ageing process in printing and
dyeing calicoes, and other woven fabrics, which improvements are also
applicable to other processes in printing and dyeing calicoes and
other woven fabrics."--30th May 1850.

31. To WILLIAM MACALPINE, of Spring Vale, in the county of Middlesex,
general dresser, and THOMAS MACALPINE, of the same place, manager,
"improvements in machinery for washing cotton, linen, and other
fabrics."--31st May 1850.

32. To CHARLES ANDREW, of Compstall Bridge, in the county of Chester,
manufacturer, and RICHARD MARKLAND, of the same place, manager,
"certain improvements in the method of, and in the machinery or
apparatus for, preparing warps for weaving."--31st May 1850.

33. To JAMES PALMER BUDD, of the Ystalyfera iron works, Swansea,
merchant, "improvements in the manufacture of coke."--31st May 1850.

34. To JOHN DALTON, of Hollingsworth, in the county of Chester, calico
printer, "certain improvements in and applicable to machinery or
apparatus for bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing textile and
other fabrics, and in the engraving of copper rollers, and other
metallic bodies."--5th June 1850.

35. To FREDERICK ALBERT GATTY, of Accrington in the county of
Lancaster, Manchester, manufacturing chemist, "a certain process, of
certain processes for obtaining carbonate of soda and carbonate of
potash."--5th June 1850.

36. To JULES LE BASTIER, of Paris, in the Republic of France, but now
of South Street, Finsbury, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman,
"certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for printing."--6th
June 1850.

37. To WILLIAM ROBERTTON, of Gateshead Mill, Neilston, in the county
of Renfrew, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called Scotland, machine maker, "improvements in certain
machinery used for spinning and doubling cotton and other fibrous
substances."--7th June 1850.

38. To FRANCIS TONGUE RUFFORD, of Prescott House, in the county of
Worcester, fire-brick manufacturer, ISAAC MARSON, of Cradley, in the
same county, potter, and JOHN FINCH, of Pickard Street, City Road, in
the county of Middlesex, manufacturer, "improvements in the
manufacture of baths and wash tubs, or wash vessels."--10th June 1850.

39. To BARON LOUIS LE PRESTI, of Paris, in the Republic of France
"improvements in hydraulic presses, which are, in whole or in part,
applicable to pumps and other like machines."--10th June 1850.

40. To ARTHUR ELLIOT, machine maker, of Manchester, in the county of
Lancaster, and HENRY HEYS, of the same place, book-keeper, "certain
machinery for manufacturing woven fabrics."--14th June 1850.

41. To CHARLES COWPER, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
county of Middlesex, patent agent, "improvements in instruments for
measuring, indicating, and regulating the pressure of air, steam, and
other fluids, and in instruments for measuring, indicating, and
regulating the temperature of the same, and in instruments for
obtaining motive power from the same."--14th June 1850.

Transcriber's Notes:

Punctuation was standardized. Words in italics are surrounded by
underscores, _like this_. Accent marks in French and spaces after
apostrophes in Italian were standardized. Greek was transliterated.

Footnotes were numbered sequentially, indented and moved to follow the
paragraph or table in which the anchor occurs.

The book originally contained two Tables of Contents, the second of
which pertained to the ensuing volume. The second Table of Contents
was removed from this edition.

Several tables in the Climate of Whitehaven article were too wide to
display on a standard computer screen. The tables were divided, with
the left-most column replicated, for ease of reading.

Hyphenation of the following words was standardized:

juxta-position to juxtaposition
starfishes to star-fishes
steam-boats to steamboats
sub-divided to subdivided

Archaic and obsolete spelling was retained. The following were adjusted:

'he' to 'be' - ... all animals must be referred to ...
'nimals' to 'animals' ... habits of those animals,...
'alogether' to 'altogether' ... are altogether tropical,...
'phemonena' to 'phenomena' ... the most striking phenomena ...
'acquatic' to 'aquatic' ... in the aquatic animals ...
'thes pecimens' to 'the specimens' ...comparison of the specimens ...
'Cystoseirites' for 'Cystosceri'es' ... the two Cystoseirites ...
'archaiologcal' to 'archaeological' ... archaeological researches ...
'metmorphic' to 'metamorphic' ... igneous and metamorphic rocks,...
'circumcribed' to 'circumscribed' ... remains circumscribed as it ...
'Artic' to 'Arctic' ... around the Arctic Sea ...
'Saskatchawan' to 'Saskatchewan' ... the Mackenzie or Saskatchewan ...
'heholding' to 'beholding' ... ever finding or beholding it,...
'hippotami' to 'hippopotami' ... killing the hippopotami ...
'languge' to 'language' ... words I collected of their language ...
'Boabob' to 'Baobab' ... Two of the Baobab variety ...
'trachite' to 'trachyte' ... columnar basalt, trachyte, and many ...
'reremains' to 'remains' ...destitute of organic remains,...
'may' to 'many' ... uncertainty in many cases,...
'analagous' to 'analogous' ... they are analogous to fishes;...
'Ichthysaur' to 'Ichthyosaur' ... the Ichthyosaur, with their ...
'carniverous' to 'carnivorous' ... large carnivorous fishes ...
'tailess' to 'tailless' ... below the tailless Batrachians....
'circomvolute' to 'circumvolute' .... the circumvolute nautilus....
'fortell' to 'foretell' ... may foretell a higher progress ...
'emperical' to 'empirical' ... my empirical law,...
'hypothethis' to 'hypothesis' ...conditions of Kirkwood's hypothesis....
'appears' to 'appear' ... these appear to be:...
'arsenuous' to 'arsenious' ... arsenious and arsenic acid,...
'Novia' to 'Nova' ... New Brunswick and Nova Scotia;...
'Pittsburg' to 'Pittsburgh' ... great bed of Pittsburgh, extending ...
'N.U.' to 'N.H.' ... and at Hanover, N.H., about 560 feet....
'thoraci' to 'thoracic' ... at the thoracic region,...
'Packydermata' to 'Pachydermata' ... type of the Pachydermata....
'sufficently' to 'sufficiently' ... iron sufficiently strong to ...
'Conard' to 'Conrad' ... and Conrad Montgomery, Esquire,...

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Vol. XLIX - April-October 1850" ***

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